Who’s More Racist: You or an Algorithm?
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. For some reason there’s a sudden interest in what seems like a minor topic: whether machine learning is biased. The basic argument is that since computer programs are written by humans and trained on human data, they inevitably inherit human biases along the way. Therefore,…
Facebook and Twitter Remove Thousands of Accounts Spreading Misinformation From Iran and Russia
Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto/ZUMA Press Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Facebook and Twitter revealed Thursday that they had removed new misinformation campaigns from their platforms tied to Iran. Facebook said it deleted a batch of accounts for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior,” removing 783 pages, groups, and accounts with ties to Iran.…
A Damning New Report Says McKinsey Allegedly Helped Purdue Sell Even More Opioids
Toby Talbot/AP Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. For years, McKinsey & Company allegedly consulted for Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid OxyContin, on how to boost painkiller sales and counter bad PR—namely, “the emotional messages from mothers with teenagers that overdosed.” The relationship was revealed in a new explosive article by ProPublica’s David Armstrong based on Massachusetts’…
The Report on Afghanistan That Trump Wanted “Locked Up” Was Just Released
Alex Edelman/ZUMA Wire Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Twenty-eight days ago, President Donald Trump spent part of his first Cabinet meeting of the year fulminating against inspector general reports—in particular, the ones about waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan produced by an independent office established by Congress in 2008. “What kind of stuff is this?” he asked.…
Only 27% of Americans Think American Health Care Is Above Average
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. A couple of days ago I suggested that Democrats needed to conduct a scorched-earth campaign against insurance companies if they wanted to persuade the public to support some kind of national health care plan. But that got me thinking. Conventional wisdom says that employer health…
What’s Up With Howard Schultz?
Coffee mogul Howard Schultz enjoying his brief time in the limelight.Brian Cahn/ZUMA Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. What’s the deal with Howard Schultz? I mean really: does anyone know? He can’t possibly believe he has a chance of winning on a platform of social liberalism and fiscal austerity. This is…