Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 1d

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
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I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 3d

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Robert Garcia @robertgarcia.bsky.social · 3d

Hey California, let’s stop Trump from rigging the maps, vote Yes on Proposition 50. Send your ballot today.

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Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 4d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 4d

My first thought was “wow I hope this guy didn’t give out his name because he could absolutely be charged” and yup, he is correct to stay anonymous.

This man’s account is shocking. His neighbors’ situation is shocking. The entire Chicago raid is shocking.

On the other side was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for his help.
"I wasn't planning on letting her stay, but I didn't know what the hell was going on," the man said of his Venezuelan migrant neighbors. But he quickly relented. The little girl was inconsolable and hid under his bed.
"I didn't want them to take her," said the man, who didn't want to be named because he fears he'll be targeted by federal authorities for his actions.
"I gave her my bedroom, and I just told her,
'Just stay there. Don't open, don't, shh, just stay quiet," he recalled telling the mom and daughter as he choked back tears.

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Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 4d

It seems almost like the White House doesn’t care how bad this all looks. In this week’s IfYouCanKeep.It briefing, we present three theories for the un-subtlety of Trump’s authoritarianism. https://www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/whats-the-endgame-here

What’s the endgame here?
The White House does not care how bad this looks

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jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 5d

This is enough carbon-free energy to power maybe two thirds of Vegas btw

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 5d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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EAJ @rosemaryandrock.bsky.social · 5d

I'm also now caught up with the appellate hearing, ish.

EAJ @rosemaryandrock.bsky.social · 5d

Why do you think Portland over Chicago?

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Protect Democracy @protectdemocracy.org · 8d

BREAKING: Today, we're suing. Federal forces in the Chicago area are brutally suppressing free speech with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash grenades. Journalists, clergy, and demonstrators have been attacked for peacefully protesting against the government. This is an unconstitutional assault.

BREAKING: Lawsuit challenges violent Illinois ICE enforcement. Press, clergy, and protesters sue DHS for violating First Amendment

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 6d

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violent alien @blipstress.bsky.social · 6d

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

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Apex Magazine (is funding for 2026!) 🎉 @apexmag.bsky.social · 6d

WE'RE 30% FUNDED!! 🎉🎉🎉 Apex will be open to nonfiction pitches FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! ✨

Want to unlock the next chapter of Apex? Please consider backing our Kickstarter and help us keep publishing the strange, surreal, shocking, beautiful stories you love!

Apex Magazine 2026

An award-winning digital literary magazine of science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror.

www.kickstarter.com

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EAJ @rosemaryandrock.bsky.social · 6d

🤣🤣🤣

EAJ @rosemaryandrock.bsky.social · 6d

Sigh. Why is an economist trying to explain legal legitimacy? I can both say that Dred was not good law when it was decided and that it was clearly legally binding because of a distinction between positive and natural law that has existed since way before the Founding.

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EAJ @rosemaryandrock.bsky.social · 6d

Can this be real? Lmao.

Lux "Nightmare" Alptraum @luxalptraum.com · 6d

TFW you paid $1400 to see Beckett’s most famous work without knowing anything about it

One Star Review of Waiting for Godot on Broadway
I recently attended Waiting for Godot on Broadway and spent over $1,400 for two Row C seats (103 and 104). I'm a longtime admirer of Broadway productions and even hold a season pass for Shea's Performing Arts Theatre, so I came in with genuine enthusiasm and high expectations. Unfortunately, this show was unlike anything ! have ever experienced —and not in a good way.
What I encountered was not the artistry, music, or emotional storytelling I usually associate with Broadway, but instead what felt like an endless cycle of nonsensical conversation between characters who seemed trapped in their own madness. I tried-truly tried-to find meaning, symbolism, or even a thread of emotional resonance. I stayed through the first half hoping the second would offer clarity. But by intermission, it was clear: this was a waste of both time and money.
Keanu Reeves is an actor I respect greatly, but I cannot fathom why he would agree to participate in such a disjointed, inaccessible production. His talent was lost in a performance that defied reason rather than provoked insight.
To anyone considering attending: unless you are drawn to highly abstract, nearly incomprehensible theater, I strongly caution you against this show. For the average, educated, thoughtful theatergoer, it is far more frustrating than fulfilling. In my opinion, this was the single most disappointing Broadway experience I've ever had - an unfortunate waste of money and, more importantly, of time.

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Gretchen Felker-Martin 🍉 @scumbelievable.bsky.social · 6d

I don't like him personally, but David Simon on AI is the final word on the subject.

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 6d

I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?

Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.

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Micah @rincewind.run · 7d

if everyone could pause the fascism while I am on drugs and bleeding that would be great

thank you for your attention to this matter

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EAJ @rosemaryandrock.bsky.social · 7d

Alienation from your species being. Even at 18 when I read Marx seriously for the first time, I was like, capitalism seems fucking boring so far.

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 7d

GOP hopes to flip Pennsylvania's supreme court before the 2028 presidential election.

For that, they need some success this fall: They can erase Dems' majority & force a tie, & then go for the majority in 2027.

Ultimate stakes are as big as New Jersey & Virginia, frankly:

Inside the Clunky Elections to Control Pennsylvania's Supreme Court - Bolts

The GOP is making an expensive push to end Democrats’ majority on a court at the center of election lawsuits, sparking a fledging campaign season with little precedent or template.

boltsmag.org

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George Pearkes @peark.es · 7d

Well that's not how appropriations work at all

*WHITE HOUSE TO TRANSFER TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND WIC: LEAVITT

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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 8d

I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections

After Dinner Conversation® @afterdinnerconversation.com · 8d

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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 12d

"If we want different results, we have to abandon standard practice."

YES.

Finally, someone put together what I and many other critics have been saying about political coverage — then took it further. reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/harm-reducti...

Author Michael Hauser Tov is 28 years old.

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 10d

This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.

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EAJ @rosemaryandrock.bsky.social · 10d

*Realizing belatedly my spouse could be a horse . . . *

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