News You Can Use

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Millions would lose mortgage, gift write-offs under U.S. tax bill: study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Millions of households would no longer benefit from federal tax deductions for charity donations, mortgage interest payments and property tax under Republican tax plans being debated in the U.S. Congress, a think tank said on Thursday.

The left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said that up to 29 million U.S. households now writing off donations, home loan interest and state and local property tax payments would no longer be able to do so under either of the two plans.

While all three deductions are maintained in some form in one or both of the rival Senate and House of Representatives bills, far fewer taxpayers could take advantage of them because of other proposed changes, said the Washington-based group.

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Trump, GOP tax reform bill may save Amazon, Facebook, Google billions - Business Insider

The GOP tax bill has long been expected to boost corporate profits. Now we know just how much the biggest tech companies in the US stand to save — and what that could mean for their bottom lines.

Google will save $2.28 billion in 2018, while Facebook will see $1.56 billion in savings and Amazon will enjoy a $723 million break, according to estimates from Cowen senior research analyst John Blackledge.

The firm forecasts those savings will translate to big earnings-per-share (EPS) boosts for each company, with Amazon the big winner, boasting an expected upside of 24%. Google and Facebook will both get an EPS bump of 8%, Cowen said.

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Genes linked to homosexuality discovered by scientists

Genes linked to homosexuality have been discovered by scientists in the biggest ever study into the genetic basis for sexual orientation.

For the first time, researchers looked at the complete genome - a person’s entire DNA code - for more than 1,000 gay men and compared it to genetic data from a similar number of heterosexual males.

They discovered that DNA was different for gay and straight men around the genes SLITRK5 and SLITRK6.

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Planned Parenthood under investigation by Justice Department over sale of fetal tissue | Fox News

The Justice Department has launched a federal investigation into Planned Parenthood’s practices and the sale of fetal tissue.

In a letter first obtained by Fox News, Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Stephen Boyd formally requested unredacted documents from the Senate Judiciary Committee, the same panel that led the congressional probe into the women’s health organization.

“The Department of Justice appreciates the offer of assistance in obtaining these materials, and would like to request the Committee provide unredacted copies of records contained in the report, in order to further the Department’s ability to conduct a thorough and comprehensive assessment of that report based on the full range of information available,” Boyd wrote.

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'Low-Fat' Foods Can Actually Make You Fatter, Damage Your Liver As Badly As Booze: Study - Study Finds

ATHENS, Ga. — Consumers may want to consider their livers before grabbing those “healthy” low-fat diet foods off shelves.

Researchers at the University of Georgia have found that foods low in fat but high in sugar — like the ones marketed for low-fat diets — actually cause the body to produce more fat and result in liver damage, similar to what happens with heavy alcohol use.

In the study, three groups of rats were fed different diets over a four-week period and checked for weight, calories consumed and body fat. One group ate a diet high in both fat and sugar (what we might call an unhealthy diet), a second group was fed a diet low in fat and high in sugar (what we might call a healthy diet), and a third group ate a normal diet.

Both groups on special diets, whether low-fat/high-sugar or high-fat/high-sugar, gained weight and had more liver and body fat than those on the normal diet. For rats consuming the “dieters’ diet” (high-sugar/low-fat), the increase in liver fat was “significant.”

[EmmaLee]

Roy Moore Accuser Beverly Nelson Admits She Forged Yearbook

by John Nolte 8 Dec 2017

Beverly Young Nelson has finally admitted that she forged a portion of the infamous high school yearbook that she and attorney Gloria Allred used as proof of her accusations against U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore.

And in yet another blow to the credibility of ABC News, the disgraced, left-wing network downplayed the bombshell by presenting this admission of forgery as adding “notes” to the inscription. Worse still, the reporter actually coaches Nelson, puts words in her mouth, downplay the enormous significance of her deceit.

“Nelson admits she did make notes to the inscription,” ABC News tells us. “But the message was all Roy Moore.”

