Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by M Berk

Adam Rogers @jetjocko.bsky.social · 5h

A lot of what we’d think of as the journalists’ code—tell the truth, be accurate, credit your sources—is actually about establishing provenance and chain of custody for evidence. Fact-check codifies those tracks. This is all how you know you know. It’s what marks something as journalism.

☠️mawls slaughter☠️ @oddletters.bsky.social · 5h

look i dont want to get all historian/art history/journalism posty about AI videos but we *have* ways of autheticating recorded/archival material, its chains of custody and provenance research, and you shouldn't have been trusting random videos on the internet to begin with???

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Reposted by M Berk

Ryan North? But - he died... 30 years ago this very night!! @ryannorth.ca · 10h

I used to get mad when people misused "decimated" to refer to things that weren't 1/10th destroyed, but I've given it some thought and now I've done a complete 360 on it

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M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 6h

“…Some states use their own money, not federal funds, to provide health care to immigrants who don’t have lawful status. An earlier version of Trump’s tax breaks and spending cuts bill tried to curb these programs, but the provisions did not make it into the final version.”

M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 6h

“…This would affect the 40 states, plus Washington, D.C., that have adopted a Medicaid expansion created by the ACA…

The law Trump signed would also restrict the eligibility of lawfully present immigrants such as refugees and asylees for insurance through the ACA, Medicaid and Medicare.…

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M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 6h

B/c people don’t click into articles:

“Among the Medicaid cuts Dems are seeking to reverse is a reduction to reimbursements hospitals receive when they perform emergency care they are legally mandated to provide on people who would qualify for Medicaid if not for their immigration status.…

Mississippi Free Press @mississippifreepress.org · 7h

President Donald Trump and other high-ranking Republicans claim Democrats forced the government shutdown fight because they want to give free health care to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

That's not true. Here are the facts.

Fact Check: No, the Shutdown Isn't About Immigrant Health Care

President Donald Trump and other Republicans claim Democrats forced the government shutdown over giving free health care to immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

buff.ly

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Reposted by M Berk

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai @lorenzofb.bsky.social · 1d

SCOOP: Spyware maker NSO Group confirmed to us that the company has been acquired by a U.S. investment group.

NSO's spokesperson said the group "has invested tens of millions of dollars in the company and has acquired controlling ownership," but declined to say who is behind the investment.

Spyware maker NSO Group confirms acquisition by US investors | TechCrunch

NSO Group confirmed to TechCrunch that an unnamed group of American investors has taken “controlling ownership” of the surveillance tech maker.

techcrunch.com

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M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 1d

“One company has relationships w/ smart home appliances for data….”

This one is for all the “I don’t care if the government knows my home temperature” people.

Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 15d

I spent the week at the police surveillance convention and let me tell you my biggest observation: The name of the game now is consolidating as much information as humanely possible from surveillance devices, the internet, other governmental data, and literally a million other places. 🧵

Reposted by M Berk

Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 15d

Big takeaway here is a mass erosion of barriers between governmental and corporate data collection/surveillance--and the idea that the one-off surveillance of walking past a single CCTV camera is over, the consolidation of ALL data means true mass surveillance from 100 redundant pieces of data.

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Reposted by M Berk

Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 15d

I spent the week at the police surveillance convention and let me tell you my biggest observation: The name of the game now is consolidating as much information as humanely possible from surveillance devices, the internet, other governmental data, and literally a million other places. 🧵

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Reposted by M Berk

Amy @lolennui.bsky.social · 2d

oh hell yeah youtu.be/nGZOFyLrCwk?...

Slug Eating Spaghetti Time Lapse (With Stopwatch Timer)

YouTube video by Nature's Fantastic

youtu.be

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M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 1d

Companies sure did work hard to shift the narrative on this.

And who wouldn’t want to reduce capital expenditures on real estate by millions per year? It’s truly confusing, and I’ve run thru the arguments, and am left thinking there must be a hidden incentive or motive, b/c it’s not rational.

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M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 2d

An all-browser and mobile operating system opt out is coming by January 2027.

Newsom had previously vetoed the same legislation a year ago (and the Assembly had a veto-proof majority but didn’t use it).

ZwillGen @zwillgen.com · 2d

California Governor Newsom signs data privacy bills into law www.gov.ca.gov/2025/10/08/g...

Governor Newsom signs data privacy bills to protect tech users | Governor of California

www.gov.ca.gov

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Reposted by M Berk

Erika Hall @erikahall.bsky.social · 4d

I've been through so many tech hype cycles that if they were tree rings I'd be a fucking sequoia.

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Reposted by M Berk

Pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 4d

Tragic news from Canada where the Canadian Supreme Court has gone from the official dress on the left to the one on the right

Canadian Supreme court. Everyone is dressed in bright red wooly gowns, with a beige trim. It looks sort of like a Santa robe

The Canadian Supreme court. Everyone is dressed in black gowns with a bright white kravat, and two thin red vertical lines on the side of the robe

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M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 6d

A great owl rescue story

Dr Delyth Badder @folklorewales.com · 6d

Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.

After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵

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M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 11d

All true!

M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 11d

That’s a whole mess of hardware disaster. I’m so sorry!

Capable as you are, could you just hand it to someone else to fix, and save the despair and rage and frustration?

M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 12d

Flagging this for a listen, but I’ll note that Mark’s stuff has made me think in the past, and I’m a big fan of that.

Mark Greene @remakingmanhood.bsky.social · 13d

My appearance on @milleridriss.bsky.social ’ Man Up podcast just dropped. On this episode, we talk about how to protect our sons from extremist influencers. open.spotify.com/episode/7AgA...

Episode 2: Be a Man

open.spotify.com

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Reposted by M Berk

Joseph Jerome @joejerome.com · 14d

If “caution” means allowing a defendant’s illegal behavior to persist, it defeats the purpose of finding liability in the first place and undermines the law enforcement function of antitrust law.

www.promarket.org/2025/09/23/a...

Appraising the Google Search Antitrust Remedies - ProMarket

Erik Hovenkamp and A. Douglas Melamed discuss what Judge Amit Mehta got right and wrong in his remedy decision in the Google Search antitrust case.

www.promarket.org

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M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 14d

Well, hello, sweetheart 😻

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M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 14d

I have been in the Midwest this week, and I have one thing to say:

So much cologne

M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 20d

Trying to opt out of data sharing/sales in the Uber app.

It sends me to a website to log in (despite being logged into the app). In order to log in, I have to give permission to share my data with 3rd parties who may message me.

#privacy

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Reposted by M Berk

Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · 20d

one most perilous and long voyage ended, only begins a second; and a second ended, only begins a third, and so on, for ever and for aye

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Reposted by M Berk

M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · Aug 24

I used to measure my life in coffee spoons and book marginalia.

Now I measure it in 2FA tokens.

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M Berk @mberk.bsky.social · 20d

Came across this American Philosophical Association office notes in which they came out against the practice of holding job interviews in hotel rooms (“bedrooms”) during annual conferences, and hoped it would be enough to change the habit. Woof.

www.jstor.org/stable/27645...

Appendix to Board Minutes on JSTOR

Appendix to Board Minutes, Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, Vol. 79, No. 5 (May, 2006), pp. 29-103

www.jstor.org

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