👋 I'm a data journalist at CalMatters, focused on quantifying the money and influence in California politics from Sacramento.
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2026-05-02T01:57:22+02:00 Event JSON
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Last Notes npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Last year, Meta and Google spent tens of millions of dollars to buy influence in Ca. politics by contributing to campaigns, lobbying, and making payments to nonprofits on behalf of sitting officials. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…we7c In fact, there are no limits on spending for a ballot measure in California! npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Looks like Charles Munger Jr. is in for another $10 million, bringing his total contributions to California's Prop 50 opposition $30 million. So it's basically him and $5 million from a Republican SuperPAC npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman An excerpt from "For a Student Who Used AI to Write a Paper": npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…ugza That's a gut punch npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman And then like anything else in the attention/cable news economy, Trump is in a league of his own. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Used the Internet Archive's cable news chyron archive to get a sense for how much MSNBC, CNN, Fox News and the BBC were talking about different topics over the last few weeks. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman https://assets.journa.host/media_attachments/files/114/827/103/131/615/139/original/d6ab06ef917b1006.png npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman A woman whose house burned down in the Eaton Fire earlier this year couldn't cash a ~$900k check from State Farm because, as somebody in the check-hold department of her bank said, the insurer's account had a negative balance. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…f7fx Gotcha! I'd love to see any projections about it, from talking to state workers in my personal life it seemed like a TON of time and energy was used on preparing for RTO npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Explained what ska is to a younger colleague today. Like the music. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…f7fx I hadn't seen any DGS numbers - happen to have a link handy? From the story about a hearing earlier in the spring: npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Was Gov. Newsom's return to office mandate a ploy for contract negotiations? Maya C. Miller looks into it for her first story CalMatters npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Was Gov. Newsom's return to office mandate just a contract bargaining ploy? Maya C. Miller looks into it in her first story for CalMatters npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman I know I’m old because one of the best emails I got today was from my doctor letting me know my cholesterol is way down. Hell ya npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman But the major similarity I see between the two states: neither of the two currently provides much transparency if it's not accompanied by substantial, subsequent reporting. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman I spent a lots of time in (and complaining about) California's lobbying data so I *love* to read about the deficiencies of other state's disclosures. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman And since she's talking about Musk's companies: SpaceX, Tesla, and X all lobby California officials and last year they spent a combined total of nearly $660,0000, roughly the same amount for 2023. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman TX doesn't require lobbyists to disclose what bills or issues they talk about in private meetings. CA does - sort of. There's a spot on the form where the lobbyist can write the topics discussed and many write bill numbers but not all. I've seen a filing with the bills all combined like "AB12345678910111213" npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Incarcerated firefighters in California currently earn between $5.80 and $10.24 per day and get an additional $1 per hour when deployed to an active emergency. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Just me or is it super annoying that the Javascript `.includes()` string method doesn't accept a regular expression? npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman I get that our society is obsessed with celebrities and the allegations (and now convictions) against Combs are v. serious but there's no way that it's THE headline for news outlets across the political spectrum on a day with a newly constructed Florida concentration camp, major legislation before the US House and *WAVES FRANTICALLY* all of this. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman The tax on legal weed in California went up 4% yesterday, presenting another challenge for a struggling industry that just had one of the lowest quarters for cannabis sales in years reports Alexei Koseff for CalMatters npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman "The masked agents pull up quickly. They jump out of unmarked vans or trucks. They wear blue jeans or battle fatigues. They approach Latino men, at times yelling and carrying assault rifles. When someone runs, they’re taken. When they don’t answer a question, they’re taken. When they can’t produce papers, they’re taken." npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Just wondering, what do y’all type in the little emoji picker when you want to use this one? npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Here's what I wanna know: how the hell do y'all post so much?? npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…7sqx and yet npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman At risk of exclusively becoming a @protomaps stan account, the `extract `command is SO SLICK npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman This new project from Dan Snow is a great freaking idea - pre-computed travel times between points for cars, bikes, and walking for FREE with bulk download available. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…e44g I hear you on bringing a bad vibe to the spiel but deserves at least some sort of mention, something... I'll leave how to incorporate it to the rabbis and other leaders mostly because I have no idea npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Purim is a top-notch holiday - it’s a story of Jewish survival, the cookies are sublime, & ppl get wasted. I’m _always_ in for a “People tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat” party! npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…haqc It was playing at Tower Theater, at least it was on Tuesday npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman The probabilistic plagiarism machines (so-called AI) are making shit up again and it's really hurting people! From @nprofile…qz4g npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Saw "No Other Land" this week and if you haven't seen it, you surely should. It's harrowing - when it ended the entire theater audience sat in stunned silence for minutes. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman I've since learned that Area A is governed by the PA, C by Israel, and B jointly. Traveling between non-contiguous areas under Palestinian control can mean going through Israeli military checkpoints npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman The map is obviously just a visualization, a way of thinking through an idea. Clearly the shapes here don't represent the exact same thing when they're put on top of California npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman I'll never understand why anybody ever put one these things in their home. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…66md and @nprofile…rf6s (plus their supporting ecosystem of tools) are cool as hell and an amazing toolset for building maps in a newsroom. If you haven't played around with 'em yet, you should! npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Our unit was able to reduce the number of layoffs by identifying possible savings but 7 of my coworkers are out of a job in a few weeks, if you'd like to meet some fantastic people I'd be more than happy to introduce you. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman This week was bittersweet for our merged union at CalMatters/The Markup. We were thrilled Monday to ratify our contract after months of bargaining, giving our members needed protections and raises. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Stay healthy y'all, this winter's disease buffet is no joke and I'm 2 for 4 of terrible infections that are going around: got the flu a few weeks ago and norovirus earlier this week but have fortunately missed COVID or the measles. For now. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…rw0n This is mostly just to test/justify my priors but is it possible for Sill to show how much paywalled vs. free to access pieces are shared? npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman *Every* agency ruined by this regime had a purpose & did meaningful work. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…mgef Check must've gotten lost in the mail. Again! npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman New slogan from the Internet Archive on a call just now about archiving federal data faster than it can be removed: "If you see something, save something" npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Sometimes I feel like the role of a journalist is to watch the world burn and tell people about it, though I don't think the pay is generally commensurate with that job description. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…7sqx That's one helluva friday! npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Ummm I have no real idea what nostr is but I do know that every reply I get from there is semi-unintelligible, somehow about BTC, and the usernames make no sense. I guess that's just part of the federation game npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…fv4z Such a tremendous loss npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman @nprofile…mtgp What does zap mean? npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman Thinking of Aaron Swartz today & I’m stuck on this photo - he & OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (both circled) each scraped 1000s of docs but one did it to make the knowledge free for all while the other did it to make $$$$ through probabilistic plagiarism. The US DOJ only came after one of them & the other is feted by tech bros and executives. npub160ycvpnfh2dn98p3vcvrv7ldu80qs2f73n485z3c04llgkj7s38qdfhhu8 Jeremia Kimelman I had the cutest alarm clock this morning
