Sign in

Brian Bartky 🌹

@brianbartky.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.1K following 1.1K posts

Mostly retired technical writer living in Camarillo in west Ventura County, California. Cis/Ace he/him/his. Solidarity with the people of 🇻🇪 🇨🇦 🇨🇺🇨🇴 🇩🇰 🇬🇱 🇮🇷 🇲🇽 🇵🇸 🇵🇦.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 20h
Yeah, um, I think the words I am looking for here are "JFC" This is what Sydney's skies would look like tonight under these conditions.
44016
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I would give up a third of my 401K -- make that half of it -- to watch Senator Schmitt chew out the aide who came up with this scheme to entrap Jack Smith.
1314322
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
The Serfs (youtube.com/theserfstv) @theserfstv.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Michael Tracey is actively attempting to dox Jane Doe in the Cornell 7 rape case
Michael Tracey : If you happen to know who this Cornell "Jane Doe" is, get in touch and I would be happy to publish her name and identifying information. And yes -- this is 100% permitted under the First Amendment, whatever threats or emotional blackmail people might want to deploy"Report" me for what, exactly? Save your breath, scumbag. Sorry you hate the First Amendment so much. Her identity is obviously newsworthy at this point, and I will take extreme pleasure in reporting it. (Not "doxing" -- that's a total canard)
2863439765
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
No one except the soulless criminal who's president of the U.S. would say Canada is "one of the worst countries in the entire world." Trump uses China as a good example and Canada as a bad example because he loves dictators and wants to be one.
2526889
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Hard to imagine what that would be like
23774881249
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 28/09/2026
So uhhhhhh… Apparently meta's muse "AI" is just straight up doxxing people to strangers on FB marketplace??? This has the potential to hurt so so many people, and I genuinely wonder how long before they roll out a fix for it.
Screenshot of a post from threads

matt.j.robb & 16h (€) So muse handled my Facebook marketplace today. Just found out it told people my address and agreed a lowball price and then they showed up without it even telling me until late tonight that it messed up.

Absolutely wild. 1/2

[Embedded image of a series of text messages from a meta muse "agent" given the call sign "Jarvis" (Parts of first message obscured by its logo have been replaced with brackets and ellipses and best guesses from context):]

Heads up, Usman is […] building right now for the MX Keys Mini [. He is sta]nding in front of the Shoppers Drug [Mart.]

$10 by e-transfer. The auto-reply told him to message when he's at your door.

10:28 PM Bad news on the MX Keys Mini pickup. Usman showed up at your building around 9:15 and waited, messaged a bunch of times, and nobody came down. He left angry at 9:38 and left a negative rating.

Worse, my auto-reply told him "Yep I'm here!" at 9:27 when you clearly weren't available, which is on me. That's a bad look and it made the no-show worse.

I've sent him an apology from your account owning it and offering to try again another day. But the negative rating is real, and I should probably stop the auto-replies from claiming you're home when I can't verify that. Want me to change the pickup replies so they don't promise you're there?

[reply, presumably from the threads user]: You gotta never do that ever again don't agree for pickup unless you check with me

[Response from Muse "Agent"]: You're right and I'm sorry. That should never have happened. It's locked in now as a hard rule: i will never […you]'re there unless you've explicitly […] that specific pickup. If someone proposes a time, I'll tell them I'll check and…  Screenshot of a tweet from Ray Wong @raywongy:
    Deleted Muse after seeing this post on Threads about how it told some Facebook Marketplace sellers the guy’s address and they showed up at his door

