@BarzinAkhavan

https://nitter.cf/t.co/PxEN4mkB7O

Joined May 2009
Barzin Akhavan retweeted
A Politico reporter was denied access to the White House and had his press credentials taken this morning despite a judge's order overruling the White House ban. @meganmesserly politico.com/news/2026/09/24…
104
322
35
561
28,655
Barzin Akhavan retweeted
Obviously I can't wait for the MLB season to be over. But I am so ready for next year and to rock the SOTY
5
2
12
474
President has arguably never sounded better than he does here
LOL -- The White House pool is boycotting Trump, but Real America's Voice is trying to fill in the gap. Unfortunately they haven't yet figured out how microphones work so Trump is still yelling into the void.
1
1
1
137
Barzin Akhavan retweeted
The need in Gaza is growing, but our resources are shrinking. Your gift keeps our local Relief Team cooking. Donate now.

906
19
3,599
453,747
Barzin Akhavan retweeted
Bloomberg just dropped the most disturbing investigation I have read this year, and every AI builder should read it and take it seriously. On February 28, two Tomahawk missiles hit an elementary school in Minab, a small town in southern Iran. 156 people died. At least 123 were children. The Pentagon knew within hours that it had bombed a school. The school had its own website. It was labeled on Google Maps. You could see the soccer pitch from a satellite view. You could see the brightly painted walls. Any 12-year-old with a browser could tell what the building was. The AI system could not. Inside US Central Command, personnel were using Palantir's Maven Smart System. It is an AI targeting platform running on a $1.3 billion Pentagon contract, and embedded inside it is Anthropic's Claude. On day one of the war, more than 1,000 targets went through it in 24 hours. Work that used to take a team hours per target got compressed into minutes. The satellite imagery Maven was pulling from was seven years old. The site was still tagged in the database as an Islamic Revolutionary Guard facility. The system spat it out as a recommended day-one target. Humans signed off. The first missile flew. Then a second one landed minutes later to hit the people who came to help. Investigators later found that some Central Command staff had assumed Maven would flag stale intelligence for them. It did not. Nobody had told it to. Palantir told Bloomberg the government is responsible for the underlying data. The Pentagon's civilian harm mitigation team, the people whose actual job is to catch a target like this, had been cut back before the war started. This is not AI going rogue. This is the opposite. This is AI doing exactly what it was built to do at exactly the speed it was built to do it. And a school full of little girls got vaporized because the humans in the loop trusted the machine more than they trusted their own eyes. I keep thinking about the version of this story that comes next. What happens when the system is faster. When the target list is not 1,000 in a day but 10,000. When "review" becomes a button the operator has three seconds to hit before the next target loads. When there is no human left slow enough to notice that a soccer pitch is not a helipad. We are not talking about a spam filter mislabeling an email. We are talking about a system that turned a seven-year-old database entry into two cruise missiles landing on children in the middle of a morning class. A UN-backed panel has now called it a potential war crime. In terms of children killed, it is the deadliest American targeting error of the entire 21st century. And according to Bloomberg, some of Defense Secretary Hegseth's own advisors are worried that too much public scrutiny of Maven might slow down its adoption inside the Pentagon. Read that last line again. If you build this stuff, you own what it does. You do not get to hide behind "the government owns the data." The whole pitch of your product is that speed and integration save lives. When it takes them instead, that is also on you. I am not against AI in defense. I am against AI in a hurry. Speed is the entire mechanism that made Minab possible. Every guardrail we already know how to build takes time, and time is exactly what the system was designed to eliminate. So here is the question I have not been able to stop asking, and I genuinely want to know what you think. If a piece of software helped kill 123 children in a single morning while behaving exactly as designed, what does "responsible AI" even mean anymore?
227
2,135
270
4,897
367,910
Barzin Akhavan retweeted
This is Helma. She was 10 years old. US military killed her when it bombed a sports center used by school girls in Iran’s city of Lamard.
