POSSIBLE TOPICS: VOTING FAQ,Trump nomination to be held in private: report, Australia now has a template for forcing Facebook and Google to pay for news, Current Mortgage Refinance Rates, July 31, 2020 | Rates ratchet higher, Sinclair drops segment featuring conspiracy theory about Fauci, Wikipedia administrators caution editors about using Fox News as source on ‘contentious’ claims, Wikipedia administrators caution editors about using Fox News as source on ‘contentious’ claims, Farmworkers at Central California pistachio farm strike after dozens test positive for the coronavirus,  Farmworkers at Central California pistachio farm strike after dozens test positive for the coronavirus, Nuclear Gulf: Is Saudi Arabia pushing itself into a nuclear trap?, MORE.

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This program was recorded on SUNDAY, JULY 26 at about 4:30 AM.  Due to Covid-19, shows are being prerecorded beginning March 13th and until further notice. We miss our live call-in participants, and look forward to a time we can once again go live.

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show  airing live every Monday night from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My co-host and Editor is Andrew Ferguson.

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1. The next election is the General Election on November 3^rd,
2. VOTING FAQ
   1. VOTETEXAS.GOV – Texas Voter Information
   2. HARRISVOTES.COM­ – Countywide Voting Centers
   3. Make sure you are registered to vote!
   4. On the possibility that the courts make you eligible to vote by mail on Election Day due to the Covid-19 virus, make sure that you are ready with an application to mail in. These are available from HARRISVOTES.COM­.  Follow directions carefully.
   5. For personalized, nonpartisan voter guides and information, consider visiting VOTE411.ORG    Ballotpedia.com and Texas League of Women Voters are also a good place to get election info. (DO NOT!! go to 411Vote!!)
   6. If you are denied your right to vote any place at any time at any polling place for any reason, ask for (or demand) a provisional ballot rather than lose your vote.
   7. HarrisVotes.com (Election Information Line (713) 755-6965), Harris County Clerk
   8. VOTETEXAS.GOV – Texas Voter Information
   9. HARRISVOTES.COM – Countywide Voting Centers
      1. HARRIS CTY – IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR VOTING: Do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain one of these IDs?
3. Fill out a declaration at the polls describing a reasonable impediment to obtaining it, and show a copy or original of one of the following supporting forms of ID:
   1. 1. 1. A government document that shows your name and an address, including your voter registration certificate
         2. Current utility bill
         3. Bank statement
         4. Government check
         5. Paycheck
         6. A certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes your identity (which may include a foreign birth document)
   2. You may vote early by-mail if
      1.  You are registered to vote and meet one of the following criteria:
      2. Away from the county of residence on Election Day and during the early voting period;
      3. Sick or disabled;
      4. 65 years of age or older on Election Day; or
      5. Confined in jail, but eligible to vote.
      6. Make sure you are registered:
   3. Ann Harris Bennett, Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar
      1. CHECK REGISTRATION STATUS HERE
         1. CLICK How to register to vote in Texas
      2. Outside Texas, try Vote.org.
4. You will probably have heard this by the time this show airs, but I can’t resist: Trump nomination to be held in private: report, By J. Edward Moreno | THEHILL.COM | 08/01/20 10:00 PM EDT
   1. The vote to nominate President Trump will be held in private later this month, without members of the press present, Republican National Convention officials confirmed to The Associated Press and CNN. 
   2. The Arkansas Democrat Gazette first reported the news. 
   3. On August 24, Republican delegates are scheduled to gather in Charlotte, N.C., to formally vote to make Trump the GOP nominee. The vote itself will reportedly be live-streamed. 
   4. The move was reportedly made to reduce the amount of people present to avoid the spread of coronavirus. The vote was already scaled down from 2,550 to 336 delegates, or one person per every 6 delegates. 
   5. “Given the health restrictions and limitations in place within the state of North Carolina, we are planning for the Charlotte activities to be closed press Friday, August 21 — Monday, August 24,” the RNC convention spokesperson told the outlets in a statement Saturday.
   6. Convention officials did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Hill. …
   7. MIKE: Of course, one of the key phrases in the article is “without members of the press present”. For a publicity whore like Donald Trump to want to have his Republican presidential nomination in private speaks volumes about his current state of mind.
