Notices by Anirvan Chatterjee (anirvan@mastodon.social)

“Which brings us to the most damning indictment of all: Law firms that can’t even advocate successfully on their own behalf have no business advocating for anyone else.”

"Welcome to Garbage In/Garbage Out (GIGO). Formally, in AI circles, this is known as AI model collapse. In an AI model collapse, AI systems, which are trained on their own outputs, gradually lose accuracy, diversity, and reliability. This occurs because errors compound across successive model generations, leading to distorted data distributions and 'irreversible defects' in performance."

https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/27/opinion_column_ai_model_collapse/

"One ChatGPT prompt is roughly equivalent to running a vacuum cleaner for 10 seconds or a laptop for 3 minutes—or possibly even ten times less"

https://tidbits.com/2025/05/14/why-using-chatgpt-is-not-bad-for-the-environment/

"Part of the prompt engineer’s appeal was its low barrier to entry. The role required little technical expertise, making it an accessible path for those eager to join a booming market. But because the position was so generalized, it was also easily replaced. Frank compares prompt engineering to roles like 'Excel wizard' and 'PowerPoint expert'—all valuable skills, but not ones companies typically hire for individually."

https://www.fastcompany.com/91327911/prompt-engineering-going-extinct

“What does the chemical spill from the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment…and chemicals in household cleaning products have in common? They all rely on EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) to figure out how toxic they are…Now the new administration is shutting down the office.”

https://prheucsf.blog/2025/05/07/they-are-shutting-down-epas-science/

"A number of Republican legislators set to grill university presidents in a congressional hearing on antisemitism this week are associated with calls for Jews to convert to Christianity, have quoted Adolf Hitler, or have reportedly threatened to burn a synagogue to the ground."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/06/republicans-antisemitism-hearing

"In the lawsuit filed last week, America First Legal (AFL) argued that the Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts — two key judicial branch bodies that frame policy and handle the basic functions of the federal courts — are executive branch agencies."

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-ally-stephen-miller-sues-john-roberts-control-courts/

In Washington state:

“The Right to Repair bill for wheelchairs and mobility devices (SB 5680) also passed both chambers with unanimous votes. Getting both bills passed required a lot of hard work from activists across consumer rights, disability, and environmental sectors”

https://www.techdirt.com/2025/05/05/washington-the-eighth-state-to-pass-right-to-repair-law/

“‘Never before in American history have foreign governments, as well as people and corporations under investigation, so overtly and directly funneled vast sums to the president of the United States and his family,’ claims Weissman. ‘This is far more than is captured by the term ‘conflict of interest.’”

https://www.wired.com/story/as-trumps-family-crypto-business-gains-steam-ethical-concerns-mount/

Happy APIA Heritage Month!

I’m excited to announce something special: a day-long Bay Area South Asian radical history tour, spanning both sides of the Bay, on Saturday June 7.

This is a one time only event, celebrating four generations of Desi movements in the Bay. Spots are limited!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1339738015469

There are a lot of numbers here, but this caught my eye:

“Thirty-one percent of non-voting Americans say they regret their decision not to vote, compared with 56% who say they are satisfied.”

https://www.prri.org/research/democracy-at-a-crossroads-how-americans-view-trumps-first-100-days-in-office/

“Justice Democrats noted that support for Democrats in Congress is lagging while voters are looking for candidates who will fight harder than the people they see in office.”

https://theintercept.com/2025/04/28/aipac-primary-democrat-shri-thanedar-donavan-mckinney-michigan/

“I was working on a technical post about DNS resolution when I encountered something unexpected. Every time I typed the path to the hosts file (/etc/h*sts - intentionally obfuscated to avoid triggering the very issue I'm discussing), my Substack editor would display a ‘Network Error’ and fail to autosave my draft.”

https://scalewithlee.substack.com/p/when-etchsts-breaks-your-substack

When the facts are against you, just hide the evidence:

"Black Press USA has learned that Trump officials are sending back exhibit items to their rightful owners and dismantling them—starting with the 1960 Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in exhibit"

https://blackpressusa.com/the-smithsonian-purge-trump-team-removes-artifacts-of-black-resistance/

"[DOGE] feels like it should collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. But it doesn’t, because it was never meant to make sense. It’s basically all kayfabe — that peculiar form of theatrical fakery where the audience chooses to believe despite knowing better. The difference is that unlike wrestling, where the fakery is harmless entertainment, this performance is actively destroying what had been the most amazing democracy and economy on the planet."

https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/24/elon-musk-pretends-hes-leaving-the-job-he-supposedly-doesnt-have-to-not-return-to-the-job-he-supposedly-never-left/

I know people whose entire science careers are based on preserving biospecimens like tissue samples. Letting carefully-preserved human samples rot is a small, but telling, example of what they're doing to all of us.

https://www.wired.com/story/cdc-job-cuts-niosh-human-samples/

“Scholars of racism face a peculiar accusation: that studying racism causes racism. As facile as this criticism is—no one thinks that agriculture professors cause world hunger, or that cardiology professors cause heart attacks—racism scholars know that this sort of ignorant bullying comes with the territory.”

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/trump-administration-academic-freedom/682186/?utm_source=feed

Totally normal: “A U.S. Treasury spokesperson confirmed the resignation of commissioner Melanie Krause in a statement on Tuesday night. The agency's chief privacy, financial and risk officers are also resigning”

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-irs-chief-quit-over-deal-share-data-with-immigration-officials-report-says-2025-04-08/

Examples of what Trump gutted today (there's more):

- CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program, which helps the cruise industry prevent public health issues, inspects cruises, and provides information on outbreaks

- Lead Poisoning branch that works to eliminate childhood lead

- the Asthma and Air Quality Branch, which focuses on minimizing nonoccupational human exposure to air pollutants, carbon monoxide, mold, and wildfires

https://www.wired.com/story/cdc-gutted-rif/

This is no April Fool's joke:

Senator Cory Booker has been speaking on the floor of the Senate against the Trump-DOGE-Musk administration for 15 hours straight.

Watch him live *right now*.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XIXo_WPNRc