UN, Israel, and US; Real Nuclear Threat; The Anti-Disagrees-With-Gov Law; Robot Spouse; and The Deep Year

Israel

What Does UN Vote on Israeli Settlements Mean and What’s Next? bloomberg

United Nations Security Council 2334, which passed Dec. 23 by a vote of 14-0 with the U.S. abstaining, describes Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians. It was the first time U.S. President Barack Obama declined to block a Security Council resolution that Israel considered hostile, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused him of staging a “shameless ambush” against his country. Netanyahu warned countries that backed the measure they would pay a diplomatic and economic price.

Netanyahu has declared that Israel will not not abide by the terms of the resolution. For the Palestinians, Resolution 2334 is “a moral victory and a symbolic victory, but at the end of the day nothing is really going to change on the ground and Israel will continue with its settlement construction,” Abusada said. Nearly 600,000 Jews now live in the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem beyond the 1967 boundary.

Also see Israel summons US ambassador as Netanyahu lashes out at Obama cnn and A final insult to Israel washingtontimes

Things Change Periodically; Building a Memory Catcher; Parental Group; Fat Bankers; UK Tries to Tango with Three; LGBT Goes to the UN; Working the Gender; Colombia's Peace; Globalist Fear: Italy's Nationalist Turn; More Power for Erdogan; And No Hollande in France

Science

It's official: Your Periodic Table is now obsolete sciencealert

Get ready to ring in 2017 with a brand new Periodic Table iupac.org, because four more elements have officially been added to the seventh row: nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts), and oganesson (Og).

Also see Periodic table expands with elements named after Japan, Moscow, Tennessee phys.org

Christmas Unity; Globalization Rally Cry; The Failing Justice League; EU's Grip; RT Swipe; Red Square Drill; Bomb Rain; Settling Outposts; New Order in Town; Programming Required; Alt-Right All Twittered Out; Big Gas; Animals See Again; Satellite Palooza; Smart Men Hit Asteroid; Space Engine; Faster Than Concorde; and Plant Robots Dreams

False Unity

Amazon Christmas advert 2016: Imam and priest push festive message of friendship independent.co.uk v

A spokesman for Amazon told The Independent: "Our casting reflects this: the gentleman playing the vicar is a practising vicar in London, the gentleman playing the imam is a devout Muslim and the principal of a Muslim school. We used an actual church and mosque for our scenes within the places of worship."

Oh, Amazon...

Obama and Netanyahu's Final Meeting; Syria Ceases Cease Fire; Merkel Admits It's Someones Fault; French Quarter for Sharia Law; Deported into Citizens; Tree Fuel; Lyft's Beyond; Self-Driven Canal; and The Blind Who 'See' Algebra

Israel

Obama And Netanyahu To Meet In New York On Wednesday jewishbusinessnews

The meeting was agreed upon following talks between the Prime Minister’s Office and the White House and was confirmed after the signing of the new US-Israel military aid package. It will be the first meeting between the two leaders since November 2015 and likely be the last as Obama approaches the conclusion of his presidency.

“The meeting also will be an opportunity to discuss the need for genuine advancement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the face of deeply troubling trends on the ground,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

LGBT History Lessons; Struttin' Bot; Bomb Bot or Drone?; Ford's Robot Co-Workers; Nano 'Wind' Turbines for Nano Power; Cloaked Research; DNA Decoding in Space; Japan's Throne; South Seas Nuclear Power; A Friend in Africa is a Friend in the UN; Iran's 4th Test; and Terroist States Condem Terrorism Elsewhere

Society

LGBT History Lessons Heading for California Classrooms abcnews.go

The State Board of Education cde.ca.gov unanimously approved those changes in classroom instruction Thursday to comply with the nation's first law requiring public schools to include prominent gay Americans and LGBT rights milestones in history classes.

Do you remember that lesson you learned in school about the danger of rulling parties of some, shall we say, "less free" nations projecting/rewriting history to suit its purposes?

Quietly Blocking Videos; Solar 66; 496 Ton Dump Truck; Losing in Battle to AI; Jupiter or Bust; Stay Wet; Injecting Cameras; Superbug Again; CA's College Existence Exam; Canadian Assisted Suicide not Broad Enough; Brexit Heartache; No 2nd Try; Au Revoir Anglais; China Cuts off Taiwan; and Turkey and Israel Get Cozy

Censorship

Google, Facebook quietly move toward automatic blocking of extremist videos reuters

The move is a major step forward for internet companies that are eager to eradicate violent propaganda from their sites and are under pressure to do so from governments around the world as attacks by extremists proliferate, from Syria to Belgium and the United States.

The technology was originally developed to identify and remove copyright-protected content on video sites. It looks for "hashes," a type of unique digital fingerprint that internet companies automatically assign to specific videos, allowing all content with matching fingerprints to be removed rapidly.

