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Houston Chronicle (November 7)

2017/ 11/ 08 by jd in Global News

“With due respect to the faith and beliefs of every person, especially the grieving residents of Sutherland Springs, the rote statements of politicians were almost blasphemous in their repetition and meaninglessness. From Japan, President Trump’s ‘thoughts and prayers’ riff was so stale and scripted that it conveyed all the sincerity of a robocall offering an extended warranty on a kitchen appliance. The irony no doubt escaped the president that he was speaking to tortured souls in small-town Texas from a nation with strict and sensible gun laws. A nation where gun violence is almost unheard of.”

 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Star (August 16)

2016/ 08/ 18 by jd in Global News

After the police shooting of a black man, violence erupted in Milwaukee, “one of the nation’s most segregated” metropolitan areas where black male unemployment hovers around 50%. “While there is no excuse for what happened, there is a reason. Adults and teens exploded with anger and frustration because something is fundamentally wrong; something that has been building for decades.

 

The Economist (May 7)

2016/ 05/ 08 by jd in Global News

“It is now clear that Republicans will be led into the presidential election by a candidate who said he would kill the families of terrorists, has encouraged violence by his supporters, has a weakness for wild conspiracy theories and subscribes to a set of protectionist and economically illiterate policies that are by turns fantastical and self-harming.” Somehow, Donald Trump now has a chance to win the presidency. “The result could be disastrous for the Republican Party and, more important, for America.”

 

The Economist (February 27)

2016/ 02/ 27 by jd in Global News

A win by Donald Trump “is an appalling prospect. The things Mr Trump has said in this campaign make him unworthy of leading one of the world’s great political parties, let alone America. One way to judge politicians is by whether they appeal to our better natures: Mr Trump has prospered by inciting hatred and violence. He is so unpredictable that the thought of him anywhere near high office is terrifying. He must be stopped.”

 

New York Times (September 13)

2015/ 09/ 14 by jd in Global News

In 1998, the Good Friday Agreement brought peace to Northern Ireland. The arrangement now looks to be in peril. “Ending the power-sharing provincial government in Northern Ireland will serve no good purpose, either for Protestant unionists or Catholic nationalists. The only ones who gain are the dark forces on both sides who remain consumed by sectarian hatred and violence.”

 

The Independent (September 8)

2015/ 09/ 08 by jd in Global News

“It is an era of violence. Nine civil wars are raging. None shows any sign of ending. People cannot go home. The great waves of refugees will continue.”

 

New York Times (May 24)

2015/ 05/ 26 by jd in Global News

For today’s dictator, “soaring approval ratings are a more cost-effective path to dominance than terror.” While a few violent dictators still remain, there has been a sea change in methods. “A new brand of authoritarian government has evolved that is better adapted to an era of global media, economic interdependence and information technology.” So-called ‘soft’ dictators like Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Peru’s Alberto Fujimori and Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad  “concentrate power, stifling opposition and eliminating checks and balances, while using hardly any violence.”

 

Financial Times (February 3)

2015/ 02/ 04 by jd in Global News

“The killings of Mr Goto and Mr Yukawa show that no nation — however pacifist its culture — is immune from the mindless violence of Islamist militants. Japan’s response at this moment must be one rooted in international engagement, not renewed isolation.”

 

The Economist (January 23)

2015/ 01/ 24 by jd in Global News

The death of King Abdullah “could hardly have come at a more challenging time for Saudi Arabia.” His successor “King Salman has inherited a realm that is the world’s top oil exporter at a time when prices have plunged; is home to Islam’s holiest sites of Mecca and Medina at a time when jihadist violence is at a peak; and has been dragged into turmoil in the region.”

 

Chicago Tribune (January 14)

2015/ 01/ 15 by jd in Global News

“Each of the attacks in Paris that killed 17 people last week was an atrocity, an affront to freedom and an act of terrorism.” Still, this is unlikely to mark “the beginning of a rash of extremist violence in the West.” Since 9/11, “the danger posed by Islamic militants” has been chronically overestimated. Some of this is due to human nature. We “worry too much about dramatic, unusual dangers, like terrorism and Ebola, and too little about commonplace ones.” But there is also “a giant public-private network that has a stake in stoking these fears.”

 

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