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from Asia Times
LEAST BIASED, HIGH; News & Media Website based in Hong Kong
Three Gorges Dam weathers the flood challenge
Monsoon torrent passes as signs emerge that Chinese leaders may be cooling on huge hydroelectric projects.
The heart of the matter in the South China Sea
The battle for the contested maritime region is over before the shooting even begins and China has won
Abe running out of levers as pandemic resurges
Japanese government's domestic tourism promotion plan upended by viral revival while Fitch warns of a credit rating downgrade
Vietnam a victim of its own Covid-19 success
Vietnam is a coronavirus containment role model but a sudden second wave shows authorities let down their guard too soon
The winds of lawlessness
Americans must decide whether they want a lawless society or one based on law, in which their rights are secure. ... The right to assemble must be dearly protected. To confuse violent rioting with the right to peaceful assembly, for instance, using the word “protest” to refer to both, threatens the latter, because rioting is a rejection of the social contract, which is precisely what assures the right to peaceful assembly. Outside the social contract, there are no political rights.
Monsoon torrent passes as signs emerge that Chinese leaders may be cooling on huge hydroelectric projects.
The battle for the contested maritime region is over before the shooting even begins and China has won
Japanese government's domestic tourism promotion plan upended by viral revival while Fitch warns of a credit rating downgrade
Vietnam is a coronavirus containment role model but a sudden second wave shows authorities let down their guard too soon
Americans must decide whether they want a lawless society or one based on law, in which their rights are secure. ... The right to assemble must be dearly protected. To confuse violent rioting with the right to peaceful assembly, for instance, using the word “protest” to refer to both, threatens the latter, because rioting is a rejection of the social contract, which is precisely what assures the right to peaceful assembly. Outside the social contract, there are no political rights.
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from BBC News (UK)
Extinction: Quarter of UK mammals 'under threat'
A quarter of native mammals now at risk of extinction in the UK. This is according to the first Red List of UK mammals - a comprehensive review of the status of species, including wildcats, red squirrels and hedgehogs. The report's authors are calling for urgent action to prevent their loss. Prof Fiona Mathews from the Mammal Society told BBC News: "What this is clearly saying is that we have to act now - we can't continue on this same trajectory."
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from Business Insider
LEFT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, business news site in New York CityChinese Tesla competitor skyrockets nearly 350% in 2 days after announcing it will launch vehicles in the US next month (KNDI)
Shares of Kandi Technologies have surged as much as 350% from Tuesday's close, fueled by the Chinese electric-vehicle maker's announcement that it will launch two cars in the US next month. On Wednesday, Kandi America, the US subsidiary of the Chinese company — which competes with the likes of Tesla and Nio — said customers would be able to put down $100 fully refundable deposits for two of its vehicles, the K27 and the K23, starting August 18. The company said the vehicles would be ready for delivery beginning in the fourth quarter of 2020.
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from CNN
Dunkin' is closing 800 US locations
Dunkin' is permanently closing 8% of its United States locations, which amounts to roughly 800 restaurants. The company announced the changes in its second quarter earnings, released Thursday. Dunkin' described the closures as "real estate portfolio rationalization" and said the affected locations are in "low-volume sales locations" that only represent 2% of its US sales as of 2019. More than half of the closures are in Speedway convenience stores, a change it previously announced in February. These locations are set to be closed by the end of this year. Dunkin' (DNKN) also said approximately 350 locations "may permanently close" outside of the US. Earlier this week, McDonald's (MCD) also said it was closing about 200 "low-volume" locations with more than half being in Walmart (WMT) stores.
A Black Lives Matter mural is defaced with red, white and blue paint in Washington state
A colorful Black Lives Matter mural was defaced this week, with vandals attempting to obscure "Black" with red, white and blue paint. The 140-foot mural is on the side of a building in downtown Spokane, Washington -- sponsored in part by Terrain, a local arts nonprofit. Terrain, along with digital advertising agencies 14Four and Seven2, hired 16 artists to decorate and paint each letter in Black Lives Matter, according to CNN affiliate KXLY. To some, though, it was insulting. The mural, completed less than two weeks ago, was vandalized on Wednesday.
