Neoliberalism
Self-driving cars
Fig. 1. Photograph by Mark Doliner, August 1, 2012, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
You might not be ready to open this article. I’m not sure I was ready to open it. There is a video, apparently from a Tesla, of it traveling the wrong way on what appears to be a freeway, right up top, and more videos of Teslas doing ghastly things throughout.[1]
Tesla maintains that it is not liable for the crashes because the driver is ultimately in control of the vehicle. But that contention is coming under increasing pressure, including from federal regulators. Late Thursday [April 25], the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a new review of Autopilot, signaling concern that a December recall failed to significantly improve misuse of the technology and that drivers are misled into thinking the “automation has greater capabilities than it does.” . . .
[In February 2024] in Sumner County, Tenn., Jose Roman Jaramillo Cortez drank two beers and three tequila shots after his shift at a local restaurant, and then hopped into his Tesla Model 3, court documents say. He plugged his address into the Tesla’s GPS and flicked on Autopilot, it said.
According to the lawsuit filed in June 2023 and dash-cam footage obtained by The Post, the car then pulled onto the wrong side of the road. After driving south in a northbound lane for several minutes, the Tesla rammed into a car driven by Christian Malone, 20, who died from the impact. In its response to the complaint, Tesla said “the crash was caused by the negligence and/or recklessness of the driver.”[2]
Trisha Thadani, “Lawsuits test Tesla claim that drivers are solely responsible for crashes,” Washington Post, April 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/28/tesla-trial-autopilot-lawsuit/
Imperialism
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[3] fair use.
[Abdullah] Hammoud, a Democratic mayor of a city of just over 100,000 residents [Dearborn, Michigan], made a decision that sent an unmistakable message: He turned down the meeting [with Joe Biden’s campaign manager].
“That was a concept people couldn’t understand: ‘Why would you do that?’” Hammoud said in a recent interview while driving around Dearborn. “Immediately when I got the invitation, I felt like it was a disingenuous engagement. It was an engagement only for the worry of what’s going to happen in the upcoming election, and not for the worry of what’s actually happening to the people on the ground and to their friends and family and my residents.”[4]
Abby Sewell, “Hamas official says group would lay down its arms if an independent Palestinian state is established,” Associated Press, April 25, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/hamas-khalil-alhayya-qatar-ceasefire-1967-borders-4912532b11a9cec29464eab234045438
Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel could still force an exodus into Egypt,” Washington Post, April 26, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/04/26/gaza-egypt-exodus-rafah-invasion/
Rachel Siegel and Christian Davenport, “Campus arrests spread as students press on with pro-Palestinian protests,” Washington Post, April 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/04/27/protests-campus-arrest-northeastern-upenn/
Yasmeen Abutaleb, “5,000 miles away, a Michigan mayor at the center of the Gaza storm,” Washington Post, April 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/28/5000-miles-away-michigan-mayor-center-gaza-storm/
- [1]Trisha Thadani, “Lawsuits test Tesla claim that drivers are solely responsible for crashes,” Washington Post, April 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/28/tesla-trial-autopilot-lawsuit/↩
- [2]Trisha Thadani, “Lawsuits test Tesla claim that drivers are solely responsible for crashes,” Washington Post, April 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/04/28/tesla-trial-autopilot-lawsuit/↩
- [3]Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [4]Yasmeen Abutaleb, “5,000 miles away, a Michigan mayor at the center of the Gaza storm,” Washington Post, April 28, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/28/5000-miles-away-michigan-mayor-center-gaza-storm/↩