EDITORIAL
BY DHIREN SHAH
Hello Readers,
Happy Fourth of July to all our readers and everyone else as well. The 4th of July is a celebration for us all. However, a 43 year old Michigan woman is dead, and nine others were injured in a firework explosion. Now even Costco is selling fireworks. Fireworks are good for entertainment, but some can be dangerous. For many years, there were restrictions in selling fireworks. In the 1980s, people from New York and New Jersey used to get fireworks from the Carolinas. In South Carolina (the Palmetto State) people are allowed to buy fireworks year round. However, the person must be 16 years of age.
In New Jersey, we have more restrictions on fireworks. Explosive fireworks like firecrackers, torpedoes, skyrockets, bottle rockets and more are illegal to sell or purchase. However, the exception is made for sparklers and novelty items like snappers and poppers which are allowed for ages 16 and older. It is good that there are restrictions in New Jersey. Even New York state has almost the same restrictions. However, not too many follow those restrictions. Also, the fireworks businesses are allowed to buy and display their art in firework shows. They are experts and have knowledge on how to use fireworks with safety precautions.
This weekend, we had more mass shootings. A Fort Worth, Texas saw three killed and eight injured. This was one of several shootings in the city. Meanwhile, a Philadelphia mass shooting saw five dead and two injured. This doesn’t even include the Baltimore incident.
There have been about 405 mass shootings as of July 4, 2023 this year. That means in 185 days there are about 2.19 mass shootings every single day of this year. If we goes back to short history, there were 272 mass shootings in 2015, 336 in 2016, 383 in 2017, 348 in 2018, 336 in 2019, 415 in 2020, 610 in 2021, 690 in 2022, and for the first six months of 2023, we have 405. Why has there been this spike in mass shootings since 2020? Does the pandemic have anything to do with this? We must find out the reasons and possibly stop the gun violence all together with gun control.
After the July 3rd attack on Gaza Strip by Israel, 8 persons are dead and about 50 were injured. A Palestinian attack on Tel Aviv by way of a car ramming injured at least five persons. The Palestinians are not allowed to use the Tel Aviv airport, so indirectly they are not allowed to roam around Tel Aviv.
A substance was found in the White House, which turned out to be cocaine. The area they found the substance is in the West Wing where tour groups are allowed to visit.
The new wave is AI. That is artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. Specific applications of AI include expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition and machine vision. The future of AI (artificial intelligence) will disrupt the lives of human beings. It will help to modernize industries, but take away jobs from humans. The father of AI is John McCarthy (September 4, 1927 – October 24, 2011), a Boston scientist, who presented his definition of AI at a conference on the campus of Dartmouth College in 1956. He was the leader of AI for decades. There are four main types of artificial intelligence: Reactive Machines, Limited Memory, Theory of Mind and Self Awareness.
U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty in Louisiana has restricted the Biden Administration form meeting with social media companies on the heels of Attorneys General in Louisiana and Missouri alleging that the Administration was violating First Amendment rights by censoring material that may not be politically advantageous to them concerning COVID information. Whether you like the current leadership or not, it is not good when a political party can control what you hear and see.
Have a wonderful week. I’ll talk to you next week.
