[Trudy Rubin] Why Trump’s Jerusalem stance rules out ‘ultimate’ Mideast deal

When President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel earlier this month, he called it a “long-overdue step to advance the peace process.”Yet the president’s ill-timed Jerusalem speech has had exactly the opposite impact. It has undermined, probably fatally, the unlikely mission he assigned to his son-in-law Jared Kushner and lawyer friend Jason Greenblatt: to concoct the “ultimate” Israel-Palestinian peace deal.On Wednesday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas rejected any futu

Dec. 18, 2017

[Danny Westneat] The right really was coming after college next

It was no joke: The right really was coming after college next.Last summer a spate of news items read like a parody, describing how conservatives suddenly were telling pollsters that America’s higher-education system was a pox on the country.“Majority of Republicans say colleges are bad for America (yes, really)” read one such headline, from Newsweek. That the writer felt the need to add the parenthetical “yes, really” says it all, about how rapidly our country’s tribes are polarizing. It’s to t

Dec. 17, 2017

[Markos Kounalakis] Star Wars and drone spies threaten America’s defenses

Star Wars’ newest episode “The Last Jedi” is hitting screens nationwide this week, but less entertaining is this season’s latest space weaponry and commercial drone deployments that increasingly threaten America’s national security.　Kim Jong-un may be planning to use his nuclear and missile technology not to land an explosion on US soil, but to blast it in space. Such an explosion would trigger a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse that could cripple satellites and blind any nation that relies o

Dec. 17, 2017

[Los Angeles Times] How to make sexually misbehaving politicians pay

If a lawmaker is accused of sexual harassment, why should the taxpayers be the ones who end up paying to settle the case? Wouldn’t it make more sense for the official himself — the individual accused of the wrongdoing — to pay? Wouldn’t that be more likely to discourage harassment by public officials and be fairer to taxpayers as well?　Some people clearly think so. Sexual harassment legislation proposed by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) — the ME TOO Congre

Dec. 17, 2017

[Ferdinando Giugliano] Don’t penalize workers for retiring later

The last decade has seen most countries in the rich world raise the retirement age in order to improve the sustainability of their pension systems at a time when people are living longer, healthier lives. The policy is moving in the right direction, but it has one key flaw -- current policies are too rigid.Retirement should not be a one-size-fits-all system where those who work longer or retire earlier are penalized. Provided they get it right, governments and citizens have much to gain from a m

Dec. 15, 2017

[Albert R. Hunt] Republicans now have a reason to panic

Democrats won a special Senate election in deeply conservative Alabama, narrowing the Republicans’ slim majority in the chamber, and likely generating political panic and infighting among scared Republicans.　 Doug Jones, a former federal prosecutor, became the first Democrat to win an Alabama Senate seat in a quarter century. He defeated Roy Moore, a former state Supreme Court justice whom multiple women said had sexually assaulted or harassed them years ago when they were teenagers.　The result

Dec. 14, 2017

[Leonid Bershidsky] Airbnb, like Uber, needs to grow up

With Uber’s problems grabbing all the headlines, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the other great “sharing economy” company, Airbnb, is also having issues caused by an overaggressive expansion and a tendency to ignore rules, even if they’re reasonable. Because of these issues, usage of the service may be nearing its peak.　Paris, Airbnb’s second biggest city worldwide after London, is threatening to sue the US company unless it removes all the listings for rentals not registered with the city

Dec. 14, 2017

[David Ignatius] The GOP’s mad dash to pass a tax bill proves that haste makes waste

Of all the follies of 2017, the most tawdry may be the GOP’s headlong rush to pass a tax bill that even its proponents don’t understand. What’s especially sad is that otherwise sensible Republicans seem to be capitulating to the tax-cut frenzy.　Political desperation is the mother of this legislation. Despite Republican control of both houses of Congress, the Trump administration has failed in its first year to enact legislation that deals with major problems, such as health care and immigration.

Dec. 14, 2017

[Robin Abcarian] Trump’s accusers demand Congress do something

On Monday in New York City, three of the 16 women who came forward to publicly accuse then-presidential candidate Donald Trump of sexual harassment and assault returned to demand congressional action. They have watched a parade of powerful men toppled from exalted positions, and they wonder why Trump has avoided the same fate.They appeared on the “Today” show with Megyn Kelly, and spoke at a news conference afterward, organized by Robert Greenwald, whose studio Brave New Films helped resurrect t

Dec. 13, 2017

[Christopher Balding] Why China’s freezing

China is suffering from a frigid winter, but it can’t blame Mother Nature alone. Late last week, following widespread uproar, officials reversed a policy banning some provinces from using coal for heat -- which had the inadvertent but predictable effect of leaving large swathes of the country freezing cold.　China’s government has been keen to reduce air pollution levels. State media rejoiced last month when data showed that China was only the second most polluted developing country, behind India

Dec. 13, 2017

[The Hartford Courant] Five years after Sandy Hook, has love won?

We’ve let them down.　Charlotte. Daniel. Rachel. Olivia. Josephine. Dawn. Dylan. Madeleine. Catherine. Chase. Jesse. Ana. James. Grace. Anne. Emilie. Jack. Noah. Caroline. Jessica. Avielle. Lauren. Mary. Victoria. Benjamin. Allison.　All 26 of them.　Five years ago, in those painful days after the massacre at Sandy Hook, we mourned with the moms and dads and wept alongside our own children for all we’d lost. Innocent lives. Innocence itself. We vowed to protect our children from the Adam Lanzas of

Dec. 13, 2017