Coachella Valley Independent

Indy Digest: Jan. 22, 2024

Regular readers of the Indy Digest know that misinformation, and the damage it is causing in this country, scare the heck out of me.

Well, something REALLY scary happened today—and I am afraid it’s just the start of a whole new level of misinformation havoc. As reported by NBC News:

The New Hampshire attorney general’s office says it is investigating what appears to be an “unlawful attempt” at voter suppression after NBC News reported on a robocall impersonating President Joe Biden telling recipients not to vote in Tuesday’s presidential primary.

“Although the voice in the robocall sounds like the voice of President Biden, this message appears to be artificially generated based on initial indications,” the attorney generals office said in a statement. “These messages appear to be an unlawful attempt to disrupt the New Hampshire Presidential Primary Election and to suppress New Hampshire voters. New Hampshire voters should disregard the content of this message entirely.”

The investigation comes after a prominent New Hampshire Democrat, whose personal cell phone number showed up on the caller ID of those receiving the call, filed a complaint.

“What a bunch of malarkey,” the robocall phone message begins, echoing a favorite term Biden has uttered before.

The message says that “it’s important that you save your vote for the November election.”

This NBC News story includes the audio of the call. It sounds a little strange—but I was listening to it knowing it was fake. If I’d simply picked up my phone and heard it, I may have believed it could be real (if I also put aside the fact that it’s highly unlikely President Biden would ever do such a thing).

Still, this makes it clear that the era of video and audio deepfakes is here. The dangers of deepfakes go beyond politics and government—other recent news stories have covered a fake Taylor Swift selling cookware, a fake Russell Crowe selling real estate in Malta, and, horrifyingly, a 17-year-old actress being victimized by sexually explicit deepfakes on social media.

But it’s now clear that bad actors who want to influence opinions—and therefore elections—have yet another tool at their disposal. While some states are pondering legislation to deal with deepfakes, I can’t say I am optimistic that, in this internationally interconnected world, state laws will do much good.

We all need to be extra vigilant at making sure the information we get online is trustworthy. As the cliche goes, looks (and sounds) can be deceiving—and people with ill will are working hard, right now, to deceive YOU.

—Jimmy Boegle

From the Independent

Reporting Recognized: The Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation Will Celebrate Its Inaugural Hall of Fame Inductees at a Fundraising Luncheon

By Kevin Fitzgerald

January 19th, 2024

The four new Hall of Famers: Longtime KESQ News Channel 3 broadcast journalist Karen Devine; former Desert Sun arts and entertainment reporter Bruce Fessier; and Frank Jones and his father, the late Milton Jones, publishers of Palm Springs Life.

Great Debate: Dezart Performs’ ‘What the Constitution Means to Me’ Wonderfully Tackles Serious Subjects With Humor and Charm

By Gilmore Rizzo

January 22nd, 2024

Debates over the Constitution are presented beautifully in the funny, thought-provoking production by Dezart Performs, What the Constitution Means to Me,

French Features: The Cinéma Français Film Fest Returns With New French Movies—After a Five-Year Hiatus

By Matt King

January 21st, 2024

It took place in two consecutive years—and has not been back since COVID-19 arrived. But that’s about to change: Cinéma Français is set to return Friday, Feb. 2, through Sunday, Feb. 4, at Palm Springs Cultural Center.

A Completely New Love Story: ‘All of Us Strangers’ Is Not Getting the Awards Buzz It Deserves

By Bob Grimm

January 22nd, 2024

All of Us Strangers provides constant surprises and manages to be both touching and haunting at the same time. It’s quite the accomplishment.

A Somewhat Tedious Game: Hulu’s ‘Self Reliance’ Has Enjoyable Moments, but It Feels Padded

By Bob Grimm

January 22nd, 2024

The film hums along for stretches and is mildly entertaining, but too many scenes feel like the actors were simply instructed to stretch things out.

More News

The state of California has loosened its COVID-19 isolation guidelines. Our partners at CalMatters say: “Californians infected with COVID-19 may go about their lives without isolating or testing negative as long as their symptoms are improving, according to new and significantly loosened guidelines from the California Department of Public Health. California’s top public health official, Dr. Tomás Aragón, last week quietly rescinded the state’s previous order, which encouraged people infected with COVID-19 to isolate for five days. The new health order allows Californians with COVID-19 to return to work or school as long as their symptoms are improving and they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication. Asymptomatic individuals who test positive are not considered infectious and do not need to isolate, according to the order. ‘Instead of staying home for a minimum of five days, individuals may return to work or school when they start to feel better,’ state public health officials said in an unsigned statement.” Hmm.

