'Former president says they're not sending their best'

The FEC has not issued a statement about the CNN debate, a FEC spokesperson told Check Your Fact via email.

'Wife relied on Husband’s promises to pay for her surgery, and Husband has now repudiated that promise'

A post shared on social media purports Palestine has qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. ? Palestine qualifies for the FIFA World Cup for the first time pic.twitter.com/LJqA0NRiru — ?André Tha Man ☭ ? #FreeAssange (@LakeShowBoy24) June 18, 2024 Verdict: False The team was confirmed for the final round of World Cup qualifications, not the […]

the self proclaimed "most pro-union President" might have taken their support for granted

'surge of serious and violent crimes'

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. In the UK, a series of AI trials involving thousands of train passengers who were unwittingly subjected to emotion-detecting software raises profound privacy concerns. The technology, developed by Amazon and employed at various major train stations including London’s Euston and Waterloo, as well as Manchester Piccadilly, used artificial intelligence to scan faces and assess emotional states along with age and gender. Documents obtained by the civil liberties group Big Brother Watch through a freedom of information request unveiled these practices, which might soon influence advertising strategies. Over the last two years, these trials, managed by Network Rail, implemented “smart” CCTV technology and older cameras linked to cloud-based systems to monitor a range of activities. These included detecting trespassing on train tracks, managing crowd sizes on platforms, and identifying antisocial behaviors such as shouting or smoking. The trials even monitored potential bike theft and other safety-related incidents. The data derived from these systems could be utilized to enhance advertising revenues by gauging passenger satisfaction through their emotional states, captured when individuals crossed virtual tripwires near ticket barriers. Despite the extensive use of these technologies, the efficacy and ethical implications of emotion recognition are hotly debated. Critics, including AI researchers, argue the technology is unreliable and have called for its prohibition, supported by warnings from the UK’s data regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office, about the immaturity of emotion analysis technologies. According to Wired, Gregory Butler, CEO of Purple Transform, has mentioned discontinuing the emotion detection capability during the trials and affirmed that no images were stored while the system was active. Meanwhile, Network Rail has maintained that its surveillance efforts are in line with legal standards and are crucial for maintaining safety across the rail network. Yet, documents suggest that the accuracy and application of emotion analysis in real settings remain unvalidated, as noted in several reports from the stations. Privacy advocates are particularly alarmed by the opaque nature and the potential for overreach in the use of AI in public spaces. Jake Hurfurt from Big Brother Watch has expressed significant concerns about the normalization of such invasive surveillance without adequate public discourse or oversight. Jake Hurfurt, Head of Research & Investigations at Big Brother Watch, said: “Network Rail had no right to deploy discredited emotion recognition technology against unwitting commuters at some of Britain’s biggest stations, and I have submitted a complaint to the Information Commissioner about this trial. “It is alarming that as a public body it decided to roll out a large scale trial of Amazon-made AI surveillance in several stations with no public awareness, especially when Network Rail mixed safety tech in with pseudoscientific tools and suggested the data could be given to advertisers.’ “Technology can have a role to play in making the railways safer, but there needs to be a robust public debate about the necessity and proportionality of tools used. “AI-powered surveillance could put all our privacy at risk, especially if misused, and Network Rail’s disregard of those concerns shows a contempt for our rights.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Big Brother on Board: UK Train Stations Use Amazon-Powered AI to Read People’s Mood appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Chinese Coast Guard Boards Supply Boats, Injures Soldiers from the Philippines

