Nick Baumann

I’m petrified about today’s science news. Genetically modifying crabs to have cheetah genes? This could go sideways fast.

The main difference between the twilight zone and a regular zone is all the weird stuff that goes on in there

Mister Tally Man must tally me banana, it is in his nature inherently. To deny him this would be a cruelty that I cannot condone

And here's what I posted when MMFA announced that Elias Group would represent them in this case.

bsky.app/profile/mmas...

In early February, frustrated by what some at Media Matters saw as the high cost and slow pace of their lawyers at the influential Democratic firm Elias Law Group, the advocacy group began transitioning the X cases to different law firms. An Elias lawyer notified the group that it owed roughly $4 million. “We understand this case has been and remains very difficult for everyone involved, as was Musk’s intention when he brought it,” Ezra Reese, the chair of Elias’s political law group, wrote in an email to Mr. Carusone and Media Matters’s lead fund-raiser, Mary Pat Bonner. Mr. Reese offered to wipe away about half of the unpaid tally in exchange for payment of $2.25 million within about a week. If the group did not commit to the payment plan, Mr. Reese wrote, his firm would expect full payment of the original amount and would “go pens down and take steps to withdraw from the case by the end of the month.” The ultimatum did not sit well inside Media Matters. “You must be kidding!!” Ms. Bonner responded to Mr. Reese. “This is how you treat people who have been clients for 16 years and are friends?”

Here's what the article says:

There's a lot in this piece, but I'll just note that I did call out that I was skeptical that Elias Group was the right firm for @mmfa.bsky.social to use for this situation, and some of the details in the article seem to suggest I was (unfortunately) correct.

Under Siege From Trump and Musk, a Top Liberal Group Falls Into Crisis

Between Musk & the Trump administration, Media Matters has been squeezed to the brink. In settlement discussions, lawyers for X demanded the organization hand over all its cash and shut down — all because MM reported ads appeared on X next to antisemitic content. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/u...

Don Draper meme: "Imagine a website ... that was good"

As Video-Game Media Struggles, Star YouTuber Launches New Outlet Websites like Polygon and Kotaku are facing huge challenges, opening opportunities for newcomers

“The goal in this is not to have a media empire,” Panebianco said. “It’s just: have a really good website that does good reporting that pays people well and offers them job security. And we just keep doing that for as long as we can”

Godspeed, @skillup.bsky.social

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Ralph you magnificent bastard you figured it out

Among the greatest promotional photos of all time are these for the 1990 television movie of IT, where it looks like a prestige legal drama about a firm of hot young lawyers and one associate who likes to dress up like a clown.

Mass starvation stalks Gaza as deaths from hunger rise Aid agencies warned for months that Israel’s harsh limits on food aid would bring acute malnutrition and widespread suffering to Gaza’s 2.1 million people.

Mass starvation stalks Gaza as deaths from hunger rise
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Gonna say it: Reading “Wealth of Nations,” and it’s an incredibly lucid piece of economic writing! You can absolutely see how Adam Smith wrecked everybody’s shit.

The Mayo Clinic called. Your test results are ready. They said you're absolutely full of mayo

Coke confirms cane sugar change. RFK Jr. calls it a ‘MAHA win.’ Is it? As Coca-Cola confirms plans to release the cane sugar alternative in the U.S., some nutritionists said there is little health benefit as a replacement for high-fructose corn syrup.

Coke said it will release a cane sugar version of its product in the U.S.

But it would just be another option, not a formula change.

Nutritionists say there’s little evidence it’s a healthier alternative.

It is hard to explain to people why electrification of rail systems is such a game changer but this video will help me do so in the future.

Bipartisan government funding is at risk of dying in Trump's Washington Eschewing a long-standing practice, Trump’s budget director is calling for a more partisan path to funding the government ahead of a Sept. 30 shutdown deadline.

“We don’t have an appropriations process. It’s broken. It’s been broken for a while,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

He predicted that there will be CRs and rescission packages for the next four years.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

And, uh, some personal news: This is also my last column for The Post. I was offered and accepted a buyout.
To answer one possible next question, I'm not sure what's next save taking some time off. If you want, you can enter your email at pbump.net and I'll let you know when I figure it out!

"Legal experts said the pattern of conduct is unprecedented for any presidential administration and threatens to undermine the judiciary’s role as a check on an executive branch."

Trump officials accused of defying 1 in 3 judges who ruled against him A comprehensive analysis of lawsuits against Trump policies shows dozens of examples of defiance, delay and dishonesty, a serious test for the court system.

Trump officials accused of defying 1 in 3 judges who ruled against him, "suggesting widespread noncompliance with America’s legal system."

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

What we know about the Americans freed in a prisoner swap with Venezuela Lucas Hunter and Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez are among the Americans released in the exchange.

In exchange for 10 Americans, more than 250 Venezuelans deported from the U.S. in March and flown to El Salvador’s high-security “counterterrorism” prison were sent home to Venezuela.

Here’s what to know about the freed Americans:

I am so old that I remember a massive scandal over George W. Bush firing U.S. attorneys, who are *political appointees*:

Trump’s DOJ has fired dozens of prosecutors, upending decades-old norm

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Inside the Silicon Valley push to breed super-babies Investors say genetic prediction services for embryos, used by Elon Musk and others, are a trust fund for future children. Many scientists are skeptical.

Lizza and Yeganeh's story does a great job of exploring the moral complexities here, and is worth your time: www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

We don't know much about Morck's background.... maybe he used to be a Secret Service agent protecting the president's daughter?

We need to talk about this.

NEWS: Tomorrow D.C. Council will vote on repealing Initiative 82, which phases out the tipped minimum wage. Under proposal, base wage for tipped workers would be $8 (down from $10 now), but min. wage they’d earn would be $20. That’s more than $17.50 non-tipped workers make.