Author Archives: Andrea

“Tillerson is gone – the first Cabinet secretary ever to be fired by tweet”

The New Yorker: Rex Tillerson Gets Fired the Day After He Criticized Russia. By John Cassidy.

““There is never a justification for this type of attack – the attempted murder of a private citizen on the soil of a sovereign nation – and we are outraged that Russia appears to have again engaged in such behavior,“ Tillerson’s statement said. “From Ukraine to Syria – and now the UK – Russia continues to be an irresponsible force of instability in the world, acting with open disregard for the sovereignty of other states and the life of their citizens. We agree that those responsible – both those who committed the crime and those who ordered it – must face appropriately serious consequences. We stand in solidarity with our Allies in the United Kingdom and will continue to coordinate closely our responses.“

This was arguably the strongest condemnation of Russian behavior that the Trump Administration has ever issued. And it turned out to be one of Tillerson’s final official acts as Secretary of State. At 8:44 A.M. on Tuesday, Donald Trump announced Tillerson’s firing on Twitter. “Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State,“ Trump wrote. “

Link via Garret.

Think of the heart muscle as a rubber band […] put it in a drawer for 20 years and it will emerge dry and brittle.

NPR shots: Hearts Get ‘Younger,’ Even At Middle Age, With Exercise.

“Eventually it happens to everyone. As we age, even if we’re healthy, the heart becomes less flexible, more stiff and just isn’t as efficient in processing oxygen as it used to be. In most people the first signs show up in the 50s or early 60s. And among people who don’t exercise, the underlying changes can start even sooner.

“The heart gets smaller — stiffer,” says Dr. Ben Levine, a sports cardiologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, in Dallas.
[…]
Fortunately for those in midlife, Levine is finding that even if you haven’t been an avid exerciser, getting in shape now may head off that decline and help restore your aging heart. He and his colleagues published their recent findings in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation.”

“Mr Trump has given away the prize of a summit without getting anything in return”

The Economist: Proceed with caution: Donald Trump’s gift for Kim Jong Un.. “A premature summit will do more for the North Korean leader than for America’s president.”

“Mr Trump no doubt believes that it is his toughness alone that has brought Mr Kim to the negotiating table and that, once there, his unique force of personality and his genius for the deal will bully and coax Mr Kim into giving up his nukes.

In fact hell will freeze over before Mr Kim voluntarily surrenders a capability that his father and grandfather believed would be the ultimate guarantor of their dynasty’s survival and which has taken decades and huge sacrifices to construct.

[…]

The risk, however, is that an inadequately prepared summit between these leaders will fall into one of two traps. The first is that Mr Kim succeeds in charming the impetuous and inexperienced Mr Trump to such an extent that he makes foolish concessions that his opposite number has no intention of earning. The second is that, if it dawns on Mr Trump that he has been played by Mr Kim and made to look naive, he may react like a jilted, misled suitor. The motto for talks with North Korea should be “proceed with caution“ . A premature summit, by contrast, is an ill-considered roll of the dice.”

“Zu wenig Zeit für zu viele Aufgaben und zu viel Bürokratie”

Die Zeit: Schulleiter beklagen zunehmende Verwaltungsaufgaben. “Jeder dritte Rektor hat mit unbesetzten Stellen zu kämpfen. Bürokratie, Inklusion und Integration von Flüchtlingen belasten laut einer Studie die Schulen zusätzlich.”

“Im Mittel bewerteten die Schulleiter die Schulpolitik ihres eigenen Bundeslandes mit der Note 3,8. Jeder fünfte Schulleiter in Deutschland beurteilt die Schulpolitik als mangelhaft oder sogar mit der Note 6.

Etwa 36 Prozent der deutschen Schulleiter gaben an, an der eigenen Schule akut mit Lehrermangel und unbesetzten Stellen zu kämpfen – an Gymnasien allerdings nur 25 Prozent.”