JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
ISAIAH 65:9,22
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out
of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect (ISRAEL) shall
inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
22 They shall not
build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for
as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect (ISRAEL)
shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
1 CHRONICLES 17:9
9
Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel,(IN PALESTINE) and will
plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no
more;(ISRAEL-NEVER DESTROYED-FOREVER AN EARTHLY NATION) neither shall
the children of wickedness(ISHMAEL-ARAB/MUSLIMS-WORLD ISRAEL HATERS)
waste them any more, as at the beginning,(ARAB/MUSLIMS ATTACK ISRAEL ON
MAY 15,1948)
ISAIAH 56:5
5 Even unto them (ISRAELIS) will I
give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of
sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name,(ISRAEL)
that shall not be cut off.
ISAIAH 51:3-4
3 For the LORD shall
comfort Zion:(JERUSALEM) he will comfort all her waste places;(FROM
NUCLEAR WAR) and he will make her wilderness like Eden,(I BELIEVE THE
EZEKIEL-4TH TEMPLE WILL BE BUILT 25 MILES FROM THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT
AFTER JESUS RULE FOR THE 1,000 YRS FROM JERUSALEM) and her desert like
the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein,
thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.(PRAISE TO JESUS IN THE
DESERT-COULD BE THE NEW JERUSALEM-4TH TEMPLE BUILT 25 MILES INTO THE
DESERT FROM THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT.SINCE EZEKIELS TEMPLE IS WAY TO BIG
FOR THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT)
4 Hearken unto me, my people;(ISRAEL)
and give ear unto me, O my nation:(ISRAEL) for a law shall proceed from
me,(JESUS IN JERUSALEM) and I will make my judgment to rest for a light
of the people.(ISRAEL AND THE WORLD)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And
when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE
BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption
(RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30
When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that
summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT
COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A
fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES
AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the
garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea,
and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the
people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume
away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and
their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)
and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM
ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD
PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that
day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they
shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand
shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN
WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say
to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour
every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall
not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be
burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath;
but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for
he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1
For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC
BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be
stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here
are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through
war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only
Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land
in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel,
Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half
of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18,
Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY
OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND
IN THE FUTURE
Finance minister vows to cut red tape to
allow US embassy move-In order to facilitate Jerusalem move by May 14,
Kahlon instructs zoning authorities to exempt security-related
construction work from lengthy permit process-By TOI staff-MAR 21,18
Finance
Minister Moshe Kahlon announced Wednesday he was instructing Israel’s
planning and zoning authorities to offer the US diplomatic mission in
Israel a blanket exemption from certain zoning requirements in order to
allow for the moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem by Israel’s 70th
independence day on May 14.Over the past few days American officials
have reportedly met with the relevant Israeli authorities to get
permission for urgent security-related construction work they say is
necessary to convert the consulate in the Arnona neighborhood in
southern Jerusalem into an embassy.According to a Hadashot TV news
report, the Americans want to build a three-meter (10-foot) wall around
the site and pave a new road from the site, among other changes.
However, the site’s current zoning status does not allow for such
changes.In a Hebrew-language statement Wednesday, which he also posted
on Twitter, Kahlon said:“I am delighted, both as finance minister and as
[the official] responsible for planning in the State of Israel, to sign
today a recommendation to the [National] Council [for Planning and
Construction] to issue an exemption from an infrastructures construction
permit in order to enable the American embassy to move from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem, our eternal capital. Good luck, and [do it] as quickly as
possible!”In a follow-up tweet, Kahlon turned to English and addressed
US President Donald Trump directly.“President @realDonaldTrump, I’m
happy to inform you that we are moving forward with the preparations,
making sure that no bureaucracy slows down the process of moving the US
embassy to Jerusalem.”Kahlon’s letter instructs the council to hold an
emergency meeting to issue the exemption, which will allow the
security-related construction work to go ahead without waiting for the
council’s famously lengthy approval process.The push by the finance
minister followed a Tuesday report by Hadashot that warned that red tape
may hold up the embassy move.Senior officials including Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Ministry Director General Yuval Rotem
vowed to ensure the bureaucracy would not cause delays.Rotem reportedly
sent a letter to Kahlon earlier in the week warning that if the
construction work was not granted an immediate exemption, the planned
embassy move on May 14 would be at risk.“The process of requesting an
amendment to the existing site plan is expected to take a long time, and
will not allow completion of the work on the date set for the embassy’s
move,” wrote Rotem. “Without these works being completed, the compound
will not meet the mandatory requirements of the State Department for
[housing] the American Embassy.”The proximity to the Passover festival,
which begins on March 30, also threatened to delay the approval
process.A statement from Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday night, “The
prime minister will act decisively and quickly to ensure that the
American embassy will move at the appointed time and he will not allow
unnecessary bureaucracy to harm the process.”Since Trump’s announcement
on December 6 that the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and
planned to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city, his
administration has been sifting through options for fast-tracking the
relocation.According to reports, the US will initially retrofit a small
suite of offices in the consulate facility to accommodate Ambassador
David Friedman and key aides, while Friedman will still also maintain an
office at the current embassy in Tel Aviv, which would thenceforth be
considered a branch of the Jerusalem embassy. Jerusalem consular staff
will continue to provide consular services such as issuing passports and
visas at the building. (The US Consulate on Jerusalem’s Agron Street,
which is responsible for Palestinian areas, will continue to function as
before.) The rest of the embassy staff will remain at first in
America’s current facility in Tel Aviv. Over time, the Arnona facility
will be expanded to accommodate more embassy personnel. The expansion
could ultimately involve an adjacent property that currently houses a
home for senior citizens. It will come under US control in the next few
years under a previous arrangement, officials said.Finally, a new
purpose-built embassy will be planned and constructed.
