Friday: Hili dialogue

September 25, 2026 • 6:45 am

Welcome to Friday, September 25, 2026, National One-Hit Wonder Day.  I can name many of these: “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen,  “Brand New Key,” by Melanie, and “Teen Angel” by Mark Dinning (below). Wikipedia has a list of dozens of American one-hit wonders.  If you remember this, you’re old:

It’s also German Butterbrot Day, Love Note Day, National Bakery Day, National Cooking Day, National Crab Meat Newburg Day, National Lobster Day, National Quesadilla Day, and Save the Koala Day.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the September 26 Wikipedia page.

My eye is still wonky and it’s hard to function, so bear with me if posting is lighter for a while.

Da Nooz:

*A federal judge prevented Trump from banning CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House press pool because they purveyed “fake news” (i.e., Trump didn’t like the way they covered him). Nevertheless, Trump defied the judge’s order at first, but was forced to obey it.

A federal judge ordered President Trump to temporarily lift a ban on White House access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists, but the news organizations said some of their reporters were still denied entry hours after the ruling.

In a ruling early Thursday, Judge Timothy Kelly in Washington, D.C., said the removal of reporters’ press badges was likely done without “constitutionally adequate due process.”

Kelly, a Trump appointee, said that the president and other officials had offered “little to back up their asserted national security interest” for instituting the ban, and that Trump had instead focused on “the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity” of the outlets’ reporting.

The temporary restraining order will be in place for 14 days while Kelly considers whether to extend it for the duration of the litigation, marking an early win for the news outlets in their latest clash with the Trump administration.

Media access for some reporters wasn’t immediately restored, however. Journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were turned away when they tried to enter the White House early Thursday morning. Attorneys for the outlets told Kelly the administration was violating his overnight order and asked him to call an emergency hearing. The judge ordered the administration to reply by 12:30 p.m.

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Bracing for a loss, Trump earlier in the week signaled he would appeal any order to reinstate the reporters’ credentials, although he said he “probably” would comply with the ruling.

Trump announced the ban in a social-media post Friday, citing what he described as unfair coverage of his administration, and said he would consider banning other outlets in the future. He didn’t point to a specific story for the decision at the time, saying it was “really just cumulative stories over the last two years” that he was “sick of.”

Note, though, that the NYT reports that Trump finally gave in, deciding to grant access to the three organizations yesterday afternoon.

*Over at the Free Press, Maya Sulkin reports that NYT shareholders have sued the paper for biased, antisemitic coverage.

Shareholders of The New York Times filed a lawsuit against the paper’s parent company on Wednesday morning, arguing the paper has failed to meet its obligation: to tell readers the truth and correct itself in a timely fashion when it doesn’t.

The suit, filed by the State Board of Administration of Florida (SBA) and the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) in New York County Supreme Court, asks a judge to force the Times board of directors to hand over internal records the company has refused to produce for four months, the majority of which pertain to the paper’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

The suit includes the testimony from a whistleblower, a former Times employee who is Jewish and spent nearly a decade on the paper’s video desk. According to the suit, the whistleblower raised concerns about antisemitism and anti-Israel bias on her desk at least 15 separate times between 2019 and her March 2026 departure, using every channel the company makes available to employees, including her managers, the standards desk, and human resources.

In an exclusive interview with The Free Press, the whistleblower said, “The public deserves a better picture of how the Times manufactures the news when Jews or Israel are involved.” She asked to remain anonymous over concern for her family’s safety. She is not named in the suit.

The whistleblower noted in the suit that in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, staffers on the video desk spent weeks searching for evidence that Hamas did not use the tunnels beneath al-Shifa Hospital, even after the Israeli military released its own footage of the tunnels in November 2023. At the desk’s November 20, 2023, morning meeting, the whistleblower’s supervisor referred to them as “alleged tunnels,” the suit says.

“Alleged tunnels”. I’d laugh if that wasn’t so grotesquely stupid.  A few examples of the Times’s bias; you’ve already read of one:

In one of several meetings with Times management, the whistleblower spoke to human resources representative Chante Williams about the broader culture of anti-Israel bias on the video desk, to which Williams told her, “If you don’t like our values here, maybe you should go find a place whose values align with yours,” according to the suit.

