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terabyteturtle · 26 days

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Fighter #13 - Peach

For clarification, whenever "the kingdoms" are mentioned, I'm referring to the kingdoms from Super Mario Odyssey.

- She frequently has to clean spores off of her dress from how often Toad is around her.

- Toad releases spores whenever he gets startled, so Wolf and Dark Pit make it their mission to scare him every day just to annoy Peach.

- Gardening helps Peach relieve stress. Whenever she’s feeling overwhelmed, going outside and tending to the plants always makes her feel better. She even has her own vegetable garden in the courtyard. Out of all the veggies she tends to, turnips are her favorite.

- Peach has been on the cover of numerous fashion magazines throughout all of the kingdoms. One of these days, Bayonetta hopes to accompany her on her modeling endeavors.

- Her parasol is reinforced with sturdy toadstool caps to prevent it from blowing backwards or flying out of her hands. Poor Peach went through a lot of trial, error, and lost parasols before finally coming up with this solution.

- Peach is a very skilled dancer. Her amazing balance, flexibility, and endurance shines through whenever she's tearing up the dance floor. She leaps with grace, waltzes with elegance, and breakdances with style. No matter who her audience is, Peach never fails to impress with her spectacular moves.

- Peach's playlist is an amalgamation of upbeat girly pop, spunky punk rap, and hardcore thrash metal.

- Some fighters get extremely annoyed with Peach during matches. Sometimes, her taunts are incredibly infuriating.

- Anyone and everyone is welcome to join her for an afternoon cup of tea. Depending on who it is, she'll also bake them their favorite sweet treat. If Peach doesn't know this information, or they simply don't have a favorite, she'll default to her signature strawberry shortcake.

- Bayonetta always teases Peach about her relationship with Mario. While she constantly insists that she and Mario are just friends, the Umbra Witch refuses to believe it. It doesn’t help that literally all of the DLC fighters thought Peach and Mario were a couple upon arrival.

- Whenever the Mario fighters play tennis or golf, Toad makes it his mission to beat Bowser. He doesn’t care where he is on the leaderboard, as long as he’s above his sworn enemy. It’s his way of getting revenge for his beloved princess, but all his attempts fail miserably, and he only makes himself look like a fool. Even Bowser himself is starting to feel sorry for the guy.

- When it’s that time of the month for Peach, she becomes irritable and bitter, which is a stark contrast to her usual sweet and forgiving personality. Unless she asks for a favor or strikes up a conversation first, all of the fighters know to give her some space until the week passes.

- Peach is always on her guard. Considering how many times she’s been kidnapped, she’s unknowingly become more paranoid over the years (and rightfully so). Like Samus, if something startles or surprises her, her first instinct is to fight, and her hands will curl up into fists. Unlike Samus, however, she’ll take a quick second to evaluate whether or not something is actually a threat before she does anything.

- Peach has incredible strength when it comes to punting things. Whether it be a soccer ball or a Bob-omb that she pulled from the ground by mistake, she’ll kick it far and high enough to make you think that Team Rocket’s blasting off again.

- Peach is like a mother figure to the younger fighters, including the Koopalings. She's sweet and gentle with them, but if they misbehave, they're going to get scolded. And if anyone tries to mess with them, she'll protect them like a lioness would protect her cubs.

- Everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom is a big fan of the Squid Sisters, so Peach will buy tickets from the Inklings and take the Toads to see them in concert. The Toads love Callie, but Marie is Peach’s favorite.

- Peach received her car, Birthday Girl, from the Toads for her sixteenth birthday. It was her first vehicle, and she still has it to this day.

- Peach has been best friends with Daisy since childhood. When they were younger, they used to do everything together. As they grew up, they still kept in touch, but didn’t get to see each other as often due to how busy they were with royal duties. Despite this, they still have a close-knit relationship.

- Every weekend, Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina go out for a girls’ night. They don’t care what they do, just as long as they get to spend time with each other and away from the mansion. Sometimes, Pauline will join them.

- Every so often, Pauline will invite the princesses to galas in New Donk City, which they always accept and attend in style.

- When she first met Pauline, Peach thought she was related to Mario. Something about the red attire, dark hair, and blue eyes made her think they were cousins or something.

- Peach taught Rosalina everything she knows about Earth customs and social interactions. Considering she lived most of her life in space, she was largely unfamiliar with anything or anyone beyond stars, galaxies, and Lumas. In fact, Peach is the only reason Rosalina knows how to play golf.

- She frequently accompanies Isabelle on strolls outside to collect flowers and admire butterflies. Considering how much she loves nature, Peach will often bring her souvenirs from her trips to other kingdoms (mushrooms from the Mushroom Kingdom, plants from the Wooded Kingdom, seashells from the Seaside Kingdom, etc).

- Back home in the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach loves going outside and feeding the doves in the morning. On Smash Mansion grounds, however, there are no doves to be found. So, to keep up with her morning routine, she’ll go outside and just sit out there until a bird of any kind finally flies by. Unfortunately for her, the birds in the Light Realm don’t really care for the birdseed she brings along, so her generosity is often ignored.

