Editorial roundup

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

___

July 9

The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C., on the National Hurricane Center:

A bureaucratic turf war is roiling Miami's National Hurricane Center at the worst possible time _ the heart of the hurricane season.

... The center's mercurial director, Bill Proenza, seems the likely candidate for bad guy. But he could actually be the hero.

Proenza's predecessor, readers will recall, was Max Mayfield, whose calm demeanor and air of authority inspired public confidence in the work of the Hurricane Center and the accuracy of its forecasts. Proenza, who replaced Mayfield in January, seems to delight in raising public doubts about the center's ability to give coastal residents the information they need to survive bad storms. ...

So _ is Proenza a histrionic attention-seeking bureaucrat or a courageous whistle-blower? Are his rebellious employees indulging in a classic bureaucratic cover-up or is the Hurricane Center's storm-forecasting prowess truly undiminished?

We're siding with center staffers _ for now. But it's possible that wishful thinking played a role in making this call. We'll know come October, when storm season is mostly ended, whether our confidence in the center's senior employees was well-placed.

___

On the Net:

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/

___

July 9

Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal, on Chinese imports:

The expanding list of problem goods in recent months indicates an urgent need to strengthen the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's inspection capabilities. Just as important, the scares raised by Chinese food imports point to a basic need to cultivate multiple supply sources, thus reducing undue dependence on any one source. ...

Unchecked, the escalating safety issues promise to undermine consumer confidence in imported foods, an expanding sector of the economy. ...

In the past few months, American consumers have heard enough about melamine-tainted animal feed, contaminated seafood and cancer-causing chemicals on fruits and vegetables from China to know tougher measures must be taken to ensure the ingredients in their food are safe for consumption. For the FDA to meet that expectation, it must have more inspectors immediately. It also needs the authority, similar to that of the Department of Agriculture, to deny foreign exporters access to the U.S. market until they prove they meet safety standards.

___

On the Net:

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/editorial/17466983.htm

___

July 8

The Record, Bergen County, N.J., on maintaining the graves of Declaration of Independence signers:

In December 1776, a few months after the Hopewell farmer John Hart signed the Declaration of Independence, Hessians sacked his farm and the 63-year-old went into hiding in the cold Hunterdon County woods. He died less than three years later, too early to know how the war or the American experiment would turn out. We who do should recognize his contribution.

... Hart's grave and those of four other signers _ Abraham Clark, George Clymer, Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon _ lie within the state's borders, offering opportunities for reflection on our national heritage and principles. These historic places may not be quite as exciting as the pyrotechnics of a few days ago, but they should at least be well marked and maintained.

However, some of these sites lack appropriate markers or bear plaques that have themselves become historical, with faded letters and limited information. A bill that would dedicate $200,000 to the task of maintaining the graves of the signers has failed to make it out of the state Legislature for three years. ...

In our minds, this cause ranks above many others that somehow got a piece of the state budget that the governor signed last month. ...

___

On the Net:

http://www.northjersey.com

___

July 7

Chicago Tribune on the Bible in schools:

Knowledge of the Bible is an important component of cultural literacy. ...

Yet many people, particularly young people, have little or no working knowledge about the Bible. So it makes great sense to teach the Bible in schools as history and literature. That goes as well for public schools, as long as its teaching doesn't push a religious agenda.

That very distinction is getting a test these days in Odessa, Texas. Eight parents have sued seeking to stop the Ector County School Board from teaching a Bible curriculum developed by a North Carolina-based group called the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools. The lawsuit is likely to have impact outside the county. The National Council says its curriculum has been adopted by 395 school districts around the country. ...

Mark Chancey, a professor of biblical studies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, did a study of the curriculum in 2005. He found that the National Council promotes a fundamentalist Protestant interpretation of the Bible that often ignores the differing beliefs and practices of Catholics, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Christians and mainline Protestants.

... The National Council is not the only option school districts have. A competing curriculum offered by the Bible Literacy Project, a nonprofit group, has been vetted, accepted and praised by a wide range of scholars, critics and education officials. ...

The folks at the National Council are right on one count: The Bible should be taught in public schools. But they shouldn't be the ones to do it.

___

On the Net:

http://www.chicagotribune.com.