• From the “people are often terrible” file: Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed a field goal late in yesterday’s playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs that would have tied the game, and the Bills went on to lose. Well … sports-news website The Spun explains what’s happened in the aftermath: “A Buffalo Bills player has been receiving death threats following Sunday’s heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed a game-tying 44-yard field goal with a couple of minutes remaining. … Bass was understandably heartbroken following the game. He was consoled on his way into the tunnel by quarterback Josh Allen. Unfortunately, Bills fans weren’t as sympathetic. The Bills kicker received death threats on social media, forcing him to delete his accounts.” Sigh.

From the “Holy $#@& I need to get up and move around” file comes a new study, as reported on by The Messenger: “Researchers in Taiwan studied data from nearly half a million people for a study published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open. Compared to people who usually stand during the work day, people who mostly sit had a higher risk of mortality from all causes, but primarily cardiovascular disease. Participants averaged an age of about 39. Over the course of nearly 13 years, researchers recorded more than 26,000 deaths. Even after adjusting for variables including sex, age, education, smoking, drinking and body mass index (BMI), those who mostly sat had a 34% increased mortality risk from cardiovascular disease and a 16% higher mortality risk in general. Mitigating that risk might be as simple as alternating between sitting and non-sitting’ at work and getting in 15 to 30 minutes of daily physical activity, the study found. It could help you reach the ‘same level of risk as individuals who predominantly do not sit at work,’ according to the study’s authors.” (If you want to go read the study itself, here’s the link.)

• In other science news: A neuroscientist who studies addiction writes in The Conversation that alcohol and drugs can apparently affect gene activity in the brain: “Recent data from animal models suggests that alcohol and drugs of abuse directly influence changes in gene expression in areas of the brain that help drive memory and reward responses. There are many ways addictive substances can change gene expression. They can alter which proteins bind to DNA to turn genes on and off and which segments of DNA are unwound. They can change the process of how DNA is read and translated into proteins, as well as alter the proteins that determine how cells use energy to function. For example, alcohol can cause an alternative form of a gene to be expressed in the memory circuits in flies and people, resulting in changes in dopamine receptors and transcription factors involved in reward signaling and neuronal function. Similarly, cocaine can cause an alternative form of a gene to be expressed in the reward centers of mice, leading them to seek out more cocaine.” Yikes!

Today’s recall news involves an expansion of a charcuterie-meat recall. NPR reports: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expanding a warning about a salmonella outbreak linked to charcuterie meat trays sold at Costco and Sam’s Club stores. Since the investigation was first posted earlier this month, there have been at least 47 known illnesses and 10 hospitalizations in 22 states, the CDC said on Thursday. The products that are suspected as contaminated are the Busseto brand charcuterie sampler, which is sold at Sam’s Club, and the Fratelli Beretta brand Antipasto Gran Beretta, sold at Costco. They come in twin packs and contain dried meats such as salami, prosciutto, coppa and soppressata.”

• And finally … there’s actually a city in California where there are no street addresses. It sounds nuts, but it’s true. The Los Angeles Times reports on the archaic weirdness of Carmel-by-the-Sea: “In this wealthy town on the Monterey Peninsula, residents use descriptors like: City Hall is on the east side of Monte Verde Street between Ocean and 7th avenues. And they give their homes eccentric names such as Almost Heaven, Faux Chateau and Go Away. There is no mail delivery—they have to go to the post office. For more than 100 years, the townsfolk fought to keep it that way, once threatening to secede from California if it imposed addresses. Serendipitous run-ins with neighbors at the post box, they said, were an essential part of their small-town identity. But now, tradition is running up against Amazon and Instacart and mail-order medications. You need a physical address to get a Real ID and to open bank accounts or credit cards. And if you just moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea? Expect to spend hours on the phone, arguing that your house is real when you try to hook up utilities, water and the internet.”

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Deepfakes Make a Political Mark; the State Relaxes COVID-19 Isolation Guidelines–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Jan. 22, 2024 is a story from Coachella Valley Independent, the Coachella Valley’s alternative news source.