‘How public media cuts hurt kids’
Naomi Bethune at The American Prospect
Ending public broadcast “funding would fulfill a yearslong promise by President Donald Trump,” but “PBS and thousands of local radio and television stations have also been swept up in this tirade, putting at risk essential educational programming for rural America,” says Naomi Bethune. Public media “can fill in the gaps when it comes to ensuring that all children have access to educational opportunities.” This is “beyond valuable to families in areas where state funding for education is not prioritized.”
‘From dependence to dominance — how to secure a permanent American magnet future’
Wade Senti at Newsweek
America’s “reliance on China for sourcing permanent magnets creates a vulnerability so significant that it threatens our national security and economy,” says Wade Senti. We “must initiate an America First critical technologies and manufacturing strategy that catapults knowledge, technologies, and capabilities to build an industrial base that is unlike and not found anywhere else.” Every “citizen, patriot, and elective official can positively impact the revitalization of a permanent magnet industry and supply chain in the United States.”
‘Russia is losing its grip on the Caucasus — an opportunity for the US’
Joseph Epstein at The Hill
Armenia and Azerbaijan are “setting clear boundaries — and America has a historic opening to help them,” says Joseph Epstein. Open “defiance from both countries would have been unimaginable just five years ago.” By “using such a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy to keep Azerbaijan and Armenia within its sphere of influence, Russia caused resentment in both.” The U.S. “should carefully seek to support both partners without aggravating tensions.” The “key would be to contrast itself with Russia.”
‘Congress must protect the lifeblood of medical progress’
Mark Anderson at the Chicago Tribune
Caring for the “sickest patients with the most difficult conditions” is at the “heart of what academic medical centers do,” says Mark Anderson. But it’s “easy to miss how tightly these missions are connected and how dependent they are on robust, sustained federal funding.” Patients “will suffer if America slashes support for medical research — and there is no private-sector solution waiting in the wings.” Federal “support for medical research has made a remarkable, positive impact on patients’ lives.”
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
