Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Merk

@merk94.bsky.social

580 followers 190 following 1.8K posts

He/Him — Born Nov. 14, 199X Writer, podcast host, gacha addict. #Paragons #Locacacast #Nikke Bots and bigots get blocked. Minors DNI with my labeled posts. I don’t do obligatory follow-backs. https://linktr.ee/ChrisMerkelStudios

linktr.ee

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Merk @merk94.bsky.social · May 1

www.scribblehub.com/series/13063...

It’s been a while since I first announced it (and a few days since I bumped the most recent chapter), so here’s your reminder to check out #Paragons. It’s my serialized webnovel about superheroes.

Paragons

In 1963, a Flying Man prevents the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It is the first known sighting of a superhuman. 41 years later, aging vigilante Moonlighter assembles a team of people with extraor...

www.scribblehub.com

1 3

Reposted by Merk

nda @ndasfw.bsky.social · 11h

I don’t pay much attention to goings on with the Pope, but apparently he’s recently ordered bishops to protect migrants- kudos to the Catholic Church for having a moral backbone there

8 17 320

Merk @merk94.bsky.social · 11h

Too hard to pick just one.

Reposted by Merk

Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 1d

This video is everywhere because it's a hilarious visual refutation of Portland being on fire. You can't get a mass movement going without convincing the masses

so yes, this does do something actually

Post

Dallas Steele

@Cherrykickstart

Follow

This literally does nothing. You are not beating fascism by dressing up in inflatable suits and dancing

Quote tweeting Claude Taylor @TrueFactsStated

Follow

|

Portland is leading the way. This is how you (non violently) beat Fascism. Humor and ridicule are key.

Stillframe from a video of Portland protesters dancing in inflatable suits

9:17 AM 08 Oct 25 758K Views

13:01 09 Oct 25 32.6K Views

88 Reposts

11 Quotes

1,049 Likes

140 760 4.1K

Reposted by Merk

Dieselbrain @dieselbrain.bsky.social · 18h

#SaveSpeech

I want to remind people that when there is a call to action to "contact your reps", it needs to be more than once

Going forward, contacting your reps needs to become part of your routine, at the very least during the work week.

Sustained pressure over time is what matters!

7 250 300

Reposted by Merk

nic.tattoos @nicterhorst.com · 1d

This means if you're in the UK and haven't signed this yet, please do. At 100k signatures they have to discuss it again.

Literally the least you can do!!

GamesMarket @gamesmarkt.bsky.social · 1d

UK Gouvernment: Payment Processors Can Ban NSFW Content
According to the UK treasury, payment processors are in the right and the gouvernment has no plans to step in. This puts it in direct contrast to what artists and the UK games industry have asked for.
www.gamesmarket.global/en/business/...

1.7K 1.6K

Reposted by Merk

Dieselbrain @dieselbrain.bsky.social · 22h

#SaveSpeech

KOSA has amassed more cosponsors recently, jumping from 42 to 60 total

You need to call your reps and DEMAND that they oppose this legislation ASAP

The link below contains more info about KOSA and an easy way to contact your reps
5calls.org/issue/kids-o...

Please call DAILY

9 1.1K 920

Reposted by Merk

ΛTLΛS @atlasbun.bsky.social · 18h

Call your senator if you see them on this list and tell them no to KOSA.

Dieselbrain @dieselbrain.bsky.social · 22h

#SaveSpeech
Democrats that need to be reprimanded for cosponsoring KOSA:

J. Hickenlooper- CO
A. Klobuchar- MN
B. Lujan- NM
B. Schatz- HI
M. Hirono- HI
G. Peters- MI
J. Fetterman- PA
R. Blumenthal- CT
C. Schumer- NY
M. Hassan- NH
M. Kelly- AZ
P. Welch- VT

[more names + links continued below]

2 140 130

Reposted by Merk

Dieselbrain @dieselbrain.bsky.social · 22h

11 380 430

Reposted by Merk

Polluxery @polluxery.bsky.social · 1d

supergirl

5 450 1.8K

Reposted by Merk

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1d

there’s this weird idea a lot of people seem to have about how all of us writers and artists must secretly want to use AI and are merely resisting temptation for ethical reasons, and like, no, it’s not hard for me to resist drinking the bowl of Piss With Glass In It actually

63 850 2.9K

Merk @merk94.bsky.social · 1d

This is my dance about how much transphobes suck

1 2

Merk @merk94.bsky.social · 1d

Wasn’t this literally part of Newground’s age verification policy?

Merk @merk94.bsky.social · 1d

We may have lost George Miller to the mindless AI zombie horde, but at least David Simon still has integrity.

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 2d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

Reposted by Merk

RemPhase (COMMISSIONS CLOSED) 🔞 @remphase.bsky.social · 1d

Left: how it was in august
Right: how it is now

Your voice matters guys, remember that
Thanks to everyone who called💕

Now let's do it again with Paypros and KOSA!

1 430 550

Merk @merk94.bsky.social · 1d

George Miller making Fury Road: “Who killed the world?”

