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 🌹
Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 20h
This feels like the beginning of a murder mystery.
101048
Brian Bartky 🌹 @brianbartky.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Yeah, he’s lying. bsky.app/profile/bria...
010
Brian Bartky 🌹 @brianbartky.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
More info about the “lifelong Democratic voter”. Basically, I see no difference between claims of lifelong Democrats voting for Trump and Bigfoot sightings. bsky.app/profile/dani...
040
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Can confirm. This, for example, was at the top of my “for you” feed when I logged in to find an old post the other day.
Adolf Hitler • @Mein_Fuhrer__
X.com
I'm back
Your account is now restored to full functionality.
Adolf Hitler @Mein_Fuhrer_
What happened?
We determined that this account violated the X Rules, so we had temporarily limited some of your account features. Learn more.
Your account is now fully functional. Please note that further violations of the X Rules may result in the suspension of your account.
Continue to X
8:36 AM • 10/1/26 • 458K Views
532194386
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"Among the first to appear before the judge was Angel, a 13-year-old. He had no attorney. “Would you like to request voluntary departure, or should I issue a removal order?” the judge asked “I don’t know,” Angel said, bursting into tears: “I have no one. I have nothing.” www.cnn.com/2026/09/28/p...
cnn.com
Inside the Texas courtroom where toddlers face immigration judges | CNN Politics
Migrant children as young as 2 are showing up at immigration courts nationwide, many without attorneys, to try make their case to stay in the US and avoid deportation.
44837361873
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Cameron 🇺🇸🗽🦅 @cameroncorduroy.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
there are vanishingly few principles that Donald Trump holds to, but by far the most important one is a universal admiration and fellowship with sex criminals
181177303
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Dr. Bradley Onishi @bradleyonishi.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is already standard sentiment among the theobros in Doug Wilson’s extended universe. They see the presence of South Asian Hindus and Muslims as a sign of judgment on the USA. Expulsion is to them the only option.
2359
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Last year not a single refugee fleeing religious persecution was admitted to the US.
181980696
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
CosmicHomicide @cosmichomicide.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"Dear Penthouse Forum, I used to think these letters were fake..."
1164
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It’s so weird how when you tell the rest of the world to go fuck itself and fill your nation’s streets with gangs of armed, masked, and unaccountable armed thugs and terrorize people at the border…that people will decide to vacation elsewhere. Who could have guessed?
351046237
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 01/10/2026
i think cox should spend less time weeping about polarization and more time working to convince his co-partisans not to abandon pluralism and liberal democracy
1593962508
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Feels like skipping past the Civil War and World War II are sorta big tells here? I wonder why he doesn't want to talk about the times the US military waged war against white supremacists. Probably a totally innocent explanation, right? Right?
1363000524
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Angie Nixon @angieforfl.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I don't wanna COUCH my words here: I know JD Vance, his eyeliner, and absent Ashley Moody are used to running away from people when things get tough because they care more about themselves and their billionaire buddies than the people they represent. But this is my home. /1
30698712381
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Scoop — I've ID'd the two men sitting behind Sen. Eric Schmitt during his botched attack on Jack Smith this morning. Ethan Harper (left) is Chief Counsel to Schmitt, and Andrew Ceonzo (right) is Counsel to Schmitt and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
3014568990
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Executing prisoners is not a legitimate power of government, despite its long and barbaric history, and we should put an end to it. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/u...
nytimes.com
Tennessee Death Row Inmate Christa Pike Still Alive After Attempts to Execute Her, Lawyers Say (Gift Article)
Christa Pike was convicted of murdering a classmate in 1995. It was not clear what went wrong in the execution or what her current medical condition was.
181211226
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Be sure to read the subtitles
5752576
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 30/09/2026
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
Brian Bartky 🌹 @brianbartky.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
bsky.app/profile/brad... 2/2
011
Brian Bartky 🌹 @brianbartky.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Just a reminder that not only is Eric Schmitt one of the dumbest members of Congress he's also an open white supremacist. If the Axios story is true that Vance wants him as his running mate in 2028 it says a lot about Vance wants. missouriindependent.com/2025/09/15/m... 1/2
Screenshot of the following text from the article linked in this post.

Schmitt’s speech at the National Conservatism Conference followed one speaker who argued at length that America’s biggest problem is white guilt and another who insisted the U.S. is in a crisis that can only be resolved by becoming a Christian nation. 

Schmitt went full blood and soil. 

In the speech, titled “What Is an American,” he proclaimed that America is not “a proposition” or a shared set of values, rather it is a country for white people descended from European settlers, whose accomplishments should not be diminished by acknowledging the people that some of them enslaved, the Native Americans they killed, or anyone else denied equal rights at the founding. Screenshot of the following text from the article linked in this post.

Schmitt made repeated allusions to the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory. This is the increasingly widespread conspiracy theory that Jews are bringing non-white people into this country to replace its rightful white owners. That’s what the “good people on both sides” as Trump put it, who chanted “Jews will not replace us!” in Charlottesville were referring to. 

Schmitt hired a staffer who was fired by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign for making a video containing Neo-Nazi imagery and has too many ties to white supremacists for me to detail here.
120
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.
1314522
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)
3023625807
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.
2426989
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Hard to imagine what that would be like
23875221267
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
11041811440
Brian Bartky 🌹 @brianbartky.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is great! I remember back in the early 2000s making this 👇argument on a message board although not nearly as well as you do here. I also like how it preserves the samples if, say, scientists centuries from now need them. bsky.app/profile/drsp...
110
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...
1415248
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?
20743501112
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.
891818706
Brian Bartky 🌹 @brianbartky.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Just finished reading this. Excellent article about some truly frightening people.
010
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 ...
826376
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.
52851353
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 ...
57992082800
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
1222877441
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%.
482156332
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.
812551498
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
1102651633
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
133106092482
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
641400333
Brian Bartky 🌹 @brianbartky.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Captain America: I Understood That Reference
Alt: GIF of Captain America (Chris Evans) saying “I understood that reference.”
000
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.
2314502603
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.
561808873
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
26872198
Reposted by Brian Bartky 🌹
southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“Briefly detained” = beat half to death
7549241648
Brian Bartky 🌹 @brianbartky.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Unless by Nate they mean director/star Nate Parker. Either way, I think it’s rage bait.
000
Brian Bartky 🌹 @brianbartky.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Based on this I think you’re right. By “Nate” I think they mean *Nat* Turner. bsky.app/profile/954g...
110
Brian Bartky 🌹 @brianbartky.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Seth addressed that later in the thread. 👇When I read the 1st skeet in this thread it reminded me of the awful "kosher tax" myth I heard so often as a kid. When I was in my 20s I knew this elderly woman who had a subscription to The Thunderbolt so I'm familiar with it, alas. bsky.app/profile/seth...
1173
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