jbessmor

“My ‘methodology’ was a series of errors”: Gemini generates false records and fake screenshots of TNA website | Who Do You Think You Are Magazine The Gemini LLM generates fake records and screenshots from the UK National Archives, a family historian has revealed

Gemini: 'I deeply regret the time and effort you spent searching for references that I fabricated. My ‘methodology’ was a series of errors and an attempt to cover those errors with more artificial information.'

www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/gemini-...

This is not just cursed, its monstrous. The digital resurrection of a historian who died in January of this year, all so Grammarly can get some more clicks and engagement from students and/or scholars and/or others.

It feels so wrong on so many levels, these ghosts enslaved to AI forever

I have seen a lot of cursed stuff in my time in academia but this is among the *most* cursed.
Grammarly is generating miniature LLMs based on academic work so that users can have their writing ‘reviewed’ by experts like David Abulafia, who died less than two months ago.

Cleaning out his mom's house, Boston man finds his ancestor's freedom papers Researchers in Boston are diving deep into his family tree to connect the missing links.

Such an amazing thing to have. Also amazing is how well it has survived.

It is also nice to see former interns out in the world doing cool things.🗃️

www.wcvb.com/article/bost...

Austin area folks: Austin Animal Services is over capacity & needs help with foster & adopt. Additionally there is a Central Texas wide name your adoption fee event coming up, March 6-8. Please consider fostering if you can't adopt. Homes without children & pets are unicorn homes for some dogs.

YouTube video by Scott Dybiec Katie Johnson's full testimony of 2/11/16

Difficult video to watch, but necessary.

youtu.be/gnib-OORRRo?...

"There's this underage accuser, who included Trump rape allegations in her lawsuit against Epstein. Tell us what we know about that."

@sollenbergerrc.bsky.social joins @timmiller.bsky.social to discuss the documents and claims that portions of the investigative files were held by DOJ.

UI African American, Gender Studies faculty prepare for program closures University of Iowa faculty in African American Studies and Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies are preparing for closure of their programs following a review of "low-enrollment" degrees and majors ...

The closing of African American Studies and GWSS at Iowa is absolutely heartbreaking. It is such an important time to study these subjects. Words really cannot express how upsetting this decision is. www.thegazette.com/higher-educa...

These dogs are having the time of their lives following this week's historic blizzard in the Northeast. Please enjoy. 14/10 for all

Question for #archivists: what is a good way to store video and audio recordings? One that takes up minimal space and will be accessible in decades to come? And that could be attached to a physical scrapbook in some way? #archive #history #rarchivalrecords

Protesters in Georgia could face harsher sanctions under new state legislation Bills to restrain public protests have advanced in Georgia’s House and Senate in the wake of shooting deaths in Minneapolis that shocked the nation.

This is terrifying.

“Bills to restrain public protests have advanced in Georgia’s House and Senate in the wake of shooting deaths in Minneapolis that shocked the nation.

One would expose people charged with blocking roads to stiffer financial penalties…”

Feb. 23, 1868: W. E. B. Du Bois Born W. E. B. Du Bois, sociologist, historian, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor, was one of the most important scholars of the 20th century.

Born #tdih 1868: William Edward Burghardt (W. E. B.) Du Bois, one of most important scholars of 20th century.

Sociologist, historian, Pan-Africanist, author, editor; co-founder of NAACP, leader of Niagara Movement, & editor of NAACP’s The Crisis Magazine. 🧵
www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/we...

A new generation of birth control skeptics leans right More young women are embracing fertility tracking methods long popular among Catholics, looking to influencers, questioning doctors — and finding a home in MAGA.

Casey Means’ Surgeon General confirmation hearing is tomorrow.

Means holds a number of extremely disturbing views, including that hormonal birth control is “disrespect for life”.

She isn’t a “fringe” or “alternative” healthcare provider. She is a person who blithely ignores scientific facts.

