Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · 7d

A friend sent this important reminder to me this morning in honor of my birthday, James Baldwin once again speaking necessary truth across the years, in a time when showing compassion, care, and love, to “magnify each other’s light” is critical work. #hopeinthedark #wisdom #inspiration

"The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other's light"—James Baldwin

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Joseph Fasano @josephfasano.bsky.social · 14d

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · 18d

Underreported in most of the stories about the silencing of Jimmy Kimmel, Sinclair Broadcasting has snapped up hundreds of local stations with an eye toward promoting conservative talking points pre-packaged as "news." Media consolidation is a key tool of autocratic governments.

Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 18d

This is Sinclair Broadcasting.

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · 19d

How I wish this Mary Oliver poem was not so prescient about this terrible moment we are all living through #poetry #poems #truth

OF THE EMPIRE
We will be known as a culture that feared death and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity for the few and cared little for the penury of the many. We will be known as a culture that taught and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke little if at all about the quality of life for people (other people), for dogs, for rivers. All the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a commodity. And they will say that this structure was held together politically, which it was, and they will say also that our politics was no more than an apparatus to accommodate the feelings of the heart, and that the heart, in those days, was small, and hard, and full of meanness.

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · 21d

So funny, and not funny at all.

Robert Picardo @robertpicardo.bsky.social · 21d

Many Americans will miss comedy, now that it has been canceled along with free speech. Hopefully we can vote these freedoms back before too long! In the meantime, here's a goodbye laugh from ⁦‪@colbertlateshow‬⁩

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · 29d

A little something to soothe the soul in these crazy, crazy times.

Stardust 🌏🎬 @stardustbluepr.com · 29d

Yes, Charles Yang, you were certainly born by the River.
💥

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · 29d

I did. Wow. Thank you.

Reposted by Steve Mark

BrooklynDad_Defiant! @mmpadellan.bsky.social · Sep 9

We're three lines into "First they came..."

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Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · Aug 7

On nutrition, Jeffrey Dahmer has broken sharply with the mainstream.

On Vaccines, Kennedy Has Broken Sharply With the Mainstream
While many officials and scientists embrace other parts of the secretary’s agenda, his stance on vaccines is alienating allies who fear a public health crisis.

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Race Bannon @racebannon.bsky.social · Aug 5

"Life in the United States is profoundly changing, is profoundly different than it was even six months ago, because we do now live in a country that has an authoritarian leader in charge."

Rachel Maddow, August 4, 2025

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Aug 2

Get great content, support my local public broadcasting, and stick it to the thought police all at once? Oh yeahhhhhhhhh. I am so in.

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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · Jul 2

The name "Alligator Alcatraz" reminds us that America is currently run by adults who are like malicious, giggling children using magnifying glasses to burn ants.

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Jul 11

👏 Also, Prime Day sales were down 41% on the first day, according to Bloomberg. #dumpAmazon

Human Rights Index 💙 @humanrightsindex.bsky.social · Jul 11

Peaceful protest is a human right. Even Alexa knows it. Jeff still doesn’t. 😂⚖️

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Jul 9

We are literally living through the absolute dumbest moment in history.

David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · Jul 9

On Sunday, Michael "Lewis Arthur" Meyer—leader of extremist group Veterans on Patrol—warned that due to the use of "weather weapons" in Texas "efforts to eliminate this military treason are being escalated”

Hours later a man damaged a weather radar system in Oklahoma

www.wired.com/story/texas-...

Conspiracy Theories About the Texas Floods Lead to Death Threats

Disinformation around a “weather weapon” and cloud seeding is being widely promoted by everyone from anti-government extremists to GOP influencers—leading to real-world consequences.

www.wired.com

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Jul 8

Need another reason to avoid Amazon? You're welcome.

Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · Jul 8

1. Happy Prime Day!

(It's a scam)

(Follow this thread for details)

🧵

Prime Day is a scam

Amazon Prime Day is a four-day sale promoted by the mega-retailer as a rare opportunity to secure "deep discounts" on a variety of consumer items.

popular.info

Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Jul 8

“As a nation we are as close to autocracy as we’ve ever been. It seems like fascism is basically a war on consensus reality and we need to put a pin in those points where it’s so obvious that it’s not true...We need to flood the zone too but with the truth.”

George Hahn @georgehahn.com · Jul 8

“The giant red, white and blue mural aims to document and highlight the stories and alleged crimes of more than 1,575 people involved in the January 6 2021 attack on the US Capitol who were pardoned by Donald Trump.” Fabulous.

‘Don’t forget’: mural brings attention to the January 6 rioters pardoned by Trump

A giant new mural, titled Wall of Shame, has launched in Brooklyn, New York, to remind people of the alleged crimes committed by more than 1,500 Maga loyalists

www.theguardian.com

Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Jul 6

Love this #poem and the way it meets this particular, difficult moment #poetry #hopeinthedark #wisdom #inspiration

Rattle Poetry @rattlepoetry.bsky.social · Jul 6

Everywhere I look there is tyranny.
Everywhere I look there is goodness.

—Abby E. Murray

Ode to the Grimy Breeze of an Underground Subway Platform by Abby E. Murray - Rattle: Poetry

The list of things I’d rather not be thankful for is growing in this latest heat wave. I just took […]

www.rattle.com

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Matthew Downhour @matthewdownhour.bsky.social · Jul 6

I'm probably never going to know the details of the floods in Texas because I can't stand reading about them. But I do think two things can be held true simultaneously:

-no voted for this, no one deserves this
-extreme weather shows why we need government, why rugged individualism is not enough

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Jul 5

From a scholar who ought to know. #neveragainisnow

Opinion | Don’t call it ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Call it a concentration camp.

This facility’s purpose fits the classic model, and its existence points to serious dangers ahead for the country.

www.msnbc.com

Reposted by Steve Mark

MoveOn @moveon.org · Jul 4

Here's a friendly reminder. 📣🇺🇸

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Jul 4

I needed this @nikitagill.bsky.social #poem this very difficult #independenceday and the clear-eyed #inspiration it provides. #hopeinthedark #poetry #persist #resist

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William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · Jul 4

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.

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Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Jul 3

May our anger at this abomination of a budget bill be the fuel that fires us up to win back the House and Senate in 2026.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · Jul 3

Jeffries: I think it was because the framers of this great country, they were fed up with project 1775. So they implemented project 1776.. Understand what our journey teaches us is after project 2025 comes project 2026. And you will have an opportunity to end this national nightmare

Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Jul 3

A friend sent me this moving beauty of a #poem yesterday, which gets it so right about our relationship with dogs and why I love them so. #poetry #doglover #poetrylover #dogsofbluesky #dogs #doglife

Full text of Andrew Kane's "How to Be A Dog," which can also be found at https://www.versedaily.org/2020/howtobeadog.shtml

Steve Mark @stevesdropper.bsky.social · Jul 2

Love this artwork and message from Little Truths Studio #inspiration #hopeinthedark #stillhere #pride #belovedcommunity

In the center of a rainbow, the message "YOU CAN PASS LAWS, BAN BOOKS, TELL US WE DON'T EXIST BUT WE'RE STILL HERE DRINKING OUR COFFEE, SINGING IN THE SHOWER, WALKING OUR DOGS, LOVING EACH OTHER." over two pine trees and diverse folks interacting.

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