Snapshot · God Mode Podcast
Despite most MEPs voting to reject EU chat control legislation, the absolute majority of 361 members required was not reached, allowing the surveillance measure to pass.
Where this was said
At 53:46 · chapter starts 50:00
While the US races toward fully autonomous vehicles, the EU has mandated that all new cars include infrared cameras watching the driver's face for signs of distraction. The hosts find the irony stark: we're building technology to eliminate the need for human attention on the road, while regulators are simultaneously demanding more of it. Rik imagines dystopian scenarios — a car that stops mid-highway because the driver glanced away, or face data flagged to police. Ben notes Tesla has had this feature for years, originally as a check on self-driving activation: you had to shake the steering wheel, then it moved to eye tracking. But that's surveillance in service of enabling autonomy, not restricting freedom. There's a viral story about someone gaming the system by positioning a screen to look like they were watching the road while playing video games behind the Tesla display. The hosts see the EU mandate as heading the wrong direction.
All new cars sold in the EU are now required to include infrared cameras monitoring drivers' eyes and faces for distraction, a rule the hosts criticized as contradicting the trajectory toward autonomous driving.
Every new car sold in the EU must now include an infrared camera monitoring the driver's face for distraction. The irony: as the rest of the world races toward autonomous driving, the EU is making it mandatory to watch the road more.
EU chat control passed not because a majority voted for it, but because opponents couldn't muster the 361 absolute-majority votes needed to block it. Luca notes this vote being revived twice in short succession is itself abnormal — a sign of intense lobbying pressure.
A total of 8 states have filed lawsuits against social media platforms, including an ongoing case in Tennessee, using product liability and public nuisance theories to seek accountability.
France built 56 nuclear plants in the 1970s and now has the cheapest energy in Europe, making it independent of Russian or Middle Eastern energy geopolitics.
Estonia has a single tax form, a law preventing the government from asking citizens for the same information twice, and a flat rate of tax — enabling competitive taxation.
Portugal's Lisbon, once a city with a major heroin problem, legalised drugs and redirected enforcement spending into rehabilitation and housing, dramatically reducing crime.
The first Boland Amendment banning CIA and Defense Department funds for the Contras passed the House unanimously — yet the Reagan administration ignored it.
Over just two years, Saudi Arabia alone donated $32 million to the Contra rebels, giving loosely affiliated factions millions they had no way to spend on arms.
The National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty raised $6.3 million for the Contras but only $3.3 million reached them — a shockingly low 52% program expense rate.
Richard Secord and Albert Hakim marked up their arms shipments to the Contras by as much as 300%, making enormous personal profits from the covert operation.
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, tapped to run the entire covert Contra support operation, had no prior experience in covert operations whatsoever — he was learning as he went.
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