Not the Governor of North Carolina; got the handle first
LightNews LightNews
joshstein.bsky.social
Not the Governor of North Carolina; got the handle first
@joshstein.bsky.social
9.5K followers 150 following 6.1K posts
Philosopher by training; cranky by nature. Professional in science and technology policy. Also photography, combatting antisemitism, politics, and ethics.
Posts Replies Media Videos
joshstein.bsky.social
Reminds me of Rich Lowry on Sarah Palin:
"I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, 'Hey, I think she just winked at me.' And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it."
November 10, 2025 at 11:17 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
This statement from Jikeli is the kind of thing that shows a person isn't intellectually serious about the issue.

The story about Jikeli kicking a grad student off the call, only for everyone to leave and reconvene on a call without Jikeli, is an extremely Jewish response to goyische bullshit.
“We’re not just dealing with protests,” he said then. “We’re facing a hardened core of ideologically driven actors, empowered by digital amplification and real-world networks, who are reshaping campus discourse — and possibly campus safety — in deeply troubling ways.”
November 8, 2025 at 9:33 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Screencap:
Anyone wonder why after Oct 7, there were suddenly massive threats to synagogues in the US? We funded increased security for all of them, yet very few instances of damage or injury? Usually cosmetic damage with trope slurs, never caught on camera or apprehended by “increased security”??
October 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Yesterday, Marsha Blackburn posted Sheriff Weems’ endorsement on her facebook page campaigning for Gov of TN.
“Rick Weems is on team Marsha”
October 29, 2025 at 5:01 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
The number of people I’ve seen posting the “hey, PRC’s degree requirement is a good idea!” I get people aren’t as deep into China or social media policy or human rights as I am, but… do people just not know literally anything about China?
“It [China] just looks at the west and goes ‘wow these fuckers are being driven mad by their insane billionaire class and spreading that madness to others for free, better curb that fucking dumb ass white people shit.” China regulates influencers to restrict those with verified competence to speak on social media regarding medicine, finance, education, etc.
October 27, 2025 at 6:12 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Frog, the symbol of rebellion. And ramen, the symbol of deliciousness.
Frog eating ramen, tattoo.
October 26, 2025 at 12:26 AM
joshstein.bsky.social
Getting a frog tattoo, because now frogs are patriotism, as evidenced by this photo.
Inflatable frog in front of national archive.
October 25, 2025 at 9:26 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Unfortunately, Sanders has always been this guy. He's opposed immigration reform measures for decades, from restricting and increasing prices on H-1Bs (something that Trump is now doing) to "they can't even hire American lifeguards!" with Lou Dobbs attacking the pathway to citizenship programs.
Dobbs: Those are all industries in which wages are declining. I don't hear that discussed on the Senate floor by the proponents of this amnesty legislation. Sanders: That's right. They have no good response. I read something today that a lot of people coming into this country are coming in as lifeguards. I guess we can't find - that's right. We can't American workers to work as lifeguards. And the H1B program has teachers, elementary school teachers. Well, you know.
October 24, 2025 at 9:29 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
It’s a metaphor:
New York City on fire with the words “paid for by Cuomo for NYC” over the top.
October 23, 2025 at 6:57 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
“We also have to work, though, sort of the dark side, if you will.” - the Penguin, who is also a cowboy vampire android somehow
October 21, 2025 at 1:55 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Protests are an act of optimism, the expression of the belief that by coming together we can make the world better for the future, for the next generation. They also give us a chance to model and share our values with young people.
Father and son in the foreground, kid in a crown and red cape and carrying a sign. National Mall and Washington Monument in the background.
October 19, 2025 at 12:17 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Politics are rich with symbols; protest is an opportunity to reshape the use of symbols. In some cases, that's trying to reclaim patriotism; in others, it's to show the connection between cultural touchstones and values.
Foreground, people carrying American flags. Background, the Capitol building. Smoke the bear "Remember only you can prevent fascism." National Archives building in the background.
October 19, 2025 at 12:17 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
There is value in demonstration to the general public, to the world, to the authoritarian state--there is also value in demonstrating with one another. Feeling that sense of solidarity. A lot of my work is isolated from others, so it's easy to feel lonely. This helped.
Unicorn inflatable suit next to someone dressed as Elphaba, holding a sign. Marching past a Smithsonian.
October 19, 2025 at 12:17 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
I'm hoping to do a longer article on this with @liberalcurrents.com / @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com, but wanted to share some of my impressions and a few of the photos from #NoKings in Washington DC yesterday. a mini-🧵

