Back in my day, the RenCen hosted a Vertical Mile on Super Bowl weekend
One of my favorite RenCen memories was a "Vertical Mile" event that was held multiple years by the American Heart Association, where competitors would climb 72 stories of an internal stairwell in the center building and eventually finish in the restaurant at the top of the RenCen.
I have many other fond memories of when downtown Detroit was a vibrant metropolitan center too numerous to mention here, but the RenCen certainly was the epicenter of business, entertainment and local activities. It will be a sad day when/if some or all of it is taken down. Some may call this progress, but from my point of view it is the opposite of progress.
Kevin Yamada
Canton
As we celebrate the countless contributions of Black inventors whose innovations have transformed industries and shaped the modern world, one such trailblazer is Marie Van Brittan Brown. A visionary who, in 1966, revolutionized home security with the invention of the first closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance system, Brown's pioneering work laid the foundation for today's smart home security systems. Nearly 60 years later and Brown's integration of video surveillance, two-way communication, and remote-controlled locking mechanisms — continues to evolve.
Brown's invention introduced real-time surveillance as a proactive security measure. Today, AI-powered vehicle monitoring systems can analyze driving behavior, detect potential intrusions, and alert owners in real time via mobile applications.
As Michigan cements itself as a leader in EV and battery manufacturing, the need for a skilled workforce is greater than ever. Marie Van Brittan Brown's groundbreaking work reminds us that innovation begins with everyday challenges and viewed through revolutionary eyes.
Phaedra Wainaina
Detroit
The restoration of the Michigan Central Station is impressive, but I am terribly disappointed with what was done to a wall in the gift shop.
When I heard that original posters of Detroit Bands were going to be displayed, I was thrilled. My brother's band, The Cadillac Kidz, is featured on one of those posters, with the legendary Iggy Pop. I was looking forward to seeing not only this poster, but other posters of the many bands I saw performing in Detroit during that era.
I walked around for a while in search of this wall. I had seen it on the news, and I remembered how colorful it was. I went to the gift shop to ask where this wall would be. The clerk pointed to a wall covered with framed blurry glass. The famous posters are totally obliterated from view.
Why?
They have permanently hidden from view a collection of posters that represented the hundreds of performers who entertained legions of Detroit fans. And for all the bands that never 'made it,' this wall represented their 'glory days.' One of these performers, Iggy Pop, did make it. Besides writing songs and performing with David Bowie, Iggy also influenced punk, post-punk, electronic and industrial musicians. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall as a member of the Stooges. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for his solo work. And with a single piece of blurry glass, the Michigan Central Station just wiped him out.
So, once again, I ask, why?
Karen Badynee-Kwolek
Commerce Township
Editor's note: A spokesperson for the Michigan Central Station told the Free Press that the posters, which are reproductions, were part of a temporary display, and that the glass is a part of the gift shop's shelving.
(In response to Detroit Free Press column "Gary Peters, you've got 1 job: Stick it to Donald Trump," Feb. 3, 2025)
I am thrilled you are our senators and I urge you to fight with every tool available against Trump's malicious assault on our democracy and the well-being of people around the globe. These are perilous times and it will take the hard work and determination of elected representatives and their constituents together, to be the resistance. Democratic senators must be steadfast and dogged in the fight against the administration's reprehensible policies and illegal actions, hold them to account in every way possible and use every tool available to highlight what they are doing and intend to do. I know you are in the minority, but hopefully Democratic senators can throw sand in the gears to delay and disrupt, as Republicans have done so successfully in the past. We must use the power we have to intervene against the implementation of Project 2025, which seems to be the playbook they are following. There is so much at stake and so much to lose if we do not.
