"For decades, Hollywood has supplied us with plenty of reasons to be frightened about the roboticization of warfare. But now that drones and autonomous antimissile defense systems have been deployed, and many other forms of robotic weaponry are under development, the inflection point where it must be decided whether to go down this road has arrived."
The rest of the story:
War's scary future will be led by machines, but require a moral framework. Do we have the foresight or standing?: Killer robots are coming next: The next military-industrial complex will involve real-life Terminators by Wendell Wallach (Salon)
"Those who live in America, or visit it, might do best to regard [gun violence] the way one regards air pollution in China: an endemic local health hazard which, for deep-rooted cultural, social, economic and political reasons, the country is incapable of addressing. This may, however, be a bit unfair. China seems to be making progress on pollution." -- The Economist
A Flat No
A shift to Rand Paul's 14.5% flat income tax would result in a reduction in tax bills for many people, especially since he would repeal the payroll tax. But the 14.5 percent VAT that he also wants would ultimately be paid by consumers in the form of higher prices, hitting the poor and working class the hardest. Taken together, his proposals are a double whammy to progressive taxation, and another potential gift from the GOP to the rich.
Instant Runoff #2763
It looks like some legitimate candidates -- Kasich, Fiorina -- will be excluded from the Republican primary debates because, this early, their polling numbers are low, while bozos, notably Trump, will be let on the bus. It would be in the interest of both the party and the country to try to fix this. One way might be to treat the debates as a kind of instant runoff. Let all the announced candidates participate in the first debate, then drop the lowest polling one or two wannabes afterward. Continue this process until the number is down to a manageable five or six candidates. Someone like Kasich might well survive to the end if he could get a hearing at the beginning. And the party wouldn't be stuck until the end of the process with at least some of the crazies.
Bikeshare should help get people out of their cars.
Bike riding supporters might want to reserve next Tuesday for a visit to Santa Monica's City Hall. The city council will be considering how to proceed with the bikeshare program. As the Santa Monica Daily Press reports, the “bikeshare will allow riders to check out one of the system’s 500 bikes from one of 75 locations in the city and drop it off at another.”
As proposed, the pricing for the system does not seem to be designed to maximize bike use, presumably the intended goal. “For an hour of riding, a tourist or an infrequent user will pay $6....More frequent riders can pay $20 per month for 30 minutes of daily riding time or $25 per month for an hour of daily riding. A basic annual pass — which gives users 30 minutes of usage 365 days of the year — will run $119 and an extended pass, which bumps that ride time to an hour, would cost $149.” This seems like an extension of the metering model used for parking, which runs contrary to the goal of maximizing use.
Why have time limits on use at all? If we really want locals and visitors to use bikes as transportation, it would make more sense to allow people to ride as much as they want. Thus, a user could, for example, ride to work, ride to and from lunch, stop at the library, pick up some groceries, stop for dinner, go the movies, meet for a drink, and go home. System bikes would be required to be returned to stations when not being ridden, thus freeing them up for other users.
“For Santa Monica residents, the basic annual pass will cost only $79 and the extended $99. Santa Monica College students are offered the greatest discount: $47 for six months of 60 minute daily riding.The $6 an hour casual fee simply buys 60 minutes of ride time that never expires. For monthly and annual passes, however, daily minutes do not roll over.”
Why limit the discount to Santa Monica residents? There are many thousands of non-Santa Monica westsiders who will be within walking distance of stations and should be encouraged to take bikes when going to Bergamot Station, Third Street, the beach or the pier. Also, don’t we want to encourage as many of the people who live elsewhere but work in Santa Monica to use bikes? The same discount should apply to employees as to residents.
“One of the things that city officials loved about the operator they selected, CycleHop, is that their technology allows bikes to be returned to locations other than the 75 stations throughout the city. If a bike is returned to a regular bike rack — even if it’s not an official station — within the Santa Monica-area, riders will only pay an additional $2. If a rider hops on that bike, which is not connected to an official Breeze rack, and returns it to a Breeze station, she’ll get a $1 credit for bikeshare usage. If a bike is locked up outside of the Santa Monica-area, the rider will pay a $20 fee. If a bike is returned to a generic bike rack within 100 feet of a hub that is full, the rider won’t be charged $2.”
This is all well and good, but it raises another question. Technology has advanced since the first bikeshare programs were installed in other cities. One change is that there is no longer a justification for a capital-intensive investment in stations. Bikes can be fitted easily with wireless devices that keep track of bikes wherever they are and allow them to be locked and unlocked by a downloadable app that will also keep track of payments. Users would be able to see the location of the nearest available bike. Such a system might make it possible to eliminate passes altogether, replacing them with incremental micro-charges, either capped or greatly reduced by frequent use. Being a laggard should be made to work to Santa Monica’s advantage.
