This made me laugh out loud:
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Friday it can no longer stand behind a widely circulated paper on artificial intelligence written by a doctoral student in its economics program.
The paper said that the introduction of an AI tool in a materials-science lab led to gains in new discoveries, but had more ambiguous effects on the scientists who used it.
MIT didn’t name the student in its statement Friday, but it did name the paper. That paper, by Aidan Toner-Rodgers, was covered by The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets.
In a press release, MIT said it “has no confidence in the provenance, reliability or validity of the data and has no confidence in the veracity of the research contained in the paper.”
The university said the author of the paper is no longer at MIT.
Will be interested to see the fallout from this.
A brisk day here. Partly cloudy, breezy, low 70’s. At times looked like we were gonna have a gully washer, then opens up for a bit with a blue sky and sunshine. Spring, in other words.
I see that James Comey is under investigation and man am I torn. Like it would not bother me at all if he and the entire NY field office of Rudy underlings from that era could be thrown in a dungeon somewhere and never heard from again, but at the same time even investigating for this is fucking absurd and also dangerous.
This about sums up the stupidity of the team Trump argument:
This is the one.
— Aubrey Hirsch (@aubreyhirsch.bsky.social) May 17, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Fucking idiots.
Bre is here for the second night since Gerald and Landrea are visiting her brothers up north, and we are doing white people tacos and movies.
If you need a show, Mobland is pretty good.
hope
the author of that paper is probably working on DOGE projects
dmsilev
So, roughly average for Harvard Business School then?
NotMax
hitchhiker
Good old James Comey. Apparently he forgot that while true-blue fans of the crusty old thug in the White House can do just about anything and get away with it, the opposite is true for the rest of us.
We’ve transitioned into being a country where you have to fear your government. I really wish that was an exaggeration.
Soprano2
I’m needing to get a new or newer IPad. I remember something about someone here getting a deal on one. Can anyone help me with that?
trollhattan
@hitchhiker:
Certainly the John Roberts of FBI heads.
Mathguy
A really outstanding rant, “Tyranny of the Unfuckable,” right up there with anything Cole or Betty Cracker would write.
RepubAnon
“My objects all sublime, I shall acheive in time, to let the punishment fit the crime! The punishment fit the crime! And make each prisoner pent, unwillingly represent, a source of innocent merriment, of innocent merriment.”
-The Mikado
If James Comey has to hire a lawyer to defend himself against the minster he helped create, his punishment will be fitting the crime. Hopefully, he’d be declared not guilty, and the government would be sanctioned for bringing a blatantly unconstitutional prosecution – if only to prevent a follow-on effect for the rest of us.
Baud
It’s cheap and easy to announce an “investigation.” Doubt it’ll go anywhere. I’ll wait until something real happens before putting principle ahead of my dislike of James Comey.
Baud
I wonder if that MIT student used AI to write the paper.
zhena gogolia
Can anyone read what comes after “This is the one”?
Arclite
What does Aubrey’s skeet say? I’m not on BS.
New Deal democrat
A good summary of why yesterday’s US debt downgrade is so bad, via Carl Quintanilla of CNBC:
bsky.app/profile/carlquintanilla.bsky.social/post/3lpcyzf2txk2p
“DAN GREENHAUS, on the Moody’s downgrade: “‘… The U.S. is running gigantic, peacetime deficits unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes. As a result, .. in ten years’ time we’ll have $20 trillion more debt and that’s assuming nothing goes ‘wrong’ between now and then.’”
This is why the long term cost will be so bad. This makes it very likely that the trend in interest rates is going to be higher over T—-p’s Presidency and likely beyond.
Rising interest rates mean that the cost of borrowing money goes up. In the case of US Treasury’s, that cost must be paid by taxpayers. But it also means that the cost of borrowing by producers, for things like new industrial plants, and consumers, for things like mortgages and car loans, also goes up.
And the GOP will respond to that with calls for austerity aimed at the middle and working classes and the poor.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Mr. Mack
Mobland is good, and what’s weird is the first episode was so accent heavy I had to turn on subtitles. The rest were more easily understood. Wonder if they got them to tone it down.
Mathguy
@dmsilev: That left a mark (deservedly).
Timill
@zhena gogolia: The referenced skeet is:
oldgold
There is speculation that Laura Loomer is thinking of one upping James Comey by taking a photo of shells on a beach reading: 6947.
MattF
That business about the bogus AI research at MIT is quite amazing. Note that Rose has commentary with more links a couple of posts below this one. I expect that we will hear more from that particular BS artist when he decides the current furor has died down.
Mathguy
@MattF: The shitgibbon administration has been trying to reach him. They have a cabinet position for him.
Baud
@MattF:
Rob J.
