Sarah Szalavitz💡

FYI to folks claiming ICE/CPB will hire proud boys, nazis etc.

This is very unlikely:

1) numerically, there aren’t that many.

2) even fewer who aren’t felons or domestic abusers.

3) most importantly, ICE is desperate to keep current agents—they can’t risk hiring folks who guarantee more quit!

Nine households control 15% of wealth in Silicon Valley as inequality widens Report finds wealth divide widened in Silicon Valley at double the rate of the whole US over the past decade

Nine households control 15% of wealth in Silicon Valley as inequality widens
Report finds that wealth divide widened in Silicon Valley at double the rate of the whole US over the past decade

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Pentagon withdraws all 700 marines from Los Angeles – live updates Pentagon spokesman says deployment of marines, which California officials called unnecessary and provocative, had achieved it aim

Pentagon withdraws all 700 marines from Los Angeles
www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

Inside Trump's ICE expansion: Can he really hire 10,000 new agents? President Trump says he wants to hire 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and 3,000 Border Patrol agents. The Department of Homeland Security says it's already making progress on new h...

Trump 1 promised to hire 5K CPB & 10k ICE agents.

But to hire 10K, ICE needs 500K+ apps—& for CBP to hire 5k, it takes 750k.

In 2017, ICE hired 371 of 11,000 apps—& averaged 173 days to finalize hires.

When Trump left in 2021, CPB had 1K fewer agents. www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

Getting off US tech: a guide I’m in the process of dropping US tech services. Here’s how I did it, and options you should consider.

“Being a purist isn’t possible, but what’s important is making the effort. If we can reduce the customer base for the dominant players and show there’s a market for a different way… that could help incentivize more non-US options” Via @parismarx.com

www.disconnect.blog/p/getting-of...

Inside Trump's ICE expansion: Can he really hire 10,000 new agents? President Trump says he wants to hire 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and 3,000 Border Patrol agents. The Department of Homeland Security says it's already making progress on new h...

Trump 1 promised to hire 5K CPB & 10k ICE agents.

But to hire 10K, ICE needs 500K+ apps—& for CBP to hire 5k, it takes 750k.

In 2017, ICE hired 371 of 11,000 apps—& averaged 173 days to finalize hires.

When Trump left in 2021, CPB had 1K fewer agents. www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

If I had money, I would donate it to these folks – Immigrant Defenders. They represented Andry and other men in CECOT. They are ferocious advocates. At the border, every day, pushing.

They represented Andry and a number of other men sent to CECOT. www.immdef.org/support

Golden State of Science Action items to preserve the state of federally funded scientific research in the Golden State

Some personal reflections on the role of California in science and my scientific career in light of massive proposed budget cuts by the Trump administration.

This was inspired by the McClintock Letters campaign.

daniels-newsletter-42563f.beehiiv.com/p/golden-sta...

This was a remarkable, revealing ending to two weeks of trial. The court will hear closing arguments on Monday. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/u...

You know what emergent tech of the last decade actually works well, and was adopted by millions?

3D printing. It’s great! So many applications.

But also nobody is sneering at you for not having or utilizing 3D printing. Nobody is trying to sneak a 3D printer into your garage without your consent

Bravo @khadeejasafdar.bsky.social!

Donate to Help Us Keep An American Dream Alive For An Immigrant Couple, organized by Sarah Szalavitz My partner, Sonaar Luthra, and I are raising money for an imm… Sarah Szalavitz needs your support for Help Us Keep An American Dream Alive For An Immigrant Couple

It’s my birthday!

If you are able, I’d be thrilled (& since it’s my🎂, honored) if you’d donate to support an immigrant couple who are breathing new life into the American dream. www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-ke... Encouragement is also heartily encouraged—as is reposting/sharing with your network:)

In retrospect, I understand how/why that message read differently than what I’d aimed to convey—but when I wrote it, I did not think I was expressing anything controversial or new about “hallucination”…or about lawyers not being required to use/know about AI. The replies say clearly I failed:)

I shared the definition because that is my understanding—not as a tactic?

I genuinely do not care about being wrong—& I’m not attached to any of the other words either—my issue is with the use of hallucination & how it obfuscates the meaning, frequency & consequences of offering inaccurate results.

Fwiw that is genuinely my definition of lying, as practiced in my day to day life. I’m not being intellectually dishonest; I mean this earnestly.

If someone hurts my feelings, my working assumption is they are not idk a sociopath & that it is not their intent? intention isn’t relevant; the harm is?

Exactly: eugenics plagiarism machines.

Thank you. Hope you had a brilliant day celebrating you:)

Dictionary.com | Meanings & Definitions of English Words The world's leading online dictionary: English definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more. A trusted authority for 25+ years!

I’m a bit lost/confused by the vitriol? Are you accusing me of lying about the definition of lying? www.dictionary.com/browse/lying regardless it’s fine if we don’t have a shared definition of lie—& it’s not important, as plenty of other non-anthropomorphic words like mistake or error work too?

All good; truly sorry it read that way—really not keen on dunking, so I should’ve been more careful.

The eugenics plagiarism machine makes us all cranky sometimes:)

Unfortunately, that is what is in the FBI file—not the details you are discussing (which are in other care files, especially the USVI civil lawsuits against banks—& of course at the Treasury).

As a whistleblower, I’ve spent years seeking exactly this info for that exact reason.

FWIW: my definition came from a dictionary, which did not mention intent in any alt.

I’m not sure why it’s not ok for us to disagree on the definition of lie—or why you are insulting me?—but I appreciate this is not leading us to understand each other, so I’m going to leave it here.

And I thought we might all be able to at least agree that what we really need is more cat-lawyers.

8] To maintain the requisite knowledge and skill, a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology, engage in continuing study and education and comply with all continuing legal education requirements to which the lawyer is subject.

That’s not my read? It depends on what kind of law folks practice & the specifics of the case?

We’re certainly not requiring idk divorce lawyers to take AI CLEs.

Either way, I’m sorry it came across as a dunk or an insult—it is not what I meant but I wish I had been clearer.

I’m literally trying to communicate with & understand you—& you’re telling me you don’t care about definitions—& they aren’t relevant?

Fwiw it’s the dictionary’s (& not AI’s) definition.

I dont care at all about winning or being right—unfortunately for me, I care too much about being understood

I’m literally a whisteblower in this case—& organized survivors, many of whom are all over the news expressing their disgust & fury. But ok!

Your definition does. My definition of lying is “not telling the truth”.

Your definition of lying includes intent. Mine does not. Your definition makes lying a human activity (as I’d argue hallucination is)—& mine does not.

For the sake of resolution, if we adopted your definition of “lie”, I’d replace it with “error rate” or, as some have said, “bullshitting.”

My apologies that it read to you as a dunk.

I thought I was expressing something about the use of the word “hallucination” that in my perhaps odd circles is not controversial or new—& making what I thought was also not an insulting point that lawyers aren’t required to use or be educated about AI

I truly did not! But that’s also not exactly what I said or meant! I guess I was not clear.

What I meant was it is not an ethical obligation for all lawyers (& I am one) to be educated about or use AI….

I do think using “hallucination” rather than say “errors” is using OpenAI’s marketing language

Are most people who speak about AI or LLMs in public qualified to do so? Curious: what is my resume missing?

Fwiw that’s not what I said exactly—& it’s certainly not what I meant. Seems like we don’t have a shared definition of “lies” or “hallucinations”

Maybe we can agree LLMs do not “think”?