5. Australia now has a template for forcing Facebook and Google to pay for news, byNatasha Lomas@riptari | TECHCRUNCH.COM | 11:17 am CDT•July 31, 2020
   1. Australia is closing in on a legally binding framework to force adtech giants Facebook and Google pay media companies for monetizing their news content when it’s posted to their social media platforms or otherwise aggregated and monetized.
   2. Back in April the country’s government announced it would adopt a mandatory code requiring the tech giants to share ad revenue with media business after an attempt to negotiate a voluntary arrangement with the companies failed to make progress.
   3. Today Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has published details of a first pass at that mandatory code — which it says is intended to address “acute bargaining power imbalances” between local news businesses vs the adtech duopoly, Google and Facebook.
   4. MIKE: This is in the context of the struggling news business. As discussed on this show several times before, news aggregators such as Google and Facebook (among others) draw eyeballs to their sites using news stories developed by other sources. The news aggregators thus develop traffic and ad revenue using this strategy, but that revenue is not shared by the news organizations, many of which are struggling to survive at the best of times. I predict that this will be a precursor of similar arrangements around the world.
6. Are you in a financial position to shop for a home? Current Mortgage Refinance Rates, July 31, 2020 | Rates ratchet higher, By Jeff Ostrowski | BANKRATE.COM | Jul. 31, 2020 (At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here’s an explanation [below] for how we make money.)
   1. 30-year fixed refinance – The average 30-year fixed-refinance rate is 3.19 percent, up 3 basis points over the last week. A month ago, the average rate on a 30-year fixed refinance was higher, at 3.34 percent.
   2. 15-year fixed refinance – The average rate for a 15-year fixed refi is 2.77 percent, up 3 basis points over the last seven days.
   3. MIKE: Note that rates will vary depending, among other things, on individual credit-worthiness. Nonetheless, the rates are all stunningly low.
7. LAST WEEK, WE DISCUSSED THIS ARTICLE: Sinclair says it will postpone and ‘rework’ segment featuring conspiracy theory about Fauci – How a coronavirus ‘infodemic’ is infecting the internet, By Oliver Darcy | CNN Business | Updated 4:39 PM ET, Sat July 25, 2020
   1. The Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI) said Saturday it will postpone and rework a segment it planned to air this weekend that suggested Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, was responsible for the creation of the coronavirus.
   2. The baseless conspiracy theory was set to air on stations across the country in a segment during the program “America This Week” hosted by Eric Bolling. The show, which is posted online before it is broadcast over the weekend, is distributed to Sinclair’s network of local television stations, one of the largest in the country.
   3. THIS WEEK, WE HAVE AN UPDATE: Sinclair drops segment featuring conspiracy theory about Fauci,  By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business | Updated 5:42 PM ET, Mon July 27, 2020
      1. The Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBGI) said Monday it will not move forward with airing a segment featuring a conspiracy theory that suggested Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, was responsible for the creation of the coronavirus.
      2. Over the weekend, Sinclair announced it would postpone and “rework” the segment featuring discredited “Plandemic” researcher Judy Mikovits which was set to air during the program “America This Week” hosted by Eric Bolling.
      3. But on Monday, the company pulled the plug altogether.
      4. “Upon further review, we have decided not to air the interview with Dr. Mikovits,” a spokesperson for Sinclair told CNN Business in a statement. “Although the segment did include an expert to dispute Dr. Mikovits, given the nature of the theories she presented we believe it is not appropriate to air the interview.”
8. IN ANOTHER REPORT RELATING TO RIGHTWING NEWS BIAS: Wikipedia administrators caution editors about using Fox News as source on ‘contentious’ claims, By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business | Updated 1:19 AM ET, Fri July 24, 2020(A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.
   1. The Wikipedia community recently engaged in a spirited debate over whether Fox News is a reliable enough source to use as a citation in entries on the encyclopedia. … Some argued in favor of Fox News. Others argued against. Some found themselves on middle ground.
   2. The debate, however, came to an end earlier this week. On Tuesday, a panel of three administrators … issued a ruling … that there was “no consensus regarding the reliability” of Fox news. Because of that, the three administrators said Fox News “should be used with caution” by editors “to verify contentious claims” related to politics and science.
