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US finally giving boot to official foot measurement


AP
Sun, 15 Dec 2019 22:32 UTC
surveyor
© AP Photo
FILE - In this April 18, 1958 file photo, Philip N. Brooks, right, a New York State surveyor, takes a look through his transit on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation near Niagara Falls, N.Y., while Tuscarora Chief Elton Black Cloud Greene watches. The tribe is resisting state seizure of their land for a power project. In 1959, the U.S. government started the switch from the U.S. survey foot to the international foot, and it will finish the job in 2022.
Change is afoot for the official measuring stick used to size up big places in America.

The reason? There are actually two different definitions of the 12-inch measurement known as a foot.

Some land surveyors use what's known as the U.S. survey foot. Others use the definition that's more accepted by the broader world: the international foot.

The difference between them is so tiny that you can't see it with the naked eye on a 12-inch ruler. But over big distances, it matters. So, to reduce the chance for errors and confusion, the federal government has announced it's finally giving the boot to the survey foot.

Comment: Twitters steps in:



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Star of David

Israel forbids Gaza's Christians from visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem during Christmas

Rami Ayyub, Nidal al-Mughrabi
Reuters
Thu, 12 Dec 2019 02:17 UTC
Bethlehem
© leaderpost.com
Bethlehem
Christians in the Gaza Strip will not be allowed to visit holy cities such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year, Israeli authorities said on Thursday. Gazan Christians will be granted permits to travel abroad but none will be allowed to go to Israel and the occupied West Bank, home to many sites holy to Christians, a spokeswoman for Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians said.

Israel tightly restricts movements out of the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by Hamas, an Islamist group that it considers a terrorist organization. The spokeswoman said that following "security orders", Gazans would be allowed to travel abroad via Israel's Allenby Bridge border crossing with Jordan but not to visit cities in Israel or the West Bank.

Gaza has only around 1,000 Christians - most of them Greek Orthodox - among a population of 2 million in the narrow coastal strip. This year's decision is a break with usual policy. Last year, Israel granted permits for close to 700 Gazan Christians to travel to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and other holy cities that draw thousands of pilgrims each holiday season.

Gisha, an Israeli rights group, said the ban points "to the intensifying of access restrictions between the two parts of the Palestinian territory," calling it "a deepening of Israel's separation policy" for the West Bank and Gaza.

Comment: Once implemented, this restriction will become part of the permanent rules and regulations for suppressing the Palestinian Christian population.

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Dollar

NYC paying $625K to mom whose baby was ripped away by police


ABC News
Sat, 14 Dec 2019 01:03 UTC
Mother paid in lawsuit
New York City will pay $625,000 to resolve a lawsuit filed by a mother whose toddler was yanked from her arms by police in a widely seen online video, the city's Law Department said.

Jazmine Headley sued the city in August alleging trauma and humiliation and seeking unspecified damages over the December 2018 incident at a Brooklyn benefits office.

In February, she testified before the city council, which offered her a public apology and passed legislation aimed at improving how people are treated at benefits offices and making the system more transparent.

On Friday, the Law Department said the city will pay to resolve the lawsuit.

"Through her intelligence, bravery, and grace, Jazmine Headley turned the worst ordeal of her life — and of any parent's — into an opportunity for change for the entire city," Headley's lawyers, Katherine Rosenfeld and Emma Freeman said in a statement.
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Attention

ABC's Epstein story didn't kill itself

Alan MacLeod
FAIR
Thu, 12 Dec 2019 19:26 UTC
Epstein and Robach
© Fox News
Multimillionaire predator Jeffrey Epstein died in suspicious circumstances at a Manhattan correctional facility on August 10. The wealthy and powerful New York financier, a convicted sex offender, stands accused by dozens of women and girls of trafficking, rape and sexual abuse. He was an enormously influential and well-connected man who counted as friends billionaire business owners, Hollywood stars, British royals, and even top media figures like Katie Couric and Charlie Rose — with some of his associates falling under suspicion of condoning or even participating in a pedophile ring.

"I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy," said fellow tycoon Donald Trump (New York, 10/28/02), adding: "It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side." Former President Bill Clinton was also close with Epstein.

Epstein new york

New York (10/28/02) hyped Jeffrey Epstein as a “relentless brain” with a “keen eye for the ladies.”

Comment: See also: Inept ABC 'searching staff emails' 'pressuring colleagues to turn against each other' as they freak out over the identity of the Amy Robach video leaker

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NPC

SJW scientists: Research paper on Google's quantum computer sounds racist because 'supremacy'


RT
Sun, 15 Dec 2019 17:39 UTC
Sycamore quantum processor
© Google
Google's 'Sycamore' quantum processor
A Google computer recently achieved "quantum supremacy," performing a calculation that'd be impossible on a regular machine. Some scientists are up in arms - not at the breakthrough, but because "supremacy" sounds vaguely racist.

Put short, a quantum computer developed by Google managed to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would have taken the world's most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years. The research paper on the calculation is published in Nature, the world's leading multidisciplinary science journal, with the title "Quantum supremacy using a programmable superconducting processor."

Some scientists were ecstatic, with one comparing the moment to the Wright Brothers' first flight in 1903. Others were outraged. A group of 13 scientists signed a letter published in Nature, decrying the term "quantum supremacy" as racist.


"In our view, 'supremacy' has overtones of violence, neocolonialism and racism through its association with 'white supremacy,'" they wrote. "We call for the community to use 'quantum advantage' instead."