    Dangerous and creepy

    This would have been 1000x worse if the person was a woman
    4:35 PM · Sep 27, 2026
11141661434
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman) @drspacejunk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This is very interesting! Nearly 20 years ago I suggested that astronaut poop might have archaeological value, and was mocked for it. 🧪 🏺 #SpaceArchaeology
zoharesque.blogspot.com
Who knew astronaut poop could cause such controversy?
It's funny how people react to the idea that human waste may have archaeological value. Of course, in space, the main problem would be exp...
1415247
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 27/09/2026
Women trying to succeed in Silicon Valley AI and effective altruist spaces are reporting feeling serious social pressure to attend sex parties - where people have reported being sexually assaulted, like below. Events like Aella’s “Slutcon,” which is happening again this weekend.
Ann Pierce
@itsannpierce
20h
I am disheartened by this as well. I already lost a bunch of followers for agreeing with @tautologer, but it's saddening to see local nerdy women being caricatured as Karen-like outsiders and getting pushed out of the scene. This is exactly why you hear so few concrete, names-attached stories of sexual harrassment and assault. I'm told there is a history of discrediting these because the "slut normalization" thing is top priority and these stories get inconveniently in the way of spreading this ideology.
I got roped into attending last year's Saturday Slutcon party because so many local and out-of-town friends were there (to echo sentiments @tautologer expressed about "slut events becoming central to the larger scenes). Mostly I hung out with people I knew and that was great. But in the course of my 3-ish hours there, there were 2 times my "no" was not accepted by a man I didn't know, and I was physically pushing a huge guy off of me who was rubbing his penis on me, who continued to do it despite my physical force against him, and after I finally wriggled away from him, told him I wanted to dance alone etc., he came back and did it again.
This was scary and bad, but it didn't even cross my mind to report this because one of the other people who didn't accept my "no" earlier in the night was the bartender (an officially sanctioned authority at the event), and I knew the event was organized exclusively by women into CNC (who are vocal about how rapey behavior turns them on), so I figured this sort of thing would just get me laughed at. And anyway, I heard there were a lot of other incidents like it. Later though, someone encouraged me to report this story to the organizers, and despite my embarrassment I did, so *they know* that this and other incidents happened. This is why they cut the Saturday night party this year and created a larger training program for the flirt girls - *because* of things like this last year. Yet the narrative bein…People who haven't been to Slutcon are saying "it's just group therapy," "it's just innocent flirting." But the environment is much like a sex party in that many people are nude, there is making out and sex acts happening out in the open. I think it's pretty unreasonable to expect that every nerdy girl who likes rationalist bloggers or is into EA/AI safety should automatically be comfortable with this! That if she's not, there's something wrong with her, we don't want her in our scenes, etc.
Not to mention, it's explictly an event *for men*, where men are the clients and the "flirt girls" are the product. Last year I overheard an exchange where a man felt "led on" by a flirt girl and was trying to get her punished/kicked out. (A dynamic that seems inevitable in this context!)
Anyway- it does sound like they've upped their consent education a lot this year, are more organized, and that's good! As I've told my friends who are attending: I hope they have fun!
I heard several accounts last year of women who had no problems and really enjoyed the event. That's great!
Just... can we live in reality about this? There are real reasons why male-female sexual dynamics are tricky.
Encouraging autistic men who can't yet read body language to go around asking to see womens' boobs is maybe a bit ill-advised. Maybe not everyone should be/identify as a slut; maybe it's not for everyone.
And yeah, filtering the Bay Area Al safety scene down to only women who are super comfy with this eliminates *most* women - including many of the really smart, nerdy, weird women who've been in the larger scenes for years. What a loss for humanity.
I absolutely understand why people with a minority sexuality would want to create belonging, would want to create spaces for people like themselves. But why do it like this/at this cost?
20643151105
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
You wouldn't know it from reading the headlines, but the president's downward mental health spiral is the biggest story in America right now We won't salvage democracy unless the media and pols start speaking the truth about Trump's damaged mind My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...
inquirer.com
We need to find the words for Trump’s madness before things blow up | Will Bunch
