Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 46m

Consciousness of guilt

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 2h

ICE / Border Patrol threatening to arrest a cyclist for following and recording in Chicago

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 20h

AI has lost the dunce vote. It’s over

Nate Silver
@NateSilver538 • 5h
•.°
I'm just one person, and my programming needs are somewhat unusual (building various kinds of statistical forecasting models). But I'm just not seeing the consistent productivity gains from LLMs that I would have expected if you'd asked me 6 months ago.

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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 19h

My impression is that there are multiple variations of the SF homage frog poster — one I’ve seen says HOPE. If AI, seems way over on the relatively benign side of villainy.

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Howl by Allen Ginsberg @howl-bot.bsky.social · 19h

O skinny legions run outside O starry spangled shock of mercy the eternal war is here O victory forget your underwear we’re free

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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 21h

“The essence of democracy and freedom is being unpredictable... Loving your country means being with other people.”

— Timothy Snyder

#NoKings

Portland frog hope poster + Timothy Snyder quotation

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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 21h

Santa Fe, New Mexico Protest and Block Party on October 18. Join me, join us next Saturday. Resistance rooted in community and connection. Details below. #NoKings #SantaFe www.mobilize.us/mobilize/eve...

NO KINGS SANTA FE · Mobilize

**In America, we don’t put up with would-be kings.** In Santa Fe, we’ve been rejecting kings since 1680. The spirit of the Pueblo Revolt lives on in our refusal to bow to authoritarianism and our com...

www.mobilize.us

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Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 2d

A park employee, who spoke with SFGATE on the condition of anonymity to protect their job, said they know of only one wilderness ranger working the entire park. And technically, that person is not even a ranger, the employee said, but a volunteer.

SFGATE @sfgate.com · 2d

"It's the Wild Wild West."

Squatters, illegal BASE jumpers invade Yosemite amid federal shutdown

"It's the Wild Wild West."

bit.ly

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Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 2d

Perry: "I have seen no credible evidence that there is danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois."

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 3d

Unfortunately we’re invading Norway www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Norway on Edge Over Trump Ahead of Nobel Peace Prize Verdict

Norway is bracing for the aftermath of the Nobel Peace Prize announcement on Friday as the Nordic nation has faced increasing pressure from Donald Trump and his administration to award it to the US le...

www.bloomberg.com

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 3d

Nothing remotely resembling an insurrection is happening anywhere in the country. Any violence associated with protest has been isolated, mild, and, in nearly every case, instigated by federal law enforcement. If we let Trump get away with calling dissent an insurrection, our republic is over.

BREAKING: Trump Admin 'Seriously' Considering Using the Insurrection Act, Reports NBC

President Trump is "seriously" considering invoking the Insurrection Act in order to more easily deploy National Guard troops to major cities as part of crime crackdown, NBC reported on Wednesday

www.mediaite.com

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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 3d

“neutrality-theater journalism” is a useful term ✓

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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 3d

“the girlfriend of one of the co-founders of antifa“

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Grant @gdubbstl.bsky.social · 3d

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Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 3d

The White House Antifa Roundtable is one of the best displays I’ve seen of this-is-how-bad-it’s-gotten — just a sewer of open fascism, dementia, morons and freaks, and incoherent rage.

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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 4d

This is doomer fuel, which the game-over replies are reinforcing.

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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 4d

Beautiful post.

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 4d

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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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 5d

The New York Times political headline idiom of winning, victory, triumph, strength, prevailing, success, and domination is now more or less exclusively reserved for far-right conservative / reactionary / authoritarian actors.

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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 6d

Who took everything from where it once was
And put it where it last was seen?

— Neil Young, “Fontainebleau”

youtu.be/gD1F25_-Ng4?...

Fontainebleau (2016 Remaster)

YouTube video by The Stills-Young Band - Topic

youtu.be

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Nathan Harness @nathanharness.bsky.social · 6d

A view into the Amazon from Sumaco Volcano. So many little worlds playing out in the forest below. An entire universe of beetles and monkeys and birds and humans. You could spend all your life learning about the ants in one of those little trees down there. Overwhelmingly beautiful.

A view into the foothills of the mountains that expands into the Amazon basin

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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 6d

v cool photo

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Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 6d

Statement from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker

This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States. No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.
We must now start calling this what it is: Trump's Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state's military troops.
I call on Governor Abbott to immediately withdraw any support for this decision and refuse to coordinate. There is no reason a President should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent, or cooperation.
The brave men and women who serve in our national guards must not be used as political props. This is a moment where every American must speak up and help stop this madness.

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 6d

Pretty clear Stephen Miller, Noem, Hegseth and Trump are trying to provoke a Civil War at this point. What's interesting is they want to do it now, because even though they're unpopular, they seem to believe this is the most popular they'll be ever again. We can't let them win.

Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 6d

This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power by the President of the United States.

America is on the brink of martial law.

Do not be silent.

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 6d

This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States. No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.

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Hal Espen @halsf.bsky.social · 6d

“Portland, shit.”

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Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · 7d

pull down and pulverize that subaltern’s tower, and make a little heap of dust of it

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