Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 1d

A striking thing about articles I’ve read claiming to “study the effects” of generative AI on student writing skills and consumption of information is that (1) they nearly always find the effects are negative and (2) most “conclusions” are still written assuming that we must use AI, for some reason.

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Oliver Moore @oliver-moore.bsky.social · 2d

Fun fact: the $1.7M in increased revenue generated by putting Bixi stands on Toronto island cancelled out a $1.7M loss in on-street parking revenues due to heavy snow in February
secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Agenda Item History 2025.PA16.1

secure.toronto.ca

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 2d

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

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Jason McBride @jasonmcbride.bsky.social · 2d

“Aren’t we all just wrecks from the time we’re little kids & every passing day is just a fresh manifestation of how much we’ve been demolished?” www.hobartpulp.com/web_features...

Fodder for Infinity: A Conversation with Garielle Lutz about Backwardness by Michael Robert Liska

“Once in a while, somebody is interested in what I might have to say. This somebody says, ‘I want to hear you out. I want to hear you out until there’s nothing left. I want you to tell me everything a...

www.hobartpulp.com

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The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 3d

From cancelling the carbon tax to pausing the electric vehicle mandate, Prime Minister Mark Carney is making sweeping changes to Canada’s environmental rules — and complicating Canada’s progress on climate change. thenarwhal.ca/mark-carney-...

How Mark Carney is complicating Canada’s climate progress | The Narwhal

From cancelling the carbon tax to pausing the EV mandate, Mark Carney’s government is making sweeping changes to Canada’s environmental rules

thenarwhal.ca

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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 5d

They ruined Google search for nothing

John Gramlich @johngramlich.bsky.social · 5d

So far at least, Americans are lukewarm about AI summaries in search results. Relatively few who have seen them think they're extremely or very useful (20%) or have a lot of trust in the information they get from them (6%). New data from @pewresearch.org: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Bar chart showing that 20% of Americans who have seen AI summaries in search results believe these summaries are extremely or very useful. Far more (52%) see them as somewhat useful, while 28% see them as not too or not at all useful. The chart is based on an August 2025 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults.

Bar chart showing that 6% of Americans who have seen AI summaries in search results have a lot of trust in the information they get from these summaries. Another 48% have some trust in this information, while 34% have not too much trust and 12% have no trust at all. The chart is based on an August 2025 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults.

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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 7d

#OtD 4 Oct 1939 four Italian immigrant anarchists were arrested in Canada for possession of "subversive" anti-fascist literature and threatened with deportation to fascist Italy: effectively a death sentence. But Emma Goldman helped them get acquitted stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1047...

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Jason McBride @jasonmcbride.bsky.social · 7d

Learned so much from this, like Merve Emre’s now divorced & Boris Kachka ended up at The Atlantic www.thecut.com/article/how-...

18 Well-Read People on How, Exactly, They Find the Time

We ask book critics, authors, Substackers, New York staffers, and more.

www.thecut.com

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âpihtawikosisân @apihtawikosisan.bsky.social · 9d

The "Alberta advantage" is the lowest minimum wage in the country, the refusal of federal funds, opting out of an affordable daycare system, the stripping of all public services, anti-trans legislation, book bans, and millions of dollars of public funds given to private schools & cronies.

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Science Vs @sciencevs.bsky.social · 9d

This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥

We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪

Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇

open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...

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muscular baby jeb lund @mobute.bsky.social · 9d

every day JB is out there showing none of this is hard, the democratic party is just that soft

Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 9d

"It appears that Donald Trump not only has dementia set in, but he's copying tactics of Vladimir Putin. Sending troops into cities, thinking that that's some sort of proving ground for war.. is just, frankly, inane and I'm concerned for his health"

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

Pritzker compares Trump to Putin, calls for invoking 25th Amendment for suggesting military use Chicago as "training grounds"

After President Trump suggested Chicago should be used as "training grounds for our military," Gov Pritzker said the 25th Amendment should be invoked to remove the president from office, saying "there...

www.cbsnews.com

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 9d

When Trump threatens to nix funding to NYC if Zohran Mamdani wins, it only helps Zohran. It inflates the Trump threat, positions Zohran as a fighter for NYC against Trump, and pushes Cuomo into the role of Trump stooge.

There's a lesson here for Dems.

New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2011...

Trump’s Rage at Zohran Just Backfired in a Surprisingly Revealing Way

The Democrats who are breaking through are the ones who talk about Trump’s disastrous economic record while also leveling with the public about our slide into authoritarianism.

newrepublic.com

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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 11d

‘Gaza Trump Riviera’, ‘MBS Ring’, ‘Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone’? It’s an oligarch’s blood-soaked fantasy, a Disney Land of genocide.

Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 11d

This is what Blair’s team created together with BCG

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Carl Wilson @carlzoilus.bsky.social · 13d

ATTN Canadian govt: The case against Kneecap in the UK has been thrown out, not just on a technicality but because the judge said the charge was "as unjustified as it was flawed." Now let them come play here and express their opinions to their fans as freely as our Constitution mandates.

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Jason McBride @jasonmcbride.bsky.social · 16d

This is such sad news. Kongjian Yu was an absolute genius & such a force for good www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Renowned ‘sponge city’ architect Kongjian Yu dies in Brazil plane crash

The 62-year-old Chinese landscape architect was killed with three others while filming in the Pantanal wetlands

www.theguardian.com

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Jason McBride @jasonmcbride.bsky.social · 17d

Of all the fucking stupid, harmful things DoFo has done this has got to be one of the fucking stupidest, and most harmful www.thestar.com/politics/pro...

Doug Ford will outlaw municipal speed cameras this fall: Sources

Sources say Ford's Progressive Conservatives will table legislation later this fall to outlaw the "automated speed enforcement" devices.

www.thestar.com

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Jason McBride @jasonmcbride.bsky.social · 18d

Love this

Sarah Lyons @citymystic.bsky.social · 18d

open.substack.com/pub/houseofm...

Wrote about the radical act of returning to one's body in a digital age designed to detach us from them.

You Don't Need to Log off, You Need to Become Sensual

The digital world the wealthy are creating is designed to detach us from our bodies

open.substack.com

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Jason McBride @jasonmcbride.bsky.social · 23d

In anticipation of the blessed return of @heavyweight.bsky.social Jonathan Goldstein submits to @thenarwhal.ca's Moose Questionnaire thenarwhal.ca/moose-questi...

Heavyweight's Jonathan Goldstein is ready to camp — kind of | The Narwhal

The Montreal-raised host of the Heavyweight podcast is back with a new season and many feelings about salmon

thenarwhal.ca

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Michèle Champagne @michhham.bsky.social · 25d

This is an important profile of Ana Bailão, when she was running for Toronto mayor.

Now she is Build Canada Homes’ new CEO. Her enthusiasm for housing affordability is high, her fandom mixed, and her record on delivery is mediocre at best.

By @jasonmcbride.bsky.social from @thelocal.to, from 2023:

Who is Ana Bailão? Depends Who You Ask | The Local

The former councillor has been criticized for her allegiance to John Tory and a career of political compromise. But some housing advocates see something different: a savvy, effective consensus-builder...

thelocal.to

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 28d

This is a helpful explainer about the groyper stuff.

Dril Eulenspiegel @texaninnyc.bsky.social · 28d

Violating my "no Bluesky during football season" tenets to parachute in and say that my weird obsession with far right splinter groups and their shibboleths has finally made me the expert on something.

The shooter wrote 4 shitpost memes on bullets and every single one of them is a dumb groyper meme

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · Sep 10

My feed is almost entirely people condemning violence and telling others not to celebrate this.

dr. caitlin m. green @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social · Sep 10

they just decide what they think we’re like and proceed as though

Twitter
Thomas Chatterton Williams
It is unconscionable
* Tim Urban & @waitbutwhy• 1h
Every post on Bluesky is celebrating the assassination. Such unbelievably sick people.

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Jason McBride @jasonmcbride.bsky.social · Sep 10

"Zohran is going to win. Enacting his agenda will be hard, but the specter of local billionaires wracking their brains to concoct charges against him that might resonate with normal voters...is pretty amusing to watch." www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/new-york-s...

New York Socialist City

Where taking care of everyone is common sense.

www.hamiltonnolan.com

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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · Sep 10

CONGESTION PRICING IN #NYC IS WORKING.

Since Jan 2025:

⚠️ 17.6 million fewer vehicles entered Manhattan
⚠️ Crashes are down 14%
⚠️ Traffic injuries down 15%
✅ Subway ridership up 9%
✅ Bus ridership up 13%

The $9 fee goes to funding mass transit capital improvements.

www.reuters.com/world/us/new...

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Canadian Journalists for Justice in Palestine @cjjpmedia.bsky.social · Aug 25

Hello Bluesky!

We are Canadian Journalists for Justice in Palestine, a coalition of journalists across Canada who call for an end to Israel targeting and killing journalists in Palestine.

Check out our statement on why we started CJJP👇

#cdnmedia #cdnpoli

A page of text, with the header 'CJJP, Canadian Journalists for Justice in Palestine', followed by "Statement in Solidarity with Palestinian journalists: Canada's independent media & journalists stands against the targeting of journalists by Israel'

Second page of text, with the header 'CJJP, Canadian Journalists for Justice in Palestine'

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Ars Technica @arstechnica.com · Aug 27

AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.

Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action

Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.

arstechnica.com

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