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You Must Not ‘Do Your Own Research’ When It Comes To Science
“Research both sides and make up your own mind.” It’s simple, straightforward, common sense advice. And when it comes to issues like vaccinations, climate change, and the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, it can be dangerous, destructive, and even deadly. The techniques that most of us use to navigate most of our decisions in life — gathering information, evaluating it based on what we know, and choosing a course of action — can lead to spectacular failures when it comes to a scientific matter. The reason is simple: most of us, even those of us who are scientists ourselves, lack the relevant scientific expertise needed to adequately evaluate that research on our own. In our own fields, we are aware of the full suite of data, of how those puzzle pieces fit together, and what the frontiers of our knowledge is. When laypersons espouse opinions on those matters, it’s immediately clear to us where the gaps in their understanding are and where they’ve misled themselves in their reasoning. When they take up the arguments of a contrarian scientist, we recognize what they’re overlooking, misinterpreting, or omitting. Unless we start valuing the actual expertise that legitimate experts have spent lifetimes developing, “doing our own research” could lead to immeasurable, unnecessary suffering.
from FEE (Foundation for Economic Education)
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, HIGH, non-profit organization
Joe Rogan is just the latest in a long list of celebrities to say goodbye to La La Land.
California dreaming? Nothing wrong with that. The Golden State has a lot to offer. California has the fifth largest economy in the world. The San Francisco Bay Area alone has a GDP of $535 billion and ranks 19th in the world in economic activity. The state boasts one of the largest agricultural industries on the planet, producing more grapes, lemons, avocados, peaches, watermelons, and strawberries than any US state. Still, California has its downsides. It has the highest poverty rate in the US. It’s among the most heavily taxed states—the top income tax bracket is 13.3 percent—and is America’s most regulated state, according to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Its biggest cities suffer from housing shortages, mass homelessness, and congestion. In recent years, there’s even a growing number of celebrities saying goodbye to Golden State, including a big name recently. There’s nothing wrong with people “voting with their feet” to establish residence in freedom-friendly states; it’s one of the beauties of the American system. It does show, however, that high taxes and regulations can result in wealth emigration that drives out a lot of capital that supports local jobs and businesses.
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from Forbes
You Must Not ‘Do Your Own Research’ When It Comes To Science
“Research both sides and make up your own mind.” It’s simple, straightforward, common sense advice. And when it comes to issues like vaccinations, climate change, and the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, it can be dangerous, destructive, and even deadly. The techniques that most of us use to navigate most of our decisions in life — gathering information, evaluating it based on what we know, and choosing a course of action — can lead to spectacular failures when it comes to a scientific matter. The reason is simple: most of us, even those of us who are scientists ourselves, lack the relevant scientific expertise needed to adequately evaluate that research on our own. In our own fields, we are aware of the full suite of data, of how those puzzle pieces fit together, and what the frontiers of our knowledge is. When laypersons espouse opinions on those matters, it’s immediately clear to us where the gaps in their understanding are and where they’ve misled themselves in their reasoning. When they take up the arguments of a contrarian scientist, we recognize what they’re overlooking, misinterpreting, or omitting. Unless we start valuing the actual expertise that legitimate experts have spent lifetimes developing, “doing our own research” could lead to immeasurable, unnecessary suffering.
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from The Globe and Mail (Canada)
A Chinese scientist charged with visa fraud after U.S. authorities said she concealed her military ties was arrested after she left the Chinese consulate in San Francisco to seek medical care for her asthma, court documents showed. Juan Tang, who has a doctorate in cellular biology, entered the United States on Dec. 27, 2019, to work at the University of California, Davis as a visiting researcher in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Alexandra Negin, an assistant federal public defender, said in the filing Wednesday asking the court for her release on bail.
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from The Guardian (UK)
LEFT-CENTER, HIGH, British daily newspaper published in London UK
Excessive drinking, exposure to air pollution and head injuries all increase dementia risk, experts say in a report revealing that up to 40% of dementia cases worldwide could be delayed or prevented by addressing 12 such lifestyle factors.
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from HumanProgress.org
Education Website
Our eighth Center of Progress is Alexandria during the third and second centuries BCE, when the Great Library marked the city as, arguably, the intellectual capital of the world. During the third century BCE, an educational and research institution called the Musaeum (literally, “shrine of the Muses”), from which we get the word museum, was built in Alexandria. The Great Library of Alexandria was one part of the Musaeum. While estimates vary widely, the library may have held around 700,000 scrolls, the equivalent of more than 100,000 printed books. The amalgamation of so much written knowledge in one place represented a breakthrough in the way that humanity stored and distributed information.
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from KOMO News (ABC Seattle)
As we near the end of the month, millions of Americans face the looming burden of paying rent while also losing $600 a week in federal unemployment benefits. Those expanded coronavirus relief funds expire on Friday. While tenants struggle, some landlords say they are worse off than their renters. ... On average, only nine percent of rent goes into a landlord's pocket. The rest covers the mortgage, repairs, property taxes, insurance and other expenses. ... Gov. Jay Inslee’s eviction moratorium has been extended at least through mid-October. It is a huge help for renters but property owners said the state left them on their own.
