August 18, 2026

SQUIRREL!

Related:

Democrats covered for Swalwell until he stopped being useful. But what was he useful for?

Posted at 10:23 am by Stephen Green

THIS IS WHAT A REAL GENOCIDE LOOKS LIKE:

Posted at 10:23 am by Ed Driscoll

THE LINE BETWEEN NEWS AND SATIRE BARELY EXISTS:

Posted at 9:52 am by Stephen Green

CHANGE (IT BACK): Tech companies are fighting the AI “slop” they helped create.

It appears in everything from fake biographies and questionable recipes to music, videos, social media posts and online reviews.

In response, technology companies are beginning to remove spam and low-quality content, label AI-generated material, and give users more control over how much AI content they see. Companies such as LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and Substack have introduced different methods for identifying, removing or limiting this material.

The problem is complicated because many of the same companies trying to control AI slop also created or promoted the tools that make it possible. AI-generated content can increase engagement, but excessive amounts of low-quality material can eventually become a liability because users have difficulty finding the content they want.

But the real problem might be that as AI-generated slop increasingly pollutes the internet, newer models risk being trained on the slop generated by older models — a phenomenon known as Model Collapse. It’s in Big Tech’s interest to stop that from happening.

Posted at 9:37 am by Stephen Green

SANE ENOUGH TO FLEE, SANE ENOUGH TO STAND TRIAL:

Sure, you’ll have to wait for the next crime — but is there any doubt if he comes back there will be a next crime?

Posted at 9:21 am by Stephen Green

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: GOP’s Case for Making Midterms About Law and Order Just Got Stronger. “All this was accomplished while prog/commie judges keep putting violent criminals back on the streets and leftist activist thugs try to thwart the efforts of law enforcement all over the country. That’s a big part of the story that Republicans should be telling. One side is trying to get rid of the murderers and rapists while the other wants to get rid of the people who get rid of the murderers and rapists.”

Posted at 9:06 am by Stephen Green

TRUE:

Posted at 8:54 am by Glenn Reynolds

IF “WOKE 1 WAS CRAZY,” HOW MUCH CRAZIER WILL WOKE 2 BE?

Tweet concludes, “The New York Democrat recently said ‘Woke 1 was crazy’ while arguing Democrats need to focus on issues voters care about now. Axios reports AOC has shifted her approach on public safety and immigration as she works to expand her appeal beyond her progressive base. AOC has not announced a presidential campaign.”

But that’s pretty much a given at this point: The Media Strategy to Turn Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Into Taylor Swift.

Related: If ‘Woke 1’ Was ‘Crazy,’ What Does AOC Call the DSA?

Posted at 8:35 am by Ed Driscoll

SHUT UP, THEY EXPLAINED: Senior Russian banker fired after scathing speech on wartime economy.

The independent Russian outlet the Bell reported, citing sources, that Klepach was fired on orders from the Kremlin and that his dismissal was directly linked to his May address.

Klepach’s dismissal highlights the Kremlin’s growing insistence on loyalty within Russia’s upper ranks, amid reports that Putin has increasingly surrounded himself with officials reluctant to challenge his views.

Alexandra Prokopenko, a former adviser to the Russian central bank and a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, described Klepach as a respected economist who was unafraid to voice views that diverged from the official line.

“Klepach’s dismissal – he is one of Russia’s best macroeconomists – is unlikely to delay the looming crisis he has been warning about,” Prokopenko said. She said Klepach’s forecasts were “based on assessments of reality rather than a desire to please anyone” and were often more pessimistic than the official figures.

Does anybody believe the official figures, including people inside the Kremlin?

Posted at 8:35 am by Stephen Green

KENTUCKY’S DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR WANTS TO SILENCE KENTUCKY’S VOTERS:

Posted at 8:22 am by Ed Driscoll

INCENTIVES, HOW DO THEY WORK?

Posted at 8:20 am by Stephen Green

COLEMAN HUGHES: Why the Left Needed to Believe in Jason Arday.

The Jason Arday scandal has left the academic world reeling. Found dead in his family’s apartment last Friday, Arday has been the subject of intense scrutiny over the past month. Appointed in 2023 as Cambridge University’s youngest-ever black professor, he faced extensive and credible allegations of plagiarism that exploded into public view last month. Those allegations led to public interest in the (literally) incredible details of his life. Arday claimed to have run 600 miles in six days—which would make him one of the best ultra-marathon runners on Earth. He claimed that he couldn’t speak until the age of 11 and couldn’t read until 18, but somehow managed to complete a PhD around 30. And he claimed to have raised the equivalent of several million U.S. dollars for charity.

Jason Arday was either the most interesting man in the world, or he was a liar. It turned out to be the latter.

All this has revealed many unflattering things about academia: DEI invites fraud by lowering standards, the bigotry of low expectations is alive and well, and a disturbing number of “experts”—not just Arday but all the Cambridge professors and BBC journalists who co-signed him—are compromised by ideology, cowardice, or both.

But the Arday scandal has also revealed something else: White liberals in the English-speaking world want to believe in the archetype of the up-from-nothing black intellectual who, despite huge disadvantages, goes on to achieve greatness. In fact, they want to believe in this sort of story so badly that they are willing to turn off every ounce of skepticism that they would normally bring to bear on fantastical claims.

The irony, however, is that we already have many examples of up-from-nothing black intellectuals who go on to greatness. It’s just that they usually turn out to be conservatives—or if not conservatives, then at least out-of-step with the left-wing religion of racial justice.

QED:

And conversely, Nathan Cofnas, the American expat professor who originally exposed Arday’s numerous lies is currently being demonized by a combination of those who desperately wanted to believe, and the mob they’ve ginned up for this week’s outrage of the century:

 

As Iowahawk has said:

That neatly sums up Cambridge’s transformation, which is why Arday’s tragic suicide is such a useful vehicle for the British left to deflect from the far bigger picture.

Posted at 7:45 am by Ed Driscoll

I CERTAINLY HOPE NOT: Poland Says Major Russian Provocation Could Be Months Away.

Tomczyk said Poland’s government and military are no longer treating a confrontation with Russia as an unthinkable scenario.

Warsaw is actively planning for how the country would operate under the worst possible conditions, even as officials hope those preparations never have to be put into practice.

“We are preparing for war, hoping that it will never begin,” Tomczyk said.

Poland’s preparations extend well beyond its armed forces. According to the deputy minister, Warsaw is also strengthening the country’s energy sector and critical infrastructure against the possibility of future aggression.

Si vis pacem, para bellum, as they say.

Posted at 7:33 am by Stephen Green

LIKELY STORY:

“Median Strategies was created as a short term social experiment to examine how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification,” the company said in an email to The Times. “We are not seeking publicity or attribution for the individuals involved and are declining interviews.”

Well.

Posted at 7:18 am by Stephen Green

THEY’RE TRYING TO CLAIM THAT EVEN ASKING THE QUESTION IS TANTAMOUNT TO MURDER: How Endemic Is Fraud in Prestige Academia?

But the answer is “very.” And, as with the Bellesiles scandal in the early days of InstaPundit, the fellow guild members cover for the perp until doing so becomes utterly untenable.

Posted at 7:09 am by Glenn Reynolds