Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · 22h

Loving the meltdown by all the French politics analysts.

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks for the tip! People looking into this topic might be interested in reading this article: Vandiver, J. (2024). Hard men, hard money, hardening right: Bitcoin, peter thiel, and schmittian states of exception. In Far-Right Newspeak and the Future of Liberal Democracy (pp. 205-230). Routledge.

1

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · 1d

I showed this to someone and was asked whether it’s from @theonion.com

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 1d

Exclusive: Tech billionaire Peter Thiel warned that Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and critics of AI are “legionnaires of the Antichrist” in private lectures that connected government oversight of Silicon Valley to an apocalyptic future.

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction

In leaked recordings of private lectures by tech billionaire Peter Thiel he argued that “the Antichrist” is likely to take the form of a critic of technology.

wapo.st

2 1 10

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · 6d

A great, short piece by @emilialounela.bsky.social in this month's EUKH newsletter on misogyny's prevalence. @milleridriss.bsky.social's new book reminds us how extremism and misogyny often go hand-in-hand, while Emilia writes that "Misogynist extremism is a symptom of broader, systemic misogyny".

HOME -

ec.europa.eu

1 4 6

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Sep 10

Youth radicalisation has been a major topic of discussion among researchers for some time now (see the link).

In discussing their major annual summer event a month or so ago, the Finnish Active Clubs mentioned that while the attendance was smaller, it was also ”younger”.

1 4

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Sep 2

Yesterday’s terrorism verdict in Finland has been commended by some senior members of the Nigerian federal government.

”In its verdict, the court said that Ekpa had used his significant social media following to stoke tensions in the Biafra region between August 2021 and November 2024.”

Finnish court sentences Simon Ekpa to prison on terrorism charges

The long-term Lahti resident, and one-time councillor in the Finnish city, had faced a long list of charges including participating in a terrorist organisation and publicly inciting crimes for terrori...

yle.fi

8

Reposted by Teemu Nieminen

Michael Colborne @colborne.bsky.social · Aug 7

“Initially regarded as isolated incidents, the memo cites years’ worth of FBI and Defense Department reporting on what agents call “domestic violent extremists,” or DVEs, discussing plans to raid armories for weapons and gear, leading analysts to suspect organized activity. Domestic intelligence has consistently flagged violent militia members and racially motivated extremists eyeing armories as soft targets.”

4 58 160

Reposted by Teemu Nieminen

Michael Colborne @colborne.bsky.social · Aug 7

During a raid in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 🇩🇪, police found firearms and explosives at, among other places, the home of an AfD district councillor who’s reported to “belong to the far-right camp of the AfD” (saying a lot there!) and is “apparently also controversial within the party”

Lars Wienand @larswienand.bsky.social · Aug 7

Bei einer Razzia bei einem AfD-Kommunalpolitiker in Mecklenburg mit 60 Beamten wurden scharfe Waffen und Sprengstoff sichergestellt.
Im vergangenen Jahr war er Teil einer Delegation, die nach Kaliningrad reiste www.t-online.de/nachrichten/...

Razzia in Gutshaus: Polizei findet scharfe Waffen – AfD-Politiker verwickelt?

Bei einer Razzia in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern finden Ermittler scharfe Waffen und Sprengstoff – ein Lokalpolitiker steht im Fokus.

www.t-online.de

3 20 46

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Aug 5

It’s a great book, good work!

1 1

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Aug 2

Not long ago when visiting a restaurant, the restauranteur told me you are soon able to grow wine in Finland. Surely that’s still some way off, but looking at the Arctic circle experiencing prolonged heat waves does make you wonder…

Mika Rantanen @mikarantane.bsky.social · Aug 1

Looks like Rovaniemi, Lapland's capital and the biggest city, had today their hottest August day on record with 31.1 °C at the train station (Rautatieasema).

And the heat streak continues in Sodankylä Tähtelä with 30 °C, the 22nd consecutive 25-degree day.

Maximum 2-m temperatures today in Lapland. The values are at the highest 30-31 degrees.

1 4 6

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jul 16

If this is true, the incident marks a major intelligence failure for Western and Ukrainian agencies. The Base (and other secretive accelerationist) groups have long been under scrutiny, but will now find themselves under ever-increasing pressure as counter-terrorism efforts receive more resources.

Ukraine wing of US-founded terrorist group says it was involved in killing of intelligence officer in Kyiv

The Base, a far-right group with suspected links to Russia, said killing of Ivan Voronych was ‘only the beginning’

www.theguardian.com

5

Reposted by Teemu Nieminen

Aleksi Roinila 🇫🇮🇪🇺🇺🇦 @aleroi.bsky.social · Jul 13

Support Ukraine. Drink Ukrainian beer.

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jul 13

It’s quite funny that Finns have found a way to help Ukrainians by drinking boatloads of beer. A Ukrainian brewery, Obolon, claims that Finland has become one of their most prominent export markets. Iikka’s post is a great example of how that came about. The first batch arrived in July 2022.

4 26 120

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jul 13

It’s quite funny that Finns have found a way to help Ukrainians by drinking boatloads of beer. A Ukrainian brewery, Obolon, claims that Finland has become one of their most prominent export markets. Iikka’s post is a great example of how that came about. The first batch arrived in July 2022.

