Trump's LGBT Man; Pick a Gender and Vote; UN Hates Israeli Deer; Russia's Ukraine Door; Patrolling the Sea; Pope Terrorism; Dirty Meat; Smart Bug Trap; AI Knows; Self-Crasher; and Sick Watson

Society

Meet the Trump admin official paid to promote LGBT ‘rights’ around the world lifesitenews

The decision to preserve open homosexual Randy Berry as Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons was reported Monday by the homosexual newspaper Washington Blade. It is another blow to pro-family advocates who oppose the LGBT agenda and are counting on Trump to root out homosexual and abortion activists from the foreign affairs bureaucracy after eight years of Obama’s leftist policies.

“The Obama administration has systematically filled the ranks of State with LGBTQ and abortion activists,” Perkins wrote in December. “Unless the next Secretary of State is willing to resist and remove this embedded agenda, the promotion and protection of true human rights, like religious liberty, will continue to languish.”

Valentine Cards for Your Same Half; Violent Christianity; Pope's Hebrew; ID Chips; The AI Bowl; Red Light in the Morning; Rattling China; Romania Backs Down; Mini-Brain Bleeds; and 12th Cave

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’.

Canada's Wedding Photographer; A Peace of Bowl; Sanctioning that Old Enemy; Vespa's Bot; and Mindreading Regulations

Society

Montreal photographer allegedly refuses to shoot gay wedding ctvnews.ca

“I mentioned that there’s only going to be one house, since we already live with each other, and I said there is no bride: we’re two guys.”

I haven't yet seen a less biased story, but I believe that this is the company's site: Premiere Production premiereproduction.net

The Paris Conference, Israel, Palestinians, and the Pope

With the Paris Conference set for tomorrow (Sunday, Jan 15th) in Paris, France, I've decided to only post articles today that revolve loosely around Israel and that conference.

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.

Transcending on SCOTUS; Unreformed Pope; Genetic Reveal; Chief Failure; Duterte's Shoal Thing; UN or Occupy; and Unmarked Driverless Cars

Society

5 things to know: Transgender case lands in Supreme Court sfgate

Grimm was allowed to use the boys' restroom at his high school for several weeks in 2014. But after some parents complained, the Gloucester County School Board adopted a policy requiring students to use either the restroom that corresponds with their biological gender or a private, single-stall restroom. Grimm says that policy violates Title IX, a federal law that bars sex discrimination in schools.

Also see US Supreme Court agrees to hear student privacy case adflegal v

CoverBoy; Sudan Persecution; Pope Advising Lutherans; Seedful; CRISPR Sickle; Instant Vaccines; Graphene Silk; AI Underground; Kill Jobs, Save the World; AI Traffic Cop; China Tops AI; Kobi, My Landscaper; Returning Fire; and Russia's Inflated Military

Society

Meet CoverGirl’s first-ever CoverBoy, James Charles usatoday v

CoverGirl ambassador Katy Perry took to Instagram to break the news that the beauty behemoth had signed the 17-year-old New York-based makeup artist. "Just wrapped another great CoverGirl shoot. Honored to have the pleasure to announce the very first CoverBoy, James Charles!" the pop artist captioned a photo of herself posing alongside Charles in all his contoured glory.

UK's Wall; The Global Economy Pope; Stomping on Old, Hittite Ground; The $1.7B Pile of Cash; UN Demands NK Pretty Please Stop; Zika Tears; US Zika Funding Aborted; PP's Cushy Government Contract; Amateur Biological Weapons; What Cocaine?; and The Genesis Project

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

Google, Am I Good?; End-Run BDS with Bonds; Fleeing BDS in LA; California's Sort Of Anti-BDS Law; Out on Bad Behavior; CA Plays Planned Parenthood Protector; Slave Recruit; Sinning Against Nature; 3D and Electrified Graphene; Quantum Computer Coming Soon; Creepy-Smart; Sanbot Service; Pizza Factory; AI Hope; and Sub Quiet

Depravity of Man

Am I a good person? You asked Google – here’s the answer theguardian w!