“Beverly, he signed your yearbook,” ABC News reporter Tom Llamas says.

“He did sign it,” she replies.

“And you made some notes underneath.”

“Yes,” Nelson says.

And then, after a woman admits to forging a document used in a campaign to destroy the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Alabama, ABC News quickly moves on as though it is not news of extraordinary consequence.

Llamas also fails to ask any follow-ups, such as “If the explanation is this simple, why wait all these weeks to offer it?” Or, “Why did you lie?”

Nelson is accusing Moore of attempting to assault her when she was just 16-years-old. With the election just four days away, this admission of forgery could not come at a better time for Moore. Nelson and Allred are planning a news conference Friday, but nothing will overcome the forgery admission.

How can anyone believe anything she says after admitting to such a thing? Early reports are that Nelson and Allred will produce an expert to prove the rest of the yearbook is not a forgery. So a proven forger is bringing in her own expert. What an insult to the people of Alabama.

Another problem with Nelson is that she has a motive to lie and forge: as a circuit judge, Moore ruled against her in a 1999 divorce case.

The Moore campaign has been pressuring Nelson and Allred for weeks to submit the yearbook for independent handwriting analysis. Now everyone knows why that request was rejected and ignored.

With Nelson now thoroughly discredited, this leaves two accusers against Moore.

One is Leigh Corfman, who claims Moore molested her as a 14-year-old child. She is the most credible of the three, but the narrative behind her story, that Moore’s abuse resulted in Corfman’s living a troubled life of “drinking, drugs, boyfriends, and a suicide attempt,” is directly contradicted by contemporaneous court records.

Moore’s final accuser is Tina Johnson, a woman who claims Moore groped her butt in his office in 1991. But, again, as was the case with Corfman and Nelson, the left-wing media outlets reporting these allegations (the Washington Post, AL.com) either failed to fully vet the accusers or withheld crucial context.

Thanks to New Media’s going behind these discredited outlets to fact check the reporting, we now know that Johnson did not tell the entire truth. She was not in Moore’s office “on business.” If she was in Moore’s office at all, it was due to a bitter custody battle where Moore represented Johnson’s mother, who was trying to gain custody of Johnson’s 12-year-old son based on the claim that Johnson was an “unfit, absent, and unstable mother.”

If the media and the accusers and Gloria Allred told the full truth to begin with, they would all be more credible.

As far as the accusations against Moore involving his wanting to date teenage girls, those are trumped-up charges, utter nonsense. The age of consent in Alabama was and is 16. Moreover, 40 years ago, it was not at all uncommon in the South for a 32-year-old man to seek a much younger bride. So not only did Moore not break the law, he was not violating any social mores.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government ... -yearbook/

[EmmaLee]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/12 ... idate.html

"One of the women who accused Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of making advances on her when she was a teen and he a local prosecutor admitted Friday to writing part of the yearbook inscription she offered as proof."

[Matchmaker]

Genes linked to homosexuality discovered by scientists

Genes linked to homosexuality have been discovered by scientists in the biggest ever study into the genetic basis for sexual orientation.

For the first time, researchers looked at the complete genome - a person’s entire DNA code - for more than 1,000 gay men and compared it to genetic data from a similar number of heterosexual males.

They discovered that DNA was different for gay and straight men around the genes SLITRK5 and SLITRK6.

This is quite significant, isn't it?

[mes5464]

Genes linked to homosexuality discovered by scientists

Genes linked to homosexuality have been discovered by scientists in the biggest ever study into the genetic basis for sexual orientation.

For the first time, researchers looked at the complete genome - a person’s entire DNA code - for more than 1,000 gay men and compared it to genetic data from a similar number of heterosexual males.

They discovered that DNA was different for gay and straight men around the genes SLITRK5 and SLITRK6.

This is quite significant, isn't it?

