Links for Friday, April 12
Defense of Sotomayor, AI dreams of the super-rich, the horror of Section 702, notes on the 'rules based order' and more
Today we offer a defense of Sonia Sotomayor, elegant AI dreams of elite salvation, a great discussion of the horror of FISA’s Section 702, a note on the ‘rules-based order’ and more. Plus we pity the fool.
Links
• Hispanic Lawmakers Resist Calls on Justice Sotomayor to Retire (Bloomberg Law)
We recently discussed Nate Silver’s call for Sonia Sotomayor to resign her position on the Supreme Court to preserve the seat in case Trump is elected.
The response to Silver is swift:
“Justice Sotomayor’s decision to retire will be made as a wise Latina, in conversation with her doctor, her family, and her faith, without the interference of politicians who have no idea about her health condition,” [Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.)] wrote in a Sunday post on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. …
Sotomayor is the court’s first Latina justice and while she isn’t facing the kind of mounting public pressure to step aside some of her former colleagues experienced, one legal advocacy group said it’s a conversation progressives are having.
Hat tip to Naked Capitalism commenter flora for the link.
File under “Sorry, no. Now please go away.”
• The World Central Kitchen Murders, As Told in Newspaper Clippings (Richard Eskow)
Did you catch that remark about “unintentionally hitting innocent people”? To Netanyahu — the man we’re arming — the children who have been killed, burned, or lost limbs in Gaza aren’t “innocent.” They’re Palestinian.
Or maybe he meant, “unintentionally hitting innocent people.” As opposed to all the innocent people they’re intentionally killing. Who can say for sure? Not the Biden Administration, apparently.
File under “Who put those trucks under our bombs?”
• An AI view of how the rich survive apocalypse (YouTube)
This video is billed as “Ai Generated Commercial Showcasing an Impenetrable Bunker Specifically for The Elite.”
The thing is flush with great quotes, AI reading the room just perfectly. “The walls aren’t just walls. Your refuge is a masterpiece. … Our living rooms boast bulletproof windows with panoramic views of the chaos. Because you deserve to witness the end in style.”
And notice the target, the “you,” that this ad is aimed at (see image at top). Ending in style indeed.
File under “Robots are replaying our dreams to us.”