- In addition to vegetables, Peach also grows Fire Flowers for battle use.

- Peach’s favorite tea is white tea with plenty of honey, garnished with a white orchid. She finds it pairs well with a lot of the desserts she enjoys making, and the orchid just adds an elegant finishing touch to the beverage.

- If fighters are feeling sick, she’ll make them little care packages with all of their favorite things inside.

- Unlike Toad (or even Mario, at times), Peach forgives Bowser for most of his misdeeds and has actually begun to develop a better relationship with him. The Koopa King really hopes this is a sign of progress.

- Fighters are divided over who they want Peach to end up with. Some, like King Dedede and Meta Knight, think she’s better off with Bowser, while others, like Pyra and Mythra, think that she and Mario would make a better couple.

- Meanwhile, Samus and Jigglypuff stay out of the fray, firm in their belief that the princess should just be left alone.

- During matches, Peach will always cheer on fighters by making small rainbows for them above her head. She's always believed that rainbows were a sign of good luck and triumph through difficult times, so displaying those vibrant, magical colors is her way of showing support.

- She refuses to let Toad eat beans of any kind. If he ingests them, he won't be able to stop farting for hours. His farts are silent but deadly, causing whoever's nearby to face a smelly fate. Once, he even made Sheik faint from how bad the smell was.

- She has the subconscious habit of constantly fixing her bangs. Even if every hair is perfectly in place, she'll still reach up and adjust them out of habit.

- During the warmer months, Peach frequently has problems with Duck Hunt digging up her vegetables. Villager has tried to keep this under control, but he's not very good at it.

- Peach is the head of the party planning committee and oversees all operations pertaining to celebrations. She is a watchful leader and always keeps everyone on task whilst doing her share of the work.

- Her favorite song from the Smash soundtrack is Ground Theme - Super Mario Bros (Melee). It brings her a lot of nostalgia from back in the Melee days, when she first joined Smash.

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steinwayandhissons · 11 months

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something im obsessed with about miles’ music (and especially change the show) is the sheer number of references to other songs he makes, including his own - these are the ones i could catch, some may be quite dubiously linked/coincidental but i love discovering all the lyric parallels, please let me know if there are any that ive missed

tell me what you’re feeling (cts 2022)

silverscreen (cdg 2018)

(also science fiction 2018 - arctic monkeys that was released in the same year as coup de grace - i discovered the parallel recently and went insane)

adios ta ra ta ra (also dancefloor reference?) (cts 2022)

don’t let it get you down (cts 2022)

cold light of the day (cdg 2018)

don’t let it get you down (cts 2022)

come closer (cott 2011)

nothings ever gonna be good enough (cts 2022)

peaches - the stranglers (1977)

adios ta ra ta ra (cts 2022)

psycho killer - talking heads (1977)

tonight (dfwya 2013)

come together - the beatles (1969)

first of my kind (dfwya 2013)

higher ground - stevie wonder (1973)

better than that (dfwya 2013)

four letter word - beady eye (2011) (which miles has posted about on insta)

cry on my guitar (cdg 2018)

the hellcat spangled shalalala - arctic monkeys (2011)

loaded (cdg 2018)

the element of surprise - the last shadow puppets (2016)

paint it, black - the rolling stones (1966)

killing the joke (cdg 2018)

cole porter - you're the top (1989)

looking out my window (b side 2012)

Waiting for that little brown eyed girl, she's coming back

brown eyed girl - van morrison (1967)

My brown eyed girl, you my brown eyed girl

la five four (b side 2018)

I was out of control, I was here for the roll

out of control (dfwya 2013)

But we'll rock as we roll, rev the engines and go, let's get out of control

la five four (b side 2018)

With your fingertips calling on the back of my spine

rearrange (cott 2011)

Magic from your fingers tingles down my spine

this is most likely not a reference but i like the parallels

the wonder (omb 2023)

Seeping on my wishing list, momentary bliss

momentary bliss - gorillaz (2020)

We could do so much better than this, mausoleum faces and momentary bliss

and of course telling the future

adios ta ra ta ra (cts 2022)

one man band - to be released... (2023)

also this is quite dubious but i found it funny so...

adios ta ra ta ra (cts 2022)

hot n cold - katy perry (2008)

special mention to telepathy (not necessarily a song referenced) (cott 2011)

i love the reference to the little flames <3

#miles kane #lyric parallels/references #again please add any more that ive missed i love stuff like this

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meandmybigmouth · 2 years

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen and White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda D. Young today released the final budget results for fiscal year (FY) 2022. During FY 2022, the deficit fell by $1.4 trillion—the largest one-year decrease in the Federal deficit in American history.

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gbgamebun · 1 year

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Super Cream 64 v5 Release Trailer & Patch Notes:

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N64: https://romhacking.com/hack/super-cream-64 PC: https://github.com/Gamebunn/Cream64_PC Will also be available on sm64pcbuilder2 for easier compiling at some point. Will update when it's available.

Patch notes:

New Levels

Added two new levels, The Mountain of Sir Percival and Melancholy Mines, replacing Tower of the Wing Cap and Cavern of the Metal Cap in that order.

