Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 50m

My advice for comms peeps: do NOT embed any one of these tools as an essential part of your workflow auscommsguide.com/2025/10/09/c...

These companies aren't making profit - and they're not projected to for a long time. The hype is not materialising into profit.
What happens when they crash? What happens to the pricing of the companies and the tools that are left behind?
Will the tool I rely on today double in price next month? Will it exist next year?

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 1h

Nothing says “nothing to see here” like a severe reaction to some mild criticism.

Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 1h

Former Wallabies star David Pocock booted from parliamentary sports club

Exclusive: Senator accused of bringing social club into disrepute after raising concerns about its association with betting lobby Independent ACT senator David Pocock – a former Wallabies captain – been banned from attending parliament house’s social sports club after raising concern about its sponsorship by the gambling industry. The former rugby star was on Thursday night told he was no longer welcome at Australian Parliament Sports Club events, and accused of politicising the organisation. He has been removed from group chats discussing its events. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 1h

Jesus why does that sound like the same model as a high pressure sales/scam call centre? 🫠

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 1h

The NDIS cut a man’s support hours back because a bureaucrat decided people with disabilities should be happy watching TV and scrolling their phones for “leisure” time.

Prisoners get more access to fresh air.

NDIS planners think people should be happy with conditions worse than prisoners.

In it, the NDIA planner justified the lower support worker hours by saying: "The evidence
demonstrates that you have the capacity to partake in leisure activities of your choosing at home independently such as watching TV, using your phone or reading."
"My existence doesn't revolve around sitting in four walls and looking at a TV," D'Netto says.
"It makes me feel dehumanised. I feel like just a case number for them to look at and go: 'OK well, how can we reduce his funding?''

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 2h

You sneaky pricks 😂

Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 3h

You won’t believe what degrading practice the Pope just condemned

Communication must be freed from clickbait and misguided thinking, head of Catholic church tells journalists The Pope has condemned clickbait as a “degrading” part of journalism, at a private audience with global newswires. Australian media representatives were among those to hear directly from Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Thursday with about 150 members of newswire alliance MINDS International. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by JB_AU

Mardukian @mardukian.com · 4h

I will quote this in my real life. "AI is the asbestos we are shovelling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations"

Australians understand the dangers of Asbestos, and hopefully it will help them think critically about AI.

JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 11d

This whole section really.

Finally: AI cannot do your job, but an AI salesman can 100% convince your boss to fire you and replace you with an AI that can't do your job, and when the bubble bursts, the money-hemorrhaging "foundation models" will be shut off and we'll lose the AI that can't do your job, and you will be long gone, retrained or retired or "discouraged" and out of the labor market, and no one will do your job.
AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations:

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JBAU Comms @jbaucomms.bsky.social · 17h

Don’t let Big Tech make you feel redundant. New email: auscommsguide.com/2025/10/09/c...

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 20h

Oh no, he’s about to release a really shit album isn’t he?

Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 20h

Cristiano Ronaldo becomes first footballer to join the billionaire club

* Portugal great joins Bloomberg Billionaires Index with net worth $1.4bn * 40-year-old signed $400m deal with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $US1.4bn. The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400m. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 20h

As Australian media and commentators write with shock about Trump and the Republicans just ignoring the law and causing real, daily harm to their citizens…the Australian public service…ignores the law causing real, daily harm to our citizens.

Jeremy Poxon @jeremypoxon.bsky.social · 20h

In estimates, Senator Allman-Payne quotes the Department director (below), & says:

"You can't be confident that the foundation on which [the TCF] is built complies with the legislation & yet we're all comfortable w/ continuing to allow ppl to have payments suspended"

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 20h

$10m of fraud recovered from the Australian “job provider” system in the last 3 years and not one provider removed from the system.

So welfare recipients lose their ability to pay for shelter or food due to other people’s errors, but job providers face no consequences for fraud.

Antipoverty Centre @antipovertycentre.org · 21h

Lmao the employment department has recovered 10.6 MILLION from providers due to fraud tip-offs over 3 years, and not shut down a single provider.

Reminder: They spend 4 BILLION A YEAR on this system, which is about 25% of how much they spend on JobSeeker payments each year.

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 22h

Hatred and cruelty towards people who are unemployed is not only bipartisan policy in this country, but it’s deeply embedded in the public service and their private sector consultants.

Jeremy Poxon @jeremypoxon.bsky.social · 1d

Now that the Deloitte report, about the government's unlawful administration of mutual obligations, is making international headlines, it's worth looking at what's actually in it (apart from AI slop) and WHY it was actually commissioned

A thread👇

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 1d

Executive meeting:

“Hey so I’ve decided to put the dumbest guy on staff in charge of all our customer service”

“Genius, no notes”

JA Westenberg @joanwestenberg.com · 1d

TO WHAT END SIR

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 1d

This Belfast LGBTI+ community radio station is angry they got in trouble with the broadcast regular for not serving their community…but when you look at their website it’s like they’re actively hiding the LGBTI+ community. Seems the regulator was spot on: www.bbc.com/news/article...

