Stopping Illegals from Voting

 A handful of House Republicans are hoping to attach the new SAVE act to the upcoming continuing resolution to be passed September 30. The act would mandate all states to ensure that only U.S. citizens vote in the November elections. There is already such a law on the books, but because there is a lack of enforcement, there is little confidence that it will be followed. So why would anyone follow the new SAVE act? Mitch McConnell has already said he -- and about 17 of his RINO cronies -- are opposed to the SAVE act. 

So where does that leave us? Let's look at Florida.

Earlier this year, Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 1718, the strongest anti-illegal immigration legislation in the country. Among other provisions to combat Biden’s Border Crisis, the bill prohibits the issuance of a driver’s license to anyone who does not provide proof of lawful presence in the U.S. and specifies that out-of-state driver’s licenses issued exclusively to illegal aliens are invalid in Florida.

Someone who is in our country illegally and has violated our laws should not possess a government-issued ID which allows them access to state-funded services and other privileges afforded to lawful residents. 

But it appears that the Florida DMV is processing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants between 6 am and 8 a.m. before the DMV offices officially open. If driver’s licenses are the best voter ID in Florida, does this mean all these people will be able to vote despite SB 1718?

With the Biden-Harris push to get illegal and undocumented immigrants to vote, Florida law -- and undoubtedly laws in other red states -- are being purposely violated.

How can this illegal voting be stopped? By governors imposing their emergency powers to do it. According to the National Governors Association, “Gubernatorial emergency powers, generally activated through the implementation of a state declaration of emergency or disaster, provide governors avenues to enhance capabilities, coordination, and collaboration across state and local agencies.”

The document continues, “They also give states flexibility to respond to exigent circumstances, including the reallocation of state and federal funds. Further, emergency declarations allow Governors to temporarily modify their state’s statutory, regulatory, and legal framework to respond to the changing nature of an emergency more quickly.”

If Governor DeSantis cannot enforce the laws he has signed, perhaps he should consider using his emergency powers to limit illegal voting in the upcoming 2024 elections. Other governors have a duty to their citizens to do the same

This improper issuing of driver’s licenses to illegals to jeopardize our sacred right of citizen-only voting is purposely occurring out of official DMV office hours. Is this happening in other states as well, bypassing state law?

Many states claim to have a handle on this situation either because their ballots instruct the voter to declare whether or not he or she is a U.S. Citizen. Some, like Georgia just announced, a sign at the polling locations will read “No non-U.S. Citizen can vote.” Do these states actually believe these simple tactics will work?

The Republican National Committee recently sent a letter to Colorado explaining ways the state could keep illegals migrants and non-citizens from voting this November.

• The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offers the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program which aids federal, state, and local governments in verifying immigration or citizenship status.

• State or local government agencies can enter a memorandum of agreement with USCIS to obtain access to the SAVE database. Running a query requires an individual’s first name, last name, date of birth, and a numeric identifier from a U.S. government issued immigration document.

• The SSA (Social Security Administration) maintains databases that contain citizen-identifying records.
• Naphsis is a nonprofit organization that provides access to vital records such as birth, death, and marriage certificates. 

• State and Federal courts often maintain records of disqualification from jury duty due to lack of U.S. citizenship.

• The Motor Vehicle Bureaus/Departments state databases containing the driver’s license contain evidence of citizenship.

Florida uses the SAVE Program, but does not use several other ways databases listed above. The state also compares voter lists with DMV records so why are illegal immigrants being processed out-of-hours?

In 2022, Florida attempted to put the following imitative on the ballot:

• A U.S. citizen eligible to vote in Florida shall be registered to vote or have their existing registration updated by submitting an application for a new, renewed, updated, or replacement Florida driver’s license or ID card, unless they check a box to opt out of voter registration. The person shall not be required to select registration in order to be registered to vote or update registration. This amendment does not change voting eligibility requirements.