Netanyahu:
Syrian reactor raid shows Israel won’t let enemies get nukes-Without
mentioning Iran, prime minister hails 2007 strike, praises Israeli
security forces-By AFP and TOI staff-MAR 21,18
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel will prevent
enemies from obtaining nuclear weapons after its military admitted it
carried out a 2007 air raid against a suspected Syrian nuclear
reactor.“The Israeli government, the IDF (Israeli military), and the
Mossad (intelligence agency) have prevented Syria from developing
nuclear capability, and they deserve every credit for this,” Netanyahu
said on Twitter.“Israel’s policy has been and remains consistent — to
prevent our enemies from acquiring nuclear weapons.”It was Netanyahu’s
first comments related to Israel’s admission early Wednesday that broke a
more than 10-year official silence surrounding the raid, though it had
always been widely assumed of being responsible for the strike.The
admission along with the release of newly declassified material related
to the raid comes as Israel intensifies its warnings over the presence
of its main enemy Iran in neighboring Syria.Netanyahu has also
repeatedly called for a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between world powers
and Iran to be changed or eliminated.The premier however did not mention
Iran in his brief post.Earlier Wednesday, Defense Minister Avigdor
Liberman said the raid should serve as a message for “everyone in the
Middle East.”Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz was more explicit,
saying it showed Israel would never allow nuclear weapons to be obtained
by “countries like Iran who threaten its existence.”President Reuven
Rivlin, in a statement, praised the political and defense officials who
ordered and carried out the raid.“Thank all of you who made the decision
to strike down the nascent threat of a Syrian nuclear reactor, and
those who carried out [the mission]. The people of Israel owe you a debt
of honor, a debt of life,” said Rivlin at a conference in memory of
former Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who died in 2016.Dagan was the head of
the spy agency during the 2007 operation.The September 2007 air raid
obliterated the nuclear reactor which was located in the Deir Ezzor
region of northeastern Syria.
Defense minister regrets
releasing details of attack on Syrian nuclear reactor-Liberman condemns
public spat between former military intelligence and Mossad chiefs over
who uncovered intel on reactor-By Stuart Winer-TOI-MAR 21,18
Defense
Minister Avigdor Liberman on Wednesday said he regretted approving the
publication of information on Israel’s airstrike on a Syrian nuclear
reactor in 2007, as former security officials locked horns over who was
responsible for the success of the mission.Earlier on Wednesday, Israel
officially acknowledged that it destroyed the al-Kibar nuclear reactor
in Deir Ezzor, ending a decade-long ban on Israeli publications from
reporting on the raid.Liberman, who spoke from Africa where he is on a
three-day official visit, said the public spat that broke out Wednesday
among various Israeli political and intelligence leaders “and the wave
of mutual recriminations” made him regret giving the go-ahead to the
military censor to release details of the mission.“I am sorry I gave
permission to the censor to publicize the affair,” he said.The fight for
credit was also an “injustice” to the pilots who carried out the
operation and the numerous members of the intelligence community
involved in planning the operation, Liberman added.“I urge everyone to
act responsibly. Credit isn’t everything in life,” said Liberman.In
their haste to talk about the events, information about intelligence
operations is being disclosed that could cause future harm to Israel’s
security, Liberman said.He said that when he returns to the country on
Friday, he intends to reexamine censorship policies regarding books
written by former senior officials. Ehud Olmert, the prime minister who
approved the 2007 strike, is about to publish an autobiography which
relates to the attack.Liberman, who at the time of the raid was minister
for strategic affairs, also rejected outright a claim by then-defense
minister Ehud Barak, who said in an interview with Israel Radio that the
mood in the cabinet room when the decision to bomb the reactor was
taken was “hysterical and apocalyptic.”Rather, Liberman said, there was
an air of “seriousness and responsibility.”Earlier, Tamir Pardo, who was
the Mossad’s deputy chief in 2007, said that Mossad agents were
responsible for uncovering intelligence that led to the strike on the
reactor. Pardo said the discovery of the reactor by the Mossad agents in
mid-2006 corrected a “resounding intelligence failure” — referring to
the years that elapsed before Israel knew definitively of the reactor’s
existence.Until that point, Israel had suspicions of the reactor’s
existence, but lacked definitive evidence, Pardo said during a
conference in memory of his predecessor as Mossad chief, Meir Dagan, who
died in 2016.The intelligence found by the Mossad agents was a
collection of pictures taken inside the nuclear reactor, which was
located in the Deir Ezzor region of northeastern Syria. The photographs
confirmed Israel’s suspicions that Syria was constructing the reactor to
enrich plutonium for nuclear weapons.Pardo’s comments were seen as a
snipe at the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate for failing to have
picked up on the reactor’s existence beforehand.Speaking to the
Hebrew-media Ynet website, Amos Yadlin, who was head of the IDF
intelligence unit in 2007, defended the unit’s actions at the
time.“Intelligence is a puzzle,” Yadlin said. “In order to get an
intelligence picture of the issue, you need to put together, for
example, a thousand pieces. Some come from human intelligence, some from
satellite, from listening methods. In 2006, in the IDF Military
Directorate, and in no other place, a young major came forward and said
to me… ‘there is suspicion of a nuclear program in Syria.'”Yadlin said
that after taking over as head of the military intelligence unit in
January 2006, he put an emphasis on uncovering nuclear programs in
countries not known to have atomic capabilities.“Regarding Syria, the