Juice Radio front page with no LGBTI+ information

Juice Radio playlist of generic pop music.

Juice Radio Navigation that says nothing about the LGBTI+ community

JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 1d

Next Treasury paper:

“The “economy” was invented in 1992 by Sir Edward Economy of the renowned Economy family. He invented the economy to economise more efficiently.”

CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social · 2d

Scoop: OpenAI has signed its first ever Australia government contract, quietly inking a deal with Treasury amid the ChatGPT-maker's charm offensive on policymakers.

This modest contract is an ideal foothold into future, more lucrative deals, according to one firm's analysis.
www.crikey.com.au/20...

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Reposted by JB_AU

kate conger @kateconger.com · 2d

Elon Musk once said he would pursue former Twitter execs to the ends of the earth. Instead, he just settled their $128 million lawsuit. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 2d

If an adult wants to subject themselves to psychological torture, they are free to do so, of course. But Supreme Court Justices saying that ideological radicals have a First Amendment right to abuse your child face-to-face as part of a fake medical treatment the child cannot truly object to is sick.

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 2d

“Centrists” don’t turn out to vote.

They’re too comfortable to care news.stanford.edu/stories/2015...

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 2d

Those pesky ideological “facts”.

WIRED @wired.com · 2d

In a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation CEO, Cruz accused the beloved online resource of being too liberal. www.wired.com/story/ted-cr...

Ted Cruz Targets Wikipedia Over ‘Ideological Bias’

In a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation CEO, Cruz accused the beloved online resource of being too liberal.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by JB_AU

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 2d

Libs of Tiktok, Elon Musk, and Robbie Starbuck put everything they had into trying to push a boycott of Netflix over LGBTQ characters in their shows.

Netflix ignored them and the stock is back up. Turns out bots don't actually cancel accounts.

Screenshot of Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) stock summary on October 7. The closing price is $1,191.06 USD, up +27.75 (2.39%) for the day. The day’s trading range shows a low of $1,177.46 and a high of $1,201.36. Previous close was $1,163.31. Market cap is $506.11B, P/E ratio is 50.75, with no dividend yield. The 52-week high is $1,341.15 and the 52-week low is $677.88. A line graph shows intraday stock price movement, peaking above $1,190 before settling at the closing price.

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 2d

Train nerds talking about infrastructure like it’s a Taylor Swift album launch.

Every Sydney Station @sydneystations.bsky.social · 2d

When Sydney Metro CBD opened, the greater public, who weren't closely following the details of the project, realised for the first time what a game changer it was. The people loved it, the media loved it, and now they all want more.

Melb's Metro Tunnel looks like it's going to squander its debut?

Railmaps @railmaps.com.au · 3d

One train every TWENTY minutes???

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 2d

At this point the “Overton Window” is an unhelpful concept.

The demolition of basic human rights isn’t the shifting of a binary “centre”.

It’s evil.

It’s not an ideology. It’s not a theory. It’s not an academic concept to debate.

It’s evil.

Dylan Blaha for Congress @dylanthomasblaha.bsky.social · 3d

Is this the next stage of Donald Trump’s authoritarian takeover?

He continues to shift the Overton window with unnecessary National Guard mobilizations and unprecedented immigration enforcement operations.

Read my full article here: dylanthomasblaha.substack.com/p/the-next-s...

The Next Stage of Trump's Takeover

Trump continues to shift the Overton window.

dylanthomasblaha.substack.com

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 2d

Jesus CNN. What next? “A new report from my uncle Jerry”?

Delete your account.

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 2d

Sock it to me bby.

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 2d

“We shouldn’t be expected to do anything because China and India won’t” turned out to be a load of bullshit what a surprise.

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 2d

A complete flip of the usual pattern we see in these updates - China's and India's emissions fell, and EU and US emissions increased.....

ember-energy.org/latest-insig...

@ember-energy.org

Global CO2 emissions plateau
Global CO2 emissions from the power sector fell marginally by 12 MtCO2 (-0.2%) to 6,963 MtCO2 in the first half of 2025. The decline was possible because solar and wind power exceeded demand growth and led to a slight fall in fossil fuel use. Without solar and wind growth, emissions would have risen by an estimated 236 MtCO2 (+3.9%) globally, which is equivalent to almost all emissions (251 MtCO2) from Africa in H1-2025.

At the country level, there was significant variation. Among the four economies that account for the majority of global emissions (64%), emissions fell in China (-46 MtCO2, -1.7%) and India (-24 MtCO2, -3.6%), as clean electricity outpaced growth in demand in those countries.

In contrast, emissions rose in the EU (+13 MtCO2, +4.8%), where strong growth in solar was outweighed by shortfalls in wind, hydro and bioenergy, leading to higher gas and coal generation. Emissions also rose in the US (+33 MtCO2, +4.3%), as clean electricity growth was smaller than demand growth, leading to an increase in coal generation, which was exacerbated by gas-to-coal switching.

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 2d

Didn’t you know? The new First Amendment is “Thou Shalt Not Criticise The Blatant Fraud Happening Right In Front Of Your Eyes”

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