Brendan
@brendan17.bsky.social
A lawyer, not your lawyer. Opinions mine, & RTs ≠ endorsements.
Reposted by Brendan
Beautiful sentence. God bless America.
December 6, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Beautiful sentence. God bless America.
I confess that I didn't have "Citizen Kane & Stranger Things—now under one roof!" on my enshittification bingo card
Netflix, which rarely carries a single movie from before 1980, wants you to know how thrilled they are to acquire that classic piece of franchise IP, Casablanca
December 6, 2025 at 8:59 PM
I confess that I didn't have "Citizen Kane & Stranger Things—now under one roof!" on my enshittification bingo card
Reposted by Brendan
Shit looks like a David lynch movie
December 6, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Shit looks like a David lynch movie
Reposted by Brendan
Reposted by Brendan
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
December 3, 2025 at 10:18 PM
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
Reposted by Brendan
these are all terrible options, and if we lived in a functioning democracy with working regulators we'd think nothing of putting a blanket end to pointless media consolidation
these deals are always terrible for product quality, consumers, art and labor, but this is always downplayed in coverage.
these deals are always terrible for product quality, consumers, art and labor, but this is always downplayed in coverage.
Paramount throws in more cash in bid for Warner; Comcast wants to combine assets with NBCUniversal
Jockeying for HBO-owner Warner Bros. Discovery has intensified as the auction appears to enter its home stretch.
www.latimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:04 PM
these are all terrible options, and if we lived in a functioning democracy with working regulators we'd think nothing of putting a blanket end to pointless media consolidation
these deals are always terrible for product quality, consumers, art and labor, but this is always downplayed in coverage.
these deals are always terrible for product quality, consumers, art and labor, but this is always downplayed in coverage.
Reposted by Brendan
It is an extremely important to time to support independent journalism. You may notice that I repost Techdirt's content all the damn time. That's because Mike Masnick is usually right and I think you should know about it.
Support Techdirt’s Uncompromising Coverage, Get Our First Commemorative Coin
If you've been following along, you know why independent voices matter right now. The administration has been attacking institutions left and right. News orgs, law firms, philanthropic funders, universities, you name it.…
If you've been following along, you know why independent voices matter right now. The administration has been attacking institutions left and right. News orgs, law firms, philanthropic funders, universities, you name it.…
Support Techdirt’s Uncompromising Coverage, Get Our First Commemorative Coin
If you've been following along, you know why independent voices matter right now. The administration has been attacking institutions left and right. News orgs, law firms, philanthropic funders, universities, you name it. Many are capitulating. But not us. Someone needs to step up and keep doing this work without flinching and without compromising. That's where you come in.
www.techdirt.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:35 PM
It is an extremely important to time to support independent journalism. You may notice that I repost Techdirt's content all the damn time. That's because Mike Masnick is usually right and I think you should know about it.
Reposted by Brendan
I will now defend myself by paraphrasing jack nicholson in that scene from a few good men, who is the hero of that movie btw
Q: So you didn't see any survivors after that first strike?
HEGSETH: I did not personally see survivors. The thing was on fire. This is called the fog of war. This is what you in the press don't understand. You sit in your air conditioned offices and plant fake stories in the Washington Post
HEGSETH: I did not personally see survivors. The thing was on fire. This is called the fog of war. This is what you in the press don't understand. You sit in your air conditioned offices and plant fake stories in the Washington Post
December 2, 2025 at 8:06 PM
I will now defend myself by paraphrasing jack nicholson in that scene from a few good men, who is the hero of that movie btw
Reposted by Brendan
White House ratio'd by the smallest possible pop star.
December 2, 2025 at 5:36 PM
White House ratio'd by the smallest possible pop star.
Reposted by Brendan
Very nice blog post on NWern's capitulation by Northwestern Law alum @howardwasserman.bsky.social It's aptly titled, "Screw U, NU": prawfsblawg.com/screw-u-nu/
Screw U, NU
That did not take long. Northwestern Interim President Henry Bienen announced its settlement in an email to the community on the Friday night of Thanksgiving weekend (when, Heidi Kitrosser said, yo…
prawfsblawg.com
December 1, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Very nice blog post on NWern's capitulation by Northwestern Law alum @howardwasserman.bsky.social It's aptly titled, "Screw U, NU": prawfsblawg.com/screw-u-nu/
There's no good outcome from Warner Bros being sold. If it's Paramount/Skydance, WB ends up in the hands of corporate ownership that appears to be bending over backwards to turn out content that (at best) doesn't antagonize the admin.
Netflix’s new bid to buy Warner Bros is a mostly cash offer.
The company is arranging a mega-loan to be able to buy WB
(Source: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...)
The company is arranging a mega-loan to be able to buy WB
(Source: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...)
December 2, 2025 at 2:55 AM
There's no good outcome from Warner Bros being sold. If it's Paramount/Skydance, WB ends up in the hands of corporate ownership that appears to be bending over backwards to turn out content that (at best) doesn't antagonize the admin.
Roth x EFF is the collab I didn't know I needed
Episode 3 of Gate Crashing is out now! Tune in to our conversation with @jasonkoebler.bsky.social of 404 Media and @davidjroth.bsky.social of Defector about finding a new path forward for journalism: youtu.be/19pQAkStncI...
Gate Crashing | Episode 3: A New Path for Journalism | Jason Koebler and David Roth
We always hear about the death of journalism. But a few groups of people are fighting back and modeling a new path forward for journalism. We speak to Jason ...
www.youtube.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Roth x EFF is the collab I didn't know I needed
Reposted by Brendan
It’s the year 2000. A court is considering whether ISPs can be liable for copyright infringement committed by their users.
