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.

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 Baptist Mosque; More Lutheran's Embrace Sin; The Other Holocaust Denial; Practical Reality War; Cops Replace Drugs; Cities Against States; and Dreaming of Flying Cars

Apostasy

Southern Baptist Mission Trustee Resigns Rather Than 'Support False Religion' christiantoday

He told Tennessee's Baptist and Reflector baptistandreflector.org: "If we defend the rights of people to construct places of false worship are we not helping them speed down the highway to hell? I want no part in supporting a false religion even if it is in the name of religious freedom."

In a statement to Baptist Press apparently conceding one of Haun's points, IMB president David Platt said: "As a result of discussions among IMB trustees and staff over recent months, we have revised our processes for our legal department filing any future amicus briefs. IMB leaders are committed in the days ahead to speak only into situations that are directly tied to our mission."

Also see SBC Loses Funding Over Mosque-Building Support pulpitandpen.org

Kentucky Pushes Back; The Very Bad, no Good, Terrible Church; Maximum Wage; Medical Toy; Think it, Shake It, Move it; Carefully Flooding California; and Northern Ireland Earthquake

Abortion

Kentucky abortion bills signed, effective immediately cnn

The first, House Bill 2, now requires a physician or technician to perform an ultrasound, describe and display the ultrasound images to the mother, and provide audio of the fetal heartbeat to the mother before she may have an abortion.

The second measure, Senate Bill 5, prohibits abortions in the state at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The bill would not apply in cases where an abortion is required to save the life of the mother or prevent serious risk of bodily harm to the mother, but it does not contain exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

Baptist Unity; Shanty Embassy; Philippines Split; Anti-EU Italy; Austria's Right; Russian Crash; Uber Buys into AI; and Emotional Car

Apostasy

British Baptists Issue Call For Unity Over Same-Sex Marriage christiantoday

An introduction on The Courage to be Baptist website says: "This Baptist way of being church allows us to maintain unity even when we disagree about certain issues. We believe this is a gift of God, allowing us to witness to our true unity in Christ even when we disagree about serious matters."

Raising Temple Hopes; Mount Lobby; Jewish Tipping Point; Going Dutch with Russia; The No Good Rupee; Taiwan Falls Next; 100 Transgender Salute; Password, Hackedword; Monkeys Walk Again; Removing Old Cells; Swarms of Satellites; and Fast Flier

Israel

Sanhedrin Asks Putin and Trump to Build Third Temple in Jerusalem breakingisraelnews

Rabbi Hillel Weiss, spokesman for the Sanhedrin jewishvirtuallibrary.org, contacted Breaking Israel News to announce that the election of Trump, who has promised to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, coupled with Putin’s expressed desire for the Temple to be rebuilt, prompted the Jewish court to send a letter offering the two the opportunity to act as modern-day Cyrus figures: non-Jewish kings who recognize the importance of Israel and the Temple.

Ireland's Coercion Cake; Hate = Flag Celebration; The First 10 Transitions; NY/CA Universities: Excellence in Antisemitism; Torah Journeys; Turkey's Stretchy Border; NK Fume; International First: Instant Trade; The Global Economy Resistance Blues; Predicting Future Trial Outcomes; China Bots; Water from Air; and Too Big to Exist

Society

[Ireland] 'Gay cake' appeal: Christian bakers Ashers lose appeal bbc v

Reacting to the ruling, Daniel McArthur from Ashers said he was "extremely disappointed" adding that it undermined "democratic freedom, religious freedom and free speech".

60 Cities Pass Depravity Test; Paris' Quieting March; Banking Against RT; NK Shoots and Fails Again; Energy Magnets; Fiber Inserts; Wrist Control; China's Space; and Heart Caring AI

Society

New survey finds more U.S. cities protecting LGBTQ rights in.reuters

Sixty U.S. cities earned perfect scores on a nationwide ranking of protections for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) people, despite an array of anti-gay efforts by state governments, the Human Rights Campaign said on Monday.

