‘Automation anxiety’ in the information age

Over the weekend, Mike Allen at Axios.com had a Special report: How the robot revolution is changing our lives:

We’re entering a new, robot-fueled tech boom that is already disrupting the world’s balance of power, and is changing how we fight wars, stay alive, drive, work, shop and do chores.

The future is now: We keep talking about what’s coming, but we’re already on the leading edge of a profound global change that will create tremendous opportunity for new power and wealth.

In this new age of automation, businesses are frantically installing machines and algorithms that eventually will make them far more efficient — and wipe out jobs and sectors at blinding speed.

  • This has touched off a tech race between the U.S. and China. And the other major economies — the U.K., France and South Korea in particular — are also spending big to own a piece of this future.

The upsides:

  • Manual, back-breaking jobs will go away (this is good only if replaced by better gigs). Far less time will be spent doing menial tasks like driving or cleaning. And your ability to get more of what you want, when you want it, will be greatly enhanced.
  • Health care will be more precise and sophisticated: Medical robots could make surgery more precise, and micro-bots will target the delivery of drugs within the body. Empathetic ones could help care for us as we age. Soft, flexible ones could aid in search and rescue operations.
  • Robots and other autonomous devices will power apps on your phone that advocate for you with doctors; and could cut through government bureaucracy.
  • The next big wow to your house will be smart appliances, especially in your kitchen: Your refrigerator will know its contents and order refills, and will communicate with your oven and dishwasher — to make us even lazier and less essential than we already are.
  • Manuela Veloso of Carnegie Mellon University told Axios that ultimately humans will be in control of how robots operate and the role they play: “These robots did not come from Mars and fall on Earth. They were invented by us and they will continue to be invented by us.”

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Catherine Ripley, Running for LD10 State House, Vows to Tackle Water, Healthcare & Environment

AZ House Candidate Catherine slammed incumbent Clodfelter for his "harmful, hurtful and horrific" display of the Confederate flag.
AZ House Candidate Catherine slammed incumbent Clodfelter for his “harmful, hurtful and horrific” display of the Confederate flag.

Arizona state House candidate Catherine Ripley vowed to bring her military and diplomatic experience to the Legislature, focusing on the state’s looming water shortage, and promoting renewable energy.

A Democrat, she is in the crowded field running for AZ House in Legislative District 10 on the north and east sides of Tucson.

She spoke at the recent Democrats of Greater Tucson meeting, and said she would call on her 26 years’ of experience as a naval officer, including tours in anti-submarine warfare during the Cold War and at Special Operations Command fighting the war on terror.

She is also a former US diplomat, serving in embassies in Madagascar, Africa, and The Hague, where she worked on national security issues after the 9-11 attack.

“The state Legislature needs more people with a wider spectrum of background and education to make a difference in Phoenix, and to speak for people who can’t speak for themselves,” she said.

Opponent flaunts Confederate flag

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The madness of King Donald and a worst case scenario

The New York Times reported over the weekend on a 20-page letter sent to the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, by President Trump’s shyster lawyers John Down and Jay Sekulow, asserting that the president cannot illegally obstruct any aspect of the investigation into Russia’s election meddling because the Constitution empowers him to, “if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon.” In short, he cannot obstruct himself. As the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, Trump could “even exercise his power to pardon if he so desired,” they argued.

Trump’s other shyster lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told the Huffington Post on Sunday that Trump Could Have Shot Comey And Still Couldn’t Be Indicted For It:

Candidate Donald Trump bragged that he could shoot someone on New York’s Fifth Avenue and not lose any support, and now President Donald Trump’s lawyer says Trump could shoot the FBI director in the Oval Office and still not be prosecuted for it.

Giuliani said impeachment was the initial remedy for a president’s illegal behavior ― even in the extreme hypothetical case of Trump having shot former FBI Director James Comey to end the Russia investigation rather than just firing him.

“If he shot James Comey, he’d be impeached the next day,” Giuliani said. “Impeach him, and then you can do whatever you want to do to him.”

This assertion of absolute executive power by Trump’s shyster lawyers is simply a restatement of French King Louis XIV’s assertion that “I am the state.” News Flash: absolute monarchy was rejected by Americans under our Constitution.

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Moms Demand Action seeks Increased Community Safety from Gun Violence

Moms Demand Action Volunteers posing as Arizona State Legislators

25 % of fatalities victims in mass shootings from 2009 to 2016 were children. (That figure does not include the gunshot injuries inflicted on children)

After the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown in 2012, Shannon Watts started a Facebook page, calling attention to the tragic events of that day and other horrible incidents where children were victims of mass shootings. Her goal was to propel community awareness to organize solutions to combat gun violence. Over time, a following developed across the country, including Arizona when mothers in the state reached out to Watts, looking for ways to get involved. Out of this initial grassroots momentum, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense formed.

Today, Moms Demand Action is united with Everytown Survivor and Mayors Against Illegal Guns under the umbrella organization Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country.

There is one state chapter in Arizona with five local groups in Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff, Prescott, and the East Valley of Maricopa County. While there is no strict membership enrollment process, the state chapter currently counts approximately 11,000 supporters, with about 5,000 participants in the Phoenix local group. These groups regularly coordinate with each other and also partner with the newly formed student-led March for our Lives movement. For example, the organization has coordinated with Arizonans for Gun Safety and the Phoenix March for lives to promote National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2, 2018. Haber, the Chapter Communications Leader, recognized the efforts of state chapter leader Jessica Manos and Phoenix local branch head Nevine Melikian for contributing to the growth and outreach projects in the organization.

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