A Chinese battery firm filed a lawsuit against a Michigan township on Friday for its attempt to block the company's proposed plant‚ the Detroit News reported.Gotion Inc.‚ headquartered in Silicon Valley‚ has plans to build a $2.4 billion electric vehicle battery parts factory in Green Charter Township. The town's former board approved a water line necessary for the plant‚ a decision the new board has since rescinded. All of the board's former members were either voted out or opted to resign‚ Blaze News previously reported.Residents have expressed concerns about the company's ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Gotion Inc.'s parent firm‚ Gotion High-Tech‚ is based in China. Despite residents' opposition to the new plant‚ the former board approved a $2 billion deal with Gotion Inc. in December 2020‚ claiming it would create 2‚350 new jobs. Five of the board's seven members were recalled by voters for failing to listen to their concerns about the facility. The other two members opted to resign.The lawsuit accuses the township of breaching its development agreement with Gotion Inc.‚ which requires it to aid the firm in "obtaining the necessary governmental authorizations" to move forward with the plant's construction."To prevent the township's sudden recalcitrance from unraveling an endeavor already years and millions of dollars in the making‚ this court should order the township to comply with its obligations under the parties' agreement‚" the lawsuit read.Chuck Thelen‚ vice president of North American manufacturing for Gotion Inc.‚ said Friday‚ "It's unfortunate that Gotion has had to resort to litigation to get the township to comply with their obligations under the agreement.""We're unable to comment further since this is now an ongoing legal matter‚" he added.The lawsuit seeks to require the town to restore the statute supporting the water line extension. It also asks the court to block the township from suing Mecosta County after the town requested the county halt its review of the plant's site plan and permit application while it works on adopting a separate zoning ordinance. Green Township Supervisor Jason Kruse stated‚ "As township supervisor‚ my number one concern is protecting the interests of the people of Green Charter Township‚ and we will vigorously defend our township's position in the matter.""We might be a small community‚ but we refuse to be bullied‚" Kruse remarked.The Detroit News reported that Gotion Inc. will receive $175 million in state tax incentives and an estimated $540 million worth of tax breaks.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion are the biggest threats facing Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the NCAA Tournament It’s not Angel Reese or JuJu Watkins. Or even Dawn Staley’s undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks. It’s DEI ideology‚ the sum of allegedly anti-racist brainwashing policies and mindset that rules academia. The selection committee should have drawn up brackets that made a Dream Teams Final Four a possibility. Instead‚ the committee focused on DEI. DEI persuaded the 12-member NCAA selection committee to hand Clark and the Hawkeyes the most difficult Final Four path in women’s basketball. The committee — Lisa Dickerson‚ Derita Dawkins‚ Denee Barracato‚ Jill Bodensteiner‚ Jenny Bramer‚ Amanda Braun‚ Amy Folan‚ Alex Gary‚ Lizzie Gomez‚ Josh Heird‚ Jill Shields‚ and Lynn Tighe — placed Clark in the same bracket as Kansas State‚ UCLA‚ and LSU‚ giving the second-ranked Hawkeyes the most difficult draw of the tournament. Iowa has played Kansas State three times in the past two seasons. The Hawkeyes have lost twice. The fourth-seeded Wildcats feature arguably the best post player in the country in 6-foot-6 senior Ayoka Lee. Iowa and Kansas State will likely meet in the Sweet 16. If the Hawkeyes get past KSU‚ odds are good that UCLA’s 6-foot-7 Lauren Betts or LSU and Angel Reese will await them in the Elite Eight. LSU‚ of course‚ is the defending national champion. The Tigers beat Iowa in last year’s title game. The Hawkeyes struggle with size and physical play. The selection committee stacked Iowa’s region with big‚ physical teams. This makes zero sense unless you understand diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion. Before I connect the dots‚ let me add one more piece of context. Why is it important for Clark and Iowa to advance to the Final Four? It should be obvious. Clark has single-handedly carried women’s college hoops to a place of unprecedented relevance and importance. She’s the Tiger Woods of the sport. She’s must-see TV. Television ratings for women’s basketball have skyrocketed this year as Clark chased scoring records and performed a female impersonation of Steph Curry. If Clark‚ Reese‚ USC’s freshman sensation JuJu Watkins‚ and Coach Staley’s South Carolina squad all reached the Final Four‚ the