National News
A Time of Turmoil
The rise of AI is reminiscent of the plot for the 1956 film classic “Forbidden Planet.” There a race called the Krell, had created a technology that converted thought to “solidified psychic energy.” But in their brilliance, they forgot, “the monsters from the ID,” the primal emotions from the subconscious that emerged and quickly caused the destruction of the civilization. We wonder if AI holds the potential of the Krell technology.
The New York Times reported that Mark Zuckerberg’s META “was giving its A.I. technology away as open-source software — computer code that can be freely copied, modified and reused — providing outsiders with everything they needed to quickly build chatbots of their own.” The threat is that the “Monsters from the ID,” will be given free rein to distort reality. And since people take more and more of their reality from a screen, it will be harder and harder for them to distinguish true from false, “the real McCoy” from a dupe, a demagogue’s misinformation from the truth. This brings us to the 2024 election, where the future of the country is at stake. It would be best to pay close attention.
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz said of the Republican majority, “They don’t feel like we should negotiate with our hostage.” Having admitted the hostile relationship, President Biden has a hostage’s right to free himself, and the nation, by any means necessary. In this case, it’s the nuclear option of Section 4 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”
It is widely predicted what would happen in a default on the nation’s debt. All hell would break loose. Mortgages, credit cards, paychecks, and social security, would all go downhill at once. If the 14th Amendment is invoked, since it’s unprecedented, it’s unknown if the outcome will be good or bad. If the choice is between a known bad outcome and a not-as-bad outcome, then Biden will have to press the button that blows through the Gordian Knot of the Republican caucus and go with the not-as-bad solution. Or maybe they’ll fix it before Memorial Day.
Here we are with politicians threatening to cause chaos in the world economy and our pockets to get their way, added to the crazy brought on by billionaires spending hundreds of millions of dollars fighting against what is helpful for most people with their PACs, SuperPACs, and lobbyists, all pushing their agendas that leave no money on the average kitchen table. How to stop them? Pay close attention here also and then vote.