Day's Headlines: Mexican Fury; Gorbachev's World View; Eroding North Korea; Russia in Japan's Skies; Allowing Evolutionary Doubt; Frisco Sans Kids; and The Human-Pig

Friday, January 27, 2017

Mexican Fury; Gorbachev's World View; Eroding North Korea; Russia in Japan's Skies; Allowing Evolutionary Doubt; Frisco Sans Kids; and The Human-Pig

Politics

Mexicans Launch Boycotts of U.S. Companies in Fury at Donald Trump time

The boycotts illustrate the defiant mood brewing in Mexico in reaction to Trump’s tumultuous first week in the White House. President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled a bilateral meeting in Washington on Thursday after Trump insisted Mexico should pay for the border wall. The Mexican government and leading business lobbies have said the country should pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA cnn, rather than accept a bad rewrite. And opposition leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has called for a lawsuit in the United Nations against the planned border wall.

Peace and War

Mikhail Gorbachev: 'It All Looks as if the World Is Preparing for War' time w!

The world today is overwhelmed with problems. Policymakers seem to be confused and at a loss. ... While state budgets are struggling to fund people’s essential social needs, military spending is growing. Money is easily found for sophisticated weapons whose destructive power is comparable to that of the weapons of mass destruction; for submarines whose single salvo is capable of devastating half a continent; for missile defense systems that undermine strategic stability.

North Korea

North Korean elite is turning against Kim Jong-un, defector claims independent.co.uk

“When Kim Jong-un first came to power, I was hopeful that he would make reasonable and rational decisions to save North Korea from poverty, but I soon fell into despair watching him purging officials for no proper reasons,” he said.

Also see North Korean Defector: Information Flow Will Help Bring Down Kim Jong Un npr

Russia-Japan

NORAD Responds After Russian Bombers Zoom Around Japan military

The Russian bombers stayed in international airspace, the officials said. News of this latest Russian provocation came shortly after the Pentagon announced that new Defense Secretary James Mattis would make his first visit overseas to Japan and South Korea early next month.

A third Russian Tu-95 bomber took off from a base in eastern Russia near the Pacific Ocean but it did not fly around Japan. Instead, it acted as a "communications relay" to pass radio traffic between the bombers flying around Japan, the officials said.

Society

S.D. Senate OKs alternative teachings on scientific theories argusleader

Members of that chamber on a 23-12 vote advanced the bill despite guidance from the State Department of Education, state school boards, school administrators, teachers and scientists, who all said the change was unnecessary and could lead to the instruction of unauthorized theories. They also warned that the rule change could cause serious legal problems for school districts.

Sen. Jeff Monroe, R-Pierre, said he heard from teachers who didn't feel comfortable speaking to the weaknesses of scientific theories like evolution and climate change. He said providing additional latitude for teachers to explain potential flaws in theories and allowing them to provide alternate scientific theories without fear of retribution would benefit students' critical thinking skills.

San Francisco Asks: Where Have All the Children Gone? nytimes

A few generations ago, before the technology boom transformed San Francisco and sent housing costs soaring, the city was alive with children and families. Today it has the lowest percentage of children of any of the largest 100 cities in America, according to census data, causing some here to raise an alarm.

Chimera

First human-pig 'chimera' created in milestone study theguardian

It marks the first time that embryos combining two large, distantly-related species have been produced. The creation of this so-called chimera – named after the cross-species beast of Greek mythology – has been hailed as a significant first step towards generating human hearts, livers and kidneys from scratch.

Also see First human-pig embryos made, then destroyed cnn

No comments :

Post a Comment