News You Can Use

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The rise of smart machines puts spotlight on 'robot rights'

You probably wouldn’t have any qualms about switching off Apple’s virtual assistant, Siri — or Amazon’s Alexa or Microsoft’s Cortana. Such entities emulate a human assistant but plainly aren't human at all. We sense that beneath all the sophisticated software, there’s “nobody home.”

But artificial intelligence is progressing swiftly. In the not-too-distant future we may begin to feel that our machines have something akin to thoughts and feelings, even though they’re made of metal and plastic rather than flesh and blood. When that happens, how we treat our machines will matter; AI experts, philosophers, and scholars are already imagining a time when robots and intelligent machines may deserve — and be accorded — some sort of rights.

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This gives me shivers

Trump White House Weighing Plans for Private Spies to Counter “Deep State” Enemies

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer — with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal — to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals. The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White House as a means of countering “deep state” enemies in the intelligence community seeking to undermine Trump’s presidency.

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Inside China’s Big Tech Conference, New Ways to Track Citizens - The New York Times

WUZHEN, China — An artificial intelligence company touted a robot that could help doctors with diagnoses. A start-up displayed a drone designed to carry a single passenger 60 miles per hour.

And in a demonstration worthy of both wonder and worry, a Chinese facial recognition company showed how its technology could quickly identify and describe people.

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Genetically mutated rats could be released in Britain to solve rodent problem

Scientists have launched a project to find out if genetically editing animals could provide a more humane method of pest control.

[Joel]

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SOON: AI to Create Indistinguishable “False Reality” » Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

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Artificial intelligence can soon create a false reality indistinguishable from the real one, suggests new advancements in graphics manipulation which serves as a warning to humanity. Graphics firm Nvidia recently released results of its “image-to-image translation” which can take an outdoors photo taken in the winter and transform it into the same scene, but in the summer – with indistinguishable results.

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Student suspended for debating Islamic extremism with Muslim peer in debate club - The College Fix

A Missouri high school that suspended a student for making critical comments about Islamic extremism says he’s not allowed to appeal the finding of wrongdoing. Senior Alex Lonsdale, a member of Liberty High’s nationally ranked debate club, says he was just trying to have a friendly debate. During his free period Oct. 17 at the public school near Kansas City, Lonsdale joined a spontaneous conversation among acquaintances about the nature of Islam.

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State Department: Americans face new danger worldwide | Daily Mail Online

The State Department issued a new 'Worldwide Caution' to Americans traveling overseas on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. has officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The update did not include specific warnings about Israel, the West Bank and Gaza; that region's travel advisory dates back to April. But the State Department did advise Americans to avoid Jerusalem's Old City and the West Bank on Tuesday, anticipating strong reactions to Trump's speech once the subject matter became public. The global warning advised American citizens to 'maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness when traveling.'

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Recap: Fury across Middle East as leaders condemn President Donald Trump after he says Jerusalem IS Israel's capital - Mirror Online

Arabs and Muslims from across the Middle East have reacted with fury after Donald Trump declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel despite an international outcry.

The US president's announcement - which includes moving the embassy to the Holy City - was condemned as an incendiary move in a volatile region, with leaders from the region saying it would derail peace efforts.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was among the leaders to immediately denounce the decision as he accused the US of 'withdrawing' from the peace process.




Palestinians protest Trump move on Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli troops across the West Bank on Thursday while demonstrators in Gaza burned posters of President Donald Trump over his widely denounced decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The leader of the Hamas militant group, which runs Gaza, called for a new armed uprising in a widespread show of anger, as the demonstrators torched American and Israeli flags.

In the West Bank, crowds of protesters set tires on fire and hurled stones at Israeli troops. In Bethlehem, troops fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse a crowd, in clashes that could cloud the upcoming Christmas celebrations in the town of Jesus’ birth. In Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian government, protesters set tires on fire, sending a thick plume of black smoke over the city.



Recap: Fury across Middle East as leaders condemn President Donald Trump after he says Jerusalem IS Israel's capital - Mirror Online

Arabs and Muslims from across the Middle East have reacted with fury after Donald Trump declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel despite an international outcry.

The US president's announcement - which includes moving the embassy to the Holy City - was condemned as an incendiary move in a volatile region, with leaders from the region saying it would derail peace efforts.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was among the leaders to immediately denounce the decision as he accused the US of 'withdrawing' from the peace process.

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Census Bureau: 5 Richest Counties Are D.C. Suburbs

(CNSNews.com) - The five richest counties in the United States when measured by median household income are all suburbs of Washington, D.C., according to the American Community Survey data released today by the Census Bureau.

According to the American Community Survey's new five-year estimates (2012-2016), the five richest counties in the country are: Loudoun County, Va., where the median household income was $125,672; Falls Church City, Va., where it was $115,244; Fairfax County, Va., where it was $114,329; Howard County, Md., where it was $113,800; and Arlington County, Va., where it was $108,706.

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Tidalgate: Climate Alarmists Caught Faking Sea Level Rise

Alarmist scientists have been caught red-handed tampering with raw data in order to exaggerate sea level rise.
The raw (unadjusted) data from three Indian Ocean gauges – Aden, Karachi and Mumbai – showed that local sea level trends in the last 140 years had been very gently rising, neutral or negative (ie sea levels had fallen).

But after the evidence had been adjusted by tidal records gatekeepers at the global databank Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) it suddenly showed a sharp and dramatic rise.

The whistle was blown by two Australian scientists Dr. Albert Parker and Dr. Clifford Ollier in a paper for Earth Systems and Environment.

