Steve Potts

@otispott

Lawyer. Believer in democracy and the rule of law.

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Steve Potts@otispott· Jul 17

Search Assist
AI can be considered a parasite in the sense that it may exploit human interactions and content without providing equivalent value in return, potentially harming its users and creators. This relationship can lead to a dependency that is detrimental to the original content creators and the quality of information available.

Steve Potts@otispott· Jul 15

so instead of educating young people to become teachers we will put them to work in factories manufacturing robots that will take over all the teaching jobs.

photo of robot teacher sitting at table with smiling children in our hypothetical dystopian future

Steve Potts@otispott· Jul 15

Timothy Snyder
Reports indicate Trump will deliver a speech about election “interference” in 2020. Let’s remember the Big Lie and what it means.
The claim that Trump won the 2020 election is a Big Lie.
A Big Lie changes reality. To believe it, people must disbelieve their senses, distrust their fellow citizens, and live in a world of faith.
A Big Lie undoes a society, since it divides citizens into believers and unbelievers.
A Big Lie destroys democracy, since people who are convinced that nothing is true but the utterances of their leader ignore voting and its results.
A Big Lie can never be told just by one person. Trump is the originator of this Big Lie, but it could never have flourished without his allies on Capitol Hill.
There is a cure for the Big Lie. Our elected representatives should tell the truth, without dissimulation, about the results of the 2020 election.
Politicians who do not tell the simple truth about the 2020 election — that Biden won and Trump lost — perpetuate the Big Lie, further an alternative reality, support conspiracy theories, weaken democracy, and foment violence far worse than that of January 6, 2021.

Steve Potts@otispott· Jul 13

There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart that you can't take part! You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus -- and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it -- that unless you're free the machine will be prevented from working at all!
— Mario Savio (UC Berkeley, Dec. 2, 1964)

Steve Potts@otispott· Jul 13

What happens to AI when there is no longer any original content to feed it? I'll ask AI:

Search Assist
AI can experience model collapse, where the data it generates becomes polluted and leads to a loss of quality and accuracy in its outputs. This occurs because AI models rely on original content to learn and generate new data; without it, they may misinterpret reality and produce inferior results.

Steve Potts@otispott· Jul 12

Ruby side by side with photo of 19th century mutton-chopped gentleman

Steve Potts@otispott· Jul 10

GenZ Challenge: drive 75 mph in heavy traffic whilst trying to read a paper map

hipster driving car while reading a large unfolded paper map

Steve Potts@otispott· Jul 6

Walt Kelly's 1970 Earth Day cartoon strip with the quote "we have met the enemy and he is us."

Steve Potts@otispott· Jul 2

Amen. Nationalism is *not* the same as patriotism. I hope Dem candidates draw a sharp distinction between the two during the midterm campaigns. (and you know this definition is legit because it's from the AMERICAN HERITAGE dictionary).

nationalism /năsh′ə-nə-lĭz″əm, năsh′nə-/
noun
Devotion, especially excessive or undiscriminating devotion, to the interests or culture of a particular nation-state.
The belief that nations will benefit from acting independently rather than collectively, emphasizing national rather than international goals.
The belief that a particular cultural or ethnic group constitutes a distinct people deserving of political self-determination.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition •

Steve Potts@otispott· Jun 13

it's nuts that some people feel attacked by the mere existence in their midst of people different in some way from them

xenophobia
noun
xe·no·pho·bia ˌze-nə-ˈfō-bē-ə ˌzē-
Synonyms of xenophobia
: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign
Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/xenophobia

Steve Potts@otispott· May 26

The New MAGA America too.

book cover, Nothing Is True And Everything Is Possible, by Peter Pomerantsev

Steve Potts@otispott· May 24

What Eartha Kitt Wants From Santa:
• Sable fur coat
• ’54 convertible, light blue
• Yacht
• Platinum mine
• book of signed blank checks
• Decorations from Tiffany’s
• Wedding ring
Santa Baby, Eartha Kitt (1954)

vinyl album cover Eartha Kitt, Santa Baby

Steve Potts@otispott· May 21

the memories come flooding back

cover of Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton

Steve Potts@otispott· May 13

To have these six individuals in black robes that barely cover the white robes under them declaring that black voting doesn’t matter anymore is not only I think an affront to our history and to our people but to the morality and the principles that have made America great.

—Heather Cox Richardson 5/12/26

Steve Potts@otispott· May 13

"Limited authority?" Limited how?

Constitution of the United States
Fifteenth Amendment
Section 1

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude–

Section 2

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Steve Potts@otispott· May 13

See Art. I Sec. 8 of the Constitution (power to declare war) and Sec. 5(b) of the War Powers Act.

Section 5(b) states that when the President
reports an introduction of U.S. Armed Forces into active or
imminent hostilities, or such report is required under
Section 4(a)(1) but not made, the President must terminate
such use of U.S. Armed Forces after 60 days unless
Congress (1) has declared war or specifically authorized the
action, (2) has extended the 60-day period by law, or (3) is
physically unable to meet as a result of an armed attack on
the United States

Steve Potts@otispott· May 12

Trump, Iran war arcade-style video game installed on National Mall www.msn.com/en-us/news/p...