But before we even get to the question of what would make a good person, there is a basic difficulty with our inquiry: if we ask ourselves, the answer we get will probably be tainted with lies. Even when we know we have done wrong, our minds set at work to scrub the knowledge out. A rather elegant study recently published in PNAS showed that we have difficulties even forming memories of the times we have behaved unethically, and if they ever are formed, they disintegrate faster than other ones. And this is a truth that was known long before lab science, by anyone who studies human nature, from St Augustine to Jane Austen.

While clearly not holding to a biblical view point (and effectivly calling Jesus just another man and totally misunderstanding the point of Job), this is a good reminder that the problem with defining "good" is good by whose standard? God declared it's by His standard that we must be good, and said no one is good (Psalm 53:3, c.f. Romans 3:12). Jesus pointed to the Pharasees and said our righteousness must exceed those who were so about obeying laws that they even made up more laws to obey (Matt 5:20). No one is good, and certainly no one is perfect as God is and demands (Matt 5:48), but that's why Jesus had to live and die. To not only pay our fine in a legal sense through His death for our sin, but to also live righteously so that HIS righteousness could be credited to our account (2 Cor 5:21). There's only been one good man (Jesus - fully God, fully man), which is why there's only one way to be saved from the wrath of God! (John 3:36)

Eyes Wide Closed; JW No More; Pope and Zuckerberg; Nuclear Air Defense; Illegal but Palestine; Ancient and Sophisticated; Deep Space Diver; 365 Days on the Edge of a Volcano; Car Brains; 4D Printing; Feeling Virtual Reality; and The Drone Water Hunt

Society

Kerry terror solution: Media should cover less wnd v

“It’s easy to terrorize. Government and law enforcement have to be correct 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. But if you decide one day you’re going to be a terrorist and you’re willing to kill yourself, you can go out and kill some people. You can make some noise. Perhaps the media would do us all a service if they didn’t cover it quite as much. People wouldn’t know what’s going on.”

Imagine and Believe; Strange Church Fellows; Levi Plans; Brazilian Jews; Turkey Threatens EU; Street Rate of Death; NK Can Reach LA; China's Nose Punch; Atheists in Devil Suits; 'Christian' Delisted as Hate Speech; Anthrax in Russia; Moving Pictures; Printing Solar Cells; Self-Directed Robot Sings Badly; and The AI Way

Sorry for no post yesterday, and for the particularly, currently 'old' news today...my Internet was down yesterday! This update catches up on the news you didn't even know you missed over the unscheduled long-weekend...

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.

Defensive Open Hand; NK's Bombs; Plane Deal 'N Iran; China's Fan-countries; Perpetually Ready; Calling Out UNHRC; Bank Against BDS; Canadians Dying with Help; Pope's 666 Problem; Ancient Egypt's New Gold; Nano-materials: More than Meets the Eye; and Pepper Goes to Hospital

War

Despite defense buildup, NATO also seeks to assure Russia bigstory.ap.org

NATO's chief said Tuesday the alliance is reinforcing its defenses against Russia from the Baltic to the Black Sea, but keeping all possible contacts with Moscow open to avoid any unwarranted escalation of tension.

Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, confirmed previous statements that alliance defense ministers gathered in Brussels for a two-day meeting will back a deployment plan to send four multinational battalions to the Baltic states and Poland. He also said decisions are expected on forming a new multinational unit of ground forces in Romania.

Also see NATO to send troops to deter Russia, Putin orders snap checks

NATO's Rotation; NK's Latest Missile Failure; Lenski Rebutted; 1/3 For Boycotting Israel; Anti-BDS Summit; Atomic Submarine; Inflated NASA; Chatty Friends; Zenbo; Social Hate Purge; Pope 'n the Kids; Carter for Social Justice; Religious Symbol Ban Allowed; Summer Terror in Europe; Tourism Plummet; UnitedHealth's CA Exit; and Gunshot Wound Plug

War

Stoltenberg says NATO ready to respond to ‘assertive Russia’ politico.eu

The Polish minister confirmed that Poland and the Baltic states would host four rotating battalions and that he talked with Stoltenberg about permanently stationing weapons stores in Poland, “which is crucially important for us and strengthens our sense of security.”

