Driverless Cars and, Oddly Enough, California's
Legislature in Harmony with its Voters
Posted By: DVC, 9/15/2023 11:17:20 AM
Two big questions (and lots of little ones) are on my mind today. The first big one is, how often is a bill practically unanimous in a state legislature? There’s a bill in California that seeks to ban driverless trucks over 10,000 lbs. Since cargo trucks can usually weigh as much as 80,000 lbs total (that’s counting everything – the vehicle, the cargo, the driver, a full tank of fuel, etc.), this bill covers everything from straight trucks to semi-trailers and similar big rigs. The ban – through at least 2031 – passed the state assembly in Sacramento back in May, 69 to 4.
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Two big questions (and lots of little ones) are on my mind today.
The first big one is, how often is a bill practically unanimous in a state legislature?
There’s a bill in California that seeks to ban driverless trucks over 10,000 lbs. Since cargo trucks can usually weigh as much as 80,000 lbs total (that’s counting everything – the vehicle, the cargo, the driver, a full tank of fuel, etc.), this bill covers everything from straight trucks to semi-trailers and similar big rigs.
The ban – through at least 2031 – passed the state assembly in Sacramento back in May, 69 to 4.
CNN’s Poppy Harlow interviewed New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Tuesday and cornered her, reading the New Mexico Constitution to her on-air and asking if her ban on concealed carry violates the Constitution.
Harlow read from Article II, Section 6, of New Mexico’s Constitution, saying, “No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense…No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.”
She then asked Grisham, “Are you not in violation of both the U.S. Constitution and your state’s Constitution?”
Grisham responded, “I don’t believe that we are.”
Climate Eugenics
4 replies
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AI Is a gun, not a nuke
6 replies
It’s in vogue, as Artificial Intelligence becomes more sophisticated, to compare AI systems to nuclear weapons. Such analogies have come from traditional media like Bloomberg, niche internet microcelebrities, and the world’s most famous AI doomer, Eliezer Yudkowsky. But this comparison does not hold up to scrutiny.
Game Theory -- the study of how rational actors interact with each other -- shows us why AI is not the threat it is made out to be. AI is more like a gun than a nuclear weapon.
Nuclear weapons are unlike all other weapons because of their destructive power. If two nations have a nuclear exchange, both sides lose: Missiles will be in the air,
The inevitable EV implosion
17 replies
The electric vehicle honeymoon is over. Don’t expect the marriage itself to last much longer either.
The mass conversion from internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEs) to electric vehicles was never more than a Democrat/environmentalist hallucination anyway. It was the most ill-conceived government policy objective in modern history.
The transition should have been a non-starter. It’s riddled with numerous deal killers. It’s like having a dozen fatal diseases all at the same time.
Any goal as massive as a total conversion from ICE vehicles to EVs requires careful planning and infrastructure preparation. It would necessitate a rapid doubling of electricity generation and grid expansion.
That's how The Science™ works, boys and girls. Respect it, or be made to answer to the Department of Homeland Security, bigot.
If you live on the East Coast of the U.S., chances are you've seen and/or heard tell of the increasing-in-frequency local news reports on the dead-whale-washing-up-on-shore phenomenon.
Via Michael Shellenberger:
"A new documentary, 'Thrown To The Wind,' by Director and Producer Jonah Markowitz, proves that the US government officials have been lying. The full film, which is at the bottom of this article, documents surprisingly loud, high-decibel sonar emitted by wind industry vessels when measured with state-of-the-art hydrophones.
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So, they got proactive, according to this report from KTLA:
Huntington Beach voted to ban mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandates across the city on Wednesday as cases continue rising across the state.
Council members approved the ban 4-3 following an hours-long meeting that began on Tuesday night.
The motion introduced by Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark was met with both supporters and detractors
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The idea that carbon dioxide (CO2) drives global warming or “climate change” now enjoys unquestioned authority and near universal approval. As burgeoning public policy, nationally and in some states, it is seeping into what once were private matters of choice (e.g., light bulbs, kitchen cooktops). Many scientists, primarily physicists, consider the belief pure supposition, however, and colossally off track.
