Sarah Szalavitz💡
@dearsarah.bsky.social
120K followers 1.1K following 37K posts
Accountability Architect💡 Artisanal Database Maker🔎 🧾 Storyteller/Writer/Producer🎙️✍️🎥 Avenger, Academic, Lawyer🗳️ Redistributive Justice ⚖️ Choice Optimizer🤖 Researcher & OG Prompt Engineer🧌 Whistleblower🚨 Human Palantir🔮 https://linktr.ee/realdearsarah
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dearsarah.bsky.social
Experiment confirms quantum theory weirdness; proves reality does not exist until measured <a href="http://phy.so/351940527" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://phy.so/351940527 <a href="http://t.co/BjOhcGrwTs" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://t.co/BjOhcGrwTs
Reposted by Sarah Szalavitz💡
dearsarah.bsky.social
😂 “A reasonable listener would not equate…lyrics such as, "Ain't no law, boy, you ball boy, fetch Gatorade or somethin'” with accurate factual reporting.”

Judge Jeanette Vargas deserves a Grammy for her dismissal of Drake’s defamation suit against Kendrick. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Page 8 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046.96.0.pdf 

11:
The next day. on May 4, 2024, Lamar released "Not Like Us." Am. Compl..
116-7. "Not Like Us" explicitly names Drake and his associates as pedophiles. Id..
60-62. Specifically, the track contains the following lyrics:
Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young You better not ever go to cell block one
Case 1:25-cv-00399-JAV Document 96 Filed 10/09/25 Page 8 of 38
To any b**** that talk to him and they in love Just make sure you hide your lil' sister from him
Am. Compl., Ex. A."
On May 5, 2025, Drake responded in "The Heart Part 6," Req. J. Not. at 3, directly denying Lamar's allegations of pedophilia, id., Ex. O ('I never been with no one underage, but now I understand why this the angle that you really mess with/Just for clarity, I feel disgusted, I'm too respected/If I was f***ing young girls, I promise l'a have been arrested/I'm way too famous for this g*** you just suggested/.
.. Drake is not a name that you gon' see on no sex offender list."); see also Am.
Compl., 1 102. In the track, Drake further sneers that "[t)his Epstein angle was the
**** I expected" and accused Lamar of wanting to "misdirect." Req. J. Not., Ex. O.
Drake also alleges that he had planted some of the information Lamar has used against him. Id. ("We plotted for a week, and then we fed you the information/..
But you so thirsty, you not concerned with investigation/... You gotta learn to factcheck things and be less impatient.").
Page 19 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046.96.0.pdf 

Of particular relevance, in 'Taylor Made Freestyle," Drake challenged Lamar
to make the pedophilia accusations at issue. Using the artificially generated voice of deceased rapper 2Pac, Drake goads Lamar;
Kendrick, we need ya, the West Coast savior Engraving your name in some hip-hop history
If you deal with this viciously
You seem a little nervous about all the publicity f*** this Canadian lightskin, Dot
We need a no-debated West Coast victory, man Call him a b**** for me
Talk about him likin' young girls, that's a gift from me Heard it on the Budden Podcast, it's gotta be true
Id., Ex. I. It is in this context in which such lyrics as "Say, Drake, I hear you like
'em young" from the Recording must be assessed. The similarity in the wording
suggests strongly that this line is a direct callback to Drake's lyrics in the prior
song.
Plaintiff argues that the Court should ignore the songs that came before and
assess "Not Like Us" as a "singular entity."
Page 24 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046.96.0.pdf 

"Not Like Us" is replete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and
figurative and hyperbolic language, all of which are indicia of opinion. A reasonable listener would not equate a song that contains lyrics such as, "Ain't no law, boy, you ball boy, fetch Gatorade or somethin', since 2009 I had this b**** jumpin'," with accurate factual reporting. Accordingly, the reasonable listener of "Not Like Us"
would conclude that Lamar is rapping hyperbolic vituperations.
Plaintiff contends that, in determining if the lyries in "Not Like Us" express fact or opinion, the Court must consider the subjective views of listeners, "as well as commentators in the rap industry and the press," who understood the Recording, Video and Image as an attempt to "convey a precise factual message (pedophilia) about Drake." Opp'n Br. at 7, 9; see also Am. Compl., $ 219. The Amended Complaint cites extensively to comments and posts from YouTube and Instagram that expressed the belief that the Recording had exposed the truth and that Drake truly was engaged in "pedophilia and sexual violence against children." Am.
Compl., 1 219; see also id., 91 73-76, 78-82, 220.
But "distinguishing between fact and opinion is a question of law for the
courts, to be decided based on 'what the average person hearing or reading the communication would take it to mean."' Davis v. Boeheim, 24 N.Y.3d 262, 269
(2014) (citation omitted). "The dispositive inquiry is whether a reasonable (listener) could have concluded that the statements were conveying facts about the plaintiff." Id. at 269-70 (citation omitted). Courts make that determination by looking at the Page 25 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046.96.0.pdf 

