'Trump's authoritarian manipulation of language'

'The Viennese paradox: Urban superstar and right-wing whipping boy'

Lee Hockstader at The Washington Post

Vienna is an "enviable success story," but the "Viennese paradox is that the city has been seized on by antimigrant forces who paint it as a polyglot pariah," says Lee Hockstader. "'Othering' multicultural cities is a familiar page from the populist playbook," but the "difference is that those cities, like many major U.S. metropolises, struggle with real dysfunction." Vienna's "problems are trivial by comparison." But Vienna's "integration project has run up against Austria's daunting obstacles to naturalization."

Read more

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

'Crypto renaissance means it's time to protect banks'

Bloomberg editorial board

With the "price of digital assets testing the boundaries of plausibility, and Congress promising legislation to boost the industry further, now might be a good time for bank regulators to take notice," says the Bloomberg editorial board. Before the "traditional banking system gets further intertwined with the blockchain-based economy, regulators should make some prudent adjustments." When it "comes to the risks posed by this chaotic industry, no one should assume that this time is different."

Read more

'Trump's authoritarian manipulation of language'

Renée Graham at The Boston Globe

Some people "couldn't help but notice how quickly a president casually using profanity has become normalized," says Renée Graham. Donald Trump's "public use of profanity without apology or repercussions points to how he has upended language over his decade in the political spotlight — a hallmark of authoritarianism." When "Trump swears, he isn't just coarsening language. It becomes yet another way of torching the decorum once expected of presidents." Authoritarianism "leaves its stain on everything, including language."

Read more

'There is still only one way out for Israel and Iran'

Hillel Schenker at The Nation

The "only way to end the possibility that the Iranians will decide to go nuclear" is "by a negotiated agreement with Iran," says Hillel Schenker. The "deal would have to include clear and verifiable inspection elements, as well as a commitment from both sides to stop threatening each other's existence." If "that is not achieved, the danger is that the Iranians may choose the North Korean option and rapidly race toward the completion of nuclear weapons."

Read more