Editorial Roundup: Excerpts From Recent Editorials in Newspapers in the US and Abroad

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Editorial Roundup: Excerpts From Recent Editorials

Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad:

April 28:

The Portland (Maine) Press Herald, on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on free speech cases:

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken on another free speech case, further defining its limits in a period of technological explosion.

Last year, the court decided that corporations had free speech rights that could not be limited in the form of campaign finance spending caps.

Earlier this month, it struck down a federal law that banned the distribution of videos that showed animal cruelty.

Next up is an appeal of a California law that prohibits the sale and possession of ultra-violent video games by minors.

This is an area where this free speech court should find that it is appropriate to limit free speech.

The court should be able to distinguish between its other decisions. The Citizen United case dealt with political speech which should have the highest protection. The animal cruelty case dealt with videos distributed to adults who were not themselves involved in any illegal activity.

The court has already upheld laws that prohibit minors from possession pornography, alcohol and tobacco and should make the same distinctions in this case. Although there is well-established law prohibiting children from having sexually explicit material, there is very little around violence.

That is unfortunate, because exposure to extreme, realistic violence, especially in a video game in which the player takes the lead role, desensitizes children and creates a false impression that the behavior is normal. States should have the ability to limit children’s access to such games.

Even a court that has taken a broad view of freedom of speech rights should see that this is an example of where even a fundamental right can rightly be limited.

On the Net:

www.pressherald.com

April 23

Courier-Post, Cherry Hill, N.J., on caller ID regulations that federal lawmakers are considering:

On Wednesday, April 14, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that ought to please anyone who’s ever been annoyed at telemarketers or scammers who shield their identity on the caller ID.

The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010 essentially means that it will become illegal for people or companies to deceive people they call by hiding their true phone number and identity on a phone’s caller ID. There are companies and individuals who call people and somehow get the phone number of a family member or friend to show up on the caller ID. Backers of the bill passed by the House say new technology has made this caller ID “spoofing” easy. Beyond just being annoying, it presents opportunities for scammers to get Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and other personal information from people.

Caller ID spoofing is a deceptive and unethical practice. It should be illegal. We’re glad Congress is taking action.

We urge the Senate to quickly pass this bill and the president to sign it into law.

On the Net:

www.courierpostonline.com

April 26

The Paris (Tenn.) Post-Intelligencer on universal identification cards:

The trains, they say, ran on time when the Fascists under Benito Mussolini ran Italy. Let that be a lesson to us.

Government efficiency is a lot easier under totalitarian rule. By comparison, democracy can be an inefficient way to operate, but it protects our rights.

The springboard for this observation is a proposal by two senators for our nation to issue biometric Social Security cards, using either a fingerprint or a retinal scan to establish without doubt the identity of the holder.

The purpose, sponsors say, is immigration control. Current forms of personal identification — primarily Social Security cards and driver’s licenses — are too easily faked.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., propose a card that could be swiped through a reader, like credit cards. Those who refuse to cooperate or who knowingly hire unauthorized workers could face prosecution.

That alarms civil rights advocates, who see it as a step down a dangerous path.

“We think that card would quickly spread to other purposes, from voting to gun ownership to travel,” an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer said. “It will really be a permission slip for participation in American life.”

A universal identification card for Americans has long been bandied about, and so far we have resisted. Such a card eventually almost certainly would have personal information imbedded, and Big Brother government would be upon us.

The balance point between government efficiency and personal liberty is difficult to establish, but the American way is for liberty to prevail.

On the Net:

www.parispi.net

April 27

The Mississippi Press, Pascagoula, on April 24 tornados:

When it comes to natural disasters, Mississippians know how to organize, mobilize and sympathize.

That’s why people may be impressed, but should not be surprised, by the overwhelming response to the April 24 twisters that cut a swath through central Mississippi, leaving 10 dead and hundreds of homes destroyed or damaged.

