Last spring, Illinois county judge Jeffrey Goffinet noticed something startling: A legal brief filed in his courtroom cited a case that did not exist. Goffinet, an associate judge in Williamson County, looked through two legal research systems and then headed to the courthouse library — a place he hadn’t visited in years — to consult the book that purportedly listed the case. The case wasn’t in it. The fake case, generated by artificial intelligence, came across Goffinet’s desk just a few months after the Illinois Supreme Court’s policy on the…
Uncle Sam Post
Ohio lawmakers have introduced several bills since going on winter break — including ones that would limit which families can receive school vouchers, make Election Day a state holiday, and ban 17-year-olds from getting married. The Ohio Senate was scheduled to return this week, but session and all committees were cancelled because of weather. The Ohio House will come back in February. Ohio’s 136th General Assembly is just past its halfway point, as the lawmakers operate on two-year cycles. Bills have until the end of 2026 to pass or else they…
More than 1,000 people gathered for a vigil and rally Saturday night at Whittier Park in Minneapolis to mourn Alex Pretti, the man who was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent. After the vigil, demonstrators marched in subzero temperatures to the site where Pretti was killed on Nicollet Avenue, south of 26th Street. The site of the shooting has been turned into a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers, less than 2 miles away from the memorial in the Powderhorn neighborhood made for Renee Good on January 7,…
Determined to push back against online falsehoods, the French state is turning to facts, humour and a new digital voice to challenge misleading narratives wherever they spread. France has set up a new digital rapid-response unit – titled “French Response” – to push back against what it sees as a rising tide of online disinformation, and it wasted little time making its presence felt. When the US secretary of state Marco Rubio took a swipe at European culture on X this week, the English-language account run by the French foreign…
Tens of thousands of Minnesotans marched in downtown Minneapolis Friday in a negative 30 degree windchill to protest the federal government’s continuing surge of immigration enforcement — demanding civil rights and a withdrawal of the 3,000 officers sent here by the administration of President Donald Trump. The demonstration took place on “ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth & Freedom,” ageneral strike supported by Minnesota unions, progressive faith leaders and community activists. Proponents encouraged all Minnesotans to stay home from work, school and refrain from shopping — disruptions of normal…
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to expand a policy that blocks foreign aid dollars from going to organizations that discuss, refer or perform abortions to also include groups that address transgender health care or have policies on diversity, equity and inclusion, Vice President JD Vance said Friday. “We’re expanding this policy to protect life, to combat DEI and the radical gender ideologies that prey on our children. And with these additions, the rule will now cover every non-military foreign assistance that America sends,” Vance announced at the March for…
Red flags that both job seekers and employers should watch for, in an era of AI slop and application scams. Hello world, My name is Andrew Losowsky, and I’m Product Director & Editor at The Markup and CalMatters. A few months ago, we wanted to hire a new engineer. Hiring is always a lengthy process, but this time I had to wade through what felt like an ocean of generative AI slop. Fake and exaggerated resumes have always existed, but now, thanks to the rise of AI tools, it’s incredibly…
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended many recorded violent incidents as legitimate uses of force. State leaders who want to curb the increasingly violent arrest tactics of immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis and elsewhere are struggling to push back. They’ve promised civil rights legislation that could offer alleged victims another route to courts, ordered up official tribunals to gather video and other records, or asked cities to refuse requests to cooperate with raids. But for the most part, states looking for concrete ways to push back find themselves…
The real-life couple, dating since 2022, show off their love for “Our Calvins.” Explains White: “There was something very intimate about this experience that made it different from other projects.” Real life couple Jackson White and Grace Van Patten — stars of Hulu’s popular Tell Me Lies series — stripped down for Calvin Klein. The steamy shots are part of a new “Our Calvins” campaign timed to the upcoming Valentine’s Day that the brand designed as a way to invite fans to showcase their love and ask “who do you share…
Capitalism is driving ecological destruction and social upheaval. Is it a death cult, and can we escape it? We exist in a machine that is destroying the basis of life on the one planet we have to live on. This is commonly understood. Yet very little is done about it. Why? What are we to make of Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI, saying in a 2023 interview: “AI will most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime there will be great companies created with…