The requirement for placing the initiative on the ballot was nearly 900,000 signatures. But the measure was withdrawn on September 21, 2021 with only 73 valid signatures. This would indicate that the vast majority of Floridians do not want automatic registration with the issuance of driver’s licenses.

Democrat governors, who understand the need for non-citizens to vote in November, will not take such steps to stop illegal voting. However, there is no excuse for a true Republican governor not to take such action.

But it will take prodding. Pressure your governor to take such action now.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/08/stopping_illegals_from_voting.html

Globalism Is Economic Slavery

By J.B. Shurk 

Imagine life in the near future.  A man resides alone in a tiny apartment.  He would prefer to be married, but the State considers that antiquated institution “patriarchal” and “white supremacist.”  He would prefer to have children, but he can’t afford them.  Besides, his yearly carbon allowance is insufficient to cover another resource-wasting human being.  

He has never owned anything.  He rents his bedroom, his furnishings, and his meager entertainments.  Each month, a digital account associated with his digital ID receives a number of central bank digital currency units.  How much he receives depends upon the number of hours he works at his government job, how much the government values his work, how much the government taxes him for the privilege of using public infrastructure, and how much of his income the government decides should be redistributed to other citizens in need.  After taxes, rents, utilities, and other assorted municipal, state, federal, and international fees are deducted from his earnings, he has little — if any — discretionary income.  

If he chooses to save that income to invest in his future, the government informs him that his central bank digital currency units disappear within ninety days.  If he tries to purchase something that the government has banned, he forfeits what he currently has.  If he does something that the government deems contrary to his well-being, his social credit score decreases, and a fraction of his discretionary income disappears.  Every few weeks, a digital doctor (running on artificial intelligence) appears on the video screen in his apartment with a detailed list of all the “unhealthy” things he has done since their last interaction.  He is informed that a portion of his temporary savings will be redistributed to citizens with healthier habits.  His A.I. health monitor tells him that he must immediately report to the closest pharmaceutical distribution center so that he can be injected with the latest “vaccines.”  Failure to do so will result in the deactivation of all electronic entertainment devices and a permanent mark on his social credit record.

He is unhappy, and because the State’s A.I. supervisor has detected his unhappiness, the display monitor in his apartment encourages him to find personal meaning by “joining the fight against global warming.”  For a while, he does just that.  He attends community meetings in his apartment building where government officials talk about the importance of “saving the planet” by “owning nothing.”  He chats with anonymous strangers (bots?) on the State’s social media platform, and they all agree that the sacrifices they’re making to save the world are definitely worth it.  He wakes up one morning to discover that his social credit score has risen and that he has been rewarded with a few extra central bank digital currency units.  Still, our future man remains unhappy.

Then one day sirens blare, and his apartment monitor flashes with breaking news: the country is at war.  He listens intently but can’t figure out which foreign nations are attacking.  The trusted news anchors tell him that peace, prosperity, and freedom are all at risk.  He steps outside his tiny apartment to find other solitary renters fired up and talking excitedly about the battles to come.  He walks back inside to find his A.I. supervisor informing him that he has been personally selected to protect the homeland from its enemies.  For the first time in many years, our future man feels alive.  

He soon finds himself in boot camp, where he enjoys regular exercise, discipline, and camaraderie.  Six months later, he and his new friends are shipped overseas.  Strangely, in all this time, nobody has explained whom they will actually be fighting.  All he knows is that they’re at war with “the authoritarians” who wish to “take our democracy.”  There is anticipation in his camp and endless talk of adventure.  Then, when everyone least expects it, a thunderous swarm of drones attacks from overhead.  Nobody has time to react.  Explosions seem to come from out of nowhere.  He sees the bodies of his friends torn to pieces.  Then everything goes dark.

