Hard hitting global and local news
See the original article here: What Catholic opinion on the death penalty tells you about the encyclical’s future effect
View the original here: Part II: The Etzioni Project Finds a Home
Alexis Tsipras politely blasted the alleged German " generosity " in a letter to the German newspaper Handelsblatt. (See Alexis Tsipras "Open Letter" to German Citizens Regarding Extend-and-Pretend Unserviceable Debt ). I happen to agree with that letter in entirety, even though I strong disagree with other Syriza positions.
More: Obama Considers Airstrikes or Humanitarian Air Drops in Iraq
Tweet For the bunnies pleasure: The Christian Science Monitor on Farmer’s Insurance suing a number of midwestern towns for not preparing for climate change leading to insurance losses from flooding. Paul Krugman Friday on the Point of No Return , which, with respect to the West Antarctic Ice Sheet many have already been passed. The comments at the Times and elsewhere, have already moved to the fifth stage of denial, there is nothing we can do, so why bother doing anything. Big error, there may be little or nothing that can be done about that particular ice sheet collapsing, but there is more out there, and continuing on today’s course will lead to us passing more and more nasty points of no return.Â
View article: U.S. Going to Kill Syrians to Show Syria that Killing Syrians is Wrong
Link: A Bleak Look at the West’s Vision for Syria
Germany approved the Cyprus bailout on Thursday as expected. However, Merkel required votes from the SPD and Green Party, to do so. One might not understand the implications when reading the Wall Street Journal report Germany Approves Cyprus Bailout .
James Fallows thinks about the ten year anniversary of the Iraq invasion. He says he’d like to hear from the liberal war hawks and what they’ve learned. I don’t quite fit that category – not always a liberal for one thing, and was undecided rather than a supporter of the war.
Looking for evidence of rebalancing in Europe? Don’t look here: German 2012 trade surplus soars despite weak December reports Germany’s trade surplus was the second highest in more than 60 years in 2012, pointing to an underlying resilience in Europe’s largest economy, although both imports and exports disappointed in the last month of the year