Parallel Barking: Recent Episodes
Larry and Arianna Backer
A dad and daughter talking about topics that tend to divide many of us--and sometimes finding common ground. Sometimes. You will hear barking. The barking you hear may sound in parallel but is more likely to be all over the place, but rest assured, you are probably listening to human voices.
Presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT were questioned about rising antisemitism on college campuses at a House committee hearing on Tuesday, December 5th. Thebiggest backlash stems from the question that asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews would violate the university code of conduct. At Tuesday’s hearing Harvard president Claudine Gay said it depended on the context, adding that when “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.” (AP)
In attempts to destabilize the West, Russia and its allies have been using migrants as pawns. After Russia invaded Ukraine and Finland joined NATO, it is clear that this "hybrid [type] warfare" combined with disinformation is becoming the norm.
Try typing both "photorealistic image of man" and "photorealistic image of woman" into Bing AI and you'll get the image of a man right away -- for woman, not so much. Instead, you'll get an error message saying that the content you requested is inappropriate/explicit.
The problem with selling fake photos is that people may not know they are fake. Blatant deception seems to be the name of the game and if money is involved, then it's open season.
Hacktivists are hitting dozens of government websites and media outlets amid the war in Israel and Gaza, disrupting and overloading targeted systems. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, prominent hacktivist groups like "Anonymous Sudan" and "Killnet" that back Russian interests have emerged; they have also found their way into the current Israel-Gaza conflict.
A Danish artist was given a load of money to recreate his artwork for an exhibit on labor relations at the Kunsten Museum in Aalborg. The earlier pieces featured bank notes pasted to canvases in the amount of the average annual wage in Denmark. This time artst Jens Haaning submitted two white canvases, minus bank notes, and titled them "Work it Out." The court is now telling the artist he has to pay the money back. What do you think?
On July 26th, Niger's president Mohammed Bazoum was ousted by his own presidential guards. The official stated reasoning was worsening security due to continued violent attacks from jihadist groups in the region. Now a majority of the Sahel is under military control. What is really going on?
It has been a few days since both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard King extended their deadline until October of this year. Although the FTC had voiced their intent to file an appeal with the 9th circuit court, things seem to be cooling down relatively speaking. The last hold-out on the global stage is the UK's Competition and Market Authority.
Allies have stated that Ukraine can join NATO when Ukraine has met specific "conditions." After voicing concerns over the vague lack of timeframe and vague conditions, Zelensky left the NATO summit in Vilnius feeling it a relative success.
This story, more than anything, is about perceived privilege and what it can do to one's critical thinking skills. A man who wanted a pristine view of the NYC skyline decided that the possible fines incurred by illegally trespassing and cutting down neighbors' trees would be less than (in money and effort) going through the appropriate channels. The $32k he thought he would have to pay instead ballooned into about $2 million. Listen in to hear why.
If you've been following the alternative-meat news lately, then you won't be too surprised to hear that a new alternative has been recently developed for market consumption: cell-cultivated or lab-grown chicken. Would you eat it?
The submersible, also named the Titan, owned by tourist/deep-see exploration comapny OceanGate Expeditions, had a total 96 hour oxygen supply when it set off on its voyage on 6 a.m. Sunday, June 18th, with 5 tourists who paid a "mission support fee" of $250,000 each. About an hour and 45 minutes after the vessel sumberged, contact was lost in a remote area in the North Atlantic. Now large rescue units from around the world are mobilizing to search for the lost vessel.
Elon Musk's company, Neuralink, recently surpassed a huge hurdle by being approved by the FDA for human trials. Besides being able to make those previously unable to walk, Musk's long-term goal for the company is to be a bridge between AI and the human mind in an attempt to mitigate threats that the technology presents.
There are other BCI tech companies that have been around much longer than Neuralink, but the emergence of Musk's company and newer startups like Precision have raised questions and interest to say the least.
There's been an increase in the number of anti-discrimination bills being released throughout the United States and one thing that is common among all of them is that they are very specific about the types of discrimination that should not be permitted and in what arenas. This, of course, begs the question of what types of discrimination are allowed and where? It seems these types of laws may open the door for various discriminatory actions that were not captured in the original legislation. Are there acceptable types of discrimination?
