The Skeptical Librarian – Page 8 – Thoughts and Observations About the World

Most Reliable News Sources

As we move closer and closer to the election, we will be hearing tons of conflicting, biased, and even false stories. It is important to get your news from an unbiased, reliable source.

Using the rating system of Media Bias / Fact Check, I have created a list of the 13 least-biased news sources that have been given a Very High rating for factual reporting.

“These sources have minimal bias and use very few loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes). The reporting is factual and usually sourced. These are the most credible media sources, and they use proper sourcing and have a clean fact check record.”

There are many that have a High rating for factual reporting, but I kept this list to the Very High.

Source: https://www.listobsession.com/news-sources/

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2024-07-25

Nature / Science

Cocaine Sharks

“It might sound like science fiction, but researchers have discovered real ‘cocaine sharks’ off the coast of Brazil.

Photo of Sharpnose Shark by Rachel Ann Hauser-Davis

“Thirteen wild Brazilian sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon lalandii) caught near Rio de Janeiro tested positive for the drug, according to a study published last week in the journal Science of the Total Environment. The team is still teasing out the implications of this finding, but they say it adds to the growing body of evidence that humans’ illegal drug consumption is affecting wildlife and the environment.

“Previous research has detected cocaine in wastewater and rivers. Last year, researchers in England identified a chemical produced by the liver after cocaine use in seawater. Studies have also found the drug in other marine creatures, including shrimp, mussels and eels.

“But researchers were curious to know whether cocaine might be affecting sharpnose sharks that spend their entire lives in coastal waters near Brazil, which is a major exporter of the drug to Europe. In addition, people in Brazil and elsewhere often eat sharks, which raises questions about possible contamination up the food chain.”

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/thirteen-sharks-test-positive-for-cocaine-off-the-coast-of-brazil-180984765

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2024-07-25

Politics

Kamala Harris Leads Polls

These surveys don’t mean much at this point in time — only the vote matters — and they say there is a 3-point margin of error. But it’s a swing of 4 percent toward Harris in just a week or so.

“Vice President Kamala Harris opened up a marginal two-percentage-point lead over Republican Donald Trump after President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and passed the torch to her, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

“That compares with a marginal two-point deficit Biden faced against Trump in last week’s poll before his Sunday exit from the race.

“The new poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, followed both the Republican National Convention where Trump on Thursday formally accepted the nomination and Biden’s announcement on Sunday he was leaving the race and endorsing Harris.

“Harris, whose campaign says she has secured the Democratic nomination, led Trump 44% to 42% in the national poll, a difference within the 3-percentage-point margin of error.

“Harris and Trump were tied at 44% in a July 15-16 poll, and Trump led by one percentage point in a July 1-2 poll, both within the same margin of error.

“While nationwide surveys give important signals of American support for political candidates, a handful of competitive states typically tilt the balance in the U.S. Electoral College, which ultimately decides who wins a presidential election.”

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/harris-leads-trump-44-42-us-presidential-race-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2024-07-23/

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2024-07-24

Politics / Society

North Korea Continues Sending Trash Balloons to South Korea

“Trash carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound on Wednesday, raising worries about the security of key South Korean facilities during North Korean provocations.

“The rubbish that landed on the presidential compound in central Seoul contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt, South Korea’s presidential security service said. While North Korea likely lacks sophisticated technology to drop balloons on specific targets, some experts say South Korea should shoot down incoming North Korean balloons next time to protect major facilities because they might contain hazardous substances in the future.

“North Korea’s latest balloon launches came days after South Korea boosted its broadcasts of K-pop songs and propaganda messages across the two countries’ heavily armed border. Their tit-for-tat Cold War-style campaigns are inflaming tensions, with the rivals threatening stronger steps and warning of grave consequences.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-trash-balloons-south-22b2eb516f7fa5670a3c6c27f25d3182

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2024-07-24

General / Society

Hottest Day Ever

“Monday was recorded as the hottest day ever, beating a record set the day before, as countries across the globe from Japan to Bolivia to the United States continue to feel the heat, according to the European climate change service.

Why this matters:
“Without human-caused climate change, records would be broken nowhere near as frequently, and new cold records would be set as often as hot ones. Copernicus’ preliminary data show the global average temperature Monday was 17.15 degrees Celsius, or 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit. The first six months of 2024 have even broken the record highs from last year, which Copernicus records had noted as the hottest the planet had been in about 120,000 years.”