women’s Final Four would likely draw a bigger audience than the men’s tournament. If Clark fails to reach the Final Four‚ the audience and relevance are cut in half‚ if not more. The selection committee should have drawn up brackets that made a Dream Teams Final Four a possibility. Instead‚ the committee focused on diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion‚ which is just a fancy configuration of words that means “punish white people.” Clark is white. Her coach‚ Lisa Bluder‚ is white. Most of Clark’s teammates are white. Iowa is seen as the white Cinderella of women’s college basketball. Liberal sports fans prefer Staley or Reese over Clark. They don’t want Cinderella making it back to the ball. USA Today published a piece about the importance of black players being the face of women’s college basketball. A white woman wrote the article. You cannot rise as an administrator in women’s college athletics without being a devout liberal and proponent of diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion. The women’s selection committee is a confederacy of DEI-believing liberals. It’s a group of athletics directors and deputy athletics directors who promote DEI. They demonstrate their “anti-racism” by being racist against white people. That’s how Iowa received the toughest draw in the tournament. The well-intentioned selection committee bent over backward proving it did not favor Clark and Iowa. It did that by punishing Clark and Iowa.The committee would rather the women’s tournament underachieve in terms of relevance than risk giving Iowa an easy path to the Final Four. Giving Iowa an easy path is what makes the most sense for women’s college basketball. Clark is leaving the NCAA for the WNBA after this season. Women’s college basketball has one chance to cash in on the Caitlin Clark phenomenon. Yes‚ she advanced to the championship game a year ago. But that run caught the public by surprise. We had barely heard of Clark last season. This year‚ she’s been the biggest star in all of college athletics. She’s 1979 Larry Bird and Magic Johnson rolled into a female package. It would be a tragedy if she doesn’t make the Final Four. Most of the women’s college basketball establishment is rooting against Clark. They’re hardcore leftists. Clark is the wrong color. She’s heterosexual. They have to root against what’s in the best interest of the sport to stay loyal to their destructive diversity‚ equity‚ and inclusion agenda. Many of the referees officiating the women’s games are slaves to DEI‚ too. If I had to bet‚ Clark and the Hawkeyes will get bounced from the tournament before the Final Four.

A British museum owned by the University of Cambridge recently tried to shake things up‚ moving around its displays and providing new signage. In an apparent spasm of self-awareness‚ the director of the Fitzwilliam Museum denied that his new "inclusive and representative galleries" were "woke." This denial‚ of course‚ prompted greater scrutiny. It turns out the university's 208-year-old collection has been reshuffled and augmented in the service of a leftist agenda — one that seeks to repurpose art as propaganda and takes issue with too great a historical appreciation for the country that was England. Luke Syson‚ the director of the Fitzwilliam Museum‚ shared with the campus paper Varsity in 2021 his apparent contempt for European civilization and its fruits‚ including his institution and the art that hangs therein. "[The Fitzwilliam] has collections of material that were considered [historically] as belonging to the category of art‚ as belonging to civilizations that were deemed to be part of the chain of being that led to our own glorious civilization‚" Syson told the paper. "Despite the fact that European artists were annexing or citing artwork from Africa‚ it wasn't regarded as being part of the narrative the Fitzwilliam wanted to tell." Richard Fitzwilliam was an Anglo-Irish nobleman who effectively founded the museum upon his death‚ conveying his extensive art collection and library to the University of Cambridge. According to Syson‚ the narrative embraced by his long-dead benefactor "was a white‚ European‚ male-dominated history of art." "And even if I thought that was acceptable‚ the rest of the world doesn't and I don't either‚" added Syson. "What I would really like us to be doing is to make sure that our public spaces are populated in the right way with works of art that we are commissioning and creating now. ... So we are creating an environment‚ in Cambridge‚ say‚ where you don't walk into colleges and see no people of color‚ no women: we're actually representing people." Syson has gotten his way. The Telegraph reported that the museum has dispensed with chronological displays since art history failed to conform with the inclusivity requirements of the day. Accordingly‚ a contemporary black artist's painting of