Tag: HUMAN

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Ethical Concerns Raised Over Elon Musk’s Neuralink

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Interesting segment on ABC’s GMA show delved into billionaire Elon Musk’s cutting edge brain technology–Neuralink implants–that are supposed to revolutionize how we deal with neurological disorders. The GMA segment came against the backdrop of news reports that the first Neuralink implant on a human had taken place.

The guest, Dr Leah Croll described Neuralink technology thus (0:38): “Basically this is the concept of using a brain machine interface to help people. Neuralink is a device that gets implanted within the brain, and then reads the electrical signals that our brain cells are constantly sending to one another, and then it can translate those signals into actions outside of the body, in this case the ability to control a computer or smartphone.”

Dr Croll added that this is by no means novel technology saying, “It [Neuralink] is absolutely not the first player on this field. This area of research really started back in the 90s but in recent years the pace of that research has just accelerated immensely…”

But as we know all too well, with every cutting edge technology, there are bound to be negative effects, and to that, Dr Jen Ashton popped this million dollar question (1:50): “Physically, what are the risks, and ethically, what are the risks that you can see with this type of technology?”

Dr Croll responded that because we are dealing with brain implants here, we should treat Neuralink procedures as any other brain surgery, and worry about all the physical risks we normally associate with such surgeries–bleeding, damage to brain tissue etc. As for the ethical concerns raised by Neuralink, she said (2:26): “When we get into the ethical realm, that raises so many questions because we are in completely uncharted territory here. There’s concerns about the data that this device is collecting and how secure it might be, there’s potential for privacy concerns to come into play, bad actors could potentially come into play and hack these devices. So there’s a lot of discussions that the medical community is going to have to have with the legal community, the ethical community, the technological community, so we can work together to figure out how we regulate something like this.”

Any reasonable person watching this GMA segment would conclude that even though Elon Musk’s Neuralink technology, on its face,exhibits the potential for significantly improving how we treat neurological disorders, the technology comes with serious ethical concerns that necessitate guardrails before proceeding.

This also means time has finally come for the government to come clean regarding the plight of targeted individuals, who have complained for decades about being the subjects of these “mind reading” technologies while being laughed out of the room as some crazy conspiracy theorists. This GMA segment establishes conclusively that we do indeed have technology that can read minds and more importantly, that this research has been going on since the 90s. It’s also worth pointing out that while Dr Croll correctly insists that there must be guardrails put in place before this technology is deployed to the public, targeted individuals have endured this very invasive technology with zero ethical guardrails. Should they be compensated for the irreparable harm this invasive technology has subjected them to? Should Congress hold hearings into government research projects in this field such as DARPA, to ensure that there have not been abuses? These are the questions one hopes the media will pose to the government as we delve deeper into the Neuralink era.

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Trump Accused Of “Sports Washing” Saudi Arabia’s Complicity In 9/11 Attacks

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Terry Strada, the National Chair of 9/11 Families United On MSNBC’s Alex Witt Reports(07/30/22)

MSNBC’s Liz McLaughlin reported on Alex Witt Reports show(07/30/22) that outraged families of the victims of the September 11th attacks(2001) are protesting the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tournament currently being held at former President Trump’s Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey. The protesters are essentially accusing former President Trump and the participating golfers, of “sports washing” Saudi Arabia’s role in the horrific 9/11 attacks, and their atrocious human rights record generally.

Asked by host Alex Witt, how the families were responding to the tournament, Liz McLaughlin responded (video at 0:31):“The families say they are disgusted, disappointed, that it feels like a gut punch after losing a loved one in that horrible act, to see a former President of the United States, who by the way, has the presidential seal emblazoned on golf carts, embroidered in golf towels at this tournament, which is less than 50 miles from ground zero, to have him take what they call blood money. LIV is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, investing an estimated 2 billion in LIV Golf so far, and this new pro golf circuit is set to try to dethrone the PGA, but it has come with a lot of controversy, and Trump is set to host another one of these, later in the year.”

Trump has defended his actions saying, “nobody has gotten to the bottom of 9/11 unfortunately, and they should have”–essentially arguing that it’s unfair/inaccurate to place the 9/11 blame on Saudi Arabia. He also added that all the proceeds from the golf tournament will be going to charity, so he was not profiting from it.

As Liz McLaughlin correctly pointed out however, even though the U.S. government has never singled out Saudi Arabia as the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks, it is a fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were from the Kingdom, and the mastermind of the attacks, Osama bin Laden, was also born there. It has also been established that a lot of the funding for bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terrorist network, came from Saudi nationals. So any reasonable person would suspect that the Saudis were behind the 9/11 attacks. And even if one gives Saudi Arabia a pass over 9/11, it is impossible to ignore the Kingdom’s atrocious human rights record, which includes the brutal murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

Terry Strada, the National Chair of 9/11 Families United, slammed Trump’s assertion that nobody has gotten to the bottom of the 9/11 attacks, telling host Alex Witt(3:02): “He sounds foolish saying anything like that. He met with the families. He met with me in the White House and we went there for the sole purpose of asking him to declassify FBI documents that were the investigative reports into this…so he sounds completely foolish when he says that nobody has looked into it. We asked him to look into it. It was his job as President to look into it. He failed us miserably back then.”

Bottom line folks, the pundits on Fox News recently made a big deal out of President Biden’s fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman(MBS) on his official visit to Saudi Arabia. It will be interesting to see if the same pundits also make a big deal out of former President Trump’s “sports washing” of Saudi’s atrocious human rights record and involvement in the 9/11 attacks. 

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Senator Chris Murphy Wants U.S. Led Probe Into Shireen Abu Akleh’s Death

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Senator Chris Murphy(D-CT) appeared on MSNBC Prime(07/13/22) to discuss President Biden’s trip to the Middle East, and especially his trip to Saudi Arabia which has drawn condemnation, given Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s implication in Washington Post Columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal murder. During his interview , Senator Murphy also delved into another controversial topic, and that is, the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli troops.

An investigation conducted by the Israel government into Akleh’s killing concluded that IDF troops shot her by accident. Naturally, this conclusion has generated a lot of criticism from around the globe, and especially from press freedom advocates. Senator Murphy is calling for an independent U.S. led investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh’s death.

Asked by host Ali Velshi why it was important for the U.S. to conduct an independent investigation, Senator Murphy responded(video at 4:57):“Senator Murphy told host Ali Velshi(video at ):”First and foremost, any time an American dies overseas, we should apply the highest degree of scrutiny to make sure we get to the bottom of the story as to how an American citizen was killed, and in this case, given that it might have come at the hands of foreign security forces, that inquiry is even more important. We are simply asking that we do a thorough review that we are not confident the Israeli authorities have done themselves. So I think it’s important to get to the bottom of this even if the bottom involves some unsavory truths about what an important ally of the United States may have done, or elements of their security forces may have done to contribute to this American’s death.”

Bottom line folks, Israel has been, and remains America’s closest and dearest foreign ally. Ordinarily, Yours Truly would be inclined to accept Israel’s explanation of Shireen Abu Akleh’s death at face value but where, as here, the death in question is of a U.S. citizen, Yours Truly has no choice but to agree with Senator Murphy, that the United States needs to conduct its independent investigation. however unpleasant the results may be. Israel and the United States will forever remain close friends, so there’s no harm in finding out the truth behind Shireen Abu Akleh’s death. The Biden administration owes her family the truth regarding the circumstances of her death overseas.

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