He awakes in a hospital severely injured, is called a hero, and is later sent home.  When he arrives, he notices breadlines outside the government’s genetically engineered food distribution centers.  He hears a beggar on the street joke that they should call them “insect-lines,” since that’s all there is to eat.  He learns that someone else has moved into his old apartment, but he is offered a new one because of his military service.  It is smaller and has even fewer furnishings than the one he lost.  He realizes that most of his former neighbors never returned from war and that many of the newcomers now living in their apartments look and sound like those people he was told to fight overseas.  Nothing makes sense.  His injuries torment him.  He feels even more lost and lonely than before he went to war.  His A.I. supervisor informs him that he has been added to a list of people considered “potential domestic terrorists.”  Remaining on this list will make it hard for him to work and live

Then, one day, his digital doctor asks if he would like some assistance in ending his life peacefully.  “You can save others,” he is told, “by permanently reducing your carbon footprint.”  In agony, he wonders, “How did we get here?”

The shortest answer to our future friend is this: governments abandoned sound money.  They replaced gold coins with paper currencies.  They made it illegal for ordinary citizens to conduct business freely and demanded that government-issued bills be used in economic transactions.  Then they gave private central banks the authority to print these paper bills whenever they determined that doing so would be good for the economy.  

Whose economy do wealthy central bankers protect — Wall Street’s or that of the working class?  Although putatively charged with financial duties to maximize employment and minimize inflation, central banks function as market manipulators and money printers for overspending governments.  By increasing the supply of paper currency, the price of consumer goods rises.  However, the numerical price of stock market shares also goes up.  These capital assets do not gain any real value, but their rising prices give the illusion of economic growth.  Many bad companies that would never survive in a free market become lucrative investment opportunities in fake markets.  Easy money sustains companies that produce no market value.  Who loses most in this artificial arrangement?  The poorest people who have no stocks and only limited cash savings.  They have watched the hundred-dollar bill hidden under their mattresses lose most of its value over the last fifty years.

Neither fiat currencies nor central banks have any functional place in free societies.  Governments that manipulate the value of money rig markets and steal from the working poor.  The wealthiest end up owning everything, while everyone else tries to balance life precariously on a tightrope of consumer debts, mortgages, long-term loans, and the growing prospect of insolvency.  This world that financial and political elites have built is unsustainable.  It is also a kind of economic slavery.

Because it is unsustainable, those who have benefited most from its creation will do anything they must to survive its collapse.  A crashing dollar does not matter if those who control the financial system today control the central bank digital currencies of tomorrow.  Gross inequality and rampant poverty do not matter if governments can convince unhappy citizens that climate change, disease, and war require them to own less and sacrifice more.  Growing public anger does not matter if those with armies can censor speech, throttle food supplies, foment wars, and imprison dissidents.  

Ponder this: how much of the story above seems foreign, and how much of it seems painfully familiar?  Your answer tells us just how much time we have left.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/08/globalism_is_economic_slavery.html

Sanctuary city's policies push violent migrant gang into suburbs

 Although Denver's suburbs don't share its sanctuary city policies, the influx of migrants into the Mile High City has spilled outward. Now, its neighbors are facing an unprecedented wave of activity from a notorious Venezuelan prison gang. 

Officials from Aurora, about nine miles east of Denver, told Fox News Digital the Tren de Aragua gang has gained a strong foothold in their city, commandeering apartment complexes and drumming up violent crime and sex trafficking. 

"We currently have entire complexes under gang control — complexes where staff have been beaten up, they've been threatened, their families have been threatened [and] complexes where there are no staff left on the property," Aurora City Council Member Danielle Jurinsky said. "These complexes are being run by this Tren de Aragua gang.

"They start brokering apartments themselves when someone leaves out of fear or whatever. They go in and take pictures of the apartment themselves. Then, I've been told, within hours, a Venezuelan family moves in.

