News You Can Use

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Miranda Devine: Al Gore global warming movie An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power has flaws | Daily Telegraph

“I feel so scared” he wails, before vision of solicitous uncle Al patting his hand in an attempt to soothe away his fears of the apocalypse.

Scaremongering is what Gore does best, and fear is the business model that has made him rich, though his every apocalyptic scenario has failed to materialise.

In Australia last week to spruik his upcoming movie An Inconvenient Sequel, the former US vice president tried it on again, claiming Mother Nature was “screaming” and the world would ­descend into “political disruption and chaos and diseases, stronger storms and more ­destructive floods” unless we buy his snake oil.

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Research Team Slams Global Warming Data In New Report: "Not Reality... Totally Inconsistent With Credible Temperature Data" | Zero Hedge

In this research report, the most important surface data adjustment issues are identified and past changes in the previously reported historical data are quantified. It was found that each new version of GAST has nearly always exhibited a steeper warming linear trend over its entire history. And, it was nearly always accomplished by systematically removing the previously existing cyclical temperature pattern. This was true for all three entities providing GAST data measurement, NOAA, NASA and Hadley CRU.
 
As a result, this research sought to validate the current estimates of GAST using the best available relevant data. This included the best documented and understood data sets from the U.S. and elsewhere as well as global data from satellites that provide far more extensive global coverage and are not contaminated by bad siting and urbanization impacts. Satellite data integrity also benefits from having cross checks with Balloon data.
 
The conclusive findings of this research are that the three GAST data sets are not a valid representation of reality. In fact, the magnitude of their historical data adjustments, that removed their cyclical temperature patterns, are totally inconsistent with published and credible U.S. and other temperature data. Thus, it is impossible to conclude from the three published GAST data sets that recent years have been the warmest ever –despite current claims of record setting warming.
 
Finally, since GAST data set validity is a necessary condition for EPA’s GHG/CO2 Endangerment Finding, it too is invalidated by these research findings. (Full Abstract Report)

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Facial Recognition Coming to Police Body Cameras - Defense One

Even if the cop who pulls you over doesn’t recognize you, the body camera on his chest just might in the future.

Device-maker Motorola announced Monday that would partner with artificial intelligence software startup Neurala to build “real-time learning for a person of interest search” on Motorola products such as the Si500 body camera for police, the AI firm announced in a press release today.

Italian-born neuroscientist and Neurala founder Massimiliano Versace is the creator of patent-pending image recognition and machine learning technology. It’s similar to other machine learning methods but far more scalable, so a device carried by that cop on his shoulder can learn to recognize shapes and — potentially faces — as quickly and reliably as a much larger and more powerful computer. It works by mimicking the mammalian brain, rather than the way computers have worked traditionally.

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Growing conflicts between bears and humans have led to dozens of bear deaths in Colorado this year – The Denver Post

Colorado wildlife managers and homeowners have killed at least 34 bears so far this summer, reflecting the bears’ growing reliance on human-derived food amid a seasonal shortage of forage in some areas.

This surge in what the managers call “lethal removals” builds on a pattern in Colorado, where people kill more than 1,000 bears a year. Hunters killed 1,051 bears in 2015 and 933 in 2016, Colorado Parks and Wildlife data show. Government wildlife managers and landowners kill additional bears deemed dangerous; last year, 334 bears were killed — 66 by state wildlife officials. At least 77 bears died last year when hit by vehicles.

Nobody is comfortable with what’s happening with bears, the largest surviving carnivores in the West. Some wildlife managers point to recent dry conditions and shortages of natural food that may be driving bears into cities. But there is evidence that some bears facing urbanization of their habitat are growing accustomed to eating human food in trash cans, campsites, cars and homes.

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China raise fear of genetically engineered soldiers with hyper-muscular test-tube dogs | World | News | Express.co.uk

The dogs, which are test tube bred in a lab, have twice the muscle mass of their natural counterparts and are considerably stronger and faster.

The canine genome has been especially difficult to engineer and replicate – but its close similarity to the human genome means it has long been the prize of geneticists.

Now the Chinese success has led to fears the same technology could be used to create weaponised super-humans - typifed in Marvel Comics by Captain America and his foes. 

