For the past two months, an artificial intelligence system named "chatGPT" has been in the news for its ability to generate plausible written answers, including essays, on a very wide variety of questions. These answers were not always correct, but they were correct often enough to worry people whose jobs depend on their ability to write. As might be expected, this generated special concern among teachers at both the secondary and college levels, frightened by the prospect of their students being able to "cheat" by passing off computer-generated answers to exam questions and term paper assignments as their own.

At their annual meeting on Saturday, 14 January, members of the Central Committee of the Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County elected party leadership for the coming year.

The Bill of Rights -- the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution -- was ratified 231 years ago today, 15 December 1791.

The Bill of Rights sets limits on the powers of the federal government, including the well-known prohibition on laws restricting freedom of speech and of the press, the right to keep and bear arms, and the right to a trial by jury. It also states explicitly two general principles: that the listing of rights does not mean these are all the rights (9th Amendment) and that if the Constitution doesn't assign a power to the federal government then it belongs to the states, or the people (10th Amendment).

Of course over the last two centuries politicians have tried their best to side-step these rules, and unfortunately have been all too successful. It's up to us to hold elected officials accountable when they go beyond the specific powers named in the Constitution, and when they violate the principles outlined in the Bill of Rights.

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* National Archives
* Wikipedia

Santa Clara County party voter guide for Nov. 8 promotes term limits, disapproves big spending

SUNNYVALE, Calif.— The Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County’s (LPSCC) Nov. 8, 2022 general election voter guide (below) reflects the party’s frustration with the high levels of spending and borrowing being proposed by local public servants, who, along with government contractors, seem to have an insatiable appetite for the pocketbooks of those whose interests they should instead be protecting.

The party has endorsed one candidate within the county:

Elected Libertarian Brian Holtz, a Purissima Hills Water District director, was interviewed about housing costs for an Opportunity Now Silicon Valley series of articles focused on the Libertarian perspective on public policy issues.

Holtz said that to alleviate the housing crisis, he would eliminate land-use restrictions — the most measurable factor in rising housing costs — because of how they limit supply.

“Even the subtle ordinances like parking and lot minimums eat up demand for land, decrease density, and make mass transit less economically feasible,” he said, pointing out that despite high demand, sellers are restricted in many ways from building up and expanding, which “impacts just about everybody.”

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