Today's News: September 10, 2019

World News

Australia wildfires raging like ‘flamethrower’ devour homes, at least 400 evacuated
Fox – More than 100 wildfires raging like a “flamethrower” across southeast Australia have razed homes and sent hundreds of citizens fleeing from the blazes that could continue burning for weeks, officials said Tuesday.
The bush and grass fires have been scorching the eastern coasts of the neighboring states of Queensland and New South Wales since Friday after an unusually warm and dry year left parts of the country in a combustible state.
At least 26 homes have been destroyed and 73 sustained damage, with damages expected to rise once officials can check the fire-devastated areas, News.com.au reported.
Japan will have to dump toxic Fukushima nuclear plant water into Pacific Ocean, environment minister says
Fox – Massive amounts of toxic water from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan has to be dumped into the Pacific Ocean because the facility is running out of space, the country’s environment minister said Tuesday.
Three reactors at the power plant suffered meltdowns in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan. Radioactive water from the damaged reactors has leaked and mixed with groundwater and rainwater from the plant.
The water is treated, but remains slightly toxic and has been stored in large tanks. Nearly 1,000 of them hold more than 1 million tons of water.
But Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the utility company operating the nuclear power plant, said last month it’s running out of space for the radioactive water. The company said it plans to build more tanks, but can accommodate only up to 1.37 million tons, which it will reach in the summer of 2022.
Yoshiaki Harada, Japan’s environmental minister, said Tuesday — more than eight years after the disaster — that because of the lack of space, TEPCO will have to dump the toxic water into the Pacific.
“The only option will be to drain it into the sea and dilute it,” Harada said at a news conference, according to Reuters. He didn’t elaborate as to how much water he thought would be dumped into the ocean.
Taliban threatens US with jihad, seizes more land in Afghanistan after failed peace talks
RT – The Taliban has taken over another district in Afghanistan, the second in two weeks, saying that the US will “regret” abandoning key peace talks that stalled after Donald Trump called off a much-awaited meeting with the group.
Yangi Qala, a district in Afghanistan’s northern province of Takhar, fell into the hands of Taliban fighters on Tuesday after government troops retreated over fear of greater casualties, local authorities told the media. They sent reinforcements in order to drive the Taliban out of the area, claiming that dozens of militants were killed.
But the seizure of the district, which lies close to the border of Russia’s military ally Tajikistan, comes days after the Taliban made another advance by capturing the Anar Darah neighborhood in western Afghanistan.
The news follows a recent decision by Trump to cancel a meeting with Taliban representatives at Camp David, asking the group if they are ready for the next few decades of war. The US president said he canceled the meeting after the Taliban claimed responsibility for attacks in Kabul which killed 12 people, including one US soldier, earlier in the week.
On its part, the Taliban warned that the US will suffer heavy losses for ditching the key talks, yet the takeovers seem to be a continuation of their stick-and-carrot tactics.

