Good afternoon. I’m Ryan Rose, and this is AlterNet America. Please take a moment to click the ❤️ and restack this post. The oligarchs’ platforms are trying to keep stories like the ones below from hitting your feeds, and this helps us break through.
Trump misspelled “United States” in his own executive order. His administration is trying to deport a Hasidic Jewish man for protesting Israel. The New York City Council has subpoenaed Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI after the company refused to attend an AI safety hearing. And nearly 400 cases of dengue fever have been reported in Florida, with three counties declaring states of emergency.
Before we get to the news, a brief ask: AlterNet America was launched as a direct response to MAGA billionaires buying up networks like CBS and newspapers like the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. We’re going all-in on the bet that reader-supported journalism can compete directly with the billionaires by being the one thing they can’t buy.
We’re incredibly grateful to all the free subscribers who have signed up to receive our newsletters in recent weeks. But if you’ve been thinking about making the leap to become a paying subscriber, this is the time when it matters the most. Please upgrade today.
Trump Misspells “United States” in Executive Order. Yes, Seriously.
The leader of the free world does not know how to spell the name of his own country.
Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday renaming artificial intelligence to “super intelligence.” He also signed a separate accord on AI regulation with five tech company CEOs, which identifies him as the “President of the Unites States.”
The misspelling was spotted straight away when David Sacks, the White House’s AI adviser, posted a photo of the signing online. Some users asked whether the document itself was written by AI, while others pointed out both orders do pretty much nothing.
The accord signed by the CEOs has not been published in full. The White House fact sheet released with the executive order mentions only the name change, and doesn’t actually contain any new regulations or enforcement provisions.
Trump announced the rebrand at his U.N. General Assembly speech last week, where he told the audience he was renaming AI because “super intelligence” sounds “much better” and is “much more accurate.” He then wondered out loud whether he actually had the power to do it, which is a first.
Sponsored Kalshi poll: Which party will win the U.S. Senate
?
Trump Administration Seeks to Deport Hasidic Jewish Man Who Protested Israel
“Self-hating Jew” has been upgraded from insult to federal immigration policy.
A Hasidic Jewish religious teacher in New York is facing deportation for protesting Israel. Yehonatan Ovadia was among the participants in an October 2023 protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza in Rockland County, where an Israeli flag disappeared from the local town hall.
Ovadia has been accused by the government of stealing the flag, which he denies. He and another member of his sect were accused of hate crimes in the disappearance of the flag, but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct and paid a fine in early 2024.
The federal government revoked Ovadia’s religious worker visa in August, after which Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him. He’s currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Ovadia is suing the government, asserting that he is being punished for religious and political expression. One of his attorneys, Eric Lee, said that calling Ovadia an antisemite is “the peak of absurdity,” given that he’s a devout Hasidic Jew whose opposition to the Israeli government is rooted in his religious beliefs.
New York City Council Subpoenas Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI Over AI Safety Hearing
Elon Musk’s AI can write a novel in thirty seconds but apparently can’t reply to a city council invitation.
The New York City Council has subpoenaed Musk’s SpaceXAI, demanding the company send a representative to testify at an oversight hearing on the dangers of artificial intelligence. It’s the first time Speaker Julie Menin has used the body’s subpoena power.
SpaceXAI was the only major AI company that did not respond to the Council’s request to participate. Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic agreed to attend the October 5 hearing, but only after the Council explicitly threatened subpoenas. Meta was the only one that agreed to come without a threat.
Menin said in a statement that these companies have a significant presence in the city and collectively employ tens of thousands of New Yorkers. She said “these firms owe it to their workers and, above all, to the public to come before the Council, answer our questions, and provide input on our proposed legislation under oath.”
If SpaceXAI does not comply, the Council intends to seek judicial enforcement of the subpoena in the New York State Supreme Court. And if that fails, the Council could pursue civil contempt sanctions.
State of Emergency in Florida as 400 Cases of Dengue Fever Reported
Good thing we put the raw milk guy in charge of public health.
One person has died and nearly 400 have become sick in one of the worst outbreaks of dengue fever in decades in Florida. Three Tampa Bay area counties have declared states of emergency due to the epidemic.
