Bahrad Sokhansanj
@bahrad.bsky.social
Saskatonian-Angeleno | AI Expert (derogatory)
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
Remember that time Black Men saved Democracy…
November 6, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Remember that time Black Men saved Democracy…
Draft Isaac!
November 5, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Draft Isaac!
Big day for the Federal Circuit as well!
I’m off to SCOTUS, where the justices are to consider at 10a whether Trump’s tariffs are illegal — or, if they’re legal, whether they are unconstitutional. Send me good wishes and, for more caffeine to get through this day, subscribe to Law Dork. www.lawdork.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Big day for the Federal Circuit as well!
Please vote yes on 50. Thanks.
It's election day, Angelenos! If you haven't already voted, make sure your voice is heard.
Polls are open until 8pm. You can check your registration, find your polling place, and find out how to register and vote today here:
Polls are open until 8pm. You can check your registration, find your polling place, and find out how to register and vote today here:
Register
www.lavote.gov
November 4, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Please vote yes on 50. Thanks.
Great interview and highly informative. Was not aware of how much of a downward trend there has been in the convention business.
It's really time to start asking these people: okay, great, so which world-class conventions and trade shows are you hoping to get, what is their current attendance, and how are you planning on luring them to LA?
And, more importantly, how many hotel room nights have they promised to book?
And, more importantly, how many hotel room nights have they promised to book?
October 2, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Great interview and highly informative. Was not aware of how much of a downward trend there has been in the convention business.
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
Half of Los Angeles can now be legally profiled.
Half of LA and a third of Chicago are Latino. Court-blessed racial profiling will terrorize both cities
ICE Can Now Racially Profile Almost Half of LA
The Supreme Court’s ruling will fall especially hard on the 48% of Los Angeles County residents who are Hispanic or Latino.
bloom.bg
September 10, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Half of Los Angeles can now be legally profiled.
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
This video is 100% worth watching.
Could be straight out of Red Guards at nadir of China's nihilist Cultural Revolution.
"What you are saying is illegal, because it goes against the views of Our President."
Remember when today's MAGA fans professed to bleed and die for cause of "free speech"?
Could be straight out of Red Guards at nadir of China's nihilist Cultural Revolution.
"What you are saying is illegal, because it goes against the views of Our President."
Remember when today's MAGA fans professed to bleed and die for cause of "free speech"?
Things are all just worse now, but this does remind me of the time parents of a kid in my eighth grade world history course tried to get the teacher fired for teaching us that Jesus was Jewish.
Student, to professor: "I'm not entirely sure this is legal to be teaching, because according to our president there's only two genders... and I don't want to promote something that is against our president's laws as well as against my religious beliefs" www.kbtx.com/2025/09/09/a...
September 9, 2025 at 4:38 PM
This video is 100% worth watching.
Could be straight out of Red Guards at nadir of China's nihilist Cultural Revolution.
"What you are saying is illegal, because it goes against the views of Our President."
Remember when today's MAGA fans professed to bleed and die for cause of "free speech"?
Could be straight out of Red Guards at nadir of China's nihilist Cultural Revolution.
"What you are saying is illegal, because it goes against the views of Our President."
Remember when today's MAGA fans professed to bleed and die for cause of "free speech"?
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
About this Florida vaccine story:
When they were little - 1 yr and 3 1/2 - my two older boys, who’d had all their shots, got whooping cough.
We asked their pediatrician what would’ve happened if they hadn’t been vaccinated.
“Oh, they’d have died.”
When they were little - 1 yr and 3 1/2 - my two older boys, who’d had all their shots, got whooping cough.
We asked their pediatrician what would’ve happened if they hadn’t been vaccinated.
“Oh, they’d have died.”
September 3, 2025 at 10:06 PM
About this Florida vaccine story:
When they were little - 1 yr and 3 1/2 - my two older boys, who’d had all their shots, got whooping cough.
We asked their pediatrician what would’ve happened if they hadn’t been vaccinated.
“Oh, they’d have died.”
When they were little - 1 yr and 3 1/2 - my two older boys, who’d had all their shots, got whooping cough.
We asked their pediatrician what would’ve happened if they hadn’t been vaccinated.
“Oh, they’d have died.”
Subscribe to @lataco.bsky.social !
I got to talk with @lataco.bsky.social's @eltragon.bsky.social about his tireless documentation of immigration raids in LA, and how his knowledge of the city's street food scene makes him a better immigration reporter
They Spent Years Covering L.A.'s Taco Scene. When ICE Raids Began, They Were Ready.
"It's very personal to me," Memo Torres told HuffPost. "L.A. is home. So you attack my home, you’re attacking my people."
www.huffpost.com
August 30, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Subscribe to @lataco.bsky.social !
