Free Republic

Satisfied with IAM systems after a six-team trial last season, the U.S. National Football League appears ready to go league-wide with biometric ID verification. The pilot came at the end of 3.5 years of digital IAM testing by the NFL. No sports leagues like to lose money when people get unpaid-for stadium access, but NFL owners are particularly upset by it compared to others. League owners are expected to set up a centralized facial recognition IAM service based on its Express Access authentication platform in the 2024 season. That would be for all 30 stadiums for the 32 teams, beginning...

Philadelphia will soon become the first city to allow fans entry into a stadium with facial recognition technology, according to the MLB. The new technology, MLB’s Go-Ahead Entry, will launch Monday, Aug. 21 at Citizens Bank Park, home to the Philadelphia Phillies, according to multiple media reports. The program uses a camera that recognizes any fan who has registered as they walk into the ballpark. Once identified, the tickets automatically scan. “No need to stop or even get a phone out,” MLB officials said in a statement. “Fans can now enjoy the ultimate hands-free, free-flow experience entering the ballpark with...

There is a strange moment described in the gospels regarding the resurrection of Christ (in fact, there are several such moments). When Mary Magdalen first encounters the risen Lord, we are told that she “took Him for the gardener.” But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord,...

Russia has just finished a Potemkin referendum conducted in the illegally occupied Ukrainian oblasts (provinces) of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson (see Vladimir Putin to Address Russia; Annexation of Ukraine Provinces and Mobilization Seem to Be on the Table). The “voting” began on September 23, and the question is whether those provinces wish to be annexed to Russia.There are complicating factors. All four oblasts are on the front line of a war between Putin’s invading army and the armed forces of Ukraine. Many, if not most, of the residents, are refugees. The voting began within 48 hours after the announcement....

The PLO Central Council decided on Wednesday to suspend recognition of the State of Israel until Israel recognizes the “state of Palestine” on the June 6, 1967 border with its capital in eastern Jerusalem. At the conclusion of a meeting in Ramallah, the PLO Central Council issued a statement saying that the “state of Palestine” alone has sovereignty over Palestinian land and that "the presence of the occupation, its army and settlers on Palestinian land is an illegal presence that must be stopped immediately. .....

Rose Garden 4:20 P.M. EDT  THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Please.  Those are friendly truckers.  They’re on our side.  It’s almost a celebration in a way.  Please sit down.  Please.The First Lady and I are thrilled to welcome you this afternoon for our second event recognizing extraordinary Americans who have responded to the invisible enemy — we know what the invisible enemy is; we’ve learned a lot — with exceptional bravery and commitment and love.  And we appreciate it very much.  Great job, fantastic job.In the midst of this pandemic, our nation has been united in grief and...

Blue Room4:47 P.M.  EDTTHE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  It’s a great honor to have you all.  I know your stories.  I got to read about your stories.  In some cases, I knew your story without having to read about it — from Staten Island.  So, thank you all very much.  It’s a great honor to have you.This afternoon, we’re going to recognize several individuals who have responded to the invisible enemy with courage, determination, and grace.  Terrific people.  In recent weeks, our nation has endured extraordinary hardships and loss, and we mourn with one heart for every life...

It finally happened. The feds forced an Apple iPhone X owner to unlock their device with their face. A child abuse investigation unearthed by Forbes includes the first known case in which law enforcement used Apple Face ID facial recognition technology to open a suspect's iPhone. That's by any police agency anywhere in the world, not just in America. It happened on August 10, when the FBI searched the house of 28-year-old Grant Michalski, a Columbus, Ohio, resident who would later that month be charged with receiving and possessing child pornography. With a search warrant in hand, a federal investigator...

In spite of assurances by the European Union on Monday, the London-based pan-Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat reports that Europe intends to reject Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' request to recognize the PA as a state. According to diplomatic sources, the refusal stems from fear of a worsening the situation between Israel and the PA, and also in order not to appear to respond to United States President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem...

