used blender's mcp to make this

This has been a year of explosive grassroots organizing forcing multiple new issues to the forefront, with elected officials scrambling to keep up with the anti-data center and anti-Flock rebellions. Some of them are responding - almost 400 cities and towns have canceled Flock contracts, with more than 125 this month alone. Others are defending this vast violation of our privacy or staying quiet to see if this fury will pass. With an election coming, we have a chance to send a powerful message that they can push back against the surveillance state and go down with it. As the DeFlock team points out, these automatic license plate readers are approved by city councilors and sheriffs in races often decided by a few hundred votes, and we’re going to show them standing with ALPRs is a career-killer.

DeFlock has rolled out an anti-ALPR election toolkit, highlighting questions we can ask the candidates and guidance to tracking when the trackers were brought to our community and with whose support. ⚙️ Let’s check it out and put it to work here. ⚙️

PUT ALPRS FRONT AND CENTER IN NOVEMBER

Want to get plugged into this fight? 🫱🏻‍🫲🏿 The ACLU is holding an action call about taking on ALPRs TONIGHT at 8PM we can sign up for here. We can also find a list of local groups already in this fight here or contact DeFlock to get connected to the folks doing the work here. 🫱🏾‍🫲🏼

I only learned about this in the last year, but there is a section, detailed below, buried in HR3684 that forces automakers to put surveillance tech into new automobiles. We all know at this point to that we have little to no digital rights here in the USA, and that is going to expand to the cockpit of our vehicles moving forward. Cameras and mics, which by the looks of it may render the vehicle "bricked" if we try to bypass them. Mics come with the modern convenience of connecting your phone to your car, but I don't want my car to broadcast a video feed of the inside of my car to anyone. What can we do to repeal this portion of HR3684? Can a small portion of a larger bill be pulled back?

H.R.3684 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

SEC. 24220. ADVANCED IMPAIRED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY.

(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

(1) alcohol-impaired driving fatalities represent approximately 1⁄3 of all highway fatalities in the United States each

year;

(2) in 2019, there were 10,142 alcohol-impaired driving

fatalities in the United States involving drivers with a blood

alcohol concentration level of .08 or higher, and 68 percent

of the crashes that resulted in those fatalities involved a driver

with a blood alcohol concentration level of .15 or higher;

(3) the estimated economic cost for alcohol-impaired driving

in 2010 was $44,000,000,000;

(4) according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety,

advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology

can prevent more than 9,400 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities

annually; and

(5) to ensure the prevention of alcohol-impaired driving

fatalities, advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention

technology must be standard equipment in all new passenger

motor vehicles.

(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

(1) ADVANCED DRUNK AND IMPAIRED DRIVING PREVENTION

TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘advanced drunk and impaired driving

prevention technology’’ means a system that—

(A) can—

(i) passively monitor the performance of a driver

of a motor vehicle to accurately identify whether that

driver may be impaired; and

(ii) prevent or limit motor vehicle operation if an

impairment is detected;

(B) can—

i) passively and accurately detect whether the

blood alcohol concentration of a driver of a motor

vehicle is equal to or greater than the blood alcohol

concentration described in section 163(a) of title 23,

United States Code; and

(ii) prevent or limit motor vehicle operation if a

blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit is

detected; or

(C) is a combination of systems described in subparagraphs (A) and (B).

(2) NEW.—The term ‘‘new’’, with respect to a passenger

motor vehicle, means that the passenger motor vehicle—

(A) is a new vehicle (as defined in section 37.3 of

title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation)); and

(B) has not been purchased for purposes other than

resale.

(3) PASSENGER MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘passenger

motor vehicle’’ has the meaning given the term in section

32101 of title 49, United States Code.

(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

of Transportation, acting through the Administrator of the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

(c) ADVANCED DRUNK AND IMPAIRED DRIVING PREVENTION

TECHNOLOGY SAFETY STANDARD.—Subject to subsection (e) and not

later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the

Secretary shall issue a final rule prescribing a Federal motor vehicle

safety standard under section 30111 of title 49, United States

Code, that requires passenger motor vehicles manufactured after

the effective date of that standard to be equipped with advanced

drunk and impaired driving prevention technology.

(d) REQUIREMENT.—To allow sufficient time for manufacturer

compliance, the compliance date of the rule issued under subsection

(c) shall be not earlier than 2 years and not more than 3 years

after the date on which that rule is issued.