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
No one is paying attention but the lineup of dissenters virtually guarantees Supreme Court upholds tariffs and 7-2 (Kagan joining majority) is on the table.
August 29, 2025 at 10:58 PM
No one is paying attention but the lineup of dissenters virtually guarantees Supreme Court upholds tariffs and 7-2 (Kagan joining majority) is on the table.
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
I’ve been outside the Brussels bubble this summer travelling around Europe, spending time in 🇫🇷🇪🇸🇮🇹🇵🇱🇧🇪🇹🇷🇬🇧🇬🇷. In talking to Europeans, a grim reality has become apparent.
We are facing a crisis of confidence in facing the 🇺🇸 threat. How can we make Europeans believe in themselves?
We are facing a crisis of confidence in facing the 🇺🇸 threat. How can we make Europeans believe in themselves?
Europe has all the tools it needs to be free, but Europeans are afraid to use them
Over the past months, this continent has collapsed into a mire of fatalistic thinking. Mario Draghi is trying to remind us of the strength we possess. But Europeans don't believe in themselves.
davekeating.substack.com
August 28, 2025 at 11:26 AM
I’ve been outside the Brussels bubble this summer travelling around Europe, spending time in 🇫🇷🇪🇸🇮🇹🇵🇱🇧🇪🇹🇷🇬🇧🇬🇷. In talking to Europeans, a grim reality has become apparent.
We are facing a crisis of confidence in facing the 🇺🇸 threat. How can we make Europeans believe in themselves?
We are facing a crisis of confidence in facing the 🇺🇸 threat. How can we make Europeans believe in themselves?
This is so illegal!
Nvidia and AMD to pay 15% of China chip sale revenues to US government on.ft.com/3JaXE0w
Nvidia and AMD to pay 15% of China chip sale revenues to US government
Chipmakers agree to unusual arrangement to secure export licences from Trump administration
on.ft.com
August 11, 2025 at 12:46 AM
This is so illegal!
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
When LA city workers began sounding alarms to civil rights attorney Connie Rice that LA's leaders were about to strike a bad deal with LA28, Rice compiled their grave concerns in a 7-page letter to Mayor Karen Bass.
After what we saw at the White House this week, Rice's words are even more urgent
After what we saw at the White House this week, Rice's words are even more urgent
August 8, 2025 at 1:49 PM
When LA city workers began sounding alarms to civil rights attorney Connie Rice that LA's leaders were about to strike a bad deal with LA28, Rice compiled their grave concerns in a 7-page letter to Mayor Karen Bass.
After what we saw at the White House this week, Rice's words are even more urgent
After what we saw at the White House this week, Rice's words are even more urgent
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
Oral arguments are well under way, and while I am not a lawyer, the judges have very harshly questioned the Justice Department -- and its claims to broad presidential tariff powers under the law
NEW: One day before President Trump will implement his steepest and perhaps most damaging tariffs, his administration must defend the legality of his trade war in a federal appeals court, a case that could define his trade powers. My latest: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/b...
On Eve of Tariff Deadline, Trump’s Trade War Faces Key Court Test
www.nytimes.com
July 31, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Oral arguments are well under way, and while I am not a lawyer, the judges have very harshly questioned the Justice Department -- and its claims to broad presidential tariff powers under the law
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
ROSENBERG: “.. The one development nobody is talking about is what will happen on Thursday, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the federal circuit begins to hear oral arguments in the case of whether the President’s tariff actions are legal.” ..
July 29, 2025 at 11:27 AM
ROSENBERG: “.. The one development nobody is talking about is what will happen on Thursday, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the federal circuit begins to hear oral arguments in the case of whether the President’s tariff actions are legal.” ..
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
Nikkei found academics had written "give a positive review only" and "do not highlight any negatives" in white text or tiny font on 17 preprints to combat AI peer reviews.
asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...
asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...
'Positive review only': Researchers hide AI prompts in papers
Instructions in preprints from 14 universities highlight controversy on AI in peer review
asia.nikkei.com
July 3, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Nikkei found academics had written "give a positive review only" and "do not highlight any negatives" in white text or tiny font on 17 preprints to combat AI peer reviews.
asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...
asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...
To be clear, rather than directly contradict this, in an interview Harris called Iran the US's "greatest adversary." You can only blame so much on the "information environment."
www.cnbc.com/2024/10/08/h...
www.cnbc.com/2024/10/08/h...
June 22, 2025 at 4:04 PM
To be clear, rather than directly contradict this, in an interview Harris called Iran the US's "greatest adversary." You can only blame so much on the "information environment."
www.cnbc.com/2024/10/08/h...
www.cnbc.com/2024/10/08/h...
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
In the spring of 2008, I feared America was on the verge of war with Iran — and, believing that it’s good style to get to know people before you bomb them, I made “Rick Steves’ Iran,” a one-hour special that could (and would) only debut on PBS. Sadly, this special has become pertinent again today.
