[Breitbart] U.S. Customs and Border Protection is planning to unveil a facial recognition program that will track visa holders at U.S. airports while using the same technology on drones to patrol the southern border.
The system, called Biometric Exit, is currently being tested on a one-way flight from Atlanta to Tokyo and is expected to be rolled out to more airports this summer after being expedited by the Trump Administration, according to a report from The Verge.
The current practice used by Customs and Border Protection agents is to take photos and fingerprints of every visa holder who enters the U.S., but there is no system in place to verify that a visa holder has left before their visa expires. This is where Biometric Exit comes in.
Passengers will have their photos taken at the airport before boarding flights, that photo will cross-reference with "passport-style photos provided with the visa application." If there is no match, then that will raise flags about whether the visitor entered the United States illegally.
Oh no! They've touched it! No more "progressive" liberals will ever be able to inhabit the White House!
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin reunited with President Trump at the White House on Wednesday.
"A great night at the White House! Thank you to President Trump for the invite!" Palin wrote on Facebook and Twitter.
Ted Nugent and Kid Rock were also present in the photos posted by Palin.
Nugent wrote on Facebook that he and his wife, Shemane, dined with Trump at the White House "to make America great again."
Shemane Nugent shared a photo of her husband, Kid Rock and Palin standing in front of a portrait of Hillary Clinton.
Ouch.
The White House had not released any information about the visit as of Thursday morning.
Both Palin and Nugent campaigned for Trump during the election.
Because many Rantburgers are longtime science fiction readers, and some are writers as well. I signed up. :-)
[BadNovelist] The Wrongthink Sci-Fi Giveaway is about showcasing authors who have been marginalized by the gatekeepers of the sci-fi publishing industry for the sin of not complying with progressive social justice dogma. From Sarah Hoyt, who was accused of racism and ”internalized misogyny” for her association with the Sad Puppies campaign to reform the Hugo Awards, to Nick Cole, who lost a publishing contract for daring to write a story about an artificially intelligent computer who is troubled by abortion, these authors have faced smear campaigns, boycotts and blacklisting for failing to toe the progressive line.
Far from being discouraged by the social justice crybullies, however, these authors have thrived by continuing to focus on writing great stories that connect with readers. And now they are teaming up to help spread the word about each other’s books.
The real winner in all this is you, the avid sci-fi reader. We’re holding a huge giveaway and giving away seven kickass sci-fi titles just for entering. In addition, three winners will each receive seven MORE books.
Just for entering, you’ll get:
Brother, Frank by Michael Bunker
The Red King by Nick Cole
Darkship Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt
The Yanthus Prime Job by Robert Kroese
The Darkness by W.J. Lundy
Nethereal by Brian Niemeier
Freehold by Michael Z. Williamson
Three lucky winners will also receive:
Wick by Michael Bunker
Ctrl+Alt+Revolt by Nick Cole
Darkship Revenge by Sarah A. Hoyt
Starship Grifters by Robert Kroese
The Shadows by W.J. Lundy
Souldancer by Brian Niemeier
Better to Beg Forgiveness by Michael Z. Williamson
Books will be provided as downloadable files, in both ebook and mobi (Kindle) formats.
This giveaway was organized by the authors listed above. By entering this giveaway, you are agreeing to share your email address with the organizing authors. We will not spam you or share your email address with anyone else. You can unsubscribe from these emails at any time.
Books were graciously provided by Baen and other publishers. Baen is not affiliated with the Wrongthink Giveaway.
If you’re tired of social justice warriors taking all the fun out of sci-fi–or if you just want to read some great stories–you owe it to yourself to enter the Wrongthink Sci-Fi Giveaway!
#3
Not being a sci fi fan I have not followed the SJW campaign. I am curious as to the SJW response to the classics of Sci Fi such as Asimov, Herbert, Heinlein or Jules Verne. Have they been excoriated by modern "think" or just ignored?
#4
Sarah Hoyt's Darkship series are a fun read with some allusions to Asimov's Foundation Trilogy, and the Red King is an interesting read. Guess I'll sign up for the rest. Thanks for the heads up.
#5
I am curious as to the SJW response to the classics of Sci Fi such as Asimov, Herbert, Heinlein or Jules Verne.
Heinlein is excoriated as a woman-hater in those circles, AlanC. I don't know about the others in particular, but the pre-modern period appears to be viewed as an entirely white male province free of women and non-whites as either writers or heroes. This completely ignores reality, but reality is not a SJW strength.