Soon after the tornadoes struck, the Mississippi National Guard moved in to maintain order in the chaos that inevitably follows such tragedies.

Federal and state emergency crews were on the ground conducting surveys of the hardest hit areas in Warren, Yazoo, Holmes, Choctaw and Attala counties.

The surveys are part of the process of soliciting a presidential disaster declaration, which would open the door for more federal money to flow to Mississippi. …

Fittingly, the governor also ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff, in mourning not only for those killed in the twisters, but also for the four Mississippians who died in the oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana.

On the humanitarian front, relief agency spokesmen said aid is pouring into the areas devastated by the bad weather.

Additionally, an army of volunteers has moved in to meet immediate needs, help with the cleanup and offer emotional support.

Officials with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said their phones are “ringing off the hook” with calls from individuals and organizations locally and around the country, all wanting to know how they can help.

As Yogi Berra might say, it’s “deja vu all over again” for coastal residents who endured Hurricane Katrina’s devastation five years ago and who know something about giving and receiving help in the aftermath of a disaster.

May all Mississippians and, indeed, all Americans open their hearts in support of Mother Nature’s newest victims.

On the Net:

blog.gulflive.com

April 23

The Oregonian, Portland, on the importance of small steps to halt climate change:

The problem seemed too big to solve, the state too small to make a difference.

But 35 years ago, Oregon did not let size matter, not its own or the problem’s. Over the protests of a chorus of naysayers, state Sen. Walter F. Brown pushed for the nation’s first ban on chlorofluorocarbons in aerosol spray cans, linked to the dangerous thinning of the protective ozone layer in Earth’s atmosphere.

Ten years later, a frightening hole that opened up above Antarctica would confirm scientists’ worse fears — and the wisdom of Oregon’s move.

Recently, William Moomaw — a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and a lead writer for the International Panel for Climate Change — reminded 200 regional leaders of that environmental heritage. “It’s an amazing success story,” Moomaw said.

Moomaw visited Portland this spring at the invitation of the Metro regional government. He was here to help local officials put their arms around the ferocity and enormity of climate change. …

With climate change, once again, the problem seems staggering, and those struggling to confront it feel overmatched. But as Moomaw observed, many people around the country are looking to Oregon to lead the way.

Because we’ve been there — and done something not unlike this — once before.

The author of the ban, Sen. Brown, now 83, said that the lesson to take away from the ban’s success is that “this is a very, very fragile world.” And repairing what seems irreparable is not beyond Oregon’s capacity.

Not only can one small state make a difference, sometimes one small state can set a process in motion that makes all the difference on Earth.

On the Net:

www.oregonlive.com

April 21

Akron (Ohio) Beacon on the modern origin of roiling anger at government:

Amy Walter of NationalJournal.com offered a timely reminder recently about the roiling anger at government. She noted that the rage sounds much like 2006 — except that this time Republicans, not Democrats, are taking the lead. “Our country has not gotten angrier,” she wrote. “The spirit has just switched sides.”

So, yes, the anger didn’t start with the Barack Obama years, the bailouts, deficits and stimulus package. If anything, the thread goes back much further. …

The Pew Research Center has released a survey showing public confidence in government at its lowest point in a half-century. What is at work? No doubt, the troubled economy and polarization in the political ranks. It also stems from thinking driven most ardently by Ronald Reagan, who deemed government the problem in his first inaugural address. …

With Reagan, the country celebrated the private sector, and accelerated a journey into deregulation, including in the late 1990s (under Bill Clinton) the unleashing of Wall Street. The cycle has been plain to see: Bash government. Push back its presence. Then, when trouble results, blame government again, and push back further, leading to new trouble — and more criticism. Any surprise that three decades later, many people are furious?

On the Net:

www.ohio.com

On the Net:

April 27

San Francisco Chronicle on Arizona’s new immigration law:

By passing the harshest immigration law in the land, Arizona has done the country a favor, in an odd way. It’s removed itself from the list of serious players while reminding Washington to devise workable reforms.

