Tag Archives: Opinion

The New York Times – Saturday, January 18, 2025

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Supreme Court Backs Law Requiring TikTok to Be Sold or Banned

The company argued that the law, citing potential Chinese threats to the nation’s security, violated its First Amendment rights and those of its 170 million users.

Israeli Government Approves Cease-Fire Deal for Gaza

The full Israeli cabinet passed the agreement during a meeting that continued into the Jewish Sabbath, setting up the first reprieve in Gaza in over a year.

How Biden’s Inner Circle Protected a Faltering President

“Your biggest issue is the perception of age,” Mike Donilon, the president’s longtime strategist, told him in 2022, according to people who heard him.

Kennedy Sought to Stop Covid Vaccinations 6 Months After Rollout

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. petitioned the F.D.A. to revoke authorization of the shots at a time when they were in high demand and considered life-saving.

News: Israel’s Cabinet Approves Gaza Ceasefire Deal, Tik Tok Ban Upheld

MONOCLE RADIO (January 17, 2025): We discuss the aftermath of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Then: Tiktok’s parent company Bytdance, has until Sunday to sell the social media platform to a US company, Austrian far-right lawmakers win defamation case against a newspaper and a new hotel opens in an iconic department-store building. Plus: we check in at Maison et Objet in Paris.

The New York Times —- Friday, January 17, 2025

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Israeli Vote on Cease-Fire Is Delayed as Diplomats Work on Details

Even though negotiators for Israel and Hamas reached a provisional deal for a truce starting Sunday, they continued to discuss outstanding issues through mediators.

Trump Is Said to Consider Executive Order to Circumvent TikTok Ban

The move is under discussion as the Chinese-owned app faces a Sunday deadline to find a new buyer or shut down in the United States.

United by Disaster, L.A. Mourns, and Hopes, Together

More than a week after the wildfires ignited, the hazy numbness described by many looks a lot like grieving.

Cancer’s New Face: Younger and Female

Although long considered a disease of aging, certain cancers are turning up more often in younger women, according to a new report.

The New Statesman – January 17, 2025 Preview

THE NEW STATESMAN MAGAZINE (January 16, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The Disruptors’ – Elon Musk, Donald Trump and the hostile takeover of America…

Elon Musk’s hostile takeover

Inside the mind of the billionaire at the heart of American power. By Quinn Slobodian

The question of childlessness

With the fertility rate falling across the West, there is much more affecting parents’ decisions than the economy. By Madeleine Davies

Letter from Los Angeles: My city is burning

The fires ripping through LA show that, here, beauty and danger are two sides of a coin. By Sanjiv Bhattacharya

The Economist Magazine – January 18, 2025 Preview

THE ECONOMIST MAGAZINE (January 16, 2025): The latest issue features ‘The Trump Doctrine’ – America’s new foreign policy…

Donald Trump will upend 80 years of American foreign policy

A superpower’s approach to the world is about to be turned on its head

Much of the damage from the LA fires could have been averted

The lesson of the tragedy is that better incentives will keep people safe

Rising bond yields should spur governments to go for growth

The bond sell-off may partly reflect America’s productivity boom

The Guardian Weekly – January 17, 2025 Preview

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THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY (January 16, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Facing Facts’ – Facebook, Trump and the war on truth…

More than 3 billion people worldwide log on to Meta’s apps every day, the sort of reach most aspiring global megalomaniacs can only dream of. It’s also one of the main reasons why the decision by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta – the company behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads – to scrap its third-party factcheckers in the US is so significant.

That Zuckerberg, who has been under huge pressure from US president-elect Donald Trump, made the decision is hardly surprising. But it should be another worrying moment for anyone who is concerned about the survival of objective truth.