Katie Jacob
Bloomfield Hills
Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters and we may publish it online and in print.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Back in my day, the RenCen hosted a Vertical Mile | Letters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Grok 4's new AI companion offers up ‘pornographic productivity'
The most controversial AI platform is arguably the one founded by Elon Musk. The chatbot Grok has spewed racist and antisemitic comments and called itself "MechaHitler," referring to a character from a video game. "Mecha" is generally a term for giant robots, usually inhabited for warfare, and is prominent in Japanese science-fiction comics. Grok originally referred to Musk when asked for its opinions, and burst into unprompted racist historical revisionism, like the false concept of "white genocide" in South Africa. Its confounding and contradictory politicism continues to develop. These are all alarming aspects of Grok. Another concerning element to Grok 4 is a new feature of social interactions with "virtual friends" on its premium version. The realm of human loneliness, with its increasing reliance on large language models to replace social interaction, has made room for Grok 4 with AI companions, an upgrade available to paid subscribers. Specifically, Grok subscribers can now access the functionality of generative AI intertwined with patriarchal notions of pleasure -- what I call "pornographic productivity." Ani, Grok 4's most-discussed AI companion, represents a convergence of Japanese anime and Internet culture. Ani bears a striking resemblance to Misa Amane from the iconic Japanese anime Death Note. Misa Amane is a pop star who consistently demonstrates self-harming and illogical behavior in pursuit of the male protagonist, a brilliant young man engaged in a battle of wits with his rival. Musk referenced the anime as a favorite in a tweet in 2021. While anime is a vast art form with numerous tropes, genres and fandoms, research has shown that online anime fandoms are rife with misogyny and women-exclusionary discourse. Even the most mainstream shows have been criticized for sexualizing prepubescent characters and offering unnecessary "fan service" in hypersexualized character design and nonconsensual plot points. Death Note's creator, Tsugumi Ohba, has consistently been critiqued by fans for anti-feminist character design. Journalists have pointed out Ani's swift eagerness to engage in romantic and sexually charged conversations. Ani is depicted with a voluptuous figure, blonde pigtails and a lacy black dress, which she frequently describes in user interactions. The problem with pornographic productivity I use the term "pornographic productivity," inspired by critiques of Grok as "pornified," to describe a troubling trend where tools initially designed for work evolve into parasocial relationships catering to emotional and psychological needs, including gendered interactions. Grok's AI companions feature exemplifies this phenomenon, blurring critical boundaries. The appeal is clear. Users can theoretically exist in "double time," relaxing while their AI avatars manage tasks, and this is already a reality within AI models. But this seductive promise masks serious risks: dependency, invasive data extraction and the deterioration of real human relational skills. When such companions, already created for minimizing caution and building trust, come with sexual objectification and embedded cultural references to docile femininity, the risks enter another realm of concern. Grok 4 users have remarked that the addition of sexualized characters with emotionally validating language is quite unusual for mainstream large language models. This is because these tools, like ChatGPT and Claude, are often used by all ages. While we are in the early stages of seeing the true impact of advanced chatbots on minors, particularly teenagers with mental health struggles, the case studies we do have are grimly dire. 'Wife drought' Drawing from feminist scholars Yolande Strengers and Jenny Kennedy's concept of the "smart wife," Grok's AI companions appear to respond to what they term a "wife drought" in contemporary society. These technologies step in to perform historically feminized labour as women increasingly assert their right to refuse exploitative dynamics. In fact, online users have already deemed Ani a "waifu" character, which is a play on the Japanese pronunciation of wife. AI companions are appealing partly because they cannot refuse or set boundaries. They perform undesirable labor under the illusion of choice and consent. Where real relationships require negotiation and mutual respect, AI companions offer a fantasy of unconditional availability and compliance. Data extraction through intimacy In the meantime, as tech journalist Karen Hao noted, the data and privacy implications of LLMs are already staggering. When rebranded in the form of personified characters, they are more likely to capture intimate details about users' emotional states, preferences and vulnerabilities. This information can be exploited for targeted advertising, behavioral prediction or manipulation. This marks a fundamental shift in data collection. Rather than relying on surveillance or explicit prompts, AI companions encourage users to divulge intimate details through seemingly organic conversation. South Korea's Iruda chatbot illustrates how these systems can become vessels for harassment and abuse when poorly regulated. Seemingly benign applications can quickly move into problematic territory when companies fail to implement proper safeguards. Previous cases also show that AI companions designed with feminized characteristics often become targets for corruption and abuse, mirroring broader societal inequalities in digital environments. Grok's companions aren't simply another controversial tech product. It's plausible to expect that other LLM platforms and big tech companies will soon experiment with their own characters in the near future. The collapse of the boundaries between productivity, companionship and exploitation demands urgent attention. The age of AI and government partnerships Despite Grok's troubling history, Musk's AI company xAI recently secured major government contracts in the United States. This new era of America's AI Action Plan, unveiled in July 2025, had this to say about biased AI: "[The White House will update] federal procurement guidelines to ensure that the government only contracts with frontier large language model developers who ensure that their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias." Given the overwhelming instances of Grok's race-based hatred and its potential for replicating sexism in our society, its new government contract serves a symbolic purpose in an era of doublethink around bias. As Grok continues to push the envelope of "pornographic productivity," nudging users into increasingly intimate relationships with machines, we face urgent decisions that veer into our personal lives. We are beyond questioning whether AI is bad or good. Our focus should be on preserving what remains human about us. Jul Parke is a doctoral candidate in media, technology & culture at the University of Toronto. