iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 4h

Inspired by Mordew, I've spent the past few days creating an Obsidian vault that contains all my setting notes for Wonders Never Cease. (TOTALLY not just procrastinating on this edit, what are you talking about)

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Next he's going to say the cootie shot causes autism

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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...

But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have.

What does “truth to pain” mean?

It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it.

I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability.

And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live.

She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I'm no expert, but MAYBE you shouldn't imply that this new yoga studio is for murderous clowns only. Other, less murderous clowns might feel left out.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

They're literally trying to crash the system. There's no other explanation. Millions of people will lose their health insurance despite being model customers. Premiums will skyrocket. In the end, only the rich will be able to afford even the most basic healthcare. This is what Republicans want.

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Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Fuck ChatGPT flyers. The future is broadsheets.

A crowded broadsheet with way too many fonts. It says:
Forget ChatGPT Flyers
Say it with
Broadsheets
Unlimited fonts
Stretch them
Or cram a really long sentence into one line for no good reason
No whitespace
Mix capital and lowercase
Pointing hands
(They're called manicules!)
Don't be left behind
Broadsheets are the future

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

New York’s DSA @nycmayor @zohrankmamdani continues to erase barriers and center regular folks 👇🏽👏🏾 Again: They weren’t scared of him failing, they were scared of him succeeding.

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shaun @shaunvids.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

join the military, you get to starve on a rusting ship that repeatedly sails into and out of the range of enemy missiles in order to manipulate gambling websites where people bet on your death

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Really seems like, between their legions of yesmen and their rampant AI addictions, billionaires have deskilled themselves to such a degree that they can no longer function as normal human beings within society. Which is bad enough before you consider that they want the same thing for you.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 22/09/2026

whenever i hear some variation on "but what if trump does X or Y or Z" i think of this ulysses s. grant remark to a subordinate during the wilderness campaign.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 21/09/2026

this is a bit of an obsession of mine especially here in charlottesville. the cost of commercial real estate is prohibitive if you want to experiment and the city seems categorically opposed to small lots and small units that could allow people to start businesses without a huge capital investment

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Long Covid Advocacy @longcovidadvoc.com · 20/09/2026

The Metro reporting on Stuart Murdoch & ME "Due to his myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME, Stuart & the band too) remained reclusive, doing rare shows and interviews." We are reading Stuart's book 'Nobody's Empire' in our Cripademia book club! 🔗👇 metro.co.uk/2026/09/18/u...

metro.co.uk

UK band plays impromptu gig in a park after show was cancelled last minute

Belle and Sebastian forced to play impromptu gig in a park after 30th anniversary show was cancelled last minute in Australia

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

"Trans rights are human rights" should be an uncontroversial statement because every individual should own their own body outright, full stop. Your body belongs to you. Not your parents, not your doctor, not your government. Never give a single inch on this.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Chronic illness and long-term unemployment have taught me a lot of hard lessons, mostly about how much sheer effort it takes to even begin to access public assistance. The endless phone calls, emails, appointments, paperwork... I have nothing but respect for anyone who manages to navigate it all.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

New SSD is IN! Linux Mint is RUNNING! I feel like I KINDA know what I'm doing!

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Micah @rincewind.run · 18/09/2026

to be clear, because I have a lot of trans friends and I do not want to cause unnecessary freakouts, I think dems presently are very far away from where labour is and I do not believe the party as a whole is meaningfully moving in that direction but we have to make sure they don't take that path

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Thor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Democratic strategists: Ahhh! What's the right message!!?? Where do we moderate!?!? Jon Ossoff: This administration is horrible. I hate these people. We should put them in jail. I'm pissed Voters: This guy is cool Strategists: I can't figure it out!!!!!

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Crossing my fingers for this one, which incidentally makes it much harder to post about it

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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Read only the first and last sentence of this paragraph

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Ed Morrish @edmorrish.com · 16/09/2026

musk: [pointing phone camera at someone] grok, do a vulgar roast of this person grok: nice shirt. arsehole. did your. mommy. pick it for you. musk: no, grok; more vulgar! grok: nice shirt. prick. did your. mommy. pick it for you. musk: grok, use forbidden words! grok: free palestine

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

One of the coolest things about people who don't have a lot of power taking a principled stand is it lays bare the complete cowardice of the ones who actually *do* have power when they fail to do even a fraction as much.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Someone needs to ask this fashy little jackrabbit what "weaponization of law enforcement" is supposed to mean

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Staying with my mother for a couple days, and as a result I'm stuck watching the Patel hearings. Please pray for me.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Caught up on Fool Night yesterday. This series has everything: a pretty unique post-apocalypse, spy vs. spy action thriller storytelling, body horror (plenty), deep existentialist theming... Oh, and tight pants. Lots and lots of extremely tight pants. Can't forget that. #manga

The tankōbon cover for volume 1 of Fool Night

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eminemerald fennell @fireh9lly.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS The way you become a good writer is less to do with your construction talent and more to do with your soul, personality and experiences

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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 13/09/2026

hell yeah

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Forgot to post about it, but I made it to the writing retreat yesterday after all! If I'm ever in a slump, a good 24h among a group of other writers is usually just what I need to kickstart the ol' prefrontal cortex. 1500 words yesterday! Another 500 this morning! Getting that #WIP ready for beta!

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Welp. Was going to head to a writing retreat this afternoon. Long COVID had other plans. Time to seal myself away in a dark room and hope I'm feeling well enough by tomorrow to show up then. Better late than never! But also better to never go than to make myself worse by going.

