Cambridge City Councilors Send Mixed Messages and Metaphors

Unmentioned is corporations are employing robots or electronic screens instead of paying workers higher wages. How long before robots are elected to the council? Mr. Mazen does not mention higher prices, called inflation, due to higher minimum wages. He sounds almost delusional expecting what the council does to affect national policy. Saying it is a moral issue, speakers do not identify how and why. Is the morality evil for society. businesses and some workers? Councilor Simmons mixes metaphors arguing for more bandwith counter to the net neutrality movement. Has she flipped?

[From article]
a task force be charged with establishing recommendations on the ideal minimum wage in Cambridge, and how to best implement the increase without creating unintended consequences in Cambridge or elsewhere.
[. . .]



“I’ve seen incredible results. Businesses by virtue of raising wages and raising their costs ever so slightly have seen no decrease in business, but increase in revenue,” Mazen said.
[. . .]
seeking to conquer things bigger than just Cambridge, Mazen said. This move can help push the issue at a state and possibly federal level, he said.
[. . .]
During public comment, many residents said this was a moral issue
[. . .]
Mayor Simmons said it’s important to look at how income affects affordable housing and how they are related.
[. . .]



raising the minimum wage, which she said gives Cambridge more bandwidth

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160622/cambridge-task-force-formed-for-15-raising-minimum-wage-called-moral-move

Cambridge task force formed for $15; raising minimum wage called a 'moral' move
By Natalie Handy
nhandy (at) wickedlocal.com
Posted Jun. 22, 2016 at 8:55 AM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Apple And Samsung Suppliers in China Replace 60,000 Workers With Robots; McDonald's, ADIDAS Too

[From article]
Apple and Samsung supplier Foxconn has reportedly replaced 60,000 factory workers with robots.
One factory has "reduced employee strength from 110,000 to 50,000 thanks to the introduction of robots", a government official told the South China Morning Post.
Xu Yulian, head of publicity for the Kunshan region, added: "More companies are likely to follow suit."
China is investing heavily in a robot workforce.
[. . .]
"We are applying robotics engineering and other innovative manufacturing technologies to replace repetitive tasks previously done by employees, and through training, also enable our employees to focus on higher value-added elements in the manufacturing process, such as research and development, process control and quality control.
[. . .]
Economists have issued dire warnings about how automation will affect the job market, with one report, from consultants Deloitte in partnership with Oxford University, suggesting that 35% of jobs were at risk over the next 20 years.
Former McDonald's chief executive Ed Rensi recently told the US's Fox Business programme a minimum-wage increase to $15 an hour would make companies consider robot workers.
"It's cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who is inefficient, making $15 an hour bagging French fries," he said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36376966

Foxconn replaces '60,000 factory workers with robots'
BBC
May 25, 2016

* * *


A battery-powered robot serves dishes up to 8 hour a day in a restaurant in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province

[From article]
A former McDonald's CEO warned that robots will take over staff jobs at the fast food empire - because it's cheaper than employing humans.
Ed Rensi has said that buying highly skilled robotics is a cheaper alternative than employing people on minimum wage to work in the company's worldwide restaurants.
He warned that huge job losses are imminent, and commented that it would be 'common sense' to replace humans in the workplace.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/building-robot-mcdonalds-staff-cheaper-8044106

Building robot McDonald's staff 'cheaper' than hiring workers on minimum wage
10:18, 25 MAY 2016
UPDATED 17:32, 25 MAY 2016
BY JESSICA HAWORTH
The worrying forecast could threaten jobs at the fast food franchise, a former CEO of the company warns

* * *



[From article]
Adidas is relocating some of its shoe production from Asia to the company's homeland — but Germans shouldn't expect a jobs boom.
What is currently done by hand will soon be carried out by robots as part of what the firm calls an "automated revolution."
The sportswear giant unveiled its prototype "Speedfactory" on Tuesday — a 3,000-square-foot, high-tech facility in the southern German town of Ansbach.
The first 500 robot-made high-performance running shoes are scheduled to be rolled out later this year.
"We believe that this is pioneer work for a fully automated production process," Adidas spokesman Jan Runau told NBC News, adding that the facility will mean the firm "will be able to get the desired product to the customer much faster."
[. . .]
A 50,000-square-foot "Speedfactory" is due to be finished in Ansbach by the end of 2016. A second is expected to open in the U.S. next year while a third is also in the pipeline, according to Adidas.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/adidas-pulls-back-asia-robots-get-jobs-n579991

MAY 25 2016, 9:50 AM ET
Adidas Shifts Production — But Robots Get the Jobs
by ANDY ECKARDT

Technology Can Eliminate Rape

Technology provides solution to rape crisis. AI with smart attractive robots will provide enhanced sexual experiences with no mistaken desires or advances. Designer sex partners will be available from your smart watch delivered by Uber or Amazon drones.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/3/28/university-report-social-life/

Sexual Assault Recommendations Put Social Life Under Microscope
Although the report urges wide-scale change, many of the recommendations are already in progress, and now the College has formed two working groups to review the report and recommend a College-specific plan of action.
BY JALIN P. CUNNINGHAM AND IGNACIO SABATE
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
MARCH 28, 2016

