In the news, Saturday, May 23, 2020

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MAY 22      INDEX      MAY 24

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from BBC News (UK)

Berlin WW2 bombing survivor Saturn the alligator dies in Moscow Zoo
An alligator who survived World War Two in Berlin and was rumoured - wrongly - to have belonged to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler has died in Moscow Zoo. "Yesterday morning, our Mississippi alligator Saturn died of old age. He was about 84 years old - an extremely respectable age," the zoo said. Saturn was gifted to Berlin Zoo in 1936 soon after he was born in the US. He escaped the zoo being bombed in 1943. British soldiers found him three years later and gave him to the Soviet Union.

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from CNBC

TV Network in Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Why scientists are changing their minds and disagreeing during the coronavirus pandemic

The changing recommendations during the Covid-19 pandemic on things such as whether to wear face masks has confused the public and caused them to lose faith in science. But changing your mind based on new evidence is a badge of honor in the scientific community. The situation is complicated by the fact that pre-print research is often being debated in public on social media, instead of behind closed doors.

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from The Guardian (UK)

LEFT-CENTER, HIGH, British daily newspaper published in London UK

The English towers and landmarks that inspired Tolkien's hobbit sagas
Book identifies middle England sources for sites of key scenes from Middle-earth books
Readers of The Lord of the Rings must surely imagine lifting their eyes in terror before Saruman’s dark tower, known as Orthanc. Over the years, many admirers of the Middle-earth sagas have guessed at the inspiration for this and other striking features of the landscape created by JRR Tolkien. Now an extensive new study of the author’s work is to reveal the likely sources of key scenes. The idea for Saruman’s nightmarish tower, argues leading Tolkien expert John Garth, was prompted by Faringdon Folly in Berkshire.

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from HumanProgress.org

Education Website

The Rousseauian Myth of a Passenger Pigeon

The tragedy of the Passenger Pigeon is an environmentalist staple. The pigeon was an “emblem of bounty” provided by nature – but its downfall, alleges the science author and journalist Charles Mann, was the result of man’s “squandering of that bounty.” The Passenger Pigeon makes for a good story: a colorful bird, previously existing in unheard-of abundance, fell prey to profit-seeking colonialists, their dirty industries and disregard for nature. This story is mistaken – or at least incomplete.

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from iFIBER One News

Broadcasting & Media Production Company in Ephrata, WA

Grant County approved to move to Phase 2 of state's reopening plan
Grant County, along with six other counties, were approved Saturday to move to Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s “Safe Start plan.” The other six counties approved on Saturday include Cowlitz, Island, Jefferson, Mason, Pacific and San Juan, according to the state Coronavirus Response Joint Information Center.

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from New York Post
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED,  Newspaper in New York

Carranza resumes anti-bias workshops remotely, citing anti-Asian bigotry

NYC schools Chancellor Richard Carranza is resuming implicit-bias training remotely for all Department of Education employees, saying for the first time the controversial sessions are needed because of bias against Asian-Americans. The anti-bias workshops are controversial. Administrators have been lectured on “white supremacy culture,” and teachers asked to examine their “whiteness.” Those who objected were accused of “white fragility,” participants said.

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

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