Changed up the collect star/death warps in Melancholy Mines to boot you back to the Castle Lobby rather than outside Hazy Maze Cave, unless you fall into the waterfall which just dumps you outside like before.

Updated the collision in Mission Street to make certain things easier to interact with.

Replaced textures in Big's patio to indicate boxes are not breakable.

Gigaboot's Pokemon Adoption Center has now expanded! Several other NPCs have arrived in the city, some additional art in places and two new stores have sprung up as well. Take a look when you can!

(PC Only) Added optional interior area to Pocky's Emerald Theater. Someone seems to be in there.

Charmy and Espio can be seen hanging around the two new levels! What are they up to?

Old Levels/Gameplay

(PC Only) Current outfit when grabbing a new star will be saved to the save file. Kind of a coin flip if it saves or not when grabbing a transparent star. Cause of this, old save files are not compatible with the latest version.

Adjusted the speed on the Tails race in Tiny Huge Island to be more fair.

Added secondary starting warps to Dire Dire Docks for Stars 3, 4 and 6 to make getting to the second area much easier. Note you must select the Star in the Act select.

(PC Only) Opening the pyramid top activates an unused cutscene. Didn't program it myself, just apart of the repo. In here to let people know that it'll happen.

There's these things in certain levels. They don't look dangerous but they sure are freaky lookin'.

Princess Secret Slide has the same layout and collision but is now given a visual makeover.

You can now fly off from pole vaulting.

Cream Outfits

Moved switching outfits to the DPad. For the PC version, you may have to rebind it in Pause > [R] Options > Controls.

Added several new Cream outfits, totally up to 64.

Removed: Cinnia Cream and Bean Cream

Newest added since v4.3: Cheese the Chao, TF2 Engineer, Demon Slayer Nezuko, MM8 Roll, Megaman X, Castlevania: RoB Maria Renard, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Sena, a Mexican Forklorico Dress for CaptainQuack64, Kate the Wolf for MainMemory_ and Dot_Lvl and Voxandra for Dot_Lvl. You can view the whole set of them here.

Reshuffled the Cream outfits in the N64 version. It's now: Normal, Riders, Winter, Spring, Unicorn, Halloween, Yukata, Swimsuit, Young Vanilla, Amy Rose, Mario, Klonoa and Creamocchia.

The "We did it!" soundclip when grabbing a star is now replaced when wearing certain outfits. Those being: Klonoa, Sena, Kitten, Layla and Katalina.

The Collect Star theme will now change with certain costumes. Those being: Tails, Mario, Klonoa, Ichiban, Travis, Jack, Austin, Dudley, Engineer, Goku, Pan, Roll, Megaman X, Lan, Vergil, Maria, Sora, Dawn, Serena, DQ3 Mage, Wonder-Bun, Sena and every outfit past that.

To follow up on that, the Austin outfit has a unique jingle that'll play when actually grabbing a star or key.

The Mario, Klonoa and Creamocchia outfits in the N64 version also have these themes with the Klonoa outfit keeping the Wahoo!

Music and Sounds

Castle Interior now has a new track: Apotos - Day from Sonic Unleashed.

The following stages and actions also have new tracks since v4: Bob-Omb Battlefield, Whomp's Fortress, Big Boo's Haunt (main and merry-go-round), White Park Carnival, Tiny-Huge Island, Eggman 3 Phase 1 and riding the shell.

Landing the final hit on Eggman 3 will play a proper finale track.

Credits track has also been replaced with its regular version. Midi version still on N64 due to space.

Added new soundbytes for the following NPCs: Layla, Kitten and Katalina

Since v4: The results screen will now play a random clip from 5 different voice samples. All from SF3 Third Strike.

The End track has been replaced with a new one.

And the Rest!

(PC Only) Rings have been replaced with 3D models. Big thanks to Alonwoof for implementing them!

Giant Mario head has now been replaced with a proper Cream head, as seen in the video. Big thank you to BWGLite for implementing it!

Added an extra animation for Amy's third encounter in BBH to indicate new dialog.

Updated some models and animations for certain NPCs.

Game Credits sign at start of game has been updated to reflect the additional changes added as well as a new "Cream and Vanilla design" credits section.

Dialog has been updated for certain NPCs and actions.

Karaoke Bar has some brand new karaoke champs!

Credits have also been updated to reflect new changes.

There are now two ending pictures instead of just the one.

Man I sure hope I got everything.

#super cream 64 #bun in progress #sc64 #rom hack #super mario 64 #release trailer #now available #patch notes #man I really do hope I got everything #cream the rabbit #Youtube

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seandwalsh · 1 year

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What do you think the deal is with some of the PiT enemies? There are Dry Bones found in Yoob's Belly despite Yoob having trouble eating Koopas, Handfakes somehow knowing what present-day Bowser looks like and working with his minions, and the Shroobs, despite a language barrier, managing to enlist non-Shroob minions like Ghoul Guys, Lethal Bob-ombs, and probably Soul Bubbles and Snoozorbs (both possibly alien and meant to look creepy but don't share design traits with the other Shroob enemies).

Good question! I believe a lot of the enemies in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time were unfortunately designed without the context of the game in mind.

