Thursday, April 12, 2018

In the news, Monday, March 26, 2018


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MAR 25      INDEX      MAR 27
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Information from some sites may not be reliable, or may not be vetted.
Some sources may require subscription.

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from Activist Post
[Information from this site may not be reliable.]

Before US Troops Protected Poppies In Afghanistan, There was No Opioid Epidemic in America
The Afghanistan War is the longest in United States history, and despite initial claims that the goal of the invasion was to keep Americans safe by destroying the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the result has been a massive increase in opium production that has fueled an on-going opioid crisis in the United States and ensnared more than 2.5 million Americans in heroin addiction.

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from Competitive Enterprise Institute
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS

Dropbox IPO Shows Tech Upstarts Still Have It
The long-awaited initial public offering (IPO) by Dropbox, Inc. was a success, shares soared about 40% in the debut. The pop also tells us a lot about how newbie technology companies can succeed and earn their rightful place in the world of big tech. What is most interesting is that Dropbox is succeeding despite intense competition from the tech giants. Drobox offers people the ability to store their electronic files in the cloud so they can be accessed – and shared – anywhere. The ability to share documents also makes the application a useful collaboration tool. According to one count, Dropbox has 500 million users, hosts 400 billion files, and features 100,000 new shares every hour.

Cracking Down on Automated Vehicles Would Mean More Death and Destruction
Dramatic responses to tragic events rarely yield sound public policy. Politicians and regulators need to understand that rashly enacted, poorly informed regulation aimed at mitigating one risk could mean amplifying other, often existing risks that claim many more victims every year. Instead of overreacting to tragedy, as is their tendency, politicians and regulators should continue their largely hands-off approach to automated vehicle regulation. Road testing is the best way to continue improving the performance of automated driving systems, as closed-track testing and virtual simulations cannot substitute for the complex messiness of real-life traffic. Throughout that process, engineers will have the time and information to write technical standards to better inform any future regulatory changes. But cutting off or greatly curtailing automated vehicle road testing would only forestall the radical safety improvements that can help end much of the death and destruction that occur on America’s roadways due to driver error.

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from Conciliar Post

A BRAVE NEW POST-SECULAR WORLD
Countless modern institutions tacitly assume that man is ultimately reducible to homo economicus: at bottom, everyone is a value-maximizing, rational actor oriented toward their own material well-being. This assumption not only anchors political discourse on both sides of the aisle, but increasingly underpins our educational system: one goes to college to get a job, after all. But is this assumption sound?

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from Conservative Intelligence Briefing

Developing: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Pushes To Legalize Hemp
In a decision cheered by free market conservatives, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has announced his support of a bill to legalize hemp products. McConnell says hemp plays an important role in Kentucky’s future. The bill has long been supported by fellow Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

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from The Hill
LEFT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED, newspaper in Washington, D.C.

McConnell bill would legalize hemp as agricultural product
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced a new bill on Monday that would legalize hemp as an agricultural product. The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 would legalize hemp, removing it from the federal list of controlled substances and allowing it to be sold as an agricultural commodity.

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from Hoover Institution
Nonprofit Organization in Stanford, California

Failed Wartime Leaders Have A Short Shelf Life In Democracies
“I have often before now been convinced that democracy is incapable of empire.” So one ancient Athenian politician complained when his countrymen rejected his advice during the Peloponnesian War. “Democracy is acknowledged folly,” said another Athenian politician, after his career took a nosedive. Sour grapes, sure, but not unusual. Today democracy still has plenty of critics. Pundits criticize democracy for its turbulence and corruption, while praising authoritarian governments for their efficiency and ability to think big. Yet one thing all these critics miss is that democracies do an excellent job of throwing out leaders whose policies fail, especially when it comes to war.

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from HumanProgress.org
Education Website

Explaining Our Miraculous Flourishing
Humankind's progress has happened in spite of, not thanks to, our evolutionary tendencies.
There is no God in Jonah Goldberg’s new book, Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy. But the book nonetheless revolves around a miracle. “The Miracle” is the shorthand Goldberg, a bestselling author, syndicated columnist, senior editor at National Review and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, uses to describe the escape of our species from the depths of ignorance, poverty and every-day conflict to the heights of scientific achievement, material abundance and relative peace. Homo sapiens are between 200,000 and 300,000 years old. The modern world, with all the conveniences that we take for granted, is merely 250 years old. For the first 99.9% of our time on earth, progress was painfully slow. Then everything suddenly changed.

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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

Getting There: Historic bridge on Trent soon to be removed
After 108 years, the historic East Olive Avenue Bridge is a goner. Built in 1910, it’s an early example of a bridge with steel-enforced concrete arches. It was constructed by the city and the Inland Empire Railway, which ran streetcars over the bridge for nearly 30 years. It was raised over the Spokane River when the city was hurriedly replacing its wooden and steel truss bridges, giving the town a modern appearance and the unofficial moniker City of Bridges.

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from Sputnik
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED, Broadcasting & Media Production Company out of Moscow, Russia

300 Million Suffer From Hepatitis B – 1 in 20 Treated – Lancet
The infectious disease primarily affects the liver and complications to the disease can cause liver death or liver cancer. According to figures revealed in the latest edition of the The Lancet Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, at least 300 million people worldwide are infected with the Hepatitis B virus while only five percent, or one in twenty sufferers are receiving needed medical care.

US, UK Want to 'Keep Barrier Between Russia and Rest of Europe' - Scholar
The US has recently announced the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats in solidarity with the UK over the Skripal case. Sputnik discussed the issue with Dragana Trifkovic, head of the Belgrade-based Center for Geostrategic Studies. The US is responsible for encouraging hysteria against Russia, and the UK "has proved to be a reliable partner in that," political analyst Trifkovic believes.

Germany Seeks 'Stricter' Facebook Control Amid Data Leak
The Berlin government believes that Facebook's affirmation that it has the grip on the situation is insufficient and additional measures should be taken. Germany's Justice Minister Katarina Barley said on Monday that Facebook needs "stricter" supervision and should increase transparency toward its users amid the recent big data leak scandal.

'The American Empire is on Its Way Down' - Foundation Director
Russia's independence on the world scene, as well as the strengthening of its economic and defense spheres, is seen as aggression against NATO countries and needs to be neutralized. This is what numerous reports by the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence regularly state. Sputnik discussed relations between Russia and the West with Dr. Jan Oberg, the director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research.

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from WCVB Channel 5 Boston
TV Channel

There has been an exciting breakthrough in the science of aging. In a new study, Boston researchers say they have reversed aging in mice and that discovery could set the stage for similar results in humans. Dr. David Sinclair has spent his entire career focused on aging and now believes he's discovered a way to stay younger for longer. "We're absolutely talking about increasing the quality of life - preventing cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's," Sinclair said. It starts with a molecule called NAD which humans need to live. As we age, the level of NAD in our cells drops, leading to DNA damage and the diseases of aging.

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from 3 Quarks Daily
Society & Culture Website

The fallacy fallacy is a good way to appreciate the Owl of Minerva Problem. The fallacy fallacy occurs when one starts seeing fallacies everywhere.

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