Internet for the Poor; Babel's Return; Nobel AI; The Googling Photographer; Digital License; DARPA Shows Off; Self-Driving Trucks; Springs in the Air; Shape-Shifting Cubes; Birth Control Volley; Canadian Capitulation; Mexico Joins That Side of History; 19 Weeks in South Carolina; Christian-Islam Unity; China Prepares for War; A Jerusalem Divided; and Abbas Cuddles up to International Community

When announced as the International Day of 'Homophobia', 'Transphobia', and 'Biphobia', I knew that today was going to be an interesting one, and the politicians around the world didn't disappoint! I touch on just a couple stories, as they are everywhere :) Also, some interesting news on a near real-time language translator and an AI tool that was unintentionally used to recreate a Nobel prize winning experiment in an hour.

Note: Just a heads up that starting tomorrow (Wednesday, 18th) and continuing for several days, my availability to compile these articles will be limited. I will try to post at least a couple on most days, but please bear with me - releases are always hectic times in a programmer's life :) Thanks!

Global Economy

Connecting everyone to internet 'would add $6.7tn to global economy' theguardian

Bringing internet access to the 4.1 billion people in the world who do not have it would increase global economic output by $6.7 trillion (£4.6tr), raising 500 million people out of poverty, according to a study by PwC.

Babel

This nifty earpiece will translate your conversations in real-time thenextweb v

Working much like the Babel Fish from ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,’ the Pilot can translate live speech. So, if you have it in your ear and you’re talking to someone who speaks French – you will hear what they say in English and they will hear you in French.

AI

Artificial Intelligence Recreates Nobel Prize-Winning Physics Experiment - In One Hour forbes

“A simple computer program would have taken longer than the age of the universe to run through all the combinations and work this out.”

Google

Google made an insanely high-res camera to preserve great works of art theverge v

"The capture time has been reduced drastically," says Marzia Niccolai, technical program manager at the Cultural Institute. "Previously it could take almost a day to capture an image. To give you an idea, now if you have a one meter by one meter painting, it would take 30 minutes."

Government Tech

UK developing digital driving licence bbc

CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood said: "Security has taken a significant step forward to support digital payments on phones, so the framework is in place for other secure applications, such as a digital driving licence.

There are not many people in the UK that do not carry a smartphone with them every day, so it is a logical next step.

Exosuits, robot arms and mini subs: This is the military's future armytimes

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency filled the courtyard at the Pentagon on May 11 with a variety of exhibitions at its annual DARPA Demo Day, giving the defense community and media a chance to see the next steps to maintain supremacy on the battlefield.

See this article for DARPA’s New Robotic Arm is Straight Out of Terminator v. Note: the video might make some a little uncomfortable. Like me. :)

Self Driving Vehicles

Otto, founded by ex-Googlers, is bringing self-driving technology to trucks techcrunch v

Unlike others, which are designing new vehicles that drive autonomously, Otto focuses on technology that can be fitted into trucks that are on the road now. Rather than eradicating drivers by making them obsolete, the immediate goal is assistance. The duo told Backchannel that, among many things, they aim to let drivers safely take a sleep break while leaving their truck driving autonomously.

3D

3D printer uses lasers to create metallic objects in midair engadget v

...instead of spitting out one layer over another, the machine was designed to ooze out metal that immediately freezes solid. That allows it to print free-form patterns that look like they're suspended in air, like coils. Created by the university's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the printer uses "ink" composed of silver nanoparticles. A focused laser then heats the material and solidifies it as it comes out.

Shape-shifting modular interactive device unveiled bristol.ac.uk v

Cubimorph is a modular interactive device that holds touchscreens on each of the six module faces and that uses a hinge-mounted turntable mechanism to self-reconfigure in the user’s hand. One example is a mobile phone that can transform into a console when a user launches a game.

Ok...so this looks like blocks...moving around :) To get a 'long view' perspective on the intention of this kind of technology, Create Anything You Want With Programmable Matter v is a good, introduction video of how dreamers dream when they dream of programmable matter.