Migrants carrying their belongings walk through an illegal tent encampment as city officials close it down in Denver, Colo., Jan. 3, 2024. (Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes/USA Today Network)

"Parts of the city are absolutely under this gang control. The local media is downplaying this," she said. "I believe politics is being played with people's lives. ... Nothing is being done to help the American citizens that are being trapped under this gang's control."

Jurinsky told Fox News Digital calls for emergency services have been on the rise, especially in light of a strapped police department. 

"The number of emails coming in to me for help from residents and business owners, the volume is much higher. The allegations being made [about gang activity] are types of crime that I've not heard of on a regular basis in our city," she said.

Suspected members of Tren de Aragua are accused of a series of high-profile crimes across the United States, including the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and the shooting of two NYPD officers during an arrest in June.

Its leaders recently gave the "green light" for its members nationwide to shoot members of law enforcement who attempt to interfere with their criminal activity – even in Denver.

Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, a Tren de Aragua leader who goes by "Galleta," the Spanish word for "Cookie," was arrested after brutally beating a man at an Aurora apartment complex that the gang had taken over, according to the New York Post. He was arrested again in July in a shooting at the same complex that left two wounded, the outlet reported.

Pacheco-Chirino has reportedly been detained and released at least twice since crossing the southern border in 2022, Homeland Security sources told the Post.

Denver, a city with about 710,000 residents, leads the nation in migrant arrivals per capita, with more than 40,000 arriving from the southern border since 2022, according to The Colorado Sun.

The city has spent an estimated $68 million to provide them with aid, even cutting back on emergency services. Meanwhile, Jurinsky and other members of Aurora's city council passed a resolution 7-3, pledging not to provide any support or resources to migrants coming into their city. 

"We will not be aiding into this migrant crisis," Jurinsky told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."

Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon said that when a Denver bill became law in 2017, codifying the city's resistance to work with federal immigration enforcement, followed by numerous other initiatives to help migrants and asylum seekers, the impending ripple effect on neighboring communities was obvious.

"Not too long ago, we saw this influx of 40,000 migrants [to Denver]," Laydon said. "Douglas County rang the bell and said, 'Look, from a common sense perspective, it's impossible that wouldn't have a huge impact on resources in the Denver metro area – and it did."

In an effort to curb growing rates of migrants, Laydon said his county passed an ordinance that outlaws unscheduled bus stops in the area and does not allow "buses from San Antonio to drop immigrants off."

But attempts to control the influx have been crippled by Colorado state law HB19-1124, passed in 2019, that prohibits municipalities from communicating directly with federal government immigration enforcement.

As a result, Douglas and five other Colorado counties have banded together to sue the state, arguing the law violates the U.S. Supremacy Clause, which bars states from violating federal law, and the Intergovernmental Relationships Provision of Colorado's constitution, which forbids laws that prevent local governments from cooperating/contracting with the federal government.

Aurora, which has a population of about 390,000, has become the Tren de Aragua gang's home base in Colorado, officials said. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Image)

"Our local law enforcement would like the ability to communicate with local immigration officials," Laydon said. "We have been apprised that there has absolutely been an increase in property crimes, assault and trafficking, and it's specific issues with the cartels coming out of Venezuela."

Despite their inability to communicate with federal immigration authorities, an ICE detention center sits within the city of Aurora, and Jurinsky said it is "bursting at the seams."

"Every week, they're just opening the back door and just letting hundreds of them go," Jurinsky said.

Joe Gamaldi, national vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told Fox News Digital, "This is not a Denver problem or an Aurora problem. This is a nationwide problem."

"There are gangs from all over South America that are coming over here and getting a foothold in our country," he said Monday. "We have taught criminals that you can commit crimes without being held accountable, and everyone is surprised when that’s exactly what they do."

In Aurora, he said, there will need to be "a significant investment in their gang division to get these guys behind bars" to put a dent in the problem. However, the city is "going to need a criminal justice system that is going to charge these guys and deport them.