6 57 290

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jul 11

An interesting find! The post is part of a short thread worth reading.

Kai Arzheimer @kai-arzheimer.com · Jul 10

#Religiosity is mostly unrelated to #Islamophobia, nativism, right-wing authoritarianism, and #populism. But Islamophobia overlaps with both nativism and authoritarianism. So: people who fear immigration and want strict laws/harsh enforcement 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 tend to reject Islam, but not for religious reasons.

11 24

Reposted by Teemu Nieminen

The Loop @ecprtheloop.bsky.social · Jul 10

Far-right parties are doing well – so it’s important that we see them for what they are. Yet, in the UK, the label ‘hard right’ is catching on. Why is debateable. But, argues, @timbale.bsky.social, this misdescription sanitises far-right parties, and we should push back against it
bit.ly/4eLRBeC

Why we need to halt ‘hard right’ in its tracks

Far-right parties are doing well – so it’s important that we see them for what they are. Yet, in the UK, the label ‘hard right’ is catching on. Why is debateable. But, argues Tim Bale, it’s a misdescr...

bit.ly

9 55 170

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jul 8

Global War on Terror: Mission Accomplished.

Paweł Wójcik 🦋 @saladinaldronni.bsky.social · Jul 7

It's 2025. Al-Qaeda is conquering West Africa. Al-Qaeda is conquering East Africa.
They coordinate between themselves, AQAP, other affiliates and AQ Central.
And I don't see any particular attention to it while those things are happening. And it makes me completely disillusioned.

7

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jul 8

I believe it when I see it.

The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · Jul 8

⚡️EU to impose 'toughest' sanctions on Russia in coordination with US senators, French foreign minister says.

EU to impose 'toughest' sanctions on Russia in coordination with US senators, French foreign minister says

"This (war) cannot continue; it must stop. To achieve this, in coordination with American senators, Europe is preparing to introduce, based on French proposals, the toughest sanctions we have imposed ...

kyivindependent.com

1 10

Reposted by Teemu Nieminen

Emil Archambault @emilarchambault.bsky.social · Jul 8

Strava’s marketing team must both be delighted at the constant news about power users, and furious that no one cares enough about them to notice these scandals.

This is at least the fourth time I read about such a data breach.

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jul 8

The bodyguards of Sweden’s top politicians and the royal family have been leaking sensitive information about them through the use of a workout app called Strava.

Even today, the app remains one of the best open sources available. Alas, no one has informed the users.

Här läcker Säpo hemliga uppgifter om Ulf Kristersson

Säkerhetspolisens livvakter har under flera år äventyrat säkerheten för Ulf Kristersson. DN kan avslöja hur de öppet sprider uppgifter om statsministern.

www.dn.se

2 13

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jul 8

The bodyguards of Sweden’s top politicians and the royal family have been leaking sensitive information about them through the use of a workout app called Strava.

Even today, the app remains one of the best open sources available. Alas, no one has informed the users.

Här läcker Säpo hemliga uppgifter om Ulf Kristersson

Säkerhetspolisens livvakter har under flera år äventyrat säkerheten för Ulf Kristersson. DN kan avslöja hur de öppet sprider uppgifter om statsministern.

www.dn.se

2 1 10

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jul 7

Improvise, adapt, overcome

Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · Jul 6

Holy shit, I hadn't even thought of this!

asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...

You hide AI prompts in your paper that tell AI reviewers to say positive stuff (presumably both for public reviews and private analysis)

I wonder if Amazon sellers are already doing this?

'Positive review only': Researchers hide AI prompts in papers

Instructions in preprints from 14 universities highlight controversy on AI in peer review

asia.nikkei.com

7

Reposted by Teemu Nieminen

Cas Ⓜ️udde @casmudde.bsky.social · Jul 5

Woooow! That was so… predictable!

Germany's left-populist Wagenknecht Alliance open to talks with far right AfD - Euractiv

German mainstream parties refuse to engage with the AfD at a national level.

www.euractiv.com

41 140

Reposted by Teemu Nieminen

Kai Arzheimer @kai-arzheimer.com · Jun 30

Whilst revising a text about illiberal attacks on liberal democracy in Germany, I came across this nugget of information that I want to share with you. Having spaces they can access and control matters for this movement, and >20 properties per Eastern state is an awful lot.

In 2022, Germany's central domestic intelligence agency identified 210 properties used by right-wing extremists. 61% of them were located in the Eastern states, although the East is home to less than 1/5 of Germany's population.

1 9 15

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jun 26

Np! Hope to see you move to Finland :)

1 2

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jun 26

After quickly googling my home country’s options for you, it seems like at least @helsinki.fi and @unioulu.bsky.social have the faculties you are looking for.

1 2

Teemu Nieminen @niemisentee.bsky.social · Jun 24

Reposting this just in case someone was misled by my slightly misleading previous post!

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · Jun 24

Hey Teemu! Of course our volunteer community is diverse and if plotted would represent a much wider and more global area. This map (a squashed version for social framing- full version in the annual report) represents what countries we've reported on e.g where our investigations have covered.

2