However, there are potential explanations for each of these things.

Yoob seemingly doesn’t have trouble eating all Koopas. It eats Baby Bowser just fine. While we can’t say for sure why he didn’t eat Kamek or Kylie, it might be as simple as “he went off their taste”.

Another possibility is that the Dry Bones aren’t Koopas that Yoob has eaten, but rather pre-existing Dry Bones that the Shroobs stationed within Yoob as guards, along with the Bullies and RC Shroobers.

Handfakes are an interesting case. There are a few possibilities:

Perhaps Bowser’s appearance is common amongst his species, much like with Toad and Yoshi, therefore an individual identical to Bowser could’ve existed at the time. Bowser even shares his Japanese name with his species, much like those characters do. This would also align with Bowser (Blue) from Super Mario Bros.: the Lost Levels and the Koopa Kids from Mario Party having incredibly similar appearances to Bowser. Personally I’m not a fan of this idea, however.

Perhaps the Handfakes somehow saw Bowser, when he briefly fell into the past and wandered around Thwomp Volcano, and decided to copy his image then.

Perhaps Bowser’s future image was predicted by wizards using crystal balls, like Merlon or Kamek, and handfakes used an illustration of this image to scare others. It’s possible that the handfakes could’ve even predicted the future themselves. They’re found on Star Hill after all, and the Stars have the ability to see into the potential future.

Finally, perhaps handfakes are able to produce images of enemies, extracted from the minds of those they face. Since they were fighting Mario and Luigi, they were able to produce images of future Bowser from their memories. This one is my personal favourite, and would explain them using Bowser’s Minions in general.

As for how the Shroobs were able to communicate with non-Shroobs, keep in mind that the language used by the Shroobs is still a complex, learnable language. Some other alien species may speak the same language as the Shroobs, while some Shroobs also definitely speak English. Remember that Elder Princess Shroob speaks English, both as the “Star Sprite” and once she’s been released from the Cobalt Star. Even if they couldn’t speak to each other, it’s possible the Shroobs used mind control on them, much like what they did to the Hammer Bros. in the Vim Factory.

It’s also worth noting that Bob-ombs, and maybe even Shy Guys could have originated in space as well, though that’s a post for another time…

Thanks for your question!

#mario lore #mario & luigi

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marlenemckinnonslover · 10 months

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accidentally only listening to unreal unearth two days after release and realising again how happy i am to have concert tickets omb

#white jesus did it again #I love him so much #hozier #unreal unearth #Like im gonna see him sing francesca live oh my god????

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interest-articles · 3 months

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Administration announces completion of 150-day actions tasked by President Biden’s landmark Executive Order on AI

White House Office of Management and Budget issues policy to mitigate risks and harness benefits of artificial intelligence

Vice President Kamala Harris announced today that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed the 150-day actions tasked by President Biden’s Executive Order on artificial intelligence (AI). These actions aim to strengthen AI safety and security, protect privacy, advance equity and civil rights, promote innovation and competition, and establish American leadership in the global AI landscape. The OMB’s government-wide policy addresses the risks associated with AI and outlines measures to ensure responsible AI innovation.

This milestone builds upon the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to leading in responsible AI development, as evidenced by the President’s Budget, which invests in the responsible integration of AI applications across federal agencies.

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Address Risks from the Use of AI

The OMB’s policy directs federal agencies to implement concrete safeguards when using AI in ways that could impact Americans’ rights or safety. By December 1, 2024, agencies must adopt measures to reliably assess, test, and monitor the impacts of AI on the public. These safeguards include mitigating algorithmic discrimination, ensuring transparency in AI usage, and protecting individuals' rights.

For instance, travelers at airports will retain the ability to opt out of TSA facial recognition without delays or losing their place in line. In the Federal healthcare system, AI tools used for critical diagnostics decisions will have human oversight to verify results and prevent disparities in healthcare access. Additionally, AI systems used to detect fraud in government services will have human oversight, and affected individuals will have recourse for AI-related harms.

If agencies cannot adhere to these safeguards, they must discontinue using the AI system, unless justified by increased risks or critical agency operations.

Expand Transparency of AI Use

The policy requires federal agencies to improve public transparency regarding their use of AI. Agencies will release expanded annual inventories of their AI use cases, including those that impact rights or safety and the corresponding risk mitigation strategies. They will also report metrics about sensitive AI use cases that are withheld from the public inventory.

Any AI exempted by a waiver from complying with the policy will be publicly notified, along with justifications for the exemption. Furthermore, government-owned AI code, models, and data will be released to the public, as long as it does not pose risks to public safety or government operations.

Advance Responsible AI Innovation

The OMB’s policy aims to remove unnecessary barriers to responsible AI innovation within federal agencies. AI technology offers significant opportunities to address pressing challenges in various sectors. For example, AI can help in responding to natural disasters, advancing public health initiatives, and enhancing public safety.

The policy encourages agencies to responsibly experiment with generative AI, while ensuring adequate safeguards are in place. Agencies have already begun utilizing AI chatbots to improve customer experiences and are exploring other AI pilots.

