Editorial roundup

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

July 2

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, on poison ivy and global warming:

Got an itch to do something about global warming? You may soon.

Recent studies suggest that rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are promoting leafier, more prolific, faster-growing _ and itchier _ poison ivy than ever before. And that could be killing off more trees in the forest, and causing more itches for more of us, than ever before. ...

Last year, a six-year experiment at Duke University that involved piping CO2 levels predicted for the middle of this century into a forest test bed yielded 149 percent faster-growing poison ivy. The leafy toxin grew four times faster than trees exposed to the higher carbon dioxide level _ so fast that scientists think the woody vine could alter the composition of forests around the globe by choking off trees. Worst of all, this poison ivy of the future was suffused with far more potent urushiol, the oily substance that makes four out of five of us itch.

Now, there's a rash of bad news.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/23e34g

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June 29

(Warren, Ohio) Tribune-Chronicle, on civil rights-era cold cases:

Among the most disturbing chapters in American history is that involving racist violence, primarily in southern states. But that chapter is not closed _ because some of the perpetrators of that violence never were punished.

Two weeks ago the House of Representatives approved a bill that would establish a new task force of federal prosecutors and investigators to look into unsolved murders from the civil rights era. In addition, the bill includes $2 million a year in grants for local law enforcement agencies to do the same work.

From time to time, law enforcement officials do crack old murder cases involving racists and their organizations. There is little doubt, however, that more resources devoted to the work would help the justice system catch up to even more of those responsible for such killings.

At least 100 cases will be reviewed under the new program, according to the government. That may mean justice for scores of people who were slaughtered simply because of the color of their skin _ or because they enlisted in the fight against racism.

Members of the Senate should approve their version of the House bill as soon as possible. For too many, justice has been delayed. It should not be disregarded.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/3ysjad

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July 2

Northeast (Tupelo) Mississippi Daily Journal, on immigration impasse:

Illegal immigrants continue pouring northward across the U.S.-Mexico border, and the congressional impasse on an immigration reform bill supported by President Bush does nothing to remedy the problem. ...

The problem is bipartisan, decades in the making, and only a bipartisan solution will begin the steps necessary to bring it under control. ...

Critics who say immigration law enforcement has been broken for a long time are right. How else would a total of 12 million illegals come to live in our country? ...

The best honest outcome would be for bipartisan leadership in the White House and on Capitol Hill to agree before the 2008 election on a workable plan, honestly admitting past failures stretching over four administrations since the last major reform: Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush. Shared failure, not shared success across the past 21 years.

Much can happen if political will develops and sets itself to make it happen.

For now, there are no winners.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/2bc5ln

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July 3

The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel, on voluntary segregation in schools:

In 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that students could not be assigned to public schools solely because of their race. Last week, a deeply divided high court ruled, 5 to 4, that this is still the case.

However, the social context has changed dramatically over the intervening 53 years. Then, the racial criterion was a tool to keep black and white students apart. Now, school districts, often pursuant to court orders, assign on the basis of race to ensure that black and white students attend school together. ...

Whether last week's ruling is a step backward will be seen in a new context.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court's swing vote, concurred skeptically, almost reluctantly writing that, if the majority opinion is taken as permission for school districts to ignore de facto resegregation and if the opinion "suggests the Constitution mandates that state and local school authorities must accept the status quo of racial isolation in schools, it is, in my view, profoundly mistaken."

It is of profound importance to a diverse nation committed to equality of opportunity that Kennedy's views serve as a point of oversight.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/yomvj9

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July 3

Press of Atlantic City (N.J.), on a Beach Haven Terrace resident's wind turbine:

Well, this dispute was bound to come up.

And the answer, alas, is not simply blowing in the wind.

Michael Mercurio has installed a wind turbine on a 34-foot pole behind his house in Beach Haven Terrace. He did it for all the obvious reasons _ to generate his own electricity, to save money, to help save the planet from global warming. ...

Well, not so fast. Mercurio's neighbors are suing him over the wind turbine, and Long Beach Township is considering an ordinance, tabled at the moment, to ban the construction of such windmills. Both the lawsuit and the proposed ordinance are a first in New Jersey, according to Michael L. Pisauro, Mercurio's attorney, who also works with the New Jersey Environmental Lobby.

The neighbors' lawsuit says that Mercurio's wind turbine is noisy, projects strobe-light-like shadows onto their home, attracts gawkers and has caused them stress-related medical issues. ...

If you ask us, backyard windmills are a wonderful idea. Certainly, Long Beach Township should immediately drop the proposal to ban all but decorative windmills in the township. The nation does not need more decorative windmills _ it needs more real windmills, perhaps exactly like Mercurio's. ...

It's not inconceivable that the placement of a particular windmill could cause real problems for neighbors. But if the only problem anti-windmill neighbors really have is a severe case of NIMBY syndrome, they are fighting a battle they deserve to lose.

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On the Net:

http://www.pressofac.com

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July 3

The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal, on President Bush:

When President Bush felt the need last week to give a speech on Iraq, his handlers arranged a gig at the Naval War College in Rhode Island.