The Continuum After Same Sex Marriage

[From article]
The slippery slope conservatives warned about if same-sex marriage became nationwide will get more grease as time goes by. With more grease comes more confusion. Eventually, we will slide into a pool where words no longer mean what they used to mean. This will be a sign the end of all marriage is upon us.
The end of marriage is how the writers of the blog Agenda Europe see it. "[G]ay 'marriage' is neither about gays nor about equality. The real purpose is the deconstruction, and indeed the destruction, of marriage and family as basic social institutions. In other words, the aim is to destroy society as we know it."
[. . .]
Adding to the confusion in North Dakota is a recent ruling in Utah about polygamy. "Fueling debates over marriage and religious freedom, a federal judge has declared that Utah laws criminalizing polygamy are unconstitutional, ruling on a case involving the Brown family from TLC's reality series 'Sister Wives.'
[. . .]
When marriage with robots arrives, we may conclude that marriage itself is an archaic, analog idea. Let's abolish marriage once and for all. The state will take over the functions of the family. Children will belong to the state then. The real aim of the same-sex marriage movement will have been accomplished.
[. . .]
the future of traditional marriage may not be lost. SCOTUS could reverse itself, as it did in 1954 with Brown v. Board of Education, where the court repudiated the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1895. That repudiation took about 50 years. In the meantime, 50 years of same-sex marriage can create almost two generations of social confusion. Fifty years may also allow us to import boatloads of sex-bots from Japan.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/08/the_slippery_slope_of_samesex_marriage_robot_love_next.html

August 18, 2015
The Slippery Slope of Same-Sex Marriage: 'Robot Love' Next?
By Robert Klein Engler

Chinese Factory Employs 90 Percent Robots Increases Efficiency

[From article]
In Dongguan City, located in the central Guangdong province of China, a technology company has set up a factory run almost exclusively by robots, and the results are fascinating.
The Changying Precision Technology Company factory in Dongguan has automated production lines that use robotic arms to produce parts for cell phones. The factory also has automated machining equipment, autonomous transport trucks, and other automated equipment in the warehouse.
There are still people working at the factory, though. Three workers check and monitor each production line and there are other employees who monitor a computer control system. Previously, there were 650 employees at the factory. With the new robots, there's now only 60. Luo Weiqiang, general manager of the company, told the People's Daily that the number of employees could drop to 20 in the future.



The robots have produced almost three times as many pieces as were produced before. According to the People's Daily, production per person has increased from 8,000 pieces to 21,000 pieces. That's a 162.5% increase.
The increased production rate hasn't come at the cost of quality either. In fact, quality has improved. Before the robots, the product defect rate was 25%, now it is below 5%.



http://www.techrepublic.com/article/chinese-factory-replaces-90-of-humans-with-robots-production-soars/

Chinese factory replaces 90% of humans with robots, production soars
Changying Precision Technology Company in Dongguan city has set up an unmanned factory run almost entirely by robots. The factory has since seen fewer defects and a higher rate of production.
By Conner Forrest

July 30, 2015, 11:30 AM PST

Robotics Threat To Humans

[From article]
In some parts of rural and regional Australia more than 60% of jobs could be lost, said CEDA Chief Executive Professor Stephen Martin.
"The pace of technological advancement in the last 20 years has been unprecedented and that pace is likely to continue for the next 20 years," he said.
Robots might even support lonely people
A more radical suggestion proffered in the report is the idea that robots could "offer support for lonely people".



If that seems hard to believe, just 10 years ago no-one thought there would be a car that drove itself.
Google has now designed such a car, which has driven around California without any accidents - except when a human driving another car rear-ended the robotic vehicle.



http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-33160688

Australia's robot-led future puts squeeze on humans
17 June 2015

How Long Before Man Is Obsolete?

[From article]
First, history is repeating itself. Robots are causing a new Industrial Revolution. Similar to what happened to farming, 70 percent (or more) of current jobs will be replaced by machines. Replacement by robots in most jobs is just a matter of time. As Kevin Kelly said:
This upheaval is being led by a second wave of automation, one that is centered on artificial cognition, cheap sensors, machine learning, and distributed smarts. This deep automation will touch all jobs, from manual labor to knowledge work.
[. . .]



"... robots will continue their migration into white-collar work." All jobs dealing with paperwork will be done by robots. "It doesn't matter if you are a doctor, lawyer, architect, reporter, or even programmer: The robot takeover will be epic."
[. . .]
When the robot revolution finally starts to happen, it's going to happen fast, and it's going to turn our world upside down.
Second, liberals blame labor-saving technology for unemployment and economic slowdown.
[. . .]



Obama blamed progress, in the form of robots, for the failure of his dreadful economic policies. And liberals are blaming robots for job losses and wealth inequality.
[. . .]
The liberal solution is to halt, or at least slow, progress. And they call themselves "Progressives!"
Sir Winston Churchill said, "Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it." Okay, politicians of every stripe, technological advances changed America and the world 200 years ago. And it's happening today. So learn from the Industrial Revolution.
[Santayana wrote (in The Life of Reason, 1905) : “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/blog/churchill-quote-history/




no citation for Churchill]
[. . .]



