A bridge too far — facial recognition, undemocratic system & bad faith behavior — places us at the edge of a dangerous precipice. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As facial recognition technology becomes pervasive, Microsoft issues a call for regulation — “Technology companies have a privacy problem[:]…good at invading ours and…negligent at protecting their own…[thus] for government to…oversee the facial recognition…. call from Microsoft President Brad Smith ….[ Imagine a government tracking everywhere you walked…[or] a database of everyone who attended a political rally…like ‘Minority Report,’ ‘Enemy of the State’ and even ‘1984’… on the verge of becoming possible Globally] governments are deploying these tools…to control their populations…. ’The more powerful the tool, the greater the benefit or damage it can cause’ …. …[ …. [T]he industry’s not-so-secret huge problem. Facial recognition…used in the identification of suspects, negatively affects people of color and] government surveillance is an extraordinary invasion of [privacy]….[and] control of our identities altogether Facial recognition…[and] AI technologies…have some rate of error even when they operate in an unbiased way’ …. ’” [Need] technology companies to slow… ‘the deployment of…facial recognition technology…[because] people’s fundamental rights are being broken. https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/13/as-facial-recognition-technology-becomes-pervasive-microsoft-yes-microsoft-issues-a-call-for-regulation/ American democracy’s built-in bias towards rural Republicans — “[T]he only democratic vice more troubling than the tyranny of the majority: tyranny of the minority**….** [U.S.] electoral system…gives rural voters more clout than urban ones…[and] Republican Party has become disproportionately rural and the Democratic Party disproportionately urban…. …. [I]n the three elections in 2012–16 [Republican] candidates got just 46% of the…vote for the Senate, and…won the presidential vote in 2016 with 49% …. In no other two-party system does the party that receives the most votes routinely find itself out of power . Every president…in the 20th century…won the popular vote In two of the five elections for 21st-century presidents, the minority won the electoral college…. [Since] elected politicians appoint federal judges…this rural bias in the courts…[with] a conservative court…[from] a president and Senate…elected with less than half the…vote may end up litigating the fairness of the voting system ….[A] dangerous new twist in the tribalism and political dysfunction that is poisoning politics …. [T]he built-in bias is obviously bad… for America as a whole …[with] lawmaking is paralyzed…[beyond] party-line votes …[so] most divisive political issues often falls to the courts …. . [In] rancorous political disputes…guns, abortion and climate change — split…along urban-rural lines…[so] voters increasingly sort themselves into urban-rural tribes. Gerrymandering and party primaries reward extremists…partisanship, ineffective federal government and electoral bias…and are hard to fix … Changing the constitution is [impossible]…[but] the voting system for Congress is easier to reform could make both parties competitive in rural and urban areas again, helping to restore majority rule. … One option…is ‘ranked-choice voting’ in which voters list candidates in order of preference. After a first count, the candidate with the least support is eliminated, and his or her ballots are reallocated to those voters’ second choice. This continues until someone has a majority. Candidates need second- and third-choice votes from their rivals’ supporters…[and] look for common ground with…opponents. …. .” Another option is multi-member districts …[that] aggregate groups of voters To maintain the trust…democracy needs to reform itself https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21745753-its-elections-no-longer-convert-popular-will-control-government-american-democracys _Voting is suppose to guarantee you are “represented.” So, if you are over 18 and a citizen you can vote. But, why is…_medium.com One Story the Media Ignores Completely For Trump, Failure Is the Only Option — “[Trump] insulted our allies…[because] disrupting NATO…[is] an end in itself…[like] the escalating trade war…[with] no indication what any of the countries…could do to satisfy him…[and] just wants a trade war**….** [T]hey’re all in evident bad faith…[just] to tear things down_…_making bullying great again …. ….[ [I]f Trump isn’t literally a Russian agent, he certainly behaves like one…[and] obviously dislikes anything that smacks of rule of law H]e pardons criminal bigots while ripping children away from their parents…consistently praises brutal strongmen while heaping scorn on democratic leaders…. .” [He] wants negotiations with our allies and trading partners…to fail. And by the time everyone realizes this, the damage may be irreversible https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/opinion/trump-nato-failure.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront Find more of my ideas on Medium at, . A Passion to Evolve Or click the Follow button below to add me to your feed. Prefer a weekly email newsletter — free, no ads, no spam, & never sell the list — email me with “add me” in the subject line. dochuston1@gmail.com May you live long and prosper!Doc Huston