"The police officers out there are going to do their job. They’re going to catch these guys and put them in jail. The question is whether they’re going to stay in jail or get deported. Don’t cut them any sweetheart deals. This isn’t rocket science. When people are robbing people with guns, lock them up for 20, 25 years."

Chris Swecker, the former head of the FBI's criminal investigation division, said this influx of gang members was "predictable and preventable," calling it "Mariel Boatlift 2.0." Swecker was referring to a mass emigration of Cubans to the United States in 1980 and comparing it to the rise of Salvadoran gang MS-13. 

"I would’ve surged along the border when this popped up and put agents up to interview every non-Mexican crossing that border. You would’ve had informants to boot," Swecker said of potential ways to combat the nationwide problem. "It’s a question of being creative enough and confident enough to allocate the problems.

"At this point, federal agencies should get involved," he added. "The bureau has to get involved with ATF and DEA, share their intelligence and approach this as an international crime problem."

https://www.foxnews.com/us/sanctuary-citys-policies-push-violent-migrant-gang-suburbs-nationwide-problem

Harris says her 'values' haven't changed. We still have no clue what they are

 After waiting weeks to do an interview sans teleprompter, Vice President Kamala Harris left the American people with more questions than answers Thursday night.

Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz agreed to a sit-down with CNN’s Dana Bash, but the pre-taped conversation didn’t offer any clarity about what we would see from a Harris-Walz administration.

Since President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race in July, Harris’ meteoric ascension to the top of the ticket – and the newfound energy in the Democratic Party – has been fueled by a lot of feelings, but not much in the way of substance. 

It’s clear Democrats are thrilled that Biden is no longer their candidate. It’s less evident why they’re excited about Harris. 

Why so many flip-flops? Harris didn't explain.

In recent days, Harris claims to have reneged on many of her past progressive stances and is attempting to sell herself as much more moderate.   

The CNN interview was Harris’ first real opportunity to explain why she’d made these dramatic policy shifts on everything from health care to the climate to illegal immigration. In 2019, when Harris first ran for president, she even outranked her fellow senator and primary opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (a democratic socialist), as the most liberal member of the Senate. 

Now, apparently, she’s seen the light. We just don’t know why.

Bash asked Harris a series of questions about Harris' supposed transformation: “How should voters look at some of the changes that you’ve made? Is it because you have more experience now and you’ve learned more about the information? Is it because you were running for president in a Democratic primary?”

Harris’ answer revealed nothing.

“I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” she said. “You mentioned the Green New Deal. I have always believed – and I have worked on it – that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.”

At several points during the interview, Harris mentioned how her “values” haven’t changed. 

But she didn’t clearly define what those values are. 

Walz evades accountability for misstatements

It was a mistake for Harris to have Walz with her in her first major interview after becoming the nominee. It made it seem like she couldn’t handle the situation without his support – not the optics she should be going for. 

And Walz didn’t add much to the interview. 

Bash pushed him on his mischaracterizations and outright lies about his past, including his military service and fertility treatments he and his wife had to use to have children. 

Walz’s answer was unsatisfactory to say the least. He acknowledged, “I certainly own my mistakes when I make them.” But he failed to offer an explanation for why he said so many false things in the first place. 

This interview was high-stakes for Harris. She still needs to explain to voters who is she, what she values and how she would lead the nation for the next four years.

She didn’t rise to the moment.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/08/30/harris-walz-cnn-interview-lack-accountability/75009568007/

Joint raid targeting Islamic State leaves at least 15 dead, 7 US troops hurt in Iraq

 The U.S. military and Iraq targeted Islamic State group militants in a joint raid Friday that left at least 15 people dead, and seven U.S. troops hurt in Western Iraq.

Five U.S. troops were injured in the raid that took place Thursday, while two of them suffered injuries from falls that occurred during the operation, The Associated Press reported, citing a U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official also noted that one wounded soldier had to be evacuated for additional treatment while one who suffered the fall had to be moved out of the region, per the AP.

