ME: Mills suspends US Senate campaign

Source: The Hill

“Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced Thursday that she will suspend her Senate campaign over a lack of financial resources, clearing the way for primary rival Graham Platner. … Mills, who is term limited as governor, jumped into the race late last year to challenge incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R) as a top recruit from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) But Platner, a progressive political outsider, has been besting Mills in polling and fundraising five weeks out from the June 9 primary, despite various controversies around his campaign. An Emerson College Polling survey released last month showed Platner leading Mills by about 27 points in the Senate Democratic contest.” (04/30/26)

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5856803-janet-mills-suspends-senate-bid-maine

Thomas L. Knapp

Licensed to speak? How NY’s AI bill gets it wrong.

Source: Expression
by John Coleman

“A casual exchange with a chatbot can help someone understand a lease, think through a medical question, or navigate a personal issue. It can become specific and personal, even though people understand it isn’t a licensed professional. Yet even basic, exploratory conversations risk being labeled professional advice under a New York bill introduced this session. Senate Bill 7263 would prevent AI chatbots — defined broadly as any system that simulates ‘human-like conversation’ and provides information or services — from generating responses that would amount to the unlicensed practice of a profession like law, medicine, finance, or mental health, if that profession is normally provided by a human.” (04/30/26)

https://expression.fire.org/p/licensed-to-speak-how-nys-ai-bill

Thomas L. Knapp

Senator Thune’s duty is to voters, not his Senate colleagues

Source: Fox News
by David Marcus

“Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., much like his mentor and predecessor, Sen. Mitch McConnell [R-KY] is a creature of that austere and august upper body of Congress who has completely forgotten his duty to Republican voters. It’s simple math. The Senate issue that the GOP electorate cares most about is passing the Save America Act, with its voter ID requirements and other election security measures, even if it means blowing up the filibuster. But GOP leadership insists that ending the 60-vote threshold and pushing this hyper-popular legislation through is simply impossible. Thune’s dilemma is whether his duty in this situation is to the institution of the Senate, whose rules and customs he seeks to preserve, or to the 95% of Republican voters shouting from the mountaintop to just pass the bill.” (04/30/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/david-marcus-sen-thunes-duty-voters-senate-colleagues

Steve Trinward

First direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in seven years is heading to Caracas

Source: SFGate

“The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela departed a bit early Thursday on its way to the capital of the South American country, seven years after the U.S. Homeland Security Department ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns. The resumption of a nonstop commercial flight between the two countries comes months after the U.S. capture of then President Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas in early January. It also comes a month after the U.S. formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Venezuela.” (04/30/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/the-first-direct-us-venezuela-commercial-flight-22233874.php

Steve Trinward

Ben Sasse’s Warning: Reclaim Your Attention Before It’s Too Late

Source: The Daily Economy
by Barry Brownstein

“The ability to direct one’s attention is an increasingly scarce and valuable practice — and a prerequisite for meaningful freedom.” (04/30/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/ben-sasses-warning-reclaim-your-attention-before-its-too-late/

Thomas L. Knapp