Pot Churches; JW's Rushed Out; allah Baby; Bench Press; GM's Lost Plant; Aborting in Missouri; Abortion in Every Campuses; Nanocar Race; Red-eyed Mutants; 3D Fabric; and Brain Drug

Society

Colorado rejects attempt to ban pot churches coloradoan

The International Church of Cannabis is set to open in Denver on April 20th and has been billed as "the first large venue in the world where adults can legally consume cannabis in a social environment.” According to Steve Berke, the 113 year old church's new landlord, “Elevationists believe that one can find the path to spiritual fulfillment through the ritual use of cannabis.” The church doesn't plan on selling marijuana or accessories, but plans to host guest speakers, artists, comedians, musicians, and documentary film screenings. Despite the affiliation with marijuana, Berke insists: “this is not just a bunch of lazy stoners getting together to get high. We really want to impact [the] neighborhood. We want to do great things for the community.”

Hate Crusade; Playgrounds in Court; Russian Intercept Deux; Taking the Fight to Abu; Pact Uncertainty Lingers; and Negative Mass

Society

LGBTQ Advocates Seek to Label Conservative Opponents as Hate Groups reuters

The Eliminate Hate Campaign seeks to draw attention to groups it sees as extreme and hateful against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, accusing them of hiding behind ostensibly Christian or family values.

On the Bench; Defining Discrimination; Burning Hatred of God; Passover Rise; THAAD Time; AI's Heart Check; Robot Warehouse; and One Day Diagnosis

Politics

Gorsuch has busy first day at Supreme Court thehill

Gorsuch, who was confirmed earlier this month after President Trump nominated him to the court, entered the courtroom grinning as he stepped up to his chair — the last on the far right, next to President Obama appointee Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Midwife Abortion; Delivering Falafel; Eye See All; Treadmill Legs; and Window Filter

Abortion

Christian midwife must perform abortions or lose job, Swedish court rules washingtontimes

Ellinor Grimmark was blacklisted by the medical community because of her pro-life convictions, despite longstanding Swedish law protecting the conscience rights of medical professionals.

The midwife is now considering whether to appeal the Swedish court’s decision to the European Court of Human Rights echr.coe.int, her lawyers said. A decision there would have major implications for conscience rights across the continent.

Even a UN is Right Twice a Day; Graphene Screen; Data Film; Steam Suit; Foolish AI; Federated Learning; and The Cats Ain't Enough

Israel

Top UN Official Calls Jerusalem the Ancient Capital of Israel israeltoday.co.il

Irina Bokova, the director-general of UNESCO, which last year passed a motion denying the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, shocked many last week when she publicly affirmed the Jews’ historic connection to the Holy City.

Moscow's Capital Suggestion; #SociallyRelevantMatters; Digital Antibodies; Electric Plane; Ray-Bot; and Graphene Water

Israel

Moscow Surprisingly Says West Jerusalem Is Israel's Capital jpost

The statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry reads, “We reaffirm our commitment to the UN-approved principles for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, which include the status of east Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. At the same time, we must state that in this context we view west Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”

Charged Activists; Stripping Funds from PP; Misc Person; Reused Landing; Puddle Shark; Octopus Bot; Tailing Eye; Unparalyzing Thought; and Printed Interior

Abortion

Activists who filmed Planned Parenthood workers charged in California npr.org w!

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the charges against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt on Tuesday, saying the state "will not tolerate the criminal recording of confidential conversations."

Paganland; Genderless; Data Vault; Reused in Orbit; Biocomputer; Another Engine; and 50 Away

Paganism

Iceland's pagans enjoy dramatic rise bbc

National Statistics Bureau figures show that followers of the Asatru Association still lag far behind the established Lutheran Church, which accounts for 237,938 or almost 70% of the population and has remained stable for decades. But the total of Icelanders who revere Odin, Thor and the Goddess Freyja has leapt 50% since 2014 to 3,583, with more than twice as many male as female faithful...

Warping Science with Print; Younger DNA; Spinach Heart; Muscle Metal; Printing Human Cartilage; Artificial Sun; Absolutely Not Zero; CC'd Singing; and Real (Scary) Chatbot

Today is an unusual day where almost every article I found of interest was basically just research of something interesting!

Also - I can't believe I forgot to mention it a couple days ago, but this week I've officially been putting up this crazy, text-only blog for a year :) Here's that first post: March 22, 2016

Research

How the media warp science: the case of the sensationalised satnav theguardian

There’s a famous cliché which says “If you like sausage, you should never see one being made”. Well, earlier this week I saw how a science news story occurred, from experiment to media coverage, and I think the same applies here.

Note: the author's almost too casual with some of his language...

The Border Evacuation Plan; Sanhedrin Solicits Iran; NK's Preemptive Strike; Google's Widening Heel; Faster Security; Print Bacteria, Make Graphene; and Synthetic Embryos

Israel

Israel has mass evacuation plan in works should war erupt nydailynews

Israel is drawing up contingency plans to evacuate up to a quarter-million civilians from border communities to protect them from attacks from Hamas, Hezbollah or other Islamic militant groups.