an interracial family will serve as an apparent check on the 18th-century painter William Hogarth's painting of a merchant family in a room now called "identity." Barbara Walker‚ a contemporary painter and race obsessive‚ has her work featured in the same room as centuries-old classics. Other artists‚ including John Singer Sargent‚ were shoehorned into exhibits on the basis of their supposed sexual preferences or immutable characteristics. "I would love to think that there's a way of telling these larger‚ more inclusive histories that doesn't feel as if it requires a pushback from those who try to suggest that any interest at all in [this work is] what would now be called 'woke‚'" said Syson. Rebecca Birrel‚ the woman responsible for overseeing the shuffle‚ said‚ "Something I've been very conscious of‚ doing this particular rehang‚ is that you want to provide the audience with stories without being overly didactic or determining the meaning of artworks. It's just trying to provide possible readings‚ possible ways in‚ rather than definitive explanations." "You want the work to have the space to speak for itself‚" added Birrel. Despite Birrel's suggestion that she doesn't want to be didactic and Syson's aversion to being labeled woke‚ it is clear from the museum's new signage that they have failed on both counts. The Telegraph noted that the sign for the nature gallery at the museum — where one can find the beloved English painter John Constable's 1820 "Hampstead Heath" — states‚ "Landscape paintings were also always entangled with national identity." "The countryside was seen as a direct link to the past‚ and therefore a true reflection of the essence of a nation‚" continues the sign. "Paintings showing rolling English hills or lush French fields reinforced loyalty and pride towards a homeland." "The darker side of evoking this nationalist feeling is the implication that only those with a historical tie to the land have a right to belong‚" added the sign. The sentiment echoes that recently expressed by the British leftist environmental outfit Wildlife and Countryside Link‚ which suggested to parliamentarians in November that "racist colonial legacies continue to frame nature in the U.K. as a 'white space' and people of color as 'out of place' in these spaces and the environmental sector." The group also claimed that "it is White British cultural values that have been embedded into the design and management of green spaces and into society's expectations of how people should be engaging with them." British Home Secretary Suella Braverman‚ the daughter of migrants from Kenya and Mauritius who indicated last year that multiculturalism has failed‚ responded by underscoring‚ "No‚ the countryside is not racist. ... More left-wing identity politics‚ victimhood &; division. Not everything needs to be about race." The administrators at the Fitzwilliam Museum are evidently of a different mind‚ and it's not just those green hills and plains that raised generations of Britons that they figure are at issue. The sign for the "identity" gallery denigrates many of those depicted on the paintings within‚ claiming that the portraits of uniformed and wealthy sitters were "vital tools in reinforcing the social order of a white ruling class‚ leaving very little room for representations of people of color‚ the working classes or other marginalized people." The Telegraph highlighted that a portrait of the very man responsible for the museum‚ Fitzwilliam‚ is among the condemned. The label for his portrait notes that his wealth "came from his grandfather‚ Sir Matthew Decker‚ who had amassed it in part through the transatlantic trade of enslaved African people." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

After eight seasons of “Dirty Jobs‚” TV host Mike Rowe has seen it all — well‚ almost. He’s wrangled venomous snakes‚ cleaned up roadkill‚ tested shark suits‚ inspected sewers‚ embalmed corpses‚ and inseminated horses‚ among other atrocious gigs‚ but there’s one job he just won’t do. Many of the dirty jobs Mike has experienced are no doubt “disgusting‚ vile‚ putrid‚ soul-deadening‚ [and] horrific‚” but they don’t compare to the dirtiest job of them all — being a politician. “Why didn't you ever go and do the dirtiest job‚ which is being a politician?” asks Alex Stein. After inspecting a sewer‚ for example‚ “You can go home and take a shower‚ and you’re all shiny and new‚” Mike explains. “And then there’s politics.” “You can’t wash that stink off‚” laughs Alex. “That gets on the inside‚” Mike says. To hear more of the conversation (and learn what soap Mike says gets “anything off your body”)‚ watch the clip below. Want more from Alex Stein?To enjoy more of Alex's culture jamming‚ comedic monologues‚ skits‚ and street segments‚ subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America‚ defend the Constitution‚ and live the American dream.