The media and politicians haven’t pinned down anything resembling a suitable description for a president’s downward spiral or the looming battle for U.S. democracy.
901817703
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Bob Smietana @bmietana.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Been working on this for a while about pastors who see the racism and antisemitism of America's past as a feature, not a bug. Meet the Jim Crow Theobros religionnews.com/2026/09/24/t...
religionnews.com
The rise of the Jim Crow theobros
(RNS) — A group of Reformed pastors and influencers has wedded old-school segregationist theology with the hypermasculinity of the manosphere and the savvy of the attention economy to preach and sell ...
815955
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
A while back @philiprocco.bsky.social wrote about how the Trump administration was already using government resources for propaganda messages in Social Security messaging. Is it illegal? Part of the problem is defining what counts as propaganda... donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-federa...
donmoynihan.substack.com
The Federal Government is Emailing You Campaign Literature – Can Anyone Stop It?
Is it legal for Social Security to send you partisan propaganda? In theory, no…
4299105
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Oligarch solidarity www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...
hollywoodreporter.com
The Major Social Media Platforms Are All Rejecting Paid Ads for Alex Gibney’s ‘Musk’ (Exclusive)
YouTube, TikTok and Meta have all turned down the trailer for the Oct. 9 doc, citing "political" content. X won't even take Bleecker Street's calls. The distributor is appealing.
52851351
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said Thursday that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R) will face “legal consequences” after the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled that his seizure of roughly 650,000 ballots violated state law. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
democracydocket.com
California Attorney General vows ‘legal consequences’ for GOP sheriff who seized ballots
The ballot seizure case highlights the risks to democracy when election deniers in positions of authority abuse their power to interfere with vote counting. Bianco seized an estimated 650,000 ballots ...
57692092800
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Eli Valley @elivalley.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Boasting to the world of his mass terrorist atrocity:
Netanyahu showing off a pager during his speech at the UN
1232877442
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is what happened to the Republican Party from the 90s on in increasingly blue states like Oregon, Washington, and California. Rather than trying to move TOWARDS voters, they radicalized AWAY from them, becoming ever more electorally unviable in statewide races. It’s a peculiar dynamic.
1439387
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Looks like US-made textiles and clothing have gotten more expensive since Trump imposed tariffs in April 2025.
A graph from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the price of US-made textile products and apparel since July of 2022. The prices held mostly steady until May of 2025, at which point they've gone up about 7%.
482136330
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
If they deserve to be impeached — and so many of them do — then the House should impeach them. Maybe the Senate won‘t convict but it’s still worth the effort to remind people that laws still exist and that Democrats still defend it. Also, as noted here, make ‘em sweat.
812552498
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
latest in a long running series of Republicans discovering that Republican policy preferences are bad when they’re applied to their loved ones
1112650634
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Brandy Zadrozny @brandyzadrozny.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Bonus for whoever wrote this chyron
Trump speaking at UN — MS NOW chyron reads: Trump touts being a peacemaker while asking if he should annihilate Iran
133106002480
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Wendell Albright @wendella.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
this might be the single worst thing ever uttered at a UN General Assembly certainly the worst thing said by the leader of a purported democracy
641401333
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
With the midterm elections shaping up to be a massive reckoning for the Republican Party, it's worth remembering that they had a fairly easy offramp from Trumpism in the immediate aftermath of the January 6th riot but they completely chickened out.
773574676
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Michael Ian Black @michaelianblack.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I've had life insurance for years. Haven't used it once.
2314505603
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Even if you think you know the whole Kennedy Center story, this is enlightening and enraging. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/u...
nytimes.com
How President Trump Broke the Kennedy Center (Gift Article)
Internal emails and documents demonstrate the political capture of the institution, including how officials once pursued a plan to unload much of the art collection.