U.S. News, Politics & Government

USSA Government Asks Apple & Google To Hand Over Info On Gun Owners
SHFTPlan – The authoritarian dystopian future has been here for a while now, but this is simply more evidence of humanity’s disregard for freedom and independence. The United States government has demanded that Apple and Google (who are both politically biased towards the left) hand over any information they have on gun owners in the USSA.
The U.S. Government is asking Apple and Google to hand over information on gun owners who have a scope on their rifles and use an app called Obsidian 4. The Obsidian 4 app “allows gun owners to get a live stream, take video and calibrate their gun scope from an Android or iPhone device,” according to the report. Forbes reported that the Department of Justice filed “an application for a court order” on September 5, 2019, the goal of which is to have information released on Obsidian 4 users.
This would essentially impact about, 10,000 gun owners across the USSA.
Never before has a case been disclosed in which American investigators demanded personal data of users of a single app from Apple and Google. And never has an order been made public where the feds have asked the Silicon Valley giants for info on so many thousands of people in one go. –Forbes
If you still are delusional and somehow believe you’re living in the “land of the free,” think again. It’s time to open your eyes and see what the U.S. government has become: one of the largest slave plantations on earth. Things are getting ugly very quickly now, folks.
Forbes indicated that the information is being sought is to supposedly aid Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in tracking illegal exports of a night vision scope made by American Technologies Network Corp. But Edin Omanovic, who is with Privacy International’s State Surveillance program, says the information grab means “innocent people’s personal data” will be released to the government. Omanovic warned that the type of orders sought by the DOJ “need to be based on suspicion and be particularized,” but the attempt to gather information from Apple and Google is not.
This is a major invasion of privacy and a massive human rights violation. The U.S. government no longer has limits to the extent they will go to in order to keep people under its control. The country is not far from complete totalitarianism at this point.
NY Times Praises Mass Murdering Mao as “One of History’s Great Revolutionary Figures”
Infowars – The New York Times was forced to delete a tweet that praised Communist dictator Mao Zedong – who was responsible for the deaths of around 45 million people – as a “great revolutionary leader.”
Under Mao’s Great Leap Forward policy, over the course of just 4 years between 1958-1962 some 45 million people starved to death, making it the biggest episode of mass murder ever recorded.
Countless other victims also lost their lives as a result of Mao’s ruthless oppression, incarceration and execution of political adversaries who stood in his way.
That historical context was noticeably absent when the NY Times effusively tweeted about how Mao, “died one of history’s great revolutionary figures.”
The newspaper was forced to walk it back after a huge online backlash.
“We’ve deleted a previous tweet about Mao Zedong that lacked critical historical context,” the Times tweeted.
This is by no means the first time the New York Times has run defense for the most genocidal leader of the entire 20th century.
22 Surveys Which Prove That Americans Never Want To Go Back To The Way America Used To Be
Michael Snyder – For a long time a great battle has been fought to determine the future direction of this country, and at this point one thing has become exceedingly clear. America is never going to be the country that it once was. Of course for millions of Americans this is actually very welcome news, but for those of us that have been working so hard for so long to restore the values that this nation was founded upon, it is incredibly sad to finally come to this realization. In order for America to return to her glory days, our nation would need to embrace the values that once made our nation so great, and the truth is that the American people have resoundingly rejected those values. This is especially true for our young people, and it won’t be too long before they are running everything. The other side has control of our education system, of our major media outlets, of our entertainment industry and of our legal system. They are literally systematically training future generations what to think, and that has proven to be an insurmountable advantage. The “culture war” has been over for a long time, and they won. But that doesn’t mean that the broader conflict is over.
A lot of people reading this article will be tempted to think that this is a Republican/Democrat thing, but that is not true at all. In fact, the truth is that many lawmakers that are considered to be “conservatives” today would be considered to be flaming liberals by our founders. Ultimately, nearly all of our political leaders have fundamentally rejected the values that so many previous generations of Americans fought so hard to defend. The United States has been overthrown, but it wasn’t by a foreign power. We have been conquered from within, and it was a very slow process, but now their victory is almost entirely complete.
#1 According to an American Bar Association survey, only 38 percent of all Americans know that the U.S. Constitution is the highest law in the land.
#2 According to a new survey that was conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 76 percent of Americans support “red flag” gun laws.
#3 A recent Rasmussen survey discovered that 28 percent of all Democrats actually believe that it should be “illegal” to be a member of the NRA.