Society must also learn from history. It's a "sink or swim" world. Swimmers will embrace robots and new technology, sinkers won't. With even high-skill "knowledge workers" being replaced by robots, what jobs will be left? Justin Reich of Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society said, "I'm not sure that jobs will disappear altogether, but the jobs that are left will be lower paying and less secure than those that exist now."
To address that issue, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher Andrew McAfee says that "the education system has to change to prepare young people for a world in which most of today's jobs are automated." But a new education system alone can't prepare society for what's coming. Individuals themselves must take advantage of the enhancements. Most won't, today's history tells us, if wealth is redistributed to them. Why work if they don't have to?



Liberals are already lining up to redistribute wealth. Liberals say that by embracing robots, the already rich entrepreneurs and top level management will get richer while the middle class and poor will be left behind. They advocate policies that have swimmers "pay their fare share." They are, in liberals' view, "society's lottery winners."
Socialism (or wealth redistribution, or whatever else liberals come up with) was not, is not, and never will be the answer. As Margaret Thatcher said, "The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." So if politicians continue to pursue socialism by enabling the sinkers, the money is going to run out.
[. . .]



Another Industrial Revolution is coming (it may already be here!). History tells y'all what is going to happen. And experts tell y'all what to specifically expect. So the ultimate question is, "Will politicians (and society) learn from history?"

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/06/the_next_phase_of_the_industrial_revolution.html

June 10, 2015
The Next Phase of the Industrial Revolution
By Warren Beatty

UK Testing Driverless Cars, Google and Uber Too

Driverless cars trialled on UK roads for first time
Driverless cars are being officially trialled on UK roads for the first time as the Government considers changes to the Highway Code to allow them to be used by the public. By 2030, the technology is expected to reach a level of safety and sophistication to allow all drivers to effectively become passengers as cars take over, being able to work, talk to friends or entertain themselves on the internet as they are driven around.

And then there is this:

Google to take on Uber with car-sharing app, Uber to build its own self-driving cars
Google’s investment arm is invested in Uber and the two new projects are likely to be complementary. But Uber’s move into self-driving cars shows how important the technology is likely to become. While Uber did not mention practical uses of the technology in its announcement of the new project, the self-driving cars could ultimately replace Uber’s fleet of taxi drivers

OK Candidate Says Incumbent Is A Body Double

[From article]
He says Lucas, who has served in Congress since 1994, was killed in Ukraine in 2011 and replaced with a lookalike, which he suggests could be some kind of robot.
“It is widely known Rep. Frank D. Lucas is no longer alive and has been displayed by a look alike (sic),” he said on his website, adding that “we know that it is possible to use look alike artificial or manmade replacements.”
[. . .]
“Many things have been said about me, said to me during course of my campaigns. This is the first time I’ve ever been accused of being a body double or a robot,” he said.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/27/failed-congressional-candidate-says-oklahoma-rep-was-killed-years-ago-replaced/?

Failed congressional candidate says Oklahoma rep was killed years ago, replaced with lookalike
Published June 27, 2014
FoxNews.com

Hawking: Robots Can Outsmart Humans

[From article]
But isn't this the essence of humanity? For all that we believe we know, the one thing we know best -- at least when we're honest with ourselves -- is that we're idiots. What we don't know far exceeds what we do.

http://www.cnet.com/news/stephen-hawking-artificial-intelligence-could-be-a-real-danger/

Stephen Hawking: AI could be a 'real danger'
In a hilarious appearance on John Oliver's HBO show, the famous physicist muses that robots could "outsmart us."
by Chris Matyszczyk 
@ChrisMatyszczyk
June 16, 2014 10:27 AM PDT+

Robots Will Read Your Mind

[From article]
Ralescu's work eventually could be used in conjunction with another project being presented at HuCeRo by UC's Gaurav Mukherjee, a master's student in mechanical engineering in UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS), and Grant Schaffner, an assistant professor in UC's Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. Mukherjee and Schaffner designed and built a spring-assisted leg exoskeleton that can help people with impaired mobility. By integrating Ralescu's brain-computer interface into the exoskeleton, someone using the device could think, "I'm going to stand," and they'd receive a robotic boost as they rose to their feet.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131114102558.htm

Mind-Reading Robots Coming Ever Closer
Nov. 14, 2013
Science Daily

Monkey Moves Robot Using Mind Control


http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Monkey-Fitted-With-Hi-Tech-Chip-Moves-Robot-Using-Mind-Control-Thomas-Moore-Reports/Article/200907215336347?lpos=UK_News_News_Your_Way_Region_4&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15336347_Monkey_Fitted_With_Hi-Tech_Chip_Moves_Robot_Using_Mind_Control%2C_Thomas_Moore_Reports


Monkey Moves Robot Using Mind Control
9:01am UK, Monday July 13, 2009
Thomas Moore, Health Correspondent
Sky News (UK)