Author | Lightnews

Ellie (they/she)

@elliejvela.bsky.social

51 followers 140 following 21 posts

Queer Scholar of Technology and Power || 🌲25 || MSCS in HCI Stanford -> Seattle! Currently looking for employment 👍

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Ellie (they/she) @elliejvela.bsky.social · Jul 28

Excited to be applying for PhD programs soon! I’m interested in queer + trans technology, social computing, and game design. Ultimately, I hope to bring a critique of power to my studies of technology. Would really appreciate any advice/connections, especially if you’re an academic in HCI or InfoSci

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Ellie (they/she) @elliejvela.bsky.social · 23d

The women’s bathroom is closed but luckily I’m genderfluid and can simply perform advanced gender justsu to flow my gender in the direction called for by any given situation

Reposted by Ellie (they/she)

David William @nrvscrcts.bsky.social · Sep 22

"In this context of closing the women’s office, the LGBTQ office, and in the context of Brown capitulating on understandings of gender, it’s hard not to imagine that a tenure decision about a star scholar in the WGS program would not have also been influenced by this political moment."

Maya Sen @mayasen.bsky.social · Sep 22

Incredibly angry reading this

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

A Surprise Tenure Denial in Harvard’s Gender Studies Program Leaves Some Faculty Shaken | News | The Harvard Crimson

Durba Mitra’s colleagues thought she was a near-perfect tenure candidate. When her bid was shot down in June, they were left questioning the process.

www.thecrimson.com

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Katelyn Boo-urns @katelynburns.com · Sep 22

Only 1 person in the whole study went from identifying as trans to not identifying as trans. The 1/5 number came from youth going between the binary and non-binary spectrum.

This headline and post are misleading on purpose to fit the economist's editorial bent on the political issue.

The Economist @economist.com · Sep 20

A recent study found that children who transitioned young retained stable gender identities over time. But the fact that nearly a fifth of those in the group did not ought to give advocates of irreversible medical interventions pause

How stable are the gender identities of younger children?

A study finds that one in five who switch gender change their mind

econ.st

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mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · Sep 22

the bone farmer, revisited | patreon.com/lubchansky

PANEL 1: A guy sporting a pin shaped like a monster leans over to a big glass tube full of skin in the close foreground.
GUY: Hey Geoff. I see you're not wearing a Bone Farmer memorial pin?

PANEL 2: GEOFF, the skin pile, starts to talk, over the shoulder of the GUY.
GEOFF: I mean, it'd be kind of tough to–
GUY: It's bone farmer memorial day.
GUY: We're all remembering all the good stuff he did.

PANEL 3: The GUY dabs away a tear.
GEOFF: Like what? Name one thing.
GUY: Shh! I'm remembering it all right now. Silently.

PANEL 4: THE GUY, dialing a phone.
GUY: It's like you don't even know the rules of the day?
GUY: I'm going to call the cops.

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Sasha Costanza-Chock @schock.cc · Sep 19

Ok my cis friends, we are going to need a lot of you to step the fuck up and fight hard for us

www.them.us/story/trump-...

FBI to Categorize Trans People As "Nihilistic Violent Extremist" Threat Group, Report Says

The choice is being championed by the Heritage Foundation, which is behind Project 2025.

www.them.us

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Bhaskar Mitra | ভাস্কর মিত্র @bmitra.bsky.social · Sep 19

🧵

Dr. Johnathan Flowers, Blade Wielding Bisexual (Lordean arc) @shengokai.blacksky.app · Sep 18

What we're seeing in the "don't sign up for protests" discourse is what Paulo Freire described as the convert's failure to trust the knowledge of the oppressed. As the convert tries to stand in solidarity with the oppressed, they refuse to let go of a world where they were the authority by default.

Reposted by Ellie (they/she)

Adam Beauchamp @delayedcajun.bsky.social · Sep 19

“If we automate the whole world and only a few people have the means with which to more than just survive, but to live well, have meaningful lives, there's a big problem, a huge problem coming down the line," he said.

National Catholic Reporter @ncronline.bsky.social · Sep 18

Pope Leo XIV said a proposal to create an AI-version of him so people could have a virtual audience with the pope pretty much horrified him.

Pope nixes 'virtual pope' idea, explains concerns about AI

Pope Leo XIV said a proposal to create an AI-version of him so people could have a virtual audience with the pope pretty much horrified him.

bit.ly

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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · Sep 19

the powerful are aligned supporting genocide and silencing critical voices. use your power and hit them where it hurts, boycott these products. and pass it on

bkeithb @bkeithb.bsky.social · Sep 18

#Boycott these genocide supporting companies 👇

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Gareth Watkins @garethwatkins.bsky.social · Sep 19

Dam been writing a book about this and she just TikToked it in 90 seconds.

