Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · 7d

enterprise train packed to the rafters today! First four carriages all booked, the rest stuffed full and people struggling to even get on it. Should be more carriages if they expect so many! Cattle trucks have more room!

David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · 9d

And then there were two. It was already so uninspiring that I can’t work out if this improves our choice or not.

RTÉ News @news.rte.ie · 9d

Fianna Fáil's candidate Jim Gavin has announced he is withdrawing from the Presidential Election "with immediate effect"

Jim Gavin withdraws from Presidential Election

Fianna Fáil's candidate Jim Gavin has announced he is withdrawing from the Presidential Election "with immediate effect".

www.rte.ie

David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · 10d

Very detailed explanation of how Amazon exploits retail customers and business customers alike…

Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and ...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by David Fenton

Mongabay @mongabay.com · 26d

Arctic sea ice hit its 2025 summer minimum without setting a record low on Sept. 10.

Scientists say sea ice loss has slowed over the past 20 years due to natural variability in atmospheric and ocean systems, counterbalancing the impacts from human-caused climate change.

No new record low for Arctic sea ice loss in 2025

Sea ice floating atop the Arctic Ocean reached its minimum extent for 2025 on Sept. 10, covering 4.602 million square kilometers (1.78 million square miles) concluding this year’s summer melt-out.…

news.mongabay.com

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Sep 15

Pointless triviality of the day so far. Conor McGregor pulls out of a race he was never in.

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Aug 15

Hell of a meltdown on here yesterday, reminiscent of the bin fights that were all the rage during late Twitter. Lost heart before I could reach the start of it so no idea how it began but not many came out with much credit. Pretty toxic really.

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Aug 14

Which is a good thing, of course!

David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Aug 14

Just heard that Gareth Sheridan was a new Irish Presidential hopeful. Came on here to find out who he was and, after reading through the car crash interview and noting his connections with Sean Gallagher, Serguei Melnik and Sharon Keoghan, I reckon he has less of a chance than Conor Mcgregor.

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Reposted by David Fenton

America Xanadu @johnxuandou.bsky.social · Aug 13

This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.

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Reposted by David Fenton

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · Jul 26

Me, 2019: "Epstein gambled on the differential between his power and voice in the world and theirs and for the most part he won, because the game was rigged by dozens of people around him... Monsters rule over us, on behalf of monsters." lithub.com/in-patriarch...

In Patriarchy No One Can Hear You Scream: Rebecca Solnit on Jeffrey Epstein and the Silencing Machine

One of my favorite books when I was young was T. H. White’s The Once and Future King, and one of its central themes is the attempt of King Arthur to replace an ethos of “might is right” with someth…

lithub.com

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Reposted by David Fenton

Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · Jul 24

I think it's going to be very difficult for anyone who served in the same government as this guy to later use the defence that the destruction of a people wasn't intentional

Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · Jul 24

On the starvation in Gaza, an Israeli minister says 1) “there is no nation that feeds its enemies," and 2) Israel is “driving out the population that educated its people on the ideas of 'Mein Kampf.'"

Seriously? If you're accusing others of following Mein Kampf ... maybe don't parrot Mein Kampf.

As Starvation Rises, Israeli Minister Says Israel Is ‘Driving Out’ Gazans

www.nytimes.com

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Jul 1

People peacefully protesting are not the enemy, nor are punk bands, nor are those queing for food in Gaza.

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Jun 22

I just don’t get Starmer. Like many people I used to think he was tying himself in knots by saying one thing but believing another. But what if what he says is actually what he thinks? What does that make him?

David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Jun 7

No humanity, no excuses…

‘These are traps set for the people’: the story of a mother shot dead searching for food in Gaza

A family is reeling from the killing of a woman who walked for hours to an Israeli-backed distribution point with her son and daughter

www.theguardian.com

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Mar 30

Brilliant.

benteh @benteh.no · Mar 30

viruses explained

corona virus – explained in craft terms. you and nine friends are crafting. one is using glitter. how many projects have glitter?

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Reposted by David Fenton

It's ME(Jaime) @exceedhergrasp1.bsky.social · Mar 29

Worth sharing with alt text. Brian Eno's response to the Quaker arrests.

Brian Eno 2h. On the Arrest of Young People at a Quaker Meeting House Last night, six young people were arrested by police during a peaceful gathering at a Quaker Meeting House. They had assembled to talk, reflect, and organise around two issues of overwhelming moral gravity: the climate emergency, and the continuing destruction in Gaza. That the police chose to forcibly enter a Quaker space-a site known throughout history for its deep commitment to peace and nonviolence—is both alarming and telling. These young people were not disrupting the peace. They were enacting it. We live in a time where the greatest threats to our future go unchallenged by those in power, while those who speak out are increasingly met with suspicion, hostility, and force. When the state begins to treat moral concern as criminal intent, we should all be paying close attention. The people arrested last night were not extremists. They were citizens who care-young people who see the interconnected crises of climate collapse and human suffering and refuse to turn away. They gathered not in violent defiance, but in peaceful conscience. I stand with them. I believe their voices are not only valid, but vital. If the institutions meant to protect us cannot bear to hear these voices, then it is not the protesters who are disrupting order—it is the silence of those who look away. - Brian Eno

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Mar 20

Big surprise there, eh?

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Feb 24

Got married to Roberta Flack’s version of ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’. Some voice, so heartfelt, such a loss. RIP

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Feb 21

Current rogue states: Russia, North Korea, Mar-a-Lago…

Reposted by David Fenton

Saoirse McHugh @saoirsemc.bsky.social · Jan 24

www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2... on private wires and why it’s a terrible idea

What would private electricity wires mean for our energy system?

History shows we would not be well served by voluntarily re-instituting a broken, disjointed approach to energy infrastructure

www.rte.ie

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Jan 24

Never seen one this big before!

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Jan 24

Load of fences in the area down, aerials broken, garden furniture on walkabout, but Storm Éowyn did drop off a bunch of cowering balloons as a belated gift, so not all bad!

Bunch of pink and red balloons sheltering from the storm by my gate.

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Jan 22

We can laugh (or cry) all we want at the state of politics across the pond but the ridiculous strokes being pulled by our lot just make us seem like a toy town in comparison.

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Reposted by David Fenton

Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · Jan 12

When I woke up this morning I had a message from my niece in England asking me to go to "cherry tomato bridge", which is apparently a thing on TikTok. So I did. There are tomatoes on it, and ketchup, presumably offerings to the tomato god. 🤷🏼‍♀️

The wall of a bridge in Drumcondra, Dublin, with many cherry tomatoes on it and a cluster of ketchup sachets. I have no idea what this is about but there were excited young people on the bridge too, although they are not in the photo.

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David Fenton @davefenton.bsky.social · Dec 27

Was Ireland involved? Of course it was.

New Lines Magazine @newlinesmag.bsky.social · Dec 27

NEW: An obscure bureaucratic list gave East Timor its own internet domain name. Activists grabbed the chance to declare independence — and provoked the very first cyberwar. Jacob Judah tells the story for @newlinesmag.bsky.social.

newlinesmag.com/essays/how-e...

How East Timor Blazed the Way for Hacktivism

A chance inclusion on the international list of internet domain names gave the independence movement a vital tool

newlinesmag.com

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