George Miller advocating for the use of AI: “Oh shit, guess it was me.”

Reposted by Merk

NotreDale @notredale.bsky.social · 1d

I can’t get over that the Court opens the opinion with: “The penultimate song of this feud, ‘Not Like Us’ by Kendrick Lamar, dealt the metaphorical killing blow.”

Drake lost the feud so bad, it’s law of the case and an adjudicated legal certainty.

1 9 72

Reposted by Merk

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 1d

"Depicting Kendrick Lamar playing hopscotch while singing the 'A-minor' lyric is not suggestive of objective reporting."

The figurative imagery accompanying the music video also constitutes protected opinion. Plaintiff alleges, for example, that the “Video depicts a prolonged shot of a live owl in a cage,” projecting the message that “Drake belongs behind bars.” Am. Compl. ¶ 110. An image of a caged owl cannot reasonably be understood to convey a factual message. Similarly, depicting Kendrick Lamar playing hopscotch while singing the “A-minor” lyric is not suggestive of objective reporting. Id. ¶ 107.

1 33 220

Reposted by Merk

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 1d

"No reasonable person would view the ["Not Like Us" cover art] and believe that in fact law enforcement had designated thirteen residents in Drake’s home as sex offenders."

To the extent that Plaintiff alleges that the Image and Video are independently actionable, Am. Compl., ¶¶ 7, 8, 65-66, 105-112, the Court holds that they too constitute opinion. The Image is the album cover art for “Not Like Us.” It thus shares the same overall context as the Recording itself. The Image is “designed to reinforce” the message of the Recording. Am. Compl., ¶ 7. And as the Court has already found, that message is protected opinion. Additionally, the Image itself, with its overlay of more than a dozen sex offender markers, is obviously exaggerated and doctored. No reasonable person would view the Image and believe that in fact law enforcement had designated thirteen residents in Drake’s home as sex offenders.

3 22 160

Reposted by Merk

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 1d

"The average listener is not under the impression that a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public factchecked verifiable content."

The forum here is a music recording, in particular a rap “diss track,” with accompanying video and album art. Diss tracks are much more akin to forums like YouTube and X, which “encourag[e] a freewheeling, anything-goes writing style,” than journalistic reporting. Sandals Resorts, 86 A.D.3d at 43 (quotation marks omitted). The average listener is not under the impression that a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public factchecked verifiable content.

4 63 420

Reposted by Merk

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 1d

NEW: Federal judge dismisses Drake's defamation case against Kendrick Lamar storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The issue in this case is whether "Not Like Us" can reasonably be understood to convey as a factual matter that Drake is a pedophile or that he has engaged in sexual relations with minors. In light of the overall context in which the statements in the Recording were made, the Court holds that it cannot.

12 270 1.3K

Reposted by Merk

Dieselbrain @dieselbrain.bsky.social · 1d

Really hammer your reps about how catastrophic this is and how bad these laws are for peoples online safety

404 Media @404media.co · 2d

BREAKING: A catastrophic breach has impacted Discord user data including selfies and identity documents uploaded as part of the app’s verification process, email addresses, phone numbers, approximately where the user lives, and much more.

🔗 www.404media.co/the-discord-...

The Discord Hack is Every Users’ Worst Nightmare

A hack impacting Discord’s age verification process shows in stark terms the risk of tech companies collecting users’ ID documents. Now the hackers are posting peoples’ IDs and other sensitive informa...

www.404media.co

8 870 1.1K

Reposted by Merk

Little Tunny 🐌🤝🧂 @littletunny.bsky.social · 2d

The only kind of climate change I can approve of 😌

Two big red cats circle a terrified hog encased in ice. The cat's tails are flames and melt the ice partially, exposing some pig butt and giving it a singe. "Uh-oh Step-Pig, I'm Stuck...!" ok I made the joke for you so you don't have to. Hot ham smoke emits from the pig and spells "BECOME AN" and melted ice on the bottom spells "ICE-FREE ZONE"

14 1.4K 4.4K

Reposted by Merk

The Other Happy Place @theotherhappyplace.bsky.social · 2d

This is why, more and more, I just can't muster up any desire to be a success in the mainstream art world. They want AI to make "content" for people who don't care.

I care about my art, and I want to give it to an audience who cares.

An audience i like and respect.

"Frightening" Dan McDaid @danmcdaid.bsky.social · 2d

Blum too. At least find a new way to say "it's here to stay" jfc

28 290 1.2K

Reposted by Merk

Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 2d

Accepting this as an argument means accepting that, as an educator, your primary commitment is not to educating your students, or to propagating knowledge of your subject, but to finding and securing new markets for products in whose success your employers (or their bosses) have some kind of stake.

5 63 440

Reposted by Merk

Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 2d

The basic structure of so much commentary, some in the guise of academic study, reduces to:

(1) generative AI products are detrimental to the goals of education

(2) therefore, the goals of education must change.

Without the tacit axiom that AI has authority behind it, that just doesn’t follow.

2 110 580