#4 A survey that was just conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 56 percent of Americans trust law enforcement authorities to use facial recognition technology “responsibly” even though it horribly violates our privacy rights.
#5 70 percent of Americans support “Medicare for all” – a national socialized single-payer healthcare system.
#6 46 percent of Americans have taken at least one pharmaceutical drug within the last 30 days.
#7 59 percent of Americans support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal to raise the top tax rate to 70 percent.
#8 When asked to name the greatest president in their lifetimes, more Americans named “Barack Obama” than anyone else by a wide margin.
#9 58 percent of American adults under the age of 35 agree that some version of socialism “would be good for the country”.
#10 One survey discovered that one-third of all American teenagers haven’t read a single book in the past year.
#11 Almost one-third of all U.S. Millennials are still living with their parents.
#12 One very alarming survey found that the average American spends 86 hours a month on a cellphone.
#13 49 percent of Americans say that not having wifi would ruin their vacation.
#14 34 percent of pet-owning adults in the United States say that their pet is their “favorite child”.
#15 According to a Quinnipiac University poll from last year, 63 percent of all Americans want to keep Roe v. Wade in place.
#16 According to the Pew Research Center, 61 percent of Americans now support gay marriage and only 31 percent of Americans are against it.
#17 45 percent of U.S. college students believe that the phrase “In God We Trust” should be removed from our currency.
#18 Over the last three decades, the number of Americans with “no religion” has increased by 266 percent.
#19 During the 2016 election, more than 40 percent of Americans did not know who was running for vice-president from either of the major parties.
#20 Only 26 percent of Americans can name all three branches of government.
#21 One very shocking survey found that 74 percent of Americans don’t even know how many amendments are in the Bill of Rights.
#22 According to a survey that was conducted last year, Americans from the age of 18 to the age of 29 favor Democrats over Republicans by a 66 percent to 32 percent margin.
Once again, this is not a Republican/Democrat thing. Ultimately, both major political parties seem determined to take us down the tubes. One may want to do it at a faster pace than the other, but the destination is still the same.
Back-to-school students are being subjected to a whole new wave of transgender indoctrination and left-wing lunacy
NaturalNews – Children attending public schools in the greater Washington, D.C., area of northern Virginia had to endure a barrage of LGBTQ propaganda during their recent back-to-school orientation proceedings.
According to reports, Arlington Public Schools (APS) has implemented a new ‘policy implementation procedure,’ or PIP, this year that covers topics like “preferred pronouns” for “gender-nonconforming” students, as well as the use of “gender-neutral” sports uniforms.
In compliance with the demands of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Arlington Gender Identity Allies (AGIA), two pro-LGBTQ activist groups, APS wants to make its schools as LGBTQ-friendly as possible, which means reworking the bathrooms and locker rooms, and rejecting the notion of there being only two genders.
“A year in the making, the PIP was introduced by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Tara Nattress,” reported the Spartan Newsroom, announcing the changes.
“The PIP will include updates to facilities including gender-neutral bathrooms and locker rooms as well as a non-gender-specific dress code and preferred pronoun additions to student files.”
NRA sues San Francisco over ‘domestic terrorist organization’ declaration
Fox – The National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit against San Francisco Monday over the city’s recent declaration that the gun-rights lobby is a “domestic terrorist organization.”
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the city and county of San Francisco and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. It accuses city officials of violating the gun lobby’s free speech rights for political reasons and claims the city is trying to blacklist anyone associated with the NRA from doing business there.
The gun rights lobby asked the court to step in “to instruct elected officials that freedom of speech means you cannot silence or punish those with whom you disagree.”
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution last week that said the U.S. is “plagued by an epidemic of gun violence,” and accused the NRA of using “its considerable wealth and organization strength to promote gun ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence.” The resolution called on other cities, states and the federal government to follow suit and also declare the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization.”
Most gun owners support bill to expand background checks, Manchin says
Fox – Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said his bill with Republican Sen. Pat Toomey to expand background checks on gun purchases has broad support among gun owners and should gain support from the White House.
“I can assure you the bill … has over 85 percent approval and that’s with gun owners and everyone else saying if you go to a commercial transaction, gun show, or on the Internet, don’t you think you ought to know who wants to buy that gun and for what purpose and what their background is? That’s all we’re talking about,” he said on “America’s Newsroom.”
