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Politicians must understand our priorities and get their own straight

While politicians continue to behave as though they think our priorities are socio-cultural issues and remaining as divided as possible, ordinary people are trying to survive in a world where the challenges are something more along the lines of “Do I have enough money to fill up the gas tank this week and still get groceries on Friday?” A recent poll commissioned by Groundwork Ohio and the First Five Years Fund showed childcare remains among the significant challenges for families attempting to keep their heads above water. “When families are talking about the cost of living, ...

Doomsday scenarios over AI should not be taken seriously

In the satirical 1964 anti-war film “Dr. Strangelove,” fears of a “Doomsday machine,” an automated, unstoppable device programmed to trigger global nuclear annihilation if the Soviet Union is attacked, gripped U.S. leaders and the Soviet ambassador in the American “war room.” Predictions of doomsdays by various means have gripped, even entertained, the world for centuries. We are just getting over bogus predictions of “climate change” disasters and now comes artificial intelligence. AI insiders are telling TV interviewers that AI can potentially destroy the human ...

Go ahead and close Kennedy Center

Go ahead, President Donald Trump, keep the Kennedy Center closed. Don’t give it money for necessary repairs. This is low-hanging fruit for Americans done with your extortion schemes. They don’t have to submit to small-bore intimidation like this. They can just shrug at the demand that your name, with words of gratitude, be placed on the building’s facade. To use a different metaphor, they have bigger fish to fry. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is suffering serious structural damage. Some believe the Washington cultural center can remain open while necessary ...

Travel fun in Ohio not limited to summertime months

It might not feel like it just yet, but fall is on its way. With the transition to colorful leaves and (for many of us) more comfortable weather comes yet another opportunity for Ohio to shine — especially for those who didn’t quite work the traveling bug out of their system over the summer. According to TourismOhio, the state offers “gold medal” leaf peeping opportunities, particularly at its 76 FREE state parks and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. “Everyone has their own idea of the perfect fall getaway, and that’s what makes Ohio such a special place to visit,” said ...

Should our federal government regulate artificial intelligence?

American businesses have long practiced what political scientists call regulatory capture. A company that cannot repeal a law takes control of the people the government put in charge of enforcing it. The airlines did it to the Civil Aeronautics Board, which in 40 years never approved a new trunk carrier. The health insurance industry helped shape the Affordable Care Act and came away with a federal mandate requiring Americans to buy its product. What is new is watching it happen in real time in artificial intelligence. Anthropic’s Dario Amodei published an essay last week called ...

Orchids & onions

ORCHID: To Carl Foote of Boardman for embarking on an ambitious and compassionate 700-mile bicycle trek to benefit research to battle the debilitating Alzheimer’s disease. Foote, 74, a veteran benefit bike rider, is in the middle of his excursion across the entire perimeter of Lake Erie in Ohio, Michigan, Canada, New York and Pennsylvania. This isn’t Foote’s first rolling rodeo. In 2024, he biked 2,200 miles across the country on U.S. Route 62 for the same mission. As he put it before launching his Lake Erie project, “Every mile of this ride represents a step forward in the fight ...