Marc
@marcmelzer.bsky.social
Father, husband, attorney, cook/baker, photographer, general purpose nerd.
But to preserve the adage, the same grand jury returned a true bill on the sandwich itself.
A grand jury has rejected federal prosecutors' attempts to indict Sean Dunn, the man accused of throwing a Subway sandwich at a CBP officer. This comes after three OTHER failed attempts to indict another person accused of assaulting a federal agent. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/u...
Prosecutors Fail to Secure Indictment Against Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agent
www.nytimes.com
August 27, 2025 at 1:26 PM
But to preserve the adage, the same grand jury returned a true bill on the sandwich itself.
Reposted by Marc
Once again: LLMs are word-association algorithms. They are incapable of grokking that the words they parse correspond to actual objects & phenomena outside of their own algorithms. To an LLM, its statements depend not on facts but on how often words occur together in the material the're trained on.
Grok spread dangerous misinformation during the tsunami last night.
It confidently and persistently argued that there were no tsunami warnings in effect for various areas when such warnings were in effect.
Many were using Grok for updates since the ability to locate reliable data on X is degraded.
It confidently and persistently argued that there were no tsunami warnings in effect for various areas when such warnings were in effect.
Many were using Grok for updates since the ability to locate reliable data on X is degraded.
July 30, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Once again: LLMs are word-association algorithms. They are incapable of grokking that the words they parse correspond to actual objects & phenomena outside of their own algorithms. To an LLM, its statements depend not on facts but on how often words occur together in the material the're trained on.
Reposted by Marc
OK, gather 'round, kiddies - let's do a "why are lawyers like this" thread.
Specifically, let's do a "why does the simplest software come with mandatory IP licenses that assert claims to all the rights you have in the universe, up to and possibly not excluding in your firstborn offspring.
Specifically, let's do a "why does the simplest software come with mandatory IP licenses that assert claims to all the rights you have in the universe, up to and possibly not excluding in your firstborn offspring.
July 15, 2025 at 5:34 AM
OK, gather 'round, kiddies - let's do a "why are lawyers like this" thread.
Specifically, let's do a "why does the simplest software come with mandatory IP licenses that assert claims to all the rights you have in the universe, up to and possibly not excluding in your firstborn offspring.
Specifically, let's do a "why does the simplest software come with mandatory IP licenses that assert claims to all the rights you have in the universe, up to and possibly not excluding in your firstborn offspring.
"Get in, loser. We're going to break the internet!"
June 27, 2025 at 3:57 PM
"Get in, loser. We're going to break the internet!"
Reposted by Marc
The Supreme Court's conservative supermajority has set up a system that sharply restricts what the government can do lawfully but puts almost no limits on what the government can do lawlessly. That seems bad.
June 27, 2025 at 3:52 PM
The Supreme Court's conservative supermajority has set up a system that sharply restricts what the government can do lawfully but puts almost no limits on what the government can do lawlessly. That seems bad.
So will TX and others wait until Monday to pass laws restricting minors' access to non "obscene" information on LGBTQ+ matters, or are they convening special sessions this afternoon? Or will they just define everything LGBTQ+ as "obscene" and let this Court endorse that definition next year?
The Supreme Court's fifth decision is Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton. By a 6–3 vote, the court UPHOLDS age-verification laws for online porn, holding that they are only subject to intermediate scrutiny. All three liberals dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
June 27, 2025 at 3:22 PM
So will TX and others wait until Monday to pass laws restricting minors' access to non "obscene" information on LGBTQ+ matters, or are they convening special sessions this afternoon? Or will they just define everything LGBTQ+ as "obscene" and let this Court endorse that definition next year?
Reposted by Marc
Justice Jackson is self-evidently correct; injunctive relief against the government is injunctive relief binding a *party*
![Respondents contend that universal injunctions—or at
least these universal injunctions—are consistent with the
principle that a court of equity may fashion a remedy that
awards complete relief. See Opposition to Application in
No. 24A884 (CASA), at 22–25; Opposition to Application in
No. 24A885 (Washington), pp. 28–32; Opposition to Application in No. 24A886 (New Jersey), pp. 31–39. We agree
that the complete-relief principle has deep roots in equity.
