| Time |
Event |
| 2:37a |
|
| 2:37a |
New form of payday loan company
A new form
of payday loan company is the next step in developing loan
dependency.
One of the reasons to pay cash is that cash helps people avoid overspending
and avoid getting in disastrous debt.
</li> |
| 2:37a |
US blocking some Palestinian delegates
The US is punishing
the Palestinian Authority by blocking some of its
delegates to the UN General Assembly meeting,
The US, as the host of the UN General Assembly, promised to allow
other countries' representatives to attend meetings.
</li> |
| 2:37a |
UK rail ticketing system based on GPS
The UK plans to shift rail travelers into a
ticketing
system based on GPS. That would increase the surveillance of everyone's movements.
Eventually they might eliminate the possibility of buying a paper
ticket with cash.
British train tickets were simple enough before privatization.
In effect, this system is a surveillance-based solution to a problem
whose full solution is to nationalize the trains.
</li> |
| 2:37a |
An anti-vaxxer demands deletion of videos he posted several years ago
An anti-vaxxer, who has been put in charge of US vaccine regulation as
head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER),
demands the deletion of videos he posted several years ago. Maybe he finds
them embarrassing now.
A doctor documenting the past statements of the anti-science campaigners
re-posted
them on youtube. Now they are inaccessible.
I consider this a kind of censorship of important public discourse.
</li> |
| 2:37a |
Humans predisposed to attribute feelings to almost anything
Humans are predisposed to
attribute
feelings and intentions to almost anything, even things much stupider than a chatbot.
It is possible that some day we will discover how to build systems
that can understand, suffer, and have desires. Today's
bullshit-generators are far from having such capabilities, but every
time someone calls them
"artificial
intelligence" it promotes the
belief that they already do.
</li> |
| 2:37a |
Refugee from Turkey burned Qur'an
A refugee from Turkey, who is an Atheist and not ethnically Turkish,
was convicted
of harassment in the form of burning a Qur'an.
He will appeal the conviction.
The case is subtle because the judge ruled that some details of his
other statement implied an attack on Muslims rather than criticism of
Islam (burning a Qur'an is lawful to express that).
I think it is proper to make this sort of distinction, but lacking the
details, I am unable to have an opinion about where the line was
drawn in this case.
Here is some more information.
</li> |
| 2:37a |
Plan for executive order to mandate ID for voters
*[The voter suppressor] says he plans unconstitutional executive order
to mandate
ID for voters.*
It is clear this is unconstitutional, so what could be his motive
for doing it? I see some possibilities.
-
The Supreme Court might trash the constitution again
by accepting this.
-
Republican-dominated states might seize this excuse to disenfranchise
all the poor and overloaded voters that can't spare the time and money
to get an updated federal ID. If they have not done so anyway.
-
The order might whip up magats to pressure their states
to do that.
-
He might issue the order a few weeks before an election, hoping
that states won't be able to get the court case decided in time
for hold the election without demanding federal ID.
</li> |
| 2:37a |
|
| 2:37a |
Negative impacts of people turning to chatbots for help
* Therapists say they are seeing
negative
impacts of people increasingly
turning to [bullshit-generator] chatbots for help.*
Calling these things "AI" is a marketing hype campaign. Please stop
supporting the hype —
reject
that term for them!
Don't be defeatist — your refusal won't "change the world" by itself,
but it will contribute. Your objections to the use of that misleading
term can influence others.
</li> |
| 2:37a |
|
| 2:37a |
Deportation thugs cancel bail for jailed immigrants
Deportation thugs
cancel bail for jailed immigrants after judges order it.
This could result in weeks or months more time in jail, motivated by sadism.
</li> |
| 2:37a |
Arrest of man fighting Bear Gulch fire
* Lawyers say arrest of man fighting Bear Gulch fire in Oregon was
illegal
and demand immediate release from detention.*
He was in the process of obtaining a residency permit in a way that
eliminates deportation thugs' authority to arrest him.
If journalists feel they have an obligation to report what right-wing officials
say about situations like this, they ought to warn the reader that these
people make a habit of lying so be skeptical about all they say.
</li> |
| 2:37a |
|
| 2:37a |
South Australia banned some small single-use plastic packages
South Australia has
banned
some kinds of small single-use plastic
packages, aiming to reduce total plastic use.
It is a small step on a long journey, but it is a good start.
I was given one of the fish-shaped soy sauce containers this summer,
and I thought, "How egregiously wasteful — so much plastic to serve
so little soy sauce." Since I have soy sauce at home, as well as
cutlery and chopsticks, I am trying to learn to ask restaurants not to
give me any of those things with a to-go order.
</li> |