full context and surrounding circumstances of the challenged communication. Id. at
270. The Court holds, based upon a full consideration of the context in which "Not
Like Us was published, that a reasonable listener could not have concluded that
"Not Like Us" was conveying objective facts about Drake. The views expressed by users @kaioken8026, @mrright8439, and @ZxZNebula, and the other You'Tube and Instagram commentators quoted in the Complaint, Am. Compl., 19 73-74, do not alter the Court's analysis. In a world in which billions of people are active online, support for almost any proposition, no matter how farfetched, fantastical or unreasonable, can be found with little effort in any number of comment sections, chat rooms, and servers. "[That some readers may infer a defamatory meaning from a statement does not necessarily render the inference reasonable under the circumstances." Jacobus, 51 N.Y.S.3d at 336.
The artists' seven track rap battle was a "war of words" that was the subject
of substantial media scrutiny and online discourse. Although the accusation that Plaintiff is a pedophile is certainly a serious one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants, would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that "Not Like Us imparts verifiable facts about Plaintift.
dearsarah.bsky.social
93 yo Dan Rather Says Bari Weiss Hire & Skydance Paramount Merger Mark “A Dark Day In The Halls Of CBS News”
deadline.com/2025/10/dan-... With gratitude/no disrespect to wealthy nonagenarians & octogenarians, truthfulness (& truthiness) is now only their privilege/burden in this shared disaster?
Dan Rather Says Bari Weiss Hire And Skydance-Paramount Merger Mark “A Dark Day In The Halls Of CBS News”
Rather said that Weiss' hire will add to fears journalists have of losing their jobs.
deadline.com
dearsarah.bsky.social
😂 “A reasonable listener would not equate…lyrics such as, "Ain't no law, boy, you ball boy, fetch Gatorade or somethin'” with accurate factual reporting.”

Judge Jeanette Vargas deserves a Grammy for her dismissal of Drake’s defamation suit against Kendrick. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Page 8 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046.96.0.pdf 

11:
The next day. on May 4, 2024, Lamar released "Not Like Us." Am. Compl..
116-7. "Not Like Us" explicitly names Drake and his associates as pedophiles. Id..
60-62. Specifically, the track contains the following lyrics:
Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young You better not ever go to cell block one
Case 1:25-cv-00399-JAV Document 96 Filed 10/09/25 Page 8 of 38
To any b**** that talk to him and they in love Just make sure you hide your lil' sister from him
Am. Compl., Ex. A."
On May 5, 2025, Drake responded in "The Heart Part 6," Req. J. Not. at 3, directly denying Lamar's allegations of pedophilia, id., Ex. O ('I never been with no one underage, but now I understand why this the angle that you really mess with/Just for clarity, I feel disgusted, I'm too respected/If I was f***ing young girls, I promise l'a have been arrested/I'm way too famous for this g*** you just suggested/.
.. Drake is not a name that you gon' see on no sex offender list."); see also Am.
Compl., 1 102. In the track, Drake further sneers that "[t)his Epstein angle was the
**** I expected" and accused Lamar of wanting to "misdirect." Req. J. Not., Ex. O.
Drake also alleges that he had planted some of the information Lamar has used against him. Id. ("We plotted for a week, and then we fed you the information/..
But you so thirsty, you not concerned with investigation/... You gotta learn to factcheck things and be less impatient.").
Page 19 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046.96.0.pdf 

Of particular relevance, in 'Taylor Made Freestyle," Drake challenged Lamar
to make the pedophilia accusations at issue. Using the artificially generated voice of deceased rapper 2Pac, Drake goads Lamar;
Kendrick, we need ya, the West Coast savior Engraving your name in some hip-hop history
If you deal with this viciously
You seem a little nervous about all the publicity f*** this Canadian lightskin, Dot
We need a no-debated West Coast victory, man Call him a b**** for me
Talk about him likin' young girls, that's a gift from me Heard it on the Budden Podcast, it's gotta be true
Id., Ex. I. It is in this context in which such lyrics as "Say, Drake, I hear you like
'em young" from the Recording must be assessed. The similarity in the wording
suggests strongly that this line is a direct callback to Drake's lyrics in the prior
song.
Plaintiff argues that the Court should ignore the songs that came before and
assess "Not Like Us" as a "singular entity."
Page 24 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046.96.0.pdf 