Grow the AI Workforce

Building and deploying AI responsibly requires a skilled workforce. The OMB’s guidance directs agencies to expand and upskill their AI talent. The Biden-Harris Administration has committed to hiring 100 AI professionals by Summer 2024 as part of the National AI Talent Surge.

The Office of Personnel Management has issued guidance on pay and leave flexibilities for AI roles to improve retention and emphasize the importance of AI talent across the federal government. Additionally, the President’s Budget includes $5 million to expand the General Services Administration’s government-wide AI training program.

Strengthen AI Governance

To ensure accountability, leadership, and oversight in the use of AI, federal agencies are required to designate Chief AI Officers to coordinate AI efforts within their respective agencies. AI Governance Boards, chaired by the Deputy Secretary or equivalent, will be established to govern AI use across agencies. Several departments have already established these governance bodies, and all CFO Act agencies are required to do so by May 27, 2024.

The completion of the 150-day actions tasked by President Biden’s Executive Order on AI marks a significant milestone in the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to responsible AI development. The OMB’s government-wide policy addresses the risks associated with AI and provides guidelines for federal agencies to harness its benefits. Through concrete safeguards, increased transparency, responsible innovation, workforce development, and strengthened governance, the administration is leading by example in the safe and trustworthy use of AI.

These actions lay the foundation for managing risks and ensuring the responsible integration of AI across the federal government.

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govfresh · 6 months

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autumnwolf1998 · 7 months

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So excited for the scott pilgrim anime, can’t wait!! Six more days for its release!!!!

I’m a hugeeee fan of Wallace wells such a big fan of gay man

Might, might post the day it releases about how good it was :)

Fave song from the movie:

#Spotify

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recentlyheardcom · 8 months

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A coalition of mostly House and Senate Democrats penned a letter to President Biden on Friday urging him to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted in the 1970s of fatally shooting two FBI agents at point-blank range.The Democrats – led by House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and joined by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. – cast doubt on the circumstances under which Peltier was found guilty in 1977 of killing the two agents two years prior. The letter was sent ahead of Indigenous People's Day on Oct. 9. One House Republican has also signed on to the letter."As Members of Congress, we sign this letter with a deep commitment to the crucial role we play in upholding justice for all Americans – and to also hold our government accountable when we see a case of injustice, as demonstrated by the long incarceration of Leonard Peltier," the lawmakers wrote to Biden. " We stand with the Tribal Nations of the United States, Indigenous voices worldwide, and leading voices on human rights and criminal justice around the globe in support of Mr. Peltier’s release.""Over the course of his incarceration, particularly in recent years, key figures involved in Mr. Peltier’s prosecution have stepped forward to underscore the constitutional violations and prosecutorial misconduct that took place during the investigation and trial that led to his conviction," the letter continued.NEW YORK DEM'S CAPITOL HILL FIRE ALARM INCIDENT REFERRED TO FEDS FOR CHARGES SIMILAR TO JAN. 6 RIOTERSRep. Raul Grijalva led a coalition of 33 lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in sending the letter to President Biden on Friday.The Democratic lawmakers also noted in their letter to President Biden that Peltier is 79 years old, is suffering from numerous health issues, has been imprisoned for nearly five decades, and is currently being held in a high-security prison in Florida.READ ON THE FOX NEWS APPIn 1977, after a 25-day trial, Peltier was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences of murdering FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a shootout in June 1975 at Jumping Bull Ranch located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.CONSERVATIVES CHEER BIDEN OMB DIRECTOR WARNING GOP CUTS COULD PURGE THOUSANDS OF FBI, ATF AGENTS: 'GOOD START'The two agents entered the reservation to arrest an individual wanted for burglary before they engaged in the shootout with several individuals, including Peltier. The agents were wounded by gunfire before they were ultimately murdered, the court found, by Peltier at point-blank range. Peltier fled after the shooting to Canada, where he was captured and extradited back to America to stand trial.While he, Democrats and various activist organizations have repeatedly claimed the trial was marked by lack of sufficient evidence proving he killed the agents, Peltier's conviction has been upheld several times on appeal, even after making its way to the U.S. Supreme Court on two occasions, in 1979 and 2004. The U.S. Parole Commission rejected Peltier's request for parole in 2009.Leonard Peltier is led across the Oakalla prison exercise yard to a waiting helicopter after being deported from Canada to face charges of murdering two FBI agents."We in the Federal Bureau of Investigation vehemently oppose granting Mr. Peltier parole," former FBI Executive Assistant Director Thomas Harrington remarked in a statement during the parole proceedings."The intentional and vicious attack by Mr. Peltier was not simply a blatant attack on two FBI special agents; it was an attack on law enforcement as a whole – an attack on the rule of law," Harrington said. "The inevitable haziness brought on by the passage of time does not diminish the brutality of the crimes or the lifelong torment to the surviving families.

