Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

The Covid stimulus is IMO the biggest example of this. The US managed to blunt the economic impact of the pandemic without doing much to actually stop the spread of the disease.

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

I’m very much not an accelerationist normally but it’s hard to look at the first Trump term without concluding that softening the blow is what led to the second.

I Nied to drink your blood! 🧛 @nied.bsky.social · 1d

Look I'm sorry if you're cheering on taking healthcare from 10s of millions of people, something that will literally kill hundreds of thousands, because you think it'll goose Dems' chances in the midterms, you need to log the fuck off & ask yourself what happened to turn you into a craven monster.

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

Very common for CBP to have a checkpoint a bit before the Canadian border.

1 2

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

I’m very much not an accelerationist normally but it’s hard to look at the first Trump term without concluding that softening the blow is what led to the second.

I Nied to drink your blood! 🧛 @nied.bsky.social · 1d

Look I'm sorry if you're cheering on taking healthcare from 10s of millions of people, something that will literally kill hundreds of thousands, because you think it'll goose Dems' chances in the midterms, you need to log the fuck off & ask yourself what happened to turn you into a craven monster.

3 10

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

I sort of assume that he has something normal and treatable and that his health grifter daughter is just preventing him from getting real medical help.

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

To me this feels shaped very much like the edgy humour that was popular when I was younger, and I think the people doing this mostly have no personal animus towards disabled people, it's more about the thrill of breaking a taboo and getting a reaction for them. But intent and impact are different.

1

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

Am I alone in finding it really grating how US media has decided the emphasis in antifa is on the ti? What's with that?

1 2

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

I don't even really object to people using it as a joke, but they way people reacted to someone saying something critical about it showed that I think some people are more attached to the idea of having social permission to do bullying than the joke

1 1 2

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

I think there's 2 parts:
1. I think most people really do intend it as a joke, but like all jokes shaped like this some cruel people will pick it up.
2. Even in that group I don't think the _motivation_ is bigotry so much as just bullying.

1 1

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

This is people sort of hiding behind or an economic or political cause just to be cruel, and then gaslighting people about what they're doing. I think it's very different from people burning Waymos, who I think are motivated more by actually hating the presence of waymo than pure sadism.

1 2

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 1d

I guess to me I see this specific thing as more a big deal than any kind of general anti-tech sentiment, which feels like just an inevitable consequence of tech's role in the economy.

1 3

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 2d

If innocent people are "catching strays" as you put it, to extend the metaphor a bit further, IMO it is very much fine to criticize whoever is shooting and hitting them, even if their intended target is someone there's a "riptide sentiment" about.

2 4

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 2d

Lots of things I disagree with Carney about but he is very good at this particular skill.

2

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 2d

I think a lot of people legitimately don’t know what a central banker does, which, fair enough. This kind of communication, getting the point across directly while also kind of calming things down is most of it though.

1 1

Reposted by Billy

Tyler Olsen @tyolsen.bsky.social · 2d

NEW: I teamed up with @castanetkamloops.net to write this long in-depth account of Reid Hamer-Jackson's three years as mayor of Kamloops. I also talked to the unrepentant mayor for two hours.

thetyee.ca/News/2025/10...

Mayor of Chaos: How Kamloops Politics Became Infamous | The Tyee

Car dealer Reid Hamer-Jackson won office with charisma and ideas. Then the wheels came off.

thetyee.ca

2 15 41

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 2d

And I simply don’t believe that people who’ve spent days yelling about this haven’t seen this, I’ve seen it several times and I’ve been trying to avoid it.

1

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 2d

Like this really proves one side of the argument right and the other side wrong.

1 1

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 2d

My take on this whole discourse is a lot of people saw this post from Nick or other posts pointing this out and ignored it because acknowledging it would mean stopping their self-righteous tirade, and they like being self-righteous more than they care about disabled people.

Nick (derogatory) ✨ @slothropsmap.bsky.social · 5d

What’s lost in this conversation is that language must always escape containment, so your playful little “clanker” slur is now being directed at people with bionic limbs.

Harmless fun, right? www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8AjSabH/

1 7

Reposted by Billy

GRIDS Vancouver @grids.reillywood.com · 2d

I think the pro-housing people who told others to vote for Orr were a little too trusting and well, there are worse things to be.

The ones who *still* defend him are pretty dumb though

2 1 7

Reposted by Billy

Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 3d

Bring back inscrutable security posters

11 110 420

Reposted by Billy

Gillian Brockell @gbrockell.bsky.social · 4d

Claim: 10 cars rammed ICE
Truth: No cars rammed ICE

Claim: She boxed ICE in
Truth: ICE boxed her in

Claim: She shot a rifle at ICE
Truth: She did not have a rifle

Claim: ICE returned fire
Truth: Only ICE fired

Claim: She drove herself to the hospital
Truth: Paramedics found her

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 4d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

590 14K 29K

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 3d

Why would you reward Americans for voting the tariffs in? That will only make them vote for even more Tarriffs.

Ro Khanna @rokhanna.bsky.social · 6d

What do people think about giving working class Americans a $2000 tariff relief check for the unfair tax that has driven their grocery and housing prices up?

Unusual Whales @unusualwhales.bsky.social · 6d

BREAKING: Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, is proposing $2,000 payments to Americans making under $100,000

Reposted by Billy

Mark Shaw @markshawtoronto.bsky.social · 4d

War on Christmas 😔

Dale Smith @journodale.bsky.social · 4d

New ceremonial robes vs old ceremonial robes. #SCC

2026 photo of the Supreme Court of Canada, where the new robes are black with red piping.

2025 photo of the Supreme Court of Canada, with the red velvet and ermine robes.

1 9 29

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 4d

I am going to unfollow people who reskeet panic about someone getting moderated when it gets reversed on appeal less than hour later multiple times. At a certain point it’s Chicken Little.

1

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 4d

The people insisting that taking these opportunities away from people is for their own good, or that they all should want to permanently move here do not have their best interests at heart.

1

Billy @billyidles.bsky.social · 4d

Fair. I am also a yaml hater but I spend so much time dealing with yaml anyways.

1 2