248
4,033
76
14,421
125,983
בגלל העניין והחשיבות הציבורית אני ורחלי החלטנו ביחד עם הגרדיאן שהסרט נז״א יהיה נגיש באינטרנט בחינם, ללא הגבלת זמן, כדי שכל אדם יוכל לצפות בו ובעדויות החיילים. זה יקרה בעוד כמה שבועות, בנובמבר, במועד הכי מוקדם שהצלחנו לקבוע. עד אז פנינו לבתי קולנוע בישראל והצענו להם את הסרט ללא עלות, בתקווה שיוקרן בארץ כבר עכשיו, במקביל להפצתו בבתי קולנוע בעולם. הצגתו תהיה החלטה אמיצה אל מול אלימות גדולה שמכוונת להסתרתו. אני יודע שיש ביקוש אדיר לצפות בסרט ואני מקווה שבאופן הזה כולם בקרוב יוכלו לראות אותו: בין אם בבתי הקולנוע ובין אם באינטרנט בעוד כמה שבועות. הרבה דברים לא נכונים נאמרו עלינו ועל הסרט בשבוע החולף. הסרט מבוסס על תחקיר עיתונאי מקיף של שלוש שנים והפרטים בו מאומתים ומוצלבים. הוא ידבר בעד עצמו והאמת סופה להתבהר. עשינו את הסרט כדי לעורר דיון ציבורי לגבי המעשים של הממשלה בעזה, ההרג של יותר מ73,000 בני אדם, רובם אזרחים, הנרמול של מלחמת השמדה, של התפיסה ש״אין בלתי מעורבים״. עשרים וארבעה חיילים וחיילות עשו צעד ודיברו מול מצלמה על מה שחברה שלמה לא רוצה לדבר עליו. ההכרה בזוועות בעזה לא מפחיתה לרגע מהטבח הנפשע של השבעה באוקטובר, שחמאס אחראי עליו, שחיילים מדברים עליו בסרט, ושאין לו שום הצדקה. להפך. הרי ההתעלמות ממה שקורה בעזה היא מהגורמים שסללו את הדרך לשבת הנוראה ההיא. וההתעלמות הזו נמשכת. עיתונות היא לא בגידה. ביקורת היא לא בגידה. זו חובה של כל אזרח שממשלתו מבצעת פשעים לדעת ושל כל חייל שהיה עד להם לספר. מסתובבים כאן אלפי חיילים כאלה, שיצפו בסרט ויזהו את מה שמתואר בו באופן אישי: את ההרג של אנשים לא חמושים שחוצים קו מדומיין, את אישורי הנז״א במאות, את התקיפות המערכתיות בבתי משפחות, את השריפה וההשמדה הפיזית של עזה, רצח וירי על אנשים רעבים במרכזי מזון ופשעים נוספים שאין להם הצדקה. גם אם זה מפחיד, זו חובתכם למצוא את הדרך להעיד על מה שראיתם. יגידו לכם שכדאי להסתיר את האמת למען הסברה בחו״ל, אבל זה קשקוש. שם יודעים כבר הכל. פשעים לא מסבירים אלא עוצרים. הסתרת האמת קודם כל מרעילה את החברה שלנו ומעל הכל מאפשרת לפגיעה בבני אדם בעזה להימשך. ובנימה אישית: אני כותב על מדיניות האש של הצבא בעזה בעברית ב״שיחה מקומית״ כבר שלוש שנים. התחקירים זכו להתעלמות בישראל. עכשיו בפעם הראשונה משהו נסדק במסך ההתעלמות - וזה דבר חיובי. זה דבר בריא. כן, זה מגיע עם מחיר אישי גדול. היה שבוע קשה. אבל בתוכו גם יש המון תמיכה, והרבה נדיבות. מה שבטוח: האיומים לא יעזרו. זה לא מרתיע אותנו. אני ורחלי נחזור לארץ ונמשיך להיאבק על עתיד המקום הזה ביחד עם שותפים רבים.
1,530
6,752
517
21,730
987,363
If I'm in performance, this track has been on my warm up playlist for over 20 years
25 years ago today, Jagged Edge and Nelly's 'Where the Party At' was the No.1 R&B single in America.
2
1
4
292
Literally 2 of my favorites. But Coming to America is arguably the greatest comedy film of all time
Harlem Nights vs Coming to America - Debating my homie right now.😆👊🏽✌🏽
2
1
3
254
Obviously I can't wait for the MLB season to be over. But I am so ready for next year and to rock the SOTY
5
2
12
474
Barzin Akhavan retweeted
Shoutout to Ed Reed, Clinton Portis and Jeremy Shockey for leaving the seat empty for Sean Taylor. You are loved and you missed dearly. #RIPSeanTaylor
47
1,981
95
15,937
603,184
Has any post aged worse in history?
U.S. MORTGAGE RATES RISE BACK ABOVE 7%, HIGHEST IN MORE THAN TWO YEARS
249
3,488
79
44,482
1,108,905
Barzin Akhavan retweeted
Hi kids.