Comment: "A cesspool of absurdity" sounds about right. See also:

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Dollars

Man who stole $88,000 from bank vault caught after flashing stacks of bills on social media, FBI says

Julia Jacobo
ABC News
Sun, 15 Dec 2019 12:28 UTC
100 dollar bills
© Getty Images
Federal investigators have arrested a man who allegedly stole $88,000 from a bank vault after the suspect posted photos of stolen stacks of bills online.

Charlotte resident Arlando M. Henderson, 29, allegedly had access to the vault at the Wells Fargo location where he worked and stole the sum over the course of at least 18 different occasions in 2019, according to a federal indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of North Carolina on Nov. 19.

The vault he allegedly stole from contained cash deposits from customers, according to a news release by the FBI. Henderson was hired in April, and by July, he had allegedly stolen more than $70,000 in cash. The amounts he stole on an almost-daily basis in June and July alone ranged from $200 to $13,450, the court documents state.

Henderson was allegedly seen on his social media accounts posting several pictures of himself holding large stacks of cash through July and August, the court documents state. The stolen money was insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, according to the indictment.
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Bomb

Another one! Over 54,000 evacuated from Italian city of Brandisi to defuse WWII bomb


Reuters
Sun, 15 Dec 2019 04:52 UTC
Brandisi Italy WWII bomb
© Archyde
More than 60% of the total population of the city have moved to a safe distance after discovery of the British bomb.
Around 54,000 people were evacuated from the southern Italian city of Brindisi on Sunday as experts worked to defuse a World War Two bomb, authorities said.

Corriere della Sera daily said the operation was the biggest peacetime evacuation in Italy, with more than 60% of the city's residents forced to vacate a "red zone" in a radius of 1,617 meters from where the bomb was found.

The British bomb, believed to have been dropped on the city in 1941, is 1 meter long and contains 40 kgs of dynamite, authorities said. It was found by chance last month during refurbishment works at a cinema theater.

Comment: Makes one wonder just how many bombs the Allies dropped in Europe! Just last week, the city of Turin was evacuated as another British WWII bomb was discovered. WWII bombs are continuously being found throughout Europe - and London has its share as well.

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Tornado1

Muslim protests rage across India against Citizenship Amendment Bill: Students riot in New Dehli university - UPDATE


RT
Sun, 15 Dec 2019 12:49 UTC
India CAB riots protests
© REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
A man runs past a burning bus that was set on fire by demonstrators during a protest against a new citizenship law, in New Delhi, India, December 15, 2019.
Demonstrations against India's new citizenship bill, the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), have turned violent in the capital, with protesters setting buses on fire and clashing with riot police.

Several buses in south Delhi were set on fire by demonstrators on Saturday, according to local media reports.

A video published by NDTV, taken from the balcony of a building, shows a bus in the middle of the road engulfed in flames, as a huge plume of black smoke rises from the inferno.

Comment: More on the CAB and unrest: UPDATE Dec 15

RT reports that police have broken into the grounds of Delhi's Jamia Millia Islama University, where much of the unrest has centered:


Videos have surfaced showing students attacking police with stones prior to the arrests:

There have been claims by students that Delhi police attacked or fired on students, but witnesses claim there was absolutely no firing.


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Arrow Down

Finnish finance minister forced to apologize for Instagram poll on repatriating Jihadi wives


Sputnik
Sat, 14 Dec 2019 00:00 UTC
Katri Kulmuni
© REUTERS / Lehtikuva/Vesa Moilanen
Katri Kulmuni
There are around a dozen Finnish women and more than 30 children stranded at al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, where Kurdish militias have a de facto autonomous administration. The Finnish government is working to repatriate the children, but the Kurds don't want to see the women separated from their kids.

Finland's finance minister has apologised for an Instagram poll in which she asked citizens whether captured women associated with Daesh* should be brought back from Syria.

There are at least 11 Finnish women, who travelled to Syria to join the jihadists, and over 30 of their children being held at the Kurdish-run al-Hol displacement camp in northeastern Syria.

Katri Kulmuni, the Centre Party leader who took over as minister just this week, posted an informal poll on Friday asking whether the government should allow those women to return, or just their children.

Comment: Ms. Kulmuni has now discovered how easily the PC police can be activated - no discussion is allowed nor is the general public given an opportunity to voice dissenting opinions.

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Bullseye

Greta Thunberg vows to 'put world leaders against the wall' if they fail to act on climate change

James Mills
Daily Mail
Fri, 13 Dec 2019 16:04 UTC
Greta Thunberg
© AFP/Getty
Greta Thunberg told cheering protesters today 'we will make sure we put world leaders against the wall' if they fail to take urgent action on climate change.
Greta Thunberg told cheering protesters today 'we will make sure we put world leaders against the wall' if they fail to take urgent action on climate change.


Comment: Put leaders against the wall and do what? Shoot them?


The Swedish teen activist was addressing the crowd at a Fridays for Future protest in Turin, Italy.

She arrived there from Madrid where she had been attending the UN climate summit but said she feared the event would not lead to change.

She said: 'Unfortunately, we probably already know the outcome. World leaders are still trying to run away from their responsibilities but we have to make sure they cannot do that.

'We will make sure that we put them against the wall and they will have to do their job to protect our futures.'

Comment: More on Greta (and the forces behind her):

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