#7
AlanC,
The movie Starship Troopers (1997) was made to be a parody and indictment of Heinein. Director said so himself.
Except there was a lot of high-fiving hell yeahs when I left the theater.
Then there were those like me who were like, now I have to read the book.
I think the book is awesome, and after reading it, I think I see how the director/writers were trying to do the parody and failed miserably. Starship Troopers is on my book one must read list.
#8
I am curious as to the SJW response to the classics of Sci Fi such as Asimov, Herbert, Heinlein or Jules Verne.
Who cares? I know what I like, and I know how to find new authors what I might like. Reviewers - the last reviewer who, IMO shouldn't were shot was Spider (whatever happened to him?)
#9
These are the people who would rather transgender Thor instead of being creative enough to launch a Nótt storyline. You've got the remember that these are simple artists. These are the deep thinkers at cafes. The unique snowflakes of academia. You know...morons.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
04/20/2017 14:50 Comments ||
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#11
the last reviewer who, IMO shouldn't were shot was Spider (whatever happened to him?)
Spider Robinson? Of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon and Stardance fame? He was already past his peak and into variations-on-a-theme territory, in my opinion, when he wrote a "You deserved it, America" opinion piece after 9/11 and seriously annoyed a good portion of his remaining audience. But he is a Baen author, and they don't care about their writers' politics.
[FOXNEWS] Fox News is cutting ties with Bill O’Reilly, the biggest star in its 20-year history, after mounting allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior prompted the network to end his program. "Mounting allegations": Well played, Fox News, well played... “After a thorough and careful review of the allegations,” parent company 21st Century Fox said in a statement, “the company and Bill O’Reilly have agreed that Bill O’Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel.”
Today’s decision seemed unimaginable a few short weeks ago, given O’Reilly’s long reign as the top-rated host in cable news.
I seem to recall that the Murdoch sons took over running the empire when Papa stepped back not all that long ago, and that the sons are considerably more liberal than their father...
Guilty until proven innocent. Aging white, male, conservative or something, Trump supporter. No surprises here. Those left behind at Fox should be watching their 0600.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2017 00:00 ||
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#2
If you can't believe mounting allegations from people who just might possibly be looking for a payday or their 15 minutes of fame, what's the world coming to? Cui bono, baby!
#7
Dunno about the sexual harassment. Wouldn't be surprised, though. Some of the accusations go back many, many years. IMHO, the guy always generated more heat than light on his show. His interviews had a disturbing tendency to degenerate into shouting matches so that I couldn't tell what was being said. He came across as a bully who yelled at his guests if they didn't give the answers he wanted. I couldn't watch him and as a result never watched Fox. If they can get somebody better maybe I'll try them again.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/20/2017 12:40 Comments ||
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#9
Expect more of these lawsuits, and purges by panicked Murdoch Jr's as a result. Ailes got 20Million going away, O'Reilly is getting 25Million. People will be looking to make a quick pay-day off of Fox News for the next couple years.
Also now that he's gone, the accusations against O'Reilly will disappear under the threat of counter-suit by said man. He's no longer under the auspices of the Fox News Legal Team.
Posted by: Charles ||
04/20/2017 17:40 Comments ||
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[THEGUARDIAN] Machine learning algorithms are picking up deeply ingrained race and gender prejudices concealed within the patterns of language use, scientists say.
An artificial intelligence tool that has revolutionised the ability of computers to interpret everyday language has been shown to exhibit striking gender and racial biases.
The findings raise the spectre of existing social inequalities and prejudices being reinforced in new and unpredictable ways as an increasing number of decisions affecting our everyday lives are ceded to automatons.
In the past few years, the ability of programs such as Google Translate to interpret language has improved dramatically. These gains have been thanks to new machine learning techniques and the availability of vast amounts of online text data, on which the algorithms can be trained.
However, as machines are getting closer to acquiring human-like language abilities, they are also absorbing the deeply ingrained biases concealed within the patterns of language use, the latest research reveals.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
And for those of you really interested (professionally or personally) in 'word-embedding', sentiment analysis, SVM and sparse word matrices...don't miss NLP Day Texas 2017
#4
The words “female” and “woman” were more closely associated with arts and humanities occupations and with the home, while “male” and “man” were closer to maths and engineering professions.