Arizona’s law is a bad blend of demagoguery and impracticality. It instructs police to demand proof of citizenship if there is “reasonable suspicion” that a person is here illegally. In practice, it tells the law to stop and grill anyone who looks Latino.

It’s an over-boiling tea party reaction to a messy, difficult problem. It invites racial profiling, and it’s likely to lose in court since states aren’t permitted to take over the federal job of immigration control, as California voters found out when much of Proposition 187 was struck down.

But in its backward way, Arizona has done the nation a good turn. It has jump-started work on a problem that Washington has kept on the back burner while debating the stimulus bills, health care and financial regulation.

Most tellingly, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, wants to put immigration reform at the top of the action list. It may be a bid for Latino support in his uphill fight for re-election, but it’s also recognition that the toxic issue of xenophobia needs addressing. …

It’s a shame to waste a good crisis, political professionals often say. In this case, the ultras in Arizona have given the nation a perfect opportunity. Congress and the White House should seize the challenge that the Arizona law presents.

On the Net:

www.sfgate.com

April 28

The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, N.Y., on sodium content limits:

One week after the federal Institute of Medicine issued a report advocating mandatory limits for sodium content in processed food and restaurant meals, 16 food processors announced plans to make such reductions voluntarily. It was welcome news and one can only hope the start of a trend that will spread throughout the industry.

Americans have way too much salt in their diet, and in most cases it’s not even their own doing. Moreover, they don’t even know it — until their doctor whistles them for high blood pressure, which can lead to stroke and cardiovascular disease. That’s because food processors and restaurant chefs think it’s the only way consumers will like their food, and when they put the salt in, it’s not always detectable.

While it’s probably true, to some extent, that Americans have gotten used to excessive salt in their food and would protest if it was eliminated all at once, gradual reductions probably wouldn’t even be noticed. That’s the hope of companies like Heinz, which has agreed to remove 15 percent of the sodium from its ketchup starting May 1, for example.

It’s certainly worth a try, because excessive sodium accounts for as many as 150,000 deaths per year in this country and costs as much as $24 billion in health care.

On the Net:

www.dailygazette.com

April 28

Kathimerini, Athens, Greece, on how not to react to the country’s financial problems:

We are experiencing historic and fundamental upheavals and changes in Greece — some of which could prove to be fatal.

And, regrettably, some people appear to have taken a vacation from reality, as they are doing all they can to invite further disaster upon the country.

Almost 1,000 tourists had to spend the night at hotels in the capital on April 26 after striking seamen, backed by the Communist Party-affiliated labor union PAME, blocked the port of Piraeus and prevented them from reboarding their cruise liner.

The company is now considering abandoning its operations in Greece.

Given the current economic situation, the PAME blockade can be seen as a criminal act and this is strikingly clear to the vast majority of Greek people, who are deeply concerned about their life savings, their jobs and the future of their children.

The Greeks have voted in a government they expect to protect them and implement the law. It’s time that it started behaving accordingly.

On the Net:

www.ekathimerini.com

April 26

The Ottawa Citizen on the Icelandic volcano’s transportation and economic effects:

All it takes to strand tens of thousands of people, shut down airlines, and suck $1.7 billion out of the transportation sector alone is a single volcano in a faraway place, in this case Iceland. Yet there is much we don’t know about what happened.

We need to learn more — not about volcanoes (Iceland is on the mid-Atlantic ridge, where two giant plates meet and molten rock is bound to shoot up periodically) but about the danger.

Specifically, the regulatory agency that oversees air travel across Europe shut down flying but with no clear idea of how long planes should remain grounded. When was it safe to fly again? Eurocontrol didn’t know, and still doesn’t.

