Brain
Elon Musk launches Neuralink, a venture to merge the human brain with AI theverge
The company, which is still in the earliest stages of existence and has no public presence whatsoever, is centered on creating devices that can be implanted in the human brain, with the eventual purpose of helping human beings merge with software and keep pace with advancements in artificial intelligence. These enhancements could improve memory or allow for more direct interfacing with computing devices.
Society
WATCH: University Students Stumble over Who Has Freedom to Live and Work According to Beliefs adflegal.org v
Don’t like President Trump? It’s fine to tell people you won’t write a speech supporting him. Muslim singer? No one should force you to perform at an Easter service under threat of government punishment. But for a Christian creative professional, photographer, writer, or artist, it seems they must live by a different standard. To get a sense of just how confusing this issue seems to be for some, we visited the University of Wisconsin-Madison to hear what students have to say.
Society
Same-sex Valentine's Day cards are on the shelves at Sainsbury's for the first time home.bt w!
The 'cute' cards have a simple design featuring illustrations of a man and a man, and a woman and a woman, along with the words ‘You + Me’.
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.
End of the World
7 Dumb Predictions For 2016 That Didn't Happen forbes
We broke a lot of new ground in 2016, and whether you think that path is leading us off a cliff or onward to newfound glory, hopefully we can at least agree that it's finally over. Before we start looking forward to 2017 and making all sorts of ridiculous predictions that probably won't come true, let's look back at what some of the more outlandish prognosticating charlatans saw in their crystal balls for the year now ending.
Added as a reminder that Jesus said that the Father alone knows the hour it all ends (Mark 13:32) and that until His final judgement, things will continue on continuing on (Gen 8:22).
Israel
Israel plans more settlements; Abbas looks to Paris summit usatoday v
The developments came just days after the United States broke with past practice and allowed the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as a “flagrant violation” of international law.
Russia-Japan
Japan pledges response to 'serious' Russian missile deployment on disputed islands independent.co.uk
The countries are trying to arrange a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next month to settle a 70-year dispute over the islands, which were claimed by the Soviets after Second World War and lie just north of Japan.
Also see Military build-up in the Kuril Islands: Bad timing or a signal from Moscow? rbth
Economy
Dow eclipses 19,000 for first time in its 120-year history usatoday
After Monday’s record-breaking day, when the Dow Jones industrial average, large-company Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index, tech-dominated Nasdaq composite and the small-cap Russell 2000 all closed at record levels at the same time for the first time since Dec. 31, 1999, the Dow is making fresh headlines and will likely get a big shout out on the evening news.
Society
London couple go to Isle of Man for UK's first civil partnership bbc
The couple, who have two children, added: "We want a less encumbered, light-touch civil union that recognises our relationship on our terms, free from the trappings and social pre-conditions of marriage, while protecting our family financially and in law.
Russia
Putin shuns Paris visit after France offers talks only on Syria in.reuters
"I made it known to Mr Putin that if he came to Paris, I would not accompany him to any ceremonies, but that I was ready to continue the dialogue on Syria. He decided to postpone the visit," Hollande said at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
Also see Putin Cancels France Trip After President Hollande Accuses Russia of War Crimes in Syria time
War
Are We Ready for War With China? newsweek
China’s improved military capabilities, particularly for anti-access and area denial (A2AD), mean that the United States cannot count on gaining operational control, destroying China’s defenses and achieving decisive victory if a war occurred.
With that in mind, this report rand.org examines alternative paths that a war between the United States and China might take, losses and other effects on both sides, preparations that the United States should make and ways to balance U.S. war aims against costs should war occur.
Censorship
The slow creep and chilling effect of China's censorship dailydot
In the era of smartphones, instantaneous communication, and social media, you would’ve expected this news [Sonam Tso's act of self-immolation] to quickly spread around the world. It didn't. In fact, it was not until early May that civil society groups outside of Tibet were able to verify what had happened to Sonam Tso and alert the world. That was more than six weeks after the event has taken place—an eternity in the digital age.
Society
Barack Obama's transgender bathroom guidelines challenged by more than a dozen states independent.co.uk
The states will appear before a federal judge in Fort Worth on Friday to argue that the Obama administration’s directive presents “unlawful changes” in US law.
Also see 13 states to ask court to stop White House transgender bathroom policy washingtonexaminer
That lawsuit, filed in federal court in Nebraska, includes Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Temple Mount
King David’s Descendents Making Case to Reclaim Ownership of Temple Mount breakingisraelnews
While their claim is legally sound and verifiable, it faces significant political hurdles. One of the suit’s beneficiaries, who claims descent from the Davidic Dynasty, is ready for the legal battle but cautiously pragmatic.
War
Military Success in Syria Gives Putin Upper Hand in U.S. Proxy War nytimes v
For the first time since Afghanistan in the 1980s, the Russian military for the past year has been in direct combat with rebel forces trained and supplied by the C.I.A. The American-supplied Afghan fighters prevailed during that Cold War conflict. But this time the outcome — thus far — has been different.
North Korea
North Korean missile lands perilously close to Japan washingtonpost
In flight time, that meant the missile was only 20 or 30 seconds from Japan itself, said Euan Graham, who served as a British diplomat in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
False Unity
Pope to young on Poland trip: Believe ‘in a new humanity’ washingtonpost
Pope Francis told young people who flocked by the hundreds of thousands to his words Sunday that they need to “believe in a new humanity” stronger than evil, and cautioned against concluding that one religion is more violent than others.
If you remember, Imagine was played quite a bit last year by various so-called 'globalists'. Sounds like P.J., himself, took a page from Lennon this week:
“People may judge you to be dreamers, because you believe in a new humanity, one that rejects hatred between peoples, one that refuses to see borders as barriers and can cherish its own traditions without being self-centered or small-minded,” Francis told his flock.
Society
Constitution Check: Does the First Amendment protect a wedding cake as an art form? blog.constitutioncenter.org
Lyle Denniston, the National Constitution Center’s constitutional literacy adviser, looks at a potential Supreme Court test case about religious beliefs, same-sex marriage and a Colorado bakeshop.
Also see Masterpiece Cakeshop petition to the Supreme Court adflegal pdf
Space
The Spin of the Milky Way galaxy's Halo spaceref
Astronomers at the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts lsa.umich.edu (LSA) discovered for the first time that the hot gas in the halo of the Milky Way galaxy is spinning in the same direction and at comparable speed as the galaxy's disk.
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?
