Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Bernard Keenan

@bernardkeenan.bsky.social

1K followers 1K following 200 posts

Lecturer, UCL Laws. Law, theory, tech. Interception: from postal systems to global networks (MIT 2025)

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · May 28

Open Access link:
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

Interception: State Surveillance from Postal Systems to Global Networks

A media history of how the UK and US governments have surveilled citizens by intercepting their private communications.It may not be Big Brother (yet), but

direct.mit.edu

3 10

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Heather Burns @heatherburnstech.bsky.social · 19h

This review prompted me to go buy this monograph today at ye olde feminist bookstore: postmodern fascism is not just sadistic, it is erotic.
jacobin.com/2025/09/herz...

What Can We Do With the Right’s Delight in Pain?

Right-wing authoritarianism lures people away from the promise of democracy, peace, and equality toward destructive violence by offering one key appeal: pleasure in harming other people.

jacobin.com

1 3 3

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 23h

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

380 8.7K 23K

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 6d

Haha! No, I fully support toddler trailers

1 1

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 6d

Start of term is their breeding season

1 6

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 7d

also what my toddler says when he sees a photo of himself

George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 7d

Today's Morning Call reveals Keir Starmer's first words after his conference speech: “That was me”. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Has Keir Starmer picked the wrong battle?

MPs from left and right fear the Prime Minister has set himself up for failure.

www.newstatesman.com

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Hyo Yoon Kang 강효윤 @hyoyoonkang.bsky.social · 11d

This is a bit older, but useful to share for fellow academics who want some empirical data to support their decision to refuse "AI" and other unnecessary platforms into their teaching, the aim of which is to foster critical reasoning.

Have humans passed peak brain power?

Data across countries and ages reveal a growing struggle to concentrate, and declining verbal and numerical reasoning

on.ft.com

2 1 17

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 14d

The 'Find My Parking Cops' map tracks officers handing out tickets all around San Francisco is real time. Developer reverse engineered how the system works and built this tool. Was taken down for a moment, now it's back. The City is very much aware of it.

www.404media.co/find-my-park...

‘Find My Parking Cops’ Tracks Officers Handing Out Tickets All Around San Francisco

"Find My Parking Cops" pins the near-realtime locations of parking officers all over the city, and shows what they're issuing fines for, and how much.

www.404media.co

2 15 64

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Paul F Scott @paulfscott.bsky.social · 14d

The McCullough Review on the PSNI's covert measures against journalists, lawyers etc... www.psni.police.uk/sites/defaul...

www.psni.police.uk

2 2

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Andrew R @excelpope.net · 14d

Mrs R: "There was a woman on the ward today who didn't want to take paracetamol. We've had to explain that we're not giving it to her because she's got a fever and we want her to feel better, but because she's got a fever and if we don't get her temperature down then her baby is going to die."

LBC @lbc.co.uk · 15d

"We were told thalidomide was a safe drug and it wasn't..."

Nigel Farage says he has 'no idea' if Donald Trump is right about paracetamol being linked to autism.

46 400 950

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Alistair Keepe @alistairkeepe.bsky.social · Aug 28

2025 is a record-breaking year for claims filed by fossil fuel and mining firms against democratic policies – marking a grim milestone in a surge of polluting industries seeking compensation for lost profits via a secretive tribunal.

For @ftm.eu with contributions by ao @anilyilmaz.bsky.social

Record number of corporate lawsuits target climate action in controversial tribunal

Behind closed doors in Washington, D.C., fossil fuel and mining companies are suing governments over lost profits. Follow the Money has analysed how a system built to protect foreign investors poses a...

www.ftm.eu

3 96 190

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 16d

I wish Peters Kyle and Mandelson had someone as smart and experienced as Tim Wu on their side when they were negotiating the "Tech Prosperity Deal" on.ft.com/47WmGLi

When it comes to tech, Britain must avoid becoming Nebraska

Silicon Valley’s investment may be welcome but the UK should not allow itself to be a data-centre farm

on.ft.com

2 10 18

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Chase Madar @madar.bsky.social · 16d

My favorite “critique of rights” law review article www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/1179_qac...

www.yalelawjournal.org

1 2

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 16d

Labour: the party of properly costed ethnic cleansing

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 16d

Keir Starmer’s spokesperson asked for the PM's response to Nigel Farage’s plan to deport hundreds of thousands of people living and working completely legally in the UK, replies that he thinks it is “unworkable” and “unfunded”.

So his objection is that they’ve got their sums wrong

8 29

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 17d

Re the new Reform pledge, a sports writer has already got to the heart of the matter better than the politics commentators www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What is the endgame in this toxic immigration debate: is it friends and neighbours thrown out of the country? | Jonthan Liew

The notion of remigration was abstract, but the right is dragging it towards respectability. If the goal is homogeneous whiteness, they should say it, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Liew

www.theguardian.com

4 26 44

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 16d

£234 billion "over the lifetime of the average migrant" is an incredible framing

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 18d

1. Read Shumpeter
2. Exploit IP
3. ...
4. Will this do?

1 1

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Hyo Yoon Kang 강효윤 @hyoyoonkang.bsky.social · 19d

Final month of my brother's show at the Bauhaus Dessau, catch it when you can (will try myself!).

Kang Sunkoo - Programme - Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau

bauhaus-dessau.de

1 3 20

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 20d

Thanks to @paulfscott.bsky.social and Keith Ewing at Kings Law Journal for publishing the article

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 20d

The article picks up and expands on points made briefly in the final pages of my book

bsky.app/profile/bern...

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · May 28

Open Access link:
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...

Interception: State Surveillance from Postal Systems to Global Networks

A media history of how the UK and US governments have surveilled citizens by intercepting their private communications.It may not be Big Brother (yet), but

direct.mit.edu

1 1 3

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 20d

I wrote an article about last year's amendments to the Investigatory Powers Act and how they relate to the recent Apple encryption case, the growing use of AI by UK secret intelligence services, and the role of private intelligence services like Palantir.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

www.tandfonline.com

1 3 7

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 20d

“The Onion stands at the ready to act as a mouthpiece of the world’s elite, using its distinguished reportage to parrot whatever the party line happens to be. Genocide, eugenics, incest—no topic is too taboo to find support in our paper so long as it has been approved by a trustworthy establishment”

In Defense Of Mass Censorship

When The Onion’s editorial board convened to discuss the tumultuous events of the previous month, one conclusion became evident: The world stands at a crossroads. Two visions of our collective future ...

theonion.com

29 450 2.3K

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 20d

The main story on BBC 6 Music News this morning is that a ‘boat carrying migrants is on its way to France’

Delivered in the same upbeat tone as England winning the women’s Euros.

The migration ‘debate’ in this country is unmoored from reality, and the media-political complex is feeding it

140 760 3.3K

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 21d

PSA: A "Major Terrorist Organization" (MTO) is not a thing. The Immigration and Nationality Act *delegates* power to the State Department to designate *FOREIGN* terrorist organizations (FTOs) based on certain criteria. It doesn't apply to domestic orgs.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!

260 2.9K 11K

Bernard Keenan @bernardkeenan.bsky.social · 21d

Correct - the point is that anyone can be called antifa

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 21d

Trump says he’s designating “antifa” a terrorist group and launching a probe into finding of antifa activities. The FBI has long said antifa doesn’t really have a centralized structure or leadership.

1 6

Reposted by Bernard Keenan

lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 21d

A decent amount of world history is explained by the facts that some proportion of people are creepy weirdos who hate being contradicted and love exercising dominion over their fellows, and that communal or political turbulence tends to filter for the worst of those types obtaining office.

8 20 130