I still don't believe it but, assume for a minute it is true, all it means is that the trials we face may be rooted (or expressed) in the physical world with real physical differences. It doesn't mean that the sin is excusable or that God doesn't expect you to resist them. There are people that are predisposed to alcoholism, drugs addiction, gambling addiction, violence, pedophilia, homosexuality, gender dysphoria, etc but that doesn't excuse them from failing to resist those trials or temptations. Will it be difficult? Yes. Can it be done? I don't think God would challenge us beyond what we are able to succeed. Should we just accept that they are born this way and normalize the behavior? Absolutely not.

[EmmaLee]

Genes linked to homosexuality discovered by scientists

Genes linked to homosexuality have been discovered by scientists in the biggest ever study into the genetic basis for sexual orientation.

For the first time, researchers looked at the complete genome - a person’s entire DNA code - for more than 1,000 gay men and compared it to genetic data from a similar number of heterosexual males.

They discovered that DNA was different for gay and straight men around the genes SLITRK5 and SLITRK6.

This is quite significant, isn't it?

I still don't believe it but, assume for a minute it is true, all it means is that the trials we face may be rooted (or expressed) in the physical world with real physical differences. It doesn't mean that the sin is excusable or that God doesn't expect you to resist them. There are people that are predisposed to alcoholism, drugs addiction, gambling addiction, violence, pedophilia, homosexuality, gender dysphoria, etc but that doesn't excuse them from failing to resist those trials or temptations. Will it be difficult? Yes. Can it be done? I don't think God would challenge us beyond what we are able to succeed. Should we just accept that they are born this way and normalize the behavior? Absolutely not.

Misleading Headlines Claim To Have Found The 'Gay Gene'

"There’s no one gene that shifts somebody to a point on the sexuality spectrum."

By Paul Bois
@PaulBois39
December 8, 2017

By reading the current headlines, you'd think the age-old debate on the so-called "gay gene" has finally been settled. "What do the new 'gay genes' tell us about sexual orientation?" asks New Scientist. "We may have just identified genetic evidence of male sexual orientation," says Science Alert. The U.K's Telegraph is telling "homophobes" to pack their bags. Case closed.

Is any of this true? Not in the slightest.

According to Uproxx, the latest study focused on "gene expression and sexuality" by sequencing "the genomes of 1077 men who identified as gay and 1231 men who identified as straight."

"What it found was that there were two more very slight genetic differences, on chromosome 13, which affects the hypothalamus, which is involved in the autonomic nervous system and chromosome 14, which affects the thyroid," reports Uproxx.

As Uproxx notes, "we are talking about tiny, tiny differences here, and there’s no one gene that shifts somebody to a point on the sexuality spectrum."

They continue: "Instead, it’s looking more and more like it’s a number of genetic changes that add up over gestation, and likely beyond, that determine where somebody falls. Our sexuality may be driven, in part, by individual genes. But it’s not the whole picture, and social pressures, the environment we grow up in, and a host of other factors may play into how we do, and don’t, express our sexuality publicly. Genetics are the instrument, but the song played on that instrument is, by and large, still mysterious."

The largely left-leaning Newsweek said the study found a "weak association between several genes and sexual orientation." Scientists associated with the study also went on the record to say that people should caution themselves before shouting "gay gene" from the hilltops.

"We know that sexual orientation has some hereditary or genetic contributions,” said Dr. Alan Sanders, a psychiatrist at NorthShore University HealthSystem Research Institute and an author of the study. “A common scenario in this kind of research is that you’ll hear people use a sort of shorthand like ‘the gay gene,’ which is not really accurate at all."

More from Newsweek:

Sexual orientation may spring only in part from a person's genes. Sanders estimated that contribution might be about 30 percent; other factors in society and the environment likely also play a large role in shaping a person’s sexual identity.

However, these results come with a raft of caveats. The sample was limited in several ways: about 1,000 gay men—which isn’t that many people for this kind of study—were recruited at events like gay pride parades and had their genomes analyzed. All of the men were white. And people who identified as bisexual were excluded from the analysis.

