In the news, Monday, October 29, 2018

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OCT 28      INDEX      OCT 30

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from American Military News

Media/News Company in New York, NY

China orders South China Sea forces to ‘prep for fighting a war’

The latest orders handed down from China’s President Xi Jinping have raised concerns over whether or not the country is planning on going to war. During his visit on Thursday to the southern Guangdong province, Xi said the Southern Theatre Command, which oversees the South China Sea, must focus on preparing for combat and war, Fox News reported Monday.

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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)

RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization

What the Minimum Wage Does to Food Prices (and Job Hiring)

The debate surrounding the minimum wage is fascinating. It’s also complicated—just like most of the economy, business, and humanity. The consequences are likely to be negative, but we can’t say confidently in advance what those negative consequences will be.

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from HumanProgress.org  Education Website

How Access to Education Will Carry on Booming
One of the real markers of our progress in recent decades is the increased length of formal schooling and the amount of time people are spending in educational settings. That was not always so. Throughout human history, most people were illiterate and oblivious to everything except for their immediate surroundings. Not everyone is naturally academic, but most people think that the acquisition of knowledge is preferable to a life of total ignorance – as witnessed by the great lengths that typical parents go to in order to ensure quality education for their kids. Thankfully, formal schooling is increasingly available and obtainable throughout the world

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from Institutional Investor

Church of England, AP7 Press Companies on Climate Change Policies
Four major European institutional investors are urging corporations like BP, Volkswagen, and Nestle to review their climate change lobbying policies. The Church of England Pensions Board, Sweden’s national pension fund AP7, Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM), and Dutch asset manager Robeco, which together represent $2 trillion in assets, have sent letters to 55 companies urging them to complete a review of their lobbying policies.

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from Patheos

[Information from this site may be questionable.]

Aslan Is Not a Tame Lion: The Serious Mistake of Casual Worship
One of the things I find most disturbing about contemporary Christian worship is that we go about it like the Divine is completely familiar and pedestrian. And in many cases, this is by design.

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from Reason Magazine

Magazine in Los Angeles, California

Trump's Rhetoric Is Divisive, Contemptible, Un-Presidential. It's Also Not Responsible for the Synagogue Shooting.
Killers are responsible for their actions and the leap from rhetoric to action, along with all the blood they shed, is on their hands alone. Yes, Trump should watch his mouth (and his tweets), but "it's particularly disturbing for journalists to conflate words with deeds and to impute motivation from the texts and ideas that evildoers consume."

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

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from ViaMedia.News

Brexit, Sex & Science: Can We Challenge “Fake News”?

I was listening to an American political commentator on the radio the other day, who was saying that the divisions between two political sides in the USA were getting worse. Neither side is listening to the other; families and friends are divided; each side listens to what it wants to hear. He’d convened focus groups of differing views where within ten seconds people were taking sides, and within five minutes were shouting at each other. ‘Everyone wants to be heard’, he said, ‘but no one is listening.’ On Saturday 20th October there was a big march in London calling for a People’s Vote on Brexit. Three days later I sat at my breakfast table in London listening to the chanting of supporters of Tommy Robinson at the Old Bailey. Two sides, two views, and who is working to reconcile them and to listen to the other? Who will include the excluded, on either side? And what really is the truth?

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from The Wall Street Journal

Bob Menendez vs. Roy Moore
He may be corrupt, but liberals rally to re-elect their man in New Jersey. Rank-and-file Democrats can show they’re a moral match for Alabama Republicans if they decide to vote for Mr. Hugin or stay home. Otherwise, spare us the lectures about the moral consequences of Donald Trump.

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