Also see Human Rights Campaign Releases 5th Annual Municipal Equality Index hrc w!

Thousands March in Paris to Repeal Same-Sex Marriage Law nbcnews

About 24,000 people took part in the demonstration, police said, far fewer than the several hundreds of thousands the group "Demo for All" mobilized in 2012 and 2013 in an unexpectedly strong show of opposition from conservatives, especially Roman Catholics.

Vetoing Syria; Russian Bases; Accelerated Missile Deployment; Hacking Politics; Burma Sanction-Lift; Putin's Peace Prize; No Peace but Noble Peace; Tracking Faces in NY; Watching the Streets of Baltimore; InterVarsity's Stand for Biblical Authority; California vs Creationist; Chick-fil-A Plus; Yahoo Again: Against Hiring Men?; and Bank's AI-Number

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.

Modern's Normalcy; Abolitionist Long Shot; Protesting to Kill; Climate Threshold Met; Burrito Air; Brain Complex; and 12k Suspended Officers

Society

'Modern Family' to feature transgender child actor usatoday

Wednesday's episode will feature transgender actor Jackson Millarker. The 8-year-old Atlanta native will play Tom, a friend of Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons) who comes over for a playdate.

Drug Addict Slaughter; Cold Shake; Kashmir Concerns; Golf Missile; Ironclad Flaky Relationship; Bank In Deutsche; Science Isn't Subjective Enough; Judge Judged a Hater; EU Fast Track to Save the World; Teaming with Creepy Critters; World Watches Rosetta Die; SpaceX's Entry into the Impossible Dream; Yuan in the Basket; Dark Lights; and NASA's Gecko

Philippines

Rodrigo Duterte Condemned After Comparing Philippine War on Drugs With Holocaust wsj

“Hitler massacred three million Jews,” Mr. Duterte told reporters in Davao upon his return from a visit to Vietnam Friday. “Now, there are three million drug addicts [in the Philippines]…. I’d be happy to slaughter them.” In fact, historians estimate that the Nazis murdered six million Jews across Europe in the Holocaust during World War II.

Also see Duterte, Citing Hitler, Says He Wants to Kill 3 Million Addicts in Philippines nytimes

Judged Not Liberal; Transgender Delayed on Technicality; Religious Freedom and Gasps of Horror; Syria: One Way or Another; Iranian Shield; NK Snub; Poor Folk Down Below; Teaching Kids to Hate Jews; Apologize Just Enough; and Stereo in Space

Sorry there was no blog yesterday - I prepared it, but then after running some unexpected errands I forgot that I never actually posted it :) Today includes yesterday's articles...

Society

Christian judge fights to keep job world.wng.org

The Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics wyo.gov has asked the high court to remove Judge Ruth Neely, the Pinedale municipal judge and part-time circuit court magistrate, from office, ban her for life from the Wyoming judiciary, and fine her $40,000. Her offense? In response to a reporter’s question, Neely stated her Christian perspective on marriage precluded her from officiating a same-sex wedding. That statement, the commission said, was enough to show bias and an inability to adjudicate the law impartially.

On Target, As Expected; Facebook Extremism Arrests; Putin Bans Evangelism; Turkey Offers Hand to Syria; UN, Help!; The Hague Dilemma; Islam Does Well in Prisons; Canada Anglican's Pro-Abomination Vote; Muslim Sees Peace in Third Temple; Make Less than $20? There's a Bot for That; Luke, the Brain Controlled Prosthetic; and DNA's Starry Night

Society

Transgender 'woman' arrested for voyeurism in Target changing room washingtontimes

Police responded to a call on Monday from a woman who said she noticed someone reaching over her stall and taking pictures while she was trying on clothes, the Post Register reported. The victim confronted the perpetrator, who ran out of the store.

Also see Transgender 'woman' accused of videotaping 18-year-old in Target fitting room pix11, where at least the police are shown with some remaining sanity:

Smith is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in Bonneville County and was booked as a male into the Bonneville County Jail bonnevillesheriff on a $30,000 bond.