The raid, first reported by NBC News, resulted in the death of 15 ISIS operatives, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement posted late Friday.

The operatives were armed with “numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive ‘suicide’ belts.” There was no indication of civilian casualties, according to CENTCOM. 

“This operation targeted ISIS leaders to disrupt and degrade ISIS’ ability to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against Iraqi civilians, as well as U.S. citizens, allies, and partners throughout the region and beyond,” the military agency said in the statement, adding that Iraqi Security Forces continue to further “exploit” the locations raided.

“There is no indication of civilian casualties,” CENTCOM wrote.

The AP also highlighted a statement from the Iraqi military following the raid, which said “airstrikes targeted the hideouts, followed by an airborne operation.”

“Among the dead were key ISIS leaders,” the military said, but did not identify the casualties. “All hideouts, weapons and logistical support were destroyed, explosive belts were safely detonated and important documents, identification papers and communication devices were seized.”

The news comes as threats from terrorist groups such as the Islamic State have been spiking worldwide for three years after the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan. ISIS has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks this year across the world, from Turkey to Iran and Russia.

ISIS-affiliated actors also carried out a stabbing attack in Germany this month and threatened a Taylor Swift concert in Austria.

CENTCOM said in July that the militant group was accountable for 153 attacks in Syria and Iraq in the first half of this year and was “on pace to more than double the total number of attacks” it claimed in 2023. 

https://thehill.com/policy/international/4856993-united-states-iraq-joint-raid-isis-troops-killed-americans-hurt/

Moms for Liberty fully embraces Trump, widens national role as election nears

 In her welcoming remarks at Moms for Liberty’s annual gathering in the nation’s capital on Friday, the group’s co-founder, Tiffany Justice, urged members to “fight like a mother” against the Democratic presidential ticket.

Later that evening, after she had interviewed Republican nominee Donald Trump onstage, she made a point to say she was personally endorsing him for the presidency. Their talk show style chat was preceded by a “Trump, Trump, Trump” chant from the audience.

The weekend’s gathering, drawing parent activists from across the country, has showcased how Moms for Liberty has moved toward fully embracing Trump and his political messaging as November’s election draws nearer. The group is officially a nonpartisan nonprofit that says it’s open to anyone who wants parents to have a greater say in their children’s education, yet there was little pretense about which side of the nation’s political divide it has chosen.

A painting that was prominently displayed on an easel next to the security station attendees had to pass through before being allowed into the conference area showed Vice President Kamala Harris kneeling over a bald eagle carcass, a communist symbol on her jacket and her mouth dripping with blood. A Moms for Liberty spokeswoman said she hadn’t seen the gruesome painting and noted that the only official signage for the event included the group’s logo.

The group’s enthusiasm for Trump is likely to benefit the former president this fall by solidifying a key part of his base — parents who share his views that the U.S. Education Department is bloated and ineffective, equity programs are distracting from academic fundamentals, vaccine mandates violate parental rights and schools that accept transgender children are putting other students in danger.

But it’s much less clear how Moms for Liberty’s support for Trump and his agenda will affect races for local school boards, which have become some of the most contentious elections on many ballots since 2022, the year after the group was founded.

Many communities where Moms for Liberty candidates took over a majority of the school board have been frustrated by their laser-like focus on removing books, questioning lessons around race and rejecting LGBTQ+ identities. A lack of progress toward academic improvement has in turn led to a counter movement among more moderate and liberal parents and teachers unions.

Moms for Liberty says it won’t make an official endorsement in the presidential race, but it isn’t shying away from getting involved. The group’s founders recently wrote an open letter to parents warning that Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a former high school social studies teacher, would be “the most anti-parent, extremist government America has ever known.”