Two scientists were highly critical of the study when speaking with Science Media Center, alleging that the sample sizes were too small and that no independent study has replicated the findings.

“The sample size is small, the results have not been replicated in an independent study and the level of evidence presented doesn’t meet the threshold of significance typically required within the field,” wrote Gil McVean, a statistical geneticist at the University of Oxford. “I don’t think the work would have been published if it were on a less controversial topic. It is—at best—preliminary.”

In sum, the study just confirms what scientists have already for the most part assumed; sexuality may have only a partial link to DNA while environmental, social, familial and psychological factors should not be discounted.

http://www.dailywire.com/news/24476/mis ... attwalshnn

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Modern Day Witches Call Theirs ‘A Beautiful Way Of Life’

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — At a time when participation in traditional religions is declining among Americans, the practice of witchcraft is said to be on the rise.

CBS2’s Ali Bauman went inside the secret world of modern-day witches to explore why so many say they’re falling under its spell.

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The wrath of God isn't coming because of adultery, fornication, abortion or homosexuality. No, the wrath of God is coming because you drive a gasoline automobile.

California gov: Trump doesn’t fear God or ‘existential consequences’

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) says President Trump's stance on climate change demonstrates that he does not appear to fear the "wrath of God" or have any regard for the "existential consequences" of his environmental policies.

“I don’t think President Trump has a fear of the Lord, the fear of the wrath of God, which leads one to more humility ... this is such a reckless disregard for the truth and for the existential consequences that can be unleashed,” Brown said in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes," which is set to air on Sunday.

[mes5464]

We have already lost every war since WWII.

US forces could potentially lose next war to Russia or China, warns sobering Rand report

America's military is outspending peer adversaries and 'need to do better,' warns a new Rand report.
Capabilities of Russia and China have advanced so much that in certain situations that they could have a military edge over U.S. forces.
One of the authors of the report said the U.S. could still "move the needle back" through sustained investment in certain military capabilities.
Also, Rand said the U.S. faces a nuclear and missile threat from North Korea which Washington and its Asian allies "lack satisfactory answers."

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Campus coffee shop evicts College Republicans from 'safe space'

Members of the Fordham University College Republicans were asked to leave an on-campus coffee shop because their MAGA hats apparently violated the shop’s “safe space policy.”
The self-identified president of the student club that runs the shop told the CR members that she was "protecting my customers," explaining that "you are wearing hats that completely violate safe space policy."

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Recycling Chaos In U.S. As China Bans 'Foreign Waste' : NPR

The U.S. exports about one-third of its recycling, and nearly half goes to China. For decades, China has used recyclables from around the world to supply its manufacturing boom. But this summer it declared that this "foreign waste" includes too many other nonrecyclable materials that are "dirty," even "hazardous." In a filing with the World Trade Organization the country listed 24 kinds of solid wastes it would ban "to protect China's environmental interests and people's health."

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Amazon drivers forced to deliver 200 parcels a day with no time for toilet breaks while earning less than minimum wage - Mirror Online

Drivers are being asked to deliver up to 200 parcels a day for Amazon while earning less than the minimum wage, a Sunday Mirror investigation reveals today.

I hopped in a white van to spend a day with one driver and experience first-hand the intolerable pressures they face from “impossible” schedules.

Many routinely exceed the legal maximum shift of 11 hours and finish their days dead on their feet.

Yet they have so little time for food or toilet stops they snatch hurried meals on the run and urinate into plastic bottles they keep in their vans.

They say they often break speed limits to meet targets that take no account of delays such as ice, traffic jams or road closures.

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The U.S. Media Yesterday Suffered its Most Humiliating Debacle in Ages: Now Refuses All Transparency Over What Happened

All of this prompts the glaring, obvious, and critical question – one which CNN refuses to address: how did “multiple sources” all misread the date on this document, in exactly the same way, and toward the same end, and then feed this false information to CNN?