assumption was that the country doesn’t have a nuclear infrastructure,
there were no device, there is no capability, and that the country was
busy with other thing and that the strategic balance with Israel was
achieved with a heavy chemical weapons system,” said Yadlin.Yadlin said
the Syrians — like the North Koreans — hid the reactor building from
satellite imaging inside a large hangar that appeared to be for
agriculture.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Austin bombing suspect blows himself up as SWAT moves in-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-March 21, 2018
ROUND
ROCK, Texas — The suspect in the deadly bombings that terrorized Austin
blew himself up early Wednesday as authorities closed in on him,
bringing a grisly end to a three-week manhunt. But police warned that
more bombs could be out there.The suspect was identified as Mark Anthony
Conditt, an unemployed 24-year-old who had attended a local community
college. His motive remained a mystery, along with whether he acted
alone in the five bombings in the Texas capital and suburban San Antonio
that killed two people and wounded four others.Police zeroed in on
Conditt earlier in the week and located his vehicle at a hotel on
Interstate 35 in the suburb of Round Rock. Officers were waiting for
armoured vehicles to arrive before moving in for an arrest when his
vehicle began to drive away, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said at a
news conference.Authorities followed the vehicle, which ran into a ditch
on the side of the road, he said.When members of the SWAT team
approached, the suspect detonated an explosive device inside the
vehicle, the police chief said. The blast knocked one officer back, and a
second officer fired his weapon, Manley said.A law enforcement official
provided the dead man's name. The official, who has been briefed on the
investigation, spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of
anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the case
publicly.Investigators released few details about the Conditt, except
his age and that he was white. But online postings indicate he was home
schooled. He later attended Austin Community College from 2010 to 2012,
according to a college spokeswoman, but he did not graduate.In posts
dated from 2012, a blogger who identified himself as Mark Conditt of
Pflugerville wrote that gay marriage should be illegal, called for the
elimination of sex offender registrations and argued in favour of the
death penalty. He listed his interests as cycling, tennis and listening
to music.Of gay marriage, Conditt wrote: "Homosexuality is not natural.
Just look at the male and female bodies. They are obviously designed to
couple."Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Austin television station KXAN that
Conditt was unemployed and that he had been observed making some
purchases while wearing a disguise that included a blonde wig and
gloves.The mayor of Pflugerville, an Austin suburb not far from the site
of the first of four bombings, said the suspect lived in his city, just
two blocks from his house.Pflugerville resident Jay Schulze said he was
jogging Tuesday night when he was stopped by police and asked about the
bombings. He said police flew drones over a home for about six hours
between Tuesday evening and early Wednesday morning.He described the
home over which the drones were flying as "a weird house with a lot of
people coming and going" and a bit rundown.A neighbour who watched
Conditt grow up says he "always seemed like he was smart" and "polite."
Jeff Reeb said he has lived next to Conditt's parents for about 17 years
and described them as good neighbours . He said Conditt, who lived with
roommates a few miles away, had visited his parents regularly.Austin
was hit with four package bombings starting on March 2. A fifth parcel
bomb went off early Tuesday at a FedEx distribution centre near San
Antonio.Citing a high-ranking law enforcement official, the Austin
American-Statesman reported that authorities had identified the suspect
based largely on information, including security video, gleaned after he
sent an explosive device from an Austin-area FedEx store.Police warned
Wednesday of the possibility that more bombs had yet to be found."We
don't know where this suspect has spent his last 24 hours, and therefore
we still need to remain vigilant to ensure that no other packages or
devices have been left to the community," Manley said.Authorities
initially believed the bombings may have been hate crimes because the
victims of the earliest blasts were black, but they backed off that
theory after Hispanic and white victims from different parts of the city
were also affected.Fred Milanowski, an agent with the U.S. Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said it was "hard to say" if
the bombing suspect had acted alone."What we do know is we believe the
same person built each one of these devices," said Milanowski, the agent
in charge of the Houston division of the ATF.Austin Mayor Steve Adler
thanked law enforcement for their work in bringing down the suspect and
urged residents to continue to report anything that appeared suspicious
or out of place.Isaac Figueroa, 26, said he and his brother heard sirens
and helicopters early Wednesday in the area and drove toward them, then
cut through nearby woods on foot after they hit a police
roadblock.Figueroa said they saw a sport utility vehicle that was pinned
between vehicles and "looked like it had been rammed off the road." He
said he saw police deploy a robot to go examine the Jeep.President
Donald Trump, who had earlier said whoever was responsible for the
Austin bombings was "obviously a very sick individual or individuals,"
tweeted, "AUSTIN BOMBING SUSPECT IS DEAD. Great job by law enforcement
and all concerned!"The suspect's death followed a day of rapid-fire
developments in the case. Early Tuesday, a bomb inside a package
exploded as it passed along a conveyer belt at a FedEx shipping centre
in Schertz, northeast of San Antonio and about 60 miles (95 kilometres )
southwest of Austin.Later in the day, police sent a bomb squad to a
FedEx facility outside the Austin airport to check on a suspicious
package. Authorities later said that package contained an explosive that