Society

Supreme Court dodges major decision on Obamacare birth control reuters

The court's action avoided a possible 4-4 split that would have affirmed the lower-court rulings. The justices, shorthanded following February's death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, threw out seven rulings by federal appeals courts around the country that had backed the Obama administration.

Canada Moves to Ban Discrimination Against Transgender People nytimes

The legislation comes at a time of intense debate over transgender rights in the United States, and it fulfills a pledge Mr. Trudeau made during his election campaign last year. The government timed the introduction of the bill to coincide with an International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

Mexico's president calls for nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage theguardian

The announcement, which coincides with the National Day Against Homophobia in Mexico, came after Nieto met at a roundtable with representatives of LGBT groups.

Abortion

South Carolina passes bill banning abortion after 19 weeks startribune

The legislation will now head to Gov. Nikki Haley's desk. The Republican said in March she will almost certainly sign it, but wants to look at the details once it reaches her desk.

Pope

Pope Francis says Islam and Christianity share an ‘idea of conquest’ washingtonpost

“It is true that the idea of conquest is inherent in the soul of Islam," he said. "However, it is also possible to interpret the objective in Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus sends his disciples to all nations, in terms of the same idea of conquest."

Yet another reminder that the Pope does not speak for God! Also see Pope Francis: Christianity and Islam must integrate in Europe

China

Pentagon: China Restructures for War freebeacon

The armed forces were reformed with new military regions, a new command structure, and updated strategies to better fight regional, high technology warfare, the 145-page report to Congress says.

Israel

Jerusalem is being divided de facto' israelnationalnews

A number of leftwing NGOs including Ir Amim and Tag Meir have called upon Israeli police this week to bar the annual Jerusalem Day “Rikudgalim” march from parts of the Old City.

Without peace, Mideast extremism will hit Israel,' Abbas warns jpost

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the French initiative for an international peace conference aimed at resolving the Middle East conflict.

“When two sides are invited to a meeting, one cannot present preconditions,” the Palestinian leader said. “It’s the international community that should determine what is right and what isn’t.”

Why AI?; AI Building AI; Personal Aircraft; Robo-Cockroaches Take the Stairs; Mini Moto; Glo-In-The-Dark Highways; Bot Sewn Sow; Da Vinci's DNA Code; 35 Tons of Dead Fish; American Crisis; Pope's Unity Award; $1b Peace Pledge; Foam Goat Heads; and NK's Propaganda Push

Today we have lots of tech related articles, from more robo-cockroaches (the mini-robots of choice by scientists, it seems) to 'engines' so small you can't see them to concrete that glows in the dark for up to 12 hours. Also, look closely - one of these links is not like the others...

AI

WHY AI? currentoldnews.blogspot

Back before I started this blog, when I used to email links of current event stories, a friend cornered me at church one day. Cocking his head a little funny, he said something to the effect of: "You sure email a lot of stuff about AI!"

His confused, perplexed response to AI articles as "current (old) news" was understandable - and perhaps you share his sentiments. And I admit - it is a little unusual because it is so sci-fi and out there, seeming more at home in a movie than in a newspaper.

In my first long-form article on this blog, I ramble on a bit as to why I include AI articles so often in these daily lists of news. 'Long' is a key word. Grab your coffee before clicking the link :)

Building AI Is Hard—So Facebook Is Building AI That Builds AI wired

No joke. Inside Facebook, engineers have designed what they like to call an “automated machine learning engineer,” an artificially intelligent system that helps create artificially intelligent systems. It’s a long way from perfection. But the goal is to create new AI models using as little human grunt work as possible.

Tech

Personal aircraft aiming to take off from your home phys.org

Founded in February 2015 by four engineers and doctoral students from the Technical University of Munich in Germany, Lilium has already proved the concept with several scale, 25 kg prototypes and is now developing its first ultralight vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

The dream continues...:D

Watch robo cockroach buddies help one another climb stairs theverge v

It's a simple demonstration, meant to show how smaller robots like this can work together to overcome tasks they can't handle alone. The UC Berkeley scientists from the university's Biomimetic Millisystems Lab have been playing with their roach and bug designs for a while now, and suggest the bots will eventually find a place in disaster rescue scenarios.

