#ArtificialIntelligence and the #Trajectory of #HumanCivilization

Australian Court Upholds Sacking of Academic for Criticising US and Israeli Militarism

By Mike Head, December 04 2020

The ruling backed the University of Sydney’s February 2019 dismissal of Dr. Tim Anderson, an economics department senior lecturer, primarily on the basis of allegations that his criticisms of US militarism and Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people were “offensive.”

US-Backed Opposition in Venezuela Is in Freefall, Have Only Themselves to Blame By Pablo Vivanco, December 04 2020 Most people around the globe would agree that 2020 has been a year to forget. This is certainly, if not especially, true for Venezuela’s opposition, and the upcoming parliamentary vote will only add to their misfortunes.

“Operation Condor”: The CIA’s Secret Global War Against Latin America’s Left By Branko Marcetic, December 04 2020 Forty-five years ago, under a cloak of secrecy, Operation Condor was officially launched: a global campaign of violent repression against the Latin American left by the region’s quasi-fascist military dictatorships. The US government not only knew about the program — it helped to engineer it.

England’s GPs ‘Left in the Dark’ over COVID Vaccine Rollout By James Cusick, December 04 2020 England’s GPs, who are expected to play a pivotal role in the roll out of coronavirus vaccines, say they are in the dark about how exactly they will fit into the government’s plans, according to the British Medical Association.

Injecting Liquidity into the Real Economy: Why the Federal Reserve Needs Public Banks By Ellen Brown, December 04 2020 The Fed’s policy tools – interest rate manipulation, quantitative easing, and “Special Purpose Vehicles” – have all failed to revive local economies suffering from government-mandated shutdowns. The Fed must rely on private banks to inject credit into Main Street, and private banks are currently unable or unwilling to do it.

New Judicial Watch Study Finds 353 U.S. Counties in 29 States with Voter Registration Rates Exceeding 100% By Judicial Watch, December 04 2020 Judicial Watch announced today that a September 2020 study revealed that 353 U.S. counties had 1.8 million more registered voters than eligible voting-age citizens. In other words, the registration rates of those counties exceeded 100% of eligible voters.

Jab Me if You Can: How Political Endorsements Defeat Vaccinations By Dr. Binoy Kampmark, December 04 2020 Trust of citizens and their political representatives is already at drought stricken levels. Now, politicians are hoping to convince citizens that being publicly vaccinated in an effort to return to “COVID normalcy” will somehow restore confidence long shattered.

Trump’s Support for Israel’s Killing of Iranian Scientist Could Lead to War By Prof. Marjorie Cohn, December 04 2020 Although the Israeli government has not claimed credit for the illegal killing, there is little doubt of its culpability. Trump implicitly praised the assassination, retweeting a comment by Israeli journalist and intelligence expert Yossi Melman that the killing was a “major psychological and professional blow” to Iran.

No Escape from Our Techno-Feudal World By Pepe Escobar, December 04 2020 The political economy of the Digital Age remains virtually terra incognita. In Techno-Feudalism, published three months ago in France (no English translation yet), Cedric Durand, an economist at the Sorbonne, provides a crucial, global public service as he sifts through the new Matrix that controls all our lives.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, and the Trajectory of Human Civilization

By Prof. Ruel F. Pepa, December 04 2020

But the issue at hand in the present undertaking is to resolve the problem of “conscious machines”. The present fundamental issue is therefore hinged on the question, Can machines be conscious? Without delving too deeply into the technical nitty-gritty and getting too strict on the understanding of what consciousness is, it is hereby supposed that it will not totally sound ridiculous or outrageous to venture to theorize that yes, machines can be conscious.