(e) TIMING.—If the Secretary determines that the Federal motor

vehicle safety standard required under subsection (c) cannot meet

the requirements and considerations described in subsections (a)

and (b) of section 30111 of title 49, United States Code, by the

applicable date, the Secretary—

(1) may extend the time period to such date as the Secretary determines to be necessary, but not later than the date

that is 3 years after the date described in subsection (c);

(2) shall, not later than the date described in subsection

(c) and not less frequently than annually thereafter until the

date on which the rule under that subsection is issued, submit

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce

of the House of Representatives a report describing, as of the

date of submission of the report—

(A) the reasons for not prescribing a Federal motor

vehicle safety standard under section 30111 of title 49,

United States Code, that requires advanced drunk and

impaired driving prevention technology in all new passenger motor vehicles;

(B) the deployment of advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology in vehicles;

(C) any information relating to the ability of vehicle

manufacturers to include advanced drunk and impaired

driving prevention technology in new passenger motor

vehicles; and

(D) an anticipated timeline for prescribing the Federal

motor vehicle safety standard described in subsection (c);

and

(3) if the Federal motor vehicle safety standard required

by subsection (c) has not been finalized by the date that is

10 years after the date of enactment of this Act, shall submit

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce

of the House of Representative a report describing—

(A) the reasons why the Federal motor vehicle safety

standard has not been finalized;

(B) the barriers to finalizing the Federal motor vehicle

safety standard; and

(C) recommendations to Congress to facilitate the Federal motor vehicle safety standard.

I think we all have heard of the of the recent breakthrough on the long standing Navier–Stokes problem, a difficult problem at the cornerstone of human knowledge. What I find unsettling was that the scale of collective machine intelligence involved: thousands of AI agents working together to explore a problem far beyond what any individual human could process.

As our capacity to accumulate knowledge of how things works grows, are we really becoming better people ?

Obviously this isn't a new question.. such things have happened previously in different forms... like Socrates associated wisdom with recognizing the limits of one's own knowledge (knowing more != Wiser). Aristotle also distinguished theoretical knowledge from practical wisdom.

More recently i have been reading Neil Postman's Technopoly, in particular it raises an distrubing possibility: a culture can become extraordinarily good at producing and distributing information without necessarily becoming better at deciding what that information is for? That smells eerily similar to the whole "AI revolution".

I was also reading works of a contemporary philosopher, Acharya Prashant. He makes a key distinction between knowledge and wisdom, and while he is not opposed to knowledge, he emphasizes that the accumulation of information and the ability to live life are fundamentally different skills, Which i find intresting.

I came across it and it got me thinking.. along these lines..

https://youtu.be/r0cSGHNkOdk?si=Rf0mohvHaLWAwOxE

Curious to know what.. everyone thinks on this..

Labor Day 2026 arrives at a moment when Americans are increasingly vocal about the need to challenge billionaire rule, and are once again recognizing that organized labor – the people who brought us the weekend – is a crucial counter-force to the oligarchs. And after years of shrinking union power, they are starting to gain back ground, with membership increases of more than 400,000 in 2025 even as Donald Trump sought to break federal workers unions and gutted labor law enforcement. We also passed more than 80 laws in 19 U.S. states last year expanding workers rights, including paid sick leave in the new Democratic trifecta in Virginia and a ban on nearly all non-compete agreements in Washington.

There’s still so much more to do, and we all have to step up and do our part.

The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, a volunteer-run network of workers, organizers and supporters, aims to provide the resources, networks and training to support folks in organizing their workplaces nationwide. They’re looking for experienced organizers; folks interested in doing communications, data, research, development and legal work; and call line staffers to help continue to grow their efforts. ⚙️ We can sign up to join them here. ⚙️

VOLUNTEER TO SUPPORT LABOR ORGANIZING

And if we’re looking to step up and form a union at our own workplace, the next session of their fundamentals of workplace organizing training starts Saturday! We’ll hear from experienced organizers, practice connecting with our co-workers and prepare for what the bosses have in store. ⚙️ We can register to be part of it here. ⚙️

LEARN THE FUNDAMENTALS

💵 Have more money than time? We can also chip in with a donation here. 💵

DONATE TO SUPPORT EWOC

Also in today’s Rogan’s List:

-  Donate to support striking casino workers in Boston, hotel workers in Seattle, locked-out refinery workers in Indiana

-  Stand with Starbucks baristas and join the “No Contract, No Coffee” boycott

-  Elect pro-labor candidates by phonebanking with Working Families Party, teachers unions and textbanking with the Texas AFL-CIO

-  On Capitol Hill: telling MoCs to push for workplace heat safety regulations in the House, restoring collective bargaining rights for federal workers in the Senate

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January 20, 2029 feels like it’s a very, very long ways away. But the groundwork for what happens in the next administration is being laid out right now. Positions are being staked out, policies are being written and tested with the public. Progressive voices must have a say in them. If we are able to earn a Democratic trifecta, we need to be sure we are prepared to use it as effectively and aggressively as possible.