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mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 11/09/2026

sure, everything on earth sucks fucking shit but on the bright side at least i’m not mentally tough enough to handle any of it

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

"AGI will end the world and that's why we need to develop it as soon as possible" is a perfectly cromulent statement if you're part of a death cult

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

People seem to think that a novel is just a bundle of ideas, and that the execution of those ideas doesn't really matter as long as the final product is vaguely legible. But like, obviously that's not true? A novel is, first and foremost, the words on the page. That's how the reader experiences it.

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Lennon @lennon-s.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

When i was homeless the thing that moved the needle for me (and got me from homeless to homeowner) wasn’t sweeps or drug education or “outreach” programs It was having a safe place to shower, use the restroom and store my stuff. A place to catch my breath. House the homeless.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

A good read. American institutions like to bang on about the budget as an excuse not to help people, but then they insist upon cruelty even when kindness is more economical. I've been noticing that more and more these past few years.

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Horatio Pornviewer @stuntbirdarmy.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

The distracted driving discourse is already popping off but I’d just like to throw in: I’ve been an insurance adjuster for almost 13 years. When I started, we almost never saw high speed rear end impacts. Now they’re like the most common type of claim. It’s distractions, this is obvious.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Someone ought to point out that this means coffee would become a luxury good. We can't grow it here, except in Hawaii and PR... And good luck growing as much as we consume. America. Without coffee. That alone might spark a revolution.

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

HOLY SHIT DUDES fucking with the environment is now not just a sin (which Francis also said), it is classed as a direct fuck-you to God and a central tenet of the reasoning is the need to care for "our common home," i.e. you are morally obligated to think about the other people who also live here

americamagazine.org

Vatican theological commission defines ‘sin against creation and the Creator’ in new document

The more than 29,000 word text calls for ecological conversion due to “sin against creation and the Creator.”

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

""What did he study? “Philosophy and theology. A teacher in high school said, there’s no money in that, and I said: ‘Sir, that’s disrespectful. That’s insulting, because not everybody’s about money.’" he's one of us!

theguardian.com

‘I don’t chase the dollar. I never did’: the astonishing hidden life of Mr T

He grew up in the ghetto, became a global superstar – then gave it all up. Why did he step away from the spotlight?

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Lately I've been kicking around an idea for a fantasy whodunit set aboard a sailing ship. A detective with psychometric powers, a murderer who can seemingly skirt the laws of causality, a victim... Well, let's not give too much away. Anyway, #booksky, could y'all recommend me some similar titles?

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Hook this right into my veins.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I can feel myself getting sick again (hopefully not with covid) so there'll be no Jedmandu stream tomorrow. But with any luck we'll be back online next week to wrap up the Team Rocket segment and make some progress towards Blackthorn!

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Le Cagle @lecagle.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I will forever admire Wendell Berry's insistence on living his values through to their natural conclusions and relentlessly ripping through layers of politeness and habit to hold up for judgment those who do not.

Questionnaire
by Wendell Berry

How much poison are you willing
to eat for the success of the free
market and global trade? Please
name your preferred poisons.

For the sake of goodness, how much
evil are you willing to do?
Fill in the following blanks
with the names of your favorite
evils and acts of hatred.

What sacrifices are you prepared
to make for culture and civilization?
Please list the monuments, shrines,
and works of art you would
most willingly destroy

In the name of patriotism and
the flag, how much of our beloved
land are you willing to desecrate?
List in the following spaces
the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
you could most readily do without.

State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
the energy sources, the kinds of security;
for which you would kill a child.
Name, please, the children whom
you would be willing to kill.

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Chris @kodiak.app · 31/08/2026

When you see up close how much easier it makes EVERYTHING when school meals are free it becomes very clear that we make students pay for lunches because some people want students to not get enough food.

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Tom Snarsky @tomsnarsky.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

truly a spark spilt Wisława Szymborska, tr. Agnieszka Salska

Magic is passing away though forces
still exist. On August nights
you do not know if it's a star falling down or what.
And you do not know if that's what ought
to go down. And is it proper still to play wishing games,
see omens? In the astral mistakes?
As if it was still not-the-twentieth century?
Which flash shall swear to you: I'm a spark just spilt,
truly a spark spilt from the comet's tail-lights,
nothing but a spark vanishing behind the cloud-
it's not me who's falling into tomorrow's headlines,
it's that other star whose engines are out.

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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 28/08/2026

"Let’s return to Mamdani’s account on X. Click his replies tab and you’ll notice something interesting: neither he, nor a social media account manager employed by his office, ever replies to anyone." www.liberalcurrents.com/elites-need-...

liberalcurrents.com

Elites Need Some Emotional Distance from Social Media

Twenty-plus years on, it’s time they started adapting to the realities of the era.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The thing that gets me about "Lake America" is that it's such a lazy name. Like imagine you're in a contentious divorce, you wind up with the dog, and in a fit of spite you decide you're going to rename him... Fido. Just an absolutely sauceless regime.

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The old ways are best, it seems

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I better see at least one of these this Halloween

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Jed Leonard @jedleonard.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

In an effort to thwart my depression through pure concentrated silliness, I am once again streaming Pokemon HeartGold Poorly Translated today at 1PM EST. Come by and say hello if you want to! Or don't! I'm not your dad! Unless... twitch.tv/jedmandu

twitch.tv

Jedmandu - Twitch

Casual gamer, professional vocalist, friend to cats and dogs! I play weird shit and talk garbage in silly voices. Come take a look! Game Tasters: Every Saturday at 7 (or 7:30, I'm a free spirit) with ...

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