“Climate scientists say the world is now as warm as it was 125,000 years ago because of human-caused climate change. While scientists cannot be certain that Monday was the very hottest day throughout that period, average temperatures have not been this high since long before humans developed agriculture.

“The temperature rise in recent decades is in line with what climate scientists projected would happen if humans kept burning fossil fuels at an increasing rate.”
Source: https://apnews.com/article/hottest-day-ever-climate-change-weather-heat-extreme-global-warming-8e2b0b7fa0360ecb931ca333a832c694

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2024-07-24

Economy / Politics / Society

Biden-Harris Record

For the record, the Biden-Harris administration has added 16 million jobs, including 800,000 manufacturing jobs, overseen the lowest unemployment rate in half a century, presided over the strongest economy on Earth, and brought the murder rate down 25%!

Legislatively, the comparison between Harris and Trump cannot be greater. Trump’s only legislative accomplishment was a tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. That’s it. Biden and Harris’s legislative accomplishments include the American Rescue Plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, the PACT Act (expanding health care and benefits for veterans), the CHIPS Act, the Infrastructure Law, the Gun Safety Law, reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (which Trump allowed to lapse), codifying marriage equality into federal law. They have also prohibited junk fees at banks, capped insulin and inhalers at $35, and ensured that airlines automatically reimburse passengers for canceled flights. All of these help regular Americans, not just the wealthy.

Sources are linked below, using Wikipedia rather than government websites to help ensure objectivity.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Rescue_Plan_Act_of_2021

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_Reduction_Act

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honoring_our_PACT_Act_of_2022

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrastructure_Investment_and_Jobs_Act

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipartisan_Safer_Communities_Act

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_Against_Women_Act#Reauthorizations

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respect_for_Marriage_Act

Source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/916

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/trumps-economic-legacy/story?id=74760051

Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/secret-irs-files-reveal-how-much-the-ultrawealthy-gained-by-shaping-trumps-big-beautiful-tax-cut

Source: https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-2017-trump-tax-law-was-skewed-to-the-rich-expensive-and-failed-to-deliver

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2024-07-23

History

History of the Barber Pole

“The barber’s pole reflects a time when barbers not only cut hair, but performed medical operations such as bloodletting. Prior to the barber pole, barbers would place bowls of blood in their window to advertise their bloodletting capabilities, though that act was prohibited by a 1307 law in London. Hence, the barber’s pole was born, and it has remained a popular symbol ever since.”

“The look of the barber pole is linked to bloodletting, with red representing blood and white representing the bandages used to stem the bleeding. The pole itself is said to symbolize the stick that a patient squeezed to make the veins in his arm stand out more prominently for the procedure. In Europe, barber poles traditionally are red and white, while in America, the poles are red, white and blue. One theory holds that blue is symbolic of the veins cut during bloodletting, while another interpretation suggests blue was added to the pole as a show of patriotism and a nod to the nation’s flag.”

Source: https://www.history.com/news/why-are-barber-poles-red-white-and-blue

Source: https://estelarbarbers.com/barber-pole-history-and-significance-explained/

Source: https://interestingfacts.com/symbol-meanings/

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2024-07-23

Philosophy

Convinced by Evidence

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2024-07-22

History / Society

Perfect Spheres Carved Over 1,000 Years Ago

These large stones (up to 2.57m diameter) were carved into amazing perfect spheres and are estimated to be from 600 CE. They are located in the Diquís Delta in southern Costa Rica.

“On the small island of Isla del Caño and the Diquís Delta in Costa Rica are over 300 stone Petrospheres often referred to as the Diquís Spheres, that have been attributed to the now extinct Diquís culture.”

Source: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/06/the-mysterious-stone-spheres-of-costa-rica/139375

Source: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1453/

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2024-07-22

Politics / Society

World Leaders React to Biden Leaving the Race

“Messages of gratitude and support for US President Joe Biden poured in following his stunning announcement Sunday that he is exiting the 2024 presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the next Democratic nominee.

“It was the second seismic moment in US politics in just over a week, following the assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, which saw global leaders rally around him as the Republican nominee.

“Pressure had mounted on Biden to pull out of the race since his disastrous performance at the CNN presidential debate last month, and on Sunday, he confirmed he would remain a one-term president, prompting a flood of tributes from US allies who thanked him for his leadership.”

See the link below to view the many statements by world leaders. The list was too long to include in the text of this post, so it is linked here:

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/22/world/world-reaction-biden-exit-2024-us-presidential-race/index.html

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2024-07-22