Israel Unveils 20-Qubit Quantum Computer in Major Technology Milestone

(Worthy Insights) – Israel announced the launch of its first domestically developed quantum computer on Monday, describing it as a crucial step toward advancing defense and civilian technology. The 20-qubit system was created through collaboration between Israel Aerospace Industries, the Israel Innovation Authority, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The institutions said in a joint statement that the project established a superconductor-based quantum computing infrastructure, along with tools for further development and integration. The system’s applications will be developed at Quantum QHIPU’s laboratory at the Hebrew University, which will focus on practical uses such as simulations, design, and collaborations with global research institutes and private companies.

Israel’s latest achievement follows earlier strides in quantum technology. In 2022, the Weizmann Institute of Science unveiled the country’s first quantum computer, a smaller 5-qubit model primarily used for academic research. The new system marks significant progress for Israel, which is positioning itself as a leader in emerging quantum technologies. [ Source: The Media Line (Read More…) ]

New Report Shreds the Hamas-Provided Casualty Numbers That Mainstream Media Won’t Question

(Worthy Insights) – A new report by the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) reveals what has been obvious all along: The death toll provided by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza does not add up. Despite the Palestinian casualty figures being disputed by Israel, this hasn’t stopped most mainstream media from treating them with barely deserved credibility. The HJS report analyzed a collection of 1,378 articles published by leading English-language newspapers and media outlets, specifically The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press, and the Australian ABC.

The findings are staggering:

  • 84% of the publications analyzed failed to make the critical distinction in total numbers between combatant deaths and civilian deaths.   
  • In 19% of the publications analyzed, the numbers of fatalities provided by Hamas-run institutions were used without citing any source, thereby suggesting those figures were undisputed.  
  • A mere 5% of outlets cited the casualty statistics provided by Israel; 98% cited figures by the Hamas-run MoH. The Israeli figures were questioned in half of the articles that cited them, whereas the Hamas figures were often taken at face value. 
  • Men were recorded in fatality lists as female when the same individual was reported as a male in the Palestinian Population Registry. Similarly, the ages of several fatalities have been found to be inaccurate – men in their twenties or thirties are reported as children and babies, skewing the reported number of women and children killed. 
  • There is a disproportionate number of young men of fighting age listed among the casualties. There is no differentiation between civilians and Hamas combatants. 
  • The figures reported by the Hamas-run MoH include those who died of natural causes.[ Source (Read More…) ]

Ancient temple dedicated to Zeus unearthed in Egypt

(Worthy Insights) – Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered the remains of an ancient temple built to honor Zeus-Kasios, a deity sporting the features of both Zeus and the weather-god Kasios, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Monday (April 25).

The ruins were unearthed at the Tell el-Farama archaeological site on the northwestern Sinai Peninsula. In Greco-Roman times (332 B.C. to A.D. 395), this area was known as the city and harbor of Pelusium, which sat on the far eastern mouth of the Nile River. Due to its strategic location, people used Pelusium for various functions, including as a fortress during the time of the Egyptian pharaohs; and artifacts dating to the Graeco-Roman, Byzantine, Christian and Islamic periods suggest it was in use in various ways then as well, according to a 2010 paper presented at a the Sinai International Conference for Geology and Development.

The archaeological team zeroed in on the temple after excavating around the remains of two pink granite columns lying on the ground’s surface, Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in the statement. These columns once formed the temple’s front gate, but collapsed in ancient times when a mighty earthquake rocked the city. [ Source (Read More…) ]

ABC agrees to give $15 million to Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle defamation lawsuit

(Worthy Insights) – ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million toward Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.

According to settlement documents made public Saturday, ABC will also post a note on its website expressing regret over the claim in a March 10 segment on Stephanopoulos’ “This Week” program and pay $1 million in legal fees to Trump’s lawyer.

In a statement, ABC News said: “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

Biden Commutes 1,500 Sentences in One Day, Shattering Record

(Worthy Insights) – President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 individuals and pardoned another 39, breaking the record for the largest grant of clemency in a single day, the White House announced on Thursday.

