Joshua Wood

Microblog

The former White House Press Office distribution list is now forwarding Trump’s TRUTH Social posts, and has been renamed to “The Office of Communications”

The Office of Communications 4:48 PM TRUTH Social Post by President Donald ... 01/22/25 It is my great honor to appoint Sean Curran as the next Director of the United States

I hate that my brain works so much better on nicotine.

(I haven’t smoked regularly in 15 years and still don’t feel the same without it.)

The Trump Pardons That Will Haunt America

The narrative that J6 was “not an insurrection” is a pervasive lie and those who fall for it are falling for far-right propaganda. And now the convicted seditionists have been pardoned, vindicated.

The success of the seditious conspiracy charges a couple of years ago was a really important moment because the government had made up for the mistakes that they made in 1988. For the first time, arguably since the Civil War, the United States government had proven without question that groups that organize against the government on behalf of white supremacist and anti-government ideologies were attempting to overthrow the government. And that was a significant deal, not just legally, but also in terms of deterrence and building a democratic norm against violence. All of that has now been destroyed.

The sun is out today, following a week of cold, gray mist. Coming from California it took me over a decade in the Pacific Northwest to appreciate the winters here. While I still love the sunshine, I’m happy to report that I’m fully acclimated.

A film-like color photo of a solitary figure walking on a dirt path through a misty field. Tall evergreen trees and bare deciduous trees line the right side of the image, their tops fading into thick fog. The atmosphere is moody and ethereal, with the fog creating a soft, gray filter over the scene. The grass in the field appears brown and winter-like, suggesting this may be captured during a cold season. The small scale of the person against the towering trees and enveloping mist creates a sense of solitude and contemplation.

Fastmail is so good. I think I’m over a decade with them. It comes with built-in DNS and web hosting too, which is an awesome perk.

Happy Friday. Made it through the first full work week of the year. How did we do?

I worked on a review of 2024 for most of the week and it was kind of hell in the middle, but I’m finally starting to feel some clarity, which was the goal. So I think I know where to start next week. 😅

I can’t believe I didn’t connect the dots until now. (The movie premiered the month I was born.)

A still from "Terminator" showing Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) with messy, windswept hair sitting in a red Jeep Wrangler with a German Shepherd dog as her passenger. Both are viewed through the driver's window, with Sarah appearing youthful and the dog looking alert with its tongue out, against a colorful background. A red Jeep Wrangler Sport with its hard too removed, parked against a backdrop of evergreen trees. A German Shepherd sits alertly in the passenger seat with its tongue out, photographed in bright daylight showing the vehicle's rugged off-road tires and white fender flares.

Yesterday I got this ad for The Epoch Times (the propaganda rag from the far-right Falun Gong movement) while searching the iOS App Store. They advertise themselves as “fearless journalism.” The app is currently #36 in Magazines & Newspapers, with 4.9/5 stars.

A screenshot of an ad for the epoch times advertised as “fearless journalism.”

We’re watching The Terminator and Pogo (our pug) starts barking every time he sees Arnold. He really hates bodybuilders.

My kids and I had some fun taking shitty photos of Christopher Marley’s Exquisite Creatures Revealed exhibit at OMSI this week. My favorite is the princess shrimp.

Camera: “Children’s Digital Camera”

For Shitty Camera Challenge

A collection of sea urchin shells arranged against a black background, varying in size and pattern. Each shell features intricate natural geometric designs radiating from a central hole, with colors ranging from pale white to coral pink and sage green. A frilled neck lizard displaying its distinctive neck frill fully extended, photographed against a light background and framed by pixelated turquoise palm trees in a beach-themed border. A whimsical cartoon showing a pink princess dress with a brown shrimp head wearing a golden crown where the neck should be. The dress has pearl decorations and puffy sleeves, with an animated blue bird perching on one extended arm, set against a green background. Two preserved Japanese spider crabs displayed against a black background, one positioned above the other, showcasing their distinctive pink-tinged shells and long, jointed legs that span across the frame.

We watched The Muppet Christmas Carol tonight. A few favorite quotes:

“No cheeses for us meeces”

“Our assets are frozen!”

