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Take China’s threats against Taiwan seriously

This time, the world should pay attention to China’s threatening approach to Taiwan, warns Jonathan Manthorpe in his international affairs column today. An excerpt: Xi Jinping is not the first modern Chinese leader to threaten the island nation of Taiwan with invasion if they do not soon agree to hand their sovereignty to the Beijing regime.  Indeed, it has become a necessary ritual for Chinese leaders to establish their patriotic credentials by reiterating Beijing’s claim to own the island and its 23 million people. Usually these pronouncements appear to be largely for domestic consumption, taking no account of the fact Taiwan

Facts before opinions

”You are entitled to your opinion … you are not entitled to your own facts.” That quote by Moynihan is the motto on F&O’s Science page, and it’s a guiding principle of good journalism. We took notice as The Los Angeles Times banned letters-to-the-editor that deny climate change. The wonderful precision of an editor’s explanation is noteworthy: “I do my best to keep errors of fact off the letters page; when one does run, a correction is published. Saying “there’s no sign humans have caused climate change” is not stating an opinion, it’s asserting a factual inaccuracy,” wrote  Paul Thornton.

Scientists debunk Liberation Treatment for MS

New medical research struck a “death knell” for hopes a magic bullet could aid multiple sclerosis, a devastating disease with some 2.3 million sufferers globally, reports Facts and Opinions in a new Science story. But curiously, Liberation Treatment is now a social-media phenomenon – and while this week’s study debunked the theory behind the controversial medical procedure, it leaves two conundrums unsolved: why some patients report benefits from it, and how science is affected by online social media that advocates for medical treatments and research. The report, by Deborah Jones, is accessible in Dispatches with a $1 day pass for the entire site,

Save us from the madness

By Deborah Jones It’s hard to hear sense in North American politics lately: the static of polarized rhetoric deafens reason and impairs mercy. This is especially so in the United States where, astonishingly, the failure of citizens to elect competent politicians has shut down the federal government. And then – clear as a bell – ring out the words of chaplain Barry C. Black, speaking to the United States Senate: “Save us from the madness!”*“We acknowledge our transgressions, our shortcomings, our smugness, our selfishness and our pride!”“Deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable!”“Remove the burdens of

What’s In a Slogan?

By Brian Brennan The New York Times has used the well-known slogan, “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” for over a century. The motto was coined originally to distinguish the paper from its tabloid competitors, which trafficked in yellow journalism. Today, the Times’s websites have cleverly reworked the popular slogan to “All the News That’s Fit to Click.” The Times of London has adopted several slogans since it started publishing in 1785. Most have focussed on the editorial content of the paper. Perhaps the best known have been “Are You Missing What’s Important?” and “When The Times Speaks, the

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