One could make a similar observation wandering around a college campus. How odd that our language mirrors the world we see.
Sandra Wachter, a researcher in data ethics and algorithms at the University of Oxford, said: “The world is biased,
the historical data is biased, hence it is not surprising that we receive biased results.”
tl;dr: We don't like the world and demand it conform to our prejudices about what is right and proper. (sound of tiny feet stamping)
#5
Sad to say you could not mae a movie like airplane today. Write a line like "I speak jive" and the PC brigade would string you to the lamp post.
Not only that but the folks on the internet would slice and dice you for calling it jive and not ebonics, for Ms Cleaver's cultural appropriation of their language and for the plot hole of the black fellow eating the tainted fish instead of the chicken.
#9
The biggest concern expressed on AntiFA sites are concealed weapons holders. Their local twitter site acts as immediate forms of communications. If an AntiFA member reports concealed weapons holders are present on the other side, they report it immediately via twitter to all AntiFA members. They are scared to death of concealed weapons holders as they carry out their attacks.
#13
[i] If an AntiFA member reports concealed weapons holders are present on the other side, they report it immediately via twitter to all AntiFA members. [/i]
I doubt many of them have the background or training to spot the presence of concealed carry.
[NYDailyNews] A retired Army general who worked in the Pentagon has been hit with multiple rape charges for the alleged assault of at least one minor three decades ago.
Maj. Gen. James Grazioplene faces six charges for alleged rapes that happened in 1983 and 1989, the Army announced Friday. If convicted, he faces life in prison and the loss of his pension.
The Army released no other details about the case, and it remains unclear why the charges came now.
A key point. Also, who brought this to the Army's attention, and when did they do so? Why was the NY Daily News informed at this stage of the proceedings, when the general is supposed to be presumed innocent? And was this story shopped around like Mr. Trump's imaginary peeing Russian prostitutes before a sucker was found to print it?
As a retiree, Grazioplene remains subject to the military’s law, the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He will next face an Article 32 hearing that will determine if his case will face a court martial.
Grazioplene, from Virginia, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. and entered the Army in 1972 as an armor officer.
Before retiring in 2005, he worked as the the director of force development in the Pentagon’s Joint Warfighting Capabilities Assessment.
Grazioplene’s LinkedIn page says that after leaving the military he has worked with the military contractors DynCorp International and Mission Readiness LLC. Descendants of the late Kay Summersby claim 'inappropriate command influence.' Soon to insist on charges and damage claims against General Eisenhower estate. Ike may be exhumed and returned to active duty to stand charges. More at 1100.
[SA Medical Journal] The programme which trains South Africans as doctors in Cuba will expand nearly tenfold for the next 5 years, pouring 1 000 undergraduates annually into our currently under-resourced local medical campuses from 2018 onwards. For the past 3 years, the annual output of Cuban-trained South Africans, ’polished up’ in their final year at local medical schools, came to about 8% of the 1 300 graduates fully-trained locally.
The sudden acceleration in Cuban training is a crisis intervention aimed at buying time to adjust and expand our local medical training platform so that it can increase local doctor output while continuing to better re-orientate the Cuban ’returnees’ towards South Africa’s very different disease profile.
The last three year’s crop of ’trained-in-Spanish’ graduates currently work as interns or community service officers ‐ and like all Cuban-trained local doctors, will serve 5 years post-internship in their district of recruitment. Izindaba interviewed several players at the heart of planning and executing the controversial programme.
What’s clear is that the debate over the suitability of preventative (Cuban) medical training versus curative (South Africa) training will continue, given this country’s current quadruple burden of disease and ambitious shift towards universal health coverage. Emphasis added
[Reuters] General Motors (GM.N) said on Wednesday that Venezuelan authorities had illegally seized its plant in the industrial hub of Valencia and vowed to "take all legal actions" to defend its rights.
The seizure comes amid a deepening economic crisis in leftist-led Venezuela that has already roiled many U.S. companies.
"Yesterday, GMV's (General Motors Venezolana) plant was unexpectedly taken by the public authorities, preventing normal operations. In addition, other assets of the company, such as vehicles, have been illegally taken from its facilities," the company said in a statement.
It said the seizure would cause irreparable damage to the company, its 2,678 workers, its 79 dealers and to its suppliers.
Venezuela's Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for information.
