Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 21h

UK universities offered to monitor students’ social media for arms firms, emails show www.theguardian.com/education/20...

UK universities offered to monitor students’ social media for arms firms, emails show

Loughborough, Heriot-Watt and Glasgow corresponded with companies concerned about campus protests

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Theo Kindynis

The Ass is the father of the legs @internethippo.bsky.social · 5d

"We're going to create superintelligence" How about making outlook search work first. How about that

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Reposted by Theo Kindynis

Criminological Encounters @crimencounters.bsky.social · 6d

Online first: Here is the new article of Iva Ramuš Cvetkovič in Criminological Encounters.

www.criminologicalencounters.org/index.php/cr...

@mattiasdebacker.bsky.social

If machines could speak: What can the AI-powered technologies used in Gaza tell us about Israel’s genocidal intent? | Criminological Encounters

www.criminologicalencounters.org

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Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 10d

Leaked emails show Jeffrey Epstein helped broker security agreement between Israel and Mongolia @dropsitenews.com www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-ep...

NEWS: Jeffrey Epstein Helped Broker Israeli Security Agreement

Jeffrey Epstein used his political network and financial resources to help broker a security cooperation agreement between the governments of Israel and Mongolia, according to a trove of leaked emails...

www.dropsitenews.com

Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 17d

In Stockholm to talk graffiti

Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 19d

Funny how "experimental crimniologists" love to rag on theoretical work they don't understand but utter drivel like "fish oil reduces crime" passes without comment penntoday.upenn.edu/news/time-ha...

The case for omega-3 supplementation to lower aggression | Penn Today

A new meta-analysis by neurocriminologist Adrian Raine shows that omega-3 supplementation can reduce aggressive behavior across age and gender.

penntoday.upenn.edu

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Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 19d

View the article for free with this link academic.oup.com/bjc/article/...

Validate User

academic.oup.com

Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 19d

My article, 'Criminology, Conspiracy Theories and Theorizing Conspiracy' is in print in latest issue of British Journal of Criminology! We should take conspiracy theories seriously and investigate conspiracies by political & corporate elites. Free access below 👇

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Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 21d

MOD signs new "strategic partnership" with Palantir www.gov.uk/government/n...

New strategic partnership to unlock billions and boost military AI and innovation

The UK will be at the leading edge of defence innovation as the government signs a new partnership with Palantir to unlock billions in investment and deliver on the Government’s Plan for Change.

www.gov.uk

Reposted by Theo Kindynis

Criminological Encounters @crimencounters.bsky.social · 21d

Online first: Here is the new article of Brunilda Pali and Polly Pallister-Wilkins in Criminological Encounters.

www.criminologicalencounters.org/index.php/cr...

@mattiasdebacker.bsky.social

From police violence to (self) censorship: Mapping the continuum of criminalization of student-led Palestine solidarity activism in the Netherlands | Criminological Encounters

www.criminologicalencounters.org

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Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 22d

Good riddance. Her legacy is one of institutional vandalism

Roger Burrows @rogerjburrows.bsky.social · 22d

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/goldsmi...

Goldsmiths vice-chancellor Frances Corner to step down in 2026

Frances Corner, the first woman to lead Goldsmiths, will leave her role as vice-chancellor after period of job cuts and restructuring

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Reposted by Theo Kindynis

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 23d

MI5 concedes it ‘unlawfully’ obtained data from former BBC journalist

Revelation relating to then Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent, Vincent Kearney, a ‘matter of grave concern’ MI5 has conceded it “unlawfully” obtained the communications data of a former BBC journalist, in what was claimed to be an unprecedented admission from the security services. The BBC said it was a “matter of grave concern” that the agency had obtained communications data from the mobile phone of former BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent, Vincent Kearney. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Theo Kindynis

Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 25d

New paper tries to "experimentally falsify" ghost criminology by misrepresenting it — claims we argue places 'emit a detectable 'spectral residue' that unsettles people independent of what they know'. We’ve never said that www.crimrxiv.com/pub/bxsjoeth...

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Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 25d

New paper tries to "experimentally falsify" ghost criminology by misrepresenting it — claims we argue places 'emit a detectable 'spectral residue' that unsettles people independent of what they know'. We’ve never said that www.crimrxiv.com/pub/bxsjoeth...

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Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 25d

University of California, Berkeley has provided information on 160 faculty members and students to President Donald Trump's administration as part of a federal investigation into "alleged incidents of antisemitism" www.reuters.com/world/us/uc-...

