Flock Announces Changes Amid Backlash Over License Plate Reader Network

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Flock Announces Changes Amid Backlash Over License Plate Reader Network (Maria)

The author writes, “Flock Safety, the surveillance technology company increasingly under scrutiny from lawmakers from both parties, civil liberties advocates and citizens across the U.S., announced Thursday that it is making changes to its platform intended to quell privacy concerns and address documented abuses of its system by law enforcement. The company operates a vast nationwide network of automated cameras that record the license plate numbers and other characteristics of all passing vehicles every day.”

USS Abraham Lincoln Sailors Tried To Jump Overboard Amid Extended Deployment (Russ)

The author writes, “Military families and Congress members are sounding the alarm about an intensifying mental health crisis onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as its 5,000 sailors and marines endure a record-breaking deployment at sea tied to the war with Iran. Two leading specialist military papers, the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard as poor conditions and mental stresses on the Lincoln reach the breaking point. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land — a record for an aircraft carrier in modern times.”

Trump Issues Vague Response to Idea for National Emergency Ahead of Midterm (Reader Jim)

The author writes, “President Donald Trump gave a somewhat vague answer Tuesday when asked whether he and his team planned to declare a national emergency ahead of the midterm elections in an effort to boost his voting proposals. … ‘Stranger things have happened,’ Trump said when asked about the power he has to declare a national emergency. ‘I’ll leave it at that.’”

AI’s No-Win Choice: Using Huge Amounts of Water or Energy (Laura)

From E&E News: “Artificial intelligence has a real heat problem. Cooling next-generation computer chips for AI requires either millions of gallons of water or huge amounts of electricity. Both have ignited sharp opposition from the public. The industry’s heat trade-off threatens to deepen its unpopularity in communities where concern is growing about the financial and environmental toll of data centers. If a company chooses to save water when cooling a facility, its power needs surge. If it reduces electricity, its water use climbs. One option increases carbon emissions and strains the electric grid; the other depletes a natural resource.”

The American Ninja Warrior Hunger Games (Bethany)

The author writes, “The Patriot Games, for those who do not obsessively follow the Trump administration’s every move, was an athletic competition in which 100 kids between the ages of 14 and 17 competed for two $125k scholarships — one for each of the two state-approved genders — courtesy of Trump’s Freedom 250 bribe pool. To volunteer as tribute, all these kids had to do was fill out an application with their social media handles and a video submission that answered questions like ‘What does being an American mean to you?’ and ‘Describe a moment when you felt especially grateful to be American.’ Those selected then travelled to Geneva, Ohio for three days of games at the Spire Olympic Training Facility, which is where I found myself on Tuesday, August 11th, a few hours before the finale would take place.” 

On This Nearly Deserted Alaska Island, You Pay To Keep Hundreds of Empty Buildings Wired for Internet (Dana)

From ProPublica and the Anchorage Daily News: “On an island in the Bering Sea 1,200 miles from Anchorage, Alaska, sits an abandoned house on an abandoned Navy base. There is no furniture, and the wind blows through broken windows. The last people to live here moved away long ago. Yet a bright orange pipe with a black fiber-optic cable inside runs from the outer wall down into the surrounding soil.  The cable was installed to connect the home to the internet after the base closed. It costs more than $340,000 per year to provide this building and hundreds of others — all but a few of them empty — with internet access no one says they use. The money being wasted is yours.” 

60 Cats Saved From Abandoned Tacoma Sailboat; Owner Tells His Story (Reader Steve)

From The Seattle Times: “Jesse McConaha and Ashton Effertz were just about to finish a run to Tacoma’s Owen Beach on Sunday morning, when their friend pointed out a cat in the water, paddling next to a sailboat anchored a hundred or more feet offshore. Without hesitation, the pair, both age 26, stripped and jumped into Puget Sound to save it. The cat had been one of 60 black, white and gray juveniles living in squalor on the abandoned boat.”