curated news excerpts & citations
James Eagle: Why the most accurate AI models are still lying
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These twin charts highlight a significant compromise in AI development. Gemini 3 Preview is incredibly capable and answers more questions correctly than its competitors. However, the second chart shows it possesses an 88% hallucination rate. This metric tracks how often the model fabricates an answer rather than admitting ignorance. Essentially, the model has been trained to be helpful above all else, which means it will confidently guess rather than decline a request it does not understand.
(James Eagle more…)
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WSJ: U.S. Unemployment Rose in November Despite Job Gains
The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in November, its highest in more than four years, fueling questions about the economy’s underlying strength.
A long-delayed government report on Tuesday showed that 64,000 jobs were gained in November, while 105,000 jobs were lost in October. Job losses in June, August and October mean the U.S. economy has shed jobs in three out of the past six months.
(WSJ more…)NY Times: White House Shrugs Off Rise in Unemployment Rate
The Trump administration looked to recast elements of a dour jobs report Thursday as a sign of strength.
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Law&Crime: Pulitzer Prize Board members dump broad discovery demands on Trump for tax returns, psych records, and ‘any’ prescription meds history
Pulitzer Prize Board members filed court documents in Okeechobee County, Florida, on Thursday, containing a litany of broad discovery demands in an attempt to beat back President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit over Russia probe reporting awards.
Daily Kos: Filing lawsuits? Fun! Litigating them? Less so!
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Brian Allen: The Ceasefire Was Trump’s Deal. Israel Broke It Anyway.
The White House privately warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a recent Israeli airstrike in Gaza violated the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Trump, according to two U.S. officials cited by Axios.
The message was unusually blunt. And it exposes a growing rift between the Trump administration and Netanyahu’s government over Gaza, regional strategy, and the credibility of U.S.-brokered agreements.
(Brian Allen more…)
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – December 16, 2025
While President Donald J. Trump was gloating over the horrific murders of Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and his wife, photographer and producer Michele Singer Reiner, the U.S. military yesterday struck three small boats in the eastern Pacific, killing eight people. U.S. Southern Command announced the strikes on social media, saying they were conducted “at the direction of [Secretary of] War Pete Hegseth.” It claimed that intelligence had confirmed that the vessels were “engaged in narco-trafficking.”
This brings the number of people killed in the U.S. strikes to at least 95.
As Piper Hudspeth Blackburn of CNN reports, the administration maintains the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” against drug cartels. But legal experts dismiss this claim and say the U.S. has no legal basis for the deadly attacks on the small boats. …
…The Department of Justice today argued in court that Trump’s ballroom project must go forward for reasons of national security despite the lawsuit filed on Friday. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is suing to stop the project from going forward without legally required reviews and public input. Secret Service deputy director Matthew Quinn told the court that when Trump tore down the East Wing in October, he destroyed the security infrastructure under the building. Now, he said, “any pause in construction, even temporarily, would…hamper the Secret Service’s ability to meet its statutory obligations and protective mission.”
…When asked why the FBI is having trouble locating the suspect, Trump tried to blame the university. …
…An interview with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles published in Vanity Fair today reinforces the impression that the administration is chaotic. …
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)AP: Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff, criticizes Bondi and opines on Trump in Vanity Fair
DailyBeast: Trump’s Chief of Staff Drops Unreal Truth Bomb: ‘Alcoholic’s Personality’
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“Some clinical psychologist who knows one million times more than I do will dispute what I’m going to say,” Wiles said. “But high-functioning alcoholics, or alcoholics in general, have exaggerated personalities when they drink. And so I’m a little bit of an expert in big personalities.”She added that Trump has “an alcoholic’s personality” and “operates with a view that there’s nothing he can’t do—nothing, zero, nothing.”
RawStory: Tape catches Susie Wiles in lie as she scrambles to deny brutal Elon Musk drug attack
NY Times: Trump’s Top Aide Acknowledges ‘Score Settling’ Behind Prosecutions
In interviews with Vanity Fair, Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, said Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality,” called JD Vance a “conspiracy theorist” and concluded that Pam Bondi “completely whiffed” the early handling of the Epstein files.
Vanity Fair: Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the “Junkyard Dogs”: The White House Chief of Staff On Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2)
Vanity Fair: Susie Wiles Talks Epstein Files, Pete Hegseth’s War Tactics, Retribution, and More (Part 2 of 2)
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AlterNet: Trump scheme to ‘pocket taxpayer money’ draws lawsuit over withheld documents
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Democracy Forward on Monday filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) complaint against the DOJ and the US Department of Treasury, alleging that both agencies have so far refused to turn over any records related to what the group describes as Trump’s “stunning effort to obtain a $230 million taxpayer-funded payout for investigations into his own misconduct.”
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Decoding Fox News: The MAGA Titanic is About to Hit the Affordability Iceberg
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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