Manchin, who met with President Trump last week, said non-commercial transfers of firearms between family members are “protected” in the bill, and the Second Amendment would not be infringed upon by the proposed legislation.
Manchin said he was “optimistic” after the meeting, describing Trump as “very engaged” on the issue.
Calling the moment “critical,” Democrats Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California sent Trump a letter on Sunday urging him to expand background checks and to use his influence to sway Republicans in the Senate who blocked the bill passed by the House earlier this year.
Florida parents won’t regain custody of son, 4, after refusing chemo, opting for natural remedies
Fox – The parents of a 4-year-old Florida boy suffering from leukemia — and who “refused” to allow their son to undergo chemotherapy — will not regain custody of the child, a judge ruled Monday.
Joshua McAdams, 28, and Taylor Bland-Ball, 22, intentionally deprived their son, Noah, of legitimate medical treatment and sought natural remedies after he was diagnosed with cancer in April, according to Judge Thomas Palermo, who said there is “imminent risk of neglect” if the boy stays with his parents.
“Parents have a fundamental right to parent their child, but that is not one without limits,” Palermo said, according to WTVT. “They were choosing between life and death for their child.”
Noah underwent two rounds of chemotherapy before his parents stopped bringing him to treatments. The judge said the particular type of chemotherapy has a 90 to 95 percent success rate — and emphasized that “there was no alternative with a remote chance of success.”
Florida law enforcement issued an endangered child alert after McAdams and Bland-Ball failed to bring Noah to scheduled chemotherapy treatments, which were described as a “medically necessary hospital procedure.”
The couple were later found in Georgetown, Ky., and the family then returned to Tampa, Fla.
Palermo said Monday the couple didn’t appear to have plans for Noah to be treated in Kentucky and, going a step further, detailed what appeared to be active steps to avoid such treatment: the parents abandoned a car and their cell phones while traveling, removed the boy’s PICC line and consciously eluded law enforcement.
Noah’s parents, however, say the state is making it seem like they are refusing all medical care when they instead want to pursue “better treatment” options. McAdams, according to the Tampa Bay Times, said in court in May they were treating their son with CBD oil, fresh foods and alkaline water.
Soros Fuels Dark Money Judicial Group That Fights Kavanaugh, Trump Nominations
The Washington Free Beacon – A “dark money” group that was established to push back against the judicial nominations of President Donald Trump, and which was at the forefront of the battle against Justice Brett Kavanaugh and continues to go after him to this day, was heavily financed by liberal billionaire George Soros around the time of its inception, grants show.
Demand Justice, a left-wing advocacy group, was established in 2018 and is led by Brian Fallon, the former press secretary for Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 campaign. The group does not disclose its donors and is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which falls under the umbrella of Arabella Advisors—an intricate dark money network containing dozens of liberal groups and projects. The network is used as a “pass through” entity for Democratic donors and has facilitated $1.6 billion in funds to liberal entities in recent years.
Due to Demand Justice’s arrangement with the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which acts as its fiscal sponsor, it does not have to file annual tax forms to the Internal Revenue Service. Those who contribute to groups housed at the Sixteen Thirty Fund can also mark the money to the fund’s name, where it is passed to the intended groups while ultimately masking the destination.
However, the Open Society Policy Center, Soros’s 501(c)(4) D.C.-based advocacy group, outright marked that it had sent $2.5 million to Demand Justice for general support between April 1 and June 30, 2018, according to a review of its grants. Soros’s group sent $87,000 more to Fallon’s group between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 to “support advocacy on judicial nominations.”
The initial grant from Soros’s policy center, which is an affiliated entity to the Open Society Foundations, was given to Fallon’s group around the time that the former Clinton henchman appeared at a secretive gathering of the Democracy Alliance, the left’s largest donor club that was co-founded by Soros, in Atlanta. The Washington Free Beacon was present at the gathering and spotted Fallon at the bar. The Free Beacon also obtained documents showing that Fallon was there on behalf of Demand Justice, which was not publicly launched at the time.
Soros’s policy center sent $1.3 million more to the Sixteen Thirty Fund during the second quarter of 2017. Those funds are not marked toward any particular group, but instead are reported as supporting advocacy on executive nominations, policy advocacy on social safety net programs, and cross-sector policy advocacy and planning.
Soros’s Open Society Policy Center also made numerous grants for nearly $2 million to other left-wing groups for advocacy on judicial nominations last year. Those included two grants for $1,000,000 total to Planned Parenthood Action Fund, $350,000 to Color of Change (which also went toward voting rights), $150,000 to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and $150,000 to the Committee for a Fair Judiciary, among others.
“We are proud to support Demand Justice, which is doing critical work to ensure the integrity of our courts, and which we disclose at the OSPC website,” said Jonathan Kaplan, spokesperson for the Open Society Policy Center.