So, we have an art exhibit in France where you must strip down naked to enter, followed by a drink and chat. The aim of the macLYON exhibit is to challenge the notion from Rene Descartes that "I think, therefore I am," but instead we are above our bodies. Next, we have a German landlord who deigned to bathe in the nude in the public courtyard of his building. The Frankfurt residential building included an office floor. The company withheld rent when they objected to the naked sunbather. Why is there so much controversy over being...naked???!
An Alaska legislator has used the Microsoft Bing AI co-pilot to write a bill to legalize gambling on ferries. After waiting months for the state Legislature's lawyers to draft the bill, Representative Jesse Sumner (R – Wasilla) turned to AI for assistance. So, who really writes the laws? Where do laws come from? With the continued use of AI, how will power dynamics change?
It seems like everyone has something to say about how others should conduct themselves. This is most visible recently in states' desire to shape traditional gender roles, values, beliefs, through legislation. We see it in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the United States: laws dictating dress code, curfew, prohibition from activities and areas, and medical procedures. The last bastions of traditional norms refuse to go down without a fight.
After a 5-hour hearing with its CEO, Shou Zi Chew, regarding national security concerns, the US House of Representatives is moving forward with legislation to ban the social media app TikTok. Soon after the hearing, some of the US's more than 150million users took to the app to make fun of more memorable points in the hearing, candidly exposing lawmakers' lack of understanding of modern tech.
In an interview with podcast "The Art of Being Well" the 50-year-old Oscar Winner discussed using the "very helpful" therapy. In a semi continuation of our previous episode, we explore the impetus behind the creation and use of alternative therapies.
A popular drug originally meant for something else but now being used for a potential fountain of youth? Listen in to hear more about it. And you can't forget about Ozempic.
The city of Rotterdam provides welfare benefits for their residents every year, usually to about 30,000 individuals and families. Between 2017 and 2021, the city used a machine learning algorithm to generate a risk-based score for all residents to judge the probability of committing fraud. The problem? The factors used to judge are not predictors of fraud but of the very need for welfare assistance. But why did they do it that way?
Literary censorship is nothing new but it is certainly getting new press attention as news hit that the Roald Dahl Store Company agreed to change the author's stories to comply with modern sensitivity standards. Famous works like 'Matilda' and 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' have been changed to remove potentially offensive language like 'fat'. But why are these books being changed in the first place? What was the catalyst for these updates?
With the increased use of AI throughout society, AI singularity--or the concept of an event where artificial intelligence evolves to a point where it is either self-aware or can improve beyond human comprehension/capabilities--has become a hot topic of discussion. Until recently, however, we haven't really been able to accurately estimate the point in time when we will cross that "event horizon." Translated, a Rome-based translation company, developed a metric--Time to Edit (TTE)--to calculate the time it takes for professional human editors to fix AI-generated translations compared to human ones (estimated at 7 years). Also, there are death-bots.
According to the United Nations World Migration Report, the number of international migrants was estimated to be around 281 million globally in 2020. COVID-19 has drastically altered the migration and mobility of people around the world in the past two years -- including impacting information diaspora/disinformation on migration. Climate change and major displacement events have also affected migration in the past two years: foremost have been the displacements of millions of people due to conflict (such as within and from the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan), or severe economic and political instability (such as that faced by millions of Venezuelans and Afghans).
South Africa has been mired in economic and social problems stemming from years of corruption. Making it worse is the energy crisis that began in earnest in 2007, once "loadshedding" became part of the institutional lexicon. Loadshedding is a term used to describe scheduled blackouts across the country that occur in different stages, sometimes lasting up to 12 hours a day, for both businesses and private residences. Stage 5, for example, is blackouts for businesses and residences for up to 8 hours a day. Stage 8 has been suggested as national shutdown. How did this happen? How is this impacting South Africans? Listen in to find out.
Welcome to Season 4 of Parallel Barking!! Thanks for sticking with us.
