Bloomberg (March 11)
“It’s been five years since the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl shook Fukushima. Roads have been rebuilt and electricity has been restored. But life has still not returned to normal for many of the prefecture’s residents.”
New York Times (December 25)
“Evil is everywhere, and anger and hatred are loud. The shouting drowns out the quiet; tragedy and disaster block the view of the good. Yet there are always signs of progress toward a better future. Look, or you may miss them.”
New York Times (September 3)
“A disaster has been averted. The nuclear deal concluded by six major powers with Iran is now unstoppable in Congress.” Had the deal “unraveled in Congress, so would America’s standing as a global power. Russia, China and the European Union would have concluded that the United States is unserious.”
New York Times (July 14)
The EU’s tentative deal “may avert an immediate catastrophe, but there is little to celebrate since it will do little to address, much less repair, the slow-moving disaster of the Greek economy.” For that matter, “in forcing Greece to submit they have not resolved the crisis of the monetary union or advanced the European project.”
Tags: Catastrophe, Crisis, Deal, Disaster, Economy, EU, European project, Greece, Monetary union
The Economist (April 18)
“Fears are rising that, after three soaring decades, China is about to crash. That would be a disaster. China is the world’s second-largest economy and Asia’s pre-eminent rising power.” But the fears of the pessimists are overstated. “China is not only more economically robust than they allow, it is also putting itself through a quiet—and welcome—financial revolution.”
Washington Post (February 22)
“There is a danger that as other pressing concerns about North Korea accumulate — nuclear weapons, missiles, cyberattacks — the world will lose interest in the human rights disaster.” Ideally, “North Korea’s leaders should be held accountable” and referred “to the International Criminal Court for investigation of crimes against humanity.” At present, however, a Security Council referral looks doomed to veto by China or Russia. For the time being, the UN must continue “to investigate human rights abuses in North Korea, with an eye toward identifying who in the regime’s leadership is responsible for the horrors so that they can eventually be held to account.”
Tags: Abuses, Accountable, China, Crimes against humanity, Cyberattacks, Disaster, Human rights, International Criminal Court, Investigation, Leaders, Missiles, North Korea, Nuclear weapons, Russia, Security Council, UN, Veto
Newsweek (February 24, 1964)
Visually the Beetles “are a nightmare, tight, dandified Edwardian-Beatnik suits and great pudding bowls of hair. Musically they are a near disaster, guitars and drums slamming out a merciless beat that does away with secondary rhythms, harmony and melody. Their lyrics (punctuated by nutty shouts of “yeah, yeah, yeah”) are a catastrophe, a preposterous farrago of Valentine-card romantic sentiments….”
Tags: Beetles, Catastrophe, Disaster, Drums, Guitars, Hair, Harmony, Lyrics, Melody, Music, Nightmare, Rhythm, Sentiment
Financial Times (April 7, 2013)
“After 20 years of hesitation Japan has stepped on to the economic tightrope. To do so is bold and necessary.” A decade earlier, the effectiveness of Abenomics would have been more certain. “As the years passed, the path that Japan must walk has narrowed, with continued deflation on one side or debt crisis on the other. That is no reason not to try. Disaster is otherwise inevitable, which is why the BOJ’s past reluctance to act was so infuriating. But there is no margin for error.”
Bloomberg (March 28)
“The first attempt to bail out Cyprus was such a shambles that the second looks smart by comparison.” The second plan, however, is by no means a success. In fact, it’s “still a disaster.”“The first attempt to bail out Cyprus was such a shambles that the second looks smart by comparison.” The second plan, however, is by no means a success. In fact, it’s “still a disaster.”
Wall Street Journal (March 27)
“Nothing is ever simple with a euro-bailout, and the Cyprus fiasco is proving that again. On Thursday the tiny island disaster will become the first euro-zone country to impose capital controls since the single currency was introduced. This will spare Cyprus from immediate economic collapse, but the curbs are a worrying precedent.”
