February 23, 2023, news article: “Supreme Court hears Gonzalez v. Google, focused on whether YouTube is exempt from liability for terrorist content uploaded to the platform; case has potential ramifications for how internet companies moderate content on their site”
When this graphic from “Chartr” is considered:
Then think of the impact of the media, and specifically harmful or radical content, on the kids and young adults who are in highly impressionable age groups.
Latest update. The judges say they are worried about lawsuits. Well, judges, you could always throw them out if they are frivolous.
The US Air Force yesterday evening debuted America’s first new nuclear stealth bomber in more than 30 years. The aircraft, known as the B-21 Raider, is part of the Pentagon’s efforts to modernize all three pillars of its nuclear triad, consisting of nuclear missile submarines, land-based nuclear missiles, and nuclear-capable aircraft. The B-21 Raider is expected to make its first flight in 2023 and succeeds the B-2 Spirit, first presented in 1988. Watch the rollout here.
The public reveal comes days after the Department of Defense released its annual report on China, saying it poses the most consequential challenge to America’s national security. China has more than 400 operational nuclear warheads and is on track to have 1,500 nuclear weapons by 2035. See an estimate of global warhead inventories here. The Air Force plans to build 100 B-21 Raiders, with six currently in production, that can deploy either nuclear weapons or conventional bombs—with or without a crew. It’s unclear how much 100 aircraft will actually cost; estimates suggest about $753M each.
Ya just gotta wonder if the citizenry in the big countries really want a build up of nuclear war machine capability or do they just want to live in an nonthreatening, peaceful environment where they can safely raise their families absent the threat of war. I’d bet they would vote for the peaceful side of the equation. So who are the governments actually representing?
In the category of dumb… I am reading about the president and Congress looking for ways to punish the Saudis and OPEC for the reduction in oil production. Let them do what they will. Get your heads out of your bums and put your efforts into making the country energy independent. Will you ever learn?
Or, Social Media Responsibility (hint: there isn’t any.)
I support freedom of speech but I think social media platforms have an obligation to refuse to post content that can lead to or cause injury or death. Laying it on the parents is only a partial solution. Some kids, young “adults”, can misplace stupidity and adventure.
CNN 9.21.22
The FDA is warning about a rise in adolescents and young adults participating in dangerous social media challenges. One recent challenge posted on social media encouraged people to cook chicken in NyQuil and similar over-the-counter cough and cold medicines. “Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways,” the FDA said. The agency also pointed to a TikTok challenge daring people to hallucinate by taking large doses of the over-the-counter drug Benadryl.
The FDA cited reports of teens ending up in hospital emergency rooms or dying after participating. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends parents should talk to their children about social media dares and discuss them “calmly and without judgment” while encouraging them to think through any potential negative outcomes.
*****
Social media, it can pose wide-open risks to the impressionable.
If you visit the “About” page of this site you will find its primary purpose is to help readers improve their performance and the performance of others.
I have found that I have strayed away from that “mission” and find myself posting more about the horrendous political, environmental, divisive, and corruption issues in the USA and around the globe.
I am tired of it. I feel that the negative “force” of these issues has caused the blog to stray from its original charter . And, there is sufficient, negative news out there without this blog republishing and commenting on it!
There IS content in this blog’s past postings over the years that addressed personal and work-related performance topics to assist with personal improvement.
I’m moving on to more enjoyable posting. I will not abandon the topic of “leadership” as I find it so elementary to everything.
This entry is not about voting or political party preference, just a situational look.
Presidents are the leaders of countries. If you look at the “recent” lists of presidents you may agree each had his (can not use the female pronoun yet) priorities, battles, and made popular and unpopular decisions. And the country was divided on certain issues.
Inside the capital, January 6th. “Make America Great Again”
Consider the reality: The critical level of divisiveness that the USA now faces was created during the Trump administration. Under no other president, under no other administration did it ever reach the intensity or criticality of what we have today. Under no other presidency did we have the growth and involvement of hate groups in our government, the election and voting mess, and the level of divisiveness in our country and government.
For the record I am not anti-political party.
And for the record, Biden is creating his own mess, with the help of a badly divided Congress that has lost its way and its focus on its ultimate purpose, that being creating laws and making decisions in the best interest of the country and not the political party.
Inadvertently stumbled on this in a Twitter entry. Just had to post it. Look at that face! Looks innocent! Not true. All pups are possessed with energy and the desire to ruin your stuff!
“This is “Bungalo”. That’s the face she uses to make sure you put everything she wants into the cart. 12/10 would never say no to….”
On Monday, a federal judge in Florida overturned the Biden administration’s mask mandate on planes and other public transit. Almost immediately, all the major airlines, as well as Amtrak, Uber and Lyft, began relaxing their mask requirements. And some cities, institutions, businesses and others have kept mask mandates in place.
US health officials still recommend wearing masks on public transportation. And there’s no evidence that this judge has any expertise in public health policy or virology. Hence the confusion.
Masks are one of the few pandemic protocols that had the dual advantage of being both easy to enforce and highly effective at stopping the spread of Covid-19. The timing: People are going back to the office even as the highly contagious Ba2 subvariant is coursing through communities. The summer travel season is just getting started, and we just lost a crucial barrier between ourselves and the virus that’s killed nearly 1 million people in the US alone.
The judge: Now let’s look at the bizarre reasoning given by US District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a Trump appointee whom the American Bar Association deemed unqualified for her role because she lacked experience.
This photo needs no caption
In her ruling, Mizelle said the CDC’s argument for imposing the mandate falls short because it doesn’t count as “sanitation” under the 1944 law the government relied on.
“Wearing a mask cleans nothing. At most, it traps virus droplets. But it neither ‘sanitizes’ the person wearing the mask nor ‘sanitizes’ the conveyance,” Mizelle wrote.
To which I have to say, respectfully: Your honor, no one has ever claimed masks sanitize your face. What are you talking about?
Legal experts were quick to criticize her ruling. “Her opinion is a shambles,” tweeted Laurence Tribe, a Harvard constitutional law professor, who also noted Mizelle made the call without hearing a word of oral arguments in the case.
But even putting politics and legalese to the side, none of it changes the fact that she went to law school, not medical school. She’s not an elected official, and yet she can upend an entire country’s pandemic protocol single-handedly. What !!!!
All this in the face of a 10% increase in subvarient cases across the country.
(summarized from a CNN article of 4/20/2022)
***** S&E *****
66% of the population are considered fully vaccinated. Experts estimated early on that we would need between 70% and 85% of people to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
Is it time for the world (not just the USA) to stand up to Putin.
Is it time to stop the scorched earth onslaught in the Ukraine
Is it time for the world to throw the Russians out of the Ukraine
Is it time for the world to neutralize Putin
How long can the world stand by and watched the unprovoked, horrific murder of men, women, and children in a free, democratic, European country. Atrocities committed by ONE MAN!
Success & Excess 