| Time |
Event |
| 2:51a |
Omnipresent AI cameras
Billionaire Larry Ellison called for a society of total surveillance in which
everyone is constantly monitored by
hypothetical future AI.
We could expect the AI to share the political bias and
racial/religious/ethnic prejudices of the organizations that run them.
|
| 8:51a |
Self-Driving Cars
Some of the cars that aren't driven by anyone in the car are operated by
remote drivers.
These cars are neither "autonomous" nor "self-driving".
Are they safe for the passengers and others in the vicinity? The
reply must be, "Safe from what?" If the question is about safety from
collisions, I don't know but with time we will find out.
If the question is about safety from surveillance and snooping, the
answer is clearly not.
|
| 8:51a |
|
| 8:51a |
|
| 8:51a |
Presidential debate
At the debate. the bullshitter refused to say whether he wants Ukraine
to defeat Putin. Why did someone who cares so little about truth
hesitate to make up
whatever would go over best?
The author does not know, but I have a conjecture: because Putin is
watching, and Putin demands obedience. The bullshitter expects to get
away with bullshitting Americans, but this is a matter of promoting
Putin and he knows Putin won't stand for shenanigans.
"Just stop the fighting" has been the standard line of Putinite
influencers ever since Putin launched the invasion. The reason is
simple: that would leave Putin in possession of conquered territory,
probably permanently. That would be victory for him, even if not
total victory.
It is surely no coincidence that the Republicans in Congress have been
willing to obstruct and threaten to interfere with US support for
Ukraine. They are happy to increase the military budget unless it
supports Ukraine. This has happened in parallel with their shift to
endorse the bullshitter's claim that he really won the election.
This is not proof, but it's plenty of grounds to treat the corrupter
as a suspect.
|
| 8:51a |
|
| 8:51a |
|
| 8:51a |
Haitian US immigrants
The saboteur's hate messages about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio,
inspired a
bomb threat.
If the time bomb threat is accompanied by a real bomb, I expect he
will leap for joy.
|
| 8:51a |
US swing states
* A new survey of eight vital swing states reveals that at least 239
election deniers who have signed up to Trump’s “election integrity”
conspiracy theories are actively engaged in
electoral battles this
year.*
|
| 2:51p |
Urgent: Joint resolution: Sanders on Gaza
US citizens:
call on
Congress to pass Bernie Sanders's resolution to end weapons sales to Israel.
Explain I might have proposed to adjust some details, of this, but I have confidence in Sanders and
I trust him to know such matters better than I do.
If you phone, please spread the word!
Main Switchboard: +1-202-224-3121
|
| 2:51p |
Urgent: For-profit immigrant prisons, LA
US citizens: call on US agencies to shut down
for-profit immigration
prisons.
The petition calls them "detention centers", but I think that term is desensitizing.
|
| 2:51p |
Urgent: Protesters' right to mask
US citizens: We have a right to safety, privacy, and protest.
Say
no
to mask bans.
|
| 2:51p |
|
| 8:52p |
For-profit litter-wardens' harsh fines, UK
In the UK, people get fined for leaving usable items outside the door
for passers-by to take away. Some are fined so
much that it can
ruin them.
Often the people responsible for this are the employees and the owners
of companies which have won contracts to hand out these fines. Their
business is cruelty. The owners deserve the term "vampires", but the
employees may only be desperate.
Chicago sold off the income from street parking fees to a company along with the authority to decide the policies and prices.
Motorists have already been screwed, but the contract will run
for many years so the city is screwed too.
It should be illegal to involve anyone in fining the public in such a
way as to profit more from fining more.
Side issue: I wonder what they mean by "fly tipping". Is it anything
like cow tipping? A cow that is lying down can get back on its feet,
but can a fly do that?
|
| 8:52p |
Greenpeace-proposed railway-passes, UK
Greenpeace proposes to offer unlimited rail passes for Britain at a
low flat fee per month
(though trains passing anywhere near London
will cost extra).
This scheme will cost money, but it could be money well spent on
reducing CO2 emissions and boosting the economy of places away from
London.
Crucial for civil liberties, this is also an opportunity to reduce
surveillance — or to increase it. With a fee paid per month, the pass
could serve as a ticket for anonymous travel. It would be easy to
allow the holder to ride a train without collecting per identity.
But if the system does record who rode each train, as I fear the
surveillance-mad UK will do, it would further discourage anonymous
travel, because to do that you would have to pay cash for a ticket on
a train that would otherwise have been gratis.
Britons, don't wait this out. Organize now to demand that train passes
not track their users.
The UK already uses its massive surveillance of everyone
for repression of
dissent.
But the state can always increase the surveillance, or decrease it.
We must fight to decrease surveillance, limit it, and defend anonymity.
If this train pass idea is adopted, seize this opportunity.
|