'Beware of Jews' Retraction; Growing China; Stretching Philippines; AI Audit; Finding Recalled Cars; Brain 10x Faster Than Before; Google Filtering Hate; Sunscope; Third Arm Support; Defending Against the Hurtful; and Texan Bathrooms

Antisemitism

Artist behind 'beware of Jews' sign apologises for causing offence theguardian

Franck Allais, a freelance photographer, said the contentious sign was part of an artistic project, which includes depictions of a woman pulling a shopping trolley, a man pushing his wheelchair and a cat.

Allais said he intended the project to be a comment on identity and that the sign in Stamford Hill, one of the largest Hasidic communities in Europe, was not an antisemitic statement. He said he was left shaken by the offence he had caused.

I posted the original story of this 'antisemetic' act yesterday on the previous blog, but appears that I (as well as several others) jumped to conclusions about the intent. I appologize for my part in passing the original story around.

Denial in Graffiti; Boy Dolls; Garfield's Male???; Eno the Binary Chatbot; Religious Liberty in South Dakota; Calls for Even More Abortion; Muddied god; and 3D Printed Grenade Launcher

I know it has been a couple weeks since my last post! I had the opportunity to attend Shepherds Conference a couple weeks ago, which took all my time (and energy!). Last week I played catch up to make up for being off the previous week, and decided to give myself an extra week off from this blog for some breathing room.

But don't worry: In my absence it appears the world has continued to spin...along with the media, politicians, and even tech gurus :) I'm glad to be back, and look forward to getting back in the swings of things.

BTW: There were several great speakers at Shepherds! I hope to post links to a few of them here once they make the media available.

Antisemitism

Seattle synagogue vandalized with Holocaust denial graffiti cnn

Temple De Hirsch Sinai was spray-painted with graffiti calling the Holocaust "fake history," Rabbi Daniel Weiner said.

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.”

Trump's Confusing Silence; Bible Class; Defunding Gets the Fed Vote; CA's Continuing Socialist Strain; Mamephant or Elemoth?; Hornless; Bulletproof Origami; Paper Airplane Aid; and Juno Stays Put

Anti-Semitism

Jewish groups ask: Why won’t Trump denounce anti-Semitic attacks? mcclatchydc v

Not only did Trump not condemn the attacks, he also largely ignored the issue and at least once responded as if the accusations were directed at him, which they weren’t. The reaction has left Jewish groups confused and frustrated, especially following the visit this week of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.

Also see Jewish reporter who clashed with Trump is 'hopeful' for White House outreach in fighting anti-Semitism washingtonexaminer v

Progressive Flowers; All But the Designer Baby; Underwater Bomb Bot; 15:1 Kill Ratio; Russia Coasting By; and Kim's Sword

Society

Washington’s Supreme Court Imposes Its Progressive Faith on a Christian Florist nationalreview

If you care about the Bill of Rights, the rights of conscience, or even the English language, there’s a chance that this morning you felt a disturbance in the Force — as if the Founders cried out in rage and were suddenly silenced. That disturbance was the Washington Supreme Court’s oppressive ruling in State of Washington v. Arlene’s Flowers, a case holding that a florist was bound by state law to use her artistic talents to design floral arrangements to celebrate what she viewed as an immoral event: a gay wedding.

Depravity's Religious Tipping Point; MS Firing Squad; Free School for Non-Taxpayers; Snowden Russidout; Missiled Christians; The Amazon in Iran; Hamas Watch; Netanyahu Nears Indictment; Erdogan Forever; Hardy Crop Hope; Pollinating Drones; Medicine Maker; World's Daily Cheese; and Maybe Possibly a Picture of a Secret

Society

Most American Religious Groups Support Same-sex Marriage, Oppose Religiously Based Service Refusals prri.org

Overall, a majority (58 percent) of Americans support allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally. Among religious groups, Unitarian/Universalists (94 percent), Buddhists (85 percent), Jews (73 percent), Hindus (67 percent), white mainline Protestants (63 percent), white Catholics (63 percent), Hispanic Catholics (62 percent), and Orthodox Christians (59 percent) all have majorities supporting same-sex marriage. Black Protestants (45 percent), Muslims (44 percent), and Hispanic Protestants (41 percent) are somewhat divided. Only three religious groups–Mormons (37 percent favor, 55 percent oppose), white evangelical Protestants (31 percent favor, 61 percent oppose), and Jehovah’s Witnesses (25 percent favor, 53 percent oppose)–show majority opposition for same-sex marriage. Combined, these three religious groups comprise only 19 percent of the general population.

With Love from Hitler; Still Some Religious Protection; 3D Printing Funds; Zircon 2017; Metal Prediction; A Human Touch; and Two-Legged Delivery

Anti-Semitism

A Hitler Valentine’s Day card was handed out on campus. University officials want to know why. washingtonpost

The card was in a bag that was handed to the students Wednesday night by a member of the College Republicans at Central Michigan, which immediately apologized while distancing itself from the incident. The card, which the group called “very inappropriate,” shows Adolf Hitler alongside the words “my love 4 u burns like 6,000 jews,” according to Central Michigan Life, a student newspaper.

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

Trans Scouts; Protected LGBTQ; Pregnant People; Young Liberal; Midwife's Battle; Megaphone Executive; Missile Violation; NK Sensors; and Special Service Insects

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.