‘Few signs suggest that riders are coming back’
‘The death of Bay Area public transportation’
The Washington Post editorial board
It “looks like the Bay Area Rapid Transit system is headed for a financial death spiral,” says The Washington Post editorial board. Public transit use is “down across the country, but most other systems are closer to pre-pandemic levels. The Bay Area, however, is filled with technology firms that offer generous work-from-home policies.” BART “has been treated more like a jobs program for transit workers than a way for people to get around.”
‘Trump’s era normalizes Washington sex scandals’
Juan Williams at The Hill
The “tide of sex scandals in Washington is now beyond tabloid gossip,” says Juan Williams. These scandals “point to a raft of powerful people who put personal desire ahead of good government.” They “would reach beyond the tabloids to dominate all news coverage of official Washington in any other era of American politics.” But in the “Trump administration, it is background noise to the regular news reports on the Justice Department’s defiance and slow-walking the opening of files on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.”
‘Oscars should focus on best pictures, not celebrity politics’
Clay Routledge and Paul Anleitner at USA Today
The “rejection of celebrity lectures shouldn’t obscure the fact that Hollywood has an important societal role to play,” say Clay Routledge and Paul Anleitner. Americans “don’t want to be lectured to by wealthy entertainers who seem disconnected from their everyday struggles. Celebrity activism is more likely to polarize than persuade.” This “doesn’t mean that Hollywood’s only role is entertainment, however. Films can inspire us in ways that no acceptance speech ever could,” because “humans are ‘storied creatures.’”
‘It is time to recognize menopause as a workplace issue’
Lara Bertola, Akanksha Jalan and Belinda Steffan at Le Monde
As many executives are “approaching or over 50, the fact that many are experiencing menopause is still largely overlooked,” say Lara Bertola, Akanksha Jalan and Belinda Steffan. Are “senior women executives somehow immune to hot flashes, sleepless nights, and the resulting fatigue?” The “lives of women executives are thrown into upheaval by the hormonal changes they undergo.” This is a “burden affecting all women at this stage of life, who face both specific, unrecognized challenges and often unsympathetic attitudes.”