Pop star and former Disney actress Olivia Rodrigo will no longer have abortion funds handing out emergency contraceptives and other birth control products at her concerts.Days before the decision was reportedly passed down from her team‚ Rodrigo made international headlines after she announced her Guts World Tour would be providing morning-after pills‚ condoms‚ and even lubrication to attendees at her concerts.Rodrigo made the announcement herself in a social media video‚ in which she announced a partnership with the "National Network of Abortion Funds to help those impacted with health-care barriers to get the reproductive health care they deserve."Fans of the 21-year-old singer received a progressive care package at Rodrigo's March 12‚ 2024‚ show in St. Louis‚ Missouri.The package included two boxes of Julie and promotional codes that linked to the Missouri Abortion Fund. Julie is meant to prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.Other concertgoers reported getting free condoms and stickers at the concert. free planb at @oliviarodrigo in st. louis tonight \ud83d\udc93 thank you @MOAbortionFund \u2728 — (@) Variety has since reported that Rodrigo's team preferred they no longer pass out lubrication‚ condoms‚ and Plan B because "children are present at the concerts." The message was reportedly disseminated through the Slack messaging app by the National Network of Abortion Funds‚ the company that had originally partnered with Rodrigo for her North American tour dates.Three sources at partnered abortion funds reportedly confirmed the information to Variety but not without representatives at the companies expressing extreme disappointment in the decision. Jade Hurley‚ communications manager for the DC Abortion Fund‚ said that "youth need access to birth control and emergency contraception" and that what they were doing is "completely legal in all 50 states.""There is something really positive about a 16- or 15-year-old having a Plan B and a few condoms in her dresser to use as she needs it‚" said Destini Spaeth‚ chair of the Prairie Abortion Fund. Her organization had a booth at Rodrigo's March 15‚ 2024‚ concert in St. Paul‚ Minnesota."Sex and sexual health tools — whether that be abortion‚ Plan B‚ condoms — are villainized because you’re [seen as being] promiscuous. We don’t look at it as a sign of responsibility‚" she added.The DC Abortion Fund announced on X that they would be using a workaround after the decision‚ saying that they "have no issue handing out Plan B‚ free of charge‚ on the public sidewalk outside the venue."Rodrigo's team did not respond to requests for comment. Little do these decision-makers know: We have no issue handing out Plan B‚ free of charge‚ on the public sidewalk outside the venue\ud83e\ude77\n\n#GUTSWorldTour ticket-holders OR NOT: See you July 20th outside Capital One! We take care of us\ud83e\udec2 — (@) Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

President Joe Biden is not happy that his re-election hopes appear slim.On Sunday‚ NBC News reported on a January meeting between Biden and his allies in which he was informed that his polling in Michigan and Georgia — two critical battleground states — was dropping over his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.Sources who spoke to NBC News said Biden "was seething" during that meeting and even "began to shout and swear."One of Biden's central problems‚ from his perspective‚ is that he feels constrained by his aides. NBC News reported:Surrounded by protective aides who want to minimize the chances of a flub‚ the 81-year-old president has chafed at restraints that he sees as counter to his natural instincts as a retail politician‚ a third person familiar with internal discussions said.He has felt cocooned at times and has been eager to get out more‚ meet voters face-to-face and take the fight directly to Trump‚ said the third person and a fourth also familiar with the matter who‚ like others‚ spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss campaign strategy and the president’s private views. Moreover‚ Biden is questioning in private whether he should trust his aides — who are primarily concerned with politics — or his own instincts‚ formed through his experience spanning more than a half-century."[Biden is] probably a little mad at himself for not being more forceful with the staff‚" one person told NBC News.Unbeknownst to Biden‚ the problem isn't that Americans aren't receiving his campaign message about the direction of America and his argument that his polices are the solution to a better future. The problem is that Americans don't believe it.That's why Biden's job approval rating is more than 15 points underwater‚ in a dangerous territory where one-term presidents reside. A significant majority of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction‚ and they not only do not believe Biden that will turn it around‚ but they believe he is the reason it's headed in the wrong direction in the first place.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Researchers have been on a quest to find the most sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to meat and other animal-based products. Nature Communications recently published a study that suggested our dystopian future could feature genetically engineered mold as a prime source of nutrition‚ according to the Debrief.Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reportedly led the study‚ and they demonstrated "how the edible fungus‚ Aspergillus oryzae‚ can be bioengineered to enhance its nutritional value and sensory appeal as a meat substitute."Researchers were able to use synthetic biological tools to modify the fungus' genome‚ raising the production of key nutrients and flavor molecules‚ according to the study. The researchers said that their method brought the substance closer to mirroring the texture and taste of real meat.The lab reported that fungi could be the future of our daily nutritional intake‚ as they include "a huge range of tasty and nutritious proteins‚ fats‚ antioxidants‚ and flavor molecules." Vayu Hill-Maini — a chef-turned-bioengineer — has been investigating the possibilities for new textures and tastes that can be produced by modifying the genes in fungi.