Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Lara Willard

Elise (they/them)🇦🇺 @eliseswritings.bsky.social · 13h

Writers & #AmQuerying Folks,
While Bsky's search function is broken, you can use this feed to find DVPit posts to support by quote reposting or replying.

NB: this is a 'likes are only for agents and reposts are only for editors' party.

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#DVpit - Diverse Voices Pitch @dvpit.bsky.social · 13h

If your hashtag searching is not working for #DVpit we created a feed for the hashtag. Please always try to search the hashtag first, but this feed includes all posts under the hashtag as well. We will update during the day as we learn more from bsky bsky.app/profile/did:...

#DVpit - Diverse Voices Pitch @dvpit.bsky.social · 14h

#DVpit 2025 has officially begun!
Today, Oct 8, 2025 from 8AM-8PM ET marginalized creators seeking out representation can pitch their completed manuscripts & portfolios to participating Agents & Editors!
Don't forget to use #DVpit in your posts!
Pls read rules before participating: dvpit.carrd.co

#DVPit Rules
-#DVpit (Diverse Voices Pitch) is a Bluesky event for marginalized creators that have been historically underrepresented in publishing to pitch their work to agents & editors
-Post your pitch on Bluesky on Wednesday, Oct 8, 2025
between 8AM ET - 8PM ET
-Only post once per hour (6 max pitches per project)
-Must have a polished, query ready manuscript or art portfolio.
-Pitch must include the #DVpit hashtag (illustrators pitching their art must use the #DVArt hashtag)
-A like from an agent = a query request
-A repost from an editor = interest in submission once you've signed with an agent
-A like from an editor = editor who takes unagented submissions
-Please do not like or repost a pitch if you are not an agent or an editor. Support other creators by replying to their pitch or
quote-reposting their pitches
-Visit dvpit.carrd.co for more detailed guidelines.

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Dr. Allison Betus (she/her) 🌈 @allisonbetus.bsky.social · 19h

Folks, if ICE shot a pastor in the head with a pepper ball on camera, what do you think they do to people behind closed doors?

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 1d

Here’s video of the incident

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Emily Johnston @enjohnston.bsky.social · 3d

Whether he's lighting up the night sky with fake stars, polluting Memphis & the atmosphere, or torching our modest programs to improve global health & feed the starving, Musk does not pay a nickel for the impacts of his fever dreams: everyone else does.

This is not how a healthy society functions.

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 3d

"There are currently one to two Starlink satellites falling back to Earth every day ... Soon, McDowell told us, there will be up to 5 satellite reentries per day." 😳

1 to 2 Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth each day

earthsky.org

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 3d

Every Trump speech now produces approximately two dozen 30-second clips peppering the feed that each alone should trigger impeachment or 25th amendment proceedings and are indistinguishable from what your worst uncle would produce if he had any idea how to make ai-generated videos

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C. Henry @henryhenryhenry.com · 6d

the government should not be able to smash into your home and drag you into the street for no reason. it's kind of a core civil right, perhaps THE core civil right.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 6d

What DHS pulled in Chicago on Tuesday is wildly unconstitutional. They smashed down almost every door in the building, dragged entire families into the street, and detained people for hours ("Kavanaugh stops").

Ms. Fisher was held for five hours and another senior citizen was held for three hours.

Rodrick Johnson, 67, is one of many residents who were detained by federal agents during the South Shore raid. A U.S. citizen, he said agents broke through his door and dragged him out in zip ties.

Johnson said he was left tied up outside the building for nearly three hours before agents finally let him go.

“I asked [agents] why they were holding me if I was an American citizen, and they said I had to wait until they looked me up,” Jones said. “I asked if they had a warrant, and I asked for a lawyer. They never brought one.”

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Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 6d

“It was heartbreaking to watch,” said Watson. “Even if you’re not a mother, seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.”…

“Stuff was everywhere…people’s birth certificates, and papers thrown all over. Water was leaking into the hallway. It was wicked crazy.”

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated'

The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

chicago.suntimes.com

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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 9d

These scripts are GREAT and these calls are EASY and ESSENTIAL. Call your senators and reps today and tell them to vote against ANY bill that contains cuts to trans health care.

#DidThisToday

emily moonlight @threnody.bsky.social · 22d

so: what do we need you to do? two things.

1.call your D/I senators. find contact info here: reps.fyi

what do we need you to say? try the call script below. adapt it; make it your own! there are bailout points written in, in case you get nervous. but please *call.* 🧵

Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I'm one of Senator [THEIR NAME]'s constituents. House Republicans are trying to insert a multiple articles of anti-trans legislation, including a full transgender healthcare funding ban, into the F-Y '26 budget. I'm calling to tell the Senator to stand up for trans Americans and vote NO on any bill with that language. This IS worth forcing a shutdown.

[you can stop here at 0:20 if you want to bail out—but it's better if you don't]

This care funding ban follows the map the G-O-P charted while attacking abortion. Democrats lost that fight by giving in to the G-O-P an inch at a time. Giving an inch at a time on trans care will devastate trans Americans and it'll get Democrats nothing in return but contempt.