On July 28, 1945, a tragic accident happened in New York. A B-25 Mitchell bomber accidentally crashed into the Empire State Building while flying in thick fog. The incident claimed the lives of 14 people. But it is the story of one of the survivors, Betty Lou Oliver, that continues to captivate the attention of people almost 80 years on. That day, Oliver managed to cheat death twice, the second time by surviving a falling elevator.The aircraft was supposed to land at LaGuardia Airport, but it couldn’t due to the foggy conditions. The pilot requested to land at Newark, which led the aircraft across Manhattan. It is believed that it flew very close to the Chrysler Building and after that, the pilot, maybe disoriented by the fog, veered in a trajectory that took the vehicle directly into the north-facing side of the Empire State Building.At 9:40 am, the B52 hit the building between the 78th and 80th floor. The three people on the plane and 11 people in the building died. The resulting fire spread across the building, which was extinguished in 40 minutes; it was the highest structural fire ever brought under control by firefighters. The building's structural integrity was not compromised, despite one engine going through the building and falling on an art studio one block away, and the other engine, the landing gear, and one of the plane occupants falling into one of the elevator shafts.Betty Lou Oliver was 20 at the time and she worked as an elevator operator in the building. Her car was stationary and on the 80th floor when the plane hit. The collision was so powerful that it threw her out of the elevator and as the fire spread, she received severe burns. Once she was reached by first aiders, she was placed in a different elevator and it was sent toward the ground floor. They had no idea that the cables were damaged. As it started to move, the cable snapped and the elevator fell for 75 stories.Elevators have multiple cables that can hold the weight of more than a single car, and they also have emergency brakes. The extreme circumstances of the event led to multiple failures. A perfect storm of bad luck. Oliver was fully conscious and she reported that she felt like the elevator was rushing away from her and that she had to hang onto the sides to keep from floating.Two things likely saved her life that day. First, the air pressure in the tight shaft is believed to have slowed down the cart as it rushed through the basement; the elevator also crashed against an oil buffer at the bottom of the shaft, but the buffer went right through the floor. Second, other reports cite that cables accumulating at the bottom also helped cushion the impact. And maybe she remained lying down as she grabbed the sides, spreading the forces of the impact better across her body. However, Oliver did not come out unscathed; she reported multiple fractures, in the pelvis, back, and neck.      It took several months, but she made a full recovery and lived for another 54 years. It seems like it was not her time to go.This is not the longest elevator fall that was survived by people (there was an 84-floor fall in Chicago a few years back, but emergency gear actually worked there), but it is believed to be the longest free fall of an elevator whose passenger lived to tell the tale.

A video game character artist seemed to confirm the assumed industry bias toward female beauty and femininity. Del Walker, an artist who has worked on Star Wars and Batman games, admitted that he has found it difficult to pitch beautiful women in the industry without them being finalized into less-attractive versions.Walker was responding to an image of a soccer player's girlfriend, a black woman named Tolami Benson, and remarked that many of his proposed characters have their "original beauty" removed."There's been a handful of times I've pitched black women characters that look like this, then after 10 iterations the concept or model comes back without a speck of the original beauty I pitched," he wrote on X.He then shared another picture of the woman compared to a black, female video game character. Walker revealed it wasn't only the face of the characters that have been changed, but their entire likeness, age, and attitude.'They also assume adding stereotypical ethno-features with a blunt force is some sort of hail mary.'"I'm not taking about mild changes. I'm talking about pose, aura, style, softness, age, flair. I hate giving gamergate men fuel — but it's very difficult to pitch beautiful or vain black women in games without them coming back like grocery store aunties. There is room for both."Western video game developers have been increasingly accused of making women less attractive in games, while still pushing stereotypical character models for men.Gamers have pointed out the many examples of dampening beauty, such as Star Wars Outlaws character model Humberly González.A recent remake of the classic Perfect Dark video game was also dragged for hardening the jawline of beloved character Joanna Dark.At the same time, Japanese and South Korean gaming studios have declined to go down the same route. Examples include the 2024 hit Stellar Blade (South Korea), which was accused of sexism for its lead female character, despite the developers simply staying true to the look of the model they used.Model and singer Stefanie Joosten was also nearly identical to her in-game version in Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 5 (Japan).An indie developer named Richmond Lee added his own anecdote and responded to Walker that this seemed to be a problem consistent at Western development studios."Dude, a friend of mine, an Asian woman, was just telling me about how this happens to her when she designs Asian women for Western games! They always have her work redesigned by a Western artist to look more stereotypical then pat themselves on the back for good representation!""Yes. They also assume adding stereotypical ethno-features with a blunt force is some sort of hail mary, when a range of diversity exists inside diversity," Walker replied.Walker also worked on Warner Bros. video game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which lost the studio a reported $200 million. The game worked with diversity consultants and was widely criticized for its storyline and hypocritical DEI-focused approach.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!