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Category: Politics

How the American revolt against Flock cameras mirrors the Boston Tea Party of 1773

How the American revolt against Flock cameras mirrors the Boston Tea Party of 1773

A license plate recognition camera is seen in Boulder. Colo., on March 5, 2026. Matthew Jonas/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images By G. Patrick O’Brien, University of Tampa A grassroots revolt against automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, has gained momentum across the United States. ALPRs are AI-powered cameras that capture images of all passing vehicles. The camera systems turn details into datapoints searchable by anyone with access to the information. Today, there are more than 130,000 ALPRs on…

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AI’s flimsy house of cards puts markets and U.S. economy at alarming risk

AI’s flimsy house of cards puts markets and U.S. economy at alarming risk

Bloomberg reports: The heads of America’s leading AI development labs have started a national conversation about tapping the brakes on a technology that’s offering so much promise for society, while at the same time showing it can do a frightening amount of harm. It’s a debate that needs to be had, and a real solution invariably will be hard to come by. But considering the trillions of dollars of investment gains and market value that have been built on the…

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Trump and sons invest heavily in AI economy as he resists calls for slowdown

Trump and sons invest heavily in AI economy as he resists calls for slowdown

The Washington Post reports: President Donald Trump’s sprawling family business empire has become increasingly intertwined with the boom in artificial intelligence, at the same time that he has resisted calls to slow the development of the technology, a Washington Post analysis of his financial disclosures and corporate announcements found. Several factors play into Trump’s push for rapid AI development: He has surrounded himself with technology executives and investors who have advocated for the government to accelerate AI development, including venture…

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European spy chiefs warn Moscow is planning more decisive action against NATO

European spy chiefs warn Moscow is planning more decisive action against NATO

The Guardian reports: European intelligence officials have raised the possibility of an imminent Russian test of Nato, with one saying a potential attack could come in a matter of “months, not years”. The warnings come after Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, told parliament that intelligence assessments suggested Russia might launch an attack with drones or missiles on Nato territory in the coming months, as part of efforts to prove that “article 5 is more theoretical than practical”. The French president,…

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U.S. and Denmark reach security deal after Trump’s threats to take over Greenland

U.S. and Denmark reach security deal after Trump’s threats to take over Greenland

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump announced on Friday that the US had struck an Arctic security pact with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland, after threatening for much of his second term to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory by force. The full scope of the deal Trump described as “very important, historic, and special” was not immediately clear. But soon after his announcement in a post on Truth Social, the leaders of Denmark and Greenland issued statements indicating the deal…

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Trump’s widening attacks on the First Amendment

Trump’s widening attacks on the First Amendment

Adam Serwer writes: On the first day of his second term in the White House, President Trump signed an executive order on free speech stating that his administration would ensure that “no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” He has gone on to violate that order many times. Trump announced today on his social-media network, Truth Social, that he is banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White…

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Stephen Miller leads sweeping push to accelerate removal of migrant children

Stephen Miller leads sweeping push to accelerate removal of migrant children

The Guardian reports: Stephen Miller is leading an unprecedented and intense White House drive across a host of government departments to accelerate the removal of undocumented immigrant children from the US, using tactics that critics say are cruel and racist and, in some cases, flout federal law, the Guardian has learned. As deputy chief of staff at the White House, focused on immigration policy, Miller is seen as the mastermind and enforcer behind Donald Trump’s hardline anti-immigration agenda. He is…

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Alligator Alcatraz’s tiny cages were probably even tinier

Alligator Alcatraz’s tiny cages were probably even tinier

The American Prospect reports: The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Homeland Security released a scathing report last Friday about the shuttered Florida concentration camp built on an abandoned airstrip known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” concluding the camp failed to meet numerous health and safety standards, and that the use of “small metal enclosures” was “unprecedented” and posed “significant risks to detainee health and safety.” The report included photos, taken by OIG inspectors during an “unannounced” visit in…

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Jewish leaders in Michigan urge support for El-Sayed’s Senate bid and for democracy

