Notices by Kim Scheinberg (kims@mas.to)

@SteveBellovin @nomad @mattblaze @20002ist @obrien_kat
I set up a tumblr page 14 years ago with only two things on it. It has remained untouched ever since

One is the Heller story. I used to have the copy I clipped from The New Yorker hanging on my fridge

And then there's Duke Ellington:

"There were a few hustlers, who depended upon finding suckers for survival. And there were some who were too wise to hustle, who only wanted to have enough money to be able to afford to be a sucker."

We are now trivia champs three weeks running with another blowout. Second place finished more than 20 pts behind us

Team name: Cory Booker Is Still Talking

We swept the first round, category ‘vowelless’ — all answers contained no vowels. Best q of that round:

What is the Welsh word for valley?

(We also swept ‘name the TV next door neighbor’ but embarrassingly missed, “After Elon Musk, who has the second most twitter followers?”

He gave me one of my first, truly safe jobs and opportunities as a PA for a project he was working on years ago. He made it a point to say “I want to see more Black women in this industry…” and then proved it with his actions. I got to hug him last year after not seeing him for sometime. We spoke via iPad. He was incredibly proud of me. This is all that matters. Honored to know this man. I am truly glad he is free.

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/val-kilmer-dead-batman-forever-tombstone-1236354606/

Do they not know about the 'sort' feature?

This is psychopathy

This... this can't possibly be true. The stupidity burns. I sold ~15% of my equities over the last six weeks. Should have sold 215%

From James Surowiecki:

Just figured out where these fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us.
[...]
What extraordinary nonsense this is.

@b0rk
My first husband proposed to me using 'write'

Hm. That might be why I have a second husband

@obrien_kat @mattblaze
Funny thing about 'Fuck you' money... I've done some polling on this. For people in the 1%, FYM always seems to be ~10% more than their current net worth

And for people with top .001% wealth, more money deprives them of freedom. Think about the billionaire who hesitates to attend his nephew's bar mitzvah because he lives in a tax free jurisdiction and is only permitted to spend 180 days in NYC

Money is supposed to buy optionality, yet people use it to entrap themselves

Another one bites the dust. Milbank just settled with Trump bc of course they did

Meanwhile Neal Katyal (Obama's former acting solicitor general, defender of Nestle slave labor, and ruiner of Burning Man) is co-counsel in a case challenging Trump’s firing of Cathy Harris, a Merit Systems Protection Board member

"Katyal, of Milbank, represents plaintiff Cathy A. Harris in her lawsuit seeking to continue serving on the independent MSPB with for-cause removal protection"

https://archive.is/fLKRA#selection-1703.0-1717.140

For the crazy people like me who obsessively read speeches, Booker's filibuster-that-wasn't-a-filibuster is now in the Congressional Record

Part 1 is here, pages 48-80:

https://www.congress.gov/119/crec/2025/03/31/171/57/CREC-2025-03-31.pdf

It continues here, pages 1-134:

https://www.congress.gov/119/crec/2025/03/31/171/57/CREC-2025-03-31-bk2.pdf

I'll be reading through it today and posting some of my fave moments. I'll try to remember to tag it #bookerfili so that anyone who wants to filter it out can easily do so

@kjhealy
...and this is how I discover that there is no antonym for 'bucolic'

White Nationalist Dracula Stephen Miller on Fox:

"They have the temerity to say that every single invader should get their own individual judicial trial before they are deported. One at a time, each one gets a one million-dollar trial in front of a communist judge to decide whether or not we can send them home. How about hell no"

Notorious Pinko Commie Left Wing Justice Scalia:

"It is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in deportation proceedings."

"This is a moral moment. It's not left or right, it's right or wrong. It's getting good trouble.

My friend Madam President, I yield the floor"

Most memorable line of the speech for me:

“If America hasn’t broken your heart, then you don’t love her enough.”

...and Booker says he'll go for seven more minutes and then get the rest he so richly deserves

We're onto the 'thank you' portion now

Cynically, I'll admit that this felt like a performative stunt last night

I was wrong.

I don't know about anyone else, but I needed this

@Okanogen
Schumer shouldn't have been the one to interrupt. But were I Booker's speechwriter, I'd have ensured that *someone* asked. Of course Booker can read a clock (it's why he held back that John Lewis story), but he can't give himself the shoutout

For the gallery to give him the ovation, someone else has to hand him that moment

Years ago my boss wanted to tell a self-aggrandizing story in a quarterly letter. I told him to feed a TV interviewer the q instead. It worked out much better

Chuck Schumer interrupts:

"Will the gentleman yield for a question?"

Cory Booker, smiling:

"Chuck Schumer, it's the only time in my life I can tell you 'no.'"

Schumer interrupts anyway, asking Booker if he realizes that he has just broken Strom Thurmond's record and letting him know the country is proud of him

And the gallery goes wild...

Cory Booker saving that John Lewis story for his record-breaking moment

As a speechwriter, serious props...

In a world of Skaddens, Pauls, and Willkies, be a Cory Booker

Has Doug Emhoff resigned yet?

“Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP proactively reached out to President Trump and his Administration, offering their decisive commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession,” the White House said in a statement. “The President is delivering on his promises of eradicating Partisan Lawfare in America, and restoring Liberty and Justice FOR ALL.”

Throwing up in my mouth...

In _The Studio_ Steve Buscemi corrects the pronunciation of his name. Seth Rogen's character says 'Boo-Shemi and Steve says, 'Boo-Semi'

On one of the late night shows, SB tells the story of a woman calling and asking a maitre d' to page him in a restaurant. She asks him to page, 'Steve Boo-Semi' and the matire d' says, "Certainly, madam, but it's pronounced 'Boo-shemi'

The woman says, "Yeah, whatever. Please just get my husband on the phone..."

One episode in, _The Studio_ is pretty good

Marco Rubio describes DOGE staffers:

"You exemplify the very best ideals for public service & will not be forgotten or overlooked in this transition process."

People who know Jeremy Lewin :

"Lewin had a history of violent outbursts & racist remarks. Police records show he was also once accused of threatening a girl with a knife, asking why “he shouldn’t gut [her] & cut [her] right now.” The girl told police she feared for her life."

Misogyny is the constant. Always

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-usaid-jeremy-lewin-accused-violence-racist-remarks-1235307731/

@fedward @20002ist
In 2008 spouse had a detached retina requiring an immediate vitrectomy. It was three weeks after he quit Apple, which was in this fucked window during which his Apple insurance was gone, but he couldn't yet buy COBRA (had to wait six weeks)

Knowing he'd be reimbursed, he told the hospital he'd pay cash

Lol. They had NO CLUE how to charge him. There were separate payments for surgeon, anaesthesiologist, hospital stay, etc and they had no idea about any of their own pricing