The group spent its first three years becoming synonymous with the “parents’ rights” movement in local school boards but recently has become more involved in national politics. It participated in the controversial conservative blueprint for the next Republican administration, Project 2025, as a member of its advisory board. The group also has invested more than $3 million in four crucial presidential swing states. The money has paid for advertising in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin, including messages critical of the Biden administration.

Justice said the advertising has helped increase Moms for Liberty membership in those states and mobilized members who were not previously politically active to register to vote.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of new voters who understand now that their vote and their voice matters,” she said in an interview.

She added that as the group continues to endorse in local school board races, she is encouraged by Florida’s recent primary in which 60% of Moms for Liberty-backed candidates — some running for office for the first time — advanced to this fall’s general election.

But countering those wins were undeniable losses for the group, among them two in heavily Republican Sarasota County, and two in Pinellas County, where a Moms for Liberty-backed candidate coasted to a school board seat two years ago.

Those results come after conservative candidates struggled to gain traction with voters in local school board elections across the country last fall. In that election, Moms for Liberty said just 40% of its endorsed candidates won.

Jonathan Collins, co-director of the politics and education program at Columbia University’s Teachers College, said parents’ rights candidates may be struggling around the country because they are focused on removing existing policies and classroom materials, rather than offering a clear, forward-looking plan to remedy pandemic learning loss.

“They’re not getting beaten by people who are responding to the cultural attacks with their own cultural attacks,” he said. “They’re getting beat by people who are responding to the cultural attacks with very, very practical, hyperlocal ideas of school and district improvement.”

Around the country, some school board members backed by Moms for Liberty or who carry out the group’s agenda have been recalled in recent months by community members who say their policies have caused chaos.

In Woodland, California, north of the state capital, a school board member backed by Moms for Liberty members was recalled in March after she raised fears that children were coming out as transgender “as a result of social contagion ” during a school board meeting in 2023.

In Southern California, a trustee with the Temecula Valley Unified School District Board of Education was recalled after he and two of his colleagues voted to reject a social studies curriculum because it included a history of the gay rights movement.

And in Idaho’s heavily Republican panhandle, community members from across the political spectrum rose up to recall two right-wing members of their board last year who sought to root out critical race theory and institute a conservative agenda.

Katie Blaxberg, a Pinellas County candidate who will run against the one remaining Moms for Liberty-linked candidate for that county’s school board this fall, said the “nastiness” and “divisiveness” of the group “isn’t conducive to any sort of good work.”

But a group of more than 600 Moms for Liberty supporters exchanging phone numbers and listening attentively to slide presentations in Washington on Friday offered a different perspective.

Gretchen Schmid, the chair of a Moms for Liberty chapter in Orange County, North Carolina, said her chapter helped advocate a new parents’ bill of rights law in her state. It passed last year after the Legislature, which is heavily gerrymandered to favor Republicans, overrode the Democratic governor’s veto.

Schmid said when parents used to call and ask schools to share information about assignments, they wouldn’t hear back, but now, “people are getting more responses.”

On Saturday, Moms for Liberty’s four-day summit paused sessions during the day to hold a demonstration a mile away, organized by a coalition of more than 30 conservative groups. Donning yellow rhinestone visors, Rachel Mack and Sarah Recupero said they had made the drive from Florida to support the protection of all children, especially in sports.

“I am definitely somebody who stands for the whole women-in-women’s sports and men-in-men’s sports,” Mack said.

Several blocks away, those opposed to Moms for Liberty held a competing event, a Celebration of Reading, to counter book banning and advocate for a more inclusive environment for children. Heidi Ross traveled from Buckeye, Arizona, to volunteer for the event after seeing a post on Facebook about it.

“I have a granddaughter who’s two, and I want her to grow up in a world where she can read whatever she wants to read and no one bothers her or makes a fuss about it,” she said. “So, I hopped on that plane, really for her and all children.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-politics/ap-moms-for-liberty-fully-embraces-trump-and-widens-role-in-national-politics-as-election-nears/

What The California AI 'Killswitch' Bill Means For Decentralized AI

 by Robert Knight via CoinTelegraph.com,

Industry figures are divided on a contentious Californian artificial intelligence bill that passed on Aug. 28.

