Blended on common sense media

From the COVID-19 pandemic and a deeply struggling economy to the critical need for racial justice and immediate action on climate change, President Biden Joe Biden Biden offers support to union organizing efforts Senate Democrats nix 'Plan B' on minimum wage hike Kavanaugh dismays conservatives by dodging pro-Trump election lawsuits MORE now confronts one of the most daunting inheritances of any U.S. president in at least a century. His administration also faces a looming strategic challenge: whether the United States and its allies and partners will be able to find common cause in accelerating the development of next-generation technologies. If the United States and its democratic partners develop and deploy next wave technologies first, they will generate significant strategic advantages and strengthen their position in rule-setting forums. In turn, this will enable them to help craft norms and regulations for emerging technologies that are reflective of … [Read more...] about To outpace China on technology, the US needs a ‘full-stack’ strategy

Stoney Jesseph will soon be toasting “Salud” on South Broadway. The Denver pub owner, who started Stoney’s Bar and Grill on Lincoln Avenue in 2010 and added an outpost in Uptown in 2018, has leased the former Gozo space at 30 S. Broadway St. and plans to open Stoney’s Cantina. The owners of Gozo planned to rebrand the space as a Lime and started the renovations, but didn’t reopen. “This is the worst possible time to open a restaurant and it doesn’t make sense to most people,” Jesseph said. “But the reason it worked for us is the space was already remodeled and it doesn’t need a ton of capital to develop.” The 45-year-old said his vision for this location will be a departure from his sports pubs, known for TVs blaring with every sport possible. He said he’ll invest up to $100,000 to get the space ready with a rustic theme with lots of wood décor. “It’ll be a great place to watch a game, but not as rah rah rah as the other two,” he said. As for the food: “A blend of Mexican … [Read more...] about Stoney’s to open third pub in Denver along South Broadway

U.K.-based fact checking startup Logically launched a new service Monday aimed at helping governments and NGOs identify and counter online misinformation using a blend of artificial intelligence and human expertise. The Logically Intelligence (LI) platform collects data from tens of thousands of websites and social media platforms then feeds it through an algorithm to identify potentially dangerous content and organize it into narrative groups. “Over the last few years, the phenomenon of mis- and disinformation has firmly taken root, evolved and proliferated, and is increasingly causing real world harm,” Lyric Jain, founder and CEO of Logically, said. “Our intensive focus on combating these untruths has culminated in the development of Logically Intelligence, based on several years of frontline operations fighting against the most egregious attacks on facts and reality.” ADVERTISEMENT The company views the service as a way to help institutions, including social media … [Read more...] about Startup bets on artificial intelligence to counter misinformation

Kent Sepkowitz is a CNN medical analyst and a physician and infection control expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN. (CNN) The United States Covid-19 vaccination program is gaining steam. As of Tuesday, more than 40 million people have received the first dose, representing about 13% of the country. At the same time, national rates of new infection have decreased , presenting a real opportunity to control the pandemic. Dr. Kent Sepkowitz With this progress, though, has come no small amount of consternation. A new set of daunting questions has arisen, the product of an increasing number of vaccines and vaccinees. Reasonably enough, people now want to know the specific dos and don'ts of daily living for the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. The nub is this: are we re-approaching the glory days of before this pandemic began or is the lockdown … [Read more...] about I got vaccinated. What now?

As the Biden administration considers options to respond to the growing threat of violent domestic extremism demonstrated during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, several key issues are emerging. Recent proposals have focused on how best to label groups like those that participated in the attack. But this does not address the underlying causes of the extremism that drove the violence. Congress has understandably been hesitant to enact a statutory framework to allow for the designation of domestic terrorist organizations or for the prosecution of domestic terrorism due to a variety of constitutional and law enforcement concerns. Although the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) continue to build and prosecute cases against individuals responsible for the attack on the Capitol , comprehensive solutions that could prevent further incidents have not been well developed. Unaddressed political, economic and social grievances could leave open the possibility of similar attacks. Some … [Read more...] about Why labeling domestic extremists ‘terrorists’ could backfire