Tom Bassolino
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tbassolino.bsky.social
Tom Bassolino
@tbassolino.bsky.social
obligatory mention of father/husband/dog dad...also lawyer, terp, engineer, new yorker currently in frederick, md
Our handsome dog, Zuma, and the Grinch
December 17, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Tom Bassolino
Bruce kicked off the holiday season in a lasting way, on this day 50 years ago, performing “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” at C.W. Post during the “Born to Run” tour — a bit of concert magic that grew into the holiday tradition we know today.

Happy Holidays from everyone on E Street!
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (Live in Houston, 1978)
YouTube video by BruceSpringsteenVEVO
youtu.be
December 12, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Tom Bassolino
when someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes
November 30, 2025 at 7:48 PM
I once read a touching story about an immigrant father bringing his young son to D.C., and asking his son who he thought was the owner of all of the wonderful monuments.

The son was puzzled by the question, but the dad informed him "You are!....but I am too....as well as every other US citizen."
“.. It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.”

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
October 22, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Americans have questions about what really happens to socks in the dryer. They expect honesty and transparency from their government when seeking answers. For years, people who asked questions in good faith were dismissed, even vilified by Big Laundry and their own government. This ends today.
July 10, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Tom Bassolino
Some thoughts from the article, which I hope you'll read and share widely:

1) Scientists hate hearing "why are we funding that research, it sounds silly," and many people ask in bad faith. But some really want to know, and we should have an answer!

Here are some answers.
June 18, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Even if this were true (spoiler, it’s not), this is a disgraceful way to talk about government run transportation from the *checks notes* leader of the government department overseeing transportation
Duffy: "If you're liberal, they want you to take public transportation ... the problem is that it's dirty. You have criminals. It's homeless shelters. It's insane asylums. It's a work ground for the criminal element of the city to prey upon the good people."
May 28, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Our pup won “party animal of the week” at doggie daycare. He’s a trooper
May 23, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Sharing my favorite Stevie Wonder song in honor of his 75th birthday today 🎂🎵🎉

youtu.be/44F34jc7wGI?...
Master Blaster (Jammin')
YouTube video by Stevie Wonder - Topic
youtu.be
May 13, 2025 at 8:25 PM
It was never fun to call the US Patent Office for help, even in the best of times. But now, since DOGE, wait times are always 2+ hours, followed by being bounced around without any resolution to your issue (if you're lucky enough not to be hung up on). Emails are no better, as they go unanswered.
May 9, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Tom Bassolino
A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope
May 8, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Gov't efficiency at its finest 🙄

Full disclosure -- these wait times (and general customer service at the USPTO) were never great, but it's gotten demonstrably worse in the post-DOGE-era.
April 30, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Maryland could lose 552 million due to federal health research cuts. Visit scienceimpacts.org to learn more. scienceimpacts.org
SCiMaP
scienceimpacts.org
March 30, 2025 at 12:28 PM
This is a layup for specifying either of my kids -- "hates even moderately spiced food"
Filled out my kid's application for city preschool and this is the prompt I got when I checked the box for "white"
March 14, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Appreciate this thread as a lawyer who, in recent months, has felt like I'm in the minority for respecting my oath, and ethical guidelines & rules.

Also as someone who generally has principles and can feel shame.

I'm tired of dishonorable & unscrupulous attorneys, and want them to be shunned.
Sometimes a group of lawyers can come to be regarded almost universally as crooks. Anyone remember Prenda Law, the group of porn-uploading copyright trolls who ran an extortionate scam? Rather quickly they were regarded across the national legal community as crooks and widely distrusted.
/1
Judge Alsup just now, on Ezell's evasion: "The government has tried to frustrate the judge’s ability to get at the truth of what happened here. It set forth a sham declaration, then withdrew it, then substituted another. That’s not the way it works in the U.S. District Court."
March 13, 2025 at 7:36 PM
One of the first things you learn as a lawyer is how to identify who is (& who is not) your client.

In the same manner that in-house counsel is not the CEO's lawyer (but rather, the company's lawyer), a US Atty is not the president's lawyer.

Profoundly sad that ethics no longer matter, apparently
"As President Trumps' [sic] lawyers" ...

Uh ... that's not your job, champ.
The U.S. attorney in Washington says DOJ "will be vigilant in standing against entities" like the Associated Press, that "refuse to put America first."

The AP's transgression is, apparently, not adopting the president's preferred name for the Gulf of Mexico.
February 24, 2025 at 9:11 PM
The DC expansion baseball team (now Nats) was searching for a name when I was an undergrad at Univ. of Maryland, and I remember joking that it should be the Red, White, and Blue Sox.

I was a dumb college kid and knew how stupid that sounded, hence the joke.

What an absurd timeline we live in...
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Georgia) has introduced a bill to "authorize the President to enter into negotiations to acquire Greenland"—and to rename Greenland as "Red, White, and Blueland."

“America is back and will soon be bigger than ever with the addition of Red, White, and Blueland,” Carter said.
February 11, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Truth.

A huge part of America’s global business / financial success is because the US is (was?) a place where the rule of law matters. A place where you can enforce a contract, even without political connections.

The consequences of corruption and disarray run deep, and will hit businesses HARD.
Look, it's good that people are fighting this. They should.

But all the patents in the world won't matter without a stable federal government, a functioning judiciary, and the rule of law.

Saving the USPTO might be the first step. It can't be the last.
Don't Let Trump's Changes Touch Patent Office, IP Attys Urge - Law360
U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order shake-ups have drawn the ire of intellectual property lawyers, who are complaining about how the prospect of mass resignations of federal workers, a hirin...
www.law360.com
February 5, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Have a sweet hologram version of this comic from @bottlenecknyc.bsky.social

In fact, much of my tmnt-related office decor comes from BNG…great shop

❤️ 🐢
December 31, 2024 at 4:04 PM
I highly recommend this book - Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, by Ethan Mollick - for learning how to use AI more effectively.

And remember - if buying online, use bookshop.org and select your local bookstore to receive the full profit from your purchase 😊

bookshop.org/p/books/co-i...
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI a book by Ethan Mollick
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Wharton professor and author of the popular One Useful Thing Substack newsletter Ethan Mollick comes the definitive playbook for working, learning, and living...
bookshop.org
December 18, 2024 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Tom Bassolino
This one looks like Honest Abe is trying to make out with the Grinch
December 11, 2024 at 12:51 AM
@bsky.app I think a great feature would be if you could pin a whole “starter pack” as a list— eg, presented as an option beside following

I am loving lists, especially for watching live events and following along with the peeps on a curated list
December 6, 2024 at 12:26 AM
My holy trinity
November 20, 2024 at 9:53 PM
Reminder that if you're buying books online, use Bookshop.org and select your local bookstore to receive the full profit from your purchase...best way to buy books online imho

bookshop.org/pages/bookst...

Happy my local bookstore told me about this great website!
Bookshop.org: Store Locator
Discover local and indie bookstores in the United States. Choose your favorite bookstore to support with your order. They'll receive the full profit from your purchase.
bookshop.org
November 18, 2024 at 8:43 PM
Not the outcome I hoped for, but Terps game last night was fun.

And red panda is the absolute best!
November 16, 2024 at 11:39 PM