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Francis Angevine

39 questions about the war in Ukraine

Igor Strelkov’s Angry Patriots Club (КРП) has published a list of questions about Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine. Most of their questions are highly pertinent; some of them are a bit superfluous; a few—in your correspondent’s humble opinion—are misguided and a bit silly. But

Polish Activists Win Cases Against ‘LGBT-Free Zones’

On April 21, an appeals court in the Polish city of Białystok threw out a case brought by Przasnysz county authorities against four lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights activists who founded the “Atlas of Hate” project. This is the first final verdict in favor of the activists who

Eating meat is essential for our health and well-being, leading scientists say

With the continued push to move people towards ever more plant-based diets it’s important to recognise that meat is essential for our health and well-being. A special issue of Animal Frontiers published last month did just that. The societal debate around the value of meat is neither new nor

Former OpenAI Researcher: AI at Human Level Means a '50/50 Chance of Doom'

A former OpenAI researcher, Paul Christiano, has expressed serious concerns about the potential risk that AI poses to humanity, estimating a 10-20 percent chance of an AI takeover resulting in a high number of human fatalities. According to Christiano, if AI reaches “human level” thinking, the human race approaches “a

'The Walgreens of Recreational Drugs:' Defense Attorney Blames Victim in Stabbing Murder of Tech Exec Bob Lee

Paula Canny, the defense attorney for Nima Momeni, the suspect in last month’s murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, blamed the victim for his death, pointing out that the tech executive had drugs in his system at the time and was therefore probably acting like a “drug person.

'Quite Scary:' 'Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton Worries About Future of ChatGPT

Geoffrey Hinton, the 75-year-old renowned AI pioneer, has provided more insight into his recent resignation from Google over concerns relating to the potential risks arising from advancements in the field of AI and popular chatbots like ChatGPT. Breitbart News recently reported that Geoffrey Hinton, 75, a pioneer in artificial intelligence

Sanders: I Don't Regret that Green Provisions in Inflation Reduction Act May Overrun Cost Estimate

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Sen.

New York Takes Step to Reduce its Contribution to Deforestation

On April 25, the New York Senate approved the Tropical Deforestation-Free Procurement Act, a bill intended to ensure that companies contracting with the New York state government are not contributing to tropical deforestation and human rights abuses overseas. Now the bill will need to be voted on in the New

The Harms From Wearing Masks Are Real

STORY AT-A-GLANCE Mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic were an exercise in scientific insanity and evidence is mounting that the long-term physical consequences may not be evident for some time. It started with recommendations to wear a mask in public and quickly deteriorated to questionable advice ranging from head scratching

Peru: Egregious Abuses by Security Forces

(São Paulo, April 26, 2023) – Peru’s military and police likely carried out extrajudicial or arbitrary killings and committed other egregious abuses against demonstrators and bystanders during protests from December 2022 through February 2023, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The abuses occurred against the backdrop

How Are the COVID Shots Affecting Mothers-To-Be?

STORY AT-A-GLANCE While a typical vaccine must undergo 10 to 12 years of trials before it's released, during the pandemic, COVID-19 shots were made available to the public just 10 months after development, courtesy of an Emergency Use Authorization. Even pregnant women were subjected to the shots, and in many

Electromagnetic-field theories of qualia: can they improve upon standard neuroscience?

How do brains create all our different colors, pains, and other conscious qualities? These various qualia are the most essential aspects of consciousness.

This Week in the New Normal #61

Our successor to This Week in the Guardian, This Week in the New Normal is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world. 1. You will go nowhere and be happy The age of “cheap flights” is over, Bloomberg reported this week. They

Speak Your Truth: Don’t Let the Government Criminalize Free Speech

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” George Washington What the police state wants is a silent, compliant, oblivious citizenry. What the First Amendment affirms is an engaged citizenry that speaks truth to power using whatever peaceful