Most of the locally acquired infections in the outbreak have been in Hillsborough County. Tampa General Hospital has treated more than 100 patients, and an 80-year-old woman died September 4 of complications including septic shock and multi-organ failure.
Hillsborough County declared a state of local emergency on Sept. 24, allowing emergency managers to act quickly and preparing for reimbursement from the federal government. Pasco County issued its own emergency declaration and urged surrounding counties to do the same.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral illness that can cause fever, severe body aches, and even life-threatening complications. Scientists say the current outbreak is likely related to weather conditions that enabled virus-carrying mosquitoes to reproduce, a pattern that is being exacerbated by climate change.
Support Journalism That Rejects Billionaire Money
Right-wing billionaires are quietly buying up more media outlets, while smaller outlets unable to keep up shut down on a nearly daily basis. If nobody stops them, the rich and well-connected will be able to act in secret and escape all accountability. AlterNet America doesn’t answer to them. We only answer to you, and that means we can cover these stories the way they need to be covered. But our editorial independence is only possible with the support of our paying subscribers.
If you’re still reading, that means you found this newsletter valuable. Now we need you to make your support official by upgrading your free subscription to a paying one. It only costs 22 cents a day, and it ensures AlterNet America will be able to keep working exclusively for you instead of a billionaire or corporate owner. Please subscribe or upgrade now.
Thank you again for reading and for supporting independent media. And if you haven’t yet, click the ❤️ and restack this post so we can reach more feeds.
POSITIVE STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
House Passes Bill to Renew Federal Funding for ALS Research and Care. The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to reauthorize the ACT for ALS, a landmark 2021 law that established federal programs to speed the development of new therapies and improve access to experimental treatments for patients who are unable to participate in clinical trials. The original law authorized $100 million in annual federal funding. Since its passage, an estimated 750 people with ALS have received access to promising experimental therapies through an expanded program of the National Institutes of Health. The reauthorization bill would continue funding through 2031. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it must pass before the current law expires on Oct. 1.
New Mexico Jury Finds Facebook Liable for Over 43 Million Privacy Violations. A jury in Santa Fe found Facebook violated the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act more than 43 million times by misleading consumers about how the company handled their personal data. The case comes out of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where a third-party personality quiz gathered data on some 87 million profiles and sold it to a political consulting firm whose clients included Trump’s 2016 campaign. In the lawsuit, Facebook was found to have lied about its data practices with third-party companies and profited from misinformation and hate speech while claiming to fight it. A judge will determine penalties. State attorneys are seeking the maximum civil penalty, $5,000 per violation, which adds up to more than $200 billion.
Federal Judge Dismisses Riley Gaines’ Lawsuit Against NCAA Over Trans Athletes. A federal judge dismissed most claims in a class-action lawsuit brought by conservative activist Riley Gaines and nearly two dozen other athletes against the NCAA over its former policy allowing transgender women to compete in women’s college sports. U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson held that the NCAA is not a state actor and therefore cannot be sued on constitutional grounds. She also found that claims against the University System of Georgia and Georgia Tech were moot after Georgia passed a law prohibiting public institutions from hosting women’s tournaments where transgender women can participate.
Governor Newsom Signs Housing Legislation to Reduce Homelessness. On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of housing bills designed to accelerate and cut the cost of homebuilding throughout the state. The legislation accelerates approval of townhome developments, cuts red tape for factory-built housing, and clears the way for two major redevelopment projects that will create more than 14,000 new homes. The bill package builds on what the governor’s office calls the largest numerical reduction in unsheltered homelessness of any state, a 6.8 percent decrease that is more than double the national average. Annual residential construction in California has increased by 59 percent and average development approval times have been reduced by 57 percent since 2018.
Tramp was asked to point to an empty space.
How about we leave off the genocide part since there is no attempt to indiscriminately murder Gazans. The Jews did not attack the Nazis and Gazans are not being rounded up and sent to death camps. You want to see a real Genocide (besides those being today ignored in South Sudan, Rwanda, Myanmar, etc.)? Have every Israeli lay down their weapons and allow Hamas/Hezbollah to roam the countryside with their own