“I think it’s a fundamental aspect of synthetic biology that we’re benefiting from organisms that have evolved to be really good at certain things‚” Hill-Maini said‚ who is a researcher at UC Berkeley in the lab of bioengineering expert Jay Keasling. “What we’re trying to do is to look at what is the fungus making and try to kind of unlock and enhance it. And I think that’s an important angle that we don’t need to introduce genes from wildly different species. We’re investigating how we can stitch things together and unlock what’s already there.”Keasling‚ a senior scientist at the Berkeley lab‚ said that "these organisms have been used for centuries to produce food‚ and they are incredibly efficient at converting carbon into a wide variety of complex molecules‚ including many that would be almost impossible to produce using a classic host like brewer’s yeast or E. coli.”“By unlocking koji mold through the development of these tools‚ we are unlocking the potential of a huge new group of hosts that we can use to make foods‚ valuable chemicals‚ energy-dense biofuels‚ and medicines. It’s a thrilling new avenue for biomanufacturing.”However‚ it is unclear how soon it could be before consuming fungus becomes a mainstay of our dystopian diet.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Since the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022‚ Google has been struggling to adapt to a new world of generative AI‚ despite developing much of the technology behind it. The company’s recent responses to AI content are already changing how you browse the web and may alter the English language itself. What is search engine optimization? First‚ let’s explain how the online content business works. Before the web‚ almost everyone subscribed to a newspaper‚ and if you could get your content into one of those newspapers‚ someone was guaranteed to read it‚ because the newspaper had a built-in audience. The trick was convincing a newspaper editor to grant you access‚ and if you couldn’t do that‚ no one would read what you wrote. Now‚ there are no gatekeepers‚ at least in theory. Instead of a few dozen newspapers‚ we have millions upon millions of websites. The problem now isn’t getting past a gatekeeper but trying to stand out from the noise. Some destination sites‚ like Blaze Media‚ still have a built-in audience. But for the vast majority of independent writers‚ your best bet is search engine optimization. SEO is essentially a big bag of tricks writers develop so that their content shows up in Google Search results‚ ideally on the first page of a search result and even more ideally at the very top of the page. SEO has a bit of a nasty reputation in some circles‚ largely thanks to ugly “black hat” techniques to fool Google‚ such as keyword stuffing‚ where a writer peppers a post with the targeted search term. You’ve probably seen things like this in the past: Are you looking for the best wireless headphones? Read on for our guide to the best wireless headphones. We’ve assembled a list of the best wireless headphones that anyone shopping for best wireless headphones can appreciate. We have wireless headphones in every price range for all of your wireless headphone needs. You usually don’t see as much of that now‚ because Google’s algorithm will punish a post that overdoes keyword stuffing. However‚ it will always be a somewhat viable technique because Google must programmatically analyze billions of websites and determine what to rank in search results‚ with the goal being to please the end user. And one of the ways a computer program can analyze those websites is by analyzing which keywords it hits. Google wants you to think that the trick to your content showing up in search results — and thus being read — is simply to write good content. I wish that were the case‚ but without any sort of SEO‚ chances are whatever you publish will fall by the wayside. If you hate SEO‚ blame Google‚ which practically owns the web and sets the rules‚ not the people trying to eke out a living from it. How Google outsourced AI detection When ChatGPT hit the scene‚ SEOs quickly discovered that it was really good at SEO. You go to ChatGPT‚ tell it the keyword you’re targeting‚ and it would automatically write a decent blog post that would quickly rank on Google. This only makes sense‚ because GPT learns about language the same way Google does: by automatically skimming the web‚ scooping up data from websites‚ and using it to teach the algorithm. It was almost as if GPT were created for SEO‚ because it’s designed to interpret the intent of your request and produce content that satisfies it‚ which is the same aim as Google. This was clearly a threat to Google’s massive search business. By and large‚ people don't want to read AI-generated content‚ no matter how accurate it is. But the trouble for Google is that it can’t reliably detect and filter AI-generated content. I’ve used several AI detection apps‚ and they are 50% accurate at best. Google’s brain trust can probably do a much better job‚ but even then‚ it’s computationally expensive‚ and even the mighty Google can’t analyze every single page on the web‚ so the company must find workarounds. This past fall‚ Google rolled out its Helpful Content Update‚ in which Google started to strongly emphasize sites based on user-generated content in search results‚ such as forums. The site that received the most notable boost in search