Venezuela's car industry has been in freefall, hit by a lack of raw materials stemming from complex currency controls and stagnant local production, and many plants are barely producing at all.
In early 2015, Ford Motor Co (F.N) wrote off its investment in Venezuela when it took an $800 million pre-tax writedown.
#9
I probably would have pulled out before they seized my plant, but who am I to second guess the wisdom of an American car company?
Posted by: regular joe ||
04/20/2017 14:57 Comments ||
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#10
Assuming they could pull out RegJoe. Soon as they made a move, assets would have been seized. Not like it's a big deal, I'm sure GM has been preparing for this ever since the Oil Industry was seized.
Posted by: Charles ||
04/20/2017 17:42 Comments ||
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Russia has claimed it can disable the entire US Navy in one fell swoop using powerful electronic signal jamming. That's nothing. We have technology that can jam Putin's toilet. From mainland USA!
A news report from the country ‐ where the media is essentially controlled by the state ‐ said the technology could render planes, ships and missiles useless. So why would they set themselves up to either look like fools or complicit fools when their vaunted technology doesn't work? I don't recall the Russians really being this reckless.
The newsreader says: "Today, our Russian Electronic Warfare (REW) troops can detect and neutralise any target from a ship’s system and a radar, to a satellite." I'm going to call BS on the satellite part of the claim. And by proximity, I'm calling bs on the rest.
The news report claims a single Russian war plane flew several times around American destroyer the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea several years ago, disabling its systems and leaving it helpless. I remember the incident. I remember Russia bragging about it. Does anyone know if the Russians' statements have anything to do with reality? It's a pretty ballsy statement, especially since I'm sure our military knows whether or not it's true. If not, why bother? Yet they bothered . . . .
The report also claims they are capable to creating electronic jamming domes over their bases that make them invisible on radar screens. Look for the hole and shoot it.
The propaganda piece even quotes top US General Frank Gorenc as saying: "Russian electronic weapons completely paralyse the functioning of American electronic equipment installed on missiles, aircraft and ships." Only if it's electronics that were manufactured in China. But nobody would be so dumb as to do such a thing.
The reporter adds: "You don’t need to have expensive weapons to win ‐ powerful radio-electronic jamming is enough." Suppose it's truly as simple as they claim. By that token, I'm sure an aircraft carrier should be able to do the same to the Russians, especially since the carrier has a whole lot more power available than can be packed into a missile or airplane. So it must be something else they are referring to. If it's even true.
The news comes after Donald Trump dispatched the USS Carl Vinson, powered by nuclear reactors, carrying almost 100 aircraft and accompanied by destroyers, a cruiser, and a submarine to the Korean Peninsula.
And the commander-in-chief is said to be bolstering American deployment in the region by sending the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Nimitz to the Sea of Japan next week. The MSM says since he hasn't sent them yet, that he's not serious because he isn't going to start a war on the MSM's timetable. Therefore we can't call this 'bolstering'.
Russia, along with China, is said to have sent a spy ship to the area to ward off the task force amid rising tensions in the region. So they can watch what we do. And go to school.
And Putin urged the US to show "restraint". I think Russia should go first. They can start with Pravda.
#2
I dunno man, I think warships are dependent as never before on electronics and computers, and making them crash remotely is a far better idea than hitting them with bombs. It's a huge vulnerability and to mock it is just whistling past the graveyard.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
04/20/2017 2:04 Comments ||
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#3
After the utter failure of the "impenetrable" Russian supplied SAM network in Syria two weeks ago, it seems the Russians have now caught the Iranian wonder-weapon disease to boost their morale.
#5
Okay, an ex-co-worker and friend designed and built the woodpecker radars (Duga + Chernobyl).
Everything under the sun including mind reading rays has been claimed for them.
He? He just laughed.
It was a phased array radar system where phases were controlled by lengths of carefully tuned and cut coaxial cable. We are talking extreme brute force analog here!
When I introduced him to an old PavePaws designer and the 2 talked he claimed the could sense any plane over the South Pole region from the Chernobyl location.
I asked him sense or locate.
Answer was "We could resolve his latitude but not his longitude!"
That can be a big damn circle to hit!
So the purpose? Take Russian claims with more than a grain of salt!
[RT] The list includes Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, India, Iran, Qatar, China, North Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey, and Japan.
The new rule could dramatically increase the number of tourists to the region, according to the Ministry of Far East Development.
