M Berk
@mberk.bsky.social
Ethics. Political theory. Product management. Cat pics. Privacy. Consultant. I teach stuff. Flawed mortal, fumbling toward enlightenment.
Pinned
M Berk
@mberk.bsky.social
· Mar 8
“Life is a hard battle anyway. If we laugh and sing a little as we fight the good fight of freedom, it makes it all go easier. I will not allow my life's light to be determined by the darkness around me.”
—Sojourner Truth
—Sojourner Truth
Reposted by M Berk
Earlier in the year I drove 9600 miles to do Milky Way photography.
Between that, work, my health, and the terrors, I'm exhausted.
I promised myself no more trips over 100 miles from home for the year, unless critical for the union.
I broke that promise Saturday.
Worth it.
Final version. 🪶
Between that, work, my health, and the terrors, I'm exhausted.
I promised myself no more trips over 100 miles from home for the year, unless critical for the union.
I broke that promise Saturday.
Worth it.
Final version. 🪶
November 12, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Earlier in the year I drove 9600 miles to do Milky Way photography.
Between that, work, my health, and the terrors, I'm exhausted.
I promised myself no more trips over 100 miles from home for the year, unless critical for the union.
I broke that promise Saturday.
Worth it.
Final version. 🪶
Between that, work, my health, and the terrors, I'm exhausted.
I promised myself no more trips over 100 miles from home for the year, unless critical for the union.
I broke that promise Saturday.
Worth it.
Final version. 🪶
Reposted by M Berk
just opening up the new Epstein docs at random:
November 12, 2025 at 9:42 PM
just opening up the new Epstein docs at random:
Reposted by M Berk
Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias.
He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was ProPublica reporter @josh-kaplan.bsky.social.
(Published January)
He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was ProPublica reporter @josh-kaplan.bsky.social.
(Published January)
A Mole Infiltrated the Highest Ranks of American Militias. This Is What He Found.
Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends....
www.propublica.org
November 11, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias.
He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was ProPublica reporter @josh-kaplan.bsky.social.
(Published January)
He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was ProPublica reporter @josh-kaplan.bsky.social.
(Published January)
Buried inside the deal to reopen government is a provision that would give Senators private right of action to sue for millions in damages over their phone records being analyzed by Jack Smith's team.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Shutdown Deal Would Let Senators Sue Over Jack Smith Searches
Senators whose phone records were sought by Special Counsel Jack Smith would gain authority to sue for millions in damages under a provision buried in the Senate-advanced deal to reopen the government...
news.bloomberglaw.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Having a sudden flashback to Delta’s CEO dictating CDC policy during the pandemic.
Would love to see some reporting on how the airline lobby put on the pressure.
November 10, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Having a sudden flashback to Delta’s CEO dictating CDC policy during the pandemic.
Reposted by M Berk
thou misshapen Dick
November 10, 2025 at 2:57 AM
thou misshapen Dick
Called. Got one senator’s voicemail and one instruction to call back during normal business hours.
Hey Alex Padilla, important stuff goes down during non-business hours and you need to be able to hear from your constituents, particularly when you’re voting on major things over a weekend.
Hey Alex Padilla, important stuff goes down during non-business hours and you need to be able to hear from your constituents, particularly when you’re voting on major things over a weekend.
Sounds like the squishes in the senate caucus are ready to pull the plug with no ACA changes. This is real. If you want to register your opinion you shld call yr senator in the next hour. They not only want to reopen w/nothing. They want cover from their colleagues who still want to hold out.
November 9, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Called. Got one senator’s voicemail and one instruction to call back during normal business hours.
Hey Alex Padilla, important stuff goes down during non-business hours and you need to be able to hear from your constituents, particularly when you’re voting on major things over a weekend.
Hey Alex Padilla, important stuff goes down during non-business hours and you need to be able to hear from your constituents, particularly when you’re voting on major things over a weekend.
Reposted by M Berk
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
Reposted by M Berk
Actually, the real problem in my humble opinion is that masks should be required in medical settings *year round* in *all* counties.
I mean... why should you be allowed to spread your germs to other people who are sick?
I mean... why should you be allowed to spread your germs to other people who are sick?
November 9, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Actually, the real problem in my humble opinion is that masks should be required in medical settings *year round* in *all* counties.
I mean... why should you be allowed to spread your germs to other people who are sick?
I mean... why should you be allowed to spread your germs to other people who are sick?
