Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Andrea Pitzer @andreapitzer.bsky.social · 17h

The autocrat's toadies destroy functioning governance and launch crisis after crisis in order to create a nation that runs on patronage in which he's the only one able to do anything for anyone.

41 360 1.2K

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 18h

The Nobel *Peace* Prize winner is cool with murdering civilians on boats

82 280 960

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 18h

Relatedly, I've learned a lot about the situation in Ethiopia from a friend who works on that. Their strongman ruler, PM Ahmed Abiy, is a monster who attacks his own people with drones and jails journalists and opposition leaders

He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019

16 40 270

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Nov 13

if i've learned one thing from doing union stuff while also doing other forms of organizing, it's that you're better off with people you disagree with who are nevertheless trying to do the same thing as you than with people you agree with who aren't trying to do anything

65 1.4K 5.7K

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Cohen is a Ghost @skullmandible.bsky.social · 20h

"even if it's AI, it's at least true" hard to overstate the damage this stuff is doing to people's brains. we're gonna be cleaning the slop out of archives for decades

62 850 3.7K

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Tamara Keel, but spooky @tamslick.bsky.social · 20h

The utter inability of legacy news media to be able to deal with being straight-up lied to is one of the primary drivers of this mess.

Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 1d

I like how the news will be like “while the President claiming Portland was ruled by a giant skeleton named Mr Nibbles is not strictly true, it does speak to the anxiety of many Americans”

7 110 420

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 21h

Fake AI videos mocking dead celebrities are going viral. We talked to their families, and they're horrified.

We break down OpenAI's Sora 2 and the moral and legal problems of "synthetic resurrection."

Gift link: wapo.st/4nNKzd3 w/ @tatumhunter.bsky.social

8 72 140

Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 1d

We did our best!

1.) cyberscoop.com/potential-eu...

2.) cyberscoop.com/germany-oppo...

2

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 1d

When you **understand** your principles, you can **speak clearly** about them.

MIT as an institution has a sharply defined concept of "merit" that this letter uses to turn the tables on the administration's confused and decepive use of the idea.

James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 1d

MIT understands its mission and values.

orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

5 8

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 2d

www.wweek.com/culture/2025...

Can you put into words what that purpose is? You and the frog have really become icons of this protest.

There’s been a nice overall whimsy that has shown up. The frog is amazing. We had a bunch of other inflatable people here last night, too. I saw people playing Twister the other day.

What they rely on is fear. So by coming out in an absurdist manner, it speaks to them, to some extent, that we’re actually not that afraid.

It also dismantles their narrative a little bit. When they try to describe this situation as “war-torn,” it becomes much harder to take them seriously when they have to post a video saying [U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security] Kristi Noem is up on the balcony staring over the Antifa Army and it’s, like, eight journalists and five protesters and one of them is in a chicken suit.

96 3.2K 11K

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Ryan Mac 🙃 @rmac.bsky.social · 1d

It's strange seeing a bunch of outlets pub stories about Thiel's antichrist lectures and label them as exclusives. For one, they aren't exclusive if a source offered the same material to half the tech press.

It's also kind of silly for folks just to parrot Thiel when he's saying this:

4 29 170

Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 1d

1

Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 1d

I get the anxiety of growing up in an era of relative peace and stability and then being faced with this moment. It's uncomfortable to say the least and I won't pretend I don't relate in some way wondering if I'm equipped for it.

But you adapt or lose your ability to see the world as it is.

Ezra Klein Is Mourning The End Of The Civilacrum

Klein wants a simulation of politics without conflict. Ascendant fascism won't allow that.

badfaithtimes.com

1 1

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 1d

Might feel like an inversion of the Civil War, but less than you might think. The federal government was thoroughly in the hands of the Slave Power in the 1850s. States resisted the Fugitive Slave Act; Dred Scott was SCOTUS. Secession happened b/c they wouldn't accept losing that control in 1860.

Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 1d

Republican Governors Eagerly Join Trump’s Military Campaign Against Blue Cities
theintercept.com/2025/10/09/r...

Republican Governors Eagerly Join Trump’s Military Campaign Against Blue Cities

An Intercept analysis finds nearly every Republican governor has deployed National Guard members to aid Trump’s domestic military agenda.

theintercept.com

5 94 310

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 1d

White House staff should just make and show him an AI-generated video where he wins, fly him to Duluth and tell him it’s Oslo, and dare the New York Times to say anything more than “Experts disagree about whether Mr Trump was awarded the Nobel Prize”.

54 630 3.1K

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

brasidas @brasidas.bsky.social · 1d

FSB boss: “Sergei, you post frog to make America Nazi”

Sergei: “Da”

Boss: “Why is frog now Antifa?”

Sergei: “…”

Boss: “Сергей!!!!”

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 2d

Things are happening at Portland's ICE facility tonight.

Read more of our protest coverage here: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

3 13 81

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 2d

i’ll just say that TRON: LEGACY is a thoroughly mediocre film and an incredible audio/visual experience for when you’re in the right…state of mind. (see also: JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE SNYDER CUT)

mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 2d

Pretty confused by how TRON became a big-budget movie franchise. Was it a bit hit when it came out? No. Did it become a big hit on video/TV? Also no. Do people have fond nostalgic memories of it? Eh kinda but not really. Was it secretly great and critically acclaimed? No again

120 47 1.7K

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 2d

Perry cites other fed prosecutions/lawsuits in Chicago and says "in the last 48 hours, in four separate unrelated legal decision from different neutral parties, they all cast significant doubt on DHS' credibility and assessment of what is happening on the streets of Chicago."

3 180 840

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 2d

Perry: "I agree with you about the seriousness of threats, generally, across the United States right now. I don't think there's a single public servant, really, who is not being subject to threats.

"Mine started about 10 minutes after I got this case."

14 220 950

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · 2d

the man’s a human being just as I am: he has just as much reason to fear me, as I have to be afraid of him

1 29 180

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Catalin Cimpanu @campuscodi.risky.biz · 2d

Denmark scraps next week's Chat Control vote (was scheduled for Tuesday, Oct 14)

www.deutschlandfunk.de/eu-staaten-e...

"Chatkontrolle" - EU-Staaten erzielen keine Einigung

Die EU-Staaten haben erneut keine Einigung auf eine sogenannte Chatkontrolle im Kampf gegen sexualisierte Gewalt gegen Kinder erzielt.

www.deutschlandfunk.de

6 8

Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 2d

Many people are saying

cyberscoop.com/voter-citize...

1 3

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 2d

NEW: cost to 'poison' an LLM and insert backdoors is relatively constant. Even as models grow.

Implication: security doesn't scale with LLMs.

Super interesting: Prior work had suggested that as model sizes grew, it would make them cost-prohibitive to poison. 1/
arxiv.org/pdf/2510.07192

1 25 60

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Juris Doctor Dredd Esq. @optimusviktor.bsky.social · 2d

7 240 930

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 2d

Wolf being absolutely destroyed in Jeopardy by Andy Richter

170 770 6K