lawless
@lawless523.bsky.social
Recovering lawyer. Politics and cats. Believes six impossible things before breakfast. She/her The US is an authoritarian country now. Decide which side you're on.
This essay outlines the shortcomings of AI compression, its tendency to reduce a primary source full of unique, human responses to extraordinary events to a flattened textbook-history perspective. bsky.app/profile/mike...
Mike Vachow@mikevachow.bsky.social · last mo.LLMs are dangerously bad at interpreting primary sources, flattening them to fit the confines of textbook-y history. It’s the “digital Habsburg” problem.
When an AI summarizes a text, it is not "reading," in any way close to what happens with humans. It is more accurate to call an AI summary a "compression." Compression of huge bodies of text can be very useful, but I think it's necessary to hold on to the distinction between compression and summary.
NEW: I wrote about why so many people wanted to believe that Ukrainian airstrikes on a Russian data center reduced troll and bot activity online, even though it's almost certainly not true. Featuring @noupside.bsky.social: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Drone strikes didn't take out a Russian bot farm, but we were primed to believe It
A viral rumor illustrates people’s hunger to make sense of the division we see online.
motherjones.com
I guess it’s illegal to stage peter pan in texas, since the character is male but is traditionally played by a woman actor www.dallasnews.com/news/educati...
Grand Prairie ISD cancels 'Little Shop of Horrors' after girl lands lead male role
Ana Mota was thrilled when she landed the lead role in her high school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. Then she learned the district was taking away her part.
dallasnews.com
There may be periods where this country was more brutal, racist or even evil, but when it comes to pure, unadulterated meanness, this might be the greatest America has ever been
Meanest Country Ever
Public executions, concentration camps and outright racism are just byproducts of America’s “mean girl era.”
dlvr.it
Air Force Maj. Jason Watson was arrested July 1 on the steps of the US Capitol after calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump. According to his lawyer, he’s now being held in solitary confinement 24 hours a day in what some legal experts say could amount to illegal pretrial punishment.
Air Force Major Who Called for Trump’s Impeachment Held in Solitary Confinement
Some legal experts say Jason Watson’s confinement for 24 hours a day could amount to illegal pretrial punishment.
buff.ly
I love how the photo with this review implies that the sweater is for her cat and he'll "grow into it".
This story wound up focusing a fair bit on the differences between PROMO's approach to deep canvassing as part of the No on 3 campaign, an approach which centers and humanizes trans people, vs their coalition partners whose only talking point on trans youth healthcare is that it's already illegal.
Assigned Media@assignedmedia.org · 16h agoPROMOs 10 year plan is to create a pro-trans majority in Republican dominated Missouri. Is that even possible? How are they doing it? Our EIC @evanurquhart went to St. Louis to find out. Here's his story: assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
US Grant was cast as desdemona in in an army production of Othello during the Mexican American war. RETVRN bsky.app/profile/areb...
Are Bee@arebee.bsky.social · 6h agoWait till they find out about the original productions of Shakespeare! (repost to correct sp error)
The beauty of this for bosses is that AI doesn't even need to be good enough to actually replace you. All they need is the threat that it could replace you just over the horizon. That's the three years. Better not ask for a higher salary since AI *could* replace you.
AI is arguably the most powerful wage suppression machine of my lifetime. You just hang it over every employee’s head.
I’m guessing the reason to say this in advance over such a large stretch of time is to instill fear and get more compliant workers who won’t ask for raises.
Chicago Tribune@chicagotribune.com · 7h agoGrocery store chain Kroger said it will lay off 3,000 corporate employees over the next three years as it ramps up its use of artificial intelligence to streamline operations.
The ruling class isn't even hiding it. They sometimes just say this shit in public.
