Commentary

According to Russian diplomats, Syrian leader Bashar Assad's regime agreed "in principle" to attend an international peace conference. Paresh Nath finds Russia's role as broker hypocritical, while Osama Hajjaj sees no honest brokers in the Syrian conflict.

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High school seniors in Moore, Okla., will hold commencement ceremonies Saturday, despite the death and destruction wreaked by this week's tornado. Scott Simon asks two Oklahoma writers to offer advice to the graduating classes.

Transcript

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May 24, 2013 To understand the origin of traits, you need, in effect, to look at how we think and feel about the traits we have. What we are is fixed, in part, by us. That was one of the thoughts prompted by commentator Alva Noë's arrival in Istanbul this week.

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May 24, 2013 President Obama announced changes in how the U.S. will deal with enemies in custody and in the field. John Cole thinks the continued use of Guantanamo is hardly better than America's drone program, while Schot sees the attack in London as a new kind of terrorism that requires new kinds of responses.

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May 24, 2013 Lois Lerner, who oversees tax exempt organization operations at the IRS, invoked her Fifth Amendment rights in refusing to testify before Congress this week. Jeff Parker has no qualms about the treatment IRS officials have received, while Nick Anderson thinks Lerner owes Americans an explanation.

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May 23, 2013 Two of America's most imaginative businesses are getting mixed reviews. Ed Hall thinks Apple should use its creativity on something more customer-friendly than tax loopholes, while Dave Fitzsimmons is less than thrilled by the privacy implications of Google Glass.

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