An intelligence assessment by Ukranian experts found that an Iranian-made attack drone had parts made by at least a dozen US companies (and other Western nations' companies). The technology ranges from smaller semiconductors, GPS modules to larger engines. The options for combating this issue are quite limited, but it's still a problem, and sanctions can only go so far. How far does responsibility go for transnational companies? Let's discuss.
Ah, language, ever evolving, it always manages to spark debate. This time the tea is all about how we interpret the words 'man' and 'woman'.
This is the last episode of season 3 -- thanks everyone for a great year and we'll see you in 2023!
Usually, we think of spring as the season of 'love', but it seems governmental entities have a different idea. Recently the U.S., Indonesia and Singapore all passed new laws protecting or criminalizing people's most intimate activities. Each country handles it differently, sometimes radically.
The creation of a 'loss and damage' fund was negotiated at the UN COP27 Summit in Egypt at the end of November. The nations who'll benefit from the funds are largely from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. These countries are projected to be worst-affected by rising sea levels and other weather extremes stemming from emissions created by wealthier countries. But what does compensation really mean and how does it work? Does it make sense?
Co-hosts Larry and Arianna discuss the most recent updates on the protests in Iran, the World Cup and how it all connects together.
China’s top legislative body has updated its gender laws to introduce a new list of moral standards for women. On Sunday, the National People's Congress passed an amendment to the decades-old Women’s Rights and Interests Protection Act to ensure women uphold “family values.” The opening chapter, which summarizes the principles of the revised legislation, notes: “Women should respect and obey national laws, respect social morals, professional ethics and family values.” The updated law comes as the country faces lower birthrates and decreasing marriage figures, putting more pressure on women to adopt traditional housekeeping roles.
Your hosts Arianna and Larry look at the results of the race and give the low-down. What's up next for US domestic and foreign affairs? For now, it's still up in the air.
US mid-term elections are done as of 11/8/2022. One of the most important aspects of the apex performance of liberal democracy is the election. It serves as a periodic affirmation of the continued legitimacy of the state apparatus into which representatives are elected. It follows that the preservation of the system must at its core be focused on legitimacy.
Itaewon has become a popular location to celebrate Halloween since early 2000, so much so that tourists come from all over the world to join in the festivities. This year was no exception because it was the first year after the pandemic, with all restrictions lifted. No one was thinking that this year would have led to such misfortune.
In occupied Kherson, Yuri Kerpatenko — who was the chief conductor of the Kherson Philharmonic, refused to perform in the celebration of what was being termed the "improvement of peaceful life.” He was then shot in his Kherson home by Russian soldiers. The discovery of his murder was on October 14th, 2022.
On 10/5/2022, OPEC and non-OPEC producers decided to cut oil production to shore up prices. The price of oil is now $80 a barrel from more than $120 in early June amid growing fears about the prospect of a global economic recession.
Protests ignited by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the country's morality police. Security forces are using deadly force to suppress protestors and the situation is bleak--shots continually firing between security forces and protestors, children dying in their parents' arms, drivers with vicious bullet wounds all over their bodies, fires and explosions. If protestors go to the hospital for their wounds, they risk arrest by plain-clothed police officers. The fight has morphed from equitable treatment to freedom in Iran. "...We are protesting for freedom in Iran. For the prisoners and the condemned, for the people of Iran calling for the regime to go. Everyone wants this regime to go (CNN)."
The pipelines at this point have leaked a record-breaking amount of methane. Leaks were reported as early as Monday, September 26. While international experts attempt to determine the cause of the leak, debates about the cause swirl around the political world. The pipeline itself is responsible for supplying a large amount of energy to Europe.
It appears Putin is changing strategies in his war efforts. After confirming Thursday that it will annex about 15% of Ukraine, Russia had an official ceremony in the Kremlin on Friday September 30, to incorporate the regions into "the motherland." At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rallies for international support and speeds his application to NATO. Will those regions in Ukraine really be annexed? Who will prevail? Listen in to find out....our opinion...
As an homage to summer, we give you this story about France using satellite images to find and tax un-registered swimming pools. Thanks to good 'ol machine learning, aerial photos provided by the French Geological and Forestry Service can be used to uncover homeowners' un-declared pools. What will follow? Who knows, but we're gonna talk about it!
