[Dan K. Thomasson] Press-presidential conflict necessary part of democracy

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s animosity toward the press may be softening somewhat as he bumps up against the reality that we in print used to remind politicians of every once in awhile: It doesn’t pay to get into peeing match with someone who buys his ink by the barrel.　Today’s electronic version of the Fourth Estate has taken over that same power as Americans have turned toward new technologies in the consumption of their daily news diet. So, the other day, our supreme leader, who has

March 8, 2017

[Adam Minter] How crazy is SpaceX's moon mission?

If all goes as planned, two tourists will crawl into a space capsule at the end of next year and blast off for a weeklong trip to the moon and back. It’s the ultimate couple’s vacation, offered exclusively by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which announced the venture last week. It may also serve as the starting gun for a new and very different space race.　Unlike during the Cold War, the competition this time around isn’t between countries. Instead, it’s between startup companies like SpaceX, on the one han

March 8, 2017

[Other View] Trump's tweets go too far again

President Trump either needs to sleep in, or throw his Twitter account out one of the gilded windows in his Florida estate. If he doesn’t, it’s America that will be tossing and turning.The president unleashed a flurry of tweets early Saturday morning, and as long as he was criticizing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s performance on “The Celebrity Apprentice” (the actor got fired from his former show, Trump said) it appeared Trump was again mired in un-presidential silliness. Surely even Trump supporters

March 8, 2017

[Dick Meyer] How's he doing? What Trumpers think so far

In a column a few weeks ago, I asked supporters of President Donald Trump to email me their views of how he is doing so far. They did and I thank everyone who took the time to write.　This is not, of course, a statistically sound way to study public opinion, but it is a fascinating way. I heard from many enraged Trump-bashers. I heard from many, many more people who were so enraged by Trump’s opponents that their emails were too obscene, racist, anti-Semitic or mean to quote. Many readers wrote c

March 7, 2017

[The Nation] ASEAN aims for unity on tourism

If Southeast Asia is to truly be a single tourist destination, give visitors from afar a single visa to travel freely.　The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is undertaking a tourism marketing campaign to mark its 50th anniversary this year. It is called “Visit Asean@50: Golden Celebration” and aims at increasing the number of international arrivals by 10 percent to 121 million, up from 109 million in 2015.　ASEAN is promoting its 10 member countries -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Mala

March 7, 2017

[Sandy Shea] Has our tolerance only been skin deep?

Less than an hour after Barack Obama was elected president for the first time, I was standing outside and watched as hundreds of young people marched toward Philadelphia’s City Hall. They were black, brown and white, waving their cellphones, chanting and cheering Obama’s victory. Here it was: a new “post-racial” age in which old prejudices and hatreds were part of history, not part of the present.Yes, as a matter of fact, I am naive.But for a while, it was easy to believe that social and cultura

March 7, 2017

[Christopher Balding] China's hidden risks rise

A major factor behind the soaring growth of risky wealth-management products in China is that investors typically think the government stands behind them. Lately, nervous regulators have been emphasizing that this isn’t so. But they’ll have to do a lot more to change expectations in a state-dominated economy.Wealth-management products are short-term, high-yielding investments that are issued by banks. The market for such products is now worth close to $4 trillion, or nearly 40 percent of China’s

March 7, 2017

[Other View] A 'bad bank' could be good for Europe

Some European regulators have come up with a viable plan to alleviate the region’s chronic financial paralysis. If only European politicians, particularly in Germany, would listen.The European Union’s leaders have spent much of the past decade debating -- but never fully resolving -- what to do about the huge pile of bad loans that EU banks are sitting on, most recently estimated at more than 1 trillion euros ($1.06 trillion). Nobody knows how large the losses will ultimately be and this uncerta

March 7, 2017

[Martin Schram] The making of a presidential president has begun

Pay no attention to that unpresidential man tweeting behind the curtain, almost every day, often before sunrise. His pathological defensiveness, juvenile bullying, taunting, name-calling, distorting and outright lying are unworthy of your respect. Believe me.　Pay big-league attention to that suddenly presidential-sounding man you saw addressing a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. He seemed, for the first time after a month on the job, to be speaking like an adult who realizes he must actu

March 6, 2017

[Other View] A good immigration deal should be humane

President Donald Trump has shown an exasperating ability to send mixed signals on important issues, few more exasperating or important than illegal immigration. The disconnect was on full display Tuesday.At a luncheon, the president told journalists that he supports reforms that would grant legal status to millions of immigrants here illegally who have not committed serious crimes, and perhaps provide a path to citizenship for Dreamers, those brought here as children.In his speech before Congres

March 6, 2017

[Ruth Colker] Anti-immigrant approach stokes hate, solves no pressing problems

Acting on the lurid demonization of immigrants as criminals that kicked off his campaign, President Donald Trump recently issued two anti-immigrant executive orders.　As a result, a Mexican citizen living in El Paso, Texas, was detained when she left a battered women’s shelter where she had sought a protective order against her abusive boyfriend.Daniel Ramirez Medina, 23, and Josue Romero, 19, who are in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly called D

March 6, 2017

[Letter to the Editor] Teachers' recommendation letters

I write in response to the Feb. 26 article “Teacher letters become headache for all,” in which the author portrays a deceitful and deplorable college recommendation letter system replete with students composing and embellishing their own recommendation letters, letters that teachers have a professional and moral responsibility to write and sign.Over the years, I have written many recommendation letters for students whom have earned my word with diligence, respect, integrity and dedication. I hav

March 6, 2017

[Clark Ross] Here's how Trump could 'Make America Great Again'

Donald Trump’s 2016 call to “Make America Great Again” suggested that the country’s economy is paling in comparison to prior times and can be reignited toward a renewed economic prosperity. In the same year, noted economist Robert Gordon published “The Rise and Fall of American Economic Growth.”　Gordon argues that the century from 1870 to 1970 was unique. Imagine the improvement in quality of life due to water and sewer systems, public transportation, electricity; provisions of privacy; and time

March 5, 2017