Looking for answers: five of the best in current commentary

1. How to prevent more Times Square bombers? End Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

From the Baltimore Sun: "What makes Pakistan so uniquely conducive to extremism? ... Pakistan proudly prosecutes its own people for a crime that exists in few countries: blasphemy.... Once this root cause is removed, a long-term solution of strengthening religious freedom through legislation and establishing a robust educational infrastructure will have a chance to work."

2. Improving schools requires giving them simple grades like an "F."

From the Indianapolis Star: "Why assign grades -- from A to F -- to schools? Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett says it's about promoting transparency by creating an easy to understand system of evaluation.... Current evaluations rely too heavily on educational jargon."

3. Post-earthquake Haiti needs a quake-proof election.

From The New York Times: "If fair elections can be held in Iraq, amid war, terrorism and ethnic feuds, they can be held in Haiti. The last thing Haiti needs is to lay a political catastrophe atop the natural one."

4. The best way to remove dams and restore rivers is by political consensus.

From the Oregonian: "The dams are being taken down with broad-based political support built carefully over the years by the patient, persistent leadership of the conservation group Waterwatch."

5. Press freedom in Middle East will require a trusting culture.

From The Guardian: "True press freedom in the Middle East cannot occur in a vacuum. In addition to wide-ranging political reform, the region needs to overcome its endemic culture of paranoia and distrust."