September 17, 2024 • 22 mins
California firefighters’ union president’s strong criticism towards Trump. Google will spend $13MIL to use AI to better detect wildfires. TikTok grilled as it argues survival in court. Measure A flier omits proposal is a tax increase.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And this is KFI Handle here on a Tuesday morning,
September seventeen.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
As we continue on with the show, we're covering a
lot of stuff this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Here are still a lot of fallout from the assassination
attempt of former President Trump which happened on Sunday, and
as there should be a lot of fallout, but I
think the Secret Service this time around is going to
get some kudos.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Also, I want to congratulate Will Coleschreiver.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
I don't know if Will's listening, but referencing to a
car accident as a carbeque very strong, I must tell you.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Okay, fair enough, all right, Now let's get into some politics, and.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It's so contentious.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
So here's another one where our former president and some
members or some unions are really getting into a pissing match.
So the president of the California Professional Firefighters Union said
that former President Trump should quote be ashamed of his
threat to withhold federal firefighting aid to the state if
he were elected. Now, this is not a huge union,
(01:15):
but it's thirty five thousand firefighters. The California Professional Firefighters
Union and Brian Rice, president said, it is shocking that
we have a presidential candidate who's threatening our public safety.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
And here's what this one.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Is about, and this is the president having a former
president having a huge fight with Governor Newsom. As you know,
that's inevitable and matter of fact, he calls Newsomb newscom.
No surprise there, but he the former president has disagreed
with virtually every single water issue that California has. We
(01:52):
have some big problems here in California. I mean we've
got land management problems, policies, water bottman issues, protection for
the endangered Delta smelt, which the former president said is
not making it anyway.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I don't care. I happen to agree with him whether
it makes it or not.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
It's a tiny little fish, and I don't care about
tiny little fish.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
You know, go eat an anchovy instead of the smelt.
I don't care.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
We're talking about real issues. So Trump is dead right
on this one. But he went on to say with
this group, everything is dead. And he's talking about the
Democratic Party here in California. The automobile industry is dead.
The automobile industry is dead. The water coming here is dead,
and he said newscum is going to sign those papers.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
We don't know what papers he's talking about.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
And if he doesn't sign those papers, I'm assuming following
former President Trump's philosophy on how water should be used
in California. If he doesn't sign those papers, we won't
give him money to put out all of his fires.
And if we don't give him all the money to
put out his fires, he's got problems. He's allows he
governor wet papers. We don't know at this point. And
(03:03):
then of course new some rights back. I mean, it's
a pissing match. Today it's California's wildfires. Tomorrow could be
hurricane funding for North Carolina or flooding assistant for Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
And then Ori ice.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
And this is where Trump has I mean, I just
love these statements. Remember in twenty eighteen he went to
Paradise and he said, we've got to take care of
the floors, you know, the floors of the forest. And
you reference Finland saying the country focuses on raking and cleaning,
they don't have any problems, and which, by the way,
he's got a point on that one, because forest management,
(03:39):
floor management of the floor, the forest is one thing
that has not been done very well. But you know,
the raking and cleaning. And then he compared, this was
on Friday, California's forest to the Austrian forests, where the
trees do not catch fire because of good forest management.
He said, the forests are so brittle because there's no
(04:00):
is like California.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I go to Austria.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
The head of Austria tells me we have trees that
are much more flammable than we have in California, and
we never have forest fires. And Trump says it's because
they maintain their forests, and Austrian officials had previously said, no,
we don't have more explosive trees. Trees are basically as
explosive any place in the.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
World that.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I mean, I just love that stuff. And the issue
with wildfire is a huge problem here. As you know.
The last I think, the fires are still going on.
We've got three major fires in southern California already have
burnt more than one hundred thousand acres. And without federal money,
it's it's difficult. I mean, fire fighters across the country
(04:50):
rely on federal money. And the former president said, unless
you do what I want, you to do with California
Police on water management. I am if I become when
I become president, I'm going to stop the funding. You know,
it's what do you do? Sometimes I just don't understand it.
