[Stephen L. Carter] Too many laws. So much ignorance. Something has to give.

Seventy-five years ago, in the summer of 1942, four friends decided to while away the afternoon playing bridge in a Baltimore city park. Instead of enjoying their game, they found themselves under arrest. The city had an ordinance that forbade the use in a public park of any device that might be used for gambling -- such as a deck of cards. They didn’t know about the rule, of course. But under a longstanding tradition of our jurisprudence, ignorance of the law is no excuse.　Maybe it shouldn’t be

Nov. 27, 2017

[Frederico Bartels] Congress must act on unused military bases

If you could remove 50 channels you never watch from your cable subscription and save $10 a month, you would do it, right?You have no use for those extra channels, and they probably represent a time drain as you surf through the clutter to find Food Network.The Pentagon has a similar problem.According to a Defense Department study released last month, it now has 19 percent more infrastructure than it needs. Roughly 1 in every 5 installations the Pentagon owns is idle, yet we -- the nation’s taxp

Nov. 27, 2017

[Andres Oppenheimer] Venezuela not the only nation at risk, but few pay attention

While the world is watching Venezuela’s descent into a full blown dictatorship, scant attention has been paid to the slow-motion disappearance of democracy in two other countries: Nicaragua and Bolivia. If they continue on their present course, they may soon be called Latin America’s emerging dictatorships.The erosion of basic freedoms in these two countries came to mind this week when I interviewed Sergio Ramirez, the Nicaraguan writer and former Sandinista vice president who, on Nov. 16, was a

Nov. 27, 2017

[Adam Minter] China’s bike-sharing bust

During its first six months of existence, Bluegogo, China’s third-largest bike-sharing firm, dumped 600,000 bicycles into Chinese cities. Twenty million people signed up to use them; investors showered the company with $58 million in funds. But with rental rates as low as $0.07 per half-hour, Bluegogo’s days were numbered and last week the company folded. In an apologetic letter, its CEO conceded that he had been “filled with arrogance.”　He’s not the only one. In the space of 18 months, dockless

Nov. 26, 2017

[Mac Margolis] Brazil is on track to get its own Trump

These days, you need steady nerves to join the Brazilian political conversation. Ask Judith Butler, the University of California, Berkeley, comparative literature professor known for her provocative ideas about gender. Two weeks ago, she was hectored by street protesters in Sao Paulo, burned in effigy, and chased by contrarians all the way to the airport.　Butler wasn’t the only target. In recent weeks, sois-disant protectors of public morals attacked a museum and a cultural center in two cities

Nov. 26, 2017

[Andrew Malcolm] Trump’s outrageous tweets are actually quite profitable

While much of our political discussions these days revolve around personality, something less superficial is going on that will quietly play a far more important role determining election outcomes 51 weeks from now.Fundraising.It’s a familiar topic in US politics, but draws less attention during these national election bye years.Internally, both parties are seriously handicapped by factional feuds revealing profound ideological rifts dividing their bases. This is most apparent among Republicans

Nov. 26, 2017

[Editorial] Risky pardon

The Justice Ministry recently instructed prosecutors’ offices to report on all of those convicted in connection with demonstrations over five specific issues.The ministry said that it would receive the reports to include them in the list of candidates to be pardoned. The government is said to be considering granting a special amnesty on Christmas or the Lunar New Year’s Day.The five issues, which caused fierce protests and political strife, are: the construction of a naval base on Jeju Island; t

Nov. 26, 2017

[Los Angeles Times] Limiting first use of nukes would be a bad idea

Alarmed by President Trump’s bellicose statements and impulsive governing style, two congressional Democrats have introduced legislation that would prohibit the president -- any president -- from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress explicitly endorsing such an attack.We too are dismayed by Trump’s rhetoric, including his threat to rain “fire and fury” on North Korea. We shudder to think about the human consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, even in self

Nov. 24, 2017

[Bernard-Henri Levy] Profiles in discouragement

Some specialists in the life sciences say that no one is ever fully cured of any injury or disease, because our cells forever retain traces, memories, of even the slightest attacks on the body’s integrity. So it will be with the United States.One day, the US will turn the page on Donald Trump. But America will never recover completely from the unstanchable wound that his presidency’s baseness, bull-headed stupidity, and puzzling passivity in the face of China’s global ambitions has inflicted on

Nov. 23, 2017

[David Ignatius] A beleaguered Tillerson is still at the table

A funny thing happened to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the way to the exit door: He didn’t leave. He may be “Dead Man Walking,” as many Washington analysts assume. Yet he’s still pursuing the same list of quiet but mostly correct diplomatic goals as when he took the job 10 months ago.　Tillerson has had a catastrophically bad encounter with official Washington. The White House disdains him; the State Department resents him; the press corps mostly scorns him. Tillerson presses on as if he d

Nov. 23, 2017

[Adam Minter] China isn’t winning the race for space

By the middle of the century, nuclear-powered Chinese shuttles will regularly ply interplanetary space, carrying workers between mining colonies on distant planets and asteroids. If that, like much else published on the front page of the People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party, sounds like propaganda, remember that China has in barely two decades built up what’s arguably the world’s second-most-advanced space program, after America’s. US strategists warn that Chinese progre

Nov. 23, 2017

[Dan K. Thomasson] Times have changed, for politicians and press

Back in the 1970s I was attending an annual editor’s meeting when I was asked in a confidential session what I was working on. At the time I was a managing editor for investigations for Scripps Howard Newspapers.I replied that I didn’t feel comfortable with providing many details at that point but could only report that it was an important piece that dealt with a startling affair John F. Kennedy had.There was immediate concern expressed about relevance considering the length of time that had exp

Nov. 22, 2017