Archaeologists excavating in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem have uncovered the remains of the city wall from First Temple times.
The revelation comes just days ahead Tisha B’Av – the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av – when Jews around the world mark the destruction of both the First and Second Temples as well as other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people.
The excavations, conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), revealed a section of the city wall that would have protected Jerusalem for 150-200 years from sometime in the 8th century BC until the city was breached by the Babylonians and the Temple destroyed in 586 BC.
“The city wall protected Jerusalem from a number of attacks during the reign of the kings of Judah, until the arrival of the Babylonians who managed to break through it and conquer the city,” said excavation directors, Dr. Filip Vukosavović of the Ancient Jerusalem Research Center and Dr. Joe Uziel and Ortal Chalaf on behalf of the IAA.
“The remains of the ruins can be seen in the archaeological excavations. However, not everything was destroyed, and parts of the walls, which stood and protected the city for decades and more, remain standing to this day,” they added.
The newly exposed section that was exposed was probably more than eight feet tall and some 16 feet wide. It connects two other sections that were previously excavated.
British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon uncovered a section of the wall on the northern part of the eastern slope in the 1960s and dated it to the Kingdom of Judah. About 10 years later, archaeologist Yigal Shiloh uncovered a long stretch of the wall on the southern part of the slope.
For decades, archaeologists searched for the missing link, leading some to believe that the other two monumental structures were not the remains of the wall of Jerusalem. Now, archaeologists believe this new discovery connects the earlier sections and indicates that this was indeed the eastern section of the wall around ancient Jerusalem.
The FBI is encouraging Americans to look for indications of “homegrown violent extremism” in their own families and report them.
The FBI is turning its monitoring capabilities on ordinary Americans, prompting the demand for snitches.
“Family members and peers are often best positioned to witness signs of mobilization to violence,” reads a tweet posted on Sunday from the FBI. In order to help prevent “homegrown violent extremism,” the agency advises Americans “to learn how to spot suspicious behaviors and report them to the FBI” by visiting its website.
Family members and peers are often best positioned to witness signs of mobilization to violence. Help prevent homegrown violent extremism. Visit https://t.co/bql36iSbig to learn how to spot suspicious behaviors and report them to the #FBI. #NatSecpic.twitter.com/ZwJp5h5bWD
A link provided by the FBI brings users to a PDF document titled, “Homegrown Violent Extremist Mobilization Indicators.” The document outlines a list of 46 “observable behaviors” that could help determine whether friends or family members “are preparing to engage in violent extremist activities.”
The top three indicators listed are:
“Preparing and disseminating a martyrdom video/statement, last will”
“Seeking religious or political justification for a planned violent act”
“Attempting to mobilize others to violence, especially family members and peers.”
Moreover, the document at one point seems to blur the line between a citizen’s “constitutionally protected rights” and “mobilizing to violence.”
“Law enforcement action should not be taken solely based on the exercise of constitutionally protected rights, or on the apparent or actual race, ethnicity, national origin or religion of the subject, or on any combination of these factors. Individuals are encouraged to contact law enforcement if, based on these indicators and the situational context, they suspect an individual is mobilizing to violence,” the document reads.
The Orwellian nature of the FBI document prompted Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R) to tweet that “In both Cuba & China, they also ask children to spy on their parents….”
In both Cuba & China, they also ask children to spy on their parents…. https://t.co/ss9TKNEBlz
As pointed out by RT News, the indicators and imagery used in the document suggest that its focus is to combat radical Islamic terrorism. But the FBI, along with the rest of the U.S. security apparatus, has turned its surveillance powers on specifically white, conservative America in recent months.
For example, since the unrest on Capitol Hill in January, FBI Director Christopher Wray has testified before Congress that the anti-government sentiment responsible for the trouble had been “metastasizing” in the U.S. for years. Wray insisted that “the problem of domestic terrorism … is not going away anytime soon.” And former Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi last month even called for the arrest of high-level Republicans in order to “really tackle terrorism, this time domestically.”