(05:12):
You know, I don't understand how this works. You know,
this is the example I give you where sometimes I
just don't understand the way people think. I had a
call and handle on the law a few years ago
and there was something about the gun control issue. Someone
called in who was clearly a gunnet and bottom line,
(05:34):
he said, no.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
One's ever going to take away my guns. I will
fight them to the death.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
He said, okay, so let's let's let me give you your
benefit of the doubt. Here where the law is passed,
hanging away your guns, and the National Guard shows up
and there they have their armored personnel carriers, they have
their artillery, and they're telling you either give up your
guns or we're going to destroy the house. And he
(05:59):
said I would fight them to the death. I would
take my weapon and fight them until I die. And
then I said, let me give you an example. Okay,
let me give you a scenario. Assumeing what you say
is right, that they show up and now you take
your weapon and you start fighting them, and they start
firing back because they've got a platoon in front of you,
(06:23):
and your kids get caught in the crossfire and you
lose your kids. You have kids, Yeah, I've got three
of them or whatever ages. And I said, and you
lose your kids?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Is that worth it?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And I'm going to quote now they would understand how
important the Second Amendment is.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And I said, you're five year old. Yes, my five
year old.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Would understand that the Second Amendment is more important than
even living. It's I'm just giving an example of what's
going on today across the board.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I mean, it is so crazy, pure silliness. As an individual,
tell me that this isn't silly. Just described what's the
revolutionary war?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I know, but that individuals going up against the government
so are our existence as a country would not have happened.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I do not yet, well took up arms against the government,
except I don't know how many people would say my
one individual doing it? I understand, But I know, right.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Those people are crazy. That's true because overthrowing the government.
And this is not the King George the third or
King George the fifth. But all I'm saying is that
that kind of thinking is happening today more than it
ever has.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
By the way, is there any.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Revolutionary missive that you have read where it says I'm
willing to have my kids die in order to gain freedom.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Anyway, I just want to make a point of how
crazy it's all crazy.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
It's all crazy.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I don't get it, you know, it's that kind of
thinking I don't understand.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Now.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I've talked many times about AI and the good, the bad,
the ugly. Mainly we don't understand what it is, even
what it possibly can do.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
We're on the little, tiny tippy edge of what this
stuff can do. Well.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I do a lot of talking about how negative it is,
but let me give you a positive story. Google has
just announced they're going to spend thirteen million dollars to
improve satellite imaging to help track and detect wildfires. Now
we start with thirteen million dollars from Google. That's less
money than the change they find between the cushions in
(08:34):
their waiting rooms when you go to the lobby at
that organization. But what this is about is fire SAT
is what it's called, a group of fifty satellites that
will be able to detect wildfires as small as the
size of a bedroom sixteen by sixteen or of classroom,
(08:56):
and this launches early next year. Right now, satellite imagery
detects wildfires when they hit about the size.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Of a football field.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
This one is the size of a classroom. And as
you probably know by now, the new firefighting philosophy is,
you get fires out as quickly as possible.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
You send those air tankers.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
If there is a campfire that looks like it's going
to start a wildfire, you grab it at the campfire
level with air or ground forces. And so this initiative
is being led by something called the Earth Fire Alliance,
a nonprofit that created this fire SAT and is to
(09:42):
develop wildfire databases funding from Google among others. And right now,
satellite image confuses clouds mostacks for fires. Well, what Google
is saying and what fire stata is saying is using
machine learning.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Google built a camera.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
That optimized this technology for fire detections and will provide
updated satellite imagery every twenty minutes to firefighters, which doesn't
happen now, So to give them as early infras solid
information as possible, because that is now the magic bullet
that is the way the.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Most successful way to fight firefighters.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Also, firestat will create a database to create a global
historical record of fire spreads, so you just better understanding
better models. Now, California have already started using AI to
better track wildfires with the California Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection did partners with UC San Diego and developed
(10:50):
a new AI pilot project. We've talked about this that
has over a thousand of these high definition cameras that
are on top of towers and mountain peaks throughout the
state and they're saying we need a lot more thousands
of those.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
But what that does.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Those cameras keep an eye out for smoke and other
anomalies that's already in place, but they're not specific enough.