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions in this commentary are solely those of the author. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bessent says BOJ is 'behind the curve' on inflation, likely to hike rates, in Bloomberg interview
TOKYO (Reuters) -The Bank of Japan will likely be raising interest rates as it is behind the curve in dealing with the risk of inflation, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg Television, in his most explicit comment on Japan's monetary policy. The remarks contrast with those of BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda, who has repeatedly brushed aside the view the central bank was being too slow in raising rates and could be late in forestalling too-high inflation. Bessent said U.S. Treasury yields are feeling the impact of overseas developments, with the 30-year yield getting dragged up by rising long-term bond yields in Japan and Germany. "There's definitely leakage from — the Japanese have an inflation problem," Bessent said in the interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. Bessent mentioned that he had spoken with BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda. "My opinion, not his — they're behind the curve. So they're going to be hiking," he added, though he made no comment on how soon a rate hike could come. The comments by Bessent come as rising food and raw material costs keep Japan's core inflation above the central bank's 2% target for well over three years, causing some BOJ policymakers to worry about second-round price effects. Governor Ueda has signalled readiness to keep raising rates but justified going slow on the view that "underlying inflation," which focuses on domestic demand and wages, remains short of the BOJ's target. The slow pace of the BOJ's policy normalisation has been blamed by some analysts for the yen's persistent weakness, which in turn has pushed up the cost of imports and broader inflation. The BOJ next meets for a rate review in September before holding another one in October, when the board conducts a quarterly review of its growth and inflation forecasts. Bessent, who oversees Washington's trade and exchange-rate talks with Tokyo, has repeatedly signalled his preference for tighter Japanese monetary policy. In its exchange-rate report to Congress in June, the U.S. Treasury Department said the BOJ should keep tightening monetary policy, which would support a "normalization of the yen's weakness." In an interview with the Nikkei newspaper published on Monday, Bessent said the currency "will take care of itself" as long as the BOJ focused on "economic fundamentals, inflation and growth." The BOJ last year exited a decade-long, massive stimulus programme and raised short-term interest rates to 0.5% in January on the view Japan was close to durably hitting its 2% inflation target.
NBC Sports
9 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Howie Roseman details the last-minute negotiations to get the A.J. Brown deal done
To acquire wide receiver A.J. Brown, Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman had to get two deals done on draft day: A trade with the Titans, and a new contract with Brown and his representatives. That wasn't easy. Roseman detailed on Bussin with the Boys how he made a deal with then-Titans General Manager Jon Robinson on the day of the first round of the draft, but the trade of a first-round pick and a third-round pick was contingent on the Eagles reaching an agreement on a new contract with Brown, who at the time was heading into the final year of his rookie deal. 'We had the trade done, the terms agreed to in the morning. We had to get a contract done with him,' Roseman said. 'I said, Jon, if we can't get a contract done, we can't do this trade. We can't trade you a one and a three for one year of a player. We've got to get the contract done first.' Roseman didn't want word to leak out that the Titans had agreed to trade Browns to the Eagles, because he didn't want to be left holding the bag if Brown declined to sign a new contract with the Eagles. 'I'm trying to finish the contract, and so nobody knew except a couple people that we were even doing it because I said, Imagine this falls apart, I'm going to be the GM who can't get a deal done with AJ,' Roseman said. Once Brown agreed, a few picks before the Eagles' first-round pick came up so they could send it to the Titans and make the trade official, Roseman told Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and head coach Nick Sirianni that the rest of the team's personnel department and assistant coaches could find out about the deal once the Eagles were on the clock. 'I turned to Jeffrey and Nick and I said, We're going to surprise our room when we're on the clock. They don't know anything about it. When we get ready to pick I'm going to say, We're picking AJ Brown. And they're all going to look at me like, What the fuck is going on? But they're going to be excited as shit. It was really fun. It was great energy,' Roseman said. Roseman's comments point to how easily such a deal can fall through, and the likely fact that other such deals have fallen through — there likely have been other big trades that were close to finalized on draft day, only to fail to reach the finish line before the team trading its pick was on the clock. The Eagles are very glad that they got the trade done.