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Gun Found In Lunch Bag Of TSA Worker « CBS Boston

MANCHESTER, N.H. (CBS) – A Transportation Security Administration worker packed more than just a sandwich in his lunch bag while heading to work at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

The worker mistakenly packed a gun, which was found by officials as the worker passed through a security checkpoint screening before work, confirmed TSA spokesman Mike McCarthy on Tuesday.

“The firearm was detected on Friday at the security checkpoint when a TSA employee underwent screening at the beginning of their shift,” McCarthy said.

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Making monopolies!

California Bill in the Works to Banish Gasoline Cars by 2040 - Bloomberg

A California lawmaker wants to put the state alongside China, France and the U.K. and have its legislature consider a ban on vehicles powered by fossil fuels.

California Assemblymember Phil Ting, a Democrat who is chairman of the chamber’s budget committee, said he plans to introduce a bill that, starting in 2040, would allow the state’s motor vehicles department to register only “clean” vehicles that emit no carbon dioxide, such as battery-electric or hydrogen fuel-cell cars.

“Until you set a deadline, nothing gets done,” Ting, who represents much of San Francisco, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “It’s responsible for us to set a deadline 23 years in advance.”

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America's homeless population rises for first time in years

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The nation’s homeless population increased this year for the first time since 2010, driven by a surge in the number of people living on the streets in Los Angeles and other West Coast cities.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its annual Point in Time count Wednesday, a report that showed nearly 554,000 homeless people across the country during local tallies conducted in January. That figure is up nearly 1 percent from 2016.

Of that total, 193,000 people had no access to nightly shelter and instead were staying in vehicles, tents, the streets and other places considered uninhabitable. The unsheltered figure is up by more than 9 percent compared to two years ago.

Increases are higher in several West Coast cities, where the explosion in homelessness has prompted at least 10 city and county governments to declare states of emergency since 2015.

City officials, homeless advocates and those living on the streets point to a main culprit: the region’s booming economy .

[Joel]

American Fork LDS bishopric counselor arrested, still jailed on sexual abuse charges

(KUTV) An American Fork church leader arrested earlier this week is now facing second degree felony charges of forcible sexual abuse. He was a counselor in the bishopric -- a group of men who lead a congregation -- in a local unit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“It’s really really concerning that it’s a neighbor,” said a neighbor who didn't want to be identified. She said she knows of 44-year-old Jeffrey Graton, the 2nd counselor in a bishopric in her neighborhood ward. “When it’s a member of the community like that, people don’t suspect, they, ya know, they trust individuals like that.”

Over the weekend, The American Fork Police Department said accusations of sexual abuse against 44-year-old Graton came out. That’s when officers were called to his house.

“They might have believed he was suicidal because he left his residence with a gun, but they were able to make contact with him and he voluntarily gave up the gun.” Sgt. Josh Christensen with American Fork PD said.

Christensen said Graton admitted to inappropriately touching a young girl above and below her clothing multiple times two to three years ago. It’s not clear if he was in the bishopric at that time.

Right now, according to Christensen, it was believed to be an isolated case.

“This was not a random person and a random target, they had a relationship, they knew each other,” he said.
But investigators are not completely ruling out that there could be other victims.

“Obviously there’s concern of was there anybody else. And all I can say right now is we are unaware any other incidents,” he said.

“They trust them that they are going to do good, trust them with their children and it’s just not safe, you can’t really trust anyone these days,” the neighbor said.

Graton is currently being held in the Utah County Jail on a $15,000 bond.

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Why you should be ‘suitably paranoid’ about your home devices’ cybersecurity | National Post

Security and legal experts warn that machine-to-machine communication is creating a new level of risk -- by providing hackers with new vulnerabilities to exploit

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Scientists capture mysterious hum from deep inside the Earth - but no one knows what it is - Mirror Online

Scientists have captured a mysterious hum coming from deep inside the Earth, but they are still no closer to working out what it is.

It has long been known that the Earth constantly generates a low-frequency vibrational signal.

The first attempt to detect this hum was made in 1959, but it wasn't until 1998 that scientists finally proved its existence.

Since then, there have been hundreds of attempts to record the Earth's hum, but they have all been made using seismometers on land.

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Wolf whistling and sexist remarks could become hate crimes in London | London Evening Standard

The Metropolitan Police today revealed it is speaking with other UK forces to assess whether it is worth cracking down on gender-based hate crimes after a pilot scheme was launched in the East Midlands last year.

The trial, led by Nottinghamshire Police, saw sexist incidents like street harassment, verbal abuse and taking photos without consent recorded as hate crimes, carrying tougher penalties for offenders.

Police chiefs are now considering rolling out the idea elsewhere in the UK, suggesting a harsher stance on everyday sexism could stop it escalating into sexual harassment or assault.

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Venezuela's chronic shortages give rise to 'medical flea markets'

SAN CRISTOBAL/MARACAIBO, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's critical medicine shortage has spurred "medical flea markets," where peddlers offer everything from antibiotics to contraceptives laid out among the traditional fruits and vegetables.

The crisis-wrought Latin American nation is heaving under worsening scarcity of drugs, as well as basic foods, due to tanking national production and strict currency controls that crimp imports.

The local pharmaceutical association estimates at any given time, there is a shortage of around 85 percent of drugs.

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US moves to block transgender military recruits signing up

Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump's administration has asked a federal court to block the Pentagon from starting the hiring of transgender recruits next year.

The filing by the Justice Department late on Wednesday is the latest in a series of legal measures that have unfolded since Trump sent out three tweets in July saying that transgender troops could not serve "in any capacity" in the military.

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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.”