UC Berkeley shares information on dozens of students, staff with Trump administration

The University of California, Berkeley said on Friday it has provided information on 160 faculty members and students to President Donald Trump's administration as part of a federal investigation into "alleged incidents of antisemitism", amid a broader government crackdown against educational institutions.

www.reuters.com

Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · 25d

Theres no evidence Robinson was a groyper. Could well be, but could also be an anti-fascist or just have completely incoherent politics (as do many school shooters)…

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Reposted by Theo Kindynis

Declassified UK @declassifieduk.org · Sep 9

"But, wherever he is in the world, he remains my best pal... leaving you with some 'interesting' friends to entertain".

A new letter from Peter Mandelson to Jeffrey Epstein has been released, in which Britain's ambassador to the US describes Epstein as his "best pal".

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Reposted by Theo Kindynis

Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · Sep 8

This video shows how much support there was for the motion - almost unanimous!

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Reposted by Theo Kindynis

Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · Sep 6

Yesterday the President (Michele Burman) and Executive Board of the European Society of Criminology brought the society into disrepute by refusing to allow a vote on collaboration with Israeli academic institutions complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Statement by Criminologists for Palestine:

ESC General Assembly shows overwhelming support for motion; ESC Board denies vote

We, Criminologists for Palestine, are writing to express our profound shock at the decision of the European Society of Criminology (ESC) Executive Board to openly subvert the democratic will of its…

criminologists4palestine.wordpress.com

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Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · Sep 8

This video shows how much support there was for the motion - almost unanimous!

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Reposted by Theo Kindynis

Steve Tombs @stevetombs.bsky.social · Sep 8

Statement by criminologists within Aotearoa New Zealand & Australia on the genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza, & the ongoing apartheid, land dispossession & other human rights
abuses in the Occupied Territories of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, & within Israel
ojs.aut.ac.nz/dcj/article/...

View of Statement on the war in Gaza and genocide of the Palestinian people

ojs.aut.ac.nz

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Reposted by Theo Kindynis

Declassified UK @declassifieduk.org · Sep 8

Former official told the Gaza tribunal it is “fully understood" in the Foreign Office that discussions on UK relations with Israel should take place “in person and not in writing”.

Because "we didn’t want those conversations to be requested by a court”.
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/...

Dissenting civil servants are silenced, says UK diplomat who quit over Gaza

Mark Smith resigned last August over the UK’s failure to stop selling arms to Israel.

www.aljazeera.com

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Reposted by Theo Kindynis

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n

Abstract: Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or
even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in
the 21st with social media. For these collective blunders, we now regret our involvement or
apathy as scientists, and society struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. Currently, we
are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, Microsoft Office is bundled with chatbots, and we, our students, and our employers have had no say, as it is not
considered a valid position to reject AI technologies in our teaching and research. This
is why in June 2025, we co-authored an Open Letter calling on our employers to reverse
and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. In this position piece,
we expound on why universities must take their role seriously toa) counter the technology
industry’s marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. We include pointers to
relevant work to further inform our colleagues.

Figure 1. A cartoon set theoretic view on various terms (see Table 1) used when discussing the superset AI
(black outline, hatched background): LLMs are in orange; ANNs are in magenta; generative models are
in blue; and finally, chatbots are in green. Where these intersect, the colours reflect that, e.g. generative adversarial network (GAN) and Boltzmann machine (BM) models are in the purple subset because they are
both generative and ANNs. In the case of proprietary closed source models, e.g. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and
Apple’s Siri, we cannot verify their implementation and so academics can only make educated guesses (cf.
Dingemanse 2025). Undefined terms used above: BERT (Devlin et al. 2019); AlexNet (Krizhevsky et al.
2017); A.L.I.C.E. (Wallace 2009); ELIZA (Weizenbaum 1966); Jabberwacky (Twist 2003); linear discriminant analysis (LDA); quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA).

Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms
are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe.

Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles

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Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · Sep 6

Yesterday the President (Michele Burman) and Executive Board of the European Society of Criminology brought the society into disrepute by refusing to allow a vote on collaboration with Israeli academic institutions complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Statement by Criminologists for Palestine:

ESC General Assembly shows overwhelming support for motion; ESC Board denies vote

We, Criminologists for Palestine, are writing to express our profound shock at the decision of the European Society of Criminology (ESC) Executive Board to openly subvert the democratic will of its…

criminologists4palestine.wordpress.com

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Theo Kindynis @kindynis.bsky.social · Aug 14

How the British state and its media outriders smeared Palestine Action www.declassifieduk.org/how-governme...

How government used media to claim Iran ‘link’ to Palestine Action

The Home Office briefed the Times that Palestine Action could be funded by Iran, and then UK media kicked into action spreading the story.

www.declassifieduk.org

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