BRITAIN

BRITAIN

The Times, London, Nov. 26: That the search for a poet laureate to replace Andrew Motion, which began yesterday, now unfolds in the quiet margins of national life might have shocked earlier generations.

Throughout history we have measured out our lives in poetry; from Petrarch and Byron to Baudelaire. Poets were once as famous as Paris Hilton is today. John Betjeman was spotted as often on a TV chat-show sofa as at a poetry recital. Learning skeins of verse was once part of every schoolchild’s educational Grand Tour, along with memorizing multiplication tables and pi.

Cenotaph parade

At the annual Cenotaph parade, the glue that binds the nation as Britain reflects upon the war dead is the recital of the poet Laurence Binyon’s lines, “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.” If you doubt the power of poetry to lend grace to public events, then recall the sight, at John Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961, of Robert Frost reciting his The Gift Outright.

Motion, the first Poet Laureate to take the job for a fixed term rather than for life, has not always been f ™ted for the verse he has written to mark royal events. But he has been a busy and admirable champion of poetry by, for instance, enthusing students on school visits. This, rather than the antique role of composing verse for royalty, should become the meat of the laureate’s role. It is a job that still has miles to go before it sleeps.

ESTONIA

Paevaleht, Tallinn, Nov. 22: It was only in July that the price of “black gold” was quoted — at 147 dollars a barrel — three times higher than today. The fall in oil price has to do, first and foremost, with market reactions to lower growth pace of the world economy.

While the fall in oil price is undoubtedly cheerfully welcomed by consumers, one should keep in mind that the absurdly steep rise in oil price during the first half of the year is the main engine that has driven inflation.

Oil price decline

Also, there is a fear that the fall in oil price could be bad news for the environment as many consumers may now reconsider plans to dispose their car — something that was seen by many as a sensible move when oil price was at its peak.

Higher world market prices for commodities such as oil is often used as a justification for hiking prices for local products and services. But when world market prices fall, it seems this reduction is rarely transferred to local prices in, say, cab rides or bus travel.

NORWAY

Bergens Tidende, Bergen, Nov. 26: When the financial system collapses, the consequences are so visible that authorities must act. When the education system collapses, it is less visible but just as important. ... UNESCO, the U.N.’s education, research and culture agency, ... describes a situation in which millions of children live in poverty without the education that could give them a better life.

Political indifference

The U.N. set a millennium goal of ensuring that all children have elementary education by 2015. The goal will not be reached. UNESCO points to political indifference, poor school policies in many countries and broken promises from donor countries.

In 2005, the rich part of the world promised to increase aid to education by $50 billion within five years. The promises are not being kept, and now the rich countries have to earmark large sums to counter the financial crisis.

So why is there such a lack of imagination when it comes to fighting the “education depression” to use terminology now in the vogue?