CNBC Accidentally Admits Why Employers Love AI
It's all about suppressing wages.
gizmodo.com
since we’re doing this discourse again here’s why im no longer on twitter
Excerpts from Michael Lewis on DOGE (Guardian article). 1. Gavin Kliger, white nationalist, refused to shake hands with the Black IRS staffer who briefed him on privacy issues. Or pay attention. Kliger now has a defense start-up valued at 1.4B thanks to DOGE. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
every mushroom foraging guidebook: This is Woodland Pot Roast, a tasty little mushroom that adds a delightful flavour to soups and stews. Note that it is often mistaken for Satan’s Fistula, a mushroom that erases the last 9 generations of your family from God’s ledgers.
Dear lord Roy Cohn was Rene Richard’s lawyer
A conservative reporter outs a tennis competitor, and sets in motion a chain of events that lead to trans women everywhere securing the right to play sports…a right his son–and that tennis player herself–now oppose. Read the story here in this month's Clippings by @piperbomb.bsky.social!
I hope non-journalists can appreciate how embarrassing this is.
Jon Passantino@passantino.bsky.social · 6h agoThis is an actual reason why Bari Weiss’ CBS foreign editor told staff that they could not include reporting on Netanyahu receiving advance warning of a Hamas attack before Oct 7. The astonishing tirade in @status.news www.status.news/p/bari-weiss...
Hats off to @lkpwrites.bsky.social at WBEZ who broke the original story. www.wbez.org/education/20...
To protect immigrant students, a Chicago-area college told Flock to remove its cameras. The company refused.
Elgin Community College resorted to covering the surveillance cameras with trash bags and zip ties. Public records show that federal immigration authorities have accessed Flock data at other Illinois ...
wbez.org
Mar Hicks@histoftech.bsky.social · yesterday“A college in Illinois tried to cancel its Flock contract—Flock refused to take its cameras down so Elgin Community College covered them. The company snuck back to uncover them” www.theverge.com/tech/1009411...
Okay, Katie Zacharia's claim to have passed the bar in China appears to be collapsing very fast. The South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) (paywall) just published this. www.scmp.com/news/us/poli...
it turns out that “optimize for engagement” and “optimize for societal best outcomes” are opposing goals and if you look at the entire history of the tech industry you can see which of those two wins out
Denny Carter@dennycarter.bsky.social · yesterdayFacebook back in 2021 temporarily turned off the “drive people insane” setting and it completely changed what people were seeing. They turned it back on when engagement dipped by like 1 percent.
Among the real journalists I know, "my friends weren't talking about this outrageous scandal so it doesn't matter" would be interpreted as code that they were under duress and needed rescue. It's simply not something a professional journalist believes is even relevant, much less dispositive.
Jon Passantino@passantino.bsky.social · 6h agoThis is an actual reason why Bari Weiss’ CBS foreign editor told staff that they could not include reporting on Netanyahu receiving advance warning of a Hamas attack before Oct 7. The astonishing tirade in @status.news www.status.news/p/bari-weiss...
After a woman obtained public records indicating a Google datacenter would cover only one-third of the cost of a new solar plant to power the facility — contradicting its promises that ratepayers would not be on the hook — her electricity company sued her.
An Arkansas Mom Obtained Public Records About a New Data Center. Then She Got Sued.
Cases in Arkansas and California show how desperately we need a federal law against lawsuits intended to chill free speech.
theintercept.com
The extrajudicial execution policy was never about stopping the illicit drug trade. But even if it was, it very predictably failed. apple.news/AyFvPIlW9TSe...
Why U.S. Airstrikes Are Failing to Stop the Global Cocaine Boom — The Wall Street Journal
Smugglers are shifting routes and using new tactics to evade military targeting, resulting in record supplies, plunging prices and high purity in the U.S. and Europe
apple.news
ICE is looking for an AI software that can monitor the phone and video calls and movements of immigrants at detention centers.
ICE Wants to Use AI to Monitor Detainee Calls and Movements
The agency is looking for software to sort through a high volume of data, use voice recognition and maintain detainee caller profiles.
washingtonsun.com