Iran
Join Rick as he explores the most surprising and fascinating land he's ever visited: Iran. In a one-hour, ground-breaking travel special on public television, you'll discover the splendid monuments of...
www.ricksteves.com
June 17, 2025 at 9:18 PM
In the spring of 2008, I feared America was on the verge of war with Iran — and, believing that it’s good style to get to know people before you bomb them, I made “Rick Steves’ Iran,” a one-hour special that could (and would) only debut on PBS. Sadly, this special has become pertinent again today.
To an LLM, facts are just text like anything else, and it doesn't differentiate absent fine tuning. But while fine tuning has shown increasingly good results with coding, math, and tool following, it hurts creativity, which is bad for writing. I don't think there's a way out.
There's a whole lot of this throughout the entire Sun-Times Summer 2025 section, I can't find most of the people or publications referred to or quoted in any of this (some of the publications exist but i can't find the cited people in them)
May 20, 2025 at 2:33 PM
To an LLM, facts are just text like anything else, and it doesn't differentiate absent fine tuning. But while fine tuning has shown increasingly good results with coding, math, and tool following, it hurts creativity, which is bad for writing. I don't think there's a way out.
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
I went to the Supreme Court to stand with Americans in support of birthright citizenship.
It was Republicans who passed the 14th Amendment. If Republicans are the party of Lincoln, why overturn it?
It was Republicans who passed the 14th Amendment. If Republicans are the party of Lincoln, why overturn it?
May 15, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I went to the Supreme Court to stand with Americans in support of birthright citizenship.
It was Republicans who passed the 14th Amendment. If Republicans are the party of Lincoln, why overturn it?
It was Republicans who passed the 14th Amendment. If Republicans are the party of Lincoln, why overturn it?
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
Chicago's long-electric South Shore Line is adding 14 daily trains and faster service after double tracking. Electrification encourages these future improvements, while hydrogen locks in low service.
Will Metrolink follow and finish the job on double track? mysouthshoreline.com/south-shore-...
Will Metrolink follow and finish the job on double track? mysouthshoreline.com/south-shore-...
South Shore Line announces implementation of new double track train schedule | South Shore Line
South Shore Line is pleased to announce the implementation of a new train schedule effective Tuesday, May 14, 2024. This new schedule is the result of the capital improvements made to the South Shore ...
mysouthshoreline.com
May 8, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Chicago's long-electric South Shore Line is adding 14 daily trains and faster service after double tracking. Electrification encourages these future improvements, while hydrogen locks in low service.
Will Metrolink follow and finish the job on double track? mysouthshoreline.com/south-shore-...
Will Metrolink follow and finish the job on double track? mysouthshoreline.com/south-shore-...
AI itself offers no moat, and things like AI search are better viewed as table stakes rather than competitive advantages. There is going to be a series of major and minor "Deepseek events" and announcements like this one until people figure that out.
Apple heds sinking Google a very good “AI tide doesn’t lift all boats” moment
May 7, 2025 at 5:00 PM
AI itself offers no moat, and things like AI search are better viewed as table stakes rather than competitive advantages. There is going to be a series of major and minor "Deepseek events" and announcements like this one until people figure that out.
Reposted by Bahrad Sokhansanj
I’m not adding anything novel to the discussion here but while there have been plenty of extremely successful investors in the US over the past few decades, Buffett’s the only one who I’d characterize as adding something positive to the American character/culture and he deserves his legacy.
May 4, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I’m not adding anything novel to the discussion here but while there have been plenty of extremely successful investors in the US over the past few decades, Buffett’s the only one who I’d characterize as adding something positive to the American character/culture and he deserves his legacy.
There's nothing more Saskatchewan than a Davidson kid with the last name Al-Katib building a pulse powerhouse -- also great to see the fruition of one of my father's goals in building value for Saskatchewan agriculture.
WHAT THE LENTIL KING OF SASKATCHEWAN KNOWS ABOUT WORLD TRADE
@tracyalloway.bsky.social and I talked about the global ag trade with the one and only Murad Al-Katib, the man who turned the province into a pulses-exporting powerhouse.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
@tracyalloway.bsky.social and I talked about the global ag trade with the one and only Murad Al-Katib, the man who turned the province into a pulses-exporting powerhouse.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
What The 'Lentil King of Saskatchewan' Knows About World Trade
Podcast Episode · Odd Lots · 05/02/2025 · 52m
podcasts.apple.com
May 2, 2025 at 9:03 PM
There's nothing more Saskatchewan than a Davidson kid with the last name Al-Katib building a pulse powerhouse -- also great to see the fruition of one of my father's goals in building value for Saskatchewan agriculture.
Love to see it.
April 30, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Love to see it.