John Stuart Mill observed in chapter six of his System of Logic, on ratiocination or logical thinking, that a doctrine may endure because inferences from it lead to ostensibly sound conclusions -- while belief in the doctrine’s truth may exist only by excluding evidence it is false.
Hyping a Hurricane Nothingburger
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The Media Says The Deadly Hurricane Hilary Is Reeking Havoc All Across San Diego County, Souther California, The LA River Is Out Of Control….
Meanwhile California Residents Continue To Post Their Own Videos…
The Media Says The Deadly Hurricane Hilary Is Reeking Havoc All Across San Diego County, Souther California, The LA River Is Out Of Control….
Meanwhile California Residents Continue To Post Their Own Videos…
China is a problem. It’s an immediate problem for Taiwan, but it’s also a long-term problem for America, given that it’s our greatest geopolitical enemy (no matter what Democrats say about Russia! Russia! Russia!). However, Ben Shapiro has put together an excellent short video detailing the structural problems that bedevil China and that put it both at risk of implosion and explosion.
Over the years, I’ve written often about China, both the threat it poses and the weaknesses it has. I’ve covered its demographic problems, the way it’s overreached itself with its belt-and-road policies, its shaky internal economy, and its showy but surprisingly weak military.
The COVID mask holdouts
19 replies
My son came back from shopping today a little stunned, as though he had seen a ghost. He was shocked to see a person in the grocery store still wearing a COVID mask. He immediately leapt to an analogy that has kept me laughing all day.
Long after World War II ended, Japanese soldiers remained hidden in the jungles and caves of the Pacific islands, either unaware or unwilling to accept that Japan had surrendered.[snip] The last known of these holdouts, Teruo Nakamura, surrendered in 1975, [snip] it is safe to assume many more never came out and died unknown in hiding...or who knows?
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
A distressing new crime trend known as 'flash rob mobs' is on the rise and likely to cost California a whopping $19billion a year, guidance from the LAPD warns.
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The groups have been pillaging stores including Nordstrom and Versace. In response to the recent spate, officials at the Los Angeles Police Department have formed a taskforce, named the the Organized Retail Crime Taskforce (ORCT).
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) issued an apology for vaping and displaying disruptive behavior during a Beetlejuice production, according to a statement her campaign team released Friday evening. Boebert apologized for her behavior and expressed regret for not telling the truth about whether she had vaped during the production, which later led to her removal from the crowd by theater staff. The apology comes just days after it was reported the Colorado Republican had been removed from the theater for “vaping, singing, [and] causing a disturbance” to other patrons, according to a city incident report. “The past few days have been
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California fast food workers will earn
at least $20 per hour. How's that minimum
wage compare? 19 replies
at least $20 per hour. How's that minimum
wage compare? 19 replies
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OUT OF TOUCH: Oprah Winfrey Baffled by
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Backlash to Her Request for Maui Donations (VIDEO) 16 replies
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Only 800 of New York's tens of thousands
of illegal immigrants have applied for
work authorization 15 replies
of illegal immigrants have applied for
work authorization 15 replies
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Texas RINOs, including Bush and Rove allies, want Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gone. So they made up some accusations against him without evidence in an attempt to impeach him.
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Radical climate activist Greta Thunberg has reportedly been arrested and charged with disobeying the police for the second time in less than two months.
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“The climate crisis is a matter of life and death for countless people. We choose to physically stop fossil fuel infrastructure. We are reclaiming the future,” she reportedly said at the time.
A month later, she was “fined 1,500 Swedish crowns ($134) by a Swedish court on July 24 for failing to leave [the] protest when ordered by police,” according to Reuters.
Comments:
Unfortunately, this sensible ban has two serious flaws. First, it only applies to over 10,000 lb vehicles and only lasts until 2031.
But it's a great start, driverless vehicles are a very bad idea.