May 19, 2026
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Michael's Daily Notes
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Last week I got a piece of mail I wasn't expecting: NOTICE OF VIOLATION. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. School Bus Safety Program. Amount due: $300.
The notice said a vehicle I own had illegally passed a school bus on April 16 at 3:34 p.m. I checked my calendar - I was speaking in Atlantic City at that time, and I'm not the primary driver of the vehicle in question. A QR code led me to a video of the incident. Just as the bus arm extends with a Stop sign, my Jeep passes in the opposite lane. I think it's defensible. Most of my social media followers disagree.
But here's what struck me most: there was no officer. No point where in the moment I could make my case to another human being. Just a camera, an algorithm, and a bill.
That instinct is at the heart of a much larger debate. The same day my notice arrived, one of the Washington Post's most-read stories was about Troy, NY, where a mom spotted a surveillance camera on her block and set off a civic firestorm over Flock Safety - a company whose AI license plate readers now operate in more than 6,000 communities nationwide.
I asked GWU law professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson - author of “Your Data Will Be Used Against You” - about the "keep your nose clean" argument. His response stuck with me: "We sort of live with this kind of fiction that we kind of hope it won't apply to us, but we're building the technology where it certainly could." Watch the full interview.
In Troy, they've got a mantra for Flock Safety: Get the Flock out.
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DAILY POLL
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Who do you want enforcing traffic laws: AI or Cops?
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TOP STORY
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The Trump administration announced a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of a settlement over leaked tax returns, drawing sharp criticism from Democrats and watchdog groups who argue it could channel taxpayer money to allies claiming politically motivated prosecution.
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TODAY'S YOUTUBE
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SPONSORED BY PARX CASINO
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IN OTHER NEWS
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President Donald Trump said he paused a planned military strike on Iran to allow negotiations more time after appeals from Arab leaders, while warning the attack could resume if a deal is not reached.
Three people were killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, where police say two teenage suspects later died by apparent self-inflicted gunfire as authorities investigate the attack as a possible hate crime.
The Long Island Rail Road strike ended Monday after the MTA and five unions reached a tentative agreement, with phased train service set to resume Tuesday and no planned fare or tax increases, officials said.
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A MESSAGE FROM INCOGNI
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Have someone who doesn't like you? They already know where you live.
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These sites don't ask why someone is looking. They just answer. Your address. Your family members. Your daily patterns. Available to anyone—an angry ex, a stranger, someone who just didn't like something you posted.
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Emergency room visits for tick bites are surging to their highest seasonal levels since 2017, with health officials warning that rising tick activity—especially in the Northeast and Midwest—is increasing the risk of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.
Rep. Thomas Massie faces a high-stakes Kentucky Republican primary against a Trump-backed challenger as the president targets him over policy disagreements and perceived disloyalty, making the race a test of Trump’s influence within the GOP.
Nicholas Kristof’s column alleging sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees by Israeli prison guards has ignited fierce backlash, with critics questioning its sourcing and sparking internal debate at The New York Times over newsroom standards and fact-checking.
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CARTOONS
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by Jack Ohman
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MORE NEWS
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A judge ruled that some evidence against Luigi Mangione, including items seized from his backpack at arrest, must be suppressed, while key evidence such as the alleged murder weapon will be allowed in his upcoming trial for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Elon Musk blasted a jury’s decision dismissing his lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI as a “calendar technicality,” vowing to appeal after jurors ruled he filed his claims too late under California’s statute of limitations.
Mark Fuhrman, the disgraced Los Angeles police detective who discovered the infamous bloody glove in the O.J. Simpson murder case and later pleaded no contest to perjury, has died at age 74 after battling cancer.
For the Left
A Los Angeles-area woman has agreed to plead guilty after federal prosecutors said she paid homeless individuals on Skid Row with cash, cigarettes, and phone cards to fraudulently register to vote using fake addresses as part of a ballot petition scheme.
For the Right
CNBC host Jim Cramer appeared visibly stunned and incoherent on-air after co-hosts pointed out that President Donald Trump had reportedly made thousands of stock trades tied to companies he later publicly promoted, fueling online accusations of insider trading.
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