"And the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA), a professional association that mainly represents active FBI special agents, has repeatedly argued against granting Peltier clemency. As part of that effort, the group penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in late 2021, stating the facts of the case and expressing concern that advocates are "working to mislead the public, the Department of Justice, and the White House.""The FBI Agents Association strongly opposed executive clemency for Leonard Peltier," FBIAA President Natalie Bara told Fox News Digital in a statement Friday. "Activists sympathetic to Peltier continue to mislead elected officials and the public in order to secure an early release for this unremorseful murderer of FBI Special Agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams.""FBIAA will continue to counter these efforts, and we stand with the entire FBI family in our determination to ensure that Peltier serves his full sentence."In addition to Grijalva, Jayapal, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders, Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ted Lieu, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush and Ilhan Omar also signed the letter. A single Republican, Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, has also signed the letter.The White House did not respond to a request for comment.Original article source: Democrats call on Biden to release Leonard Peltier, activist who fatally shot two FBI agents

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tastydregs · 1 year

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Biden administration takes action to promote responsible AI innovation

Join top executives in San Francisco on July 11-12, to hear how leaders are integrating and optimizing AI investments for success. Learn More

Yesterday, at long last, the Biden administration began to outline its actions toward responsible AI, aiming to help protect Americans from present and potential future risks posed by AI.

Back in October 2022, the White House released the first iteration of its AI Bill of Rights. But with the rise of generative AI and the popularity of ChatGPT, the administration has faced increasing pressure to come up with more specific plans to promote responsible AI and limit potential risks. At the beginning of April, after the release of the open letter signed by Elon Musk and other tech industry luminaries calling for a pause in AI development, Biden had stated that the U.S. must address the ”potential risks of AI.”

Public-private partnership for responsible AI

The new actions were announced on the same day the president and vice president met with a group of the most influential leaders in AI, including Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.

The actions outlined by the administration include:

Event

Transform 2023

Join us in San Francisco on July 11-12, where top executives will share how they have integrated and optimized AI investments for success and avoided common pitfalls.

New investments to power responsible AI research and development (R&D) in the U.S.

Public assessments of existing generative AI systems by leading developers

Policies to ensure the U.S. government is leading by example on mitigating AI risks and harnessing AI opportunities

Among the new investments announced by the administration is $140 million in funding for the National Science Foundation to develop seven new National AI Research Institutes. The goal of these institutes is to conduct research and development into responsible AI usage.

Regarding the public assessments, the administration announced a public evaluation to be conducted at the DEFCON 31 security conference this summer.

And in policy, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is set to release draft policy guidance on how AI systems can and should be used by the U.S. government.

The readout of the White House meeting with AI industry executives emphasized the importance the administration places on responsible use of AI.

“The President and Vice President were clear that in order to realize the benefits that might come from advances in AI, it is imperative to mitigate both the current and potential risks AI poses to individuals, society, and national security,” the readout states. “These include risks to safety, security, human and civil rights, privacy, jobs, and democratic values.”

Industry chimes in on the administration’s actions

There are various views on what the administration’s actions mean and what’s left to be done to help support responsible AI.

“The Biden administration’s new actions to promote responsible AI reflect the urgent need for a transformative shift in the industry,” stated Vishal Sikka, CEO and founder, Vianai Systems. “There is great responsibility and care needed in developing and using AI.”

George Davis, founder and CEO at Frame AI, commented that the administration’s announcements put regulatory focus in the right place: shaping AI as a public benefit by enabling responsible and community-oriented research. In his view there are real strategic, economic and social justice concerns associated with AI, but they are best addressed by contributing to public innovation, rather than pushing research private via restrictions.

“The administration checks all the most urgent boxes: funding public research for public good, involving industry in public assessments, and considering the government’s own responsible adoption of AI,” Davis stated.

That said, Davis noted that his biggest concern left unaddressed by the administration is the risk of concentrated economic power. He believes there is a risk that monopolistic behavior could emerge in the AI space.

“Policies that partner with industry to conduct oversight should include a focus on enabling continued competitive innovation,” Davis said.

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mariacallous · 1 year

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This January, the White House released proposals for reclassifying racial data collection in the 2030 census. Most notably, the proposals include combining race and ethnicity into a single question, as well as creating a new racial category for Middle Eastern and North African people.

While these changes are welcome and will go a long way toward helping create a more accurate picture of demographic identity in the U.S., they don’t improve data representation for a group that has long been misrepresented: American Indians and Alaska Natives (here collectively referred to as “Native Americans”). In particular, the way the U.S. government currently collects, aggregates, and publishes race and ethnicity data can lead to the exclusion of more than three-quarters of Native Americans from some official data sets. These practices may bias research, contribute to negative policy impacts, and perpetuate long-standing misunderstandings about Native American populations.

The concept of “race” can be a problematic descriptor for Native American identity, which is a political and legal identity in addition to a racial one. By rethinking how the federal government collects and publishes data on Native Americans, we can begin to better assess the challenges they face and ensure the population is accurately represented when that data is used in research and policy.

The complexities of US race data collection for Native Americans

In 1977, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued Directive No. 15, “Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting,” which guides government collection and aggregation of race and ethnicity data. In 1997, Directive No. 15 received a major update—the most recent until last year, when the OMB announced it was again reviewing the directive in preparation for the 2030 census and beyond.

