EFF, Cory Doctorow [23 pages]: “Media is in crisis: newsrooms all over the world are shuttering and the very profession of journalism is under sustained ideological and physical assault. Freedom of the press is a hollow doctrine if the only news media is written or published by independently wealthy individuals who don’t need to get… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: June 2023
These ten books are considered pornography in Ron DeSantis’ Florida
Popular Information: “On March 8, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) conducted a press conference in which he purported to debunk the “book ban hoax.” During the event, DeSantis claimed that Florida schools, under his leadership, were not banning educational materials. Rather, they were simply removing “pornography” from school libraries and classrooms. DeSantis claimed the notion… Continue Reading
FTC Action Against Amazon for Enrolling Consumers in Amazon Prime Without Consent
“The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against Amazon.com, Inc. for its years-long effort to enroll consumers into its Prime program without their consent while knowingly making it difficult for consumers to cancel their subscriptions to Prime. In a complaint filed today, the FTC charges that Amazon has knowingly duped millions of consumers into unknowingly… Continue Reading
Gen-Z Is Taking Courses On How To Send An Email and What To Wear In the Office
Business Insider: “Recent graduates from Generation Z, who have primarily experienced virtual classes and remote internships during college, may need to improve their soft skills such as email writing, casual conversation, and appropriate work attire. According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, companies like KPMG, Deloitte, and PwC are offering training programs… Continue Reading
The Nation’s Report Card
2023 Long-Term Trend (LTT) Age 13 Reading and Mathematics Highlights: “The nation’s 13-year-olds showed the largest declines ever recorded on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend assessment (LTT) in mathematics, according to results released today by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The average mathematics score for 13-year-olds declined 9 points… Continue Reading
Living Planet Report
“This year’s Living Planet Report is filled with ground-breaking figures, with most of the indicators describing a tremendous decline in ecosystem health. The calculation of the Living Planet Index shows an average 69% decline in population sizes of monitored mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish since the year 1970. Just as the R-number in epidemiology… Continue Reading
New York Passes Bill to Shield Abortion Providers Sending Pills Into States With Bans
The New York Times: “The New York State Legislature gave final approval on Tuesday to legislation that provides legal protection for New York doctors to prescribe and send abortion pills to patients in states that have outlawed abortion. The measure, along with similar new laws in several other states controlled by Democrats, could significantly expand… Continue Reading
Free ABA Webinar Lost Trust: Politics and Intelligence
Four national security lawyers who have served in prominent positions within federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies will discuss whether U.S. institutions have become politicized in a webinar sponsored by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security at 4 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 23. Recent political developments have damaged the… Continue Reading
1,626 Books Were Banned in America Last Year…We Reviewed All of Them
Statecraft: What do these books have in common? By Arman Madani – “The non-profits PEN America and the American Library Association keep a catalog of banned books in the United States up to the 2021-22 academic year. In this 1 academic year alone, 1600+ books were irregularly banned from 138 school districts across America; 3.8… Continue Reading
Car thefts are rising. Is a TikTok challenge to blame?
USA Facts: “Car thefts started rising last summer in Baltimore, Cleveland, and other cities across the country. In fact, from December 2021 to December 2022, reported thefts rose 50 percent in Atlanta and El Paso, Texas. They doubled in Chicago. They tripled in Dayton, Ohio. Some cities have blamed the auto manufacturers Kia and Hyundai… Continue Reading
Humans Are Biased. Generative AI Is Even Worse
Bloomberg Technology, alt free link: “The world according to Stable Diffusion is run by White male CEOs. Women are rarely doctors, lawyers or judges. Men with dark skin commit crimes, while women with dark skin flip burgers. Stable Diffusion generates images using artificial intelligence, in response to written prompts. Like many AI models, what it… Continue Reading
How to use YouChat as an AI chatbot and search tool
ZDNET – “YouChat is part traditional search engine and part AI bot. Here’s how to use both aspects to track down the right help and information. Looking for a website that combines a regular search engine and an AI chatbot? YouChat fits that bill. Offered by You.com, YouChat provides a prompt where you can submit… Continue Reading
