Follow the European Union on regulation of AI
Editor: AI regulation is a worldwide issue. Europe started in September 2023 with their EU AI Act — the first regulation on artificial intelligence. The goal of the European Parliament was to ensure that artificial intelligence systems are “safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly. AI systems should be overseen by people, rather than by automation, to prevent harmful outcomes.”
Smart people don’t reinvent the wheel; they study current designs and try to improve on them. Ethical lawmakers work on behalf of their constituents, not the ultra-wealthy high-tech giant corporations.
I asked Microsoft CoPilot about the chances of the U.S. adopting AI regulations similar to the European Union. It told me that the probability of an EU‑style comprehensive AI act regulations within the next year or two years is 10%-20%.
I don’t think this was a hallucination. We’re already two years behind. Our only hope is that companies doing business in EU countries are bound by the EU regulations. Hopefully, they will follow the same standards when selling their products in the United States.
— Robert Plantz, Santa Rosa
Trump continues to play the race card
Editor: If any other public figure made remarks similar to President Donald Trump, they would be pilloried in the media and censured by Congress. Yet, despite his frequent white supremacy memes, comments or decisions, they are dismissed as a new norm.
From his reaction to the protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, to his description of immigrants from Mexico, he showed his true colors. In Trump 1.0, he excoriated immigrants from “s—hole countries,” and he recently called Somalia and its refugees “garbage.”
By granting asylum to white Afrikaners from South Africa and blocking refugees from the Middle East and Africa, he revealed his true racial preferences.
Trump’s crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion programs in academia, the military and government undermines programs that prevent discrimination against underrepresented groups and handicapped persons, including disabled veterans, as well as developing a more inclusive historical record.
The denial of due process and the brutal roundup of non-white immigrants constitutes ethnic cleansing, while the administration criticizes Europe for “civilizational erasure” and allies itself with Europe’s anti-immigrant nationalists.
Trolling his base, Trump announced that free national park admissions on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and Juneteenth would be replaced with free admissions on his own and Theodore Roosevelt’s birthdays.
— Tony White, Santa Rosa
A tax relief proposal for California taxpayers
Editor: As a certified public accountant (retired), I’ve witnessed how regressive taxes disproportionately burden low-income wage-earners, eroding modest incomes amid soaring living costs. Sales taxes, excise taxes on gas, cigarettes and alcohol, property taxes and transportation levies hit essentials hardest, flattening the tax system for the disadvantaged.
For a family of four, essentials require about $144,000 pre-tax annually statewide — housing ($30,000), child care ($29,000), transportation ($18,000), food ($13,000), medical ($10,000) — rising to $200,000 in urban areas.
I propose a Cali 2026 bill, a program providing fuel tax rebates (using tax return forms) via vehicle mileage tracking for those with an adjusted gross income of $150,000 or less. Submit mileage readings (e.g., from annual auto insurance reporting) from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2026; rebates calculated as miles driven divided by 25 mpg, times the full gas tax rate. Even low- or no-income residents qualify, including for medical trips.
Amid California’s $18 billion deficit, fund via targeted budget adjustments. Exclusions apply for business or employer-reimbursed vehicles and electric vehicles. While EV advocates may object, this offers immediate relief without hindering sustainability goals.
This bill promotes tax equity and mobility. Legislators, act now.
— Gary Jones, Santa Rosa
Why Demark’s vaccination policy isn’t a fit for U.S.
Editor: I read that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., through his pronouncements is styling immunization policies for our children on Denmark’s vaccination policies. It’s a terrible idea. Not because Denmark has inferior health care policies but because they have an inclusive health care system. There is universal health care coverage in Denmark. Consequently, everyone, including expectant mothers and their babies, are healthier and can depend on the state provided health care if a problem arises.
Sadly, the United States doesn’t have this health care platform for everyone. The vaccinations no longer required or recommended will leave many people unprotected with no back-up for treatments. I have a difficult time understanding the value of Kennedy’s ideas.
— David Cohen, Windsor
Seeking change in wake of Brown University shooting
Editor: Did you know that there have already been more than 390 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2025? After the Brown University shooting our president said, “Things happen.” Right, and other things are happening too. ICE agents are out of control, assaulting citizens and detaining them without probable cause or due process for days at a time. The nation’s health care is being dismantled piece by piece. What does this so-called leader do? Nothing. The terror to our citizens has got to stop.
I would like to believe that my neighbors who voted for the president did not fully realize the pathology he would bring to our country. I pray that in November, if there is a GOP representative in your district, if they continue to support the president, he or she is defeated. Elect patriots, as defined by citizens who support the Constitution, who will work with other elected officials for the common good of the people and not for the benefit of the rich or corporations.
— Noel J. O’Neill, Willits
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