• ex-reporter ex-teacher ex-attorney, he/him • law, journalism, education, security, privacy, surveillance tech, AI fairness, bias, face recognition, Blue Dot, LFL steward • Springfield MO <NorCal <NH <MA <WI • UC Berkeley JD'89; UMass Amherst BA'83
Millions of people rely on anonymous access to lawful online speech. This week, the Senate is looking at four bills that could vastly expand age verification and make anonymous internet use much harder. www.acteff.org/campaign/16...
Tell the Senate: Don't Turn the Internet Into an ID CheckpointTell the Senate to Reject Bills That Expand Age Verificationwww.acteff.org
My (cynical) working theory is that the White House knows that its "AI Framework" is basically a much worse version than the AI framework the Biden admin released, which caused the VC bros of Silicon Valley to go all MAGA. Keeping it private avoids the comparison.
Maria CuriNEW: White House plans to keep AI framework under wraps www.axios.com/2026/08/04/w...
This is probably my most important skeet of the year, TBH. We are in DANGER
Greg M. EpsteinWhile we're focused on big-picture issues like creating AI Gods, banning social media, or regulating a many-trillion-$ industry, have we considered our whole society might lose its damn mind "saving time" emailing/texting about emotionally laden topics that should be CONVERSATIONS. Because it might.
In the wide world of dishonest polls, this one is bad. Justifying mass expansion in real-time, constant, and city-wide surveillance by saying it will just watch "hotspots" and "open-air drug markets"---people will point to this skewed nonsense to justify policy that could have wild consequences.
🧵 This Thomas Edsall column is extremely subpar. It is the case that "democratic socialist" is a slight liability, however, being endorsed by Trump or being MAGA is even more of a liability. Edsall does not mention that because it goes against his Clintonian conservative wishful thinking.
Larry GlickmanThe article is on democratic socialism and I wish he had explored a bit what the term means in practice today in our post-Cold War environment. What policies are associated with it? Are they popular? Do they mark a departure from New Deal liberal traditions? www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/o...
Well that's infuriating. If I'm listening to an audiobook, it's because I want to read that book, not some papier-mâché of that book plus whatever else was in the training data.
frumblyGoogle are stuffing AI bollocks in their Google Play Books app with "Book Insights". AI summaries - DON'T! WANT! If authors want to block this for their books, let Google know. Luckily, it hasn't turned up in my copy of "The AI Con" ... Yet? So @emilymbender.bsky.social can breathe easy for now.
New study finds people who perceived scientists' communication as more risk-focused felt more concerned about a disease outbreak, and this effect was significantly stronger than for news reporting. www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/en/about...
Study highlights the particular importance of science communication for risk perception | MedUni Viennawww.meduniwien.ac.at
What Harvard has done with its writing center defies any kind of sense until you realize that students are rarely at the center of this kind of administrative action. It's an unfortunately common attitude at these sorts of institutions. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
Harvard Administrators Don’t Care About Student LearningI know, news flash, right?www.insidehighered.com
This should be a U2 album on iPhones moment, but car companies are the last I'd expect to read the room.
852dudeThis sucks ass. When I start my car I want to be able to put my foot on the pedal and drive off. I dont want to watch an ad. A distracting ad. Right in the middle of my console. Again. This sucks ass.
Today, CDT, EFF, EPIC, & Upturn submitted comments to the General Services Administration (GSA) in response to the request for comment regarding their updated draft AI Terms and Conditions for federal solicitations and contracts.
CDT, EFF, EPIC, and Upturn Submit Comments on GSA’s Updated Draft AI Terms and Conditions for Federal ContractsToday, the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and Upturn submitted comments to the General Services Administration (GSA) in response to the request for comment regarding their updated draft AI Terms and Conditions for federal solicitations and contracts. In March, GSA released an initial draft […]cdt.org
Not only did they absolutely beg for this, they made it so that “merit” was synonymous with being white so now you’re stuck with precisely the kind of moron who believes that. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Kevin Hassett needs to do an interview a day until November.