The new legislation will compel AI firms to implement new safety protocols, including an “emergency stop” button for AI models.

The Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047) passed the California Senate 29–9 on Aug. 28.

The bill now goes to Governor Gavin Newson’s desk for ratification.

Elon Musk was among those who expressed support for the bill. On X, he said it was a “tough call” but favored the legislation due to the “potential risk” of AI.

Source: Elon Musk

Not all tech figures are similarly persuaded, however. OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon is among those who have criticized the legislation.

Calanthia Mei, co-founder of the decentralized AI network Masa, said she was not in favor of the new rules, suggesting they were the result of an undue rush to legislate.

“Premature regulations like this will not only drive talent out of California; it will drive talent out of America,” Mei told Cointelegraph. She added:

“The risk sits in the likely possibility that America’s current and proposed regulatory frameworks cap the growth of the AI industry.”

Raheel Govindji, the CEO of the decentralized AI project DecideAI, took a contrasting view.

“We are in favor of legislation,” Govindji told Cointelegraph. 

Govindji said DecideAI supports a killswitch controlled by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), which is how they propose to democratize and decentralize an emergency stop.

AI is a fast-moving industry

The fast-moving nature of the AI industry has stoked fears about its unfettered development.

In an Aug. 22 letter, former staff and whistleblowers at OpenAI warned, “Developing frontier AI models without adequate safety precautions poses foreseeable risks of catastrophic harm to the public.”

But to others, the rapid pace of AI development is something to be celebrated rather than feared.

“In contrast to other transformative technologies, the speed of AI innovation is unparalleled. Builders are shipping new products, features and applications every day,” Mei said.

“We as builders don’t even know where the ceiling of AI is; how would the government know the ceiling of AI? Setting limits for high-potential technologies is unwise.”

Mei warned that the legislation’s ultimate cost would be to “drive talent out of the US” as it “did to crypto.”

Those in favor

Govindji proposes that a “DAO-controlled killswitch” could support the requirements of the legislation while still retaining “collective and transparent decision-making.”

The bill states that any AI model should be able to “promptly enact a full shutdown” but fails to define the meaning of promptly, leaving considerable room for interpretation.

For now, it is unknown whether a DAO model and its democratic voting system would be prompt enough to satisfy legislators. Govindji is confident it will. According to Govindji, DecideAI “will be ahead of the curve in providing AI which is a social good.”

AI firm Anthropic has also publicly supported the bill. 

In an open letter to Governor Newsom, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said, ”AI systems are advancing in capabilities extremely quickly, which offers both great promise for California’s economy and substantial risk [...] We believe SB 1047, particularly after recent amendments, likely presents a feasible compliance burden for companies like ours, in light of the importance of averting catastrophic misuse.”

An earlier version of the bill forwarded criminal penalties for companies that failed to comply. After consultation with the industry, this provision was watered down to civil penalties only.

Bill SB 1047

Bill SB 1047 will only apply to “covered models,” with the definition of what models are covered shifting over time. 

On implementation, a covered model will be an AI that costs over $100 million to develop or “An artificial intelligence model trained using a quantity of computing power greater than 10^26 integer or floating-point operation.”

The federal government’s Government Operations Agency will adjudicate any changes to the computing power threshold.

In a letter to Governor Newsom, OpenAI’s Kwon argued that legislation toward AI should only be handled at a federal level “rather than a patchwork of state laws.”

Given the overwhelming concentration of tech and AI firms in California, SB 1047 might arguably be the de facto national legislation for now. 

The situation could change should the legislation cause AI firms to flee to other states, but to avoid SB 1047 entirely, the firms would also need to cease all operations and services in California.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/what-california-ai-killswitch-bill-means-decentralized-ai