Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Megan Logan 🏳️‍🌈 @meganlogan.bsky.social · 4d

dems rly need to be building websites/tools that let people plug in details like zip code, income, type of insurance, etc. so that they can see how much money republicans have cost them/will cost them next cycle. hardly a better message than “these fucks are costing you $x.xx, vote for us”

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Megan Logan 🏳️‍🌈 @meganlogan.bsky.social · 9d

i’m so pissed some of you were so rude to jack antonoff

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Megan Logan 🏳️‍🌈 @meganlogan.bsky.social · 24d

Collective action is the way. Good for everyone that’s a “name” talent pledging to torpedo the creative credibility of any org that capitulates to unconstitutional censorship. Now, where can the unions use their leverage beyond the immediate condemnation statements?

Matt Belloni @mattbelloni.bsky.social · 24d

LOST writer-producer Damon Lindelof says he won’t work with Disney unless Kimmel js reinstated. I’m hearing other talent weighing similar pledges.

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Megan Logan 🏳️‍🌈 @meganlogan.bsky.social · Aug 27

this is my home district, and includes that rat bastard Steve king’s old house dist. It’s red as hell, but the idiot trumpers probably can’t tell you what a special election is, let alone when it is or how to vote. special elections are a big part of the playbook in shifting tides at the state level

The Briefing with Jen Psaki @briefingwithpsaki.bsky.social · Aug 27

BREAKING: Iowa Democrat Catelin Drey breaks state Republican supermajority with Senate special election win

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Megan Logan 🏳️‍🌈 @meganlogan.bsky.social · Aug 20

the “math” here is complete nonsense. comparing paid subscribers to total users for “google or facebook” is bullshit and they know it. never mind that google and fb built that base over ~20 years+

Megan Logan 🏳️‍🌈 @meganlogan.bsky.social · Aug 20

hahaha

this is insane. Netflix only has ~300M global subscribers! hell, there are only about 1.5B iPhone users globally!

Dr Neutopia @oceanclub.bsky.social · Aug 20

OpenAI's $500 billion valuation is based on the assumption they will have 2 billion - yes, 2 billion - paid-up users. www.wired.com/story/openai...

https://www.wired.com/story/openai-valuation-500-billion-skepticism/

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Aug 6

Generative AI by definition is conformity. It is an averaging of anything you ask of it - quite literally guessing what the most likely version of a thing might be. It is, by definition, mainstream, as is everything it creates old and deeply ideological, as every model trains on similar data.

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · Aug 6

AI filmmaking is peeing. It’s pooping. It’s throwing up. It’s a new kind of liquid coming out. It’s hated by the establishment. It’s what goes in the toilet. It’s wet. It’s what’s in the bathroom.

AI filmmaking and storytelling is punk rock. It’s hip hop. It’s counterculture. It’s a new type of creativity. It’s a new medium. It’s hated by the mainstream film and art establishment. It resists ideology. It ignores gate keeping. It’s uncomfortable. It’s scary. It’s viral. It’s accessible. It’s refreshing. It’s welcoming. It’s here.

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Konner Knudsen @penzerker.bsky.social · Jul 30

Hate is built on fear. The cure to fear is knowledge, experience, and empathy. So the backbone of any censorship movement is their ability to convince people that those three things are actually bad.

We have a very easy argument to make if you think about it... We just need to be louder about it.

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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · Jul 14

Bye forever, WeTransfer.

WeTransfer TOS says they can use all your uploaded content for genAI

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Megan Logan 🏳️‍🌈 @meganlogan.bsky.social · Jul 13

“The need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. Authority is brittle…Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction.”

@Thadd1950.bsky.social @thadd1950.bsky.social · Jul 13

A serious study from a Harvard University political scientist presents a statistic worth remembering: Around the world, once 3.5% of the population became engaged in sustained, non-violent campaigns of resistance, change has always happened.Democracy is inevitable, when the people are determined.

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Jack Mirkinson @jackmirkinson.bsky.social · Jul 2

Here is a great blog from @jscros.bsky.social about one of the worst media companies that has ever existed. Private equity really is the devil.

www.discourseblog.com/p/rest-in-pi...

Rest In Pieces, G/O Media

Say what you will. It increased shareholder value.

www.discourseblog.com

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Daniel Kibblesmith @kibblesmith.com · Jul 2

Truly whenever you’re trying to figure out why something is awful.

Travis Gunn 🍿 @travisgunn.bsky.social · Jul 2

It is literally Reagan’s fault.

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Daniel Kibblesmith @kibblesmith.com · Jul 1

I post/repost this information every time I see it because every time I hear a mostly offline person talking about it, it’s in the same breath as Google and boy are they not the same thing.

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Jun 19

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

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Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · Jun 30

the alternative reading of this, "We're guessing people will get used to bad writing by 2030 and will no longer have any discernment in how they spend their time"

The Bookseller @thebookseller.com · Jun 30

AI will ’likely’ produce a bestseller by 2030, says Philip Stone, head of publisher account management at NielsenIQ BookData, at #MPConf 👇

AI 'likely' to produce bestseller by 2030, Nielsen's Philip Stone tells Marketing & Publicity Conference

AI will ’likely’ produce a bestseller by 2030, according to Philip Stone, head of publisher account management at NielsenIQ BookData.

ebx.sh

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jun 30

Newsletter: It's time for a radical new approach to tech CEOs: mocking them, because they talk like idiots and provide little value to society outside of their dedication to shareholder value. They sound stupid, they do nothing, and it's time to fight back.
www.wheresyoured.at/make-fun-of-...