Protesting is an act of hope.
Protesters on the Mall carrying signs, women smiling and laughing while holding up their protest signs.
October 19, 2025 at 12:17 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Follow up clarification from Altman, which doesn’t help the point but shows that he did post the original without consulting PR or legal.
Ok this tweet about upcoming changes to ChatGPT blew up on the erotica point much more than I thought it was going to! It was meant to be just one example of us allowing user freedom for adults. Here is an effort to better communicate it. As we have said earlier, we are making a decision to prioritize safety over privacy and freedom for teenagers. And we are not loosening any policies related to mental health. This is a new and powerful technological and we believe minors should have significant protection. We also care very much about the principle of treating adult users like adults. As AI becomes more important in people's lives, allowing a lot of freedom for people to use AI in the ways that they want is an important part of our mission. It doesn't apply across the board of course: for example, we will still not allow things that cause harm to others, and we will treat users who are having mental health crises very different from users who are not. Without being paternalistic we will attempt to help users achieve their long-term goals. But we are not the elected moral police of the world. In the same way that society differentiates other appropriate boundaries (R-rated movies, for example) we want to do a similar thing here.
October 16, 2025 at 2:23 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Anna Paulina Luna is having her “Jewish space lasers” moment.

She wants to know who shot JFK. But we already know that it was Ted Cruz’s dad.
Anna Paulina Luna: My office just received word from the Russian Ambassador to the US that the ambassador from Russia to the United States will be hand delivering the Russian intelligence findings on who assassinated JFK to my office. This is a 350 page document. We will be uploading these documents as soon as we receive them working with Jefferson Morley to ensure that the American people have direct access to them immediately. It is important to note that Congress attempted to obtain these files in the 90s and was denied. We have been given access to them now for the first time in history. Aside: Morley is a conspiracy theorist who thinks the CIA assassinated JFK.
October 15, 2025 at 1:51 AM
joshstein.bsky.social
Also, this banger:
“I hate human-created short form videos, but I love AI slip videos. Why”
October 5, 2025 at 3:42 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Trump's interior design sense aligns with Gurbanguly.
The heavily gilded office of former Turkmen dictator Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. Meeting room of Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, with Kazakh president.
September 28, 2025 at 10:28 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Kash Patel:
Guy who put "blacks rule" on his driveway.
September 24, 2025 at 11:50 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Indivisible isn't *bad* about data minimization, but they're not doing it well. See the attached image. Note that they (correctly) observe the convention re: not gathering address data, just ZIP.

Here's a different question re: minimization. Why ask for last name?
Image of the "attend" info on the Indivisible website, asking for first/last + email + zip (required) and mobile number.
September 19, 2025 at 12:51 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Worst person you know meme.
September 18, 2025 at 2:08 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Passages like these from ag figures are where I lose patients. I think American ag is essential. I’m a policy wonk, but you don’t have to be a wonk to know how Trump’s immigration and labor policies were going to impact labor. If these ag leaders had opposed Trump, we wouldn’t be in this spot.
The U.S. agricultural workforce fell by 155,000 — about 7 percent — between March and July, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That tracks with Pew Research Center data that shows total immigrant labor fell by 750,000 from January through July. The labor shortage piles onto an ongoing economic crisis for farmers exacerbated by dwindling export markets that could leave them with crop surpluses. “People don’t understand that if we don’t get more labor, our cows don’t get milked and our crops don’t get picked,” said Tim Wood, a dairy farmer and a member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau board of directors. A visit from Labor Department compliance inspectors that interrupted work during peak harvest season at a vegetable farm in Berwick, Pennsylvania, last month highlighted the problem. “It practically forces you to close business for the day,” said Alan Kemmerer, the farmer whose produce operation was halted. “We moved to H-2A out of necessity,” added Sarah Zost, an orchard grower in Gardners, Pennsylvania. “No one wants to use the program. It’s a paperwork nightmare.” Charlie Porter, the head of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s Ag Labor and Safety Committee, said farmers across his state are anxious for a solution. “It’s a shame you have hard-working people who need labor, and a group of people who are willing to work, and they have to look over their shoulder like they’re criminals,” Porter said. “They’re not.”
September 16, 2025 at 8:40 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
The Hirshhorn is my favorite museum in DC (and that's saying something; there are a lot of great ones). I went to the Basquiat + Banksy exhibit they have downstairs and (coming out) this photo happened. The presence of the National Guard on the mall makes for some... easy metaphors.
National Guard standing in front of a giant wall with a smiley face and "forget" in white text. B&W photography.
September 14, 2025 at 6:23 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
And this should scare all of us. Why? Well, as Baker helpfully explains at the end:
I can’t help suspecting that he has a small office of lawyers in the basement of the White House who do nothing but dream up new ways to achieve his policy goals without new legislation.
September 8, 2025 at 9:09 PM
joshstein.bsky.social
Again, all of this hangs on Baker’s misunderstanding. Consider the following passage, in which Baker argues that because the IP are part of the training data and training data is a necessary material under the DPA, then the President can Shanghai (a term I’m using intentionally here) any IP.
September 8, 2025 at 9:09 PM