Parenthetically, technology is also available to make the bikes cease to function if they are removed from the city, further lessening the need for expensive stations.
Additionally, it would make sense to explore whether there is a need for a system that would allow employees to pay an extra fee to take bikes home. This might make particular sense for SMC and private school students who live in nearby cities. This would increase the number of bikes available during working (and school) hours and encourage employees (and students) to use bikes on their off days when they return to shop, eat, go to the movies, Pier concerts, the beach, etc. Even if it cost double or triple the standard annual rate (see, next paragraph), it still might be worth it to people who do not want to purchase, maintain and repair a bike of their own.
So, assuming the bike stations are here to stay, here’s a proposal:
$6/day available to anyone for an unlimited number of trips and no limit on time.
$15/month available to anyone for an unlimited number of daily trips and no limit on time. This would encourage tourists staying three days or longer to pay the fee to have use of bikes throughout their stay.
$60/annual pass available to residents and employees for an unlimited number of daily trips and no limit on time. A student discount should be considered for the annual fee.
The rest of the story: Santa Monica bikeshare still on schedule; rates proposed by David Mark Simpson (Santa Monica Daily Press).
Hillary Clnton's Bloviation Seminar
In her official presidential campaign announcement speech, Hillary Clinton said she would reform the tax code, increase public investment in research, help communities transitioning to cleaner energy sources, establish an infrastructure bank, make preschool and child care universally available, increase college affordability, expand leave time for illness and family needs, raise the minimum wage, ban discrimination against gay people, reform campaign finance, and create automatic voter registration. It is impolite to point out that every one of these initiatives is the purview of the federal legislature (or in a few cases, the states) and that the Clinton campaign is pursuing a narrow strategy of targeting only a handful of contested states, meaning that her campaign will almost certainly result in fewer Democrats in Congress? And that about the things that are the purview of the executive, such as military adventurism, the security state, international trade, we are hearing nothing?
The word for the day: "shivaree"
1. a mock serenade with kettles, pans, horns, and other noisemakers given for a newly married couple; charivari.
2. an elaborate, noisy celebration.
As, in, "When Bernie Sanders is elected, there will be a shivaree in this nation such as never heard before."
2. an elaborate, noisy celebration.
As, in, "When Bernie Sanders is elected, there will be a shivaree in this nation such as never heard before."
New Yorkers:
Freshman Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., had been publicly opposing TPP, but in an about-face over the weekend, she said she’d finally been persuaded by the president’s case. She told the AP that "too often, Washington politics muddies arguments about what’s really best for the middle class." You can reach her at https://kathleenrice.house.gov/contact/ if you'd like to change her mind.
WMDs Redux
US intelligence now has “high confidence” that 100-150 have been killed in Syria so far by chemical weapons (aka WMDs), thus crossing POTUS' "line in the sand." 93,000 have been killed by other means in the course of the civil war. Surely, it's only coincidental that this finding follows on the heels of Hezbollah's arrival on the scene last week. Welcome to our latest war of choice.
Will the Democrats choose the only candidate who can lose to Donald Trump?
As Hillary Clinton continues to slide, the Democrats will realize they've walked themselves into a corner. Will they try an end run around the primaries by attempting to hijack the convention for, say, Joe Biden? Or accept that they have a choice between Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley, the latter of whom will have to be repackaged as the lesser-of-two-goods to make him palatable to the powers that be?
From the Won't-Be-Fooled-Again Desk:
It's outrageous that America is the only developed country that doesn't provide paid family leave. If you agree join Hillary's campaign today! -- Daily KosReally? That's the criterion we're supposed to use to choose the next president?
How about out-of-control military spending? Is that outrageous? What's she going to do about that?Banks too big to fail? Pretty outrageous, you'd think. Will Goldman Sachs let her do anything about them?
Economic injustice? Outrageous. She's a big populist now; what's her plan?
Surveillance State abuses: Outrageous. If she has a solution, it's a secret.
Her actions at State that helped to create outrageous messes in Afghanistan, Honduras and Libya. What will she do about them?
The chaos in Syria and Iraq: Outrageous. Does she have a fix?
More outrageous, even, than that America is the only developed country that doesn't provide paid family leave, outrageous as that is.
