Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ken Burnside @kenburnside.bsky.social · 26m

Indeed, a despot usually weakens a fascist regime, as they're surrounded by appeasers who hate each other and want to stay on the gravy train (or not get executed for treason). Long running fascism requires trust in subordinates and delegated authority to deal with "threats."

Reposted by Ken Burnside

Dr. NerdLove @doctornerdlove.com · 33m

Alexandra Jones, the column’s author, makes a really important point at the end: the fact that people are *hiding* their LLM use really makes it clear that they know this is ultimately a bad move.

Not to mention the number of “they/I were basically dating the AI” from folks on both sides of it.

C. Buckthorn @cbuckthorn.bsky.social · 6h

This is amazing. I laughed out loud www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

As 32-year-old Rich points out, though, "it's not like using ChatGPT guarantees success".
When he met someone in a bar one Friday night and swapped social media handles, he asked AI what his next move should be.
ChatGPT discerned that sending an initial message on Monday midmorning would set the right pace. "Then it gave me some options for what the message could be," says Rich.
"Keep it light, warm, and low-stakes so it reads as genuine interest without urgency," the bot advised. "Something like: Hey Sarah, still laughing about [tiny shared moment/reference if you've got one] - good to meet you!" Rich went back and forth with ChatGPT until he felt they'd hit upon exactly the right message ("Hey Sarah, it was lovely to meet you") but sadly she never replied, he says. "It's been two weeks now."

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Reposted by Ken Burnside

Bruno J. Navarro @brunojnavarro.bsky.social · Jun 22

ice’s illegitimacy grows with every passing day

Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · Jun 21

"ICE" beating man during arrest in Santa Ana California.

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Ken Burnside @kenburnside.bsky.social · 39m

He's saying being a militant atheist is just as immoral as bring a Christian Nationalist.

Both are using a movement as philosophical underpinnings for bigotry.

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Charles Ghoul-ba ✡️ @charlesgaba.com · 55m

3. Even those who earn > 800% only avg $730/yr in tax credits, while 25% of those w/employer coverage earn > 800%, and THEY get $2,580/yr in subsidies on avg.

That is, 40x as many high-income people get 3.5x as much in subsidies from employer coverage than ACA plans.

acasignups.net/25/09/28/how...

How full of shit is this Hill Op Ed? Let me count the ways.

Someone alerted me to a new column over at The HIll written by Dean Clancy, a "Senior Health Policy Fellow at Americans for Prosperity." It's been awhile since I've done one of these, but let's go thr...

acasignups.net

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Reposted by Ken Burnside

Joshua Erlich @joshuaerlich.bsky.social · 58m

never would have guessed that our secret weapon in the TERF Wars would be mold infestations but our ally strikes again.

mold, orcas, frog wizards: that’s a popular front baby

Joshua "The Crypt" Keep(er) @jekeep.bsky.social · 2h

The far-right mouthpiece who told young men to clean up their place while in front of his very clearly messy home, now has contracted an illness from all the mold in his home.

If you wrote such a fascist character in a story it would be deemed a silly caricature.

Jordan Peterson diagnosed with chronic condition after exposure to mold

Peterson's daughter said her father has a "genetic predisposition that causes the immune system to have an inability to identify and detoxify mold."

www.newsweek.com

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Reposted by Ken Burnside

Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 8h

I was not anticipating he'd be so...fuckable?

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 12h

Portland's famous Unipiper was spotted at the Portland ICE protest where he played his bagpipes in front of Santa, Mr. Potato Head, Garfield and more -- all while surrounded by bubbles.

More on how the tone of Portland's protests has shifted: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 52m

“In a time of darkness, New York must be the light.” 🔥

Instead of running from trans rights @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social leans into fighting for ALL New Yorkers.

He understands a good campaign tells the story of the place he’s running to represent— and the people in it.

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Reposted by Ken Burnside

Jay Ulfelder @jayulfelder.bsky.social · 2h

As someone whose professional interests have overlapped heavily with Przeworski's, I felt (and concurred with) this bit: "The brutal fact that we find it so difficult to predict what will happen under our current circumstances is evidence that we do not have theories we can rely on."

How Democracies Fall Apart - Dissent Magazine

An interview with Adam Przeworski.

www.dissentmagazine.org

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Not Your Negress @notyournegro.blacksky.app · 2h

I cannot confirm the authenticity of what this person is saying however it is very important that we find out wtf is going on.

Sitting back and watching slavery happen is a red line.

Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 16h

ICE IS DISAPPEARING PEOPLE TO WORK CAMPS

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Ken Burnside @kenburnside.bsky.social · 55m

The US Constitution has no innate defense against lying by public officials and complete shamelessness.

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 2h

No institutional design can overcome a lawbreaking president, a Congress defending lawbreaking and forfeiting its own power, a Supreme Court that pretends legal text doesn’t count to facilitate lawbreaking, and a citizenry that votes for all that.
Need at least one that wants rule of law. Maybe two.

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 2h

No institutional design can overcome a lawbreaking president, a Congress defending lawbreaking and forfeiting its own power, a Supreme Court that pretends legal text doesn’t count to facilitate lawbreaking, and a citizenry that votes for all that.
Need at least one that wants rule of law. Maybe two.

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Ken Burnside @kenburnside.bsky.social · 1h

The more legal authority someone has, the more vigorous and public the consequences should be for bald-faced public lying.

Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 2h

That’s a nice trick, since Biden wasn’t the president on Jan 6.

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Reposted by Ken Burnside

Joshua Erlich @joshuaerlich.bsky.social · 1h

buy Kelly’s book about correspondence with activists when things are falling apart that she’s been too busy to promote because she’s an activist in a city where things are falling apart

Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 23h

My publisher’s been very patient. I’m not doing everything I said I’d do to promote this book (out in a few weeks) because I’m an organizer in a city under federal attack. My days are full and emotionally exhausting. Any help getting the word out means a lot. It's a book people need right now.

Read This When Things Fall Apart by Kelly Hayes | Pilsen Community Books

A bundle of letters to activists and organizers on the frontlines in catastrophic times from Let This Radicalize You co-author Kelly Hayes In social movements, some heartbreaks are all but inevitable.

www.pilsencommunitybooks.com

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Reposted by Ken Burnside

Dr Emma L Briant 🐸🎃 @emmalbriant.bsky.social · 1h

See www.pbs.org/newshour/amp...

No undercover FBI agents at Jan. 6 riot, watchdog finds in rebuke to conspiracy theories

The report Thursday from the Justice Department inspector general’s office knocks down a fringe conspiracy theory advanced by some Republicans in Congress that the FBI played a role in instigating the...

www.pbs.org

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Ken Burnside @kenburnside.bsky.social · 2h

This looks like what's called "vindictive prosecution" -- using the procedures of the court system to create a case entirely for punishment of a political rival, something explicitly forbidden by the US Constitution.

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Ken Burnside @kenburnside.bsky.social · 2h

She is in so far over her head that she's looking up to see Satan's ass crack, and is running a case with more red flags than a Soviet May Day parade.

And there's already talk about how she's risking disbarment over this.

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Ken Burnside @kenburnside.bsky.social · 2h

Lindsey Halligan is an insurance attorney from Florida who has been (possibly improperly) handed control of the US Attorney's office for Eastern Virginia.

She is prosecuting James Comey for Trump.

She has *zero* training running a prosecution, and has signed contradictory statements for a judge,

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boosprout 🔞👻⚙️💥 @bisprout.writes.fyi · 22d

So, you want to leave Bluesky, but you don't want to lose your community and start all over again.

Great news! You can leave without losing anything. Here's how.

Please share if you find this helpful so people don't lose their shit and go back to twt for no reason 🙏💖

So, You Want to Leave Bluesky...

The most important thing you need to know is:

leaflet.pub

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Reposted by Ken Burnside

Sarah Tuttle @niais.bsky.social · 7h

Real useful, and something I plan on doing shortly

boosprout 🔞👻⚙️💥 @bisprout.writes.fyi · 22d

So, you want to leave Bluesky, but you don't want to lose your community and start all over again.

Great news! You can leave without losing anything. Here's how.

Please share if you find this helpful so people don't lose their shit and go back to twt for no reason 🙏💖

So, You Want to Leave Bluesky...

The most important thing you need to know is:

leaflet.pub

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Ken Burnside @kenburnside.bsky.social · 3h

Time to buy popcorn futures, I see.

qkww.bsky.social @qkww.bsky.social · 10h

Halligan is now riding the rocket docket. She's not gonna get any time to learn how criminal justice works, but she's gonna find out all the same. First batch of discovery is due October 20 in the Comey matter.

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Reposted by Ken Burnside

TKarney @pecunium.bsky.social · 13h

He was in the domestic terminal.

They knew who he was.

They did nothing other than, without a warrant; nor any reasonable suspicion, seize his phone.

It was targeted.
www.universalhub.com/2025/regime-...

Regime grabs immigration lawyer's phone at Logan

A federal judge today ordered Customs and Homeland Security to keep their mitts off a phone their agents grabbed last week from an immigration lawyer returning to Logan Airport from a trip to Aruba, a...

www.universalhub.com

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Reposted by Ken Burnside

Fionna O’Leary @fascinatorfun.bsky.social · 21h

I bet the @washingtonpost.com isn’t covering this.

Makes Bezos look like a rotten, wizened little worm, doesn’t it.

And a tight wad unless it comes to spending on himself.

Patti Olivier EPSTEIN FILES NEVER FORGET @patti3333.bsky.social · 23h

fortune.com/2025/10/10/b...

A little good news this Saturday Morning
Without fanfare the former Mrs Bezos always delivers
I admire her so much
DIVERSITY,EQUITY, and INCLUSION
This will help so many students
Billionaires with a heart
Thank you MacKenzie
Why doesn't the media report on this?

Billionaire MacKenzie Scott doubles down on DEI with $42 million donation | Fortune

In a signal to nonprofits and boardrooms, the Yield Giving philanthropist is backing diversity and equity with no‑strings grants—building on more than $19 billion she’s distributed in five years.

fortune.com

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Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 12h

Just a reminder that Wikipedia is the only remaining reliable source of information that right wing billionaires can't control. (Although they'll never stop trying.)

Please donate to them whenever you can. Even a little bit helps.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

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Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell @hottycouture.bsky.social · 21h

As a fashion historian, I will die on this hill: the point of having blue hair and nose rings (or spiky nails or stripper heels or tattoos or an all-black wardrobe) is not to look pretty or cool. It's to look (and feel) powerful--something many young American women crave right now. And it's working.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 1d

Kid Rock: Do you know what is stupid… these chicks running around on campuses with blue hair, five nose rings.

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