Financial Times (July 23)
“Computer algorithms encoded with human values will increasingly determine the jobs we land, the romantic matches we make, the bank loans we receive and the people we kill, intentionally with military drones or accidentally with self-driving cars.” The way those human values are embedded “will be one of the most important forces shaping our century. Yet no one has agreed what those values should be” and the “debate now risks becoming entangled in geo-technological rivalry between the US and China.”
Tags: Algorithms, China, Computer, Debate, Drones, Encoded, Geo-technological rivalry, Human values, Jobs, Loans, Self-driving cars, U.S.
The Independent (June 19)
“In the Tory leadership debate, the rare glimmers of truth were even more painful than the lies. It was an ingenious new method of national torture. Five would be prime ministers, appealing to reason, but knowing that in the end, only the psychopaths will decide.”
Tags: Debate, Ingenious, Leadership, Lies, Painful, Prime minister, Psychopaths, Reason, Torture, Tory, Truth
The Guardian (December 2)
The debate that begins Tuesday in the House of Commons “will be the most consequential parliamentary event for a generation…. The voting at the end of this five-day debate on 11 December will decide whether, and if so on what terms, Britain departs from the European Union or whether, perhaps, the issue will be returned to the voters for another referendum and for a possible democratic reversal of Brexit.” Ultimately, the best “choice will depend, in part, on how the domestic Brexit endgame evolves over the next week.”
Tags: Brexit, Consequential, Debate, EU, House of Commons, Referendum, Terms, UK, Voting
New Matilda (March 1)
As America’s ally. Australia “must enter the American gun control debate. We not only have a right to do so, we also have a responsibility…. Now more than ever, Australia is relevant as a voice for gun control in American politics.” Prime Minister Turnbull “must affirm our successes and call out America for their failures. To do anything less would be a betrayal to both the Australian and the American people.”
Tags: Ally, Australia, Betrayal, Debate, Gun control, Responsibility, Right, Successes, U.S.
The Week (October 20)
“Hillary Clinton finished Donald Trump in the final debate of the presidential election…. There’s no other conclusion. We are now playing out the string. And the only question left after the debate is whether Trump and his hard-core supporters will accept his defeat.”
Bloomberg (October 19)
Donald Trump entered the third and final debate with Hillary Clinton “far behind in the polls — further than any candidate has been able to make up with this little time before the election. And then the Republican nominee lost the debate, as he lost the previous two.”
Financial Times (April 3)
“The tide in the debate over the UK’s continued membership of the EU is turning against those campaigning to remain. This is not surprising, but the weakness of their arguments is puzzling.” Relying on scare tactics and narrow appeals to economic arguments misses the mark. “The main economic factors in favour of EU are not trade, but research, science and innovation policy.”
Tags: Debate, EU, Innovation, Membership, Remain, Research, Scare tactics. Economic factors, Science, Trade, UK
Washington Post (October 28)
Ten Republican candidates (Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, John Kasich and Rand Paul) faced off in the latest debate. They seemed “to be testing a strategy of winning by whining. Certainly, voters are discontented and even angry. But do they want a leader who campaigns by kvetching?”
Tags: Angry, Bush, Carson, Christie, Cruz, Debate, Discontented, Fiorina, Huckabee, Kasich, Paul, Republican, Rubio, Strategy, Trump, Voters, Whining
Washington Post (June 4)
“The tragic sinking of a cruise ship on the Yangtze River on Monday night produced a reflexive reaction from China’s communist authorities: censorship.” This could backfire. “Mr. Xi’s attempt to impose Stalinist-style information controls may not work in 21st-century China. His regime would foster more trust were it to follow the examples of neighbors such as South Korea and Taiwan, which live-streamed video of rescue efforts after recent disasters and encouraged debate about what went wrong. In attempting to shield the regime from criticism, Beijing’s censors are only adding to public embitterment.”
Tags: Censorship, China, Debate, Disasters, Rescue, Sinking, South Korea, Stalin, Taiwan, Tragic, Xi, Yangtze
Washington Post (June 2)
Thomas Piketty’s book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century, has attracted both applause and derision as it soars in popularity. Recent criticism has aimed largely at the supporting data, which suggests inequality has reached new heights. Not so, writes Robert Samuelson in the Washington Post. “Inequality isn’t as great now as in the ’20s. This is history’s real lesson. Although the debate over inequality is legitimate and important, we shouldn’t distort it with misleading and overwrought rhetoric.”
Tags: Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Data, Debate, History, Inequality, Legitimate, Misleading, Rhetoric, Robert Samuelson, Thomas Piketty