___

July 8

The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J., on the 1967 Newark riots:

Watts is the name most quickly associated with the racial turbulence of the 1960s. The 1967 riot in Detroit claimed the most victims, 43 dead, during a time when one social conflagration after another rolled through urban America, including a succession of New Jersey cities.

Yet was any other place marked as indelibly as Newark was by six lethal days in July 1967? ...

In Newark _ with 26 dead, scores injured and traumatized, $10 million in property damage and blocks of devastation in the heart of the city's 24 compact square miles _ the violence was close, the losses were personal, the damage concentrated and inescapable, the scars slow to heal.

This month Newark will observe the 40th anniversary of what is alternately called riot, rebellion, revolution, civil disturbance _ a list that illustrates the different points of view that existed then and even now. ...

What people fear about Newark now, both those who live in Newark and those who do not, has less to do with what happened 40 years ago than with the drug-related crime and gun violence that happen today on its streets. Unfortunately, the list of other problems that must be solved _ jobs, education, health care _ is all too similar to the list that existed in 1967. When will Newark find solutions? ...

___

On the Net:

http://www.nj.com

___

July 9

Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal, on immigration:

Let's get this straight: The problem involves more than 12 million illegal acts, the safety of our borders, the basic protection of workers, questions of family unity, concerns about the erosion of the English language and the impact on our social service systems, just to hit the highlights.

Congress' response? Let's do nothing.

That, essentially, is what happened recently when the U.S. Senate rejected the latest attempt to get a sweeping immigration bill passed this year.

Remarkable. The nay-sayers haven't scored a victory. They have, once again, put off dealing with an issue that, poll after poll, has shown is one of the top concerns of most Americans. ...

To be sure, few people were happy with all aspects of the bill. ... But there are practical concerns here as well; the government isn't about to round up, lock up and try to hold deportation hearings for more than 12 million people. Moreover, the proposed law wasn't going to make the path to citizenship particularly easy for illegals. ...

With Bush's presidency winding down and with the 2008 presidential election on the horizon, supporters will have a hard time reviving such a contentious bill in the next few years. Detractors didn't win. They simply gave one of the nation's most complicated problems more time to get worse.

___

On the Net:

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com

___

July 10

St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner:

American manufacturing got a needed pick-me-up with the debut of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. In its public introduction Sunday as the antithesis of current passenger jets _ this one is comfortable and fuel-efficient _ the Dreamliner was an immediate hit. Boeing already has orders for more than 600 of the new model, due to fly later this year, making it the most successful rollout in commercial aviation history. ...

The Dreamliner shows the way for domestic manufacturing in a global economy. A diagram of the airplane's major parts looks like a butcher shop chart of the cuts of meat. The 787's two-piece forward fuselage is made in Kansas and Japan, its center fuselage in Italy and its aft fuselage in South Carolina. Its engines are from England, while the wing parts come from South Korea, Japan and Australia. Final assembly will occur at the Boeing plant near Seattle.

Yes, that means many of the manufacturing jobs are outside the United States, but that also makes the 787 affordable to build and more appealing to foreign airlines. This comeback against Boeing's European rival Airbus exemplifies America's top competitive advantage: innovation. ...

__

On the Net: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/10/Opinion/Boeing(underscore)gives(underscore )a(underscore)lift(underscore)t.shtml

___

July 9:

Kokomo (Ind.) Tribune, on the Live Earth festival:

If you were among the estimated 2 billion worldwide who tuned in to the global music festival Live Earth, then you likely heard the phrase "carbon offset." It's a way of reducing greenhouse gases, or carbon emissions.

Former Vice President and global-warming town crier Al Gore told The Associated Press that Live Earth would be "the greenest event of its kind, ever."

Electricity at the concert venues were powered by renewable sources. Recycling bins were everywhere. Hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles were used to transport music acts when possible.

Still, the greenest event of its kind? One hundred fifty acts playing in a 24-hour event from Australia to England? Just how many barrels of oil were used to spread the word of global warming?

Western nations and their citizens must be more conscious of fuel and power consumption. But we don't need conservation dissertations from rock stars, who will have to plant forests each to offset their jet-setting, high-consumption lifestyles. Their message gets lost in hypocrisy.

