New Far-Right Conspiracy Claims Boeing’s Accidents Are Intentional | Cyber Threats are Here to Stay | A requiem for Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, and more

Although the program has been used in only a fraction of claims, some U.S. officials see it as a test case for a faster way to deal with families seeking refuge in America, where laws require the government to consider asylum claims from anyone who makes it onto U.S. soil.
They hope the program can provide an alternative to the usual options for handling migrant families: detaining them in costly ICE facilities, which President Biden has criticized, or releasing them with court dates years in the future and no consistent way of tracking them.

Batteries, Green Energy Sources Combine for Major Climate Solution  (AP / VOA News)
The United States is rapidly adding batteries, mostly lithium-ion type, to store energy at large scale. Increasingly, these are getting paired with solar and wind projects, like in Arizona. The agencies that run electric grids, utility companies and developers of renewable energies say combining technologies is essential for a green energy future.
Batteries allow renewables to replace fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, while keeping a steady flow of power when sources like wind and solar are not producing. For example, when people are sleeping and thus using less electricity, the energy produced from wind blowing through the night can be stored in batteries — and used when demand is high during the day.

AI on the Ballot: Shaping the Future of Democracy and Governance  (Combiz Abdolrahimi, HSToday)
We live in an age where artificial intelligence (AI) can drive cars, beat grandmasters at chess, and even write legal briefs. As a national security lawyer and global technology executive, I find it both intriguing and exciting, as it might finally give me the chance to argue a case against a robot in court. I can see the headlines: ‘Human Lawyer Triumphs Over Machine in Historic Legal Battle.’ Humor aside, these developments usher in a new era where the boundary between human intuition and machine intelligence becomes increasingly blurred, challenging our traditional notions of creativity and decision-making. This fusion of technology and human ingenuity is opening unprecedented game-changer possibilities for improving productivity dramatically while also enhancing citizen engagement and governance, marking the beginning of a pivotal chapter in our shared history. 
It’s perhaps no surprise that it’s now venturing into the realm of elections. Take, for instance, the recent parliamentary elections in Pakistan, where the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), utilized AI to generate a victory speech. This wasn’t just any speech; it was a call to action from behind bars, a digital ventriloquism act that brought Khan’s voice and more importantly, his message, to his supporters despite his physical absence. This groundbreaking maneuver saw PTI-aligned candidates securing the most seats, a triumph attributed in part to their use of AI and digital technologies in the election. 
However, this development isn’t just a testament to PTI’s ability to tap into new technology. It’s a precursor of the seismic shifts that AI and cognitive technologies are poised to bring to the global public sector. As we’ve already seen, AI’s role in disseminating information can significantly influence elections, challenging traditional engagement norms. This is particularly relevant for us here in the U.S., where the intersection of AI and electioneering is still nascent but holds potential for transformative change. 

Cyber Threats are Here to Stay: 3 Tips for Defending U.S. Critical Infrastructure Under Siege  (Michael Welch, HSToday)
Critical infrastructure is the backbone of modern society. From power grids and transportation networks to healthcare systems and financial institutions, these vital structures sustain our way of life. The importance of improving their security cannot be overstated.  
In the last handful of years, widespread digitization has expanded the attack surface. Beyond financial repercussions, security breaches erode public trust and underscore the profound ramifications of compromised data integrity within critical sectors. Threats are evolving, and security teams are still struggling to keep up, with disastrous consequences. 
Today, CISA, the NSA, the FBI, and others continue to respond to Chinese state-sponsored threat actor Volt Typhoon’s operations against U.S. water and critical infrastructure targets. With the combination of nation-state threats, legacy operational technologies adding additional vulnerabilities, and frequent human errors, critical infrastructure attacks are only expected to worsen this year, furthered by increasing global conflict and volatility.  
Looking forward, organizations can take proactive measures to ensure their people, processes, and partners are aligned on cybersecurity best practices. After all, the critical infrastructure supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. 

Supreme Betrayal  (J. Michael Luttig and Laurence H. Tribe, The Atlantic)
The Supreme Court of the United States did a grave disservice to both the Constitution and the nation in Trump v. Anderson.
In a stunning disfigurement of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court impressed upon it an ahistorical misinterpretation that defies both its plain text and its original meaning. Despite disagreement within the Court that led to a 5–4 split among the justices over momentous but tangential issues that it had no need to reach in order to resolve the controversy before it, the Court was disappointingly unanimous in permitting oath-breaking insurrectionists, including former President Donald Trump, to return to power. In doing so, all nine justices denied “We the People” the very power that those who wrote and ratified the Fourteenth Amendment presciently secured to us to save the republic from future insurrectionists—reflecting a lesson hard-learned from the devastation wrought by the Civil War.
For a century and a half before the Court’s decision, Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment was the Constitution’s safety net for America’s democracy, promising to automatically disqualify from public office all oath-breaking insurrectionists against the Constitution, deeming them too dangerous to entrust with power unless supermajorities of both houses of Congress formally remove their disability. This provision has been mistakenly described by some as “undemocratic” because it limits who may be elected to particular positions of power. But disqualification is not what is antidemocratic; rather, it is the insurrection that is antidemocratic, as the Constitution emphatically tells us.
In any event, all qualifications for office set by the Constitution limit who may be elected to particular positions of power. And no other of these disqualifications requires congressional legislation to become operative, as the Court now insists this one does. To be sure, the other qualifications—age, residence, natural-born citizenship—appear outside the Fourteenth Amendment, whose fifth section specifically makes congressional action to enforce its provisions available. But no such action is needed to enforce the rights secured to individuals by Section 1 of the same amendment, so deeming congressional action necessary to enforce Section 3 creates a constitutional anomaly in this case that the majority could not and did not explain. For that matter, no other provision of the other two Reconstruction amendments requires congressional enforcement either. As the concurring justices explained, the majority “simply [created] a special rule for the insurrection disability in Section 3.”
That the disqualification clause has not previously been invoked to keep traitors against the Constitution from having a second opportunity to fracture the framework of our republic reflects not its declining relevance but its success at deterring the most dangerous assaults on our government until now. Put simply, far from what some irresponsibly dismiss as an “obscure, almost discarded provision” of our legal and political system, this section of our Constitution has long been among its mightiest pillars, one that the Supreme Court itself has now all but destroyed.

Insurance Rates Are Soaring for US Homeowners in Climate Danger Zones  (Amy Green, Wired)
For most of his life, Cory Infinger has lived down a hill and along a bend in the Little Wekiva River, a gentle stream meandering northwest of Orlando. During Hurricane Ian, in September 2022, the stream swelled, inundating the homes of his family and his neighbors and also the street where they live, making it impassable.
Overnight Ian had moved slowly and violently over the state’s interior, dropping historic amounts of rain, after coming ashore in southwest Florida as a category 4 hurricane, its high winds and storm surge flattening coastal communities there.