That's no surprise. The White House certainly knows the reception he could receive from an unscreened American audience. But reporters traveling with the President noted that this military gathering, while respectful, didn't seem enthusiastic.

Maybe that's because people in the military dislike lies as much as civilians do.

And when Mr. Bush said that al-Qaida is "the main enemy" in Iraq, he surely knew that his top intelligence analysts have said that's not true. They, like most military commanders, have said the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites is the main cause of violence. ...

Certainly, al-Qaida is now a problem in Iraq. But it isn't the biggest problem, and it isn't the key to achieving stability. Americans count on their presidents to understand, not misrepresent, the big picture.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/yoa8m9

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July 1

The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier, on an upcoming smoking ban in prisons:

The South Carolina Department of Corrections should reconsider its plans to halt tobacco use in the state prison system. The potential health benefits don't outweigh the other problems that the ban could cause. ...

Tobacco use provides a mild sedative to prison inmates who face a broad range of stressful circumstances on a daily basis. Unlike prison employees, who also will be banned from using tobacco, they don't have the option to partake off prison grounds.

Department of Corrections spokesman Josh Gelinas tells us that Director Jon Ozmint recognizes the potential problems and believes they are outweighed by the potential health benefits. ...

A better idea would be to jettison the tobacco ban before it starts.

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On the Net:

http://www.charleston.net/editorial/

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July 3

The News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.), on school dropout rates:

A new study shows North Carolina to have a huge dropout problem that it has neglected. In a globally competitive economy, such carelessness with human capital can't be defended. ...

The study makes four major recommendations: 1) Do research to learn how many are dropping out, who they are and why they leave. 2) Consider making attendance compulsory through age 18. States that have done so have lower dropout rates. 3) Admit curricula designed for the college-bound are irrelevant to many. Create alternatives using service learning, internships, apprenticeships and the like that turn out employable graduates. 4) Have DPI re-evaluate its dropout programs and ask each system to propose local ways to address the issue. ...

We pay lip service to leaving no child behind, but when up to 30 percent don't finish high school we aren't really serious about the issue. Yet it is undeniably a problem for all of us. These young people ought to fuel our economic future. Instead, they are at risk of becoming a cost to taxpayers and a sorrow to themselves.

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On the Net:

http://tinyurl.com/yrm3g5

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Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, Japan, on the former defense minister's atomic bomb comment:

More than 200,000 lives perished in the atomic bomb attacks against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Many people are still suffering from the aftereffects of radiation.

In a shocking display of insensitivity, Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said Saturday that the use of the atomic bombs "could not be helped."

Accepting the past use of nuclear weapons as something inevitable means tolerating the use of nuclear arms in the future if necessary. Such view makes a total mockery of Japan's postwar campaign to push the world toward the elimination of all nuclear weapons.

Japan's diplomatic attempt to make the atrocities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki known to the rest of the world has often been criticized by the United States and other Asian nations. These countries say Japan had it coming because Japan started the war. They also argue that the atomic bombs finally brought an end to the brutal war.

There is no easy solution to this dispute. But Japan's position should be that the indiscriminate killings of innocent and defenseless Japanese civilians are still unpardonable, even though Japan started the war and caused huge damage to many other countries.

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On the Net:

http://www.asahi.com/english/

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July 3

Corriere della Sera, Milan, Italy, on NATO strikes in Afghanistan:

When it comes to war, it is impossible to completely avoid what is called "collateral damage", and a conflict without civilian victims has never existed. But if the rhythm of the "accidents" keeps accelerating, as is happening in Afghanistan, and if the number of deaths goes beyond humanitarian and political acceptable boundaries, the problem changes. An alliance of democracies that wants to bring order and democracy, cannot calmly accept hundreds of innocent deaths. Its own nature, the credibility of its values ... and the effectiveness of a mission which asks the population to distance itself from the Taliban are at stake. Therefore, the strategy of some of the NATO contingents (firstly, the U.S. air force) is in need of change.

It is perfectly believable that guerrilla groups methodically use civilians as "shields" against air incursions. To neutralize this tactic in the restive provinces of the south, one would need to increase ground forces, so as to make the imprecise ... air raids less necessary. Would it be possible to do so? The answer is no _ and NATO knows it well. The alliance has already struggled to obtain the minimum amount of ground troops it needed, but in Brussels, everyone knows that it will be nearly impossible (to get more).

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On the Net:

http://www.repubblica.it

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July 4

Jyllands-Posten, Arhus, Denmark, on President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin:

The outcome of the Kennebunkport meeting must be described as modest.

The best result is that the political climate between the bygone enemies has not deteriorated, but no clear message was given that Russia will support sanctions against Iran.

Before his large audience at home, Putin emerged as a statesman that enjoys respect at the White House.

For President Bush, the outcome has limited itself to underline that he has the responsibility for the United States' strategic foreign policy but because of his disastrous action in Iraq, he does not have the same clout his predecessors had.

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On the Net

http://jp.dk/