Time for my weekly Current-Events Write-Up, in which I link to news and opinion pieces and comment on them.
The Middle East
Townhall: ‘Middle East Conflict’ Describes More Than Just Israeli-Palestinian Dispute, by Jonah Goldberg.
This part interested me: “Republican State Department veteran Elliott
Abrams (recently denied a job as the No. 2 guy at the State Department
because he had criticized Trump during the campaign) writes in the
Weekly Standard that the Trump administration may be going for an
‘outside-in’ strategy rather than an ‘inside-out’ one: ‘Instead of using
an Israeli-Palestinian deal to improve Israel’s relations with the Arab
states, use Israel’s relations with the Arab states to advance an
Israeli-Palestinian peace deal,’ Abrams writes. One reason to follow
this approach, Abrams notes, is that the Palestinians don’t have much to
offer Israel. But good relations (which have been improving) with her
Arab neighbors and a more united front against terrorism and Iran is
perhaps the core of Israel’s national interest.”
Townhall: The Three-Headed Hydra of the Middle East, by Victor Davis Hanson.
Hanson is often associated with the neo-cons, whereas I lean more in
the non-interventionist direction when it comes to foreign policy (not
that I am Hanson’s intellectual peer, by a long shot). That said, I
thought this was an intelligent article. Hanson explored various
options that the U.S. could take concerning Russia, Syria, ISIS, and
Iran, discussing positives and negatives.
Neil Gorsuch
FactCheck.org: Neil Gorsuch Didn’t Start Fascism Club.
Just to get that out of the way!
Betsy DeVos
Yahoo News: What Betsy DeVos Will Mean for My Autistic Son, by Nish Weiseth.
Weiseth critiques DeVos’ commitment to vouchers and argues that she
is ignorant about government law regarding disabled students in public
schools.
Townhall: Interview of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, by Cal Thomas.
Conservative columnist Cal Thomas interviews Education Secretary
Betsy DeVos. She talks about such issues as school choice,
decentralization, and students with disabilities. A lot of what she
says is vague conservative cheerleading. Some of her comments are
substantive, though.
Energy
ThinkProgress:
Energy experts give Trump the hard truth: You can’t bring coal back:
Coal wasn’t killed by a political “war” — cheap renewables and fracked
gas were the culprits, by Dr. Joe Romm.
The title says it all. Coal is already on its way out, due to renewables and natural gas.