"Not Like Us" is replete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and
figurative and hyperbolic language, all of which are indicia of opinion. A reasonable listener would not equate a song that contains lyrics such as, "Ain't no law, boy, you ball boy, fetch Gatorade or somethin', since 2009 I had this b**** jumpin'," with accurate factual reporting. Accordingly, the reasonable listener of "Not Like Us"
would conclude that Lamar is rapping hyperbolic vituperations.
Plaintiff contends that, in determining if the lyries in "Not Like Us" express fact or opinion, the Court must consider the subjective views of listeners, "as well as commentators in the rap industry and the press," who understood the Recording, Video and Image as an attempt to "convey a precise factual message (pedophilia) about Drake." Opp'n Br. at 7, 9; see also Am. Compl., $ 219. The Amended Complaint cites extensively to comments and posts from YouTube and Instagram that expressed the belief that the Recording had exposed the truth and that Drake truly was engaged in "pedophilia and sexual violence against children." Am.
Compl., 1 219; see also id., 91 73-76, 78-82, 220.
But "distinguishing between fact and opinion is a question of law for the
courts, to be decided based on 'what the average person hearing or reading the communication would take it to mean."' Davis v. Boeheim, 24 N.Y.3d 262, 269
(2014) (citation omitted). "The dispositive inquiry is whether a reasonable (listener) could have concluded that the statements were conveying facts about the plaintiff." Id. at 269-70 (citation omitted). Courts make that determination by looking at the Page 25 https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046/gov.uscourts.nysd.635046.96.0.pdf 

full context and surrounding circumstances of the challenged communication. Id. at
270. The Court holds, based upon a full consideration of the context in which "Not
Like Us was published, that a reasonable listener could not have concluded that
"Not Like Us" was conveying objective facts about Drake. The views expressed by users @kaioken8026, @mrright8439, and @ZxZNebula, and the other You'Tube and Instagram commentators quoted in the Complaint, Am. Compl., 19 73-74, do not alter the Court's analysis. In a world in which billions of people are active online, support for almost any proposition, no matter how farfetched, fantastical or unreasonable, can be found with little effort in any number of comment sections, chat rooms, and servers. "[That some readers may infer a defamatory meaning from a statement does not necessarily render the inference reasonable under the circumstances." Jacobus, 51 N.Y.S.3d at 336.
The artists' seven track rap battle was a "war of words" that was the subject
of substantial media scrutiny and online discourse. Although the accusation that Plaintiff is a pedophile is certainly a serious one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants, would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that "Not Like Us imparts verifiable facts about Plaintift.
Reposted by Sarah Szalavitz💡
mark-bray.bsky.social
Friends and comrades made a crowdfunding page for my family.

It’s really hard to post this. I know that there are a lot of other important issues asking for money but things have gotten to the point where we need to open ourselves up to your support.

Thank you for your consideration.
"Help us leave safely" on FreeFunder
Click here to support "Help us leave safely" by Dara on FreeFunder!
www.freefunder.com
Reposted by Sarah Szalavitz💡
maxtani.bsky.social
New: Bari Weiss booked Hillary Clinton, Mike Pompeo, and Antony Blinken for a roundtable on Gaza, her first major move at CBS.

Notably on a CBS call today in which the panel was floated, one producer also repeatedly emphasized the need to hear from Palestinians in Gaza (Weiss did not respond).
dearsarah.bsky.social
At a Boyle Heights hospital in Los Angeles, hospital administrators are allowing ICE agents call the shots—& are interfering in medical decisions & blocking doctors from properly treating detainees who need emergency care.

flip.it/ImWek3
At a Boyle Heights hospital, ICE agents call the shots, doctors say
Doctors say administrator directives allow immigration agents to interfere in medical decisions and compromise medical care.
flip.it
Reposted by Sarah Szalavitz💡
brunojnavarro.bsky.social
here’s a great, informative interview with @mark-bray.bsky.social published yesterday
brunojnavarro.bsky.social
Mark Bray — scholar of European history and radicalism, and the author of several books including ‘ANTIFA — the anti fascist handbook’ — on the rise of antifascist movements from the 1930s to today, and why Trump's terror designation recalls authoritarian crackdowns through history
What exactly is Antifa? | CBC Radio
In late September, Donald Trump designated Antifa a domestic terror organization. Today, we’re tracking the meaning and history of antifascist protest — from 1930’s Europe, to today — and asking: how ...
www.cbc.ca
dearsarah.bsky.social
No. Only the USG has that power?
dearsarah.bsky.social
Rutgers Professor @mark-bray.bsky.social, who studies & writes about Antifascism,Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats

By the time he & his family reached the gate, their tickets were cancelled.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/n... flagrantly & appallingly lawless. Hope he & his family are ok.
Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats
www.nytimes.com
dearsarah.bsky.social
👏The last major coal-fired power plant serving CA is closing next month

The US got nearly 1/2 its electricity from coal as recently as 2007.