Veteran News

New blood test could help identify troops and veterans with PTSD
Military Times – Physicians could potentially one day identify veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder through a quick blood test instead of complex psychological tests, thanks to new research from the Army and outside biometrics experts published for the first time Monday.
The study, which appeared in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, found a set of 27 blood markers which helped identify patients suffering from PTSD. Researchers said the findings support past hypotheses that the disorder “affects not just the brain, but the entire body.”
In a statement, Army Medical Research Systems Biology Chief Scientist Marti Jett said those markers “will continue to be refined and adapted for commercialization” in coming years. Researchers are hopeful blood tests can lead not only to more accurate diagnoses but also earlier ones, perhaps indicating signs of problems even before PTSD has fully manifested.
Senior study author Dr. Charles Marmar, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine, said a blood test could indicate signs of PTSD that veterans are unaware of or deliberately hiding out of fear surrounding the stigma of the diagnosis. It could also more quickly eliminate PTSD as a potential problem for patients with unclear medical issues.

Economy & Business

Newspapers turn to Congress for help against tech companies
Axios – Senior executives from 8 major newspaper publishing companies will head to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to convince lawmakers to do something about the dominance of tech companies over content creators, executives tell Axios.
Why it matters: This will be just the 2nd time that the newspaper industry has sent members to formally lobby members of Congress. It speaks to the major increase in lobbying efforts that the newspaper industry has used in recent years to combat the economic decline of its industry.
The big picture: “Our belief is that the current antitrust laws don’t allow us to work together,” says Timothy Knight, CEO of Tribune Publishing Company. “I view what we’re trying to do as rethinking how the game is played.”
“Our challenge is that this industry has no history of publishers talking to members about their businesses because there weren’t really any federal issues for them to lobby for a long time. The old print model was lucrative. But as we look at the future of news, we have to build advocacy muscle.”
— David Chavern, President and CEO News Media Alliance
Driving the news: Leaders from The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune, Tribune Publishing Company, News Corp, Star Tribune, Gannett, The Post and Courier in Charleston and Philadelphia Media Network will meet with lawmakers one-on-one to rally support for the News Media Alliance’s anti-trust safe harbor bill and to educate members about the economic plight of the newspaper industry.
What they’re saying: The papers want Congress to move quickly on passing their safe harbor bill so that they have the leverage to demand more money for their content from Google and Facebook.
Trump administration defends Fannie, Freddie overhaul before Congress
Reuters – U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday questioned Trump administration officials on their plan to release mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNMA.PK) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.PK), the guarantors of over half the nation’s mortgages, from government control more than a decade after they were bailed out during the 2008 financial crisis.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria defended their long-awaited blueprint for overhauling the U.S. housing finance system before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee.
“Treasury’s plan shows that the GSEs (government-sponsored enterprises) can and should be reformed to ensure their safety and soundness. Although no law prescribes a specific end point for the conservatorships, no conservatorship is meant to be permanent,” said Mnuchin in his prepared testimony.
The release of their report, ordered by President Trump in March and published Thursday, is a first step on the long road to reforming Fannie and Freddie after a 2012 attempt by the Obama administration fell flat.

