Thoughts

Short thoughts, notes, links, and musings by . RSS

i like to think if anyone ever hacks my Google account they'll get totally derailed trying to decipher my hundreds of spreadsheets that all look something like this

A spreadsheet with seemingly random numbers scattered throughout, no labels

The White House says Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick properly divested from Cantor Fitzgerald by transferring leadership to his sons.

Anyway GOP officials called Lutnick about a Cantor-funded PAC planning to spend $1.75M on Ken Paxton and the PAC reversed course, but that’s probably just how independent companies behave when the former owner gets a phone call.

“Scoop: GOP called Howard Lutnick to reverse crypto PAC's Texas move”.
Hans Nichols and Alex Isenstadt in Axios.
Senior Republican officials called Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday after a new crypto super PAC seeded by his former firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, indicated in a FEC filing that it planned to spend $1.75 million backing Ken Paxton in Texas, Axios has learned.

“the whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino” says the man who ran multiple casinos, whose company plans to launch a prediction market, and who nominated a CFTC chair who celebrates prediction markets as part of a “golden age” for finance

Dear Judge Kaplan: I am writing to respond to your Memorandum Order of march 23, 2026, requesting me to state whether an attorney wrote either my rule 33 motion or supporting memorandum "in whole or in substantial part." (I am assuming that the inclusion of Mr. Chapsky's accompanying Affidavit was inadvertent, as I neither wrote nor purported to write that.) I conceived of the Rule 33 Motion, formulated the arguments, drafted multiple versions of it myself, and did the bulk of the legal research while I was at MDC Brooklyn and had better access to legal materials as well as a word processor. You asked about the three attorneys of record in other stages of this case; none of them had any significant input into the Rule 33 Motion. I have not discussed it with them or shared any drafts with them. Mr. Mukasey and Ms . Young only represented me in the sentencing phase, and no longer do so . While Ms. Shapiro is still representing me on my appeal, she is not representing me on this matter and I have not consulted her on it. I also shared drafts with my parents, Barbara Fried and Joe Bankman. They made editorial and organizational suggestions, some of which I incorporated into the motion. They also helped print it, as I no longer had access to a word processor. I also shared earlier drafts with a New York attorney who was originally hired to represent me on the Rule 33 Motion before I decided to represent myself; they had no significant input into the ultimate motion. I am the ultimate author of the documents and wrote the bulk of them myself, but can't comment on how you will ultimately interpret the standard in practice. As I have had to focus on responding to these questions rather than drafting a response to the prosecution's opposition, and because I do not believe I will get a fair hearing on this topic in front of you, I am now requesting to withdraw the Rule 33 motion, without prejudice to renewing it after my direct appeal and the related request for reassignment have been ruled upon. Finally, I am the author of this letter, but did consult with my parents about it, since it concerns both of them . Isl Sam Bankman-Fried prose 2026-04-13 Lompoc, CA

Sam Bankman-Fried’s affidavit has arrived. He says his attorneys of record had no input into his motion for a new trial, but that he shared drafts with his parents (both attorneys). “They made editorial and organizational suggestions, some of which I incorporated”

He also writes “As I have had to focus on responding to these questions rather than drafting a response to the prosecution's opposition, and because I do not believe I will get a fair hearing on this topic in front of you, I am now requesting to withdraw the Rule 33 motion” (for a new trial)

as someone with an anxiety disorder who gets bad brain fog during very anxious periods, choosing software engineering and then writing as careers was certainly a series of decisions

The new Fellowship crypto PAC has filed its first fundraising disclosure. It reports a $10 million contribution from Cantor Fitzgerald (previously headed by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, now controlled by his sons) and $1 million from Anchorage Digital.

SCHEDULE A (FEC Form 3X)<br>ITEMIZED RECEIPTS<br>A. Anchor Labs Inc<br>Date of Receipt 01-12-2026<br>Amount of Each Receipt this Period 1000000.00<br>Aggregate Year-to-Date 1000000.00<br>B. Cantor Fitzgerald<br>Date of Receipt 01-23-2026<br>Amount of Each Receipt this Period 10000000.00<br>Aggregate Year-to-Date 10000000.00

The Fellowship PAC launched in September with an announcement that they had $100 million committed. They've recently revealed that the PAC is headed by Tether's head of government affairs Jesse Spiro, and endorsed a slate of Republicans.

Fellowship PAC has made three independent expenditures so far, totalling $1.5M:

  • $300k to Clay Fuller, who just won the Republican runoff in GA-14
  • $850k to Nate Morris, challenging Andy Barr in the Kentucky Senate Republican primary
  • $350k to Pete Ricketts, incumbent Nebraska Senator running for re-election

i have never clicked "interested" on a Google News push notification except for on this and one other hummingbird migration–related article, and i'm hoping to train the algorithm to only push notify me with hummingbird content

Google News alert: Hummingbird migration continues north<br>Hummingbirds are moving north across US, reaching New England states