They don't go to the minutia this program does. It
just delves deeper into the technology and the research. Mechanical
(11:29):
engineer with US Forest Service who was interviewed for this article,
Jason Forhofer, said, we'll be able to teach firefighters what
drying US does to a fire. You sort of already
know it, don't you, But this takes it on a
whole different level. Or what wind does or changes in
fuel types, because we have seen so many firefighters die
(11:50):
on fires when they don't anticipate what the fire is
going to do. And we talked to Chuck Lovers, who
is my friend who worked with La County Fire for
thirty years, and the guy is like a real expert
in you're being designed equipment. I mean, he was just
and he is tremendous about knowledge of firefighting. And every
time do you remember the hot shots, I think fourteen
(12:11):
of them died in the fire. And we talked to Chuck,
and Chuck said they just didn't understand enough.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
About what was going on.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Someone just blew it putting in that position. If they
looked at it, they would have known that is not
the place to put firefighters.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Well, take that kind of thinking, and that was pretty blatant,
according to Chuck.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Take that kind of thinking and bring it to levels
of understanding that are of magnitude and the ability to
look at this and to analyze this. And by the way,
tell me, we don't have fire seasons now because of
climate change.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
So this is the good news.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Where AI is going to be used in a positive sense.
So coming up, I'm going to do the next four
segments on how Ai is going to give you diseases
and kill you and make life more miserable because hey,
this is the handle show.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
What can I tell you?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Right? Okay, TikTok. Let me spend a minute talking about that.
Federal judges are now dealing with TikTok. There's a panel
federal judges. We're grilling both TikTok and the Justice Department.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Here's what.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
As we know, Congress passed the law, bipartisan bill that
said TikTok has to either sell itself in the United
States or.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
It's just going to be banned outright.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
And of course they're suing and arguing this is a
First Amendment issue. And the whole premise is TikTok is
owned by byte Edance, which is a Chinese company, and
the argument is that TikTok and all of these major
tech companies have enormous amount of data about businesses, about
(13:52):
individuals here in this country. And the fear is that
the Chinese government, either the military, the Chinese Ese Party,
the Communist Party, or the government itself, which is one
and the same, are going to be able to get
this information on Americans.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
So TikTok is out now. When you go when the
government is.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Going against the other big companies, that's antitrust and they're
American companies, so this argument doesn't fly. Wow, TikTok is
screaming and saying it's First Amendment.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
You don't have the right to do this to us.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I love the fact that a Chinese own company is
arguing First Amendment in this country. I mean, the irony
is just spectacular here. It is breathtaking the hypocrisy here.
And the court said, this is three judge panel said,
we've never seen this before.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
We've never seen this.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Now First Amendment arguments with American based company. Of course
we're going to hear that that's legitimate, and that is
always a real issue. And how far and how much
restriction can major platforms have is going to be dealt
with forever.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
With a foreign.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Company, that is a different thing. And there are three
judges and by the way, the argument and people that
are looking at this, the judges were going after both
the government and TikTok. They were asking questions and usually
based on the questions, this happens to the Supreme Court cases
(15:26):
all the time. What the court watchers look at is
are the questions that are being tossed at the attorneys,
and some of those questions don't stop. Scalia, for example,
was brutal in questioning both plaintiffs and defendants or respondents
and those that are have filed motions. I mean, before
(15:49):
the attorneys could literally open their mouths, he was throwing
questions at them, and you know which way he.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Was going to go.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Clarence Thomas never asked attorneys anything. He just sets back
and listens. He is a listener. Of course we know
where he's going because of his political views. But there
are a couple of ways of doing it, and a
lot of the argument or the questioning determines which way
the judges are going to go.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
In this case, it's either way.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Because both the government and TikTok were just nailed or
even being asked about their positions.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
There were three separate lawsuits that were consolidated.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
This is a big, big case and it will go
up to the Supreme Court.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
There was a case. I mean, this is how far
this goes.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
It wasn't just hypothetical questions that were thrown out. Here's
a hypothetical what if they do that all the time.
