(CNN) -- Weighing in next on the skinny-model debate is The New York Times,
which says that "if fashion models were purebred dogs instead of
underfed women, there would be an outcry over the abusive standards for
appearing in shows and photo shoots."
"It's doubtful that models
will be in dressing rooms bulking up with cheeseburgers or anything
more caloric than watercress to 'make weight,' like prizefighters and
amateur wrestlers. But ending the parade of the starved and sickly
seems like a fashion trend worth following."
The NYT also has
some words for British PM Tony Blair: "his luster has faded, a victim
of too many years in the spotlight and too many egregious
misrepresentations over Iraq."
"[Blair] not only pushed his own
Labor Party into the 21st century, but spurred the opposition
Conservatives to revitalize themselves as well. Their new leader, David
Cameron, strikingly resembles the early Tony Blair nimble,
persuasive, telegenic and popular. But those words no longer describe
the prime minister himself ... It is time for Mr. Blair to move on,
preferably before the end of this year."
Chavez and the Devil
The Boston Globe launched a scathing report on Chavez's comments at the U.N. this week.
"The
Bush Administration deserves to be criticized for many of its foreign
policies, but Hugo Chavez is not the one to do it. By his intemperate
and foolish remarks at the United Nations Wednesday and his continuing
support for authoritarian regimes, the Venezuelan president has
forfeited his claim to leadership in world affairs."
"Were Chavez
really concerned with the oppressed of the world, he would not consort
with Kim Jong Il and Bashir Assad, who have continued their fathers'
repressive regimes in North Korea and Syria. Nor would he have created
an informal alliance with antidemocratic Iran, or extended a lifeline
to Fidel Castro in Cuba, or visited Iraq in 2000 to support Saddam
Hussein. If the United States opposes a dictator, Chávez backs him."
India's Hindustan Times preferred to focus on Chavez's "wicked sense of humor."
"Mr.
Chavez continued his colorful rhetoric by mentioning how 'it still
smells of sulphur today.' This was the United Nations, not the sets of
The Exorcist or the ninth circle of Hell. But the delegates got the
point: Mr Bush won't be invited to the Chavez family's Christmas dinner
in a hurry. This sort of high Manichaenism is an entertaining throwback
to the days when Ronald Reagan was calling the Soviet Union 'the Evil
Empire' and when 'Great Satan' (Shaytan Bozorg) was the Ayatollah
Khomeini's term of endearment for the United States. Mr. Chavez hopes
to use his clearly impressive stand-up skills to fill the vacuum if and
when his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad decides to vote
Republican."
Fast Car
After Wednesday's high-speed jet-car accident which critically injured BBC TV presenter Richard Hammond, The Guardian questions the social or scientific purpose behind building cars to travel faster than the statutory limit.
"In
the 21st century, with the world's supply of oil running out and
Britain's road-space disappearing, how could anyone possibly justify
the need to drive a car -- any sort of a car, in any circumstances --
at more than 300 mph?
"Human beings love the sensation of speed,
and no doubt Hammond was experiencing the most enormous thrill in the
moments before he lost control of his jet-car. But there are other ways
to experience speed without encouraging the continued existence of a
culture that is now not only obsolete but positively dangerous."
Food for thought
And
if you thought cars guzzled a lot of oil, The Sun reports that kids
"are 'eating' an average of five liters of cooking oil a year from
crisps."
Worse, the one in five children surveyed who who eat two packs a day, "consume nine liters" of oil a year.
