Joshua J. Friedman

@joshuajfriedman.com

212772 Followers 4489 Following

Welcoming media and government (and everyone else!) to Bluesky. Formerly of The Atlantic, Boston Review.

Screenshot of WSJ timeline that appears to show the full headline superimposed on the photo.
A mural on a Brooklyn street advertising an adjacent barbershop: Cristiano Ronaldo, wearing a white Adidas jersey with Real Madrid insignia, uses an electric razor to cut the hair of Lionel Messi, wearing a blue-and-red striped Nike jersey with Football Club Barcelona insignia.
Bluesky post from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that begins, "Today marks 81 years since the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945: the Trinity test." To my knowledge, the bulletin takes no position on Love Island contestant Trinity Tatum, who stole America's hearts with her quirky friends-to-lovers romance with Bryce Detloff.
A giant light-blue dome with the words WILD BLUEBERRY written on it.
Screenshot of the new advanced-search interface: A "From" drop-down menu gives you two choices, "Anyone" and "People you follow."
Google Ngram showing that the two-word "shit show" continues to be more common in printed English books (and some periodicals) than the one-word "shitshow."
A New York Times graphic showing that the United Nations headquarters are on one of the edges of the "frozen zone" around the evacuated, possibly collapsing building.
Bluesky friends shouting about the World Cup! TAKE THAT VAR GOLLLLLLLLLLLL KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON THIS TIME BROTHER EGYPTIAN ZICO!!!!!!! I've been an Egypt fan for all of 20 minutes and I am outraged THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT Ball don't lie I mean, dude. Egypt is not messing around here.
Thirteen Times ONE TIME a science teacher from the local city college came around and asked me if I'd give a talk there. He offered me fifty dollars, but I told him I wasn't worried about the money. "That's the cly college, right?" "Yes." I thought about how much paperwork I usually had to get involved with when I deal with the government, so I laughed and said, "I'll be glad to give the talk. There's only one condition on the whole thing"—I pulled a number out of a hat and continued—"that I don't have to sign my name more than thirteen times, and that includes the check!" The guy laughs too. "Thirteen times! No problem." So then it starts. First I have to sign something that says I'm loyal to the govern-ment, or else I can't talk in the city college. And I have to sign it double, OK? Then I have to sign some kind of release to the city—I can't remember what. Pretty soon the numbers are beginning to climb up. I have to sign that I was suitably employed as a professor-to ensure, of course, since it's a city thing, that no jerk at the other end was hiring his wife or a friend to come and not even give the lecture. There were all kinds of things to ensure, and the signatures kept mounting Well, the guy who started out laughing gol pretty nervous, but we just made it. I signed exactly twelve times. There was one more left for the check, so I went ahead and gave the talk. A few days later the guy came around to give me the check, and he was really sweating
The front cover of the zine Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, with a monochrome illustration by Guilherme Nunes of a goth capybara and its skeleton companion.
New York Times headline from October 19, 1924: "Evacuation Day Was Once a Glorious Holiday Here."
The New York Times WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1960 New Hydrant Caps To Create Sprays For City Children The city's tenement children will be able to romp legally under 1,000 cooling street showers in the hot summer months. The Police Athletic League will distribute 1,000 special perforated caps for low-pressure fire hydrants, starting today. The aim of the program, which was worked out by six city agencies, is to discourage the illegal opening of fire hy-drants, which lowers the water pressure and floods streets, and at the same time to assure the children of their summer treat. The shower caps will regulate the flow of water when the fire hydrants are turned on, cutting the flow from about 625 gallons a minute to twenty-five gallons a minute, according to the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity. The c-ps will remain on the selected hydrants all summer. They can be rotated so the holes are open, like a tin of baby powder. The city has experimented with the caps before and this years decided to put them into general use. The caps will probably displace the children's own method of cutting down the impact of the water—-an open ended oil can over the plug. This expedient has been known to attract patrolmen from blocks away when the water squirted into open windows.
A bunch of Bluesky users shouting about the World Cup.
Duolingo owl icon
ConEd website: Voltage Reduction During extreme heat, when the electric system is stressed in specific areas, we may reduce voltage in one of the individual networks, which slightly lowers the amount of electricity flowing into area homes and businesses. It is one of the many tools we use to precisely manage the grid during heat waves. It’s safe, temporary, and helps the power stay on for everyone during periods of peak usage. You may not notice any changes. Or you may experience dim lights, or intermittent fluctuations with elevators or appliances such as air conditioners.
A conversation on Threads. Ken White (Popehat) posts: I really haven't figured out the Threads algorithm. I get people I follow and then an array of people saying things like "premarital sex is Satanic" or "I will never be friends with communists." Do I have it on a misanthrope setting Stephen Gutowski replies: That's just the Meta special sauce at play, Ken. Ken replies: Thank God I'll be banned soon
Paul Ryan wearing a backwards cap in his workout photo shoot making a "hold up" gesture to the camera.