rankings was Reddit. Meanwhile‚ many independent bloggers saw their traffic crash‚ whether or not they used AI. Google’s logic is pretty simple: Give more weight to forum sites like Reddit and Quora‚ where content is moderated by human beings who‚ in theory‚ will remove AI spam. Google is essentially offloading the task of AI detection to forum moderators‚ who are often unpaid‚ and it’s computationally cheap for Google to do so. Funny enough‚ SEOs are now spamming these sites to game Google search‚ and interestingly enough‚ Google recently signed a deal with Reddit to acquire its user data to train Gemini‚ Google’s own AI project. The great SEO heist and Google’s last straw But that update just wasn’t enough to dissuade AI-powered SEO. Google has a strong distaste for SEOs who try to game their system‚ especially the ones who make them look foolish. And boy‚ have GPT-wielding SEOs made them look foolish. Perhaps the most egregious example was the great SEO heist of late 2023. On November 24‚ 2023‚ SEO Jake Ward announced on X that he had pulled off an “SEO heist” that stole 3.6 million views from a competitor. The competitor was Exceljet‚ a well-established site with tips about Microsoft Excel. In the X thread‚ Jake explained how he pulled it off. First‚ he extracted Exceljet’s sitemap. A sitemap is a document that lists every page on a website‚ and most websites maintain one to make it easier for search engines like Google to crawl them‚ which in turn helps their content show up in search results. You can view Blaze News' sitemap for yourself. Jake then took every URL on Exceljet’s website and extracted its “slug‚” which is a descriptive part of a web address. So Jake took a list of articles like these: https://exceljet.net/articles/20-very-popular-exce... https://exceljet.net/articles/29-ways-to-save-time... https://exceljet.net/articles/5-formulas-to-highli... https://exceljet.net/articles/5-pivot-tables-you-p... https://exceljet.net/articles/alternatives-to-dyna... https://exceljet.net/articles/build-friendly-messa... https://exceljet.net/articles/calculating-the-brea... https://exceljet.net/articles/can-pivot-tables-sav... And fed them into a tool called Byword.ai‚ which uses AI to mass-produce blog posts. For a relatively small fee‚ Jake produced thousands of articles per day replicating the same topics and structure as Exceljet. And because the AI-produced content appears “perfect” to a search engine‚ it readily outranked Exceljet. But Jake made a huge mistake: bragging about it in public. Google soon de-indexed his site‚ which means it no longer appears in search results at all. He’s also deleted his X account. The SEO heist was clearly Google’s last straw‚ and it’s now unveiled a much stronger search update to thwart AI. Google’s spam update and what it means for the web Google recently unveiled a new update to its spam policies specifically targeting “low-quality‚ unoriginal results‚” most specifically through its new “scaled content abuse” policy. In short‚ if you’re running a website built around mass-publishing AI-created articles‚ expect your traffic to soon go to zero‚ either through algorithmic changes or by a “manual action” by one of Google’s many contracted human reviewers. In fact‚ Google started issuing those manual actions almost immediately after the announcement‚ de-indexing hundreds of sites with little warning‚ like fresherslive.com and zacjohnson.com. You can check this yourself by going to Google and searching for site:domainname. If nothing shows up for the domain‚ it’s been removed from Google’s index. So far‚ we don’t quite know what the algorithmic penalty will be for AI-produced sites or if there will even be one. It will take weeks for the update to roll out for every site in Google’s index. For now‚ Google is manually flagging the sites to remove from its index‚ and while there may be some innocent victims‚ most have content almost entirely created by AI. How AI paranoia may change the English language AI paranoia is striking not only search engine land but social media as well. To be sure‚ Twitter and LinkedIn both are full of obviously GPT-generated responses. No matter how much prompt engineering you perform with GPT‚ it has a certain writing style that’s easy to spot once you know how to recognize it. The grammar is a bit too perfect. GPT likes long words and well-padded phrases. GPT doesn’t make spelling errors or typos. And as GPT and other generative AIs become more advanced‚ their content will become harder and harder to spot. Already‚ I regularly see clearly human writers on social media being accused of generating their text with GPT because they use college-level words or whimsical phrases. Ironically‚ as generative AI’s output becomes more human‚ good human writers may be punished by algorithms or human moderators who suspect that their writing is a bit too good. Although I doubt Google has the capability today to scan billions of individual web pages for AI content‚ it’s a problem the company is undoubtedly working to solve. In fact‚ the future of Google’s search probably depends on it. I happen to be trained as a blacksmith‚ and one of the things my teacher told me is never try to remove hammer marks and small imperfections from a piece‚ because that’s evidence that it was made by hand and not a machine‚ and that’s what the customer is paying a premium for. Is it possible that not long into the future‚ writers will sart deliberately introducing misspellings‚ typos‚ and grammatical errors into their text just to leave behind little “hammer marks” that prove the content was produced by a genuine‚ bona fide human being? Will those deliberate misspellings and errors eventually be enshrined in the English language as they become normalized? What if it’s our flaws and imperfections that ultimately make humans special?