It’s 2005. A court is considering whether ISPs can be liable for copyright infringement committed by their users.
It’s 2010. It’s 2013. It’s 2025.
It’s 2005. A court is considering whether ISPs can be liable for copyright infringement committed by their users.
It’s 2010. It’s 2013. It’s 2025.
And we're off with SCOTUS arguments in Sony v Cox. The question at issue: whether ISPs can be liable for the copyright infringement committed by their users.
December 1, 2025 at 7:13 PM
It’s the year 2000. A court is considering whether ISPs can be liable for copyright infringement committed by their users.
It’s 2005. A court is considering whether ISPs can be liable for copyright infringement committed by their users.
It’s 2010. It’s 2013. It’s 2025.
It’s 2005. A court is considering whether ISPs can be liable for copyright infringement committed by their users.
It’s 2010. It’s 2013. It’s 2025.
To be American & have convictions in our constitutional rights in 2025 is to be disillusioned with the failure of our institutions' leaders to share those convictions. While I'm (unfortunately) unsurprised that Northwestern has joined the ranks of those who've appeased, I'm no less angry for it.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university
Full statement from NU below:
Full statement from NU below:
November 30, 2025 at 1:22 AM
To be American & have convictions in our constitutional rights in 2025 is to be disillusioned with the failure of our institutions' leaders to share those convictions. While I'm (unfortunately) unsurprised that Northwestern has joined the ranks of those who've appeased, I'm no less angry for it.
Reposted by Brendan
happy birthday to a LEGEND
Today is the birthday of cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, the creator of Peanuts. (Nov. 26, 1922-Feb. 12, 2000.)
November 26, 2025 at 5:49 PM
happy birthday to a LEGEND
For any fellow Replacements fans, a new remaster of Let It Be just came out this week, & I'm really enjoying it.
November 22, 2025 at 6:20 PM
For any fellow Replacements fans, a new remaster of Let It Be just came out this week, & I'm really enjoying it.
Reposted by Brendan
Yes the FBI had access to a Signal group.
No they did not break encryption.
It looks like one of the members of the group was an informant.
Signal is safe.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
No they did not break encryption.
It looks like one of the members of the group was an informant.
Signal is safe.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The FBI spied on a Signal group chat of immigration activists, records reveal
Exclusive: Agency accessed private conversations of New York ‘courtwatch’ group that was observing public hearings
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Yes the FBI had access to a Signal group.
No they did not break encryption.
It looks like one of the members of the group was an informant.
Signal is safe.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
No they did not break encryption.
It looks like one of the members of the group was an informant.
Signal is safe.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Brendan
This is a big win. Sacramento was indiscriminately sifting through people’s electricity usage looking for signs of grow lights in an attempt to find people growing marijuana.
Not anymore! Get a warrant, pals!
Not anymore! Get a warrant, pals!
VICTORY! EFF’s clients just ended a dragnet government surveillance program that spied on Sacramento residents’ electricity data. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
Victory! Court Ends Dragnet Electricity Surveillance Program in
For more than a decade, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District coordinated with police to sift through the granular smart meter data of residents without suspicion to find evidence of cannabis
www.eff.org
November 22, 2025 at 3:00 AM
This is a big win. Sacramento was indiscriminately sifting through people’s electricity usage looking for signs of grow lights in an attempt to find people growing marijuana.
Not anymore! Get a warrant, pals!
Not anymore! Get a warrant, pals!
While true across the board, the FBI Director flying to the "Boondoggle Ranch" in particular is something out of Pynchon
New WSJ: After flying an FBI jet to see his girlfriend sing at a wrestling match, FBI director Kash Patel took the jet to a private Texas hunting resort called the Boondoggle Ranch. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Kash Patel’s ‘Effin Wild’ Ride as FBI Director
In just one week in October, he ticked off his bosses with premature comments about a terror investigation squeezed in a trip to the ‘Boondoggle Ranch’ on the bureau jet.
www.wsj.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:58 AM
While true across the board, the FBI Director flying to the "Boondoggle Ranch" in particular is something out of Pynchon
Reposted by Brendan
if you can’t see the aurora borealis tonight, here is a sewer tunnel which is a wonder in itself.
November 12, 2025 at 3:58 AM
if you can’t see the aurora borealis tonight, here is a sewer tunnel which is a wonder in itself.
If he's already had de Niro & Pacino at the Vatican, there's no way Heat is not one of his all-timers
Pope Leo has shared his four favorite movies of all time, as the Vatican prepares to host dozens of actors and directors in a “World of Cinema” gathering on Saturday at his official residence. See which films made the pope's list. nyti.ms/4p3exK9
Pope Leo Shares His Favorite Movies Ahead of Vatican Event
The list leans heavily on uplifting classics.
nyti.ms
November 11, 2025 at 11:28 PM
If he's already had de Niro & Pacino at the Vatican, there's no way Heat is not one of his all-timers
Yesterday, I saw an LA screening of My Undesirable Friends Part I, a documentary about independent Russian journalists in the months leading up to the Ukraine invasion. It's *very* good. While it is a serious commitment (5.5 hours, albeit broken into 5 parts), I cannot recommend enough.
November 9, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Yesterday, I saw an LA screening of My Undesirable Friends Part I, a documentary about independent Russian journalists in the months leading up to the Ukraine invasion. It's *very* good. While it is a serious commitment (5.5 hours, albeit broken into 5 parts), I cannot recommend enough.
Not if those of us who care about privacy have anything to say about it
Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.'
Larry Ellison predicts rise of the modern surveillance state where ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ | Fortune
Oracle's Larry Ellison believes citizens and police alike will be under constant surveillance of each other.
fortune.com
September 28, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Not if those of us who care about privacy have anything to say about it