Reposted by M Berk
To help protect your privacy against Stingray interception of your cellphone communication
Turn off 2G
2G is an obsolete, non-encrypted mode that Stingrays exploits
This is easy to do on Android (search for "2G" in Settings)
It's inconvenient on iOS tho: the only way is to activate Lockdown Mode
Turn off 2G
2G is an obsolete, non-encrypted mode that Stingrays exploits
This is easy to do on Android (search for "2G" in Settings)
It's inconvenient on iOS tho: the only way is to activate Lockdown Mode
November 9, 2025 at 5:28 AM
To help protect your privacy against Stingray interception of your cellphone communication
Turn off 2G
2G is an obsolete, non-encrypted mode that Stingrays exploits
This is easy to do on Android (search for "2G" in Settings)
It's inconvenient on iOS tho: the only way is to activate Lockdown Mode
Turn off 2G
2G is an obsolete, non-encrypted mode that Stingrays exploits
This is easy to do on Android (search for "2G" in Settings)
It's inconvenient on iOS tho: the only way is to activate Lockdown Mode
Reposted by M Berk
Mamdani is going to implement Sriracha law. Everyone will have to slather hot sauce on their scrambled eggs
Mamdani is going to implement My Sharona law. Everyone will have to create songs with undeniable rock beats.
Mamdani is going to implement Shari Lewis law.
Everyone will be required to stick their fist up a lamb's a
Excuse me, there's someone at the door.
Everyone will be required to stick their fist up a lamb's a
Excuse me, there's someone at the door.
November 9, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Mamdani is going to implement Sriracha law. Everyone will have to slather hot sauce on their scrambled eggs
Reposted by M Berk
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Reposted by M Berk
one thing i find crazy-making is the idea that getting rid of the filibuster would make congress a purely majoritarian institution. bicameralism itself is counter-majoritarian! equal state representation is counter-majoritarian! the fact that senate elections are staggered is counter-majoritarian!
November 8, 2025 at 10:26 PM
one thing i find crazy-making is the idea that getting rid of the filibuster would make congress a purely majoritarian institution. bicameralism itself is counter-majoritarian! equal state representation is counter-majoritarian! the fact that senate elections are staggered is counter-majoritarian!
Reposted by M Berk
Trying to figure out what #SCOTUS just did with #SNAP, and why Justice Jackson temporarily froze the district court's ruling?
Via "One First," me on what's going on—and why I think Jackson's move was savvy, notwithstanding the awful circumstances that forced it:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/190-snap-wtf
Via "One First," me on what's going on—and why I think Jackson's move was savvy, notwithstanding the awful circumstances that forced it:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/190-snap-wtf
190. SNAP WTF?
A very quick explainer on what (and why) Justice Jackson issued an "administrative stay" in the SNAP case late on Friday night, and on what's likely to happen next
www.stevevladeck.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Trying to figure out what #SCOTUS just did with #SNAP, and why Justice Jackson temporarily froze the district court's ruling?
Via "One First," me on what's going on—and why I think Jackson's move was savvy, notwithstanding the awful circumstances that forced it:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/190-snap-wtf
Via "One First," me on what's going on—and why I think Jackson's move was savvy, notwithstanding the awful circumstances that forced it:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/190-snap-wtf
Please read this
Insurance companies aren’t just players in the fight with doctors over money; they’re also the referees.
They produce their own guidelines on when to pay claims. If a doctor appeals a denial, insurers make all the initial decisions.
(Published April)
By @tchristianmiller.bsky.social
They produce their own guidelines on when to pay claims. If a doctor appeals a denial, insurers make all the initial decisions.
(Published April)
By @tchristianmiller.bsky.social
“Slow Pay, Low Pay or No Pay”: Trial Reveals How Insurers Try to Wield Power Over Doctors
Blue Cross authorized mastectomies and breast reconstructions for women with cancer but refused to pay the full doctors’ bills. A jury called it fraud and awarded the practice $421 million.
www.propublica.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Please read this
Reposted by M Berk
BREAKING: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is illegally closing 13 campus buildings (including ~100 laboratories).
Report coming from GESTA, the Goddard employee union
Report coming from GESTA, the Goddard employee union
November 2, 2025 at 4:55 AM
BREAKING: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is illegally closing 13 campus buildings (including ~100 laboratories).