But to the extent respondents argue that it justifies the
award of relief to nonparties, they are mistaken.11
—————— 11 JUSTICE JACKSON, for her part, thinks the “premise” that universal
injunctions provide relief to nonparties is “suspect” because, in her view,
“[n]onparties may benefit from an injunction, but only the plaintiff gets
relief.” Post, at 8–9, n. 2 (dissenting opinion). The availability of contempt proceedings suggests otherwise. Consider the civil contempt context. Under “traditional principles of equity practice,” courts may “impos[e] civil contempt sanctions to ‘coerce [a] defendant into compliance’
with an injunction.” Taggart v. Lorenzen, 587 U. S. 554, 560 (2019)
(quoting United States v. Mine Workers, 330 U. S. 258, 303–304 (1947)).
Generally, civil contempt proceedings occur between the original parties
to the lawsuit. See Gompers v. Bucks Stove & Range Co., 221 U. S. 418,](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:flpfwd36ahipuslvlnnfciep/bafkreidrwirng36zrcpvvajvody6rvijq4glofgetvlmfsm6pgnvs64zim@jpeg)
June 27, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Justice Jackson is self-evidently correct; injunctive relief against the government is injunctive relief binding a *party*
There's a DOJ office that seeks denaturalization/removal of literal war criminals who gained admission to the US, often fraudulently. The work is slow, laborious + has been opposed over the years by various GOP electeds. That Bondi, et al can toss out political opponents is grotesquely unAmerican.
This is a shockingly racist call by a House Republican for Zohran Mamdani to be denaturalized and deported. But instead of being viewed as unserious, it's now being promoted and circulated by LibsOfTikTok, Benny Johnson and MAGA regulars.
Democrats need to understand that Republicans are serious.
Democrats need to understand that Republicans are serious.
June 26, 2025 at 9:50 PM
There's a DOJ office that seeks denaturalization/removal of literal war criminals who gained admission to the US, often fraudulently. The work is slow, laborious + has been opposed over the years by various GOP electeds. That Bondi, et al can toss out political opponents is grotesquely unAmerican.
Reposted by Marc
"About 1,500 demonstrators, many of them lawyers sporting business attire, jammed the plaza outside Manhattan’s federal courthouse as part of the National Law Day of Action, chanting in favor of the rule of law and hoisting pocket Constitutions to the sky."
In Suits and Ties, Lawyers Protest Trump’s Attacks on the Legal System
The National Law Day of Action, which drew roughly 1,500 people in New York City, was organized to resist the president’s threats against judges and the nation’s jurisprudence.
www.nytimes.com
May 2, 2025 at 1:39 AM
"About 1,500 demonstrators, many of them lawyers sporting business attire, jammed the plaza outside Manhattan’s federal courthouse as part of the National Law Day of Action, chanting in favor of the rule of law and hoisting pocket Constitutions to the sky."
Rally for the Rule of Law, Foley Square, NYC #LawDay #RuleOfLaw
May 1, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Rally for the Rule of Law, Foley Square, NYC #LawDay #RuleOfLaw
Reposted by Marc
Re-reading Abrams v. United States for the gazillionth time to prep for class tomorrow and I had overlooked this before, or forgotten it: perhaps the most famous free speech opinion ever, the birth of the "marketplace of ideas" metaphor was... written about non-citizens.
March 31, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Re-reading Abrams v. United States for the gazillionth time to prep for class tomorrow and I had overlooked this before, or forgotten it: perhaps the most famous free speech opinion ever, the birth of the "marketplace of ideas" metaphor was... written about non-citizens.
Reposted by Marc
James Harrison, a blood donor famed for having saved the lives of more than 2 MILLION babies, has died.
Harrison’s plasma contained a rare antibody known as Anti-D which was used to manufacture a medication given to expectant mothers.
Harrison donated plasma every two weeks from age 18-81
Harrison’s plasma contained a rare antibody known as Anti-D which was used to manufacture a medication given to expectant mothers.