Winnie the Pooh from 100-Acre Wood is getting a horror adaptation with Blood and Honey. The rights to the character, originally created by A.A. Milne, have been owned by Walt Disney since 1966. But in January 2022, the beloved children's book character became public domain and so work began on the horror film. This brings to mind debates on ownership, expectations after creation of a piece of art or literature etc. and what its future should look like.
In the midst of the ACLU asking a Montana judge to strike down anti-trans birth certificate rule, which at first required a person to undergo sex-change surgery before being allowed to change their birth certificate, Montana passes a bill that makes it impossible to change your birth certificate regardless. This leads to questions about the use of birth certificates, their functions in everyday life and the implications of such mandates. Also, what does the rest of the world think?
This has happened in the past -- an age-old story of technology infiltrating an industry traditionally honed through human physical skill, and the artisans that have spent years painstakingly practicing their craft fearing the end of their reign. It happened when Photography and digital photography made their debut, both being criticized as being too technical and void of emotion to be considered a fine art-form. Now, we have tools that produce AI-Generated art pieces and are creating the same sort of uproar and controversy. What are your thoughts on this new art form and its future in the creative community?
Darya Dugina, daughter of ultranationalist Russian idealogue and commentator Aleksandr Dugin, was killed in a Moscow car bomb last week. Russia has sought to pin the blame on Ukraine; however, the lines of guilt are not clear. Others, like author Anders Aslund, say that it is likely that Putin was behind Darya's killing--"why would Ukraine waste resources on such a target."
After the AI bot GPT-3 successfully writes a scientific paper about itself, the scientist behind the whole thing wonders if she opened a Pandora's box. The answer -- of course! And that's what's so awesome about it! Let's chat.
This discussion is about privacy and what large corporations are doing with our data. Facebook's cooperation in the case raises concerns about surveillance and obligation. Listen-in to see where you land in the debate.
Since April, Abbott has already dispatched more than 6,500 migrants to Washington D.C. and vows to make NYC's Port Authority Terminal a drop-off location for his ongoing busing strategy. This is a protest, and the Governor has stated as much, saying “Because of President Biden’s continued refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies, the State of Texas has had to take unprecedented action to keep our communities safe.”
Larry and Arianna talk about Elon Musk and the pending deal with Twitter, along with some of his other escapades.
A couple tried to buy some condoms at a Walgreens but was told by the cashier that he would not complete the transaction. Walgreens refused to pursue disciplinary action because the employee did not transgress any rules. Arianna and Larry discuss the situation.
Brandy Bottone, 32, said her unborn baby should count as a second passenger in her vehicle after she received a ticket, citing Texas' penal code in the wake of Roe v. Wade's being overturned.
Arianna and Larry talk about three very different but dramatic events that happened in relatively close succession.
Ari and Larry discuss how the US is faring as of 2022, the currents and changing tides along with lamentations on what we've lost.
For those that celebrate, happy Independence Day!
We laugh at times when it is too painful to cry. It is hard to find the joviality in the circumstance of long-standing liberties being stripped away for over half the American population. Rather than a win for jurisprudence, this is a loss for social progress.
We review the majority opinion, for what its worth, discuss what it signals and why the specific text might not matter in the grand scheme of things, and finally what private enterprise, non-profit and state legislatures can start thinking about in the way of combating such a ruling.
It is easy to focus on what is happening on the ground in Ukraine and see the impacts it has on the surrounding areas, it is more difficult to see the connections between war in Ukraine and developments in the Pacific with Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, or the canceled transport of good through Lithuania.
Apparently, this is an option now -- if you decide to get frisky in an insured automobile whilst also foregoing additional protection for your special members, then you might be able to shift the risk from yourself to whatever institution insures the space in which you are choosing to get frisky. But, does the plaintiff actually get the full $5.2M? Listen in to find out.
There seems to be a pattern in Kings County, CA, where county prosecutor Keith Fegundes has filed two charges of murder for stillbirths and is the only CA prosecutor who has filed charges for a stillbirth in the last 3 decades.