Investigation Background We learned about Fort Worden by accident. In 2023‚ the team investigated Manresa Castle. During our downtime‚ we looked for cemeteries and other haunts in Port Townsend to investigate when we learned about an old military base‚ Fort Worden. We went to check out some museums at the (now) state park and learned about the hauntings. That sold us‚ and we booked an investigation for January 2024‚ during offseason‚ to limit exposure to the living. Please note: You can get all the following information in our ghost hunt video above. Fort Worden’s Dark History The federal government acquired land from a civilian‚ John Alexander‚ and Port Townsend along Admiralty Inlet in 1897. Fort Worden was founded in 1898 to help with the defense of Puget Sound from enemy invasion. It was part of the “Triangle of Fire‚” along with Fort Flagler and Fort Casey. By 1902‚ the Army equipped with the most powerful artillery of its time. Disappearing guns would jut out from concrete batteries to destroy any enemy vessels that may try to attack Everett‚ Seattle and Tacoma. But the conditions at the fort drove many men to abandon their posts and go AWOL. The long blustery winters and isolation took their toll on our soldiers. Over the years‚ numerous murders‚ accidental deaths and suicides happened at the fort. Some of the most infamous include the murder of Cpl. Henry Johnson‚ the suicide of Captain Frank Thornton‚ and the accidental drowning of William Payne. Bricks building The Bricks sits along Officers Row. It’s one of the first buildings you see as you enter the park. The unmarried junior officers lived in these quarters. It was here that Captain Frank Thornton ended his life in 1911. In the 1950s‚ the Bricks became home to nurses that worked at the juvenile detention center. Capt. Thornton‚ a nurse‚ and (possibly) a child named David‚ from the detention center‚ may have contacted us during our ghost hunt. More on that under the Investigation Details section. Alexander’s Castle William Payne‚ a maintenance man for John Alexander‚ drowned under mysterious circumstances. His body was found is a cistern with 6-inches of water in it. Under normal circumstances‚ William could just stand up‚ but he landed head first in it. We’re not sure how he ended up on his head in a pool of water‚ and that mystery was a focal point of our questions. Alexander’s Castle also has an urban legend associated with it. It deals with the murder of Cpl. Henry Johnson‚ who was killed in 1908. The legend says he was murdered at the tailor shop at the Castle‚ but that’s not true. Cpl. Johnson was killed at Bldg. 205‚ the band barracks. The Castle became the tailor shop in the 1940s‚ over thirty years after the corporal’s death. Melissa Becker‚ our historian‚ invited the spirit of Cpl. Johnson to come follows us to Alexander’s Castle. It appears he‚ his murderer‚ James Holt‚ and someone else paid us a visit. More on that under the Investigation Details section. Eyewitness Reports We interviewed a few people that work at Fort Worden as well as online news reports. Most witnesses described the following phenomena: Phantom footsteps Whispers in the artillery batteries Apparitions on the parade grounds Ghost lights The sense of someone watching you But these reports are general to the entire base. There was next to no information about Bricks and Alexander’s Castle‚ where we spent most of our time investigating. Investigation Details We started ghost hunting in the Bricks building Unit 16A. This is where Captain Thornton ended his life. On night 2‚ we headed over to Alexander’s Castle to see if William Payne and John Alexander continue to haunt it. Investigators present: Jacob Rice Mike Morin Melissa Becker Rachel Brevik Amy Beal Sandy Huff Christel England Equipment Used: J Portal with SBox ParaLight+ EMF lantern 3 ParaLight Minis REM pod Military medals‚ awards‚ and letters home SLS Mini Onvoy Ghost Box Ovilus 5 MEL 8704R-REM-ATDD meter Sony hand recorder Zoom H4n Pro handy recorder Paranormal Tripwire Paranormal Tracerwire Para4ce Quad Baseline Measurements In general‚ the temperature never varied by more than 3 degrees from the baselines listed under Environmental Factors‚ and the EMF ranged from 0mG to 3mG‚ depending on how close you were to a lamp or wall light. Environmental Factors: Bricks BuildingAlexander’s CastleDate: Friday‚ January 26‚ 2024Date: Saturday‚ January 27‚ 2024Start Time: 8 PM Start Time: 8 PMEnd Time: 1 AM (Jan. 27‚ 2024)End Time: 1 AM (Jan. 28‚ 2024)Solar X-Ray Activity: LowSolar X-Ray Activity: LowGeomagnetic Storm: LowGeomagnetic Storm: LowMoon Phase: Full MoonMoon Phase: Full MoonTemperature: 74 (indoors)Temperature: 70 (indoors)Humidity: 55%Humidity: 49%Barometric Pressure: 29.88″Barometric Pressure: 29.81″Windspeed: 0 mph (indoors)Windspeed: 0 mph (indoors)The Fort Worden investigation covered 2 buildings on separate nights in January 2024 Investigation Experiments Note: You can watch all these experiments in the video at the top of the page. Our experiments