24
2,942
8
18,615
95,478
Remembering John Coltrane on his birthday (September 23, 1926 - July 17, 1967)💙🕊️ #Coltrane100
1
21
1
69
1,759
I am WEEPING at 10 am
Duncan Trussell recorded this conversation with his mother while she was facing terminal cancer. What you’re hearing isn’t scripted. It isn’t performed. It’s a son sitting with his dying mother trying to hold onto every word before the words run out. And she, the one facing the end, is the one doing the comforting. That is what makes these conversations so extraordinary. Not the wisdom itself, as profound as it is. But who it’s coming from. A woman who had every reason to be consumed by her own fear choosing instead to spend what little time remained helping her son understand how to live without her. These recordings became the heart of The Midnight Gospel. And I always go back to watch it again. They remain some of the most honest conversations about death, love and what it means to be human ever put on screen…
1
1
3
428
Barzin Akhavan retweeted
Trump’s Department of Justice just removed every single one of Trump’s pardons from their website. Too bad we saved them before they could delete them: —George Santos, wire fraud —Julie Chrisley, conspiracy to commit bank fraud (5 counts); bank fraud; wire fraud; conspiracy to defraud the U.S. to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Laws —Todd Chrisley, conspiracy to commit bank fraud; bank fraud (5 counts); wire fraud; conspiracy to defraud the U.S. to obstruct and impede the Internal Revenue Laws —Tina Peters, for those offenses she has or may have committed or taken part in related to election integrity and security during the period from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021 —Changpeng Zhao, failure to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program —Nearly 1,600 January 6th insurrectionists: seditious conspiracy; assaulting, resisting/impeding law enforcement; destruction of government property; obstruction of an official proceeding —Ross William Ulbricht, fraud with identification documents —Terence Dale Sutton, Jr., murder in second degree; conspiracy; obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting —Andrew Zabavsky, conspiracy; obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting —Lawrence S. Duran, conspiracy to commit health care fraud; health care fraud (11 counts); conspiracy to defraud the United States and to receive and pay health care kickbacks —Kentrell D. Gaulden, Felon in possession of a firearm — Michael Gerard Grimm, aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns —Michael Ray Harris, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to aid and abet possession and distribution of cocaine; possession with intent to distribute cocaine —Larry Hoover, narcotics conspiracy; continuing criminal enterprise; use of persons under age 18; distribution of cocaine; distribution of cocaine (2 counts) use of a firearm in the commission of a drug trafficking crime —James M. Kernan, knowingly and willfully permitting a convicted felon to be engaged in the business of insurance —Marlene Mary Kernan, permitting a convicted felon to engage in the business of insurance —Tanner J. Mansell, theft of property within special maritime jurisdiction —John R. Moore, Jr., theft of property within special maritime jurisdiction —Marian I. Morgan, conspiracy to defraud the United States; wire fraud (7 counts); transfer of funds taken by fraud (5 counts) —John G. Rowland, conspiracy to defraud the United States —Charles Overton Scott, conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud —Alexander Sittenfeld, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds; attempted extortion under color of official right —Earl Lamont Smith, theft of government property —Garnett Gilbert Smith, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine —Charles Lavar Tanner, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine; attempt to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine —Anabel Valenzuela, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; conspiracy to commit money laundering; criminal forfeiture (2 counts) —Imaad Shah Zuberi, violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act; tax evasion; illegal campaign contributions; tampering with a witness, victim or informant (obstruction of justice) —Jeremy Young Hutchinson, conspiracy to commit bribery, aiding and abetting filing of false income tax return; conspiracy; criminal forfeiture of property —Edward Ruben Sotelo, conspiracy; continuing criminal enterprise; possession with intent to distribute 1 kilogram of cocaine, aiding and abetting (2 counts); distribution of more than five kilograms of cocaine and aiding and abetting —Joe Angelo Sotelo, conspiracy; possession with intent to distribute one kilogram of cocaine and aiding and abetting —Brian Kelsey, conspiracy to defraud the United States —Thomas Edward Caldwell, tampering with documents or proceedings —Devon Archer, conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud —Benjamin Delo, violation of the Bank Secrecy Act —Gregory Dwyer, violation of Bank Secrecy Act —Arthur Hayes, violation of the Bank Secrecy Act —HDR Global Trading Limited, violation of Bank Secrecy Act —Trevor Milton, securities fraud; wire fraud (2 counts) —Samuel Reed, violation of the Bank Secrecy Act —Jason Galanis, conspiracy to commit securities fraud (2 counts); securities fraud; investment adviser fraud —Ozy Media, Inc., conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit wire fraud —Carlos Roy Watson, conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit wire fraud; aggravated