561808872
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Seriously I'm seeing people be all "haha he's a 12 year old boy" when he mentioned the Arch with the Snipers but for some reason no one seems to do the math this way. Whether or not he builds the arch, he's telling you he's not leaving and he's gonna ask the military to protect him in the WH
26875199
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“Briefly detained” = beat half to death
7549261649
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The MAGA outrage du jour that started on Twitter and has now been picked up by the OR GOP is that someone noticed that Tilamook cheese (made in Oregon) has a halal label. They’ve had it for years and they switched to non-animal rennet for economic reasons. But the hate machine must be fed.
OREGON
Oregon GOP • @Oregon_GOP • 10h
X
Oh, @TillamookDairy, isn't it enough to say that EVERYONE loves your cheeses and ice cream and more? Did you have to join with the destroyers who divide us by race, religion, and ethnicity?
#GoWokeGoBroke
Sailor Girl • @alice_kinzer • 12h
TILLAMOOK DAIRY IS UNDER ATTACK FOR ADVERTISING THEIR CHEESE CAN BE
EATEN BY MUSLIMS.
They have made the decision of adding HA...
• 14 2726 • 106
企OREGON
PARION EAT
Oregon GOP & @Oregon_GOP •7h
For those who care, Tillamook's Maker's Reserve 10-year Extra Sharp Cheddar is NOT halal or "permissible." We think it might be the best one they make.
#freedom #GoWokeGoBroke
BE2ヒめ!
X
This Tillamook cheese is NOT "permissible" (halal).
1909
SNKERS RESERDA
Tillamook
EXTRA/
2014
SHARP
WHITE
CHEDDAR CHEESE
OWNED
FARMER
EST
1909
と
MAKER'S RESERVE
Tillamook
EXTRA
2014
SHARP
WHITE
CHEDDAR CHEESE
FARMER
OWNED
(It's arguably the best of their cheeses!)
34
{7 13
73
Ill 1.9KLars Larson
• @LarsLarsonShow • 37m
Wow. As a proud Cheesemaker (class of '77)
I'm floored by this
Wall Street Apes • @WallStreet... • 3h
One of America's most popular brand of
cheese is now catering to Muslims
Right on the package of Tillamook cheese is now a "Certified Halal" label...
١١٥٠
贝
901615374
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
As an American political historian, I can confirm that this Congress has been "almost unmatched in history" in several categories -- sad abdication of its war powers, craven surrender of the power of the purse, weird refusal to conduct meaningful oversight, and an utter failure to pass actual laws.
29172271876
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Ken Jennings @kenjennings.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I don’t usually meddle on the writing side of Jeopardy!, but tonight I called in a favor for our Bluesky viewers.
15710293777
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
My mom had polio when she was five. She was living on a US military base in Japan (1947). Four kids on the base died. She was the only survivor.
1002991848
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 18/09/2026
lmao
1745685422
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
What? A sudden 30% decline in national housing prices would be a sign we're in like a serious depression. After the housing bubble burst in 2006/2007, national house prices fell "only" 27% peak to trough fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CSUSH...
1702598666
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
JFC The VERY first thing Dems should do if they win the midterms is impeach this impossibly dangerous crackpot.
2350170
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 17/09/2026
“A senior executive at Microsoft said A.I. systems built on the work of others will be seen as ‘an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions’ and possibly the greatest robbery of labor in human history, according to court documents unredacted Thursday in an ongoing Manhattan lawsuit.”
orlandosentinel.com
Docs in A.I. copyright suit reveal startling admission by Microsoft exec over ‘astonishing theft’
The admission appeared in a newly unredacted filing in the landmark copyright infringement legal battle playing out between newspapers like the Orlando Sentinel and tech companies Microsoft and OpenAI...
9555432156
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Lisa Guerrero @lisaguerrero.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Not only did I meet Robert Kraft, I worked for him. His kid Jonathan asked me to “remove the black music” from my gameday playlist in ‘94 & I refused so they fired me. I was the cheerleader director at the time.  I sued them for wrongful termination and won. So yes, I know that motherfucker. 
329253045779
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Jacob Oller @jacoboller.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
people think it's SO easy to be a film critic but so few seem to know that it's an extremely complicated process that often involves watching at least one movie
638362
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
New — I wrote about this weird thing where people within the Republican party keep being exposed as Nazis and the party then tries to claim each one is an aberration. The facts, as I lay out here, indicate otherwise:
thehandbasket.co
Republicans don’t have a Nazi problem—they are the Nazi problem