was tied to the other bombings.The Schertz blast came two days after a
bombing wounded two men Sunday night in an Austin neighbourhood about 3
miles (5 kilometres ) from the FedEx store. It was triggered by a nearly
invisible tripwire.___Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Paul
J. Weber in Austin, Sadie Gurman in Washington and Tim Jacobs in Chicago
contributed to this report.Jim Vertuno, The Associated Press.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH
BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN
ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE
MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE
REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND
LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
GENESIS 6:11-13
11
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the
earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and,
behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11
And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with
child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF
THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And
he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS)
man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be
against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against
him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL
ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his
brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the
morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars
of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above
the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF
THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM
MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
At least 26
killed as IS suicide bomber targets Kabul shrine-In fifth bombing in
Afghan capital in weeks, terrorist blasts himself among students
celebrating Persian new year-By Usman SHARIFI-TOI-MAR 21,18
KABUL,
Afghanistan (AFP) — A suicide bomber on Wednesday killed at least 26
people, many of them teenagers, after detonating a device among a crowd
of people in Kabul who were celebrating the Persian new year holiday,
officials said.The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for
the deadly attack — the fifth suicide bombing in the Afghan capital in
recent weeks — via its propaganda arm Amaq, SITE Intelligence Group
said.The Taliban earlier denied involvement on Twitter.Another 18 people
were wounded in the blast, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi
said, “all of them civilians.”There were fears the figure could rise,
however, with the health ministry giving a higher toll of 29 people
killed and 52 wounded. Afghan officials often give conflicting tolls in
the wake of attacks.The bomber, who was on foot, detonated his device in
front of Kabul University and a hospital that was opposite, Rahimi
said.The blast occurred less than 200 meters from Karte Sakhi shrine
where many Afghans gather every year to mark Nawrooz, which is the
traditional Persian new year holiday — but had been unable to reach it
due to heavy security for the holiday.So he “detonated himself among
teenagers returning from there,” Kabul police chief Mohammad Daud Amin
told Tolo News.Bloodstains could be seen among scattered belongings on
the road at the site of the attack. A man who was standing meters from
where the explosion happened told Tolo that he saw “at least four bodies
in blood” on the ground.IS has attacked the same shrine once before, in
October 2016 when gunmen killed 18 people gathered to mark Ashura, an
important date for many Muslims, especially Shiites.Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani, whose government has been repeatedly lambasted for its
inability to protect its citizens, condemned the attack in a statement
as a “crime against humanity.”Taliban and Islamic State militants have
increasingly targeted the war-weary city in recent months as US and
Afghan forces ramp up air strikes and ground offensives against the
groups. Wednesday’s blast comes days after a Taliban suicide attacker
blew up a bomb-laden car in Kabul, causing multiple casualties.Some
Western and Afghan security experts believe the Haqqani Network, a
hard-line wing of the Taliban, has been behind some of the attacks in
Kabul in recent months, including those claimed by IS.The Taliban,
Afghanistan’s largest terrorist group, faces growing pressure to take up
a recent offer by President Ghani of peace talks to end the 16-year
war. So far it has given only a muted response.Little incentive for
talks-This latest suicide attack underscores the growing challenge
facing Afghan and foreign forces to protect the already heavily
militarized city.Authorities had increased security ahead of Nawrooz
festivities, which militants have previously struck with deadly
force.General John Nicholson, who leads US and NATO forces in
Afghanistan, recently told reporters that protecting Kabul was a
priority for foreign troops.“Kabul is our main effort right now, to
harden Kabul, to protect the people of Kabul and the international
community that are here because of the strategic impact that has and the
importance to the campaign,” Nicholson said.But he acknowledged that
preventing further attacks would be challenging in the sprawling city
that is poorly mapped and extremely porous.The latest attack comes as US
Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford visits
Afghanistan to assess the military campaign against insurgents — weeks
before the start of the spring fighting season, which is expected to be
particularly bloody this year.Despite calls for the Taliban to sit down
with the Afghan government, the group appears to have few reasons to
negotiate.The Taliban has been resurgent since the withdrawal of US-led
NATO combat troops at the end of 2014, taking back territory and
devastating Afghanistan’s beleaguered security forces.In October,
insurgents controlled or influenced nearly half of Afghanistan’s
districts — double the percentage in 2015, the US government’s office of
the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in
January.Over the same period, the watchdog said, the number of districts
under Afghan government control or influence fell to its lowest level
since December 2015.
