Society
Boy Scouts of America to welcome transgender youngsters usatoday
The move marks a reversal of a policy in place for a century and is effective for the Boy Scouts scouting.org and the Cub Scouts. The organization vowed to recognize the gender a youngster lists on an application.
Paris Meeting
Paris meeting marks end to Obama’s failed Mideast diplomacy timesofisrael
At a time when President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is promising a fundamental shift toward Israel, the State Department said Kerry was only participating in the French-hosted event to ensure America’s interest in a two-state solution to the conflict is preserved. The blunt statement reinforced the dwindling hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough.
Holocaust Denial Article No Longer in Google’s Top Search Results forward
Now, when users search “Did the Holocaust happen?” they must first scroll through articles about the search controversy, two articles by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ushmm.org, and a wikipedia page on Holocaust denial before they arrive at the Stormfront article.
What's interesting about this is the potential ramifications if, say, people started complaining that the top results were "anti-homosexual" or promoted only one Way (John 14:16) or the like. I'm all for Holocaust denial (AKA anti-semetic) sites being treated as the "fake news" they are, but to intervene to control how specific results get sorted up (or down) seems to be a slipperly slope.
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
Abortion
Obama Bars States From Denying Federal Money to Planned Parenthood nytimes
Mindful of the clock ticking down to a Trump presidency, the Obama administration issued a final rule on Wednesday to bar states from withholding federal family-planning funds from Planned Parenthood affiliates and other health clinics that provide abortions. The measure takes effect two days before the Jan. 20 inauguration of Donald J. Trump.
According to the department, repealing the rule would require a new rule-making process, or a joint resolution of disapproval by the House and Senate, with concurrence by the new president.
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...
Russia
Putin, Syria, and Why Moscow Has Gone War-Crazy newyorker
A viewer of Russian television this week could be forgiven for thinking that the end of the world was imminent, and that it would arrive in the form of grand superpower war with the United States, culminating in a suicidal exchange of nuclear weapons. On one day alone, three separate test firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles were broadcast on state media: two by submarine, one from a launch pad in the Far East. Last weekend, NTV, a channel under effective state control, aired a segment on emergency preparedness that included a tour of a Cold War-era bomb shelter, fortified in case of atomic war, and a mention of the municipal loudspeakers that will sound upon the arrival of “Hour X.” On Sunday, Dmitry Kiselev, the most bombastic and colorful of Kremlin propagandists, warned on his weekly newsmagazine show that “impudent behavior” toward Russia may have “nuclear” consequences.
This is a good read...
Israel
UNESCO votes: No connection between Temple Mount and Judaism jpost
In a 24-6 vote, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization unesco.org on Thursday gave preliminary approval to a resolution that denies Jewish ties to its most holy religious sites: the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.
Also see Israel Decries UNESCO Vote on Jerusalem Site voanews and Israel suspends ties with Unesco over motion that downplays Jerusalem links theguardian
Syria
Russia Vetoes UN Resolution Demanding End to Aleppo Bombing abcnews.go
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault had warned before the vote that the continued bombing of Aleppo was killing civilians and destroying hospitals and schools — "and has nothing to do with combatting terrorism."
"It is the annihilation of Aleppo," he said.
Archaeology
Gate shrine from First Temple period unearthed at Tel Lachish National Park jpost
A rare gate shrine dating to the First Temple period (8th century BCE), unearthed in Tel Lachish National Park, near Mount Hebron, may prove King Hezekiah’s Biblically-recorded efforts to abolish worship in the region, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday.
Also see II Kings 18:1-8
Space
Out of control? China’s Tiangong 1 space station will fall to Earth — somewhere — in 2017 washingtonpost
Chinese officials appeared to admit during a Sept. 14 news conference in Jiuquan that they had lost control of the station.
Also see China's Tiangong-1 space station 'out of control' and will crash to Earth theguardian
Society
North Carolina Governor Drops 'Bathroom Bill' Lawsuit Against U.S. npr.org
In court documents Friday, Gov. Pat McCrory cited "substantial costs to the State" as one reason for dropping his lawsuit against the federal government, writing that it did not serve the "interests of judicial economy and efficiency."
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.
Research
Motherless babies possible as scientists create live offspring without need for female egg telegraph.co.uk
The landmark experiment by the University of Bath bath.ac.uk rewrites 200 years of biology teaching and could pave the way for a baby to be born from the DNA of two men.
A little sensationalized as it's more "maybe" than "possible", but a step in a scary direction.
Refugees
Calais migrants: Work to start on UK-funded wall bbc
Ms Rudd told the Home Affairs Committee the wall was "not a new initiative", but what mattered was making sure the French had the right amount of security to prevent "illegals" trying to get to the UK.
Also see Austria Threatens Hungary With Court Action Over Migrants abcnews.go
EU
Europe forges ahead with plans for 'EU army' telegraph.co.uk
Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, is preparing to forward a timetable setting out steps to create EU military structures “to act autonomously" from NATO.
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.
Society
Attorney General Mike DeWine appeals ruling supporting Cleveland abortion clinic's fight cleveland
DeWine this week asked the Ohio Supreme Court to review a decision from a Cuyahoga County appeals court cuyahogacounty.us that allowed the case to proceed. In a 2-1 decision, the 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled that Preterm-Cleveland had standing to sue the state.
Also see Ohio AG Mike DeWine Files Appeal to Protect Pro-life Laws nationalrighttolifenews.org
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.
Venezuela
Where flour, pasta and milk can cost a month's pay cnn
There's hardly ever fresh milk on the shelves. The same for powdered milk, which can sell on the black market for 100 times its official price. We found milk being sold for 7,000 bolivares -- more than $700 at the official currency exchange rate, though if you have U.S. dollars you can exchange them on the black market at vastly more favorable rates, perhaps getting 1,000 bolivares to the dollar.
This story reminded me a bit of the third seal (famine) describes in Revelation 6:6 NIV
Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "Two pounds of wheat for a day's wages, and six pounds of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