Today, under guidance from Directive No. 15, race data is typically aggregated into five major racial categories: white, Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. The additional major category is ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino, which is currently not considered a race (an at times confusing distinction that contributed to the most recent proposed changes).

This system has historically worked for most Americans, because the vast majority of the three largest racial groups in the United States—white, Black, and Asian—identify as one race alone. However, Native Americans identify as two or more races at significantly higher rates than those larger groups.

Racial data captured in the 2020 census shows that 87% of white Americans, 88% of Black Americans, and 83% of Asian Americans are classified as one race alone. In contrast, just 39% of American Indians and Alaska Natives are classified as one race alone. This is a legacy of the complex effects that hundreds of years of colonization have had on the identities of Native Americans, as well as the modern-day technical processes that the Census Bureau uses to code individual survey responses. The same factors help explain why just 43% of Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, who are also Indigenous, are classified as one race alone.

This is problematic because government agencies and non-governmental researchers often choose to aggregate all multiracial individuals into a single “two-or-more-races” category. When that happens, it removes a majority of Native Americans and lumps them into a catch-all category with groups that have significantly different backgrounds and life experiences. While government agencies and non-governmental researchers are allowed to provide more detailed race data than just the minimum categories outlined by Directive No. 15, they frequently don’t. Many U.S. government data sets and publications use only single-race categories, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly unemployment report, the Department of Education’s higher education data, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) life expectancy data.

The problem is further compounded by Latino or Hispanic identity, which the federal government currently considers an ethnicity, not a race. In recent years, government agencies and non-governmental researchers have moved to treat Latino or Hispanic identity as a de facto racial category (prompting, in part, the move to officially combine Latino or Hispanic identity and racial identity into the same question). Today, government agencies and non-governmental researchers frequently break out Latino or Hispanic people into their own, mutually exclusive category, and show only non-Latino or Hispanic individuals in other racial groups (e.g., non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Black, etc.). While this process is important for ensuring Latino or Hispanic representation in data, it further erodes the accuracy of data around Native people, because single-race Native Americans are classified as Latino or Hispanic at a higher rate than single-race individuals in the other four major racial categories.

The implications of removing Latino and Hispanic individuals from Native American data are huge. On the 2020 census, just 23% of all Native Americans were classified as single race and non-Latino or Hispanic. In other words, one of the most commonly used racial categorizations of Native Americans— single-race, Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native—excludes more than three-quarters of the total Native American population. In contrast, nearly 3 million American Indian or Alaska Native people (either alone or in combination with another race), accounting for 31% of the total American Indian and Alaska Native population, were classified as having Latino or Hispanic ethnicity.

Indeed, the OMB defines American Indian or Alaska Native as “a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.” So, according to the federal government’s own definition, Indigenous people from Central and South America should be considered Native American. This definition further underscores the challenges of balancing Latino or Hispanic and Native American identity.

Additionally, Native Americans are the only census-defined “racial” group that is also a political and legal classification. While modern-day Latin American countries were colonized in ways similar to the United States, Indigenous Peoples from those countries often lack federal recognition in the U.S., and they don’t typically maintain a “nation-to-nation” relationship with the U.S. government. Conversely, many Latino or Hispanic Native Americans born in the United States may be enrolled tribal citizens, but may not be counted as “Native American” by many government data sets and researchers.

Given that Latino or Hispanic individuals represent nearly one-third of the Native American population, improving our understanding of how mixed-race individuals who are Latino or Hispanic and Native American are faring is vital. However, the most commonly used racial categorizations aren’t well suited to account for these complexities. And while individual researchers can choose to detail these complexities in their work, the way federal government agencies aggregate and publish race and ethnicity data often doesn’t facilitate them doing so.

While these challenges affect Native Americans most acutely, they may soon become a challenge for other groups as well. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of Americans classified as two or more races more than tripled, driven in large part by a more than 560% increase in the number of Latino or Hispanic individuals coded as two or more races under the Census Bureau’s revised coding process. As a result, today, more than one in 10 Americans are classified as multiracial—meaning over 10% of Americans may be getting kicked into the catch-all “two-or-more-races” bucket. Likewise, these trends may continue to accelerate if Latino or Hispanic identity is treated as a racial category in the 2030 census. In this regard, the current practice of aggregating data into mutually exclusive, single-race categories may become less and less descriptive of the realities of the U.S. population in the coming years.

Native American misrepresentation in data can have serious implications in research and politics

Two recent publications illustrate how researchers’ handling of Native American identity can affect research outcomes—either by suppressing Native American inequities or highlighting actionable realities.

The first example is a study published in January by the academic journal The Lancet, which showed that Native Americans are the group most likely to be affected by “deaths of despair” such as suicides, drug overdoses, and deaths from alcoholic liver disease. These findings cut directly against a 2015 study by Princeton researchers showing that deaths of despair were highest for non-Hispanic white Americans. Both studies appear to rely on standard CDC racial classifications, which are based on OMB’s single-race categories and use a complex process called “bridging” to sort multi-racial people into individual racial categories. But the 2015 paper did not include Native Americans in the data at all, effectively erasing them—a common occurrence when data is aggregated in a way that excludes many Native Americans and treats them as a small enough portion of the population to be ignored entirely.

