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John Smolenski
@jsmolenski.bsky.social
Reposted by John Smolenski
TPUSA have been at this long enough that the default assumption of their involvement in literally anything that has to do with college campuses should be an assumption of bad faith based on a long and well-documented history of bad faith actions
Assumption of good faith is a solid heuristic.

But also "assumptions" are guesses you make before you have the evidence. You are allowed to retract good faith once more evidence arises.

But also, you shouldn't assume good faith from folks who are your avowed enemies.
December 1, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
The fact that the Oklahoma student wrote an objectively terrible essay (no citations, failure to meet minimum university-level standards) is almost beside the point.

She wrote it in response to a trans instructor, and now her mother is demanding that all trans people be banned from teaching.
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December 1, 2025 at 8:18 PM
I might have missed this in the article, but where, exactly, is the prompt? And where are the readings thay the student did? I think it's impossible to make this statement without knowing the exact wording of the prompt and the course content.
December 1, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
Here's what this is actually about, dumbass
December 1, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
Karoline leavitt on hot ones-
Leavitt: ok now this is spicy
Sean: we just started
Leavitt: what do you call this one
Sean: water
November 29, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
Gurrrrrrgh
"Ever since Columbus' 1492 discovery of the "New World," America's East Coast has been gateway to the United States and to new opportunities. Almost 500 years later, this legacy continues with the United States constituting the largest integrated and most lucrative business market in the world."
November 25, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
This is super fascinating and I'm interested in thinking about what we gain and lose with this kind of thing but the subfields that could benefit from this kind of technology are the first ones to have been completely hollowed out in higher ed.
New issue of my newsletter: "The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition" — One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved, and it's a good use of AI newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...
The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition
One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved
newsletter.dancohen.org
November 25, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
Every American should have this in their wallet:
November 25, 2025 at 5:01 PM
The quick switch from “not illegal” to “not immoral” is astonishing. The logic? Great. Good work.
Actually, no. There were no laws against having sex with child slaves in 1776.

"Horrific" or no, it wasn't "immoral" in Jefferson's time.

Would he have any less of a chance of being elected president in 2024? 🤔 #PedoDon
November 23, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Reposted by John Smolenski
Next the administration will order Jews to wear an external identifier, say a Star of David. You know, to help protect them from discrimination.
November 23, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Reposted by John Smolenski
I know she is horrible and a seriously damaged human, I am not abdicating her of any responsibility, I also want to see HIM blamed too. He is a serial sexpest genocidal freak who needs to be in jail, not in public.
November 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
Yes! This is so important! Machine Learning is doing wonderful things like mapping Martian craters and analyzing microbe genomes. LLMs are a very specific form & it’s them doing these huge amounts of harm. I also sometimes say “Gen AI”
when I mean both LLMs and art generators; I try to never say AI
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
Grok has been reprogrammed to say Musk is better than everyone at everything, including blowjobs, piss drinking, playing quarterback, conquering Europe, etc.
Elon Musk Could 'Drink Piss Better Than Any Human in History,' Grok Says
Grok has been reprogrammed to say Musk is better than everyone at everything, including blowjobs, piss drinking, playing quarterback, conquering Europe, etc.
www.404media.co
November 20, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
It seems to have gotten lost in the MeToo backlash but sexual harassment is in fact illegal
November 20, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
quick somebody tell RFK jr it's dinnertime
November 20, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
The @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social has been on fire lately, and this is oped is no exception. (And worth noting as an aside that no LLM could produce an article of this power and precision).

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
The Professor and the Pedophile | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
Summers should choose the most straightforward path and resign. Should he refuse to, though, the University must cut ties with its former president to the greatest extent possible.
www.thecrimson.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Holy shit this is just an amazing thing to say.
Massie: "I am sorry if one of your billionaire donors is gonna get embarrassed because he went to Rape Island. That is what they have coming. In fact, they need to be on the other side of bars, a lot of them."
November 19, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
Not only do I not want this, I want to yeet it into the sun and make it die a thousand fiery deaths
Now instead of simply reading the abstract for an academic article I have to contend with multiple pop-ups from adobe asking me if I want an AI summary and I cannot stress enough how much I DO NOT WANT this.

@adobe.com has made a useful product less useful with an annoying and redundant feature
November 19, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
I guess "modern American masculinity is a neotenous emotional state where the culture permits, and even cultivates, juvenile developmental qualities into adulthood" is just a fancy way of saying "everyone is twelve now"
Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino "also revered Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein's 1959 military sci-fi classic about an interstellar war between humans and alien bugs - a book his sister says he still reads to this day."
An endless amount of deranged details in this interview with Greg Bovino's sister, but most notably that his uncle produced the Jack Nicholson movie The Border and the depiction of the agent as corrupt radicalized him as a 12-yr-old.

"Since then, he was like, 'Dude, I want to do Border Patrol.'"
November 18, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
every epstein email is some creep complaining about MeToo and then being like “oh before i forget, any advice on how to use my position of authority to force women into sleeping with me?”
November 17, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by John Smolenski
low key bummed that lizza and nuzzi will never come together to write what could be the worst book of all time
November 18, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Reposted by John Smolenski
as a reporter, the part of this that i’ve simply never understood is how the next person to ask a question when he does something like this doesn’t simply repeat the question that set him off. it’s not just solidarity with your colleague, it’s an important question that remains worth asking
I’m not going to pretend it’s easy to say something in the moment when you witness the president do this and you’re aboard Air Force One with all the uniformed officers and secret service and fancy wood accents, but this is really an instance where you should. people.com/donald-trump...
Donald Trump Snaps at Female Reporter Who Asks About Epstein Files: 'Quiet Piggy'
Donald Trump Says 'Quiet Piggy' to Female Reporter Asking About Epstein Files
people.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Reposted by John Smolenski
November 18, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Reposted by John Smolenski
I'm not minimizing any of the countless other reasons he should be drafting his resignation.

It's that he said this to a woman. In her workplace. In front of her colleagues. While she does her job.

It's a disgrace. He owes her an apology, and so do all of his voters, frankly.
November 18, 2025 at 2:26 AM