   3. On Wikipedia’s perennial sources page, Fox News — which was previously a green-level source – is now categorized as a yellow-level source … The three administrators [said] in a joint statement that the ruling “will likely have little effect on the majority of articles,” given that Fox News is often used to support entries unrelated to politics or science.
   4. But, the editor’s added, “Use of Fox News in these two areas [politics or science] … will be carefully scrutinized; it can still be used, but likely only when there are additional sources to corroborate or if it is clearly marked as opinion or biased. In other words, prior to this discussion an editor would need to make an argument why not to use a Fox News source, but now the expectation that any disputes will require the person wanting Fox to be the primary source/reference will have to make the argument for inclusion.”
   5. A spokesperson for the WikiMedia Foundation, the charitable organization that hosts Wikipedia, explained in part, “The outcome is a guideline for editors to use caution when citing Fox News on two subjects; for other subjects Fox News is generally considered reliable.”
   6. That these guidelines now exist for Fox News doesn’t reflect particularly well on the network. I reached out to a spokesperson for Fox News, but didn’t hear back.
9. MEANWHILE, IN ‘UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES’ NEWS: Schools Want IDEA Liability Protections From Congress, by Michelle Diament | DISABILITYSCOOP.COM | July 20, 2020
   1. Concerned that the pandemic will prompt an onslaught of special education litigation, school leaders want federal lawmakers to grant them liability protections related to their obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]. …
   2. … [T]hree groups said that surveys of school leaders across the nation show growing concern about “unparalleled rates of litigation” as schools struggle to follow through with students’ individualized education programs during the pandemic.
   3. [In a statement from Daniel Domenech … ,] “Congress must act swiftly to provide liability protection to districts around IDEA. … District leaders need to be focused on addressing learning loss, not preventing litigation. … [T]his is an opportunity to provide reasonable, temporary, litigation protection for the vast majority of districts that are doing everything feasible to meet IDEA during the pandemic, but simply cannot meet every requirement exactly as intended for every single child.”
   4. The request comes as lawmakers are expected to start piecing together another coronavirus relief bill in the coming weeks. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has indicated that he wants liability protections for businesses, schools and others included in the bill, though it’s unclear what that could mean for special education specifically. …
   5. Disability advocacy groups have insisted that no waivers of special education law are warranted despite the extraordinary circumstances presented by COVID-19.
   6. Fears about increased litigation are unfounded, said Denise Stile Marshall, CEO of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates … , a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of students with disabilities and their families.
   7. “They fail to make the case the COVID-19 (pandemic) has caused or will result in multitude of lawsuits. Anticipating and predicting are hardly conclusive,” Marshall said of the school groups advocating for liability protections, noting that a “very low percentage of families” file for due process.
   8. “There is no acknowledgement at all of the very serious harms some students are suffering or schools that have not even tried to meet their obligations,” she said. “Our position from day one remains the same — no waivers — that includes sweeping liability protections.”
10. More Covid-related news: Farmworkers at Central California pistachio farm strike after dozens test positive for the coronavirus, By ASSOCIATED PRESS via LATIMES.COM| June 25, 2020, 5:29 PM
    1. WASCO, Calif.  — A group of about 50 farmworkers went on strike Thursday at a Central California pistachio farm demanding free face coverings, gloves and information from the farm’s owner after they said they learned from the media that dozens of their co-workers tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a union official said.
    2. Workers picketed outside Primex Farms in Wasco, which grows pistachio nuts, said Armando Elenes, a United Farm Workers official. Their demands also include better sanitation measures and more information from the company, which had not told them about the positive cases, he said.
    3. “They wanted to keep everything confidential, and at the same time, people [are] getting contaminated,” Elenes said.
    4. Workers learned of the cases about two weeks ago when fellow workers started getting sick, but only heard that dozens had tested positive from a report on local television, Elenes said.
    5. Primex, which has 5,000 acres of pistachio orchards in California as well as other nuts and produces dried fruits, confirmed that 31 people at the company were infected. …
    6. Veronica Perez, one of the workers, said the company never held a meeting to tell them what was happening and only began providing free masks a few days ago. Previously, she said they sold cloth masks for $8 each.