Analysis-EU praises Turkey on migrant deal despite Greek misery By Nikolaj Nielsen-MAR 21,18-EUOBSERVER
BRUSSELS,
Today, 16:57-The European Commission has praised a migrant deal between
EU states and Turkey but remained silent on the plight of those caught
up in the misery of the Greek islands.Paraskevi Michou, a Greek national
who earlier this month took over the head of the commission's migration
branch, on Tuesday (20 March) listed all its achievements in Turkey
following a March 2016 deal to stem refugee flows towards Greece.She
noted over one million Syrian refugees in Turkey had received emergency
social safety nets to cover basic needs.She said another million have
had access to primary health care consultations, that 18,000 pregnant
women have have had post natal health care services, and that schools
have been built, all thanks to some €3bn in EU funding.Speaking
alongside Turkey's ambassador to the EU, Faruk Kaymakci, at an event
co-hosted by the European Policy Centre and Germany's Friedrich Ebert
Stiftung, Michou then praised Ankara for its support in helping stem the
flows."I would like first of all to thank the Turkish authorities," she
said, noting that the EU deal with Turkey would not have materialised
without their support and work."We have succeeded, we have succeeded to
substantially reduce irregular and dangerous crossings and saving
lives," she told the audience.Kaymakci echoed similar appraisals and
described the joint migrant deal "as the most positive agenda item in
terms of EU relations."-Next week in Bulgaria-The comments come ahead of
an EU-Turkey meeting next week in Bulgaria where authorities are hoping
to renew strained relations with Ankara, which is pressing to have
short-stay visas lifted on its nationals.But the praise also raises
questions on how humanitarian aid is being used as political leverage -
possibly weakening the EU institutions in its deliberations with Turkish
authorities and its hardline president, according to some human right
defenders.Such issues may feed into the discussions this Thursday among
leaders at a EU summit in Brussels.One toilet for 500 refugees in
Moria-But diplomatic speeches also stand in sharp contrast to the
thousands living in abject misery on the Greek islands where the EU has
helped launched so-called hotspots to screen and register stranded
migrants.The EU has channelled close to €1bn to the Greek authorities,
yet is unable to produce similar results like those in Turkey, posing
questions on why there is only one toilet for every 500 migrants stuck
in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.Only 34 percent
of the required number of places for the around 3,000 unaccompanied
minors in Greece are available, some two and half years after the
country received EU funds to help the children.-Island clashes-While
Michou's boss, EU migration commission Dimitris Avramopoulos, was last
week updating reporters in Brussels on its broad migration policies,
people in Moria the very same day were rioting as 200 women and children
were evacuated to a nearby warehouse."Our team treated eleven people,
among them small babies and pregnant women," said Doctors without
Borders following the clashes with the police.Michou made no mention of
the human toll on the Greek islands, most notably that women and
children live in fear of physical and sexual abuse, while others attempt
suicide.Aside from the precipitous drop in arrival numbers, her only
other comment demanded that Greece step up returns to Turkey. "I only
hope that with our support we will manage to have better streamlined
processes," she said.-Lots of money, few results-The reality on the
ground in Greece was instead described by Manolis Vournous, mayor of the
Greek island of Chios.When this website asked him why conditions remain
so dire, despite all the EU funding, he both blamed the Greek
administration system and inflated prices for everyone involved."We do
not make the policy and we do not even implement them, we are just
addressing auxiliary consequences," he said.Refugees Deeply, an
investigative media portal, last year attempted to untangle the EU
funding in Greece. It noted big aid organisations demanded large
salaries, when compared to local workers, causing resentment. This came
ontop of protracted Greek efforts to set up a managing authority to tap
the EU fund.Despite the extensive funding to Athens, Vournous said local
islanders are becoming more eurosceptic and that Europe has turned
"many centuries backwards" by turning the islands into large detention
camps."There is not enough information being given out, there is not
enough information for migrants and immigrants, what exactly is
happening, which are their options," he said.
Five kids charged in school threat probes as cops report spike in online threats-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-March 21, 2018
Five
tweens and teens have been charged with threatening schools on social
media, Ontario's provincial police said Tuesday as they reported a
"spike" in online threats following a deadly school shooting in Florida
last month.Sgt. Peter Leon said officers conducted six separate
investigations in the province's central division, starting shortly
after the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, Fla., in which 14 students and three teachers were killed."We
started to see a spike in them," Leon said of the online threats.
"Unfortunately, when events take place south of the border...we do start
to see situations present themselves here in Ontario."Five people
between the ages of 12 and 17 were charged with uttering threats. Four
of the five were students at the schools they're accused of threatening
and the other was a former student, Leon said. Police did not arrest a
sixth because the person was too young to face charges.Most of the
investigations occurred in areas overseen by the Nottawasaga,
Collingwood and Barrie detachments of the force but the problem is
pervasive and extends beyond the province, Leon said.On Monday, for
instance, police in Bathurst, N.B., announced they had arrested three
people after social media threats sent two schools into lockdown.Local
media reported similar lockdowns in Halifax on Feb. 23, in Clarenville,
N.L., on March 12 and in Coxheath, N.S., on March 15.A student on
Vancouver Island was arrested on March 7 for a social media post that
allegedly showed them firing a weapon into a small target with the
caption "practicing for school," local media reported.Aimee Morrison, a
professor of digital media at the University of Waterloo, said the
copycat effect is well documented."When a school shooting happens at a
high school, all of a sudden everyone is online looking for information
about school shootings," she said."If you are someone who's looking to
draw some kind of attention or make some sort of splash, you would also,
if you were going to engage in a prank like this, probably make the
prank about a high school shooting."Leon noted that Instagram is among
the platforms where threats have popped up, and he suspected kids might
be making such posts in an effort to gain followers.Morrison concurred.
She said that as Instagram has grown in popularity, it's increasingly
become a hub for kids and teens to make threatening posts."The hashtag
ecosystem of Instagram makes it a lot easier to go viral or be
discovered by a much broader range of people."She said the people making
posts often don't intend to follow through, but that the behaviour is
still unacceptable."They will say, often, that they are doing it for the
'lolz,' that of course they're not meant to be taken seriously, that
it's how the internet works," she said. "But what they are doing is they
are deliberately yelling 'Fire!' in a crowded theatre to get the
attention, and then saying, 'But I didn't start any fires.'"Leon said
Ontario Provincial Police are trying to get the message out that they're
arresting people for making these sorts of threats and intend to
prosecute."I can assure you posting an image of a firearm with
threatening words following it is not the right way to go about doing
things," Leon said. "We just want the public and young children and
young people to know: If they do something like this, they will be held
accountable."Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press.