“Business”

“Light the lamp, not the rat!”

“I knew you weren’t suited for literature”

Doing some writing and remembering that the Malheur occupation was the same year that Trump got elected the first time. That was when a lot of the pieces started to come together for me.

I thought it was sinuses but no, pretty sure I’ve been clenching my jaw in my sleep again.

I love how you can’t turn off audiobook and podcast recommendations in Spotify, and I especially love how they think I want to see Jordan Peterson or James Lindsay on my home page. Maybe I’ll give Apple Music another chance.

Maybe if I tell Spotify I’m just trying to make my bed (remove Jordan Peterson from my homepage)

further proof that bluesky is a socialist echo chamber: most of the handles end in “.social”

“What ergonomic keyboard should I buy?” he typed with his thumbs as his fingers curled around his iPhone

“For legends attract the very best in our times, just as ideologies attract the average, and the whispered tales of gruesome secret powers behind the scenes attract the very worst.”

— Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism

I just did the most adult thing ever and bought de-icer for my driveway. Before my driveway is iced over. Please clap.

Some dreams were only ever meant to be dreams

This is a thoughtful article, and it resonates with me. My interest in coding as a pastime has waned, and I try to view running my business as a job these days.

Hustling is fine when you have the energy but it takes a lot. And sometimes a new idea/opportunity sparks the energy to pursue it.

Feeling slightly less tired:

  1. Quit work early
  2. Slow 5K run on treadmill at the gym
  3. Grocery shopping, got some salad and chicken to grill for dinner
  4. Had dinner and fed the kids (who didn’t want chicken and salad, of course)
  5. Headed to a movie with just me (my favorite thing)

Almost all of the “worst” situations I’ve seen involving kids is when they feel they’ve gotten into a hole and have no where else to turn. Make sure they know they can always turn to you if they’re in trouble, or if they feel they made a mistake. (Mike Masnick)

This is such an important point. There is so much exploitation (online and off) that depends on isolating kids from adults and their peers.

Jonathan Haidt’s Book ‘The Anxious Generation’ Is Coddling The American Parent; Giving Them Clear, Simple & Wrong Explanations For What’s Ailing Teens

Moral panics never end well, and gloss over all the nuance and root problems as Mike Masnick mentioned. I will dump some thoughts on digital parenting as an exvangelical who was raised by fundamentalists…

My kids are 6 & 8. We use parental controls and keep things age appropriate unless they are clearly ahead in some areas. But our goal is to teach them to be emotionally and digitally literate at every stage of development.

Right now we’re discussing the risks of user-generated content and online anonymity. Many of their friends play Roblox, but we’ve waited. Same with unsupervised YouTube. Nothing is “forbidden,” though.

They’re currently playing Among Us because it’s multiplayer but has tighter communication/parental controls. Seems like good training wheels for online Roblox/Minecraft.

In the past we learned what adverting is. Both my kids can spot an ad and tell you what they’re selling and who the market is. That’s a great reason for a live TV subscription imo.

We also aren’t too worried about screen time. They’ve had iPads and TV basically always.

I worried about screen time at first, until I caught them looking up drawing/crafting tutorials on YouTube when they got bored with it (yes, they already circumvent our best efforts at times, which is also OK and expected, and as a former child myself, it makes me proud).

They both love books and reading, and collaborate on writing/illustrating comic books together.

No social media yet, but tbh I’m looking forward to introducing them to All the Things as they develop and show they’re capable of handling it.

Same goes for alcohol, swearing, etc. (already taught them most of the curse words so they can hopefully avoid getting in trouble with teachers/other parents. 😂)

In general, that’s our approach. Everything eventually, supervised at first, with diminishing oversight as they earn trust.

I know I’m still early, but so far it’s working out—but I’m under no illusions that they’ll “turn out alright.” Adolescence is hard, and so is adulthood. I just want to prepare them for it as best I can.

It’s a travesty how Thomas Paine’s words have been laundered. We learned about Paine in the context of the Revolutionary War and that was it. Imagine my surprise when I read his other books.

Certain individuals in my house will make entire desserts, put them in the fridge, and forget about them. Guess who doesn’t forget about them? 😭