Cambridge scientists lay claim to world’s tiniest engine, a million times smaller than an ant heralddemocrat

It’s at [the] microscopic scale that scientists at the University of Cambridge say they’ve constructed a working engine. The prototype motor, which the physicists described Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, relies on lasers, gold particles and the exploitation of a nifty physics principle called van der Waals forces.

Looking to light highways with light-emitting cement phys.org

During the day, any building, road, highway or structure made out of this new cement can absorb solar energy and emit it during the night for around 12 hours.

Why We Should Care About the Autonomous Robot That Just Performed Surgery on a Pig fortune

The significance of this, beyond its meaning in the medical world, is that surgery strikes most of us as just about the last job we could imagine a robot doing. But robots are clearly on their way to doing it.

Belgium I O Dine; The Israel-US Game: How Much/How Little?; Turkey Longs for End of Iran's Sanctions; China + Russia Scold US; Syria's Once Was Peace Over; Barrel Roll Temptation; A Second Scolding from Russia in Syria; UN - More Money and One Voice = Peace; Biden Gushes, Pope Returns Favor; EU's Banks Not Prepared; On Marrying Vishnu; Finally Some Sound Theology in the UK!; and a Robot Humans Chase

Today we have little bits of "war brewing" news from all over the world. I didn't plan it that way, but when I compiled the final list, I found that I had stories about or referencing at least 9 different countries! Here's a hint - most of them aren't singing our praises :)

Belgium

Belgium Issues Iodine Pills to All Citizens in Nuclear Emergency Plan nbcnews

A dose of iodine, which helps to limit the effects of radiation on the body, will be made available to all 11 million people in the small country, Health Minister Maggie De Block told reporters Thursday.

Tesla Tractor; Hitler Who?; Fly-by Without Bye-Die; NK Prepares Anniversary Launch; US Joins Philippines in South Sea; Religious Police on a Leash; Israel is Real; US Calls Israel a Bully; Obama's Last Israeli Move; The World's Pope; Visual Shock-wave; Stud-d-d-dering Mice; Brainprint; Pestilence Overload Penciled in for 2050; NASA, the Climate Change Defender; and Bible Banned

Amazing Tech

Reconfigured Tesla coil aligns, electrifies materials from a distance phys.org v

The system works by remotely oscillating positive and negative charges in each nanotube, causing them to chain together into long wires. Cherukuri's specially designed Tesla coil even generates a tractor beam-like effect as nanotube wires are pulled toward the coil over long distances.

$100M Alien Hunt; Fighting No Abortion in Poland; Robo Bird; Napster Steels Against Cancer; Man's Arm Controlled by Man's Brain; Rain Cells; Street-Legal AI; Sharia Law Without Discrimination; U.S. Under (Simulated) Attack; Pope Greece's Unity; Indian Jews; and UN Reflects Mankind;

Space

Stephen Hawking announces $100M ‘Breakthrough Starshot’ project to find alien life nydailynews v

The Breakthrough Starshot Project was unveiled Tuesday on the 102nd floor of One World Observatory, where Hawking was joined by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner in announcing the ambitious plan.

TAX AVOID; ORTHODOX HOMOSEXUAL; ISRAEL AGAINST ARMS; 18-ROTOR 'COPTER; SYRIAN TRUCE FAILING; EXTREMISM LIBERALLY DEFINED; MUSLIM GHETTO; AHMADIS THREATS; NK DEFECTION; GLASS WORKS; GLASS WORKS; FINDS BY ACCIDENT; RISE OF THE BOTS; MASS SUICIDE ATTEMPTS; NORWAY's SAME-SEX VOTE; POPE EXCELS IN MINCING WORDS; CAR-DAR; 7 YEAR TERM; UN-ITY AGAINST VIOLENT EXTREME

Taxes

Can pay, won't pay: Tax avoidance throughout history bbc

The Panama Papers have revealed the massive scale of tax dodging schemes of the rich and powerful. But tax avoidance is nothing new - people have been coming up with schemes and loopholes for as long as there have been taxes.