Alana Kagan just did that with a couple of cases.
The court references previous cases. There was one Lamont versus
Postmaster General. The Supreme Court upheld Americans' rights to receive
may from abroad, even when the government considered a communist
(17:04):
propaganda First Amendment mail from abroad, so receiving the information
was a First Amendment right. However, in TikTok's case, and
this is why it's the case, the first impression the
court this is a brand new area of law, and
that is how far and how protected are these major platforms.
(17:28):
And the argument here is First Amendment rights. You know,
that is a tough one. The other thing is that
Congress doesn't legislate all the time.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
One of the judges said, this time they did. They
passed this law.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
And what TikTok is saying, this was basically a regulatory law.
And the Court said, no, no, no, no, there's no
regulation here. It's not a regulatory agency. This is not
the Federal Communications Commission, this is.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Not FAA, this is not the EPA.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
This is a law that was passed by Congress, which
puts it into another category complicated stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Which way are they gonna go? Well, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
When you see panda express advertising on TikTok more than
any other company out there. You're gonna say, Okay, maybe
maybe the Chinese have a little bit more influence than
they should. All right, now, Measure A is coming up,
and what is Measure A. Measure A is going to
be on the ballot, and what it is. It's a
(18:35):
ballot measure That quote mandates a new approach to expand
programs that are proven to prevent homelessness and increase housing affordability.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Okay, that's kind of.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Neat, sort of leaves out the fact that it's a tax.
That's not in the flyer you're going to get.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Nope, it is.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Here's what happened. It is a tax. It replaces a
tax and puts a new tax in. But the tax
that replaces was going to sunset next year. And what
this does is expand the tax and keep it indefinitely.
So here's the bottom line about propositions. I want to
point something out is that you look at who's backing
(19:17):
it up. That has to be said in the commercials
and the flyers, and if you, for example, if you
see the who's backing it up? It used to be
or the measure says citizens against taxation.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
That's what measure let's say thirteen is.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
And then you look at these various organizations that are
pro tax who are paying for it?
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Uh huh, maybe there's something wrong here.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Measure A it's about homelessness, and they don't mention it's
a tax.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Okay, look at.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Everybody who's backing it up, all these organizations that are
fighting homelessness, and you wonder they're leaving out the fact,
how do you pay for all this?
Speaker 1 (20:00):
It's a tax. That's how you pay for it. It's
a tax.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Now do you know that you need two thirds majority
of the vote if the government puts a ballot measure
on a simple majority. When it is put on by
the citizens. Guests who put this on the citizens always
read who is backing it up and always always assume,
(20:28):
and I think correctly, when they say we are against
in the measure, they are in favor. And whenever you
read we are in favor, in reality the proposal is against.
Why because we are suckers and the law allows you
(20:50):
to do that. Now, in reality, when you get your ballot,
you know, when they give you the information about what
measures do and what they don't do, they're there honest.
But you have to read those ballot measures. Who does that?
You get that booklet and it explains both pro and
con and it's legislative analysis that comes out the legislative
(21:12):
I think it's the the Analyst's office, and they're bipartisan
the rest of the time.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Uh uh.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
So, as you look at Measure A, and you know
that it is going to help the homeless, it is
another tax, another quarter tax. Now, it's no big deal.
It's only a few cents here, it's only a dollar there. Well,
we're already at the most taxed state in the nation
and we're moving up from there.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
So you know, I don't.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Care which side of how you vote. All I care
is about is that you do vote. I just don't care.
But I do care about you knowing what you're voting for.
