| | 16 JUL 2021 | Facts, not fear. | | | TRENDING TOPICS
Post-election coup • Suppressing Covid-19 misinformation • Germany-US diplomacy • Dutch reporter killed • Amazon rainforest emissions | | FEATURED UNDER-REPORTED STORIES
Mongolia-Korea relations • Transit maintenance crisis • Outwitting evolution | |  | | |
TRENDING TOPICS, MOST CREDIBLE STORIES | | #1 in U.S. News • 72 articles Why did Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley fear a coup after the November election? |  | |
Top from last 48 hrs
Joint Chiefs chairman fretted over coup attempt after Trump lost 2020 election.
Washington Examiner (Moderate Right) • Factual Grade 76% • 3 min read
Gen. Mark Milley, picked by former President Donald Trump to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, said he felt he had to be "on guard" after President Joe Biden won the November contest, according to snippets from I Alone Can Fix It, a book authored by two Washington Post journalists and set to be released next week.
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Ahead of Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, Milley referred to potential disruptors of the event as "the same people we fought in World War II." "These guys are Nazis, they're boogaloo boys, they're Proud Boys. These are the same people we fought in World War II. We're going to put a ring of steel around this city, and the Nazis aren't getting in."
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Trump's post-presidency office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner, but he recently issued a statement railing against several books that focus on him and his administration. "They write whatever they want to write anyway without sources, fact-checking, or asking whether or not an event is true or false."
- Top from different political viewpoint
Trump says Gen. Milley 'last person' he'd want to start a coup with.
The Hill (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 76% • 3 min read - Top long-read
How Trump fell out of love with his generals, and why the feeling is mutual. (2020)
Reuters (Center) • Factual Grade 70% • 6 min read
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| | #2 in U.S. News • 23 articles Why is the White House pressuring tech companies to fight Covid-19 misinformation? |  | |
Top from last 48 hrs
Surgeon General assails tech companies over misinformation on Covid-19.
New York Times (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 82% • 4 min read
[The surgeon general's report] cites a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation that found, as of late May, that 67% of unvaccinated adults had heard at least one Covid-19 vaccine myth and either believed it to be true or were unsure. [Some] Fox News hosts, along with their guests, are among those who have been casting doubt on Covid-19 vaccines.
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At a news briefing, [Surgeon General Murthy] joined the White House press secretary and made clear that tech companies were his main target, saying they have a singular responsibility to be more aggressive in fighting misinformation. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all said they had taken steps to crack down on misleading health information.
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Health misinformation is not a recent phenomenon. In the 1990s, the report notes, "a poorly designed study" — later retracted — falsely claimed that the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine caused autism. "Even after the retraction, the claim gained some traction and contributed to lower immunization rates over the next 20 years."
- Top from different political viewpoint
The government should stop telling Facebook to suppress Covid-19 'misinformation.'
Reason (Moderate Right) • Factual Grade 76% • 3 min read - Top long-read
Just 12 people are behind most vaccine hoaxes on social media, research shows.
NPR (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 70% • 6 min read
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| | TODAY'S POLL Should the government pressure tech companies to take down Covid-19 misinformation? All votes are anonymous. This poll closes at: 9:00 PST
| | YESTERDAY'S POLL Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal? 737 votes, 92 comments Context: Senate Democrats unveil bill to decriminalize marijuana at federal level. HIGHLIGHTED COMMENTS " Yes - As someone who worked in a methadone clinic, who studied addiction and who dealt with both drug and alcohol addicts in my personal life, marijuana is the least worrisome of all, and has been shown to be clinically useful for certain conditions. It is not nearly as dangerous as even alcohol is, and if legalized in a thoughtful, systematic way, it can greatly contribute to state or federal revenue through taxation." " No - If we want to cement our reputation as a culture that's all about self-gratification, sure. Otherwise, if we, as a people, want to rise to the social, economic, and cultural challenges we face, we all need to do it with clear thinking, not with more folks "checking out" with substance abuse. Legalizing Marijuana will just promote further dissipation." " Yes - Ask any law enforcement official this question; If you had two house parties directly across from each other on the same street - one house if drinking tequila, beers, wine and whatever other "spirits" you want to include - the second house is only imbibing on marijuana edibles and smoke - which house has the best chance of having the police called due to violence? Then ask yourself, why would one be considered legal over the other?" | | | #1 in World News • 43 articles What did German Chancellor Merkel hope to gain from her visit to the White House? |  | |
Top from last 48 hrs
Biden, Merkel stress friendship while agreeing to disagree on pipeline.
Reuters (Center) • Factual Grade 80% • 3 min read
Transatlantic ties suffered under the tenure of former President Donald Trump, and both Merkel and Biden were eager to show the relationship was on the mend during their time together. Biden pledged to have a decision soon on whether to lift a pandemic-related ban on Europeans traveling to the United States that has irked Germany and other allies.
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Despite the cordiality, some disagreements were apparent. Biden reiterated his concerns about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany; the United States fears Moscow will use it as a cudgel against Ukraine. The $11 billion project, which is expected to be finished in September, will bypass Ukraine, potentially depriving it of transit fees.
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Merkel, chancellor since 2005, plans to exit Germany's government after national elections in September. Polling shows her Christian Democrats are poised to take the lead in forming a government after the election, but it remains unclear which parties would be included in a coalition.
- Top local viewpoint
Angela Merkel meets Joe Biden during final U.S. visit.
Deutsche Welle (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 73% • 5 min read - Top long-read
Rebuilding US-German relations: Harder than it appears.
Brookings Institute (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 90% • 7 min read
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| | | #1 in Science News • 24 articles Why is the Amazon rainforest emitting more CO2 than it absorbs? |  | |
Top from last 48 hrs
Huge part of Amazon rainforest has now 'flipped' to emitting more CO2 than it absorbs.
Science Alert (Center) • Factual Grade 80% • 3 min read
Since 1970, the [Amazon's] tropical forests have declined by 17%, mostly to accommodate pasture for raising cattle and the crops that feed them. Forests are generally cleared with fire, which both releases vast amounts of CO2 and reduces the number of trees available to absorb it.
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Over the last half century, plants and soil have consistently absorbed more than a quarter of [global carbon dioxide] emissions, even as CO2 pollution increased by 50%. The Amazon basin contains about half of the world's tropical rainforests, which are more effective at soaking up and storing carbon than other vegetation.
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Above a certain threshold of global warming, the continent's rainforest [could] tip into a much drier savannah state, recent research has shown. The Amazon rainforest is one of a dozen so-called tipping points in the climate system. Ice sheets atop Greenland and the West Antarctic, Siberian permafrost loaded with CO2 and methane, monsoon rains in South Asia, coral reef ecosystems, the jet stream [are others].
- Top from different political viewpoint
Planes sampling air above the Amazon find the rainforest is releasing more carbon than it stores.
InsideClimate News (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 66% • 4 min read - Top long-read
Planting trees doesn't always help with climate change.
BBC (Moderate Left) • Factual Grade 87% • 9 min read
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