Jewish leaders in Michigan urge support for El-Sayed’s Senate bid and for democracy

The New York Times reports: A group of Jewish voters in Michigan is urging support for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the state’s Democratic nominee for Senate, in an open letter that acknowledges concerns among some Jewish voters about his candidacy and his criticism of Israel. The letter, signed by more than 500 people who identify as Jewish leaders or voters in the state, says that the election of Dr. El-Sayed, a staunch critic of Israel, is “clearly the better choice for…

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How AI ‘almost started a war’ between the U.S. and China with ‘entirely false’ intelligence

How AI ‘almost started a war’ between the U.S. and China with ‘entirely false’ intelligence

CNN reports: The intelligence report, circulated across the US military this spring in the midst of the war with Iran, immediately set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program. The US military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel, according to four sources familiar with the episode. According to two of the sources, armed members of the US military were preparing to board the ship. Military planes…

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Trump is considering more data centers on public lands than was previously known

Trump is considering more data centers on public lands than was previously known

The Washington Sun reports: The Trump administration is considering proposals for at least 12 data centers and data center-related infrastructure projects to be built on federal public lands — far more than previously known. The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing data center-related proposals covering at least 17,600 acres of public land across six states — Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming, according to public records of right-of-way proposals reviewed by The Washington Sun. Many of the projects under…

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Trump’s ambition is always personal but the damage is global

Trump’s ambition is always personal but the damage is global

Philip Kennicott writes: To borrow a Greek term from classical theater, the Kennedy Center fiasco has brought us to what might be called a Trumpian moment of anagnorisis, the unmasking and full discovery of the motivations and inner workings of a character. Even Trump himself seems to have realized how childish he looks because in comments Wednesday that again threatened demolition, he seemed to suggest renaming the center for his administration, not himself personally: “I think that the Trump administration…

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China presses Iran to help rein in Houthis after Saudi appeal, sources say

China presses Iran to help rein in Houthis after Saudi appeal, sources say

Reuters reports: China has privately asked Tehran to help rein in Yemen’s Houthis after an appeal to Beijing by Saudi Arabia following the Iran-backed group’s military blitz in the past week, according to three Iranian sources familiar with ​the matter. Riyadh turned to China for help after the Houthis made rapid advances along the Red Sea coast and around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, moves that have left Saudi oil exports and ‌shipping more exposed, the sources said. China has publicly…

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Why Latin America is key to Israel’s diplomatic impunity

Why Latin America is key to Israel’s diplomatic impunity

+972 reports: On Aug. 10, just three days after taking office, Colombia’s new government under President Abelardo de la Espriella formally recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. The announcement was all the more conspicuous coming on the same day that Colombia confronted one the largest earthquakes in its recent history, which killed more than 300 people and left extensive damage across the country. Even before taking office, de la Espriella’s incoming administration had agreed with Israel to restore…

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Massive security vulnerability: Trump operatives are prepping an AI takeover of government services

Massive security vulnerability: Trump operatives are prepping an AI takeover of government services

The Washington Sun reports: The aim is for a chatbot feature to be the main way Americans use the website [dubbed America.gov], which the administration intends to be a catch-all digital destination meant to make the user experience of Americans interacting with the government online more cohesive. The White House declined to comment. The State Department and Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment. Former DOGE official and Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia’s White House unit, called the National…

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Trump’s Minnesota surge created ‘a grave threat to the rule of law,’ says federal court’s chief judge

Trump’s Minnesota surge created ‘a grave threat to the rule of law,’ says federal court’s chief judge

The New York Times reports: Judge Patrick J. Schiltz’s warning was stark. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had violated nearly 100 orders issued by Minnesota’s Federal District Court during the month of January, including some mandating the release of undocumented immigrants from detention. The violations needed to stop immediately. “ICE is not a law unto itself,” Judge Schiltz wrote in his Jan. 28 order. Judges around the country took notice, not only of the scale of the allegation but because such…

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