I think that is critical. That's your franchise. That's what
America is all about. All Right, I'm gonna get off
by high Horse. This is KFI AM six forty live
(22:02):
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Catch my show Monday through Friday six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app,
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
And this is KFI Handle here on a Tuesday morning,
September seventeen.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
As we continue on with the show, we're covering a
lot of stuff this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Here are still a lot of fallout from the assassination
attempt of former President Trump which happened on Sunday, and
as there should be a lot of fallout, but I
think the Secret Service this time around is going to
get some kudos.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Also, I want to congratulate Will Coleschreiver.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
I don't know if Will's listening, but referencing to a
car accident as a carbeque very strong, I must tell you.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Okay, fair enough, all right, Now let's get into some politics, and.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It's so contentious.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
So here's another one where our former president and some
members or some unions are really getting into a pissing match.
So the president of the California Professional Firefighters Union said
that former President Trump should quote be ashamed of his
threat to withhold federal firefighting aid to the state if
he were elected. Now, this is not a huge union,
(01:15):
but it's thirty five thousand firefighters. The California Professional Firefighters
Union and Brian Rice, president said, it is shocking that
we have a presidential candidate who's threatening our public safety.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
And here's what this one.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Is about, and this is the president having a former
president having a huge fight with Governor Newsom. As you know,
that's inevitable and matter of fact, he calls Newsomb newscom.
No surprise there, but he the former president has disagreed
with virtually every single water issue that California has. We
(01:52):
have some big problems here in California. I mean we've
got land management problems, policies, water bottman issues, protection for
the endangered Delta smelt, which the former president said is
not making it anyway.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
I don't care. I happen to agree with him whether
it makes it or not.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
It's a tiny little fish, and I don't care about
tiny little fish.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
You know, go eat an anchovy instead of the smelt.
I don't care.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
We're talking about real issues. So Trump is dead right
on this one. But he went on to say with
this group, everything is dead. And he's talking about the
Democratic Party here in California. The automobile industry is dead.
The automobile industry is dead. The water coming here is dead,
and he said newscum is going to sign those papers.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
We don't know what papers he's talking about.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
And if he doesn't sign those papers, I'm assuming following
former President Trump's philosophy on how water should be used
in California. If he doesn't sign those papers, we won't
give him money to put out all of his fires.
And if we don't give him all the money to
put out his fires, he's got problems. He's allows he
governor wet papers. We don't know at this point. And
(03:03):
then of course new some rights back. I mean, it's
a pissing match. Today it's California's wildfires. Tomorrow could be
hurricane funding for North Carolina or flooding assistant for Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
And then Ori ice.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
And this is where Trump has I mean, I just
love these statements. Remember in twenty eighteen he went to
Paradise and he said, we've got to take care of
the floors, you know, the floors of the forest. And
you reference Finland saying the country focuses on raking and cleaning,
they don't have any problems, and which, by the way,
he's got a point on that one, because forest management,
(03:39):
floor management of the floor, the forest is one thing
that has not been done very well. But you know,
the raking and cleaning. And then he compared, this was
on Friday, California's forest to the Austrian forests, where the
trees do not catch fire because of good forest management.
He said, the forests are so brittle because there's no
(04:00):
is like California.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
I go to Austria.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
The head of Austria tells me we have trees that
are much more flammable than we have in California, and
we never have forest fires. And Trump says it's because
they maintain their forests, and Austrian officials had previously said, no,
we don't have more explosive trees. Trees are basically as
explosive any place in the.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
World that.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I mean, I just love that stuff. And the issue
with wildfire is a huge problem here. As you know.
The last I think, the fires are still going on.
We've got three major fires in southern California already have
burnt more than one hundred thousand acres. And without federal money,
it's it's difficult. I mean, fire fighters across the country
(04:50):
rely on federal money. And the former president said, unless
you do what I want, you to do with California
Police on water management. I am if I become when
I become president, I'm going to stop the funding. You know,
it's what do you do? Sometimes I just don't understand it.