A Brad Lander commercial in which he rides the Cyclone at Coney Island.
Sped-up film of Brad Lander eating a hot dog on the Cyclone, filmed for a campaign commercial
A Bluesky DM illustrating the new reply feature. At the top, an arrow and the text "You replied to Cait." Immediately below, a blue text bubble enclosing a quoted message ("Cait: I'm stealing that"), followed by my reply ("By all means").
Screenshot of Thomas's post in iOS. No ligatures.
An enormous blue "Upgrade" button in the upper right of the Gmail page.
Ed Sullivan: "Tonight we got a real big shoe"
Covers of books by Dutch author and artist Miek Zwamborn, including one about algae and another called "Magical Octopus."
A fan wears the salmon-colored Adidas Scotland jersey and a purple tartan kilt at the Haiti–Scotland match. Photo by Patrick Smith/FIFA/Getty Images.
"Beer for Kicks," an international-style amber lager from Off Color Brewing of Chicago. A hand holds a tall can with a monochrome illustration of five mice as soccer players in front of a goal, with the ball coming toward them.
'50s-style high-schoolers hanging out on scaffolding while talking on the phone.
Workers standing on scaffolding in front of Donald Trump's name on the Kennedy Center, not removing it.
Karen Ruth Bass 34.81% Spencer Pratt 27.32% Nithya Raman 26.21%
A joke video clip about typographic kerning: In a Robocop-style vision of a digital display imposed on the real world, we look at three unevenly spaced benches on a street and see a world in which we can fix these "kerning violations."
Blue zip-up sweatshirt with the white letters K and E stitched on one side of the zipper and R and N stitched on the other side of the zipper, with two little arrows in the middle pointing inward.
A mural of Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson on a city street. He’s mid-dribble, and we see an enormous basketball and blue sneaker in the foreground with the word KNICKS! trailing behind him. Above the painted wall is a corrugated metal roof structure with industrial equipment.
Screenshot of Jaz's profile cleaner.
Following Feed Preferences These settings only apply to the Following feed. Show replies Show reposts Show quote posts Experimental Show samples of your saved feeds in your Following feed
Unfortunate spray-paint-style 2005 logo design for the rebranded "Parsons The New School for Design."
Apple TV tweet from December 2025. A video screencap says, "Pluribus is the most watched show ..."
RACHEL A. SHELDEN is associate professor of history and director of the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center at Penn State University. A leading scholar of nineteenth-century America, Shelden is a member of the Historians Council on the Constitution at the Brennan Center for Justice. rachelshelden.com | (Bluesky butterfly icon) @rachelshelden.bsky.social
Screenshot of the L.A. Material home page. Stories include: Maxine Waters, Dr. Dre face off in fight over Compton school bond. A 70-year-old high school without a cafeteria and a $360 million bond measure are fueling a political battle in Compton. by Matt Hamilton, Jun 1, 2026 A Changing of the Guard in South L.A. The story of this year’s Council District 9 election is also a story of demographic change: After more than a half-century of Black representation, all six of the candidates on the ballot are Latino. by Julia Wick, May 29, 2026
Screenshot of the Capital Weather home page. The text reads: Welcome! It's time for a new adventure. We hope you'll join us. by JASON SAMENOW, DAN STILLMAN, IAN LIVINGSTON, A. CAMDEN WALKER and MARK WOLLY
CHAPTER 2. Forms of Ballots: Ballot Order [13100 - 13121] ( Chapter 2 enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2. ) 13112. The Secretary of State shall conduct a drawing of the letters of the alphabet, the result of which shall be known as a randomized alphabet. The procedure shall be as follows: (a) Each letter of the alphabet shall be written on a separate slip of paper, each of which shall be folded and inserted into a capsule. Each capsule shall be opaque and of uniform weight, color, size, shape, and texture. The capsules shall be placed in a container, which shall be shaken vigorously in order to mix the capsules thoroughly. The container then shall be opened and the capsules removed at random one at a time. As each is removed, it shall be opened and the letter on the slip of paper read aloud and written down. The resulting random order of letters constitutes the randomized alphabet, which is to be used in the same manner as the conventional alphabet in determining the order of all candidates in all elections. For example, if two candidates with the surnames Campbell and Carlson are running for the same office, their order on the ballot will depend on the order in which the letters M and R were drawn in the randomized alphabet drawing.