I suppose the paper should give all potential employees a list: “These are our values that you’re expected to share.” More:

Since October 7, the Times has been plagued by allegations of anti-Israel bias in its coverage. Last week alone, the Times published three significant errors in its coverage of the region.

In a September 15 article, the Times referred to Sharif Labad, who was killed in a drone strike, as “a Civil Defense rescue service worker,” and made no mention of the fact that the Israel Defense Forces identified Labad as one of the members of the Hamas Nukhba force who invaded Israel on October 7. The story has not been updated.

The same day, an article on the Donald Trump administration’s decision to supply bombs to Israel ran with a photo caption misstating the weapons’ size as 40,000 pounds. The bombs actually weigh 2,000 pounds—a twentyfold overstatement.

The Times was also forced to issue an editors’ note on a story about NAZA, a documentary about Gaza, after the original piece stated that Israelis “still largely view themselves as the victims of Oct. 7.” The paper called that line an “editing error” that had “inadvertently suggested” the deaths of 1,200 people and the taking of 250 hostages were a matter of perception rather than fact.

So it goes. We know this much, but I wonder if the lawsuit will move forward.

*Stanford University admitted that it used AI to change both the ethnicity and appearance of students in an attempt to make its student body look more “equitable”. (h/t Callum)

Stanford University acknowledged this week that it used artificial intelligence to alter a promotional photo, swapping out a Latino student for an AI-generated Black woman and slimming down two of his classmates — the latest episode to raise questions about how universities market diversity, and one that lands amid mounting federal scrutiny of Stanford’s own record on race.

The doctored image was first flagged by the Stanford Review, an independent student publication, which published side-by-side comparisons showing Billy Ramirez and two classmates in a 2024 photo. When the image resurfaced on banners around campus this month, Mr. Ramirez had vanished, replaced by a woman of a different race and gender, while the two students beside him appeared visibly thinner than in the original shot.

Mr. Ramirez told the student paper the experience left him feeling silenced and erased from a representation that was supposed to include him.

Not only were Ramirez’s race and gender changed, but the two students to Ramirez’s right were distorted, making them appear visibly thinner.

While this incident is humorous and generated thousands of reactions on Fizz, it offers an unsurprising insight into Stanford’s and its bureaucracy’s persisting ideological and racial preferences.

While Stanford R&DE likely believed they were subtle enough for no one to notice, fortunately, our vigilant Stanford student body cannot be fooled. The Review will continue to monitor future advertising and actions from Stanford R&DE as they learn how to use generative AI.

Here’s the Stanford Review photo showing the original  (left) and AI-doctored representations (right)

The NYT note that this was their most shared article yesterday (what do you suppose that means?) and adds this:

Stanford acknowledged in a statement on Tuesday that it had used artificial intelligence to change the original image.

“Stanford’s A.I. policy is clear: The use of A.I. in producing or altering images of Stanford people, events, research, facilities or achievements is strictly prohibited,” the university said. “Both the alteration and lack of disclosure in this case violate that policy. We are working with Residential and Dining Enterprises to provide additional training and ensure proper review of all materials.”

Stanford removed the banners.

*And in more news about duplicity, I got this tweet from Luana (you’ll remember Rachel Dolezal as the white woman in Seatlle who claimed she was black, and got away with it for a while). When it came out that Dolezal was white, all hell broke loose, for you can identify as a woman if you’re a man, but under no circumstances are you to identify as black when you’re white. Read about the Rebecca Tuvel controversy.

From the NY Post:

A woke anti-Israel teacher and activist who claimed to be part black and Arab has been dubbed the “Palestinian Rachel Dolezal” after she was outed as being a white, Jewish woman who hid her privileged identity as she led antisemitic protests.

Hannah Gann, a Philadelphia teacher, was forced to confess she was a “white woman of significant privilege and wealth” after fellow lefty activists grew suspicious of her background and confronted her.

“I lied about my identity and have been lying for years. I have no Palestinian or Tunisian heritage,” she wrote in a self-aggrandizing apology on Instagram.

“I am a white woman of significant privilege and wealth. Anyone who supported me was manipulated and should not be judged as a result of their support for me,” she continued.

A staunch figure in far-left activist circles in Philly, Gann portrayed herself as a mixed-race woman with black and Palestinian heritage. In reality, she is white and Israeli, according to friends.