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How can we stop algorithms telling lies? | Technology | The Guardian

Algorithms can dictate whether you get a mortgage or how much you pay for insurance. But sometimes they’re wrong – and sometimes they are designed to deceive

Lots of algorithms go bad unintentionally. Some of them, however, are made to be criminal. Algorithms are formal rules, usually written in computer code, that make predictions on future events based on historical patterns. To train an algorithm you need to provide historical data as well as a definition of success.

We’ve seen finance get taken over by algorithms in the past few decades. Trading algorithms use historical data to predict movements in the market. Success for that algorithm is a predictable market move, and the algorithm is vigilant for patterns that have historically happened just before that move. Financial risk models also use historical market changes to predict cataclysmic events in a more global sense, so not for an individual stock but rather for an entire market. The risk model for mortgage-backed securities was famously bad – intentionally so – and the trust in those models can be blamed for much of the scale and subsequent damage wrought by the 2008 financial crisis.

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City of London accuses France of plot to ‘wreck Britain’ | Daily Mail Online

France has boasted to City of London chiefs that it will use Brexit to sabotage the British economy, according to a bombshell leaked memo.

The memo, sent to Ministers, says the French government and banking chiefs are plotting to ‘actively disrupt and destroy’ the UK’s multi-billion-pound financial sector when Britain leaves the EU – even if France gains nothing.

The missive blames the ‘giddy’ effect of newly elected President Emmanuel Macron for an ‘assertive collective endeavour’ to wreck the City, which is worth £66 billion a year to the Treasury in tax receipts – around half of the entire budget for NHS England.

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Republicans use state payoffs to win votes for repeal bill - POLITICO

Republicans hammered Democrats seven and a-half years ago for larding Obamacare with state-specific payoffs and sweeteners to secure the last few votes for passage. Who can forget the “Cornhusker Kickback,” which funneled $45 million to Nebraska to nail the support of former Sen. Ben Nelson?

But the revised Senate Obamacare repeal bill shows Republicans engaged in the same pattern of horse trading as they try to win 50 ayes to advance an unpopular bill.

Leaders are likely to cook up even more deals to entice uncommitted senators. As conservative health policy expert Chris Jacobs points out at The Federalist, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell still has about $200 billion that he can spend on holdouts without breaking Senate budget rules he's using to try to pass the legislation. The Trump administration is pitching a proposal to Nevada as a way to bring Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval and Sen. Dean Heller on board that aims to move Medicaid expansion enrollees into the private insurance market where they could use subsidies to help pay for premiums.

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CIA whistleblower alleges intelligence failure | McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON
When wayward contract employees at the CIA began pilfering snacks from vending machines back in 2013, the Office of the Inspector General sprang into action. Surveillance cameras went up, the culprits were nabbed, and all lost their jobs.

From start to finish, the case of the $3,314.40 in stolen snacks lasted two months.

When more serious allegations of wrongdoing arise at the CIA, though, inspectors may be far less speedy, especially when their findings could embarrass the Langley, Va., spy agency.

In one notable case, that of John Reidy, a contractor whose resume shows that he worked with spies deep inside Iran’s mullah-run regime, charges of wrongdoing have sat idle in the hands of CIA inspectors. Details of Reidy’s charges remain highly classified. The case is now seven years old, and seems only to gather dust.

Reidy, 46, anguishes over his charges, angry at the years-long delay in resolving his complaints but also wary of crossing a line and revealing anything classified beyond his allegations of a “catastrophic intelligence failure” overseas.

“I cannot talk about the 2007 incident. It is classified. I risk incarceration. I have a family,” Reidy wrote in an email before meeting with a reporter.

But in addition to his whistleblower case, Reidy presses a larger issue, one that is pertinent to the era of President Donald Trump and his persistent charges that sensitive leaks cripple his six-month-old administration. Leaks may grow worse if intelligence agencies don’t learn how to channel dissent and protect those who offer it in a constructive spirit.

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Markets Worry Trump May Have to Use Obama’s Secret Debt Ceiling Plan - Bloomberg

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said there are “plans and backup plans” to keep the government solvent through September. Bond traders suspect he is referring to preparations made in 2011 in case the Obama administration had to prioritize payments on government securities over other obligations. The Treasury chief got fresh hope that Congress may raise the debt limit before leaving for its August recess after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delayed the break by two weeks.

When the nation almost breached its debt ceiling six years ago, the Federal Reserve and Treasury drew up contingency plans that were kept secret until January, after transcripts of an Aug. 1, 2011 conference call at the central bank were released following a customary five-year lag.

