The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is just one of many federal agencies marked for drastic funding reductions to enable a big boost in military spending. But the cuts proposed for America’s center of weather and climate research reveal alarming pitfalls in President Donald Trump’s approach to budgeting: a reluctance to invest in the future, a disregard for science and a willingness to damage a well-functioning government operation for a minimal payoff.　According to an outline re

March 14, 2017

The combined actions of North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China and Japan have probably made the Korean Peninsula the most dangerous potential flashpoint in the whole world at the moment.North Korea has fired off four more ballistic missiles, simultaneously, alarming neighboring South Korea, China and Japan, along with the United States, which has 28,500 troops based in South Korea.Pyongyang’s obvious continuing pursuit of its effort to possess nuclear-armed intercontinental missiles

March 14, 2017

Rex Tillerson is off to an agonizingly slow start as secretary of state. That matters, because if Tillerson doesn’t develop a stronger voice, control of foreign policy is likely to move increasingly toward Stephen K. Bannon, the insurgent populist who is chief White House strategist.　Tillerson’s State Department has been in idle gear these past two months. He doesn’t have a deputy or other top aides. His spokesman can’t give guidance on key issues, because decisions haven’t yet been made. Tiller

March 14, 2017

It didn’t take long for Malaysia to retaliate against North Korea for barring its citizens from leaving the country Tuesday. Within hours, a security cordon had surrounded North Korea’s Malaysian embassy to prevent diplomatic staff from leaving. The response may not be legal under international law, but it’s certainly understandable. North Korea is not only accused of sponsoring an assassination in Malaysia’s busiest airport, using a banned nerve agent. It has since taunted and bullied Malaysian

March 14, 2017

Charles Murray, someone who makes his living by thinking and appreciates its grandeur as a guiding force, recently had a firsthand encounter with a mob of college students insisting instead that fury should rule the day.I am tempted to generalize about a sickeningly spoiled, intellectually betrayed younger generation out to announce its moral superiority by way of moral thuggery. That goes too far. We’re talking about 100 people. But they symbolized more than themselves. Something significant is

March 13, 2017

The diplomatic crisis between Malaysia and North Korea is unlikely to end soon. The tension may drag on for months or even longer.　First, North Korea bans nine staff and family members of the Malaysian Embassy in North Korea from leaving the country, treating them as hostages. The government has to rescue them through negotiations.　Negotiation is a draining task. The main reason for North Korea to “hold” Malaysians is to claim Kim Jong-nam’s body in order to destroy the evidence of Kim Jong-nam’

March 13, 2017

With Park Geun-hye impeached and out of office, attention has shifted swiftly to South Korea’s next presidential election, which must be held by May 9, and front-runner Moon Jae-in.　Moon, a former human rights lawyer and chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, is known for his liberal views and opposition to key decisions made by the conservative government.　In a statement Friday, he welcomed the court’s decision to uphold a parliamentary vote to impeach Park and said that “So

March 13, 2017

Americans learned Tuesday that the CIA has tools that can hack smartphones, computer operating systems, message apps, Wi-Fi networks. That blockbuster revelation came courtesy of WikiLeaks, the organization last in the headlines for its role in the purported Russian leaking of emails to tilt the Nov. 8 election to President Donald Trump.　First reaction: We sure hope the CIA has those abilities, given that terrorists around the world need to communicate somehow.　Second reaction: That doesn’t mean

March 13, 2017

Now that a court has ousted her from office, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s troubles are only beginning: She could face indictment on charges of bribery and abuse of power. Koreans, however, need to move beyond this lurid scandal.　Months of uncertainty over Park’s fate have paralyzed her nation at a critical moment. Koreans have been riveted by accusations that she conspired with a mysterious confidante to extract millions of dollars in bribes from Samsung Group and other major co

March 12, 2017

Chinese President Xi Jinping seems interested in embracing the role of global steward -- champion of the liberal political and economic order the US administration seems uninterested in promoting. Now is his moment to prove he’s serious.China’s erstwhile client North Korea has become an urgent threat to stability -- Xi’s stated top priority -- from one end of Asia to the other. Japan’s military is now on its highest state of alert, after the North’s latest round of missile tests landed in Japane

March 12, 2017

It was a serious crime involving deadly poison that can be used in chemical weapons. The international community must further heighten its vigilance on North Korea.　In the case of the murder of North Korea’s Kim Jong-nam, Malaysian prosecutors indicted two women, one Vietnamese and one Indonesian, on murder charges as perpetrators of the crime. The prosecutors concluded the women colluded with four men with North Korean nationality.The indictment can be called a step forward in uncovering the wh

March 12, 2017

The administration of President Donald Trump has announced a plan to cut nearly $20 billion from the $50 billion budget of the State Department and the US Agency for International Development. Reducing the budget for diplomacy by 37 percent does not seem to reflect Trump’s stated intention to increase America’s stature in the world.If carried out, the reduction in State and USAID wherewithal would cripple those two agencies in carrying out their activities on behalf of America abroad. Their budg

March 12, 2017

The release Tuesday by WikiLeaks of the first installment of what will apparently be a large batch of CIA communications, including what appears to be very sensitive information, moves the issue of the protection by the United States government of critical data into the “very serious” column.The CIA has refused to comment, consistent with its policy in such matters, but there is some reason to believe in the authenticity of the documents in question. It is also not the first instance of sensitiv

March 12, 2017