Make Fun Of Them

Have you ever heard Sam Altman speak? I’m serious, have you ever heard this man say words from his mouth? Here is but one of the trenchant insights from Sam Altman in his agonizing 37-minute-long p...

www.wheresyoured.at

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Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · Jun 28

I think much of the tech right’s turn to eugenics can be explained by their psychic refusal to accept that their massive wealth is the product of historical luck (being in SV at a time when investment money was cheap & abundant) and an insistence that it was instead a product of inherent supremacy.

Lincoln Michel @thelincoln.bsky.social · Jun 28

That Peter Thiel is pretty dumb shouldn't be surprising. No reason to think someone who got rich basically being lucky (right place, right time) during early tech boom and then exploiting IRA tax loopholes should have anything intelligent to say about politics, philosophy, or anything else.

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Mariah McCourt @monsterteatime.bsky.social · Jun 25

All I can really think about when people start arguing against lifetime copyright for artists for their work are all the older comics artists who made the mega franchises you love...who have to beg for healthcare & financial support.

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Andy Khouri @andykhouri.bsky.social · Jun 18

This sounds like a bit but I’m being serious: kids using chat gpt for their homework are denying themselves the invaluable experience of learning how to bullshit their way through a problem. You drink some caffeine the night before and figure it the fuck out. That’s a skill. You need it in life.

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Megan Logan 🏳️‍🌈 @meganlogan.bsky.social · Jun 12

and Miss Bates was correct far more frequently

Jane Austen First Drafts @austen1stdrafts.bsky.social · Jun 12

“I asked ChatGPT”

“I asked Grok”

Okay, and? No one asked Miss Bates anything, and she still told everyone everything.

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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · Jun 8

Hello. I live in Los Angeles. The president is lying.

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Megan Logan 🏳️‍🌈 @meganlogan.bsky.social · May 28

AT LONG LAST!

Book One (HOW TO BECOME THE DARK LORD AND DIE TRYING) is *easily* the book I recommend to friends the most. If you haven’t read it, go buy it *and* book two—you will love them (unless you have rotted orc entrails for brains.)

Django Wexler @djangowexler.bsky.social · May 27

EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD EXCEPT ME is out today!

www.amazon.com/dp/B0DMNHMKRJ/

This is book two of the DARK LORD DAVI duology, the thrilling conclusion!

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C. Robert Cargill @crobertcargill.bsky.social · May 15

Using AI is risking plagiarism, and nothing will kill a writer's career quicker or deader than that.

AI lacks flavor, and the special sauce of any writer is the flavor they put there themselves.

Writers and Editors FUCKING HATE AI. Who becomes a writer to become disrespected?

AI: not even once.

Alisha Grauso (She/Her) @alishagrauso.bsky.social · May 15

Caught another writer using AI & they were promptly let go.

I can not stress this enough: Any editor worth anything can AND WILL catch you if you're using AI to write. It's not slick, it's not subtle, & so many behavioral patterns beyond the writing are dead giveaways.

Do the work or get out.

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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · May 9

Project 2025 explicitly makes that specious connection. Call your reps and tell them to shut this down. reps.fyi

Claire Zagorski, MSc, EMT-P @clairezagorski.bsky.social · May 8

I don’t care if you hate porn. Please for the love of god don’t get stuck there cognitively.

Anti-porn legislation + how trans and NB people (even cis drag queens/kings) are being consistently described as sexually deviant = the groundwork is being laid for all queer expression to be made illegal.

Mike Stabile @mikestabile.bsky.social · May 8

Well, here we go. The GOP has just introduced a bill to effectively outlaw all pornography.

The bill dismantles the Supreme Court's Miller Test for obscenity, removing provisions that the content be patently offensive to community standards.

dailycaller.com/2025/05/08/n...

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · May 6

gotta find someone for iowa. i think ernst is probably more vulnerable than she looks

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · May 6

some Senate tidbits in this article:

—Schumer is calling up Sherrod Brown to run again
—also calling Roy Cooper to run in NC
—he also talked to John Bel Edwards
—Dan Osborn is considering a second run in NE
—Dems also eying Peltola (AK), Scott Colom (MS)
—Beshear seems out

How Democrats Hope to Overcome a Daunting 2026 Senate Map

www.nytimes.com

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Ken Tremendous @kentremendous.bsky.social · May 5

It’s so funny when people try to make sense of his ramblings. “It’s hard to figure out how he would implement such a plan” lol he’s an impulsive moron who doesn’t understand shit, it’s like ascribing complex motives to a dog eating another dog’s poop

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · May 5

“It is unclear how such a tariff would work because movies aren’t physical goods that move through ports like most items subject to tariffs. [Trump] would need to determine how to value a movie in order to apply the tariffs, as well as what the threshold would be to classify it as an import.”

Trump Calls for 100% Tariff on Movies Made Overseas

The president called the use of incentives by foreign countries to draw filmmakers and studios away from the U.S. a national security threat.

www.wsj.com

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