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Every now and then I like to draw someone on the subway. Done on my iPhone with my finger, no one realizes what I’m doing ( that I know of), and I like it that way! This little girl, (whose name was Ella, I found out when her mother scolder her at one point), was watching me. So I tried not to look at them too often—I kept details in my head as I went along, glancing only when she wasn’t looking. They were a study in earthtones, except I don’t know what the baby was wearing, if anything! With phone in hand, mom was nursing when I got on the car, not something you don’t see every day on the subway. I include a video grab at the bottom of this post.
Some news.
Like all of you, I am trying to grasp the AI doomsday message we got last week. Experts are saying AI may kill us all if we don’t slow down its development. Even Elon Musk agrees, which really makes it seem urgent.
“On Tuesday, Jacob Coxon, an Anthropic researcher, resigned and posted a series of social media posts about how the leading A.I. labs were not responsibly developing the technology and were gambling with people’s lives, setting off a furor. Other A.I. researchers have called on their leaders to pause A.I. development, while some are forming splinter groups to raise more awareness about the risks of A.I.”
Trump seems to not care, his statements about it are simply that we can’t let China win. “Whoever wins AI, wins.” Top Republicans join him in the dismissal of this threat.
“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”
He continued, “There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China … We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so. Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE!”
He says that the administration has stopped leaders of AI companies from “doing bad, or potentially bad” things. However, he didn’t point to any concrete examples for how he has curbed possible abuse or malfeasance in the industry.
All talk, all lies. It’s frightening. My hope is that serious people in our government are going ahead and drafting laws to slow down AI, ignoring Trump’s bloviating. Will the tech companies building AI be true to their word, and slow down? They seem to be asking for regulation.
Last week was Trump’s Dallas “trumpalooza” midterm convention, and it was a bust. Not well attended. In a speech on the last day, he bribed Americans: he announced that if he wins the midterms—or rather if the GOP wins the House and the Senate—he will give every American $5k. That would be trillions of dollars. And, illegal. I question whether the actual saying of this bribe is illegal?
Another judge, a Trump appointed one at that, struck down Trump’s attempt to implement a new U.S. Postal Service rule that would tighten mail-in voting requirements. From Aaron Parnas:
Judge Nichols agreed with the Democrats that the rule was an “unlawful intrusion by the federal government.” He found the new rule could make it harder for some people to vote by mail and concluded the Postal Service had exceeded its authority. The rule would have required states to submit lists of voters eligible for mail ballots and to place barcodes on ballot envelopes, empowering the Postal Service to refuse delivery to anyone not on those lists. This is now the second judge to block the rule.
In my observance, Trump seems less interested in politics now. I can imagine he will not want to continue after 2028, even if it was legal for him to do so.
Finally, this is hopeful: Democrats are training tens of thousands of citizens to monitor elections this fall. Called “New Battlefield Project” volunteers will be trained to monitor the polls and counter possible voter intimidation. They will wear blue vests. The project seeks to train volunteers for 25% of the nation’s 95,000 election day polling places, focusing on districts with competitive races. The name for the project sounds a little like they are competing with Trump’s names for things.
Thanks for being here, I hope your week is off to a good start! Happy Monday.