A spate of recent revelations have shown the ideologies and their adherents are one and the same.
10282582701
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 15/09/2026
“As a result of exquisite planning by our orbital dynamics team, brilliant execution by the operations team, and a precise launch from SpaceX, Roman has fuel for at least 22 years of potential science operations,” said Jamie Dunn, center director at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. #NASARoman 🔭
science.nasa.gov
Fuel Savings Double Potential Lifetime for NASA's Roman Mission - NASA Science
The results are in: NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's very accurate first mid-course correction, along with other fuel savings, are expected to more
216549
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Derek Newsome @derek.space · 16/09/2026
Here's all 13 released engineering film shots from the Artemis II launch played back at full speed and synced!
25822
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Gene J. Mikulka @genejm1017.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
So let me get this straight, SpaceX is turning away business in favor of its own payloads? They are phasing out their bread and butter Falcon 9 and its rideshare abilities in favor of Starship and Starlink? Fascinating.
595
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Unlike Macklemore, these support acts don’t have big followings and they are giving up their chance to perform to stadiums to push back against censorship, not of themselves but of a fellow artist. Respect.
7972091140
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Ej Dickson @ejdickson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
There is a corner of the internet I had never heard of before I started reporting this story. It’s called the “burnerverse”: a network of anon burner accounts ostensibly discussing college sports. But they have another goal: destroying young girls’ lives.🧵: www.wired.com/story/burner...
wired.com
A College Girl Was Exploited on Camera. A Network of Anonymous Men Got to Work
Maddie Kowalski is one of countless young women who’ve had their lives destroyed by the burnerverse, a loosely connected online community of sports fans. Now she’s fighting back.
7923271009
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Jonathan McDowell @planet4589.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Apparently the commander of the International Space Station brought her dancing pants to space with her
1163138704
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
ProPublica @propublica.org · 14/09/2026
NEW: Donald Trump Jr.’s Bahamas Wedding Was Secretly Bankrolled by Russian Oligarch Close to Putin Umar Kremlev footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses at Donald Trump Jr.’s lavish wedding, including renting out a private island and paying for the fireworks show.
propublica.org
Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch
The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large...
21926881393
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Of all the late stage Trump theories, wants the world to die with him seems increasingly credible.
621755408
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
amanda moore 🐢 @noturtlesoup17.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Years ago I tried to place a story about Bo French, the Texas Young Republicans, the Republican Party of Texas, and Nick Fuentes. I was basically told it didn’t matter. But I put this on my Substack!
turtlediaries.net
Top Texas GOP Donor and Nick Fuentes Seem to Agree
Jewish people shouldn't hold office, women shouldn't work
320236
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Matt Bors @mattbors.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
It was exactly ten years ago today, on my 33rd birthday, that I posted this comic online.
484297717660
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
As an aside it’s weird that Harp and other Trump staffers were wearing green, like they assume every day in Ireland is St Patrick’s Day
1042913306
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
kate conger @kateconger.com · 11/09/2026
Over six months, we tracked the appearance of child sexual abuse material on X. We found images from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's database, which is considered one of the most highly vetted and which many tech companies block on upload. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/t...
nytimes.com
Elon Musk Has Pledged to Rid His Platform, X, of Child Sexual Abuse, but It Persists
Reviews by the Canadian Center for Child Protection and The New York Times found that explicit images of children remain on the social media site owned by Elon Musk.
122068929
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Sure seems like we should revisit that whole "lying president tried to have his goons put an Olympic athlete in prison for his own incompetence" thing
572782676
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Equatorial Guinea is a dictatorship run by the same man since 1978, with his children running large portions of the state now. We paid this dictatorship millions of dollars to let us deport random people there. Our money was used for this inhumanity.
191383648