Moreover, Joe Biden has connected the Capitol mob to “white supremacism,” which he called “the most lethal terrorist threat to our homeland today” during his first speech to Congress in April. Against this supposed “threat,” the Department of Justice has requested new powers of prosecution, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has asserted that right-wingers and conservatives, “inspired by foreign terrorist groups” and “emboldened by the breach of the U.S. Capitol Building,” are “plotting attacks against government facilities” and “threatening violence against critical infrastructure.”
Other indicators of extremism listed on the FBI document include: encouraging or advocating violence toward individuals, military or government officials, law enforcement, or civilian targets; unusual purchase of military-style tactical equipment other than weapons (such as personal protective equipment, body armor); dehumanizing people who are not in the identity group; and researching or discussing ways to evade law enforcement and lying to law enforcement officers/obstructing investigations.
Former Acting Director of National Intelligence for the Trump administration Richard Grenell also took to Twitter to ask “Why hasn’t the @fbi made more progress finding the BLM rioters from last summer?”
This is outrageous. The @FBI has a growing credibility problem and this type of sinister snitching is clearly unhelpful.
Why hasn’t the @fbi made more progress finding the BLM rioters from last summer? Why hasn’t the @fbi leadership apologized for the Russian hoax they pushed? https://t.co/twmZp7M1wI
Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and Oxford University are teaming up with outside scientists to consider whether modifications to their Covid-19 vaccines would lower risk of serious blood clotting associated with their shots.
QUICK FACTS:
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports AstraZeneca’s shot might undergo “re-engineering…by next year” although doctors “can’t predict when a retooled vaccine might be ready.”
Modifying the vaccine would involve not only scientific hurdles but also changes to ownership rights and regulatory permissions.
Scientists need to determine “whether the culprit is one or more ingredients in the vaccines, the purification process, or something mechanical in how the vaccines work,” according to WSJ.
Sarah Gilbert—Oxford vaccinologist and co-inventor of the vaccine—has explained that AstraZeneca and Oxford scientists are researching how the vaccine in triggers the immune response that causes the clots.
Oxford and AstraZeneca are exploring potential changes to the vaccine’s “delivery mechanism,” according to Prof. Gilbert.
BACKGROUND:
According to Johnson & Johnson’s website, “the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine has not been approved or licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).” Rather, it has been “authorized” by the FDA through an “Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).”
The deployment of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine was halted temporarily in April over its link to blood clotting.
After investigating, U.S. health regulators added a warning label to the vaccine about the clotting risk.
The J&J jabs were also recently linked to increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological disorder. As were the AstraZeneca’s.
WHAT J&J IS SAYING:
The company supports “continued research and analysis as we work with medical experts and global health authorities,” said one J&J representative.
WHAT ASTRAZENECA IS SAYING:
AstraZeneca has said it is “actively working with the regulators and scientific community to understand” the blood-clotting events and how to implement “early diagnosis and intervention, and appropriate treatment.”
WHY VACCINE COMPANIES ARE CONSIDERING THE OVERHAUL:
A major consideration for “people close to the process” in modifying the vaccine is “whether doing so would make commercial sense,” according to WSJ.
Alterations to reduce blood clotting have financial implications and “could help turn the shots into moneymakers” for the manufacturers, “especially if booster vaccinations become widely adopted.”
J&J and AstraZeneca could “seek to profit from the vaccines in wealthier countries once the pandemic is over,” notes WSJ.
Antitrust regulators in France fined Google $593 million (€500 million) on Monday for failing to cut a deal with local publishers who wanted to host their news content on its platform.
QUICK FACTS:
Google failed to comply with an April 2020 decision by French regulators to negotiate a deal “in good faith” with publishers to carry snippets of their content on its Google News platform, according to Forbes.
President of the French Competition Authority Isabelle de Silva said in an official statement that the more than half a billion dollar fine “takes into account the exceptional seriousness of the breaches observed and how Google’s behavior has led to further delay of the proper application of the law…which aimed to better take into account the value of content from publishers and news agencies included on the platforms.”