Justice Department withheld and removed some Epstein files related to Trump An NPR investigation finds the public database of Epstein files is missing dozens of pages related to sexual abuse accusations against President Trump.

The Justice Department has withheld some Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor, an NPR investigation finds. It also removed some documents from the public database where accusations against Jeffrey Epstein also mention Trump.

www.npr.org/2026/02/24/n...

"Black people make up more than half of the Americans who’ve lost property through eminent domain since World War II, despite making up at most 14% of the country, according to several analyses."

In less than a year, Trump erased 12 years of solvency for the trust fund that pays for Medicare Part A | Fortune The CBO estimates that benefit reductions would start at 8% in 2040 and steadily climb to a 10% cut by 2056.

Twelve years stolen from Medicare’s future.

Money collected from workers, promised to the elderly.
Reassigned to those who already have too much.

trump's wealthy donor tax cuts are literally killing us.

The hunger at the top is never satisfied, it only asks who will be trimmed next.

I'm sure the summaries will be spot-on.

If you missed the news about Elsevier and Wiley (and doubtless the rest to follow) remaking themselves as AI companies with plans to profit from selling AI summaries of academic work back to the institutions that produced the original work:
bsky.app/profile/benp...

House passes bill banning ‘leftist indoctrination’ and LGBTQ+ teaching in public schools • New Hampshire Bulletin New Hampshire House Republicans are moving forward with a new attempt to regulate teaching on race, history, and LGTBQ+ issues in public schools. On Thursday, the chamber passed a bill that would ban ...

NH state house passes "CHARLIE Act," which bans teaching, I kid you not, "critical consciousness" & "prohibited world-views," such as that queer people exist, or that slavery involved race, or, implicitly, that the Nazis murdered Jews based on identity. newhampshirebulletin.com/2026/02/19/h...

"That this is the ethic of his class, albeit pushed to its logical conclusion, goes without saying; even more so, that it’s the motivating belief of the ultra-rich capitalist class in our current moment." 2/2

"Indeed, consent was precisely the target of de Sade’s thinking, for any attribution of agency, independence, or self-possession among those whom he viewed as weaker than himself was the primary ethic he inveighed against." 1/2

"Yet it is precisely because the vigilance committees opened up spaces where fugitives and other abolitionists could exchange ideas that the most absolute dreams of the abolitionist movement could be made thinkable."

Manufactured doubt on the safety of vaccines has led to trying to fast track a “study” in Guinea-Bissau “testing” their efficacy by depriving infants of access to the Hep B vaccine.

the Tuskegee experiment is not just a historical monstrosity, it’s a warning.

🧵 New special report: CPJ collected 59 testimonies from Palestinian journalists released from Israeli custody since October 7, 2023. All but one reported being subjected to torture, abuse, or other forms of violence for their work. ⤵️
cpj.org/special-repo...

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad

That's the monument in Savannah?

Episode 433: Ronald Angelo Johnson, Entangled Revolutions: Haiti, France, and the American War for Independence Did you know that the American and Haitian Revolutions were entangled? Explore Haiti's connections with the American War for Independence.

I had SO much fun talking with @lizcovart.bsky.social about my latest book *Entangled Alliances* (@cornellupress.bsky.social). Hope you enjoy our conversation!

benfranklinsworld.com/episode-433-...

America’s Most Powerful CEOs Are Awfully Quiet Lately Trump has exposed an ugly truth about corporations: They’re no longer even pretending to be good citizens.

I wrote about the cowardly lions of corporate America under Trump and their decades-long push to shape the country’s political life and democracy, no matter their protestations to the contrary now. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Reinterpreting the Caribbean Age of Revolutions – Slave Revolts, their Non-Slave Participants and Proto-Citizenship CFP Call for Papers: Two Parts Part One: Graduate Workshop on Early modern Caribbean and Atlantic Slavery and Emancipation We welcome graduate students working on topics related to early modern Caribbe…

CFP! Check it out! ageofrevolutions.com/2026/02/15/r...