What can you say except she was a liar. And yet she may have been an even more powerful exponent of Palestine had she done it as a white Jewish woman, speaking “against the grain.” Now she has no credibility at all.

*Being depressed, I am in need of heartening news, and here’s just the ticket from The Washington Post (article archived here):

A recent quiet morning at a Florida marine research facility was interrupted by tapping at the back door.

A biologist walked over to investigate and found a brown pelican standing on the stoop and pecking at the glass with its long beak. It stood there patiently, as if waiting for help. A quick inspection revealed the pelican was injured.

Fishing line was wrapped around the pelican’s right wing, and a double-barbed treble hook was stuck in the wing, restricting the bird’s ability to fly. About a dozen cactus spines were lodged in its left foot.

When Annsli Hilton, a University of Miami research associate who works at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research facility, heard the commotion, she figured someone had brought in the injured bird. She was shocked to hear the pelican came on its own to the lab in Panama City.

“I always kind of thought in my head — and liked to think that — animals would know to either come to me for help or to come to the lab for help,” Hilton said. “… But I never thought it would happen.”

Hilton said the pelican might have walked about a quarter-mile from a basin on St. Andrew Bay — where pelicans are common — to the NOAA laboratory.

Scientists at the facility study fish and sharks, but they quickly helped the pelican after discovering it on Sept. 8. One biologist picked up the pelican by its abdomen and held its beak, so researchers could treat it without hurting the bird or getting bitten themselves.

While another biologist held the pelican’s right wing, Hilton cut the roughly 6-foot-long fishing line with scissors. Her co-worker then snapped the fish hook with wire cutters. The hook’s small barb was still lodged in the pelican’s bone; Hilton carefully removed it with forceps.

She also removed the cactus spines, which she said the pelican probably picked up from cacti near the facility.

Hilton, 26, said she had never treated a pelican before but relied on techniques she uses while inserting tags into smalltooth sawfish, the fish she primarily studies. The pelican was calm throughout the procedure, which Hilton said took about five minutes but felt like an hour because of the unusual nature of the situation.

Her co-worker then carried the pelican to the basin, where the bird stretched and flapped its wings for a few minutes before flying away.

Here’s a news video, along with two other animal-rescue segments as lagniappe. I always wonder how animals know where to go to get help, or is that just an accident?

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is her usual worried self:

Hili: I’m worried about the fate of the world.
Andrzej: Oh, that’ll keep you busy all day.

In Polish:

Hili: Martwię się o losy świata.
Ja: O, to masz zajęcie na cały dzień.

*******************

*An article in the Free Press by Masih (if you subscribe you can read it here).

From Luana; an old song with new lyrics:

Larry shows a freaky bit of video:

From Malcolm, a beautiful fountain:

Two from my feed. First, raccoons playing dead:

And ideologically revised theology:

And one I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial:

A McCartney song sung by Mary Hopkin (Macca’s demo here):

17 thoughts on “Friday: Hili dialogue”

  1. Calling Stanford’s shenanigans ai is an insult to real ai; rather it is simply a case of the decades old process of applying photoshop. I hope that by now almost everyone looks at promotional brochures with appropriate suspicion regarding graphics and photos. It should be embarrassing to students and faculty, but until it embarrasses the boards of visitors or regents, it will continue I expect.

    Or maybe unis should be required to add a disclaimer that “photos and graphics in this publication do not necessarily depict actual events”

    Reply

      1. AI is better than photoshop so it is more common now PCC(E). And easier to use, so we’ll see more of it for good or ill.
        I’m no expert: I’m still trying to master dictation apps for my writing. Its great if you learn how to use it.

        D.A.
        NYC

        Reply

  2. Contra the NYT’s reporting, The Gateway Pundit reports that access was restored by 10am:

    President Trump did not violate a court order. The judge issued a TRO in the middle of the night at [sic] it took time for the White House to update the computer systems and clear it through the Secret Service.

    Micah Stopperich explained that White House Operations were notified at 7:10 am to restore access to the affected reporters.

    The process of reinstating the badges began at 7:25 am.

    The US Secret Service indicated that the badges were back on at 9:07 am and began locating the confiscated badges.

    The confiscated badges were delivered to White House Operations at 9:45 am.

    The White House press team dropped badges at the entry gate for members of the press to pick up around 9:55 am.