Even if he were the son of the CEO of Corning–hell, even if he were the actual CEO of Corning–the idea that a first year econ grad student would have the access and materials science capabilities necessary for this paper not to be entirely fraudulent would be completely ridiculous. How did this ever get past his advisor?
Jackie
@Baud:
BAAHAHAHAHAAA!
Irving, TX
PAM Dirac
@oldgold: I don’t think the orange fart cloud is capable of performing his role in that scenario.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
I can’t imagine this DoJ could run a full blown investigation that actually got anywhere.
MagdaInBlack
@PAM Dirac: Neither do I, and we’ve both just given it way more thought than it deserves. YIK.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@hitchhiker: James Comey posted a photo of seashells arranged by someone else.
Will no wingnut rage that someone else of shell-arranging skullduggery is after this president? Anyone? Anyone?
Baud
On topic.
gene108
I’m not torn. I want Comey and the NY Field Office to suffer for what they enabled.
Will this solve anything? No.
If the country’s going to burn, these clowns shouldn’t be shielded.
Trump found a winning formula, and Republicans are all in on pushing lies and racism. Unless Democrats can win for 20+ years, nothing will change in the long run.
Baud
Must be nice having a leader in charge of your country.
MattF
@Baud: It has occurred to me that Trump’s theories about tariffs can be explained by an inability to do arithmetic. I’m not being sarcastic.
Jackie
CNN is reporting an explosion at Palm Springs fertility clinic in CA. Apparently it was a car bomb parked outside of the clinic; one person reported dead. The Dr and his staff are safe and uninjured. All fertilized embryos are safe.
Baud
@Jackie:
Wow. Are fertility clinics a target of anti-abortion people?
Mr. Bemused Senior
Arithmetic has a well known liberal bias.
Baud
@MattF: He could have difficulty with numbers that he can’t count on his 10 fingers. It would explain the 10% minimum.
Timill
@Baud: Yes, since they produce more embryos than can be implanted.
BlueGuitarist
“Trump Republican 86 46”
merchandise is still available at Amazon and elsewhere and some of the same weirdos whining now previously posted 86 46.
The Republican Fake Outrage machine endlessly turned up to 11
catclub
There were people standing by Main Street in my Town with “Dump Trump” signs.
MattF
@Mr. Bemused Senior: Alternatively, one can acknowledge the literal truth of basic arithmetic assertions, given the generally accepted definitions of numbers, but deny that they have any application to real-world situations. But this would be a rather sophisticated philosophical position. As ever, the dumbest explanation is the likeliest one.
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
@Timill: Thanks.
Jay
nitter.poast.org/bayraktar_1love/status/1923690094071861453#m
nitter.poast.org/Tendar/status/1923816102875795894#m
gene108
@MattF:
Nope. Bad arithmetic doesn’t explain why he thinks foreign countries pay tariffs.
It’s straight up delusional thinking, which fits right in with the conspiracy addled Republicans.
Jay
Chetan Murthy
@oldgold: yeah yeah, like Li’l Donnie has ever, ever, ever eaten pussy.
Baud
@Jay:
Trump will start blaming Ukraine by Monday afternoon.
MagdaInBlack
@Chetan Murthy: Whoa, whoa, whoa whoa whoa…….I so DID not need that image prompt. Jeez.
Melancholy Jaques
I posted this earlier on a thread that I did not was dead because I was using my phone & I cannot see the tiny numbers.
We had a pretty good turnout for the demonstration at Elon’s SpaceX. It was organized by UTLA, the Los Angeles schools teachers union, but there were people from school districts all over. I saw teachers from Redlands & that’s about 75 – 80 miles away or, as we say in Los Angeles, two hours away.
We were there to protest the destruction of the Department of Education & the cuts to funding of education programs that DOGE did & plans to do. I would say overall the mood was cheerful solidarity rather than outrage.
When I left after two & a half hours, people were still arriving. I was surprised at the big turnout because it’s kind of an out of the way location.
Baud
@Melancholy Jaques:
Nice.
Chetan Murthy
@Jay: The R0 of measles is 12-18. ISTR reading that it is the most infectious communicable disease that infests humans. A couple of months ago, during my regular doctor’s visit, I asked him to give me the MMR shot. Easy-peasy.
I mask in public indoor places (unless it’s worth it to unmask, like in a bar/resto) but I don’t think that’d be enough to prevent exposure if there were a measles victim on the same plane as me. So I got the shot. Probably cheaper than getting a measles titer to check whether my immunity is up-to-snuff.
Kayla Rudbek
@Baud: for the tradCaths, they probably are
Jay
@gene108:
Guess you haven’t seen his latest “Truth” rant where he demands that Walmart and China eat the Tariffs FFS rather than raise prices.
Miss Bianca
@Mathguy: Holy cow, that is some hilarious LOL shit. Thanks for sharing!