AI Editor in Chief; Musk-Bot; (Taxable) Electronic Persons; Transgender Soldier; School Violates HB2; CRISPR Approved (Kinda); Considering Russian Sanctions; Pentagon's Hidden Wounded; NK Missile Flops, Again; Iran Flies Boeing; Israel's QME; NY's Anti-BDS and Beyond; Smithsonian's Qur'an Exhibit; Unity Fire; A Space Base Hop Away; and The X-57

AI

IBM’s AI system Watson just edited an entire magazine all on its own digitaltrends

According to a press release published via The Drum, the magazine edited by Watson consists of a variety of features that cover Watson’s different analytical functions, as well as how it can assist modern-day marketers. Moreover, The Drum reports that Watson has also been programmed to have the ability to answer a series of questions pertaining to “advertising legend” David Olgivy. and has even predicted a list of winners for this year’s Cannes Lions awards.

Scottish Church Votes Anti-God; Cuban Flights Cleared(ish); LA Parks' Bathroom of Choice; Scores of Attacks, UN Condemns One; 10,000 Leagues Below the Sea; Elon's Dream; MS Stem Cell Treatment; Brain Bifocals; 3D Printed Brain Funded; and Vyo

Apostasy

Scottish Episcopal church leaps towards allowing gay marriage theguardian

The Scottish Episcopal church voted on Friday by 97 to 51, with three abstentions, to remove a clause in its canon law that states that marriage is a union of a man and a woman. Before the change can be enacted, it must win a two-thirds majority in a second vote next year.

Synod members voted to delete the first clause of canon 31, which states: “The doctrine of this church is that marriage is a physical, spiritual and mystical union of one man and one woman.”

Israel's Rise; Misunderstanding Shavuot; Unchaining Jewish Women; Blackmailing UN; UN's Ire(land); CA Chooses Death; Hidden in Sight in Petra; Flying Cars in Secret; Mobile Modular Phones; Internet on ISS; and Musk's Pentagon Visit

Israel

[OPINION, Caroline Glick] Israel rises in the East jpost

There was something poetic about the events that bookended the past week of diplomacy. This week began with French President François Hollande’s “peace” conference and ended with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s state visit to Moscow.

Very well written reality check.

Peaceless in France; Bracing in Israel; Making Russia Great, Again; Poland Builds Up; Turkey Stares Down; Racing for Scrolls; Orthodox Unity; AI's Bach; Human Genome Proposal; Diving HUDs; and Expensive, Tiny Floating Plants

Peace

France felt 'compelled to act' on Middle East peace talks theguardian

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, and UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, attended, along with representatives from the Arab League, the European Union and key Arab states. Israeli and Palestinian representatives were absent.

Also Middle East peace talks open without Israeli, Palestinian representatives and Israel can sigh relief at parve Paris communique

Ex-Israeli Officers' Peace Plan; Rocking Brexit; Putin Grrrrs NATO; Russian Robot Soldier; Michigan Opens Roads for Auto-Mobile Trains; Close to Pluto; SpaceX Lands 3rd; and Just Right, but Too Hot

Israel

Israeli Ex-Officers Issue Peace Plan, Condemn Gov't Inaction abcnews.go

It calls for a freeze on settlement building, the acceptance in principle of the Arab Peace Initiative and the recognition that east Jerusalem should be part of a future Palestinian state "when established as part of a future agreement." The Israeli opposition and much of the international community have long argued for these proposals.

This is an interesting, developing story that has been brewing (at least publicly) the last week or so with evidences of a split occurring between Israel's military and politicians on a 2-state solution. Only time will tell how deep this will go, but it's something to keep an eye on, particularly in light of France's 2-state solution peace talks coming up next month. It seems to be promoting much of what the “world” wants for a 2-state solution. Here's the proposed plan: PDF

Not All About State Recognition; Threatening Shield; Georgia Games; AU Backs US; China's Imploding Base; The Global Anti-Corruption Dream Team; ALawyer; Drilling for Cheese; Copyrights in a 3D Printing World; Inventory Management Swarm; SSM and Military Chapels; Superintendent's Personal, District-Wide Bathroom Policy; 1st National Gay Rights Monument; Liberal Demand for Unconditional Surrender; and Cheating Eyes

Two-State Solution

Gold: Israel opposes French plan even if it includes ‘Jewish state’ recognition jpost

“There are many problems with the French initiative, one of them is the lack of recognition of a Jewish state,” Gold said Thursday. “But even if that were changed, it wouldn’t alter many fundamental problems with the French initiative.”

Gold voiced anger at France’s vote last month at the UNESCO executive board meeting in favor of a resolution on Jerusalem that expunged any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount.

Mosque Replaces Synagogue; The FBI's Coming Power; When 'None' are the Majority; No Roundabout Peace; Brain-ictionary; Penciled in Woman Draft; Hubble's Golden Replacement; Avatar Driver

French Jews

Marseille Synagogue Becomes Mosque, French Muslims Want Churches Converted As Well jewishpress

Zvi Ammar, President of the Marseille Israelite Consistory, said the move was positive. “For the past 20 years or so we have seen the shift of the Jewish community to other neighborhoods,” he said, adding, “We all have the same God, the main thing is for this to proceed in harmony.”