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Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · Sep 18

1. Just so we’re clear, this is the clip that got Jimmy Kimmel’s show shelved by ABC.

If I’m missing any other clips please let me know.

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GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE @golikehellmachine.com · Sep 17

this is probably a good time for you to consider whether that disney+ subscription is worth it just to watch andor for the fourteenth time, tbh

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Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · Sep 17

So much of the absurdity in how some elites talk about Charlie Kirk—or navigate the authoritarian politics of this regime—stems from political science’s and the elite class’s fixation on polarization, and the misguided belief that it’s inherently bad and that the “remedy” is civil submission.

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · Sep 17

ah, well

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · Jan 23

a good arbiter of how close we are to bad hybrid regime shit is if the political comedy shows start getting pulled for whatever reason

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Ellie (they/she) @elliejvela.bsky.social · Sep 17

variety.com/2025/tv/news...

ABC Pulls ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Indefinitely After Host’s Charlie Kirk Comments

Nexstar, one of the biggest owners o US f TV stations in, said will pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel's late night show due to the host's Charlie Kirk remarks

variety.com

Ellie (they/she) @elliejvela.bsky.social · Sep 17

The FCC chair threatened legal action against ABC and now they’ve pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air. Supposedly Kimmel was inciting violence, but clearly his comments were criticisms of Trump and the MAGA movement’s response to Kirk’s assassination.

Ellie (they/she) @elliejvela.bsky.social · Sep 17

To me the discourse around Charlie Kirk has the familiar reek of GamerGate - ie a decentralized harassment campaign aiming to silence criticism of powers that be. This time, though, what really scares me is the federal government joining by inflaming and acting on behalf of the harassers.

Reposted by Ellie (they/she)

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · Sep 16

On June 24, I began my Election Night speech by quoting Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” That's the spirit of this campaign, and our city.

This is "Until It’s Done,” a new series about New Yorkers who refused to accept that a worthy goal was impossible.

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Ellie (they/she) @elliejvela.bsky.social · Sep 17

Blame the guy who actually insulted you! For me, this was the most critical takeaway from the argument that we need to reframe robots not as moral actors but as Mediators - tools that allow humans to interact in new ways.

Ellie (they/she) @elliejvela.bsky.social · Sep 17

We’re also failing to blame the parties that actually hold responsibility for perpetuating these harms.

Blaming a robot for taking your job is like blaming the air for carrying an insult to your ears. Yes, it doesn’t make sense to assign blame to air for moral wrongdoing. AND you failed to

Ellie (they/she) @elliejvela.bsky.social · Sep 17

The employer who opted for cheap automated labor over human labor and the policy makers who allow humans to be denied basic dignities like food, shelter, and opportunities for fulfilling labor. Yes, we’re mistakenly blaming harms on robots when robots are not a kind of thing fit to receive blame,

Ellie (they/she) @elliejvela.bsky.social · Sep 17

The issue with debating “robot rights” goes beyond the simple category error we make by anthropomorphizing nonhuman systems. To blame a robot for, say, taking your job directs responsibility away from the parties truthfully at fault, namely -

Ellie (they/she) @elliejvela.bsky.social · Sep 17

Really enjoyed this video by @taylorlorenz.bsky.social and I just wanted to emphasize and expand on a point she makes at (24:21)

youtu.be/nBtbkOfUlIo?...

Why People Are Roleplaying Robot Racism

YouTube video by Taylor Lorenz

youtu.be

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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · Aug 31

New Mexico has issued a public health order that removes federal restrictions to COVID-19 vaccine access so that pharmacies in New Mexico can vaccinate people of all ages and risk profiles. Every state need to do this!

PUBLIC HEALTH ORDER
NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
SECRETARY GINA DEBLASSIE
AUGUST 29, 2025
Ensuring Availability of COVID-19 Vaccine for the 2025-2026 Season

THIS ORDER supersedes any previous order, proclamation, or directives to the extent they are in conflict. This Public Order shall take effect immediately and remain in effect until such time as it automatically expires one year from the date of issuance, or until such time as the New Mexico Department of Health Cabinet Secretary rescinds it.

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Hagen Blix @hagenblix.bsky.social · Jul 8

We wrote a book about AI, Class, and Capitalism!
*Why We Fear AI* argues that, fundamentally, AI is a tool of class war from above, a tool for surveillance, labor control, and wage depression. Get it from your local bookstore if you can!
A quick 🧵1/4

Why We Fear AI: On the Interpretation of Nightmares

On the Interpretation of Nightmares

bookshop.org

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