Energy & Environment

Squirrels listen in on bird chatter to decide if they’re safe, and that’s scientifically significant
CNN – Squirrels are capricious little creatures. And aside from taunting the neighborhood dogs and using your gutters as water slides, it appears they also eavesdrop on bird chatter to gauge their safety.
A new study published in the journal PLOS One concludes grey squirrels use the sounds of nearby birds to infer the absence of predators.
Researchers from Oberlin College played several recordings for squirrels in their natural habitat, including the ambient chatter of birds around a feeder and the sound of a red-tailed hawk; a predator.
Understandably, the squirrels went on alert after hearing the hawk sound, displaying what the study calls “vigilance behavior.” This could include freezing, looking around more often or standing up.
What this means
This seems like a pretty natural thing to humans — we often glean social cues from the behaviors of people around us. But in the animal kingdom, research has usually focused on different species using alarm calls or other indicators of concern as a way to gauge safety. Using the opposite, in this case, the relaxed chatter of unthreatened birds, is somewhat novel.
“A few studies have demonstrated eavesdropping on non-sentinel calls within co-foraging groups as an index of safety,” the study reads. “However, to our knowledge, our study is the first to demonstrate eavesdropping on non-sentinal calls outside of a co-foraging group association, indicating that eavesdropping on cues of safety may be more widespread than previously recognized.”
This kind of research can tell us more about how different species communicate and interact within their multi-species communities. It can’t, however, tell you why they love to cause a ruckus right outside your house at all hours.
Natural remedy for trash: Could a plastic-eating mushroom clean up our landfills?
NaturalNews – Plastic waste is one of the leading causes of environmental problems today. While everyone’s looking for ways to solve this looming crisis, researchers from Yale University suggest using a mushroom that feasts on plastic. In their study, which appeared in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, the team said that Pestalotiopsis microspora can not only live off polyurethane – a compound found in most plastics – it can also survive without oxygen.
This makes this rare mushroom, which is found in the Amazon rainforest, great for cleaning up landfills: Just plant the mushroom there and leave it to happily eat its fill of plastic. P. microspora is also easy to work with, which opens up the opportunity for further research.
“The relative ease with which organisms can be isolated and screened makes this a highly accessible and environmentally relevant project for engaging undergraduate students in scientific research,” the Yale researchers said in their study.
Just like humans, plants also have an immune system – and we might be poisoning it
NaturalNews – Plants do more than just beautify gardens and lawns. Fruit-bearing plants, herbs, and vegetables provide the nutrients that you need to stay healthy, while all plants provide oxygen. But according to a study, plant breeding and pesticide use negatively affects the immune system of plants.
The study, which was published in the journal Science, involved a collaboration between researchers from the University of Basel, the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, and the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology.
During the course of the study, the researchers found that metacaspases (a class of proteolytic enzymes) are crucial for the activation of immune response in plants. They warned that common plant breeding strategies and the use of pesticides may be impeding this natural response.
When multicellular organisms, like humans, are hurt, their damaged cells transmit signals to alert the surrounding tissue of the wound. These signals can then trigger the immune system to respond to the injury and promote tissue regeneration. These signals also result in wound healing.
The same thing happens to plants, albeit with certain differences.
Peptides (short protein fragments) in plants are essential for the proper functioning of their immune system. These peptides are produced from precursor proteins that have been “cut into shape” by proteases (proteolytic enzymes).
But since there are a lot of proteases, it is necessary to identify those with roles in the plant immune system.
How pesticides and plant breeding affect plant immunity
Standard plant breeding practices and the use of pesticides could negatively affect the immune system of plants. An impaired immune system could result in slower recovery from damage.
Plant breeding refers to a technique that combines plant seeds to produce nutrient-rich, high-quality fruits and vegetables that will grow well in ideal planting conditions. However, since farmers aren’t familiar with metacaspases, they could unknowingly be limiting plant resilience due to damage caused to their immune system by plant breeding. (Related: Health Basics: Understanding GMO engineering and why altering plant DNA in laboratories becomes so DANGEROUS to human health.)
The research team remains hopeful that their findings can be used in future studies. Proteases often cleave more than one protein. New research can look into different plant processes that require metacaspases and are linked to wound response and immunity.