[you can stop here at 0:40 if you want to bail out—but it's better if you don't]

Right now, the most popular Democrat in the U-S, [Zo-RAHN Mom-DA-nee], is campaigning on making trans healthcare cheaper and easier to access, and he's only got more good will because of it.

[you can stop here at 0:50 if you want to bail out—but it's better if you don't]

I'm asking the Senator to refuse to allow any anti-trans language including a healthcare ban in the F-Y '26 bill. Do not vote for any bill with that language. This IS worth forcing a shutdown. Standing with trans people is the right thing to do and it's politically smart. Voters and donors show up for Democrats who fight.

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Lara Willard @larathelark.bsky.social · 12d

I'm at a high school football game. A guy sitting behind me yelled, "HE JUST ATE HIM OUT" and there was not a single other romance reader around to exchange looks with.

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Lara Willard @larathelark.bsky.social · 13d

I call her VeLucyraptor because she can open doors and gets into everything

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Lara Willard @larathelark.bsky.social · 13d

She hasn't since she was a puppy! She ate some of our replacement-meal pizza off the counter, too!

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 16d

By the end of this administration, it's gonna be like $100 for a single chicken wing that comes pre-infected with e coli

Unbreaking @unbreaking.org · 19d

At USDA, attacks on workers’ rights are threatening food safety. The USDA has canceled inspectors’ union contracts, which is likely to lead to more attrition, increase workloads, and compromise inspectors’ ability to raise food safety concerns.
www.wpr.org/news/food-sa...

Food safety experts warn cuts, staff shortages could lead to preventable outbreaks

Food inspectors face increased workloads and loss of union protection, making it more difficult to notice and report safety violations at food processing plants.

www.wpr.org

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Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 16d

Just a reminder before the “big announcement” today.

Autism was discovered in 1911 and the modern definition of Autism came in 1943.

Tylenol wasn’t widely used until the 1950s.

Anyone trying to tell you that Tylenol causes Autism isn’t someone that should be taken seriously.

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 16d

Well, there it is. Sinclair is digging in for a fight, so please help push back -- find stations in your area, watch their local news to see what ads they run, then write those advertisers to tell them you're boycotting as long as they're on a Sinclair station.

List here: sbgi.net/tv-stations/

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Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · 17d

In addition to scraping your uploads for "generative AI" training, Academia dot edu is going to start claiming rights to your personal info— *including your signature & voice*— for anything they see fit.

So now'd be a good time to remove all of your uploaded works, & then delete your whole account.

By creating an Account with Academia.edu, you grant us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable license, permission, and consent for Academia.edu to use your Member Content and your personal information (including, but not limited to, your name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, city, institutional affiliations, citations, mentions, publications, and areas of interest) in any manner, including for the purpose of advertising, selling, or soliciting the use or purchase of Academia.edu's Services

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WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 19d

Here are the Top 5 Dogs of the week!

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Matt Zoller Seitz @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social · 19d

"Fascism is a temper tantrum disguised as an ideology" is a great line

Gareth Watkins @garethwatkins.bsky.social · 19d

Dam been writing a book about this and she just TikToked it in 90 seconds.

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Lara Willard @larathelark.bsky.social · 21d

This is Lucy after she ate our dinner off the counter. Lefty Lucy, Lucy Chew, Lucy Goosey, Goose, Mongoose, Chaos goblin

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James Hell Brooks @kleinman.bsky.social · 23d

It truly cannot be restated enough that earlier this year Trump pardoned everyone involved with J6, the largest event of political violence in the US in my lifetime. They have absolutely no credibility here and deserve to be confronted with this fact whenever they're in public.

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 23d

Political violence is evil, killing people is evil, a country with more guns in it than people is broken, and what the government is saying about political violence right now being a primarily leftwing phenomenon is factually, statistically untrue. They are using this moment to rewrite history.

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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 23d

Not a headline that can appear in an actual democracy.

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09...

Trump Administration Live Updates: White House Officials Vow Vast Crackdown on Liberal Groups

www.nytimes.com

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Gabino Iglesias @gabino.bsky.social · 23d

Every few months Dark Owl Publishing does something bad and every few months I come here and remind people that shitty indie presses run by racists always do bad things.

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Lara Willard @larathelark.bsky.social · 24d

I'd focus on the positive "a lot" and worry about the unsaid rest of it if you get notes. But that's easier said than done. I don't think it's mostly negative, I think it's mostly positive.

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Lara Willard @larathelark.bsky.social · 24d

That's good for a zero draft. Not great for a third draft.

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Lara Willard @larathelark.bsky.social · 24d

Sound cloud?

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Lara Willard @larathelark.bsky.social · 26d

I have a short comic here that has the script :)
larawillard.com/2025/08/18/b...

“Best Dressed,” the Comic, Pitch, and Script

With the sad news of POMEmag closing its doors August 31st, I wanted to share the comic that I wrote and Julia Hutchinson illustrated. This comic, about a woman struggling with body issues after a …

larawillard.com

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