Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ethan @strangebirds.bsky.social · 18h

cookie make bunny go brrrrroooommmm

Reposted by Ethan

Jean-François Cudennec @jfcudennec.bsky.social · 1d

Just sayin

Chart comparing the number of camera, the number of giant squid footages and the number of bigfoot footages.

Number of giant squids rises as the number of camera increase, but not the number of bigfoot.

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Ethan @strangebirds.bsky.social · 20h

Pope Leo follows Lie Flat doctrine.

Lucius Fox In The Box @carnegro.bsky.social · 1d

Pope Leo is spitting.

www.npr.org/2025/10/09/n...

Leo questioned a world where the wealth of the elite grows
"exponentially" while many "millions of people die of hunger or survive in conditions unfit for human beings." He also criticized "ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation,"
with false promises "that a free-market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty."

Leo described a "new tyranny," which shuns any kind of oversight and where the economy is structured "in such a way that sacrifices are demanded of the masses in order to serve the needs of the powerful." The poor, he wrote, are only allowed "drops that trickle down."

The pope openly challenged "prosperity theology" and called Christians to the practice of giving charity. "It will not solve the problem of world poverty, yet it must still be carried out, with intelligence, diligence and social responsibility," he wrote.

Popular movements that challenge "the empire of money," invite people to take on the cause to combat poverty alongside the poor, instead of on their behalf, and "make history," the pope said. It our duty, Leo said, to "make their voices heard, albeit in different ways, in order to point out and denounce such structural issues, even at the cost of appearing foolish or naïve."

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Just a girl and her books @thebookwyrmshoard2.bsky.social · 1d

These all look amazing. And wonderful reads for children to learn more about Palestine.

Rachel Malik @rachelmalik.bsky.social · 1d

For #BannedBooksWeek

‘They didn’t even read the book’: How children’s authors are being canceled over Palestine

Authors tell of book bans, cancellations and harassment – ‘they’re trying to disconnect us from our stories’

www.theguardian.com

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Ethan @strangebirds.bsky.social · 21h

I served on a jury (WI) where the defendant was Puerto Rican. The judge had to admonish several potential jurors that he was a citizen, despite their beliefs. One was so adamant and combative that the prosecution moved to strike him - probably to allay any future appeals on that reason.

jenn m. jackson @jennmjacksonphd.bsky.social · 1d

The fact that so many US citizens have no idea Bad Bunny is also a US citizen (and don't believe he can be a US citizen) tells you that when they say "citizen," they really just mean white.

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AmeriKraut @inchargeofthegirls.bsky.social · 1d

sherman, for the love of god!

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melissagaskill.bsky.social @melissagaskill.bsky.social · 1d

And it needs to be pointed out that Americans are buying this cocaine. No demand, no supply.

Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 1d

Approximately 8% of US cocaine comes through the eastern Caribbean (and virtually none of it involves fentanyl). Conversely, about 74% of US cocaine comes up the Pacific coast from Ecuador and Colombia. Trump’s objectives in Venezuela aren’t about drugs.

Why Blowing Up Venezuelan Boats Won’t Stop the Flow of Drugs (Gift Article)

President Trump says striking drug traffickers from Venezuela will prevent deadly drugs from reaching the United States. But the major smuggling routes are elsewhere.

www.nytimes.com

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elia ayoub 🌱 @ayoub.bsky.social · 1d

24h into the ‘ceasefire’, Israel bombed a residential building in Gaza.

bsky.app/profile/just...

Justin Salhani @justinsalhani.bsky.social · 1d

Israeli attacked a residential building in Gaza City and, according to Al Jazeera, killed and injured more than 70 civilians with most of them still under the rubble.

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elia ayoub 🌱 @ayoub.bsky.social · 1d

This is actually what is going to happen.

That’s already what’s happening in Lebanon. Israel kills regularly, violates the ceasefire agreement on an hourly basis.

It’s just not on the news anymore.

This is why pressure against Israel mustn’t just continue, but increase.

The Onion @theonion.com · 1d

Israel Agrees To Go Back To Killing Palestinians On Less Frequent Basis

CAIRO—As part of a historic ceasefire agreement with Hamas following two years of war, the Israeli government reportedly agreed Thursday to go back to killing Palestinians on a less frequent basis. “I...

theonion.com

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Ethan @strangebirds.bsky.social · 1d

oh I’m so sorry. Fergus! You are missed!