A second study shows how researchers can effectively demonstrate the nuances of Native American identity to produce interesting and actionable findings. Jeffrey Burnette at Rochester Institute of Technology and Matthew Gregg at the Minneapolis Fed’s Center for Indian Country Development looked at the effects of COVID-19 on Native American life expectancy. As the authors note, a previous CDC publication found that Native American life expectancy dropped by nearly seven years from 2019 to 2021—a devastating effect on individuals and communities. However, that CDC study only looked at individuals who identified as single-race, non-Latino or Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native. Burnette and Gregg find that when individuals who are classified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone or in combination with another race are included, the drop in life expectancy was closer to four years, and overall life expectancy for Native Americans of all racial backgrounds is nearly eight years longer than single-race, non-Latino or Hispanic Native Americans. As the authors write:

“[T]he size of the decline in life expectancy in the overall American Indian/Alaska Native population seems to be driven by deterioration in health of the non-Hispanic single-race population…It is possible that individuals who identify as single-race Native American are also more likely to share other characteristics that differ from the larger multi-racial Native American population and put them at risk for a disproportionate pandemic impact.”

By understanding the nuances of Native American racial data, the authors were able to give a clearer picture of the realities of Native American well-being in the U.S. and discuss specific challenges to well-being that some groups of Native Americans face while others don’t.

Aggregating Native Americans into a monolithic racial group can have problematic implications beyond just research. Not only are Native Americans racially diverse, but, as mentioned above, they are also the only census-defined racial identity that is simultaneously a political identity. Today, there are 574 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States, as well as hundreds of additional state-recognized and unrecognized tribes. Each represents the continued existence of Native nations that have inhabited the North American continent for tens of thousands of years and that often maintain treaties and political agreements with the U.S. government. Indeed, Native American identity is typically defined by citizenship in a tribe or Native nation, regardless of an individual’s racial background.

In this regard, the continued treatment of Native Americans as a “race” rather than a diverse group of nations that predate the United States may have significant downstream political implications. One example is the currently pending Supreme Court case Haaland v. Brackeen, which deals with the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). One of the most contested ICWA provisions prioritizes placing Native American children in the adoption and foster care system with family members, fellow tribal citizens, and Native American families before they are placed with non-Native American families. A large part of the case hinges on whether those provisions are constitutionally protected congressional actions reflecting the nation-to-nation relationship between the United States and Native nations, or whether they are instead an unconstitutional racial preference for Native Americans that other racial groups do not get. While federal government data collection has no direct bearing on how the Supreme Court will rule in the case, the broader treatment of Native Americans as a “race”—which is underscored in government data collection and reporting—may influence how non-Native people perceive or misunderstand Native American identity.

Recommendations for changing data collection on Native Americans

The problems outlined above suggest a need for the U.S. government to rethink how it collects and publishes data about Native Americans. As the OMB continues the process of reworking racial classifications for the 2030 decennial census and beyond, policymakers should explore alternative models of how to most accurately collect and aggregate data on Native Americans.

Other countries have taken steps to separate data collection around Indigenous populations from racial identity. For example, both Canada and Australia ask about Indigenous identity in a separate census question, rather than as only one option among several races. Indigenous peoples in the United States share a similar position to Indigenous peoples in Canada and Australia, especially given those countries’ shared history of European (in particular, British) settler colonialism, and respective modern perceptions as western, developed nations. Creating a separate question or questions to ask about Native American identity—with a write-in for tribal affiliation—in addition to the current racial question could be one way to begin delinking the concept of indigeneity from “race,” as well as get a more accurate picture of the total Native American population.

In the more immediate term, the OMB could take steps to promote the proliferation of more comprehensive data around Native American populations. One way to do so would be by encouraging federal government agencies to publish public data on American Indian and Alaska Native populations alone and in combination with other groups, in addition to just single-race American Indian and Alaska Native data. One example of a federal government-affiliated organization that is already doing so is the Minneapolis Fed’s Center for Indian Country Development, which publishes labor market data about individuals classified as American Indian or Alaska Native alone or in combination with another race through its Native American Labor Market Dashboard. This tool contrasts with the BLS’s official monthly employment data releases, which report data only on single-race American Indian or Alaska Native individuals.

Finally, the U.S. government can and should do more to empower tribes to collect and manage data about their own populations and territories. The growing data sovereignty movement emphasizes that tribes themselves are sovereign entities that share a nation-to-nation relationship with the United States government, and therefore should be empowered to lead on data collection about their own lands and citizens. Partnerships to support greater data sovereignty could be another avenue for tribes and other Indigenous groups to provide input into how government and non-government data can better meet their own needs and experiences, rather than just the needs of the federal government.

Regardless of how the U.S. government chooses to proceed, it’s clear that the current practice of measuring Native Americans using mutually exclusive, single-race data is not working well. Moreover, the growing population of mixed-race Native Americans may foreshadow broader demographic trends in the country as a whole. Given that, it is time for both the federal government and non-governmental researchers to rethink how they measure Native American identity, as well as reconsider the broader use of mutually exclusive single-race categories upon which U.S. data publication has long relied.

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