Image from satirical video game re Trump's war against Iran

Steve Potts@otispott· May 7

On its surface, Callais resembles its two predecessors. It is primarily a statutory holding, not an overt constitutional one, undoubtedly a setback for voting rights but ultimately something that could appear fixable by a sufficiently robust John Lewis Act 2.0. But Alito’s reasoning embeds constitutional limits that preempt legislative remedy. Were Congress to pass a reform aimed at reversing Callais, Alito and his Republican-appointed colleagues would almost certainly deem it unconstitutional. The reason lies in the opinion’s embrace of what Alito calls “the limited authority that the Fifteenth Amendment confers” on Congress.

Steve Potts@otispott· Apr 23

Steve Potts@otispott· Apr 16

Amazing how a little fear of electoral accountability works to open Republicans' cold cold hearts.

Steve Potts@otispott· Apr 13

Explainer why narcissists like to hang out with losers (Living With A Narcissist drirene.com/10_nar.php)

The Narcissist is very much attracted to vulnerability, to unstable or disordered personalities or to the inferior. Such people constitute more secure sources of better quality narcissistic supply. The inferior offer adulation. The mentally disturbed, the traumatized, the abused become dependent and addicted to him. The vulnerable can be easily and economically manipulated without fear of repercussions.

Steve Potts@otispott· Apr 13

I read it in Peter Griffin's voice🙃

Family Guy's Peter Griffin seated at a desk in suit and tie with an image of gears and the words What Really Grinds My Gears with text overlay THE POPE IS WEAK ON CRIME

Steve Potts@otispott· Apr 8

It's striking how similar Iran's bargaining posture has been to Sam Spade's in The Maltese Falcon.

Spade: If you kill me, how are you gonna get the bird? And if I know you can't afford to kill me, how are you gonna scare me into giving it to you?
Gutman: Well, sir, there are other means of persuasion besides killing and threatening to kill.
Spade: Yes, that's, that's true. But - they're none of 'em any good unless the threat of death is behind them - do you see what I mean? If you start something, I'll make it a matter of your having to kill me or call it off.
Gutman: [chuckling] That's an attitude, sir, that calls for the most delicate judgment on both sides. 'Cause as you know, sir, in the heat of action, men are likely to forget where their best interests lie and that their emotions carry them away.
Spade: Then the trick from my angle is to make my play strong enough to tie you up, but not make you mad enough to bump me off against your better judgment.
Gutman: By gad, sir, you are a character.

Steve Potts@otispott· Apr 4

"Foreigners refuse to assimilate."

screencap website of The Heritage Foundation - commentary border security, "Diversity Isn't Our Strength When Millions of Foreigners Refuse To Assimilate"

Steve Potts@otispott· Mar 31

Robert Reich March 26 at 1:01 PM
This has been the GOP's "starve the beast" scheme for nearly 50 years. Meanwhile, millions suffer and struggle to get ahead as the rich get richer. See the problem here?
[Graphic: How to destroy public services A step by step guide. Reduce the budget of public services. Elimination of positions in public services because the budget has been reduced. Complain about the decline and efficiency of public services. Claim that the degradation of public services is proof of government inefficiency and so privatization is needed. Privatize.

Steve Potts@otispott· Mar 31

"Trump screamed at me that he would do whatever he wanted."

4. The parties were held at a New York City residence that was being used by Defendant Jeffrey Epstein. Each of the parties had other minor females and a number of guests of Mr. Epstein, including Defendant Donald Trump at four of the parties I attended. I understood that both Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein knew that I was 13 years old.
5. Defendant Trump had sexual contact with me at four different parties in the summer of 1994. On the fourth and final sexual encounter with Defendant Trump, Defendant Trump tied me to a bed, exposed himself to me, and then proceeded to forcibly rape me. During hte Course of this savage sexual attack, I loudly pleaded with Defendant Trump to stop but he did not. Defendant Trump responded to my pleas by violently striking me in the face with his open hand and screaming that he would do whatever he wanted.

Steve Potts@otispott· Mar 29

Americans will find creative ways to express their feelings such as by adding colorful sayings above or below the signature such as "should be impeached" or "s8cks *ss" and the practice may become so popular prizes will be awarded for creativity and people will resume using currency for the laughs.

meme with image of $100 bill with black box over Trump signature above text "If you get a dollar bill with Trump's signature on it, black it the tf [sic] out with a Sharpie. He prefers his name redacted.

Steve Potts@otispott· Mar 27

FACT #1: States have myriad checks in place to make sure that only eligible U.S. citizens can vote.
Myth vs. Fact: Under federal and state law, only U.S. citizens can vote in state and federal elections. To register to vote, a person must swear to their U.S. citizenship under penalty of criminal prosecution. Election processes are full of checks to identify ineligible voter registrants.

Under federal law, states are required to conduct regular list maintenance to remove ineligible voters from the rolls. Many states also participate in the Electronic Registration Information Center, which allows members to compare their voter rolls across state lines and ensure that lists are accurate and up-to-date.

All voters’ names and addresses are recorded, and ineligible voters face severe penalties, including jail time or deportation. A noncitizen working toward naturalization can be denied citizenship for being registered to vote.

Steve Potts@otispott· Mar 26

wearing my antifa shirt