AI Update: Will Your Thermostat Belong to Your State Government?
Ohio is fast becoming a hub for massive data centers to deal with AI and other digital demands. These data centers use an immense amount of power and water to function. Some people are justifiably concerned about the load on US energy providers in the coming years, including some lawmakers.
In Ohio, Congresspeople are promoting a bill that would let utilities lock you out of your own thermostat during times of “high demand.” House Bill 427, backed by Rep. Roy Klopfenstein, is being sold as a money saver.
Right now, he and those supporting the bill say not to worry. Compliance will be voluntary. But, according to one source I read, it’s a ruse: “In Australia, the same promise ended with 170,000 families stripped of air conditioning in the middle of a brutal summer. In truth, once you give up that control, it’s gone. What begins as optional quickly turns mandatory, leaving families powerless while utilities decide when you sweat or freeze…. This isn’t about lowering bills – it’s about who controls your home.”
What do you think?
COVID Update: Florida Ends Vaccine Mandates
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced that Florida is dropping vaccine mandates. Talking to CNN, he said that mandates are acts of coercion – that they work “only when the public has faith in the government that issues them, and the COVID mandates put an end to that.”
Twenty other states are said to be considering similar bills.
After years of questioning the COVID mandates, President Trump responded cautiously. On Truth Social, he wrote, “I think you have to be very careful when you say that some people don’t have to be vaccinated.”
Education Update: American High School Seniors Are Stupider Than at Any Time in History
According to results released Sept. 9 by the US Education Department, American high school seniors’ scores on major math and reading tests fell to their lowest levels on record. The number of 12th graders who were proficient slid by two percentage points between 2019 and 2024 – to 35% in reading and 22% in math.
The results are from tests administered to tens of thousands of students in early 2024 as part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