identity theft —Michele Fiore, conspiracy to commit wire fraud (6 counts); wire fraud —Paul Walczak, willful failure to pay trust fund taxes; failure to file return/information —Scott Howard Jenkins, conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving Federal funds, honest services mail fraud, and honest service wire fraud; honest services mail fraud; honest services wire fraud (3 counts) —James Callahan, filing false labor union reports —Kevin Eric Baisden, shoplifting; second degree theft; bail reform act —Mark Bashaw, violation of lawful orders —Joan Bell, conspiracy against rights; FACE Act —Coleman Boyd, conspiracy to obstruct access to a clinic providing reproductive health services; violation of the FACE Act —Joel Curry, conspiracy against rights; clinic access obstruction —Jonathan Darnel, conspiracy against rights; FACE Act —Caroline Davis, conspiracy to interfere with access to clinic entrances; aiding and abetting interference with access to clinic entrances Conspiracy —Eva Edl, conspiracy against rights; clinic access obstruction; violation of the FACE Act —Chester Gallagher, conspiracy to obstruct access to a clinic providing reproductive health services; violation of the FACE Act —Herb Geraghty, conspiracy against rights; FACE Act —William Goodman, conspiracy against rights; FACE Act —Dennis Green, conspiracy to obstruct access to a clinic providing reproductive health services; violation of the FACE Act —Lauren Handy, conspiracy against rights; FACE Act —Paula Harlow, conspiracy against rights; FACE Act —John Hinshaw, conspiracy against rights; FACE Act —Heather Idoni, conspiracy against rights; FACE Act —Jean Marshall, conspiracy against rights; FACE Act —Christopher Moscinski, interference with freedom of access to reproductive health services —Justin Phillips, conspiracy against rights; clinic access obstruction —Paul Place, violation of the FACE Act —Jay Smith, FACE Act —Paul Vaughn, conspiracy to obstruct access to a clinic providing reproductive health services; violation of the FACE Act —Bevelyn Beatty Williams, violating FACE Act —Calvin Zastrow, conspiracy to obstruct access to clinic providing reproductive health services; violation of the FACE Act —Eva Zastrow, conspiracy against rights; clinic access obstruction; violation of the FACE Act —James Zastrow, violation of the FACE Act —Rod R. Blagojevich, wire fraud under color of official right (8 counts) —Jean Pinkard, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances —Glen Casada, conspiracy to defraud the United States; honest services wire fraud (4 counts); use of a fictitious name to carry out a fraud —Cade Cothren, conspiracy to defraud the United States; honest services wire fraud (6 counts) —Robert Henry Harshbarger, Jr., introducing misbranded drugs into Interstate commerce; health care fraud —Troy Lake, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Michael McMahon, acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General; conspiracy to engage in interstate stalking; stalking —Darryl Strawberry, Sr., income tax evasion —Michelino Sunseri, leaving the Garnet Canyon Trail to use the shortcut of the Old Climber's Trail in violation of the Superintendent's 2024 Compendium —Joseph Lewis, conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud (2 counts) —Suzanne Kaye, Interstate Communications - Threats —Joseph Schwartz, willful failure to pay over employment taxes; failure to file the Annual 5500 Report —Daniel Edwin Wilson, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person; possession of an unregistered firearm —David Gentile, conspiracy to commit securities fraud; conspiracy to commit wire fraud; securities fraud; wire fraud (2 counts) —Juan Orlando Hernandez, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States; possessing machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of the cocaine importation conspiracy; conspiracy to use and carry machine guns and destructive devices —Timothy Joseph Leiweke, conspiracy to restrain trade —Jimmy Ray Barnett, possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of amphetamine; convicted felon in possession of firearms —Zechariah Benjamin, distribute and aid and abet the distribution of 5 grams or more of cocaine base after having been convicted of two felony drug offenses —Angela Wannette Cupit, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance —Jacob Deutsch, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud —Juan Mercado, III, conspiracy to possess, with intent to distribute, 2160.02 kilograms of marijuana; supervised release violation (conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine) —Angela Reynolds, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance —Andre Donnell Routt, did knowingly and intentionally conspire, combine, confederate and agree together, with each other and with other persons to knowingly and intentionally distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine —James Phillip Womack, distribution of more than five grams of actual methamphetamine —Adriana Isabel Camberos, conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud; wire fraud and aiding and abetting (7 counts) —Andres Enrique Camberos, conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud; wire fraud and aiding and abetting (7 counts) —Danny Preston Conrad, embezzling by postal employee —Arie Eric De Jong, III, conspiracy —Russell John Flint, Jr., aiding and abetting the making of false Selective Service Registration Certificates —Julio M. Herrera Velutini, honest services wire fraud (2 counts); federal program bribery (2 counts) —Kenneth Caprist Kelly, armed bank robbery; assault