Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jonathan Dresner

Joshua Shapiro @josh.shapiro.foo · 9h

I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything by AI. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed with AI, or buy anything sold or processed with AI, or process anything sold, bought, or processed by AI, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed by AI.

Nancy Parmalee @nparmalee.bsky.social · 10h

I don’t want to generate or receive an email, document, manuscript, PowerPoint deck, post it note, grocery list, novel, film, or hit list that has been generated with AI.

Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 10h

I write because I love writing. I love writing even when I'm struggling with a writing problem that is killing me. Finding a way through that problem is both intensely rewarding and also helps me become a better writer. There is no reason for me to ever outsource that.

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Stacy Fahrenthold @sfahrenthold.bsky.social · 8h

The first review of Unmentionables appears in the new issue of Mashriq & Mahjar, with many thank yous to Emily Pope-Obeda for your time and generous engagement with my work!
lebanesestudies.ojs.chass.ncsu.edu/index.php/ma...

View of STACY D. FAHRENTHOLD, Unmentionables: Textiles, Garment Work, and the Syrian American Working Class (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2024)

lebanesestudies.ojs.chass.ncsu.edu

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Jonathan Dresner @jondresner.bsky.social · 9h

So, that's the Hebrew for the Babylon 5 Soulhunters, then.

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Jonathan Dresner @jondresner.bsky.social · 9h

Either the author thinks the core claim/conclusion is as obvious to the reader as themselves (a common failing among undergrads and senior faculty) or they think they're being sneaky by getting the reader to accept lots of premises which make the conclusion nominally irrefutable.

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V is for very, very spooky @alana-m-vincent.net · 15h

Me. I have a problem with "interfaith". It's not just meaningless, the methods by which interfaith activity is curated almost guarantee conversations that are actively *hostile* to its stated goals of building understanding between people with genuinely different views.

Matthew J Kuiper @matthewjkuiper.bsky.social · 15h

I mean seriously who could have a problem with “interfaith”? It’s mostly harmless.

True, but it’s also mostly meaningless. It tends to be a highly self-congratulatory enterprise that preaches to the already convinced and produces little as far as meaningful pay off on its much hyped goals.

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Sarah ⚧ ✡︎ @sarahkorse.bsky.social · 15h

Say "Judeo-Christian" one more time, motherfucker.

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Jonathan Dresner @jondresner.bsky.social · 14h

Trump doesn't pay his bills.
Vought wants to break the morale of everyone who works in government service in order to serve.
Republicans want to privatize and skim off every bit of tax money they can, and don't care who gets hurt in the process.
bsky.app/profile/kans...

Kansas Reflector @kansasreflector.com · 16h

‘This shutdown feels different.’ States might not get repaid when government reopens. | #ksleg via Kevin Hardy @stateline.org kansasreflector.com/2025/10/09/r...

‘This shutdown feels different.’ States might not get repaid when government reopens. • Kansas Reflector

States are continuing to operate federally funded programs during the shutdown. But they say they can only front those costs for so long — and some are worried about getting repaid.

kansasreflector.com

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George @hannahtempler.com · 14h

Just announced at NYCC! A new Vertigo series from Grace and I about fandom, obsession... and parasocial chaos :)

the cover for Fanatic, a new series from DC vertigo by Hannah Templer and Grace Ellis. The cover depicts a woman cast half in shadow, looking back over her shoulder in a look of surprise as she is caught holding a shovel and wearing a tattered costume in a wooded area. The colors are in two tones of blue and red

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David L 🏳️‍⚧️ @finitisminmath.bsky.social · 11h

I just shouted--alone, in front of my laptop--TO MAKE THE PROOF!!!??

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15h

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

Virginia State Senate Dems just brought down fire and fury regarding the “Compact,” notifying the President and Rector that UVA would lose ALL STATE APPROPRIATIONS if it signs and cedes the University to “federal political control.” Notably, their letter directly restates points made here by @siva.

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 1d

The “compact” for higher ed is an unserious document written by unserious people from a position of spectacular ignorance. No one should take it seriously. Sadly, my bosses are taking it seriously.

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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T&E @transportenvironment.org · 1d

NEW: Biofuels globally emit more than the fossil fuels they replace, our latest study shows.