[CNN] The US is seeing evidence that the Chinese military is preparing for a potential North Korea contingency, a US defense official told CNN Thursday.
Chinese air force land-attack, cruise-missile-capable bombers were put "on high alert" on Wednesday, the official said, adding that the US has also seen an extraordinary number of Chinese military aircraft being brought up to full readiness through intensified maintenance.
The official said that these recent steps by the Chinese are assessed as part of an effort to "reduce the time to react to a North Korea contingency."
Such a contingency could include the risk of an armed conflict breaking out as tensions on the peninsula have risen in the wake of multiple North Korean missile tests. There has also been ratcheted up rhetoric from the US and Pyongyang, with the latter's state media warning Thursday that a pre-emptive strike by North Korea would result in the US and South Korea being "completely destroyed in an instant."
Beijing has long been concerned about potential instability in North Korea should the regime in Pyongyang collapse, fearing both an influx of refugees and the potential of reunification under a South Korean government closely allied to the US.
China is also opposed to the US military's presence in South Korea, protesting the recent US and South Korea decision to begin deploying elements of the THAAD missile defense system.
Given the close economic links between North Korea and China, US military officials have said that Beijing is critical to solving the North Korean situation, with President Donald Trump recently commending Chinese President Xi Jinping for Chinese efforts to curb Pyongyang's activities.
[Twitchy] To be honest, we’re less interested in what alt-right leader Richard Spencer said Tuesday night at Auburn University than it what the police patrolling the event were up to, which was especially shocking in the wake of the latest round of rioting in Berkeley. It is unlawful in Alabama to appear in public with a mask on except at Halloween. This was done to counter the KKK. Alabama was one of the first states to pass such a law.
From video shot outside the venue, it appeared as though the police were enforcing the rules, which included a no-mask policy. That meant the members of the antifa, or anti-fascists, were made to uncover their faces as they marched past law enforcement toward the campus.
There are quite a few gems spotted in this Spring 2017 runway collection, but we most like the knight with his trash can lid and shoulder pads, as well as the protester who was not about to have her bandana removed by The Man.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/20/2017 00:00 ||
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#1
I've been wondering for some time just how these stalwart representatives of "free speech" manage to travel from place to place to attend their schedule of events, er, I mean protests. Daddies credit card maybe.
Of which the AntiFa is just another version of 'shut the man down' tyranny. Fitting and yet amusing that people who demand "self reflection" are incapable of doing it themselves.
#6
The origins of this term Redneck are Scottish and refer to supporters of the National Covenant and The Solemn League and Covenant, or "Covenanters", largely Lowland Presbyterians, many of whom would flee Scotland for Ulster (Northern Ireland) during persecutions by the British Crown. The Covenanters of 1638 and 1641 signed the documents that stated that Scotland desired the Presbyterian form of church government and would not accept the Church of England as its official state church.
Many Covenanters signed in their own blood and wore red pieces of cloth around their necks as distinctive insignia; hence the term "Red neck", (rednecks) which became slang for a Scottish dissenter*. One Scottish immigrant, interviewed by the author, remembered a Presbyterian minister, one Dr. Coulter, in Glasgow in the 1940's wearing a red clerical collar -- is this symbolic of the "rednecks"?
Since many Ulster-Scottish settlers in America (especially the South) were Presbyterian, the term was applied to them, and then, later, their Southern descendants. One of the earliest examples of its use comes from 1830, when an author noted that "red-neck" was a "name bestowed upon the Presbyterians." It makes you wonder if the originators of the ever-present "redneck" joke are aware of the term’s origins - Rednecks?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/20/2017 15:09 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[THEGUARDIAN] Machine learning algorithms are picking up deeply ingrained race and gender prejudices concealed within the patterns of language use, scientists say.
[SA Medical Journal] The programme which trains South Africans as doctors in Cuba will expand nearly tenfold for the next 5 years, pouring 1 000 undergraduates annually into our currently under-resourced local medical campuses from 2018 onwards. For the past 3 years, the annual output of Cuban-trained South Africans, ’polished up’ in their final year at local medical schools, came to about 8% of the 1 300 graduates fully-trained locally.
Russia has claimed it can disable the entire US Navy in one fell swoop using powerful electronic signal jamming.
[CNN] The US is seeing evidence that the Chinese military is preparing for a potential North Korea contingency, a US defense official told CNN Thursday.