RAMALLAH — Palestinian leaders voted on Monday to call for the suspension of recognition of Israel, as they met in response to US President Donald Trump’s acknowledgement of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The vote ordered the Palestine Liberation Organisation to suspend its recognition of the Jewish state until Israel “recognizes the state of Palestine,” cancels its annexation of East Jerusalem, and stops settlement activity, a statement said. It was unclear if the vote by the Palestinian Central Council, a high-ranking arm of the PLO, was binding. A previous vote by the council in 2015 to suspend security coordination with Israel...

NEWS DESK- The United States-led international coalition in the coming period to take military and diplomatic steps towards federal areas in northern Syria and include diplomatic and political recognition.Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper said that the international coalition is expected to carry out ten military, political and diplomatic steps towards the areas east of the Euphrates river,whicch has been liberated by Syria’s democratic forces SDF including diplomatic and political recognition of the area of 28,000 square kilometers, or three times the size of Lebanon.The newspaper quoted a Western official that the U.S Administration is in the process of adopting a new strategy for...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday kept his campaign promise to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ordered the State Department to make plans to eventually move the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv. The long-delayed, symbolic move addressed a historic injustice: Israel is the only country in the world not allowed to choose its own capital. Trump also exercised America’s sovereign right to recognize the capital of a close ally and choose the location of its own embassy. In recent years, the refusal of many nations to acknowledge Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has become an integral part of the international...

Mahmoud Al-Habbash, a senior adviser to Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, on Saturday declared that an American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital will destroy the peace process. His comments followed reports that U.S. President Donald Trump could recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as soon as Wednesday. “Any American declaration of recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – if there is one – would mean total destruction of the peace process," said Al-Habbash, who was quoted in Israeli media. “The whole world will pay a price for any change or harm to the political reality of Jerusalem,”...

A new study shows that sheep have the ability to recognize human faces from photographs on computer screens.

Terrorism is defined as “the use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims”. This definition is the same definition used to declare ISIS and other groups, as terrorist organizations. AntiFa has earned this title due to its violent actions in multiple cities and their influence in the killings of multiple police officers throughout the United States. It is time for the pentagon to be consistent in its actions – and just as they rightfully declared ISIS a terror group, they must declare AntiFa a terror group – on the grounds of principle, integrity, morality, and safety.

According to reports and the comments of two Russian officials, Moscow proposed a draft constitution to the Syrian opposition at the recent Astana talks. Alexander Lavrentyev, the head of Russian delegation at Astana said, "We transferred the draft constitution, which was prepared by Russian experts, to the Syrian armed opposition. I want to emphasise, we have done this solely for the reason that we want to accelerate this process and to give it some additional pacing, we are in no way interfering in the process of consideration and adoption of the constitution." Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov also supported...

The National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Japan claims that taking and publishing photos of subjects who are flashing the popular two-fingered 'V' or peace sign could lead to identify theft. It warns that fingerprint recognition technology is now so advanced that even casual snapshots can be used to retrieve fingerprint information. The report also says the technology is widely available and easy to use.

... We’ll get away from firearms this trip, and look at something else related to personal safety: recognition of pre-assaultive behavior cues..... Being able to recognize body language associated with imminent violent action can allow you to, in the best-case scenario, disengage and leave the scene. At worst, it can give you time to activate a plan of self-defense soon enough to effectively protect yourself and those for whose safety you are responsible. Danger signals The eyes, it is said, are the windows to the soul. Often, the way in which a hostile person looks at you can be a...

The British parliament on Monday night officially voted in favor of recognizing the “state of Palestine”. The non-binding resolution was passed by 274 in favor to 12 votes against, to “recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel” as part of a “contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution”, according to AFP. The motion, while non-binding, is heavy with symbolism but is unlikely to change government policy, the report noted. […] British Prime Minister David Cameron said prior to the vote that he would not take part in it. …

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has signed a contract with a start-up that it has been nurturing through its Labs accelerator programme in a bid to measure audience engagement with its media content. The start-up, known as CrowdEmotion, uses facial coding webcams to capture people’s emotions and see how they react to certain TV shows. The BBC Worldwide Insight team said it plans to run CrowdEmotion trials on a number of BBC TV shows, including Top Gear and Sherlock – two of the organisation's most popular and lucrative series. David Boyle, executive vice president at BBC Worldwide...