Ethan @strangebirds.bsky.social · 1d

Successful US farmers don’t grow or harvest anything.

Spooky Laminariales Fax Machine 📠 @kelpkelpkelp.bsky.social · 1d

So US taxpayers are buying Argentinian pesos so that Argentina can sell soybeans to China, and separately also paying US farmers bribe money to shut up about how Trump is to blame.

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Spooky Laminariales Fax Machine 📠 @kelpkelpkelp.bsky.social · 1d

So US taxpayers are buying Argentinian pesos so that Argentina can sell soybeans to China, and separately also paying US farmers bribe money to shut up about how Trump is to blame.

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Ethan @strangebirds.bsky.social · 1d

That would be awesome. I’m chuckling imagining his apoplectic rant.

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Ethan @strangebirds.bsky.social · 1d

I love it when a sublime dish is something pretty common but executed really well.

Cooks fist-pumping in the kitchen over how well the crab cakes or mashed potatoes or whatever turned out.

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Caleb Dume @thacalebdume.bsky.social · 1d

Child-exploitation cases are among those affected. Several current and former agents said investigations that require subpoenas, warrants or grand-jury testimony have been postponed or canceled outright.

Informant networks are also fraying. Building trust with sources inside drug gangs or child-trafficking rackets takes time in the field, investigators say—time they no longer have. In some cases, agents said that it has become more difficult to offer the visas that once kept informants inside the U.S. Some have resorted to asking informants to be extra careful, avoid incidents that could draw attention and to call them if they get caught up in a traffic stop.

The strategy of the Trump administration is to address crime through immigration enforcement, said David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington.

"They think they can take care of drug trafficking, sex trafficking and child trafficking just by deporting people," Bier said.

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Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 10d

I teach a history of antifascism course @ruhistorydept.bsky.social and figured I'd start an ongoing thread this semester to share some insights from course readings and recommend some great works on antifascism.

🧵

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E the soc @ethesoc.blacksky.app · 1d

Pretty much the moralization of whiteness and white supremacy through christian frameworks. Remember, white supremacy and whiteness existed as all forms of Christianity developed here. They are all affected by it in some form. Just need to critically examine how.

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 2d

A White Christian nationalist pastor argued recently on a right-wing podcast that the Bible--specifically Deuteronomy 21, about how a father must bring his rebellious son to the town square to be stoned--justifies state violence against Black boys and young men.

www.theroot.com/why-this-whi...

Article from "The Root" by Asheea Smith. Published October 8, 2025

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Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 2d

YOURE FUCKING KIDDING ME

Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 2d

SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...

Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year

Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File

www.gamefile.news

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 2d

JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom are doing something new and important: They understand Stephen Miller's theory of fascist power politics, and they've developed a theory on how to combat it. More Dems need to reckon with Miller's understanding of the moment.

New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2014...

Inside Stephen Miller’s Secret Plan to Normalize Trump’s Dictator Rule

He wants to supercharge searing civil tensions to get low-information voters to embrace their inner authoritarian. Exactly two Democrats appear to fully grasp this.

newrepublic.com

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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 2d

France asking for reparations from Haiti for losing their slaves is basically a moral monstrosity.

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 2d

Reporter's notebook: I actually began working on this story shortly after footage of the incident showed up last month.

But by the time I finally got ahold of folks, the story grew: 2 *other* faith leaders I spoke with *also* reported being shot w/pepper balls while protesting this ICE facility.

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 3d

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 2d

There are groups of Antifa Mermen who come up to shore near the Navy Pier after midnight, vote illegally, and then disappear

Tom Hearden @followtheh.bsky.social · 2d

Chicago peeps let’s hear your gang names and colors

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Sophia Babai @swingingstorm.bsky.social · 2d

Eternally disturbed by the number of Democrats who seem to see “affirming everyone’s basic right to freedom and safety is just too radical” as a reasonable argument.

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Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 3d

Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

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Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 3d

It's out at the Dispatch:

DHS Says Videotaping ICE Agents Is Illegal. Federal Courts Disagree.

Filming law enforcement serves important goals central to a free republic.

thedispatch.com

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