Chelsea Becker and Adora Perez, a woman charged with murder in 2017, were prosecuted under Section 187 of CA penal code which states murder as "the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought," but does not apply to acts "consented to by the mother of the fetus." Fetus was added to the statute in 1970 in response to a man who had attacked a pregnant woman, causing a stillbirth.
Listen-in to hear how things turned out and what we might expect in the future.
Barry Jones was convicted of murder and after two unsuccessful state trials where he was not provided with his "constitutionally unalienable right" to effective assistance and counsel on not one, but two occasions he went to the Supreme Court for relief.
Justice Thomas broke precedent and rules that the federal court can still hear proceedings of a criminal defendant if they have received inadequate counsel twice, they just cannot take into consideration any new evidence that was not presented in state courts.
There are many things to say about this incident not least of which is that it is a tragedy that could be prevented. How do we prevent things like this from happening in the future? At first, it may seem relatively easy -- heck, Australia has gun-control on lock. Listen to Ari and Larry talk about what makes things so complicated in the U.S.
In the early morning hours of May 14, Russia cut off electric supplies to Finland, following a Thursday announcement from Finnish president and prime minister that they will hasten Finland's NATO membership application "without delay."
Today, Sweden announced its intent to join NATO after a long history of neutralism.
Ari and Larry continue their series on data security by discussing how data and control are crucial to the war effort.
This is part II of II in a series discussing the series of events that took place, the mechanics and strategy of the draft opinion and where we can go from here.
Part II focuses on the ramifications of a leak of confidential information from the Supreme Court - regardless of which side of the Roe argument we land on, and what struggles we could see in the near future.
Although the title of this episode is a bit tongue-in-cheek, the gist of the argument is not that far-off. This is part I in a two-part series to discuss the Supreme Court draft opinion to overrule an over 50-year precedented case, Roe v. Wade, the circumstances under which the draft was revealed, and what this might look like in terms of future legislation.
Part I focuses on the argument provided in the opinion, the possible outcomes, and we come up with ideas to overcome future challenges.
Part II continues focus on the argument and result of the opinion and moves on to the consequences of how the draft opinion was leaked.
Enjoy!
This is the first in a series of pods covering the subject of 'security' in its many forms. This episode discusses the topic of food security: it's no secret that war in Ukraine has contributed to sky-rocketing food prices and broken supply chains. But what else can we look forward to, based on reactions from global leadership?
The fact that China has been working on improving the J-20s is old news; same with China patrolling the disputed seas -- it's nothing new.
What is relatively interesting is the gradual, incremental way China has been able to unburden itself from international production dependencies and move toward fully domestic production.
New bills being passed around state governments like beach balls on Spring Break. Larry and Ari talk about what's in these bills, what they mean, and what their authors are signaling to the public.
Oh, yes -- we hopped on the bandwagon and joined the discussion about Will Smith's spontaneous reaction to Oscar Host Chris Rock's G.I. Jane joke.
This is what happens, people, when you obsessively hold in your farts around your significant others.
Instead, some have used their farting skills to impress, and made a lot of money doing it. Who's in?
Larry and Ari talk about the details you'll find in the bill that passed the Florida Senate and the stricter bill proposed in Tennessee.
After arriving in Canada, Alexander Malofeev, 20, was informed that his performances with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, on three separate dates--March 9, 10, & 12--were canceled.
The orchestra's reasoning was that the current context did not allow for such an event to take place.
The Vancouver Recital Society said, "The truth is that many in our city don't have the appetite for this concert at this time."
What do you think?
This week we take a little bit of a turn and review a Russian period film addressing societal issues that span the ages.
You read that right -- this story covers none other than a habit-bearing believer troubled with shedding her bad habit. Puns completely intended.
Had to talk about this! Gaming, human rights, the metaverse and international relations collide into one perfectly compact narrative about a notoriously mouthy gamer and the politics of the realities in which we show up.
Many content creators have been able to successfully argue that their content falls under "transformative fair use," but others are facing hundreds of copyright strikes against them at once. Of course, with such inflated numbers, the court costs become astronomical and difficult for any individual to manage.
Intimidation tactics like this are not new and certainly show no sign of going away. How creators will deal with the issue moving forward is the real question.