Report coming from GESTA, the Goddard employee union
Report coming from GESTA, the Goddard employee union
I actually read about half of this and it’s such…sad sophistry. I thought I was done with this level of discourse when I left high school.
November 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I actually read about half of this and it’s such…sad sophistry. I thought I was done with this level of discourse when I left high school.
Reposted by M Berk
Reposted by M Berk
Pot-valiant [POT-val-yunt]
(adj.)
- Courageous as a result of being drunk.
Used in a sentence:
"No man so meek but that a full flagon maketh him fierce; for wyne is the smyth that forgeþ fooles’ valour, and many a pot-valiant knyght hath found his bed in a ditch ere dawn.”
(adj.)
- Courageous as a result of being drunk.
Used in a sentence:
"No man so meek but that a full flagon maketh him fierce; for wyne is the smyth that forgeþ fooles’ valour, and many a pot-valiant knyght hath found his bed in a ditch ere dawn.”
November 5, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Pot-valiant [POT-val-yunt]
(adj.)
- Courageous as a result of being drunk.
Used in a sentence:
"No man so meek but that a full flagon maketh him fierce; for wyne is the smyth that forgeþ fooles’ valour, and many a pot-valiant knyght hath found his bed in a ditch ere dawn.”
(adj.)
- Courageous as a result of being drunk.
Used in a sentence:
"No man so meek but that a full flagon maketh him fierce; for wyne is the smyth that forgeþ fooles’ valour, and many a pot-valiant knyght hath found his bed in a ditch ere dawn.”
I keep replaying 2 songs in order:
Sloop John B: the theme of which is “I done fucked up so hard, and am so miserable I want to disappear”
And
End of the Line (Traveling Wilburys): the theme of which is “you did your best, and it’s gonna be ok”
In case you wanted a window into my psyche
Sloop John B: the theme of which is “I done fucked up so hard, and am so miserable I want to disappear”
And
End of the Line (Traveling Wilburys): the theme of which is “you did your best, and it’s gonna be ok”
In case you wanted a window into my psyche
November 6, 2025 at 3:04 AM
I keep replaying 2 songs in order:
Sloop John B: the theme of which is “I done fucked up so hard, and am so miserable I want to disappear”
And
End of the Line (Traveling Wilburys): the theme of which is “you did your best, and it’s gonna be ok”
In case you wanted a window into my psyche
Sloop John B: the theme of which is “I done fucked up so hard, and am so miserable I want to disappear”
And
End of the Line (Traveling Wilburys): the theme of which is “you did your best, and it’s gonna be ok”
In case you wanted a window into my psyche
Reposted by M Berk
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 7:52 PM
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
Reposted by M Berk
Hey Santa Clara County voters.
Please please please be sure to vote for assessor anyone other than Rishi Kumar, the guy running on eliminating property taxes for seniors (which he can't in this role).
Please please please be sure to vote for assessor anyone other than Rishi Kumar, the guy running on eliminating property taxes for seniors (which he can't in this role).
November 3, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Hey Santa Clara County voters.
Please please please be sure to vote for assessor anyone other than Rishi Kumar, the guy running on eliminating property taxes for seniors (which he can't in this role).
Please please please be sure to vote for assessor anyone other than Rishi Kumar, the guy running on eliminating property taxes for seniors (which he can't in this role).
“Macy doesn’t reserve her disappointment for those she disagrees with politically. One Christmas, her sister-in-law, a Yale-educated poet, grumbles about Macy’s siblings, all of whom voted for Trump. She tells Macy, “Your people don’t want my people to exist.…
www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/1...
A Writer Who Did What Hillbilly Elegy Wouldn’t
In her new book, Beth Macy returns to her Donald Trump–voting hometown to find out how America got so divided.
www.theatlantic.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:02 AM
“Macy doesn’t reserve her disappointment for those she disagrees with politically. One Christmas, her sister-in-law, a Yale-educated poet, grumbles about Macy’s siblings, all of whom voted for Trump. She tells Macy, “Your people don’t want my people to exist.…
www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/1...
Reposted by M Berk
I legitimately hate how every website seems to think that what I want more than anything else in this world is yet another inbox to monitor and take responsibility for.
November 2, 2025 at 3:25 AM
I legitimately hate how every website seems to think that what I want more than anything else in this world is yet another inbox to monitor and take responsibility for.
Reposted by M Berk
Then Toad poured a glass of water over his head.
November 1, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Then Toad poured a glass of water over his head.