(05:12):
You know, I don't understand how this works. You know,
this is the example I give you where sometimes I
just don't understand the way people think. I had a
call and handle on the law a few years ago
and there was something about the gun control issue. Someone
called in who was clearly a gunnet and bottom line,
(05:34):
he said, no.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
One's ever going to take away my guns. I will
fight them to the death.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
He said, okay, so let's let's let me give you your
benefit of the doubt. Here where the law is passed,
hanging away your guns, and the National Guard shows up
and there they have their armored personnel carriers, they have
their artillery, and they're telling you either give up your
guns or we're going to destroy the house. And he
(05:59):
said I would fight them to the death. I would
take my weapon and fight them until I die. And
then I said, let me give you an example. Okay,
let me give you a scenario. Assumeing what you say
is right, that they show up and now you take
your weapon and you start fighting them, and they start
firing back because they've got a platoon in front of you,
(06:23):
and your kids get caught in the crossfire and you
lose your kids. You have kids, Yeah, I've got three
of them or whatever ages. And I said, and you
lose your kids?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Is that worth it?
Speaker 2 (06:33):
And I'm going to quote now they would understand how
important the Second Amendment is.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And I said, you're five year old. Yes, my five
year old.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Would understand that the Second Amendment is more important than
even living. It's I'm just giving an example of what's
going on today across the board.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I mean, it is so crazy, pure silliness. As an individual,
tell me that this isn't silly. Just described what's the
revolutionary war?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I know, but that individuals going up against the government
so are our existence as a country would not have happened.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I do not yet, well took up arms against the government,
except I don't know how many people would say my
one individual doing it? I understand, But I know, right.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Those people are crazy. That's true because overthrowing the government.
And this is not the King George the third or
King George the fifth. But all I'm saying is that
that kind of thinking is happening today more than it
ever has.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
By the way, is there any.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Revolutionary missive that you have read where it says I'm
willing to have my kids die in order to gain freedom.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Anyway, I just want to make a point of how
crazy it's all crazy.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
It's all crazy.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
I don't get it, you know, it's that kind of
thinking I don't understand.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Now.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I've talked many times about AI and the good, the bad,
the ugly. Mainly we don't understand what it is, even
what it possibly can do.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
We're on the little, tiny tippy edge of what this
stuff can do. Well.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I do a lot of talking about how negative it is,
but let me give you a positive story. Google has
just announced they're going to spend thirteen million dollars to
improve satellite imaging to help track and detect wildfires. Now
we start with thirteen million dollars from Google. That's less
money than the change they find between the cushions in
(08:34):
their waiting rooms when you go to the lobby at
that organization. But what this is about is fire SAT
is what it's called, a group of fifty satellites that
will be able to detect wildfires as small as the
size of a bedroom sixteen by sixteen or of classroom,
(08:56):
and this launches early next year. Right now, satellite imagery
detects wildfires when they hit about the size.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Of a football field.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
This one is the size of a classroom. And as
you probably know by now, the new firefighting philosophy is,
you get fires out as quickly as possible.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
You send those air tankers.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
If there is a campfire that looks like it's going
to start a wildfire, you grab it at the campfire
level with air or ground forces. And so this initiative
is being led by something called the Earth Fire Alliance,
a nonprofit that created this fire SAT and is to
(09:42):
develop wildfire databases funding from Google among others. And right now,
satellite image confuses clouds mostacks for fires. Well, what Google
is saying and what fire stata is saying is using
machine learning.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Google built a camera.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
That optimized this technology for fire detections and will provide
updated satellite imagery every twenty minutes to firefighters, which doesn't
happen now, So to give them as early infras solid
information as possible, because that is now the magic bullet
that is the way the.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Most successful way to fight firefighters.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Also, firestat will create a database to create a global
historical record of fire spreads, so you just better understanding
better models. Now, California have already started using AI to
better track wildfires with the California Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection did partners with UC San Diego and developed
(10:50):
a new AI pilot project. We've talked about this that
has over a thousand of these high definition cameras that
are on top of towers and mountain peaks throughout the
state and they're saying we need a lot more thousands
of those.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
But what that does.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Those cameras keep an eye out for smoke and other
anomalies that's already in place, but they're not specific enough.
