Does Your Congressman Have a Healthy Fear of Killer Robots?

Brad Sherman (D-CA) does. Check out what Rep. Sherman said in a recent meeting of the House Science Committee:

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) did not propose an amendment, but wanted further discussion and perhaps a report on a particular aspect of future supercomputing research. Sherman said that, based on the opinions of experts, there is reason to believe that in about 25 years a supercomputer will be built that “exceeds human intelligence.” Sherman said he hopes that some of the future researchers that the bills would cultivate will be steered toward the potentially emerging field of making sure that the super-intelligent computers “avoid self-awareness . . . and ambition,” he said.

Awesome.

But if you think our Congress is bad, check out what Canada's House of Commons just did:

June 6 (Bloomberg) -- The Canadian government's C$227 billion ($204 billion) budget was passed in the House of Commons after opposition lawmakers accidentally failed to stand up to debate the spending plan. . . .

Legislators were supposed to hold a debate and final vote on the spending plan after Parliament's finance committee completed its review. By remaining seated in the House of Commons, opposition lawmakers allowed the bill to pass ``in a matter of minutes,'' said Libby Davies, the New Democratic Party member responsible for legislation.