By 2023, that figure had dropped to just 16.2%—& in 2024, CA got just 2.2% of its electricity from coal! #ProudCalifornian www.latimes.com/california/n...
California says goodbye to coal and hello to cleaner electricity
Your morning catch-up: California says goodbye to coal, trash fees will surge for L.A. residents and more big stories.
www.latimes.com
Reposted by Sarah Szalavitz💡
dearsarah.bsky.social
The hidden cost of ultra-processed foods on the environment: ‘The whole industry should pay’

There are 34 ingredients in M&Ms from 30+ countries (from 🇨🇮 to 🇳🇿 ). Each ingredient has its own supply chain.
www.theguardian.com/environment/... also won’t tariffs make M&Ms even more wildly expensive?!
The hidden cost of ultra-processed foods on the environment: ‘The whole industry should pay’
Industrially made foods involve several ingredients and processes to put together, making it difficult to examine their true cost
www.theguardian.com
dearsarah.bsky.social
Yeah no lol tbh the reason I didn’t include his name is because I really dig his work! He’s got a new book coming out soon too, which may just break my heart.

I’m sure he knows all this—seemed like editing/shorthand in a small portion of great piece…so seemed worth noting, but not to him?
dearsarah.bsky.social
Idk; I don’t think that was the point of the piece & I get why he summarized—but its inaccurate/misleading to suggest that, amongst Israeli Jews & diaspora Jews, there’s not a long history of dissent from & critique of zionism? For eg en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arna_Me...
Arna Mer-Khamis - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
dearsarah.bsky.social
I thought it was a good piece …& I’m quibbling about 2 grafs—but arguably his definition of zionism, at least there, is sooooo broad that it basically includes all US Jews…. except folks who explicitly oppose the existence of 🇮🇱 as a state (so Satmars)…

But for eg JVP formed in 1996…& obvi BDS etc..
dearsarah.bsky.social
The Zionist consensus among US Jews has collapsed. Something new is emerging www.theguardian.com/world/commen... yes—even tho (as a child of a Holocaust survivor who grew up in NY) IME zionism has NOT been universal amongst Jews in the US for decades…but that might just be this author’s definition?
The Zionist consensus among US Jews has collapsed. Something new is emerging | Shaul Magid
Two years after the 7 October massacre and the onset of Israel’s slaughter in Gaza, American Jewry has been profoundly transformed
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Sarah Szalavitz💡
gwensnyder.bsky.social
ICE now very literally at war with Presbyterians
jackjenkins.me
Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.
(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.
dearsarah.bsky.social
She has nothing to hold over Trump. She just wants to keep her job.

(What I’m referring to above may or may not be in the FBI files—it’s separately been public for decades but certainly could be included. There’s loads of photos & footage of Trump on Howard Stern & at beauty contests—no one cares:(
dearsarah.bsky.social
Bondi Does Not Deny Epstein Had Pics Of Trump With 'Half-Naked Young Women'
flip.it/stb295 why would she? There so many videos & photos of Trump (owner of modeling agency, hotels, casinos & beauty pageants) with topless young women (& adult film stars), which he’s proudly discusssed for decades?
Bondi Does Not Deny Epstein Had Pics Of Trump With 'Half-Naked Young Women'
This got a little awkward.
flip.it
dearsarah.bsky.social
Immigration sought to deport 88-year-old. But he already died.
www.latimes.com/california/s... in the past, govt lawyers ra background checks before filing cases, but now there is no formal process & all & any cases are being reopened..

How much taxpayer💰is being spent trying to deport dead people?
Immigration sought to deport 88-year-old. But he already died
The Department of Homeland Security's intense push to ramp up deportations is dragging in even the dead as it unnerves immigrant households and crams court calendars.
www.latimes.com
dearsarah.bsky.social
Meanwhile last week, USC announced their plans to keep legacy status in admissions & to violate CA law.

14.5% of USC’s admits this year are legacies. www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2025/09/30/u... that said, the math on legacies (& donors) is very different than the math on losing access to CALgrants…
USC to keep legacy status in admissions, violating California law
Interim President Beong-Soo Kim explained why the school will continue considering if family members attended in its admissions process, and shared that the fall 2025 class saw the highest number of f...
www.uscannenbergmedia.com
dearsarah.bsky.social
USC faculty denounce Trump’s compact to shift university to the right
www.latimes.com/california/s... to the right? More like unconstitutional, “antithetical to principles of academic freedom” &, of course, in direct conflict with California public policy.
USC faculty members denounce Trump compact that would shift university to the right
The USC Academic Senate held a special meeting to discuss the Trump administration's education compact, which was presented to the school last week.
www.latimes.com