Professor Bigfoot
Motherfu—!
9 people were killed in a tornado last night in West Virginia.
Mai Naem mobile
@New Deal democrat: the downgrade is not getting anywhere the coverage.it needs. BTW Ray Dalio was going on about the debt and how the US is on the path to the equivalent of a financial heart attack in the next few years. He also did an interview with 60 minutes in the past year or two which was kind of acary. He was on that flight to the mideast with the rest of the CEOs along with Luttnick and Bessent etc.
Jay
@Mai Naem mobile:
It’s as if you lent someone your credit card and then they destroyed your credit rating.
SiubhanDuinne
@oldgold:
LOL and also UGH
Sister Golden Bear
@NotMax:
White people taco: Pierogi taco shell, stuffed with sauerkraut and kielbasa.
Chetan Murthy
@Sister Golden Bear: oh damn, that looks deeeeelish.
trollhattan
The unhingery got themselves a new can of WD40. Open wide.
Baud
@trollhattan:
He’s just trying to distract people from talking about how old Biden is.
Wait…
Sister Golden Bear
@MattF: Trump is a tariff otaku who thinks paying other people for stuff means “losing money”—whereas the only proper way is to take it through intimidation and piracy.
gene108
@Jay:
Trump will never say anything bad about Putin, even when there’s video evidence.
gene108
@Mai Naem mobile:
This involves math. Very few journalists can do basic arithmetic, let alone grasp concepts like percentages and interest rates.
It’s a real flaw in whatever training journalists receive, both via education and on the job training.
Lyrebird
Here’s hoping! I am actually delighted, because instead of picking on a teen of color for playing a controversial song, or an international grad student who thought she was coming to a place with freedom of the press, they’re doing their public trashing 1st Amendment going after a well-to-do white conservative US citizen who I’m guessing is a lawyer himself in addition to being shall we say well connected
ETA: bonus points to you for spot-on Gilbert and Sullivan reference!
Jay
Spanky
@Professor Bigfoot: That bsky post says KY, not WV.
Another Scott
@Soprano2: “PatrickG” (I believe that’s the spelling) is your man. If you can’t find the old thread, I’m sure Watergirl can do the introductions.
Good luck!
Best wishes,
Scott.
Another Scott
@New Deal democrat: Working as designed, of course. Because the MotUs control too much power, they are insisting that they never pay fair taxes, so the only thing to do is destroy the safety net and the commonweal. It’s what they have been working for for 50+ years.
Grr…
Best wishes,
Scott.
Professor Bigfoot
@Spanky: It does— I suffered a brainfart. Literally saw the map of KY in my head and typed “WV.”
But with that shamefacedly admitted to… can you believe this MF stuff?
A LOT of people are going to die thanks to this administration, and in a lot of different ways.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chetan Murthy: What the fuck is wrong with you? It’s dinner time for most of the US. People have worked hard to prepare nice meals and then you post that. WTAF?
Another Scott
@Omnes Omnibus: Isn’t Chetan in California? Might still be early for him.
It’s always wink wink nudge nudge time somewhere.
Best wishes,
Scott.
—
(Who might have electric power again by 11 pm. Yay.)
Jay
NotMax
@Chetan Murthy
Well done. With ketchup.
“I bigly like the tail.”
//
Chetan Murthy
@Jay: The historical parallels are no longer merely troubling: they’re a blaring siren that’s been shrieking since at least Nov 2021 (VA gubernatorial election where a major issue was “boys in girls’ bathrooms”).
Chetan Murthy
@Omnes Omnibus: I did think about deleting it, but by then the 5min edit window had expired.
MagdaInBlack
@Omnes Omnibus: TY!
Jay
@Chetan Murthy:
Schrodinger’s Trans, too strong for sports, too weak for the Military.
Baud
@Jay:
Pritzger
Baud
@Chetan Murthy:
I recall VA was about the CRT craze, not the trans craze.
JoyceH
I’m sorry, but to hear the very same people who spent four years posting “8646” and much worse now claiming that “86” is a death threat and performing Horror and Outrage is just… nauseating. They can’t expect us to take them seriously, surely?
Personally, I’d like to see Comey turn around and sue the DOJ for selective investigation and deliberate harassment. I’d also like to see the company that makes the MMR vaccine sue RFK jr for defamation and restraint of trade. The Supremes didn’t give Trump immunity from civil suits and he can’t pardon to stop them against others either. These jackasses are out of control; let’s give them the same penalty they’re dishing out to their ‘enemies’ – lawyer bills.
Oh well. I went to the Y and got my workout, then came home and wrote some more on my novel. I’m writer-jock, a double threat. Don’t mess with me.
Chetan Murthy
@Baud: Oh, it was both. CRT, bestiality (b/c apparently _Beloved_ has a scene), and boys in girls’ bathrooms.