were laser-focused on triggering responses from the people in our historic research. There was next to nothing available online for us to try and replicate. We decided to use ghost hunting equipment that could provide confirmation responses. This would help us confirm the identity of a ghost for further research after this weekend. Bricks Building North Head Technique The North Head Technique is a modern take on a seance. It uses ITC devices‚ like the J Portal‚ to replace a medium. Our session focused on communicating with Capt. Frank Thornton‚ who took his own life in our rented unit‚ 16A. We placed military medals‚ Army paperwork and things a soldier would use in their daily lives. Also‚ we had an Ovilus 5‚ J Portal‚ ParaLight+ and 3 ParaLight Minis in the dining room. Activity began and escalated once we placed a vodka shot on the table. It seemed like 2 spirits manifested‚ a soldier and a (possible) nurse. They seemed to argue about the alcohol. At one point‚ we received an EVP and intelligent communication about where the shot of alcohol was in the kitchen. While this activity happened‚ Sandy saw shadow figures in the living room. Upstairs Unit On the second floor (Unit 16B)‚ Mike and Melissa heard what sounded like an intruder in our rented unit (16A). They went downstairs to see if anyone had entered the apartment. Melissa reported footsteps in the apartment’s hallway as well as something rummaging through the food on the kitchen table. Mike‚ Melissa and Jake checked each room for someone hiding‚ but they found nothing. In the main lobby‚ we found the door ajar as if someone entered. It had been locked earlier in the evening. In Unit 16B‚ we had to use an exploratory approach because there was no information available about this apartment in the Bricks. We placed REM pods around the unit to detect any ghostly presences. In the living room‚ Amy led a live-listening session‚ and‚ in the kitchen‚ Rachel monitored a Tracerwire to see if something would move in there. When Jake approached her with a SLS Mini‚ the device caught what looked like a child spirit trying to hold her hand. Personal Experiences Overnight‚ Amy‚ Mike and Sandy heard someone walking down the hallways. It woke Amy up‚ and she checked to see who would be up at 4 AM – 5 AM. She didn’t see anyone. However‚ Jake didn’t hear anything‚ but he sleeps like a dead horse. Alexander’s Castle North Head Technique To start‚ Melissa provided the background on the ghosts associated with Alexander’s Castle. With that in mind‚ we tried to communicate with William Payne‚ Cpl. Henry Johnson‚ and John Alexander. It took about 30 minutes before activity began in the dining room. We received intelligent responses on the Onvoy Ghost Box and Ovilus 5. The J Portal also provided a way for the spirits to communicate with us‚ but they made it clear that gadget wasn’t their preferred gadget. Finally‚ we placed a REM pod on the table. Once we invited Cpl. Johnson to sit with us‚ it went bonkers. This happened after we asked questions about the corporal’s murder and his killer. Cistern Death Next‚ Melissa placed a Paranormal Tripwire and REM pod along the trap door to the basement (where the cistern lies). She asked a series of questions to William Payne‚ who drowned in the cistern. However‚ she didn’t receive any responses during her experiment. Upstairs Bedroom In the bedroom‚ Melissa had witnessed the vanity lights flickering at odd times of the day. After the North Head Technique and cistern test‚ she went upstairs and placed a REM pod‚ Onvoy Ghost Box and a ParaLight+. While asking questions‚ Melissa did receive engagement on the REM pod. After the experiment ended‚ she went downstairs to rejoin the team‚ and the camera caught a Class A EVP. Personal Experiences After investigating at Bricks‚ Melissa and Christel heard loud phantom footsteps going up and down the stairs to the bedroom while they slept. Melissa got up to check to see if there was an intruder in Alexander’s Castle‚ and she didn’t find anyone. Fort Worden Ghost Hunting Conclusion Fort Worden is definitely haunted. We captured EVP‚ SLS ghostly figures‚ shadow figures‚ intelligent responses on ITC devices‚ engagement responses‚ and personal experiences. We had only 2 nights to investigate‚ but I think you could easily spend 4 or 5 nights exploring the haunted buildings. Tips For Ghost Hunting At Fort Worden Give yourself 30 minutes of engaging with an experiment because it takes at least this long before you get activity Set up a wide area to capture evidence because the ghosts would engage in different rooms around your area Have those microphones ready for EVP – ghost voices went off all around us Use a spirit box because that seemed to be the fastest and simplest way to capture evidence Place REM pods and other EMF engagement in the area because that seemed to be a favorite way for ghosts to communicate The post Fort Worden Ghost Hunting Report appeared first on Ghostly Activities.

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