Spotlight | The devastation of Los Angeles
Gabrielle Canon reports from Pacific Palisades, where the traumatised and displaced have been picking over the wildfire-ruined remains of beloved homes and communities

Feature | Caroline Darian interview
The daughter of Dominique and Gisèle Pelicot is coming to terms with being the child of both victim and perpetrator in the biggest rape trial in French history. Angelique Chrisafis hears her story

Feature | The deadliest beings on the planet
Microscopic bacteriophages are everywhere – it’s estimated that they can infect and destroy between 20% and 40% of all microbes every day. But some scientists believe phages can help in the f ight against superbugs. By Jackson Ryan

Opinion | We forget Sudan at our peril
Almost two years into a civil war, Sudan is facing anarchy, famine, genocide – and ambivalence from the rest of the world, writes Nesrine Malik

Culture | By a thread – the art of Doris Salcedo
The Colombian artist Doris Salcedo transforms collective grief into art, confronting the scars of conflict and displacement with delicate yet powerful creations. Tim Adams spoke to her

News: Israel Delays Vote On Gaza Ceasefire, South Korea President Arrested

MONOCLE RADIO (Janaury 16, 2025): Benjamin Netanyahu stops the Israeli cabinet from meeting to approve the ceasefire deal, a rise in drug trafficking in Ecuador destabilises state institutions and the economy, and Mark Carney is expected to announce his candidacy to replace Justin Trudeau as leader of Canada’s Liberal Party. Then: we check in at Paris Design Week and Maison et Objet. Plus: ‘The Global Countdown’ from South Africa.

The New York Times —- Thursday, January 16, 2025

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Negotiators Agree to Long-Awaited Cease-Fire and Hostage Deal for Gaza

The agreement, which must still be approved by the Israeli cabinet, incited joy in the Gaza Strip and Israel, even as some feared that it could fall apart.

How the Cease-Fire Push Brought Together Biden and Trump’s Teams

Rarely have representatives of current and new presidents of different parties worked together at such a high-stakes moment. But the president and the president-elect didn’t quite share credit.

F.D.A. Bans Red Dye 3 in Foods, Linking It to Cancer in Rats

Consumer and food safety groups have long urged the agency to revoke the use of this dye and others. The F.D.A. says studies have shown that it causes cancer in rats, but not in humans.

Shattered in the Fire: A Historic Black Haven

For Black residents, Altadena represented something more than suburban living. It was a foothold in generational prosperity.

London Review Of Books – January 23, 2025 Preview

LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS (Janaury 15, 2025): The latest issue features ‘Reagan’s Make-Believe’….

Reagan’s Make Believe

Reagan: His Life and Legend 
by Max Boot.

That Shape Am I

Patricia Lockwood

On Mysticism: The Experience of Ecstasy 
by Simon Critchley.

T.J. Clark: A Brief Guide to Trump and the Spectacle

Matt Foot: Short Cuts

Jackson Lears: Reagan’s Make-Believe

Nicole Flattery: Candy Says

Brian Dillon: At the Whitechapel

Jonathan Parry: Snobs, Swots and Hacks

Stefan Collini: Karl Polanyi’s Predictions

Commentary Magazine – February 2025 Issue

Commentary Magazine – A Jewish magazine of politics, high culture, cultural  and literary criticism, American and Israeli campaigns and elections, and  world affairs.

COMMENTARY MAGAZINE (January 15, 2025): The latest issue features ‘A Clockwork Blue’ – How the left has come to excuse away and embrace political violence….

A Clockwork Blue: How the Left Has Come to Excuse Away and Embrace Political Violence

by Noah Rothman

Democrats displayed more depression than anger in the weeks following Donald Trump’s 2024 victory. Alas, partisans on the progressive left and their camp followers among conventional liberals could avoid succumbing to nihilism for only so long. An occasion to indulge their negative passions came along soon after the election in an act of cold-blooded murder on a predawn December morning in midtown Manhattan.

Media Don’t Matter

by John Podhoretz

The Tradwife Dilemma

by Christine Rosen

The American Exception

by Matthew Continetti