Harrison donated plasma every two weeks from age 18-81
James Harrison, blood donor whose rare plasma saved millions of babies, dead at 88 | CNN
James Harrison, a prolific Australian blood donor famed for having saved the lives of more than two million babies, has died at age 88.
bit.ly
March 4, 2025 at 3:40 AM
James Harrison, a blood donor famed for having saved the lives of more than 2 MILLION babies, has died.
Harrison’s plasma contained a rare antibody known as Anti-D which was used to manufacture a medication given to expectant mothers.
Harrison donated plasma every two weeks from age 18-81
Harrison’s plasma contained a rare antibody known as Anti-D which was used to manufacture a medication given to expectant mothers.
Harrison donated plasma every two weeks from age 18-81
Fortuitous timing! Now he's freed up to be RFK Jr's vaccines czar...
The New York Jets announce they are moving on from Aaron Rodgers, bringing a disappointing end to the star quarterback’s 2-year tenure with the team. cnn.it/3QigkvF
February 13, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Fortuitous timing! Now he's freed up to be RFK Jr's vaccines czar...
Reposted by Marc
LISTEN: Judge Coughenour condemns Trump’s assault on birthright citizenship.
It is “apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore…for political or personal gain.”
Part 1:
It is “apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore…for political or personal gain.”
Part 1:
February 6, 2025 at 8:10 PM
LISTEN: Judge Coughenour condemns Trump’s assault on birthright citizenship.
It is “apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore…for political or personal gain.”
Part 1:
It is “apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore…for political or personal gain.”
Part 1:
I refuse to finish today's Strands on principle. More egregious than the Chanukah debacle. Just drop the NY from NYT at this point. @nytimes.com
January 13, 2025 at 3:30 PM
I refuse to finish today's Strands on principle. More egregious than the Chanukah debacle. Just drop the NY from NYT at this point. @nytimes.com
A minor pet peeve and very much a first world problem, but can we let 2024 be the last year in which we need to download an .ics file to add something to a web-based calendar? Help us out, devs.
December 24, 2024 at 7:08 PM
A minor pet peeve and very much a first world problem, but can we let 2024 be the last year in which we need to download an .ics file to add something to a web-based calendar? Help us out, devs.
Reposted by Marc
Abolish The Death Penalty. It's the groundfloor of demands.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_man_w...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_man_w...
September 24, 2024 at 10:17 PM
Abolish The Death Penalty. It's the groundfloor of demands.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_man_w...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_man_w...
Reposted by Marc
Reminder: Trump's claim that the "very fine people scandal was a hoax" is itself a hoax.
It’s Not a ‘Hoax’—Trump’s ‘Very Fine People’ Did Not Exist
The right’s revisionist history that Trump unequivocally denounced the neo-Nazis is bullsh*t. He invented fictitious “regular” folks protesting over a Robert E. Lee statue.
www.thedailybeast.com
September 11, 2024 at 2:36 AM
Reminder: Trump's claim that the "very fine people scandal was a hoax" is itself a hoax.
Reposted by Marc
Mike Masnick does a great job explaining why you should not dine at the bizarre buffet of word salad and ignorance served up by Wired on Section 230. What the fuck, Wired?
www.techdirt.com/2024/02/15/h...
www.techdirt.com/2024/02/15/h...
Has Wired Given Up On Fact Checking? Publishes Facts-Optional Screed Against Section 230 That Gets Almost Everything Wrong
What is going on at Wired Magazine? A few years ago, the magazine went on a bit of a binge with some articles that completely misrepresented Section 230. While I felt those articles were extraordin…
www.techdirt.com
February 15, 2024 at 8:32 PM
Mike Masnick does a great job explaining why you should not dine at the bizarre buffet of word salad and ignorance served up by Wired on Section 230. What the fuck, Wired?
www.techdirt.com/2024/02/15/h...
www.techdirt.com/2024/02/15/h...
Reposted by Marc
Gimme Magritte, boys, and free my soul / Ceci n’est pas une rock ‘n’ roll / Green apple face
February 8, 2024 at 2:19 PM
Gimme Magritte, boys, and free my soul / Ceci n’est pas une rock ‘n’ roll / Green apple face