    7. The company has since brought on new workers to fill in for those who have gotten ill but hasn’t advised them of the outbreak, she said.
    8. “They continue to hide everything from us,” she said. “All we are asking is that all our rights are fulfilled and they treat us as essential workers and give us a safe place to work.“
    9. MIKE: Companies exist to make money. Unions exist to protect workers while companies make money off their labor. These two entities must exist in a dynamic tension that benefits both business and labor.
11. Tesla Autopilot Accidents: 1 out of 4,530,000 Miles; US Average: 1 out of 479,000 Miles, by Zachary Shahan | CLEANTECHNICA.COM | August 1st, 2020
    1. Tesla has released its quarterly “Tesla Vehicle Safety Report.” …The second quarter of 2020 saw a slightly worse result for Tesla than the first quarter in terms of accidents per million miles driven with Tesla Autopilot engaged (see graph below), but keep in mind that the first quarter had a record result. Additionally, the difference was so small that it was probably not statistically significant. On the other hand, Tesla’s Q2 figure was far better than the US average — about 10 times better with Autopilot engaged. Here are the key statistics:
       1. 1 accident every 4.53 million miles when Autopilot engaged
       2. 1 accident every 2.27 million miles when Autopilot not engaged but active safety features active
       3. 1 accident every 1.56 million miles without Autopilot and without active safety features
       4. 1 accident every 479,000 miles — US average (NHTSA)
    2. MIKE: In other words, even at this stage of driverless tech, the Tesla is almost 10 times safer than a human driver. This should also be seen in the context of an increasingly automated world, and further in the context of changes wrought by Covid-19 in work and social life.
12. Nuclear Gulf: Is Saudi Arabia pushing itself into a nuclear trap? – MBS is prepared to pursue nuclear weapons if Iran gets them. But could he end up making the kingdom a nuclear pawn? by Patricia Sabga | ALJAZEERA.COM | 21 Jul 2020
    1. When countries start dabbling in nuclear energy, eyebrows raise. … So when atom-splitting initiatives surface in a region with a history of nuclear secrecy and where whacking missiles into one’s enemies is relatively common, it is not just eyebrows that are hoisted, but red flags.
    2. Right now, warning banners are waving above the Arabian Peninsula, where the United Arab Emirates has loaded fuel rods into the first of four reactors at Barakah – the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant.
    3. Roughly 620 kilometres (388 miles) west, Saudi Arabia is constructing its first research reactor at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. …
    4. Like the UAE, Saudi Arabia insists its nuclear ambitions extend no further than civilian energy projects. But unlike its neighbour and regional ally, Riyadh has not officially sworn off developing nuclear weapons.
    5. The kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), has publicly declared his intention to pursue nuclear weapons if Iran gets them first.
    6. The spectre of the Saudi-Iran Cold War escalating into a nuclear arms race is not beyond the realm of possibility. There are growing concerns over the nuclearisation of the Arabian Peninsula and where it could lead the Gulf and the Middle East – [it’s] a volatile region that experts warn could be opening itself up to superpower proxy fights on a nuclear scale. …
    7. Nuclear energy, the kingdom argues, would allow it to export crude it currently consumes for domestic energy needs, generating more income for state coffers while developing a new high-tech industry to create jobs for its youthful workforce.
    8. But if a bountiful economic harvest is the goal, nuclear energy is a poor industry to seed compared with renewables like solar and wind.
    9. “Every state has the right to determine its energy mix. The problem is this: nuclear costs are enormous,” Paul Dorfman, honorary senior research fellow at the Energy Institute, University College London and founder and chair of the Nuclear Consulting Group, told Al Jazeera. “Renewables are maybe between one-fifth and one-seventh the cost of nuclear.”
    10. Utility-scale, average unsubsidised lifetime costs for solar photovoltaic were about $40 per megawatt-hour (MWh) in 2019, compared with $155 per MWh for nuclear energy, according to an analysis by financial advisory and asset manager Lazard. 
    11. “There are no economic or energy policy or industrial reasons to build a nuclear power plant,” Mycle Schneider, convening lead author and the publisher of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report, told Al Jazeera. “If countries decide to build a nuclear power plant anyway, then we have to discuss other issues that are actually the drivers for those projects.” …