It is too bad the word “refactoring” never escaped computer-land. Having a way to say “make something better without breaking it” is incredibly useful.

Trying to summarize the news now is wild: “He announced the hunger games, went after Tomboy X, handed out a donativum by stealing troops’ housing, illegally named a building after himself, murdered five more people, convicted a judge, and ranted for 18 minutes on tv about how great things are.”

The CSP standard appears to have been written by someone who loves rules and hates web development

Alone is just My Side Of The Mountain for grownups

In 2005 I decided to forever hold a grudge against Larry Summers. That decision keeps looking better and better.

When Donald Trump said he wanted a war with Canada, I didn’t realize he meant retroactively losing the war of 1812.

Infrastructure is like crochet hooks. If we only ever buy the hooks we are absolutely sure we need, each project can require a lot of work to get started. We might give up rather than go to the store for just the one idea. When we invest in a set of typical hooks, we end up making way more things.

The flow of money represents the wants and needs of everyone in an economy. The problem with having billionaires is the same problem as trying to add huge numbers to tiny numbers using floating point. Except that in this case the “tiny numbers” that get lost are “normal people’s wants and needs”.

One challenge I am finding on this campaign: I have great political metaphors that work for very niche audiences.

When I was poor sometimes my friends & I would buy a lottery ticket. We didn’t think it was a good deal: we knew the odds. But for $2 we could have an entire afternoon of hope, dreaming of a better world that was even remotely possible. Anyway, I’ve been donating to other people’s primaries lately.

“It is our fingers on the keyboard” is one of the important lessons for programmers. We are accountable to our users and coworkers for the code we write. When we are told to do our job badly, we don’t even have to say “no”. We can just not do that.

That moment when I was excited to tell @martinfowler.com all about this management book I found that explains why functional companies split into Deserts and Forests, only to discover he had cited the same book twenty years ago in his summary of Agile 🤣

My favorite part of running so far is connecting with skeptics. People have a picture in their head of a “trans socialist”. It isn’t usually a curious motorcycle-riding homeowner with a pickup truck who is nearly impossible to offend. That moment of confusion can be the start of a conversation.

Supporting bethfordemocracy.com is wellness culture!

Done with Seth? Support @beth4ma.bsky.social!

Oath breakers have no honor.

We were going to have a vaccine for the common cold!! This is terrible for science and for all the people who will needlessly die. But it is also violence against me, personally, and my long-suffering sinuses. If it weren’t for fascism, I wouldn’t have to live through sniffly weeks of misery.

People trying to make fun of me on X are hilarious. This isn’t even rude: it is just an accurate observation 🤣

Having to present our papers to a secret police force is mind-bogglingly un-American.

When voters said they wanted the government run like a business, I don’t think the business they meant was KMart

“Do you ignorantly trash trans people to pander to fascists?” is a test of basic political competence. It covers several important skills all politicians should have: A. Don’t talk about things you don’t actually know about B. Don’t play into your opponent’s hand C. Don’t bully children

This is exactly what the internet is for.

The Democrats who want to have the party abandon trans rights aren’t doing it for strategic reasons. They are doing it because they don’t like trans people. They are mad they have had to tolerate us to have a chance at political power in the Democratic party. thehill.com/homenews/cam...

Remember when they caused a bank run because everyone using the bank was in the same tiny number of group chats?

Given past performance, they wouldn’t have any reason to worry. I am running for Congress because they should have a reason to worry.

To safely use AI coding assistants, we need a database that can never lose data, enforces authorization at the database level, and prevents injection attacks. We don’t have AI-safe databases yet, so AI should never touch production.

NEW: Representative Seth Moulton draws a primary challenge after criticism over trans athlete remarks www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/m...

WGBH building in Boston today

Only cowards are afraid of comedians. Imagine having all the power in the world and still being too thin-skinned to take a joke. Some people wouldn’t have lasted five minutes on the early internet.

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.

We just went through a half-decade of sham censorship hearings in Congress, but it certainly seems like the government forced a comedian to get fired as a bribe to ensure a merger goes through. Is that true? Let's have a hearing and find out.

I've known Beth for ages: wicked smart, understands tech really well, and cares about its impact on ordinary people. We need people in Congress like that.

I’m doing a thing! I don’t think the problem with Democrats is our policies, or that some of us are trans. It’s that too many Democrats are desperate to be liked by people they look down on. I don’t look down on baristas: I was one. I hope to be of service again.

The question isn’t what we deserve: it is what we can build together.

Right to repair laws for electronics would reduce monopoly power and keep companies from remotely breaking your thermostat.

Being afraid of failure doesn’t help people succeed. It helps them stay safe by succeeding less often. When we make failure safer & cheaper, we can succeed more.

Also talked about The Onion being inefficient on purpose. www.status.news/p/the-onion-...

My thoughts are with the victims of the Texas floods today. There were multiple layers of public policy failures that led to this disaster, but it is a clear example of why addressing climate change can’t wait.

If the idea of America was not radical, it would not be under attack. This Fourth of July I am prouder than ever to stand for a nation where we celebrate our neighbors regardless of religion, race, creed or background. America is not just an idea: it is an idea worth fighting for.

I have the successful career I have because I could get food stamps. When we aren’t hungry it is infinitely easier to apply for better jobs. It is possible to learn new skills. And it tells us that even when we are poor, we are valued. Hospitality is the basis of community *and* good for society.

However bad things have been, there were always people working to make them better. However bad things get, I will be doing whatever I can wherever I am with whoever is willing to help.

At least 260 people are still in El Salvador, where America sent them to be tortured. This is what one was subjected to: static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics... Our government has a responsibility to bring back each and every one. Any apology will be insufficient, but it is our duty to make one anyway.

Have we tried unusual politics yet? Given the track record of politics as usual, it’s gotta be worth a shot

May we all carry the joy, celebration and energy of Pride into the rest of the year.

When the Republican justices say “tradition”, they mean “head canon”

Absolutely incredible turnout for Budapest Pride! So proud of all the organizers, including some old friends, who estimate hundreds of thousands— major embarrassment to Orban

My gay tax dollars shouldn’t be used to brainwash children into hating me, no matter what this corrupt CPAC panel calling itself a Supreme Court says.

If a robot can do your job, shouldn’t it also have to pay taxes?

It turns out America can have a little socialism as a treat!