during armed bank robbery; use of firearm during a crime of violence —James Michael Klos, possession of an unregistered firearm —David Levy, conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud —Hollie Ann Nadel, conspiracy to commit money laundering and bank fraud —Mark T. Rossini, federal program bribery; honest services wire fraud —Wanda Vazquez Garced, federal program bribery; honest services wire fraud —Terren Scott Peizer, securities fraud; insider trading (2 counts) —Travis Henry, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine —Timothy S. Smith, conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service —Nathaniel Newton, Jr., conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana —Joseph Klecko, perjury —Jamal Lewis, use of telephone to facilitate an attempt to possess with intent to distribute cocaine —Elite Diesel Service, Inc., conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Dr. Billy A. Cannon, conspiracy —Stephen E. Buyer, securities fraud (4 counts) —Jonathan Dean Achtemeier, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Timothy Curtis Clancy, II, Clean Air Act tampering —Clancy Logistics Inc., Clean Air Act tampering —Joshua L. Davis, conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the Clean Air Act —Matthew Sidney Geouge, conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the Clean Air Act —Jack Charles Harvard, false statement to a federally insured bank, and aiding and abetting —Adam R. Kidan, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud; wire fraud —John Dougherty, embezzlement of labor union assets (33 counts); wire fraud (24 counts); conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and federal program bribery; honest services wire fraud (7 counts) —Ryan Reginald LaLone, violation of Clean Air Act —Wade James LaLone, violation of Clean Air Act —Accurate Truck Service LLC, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Diesel Freak LLC, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Griffin Transportation Inc., conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Barry Kendal Pierce, Clean Air Act —Custom Auto of Rexburg LLC, tampering with a monitoring device or method required by the Clean Air Act —GDP Tuning LLC, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Aaron Lucas Roskin Rudolf, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Mackenzie Scott Spurlock, tampering with Clean Air Act monitoring device —Patrick Tate Adamiak, receive and possess and unregistered firearm; unlawful possession and transfer of a machine gun —Isaac Merrill Allen, conspiracy to tamper with Clean Air Act monitoring devices; obstruction of agency proceeding —Spade K. Bailly, conspiracy to defraud the United States and to violate the Clean Air Act—Thomas Leon Brooks, Jr., manufacturing counterfeit currency —Giovanna Campo, possession of counterfeit United States obligations —Daniel Aaron Chase, tampering with Clean Air Act monitoring device —Shane Cox, possession of an unregistered firearm; transfer of a firearm in violation of National Firearm Act (five counts); making a firearm in violation of National Firearm Act; engaging in business as a dealer and manufacturer of firearms —Billi Jo Engbrecht, Bank Embezzlement —Russell Fincher, selling ammunition to a prohibited person —Michael Wayne Hanzuk, II, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Jessica Lynn Jacobson, conspiracy to make and utter counterfeit obligations and securities of the United States —Christopher Paul Kaufman, Clean Air Act Tampering —Jeremy Ryan Kettler, possession of unregistered firearm —Eric Wayne Larson, conspiracy to distribute cocaine —Jonathan F. Long, accessory after the fact of falsifying, tampering with, and rendering inaccurate a monitoring device required by the Clean Air Act —Ryan Hugh Milliken, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Kyle David Offringa, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Louis Michael Olerio, Jr., money laundering conspiracy —George Peterson, possession of an unregistered silencer —Dustin Rhine, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —James Sisson, conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act —Travis Turner, accessory after the fact to Clean Air Tampering —Emory Clash Jones, conspiracy to distribute cocaine hydrochloride and cocaine base —Suzula Bidon, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; supervised release violation (conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine) —Molly Ann Bloom, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance —Holly Leanne Frantzen, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance —Kevin Harden, conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana —Jerry Haymon, conspiracy to distribute marijuana —Shemika Alfrida Williams, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession of a firearm during a drug crime
1,795
24,432
1,447
59,634
1,521,911
Barzin Akhavan retweeted
Israel created the largest group of child amputees in the world and then denies them wheelchairs. Just endless depravity.
More than 900 wheelchairs donated by two Australian charities remain stuck in a Jordanian warehouse because of restrictions on aid deliveries into Gaza.
372
23,715
82
99,973
1,144,200
Barzin Akhavan retweeted
I don’t think there’s a statement that better captures the conservative world view
“This is the first time in my adult life where there's been an issue that's come up that I feel like is going to directly impact me,” says Dave Lowe, a lifelong conservative Republican who lives near a proposed data center in Texas.
118
8,995
30
69,429
2,038,512