The White House said those granted clemency “have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer.” Most of the individuals who were issued commutations—which leaves a guilty verdict intact but lessens some or all punishments—had been placed in home confinement during COVID-19 under the CARES Act. The 39 pardoned individuals were convicted of nonviolent crimes, including drug offenses.

“As the President has said, the United States is a nation of second chances,” the White House said in a statement. “The President recognizes how the clemency power can advance equal justice under law and remedy harms caused by practices of the past.” [ Source: Washington Free Beacon (Read More…) ]

Days After Trump’s Victory, Biden-Harris Admin Granted Iran $10 Billion in Sanctions Relief, Congressional Notice Shows

(Worthy Insights) – The Biden-Harris administration waived sanctions on Iran three days after the November election, providing Tehran access upward of $10 billion in once-frozen funds, according to a copy of the non-public order transmitted to Congress and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined on November 8 that “it is in the national security interest of the United States” to waive mandatory economic sanctions that bar Iraq from transferring upward of $10 billion to Iran in electricity import payments.

The Biden-Harris administration has renewed the waiver repeatedly over the objections of congressional Republicans, who warned that the cash helped fuel terrorism and Iran’s war against Israel. In one case, the administration signed off on the sanctions relief one month after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. [ Source (Read More…) ]

In a War Against China, the US Runs Out of Missiles in a Matter of Weeks, House Committee Finds

(Worthy Insights) – In a war with China, the United States would expend its stock of advanced missiles and bombs in less than a month—and run out of some critical weapons in a matter of days, according to a wargames simulation conducted by the House Select Committee on China.

America’s cache of long-range antiship missiles, critical to defending Taiwan in a sea battle in the case of a Chinese invasion, will run dry within three to seven days, according to the committee’s findings. Within a month, meanwhile, the United States would run out of long-range cruise missiles. Taiwan’s own supply of mid-range antiship missiles would also be expended within a week of battle.

The findings are raising alarm bells among lawmakers, who worry America’s defense industrial base is woefully unprepared to deliver the arms needed once China makes good on its repeated threats to invade Taiwan. With China’s military rapidly growing, U.S. supply lines remain strained amid conflicts in the Middle East and other geopolitical hotspots. [ Source (Read More…) ]

Feds Use Bank Loophole To Surveil Americans’ Financial Data Without Warrants, House Judiciary Says

(Worthy Insights) – Federal law enforcement exploited the Suspicious Activity Report system to access and surveil Americans’ private financial data without warrants or probable cause, according to a report from the House Judiciary Committee.

The FBI “manipulated” the SAR filing process by pressuring banks to file reports on individuals the FBI deems “suspicious,” making financial institutions “de facto arms of law enforcement,” the interim report released Friday said. SARs do not require any legal process, granting officials “virtually unchecked access” to “confidential and highly sensitive information.”

The Republican-led oversight committee accused the FBI of circumventing the Bank Secrecy Act, which specifies that it is a bank’s responsibility to file a SAR when it identifies a “suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation.” [ Source (Read More…) ]

Bible Sales Explode, Beat Average Book Sales Growth by Whopping 2,100 Percent

(Worthy Insights) – New sales of the “Good Book,” the Bible, grew 21 times more than new book sales overall this year.

The Wall Street Journal reported, “Bible sales are up 22% in the U.S. through the end of October, compared with the same period last year, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. By contrast, total U.S. print book sales were up less than 1% in that period.”

If we compare those numbers to each other, the Bible outpaced the average of those sales by 21 times, or a staggering 2,100 percent. [ Source: Western Journal (Read More…) ]

Satanic Temple Offering Religious Class to Ohio Elementary Children

(Worthy Insights) – Not to be outdone by Christians, a group of self-described “non-theistic satanists” are offering elementary-age students at a public school in Ohio the chance to participate in a class hosted by The Satanic Temple.

The program, named “Hellion Academy of Independent Learning,” or “HAIL” for short, will be offered to children at Edgewood Elementary School in the Marysville School District, WSYX-TV reported.

Edgewood is not the first school to offer the class as part of its release time religious instruction program. An elementary school in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, is offering the HAIL program, too. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]