The French Competition Authority has given Google two months to come up with a compensation offer for its usage of news snippets.
Failure to comply with the the two-month deadline means Google will be panalized up to $1 million (€900,000) per day it delays.
The case attempts to apply a new copyright directive by the European Union which forces internet platforms like Google and Facebook to compensate news organizations for their content, according to The New York Times.
WHAT GOOGLE’S SAYING:
Google said it was “very disappointed” with the decision and it maintains it “acted in good faith throughout the entire process.”
Forbes reports the Big Tech giant insisted it is “about to reach a global licensing agreement with the French news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP).”
Google has been striking deals with individual publishers, for example, in February announcing a three-year deal with News Corp., owner of The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal.
It pleged $1 billion to license content from news publishers last year.
BACKGROUND:
The fine adds to the list of several large fines the U.S. tech giant has been hit with in Europe in the past few years.
Publishers in Europe have accused Google of levaraging the publishers’ content effectively luring away billions of euros in advertising money.
One egregious fact is that Google’s Google News platform hosts bits of news content from publishers without paying them.
However, publishers do not have the option to remove their content from Google’s platform because they rely significantly on it to draw traffic to their websites.
Media publishers have noticed drops in advertising revenue globally, according to Variety, making Google’s wound a victory for them.
ANYTHING ELSE?
Tuesday’s fine on Google is “the second-biggest antitrust penalty a single company has faced in France,” Forbes reports. “Last year, the competition regulator hit Apple with a $1.2 billion fine after the company was found to have signed anti-competitive agreements with two distributors over the sale of non-iPhone products such as Apple Mac computers. Apple has appealed the ruling.”
“For years, entrepreneurs and inventors have come to me with products and ideas. They don’t know how to market them, and I haven’t had the time to show them,” Lindell has said in the past, according to Business Insider.
“I am going to put vetted products from great entrepreneurs on here, like you see a sampling of them here today, that are going to change this country,” he continued. “We’re finally going to be able to see these products and be able to get these great entrepreneurs, their great ideas, out to you, the public.”
BACKGROUND:
Lindell first announced the coming launch of MyStore on Steve Bannon’s “War Room: Pandemic” podcast.
A Princeton University course focuses on correcting “racist” technology like “soap dispensers” that “don’t see dark skin” and cameras that “misidentify black faces.”
QUICK FACTS:
A Princeton course is offering what it presents as solutions to fight the “racial biases built in tech” and building “actively anti-racist solutions” using technology, according to Campus Reform.
The course—titled “Can We Build Anti-Racist Technologies?”—has produced “actively anti-racist solutions” during this year’s spring 2021 session.
It teaches students to “build and test systems that embrace anti-racism as a core value.”
Examples of racist technologies range “[f]rom soap dispensers that don’t see dark skin, to facial recognition tools that misidentify black faces.”
Screenshot of the “Can We Build Anti-Racist Technologies?” course from coursicle.com taken July 13, 2021
WHAT THE ‘PRINCETON ALUMNI WEEKLY’ IS REPORTING:
The Princeton Alumni Weekly (PAW) is a Princeton University-based news magazine that “keeps Princeton alumni connected to each other and to their university,” according to its website.
One team of students led by Dora Zhao hopes to “reimagine spaces on campus to be more inclusive and celebratory of people of color” with an augmented reality (AR) tool, according toPAW. With this device, students can use smartphones to “replace” the name of campus buildings with “impactful people of color.”
PAW lists Stanhope Hall, named after Samuel Stanhope Smith, a former Princeton president who had slaves, as one example. Stanhope hall had two of its rooms renamed in 2017 after “Black Princetonians.”
Two buildings named after Woodrow Wilson will be renamed, Princeton announced in June 2020.
Zhao also told PAW that another “anti-racist” solution will come in the form of a website built to “unearth the actual racist legacy that may exist at the sites that we chose.”
“This is not a class where the professor knows all the answers. This is a class where we are going to work together on something very new,” Vertesi told PAW.
