This week in OtherWords, Peter Certo likens the situation in Syria to a “landmine” and Jim Hightower celebrates a campaign that wants extreme weather events named after the politicians who refuse to recognize or do anything about man-made climate change.

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1. The Off-the-Cuff Breakthrough on Syria / Peter Certo
   Moscow has no more interest than Washington in escalating this war.
2. A Trumped-Up War on Welfare / Bob Lord
   One way the top 1 percent is trying to ease concerns about inequality is pretending that our safety net is too generous to the bottom 1 percent.
3. The Russian-American Beat Must Go On / John Isaacs
   Snowden’s asylum and Russia’s abysmal LGBT policies shouldn’t get in the way of sensible bilateral nuclear disarmament efforts.
4. Confessions of a Repentant War of 1812 Reenactor / Arnold Oliver
   War is an ugly business, and should be remembered that way.
5. The Legacy of 9/11 / Donald Kaul
   Twelve years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks we’re no safer but more of a police state.
6. Danger Ahead: Our Disappearing Pensions / Sam Pizzigati
   The vaunted 401(k) revolution has left few Americans with a nest egg.
7. The USDA’s Reckless Plan / Jill Richardson
   The government intends to spread a failed pilot program that decreased food safety to every hog plant in the nation.
8. Naming the Names behind Extreme Weather / Jim Hightower
   How about making scientifically challenged politicians accountable for their inaction on climate change?
9. Haiti’s Hard Place / Emily Schwartz Greco and William A. Collins
   Foreign-funded mining operations may not be enough to alleviate the scourges of cholera, displaced people, and corrupt leaders.
10. Weather Extremists / Khalil Bendib
    

    Weather Extremists, an OtherWords cartoon by Khalil Bendib

Emily Schwartz Greco is the managing editor of OtherWords, a non-profit national editorial service run by the Institute for Policy Studies. OtherWords.org