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Russia Jehovah's Witnesses banned after they lose appeal

Russia's Supreme Court has ordered the disbanding of the Jehovah's Witnesses on Russian territory.

The ban came into effect after the court rejected an appeal by the religious group against a ruling in April which declared it to be extremist.

The justice ministry had argued that the group distributed pamphlets which incited hatred against other groups.

The group described the ruling as the end of religious freedom in Russia.

The denomination says it has 175,000 members in Russia - a country where it was persecuted during the Stalin era.

An estimated eight million people worldwide are part of the Christian-based movement, best known for going door-to-door looking for new converts.

The ruling means that the group's headquarters near St Petersburg and 395 local chapters will close.

It will be required to hand over all its properties, known as Kingdom Halls, to the Russian government.

The group's Russia spokesman, Yaroslav Sivulsky, said that "religious freedom in Russia is over".

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Girl at lemonade stand threatened by a man who said he'd call police for lack of a business license - SFGate

“Whoever the man is who threatened to call the police on my daughter for her lemonade stand, you are seriously pathetic."
"There is a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things.
I understand that you were upholding the "law" but really dude?"
This is the story of a little girl from Discover Bay who set up a lemonade stand on public property.
She just wanted to sell some lemonade and cookies. Her parents told her she could be there for 1 hour.

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Mexican folk religion involving human sacrifice gaining status among criminals | Fox News

A Mexican folk religion involving human sacrifice and devoted to "Holy Death" is growing in popularity among drug traffickers and violent criminals, prompting Texas officials and the Catholic Church to warn about honoring the so-called "Saint Death."

Authorities are speaking out about the religion devoted to La Santa Muerte, which translates to “Holy Death” and "Saint Death," that has gained popularity steadily since the late 1980s among Mexican-American Catholics.

“She’s not a saint. There is nothing good that can come out of praying to her,” Sante Fe Archbiship John Wester said in February. “We have a lot of saints who represent the teaching of Jesus Christ. This is an aberration.”

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DC allows doctors to prescribe life-ending medications | WTOP

WASHINGTON — Doctors and pharmacies in the nation’s capital are now allowed to prescribe life-ending medications to terminally ill patients.

The Death with Dignity Act of 2016 became law with the signature of Mayor Muriel Bowser in December of 2016. Now the Bowser administration has announced the implementation of the law in the District.

The city said the law allows terminally ill D.C. residents over the age of 18 to legally obtain a physician’s prescription for medications to end their lives in a humane and peaceful manner.

For a person to elect to end his life legally in the District, the individual must work with doctors and pharmacies licensed in D.C. that are willing to prescribe and dispense the lethal medications.

For doctors and pharmacies, participating in the Death with Dignity program is voluntary.

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China’s Censors Can Now Erase Images Mid-Transmission - WSJ

BEIJING—China’s already formidable internet censors have demonstrated a new strength—the ability to delete images in one-on-one chats as they are being transmitted, making them disappear before receivers see them.

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GOP establishment figures Pete Wilson and George Shultz endorse California cap-and-trade plan - LA Times

Two well-known names in the Republican Party establishment are weighing in to back Gov. Jerry Brown's cap-and-trade proposal.

Former Gov. Pete Wilson and former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz issued letters Monday backing the proposal, which faces a decisive vote.

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Expat retirees enjoy a life reminiscent of an earlier time - MarketWatch

I’m seeing a yearning of many people around my age to return to a simpler time, like when we were growing up. My evidence: the hundreds of interviews I’ve done for Best Places in the World to Retire and the studies we did in which we asked expats about their lives abroad.

Interestingly, many Americans and Canadians have not only moved abroad partly to search for a life reminiscent of an earlier time, but quite a few tell me that they’ve found it — and in some very unlikely places, including Mexico, Panama, Belize and Nicaragua.

Less government involvement
The family is supreme
Elders are respected

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Foreigners snap up record number of US homes

Foreign buyers closed on $153 billion worth of U.S. residential properties for the 12 months ended in March.
That marks a 49 percent jump from 2015-2016, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Florida, Texas and California drew the most international buyers.

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State GOP urges 'civil disobedience' over new Seattle tax, says residents should not pay | Fox News

Republicans in Washington state are calling for “civil disobedience” as they openly encourage Seattle residents to refuse paying a newly passed income tax that critics claim is illegal. 

