Beltway Insider: Biden Talks AI, Coronation, Putin/Ukraine, TX Shooting, Subway Murder

Details: Category: Beltway Insider; Published on Sunday, 07 May 2023 13:07; Written by Janet Walker

President Biden joined a meeting this week, hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris on the future of AI in American business and to ensure that the software does not infringe on the rights of workers to earn a living.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, for the period ending May 7, 2023 decreased by 0.3% to 42.7% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness increased by 0.3% to 52.3% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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Biden and AI Regulation

President Biden joined a meeting hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris and attended by the CEO's of the main competitors in the AI software technology space. Attending were Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, along with members of the President senior staff and White House counsel.

"The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has identified five principles that should guide the design, use, and deployment of automated systems to protect the American public in the age of artificial intelligence," a White House Press Statement read.

Arising from the meeting an AI Bill of Rights which topics of Data privacy and Human Alternatives, Consideration and Fallback had been presented, which aligns with President Biden vision, as well as the safety of personal information in the digital age.

The administration has further this argument to include how the Department of Labor will protect workers rights as AI software advanced to the point of replacing workers.

King Charles III Coronation – A Mix of Modern and Tradition

King Charles III, 74, the oldest Monarch to ever ascend to the throne, was officially crowned King, after a lifetime of waiting, in a coronation ceremony that was steeped in tradition and included a touch of modernity.

Upon the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, September 8, 2022, Charles, then the Prince of Wales, and heir to the throne became the King, in title. The Coronation, which history usually calls for a year post the death, was shortened to six months, and hurried along as he was already the oldest monarch in waiting.

The coronation was steeped in British tradition, each member of his immediate family, Prince Andrew, Princess Anne, and Prince Edward and Prince William and Princess Catherine were all adorned in robes marking the place in the Royal family. Prince Harry wore a formal grey suit adorned with his war service medals.

"Approximately 2,300 people in attendance at the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Among them were the American first lady, Jill Biden, and Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska, and former prime ministers Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Tony Blair. The current British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, gave a reading from the first chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians," reported The Washington Post.

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King Charles III managed to control the attention of the media even as the continuing rift among family members maintains much of the publics and media attention. The bright spot in all this, of course, is the freedom the youngest royal, Prince Louis appears to have when he becomes aware that the media is watching.

There were moments that stoic tradition melted, the tender split second the King reacted to his son, and heir to the throne, Prince William pledged his devotion and kissed his father's cheek. For once, the cameras caught this special moment and the genuine emotion translated which humanized both the king and future king.

As Charles III has called for a slimmed down monarch, the ceremony reflected his wish to keep the traditional events at a minimum. He trimmed the ceremony by one hour, reduced the time of parading through the streets before the ceremony and after.

"The king and queen were "profoundly grateful both to all those who helped to make it such a glorious occasion – and to the very many who turned out to show their support in such numbers in London and further afield," the spokesperson added," Reuters reported.

With the weekend set aside for celebrating more than 50,000 coronation parties were held throughout the Commonwealth including The Big Lunch, which many of the working royals attended along with many of the invited world leaders. The coronation weekend will culminate with the King Charles Coronation Concert which includes Katy Perry, Lionel Ritchie, Nicole Scherzinger, Paloma Faith, Andrea Bocelli and Sir Bryn Terfel, along with many others including an appearance by Tom Cruise.

Ukraine Blamed for Failed Putin Assassination

Russian officials have accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of launching a drone strike in an effort to assassination Russian President Vladimir Putin, an accusation the Ukrainian president denies.

'"We don't attack Putin, or Moscow; we fight on our territory," Zelenskyy told a news conference in Helsinki, Finland. "We defend our villages and cities." Senior Ukrainian presidential official Mykhailo Podolyak also told the Reuters news agency that Kyiv had nothing to do with the alleged incident," Aljazeera.com reported.

While many expect that the Russian-Ukraine war will only end with Putin's death, it is doubtful that an assassination will be carried out by the Ukraine military. More likely, if this were to occur it would be at the hands of those Oligarchs who have lost nearly their entire fortunes after global economic sanctions and global authority to seize finances and properties.

Vaccine Totals

As of May 7, 2023, in the United States, 676,006,980 have been administered with a 7-day increase weekly increase of 564,344 doses. More than 90% of the population have received the two-dose vaccine. (Date from the CDC).

Coronavirus Totals

Mandates have been altered or lifted in most urban areas with limited exceptions, and the population is encouraged to maintain personal protective practices. Masks are optional and tolerated. Vaccines and boosters are still considered the most effective agents against contracting the Coronavirus.

For the week ending May 7, 2023, the total of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide reached 765,222,932 people, with a 7-day increase of 748,545 with a total worldwide death toll of 6,921,614 deaths. (Data from The World Health Organization).

COVID U.S. Totals

Infections rates in the United States are also on the rise. For the 7-day period ending May 7, 2023, the total confirmed cases rose to 104,618,931 people with new confirmed cases increasing by 80,201 with a 7-day average of 11,457 cases per day. The coronavirus has claimed 1,131,819 total deaths, adding 1,157 more deaths over the 7-day period. (Data from the CDC).

Pentagon's Diary Gets Personal

Protecting for gain of function knowledge only aides those who initiated the constitutional violations. It does nothing to combat homegrown terrorism or narcissistic, above the law, belief. The best obtainable version of the truth.