2 TIMOTHY 4:3-4
3
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
ISAIAH 8:12
12
Say ye not, A confederacy,(CONSPIRACY) to all them to whom this people
shall say, A confederacy;(CONSPIRACY THEORY) neither fear ye their fear,
nor be afraid.
JEREMIAH 17:9
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
MATTHEW 24:7
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Service Canada moves away from calling Canadians Mr., Mrs., or Miss-[CBC]-YAHOONEWS-March 21, 2018
Service
Canada employees who interact with the public are being asked to stay
away from terms like Mr., Mrs., father and mother, and to use
gender-neutral terms in their place, CBC News has learned.According to
documents obtained by Radio Canada, the French-language arm of CBC,
front-line staff must now "use gender-neutral language or
gender-inclusive language.""This avoids portraying a perceived bias
toward a particular sex or gender," says a copy of speaking notes
prepared for managers and team leaders."It is important that Service
Canada, as an organization, reflects Canada's diverse population and
ensures that the views and interests of Canadians are taken into account
when we develop policies, programs, services and initiatives," says the
directive.The new guidelines also rule out using terms such as mother
and father because they are "gender specific" and instead says the
neutral term of "parent" should be used instead.The same goes for
honorifics such as Mr., Mrs., and Miss, and in both languages. Instead,
employees are being directed to address customers by their full names or
ask them what they want to be called.Social Development Minister
Jean-Yves Duclos, whose department oversees Service Canada, took to
Twitter Wednesday to clarify that agents can still call people Mr. or
Ms. if the caller prefers."We are only confirming how people want to be
addressed as a matter of respect," he said.Service Canada helps
Canadians connect with a variety of government programs including
Employment Insurance, the Canada Pension Plan, and Old Age
Security.Updating government forms-According to an official, who asked
to remain anonymous because they are not authorized to speak on the
issue, the new directive is already in place and has led to some
difficult situations for civil servants."It happens that we talk to
people and we ask, 'What is the name of parent number one? People do not
understand," said the official.Helen Kennedy, executive director of the
LGBT rights group Egale Canada, said her group is "very pleased" to
hear about the changes. She said people who don't fit into "neat boxes"
often have uncomfortable and negative experiences accessing government
programs.She also urged the government to provide staff with training
about why it's important to properly gender people."Otherwise there will
be a state of confusion," she said.Conservative MP and Treasury Board
critic Gérard Deltell said there are more important issues for the
government to concentrate on."Maybe one day this government will decide
to cancel each and every Mother's Day or a Father's Day," he said.In
addition to the changes in how staff interact with the public, the
directive indicates that Service Canada is also in the process of
amending some service forms, including the Social Insurance Number
application form.Canadians are already able to identify as gender 'X' on
their passports.The new directive also includes a warning that the
government agency employees will be observed to ensure they are
following the protocols."Going forward, the proper use of gender-neutral
language will also be added to the observations in the In-Person
Quality Monitoring Program," the directive said.Earlier this year a
same-sex couple from Nova Scotia called for Service Canada to update its
forms so men don't have to declare a "maiden name" in order to get
social insurance numbers for their children.Nick Bonnar and Graham
MacDonnell said they ran into a roadblock when the agent told them he
had to provide a maiden name to complete and process the electronic
form.Last summer the Liberal government passed a law enshrining
protections for transgender Canadians. The bill updates the Canadian
Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to include the terms "gender
identity" and "gender expression."
Ottawa 'withholding
taxpayer money' from religious groups for summer jobs grant, Winnipeg
pastor says-[CBC]-YAHOONEWS-March 21, 2018
A Winnipeg
church says the federal government is shutting out religious groups with
a new rule this year for organizations seeking summer job funding, a
day after the House of Commons voted down a motion to amend the
change."I think it was very heavy-handed. I don't really understand why
[the federal government] decided not to listen to the concerns of so
many of their constituents across the country," said Glenn Krobel, lead
pastor at Winnipeg's Centerpoint Church."Certainly, we've tried to be
careful and articulate in a way that was respectful and thoughtful, but …
they just haven't been willing to change anything."For the better part
of the past decade, Krobel says his church has applied for, and
received, funding through the Canada Summer Jobs grant to pay summer
students to work at its day camp. This year, their initial application
was rejected. He's not sure they'll get the funding on reapplication,
because of a controversial new requirement in the application.The
federal Liberals introduced a new element on the 2018 grant application,
requiring applicants to check off a box attesting they respect
"individual human rights in Canada," including reproductive and LGBT
rights.The move has been challenged by faith-groups across Canada,
including in Manitoba.Centerpoint didn't check off the attestation box
in their initial rejected application, and they've been invited to
attest and reapply.According to numbers provided by the federal
government, applications to the program have increased slightly to
42,718 from 41,961 last year. Reported rejections, however, have
skyrocketed, increasing twelve-fold to 1,561 from 126 in 2017.A
spokesperson for Labour Minister Patty Hajdu told CBC News that
applications were rejected for a variety of reasons, including
improperly filled-out forms and groups not checking the box for the
attestation.The spokesperson did not provide a specific breakdown on how
many applications were rejected based on the latter. He said all groups
rejected were asked to reapply."The number of eligible applications
received this year are on par with last year, and came from tens of
thousands of small businesses, faith-based organizations, and community
organizations across Canada," Matt Pascuzzo, Hajdu's press secretary,
wrote in an email to CBC News."We look forward to another summer of
great work experience for young Canadians."On Monday, MPs in the House
of Commons voted against a motion introduced by Ontario Conservative MP
Karen Vecchio, which would have amended the application to allow
organizations that engage in non-political, non-activist work to access
the funding regardless of whether they checked off the attestation.The
motion was voted down with 207 votes against and 93 votes in favour —
