‘Clean Coal’ Is Far From Real

“There is a thing called clean coal,” Donald Trump said during Sunday night’s debate. But there isn’t -- and won’t be for a considerable time, if ever.　Presumably, Trump was referring to so-called carbon-capture technology, which is designed to collect and dispose of coal plants’ carbon-dioxide emissions before they escape into the atmosphere, where they trap heat. That technology may be on the drawing board and in a few small-scale demonstration projects, but it’s not close to being ready for w

Oct. 11, 2016

Duterte’s ‘Go to hell’: Not an ally’s normal message

It’s important to pay attention to seemingly deteriorating relations between Manila and Washington, which have been allies for 70 years. On Tuesday, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, a populist former big-city mayor elected in May, told President Barack Obama he “can go to hell” after the latest US criticism of murderous vigilantism in the Asian democracy triggered by Duterte’s call for the killing of drug dealers and drug users.　Duterte may soon apologize, as he did last month after callin

Oct. 10, 2016

As the TPP founders, Asia has an ace up its sleeve

A month before the US presidential election, it is clear that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- history’s most comprehensive free-trade deal -- will not be approved anytime soon in its country of origin. 　Both the major-party presidential candidates and the Republican-dominated Congress have adopted a protectionist stance reflecting the mood of the voters, a vast number of whom believe such international deals drain away jobs and undercut production in the US.　 Outgoing President Barack Oba

Oct. 10, 2016

Duterte’s noise about US ties

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has until now only made empty threats, but if they are carried out, Asia will reel under the impact. When it comes to the US, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte does not mince his words.In statements often laced with expletives, Duterte has told the people of the US that they can leave if they do not stop criticizing the thousands of extrajudicial killings that have blighted his anti-crime drive.Duterte has claimed he can always turn to China or even Russia

Oct. 10, 2016

[Andrew Stark] The case against immortality

At a certain age, you may feel as if you’re still at life’s beginning yet also disturbingly close to the end.　You feel acutely that there’s much left to do. You were going to win an Oscar, pick up a Nobel Prize in physics and get elected president, but you haven’t even gotten around to auditioning for a film, taking a university physics course or running for dogcatcher. Simultaneously, you’re filled with longing for the many things you once did but never will again. You’ll never feel the first c

Oct. 10, 2016

Colombia Needs a Plan B for Peace

To widespread dismay, Colombians voted to reject an agreement that might have ended Latin America’s longest-running armed conflict -- a decades-long insurgency that has taken more than 220,000 lives, displaced more than 10 percent of the country’s people, and inflicted enormous economic damage.　The upset underlines the risks of government by referendum -- as if further proof of those hazards were needed. The important questions for Colombia now are these: What went wrong, and what happens next?　

Oct. 9, 2016

[Merrill Matthews] Dissing anthem hurts sports, insults most fans

For a long time, Americans of all economic classes, backgrounds and political persuasions have been able to briefly escape life’s stresses by communally watching sports.San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, however, may change all that.He’s not the first to infuse politics into sports. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, for example, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the 200-meter race gold and bronze winners, were expelled after holding up black-gloved fists at their award prese

Oct. 9, 2016

Greenhouse gas needs to be reduced, or else

At least one scientist says the United States deserves credit for trying to reduce emissions to below what they were more than a decade ago. But unless more is done, and the two political parties can come to a consensus on the matter, our nation will not reduce emissions by a targeted 28 percent by 2025.But, even if every country achieves its pledge, which is doubtful, scientists still don’t believe it would be enough to contain global warming. The agreement takes into account greenhouse gases t

Oct. 9, 2016

[David Ignatius] Jacob Lew: Washington‘s dealmaker

The “art of the deal,” in Donald Trump’s version, has a hard edge. It involves public bluster, threats of litigation, and confrontational negotiations. It’s about winning, rather than compromise. But there’s another version of dealmaking that’s more relevant to how Washington actually works. It’s about passing budgets and avoiding shutdowns. It involves creating space for agreement on taxes and spending. These negotiations usually take place out of public view. And they’re shaped by one of Washi

Oct. 9, 2016

[Jonathan Bernstein] Two qualified candidates, one low-key debate

The most important thing about the vice presidential debate was what didn’t happen.Neither Indiana Gov. Mike Pence nor Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine was pressed at all on his qualifications for the job, or on his readiness to become president if necessary. Nor was either candidate required to answer for any personal scandal. And, with minor exceptions, neither candidate had to defend his record in public office, or what he has said on the campaign trail.That’s because both of them are widely perceived

Oct. 7, 2016

[Christopher Tan] Why leave change to Uber and the gang?

We have all heard about how driverless cars will magically change the way we commute and transform the entire urban landscape.　There will be far fewer vehicles plying on the roads, as these autonomous pods will pick up four or five passengers heading in the same direction.　There will be less demand for parking in the city because these pods can be stowed away in far-flung industrial areas when they are not in use.　However, most of the time, they will be busy picking up people or goods. If they a

Oct. 6, 2016

[Boying Pimentel Duterte, Hitler and the zeal to kill

And now the latest from the leader who inspired the Duterte bloodbath: “Hitler massacred 3 million Jews. Now there is 3 million, there’s 3 million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them.”　President Rodrigo Duterte has apologized for this statement, though he also threatened to kick the lawyers who keep complaining about the state of human rights in the Philippines.　But let’s give him some credit: Duterte also has, at least, corrected himself on the historical record.　Adolf Hitle

Oct. 6, 2016

Colombia’s long war,squandered bid

The hard part was supposed to be over. After a half century of war, and after four years of grinding negotiations, the Colombian government and leaders of the country’s insurgency reached an accord in August to end a conflict in which more than 220,000 people were killed and 6 million displaced. The world watched Sept. 26 as President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londono, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, signed the agreement, hailed as a blueprint for resolving war through

Oct. 6, 2016