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from New York Post
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED, Newspaper in New York
RIGHT-CENTER BIAS, MIXED, Newspaper in New York
Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested that people wear goggles or face shields as an added measure of protection against contracting the coronavirus, according to a report. “If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it,” Fauci, 79, the top US infectious disease expert, told ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton on Wednesday. When asked if eye protection will become a formal recommendation at some point, he said, “It might, if you really want perfect protection of the mucosal surfaces.”
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from Orthodox Christianity – orthochristian.com
Religious Organization in Moscow, Russia
On July 23, the day before the Agia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul officially reopened as a mosque, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed an amendment objecting to Turkey’s abuse of the iconic 6th-century Church, reports the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
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from Reuters
International news agency headquartered in London, UK
AstraZeneca has been granted protection from future product liability claims related to its COVID-19 vaccine hopeful by most of the countries with which it has struck supply agreements, a senior executive told Reuters.
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
Sue Lani Madsen: Changing regulations lead to confusions and precautions
Sometimes a rumor is fake news, and sometimes it’s a cautionary tale. Thirty-three years ago, our class of brand new volunteer EMS responders decided to order matching jackets and ask our employers to pay for them. In return for $50, the employers each got their name stitched on the back as the sponsor. My supervisor said OK, but only if I accepted appointment as the company’s designated safety officer. He was eager to pass off the responsibility for compliance with the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act, or WISHA. I soon figured out why.
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from UnHerd
Media/News Company in London, UK
Church philistines have got high culture all wrong
Whatever Sheffield Cathedral thinks, beautiful choral music is not elitist. It's how we approach the divine. Matthew Arnold, the Victorian educationalist, did the idea of culture no favours. His defence of “high culture” as the cultivated reflection upon all that is excellent within a society contains — to many modern ears, at least — a worrying elision of high culture and social class. He called it “a pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world”. Culture is an unashamedly elite activity for people with enough leisure time (ie money) and intelligence, as Roger Scruton, following Arnold, argued. Posh people go to the opera, learn Latin, read TS Eliot and long, improving novels.
Sue Lani Madsen: Changing regulations lead to confusions and precautions
Sometimes a rumor is fake news, and sometimes it’s a cautionary tale. Thirty-three years ago, our class of brand new volunteer EMS responders decided to order matching jackets and ask our employers to pay for them. In return for $50, the employers each got their name stitched on the back as the sponsor. My supervisor said OK, but only if I accepted appointment as the company’s designated safety officer. He was eager to pass off the responsibility for compliance with the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act, or WISHA. I soon figured out why.
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from UnHerd
Media/News Company in London, UK
Church philistines have got high culture all wrong
Whatever Sheffield Cathedral thinks, beautiful choral music is not elitist. It's how we approach the divine. Matthew Arnold, the Victorian educationalist, did the idea of culture no favours. His defence of “high culture” as the cultivated reflection upon all that is excellent within a society contains — to many modern ears, at least — a worrying elision of high culture and social class. He called it “a pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world”. Culture is an unashamedly elite activity for people with enough leisure time (ie money) and intelligence, as Roger Scruton, following Arnold, argued. Posh people go to the opera, learn Latin, read TS Eliot and long, improving novels.
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from Zero Hedge
EXTREME RIGHT BIAS, CONSPIRACY-PSEUDOSCIENCE, MIXED, website registered in Bulgaria
Ohio Withdraws Ban On Hydroxychloroquine; Fauci Accused Of 'Misinformation Campaign'
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy withdrew a rule preventing the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 after Governor Mike DeWine called on the board to halt the rule, according to the Dayton Daily News. "As a result of the feedback received by the medical and patient community and at the request of Gov. DeWine, the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy has withdrawn proposed rule 4729:5-5-21 of the Administrative Code," reads a Thursday statement from the board. "Therefore, prohibitions on the prescribing of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in Ohio for the treatment of COVID-19 will not take effect at this time."
Ohio Withdraws Ban On Hydroxychloroquine; Fauci Accused Of 'Misinformation Campaign'
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy withdrew a rule preventing the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 after Governor Mike DeWine called on the board to halt the rule, according to the Dayton Daily News. "As a result of the feedback received by the medical and patient community and at the request of Gov. DeWine, the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy has withdrawn proposed rule 4729:5-5-21 of the Administrative Code," reads a Thursday statement from the board. "Therefore, prohibitions on the prescribing of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in Ohio for the treatment of COVID-19 will not take effect at this time."
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