Recognizing that the terms of debate over our next attempt to fix our broken health care system are being laid out as we speak, National Nurses United and a coalition of health care advocates are pushing to make sure we’re building institutional support for Medicare For All. On THURSDAY, the 61st anniversary of Medicare being signed into law, they’re showing up at Democratic congressional offices nationwide to urge our leaders support a real universal health care system. 🏥 Let’s find Medicare for All actions to join near us on NNU’s map here. 🏥

MEDICARE FOR ALL ACTIONS THURSDAY

🏥 If there’s not one already on the books for our members of Congress, let’s consider signing up to organize our own here! The Medicare For All coalition will provide training, materials, support and help recruiting! 🏥

ORGANIZE ACTIONS OF OUR OWN

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House of Representatives: https://contactrepresentatives.org/

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When the reactionaries and the billionaires lose, they don’t change direction or change their approach… they change the rules. They’re trying to do just that in Kansas and Missouri this summer, eliminating limits on their power by the courts and the public.

In Kansas, Attorney General Kris Kobach and the Koch network are fed up with the state supreme court’s decisions protecting reproductive freedom and voting rights and increasing state funding of public schools. So they’ve put a measure on the ballot to end the merit-based selection process for the justices and replace it with partisan elections), figuring they’ve got enough corporate money available to swing them.

In Missouri, citizens have used the ballot initiative process to revoke the state’s abortion ban, expand Medicaid, guarantee paid sick leave, raise the minimum wage and legalize marijuana. So the state Republican Party is trying to kneecap direct democracy itself. They’re pushing Amendment 4), which would require citizen-initiated ballot initiatives would have to win a simple majority not just statewide, but in every one of the state’s now deeply-gerrymandered congressional districts. As few as 5% of voters could veto the will of the rest of the Show Me State.

Both of these measures are up for a vote on August 4th, less than three weeks away. Let’s do what we can to defeat them. ☎️ We can sign up for multiple phonebank shifts on: ☎️

• TUESDAYS
  • 7-9:30PM ET for Kansas
• WEDNESDAYS
  • 7-9:30PM ET for Kansas
• THURSDAYS
  • 6:30-9:30 PM ET for Missouri
  • 7-9:30 PM ET for Kansas
• SATURDAYS
  • 2-4:30PM ET for Kansas
• SUNDAYS
  • 2-4:30PM ET for Kansas

25 DAYS UNTIL THE VOTES

Want to get engaged in work for the midterms? Find ways to help on our midterms action page here.

BEAR DOWN FOR MIDTERMS

Any executive dumb enough to think they could get AI services for free is dumb enough to be replaced by an AI. Even with high fees, replacing dumb executives with AI agents would probably cost less than what they pay executives nowadays. I bet they never thought about that.

The Political Integrity Project aims to separate the politicians who are serious about taking on billionaire rule from the ones from playing lip service to it, building tools to help us identify who has made hard commitments to a specific anti-corruption agenda, who’s taking corporate PAC money, who’s backing a stock trading ban while trading stocks, and more.

Their Integrity Index makes it easy to visualize where their campaign and personal money comes from.

They’re also asking candidates to take their Political Integrity Pledge – supporting a constitutional amendment to overturn the impact of Citizens United, a lobbying ban for former members of Congress and their staff and spouses, putting their stocks in a blind trust and mandating other electeds to do the same and refusing all contributions from any corporate PAC. Sounds like an agenda worth getting behind. So far, seven incumbent members of Congress and 99 challengers have taken the pledge. 🗣️ Let’s help make this a standard expectation by reaching out to our reps and candidates and asking them to sign on. 🗣️

TELL CANDIDATES TO TAKE THE PLEDGE

They’re also starting a new initiative: the Donor Strike. They’re asking folks to sign on to refuse to donate to any politician who takes corporate dollars, making the choice clear: if you want my money, you can’t accept theirs. 💪🏻 We can learn more, sign on and help spread the word here. 💪🏿

CHOOSE CORPORATE MONEY OR OURS

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