United States | News & Politics

Dec 16 (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) said on Monday it had formed a subsidiary that will help U.S. defense companies incorporate artificial intelligence into their operations.

Companies across sectors have leaned more on AI over the past few years to help optimize their workflow. However, defense companies have remained cautious given the sensitive data required to train models in the sector.

Earlier this month, privately held defense tech company Anduril Industries partnered with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to develop and deploy advanced artificial intelligence solutions for national security missions.

The space entrepreneur Elon Musk is unlikely to receive government security clearances if he so applied, even as his SpaceX launch company blasts military and spy agency payloads into orbit, according to a report on Monday.

The billionaire, a close ally of Donald Trump, who is set to join the incoming administration as an efficiency expert and recently became the first person to exceed $400bn in self-made personal wealth, is reported by the Wall Street Journal to have been advised by SpaceX lawyers not to seek highest-level security clearances owing to personal drug use and contacts with foreign nationals.

Musk currently holds a “top-secret” clearance that took years to obtain after he discussed use of marijuana on a 2018 podcast with Joe Rogan, according to the outlet. But that may not be enough to have access to information about US government payloads in his rockets.

Typically, candidates undergoing federal security screenings by the department of defense may not receive clearance if the agency expresses concerns about drug or alcohol use, criminal conduct, psychological conditions, sexual behavior or allegiance to the US.

some sources

• https://seekingalpha.com/article/4359594-real-unemployment-rate-is-21-percent-and-heading-higher
• https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/30/what-its-like-to-be-evicted-during-the-coivd-19-pandemic.html
• https://firstfocus.org/update/nearly-5-million-children-have-lost-health-care-due-to-unwinding/
• https://jedfoundation.org/mental-health-and-suicide-statistics/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2021/01/26/report-american-billionaires-have-added-more-than-1-trillion-in-wealth-during-pandemic/

Two faculty members at New York University (NYU) were arrested on Thursday during a demonstration on campus where pro-Palestinian supporters were demanding that the university divest from companies profiting from the Israeli war on Gaza, according to the university's Faculty for Justice in Palestine chapter.

The arrests occurred during a sit-in at NYU, where students were nonviolently blocking access to the Bobst Library. According to the American Association of University Professors, the professors were not involved in the protest itself but were there to ensure the safety of the student demonstrators.

Never forget

A new report by The New York Times reveals Aaron Siri, an attorney for President Trump’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services Robert F., Kennedy, Jr., filed a petition to the FDA in 2022 to revoke approval of the polio vaccine on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network — a move that threatens decades of progress in nearly eradicating one of the world’s most devastating diseases. Siri is currently assisting Kennedy in selecting nominees for top health policy positions in the incoming Trump administration.

Public Citizen health experts issued the following statements: “The United States has been a leader in the global fight to eradicate polio, which is poised to become only the second disease in history to be eliminated from the face of the earth after smallpox,” said Public Citizen Campaign Director for Global Vaccines Access Liza Barrie. “Undermining polio vaccination efforts now risks reversing decades of progress and unraveling one of the greatest public health achievements of all time.”

"Trump’s pick for FDA-head, Dr. Marty Makary, recently tried to dismiss RFK Jr.’s dangerous position on vaccines as a thing of the past.” said Public Citizen Senior Health Researcher Michael T. Abrams. “This reporting on the Trump transition strategy suggests that threat from RFK Jr.'s positions is clear and present.”

Public Citizen calls on the Senate to reject Kennedy’s confirmation and ensure that our federal health leadership is grounded in science and truly dedicated to protecting public health.

Like bottomless-brunching weekend warriors, the Democrats only binge on “Resistance” in order to purge it from the work-week political landscape. This, and not winning, is their primary function.

The tweet (and sources for the graph)