Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad: Nov. 3 Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune, on Congress and faulty Chinese drywall: In the 16 months since Chinese drywall problems were first reported in Florida, definitive answers remain frustratingly out of reach. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which for months has been running the gamut of tests on drywall, says that results so far are inconclusive. Further findings are due later this month, but others won't arrive until next summer. Some affected homeowners, meanwhile, are in dire straits. Those who have moved out of houses they consider uninhabitable are now stuck with mortgage payments and the cost of renting temporary quarters. Builders who unwittingly installed the tainted drywall face unexpectedly costly repair demands, at a time when they are struggling to survive the recession. ... Congress should consider fiscal stimulus funds for drywall repairs. Hopefully, the cost of this and the other options could be recaptured from fines, once the courts establish where blame lies. ... Trade is a two-way street, and if China wants access to the lucrative U.S. market, it should be willing to work with U.S. courts. ... __ On the Net: http://tinyurl.com/ylxongv ___ Oct. 30 The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J., on perfect attendance, schools and swine flu: Going to school every day can be hazardous to your health _ and the health of others. Several districts around the state ... have scratched perfect attendance recognitions for the school year. The message to parents: Keep sick children home. With H1N1, the so-called swine flu, likely to infect tens of thousands of people in the United States this fall and winter, New Jersey school districts are wise to do away with awards that might encourage sick students to drag themselves to class. The move comes on a recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that those with flulike symptoms _ sore throat, cough, fever, aches and runny nose _ stay home. If they've had the flu, they should not trek back to school until at least 24 hours after the fever goes away, health officials say. Otherwise, they will only endanger others. And the danger is real. More than 1,000 people in the United States, including 100 children, have died from the swine flu. There have been 19 deaths in New Jersey so far. President Obama this week declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency. The CDC lets local school districts decide for themselves what to do in the event of a flu outbreak. ... Parents, too, need to weigh seriously the harm of sending children to school sick and potentially passing the virus around. ___ On the Net: http://www.nj.com/starledger/ ___ Oct. 31 Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky., on Kentucky and energy technology: The head of the Center For Applied Energy Research at the University of Kentucky recently told lawmakers that coal is still king in Kentucky. According to Director Rodney Andrews, it's unclear what could replace coal in the country's energy portfolio and cautioned against declaring the next, best energy technology. ... That may be the case, especially in Kentucky where more than 90 percent of electricity is produced from coal. But that shouldn't restrict the search for new energy sources, particularly those not dependent upon a finite natural resource. That search could continue in Daviess County, where Spanish energy company Iberdrola Renewables is preparing to test the viability of a commercial wind farm that could become the first in Kentucky. ... Kentucky's history is steeped in coal, and coal will continue to be a major player in how this state fuels its economy and powers its homes. But looking ahead, Kentuckians will need to make educated decisions about how to tap other energy resources, including wind power. Thanks to Iberdrola, that education will begin soon. ___ On the Net: http://www.messenger-inquirer.com/ ___ Nov. 2 Chicago Tribune, on the economy: The burst of economic growth in the third quarter reported last week was notable for all the gripes and worries it elicited from commentators. It was dependent on temporary government programs, they said. It may not be sustainable. It's not generating jobs. It doesn't feel like a recovery. All true. But contemplating a rebound that hit a 3.5 percent pace, we have something to say: We'll take it. ... The economy, granted, is not on sure footing yet. The recovery is fragile, and it would be no huge surprise to see another negative quarter in the coming months. The cash-for-clunkers program, which boosted growth by encouraging purchases of new cars, has expired, and vehicle sales have fallen off as a result. The first-time homebuyers credit, which is believed to have helped stabilize home prices, is also due to expire. ... But there are just as many hopeful signs. If the administration's broad economic stimulus program has any value, it should start to pay off soon, because the money is only now starting to be spent. ... None of this is any immediate comfort to Americans who have lost their jobs, and who cannot realistically expect hiring to pick up for a while yet. If the sun isn't shining on them, though, the first rays of dawn can be seen peeking above the horizon. ... ___ On the Net: http://www.chicagotribune.com. ___ Nov. 1 The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo., on President Obama and Afghanistan: As he continues to stretch out the timetable on a decision about whether to escalate the U.S. commitment to the war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama has asked for a province-by-province assessment of the tribal and other local leaders in that mountainous country. The ostensible reason is to try to figure out which local regions have leaders inclined to cooperate with the U.S. and able to provide a modicum of stability, meaning there would be little need for a lot of U.S. troops. To many people, however, this looks like almost obsessive micromanagement from Washington of a country about which even most reputed experts in this country know little. ... If the U.S. has a legitimate interest in Afghanistan, it is to ensure that al-Qaida, which has international ambitions and capabilities, does not re-establish operational bases in Afghanistan. No credible authority believes it has them now. One of the worst strategies would be a cross between the status quo and ramping up troop levels to the number Obama's generals have requested to do the job. Unfortunately, this seems to be the road the president is set to take us down. So our best bet is to define what success would be in Afghanistan, maintain the troops to achieve that goal, then draw down U.S. military forces and inform whatever government emerges in Afghanistan that if al-Qaida does establish bases we will destroy them pronto. Then go after al-Qaida where it is, in Pakistan, with what has worked best so far: better intelligence and the occasional special forces operation or drone strike. Is that so hard to decide? ___ On the Net: http://www.gazette.com/opinion/country-64704-leaders-little.html ___ Oct. 31 Vindicator, Youngstown, Ohio, on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Pakistan: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got a first hand look at how Pakistan is being terrorized by Islamic extremists when a powerful explosion in the northwestern city of Peshawar, which killed at least 100 people, coincided with her arrival ... . ... Clinton ... strongly condemned the cowardly act by the terrorists and insisted that the United States would not be dissuaded from continuing to work with Pakistan to rid that region of terrorism. But while her visit to America's chief ally in the war on global terrorism was designed to win the hearts and minds of the people, Clinton did not shy away from offering an honest appraisal of Pakistan's failure to locate the top leaders of al-Qaida. Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on America's mainland, and members of his al-Qaida inner circle are holed up in the remote provinces along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. ... The secretary of state said she finds it "hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to." She was speaking to Pakistani journalists, who undoubtedly will be giving her comments a lot of play. ... Secretary of State Clinton struck the right note during her visit to America's important ally. ___ On the Net: http://tinyurl.com/ye23b32 ___ Oct. 31 New York Post, on health care reform: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a 2,000-page health care bill ... complete with a "public option" _ cobbled together from competing versions passed by separate committees. At this point, she and her Senate counterparts are crafting their bills in ways to secure votes for passage rather than to produce good policy. But their attempts may backfire on both fronts. Fiscally conservative Dems in the Blue Dog coalition, for example, quickly demanded more proof that the bill _ which spends $1.055 trillion over 10 years _ will lower health care costs in the long run. And that comes after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's ObamaCare bill met major resistance from Independent Democrat Joe Lieberman, who said he'd back a GOP filibuster. Government-run health insurance _ even with an opt-out provision, as Reid proposes _ "creates a whole new government entitlement program for which taxpayers will be on the line," said the Connecticut senator. And that, he added, "is just asking for trouble _ for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt." How right he is. ... ___ On the Net: http://www.nypost.com ___ Continued... |