They don't go to the minutia this program does. It
just delves deeper into the technology and the research. Mechanical
(11:29):
engineer with US Forest Service who was interviewed for this article,
Jason Forhofer, said, we'll be able to teach firefighters what
drying US does to a fire. You sort of already
know it, don't you, But this takes it on a
whole different level. Or what wind does or changes in
fuel types, because we have seen so many firefighters die
(11:50):
on fires when they don't anticipate what the fire is
going to do. And we talked to Chuck Lovers, who
is my friend who worked with La County Fire for
thirty years, and the guy is like a real expert
in you're being designed equipment. I mean, he was just
and he is tremendous about knowledge of firefighting. And every
time do you remember the hot shots, I think fourteen
(12:11):
of them died in the fire. And we talked to Chuck,
and Chuck said they just didn't understand enough.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
About what was going on.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Someone just blew it putting in that position. If they
looked at it, they would have known that is not
the place to put firefighters.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Well, take that kind of thinking, and that was pretty blatant,
according to Chuck.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Take that kind of thinking and bring it to levels
of understanding that are of magnitude and the ability to
look at this and to analyze this. And by the way,
tell me, we don't have fire seasons now because of
climate change.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
So this is the good news.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Where AI is going to be used in a positive sense.
So coming up, I'm going to do the next four
segments on how Ai is going to give you diseases
and kill you and make life more miserable because hey,
this is the handle show.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
What can I tell you?
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Right? Okay, TikTok. Let me spend a minute talking about that.
Federal judges are now dealing with TikTok. There's a panel
federal judges. We're grilling both TikTok and the Justice Department.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Here's what.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
As we know, Congress passed the law, bipartisan bill that
said TikTok has to either sell itself in the United
States or.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
It's just going to be banned outright.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
And of course they're suing and arguing this is a
First Amendment issue. And the whole premise is TikTok is
owned by byte Edance, which is a Chinese company, and
the argument is that TikTok and all of these major
tech companies have enormous amount of data about businesses, about
(13:52):
individuals here in this country. And the fear is that
the Chinese government, either the military, the Chinese Ese Party,
the Communist Party, or the government itself, which is one
and the same, are going to be able to get
this information on Americans.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
So TikTok is out now. When you go when the
government is.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Going against the other big companies, that's antitrust and they're
American companies, so this argument doesn't fly. Wow, TikTok is
screaming and saying it's First Amendment.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
You don't have the right to do this to us.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I love the fact that a Chinese own company is
arguing First Amendment in this country. I mean, the irony
is just spectacular here. It is breathtaking the hypocrisy here.
And the court said, this is three judge panel said,
we've never seen this before.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
We've never seen this.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Now First Amendment arguments with American based company. Of course
we're going to hear that that's legitimate, and that is
always a real issue. And how far and how much
restriction can major platforms have is going to be dealt
with forever.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
With a foreign.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Company, that is a different thing. And there are three
judges and by the way, the argument and people that
are looking at this, the judges were going after both
the government and TikTok. They were asking questions and usually
based on the questions, this happens to the Supreme Court cases
(15:26):
all the time. What the court watchers look at is
are the questions that are being tossed at the attorneys,
and some of those questions don't stop. Scalia, for example,
was brutal in questioning both plaintiffs and defendants or respondents
and those that are have filed motions. I mean, before
(15:49):
the attorneys could literally open their mouths, he was throwing
questions at them, and you know which way he.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Was going to go.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Clarence Thomas never asked attorneys anything. He just sets back
and listens. He is a listener. Of course we know
where he's going because of his political views. But there
are a couple of ways of doing it, and a
lot of the argument or the questioning determines which way
the judges are going to go.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
In this case, it's either way.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Because both the government and TikTok were just nailed or
even being asked about their positions.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
There were three separate lawsuits that were consolidated.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
This is a big, big case and it will go
up to the Supreme Court.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
There was a case. I mean, this is how far
this goes.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
It wasn't just hypothetical questions that were thrown out. Here's
a hypothetical what if they do that all the time.