We heard a lot of stories about disgruntled travelers in 2020--a lot of which is attributed to the impacts of the pandemics.
This story flips the switch a bit and tells the tale of an emboldened, rather than disgruntled, passenger traveling from Syracuse, NY to ATL.
Tensions heightened in the Delta flight after the woman refused to remove the hairless, swaddled feline from her chest, although she had been repeatedly asked to return the cat to its carrier.
Ari and Larry ponder how one could breastfeed a cat, how Delta responded to said breastfeeding, and the general idea of breastfeeding anything other than a human baby.
Enjoy!
Stress levels have been high since the start of the pandemic, which could not be truer for South Korean workers, whose overtime hours are among some of the highest in the world. Up until July 2018, the South Korean work week was about 6 days, 68hours/week.
People are increasingly seeking out spaces to break away from the constant pressure. It's nice to be able to take a step back from the hectic day-to-day and just breathe for a little bit. A few places like The Green Lab tea shop and Prison Inside Me are taking the chance to answer that demand in unique and innovative ways.
Le Petit Robert, a prominent dictionary in France, is used as an academic reference and is considered one of the highest authorities on the language, added a new and controversial pronoun in its online addition this year. "i - e - l", pronounced "yell", is a mash up of the feminine 'elle' and 'masculine' il.
The term is already being used among the youth, but traditionalists are viewing the addition as an export and reaction to the "wokisme" from American Universities.
Special guest: Lucy Backer
Happy 2022! And welcome to a second season of Parallel Barking.
In this episode, Arianna and Larry discuss the popular phenomenon of non-fungible tokens, or those digital blockchain assets that are unique and non-interchangeable, whose purpose is to certify authenticity and ownership (of the token itself and sometimes an additional physical item, like a piece of art, for example).
More simply, NFTs are unique digital, cryptographic assets on blockchain. They can be digital pictures of flying toast on a sparkly rainbow, or scenes of robots having tea with dancing chickens, but we suspect they have the potential to be so much more ...
Enjoy!
At the end of their very first podcast season, Ari and Larry bring on special guest and their biggest fan...mom, to provide some additional input, flavor and feedback on our performance thus-far.
This particular discussion covers what we are putting out to the world right now and how we want to be remembered when we're gone--or even if we want to be remembered.
Are you maybe, perhaps, thinking about the idea of possibly being interested in the prospect of Law School at some point soon or in the future? Then this is the episode for you! Listen to some crucial questions and answers you'll want to hear before making the plunge.
We discuss the interesting range of Tik Tok school challenges becoming popular recently -- most notably the "slap a staff member" challenge.
Anime is so popular these days, even Congressional representatives are getting in on the action. R-AZ Gosar was officially censured for his Twitter-posted rendition of an "Attack on Titan" anime spoof that included depictions of himself assaulting D-NY AOC and hinting the same for president Biden. This begs the question--is violence in cartoons actually violence inflicted on the individual? How far does the representation span to count as real?
Recently Portugal passed a law that makes it illegal for a superior to contact their employee in any manner outside of office hours. The goal of the new labor law is to give remote workers better work/life balance. Another rule being implemented includes banning employers from monitoring employees at home. Is this a new or continuing trend? What does this mean for the US, if anything?
What's in a curse? ...err a cursed movie? Does it require the supernatural or just rushed preparation? It's up to you.
That game Fortnite, those other virtual worlds like Minecraft and Decentraland and many other fantastical virtual playgrounds are where people go to interact with each other in ways beyond the physical realm. Some dream of complete alternative digital worlds with infrastructure to support the majority of a person's or society's way of life. Imagine digital goods, currencies and identities traveling through these spaces--how do the goods in the metaverse impact the same goods in the 'real' world?
Halloween, what?! What do you think of when you think of "Halloween"? Is it the typical witches, ghosts, or bloody-hand in the toilet? That last one was a little weird. Anyway, you might think of ghosts, or you might think of the costumes we wear on the holiday--and any other day of the year. The horror!
After seeing the final episode of the season, we discuss our thoughts on the whole thing, the ending, should there be more and everything else in between.
After watching every single episode of Squid Game except the very last, we argue about the endless possibilities that await in the culmination of the season.