Washington Post (September 12)
“Whatever the twisted path, whether by design or accident, the Obama administration has ended up in a better place on Syria than looked possible even days ago. The president was wise to take up and begin to test the Russian offer to remove and possibly destroy Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons.”“Whatever the twisted path, whether by design or accident, the Obama administration has ended up in a better place on Syria than looked possible even days ago. The president was wise to take up and begin to test the Russian offer to remove and possibly destroy Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons.”
Tags: Chemical weapons, Obama, Russia, Syria, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (September 11)
Five years ago Lehman Brothers fell, setting off the Great Recession. Since the financial crisis, there has been no genuine attempt to remake the financial system and “far from being tamed, the financial beast has gotten its mojo back—and is winning. The people have forgotten—and are losing.”
Financial Times (September 10)
“The sheer triviality of the German election campaign is a tribute to the success of the country. Only a nation that is secure and prosperous could afford to have a political debate that is so focused on the little things of life.” The big debate in Germany is not intervention in Syria or safeguarding the future of Europe. “The moral issue that has divided Germans this election” is vegetarianism. A proposal from the Green party that public cafeterias quit serving meat, one day a week, “has stirred up an impassioned debate about whether politicians have the right to get between Germans and their sausages.”
Tags: Cafeterias, Campaign, Debate, Election, Europe, Germans, Green party, Meat, Politicians, Sausages, Syria, Vegetarianism
New York Times (September 8)
“For the International Olympic Committee, environmental concerns in Japan appeared less urgent than the Syrian war on Turkey’s border, a harsh crackdown against antigovernment protesters recently in Istanbul and Spain’s economic recession and high unemployment…. Amid such economic, political and human rights maelstroms, Tokyo was seen as a calm harbor. It won handily over Istanbul in the second round of voting, 60-36, in a secret ballot of Olympic delegates.”
Tags: Environmental concerns, Human rights, IOC, Istanbul, Japan, Olympics, Recession, Spain, Syria, Tokyo, Turkey, Unemployment
The Economist (September 7)
“There may be no new Lehman-sized catastrophes on the near horizon. But plenty of smaller crises-in-the-making dot the landscape—and a potentially big one continues to threaten Europe. Five years on, global finance is a long way from safe.”
Tags: Catastrophe, Crises, Europe, Global finance, Lehman, Safe
Forbes (September 8)
“As for Olympic infrastructure, the Japanese are famously good at meeting deadlines, which should come in handy when state-of-the-art new facilities need to be built. Another factor is Tokyo’s mass transit system, which in many ways is the world’s most sophisticated – indeed far more sophisticated than it was in the 1980s, when it was already well ahead of most Western cities.”
Tags: Deadlines, Facilities, Infrastructure, Japan, Mass transit, Olympics, Sophisticated, Tokyo
Chicago Tribune (September 5)
“It will come as a consolation to some Chicagoans that when they struggle to shed weight, they are up against powerful forces beyond their control.” Research has shown that fans of losing teams consume 16% more saturated fat and 10% percent more calories following losses. “For Chicago, this is apocalyptically bad news…. We have not one but two baseball teams to influence our dietary habits — both of which, right now, are in last place.”
Washington Post (September 5)
Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been a stalwart backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war, but that does not give him license to ignore the facts and gloss over inconvenient truths,” especially since Syria’s chemical weapon stockpile has roots extending to the USSR. “The sarin gas attack near Damascus should not be so glibly dismissed as “ludicrous” by a Russian president. Instead of mocking the West, Mr. Putin should throw Russia’s support behind an investigation of this atrocity. A horrible crime was committed.”Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been a stalwart backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war, but that does not give him license to ignore the facts and gloss over inconvenient truths,” especially since Syria’s chemical weapon stockpile has roots extending to the USSR. “The sarin gas attack near Damascus should not be so glibly dismissed as “ludicrous” by a Russian president. Instead of mocking the West, Mr. Putin should throw Russia’s support behind an investigation of this atrocity. A horrible crime was committed.”
Tags: Atrocity, Chemical weapon, Crime, Damascus, Investigation, Putin, Russia, Sarin, Stockpile, Syria
USA Today (September 4)
“As evidence mounts that permanent brain damage and dementia are legacies of some still-unknown number of NFL careers, the league faces a dilemma: Bone-jarring hits are an unavoidable part of football, but if the game gets too brutal, fans and the parents of prospective players could abandon it…. Making an inherently violent game less dangerous won’t be easy.”
Tags: Brain damage, Career, Dangerous, Dementia, Evidence, Fans, Football, Game, Hits, NFL, Parents, Players, Violent
Wall Street Journal (September 3)
At age 64, Diana Nyad succeeded in swimming 177 km from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, something she’s been trying to do since 1978. She overcame jelly fish, sharks and strong currents to accomplish her inspiring 53-hour feat. “Enduring such hardships takes extraordinary perseverance, even a touch of fanaticism. Yet by such commitment do human beings change the world, explore new heights, or stretch the boundaries of physical endurance.”
Tags: Boundaries, Change, Commitment, Cuba, Currents, Diana Nyad, Endurance, Florida, Hardships, Jelly fish, Perseverance, Sharks, Swimming, U.S.