Science & Technology

Microsoft and Amazon may destroy humanity with A.I. research that resembles “Skynet” from the Terminator movies
NaturalNews – Microsoft, Amazon and other major tech companies are putting the entire world at risk with their development of “deadly A.I.” and “killer robots,” according to a shocking report from Dutch NGO Pax. A study led by the Dutch NGO ranks 50 tech firms based on their relations to the development of deadly A.I. or military projects –and questions why companies like Microsoft and Amazon are apparently involved with the development of autonomous weaponry.
Is this the beginning of a Terminator movie? The NSA does already have something called “Skynet,” which is a surveillance program for suspected terrorists. But the development of A.I. weapon systems designed to independently select and attack targets is another ballgame. The advancement of A.I. and robotics could see the dawn of a new horizon — one in which robots can decide what humans they want to kill, and entire groups of people can be killed in the blink of an eye. The advancement of killer A.I. technology is a threat to humanity and the Dutch NGO warns that such weapons will “inevitably become weapons of mass destruction.”
Microsoft, Amazon are of “high concern”
As Breitbart reports, Dutch NGO Pax ranked 50 tech companies whether they were actively working on deadly A.I. technology or military projects — or if they were making an effort to stop contributing to these kinds of projects. Amazon and Microsoft were just two of 21 “high concern” organizations named by the report. According to Pax’s study, the two tech giants are currently bidding on a $10 billion Pentagon contract for “providing cloud infrastructure” to the U.S. military.
Tech to fix posture by blurring screen when slouch
Daily Mail – A website is helping computer users improve their posture by showing a blurred screen when they start to slouch.
Fix Posture uses a machine learning program to create a baseline of where a user’s body parts are when assuming a good posture.
The user begins by correcting their posture which includes keeping the screen at eye level, relaxing shoulders and putting their feet flat on the ground.
The technology requires a camera and the screen will go blurry when the user isn’t sitting correctly. The camera will constantly check the user’s position through the webcam.
MCDONALD’S to automate drive-thru
CNBC – McDonald’s said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire a company that is trying to automate the drive-thru. It’s the fast-food giant’s third tech-focused deal this year.
Apprente, a Silicon Valley company founded in 2017, uses artificial intelligence to understand drive-thru orders, which could cut down on service times. McDonald’s said the technology also could be used someday in its self-order kiosks and mobile app.
The Chicago-based company said it evaluated Apprente’s technology in McDonald’s test restaurants.
Apprente’s employees will be the founding members of a group called McD Tech Labs, which will be housed within McDonald’s global technology team. The burger chain wants to grow its presence in Silicon Valley by hiring more tech experts, including engineers and data scientists.
Say Goodbye to Temporary Fillings: Scientists Successfully Use a Gel to Regrow Tooth Enamel
Good News Network – Dental fillings may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to this latest breakthrough from Chinese scientists.
Enamel is the mineralized substance that protects the surface of teeth. Though it is one of the toughest tissues in our bodies, it is prone to degradation over time particularly as a result of consistent exposure to certain acids that are found in food and drinks.
We currently use resins and ceramics to fill in deteriorated enamel, but these fillings can often become loose within just a few years of their placement—and with tooth decay being one of the most prevalent chronic diseases amongst humans, scientists have puzzled over how they can recreate enamel.
Until now, we have not been able to reproduce the toughened tissue because of its complex cellular structure—but a team of researchers from Zhejiang University School of Medicine has developed a gel that makes enamel repair itself.

Health

7 Reasons why you should always get enough of vitamin D
NaturalNews – Vitamin D is a unique kind of vitamin that does not act in the same way that other vitamins do. Instead, it acts more like a hormone that is naturally produced by your body. It is known as the “Sunshine Vitamin” because you normally get this vitamin from your skin’s exposure to sunlight.
7 Reasons why your body needs vitamin D
Optimize your overall health and well-being with vitamin D. Here are some of the health benefits the sunshine vitamin can provide:
1) Vitamin D supports healthy bones. Your bones need calcium and phosphorus to grow properly. Vitamin D supports your body’s natural absorption of these two vital minerals that are necessary for strong, healthy bones and teeth.
2) Vitamin D supports a healthy immune system. This vitamin is well-known to help strengthen the immune system and facilitate its normal functions.
3) Vitamin D balances and uplifts mood. Vitamin D has a tremendous effect on supporting a positive mood.
4) Vitamin D supports the optimal health of children. Vitamin D plays a vital role in the normal growth and maintenance of the skeletal and immune systems of children.
5) Vitamin D supports optimal health during pregnancy. Vitamin D is essential for a healthy pregnancy. Pregnant women need adequate amounts of vitamin D for their own personal well-being and to ensure the healthy development of their babies.
6) Vitamin D supports a healthy respiratory system. Studies suggest that high levels of vitamin D are associated with healthy lung and respiratory functions. It can also aid in the protection of your respiratory system against external threats.
7) Vitamin D supports healthy brain function. Vitamin D regulates the absorption of calcium, which supports healthy brain functions.
>> Power Mall Product of Interest: Vitamin D3 5,000 IU – 100 Capsules
STUDY: Naps good for heart health
ABC – A new study says go ahead and nap to your heart’s content because it could be good for your health.
Research published in the Journal “Heart” found adults who take daytime naps once or twice a week had a lower risk of heart problems.
That included heart disease and strokes.
Inadequate sleep is often linked to those problems, so naps can make up for lost nighttime sleep.
No association was found between more frequent naps or duration of the nap.
Naps can also help relieve stress, which protects the heart.