Tab Clearing to Start the Week

FILED UNDER: Tab Clearing, ,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. CSK says:

    The Charlie Sykes piece from MSNBC is quite good. Are Trump and his fans still crowing about how he was “exonerated” of rape?

    3
  2. Kathy says:

    ‘Judeo-Christian’ roots will ensure U.S. military AI is used ethically, general says.

    No doubt.

    But this is an ethic that sanctions chattel slavery, racism, segregation, Jim Crow, redlining, Black codes, KKK, lynchings, rape, and more, and that’s just towards one ethnic group.

    4
  3. MarkedMan says:

    @CSK: Is this really a surprise? Ask any woman raped by a Division 1 University varsity player whether it turned the fans against the player or the team.

    7
  4. Kylopod says:

    @Kathy: Let’s just say Judeo-Christianity™ guarantees Asimov’s laws of robotics.

    3
  5. Kathy says:

    @Kylopod:

    Do you think robots will carry DNA analyses, like the Terminator in T3, or they will simply look at everyone’s genitals, before deciding whom to protect or obey?

  6. gVOR10 says:

    Timing is everything. Perhaps Gen. Moore’s comment on Judeo-Christian roots would be more credible without Oppenheimer reminding us who nuked Japan.

    3
  7. Slugger says:

    I think Ozempic and similar GLP-1 receptor agonists are going to become a very large part of drug expenditures. They appear to be genuinely effective against obesity which ensures a huge market. I’m open to rethinking the drug patent laws. Dean Baker has written a lot on this topic: https://cepr.net/government-to-consider-alternatives-to-patent-monopoly-financing-of-drug-development/

  8. CSK says:

    @MarkedMan:

    No. I think the Trumpkins believe that E. Jean Carroll was an epic liar and the jury and judge stupidly–or corruptly–bought her lies.

    2
  9. steve says:

    The article on drugs was good. While many people pay lip service to the idea of markets and being able to negotiate prices for stuff, drug companies have been shielded from having Medicare have the ability to negotiate drug prices. So Congress finally passed a law so that Medicare can negotiate. However, they did make it complicated and it will start out with a trial (which I think is a good idea). It will largely apply only to 10 different drugs. This idea came from, I think, because drug costs are so heavily tilted towards the most expensive ones.

    We spend roughly $200 billion a year on drugs for Medicare. About $45 billion of that, 22%, is spent on the top 10, out of over 3500 approved drugs. Assuming it works as planned drug companies will still be able to charge prices in line with or mostly a bit above what they charge European/Canadian/other first would countries. Sometimes quite a bit more but less than they do now. I honestly don’t know if this was the best way to do this but we really need to address costs so I would support this program.

    Steve

    2
  10. DrDaveT says:

    @Kathy: The Air Force (and especially the Air Force Academy) was taken over by evangelical Christians more than a decade ago. Some progress has been made in restoring a semblance of secularity, but there are still a disproportionate number of god-bothering Jesustan officers serving.

    Fortunately, US policy on ethical use of military AI does not depend on our Judaeo-Christianity.

  11. DrDaveT says:

    @gVOR10:

    Perhaps Gen. Moore’s comment on Judeo-Christian roots would be more credible without Oppenheimer reminding us who nuked Japan.

    Are you suggesting that ending the war in that way was unethical, and that it was somehow tied to Judaism, Christianity, or both?