Shocking Ukraine-related incompetence and corruption by the U.S. exposed by the GrayZone

Here's the summary from the website of the GrayZone:

In the absence of official scrutiny of Washington’s spending spree on Ukraine, The Grayzone conducted an independent audit of US funding for the country. We discovered a series of wasteful, highly unusual expenditures the Biden administration has yet to explain.

Here's an excerpt:

Though many Americans likely believe that US dollars allocated for Ukraine are spent directly on supplies for the war effort, the lead author of this report, Heather Kaiser, conducted a thorough review of Washington’s budget for the 2022 and 2023 fiscal year and discovered that is far from the case.

US taxpayers may be shocked to learn that as their families grappled with fears of Social Security’s looming insolvency, the Social Security Administration in Washington sent $4.48 million to the Kiev government in 2022 and 2023 alone. In another example of bizarre spending, USAID paid off $4.5 billion worth of Ukraine’s sovereign debt through payments made to the World Bank — all while Congress went to loggerheads over America’s ballooning national debt. (Western financial interests including BlackRock Inc. are among the largest holders of Ukrainian government bonds.)

Though it is nearly impossible to calculate the total sum of US tax dollars sent to Kiev, Kaiser was able to perform an independent audit of Washington’s proxy war in Ukraine through a careful search of open source data available on the US government’s official spending tracker.

Max Blumenthal recently discussed these issues before the United Nations.

Continue ReadingShocking Ukraine-related incompetence and corruption by the U.S. exposed by the GrayZone

FIRE Responds to Viral Video Claiming that it is Proper to Shout Down Speakers at Universities

Growing numbers of young adults, including law students at elite universities, claim that it is necessary and proper to shout down speakers who were invited to campus because their words are "violence." For these people, it is not an option to engage with these speakers civilly, to challenge them with questions and comments. It's not enough to refuse to attend a talk. They feel they are compelled to muzzle the speaker with the heckler's veto so that no one else can hear the talk.

Zach Greenberg of FIRE explains that shout-downs clash with the principle of free speech. This is true even in the absence of government involvement (e.g., at a private university). Zach did a good job explaining the king of problem previously and he also does a good job here:

Continue ReadingFIRE Responds to Viral Video Claiming that it is Proper to Shout Down Speakers at Universities

Can a David-Lawfirm Stop a Goliath-AI?

Can anyone or anything stop AI? A California law firm is trying. Check out these allegations:

"Plaintiffs P.M., K.S., B.B., S.J., N.G., C.B., S.N., J.P., S.A., L.M., D.C., C.L., C.G, R.F., N.J., and R.R., (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, bring this action against Defendants OpenAI LP, OpenAI Incorporated, OpenAI GP LLC, OpenAI Startup Fund I, LP, OpenAI Startup Fund GP I, LLC, and Microsoft Corporation (collectively, “Defendants”). Plaintiffs’ allegations are based upon personal knowledge as to themselves and their own acts, and upon information and belief as to all other matters based on the investigation conducted by and through Plaintiffs’ attorneys.

INTRODUCTION 1. On October 19, 2016, University of Cambridge Professor of Theoretical Physics Stephen Hawking predicted, “Success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. But it could also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks.” Professor Hawking described a future in which humanity would choose to either harness the huge potential benefits or succumb to the dangers of AI, emphasizing “the rise of powerful AI will be either the best or the worst thing ever to happen to humanity.”

2. The future Professor Hawking predicted has arrived in just seven short years. Using stolen and misappropriated personal information at scale, Defendants have created powerful and wildly profitable AI and released it into the world without regard for the risks. In so doing, Defendants have created an AI arms race in which Defendants and other Big Tech companies are onboarding society into a plane that over half of the surveyed AI experts believe has at least a 10% chance of crashing and killing everyone on board.3 Humanity is now faced with the two Frostian roads Professor Hawking predicted we would have to choose between: One leads to sustainability, security, and prosperity; the other leads to civilizational collapse.

3. This class action lawsuit arises from Defendants’ unlawful and harmful conduct in developing, marketing, and operating their AI products, including ChatGPT-3.5, ChatGPT-4.0,4 Dall-E, and Vall-E (the “Products”), which use stolen private information, including personally identifiable information, from hundreds of millions of internet users, including children of all ages, without their informed consent or knowledge. Furthermore, Defendants continue to unlawfully collect and feed additional personal data from millions of unsuspecting consumers worldwide, far in excess of any reasonably authorized use, in order to continue developing and training the Products.

4. Defendants’ disregard for privacy laws is matched only by their disregard for the potentially catastrophic risk to humanity. Emblematic of both the ultimate risk—and Defendants’ open disregard—is this statement from Defendant OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman: “AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there’ll be great companies.”"

Continue ReadingCan a David-Lawfirm Stop a Goliath-AI?

Looking for a Documentary?

Are you looking to view a documentary online? A DI reader recently referred me to a website called "Watch Documentaries."  Here is the About:

Watchdocumentaries.com is a leading online collection of free documentaries. Our mission is to curate informative and educational documentary films and to organise them in an accessible manner. The library is regularly updated with new titles for you to watch and enjoy.

The website includes hundreds of worthy documentaries. I could lose myself in this website for months!

Continue ReadingLooking for a Documentary?