[FoxNews] The death of a pastor in New River, Arizona, under bizarre circumstances has been ruled a homicide.
Pastor Bill Schonemann, 76, head of the New River Bible Chapel, was found dead in his own bed last Monday, April 28, with his arms spread wide and pinned to the wall, according to FOX 10 Phoenix. Foul play is suspected. Obviously a suicide
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office officially ruled Schonemann's death a homicide, as police continue to investigate.
#1
Real state agent from Chicago who went thru a procedure at his dentist and was found neither alive nor dead but was nevertheless buried, is unearthed centuries later in a world where 5 million people multi task to run everything on the planet since the I.Q of the rest of the world (3 billion) is 45.
[RT] Reddit is considering suing the University of Zurich for using chatbots to sway users’ opinions on hot-button topics.
According to media reports, a group of researchers at the University of Zurich in recent months conducted an unauthorized study on r/ChangeMyView, one of Reddit’s largest debate communities.
Definitely the right place to run that kind of experiment.
The experiment involved AI chatbots posing as regular users and engaging in discussions on controversial issues.
The bots, whose accounts have since been banned, posted more than 1,700 comments across the subreddit. They adopted fake identities such as a male rape victim downplaying the trauma of his assault, a Black man opposing the Black Lives Matter movement, and a domestic trauma counselor claiming the most vulnerable women were those “sheltered by overprotective parents.”
Ah. A proper experiment would test response to each side of each argument, not just consistently the same side of each argument.
Another bot was used to scan user profiles and deliver personalized arguments in response.
The researchers disclosed the experiment to subreddit moderators several months after it had taken place, calling it “a disclosure step in the study.”
In a statement posted last week, Reddit’s moderator team has said the platform prohibits the use of undisclosed AI-generated content or bots. Reddit’s chief legal officer, Ben Lee, said neither the company nor the r/ChangeMyView moderators had prior knowledge of what he called an “improper and highly unethical experiment.” He added that Reddit was preparing formal legal demands to send to the University of Zurich and the researchers involved.
The researchers said the study had been guided by principles of “ethical” research and transparency. The university ethics committee had argued that the research had caused little harm. Still, users on the subreddit reacted with shock and anger over being unknowingly experimented on.
The journal Science cited an emailed university statement as saying the researchers have decided not to publish the results.
Smart. They’d get reamed for the built in bias of their protocol. It would be a serious teachable moment for the entire academic community.
The university said it would investigate the incident.
I recommend a remedial course in proper test design for all involved in running, approving, and funding the project.
The use of AI bots – fake accounts designed to mimic real users – has grown steadily across social media platforms in recent years. Experts say they are increasingly used to shape public opinion, particularly around elections.
It would be interesting to know if the scientists involved concluded they were successful in influencing and/or changing minds. Or not.
Western governments, primarily the US and the UK, have long accused Russia of operating large-scale ‘bot farms’ to interfere in their election processes – accusations Moscow has repeatedly denied. However, some Western actors have come under scrutiny themselves for using bots in disinformation campaigns, while publicly warning about foreign interference.
#1
I saw an article on X with a researcher lamenting that no scientific journal would accept any articles with AI results in the articles.
He was researching why pure sciences like astronomy went in and out of "style". He did a lot of AI queries in his research and GROK hit a very interesting answer which he followed up with serious research. He won't be published because the idea came from Grok.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Mercedes-Benz will shift production of one of its vehicles to Tuscaloosa, Alabama by 2027.
The German luxury carmaker's move is the latest response from an industry caught in the expensive crosshairs of President Donald Trump's 25 percent tariffs.
The decision marks a potential win for Trump’s protectionist trade agenda, which aims to boost US manufacturing by slapping steep tariffs on foreign-made goods.
But there are many complicating factors.
The company didn't say which model would move to America. Instead, it said the production of a 'core segment vehicle' will move stateside.
Many experts predict the move will impact the production of the GLC, the company's best-selling car in the US. The compact SUV is built in Bremen, Germany.
'As a company with global activities and more than 30 plants worldwide, Mercedes-Benz generally pursues a local-for-local strategy,' the company told DailyMail.com.
'In doing so, we continuously optimize our production network and use its high flexibility to react to fluctuations and changing market conditions to remain competitive.'
Mercedes reported selling 64,163 units in the US in 2024, up 58 percent from the year before.
While the Alabama plant might become the SUV's birthplace, Mercedes will likely start to move some production out of the factory, too.
The company said in April it was actively reviewing production moves as the tariff pressure mounted.
Moves could impact some of its highest-profit cars, like the GLE, GLS, GLE Coupe and Mercedes-Maybach GLS, which all call Alabama home.
Mercedes has used the American plant for export production, including sending cars to Europe and Canada.
But as President Trump doubles down on automotive tariffs and countries respond with retaliations, exported vehicles could be slashed from the factory lines.
It's a risk Trump is willing to take. For years, the President has argued that high import taxes will entice companies to reboot a sleepy manufacturing sector in the US.
So far in the auto industry, his duties have had mixed results.
Yesterday, GM's CEO, Mary Barra said that tariffs will cost her company between $4 billion and $5 billion annually.
Her company's statement was the first time consumers could see the genuine cost the Trump administration might be imposing on car companies.
Ford has responded with an employee pricing sale that has slashed thousands off its current lineup.
But the company's CEO, Jim Farley, has admitted that prices for his cars are likely to rise after July 4.
Honda and Hyundai have both said they're re-upping plans to manufacture cars in the US to avoid tariffs.
Meanwhile, Stellantis laid off 900 employees and blamed tariffs.
Subaru also said it would stop shipping cars to Canada from its Indiana plant.
So far, the companies have scribbled out minor details of their capacity changes. But behind the scenes, executives are growing increasingly frustrated with the White House's ever-shifting policies.
Executives told DailyMail.com that they're struggling to even set a price for their products.
[IsraelTimes] With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval, renovation and maintenance work has begun on the “Little Western Wall,” a section of the Western Wall located in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Kan public broadcaster reports.
Netanyahu authorized the work through the National Security Council due to the political sensitivity of the area with regard to Jordan, the report says. As such, it says, Israel issued an official update to the Jordanian government a few hours before the work began.
Jordan views itself as a custodian of the Temple Mount and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, a status Israel does not recognize.
The “Little Western Wall” is considered the second closest place outside of the Temple Mount to the location of the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple and is thus granted a special sacred status by Jews.
The renovation and maintenance work had long been needed, but was delayed because senior political leadership had yet to approve it, according to Kan. The several months of discussions leading up to the authorization included representatives from the NSC, the police, and the Shin Bet, the report says, citing a minister briefed on the details.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A humanoid robot was filmed attacking its handler while trying to break free from restraints in a scene viewers have branded 'dystopian'.
In CCTV footage from a factory in China, the robot, which is attached to a miniature crane, is seen violently swinging its arms back and forth.
As it flew into what looks like a rage, it lashed out at a man sitting nearby at a computer who had to duck, while another man standing behind the robot had to back away.
The robot - seemingly of its own accord - raised its arms in the air and brought them down again, repeating the motion with increasing speed and violence.
It then began walking forward as it thrashed around in an apparent bid to break free from the crane.
The men can be seen flinching and cowering while raising their arms to shield their faces.
As the computer monitor toppled to the floor, other items were knocked over from the desk as the men attempted to flee from the out-of-control robot.
Eventually, one of the men pulled the crane from behind in a bid to stop the ongoing destruction.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
