The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a report linking “gender ideology” to leftwing authoritarianism and political violence – a study scientists say was poorly conducted and “nakedly political”, likely leading to greater politicization of science and health.

Elon Musk's multiple failed attempts to build his proposed "Hyperloop" transport system have more than a little in common with the conman from The Simpsons.

I came across this reddit post.

Leaked Chinese state research papers literally outline how they use AI and Reddit to manipulate Gen Z, specifically

I did not dismiss the post. I was naturally curious since some right-wingers on reddit claim that all the doomerism is due to Chinese bots. Moreover, I would be interested in what particular grievances that Chinese propaganda would exploit. There are many due to the precarious position of GenZ. It's common sense that people's conditions would improve if you cut military spending and put the savings in social programs. Don't need Chinese propaganda to arrive at that epiphany.

Turns out the article the poster cited is really thin.

https://nataliegwinters.substack.com/p/exclusive-chinese-state-researchers/

Chinese state-linked researchers have published a step-by-step playbook for influencing the American electorate.

Go on...

Customized narratives and sustained psychological pressure can then be used to change decisions. The passage attributes the tactic to foreign militaries, but the PLA publication says understanding the mechanism is important for innovating cognitive-warfare methods.

So what are these "sustained psychological pressure" and "Customized narratives" delivered by Chinese influence operations? I really want to know what these "cognitive-warfare methods" are.

Those operations provide the distribution system. The newly uncovered Chinese studies provide the targeting doctrine.

What is the "targeting doctrine"?

So what would constitute evidence of significance influence from Chinese information operations?

https://www.semafor.com/article/09/02/2026/paid-actors-ai-writing-how-a-new-kind-of-video-business-cashed-in-on-americas-divided-politics

Semafor uncovered a network of "ghost creators" that had been harvesting right-wing viewers for ad revenue. Often, it attacks left-wing politicians such as Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders. It says "Mamdani is SHOCKED when Citi Bank announces move to Florida". (Like a journalist has access Mamdani's reaction. Almost certainly, no video or press release from the politician is cited. There also seems to be limited evidence for the adverbial clause.)

Four months ago, I came across one of these accounts on my own. Omar's Talk Show or Kareem Maize. I was intrigued that this man was able to get hundreds of thousands of views from what is obviously AI-generated scripts. I really thought, initially, that he was an advanced AI model since his tone and gestures were appropriate. (If that were the case, conservative content creators would be threatened.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/isthisAI/comments/1t9tuh5/politics_99_percent_sure_this_is_ai_just_asking/
https://www.reddit.com/r/IsthisAIpolitics/comments/1t9e1nr/999_percent_sure_this_is_ai_just_asking_so_i/

Omar also had a website, now taken down, that portrayed him as an "independent journalist." That seemed impossible due to the volume of his content. This "journalist" probably was inspired by articles about "corporate migration" and "capital flight" from right-wing media, then regurgitated by an AI model.

I would've admired Omar if he saw an opportunity to use AI to make money from credulous right-wing viewers. After all, I despise right-wing content, so having an AI generate scripts for me and read them while I generate a lot of money seems like a nice use of AI. It would prevent me from engaging in the emotional labor of generating a script that appeals to right-wing viewers.

Unfortunately, Omar is hired to make videos for $26 each. He is a part of a larger network as opposed to being an opportunistic entrepreneur. How pathetic! Why do you need AI when gig labor is cheap?

The operation tried to create an anti-Trump personality, but it did not take off. Left-wing AI content doesn't work.

So what motivated me to write this? I suppose I'm just tired of the gaslighting that people's negative political and economic outlook is due to doomerism and Chinese bots. As we can see, there is no evidence for the latter.

"We couldn't learn what disorders we decided they were comorbid with but this disproves Gender confirmation as necessary, but ignore the other studies we think those are limited."

Before there was Reddit, user forums, and discords, the Usenet Newsgroups were the native habitat of any number of netloons, cranks, and regular people proposing and promoting an endless supply of pseudoscience. It was also the home of numerous skeptics, who engaged in lengthy discussions debunking it and explaining science. The Usenet Newsgroups were point of inspiration for a gneration of skeptics, the "TalkOrigins Archive", many similar skeptic's web pages, and scientific studies that sought to counterbalance the misinformation being promoted by the Internet in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. 

The rants, discussions, and even entire threads can now found and searched for on the Usenet Rewind. 

On this web site, modern skeptics can find out how skeptics dealt with infamous pseudoresarchers such as Ted Holden, "Bones as old as Coal" Ed Conrad, and Micheal Cremo in the stone age of the Internet.

The one aspect I hadn’t considered is the effect of increased distrust might cause ‘celebrity’ voices to be increasingly trusted regardless of message.

A slew of food recalls this summer have left a bad taste in Americans’ mouths, and public health professionals warn cuts to key food safety personnel means more food-related illness could be on its way. ... The seeming surge of food-related recalls has coincided with massive cuts conducted by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last year, including across the FDA, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

I cannot find anything online debunking the story.

Hello, I am looking for information. My uncle tried to get me involved in this. But you pay for the lessons and aren’t supposed to share? It was odd to me and made me feel uneasy. Then earlier today I watched a documentary talking about the link between guru, Hinduism and s trafficking. I would like to know any information so I can clear this up. If there is a former member I can talk to. I know I don’t have a good feeling about this. It is so secretive and you get booklets and there levels and honors.

In a legal deposition, the doctor, Theresa Long, compared immunizing service members against Covid to Nazi doctors experimenting on concentration camp prisoners.

Kennedy says local coroner in Pennsylvania identified one measles-related death, disputes second case. Pennsylvania health department reiterates that it has confirmed two measles-related deaths this year. National data currently reflects no 2026 measles deaths, Kennedy says.

Public health workers are relying on word of mouth to fight the largest ongoing outbreak in the United States.

To create an AI/LLM model with accurate fact checking?

I am one of those Swedes who would refuse to date an anti-vaxxer.

It is good to see that so many would reject dating an anti-vaxxer, but also a bit concerning that a significant minority would apparently not have a problem with it.

The US has confirmed 3,134 measles cases so far this year, driven by a growing outbreak in Pennsylvania linked to two deaths that started a feud between the governor and the nation’s top health leader.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 231 new cases in the week ending Sept. 3. The nation is already at the highest levels since 1991, the last year with more cases, which occurred prior to the formal elimination of the disease.

Cyclosporiasis outbreak overwhelmed local health departments. County workers say federal government acted too slowly, provided little guidance. Outbreak sickens over 11,000 people in 20 states, FDA and CDC say. County staff paused vaccinations and inspections to investigate cases and guide providers.

Inside the “perfect storm” that put Walter Mebane Jr.’s work in the hands of a movement to question the 2024 election results.

Helena Blavatsky, founder of theosophy, was once described as one of the most accomplished, ingenious, and interesting impostors in history.

Kennedy asked CDC director not to include Pennsylvania deaths in measles tally. Kennedy and Pennsylvania governor feuded over response. Expert says it is 'unheard of' for CDC to question state determination.

Hi r/skeptic,

I was snooping around the ufo subreddits and I had just recently came across a little rabbit hole concerning Matthew brown. He was the one behind the “Immaculate Constellation” report that was later shown to congress. He has stated that “our world is not what it seems,” “we live in a dream / carefully constructed reality,” and that “you are not free… this reality has far more to it than you’ve been allowed to believe… and God is real.”

I tried searching his name on the sub’s search function and I didn’t really get anything. I’m aware his claims are unverified, yet I’m curious as to what you all think of him and his claims.