‘Spain sees itself not as a continental outlier but as a trendsetter’
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
‘Why Spain is standing up to Donald Trump’
Ishaan Tharoor at The New Yorker
Spain has “denied the U.S. access to its military bases for operations linked to Iran,” and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez “seemed to revel in the clash,” says Ishaan Tharoor. Sánchez’s “criticism of the war has set him up as a conspicuous foil to Trump” and Spain’s “stand is a matter of principle, consistency and adherence to the importance of international law.” The nation “has a distinctly different relationship with the United States than countries such as Britain, France and Germany do.”
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‘The real reason why people are losing trust in universities’
Elizabeth Bradley at USA Today
The “recent and widely discussed Yale report on the loss of public trust in higher education offers a sophisticated reflection” but the “study — and the broader national discourse it represents — suffers from a significant case of tunnel vision,” says Elizabeth Bradley. By “centering the debate on the selective few, we are effectively ignoring the heart of the trust problem.” The media “attention on higher education too often focuses on a critique of the most selective institutions.”
‘Remote work made life easier. It also made us rusty.’
Renée Loth at The Boston Globe
Supporters of a “return to office — mostly business interests, of course — cite improved productivity,” but “another argument for dragging ourselves back to the office gets far less attention: the need to reboot the workplace social skills that have atrophied,” says Renée Loth. The “office is a petri dish of human interaction,” and the “grit, wisdom and compassion it takes to thrive in an office environment are virtues that protect and enrich experiences throughout a whole lifetime.”
‘Trump’s “weird war” on wind power will jeopardize our energy future and cost Americans billions’
Michael Hiltzik at the Los Angeles Times
Donald Trump’s “weird war against wind is full-blown,” and on “some level, this crusade resembles Trump’s misguided effort to revive the American coal industry,” says Michael Hiltzik. Trump is “waging an explicitly partisan and ideological battle,” and his “anti-wind program is part of his campaign to dismantle U.S. renewables policy because of its roots in the Biden administration.” What’s “especially wasteful about Trump’s crusade against wind power is that it’s almost certain to be time-limited.”
