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from Church Times
Newspaper in London, United Kingdom
Richard Giles, John Sadler, and Robert Warren call for a radical rethink of the work of a parish priest. How things will look for the Church when we emerge from this experience will depend on what we do now. Is mere survival our aim, or are we excited by the surprising things that we discover as we strive to be true to our vocation in dramatically changed circumstances? Being prevented from “going to church” might liberate us from our habitual routines to “become church” all over again — or, perhaps, for the very first time. Such rejuvenation may help to release us, at last, from the prison of our church building, which, for many, have become shrines to the past which not only soak up energy and resources, but also perpetuate concepts of division and hierarchy harmful to a mature understanding of who we are.
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from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization
Just a few closures of meat packing plants are putting the entire meat industry on the brink of collapse. A congressman who also raises cattle sounded the alarm for years that burdensome regulations needed to go. Now will Congress act in time? Representative Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) is gaining bipartisan support for his PRIME Act, which stands for Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act. The bill has been sitting in the House and the Senate for nearly a year, meaning it could be fast tracked to President Donald Trump if the political will is there. The legislation lifts restrictions on over 1,000 mom-and-pop meat processing plants that aren’t allowed to supply restaurants, schools, hotels, and the like. Yes, you read that right. The American people are dependent on a few big businesses that enjoy great advantages thanks to regulation.
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from Hoover Institution
Nonprofit Organization in Stanford, California
“Reunification is a historical inevitability of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” declared Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office in May, promoting the idea that Taiwan will be absorbed into the People’s Republic of China. ... “Ambiguity” pervades America’s approach to Taiwan. Today, Washington’s policy is said to be one of “strategic ambiguity,” in other words, not telling either Beijing or Taipei what the U.S. will do. The idea is that America should keep Chinese aggressors guessing as to whether it will defend the island republic. The policy, despite lacking needed clarity, has obviously worked until now.
On 12 May, New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters stated that his nation will support Taiwan’s inclusion in the World Health Assembly at the organization’s meeting the following week. The Assembly governs the World Health Organization, the international body tasked with fighting pandemics like COVID-19. China has excluded Taiwan from the WHA since 2017, after participating in sessions as an observer since 2009. Today, Taiwan has conducted one of the world’s most effective COVID-19 containment campaigns, limiting cases to under 500, and deaths to just seven. Taiwan’s experience would be invaluable in fighting the pandemic in other contexts—it has boosted production of PPE and sanitizer by leveraging indigenous private industry and developed a broadly non-invasive tracking system that has isolated exposed individuals. Any balanced evaluation of the facts would result in Taiwanese admission to the WHA to leverage its lessons and apply them globally.
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RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED
Minneapolis Riots Are a Reminder that Police Don't Protect You or Your Property
Looting and arson have followed what began as peaceful protests in response to the apparent killing of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin, a now-former member of the Minneapolis Police Department. But whatever was the spark that set off the current round of rioting in the Twin Cities area, it is clear that most property owners and residents will have to fend for themselves where riots have taken place. In other words, any unfortunate shopkeeper or resident who finds himself in the path of the rioters ought to just assume that police won't be around to provide any protection from the mob.
NOTES ON TRUMP'S EXECUTIVE ORDER FOR TECH COMPANIES
Donald Trump's executive order issued earlier this week purports to prevent online censorship by effectively instructing federal agencies to reinterpret the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA). In particular, Trump has a well-founded complaint with the infamous section 230 of the CDA, which grants tech companies a certain level of immunity from various civil lawsuits, including defamation lawsuits. By doing so, section 230 not only attempts to preempt state law to the contrary—federal preemption is almost always bad— but also creates a class of actors that enjoys the status of a neutral platform or common carrier but exercises editorial discretion.
Three Ways Lockdowns Are Costing Human Lives
The conversation about the lockdowns when the COVID-19 crisis started was centered on saving lives at the cost of the economy. This makes sense, since many of those making decisions were epidemiologists and we cannot expect them to fully understand the lockdowns' impact on the economy and human lives. The problem is that even many economists argued the same thing and completely ignored the harm that the lockdowns would create. These economists have fallen prey to what Frédéric Bastiat called the “unseen” consequences of a policy. Frédéric Bastiat argued that an “act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate; it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause—it is seen. The others unfold in succession—they are not seen: it is well for us, if they are foreseen.” Applied to lockdowns this means that it is easier to see the deaths caused by COVID-19 than to see the deaths caused by lockdowns.
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
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from Stars and Stripes
Poland hit by wave of fake news before start of major military exercise with US
Poland was hit with a barrage of fake news stories this week, including a phony interview with a U.S. commander ridiculing allied militaries, days before a major NATO exercise kicks off in the country, Polish officials said. “The attack coincided with the beginning of the next phase of (the) Defender Europe-20 military exercise hosted by Poland,” Polish government spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn said in a lengthy statement Thursday, in which he blamed Moscow.
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from Stars and Stripes
Poland hit by wave of fake news before start of major military exercise with US
Poland was hit with a barrage of fake news stories this week, including a phony interview with a U.S. commander ridiculing allied militaries, days before a major NATO exercise kicks off in the country, Polish officials said. “The attack coincided with the beginning of the next phase of (the) Defender Europe-20 military exercise hosted by Poland,” Polish government spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn said in a lengthy statement Thursday, in which he blamed Moscow.
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from The Tyee
Online news magazine in Vancouver, BC
Pandemic Further Strains BC’s Fragile Heritage Sites
Managers of historical buildings and towns say they’re barely staying afloat.
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Pandemic Further Strains BC’s Fragile Heritage Sites
Managers of historical buildings and towns say they’re barely staying afloat.
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