America First: Can it be squared with proposed ‘annexation’ of Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal?
Is there a contradiction between the Trump administration’s America First policy and its actions? Maybe not.
Kurt Cobb
DOGE and (mis)understanding AI
Will AI solve all of our major problems or cause the extinction of the human race? Extreme views can lead to extreme and unwarranted actions.
Scented dangers: Who regulates scented products?
Most of us think very little about the artificial scents that buffet us every day. They are often filled with hazardous substances and only very lightly regulated
Trade war danger: China could quickly strangle American tech with metals cutoff
The United States may soon find that those it has targeted with tariffs can fight back in ways that could cripple American industry.
No matter what Elon Musk thinks, government cannot and should not be run like a business
Those telling you that government can be run like a business are either ignorant or trying to trick you.
Are computers and democracy compatible? Maybe not
Personal computers and the internet were supposed to democratize information and the power to analyze and use it. Instead, they are contributing to the increasing concentration of wealth and power and putting us on the road to authoritarian rule.
Downsizing the U. S. government this way will destroy its effectiveness without increasing its efficiency
Either the Trump administration doesn’t understand that making personnel cuts across the U. S. government in this manner will not increase efficiency OR it intends to make government agencies ineffective.
Why Musk’s access to U. S. Treasury payment systems risks a global financial meltdown
Giving Elon Musk and his callow team of computer coders access to the U.S. Treasury payments system is very, very dangerous.
After DeepSeek, AI developers are wrong that The Jevons Paradox will bail them out
The dramatic drop in the cost of AI demonstrated by Chinese upstart DeepSeek is great for buyers of AI tools, but very bad for the incumbent developers of those tools.
Democratization of AI spurts ahead: More power to individuals for mischief
Empowering the individual has become a frequent slogan for today’s tech pioneers. As that empowerment grows, it makes it possible for an individual or a small group to threaten all of society. I have now posted my most
Wishful thinking? Sweden building nuclear waste site to last 100,000 years
Can you think of anything built by humans that you would expect to last 100,000 years? I can’t.
Elevator ‘crisis’ as symptom of our infrastructure predicament
A long-running elevator outage at my favorite cinema lead me to find out about America’s “elevator crisis.” It’s a symptom of our infrastructure predicament.