Airlines were pushing for a speedier return to the skies. Of course, they were hemorrhaging money, and this had to influence their thinking. (NASA engineers who reluctantly cleared Challenger to fly in 1986 could testify how safety sometimes takes a back seat when there’s pressure to launch.)

Still, if the airlines were right that regulators were being too risk-averse, then air travel worth hundreds of millions of dollars was needlessly canceled.

The estimated loss of $1.7 billion doesn’t include losses to businesses on the ground that were affected by travel delays. And individual travelers suffered in ways not reflected by financial loss figures.

The Iceland eruption was not unique. The country’s volcanoes will blow again in the future, with prevailing winds carrying ash over northern Europe.

In 1982, a British Airways jet lost all four engines when it flew through volcanic ash over Indonesia; luckily, the engines restarted at low altitude.

Assessing the threat to airplanes from volcanic ash is a strange task, but an urgent one. The world’s air transport authorities, not Europe’s alone, need to get their engineers on it now.

On the Net:

April 26

The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, on U.S.-Okinawa base problems:

A mass rally was held recently in Okinawa to demand the removal of the Futenma U.S. airfield from the prefecture, or out of the country altogether. According to the organizers, 90,000 people attended.

“To everyone in the country, the Okinawa base problem is not just an Okinawa problem,” Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima thundered at the rally. His message was this: Japan’s national security affects each and every one of us and the issue is directly linked to the existence of U.S. bases in Okinawa. This means that people living outside of Okinawa should think about the burden borne by those residing in the midst of those bases.

Every Japanese citizen benefits from the Japan-U.S. alliance, which is the main pillar in Japan’s security policy. While U.S. bases that support the alliance are dispersed widely — 75 percent of the facilities are concentrated in Okinawa Prefecture.

American logic dictates that if the two countries are to continue monitoring North Korea’s nuclear capability or the Sino-Taiwan situation, then the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to a new site within Okinawa Prefecture would be the rational military move. …

With the end-of-May deadline for a “solution” to the Futenma issue drawing near, the Hatoyama administration shows no sign of having a substantive plan. By rights, the proposal to reduce Okinawa’s burden and share it more equitably over the entire nation, and to search for a possible relocation site outside the prefecture, is not wrong. …

The prime minister should offer the nation an explanation. He should explain what the government has done to try to move the base outside the prefecture and what it discussed with the U.S. about the intersection between our security needs and taking care of citizens living near the base. What does Washington think should be done about Okinawa’s future burden.

Without a proper explanation, the administration’s proposal to have the entire nation share the burden loses all appeal.

On the Net:

www.asahi.com

April 28

The Times, London, on U.S. failures to address climate change:

U.S. President Barack Obama headed for Main Street, Ottumwa, Iowa — the epitome of a small Midwestern town — to explain his policies to ordinary Americans. He feels that he has failed to do that as well as he might in the past 15 hectic months. His aim is to persuade voters not to abandon the Democrats in November’s midterm elections.

But he leaves behind in Washington the wreckage of one of his most important pieces of legislation: a bill to cut the United States’ carbon emissions. It would have been the most significant step to combat climate change that the U.S. has yet taken. Democrats in Congress, nervous of November, have postponed it in favor of an immigration reform bill popular with Hispanics, just as months of painful compromise had come to fruition.

Democrats’ fears of savage losses in November are justified. Obama’s gargantuan struggles to achieve the health care bill did not boost Democratic popularity. Victory helped a bit, but his personal poll ratings remain low, and many Democrats in Congress know that they are likely to be defeated. So nervous political calculation is guiding the choice of bills to go before Congress in the precious six months that remain with a healthy Democratic majority in both Houses. …

There is still hope. If the Democrats get the financial regulation bill to pass (and it is popular, for its curbs on banks), then they may gain enough momentum to revive climate change while pursuing immigration too. But they have relegated to the sidelines a bill of real import for the world. The next six months are Obama’s best chance to achieve that bill, and he must use them.

On the Net:

www.timesonline.co.uk