Texas Mass Shooting: 14 Children, 1 Educator Dead, 14 Others Injured

Texas Mall Shooting – Eight Dead, Seven Injured

An afternoon of shopping at the Allen Premium outlet mall, outside of Dallas, Texas, turned deadly, as a mass shooter open fire killing eight and wounding seven others before he was neutralized by a local police officer.

"Six victims were found dead at the scene, and nine people who had been injured were taken to hospitals by the local fire department, Allen Fire Chief Jon Boyd said Saturday. Two of them died at the hospital. As of late Saturday, three victims remained critically injured. More people could have been injured and transported in personal vehicles, Boyd said," The Washington Post reported.

The shooter has been identified as Mauricio Martinez Garcia, 33, of Dallas, Texas.

While the plague of mass shooting effects every community, Texas, who has the most relaxed gun laws in the nation, has become the symbol for the worst mass shooting in recent history. Uvalde, which by the mention of the name, acts as a sense memory recall of the horrific events of May 24, 2022, and the deaths which were preventable.

Manhattan Subway Murder

New York City is known for many things: Wall Street, Broadway, Central Park, Times Square, The New York Yankees, and The New York Mets rivalry, it is The Big Apple, The City that Never Sleeps, The Great White Way, home to dreamers and schemers, hustlers, and hopefuls.

By all statical accounts, Subway crime in the borough of Manhattan has consecutively dropped month by month. Unfortunately, those statistics appear to be lower due to the lack of reporting by victims. This week the dangers of riding a New York City subway received the one thing it never wanted, the glaring spotlight of the world's media.

Not since December 22, 1984, when Bernard Goetz, a slight, bookish, easy target victim, shot and wounded four black men who tried to rob him on the subway has the New York City mass transit system received so much attention.

Mainstream media has reported a few wilding sprees, the girls in neon-green bodysuits, vicious beatings, unprovoked stabbings, rapes, robberies, and even with all these heinous brutal crimes, the recent chokehold death of a homeless street impersonator has sent the city spiraling into the abyss of self-defense versus vigilantism, black crime victims versus white perpetrators, which because of the climate and nature of the crime have mimicked recent history.

Homicide Ruling in Staten Island Choke Victim Case

The echoes of Staten Island's Eric Garner whose words as police put him in an illegal chokehold, "I can't breathe" became a rallying point with a shocking conclusion and more recently George Floyd, killed with a knee to the neck that cut off his air supply with a different conclusion reveals the shift.

Of course, those are two very different incidents. This incident, Daniel Penny, an ex-marine took the life of black man.

Rules of the Ride

There are rules to riding the Manhattan subway, unspoken and unwritten rules, and yet everyone adopts to those rules for their own safety. Rule #1 Ignore anybody who gets in your space. This is the universal rule of Manhattan mass transit ignore everyone. Rule #2 If you feel harassed get up and move to another car. Employ the get up and walk away common-sense rule. Rule #3 Get off at the next exit if this situation gets out of hand. Manhattan subway stops are close enough together that one can essentially walk minutes to the next stop and there's nothing wrong with walking. Unfortunately, none of these rules were followed by Mr. Penny.

The Facts . . .Maybe

Mr. Penny a former marine somehow became drawn into, not even a confrontation, no media has mentioned a verbal sparring match, that resulted in the killing of an innocent, albeit frustrated man. What they do detail is that Mr. Neely, a Michael Jackson impersonator who was experiencing homelessness had reached a point of exasperation and exhaustion in his situation, so he took to the subway stage, where he had a captive audience, which many, many, many people do in Manhattan.

Mr. Neely, a performer, has not been presented as aggressively begging he wasn't standing inside an ATM bank lobby, he wasn't harassing retail customers at checkout, he was expressing his exasperation at his current situation and the apparent lack of assistance.

His words, his spoken words were not aggressive, antagonistic, or verbally challenging, certainly not challenging to the point that should have resulted in some sort of physical altercation. His words may have been challenging to the soul but for the millions who ride mass transit it is what it is.

Looking through the lens of fact versus the lens of reality will mean that jurors will need to negotiate their own reality which includes Manhattan Subway crime. How many have been the victim of even a petty crime? How many have had someone sit or stand close, violating one's personal space, and while many joke about the old Lexington Avenue line simulating a bump and grind experience, it is a violation of personal space. Or worse, having your wallet stolen knowing that someone may have your ID, your home address? These are real issues affecting anyone who takes mass transit.

So here we are, a city demanding justice, demanding an arrest, expecting the judicial process to exact justice negotiating through a reality that does not exist. Mr. Penny did not enter the subway planning on murdering Mr. Neely or anyone else, there is no pre-meditation to this crime. Perhaps he suffered from PTSD from his time as a Marine. What were Mr. Neely's actions? These questions are why Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is giving pause to public opinion.

Reality is rarely what it appears.

As it is, this is one more case of subway vigilantism. Will it become as infamous as the Bernard Goetz case? Or will the country's climate, the string of self-defense, stand your ground, vigilant crimes sparked by fear of bodily harm and a swelling pervasiveness of anarchy, that is growing across America squash the demand for justice.

For more information on President Joe Biden w ww.whitehouse.gov.