Tomas van Houtryve's drone's-eye view of America reveals the changing nature of war, privacy, and government transparen
"When a drone looks at a thing, that thing has a way of looking like a target. People become silhouettes at a shooting range. Buildings look vulnerable, their roofs helplessly exposed and defenseless. Most colors disappear, and the remaining blacks, whites and greys evacuate the scene of all human meaning. What we see becomes data: body counts, damage reports, strategic value.
"In these photos, shot as part of an ongoing series, Belgian photographer Tomas van Houtryve looks at America through the eyes of a drone, a small quadcopter he bought online and equipped with a high-resolution camera. “A drone seems particularly appropriate because it’s increasingly how America views the rest of the world,” he says. “I wanted to turn things around. What do we look like from a drone’s-eye view? Suspicious? Prosperous? Free and happy?” Every age brings with it new technology for looking at the world. Van Houtryve has embraced the technology of ours."
Drone Country: See America From Above by Lev Grossman (Time)
"In these photos, shot as part of an ongoing series, Belgian photographer Tomas van Houtryve looks at America through the eyes of a drone, a small quadcopter he bought online and equipped with a high-resolution camera. “A drone seems particularly appropriate because it’s increasingly how America views the rest of the world,” he says. “I wanted to turn things around. What do we look like from a drone’s-eye view? Suspicious? Prosperous? Free and happy?” Every age brings with it new technology for looking at the world. Van Houtryve has embraced the technology of ours."
Drone Country: See America From Above by Lev Grossman (Time)
From the Government Transparency Desk: The dog that didn’t bark
"Watch the feet not the mouth." -- Gabree Family maxim
Despite paying lip service to open government, the administration of Barack Obama has been among the most secretive in our history.
In addition to prosecuting whistle-blowers in record numbers, the White House has dragged its heels over appointments to watchdog positions.
The rest of the story: Senate Panel Says Obama Administration Lacks Watchdogs by Brian Naylor (NPR)
Despite paying lip service to open government, the administration of Barack Obama has been among the most secretive in our history.
In addition to prosecuting whistle-blowers in record numbers, the White House has dragged its heels over appointments to watchdog positions.
Seven of the 33 inspector general posts in the Obama administration are being filled by temporary appointees, according to [a Senate] panel. Permanent IGs have been nominated for just three of the vacancies.Four of the agencies without nominees for permanent inspector generals -- the Department of the Interior, the Veterans Administration, the Export Import Bank and the Central Intelligence Agency -- are among those that need oversight the most.
The rest of the story: Senate Panel Says Obama Administration Lacks Watchdogs by Brian Naylor (NPR)
The Duopoly: They're not the same.
But does it matter?
Democratic Party apologists like to remind us that the two sides are not the same. And everyone to the left of Calvin "The business of America is business" Coolidge has a grand time pointing the finger at all the batty stuff Republicans think they have to say to appease their base.
But, meanwhile, the front runner on the other side is expressing perfectly reasonable but equally fanciful things about economic justice, peaceful foreign policy initiatives, and privacy protections.
This dance happens every four years.
But, at the end of the day, neither party has made a realistic effort to prevent the growth of the military-industrial complex and the rise of the security state, nor to arrest 40 years of disintegrating infrastructure and disappearing middle class.
On the contrary, they've walked hand in hand up Mt. Oligarchy.
You're standing on the street. A guy carrying a machete walks up to you and whacks off a hand and a foot. It's brutal and painful. A second guy approaches you with a chloroform-soaked rag and a scalpel. He knocks you out, carefully lowers you to the sidewalk, then slices off your other hand and foot. You don't feel a thing.
They're not the same, not by a long shot.
But, either way, you don't have hands and feet.
Democratic Party apologists like to remind us that the two sides are not the same. And everyone to the left of Calvin "The business of America is business" Coolidge has a grand time pointing the finger at all the batty stuff Republicans think they have to say to appease their base.
But, meanwhile, the front runner on the other side is expressing perfectly reasonable but equally fanciful things about economic justice, peaceful foreign policy initiatives, and privacy protections.
This dance happens every four years.
But, at the end of the day, neither party has made a realistic effort to prevent the growth of the military-industrial complex and the rise of the security state, nor to arrest 40 years of disintegrating infrastructure and disappearing middle class.
On the contrary, they've walked hand in hand up Mt. Oligarchy.
You're standing on the street. A guy carrying a machete walks up to you and whacks off a hand and a foot. It's brutal and painful. A second guy approaches you with a chloroform-soaked rag and a scalpel. He knocks you out, carefully lowers you to the sidewalk, then slices off your other hand and foot. You don't feel a thing.
They're not the same, not by a long shot.
But, either way, you don't have hands and feet.
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