The tax, passed by the Seattle City Council, targets high-income earners as part of what local lawmakers call “a new formula for fairness.” 

But critics and analysts say it was passed in defiance of state law, and the state GOP has escalated its opposition by urging residents to “forcefully resist.” 

“This law is unconstitutional, illegal, and against the voter’s will expressed nine times at the ballot box and it deserves nothing less than civil disobedience – that is, refusal to comply, file or pay,” the Washington State Republican Party said in a written statement.

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Bioquark founder wants to bring brain dead back to life | Daily Mail Online

Dr Sergei Paylian became obsessed with studying and reversing the aging process after seeing the funeral of his young, pretty neighbor in Tbilisi, Georgia
His company, Bioquark, works with biological extracts called bioquantines, which incorporate material from other regenerative species such as frogs
Bioquantines will be used in conjunction with stem cells, laser and nerve stimulation in an effort to bring 'living cadavers' back to life
The trials are set to take place in Latin America on brain dead patients to renew the body's ability to breathe and the heart to beat on its own 
Others in the more mainstream scientific and medical community have said 'the probability of that working is next to zero'
Dr Paylian believes reprogramming cells to return to their younger, healthier states will be the future of medicine 

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Why universal basic income is gaining support, critics - San Francisco Chronicle

The idea of a universal basic income — monthly cash payments from the government to every individual, working or not, with no strings attached — is gaining traction, thanks in part to endorsements from Silicon Valley celebs.

Some see it as a way to compensate for the traditional jobs with benefits that will be wiped out by robotics, artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles, globalization and the gig economy. Others see it as a way to reduce income inequality or to create a more efficient, less stigmatizing safety net than our current mishmash of welfare benefits.

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The false prophets have been prophesying our destruction for decades but they are all wrong. What will kill us is our own iniquity. Sin, is the real cause of climate change.


Twenty-Five Years Since The Ozone Hole Killed Us All | The Deplorable Climate Science Blog

DDT, Global Cooling, China Syndrome, Ozone Hole, Global Warming, Climate Change – the left moves seamlessly from one world ending snake oil scam to another. In 1992 they blamed the ozone hole on President Bush, and said it was going to kill us all.

Al Gore: ‘There’s still time to avoid catastrophe’ | Page Six

Hollywood does sequels. Al Gore does sequels. His new Part 2, Paramount Pictures’ “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” opens in limited release July 28 then expands Aug. 4.

Last we saw our former VP he was hawking “An Inconvenient Truth.” Climate change. Energy revolution. Now — with cameras along — Big Daddy circled our globe educating us on oceans rising, Earth heating, politicians snoozing.

Al Gore: “Ten years ago we did ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’ Its predictions are coming true. Seas overflowing, storm changes, air changes, temperature rising, surges like superstorm Hurricane Sandy.

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Top US general warns against rogue killer robots | TheHill

The second highest-ranking general in the U.S. military on Tuesday warned lawmakers against equipping the military with autonomous weapons systems that humans could lose control of and advocated for keeping the "ethical rules of war" in place.

In a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Gen. Paul Selva responded to a question from Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) about a Defense Department directive that requires a human operator to be involved in the decision-making process when it comes to taking lives with autonomous weapons systems.

Selva warned lawmakers that the military should keep "the ethical rules of war in place lest we unleash on humanity a set of robots that we don't know how to control."

"I don't think it's reasonable for us to put robots in charge of whether or not we take a human life," Selva told the committee.

US Army Seeks Internet-of-Battlefield-Things, Distributed Bot Swarms - Defense One

The Army Research Lab is turning more of its attention to fighting land wars against far more technologically sophisticated adversaries than it has in the past several decades. In the coming months, the Lab will fund new programs related to highly (but not fully) autonomous drones and robots that can withstand adversary electronic warfare operations. The Lab will also fund new efforts to develop battlefield communications and sensing networks that perform well against foes with advanced electronic warfare capabilities, according to Philip Perconti, who became the director of the Lab in June.

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Poll: Wall Street Efforts to Improve Image Fail to Sway Americans - Bloomberg

Bad news for financial titans like JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Lloyd Blankfein: Most Americans hold unfavorable views of Wall Street banks and corporate executives, and distrust billionaires more than they admire them.

Despite efforts by Wall Street firms to regain trust since the 2008 financial crisis, fewer than a third of Americans view the industry positively -- unchanged from 2009, according to the latest Bloomberg National Poll.