    Reply

    1. Thank you for correcting the gotcha reporting of the NYT on the return of press credentials that should never have been removed in the first place. The Gray Lady may be getting dementia. Having worked for a governmental agency for many years, my experience was that bureaucracies work with more deliberation than speed. Besides, it takes more than a couple of hours to implement court orders, especially orders that are made at night. Based on that experience, the government acted with lightening speed to obey this court order.

      Reply

  3. The AI-altered image from Stanford also changed the shape of the nose, the smile, and the shape of the head of the lady on the left, plus the haircut of the guy in the middle.

    Reply

  5. The “Jesus was trans” video is about as ludicrous as it gets. This woman needs a psychiatrist, not a minister’s robe. Even more ridiculous are the people sitting there listening to this gibberish.

    Reply

  6. I got a real kick out of the umbrage about the trans Jesus story.

    After spending hundreds of hours investigating the historicity of the Son of God, I gotta say that everything you think you know about His story – or that of virtually all of the deities known to man – is nothing more or less than the perfectly-phrased “fan fiction”.

    Re examples of the NYT perfidy re Israel – what could possibly top the huge front-page color photo of the Gazan child with cerebral palsy as purported evidence of starvation in Gaza?

    And note as well that there are over 2 million Gazans, and that a certain percentage of their kids have horrific diseases. Twelve of them were photographed and falsely presented in major media outlets as evidence of starvation. Think about that.

    I post a lot here about Israel. Trust me when I tell you I have a lot of other interests – global warming, livestock, photography, electrification, music, drumming, gun violence, politics etc, etc. I often get interested in a topic simply because a meme or supposed truism seems suspect to me and I investigate.

    12 years ago, I knew nothing about the Israel-Palestine issue and decided to look into it. Little did I know what awaited. Little did I know about bullshit. I thought I knew about disinformation after being immersed in the global warming info wars.

    But the disinformation campaign against Israel makes climate look quaint. With Israel, you have the expertise of Nazi and KGB propagandists propelled for decades by the entire Muslim world with bottom-less Petro-dollars, control of International institutions, and really masterful use of mass and social media.

    You simply can not explain that front-page photo of the NYT any other way. To me, it remains the most egregious example of institutional corruption I have ever seen in my life.

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/96198796@N05/55028260452/in/album-72157707143215584

    Reply

    1. 100% Roger but I have been infested with a Middle East obsession since a kid in the 1970s in Australia. I came to America to study it.
      The madness, the INVERSION, the “not even wrongness” of the whole issue is a product of “Third Worldism”, lefty bs academics and funded Islamism. And yes, mid 60s KGB.

      in fact, I wrote about it in my column. WHY there is such misunderstanding: (here reposted at WEIT, syndicated, no paywall)

      https://democracychronicles.org/why-is-the-media-and-mob-so-anti-israel/

      best regards,
      D.A.
      NYC

      Reply

  7. Mary Hopkin (who also sang “Those were the days”) was a big time hottie back then and very talented. Almost certainly a Paul Mac “score”. Ahem.

    The Beatles wrote quite a lot of songs/musical scores for other performers. (What did you THINK I was talking about? Sheesh!)

    This was before my time and when PCC(E) were a mere young Cat Stevens impersonator. 🙂

    hhehe. I’m here most weeknights, people, tip your waitress.

    D.A.
    NYC

    Reply

  8. Anti-Israel bias at the New York Times? There’s an entire book on the subject, documenting the history up to 2016 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1618118986), so it’s nothing new. But I’m interested in watching what happens to the shareholder lawsuit. Is a newspaper really legally obligated to tell the truth?

    Yes. I read about this sleazy liar: Hannah Gann. She’s been outed. My understanding is that she has not yet been fired (https://www.inquirer.com/education/hannah-gann-philadelphia-racial-justice-accountability-updates-20260924.html).

    Reply

  9. Technically Melanie wasn’t a one hit wonder, “Brand New Key” was after she had a major hit with “Candles in the Rain (Lay down, Lay down)” about Woodstock.

    But here’s a true one hit wonder, “99 Tears” by ? and the Mysterians.

    Reply

  10. Not to be that guy, but Rachel Dolezal lived and worked and led the local NAACP chapter in Spokane. Seattle has a lot to answer for but not that.

    Reply

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