JoyceH
@Chetan Murthy:
What’s repulsive is we now have the delightful trend of security guards and random busybodies following women into women’s restrooms and demanding they leave because they ‘don’t look female enough’.
Chetan Murthy
@JoyceH: [begin cynic] Surely no woman has such problems in Saudi Arabia, where they are escorted everywhere by their male guardian [end cynic]
Portly Neighbor
@JoyceH: “then came home and wrote some more on my novel”
I signed up for this hellsite a couple of months ago specifically to thank you for the Regency Charades series – I mentioned it once before (not sure if you saw it), so I thank you again. (I was actually just rereading A Feather to Fly With when I saw your post.)
Craig
@Soprano2: I use Backmarket. Got a sweet deal on a refurbished MacBook last month
Jackie
@Jay: I thought we Americans weren’t going to pay for FFOTUS’s tariffs.
I guess he forgot his own talking and selling points.
Jackie
@Professor Bigfoot: At least 27 were killed in tornadoes in Kentucky and Missouri overnight. But who needs the NWS or FEMA?
Bill Arnold
Did some background poking for a few minutes when the 8647 thing popped up. The first link (2019) on “86d” is close to exhaustive. Ask George: Where Does the Term “86’d” Come From? (George Mahe, August 16, 2019)
eight-six (Urban Dictionary)
I spotted (at least) 3 MAGA accounts on Twitter/X where the account name ended with 8646
They Call Me Noni
@Mathguy: I haven’t laughed out loud like this in a long time. Her descriptions are hilarious.
Jay
They Call Me Noni
@zhena gogolia: Nope.
JoyceH
@Portly Neighbor: oh, thank you! Have you happened to try my Regency Mage series? That’s the one that’s finally come unstuck after five years. Geez, five years!
They Call Me Noni
@Spanky: And I believe that KY toll is up to 18.
Mathguy
@They Call Me Noni: Hard to pick a favorite.
Portly Neighbor
@JoyceH: I’m not much of a ‘magic’ or ‘fantasy’ reader (yet?). (Nor have I read any Jane Austen :{ ) I first knew who JoyceH was when you mentioned the Mage series and audio books in a comment. I was like OMG, I love (some of, obv.) her books. Not crazy for the #4 twin swap (its still good), but the other four I may have worn out the ebook versions due to multiple readings, if that’s possible.
Miss Bianca
@Jay: Umberto Eco’s observations about fascism and its “enemies” remain evergreen.
WTFGhost
@oldgold: OMG that filthy, despicable, hateful, lying mouth on a nominally human set of… um… man, I can’t remember which one’s mouth and which one’s bits I was more disgusted by, which makes me think they may deserve that.
@Omnes Omnibus: To be brutal, oldgold “started” it.
evodevo
@Timill:
typical talibangelical logic – bomb clinic and destroy who knows how many hundreds of frozen embryos in the process??? I guess they all went to heaven or something? What a bunch of twisted freaks.
Sister Golden Bear
@JoyceH:
The hypocrisy is the point, similar to the corruption—the powerful do whatever they want, while the rest of us can’t.
WTFGhost
@Jay: Well, it’s not transfolk who are damaging the Democratic Party, it’s Republicans telling lies about Democrats with respect to transfolk.
People run from the issue, but they should confront it, because the answers are easy, or can be made easy. It’s the unrelenting rain of hate that causes it to be a problem.
Soprano2
@Another Scott: Great, thanks!
Kayla Rudbek
@JoyceH: enthusiastically cheers over here, I will be happy to read it once it’s finished
WTFGhost
@evodevo: Well, they could see it as bombing the gas chambers at the Nazi death camps, while living Jews were inside, thereby sabotaging the machinery of death.
I say this, not to encourage these people to have such thoughts, but to impress upon others that *some* people do have such thoughts, and it’s a natural extension of “abortion is murder”.
If you thought every precious snowflake baby was as human as people herded into gas chambers, explain why one action is different, from the other. Of course, that’s the point: we should be asking every pro-life politician those questions, and demand an answer to “explain why one is different, or admit you think they’re the same.
ETA: it feels prudent to mention that I’m on large quantities of perfectly legal herbal remedies, so babbly, and not especially rigorous, so if flames ensue, I might plead the 4:20th.
sab
Suzanne came to our meetup !
Pittsburgh is an amazing city, but hours away from Ohio cities.
EtA She was amazing and interesting
ing.
PhaedrusOnBass
@Baud: Specifically, people named Jenny.
apocalipstick
@Mai Naem mobile:
Dalio also said one of the causes of this financial crisis was a decrease in revenues. How does that come about? How does one cut state revenues? What is the main generator of revenue?
Pay your damn taxes, billionaires.