It is, of course, completely plausible that one source might innocently misread a date on a document. But how is it remotely plausible that multiple sources could all innocently and in good faith misread the date in exactly the same way, all to cause to be disseminated a blockbuster revelation about Trump/Russia/WikiLeaks collusion? This is the critical question that CNN simply refuses to answer. In other words, CNN refuses to provide the most minimal transparency to enable the public to understand what happened here.

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Former Facebook exec: Social media is ripping apart society

That he feels “tremendous guilt” about Facebook. “I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.”
“The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created [including the hearts, likes, and thumbs up of various social media channels] are destroying how society works.” He added, “[There’s] no civil discourse, no cooperation; [only] misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem–this is not about Russians ads. This is a global problem.”
Regarding an incident in which seven innocent men in India were lynched after a hoax about kidnappings spread through WhatsApp: “That’s what we’re dealing with. And imagine taking that to the extreme, where bad actors can now manipulate large swathes of people to do anything you want. It’s just a really, really bad state of affairs.”
Unsurprisingly, when it comes to social media, his children “aren’t allowed to use that $#!%.”

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God Robot: People 'will worship AI MESSIAH in Way of the Future' religion | Daily Star

“An AI would provide the equivalent of a ‘Messiah’ – having many orders of magnitude more processing elements than the brain, enabling it to gift us with solutions to the most daunting social, political, economic, and environmental challenges,” he said.

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Monsanto offers cash to U.S. farmers who use controversial chemical

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Monsanto Co will give cash back to U.S. farmers who buy a weed killer that has been linked to widespread crop damage, offering an incentive to apply its product even as regulators in several U.S. states weigh restrictions on its use.

The incentive to use XtendiMax with VaporGrip, a herbicide based on a chemical known as dicamba, could refund farmers over half the sticker price of the product in 2018 if they spray it on soybeans Monsanto engineered to resist the weed killer, according to company data.

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Trump’s Jerusalem declaration sparks talk of 3rd Temple

“One year ago, the Sanhedrin called on Trump to build the Temple as Cyrus did 2,000 years ago,” Weiss said. “He has clearly moved in this direction but there is still a long way to go and many pitfalls that could prevent that from happening. Trump is facing enormous political pressures. The borders of Jerusalem are still open to negotiation. The Temple Mount is still not a settled issue and the United Nations is working hard at trying to convince the world the Jews have no place there. If Trump is to succeed, the Jews have to come together in unity in order for him to remain strong.”

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Meet Your New Boss: An Algorithm - WSJ

Uber Technologies Inc. and other pioneers of the so-called gig economy became some of the world’s most valuable private companies by using apps and algorithms to hand out tasks to an army of self-employed workers.

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Danske Bank's Wealth Management Robot Now Has 11,500 Clients - Bloomberg

In just over half a year, Danske Bank A/S has attracted 11,500 clients to an investment service provided by a robot. Denmark’s biggest financial firm now hopes the project will help it expand its wealth management operations.

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High premiums for Obamacare and no subsidies | Miami Herald

As open enrollment for Affordable Care Act coverage nears the deadline of Dec. 15, and Florida once again leads all states using the federal exchange at healthcare.gov, Heidi and Richard Reiter sit at the kitchen table at their Davie home and struggle to piece together the family’s health insurance for 2018.

The Reiters buy their own coverage, but they earn too much to qualify for financial aid to lower their monthly premiums. For 2017, they bought a plan off the exchange and paid $26,000 in premiums for family coverage, including their two sons, ages 21 and 17.

Keeping the same coverage for 2018 would have cost the Reiters $40,000 in premiums, a 54 percent increase. So they selected a lower-priced plan that covers less but costs $29,000 in premiums.

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The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger | US news | The Guardian

Exclusive: study suggests that 26.8% of the population qualify as ‘food insecure’ based on risk factors such as missing meals or relying on food banks