Aaron RuparHassett: "Data centers are very good for towns bc they create so many jobs & bring people in with high incomes that can buy houses & stuff like that. So if you take a sleepy town that hasn't seen much in the last 30 years & put a data center there, there are gonna be a bunch of happy residents."
if you want to see normally sclerotic do-nothing local governments suddenly snap into action, do some quietly beneficial tactical urbanism type thing like this and watch how quickly they race to remove it
wishdaThe DSA in Wilmingotn, N.C. has created a "crisis" by putting benches at city bus stops, after literal decades of the city promising and failing to do so.
CDT’s Quinn Anex-Ries: “What we’re seeing here is a series of relatively unprecedented actions being taken by the current admin in an effort to impose their political ideology, viewpoints &objectives on AI developers through a range of policy-level levers at their disposal.”
Tech Companies Are Rejecting Trump’s Proposed ‘Woke’ AI BanThe government’s proposed requirement for contractors’ AI systems to be “unbiased” are technically “infeasible,” businesses say.www.notus.org
The fact that it’s poisoning Black people is not seen as a negative to these folks.
SpaceX won’t remove all of xAI’s unpermitted turbines for another year | TechCrunchSpaceX is building a new power plant for xAI's Colossus data centers, but it won't remove existing, unpermitted turbines for many more months.techcrunch.com
We've gotta make the Monorail Simpsons episode required viewing for every city councilor in the country. Every single thing he says here is a lie. A Potemkin Village Imaginarium.
Aaron RuparHassett: "Data centers are very good for towns bc they create so many jobs & bring people in with high incomes that can buy houses & stuff like that. So if you take a sleepy town that hasn't seen much in the last 30 years & put a data center there, there are gonna be a bunch of happy residents."
Now I need a book or article following this excellent approach, but from the perspective of an atheist. "Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor" (2024) by Caleb Campbell. amzn.to/4fCKKVx @revcalebcampbell.bsky.social
Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor: Campbell, Caleb: 9781514008515: Amazon.com: BooksDisarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor [Campbell, Caleb] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighboramzn.to
there are a lot of philosophical concepts that get egregiously misused out of the seminar room (and in the seminar room, to be fair). but in terms of sheer pernicious misuse "social construct" has gotta be top 5 somewhere and it's not number 5
Scott BryanChannel 4 has announced documentary “The Great ADHD Myth?” It “seeks to determine whether ADHD is a genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct.”
If what I’ve been reading lately is indicative, “chain of custody” is going to be the anti-AI phrase of resistance for the next year or so. I think it’s good, or haven’t been convinced of why it’s bad. Lends legal credibility to a range of related forms of objection as to why AI cannot be trusted.
Poll Finds One-Third of Democrats Identify as Democratic SocialistsWASHINGTON, D.C. — About one-third of Democrats and Democratic-leaning Americans now identify as democratic socialists, according to a new CNN poll that reflects the movement’s expanding influence within the party.
The CNN/SSRS survey found democratic socialists are generally younger than other Democratic-aligned voters, with 59% under age 45. They were also somewhat more likely to be white, representing 57% of the group compared with 49% among Democrats who rejected the label.
Both factions remain committed to electing Democrats. Ninety-nine percent of self-identified democratic socialists said they would support Democratic congressional candidates, compared with 94% of other Democratic-aligned respondents.
The groups differed more sharply over foreign policy. Forty-eight percent of democratic socialists favored reducing U.S. military assistance to Israel, compared with 20% of other Democrats.
The label also appears less politically toxic inside the party than Republicans frequently portray it. Among Democratic-aligned respondents who did not identify as socialists, 64% said they would be comfortable with a democratic socialist nominee, while 36% expressed discomfort.
Democratic socialists have recently won several high-profile primaries, building on Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York City mayor. However, separate polling indicates many Americans remain uncertain about what democratic socialism means, leaving candidates vulnerable to misleading comparisons with authoritarian communism.
Sources:
* The Hill – MBFC Rating
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