The first-of-a-kind study looks at global biofuels production today and the potential impacts of government biofuel targets.
🧵⤵️

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Miles Whitney @milesew.bsky.social · 18h

"Almost every person who answered The News’ survey said they’d had more trouble sleeping and felt less safe in public spaces since November. Over two-thirds said they’d been thinking more about suicide."

ghostly gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 19h

My dope friend Adrian, who is trans, interviewed 90 transgender Texans. His project is finally out: www.dallasnews.com/news/politic...

We surveyed 90 trans Texans. Most said they’re living in fear and weighing a move

Respondents said anti-trans policies have complicated their sense of home in Texas and pushed them to consider leaving the state.

www.dallasnews.com

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Jonathan Dresner @jondresner.bsky.social · 13h

There are no good-faith anti-trans arguments and no acceptable compromises on trans lives

Viridian Lakes @viridianlakes.bsky.social · 18h

It's funny because I'm reading research on the affirming approach (esp for trans youth) from the early 2010s, based itself on research from the 00s and earlier. Science progressed. Some people, it seems, did not, and want the world to wind back to please them.

Assigned Media @assignedmedia.org · 19h

A fringe group wants the field of psychiatry to regress back to the days when stereotypes and prejudices resulted in mental illness diagnoses for marginalized populations.

In a new reported piece, @evanurquhart.bsky.social examines Genspect's call for the re-psychopathologization of trans identity.

Jonathan Dresner @jondresner.bsky.social · 14h

Speaking of Vought...
bsky.app/profile/thom...

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 19h

This piece is intended as both a profile of one of MAGA’s most committed ideologues and dangerous operatives – and as an investigation into why influential mainstream media outlets still insist on normalizing his extremism by sanitizing what Vought believes and does.

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Jonathan Dresner @jondresner.bsky.social · 14h

Seriously.
bsky.app/profile/that...

Rabbi Emily Cohen @thatrabbicohen.bsky.social · 15h

FWIW it is both possible and appropriate to be grateful for the possible freeing of the hostages and withdrawal from Gaza without praising Trump, Bibi or Hamas, none of whom cares about anything but keeping power.

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Katelyn Boo-urns @katelynburns.com · 17h

Go read my friend's op ed!

🎃 Laurel S. Pumpkins 🎃 @laurelpowell.net · 19h

National Coming Out Day is this weekend. These days, it seems like it takes more courage than ever to come out - but coming out has been courageous far longer than it was ever mundane. I shared some thoughts on the day with @washblade.bsky.social:

Coming out is more than a concept, it’s a necessity

If it’s safe for you, be bold in defiance of those who want to silence us

www.washingtonblade.com

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Jonathan Dresner @jondresner.bsky.social · 14h

I'm having flashbacks to early wikipedia days, and I know we now consider it 'better than ai/search/paper mills' but it was, and still is, a barely tolerable encyclopedic source with systemic problems of reliability and bias, and getting students past it was, and still is, an unpleasant necessity.

Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 20h

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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Evil Orc Heart @evanurquhart.bsky.social · 17h

So, my newsletter just went out, and I wrote about how to know it's time to leave (for an audience of mainly trans people and family members).

I had four red flags that hadn't happened yet, and the government pulling shenanigans on people attempting to travel was the second most urgent.

Berny Belvedere @bernybelvedere.bsky.social · 17h

Doing politics the right way is when the far-right regime in power memorializes a fallen influencer by terrorizing an academic that the influencer's McCarthyist organization once baselessly singled out for abuse.

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Jonathan Dresner @jondresner.bsky.social · 14h

Trump doesn't pay his bills.
Vought wants to break the morale of everyone who works in government service in order to serve.
Republicans want to privatize and skim off every bit of tax money they can, and don't care who gets hurt in the process.
bsky.app/profile/kans...

Kansas Reflector @kansasreflector.com · 16h

‘This shutdown feels different.’ States might not get repaid when government reopens. | #ksleg via Kevin Hardy @stateline.org kansasreflector.com/2025/10/09/r...

‘This shutdown feels different.’ States might not get repaid when government reopens. • Kansas Reflector

States are continuing to operate federally funded programs during the shutdown. But they say they can only front those costs for so long — and some are worried about getting repaid.

kansasreflector.com

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Jonathan Dresner @jondresner.bsky.social · 15h