Israel

Group of Israeli Orthodox rabbis urges greater acceptance of homosexuals jpost

While the document stated that the "Torah prohibits homosexual acts," the paper penned by the rabbis stressed that Orthodox communities should be more accepting and socially inclusive.

A reminder that though we look to Israel as time wraps up, that as a nation they currently as lost and blinded as the rest.

Israel has hit ‘dozens’ of Hezbollah arms transfers, Netanyahu says timesofisrael

Saying that he was proud of Israel’s ability to maintain “relative quiet and security” in an otherwise stormy Middle East, he told soldiers stationed there: “We act when we have to act, including here and across the border, with dozens of strikes, to prevent Hezbollah acquiring tie-breaking weaponry.”

Travel

Watch an 18-rotor electric helicopter take its first manned flight engadget

The designers still have to ramp up their tests to the point where the Volocopter hits its full 60MPH top speed, but they're now confident enough that they hope to take pre-orders later this year. It'll likely only be limited to enthusiasts at first, but the dream is to use the aircraft's unique properties to expand what's possible.

Syria

Syrian PM says Russia to back new Aleppo attack; opposition says truce near collapse in.reuters

The ceasefire came into effect in February with the aim of paving the way for a resumption of talks to end the five-year-long war. But it has been widely violated, with each side blaming the other for breaches. The fighting south of Aleppo marks the most significant challenge yet to the deal.

Global Religion

Losing my religion: life after extreme belief theguardian

Fleeing the grip of a sect can be a matter of life or death. Megan Phelps-Roper, and two other former believers, reveal how they lost almost everything when they lost their faith

It's no accident an "evangelical" (Westbro) Christian, Jew, and Muslim are highlighted in this article as breaking free from the bondage of extreme religion.

Islam

UK Muslim ghettoes' warning telegraph.co.uk

British Muslims are becoming a nation within a nation, the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has warned.

Kill Ahmadis' leaflets found in UK mosque bbc

A mosque trustee said he had never seen the leaflets before and suggested they were fakes or left there maliciously.

North Korea

Senior N. K. intelligence officer, diplomats defect koreaherald

The colonel-level intelligence officer came to Seoul last year and gave a “detailed testimony” on the Reconnaissance General Bureau’s espionage operations against the South, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing an unnamed source with knowledge on the inner workings of the communist state.

See also NORTH KOREAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER DEFECTS TO SOUTH IN ‘HIGHEST LEVEL CASE’

Archeaology

Ancient Glass-Works Prove Israel Was World Glass Production Center jewishpress

These kilns, about 1,600 years old (dating to the Late Roman period), indicate that the Land of Israel was one of the foremost centers for glass production in the ancient world.

Accidental Discoveries: Hikers Stumble Upon Archaeological Finds in Israel jpupdates

“Israel is a very small country, intensively settled over thousands of years, and there are 37,000 registered archeological sites, so almost everywhere you have the potential to find things,” says Yardenna Alexandre, an IAA research and field archaeologist stationed in the Jezreel Valley.

AI

(chat)Bots, explained recode.net

A bot is software that is designed to automate the kinds of tasks you would usually do on your own, like making a dinner reservation, adding an appointment to your calendar or fetching and displaying information. The increasingly common form of bots, chatbots, simulate conversation. They often live inside messaging apps — or are at least designed to look that way — and it should feel like you’re chatting back and forth as you would with a human.

Suicide

Aboriginal community in Canada declares emergency as 11 people try to commit suicide in one night itv

There have been 101 suicide attempts in the Attawapiskat First Nation, a remote 2,000-strong village near James Bay in northern Ontario, since September.

Apostasy

Norway's state church votes in favour of same-sex marriages mjtimes.sk.ca

Of 115 synod members present at the Church of Norway's council, 88 voted in favour, meaning that the state church will adopt provisions for marrying same-sex couples at its meeting next year and make it part of its official liturgy.