March 12, 2026 County Clerk/Registrar of Voter (CC/ROV) Memorandum #26057 TO: All County Clerks/Registrars of Voters FROM: /s/ Wesley Keller Program Manager, Candidate Filing and Election Night Reporting RE: Primary Election: Randomized Alphabet Drawing In accordance with Elections Code section 13112(b)(1)(B), the Secretary of State’s office conducted a drawing of the letters of the alphabet to determine the randomized alphabet for use in the above election. Listed below is the official order of letters for use in determining placement of candidates’ names on the ballot. Please note that this alphabet is to be applied THROUGHOUT the candidate’s entire last name, so if more than one candidate’s surname begins with the same letter, the second letter of the surname determines who goes first, according to where the second letter of the name appears in the randomized alphabet. For example, if two candidates with the surname of Campbell and Carlson are running for the same office, their order on the ballot will depend on the order in which the letters “M” and “R” were drawn in the randomized alphabet drawing. Q T P W Z M Y L D R H B C J X F N S A G K E U O V I
For what it's worth we have a certified beekeeper as a shareholder here. Significant experience handling removing and rehousing feral/swarming bees, has done as much in NYC, Catskills, Puerto Rico. Cannot vouch for availability given current day job, but feel free to reach out during "swarm season".
WHAT'S THE CATCH? There's no catch. We record first-person cleaning footage to help train the next generation of household robots. That data is valuable enough for us to offer cleaning services free of charge for a limited time. So, for a limited time, we cover the cost of professional cleaners. In exchange, they record first-person video while they work. You get a spotless apartment. We get training data. Everyone wins. Book a Free Cleaning →
Bluesky thread by head of product Alex Benzer: idea #1: show more of the article's content inside the link card. how much should we show? should it appear after clicking a "show more" button? idea #2: a way to browse all conversations on Bluesky about a specific article, publication, or writer idea #3: subscribe to publications directly from the link card with one click idea #4: receive notifications from publications or writers you subscribe to from within the Bluesky app idea #5: see all the articles a person has written in an Articles tab on their profile in the Bluesky app idea #6: a badge on Bluesky profiles for standard.site publications (similar to Germ's badge, or it could be in a separate block) how else would you like to see us highlight standard.site articles, writers, and platforms on Bluesky?
Bluesky search results showing lots of photos of and posts about American character actor Claude Akins.
May 27, 2026 Pursuant to Section 36(4)(b) of the Municipal Home Rule Law, I hereby decline to confirm the continued existence of the Charter Revision Commission appointed by former Mayor Eric Adams on December 31, 2025. In accordance with Section 36(4)(b), such Commission shall expire and all appointments to such Commission, as well as any proposed revisions to the City Charter or any new proposed Charter put forth by such Commission, shall be nullified. Zohran Kwame Mamdani Mayor
smellable adjective smell able -lebal : capable of being smelled
Poster with a white silhouette of an old-fashioned faucet at center, with the words "RUNNING WATER" written on it and a series of arrows pointing in from the pipe and out through the faucet. At the bottom, it says "RURAL ELECTRIFICATION ADMINISTRATION." The top half of the poster is yellow, and the bottom half is blue. It's fun and modern!
U.S. Secret Service Office of Communications @SecretSvcSpox We are aware of reports of shots fired near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW and are working to corroborate the information with personnel on the ground. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available. 6:45 PM • May 23, 2026
CNN reporters heard what appeared to be dozens of gunshots near the White House on Saturday, triggering a lockdown and a rapid response from the US Secret Service. A Secret Service official told CNN that the agency was investigating reports of shots fired at the corner of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, which is just outside the White House complex. Members of the press corps on the North Lawn were rushed into the White House briefing room. Inside the White House, reporters were told to shelter in place as Secret Service agents shouted "get down" and warned of "shots fired." One reporter said the sounds appeared to come from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building side of the White House complex. Secret Service agents carrying rifles could be seen moving through the North Lawn area following the incident and blocking the White House press briefing room. CNN has reached out to the White House for comment. This is a developing story and will be updated.
Tweet from Selina Wang: Many gunshots were heard when we were at the White House. We were told to run into the press briefing room 6:09 PM • May 23, 2026
Reuters headline: White House forced top spy Gabbard to resign, source says
The Seal of New York City, which is described thus on a city website: Arms: Upon a shield, saltire wise, the sails of a windmill. Between the sails, in chief a beaver, in base a beaver, and on each flank a flour barrel. Supporters: A sailor on the left, his right arm bent, and holding in his right hand a plummet; his left arm bent, his left hand resting on the top of the shield; above his right shoulder, a cross-staff. A Native American of Manhattan, his right arm bent, his right hand resting on top of the shield, his left hand holding the upper end of a bow, the lower end of which rests on the ground. Shield and supporters rest upon a horizontal laurel branch. Date: Beneath the horizontal laurel branch the date 1625, being the year of the establishment of New Amsterdam.
Fragment from an article: "what's possible with open social platforms. Jay says she sees a future where software is 'liquid', being easily"
Clip from High Fidelity. John Cusack's character says, "My all-time favorite book is Johnny Cash's autobiography Cash by Johnny Cash."
Title page from another printing of the same pamphlet. The relevant line reads, "Trade Mark, Patented Feb. 9th, 1869."