including votes from every Conservative MP. Only one MP from the
Liberals and one from the NDP voted in support of the motion, as did
Green Party MP Elizabeth May."The government is withholding taxpayer
money. This isn't simply money that they received from nowhere. It's
from every taxpayer who's voted on every area of the political
spectrum," Krobel said."The government's role is to govern for everyone,
not just the people that agree with them or that voted for them, or
that they feel may have voted for them."-Government 'inflexible':
church-The government has said the additional wording on this year's
application was a response to concerns Hajdu heard last year that
funding through the program had gone toward paying for students to
protest outside abortion clinics or create and distribute graphic
anti-abortion pamphlets, or went to groups that refused to hire LGBTQ
staff.Krobel said neither his church nor its day camp engage in any
level of activism, but leaders still felt their conscience prevented
them from signing the attestation.On Centerpoint's first application,
the church did not check the attestation box, but provided a letter
explaining its stance, following a recommendation from the Canadian
Council of Christian Charities.The council encouraged charities in
Centerpoint's position to apply, without checking the attestation box,
and provide a letter requesting accommodation under the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Human Rights Act."Our religious
beliefs and obligations, our conscience, our beliefs, thoughts, and
opinions all preclude us from making the attestation as set out in the
application and guide, including the supplementary information," the
letter reads.In response, Krobel said the church was invited to reapply,
after checking the attestation box."If it's not about our beliefs and
our values, then why, when we provide an alternate explanation to why
we're not in favour of the way you're writing your attestation but that
we certainly aren't an activist organization or anything like that, then
why wouldn't you approve it?" he said."I'm confused as to why the
government rejected them out of hand. It seems to me that they're the
ones being inflexible here, not the churches or the other organizations
that have had issues with it."He's not certain if his group has been
officially rejected, but if it is, the church will have to make up for
the lost funding from its own coffers. Last year, it received about
$8,100 through the jobs program, he said.Krobel said his church wouldn't
sign on to the attestation, even if the request lined up with its core
values."Even if these values were something that we would agree with, we
think it's beyond the purview of the government to be demanding
that."Clarification : A previous version of this story said the reasons
for rejected applications were not provided by the federal government.
In fact, a spokesperson for Labour Minister Patty Hajdu told CBC News
that applications were rejected for a variety of reasons, including
improperly filled-out forms and groups not checking the box for the
attestation.(Mar 20, 2018 3:41 PM)
Canada's privacy watchdog launches investigation into Facebook after allegations of data leak-[CBC]-YAHOONEWS-March 21, 2018
Canada's
privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into Facebook after a
series of media reports alleged that private online information
belonging to millions of Americans was obtained by a company working on
U.S. President Donald Trump's election campaign."We have received a
complaint against Facebook in relation to allegations involving
Cambridge Analytica and have therefore opened a formal investigation,"
Canada's Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien said in a statement."The
first step will be to confirm with the company whether the personal
information of Facebook users in Canada was affected."The investigation
will look at whether Facebook has complied with the Personal Information
Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada's federal
private sector privacy law.This weekend, The New York Times and the
British newspaper The Observer reported that Trump's 2016 campaign hired
Cambridge Analytica, and that the company harvested private information
from the Facebook profiles of more than 50 million users to help
conduct the digital campaign.In a blog post, Facebook said that, while
none of the information leakage was a result of a data breach, it did
appear to involve the passing of personal information from Cambridge
Analytica to a third party when that data was supposed to have been
destroyed."Several days ago, we received reports that, contrary to the
certifications we were given, not all data was deleted. We are moving
aggressively to determine the accuracy of these claims. If true, this is
another unacceptable violation of trust and the commitments they made,"
said the social media company's vice-president and deputy general
counsel Paul Grewal.Therrien said in the statement that the U.K.'s own
privacy watchdog is carrying on a similar investigation and the two
agencies would remain in touch."We will remain in contact with the U.K.
office and will work with other data protection authorities as
appropriate. Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that the privacy rights
of Canadian Facebook users are protected," he said.Therrien launched his
investigation a day after NDP MPs Charlie Angus, Matthew Dubé and Brian
Masse wrote to him asking the commissioner to look into whether the
private data of Canadians using social media is safe."Over the weekend,
the troubling news emerged that Cambridge Analytica, a firm owned by
hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer and linked to the presidential
campaign of Donald Trump, was able to access tens of millions of
Facebook users' private data without their consent for use in
psychographic modelling for political purposes," the letter said.Acting
Democratic Institutions Minister Scott Brison said that he has already
asked the Communications Security Establishment and the Canadian
Security Intelligence Service to look into whether the private data of
Canadians is safe.Brison also said that while Canada has strong privacy
laws, he would be willing to consider changes to strengthen
them.Speaking on CBC News Network's Power & Politics Tuesday, Brison
said he has spoken with Facebook already and has told the social media
giant that Canada needs answers."We need to know whether the private
information, the personal information of Canadian citizens has been
compromised," he told guest host David Common. "Facebook assured me they
would be responding to that and providing me with those answers."In his
statement, the privacy watchdog expressed a concern that Canada's
Privacy Act does not apply to political parties in Canada, noting that
he has asked Parliament to consider expanding the law."If true, the
allegations raise a major challenge for privacy rights. We have
recommended strengthening Canada's private sector law in order to help
strengthen consumer trust. I welcome the support of a Parliamentary
committee that recently reviewed PIPEDA," Therrien said.
