'Is it OK to be happy when the world is falling apart?'

'When adults can't make ends meet, kids pay the price'

Matt Helmer at The Hill

As "kids pack their backpacks for the school year, too many will carry more than school supplies — they'll carry the weight of the economic stress of their parents and the adults around them," says Matt Helmer. We "cannot ignore the economic pressures facing the adults whom children depend on." Jobs that "offer stability, fair pay and dignity are not just important for workers — they are essential for children's success and for building a future where all kids can thrive."

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'Is it OK to be happy when the world is falling apart?'

Avram Alpert at The Guardian

Is it "cruel to be happy when there is so much destruction? Or is it simply foolish to tie one's mental health to this unpredictable and often violent world?" says Avram Alpert. The "idea that we should feel the pain of others is deeply etched." It is "reasonable and moral to think that when others are being injured, you, too, should feel that injury." To "say this is not to cave into normalization and acceptance of our current political situation."

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'Why Trump's death penalty threat is dangerous to all of us'

Anita Chabria at the Los Angeles Times

President Donald Trump said "federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., should seek the death penalty for murders committed in the capital," but his "pronouncement is about much more than deterring killings," says Anita Chabria. Trump "seems intent on creating a new federal arrest and detention system outside of existing norms, aimed at everyday citizens and controlled by his whims." The "death penalty is part of it, but stomping on civil rights is at the heart of it."

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'Great Lakes ghost ships emerge, courtesy of the quagga mussel'

Patti Waldmeir at the Financial Times

North America's "Great Lakes are the largest surface body of freshwater on earth, and they are also among the world's most dangerous waters," says Patti Waldmeir. At "least 6,000 wrecks lurk in their deep cold waters, haunting underwater museums of America's industrial past and of the ship-borne immigrants who settled the Midwest." But "technology and lake bed shifts driven by climate change are aiding discoveries by local boaters, fishermen, sport divers and underwater archaeologists."

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