Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
@bestonetx.bsky.social
9K followers 2.2K following 12K posts
Award-winning community college prof, writer, editor, historian of Texas Jews and the Galveston Movement. Alte kaker in training. Views expressed here are mine and are protected by the First Amendment. Books: tinyurl.com/besbks www.BryanEdwardStone.com
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
bestonetx.bsky.social
The wise man does not break into his fellow's speech. He is not in a rush to reply. He asks what is relevant and replies to the point. Of what he has not heard he says, "I have not heard," and he acknowledges what is true.

-- Talmud (Pirkei Avot)
Reposted by Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
elienyc.bsky.social
One of my only remaining joys is that every single time Amy Coney Barrett makes a stupid argument, Ketanji Brown Jackson gets a chance to follow up and illustrate her stupidity.
And this will happen again, and again, for the rest of Barrett's life.
Reposted by Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
cmcanning.bsky.social
#NoKings
bestonetx.bsky.social
"Let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America the law is King. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other."

-- Thomas Paine, "Common Sense"
Post on X from @WhiteHouse. "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING! -- President Donald J. Trump." The post is accompanied by a mock Time Magazine cover, titled "Trump" and with a portrait of Trump wearing a crown against a backdrop of the New York skyline. The caption on the cover reads, "Long live the king."
Reposted by Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
sconesandbutter.bsky.social
#NoKings
bestonetx.bsky.social
"Let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America the law is King. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other."

-- Thomas Paine, "Common Sense"
Post on X from @WhiteHouse. "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING! -- President Donald J. Trump." The post is accompanied by a mock Time Magazine cover, titled "Trump" and with a portrait of Trump wearing a crown against a backdrop of the New York skyline. The caption on the cover reads, "Long live the king."
Reposted by Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
schuneke.bsky.social
My next book has a cover! I Will Not Abandon You is a new history of queer women under Nazism that calls for us to rethink how we understand fascist persecution as well as the very foundations of progressive politics today. You can preorder it anywhere you buy books

bookshop.org/p/books/i-wi...
Reposted by Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
bestonetx.bsky.social
This all reminds me of what people on the right were saying about Woodstock before it became the most awesome peaceful outdoor concert ever.
atrupar.com
Bessent: "This crazy No Kings rally this weekend, which is gonna be the farthest left, the hardest core, the most unhinged in the Democratic Party, which is a big title. No Kings equals no paychecks."
Reposted by Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
rebeccafachner.bsky.social
Wednesday in your Nations Capital
Shutdown Day 15

Things continue to unravel.
The House is presumably enjoying their PAID VACATION thanks to the Speaker.

Meanwhile thousands of federal employees aren’t getting paychecks. And can’t talk to the media about it
Reposted by Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
andrewtravler.bsky.social
“This bullshit has to stop” is a quote for the ages.
atrupar.com
Q: Politico reported on a group chat of young Republicans. Does this just reflect some bad apples?

HOCHUL: Some bad apples? These are the future of the GOP. This is so vile it's hard to find the words to put into context ... there's gotta be consequences ... this bullshit has to stop.
Reposted by Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
schooley.bsky.social
The people who thought it was fair and just to ruin lives over not being sad enough about Charlie will now view any suggestion that the Nazi chat buds should be bounced from the party as draconian and unnecessary.
bestonetx.bsky.social
I can't believe you don't want to admire the meal I'm about to eat.
Reposted by Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
justfnread.bsky.social
This means that ALL of the libraries that participate in ILL have lost something.
bestonetx.bsky.social
The only reason to get rid of interlibrary loan is that you prefer ignorance and illiteracy.
shannonmattern.bsky.social
“ALL of Florida lost its [interlibrary loan] services as of October 1. This, of course, most harms those in rural communities. That means those with the most to lose and with the weakest access to education and entertainment materials are now wholly dependent on what their own library owns…”
bestonetx.bsky.social
The two librarians at my tiny rural community college, by the way, were absolute heroes.
bestonetx.bsky.social
I wrote my dissertation while working my first teaching job in a rural town of about 4,000 people, with a tiny public library, about 250 miles from the closest university. I made $24k a year and couldn't buy books. Without interlibrary loan, I simply could not have graduated or written my book.
bestonetx.bsky.social
The only reason to get rid of interlibrary loan is that you prefer ignorance and illiteracy.
shannonmattern.bsky.social
“ALL of Florida lost its [interlibrary loan] services as of October 1. This, of course, most harms those in rural communities. That means those with the most to lose and with the weakest access to education and entertainment materials are now wholly dependent on what their own library owns…”
The Current State of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (October 2025 Edition)
Grant money that should be going to library projects is going to state-sponsored propaganda, among other IMLS updates.
buttondown.com
bestonetx.bsky.social
Funny. Not sure it's true.

(Would love to make that trip.)
bestonetx.bsky.social
The good news is we won't be seeing Stephen Miller out in public as much.
mattburgess1.bsky.social
Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year
We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.
Reposted by Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם)
kateclancy.bsky.social
I am being asked to tell my department which pieces of lab equipment should be supported with backup power because they expect rolling blackouts and brownouts in 2026 due to increased energy demands from AI. In case you're wondering how my day is going.
bestonetx.bsky.social
How AI saves time and increases productivity.
kateclancy.bsky.social
I am being asked to tell my department which pieces of lab equipment should be supported with backup power because they expect rolling blackouts and brownouts in 2026 due to increased energy demands from AI. In case you're wondering how my day is going.
bestonetx.bsky.social
Buy coffee first, then pay the mortgage.
theatlantic.com
Tariffs have rapidly increased the price of coffee—a drink with almost no nutritional value and lots of functional substitutes. Yet coffee may also be the one thing Americans can’t live without, @elcush.bsky.social writes:
The Drink That Americans Won’t Give Up Without a Fight
Coffee has almost no nutritional value and lots of substitutes. It’s also, apparently, too important to lose.
bit.ly
bestonetx.bsky.social
Welcome back, folks, it's time again to play America's favorite game show: What Would Republicans Do if Democrats Did This? 👏👏🎉🎉
atrupar.com
FOX: You said last week that you would swear in Grijalva whenever she wants. She has written a letter to your office. You have not sworn her in. Doesn't your resistance add fuel to the fire that this is about Epstein?

MIKE JOHNSON: No. This is another partisan manufactured thing