As I was writing this the Supreme Court issued a decision that slaps down Trump’s scheme to take over mail-in voting to rig the midterms. The decision was 7-2, Thomas and Alito dissenting. However, I’m hearing this decision only stops the scheme for the midterms but leaves a door open to re-activate it in future elections. I haven’t had a chance to read it myself.
Earlier today there were stories that federal agents may have broken state laws in their search for voter fraud.
Investigators may have broken state laws under the direction of top Homeland Security leaders as part of an expansive effort to find noncitizens on the nation’s voter rolls, according to a federal whistle-blower’s account released on Monday.
The authorities also required agents to examine at least 40 voters each day, the account said, suggesting a rushed pace that raises questions about the thoroughness of the investigation. The effort has relied on questionable data, and has likely improperly flagged U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote, the whistle-blower said in a nearly 30-page report.
The first news headline I noticed this morning was E.P.A. Expected to Erase Limits on Climate Pollution From Power Plants in the New York Times.
The shift by the Environmental Protection Agency would complete the administration’s erasure of the most consequential climate policies of Presidents Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Barack Obama. If the move survives expected legal challenges, it could also prevent future administrations from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
Also in the Ny Times, I saw U.S. Health Officials Move Quickly to Deploy Medical A.I. Despite Concerns.
The Trump administration is accelerating efforts to make artificial intelligence an integral part of medical care in the United States, throwing the resources and support of the federal government into projects that deploy A.I. agents to diagnose and prescribe treatments to patients..
Paul Krugman has a must-read substack column headlined The MAGA Plot(s) to Destroy Humanity: On AI and climate, it’s the same story of mass destruction. Yeah, pretty much.
My impression is that Trump got it in his head that AI is going to make a lot of money. On his first day back in office he overturned a President Biden executive order that called for a whole-society effort to mitigate its dangers.
I’ve been something of an AI luddite all along and believe everybody is rushing too fast to cash in on the big bucks everyone thinks will materialize. I think it was rolled out too soon. It makes mistakes, and they don’t call it “AI slop” for nothing. No way would I accept medical treatment from an AI agent. And AI is being integrated into a lot of military operations. What could possibly go wrong?
Another must read is Judge Michael Luttig’s piece at The New Republic, The Final Battle for American Democracy. And I haven’t had a chance to read it myself, but I understand Anne Applebaum’s MAGA Is Making the World Safe for Corruption at The Atlantic is very good.
It's reasonable to be a luddite for awhile about AI and medical diagnoses, but the accuracy is only going to get better, eventually winning over peoples' trust. There is far too much money to be saved this way, for the medical industry to not go down this route. Same thing for autonomous vehicles, way too much money to be saved, by the trucking industry for example.
I think all the noxious rulings – by the EPA for example are going to be overturned when the Democrats take over. The fascists are grabbing all they can, while they can, before the adults return. This is why the big urgency for data centers, and why Trump is green lighting them. The parents are going to be coming home soon.