Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Maria Bustillos

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 3h

Gov. Pritzker after Trump calls for him to be jailed: “I will not back down… what else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”

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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 2h

It sure was

Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 2h

Writers artists technologists and entrepreneurs can (must, even) define "AI" as a whole and in its parts, and agree on the best way forward for society.

This is crucial, and possible. @ftrain.bsky.social (who is all four of the above) offers a good start on our podcast @flaminghydra.com

Paul Ford @ftrain.bsky.social · 14h

This was nice

Flaming Hydra @flaminghydra.com · 15h

ALSO TODAY: @mariabustillos.com and the great @ftrain.bsky.social talk about fixing the equally wretched AI problem flaminghydra.com/podcast-how-...

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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 4h

No it won't, that is nonsense it will 'kill' one part of generative AI

(p.s. if it will 'kill' your industry to abide by laws then no you can't have that industry)

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

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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 16h

So @ftrain.bsky.social came and sorted out how to fix AI on the latest @flaminghydra.com podcast. Whew! we should have asked him on sooner

AND @sirosenbaum.bsky.social breaks down the worst anti-trans amicus brief you ever heard of in your life, you won't believe it

flaminghydra.com/issue-418/

Base meddling / Machine learning

S.I. Rosenbaum on a wretched amicus brief; Paul Ford and Maria Bustillos sort out the AI thing

flaminghydra.com

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sirosenbaum.bsky.social @sirosenbaum.bsky.social · 6h

I got really interested last year in the history of alchemical and Aristotelian-Christian thought about the nature of substance, purity and impurity, and how those ideas were applied to humans in the Inquisition and the Conquest. (Un)luckily those ideas are still alive and fucking us up today

Flaming Hydra @flaminghydra.com · 16h

TODAY: @sirosenbaum.bsky.social on a wretched little amicus brief filed by a bunch of philosophers on a court case involving trans girls in sports, and which does "not consider or even mention any real, flesh-and-blood women and girls or the lives they lead" flaminghydra.com/purity-tests/

Purity Tests

Among the cornucopia of horrors pouring out in our daily news, you may have missed this one. It’s an amicus brief, though not it’s not at all friendly, arguing that trans girls shouldn’t play sports o...

flaminghydra.com

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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 5h

My pleasure, for reals. It is truly hilarious that these pro philosophers chose the gayest of Platonic dialogues (maybe tied with the Symposium??) to quote half a sentence from (and no other philosophical texts at all). lol.

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Block Club Chicago @blockclubchi.bsky.social · 16h

When will ICE leave Chicago? The field director says there's "no end date" for Operation Midway Blitz. blockclubchi.co/47dQfqH

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Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 1d

It troubles me that I’m starting to feel the same way about Bluesky that I do about the UK. Like: it sounds great, and some of the people I know are great, but the leadership is making some weird choices and I’m a bit worried it may all be over in a couple of years.

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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 16h

Youre right... I'm wary now because we're not even a year in and the acceleration is so far beyond what I anticipated

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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 16h

So @ftrain.bsky.social came and sorted out how to fix AI on the latest @flaminghydra.com podcast. Whew! we should have asked him on sooner

AND @sirosenbaum.bsky.social breaks down the worst anti-trans amicus brief you ever heard of in your life, you won't believe it

flaminghydra.com/issue-418/

Base meddling / Machine learning

S.I. Rosenbaum on a wretched amicus brief; Paul Ford and Maria Bustillos sort out the AI thing

flaminghydra.com

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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 16h

So we prevent this nonviolently, but how?

Caleb Crain @calebcrain.bsky.social · 17h

Chilling insight by @barbarafwalter.com: "Once citizens view their own government’s security forces as an occupying army, violence becomes inevitable. Trump’s team knows this… They’re trying to trigger the very unrest that would justify further crackdowns."

via www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...

Screenshot from a NYT article by Thomas Edsall, quoting Barbara Walter of UC-San Diego: "The quickest way to piss people off is to send soldiers into their neighborhoods especially when there’s no reason for them to be there. It’s inherently provocative, and Trump and his team understand this. Research by the political scientist Robert Pape shows that the single most powerful predictor of suicide terrorism is the presence of foreign troops on local soil. People hate, hate, hate that. They hate the humiliation, the powerlessness, the feeling of being occupied.

"Once citizens begin to view their own government’s security forces as an occupying army, violence becomes inevitable. Trump’s team knows this. In fact, that’s the point. They are not trying to restore order; they’re trying to trigger the very unrest that would justify further crackdowns. In the end, violence serves their ultimate end: They want to create the illusion of disorder so they can tighten control and stay in power indefinitely."

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Felipe De La Hoz @felipedlh.bsky.social · 19h

You guys remember when it was revealed that the current head of Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown was literally filmed taking a $50,000 cash bribe in a bag like a mob movie extra and then nothing happened and he’s still basically running the national secret police?

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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 18h

"poised to jump" mmhmm

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 18h

Democrats are allergic to winning and keep pushing septegenarian establishment candidates.

www.axios.com/2025/10/07/m...

Scoop: Gov. Janet Mills poised to jump into Maine Senate race

Gov. Janey Mills' entry into the race would set off another complicated Democratic primary.

www.axios.com

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Rudy wants revolution. @rude1.blacksky.team · 19h

I hear and see your concerns. Over the weekend, a couple users hosted on Blacksky's PDS were banned from the Bluesky app and thus the Bluesky API servers. This was a weakness of our system I've been aware of and hoped we had more time to address before any kind of public incident. 1/11

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

very cool that if you are working on behalf of right-wing culture warriors, you no longer need standing to have your claim adjudicated by the supreme court

Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 1d

It's not just that they're going to strike down a law against conversion therapy, it's that they're going to do it on behalf of made-up claims from a straw plaintiff who can't honestly show the law affected her at all

Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 1d

One thing about American's widespread distrust and disapproval of the Supreme Court is that mainstream news coverage mostly doesn't dwell on stuff like standing, so people don't even begin to grasp how rigged the Court truly is www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 20h

We've been in touch!! Thanks for this.

Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 20h

This is really well said.

That's why I prize the many media sources run by human beings whose work I've known for years, who've established trust

Real writers and artists who write real news. Support us!!

flaminghydra.com

Ozma @rowyourbot.bsky.social · 20h

Under fascism, it’s can’t work to make everyone believe the official story. Nobody in authoritarian societies believes the official story about ANYTHING. A side effect of authoritarianism. Generally what people do is not become crackpots like the US rightwing but speculate for fun without believing.