Pope

Pope invites Catholics to ignore church doctrine in document rife with calculated ambiguity albertmohler

Albert Mohler spends the entire briefing today discussing the Pope's document released last week and why it matters to Bible-believing Christians (hint: the Gospel is at stake)

Driverless Car

Ford tests Lidar-equipped car in pitch darkness techcrunch

By using Lidar, Ford recently showed that its autonomous vehicles can drive in complete darkness without human intervention. In the process, they remind us that the self-driving car is about a lot more than as-good-as-humans: It’s about harnessing tech to make cars far safer and smarter than human drivers.

UN

New UN Secretary-General may be elected for 7 years for first time tass.ru

The next UN Secretary-General can be elected for 7 years instead of 5 years for the first time and not be eligible for reelection. President of the UN General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft has told TASS that such an opportunity is currently discussed by the UN member-countries during the secret consultations.

I couldn't find a corroborating article. If true, you know this will kick off the prophesy-phere a chattering...

At Geneva conference, Ban calls for global partnership to prevent violent extremism un.org

the Secretary-General told the Geneva Conference on Preventing Violent Extremism – The Way Forward, co-hosted by the Government of Switzerland and the UN. Mr. Ban stressed: “Let us also recognize that today, the vast majority of victims worldwide are Muslims.”

Violent extremists seek to divide communities and the goal is to let fear rule, he said. “Let this conference – and our unity today – be the ultimate rebuke to that bankrupt strategy.”

North Carolina Support; Discriminating Behavior Not People; New Morality Pope; Rich and Famous Sinners; Wrestling with the Future; Turkey's State; Girl Infantry-Man; and Testing Global Banking

Society

Six Reasons North Carolina Got It Right townhall

On Monday Lt. Governor Dan Forest, who helped call the special session to pass HB2, called the executive in charge at one large protesting company and simply asked if him if he or anyone there had a actually read the bill.

He admitted they had not. They just labeled it “discriminatory” without even reading it.

An article linked to by today's Tim Challies update. Been tricky to find anyone not bashing North Carolina over this law.

3 Reasons Why Religious Liberty Laws Don’t Discriminate thegospelcoalition.org

One of the most ubiquitous phrases is that such bills are a “license to discriminate.” According to this line of thinking, it is invidiously discriminatory if a baker, florist, or photographer declines to use his or her creative talents in service of a same-sex wedding ceremony.

Two from Tim Challies in one day!

The New Morality of Pope Francis newyorker

I was ordained in early 1969, a few months after the promulgation of “Humanae Vitae,” the Vatican’s resounding condemnation of “artificial birth control,” which would define my future. I was a chaplain at a university where, true to the era, the norms of sexual morality had been upended. I certainly saw the need, in those wild days, for a humane and ethical analysis of the state of sexual intimacy, personal commitment, erotic longing, and gender rights. But, believe me, the triumphalist salvo from Rome made the moral condition worse, not better.

An opinion piece on how relative moralism was enshrined in Catholism long before Pope Francis. This article's author sees that as a good thing, and is praising the latest pope for pulling back further from absolutes. I found it worth reading, seeing the insights of one who is lost and deep within an idolatrous system where the issue at stake is not whether or not any decisions conform to God's word, but the words of the popes. Interesting read: sad because of the utter blindness of this man and enraging because of the utter joy taken in promoting a system wickedly at odds with God and calling it good. (Rom 1:32)

Depravity

The Troubled Minds of the Rich and Famous news.nationalgeographic

Talking from her home in Alexandria, Virginia, Kalb takes us inside the brain of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, explains how Howard Hughes had a grilled cheese sandwich problem, and why Charles Darwin is her hero.

Sin has affected how we think and relate and understand (known as the Noetic Effect of sin). This means that people really do end up a mess even by man's noeticly-effected-standard, but when we look for an answer in psychology, as the author of this book is doing, we are missing that we, ourselves, are corrupted and looking for the out for our own responsibility! This look at those in history shows us that being well-known doesn't change our nature. Not even one bit.