___

On the Net:

http://www.ktonline.com

___

July 9

Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo, on Asian economies:

Ten years have passed since the Asian currency crisis in 1997, a regional financial meltdown triggered by the crash of the Thai baht. Has the world learned the lessons from the harrowing experience?

In Asia, developing countries, like Vietnam, have yet to start opening their financial markets. Emerging countries in Latin America, the Middle East and other areas could also become "ground zero" of a new international financial crisis.

And China's emergence as a major economic power poses a new risk.

China's foreign exchange reserves have ballooned to $1.2 trillion. In a campaign to promote exports, the Chinese government has been selling a huge amount of the yuan to buy dollars to prevent the currency's appreciation. This currency intervention has generated an excessive money supply at home, resulting in bubbles in the stock and property markets.

If these bubbles burst, China could plunge into a serious financial system crisis as Japan once did. The consequences for the global financial markets could be devastating.

Asia's emerging countries are expected to serve as the main growth engine for the world economy. But they face many policy challenges that demand urgent actions.

___

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

___

July 11

The Independent, London, on Kosovo's independence:

Kosovo's moment of truth is approaching. The plan for supervised independence for the province, unveiled in April by the United Nations envoy Martti Ahtisaari, is due to come before the Security Council. Under the proposals, Kosovo and Serbia would be given four months to negotiate an agreement on the province's future. If there is no deal, the provisions would take effect anyway. Kosovo would have independence under international supervision and, eventually, full autonomy.

Independence for Kosovo is clearly justified. There is a strong moral argument in favor. Kosovo's majority Albanian population was treated abominably when under the control of Serbia in the 1990s. And the campaign of ethnic cleansing unleashed in 1999 by the Serbian president, Slobodan Milosevic, destroyed Belgrade's legitimacy in the region.

There is a practical justification, too. After years of patience, some leaders of Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanian leaders threaten to declare unilateral independence unless they see a real prospect of autonomy within a year. There has been an ominous upsurge in violent incidents since Ahtisaari unveiled his plan.

As the U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, warned yesterday, further delay would have disastrous consequences for the Balkans. Another outbreak of hostilities could wreck the progress of the past eight years. And the longer the delay, the more risky the situation becomes.

___

On the Net:

http://comment.independent.co.uk/

___

July 8

The Age, Melbourne, Australia, on political leaders in Britain and France:

Here's an odd thing: the new political leaders in Britain and France (Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy, respectively) are attempting to transcend party politics and appoint ministers from outside their own party machines or their circle of cronies. Their rationale is simple, perhaps brilliant; let's appoint the best person for the job instead of some party hack.

Brown has tried to attract Lord Paddy Ashdown, the former leader of Britain's third party, the Liberal Democrats, to the post of Northern Ireland secretary and sounded out the former head of the Metropolitan Police force, Lord Stevens, reportedly to join the outer ministry. Lord Stevens, though officially unaligned, is considered to the right of British Labour. Ashdown did not succumb to courtship, and Stevens has only agreed to advise the new PM (prime minister) on security, but that's not really the point. The point is, Brown tried.

... But in trying to be a tad inclusive and recognize talent irrespective of political color Brown is perhaps sowing the seeds of a modest revolution and pointing to a bigger, far more important issue: voters in mature democracies, especially the mass of "floaters" who decide elections, are increasingly tired of political posturing, point scoring and posing. ...

___

On the Net:

http://www.theage.com.au/

___

July 10

The Hindustan Times, New Delhi, on the Pakistan's Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) incident:

Once the dust has settled on the violent Lal Masjid episode, many will argue that Pakistan's Gen. Pervez Musharraf could have handled things differently. ...

There is unlikely to be any major public outpouring of sympathy for those who have dug themselves into the premises of the Lal Masjid for, by all standards, they are considered the lunatic fringe even among the fundamentalists. The army action suggests that at last Pakistan means business in tackling terrorism. The general also had to act under Beijing's pressure after a few Chinese were taken hostage. ...

If the army keeps up the pressure, it could turn the tide against fundamentalism. It is clear that the same militant groups that are creating unrest in Pakistan are the ones carrying out attacks on Indian soil. This is the ideal time for both nations to step up cooperation on the anti-terror mechanism. There is much more at stake for Pakistan in such a move. Pakistan is at a crossroads today. If it turns the right way, it could shake off its "failed state" tag.

___

On the Net:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/