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How Should California Confront the Rising Sea? These Lawmakers Have Some Bold Ideas  (Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times)
In a year marked by record-breaking wildfires, extreme heat and unprecedented water shortages, California lawmakers say there’s another—seemingly distant, but just as urgent—climate catastrophe the state cannot afford to ignore: sea level rise.
This oft-overlooked threat is the focus of more than a dozen new bills and resolutions this year—a remarkable political awakening mobilized by years of research and piecemeal efforts across the state to keep the California coast above water.
There’s Senate Bill 1—the very first measure introduced this legislative session—that confronts sea level rise adaptation head on. Another bill proposes an innovative buyout program that sets the stage for a different, more proactive approach to the difficult choices that have long paralyzed coastal communities from taking necessary action.
These proposals are a paradigm shift in the way officials are now addressing the social, economic and environmental pressures looming over the state’s eroding coastline. Experts say this surge of political interest—and willpower—came not a moment too soon.

How AI-Powered Tech Landed Man in Jail with Scant Evidence  (Garance Burke et al., Associated Press)
Williams was jailed last August, accused of killing a young man from the neighborhood who asked him for a ride during a night of unrest over police brutality in May. But the key evidence against Williams didn’t come from an eyewitness or an informant; it came from a clip of noiseless security video showing a car driving through an intersection, and a loud bang picked up by a network of surveillance microphones. Prosecutors said technology powered by a secret algorithm that analyzed noises detected by the sensors indicated Williams shot and killed the man.

Bad News  (Joseph Bernstein, Harper’s)
Selling the story of disinformation

The Radical Potential of Nuclear Fusion Exposes the Folly of Our Net Zero Deadline  (Matt Ridley, The Telegraph)
Future technology that could power a city with a device the size of a shipping container may prove a better bet than harnessing the wind

Extremist Groups ‘Actively Recruiting’ Military and Police, Canadian Intelligence Report Warns  (Stewart Bell, Global News)
Far-right extremist groups are “actively recruiting” past and present members of the military and police, according to a declassified Canadian intelligence report obtained by Global News. The report cited 17 examples in Canada, the U.S., U.K., Germany and New Zealand which “illustrate the intersections and relationships between ideologically motivated violent extremism and uniformed personnel.” Six of the cases involved members of the Canadian military or reserves. “IMV extremist groups actively recruiting uniformed personnel,” Canadian government threat assessment said. IMV is the acronym for Ideologically Motivated Violence. “Several xenophobic and anti-government/anti-authority violent extremist groups openly recruit current and former military and law enforcement personnel.” It said the groups included the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Boogaloo Movement, as well as the Three Percenters — a so-called patriot group that took part in the Jan. 6 assault at the U.S. Capitol. “While there is a small number of members in every province, including members of the military, ex-military, and police, the movement is growing in Canada,” it said of the Three Percenters.

The Supreme Court’s Stunning, Radical Immigration Decision, Explained  (an Millhiser, Vox)
The Court’s decision on Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy upends decades of precedent warning that judges shouldn’t mess with foreign affairs.

The Right Way to Structure Cyber Diplomacy  (Natalie Thompson and Laura Bate, War on the Rocks)
The modern State Department was forged in an era of global transformation. In the 1930s, the department had fewer than 2,000 personnel and, as one historian emphasized, it was a “placid” place that was comfortable with “lethargic diplomacy.” World War II revolutionized the department, which readily transformed itself to handle the demands of planning a new international order. Between 1940 and 1945, the department’s domestic staff levels tripled and its budget doubled.
Today, the State Department is once again confronting the challenge of how to organize itself to cope with new international challenges — not those of wartime, but ones created by rapid technological change. There are ongoing conversations about how the department should handle cyberspace policy, as well as concerns about emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, next generation telecommunications, hypersonics, biotechnology, space capabilities, autonomous vehicles, and many others.

Revealed: How California Police Chased a Nonexistent “Antifa Bus”  (Sam Levine, Guardian)
Authorities in rural northern counties spread misinformation and launched aircraft surveillance in response to false rumors about antifa ‘infiltrators’, according to records obtained by the Guardian.