Singularitry

The funny things happening on the way to singularity techcrunch

About 10 years ago, inventor, futurist and now Director of Engineering at Google Ray Kurzweil famously embraced the concept of “the singularity” — that moment in time when machine intelligence surpasses our own. Kurzweil predicted the singularity would occur by 2045, and man and machine would become inseparable.

Given the relationship most people have with their smartphones, you could argue it’s already happening.

Though deeply entrenched in a humanistic worldview, an engaging read.

Turkey

One day after Israel issues travel warning to Turkey, US follows suit jpost

"The US Mission in Turkey would like to inform US citizens that there are credible threats to tourist areas, in particular to public squares and docks in Istanbul and Antalya," the statements reads.

Military

Louisiana woman makes U.S. Army history ksla

A Robeline native is making armed forces history as the first woman to enlist in the infantry in the United States Army.

Banking

4 top banks used blockchain tech to trade credit swaps qz

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) successfully traded credit default swaps on the blockchain, according to an announcement today.

Byzantine Destruction; NK Workers Defect; Fingerprint Currency; Pope Welcomes More to False Church; Automated Guardian Angel; Robotic Chef; Robots Without Knees Work Too; Embryos Edited Again; and SpaceX - Rocket Launch in Reverse

Archeaology

Palestinian Christians bitter over destruction of church ruins in Gaza jpost

Palestine Christians on Wednesday expressed anger over the way the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have handled the ancient ruins of a Byzantine church that were uncovered in Gaza City last week.

See also Builders find remnants from Byzantine period in Gaza

Islamic State nets millions selling plundered antiquities online smh.au

According to Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, IS is making up to $265 million a year by smuggling and selling looted jewellery, coins and other precious archaeological items through auction sites and specialist online stores.

North Korea

Thirteen North Korean restaurant workers defect to South Korea theguardian

Jeong claimed it was unprecedented for so many people to have defected from the same North Korean restaurant abroad. It is also unusual for South Korea to make a formal announcement about defections, or to even comment on them. Jeong said the government decided to go public about the arrivals because of the unusual nature of the defections.

Cashless Society

Fingerprints to be tested as ‘currency’ the-japan-news

Starting this summer, the [Japanese] government will test a system in which foreign tourists will be able to verify their identities and buy things at stores using only their fingerprints.

False Religion

Pope to church: Be more accepting of divorced Catholics, gays and lesbians cnn

"By thinking that everything is black and white, we sometimes close off the way of grace and growth," he writes.

Self-Driving Cars

Toyota Joins the Race for Self-Driving Cars with an Invisible Copilot technologyreview

Toyota’s researchers are developing what they call a “guardian angel” system that will automatically take control of a vehicle, or subtly adjust a driver’s actions, in order to avert danger. In contrast to other companies working on self-driving vehicles, the Japanese carmaker sees combining machine and human driving as a key step toward full autonomy.

Robots

THE WORLD'S FIRST ROBOTIC KITCHEN moley

Moley has created the world's first robotic kitchen. Featuring an advanced, fully functional robot integrated into a beautifully designed, professional kitchen, it cooks with the skill and flair of a master chef. The prototype was premiered to widespread acclaim at Hanover Messe, the international robotics show.

Includes fascinating video.

Alphabet’s secretive Schaft Inc. shows off new bipedal robot in Tokyo techcrunch

There’s a new bot in town (Tokyo, specifically), and while it might not be as cute as Nao, as creepy as Spot and BigDog or as anthropomorphic as Atlas, it might be more practical than all of them. It walks on two legs, but not like a man, or even a bear. This one, designed by Alphabet-owned Schaft Inc., has its own uniquely robotic form of locomotion.

Includes a video. A step in the direction of more functional and less creepy robot :)

Genetics

Chinese Researchers Experiment with Making HIV-Proof Embryos technologyreview

Chinese fertility doctors have tried to make HIV-proof human embryos, but the experiments ended in a bust. The new report is the second time researchers in China revealed that they had a go at making genetically modified human embryos.

Space Tech

SpaceX just made history and landed a rocket on a ship techinsider.io

But the huge, history-making moment — causing everyone at SpaceX to lose their minds in a roar of applause during a live webcast — was when the company landed a rocket on a ship at sea.