Alana Kagan just did that with a couple of cases.
The court references previous cases. There was one Lamont versus
Postmaster General. The Supreme Court upheld Americans' rights to receive
may from abroad, even when the government considered a communist
(17:04):
propaganda First Amendment mail from abroad, so receiving the information
was a First Amendment right. However, in TikTok's case, and
this is why it's the case, the first impression the
court this is a brand new area of law, and
that is how far and how protected are these major platforms.
(17:28):
And the argument here is First Amendment rights. You know,
that is a tough one. The other thing is that
Congress doesn't legislate all the time.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
One of the judges said, this time they did. They
passed this law.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
And what TikTok is saying, this was basically a regulatory law.
And the Court said, no, no, no, no, there's no
regulation here. It's not a regulatory agency. This is not
the Federal Communications Commission, this is.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Not FAA, this is not the EPA.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
This is a law that was passed by Congress, which
puts it into another category complicated stuff.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Which way are they gonna go? Well, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (18:13):
When you see panda express advertising on TikTok more than
any other company out there. You're gonna say, Okay, maybe
maybe the Chinese have a little bit more influence than
they should. All right, now, Measure A is coming up,
and what is Measure A. Measure A is going to
be on the ballot, and what it is. It's a
(18:35):
ballot measure That quote mandates a new approach to expand
programs that are proven to prevent homelessness and increase housing affordability.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Okay, that's kind of.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Neat, sort of leaves out the fact that it's a tax.
That's not in the flyer you're going to get.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Nope, it is.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Here's what happened. It is a tax. It replaces a
tax and puts a new tax in. But the tax
that replaces was going to sunset next year. And what
this does is expand the tax and keep it indefinitely.
So here's the bottom line about propositions. I want to
point something out is that you look at who's backing
(19:17):
it up. That has to be said in the commercials
and the flyers, and if you, for example, if you
see the who's backing it up? It used to be
or the measure says citizens against taxation.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
That's what measure let's say thirteen is.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
And then you look at these various organizations that are
pro tax who are paying for it?
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Uh huh, maybe there's something wrong here.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Measure A it's about homelessness, and they don't mention it's
a tax.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Okay, look at.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Everybody who's backing it up, all these organizations that are
fighting homelessness, and you wonder they're leaving out the fact,
how do you pay for all this?
Speaker 1 (20:00):
It's a tax. That's how you pay for it. It's
a tax.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
Now do you know that you need two thirds majority
of the vote if the government puts a ballot measure
on a simple majority. When it is put on by
the citizens. Guests who put this on the citizens always
read who is backing it up and always always assume,
(20:28):
and I think correctly, when they say we are against
in the measure, they are in favor. And whenever you
read we are in favor, in reality the proposal is against.
Why because we are suckers and the law allows you
(20:50):
to do that. Now, in reality, when you get your ballot,
you know, when they give you the information about what
measures do and what they don't do, they're there honest.
But you have to read those ballot measures. Who does that?
You get that booklet and it explains both pro and
con and it's legislative analysis that comes out the legislative
(21:12):
I think it's the the Analyst's office, and they're bipartisan
the rest of the time.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Uh uh.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
So, as you look at Measure A, and you know
that it is going to help the homeless, it is
another tax, another quarter tax. Now, it's no big deal.
It's only a few cents here, it's only a dollar there. Well,
we're already at the most taxed state in the nation
and we're moving up from there.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
So you know, I don't.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Care which side of how you vote. All I care
is about is that you do vote. I just don't care.
But I do care about you knowing what you're voting for.
I think that is critical. That's your franchise. That's what
America is all about. All Right, I'm gonna get off
by high Horse. This is KFI AM six forty live
(22:02):
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Catch my show Monday through Friday six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app,
The Bill Handel Show News
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