Stonewall; With Stutzman; Accommodating the Transgender Solider; Article 50; Brexit - Now What?; UK Split; London Exit Plan; All Markets Down; Pound-ed; Defensive Boeing; PCUSA: No More Men!; Taong Putik; World Cup Stadiumettes; Seeing Around Corners; DARPA Wants Thinking Machines; Military's Driverless Cars; and The Temple March

As expected, Brexit's "Leave" vote basically stole the show today. It's a "mess" out there, and I included several articles to give a feel for the day-after rocking from the earthquake that is Brexit. Main news is falling markets worldwide, threats by Scotland to break away from the UK, and other nations emboldened to follow in Britain's steps. If that isn't enough, Obama managed to slip in the first National Monument celebrating homosexuality and the PCUSA has decided to phase men out of all leadership roles entirely. No, really.

Society

President Obama Designates Stonewall a National Monument nbcnews

As the NYPD attempted to enforce a law making it illegal to serve alcohol to "homosexuals," the resistance of the bar patrons turned into an uprising - the Stonewall Uprising - an event now widely credited with sparking the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the U.S.

See also NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton predicts 2016 Gay Pride Parade to be largest in NYC history

The Tale of Jesus' Wife; Canada's Death Sentence; Calling Religious Liberty Hate; Sin, a Minor Doctrine; Wedding Pagans; Fingerprinting Babies; Meet Olli; Common Sense, AI; Amelia; Human Edit Request; Final Warning to Hamas; Palestinians' Water Border; Calls to Strike Assad Now; and Shark Traffic

Fraud

The Unbelievable Tale of Jesus’s Wife theatlantic v

The American Association of Museums’ Guide to Provenance Research warns that an investigation of an object’s origins “is not unlike detective work”: “One may spend hours, days, or weeks following a trail that leads nowhere.” When I started to dig, however, I uncovered more than I’d ever expected—a warren of secrets and lies that spanned from the industrial districts of Berlin to the swingers scene of southwest Florida, and from the halls of Harvard and the Vatican to the headquarters of the East German Stasi.

This is a fascinating long-form article by a reporter who set out to find the origins of a (supposed) 1,300 yr-old papyrus about Jesus' wife, and the ensuing series of lies, historical invention, and deceit of the man behind it. It's a long read, but worth it - particularly for those who've heard the Biblically unsupported "Jesus had a wife" argument. Warning: some aspects of the primary figure's personal life uncovered during the investigation are sexually graphic in nature (the article doesn't dwell TOO MUCH on them).

NATO Makes Nervous; Another Mediterranean Carrier; Israel has Robotic Weapons Too; UN Votes Israel; Losing Russian Citizenship; Brexit...or Not?; Seoul Pride; Equal Destitute is Equality, Too; Reading, Writing, 'Rithmatic, and Robots; Invisible. Wearable. Electronic.; Passenger Drone-Test Approved; Turing Test Beat; Harmful, Thinking Robot Made; NASA and UAE; and Tiny, Dense Bird Brains

Two times in almost as many days, the UN has done something in favor of Israel. The world really must be ending! :) Also, MIT might have beaten the Turing Test with AI that fooled people twice as often as not that the sound added to the video was selected by a human.

War

Nervous Baltics on war footing as NATO tries to deter Russia reuters

Leaders in the Baltic countries and Poland fear the force NATO plans to deploy on their territory is too small and symbolic to deter an attack by Russia, whose 2014 annexation of Crimea is fresh in the memories of the former Soviet-bloc states.

They will this week press other ministers of the western military alliance to help them build an air defense system against Russian aircraft and missiles. But that would be a highly sensitive step, likely to be condemned by Moscow as yet more evidence of a NATO strategy threatening its borders.

Also see NATO To Site 4,000 Troops In Baltic Over Russia

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.”

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.”