SPEAKING
OF GOOGLE-FOR THE LAST 2 WEEKS EVERY TIME I TRY TO SIGN OUTTA MY
BLOGSITE. I CAN;T. IT TAKES ME AT LEAST 3 HITS ON LOGOUT TO LOGOUT. I DO
NOT DO FAKE NEWS AND I AM BEING PERSECUTED BY GOOGLE. AND SPEAKING OF
FAKE NEWS-CNN SAYS ITS FAKE AND A CONSPIRACY THEORY THAT CLINTON AND
OBAMA AND THE FBI AND DOJ ALL COLLUDED WITH RUSSIA TO MAKE UP A FAKE
DOSSIER TO MAKE SURE TRUMP WOULD NEVER WIN THE ELECTION. THATS HOW FAKE
CNN SO CALLED FACT NEWS ARE.
With the threat of regulation looming, Google doubles down on its fight against false news-[CBC]-YAHOONEWS-March 21, 2018
Amid
growing concern that some of the world's largest and most influential
tech companies are failing to adequately protect users from the misuse
of their platforms, Google is doubling down on its own efforts to curb
the spread of misinformation and false news.The company said on Tuesday
that it was introducing a slew of new media-focused products and
initiatives — called the Google News Initiative — and committing to a
$300-million US investment over the next three years. Those efforts
include the creation of a new academic lab to study and counter the
spread of disinformation, a new subscription revenue tool for
publishers, and funding for new media literacy programs worldwide.The
initiative is Google's latest effort to convince news publishers to see
the tech giant as a partner, and not a competitor, despite the fact that
the overwhelming majority of digital advertising revenue goes to Google
and Facebook each year.But more urgently, with lawmakers raising the
spectre of regulating Big Tech, Google wants to prove it is taking the
spread of disinformation, the manipulation of its platform, and threats
to democracy seriously — and supporting and elevating authoritative,
higher quality content plays a crucial part.In a presentation for
publishers at its New York office, Google's chief business officer
Philipp Schindler acknowledged they "haven't always gotten it right."
But he stressed the company's continuing commitment to helping
journalism thrive.Who's responsible for handling false news? Both Google
and Facebook have faced fierce questioning from lawmakers for their
respective platforms' roles in enabling malicious actors to spread false
news, disinformation, and divisive political ads in the run-up to the
2016 U.S. presidential election and beyond.This weekend, Facebook once
again drew lawmakers' ire, after it was revealed that data analytics
firm Cambridge Analytica had obtained detailed profile data harvested
from 50 million users — in most cases without their explicit consent.The
episode has led to renewed calls that tech companies be subject to
greater political oversight or control — an outcome that Facebook and
Google would desperately like to avoid.In response, Facebook has gone to
great lengths over the past year to prove the company can be a force
for social good. It has announced partnerships with fact-checking
organizations, supported news literacy initiatives, introduced new
reporting and publishing tools for journalists, and increased
transparency around political ads. Most recently, Facebook made dramatic
changes to its News Feed, prioritizing posts from friends and family
over those from news organizations and brands.Google's initiatives are
similar — in part, efforts to mollify critics who have argued that tech
companies haven't done enough to get the misuse of their platforms under
control.Yet, those efforts have mostly shifted the responsibility for
identifying and debunking false news and misinformation away from tech
companies to third party fact-checkers, newsrooms and media literacy
groups — as opposed to addressing the underlying factors that
incentivize its spread.Rather than make sweeping changes to the way
YouTube surfaces or recommends videos, for example, Google recently
announced it would display factual information from Wikipedia below
contested videos instead, and highlight verified videos in a "Top News"
shelf.To do anything more drastic would require a fundamental
reconfiguring of the way their services are designed — optimized first
and foremost to serve highly targeted content and advertising, Facebook
and Google's primary source of revenue. Neither are likely to change
that anytime soon.Grants for research and education-The Google News
Initiative builds on previous Google efforts, including a tool that uses
artificial intelligence to identify hateful or offensive comments, and a
technology called AMP that makes stories load faster on mobile
devices.As part of its announcement, Google said that its philanthropic
arm, Google.org, would distribute $10 million in grant money to
organizations worldwide working on media literacy programs. To start, $3
million will be given to a U.S. media literacy initiative aimed at
students called MediaWise, which is modelled after an initiative called
NewsWise that was piloted in Canada last autumn.Content developed by
NewsWise is estimated to reach more than one million students, starting
with Ontario classrooms in the spring, and nationwide next year ahead of
the 2019 federal election.Google is also launching an academic lab with
the Harvard University research group First Draft. The Disinfo Lab, as
it is called, would use a mix of computational tools and human expertise
to identify trending dis- and misinformation — specifically during
elections and moments of breaking news — and share those insights with
newsroom partners.It is being modelled after prior work done during the
French election.The company also said it would put some of its
investment toward hiring a new team of machine-learning engineers that
would be dedicated to building and scaling more tools that meet
publishers' needs — from the creation of compelling new story formats to
new ways of collecting revenue.One of those tools would help
journalists identify cutting edge fake audio or video clips — what
Google calls synthetic media — that some predict will soon be used in
attempts to fool the media. Training data will be made available to
researchers and journalists so they can develop their own detection
tools, too.
