Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Aaron Bady @zunguzungu.bsky.social · 7h

Dolly Parton called a press conference to clarify formally that no weapon formed against her will prosper

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Boo-rendan Harkin @brendanjharkin.bsky.social · 7h

He said this deliberately because he is a Nazi and he wants you to know he's a Nazi who you can't touch. He also wants other Nazis to know they can be open about the fact they are Nazis too.

This isn't an oversight, a fumble or an opportunity for a "heh, well actually, dummy" zinger.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 9h

"Antifa has been around in various iterations for almost 100 years in some instances, going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany."

- Jack Posobiec at Trump's roundtable on antifa

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Chris 🎃 DevPods.gg gamedev community @chrisdeleon.bsky.social · 5h

Portland protestor frog costume: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge pepper balls?

Morpheus from Matrix movie: No, Frog. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.

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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 16h

So this is funny.
The administration just issued a rule slashing foreign agricultural worker wages. And to justify it, in a public filing, Trump's Labor Department alleges that Trump's immigration enforcement has devastated the Ag workforce and caused a "risk of supply shock-induced food shortages."

Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis

In a filing in the Federal Register, the Labor Department argues there are “immediate dangers to the American food supply” due to a lack of migrant agricultural workers.

prospect.org

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Steven @padnick.bsky.social · 16h

Asking for permission would kill the forgery industry

Asking for permission would kill the burglary industry

Asking for permission would kill the murder industry

What are we doing here?

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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Steven @padnick.bsky.social · 16h

Jon Favreau, best known for his role as Eric the Clown in the Seinfeld episode “The Fire”

A tall clown looms over George Constanza

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neongrey @neongrey.bsky.social · 2d

all discourse aside, there is one machine with consciousness. it's printers. they are alive and conscious and they hate you and they'd take your arm clean off if you let them. never trust a printer.

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Ethan Landes @ethanlandes.bsky.social · 1d

The UK is within spitting distance of having more murders portrayed annually on TV shows and movies set in the country than occur in real life

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 1d

It's so incredible how low homicide rates are in Europe. The UK, with a population of 70 million people, had fewer than 600 murders in 2023.
www.connexionfrance.com/news/double-...

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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 1d

When Democrats controlled the White House, Senate and House there were no shutdowns because we acted like adults and negotiated with Republicans.

Now Republicans control everything and they're refusing to even show up for work. Because they think the chaos of a shutdown is fun.

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John Wiswell @wiswell.bsky.social · 1d

I love that the Zoology department was integral to finding text about Merlin that was otherwise invisible to the human eye.

Rare Merlin and King Arthur text found hidden in binding of medieval book

The ‘extremely significant' text was hidden for centuries.

www.popsci.com

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Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 1d

LOL my mom set them up at her nail salon!!! Absolutely bonkers Vietnamese mother energy!!!

My books, The Magic Fish and Angelica the Bear Prince, are set up on a marble countertop under a sign that my mother made and printed with clip art! It says, “Need a Gift Idea? Perfect for any occasion.”

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Debt Collective 🟥 @debtcollective.bsky.social · 1d

Now: Debt Collective Raises Hand to Purchase Chunk of Federal Government Student Debt Portfolio

The Debt Collective has purchased billions in household debt over the past decade

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, after a new POLITICO report that the Trump administration is “exploring options to sell off parts of the federal government’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio to the private market,” the Debt Collective is announcing its willingness to purchase the entire portfolio for its true market value. The Debt Collective will then subsequently cancel the debt.

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Elise Wang @elisewang.bsky.social · 2d

One of the more incredible stories out of LA this year has been how a taco review blog became the best on-the-ground coverage of ICE raids in the city.

They do a dispatch every day, follow-up on the kidnapped people (which almost no media outlet has done), and fact-check government claims.

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d

@lataco.bsky.social first began as a blog documenting local Mexican cuisine. Now, it’s an essential reporting powerhouse to the city as Trump’s mass deportation plot unfolds.

Check out the latest from our friends at Reveal: tinyurl.com/4cm2bsdr

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Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 2d

It’s important to flood social media and news channels with news about how ICE lies, so that potential jurors see it.

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 2d

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

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Second Ave. Sagas @2avesag.as · 2d

The New York Times in its "Are You a True New Yorker?" Quiz provides no right answer to this question.

Ted Mann @whereisted.bsky.social · 2d

did the Cuomo campaign write this?

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Sexy CHOAM Nomsky costume @samthielman.com · 3d

“Shaka, when the walls fell”

CNBC @cnbc.com · 3d

To shut down rude behavior instantly, try a simple yet powerful five-word response.

Use this 5-word phrase when someone is rude to you—it's like 'holding up a mirror,' says public speaking expert

When we encounter a rude person, our first instinct might be to fire back with a snarky comment. But that's not the right move, says public speaking expert John Bowe. Here's the perfect response to instantly shut down rude behavior.

cnb.cx

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Steven @padnick.bsky.social · 3d

Catholic horror is just more visually interesting than Protestant horror, which is Catholics.

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woketoberpus @woketopus.bsky.social · 12d

giant mech with "student driver" stickers on it

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Mark Russell @manruss.bsky.social · 5d

“How can Portland POSSIBLY stand against the might of the federal government?!”

“Let me introduce you to our frog.”

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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 3d

We Have at least 70? years of science fiction exploring this proposition and all reaching the same conclusions as Josie.

Which I only bring up because everyone involved in this AI thing is a science fiction fan, but not one who understands what they read.

🏳️‍⚧️ Josephine Riesman @josie.zone · 3d

It is morally wrong to want a computer to be sentient. If you owned a sentient thing, you would be a slaver. If you want sentient computers to exist, you just want to create a new kind of slavery. The ethics are as simple as that. Sorry if this offends

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☠️deadward niedermurder☠️ @niedermeyer.online · 3d

"general purpose humanoid robots are real" is an ancient folkloric tradition that today's tech founders and venture capitalists are faithfully keeping alive

Rakesh Khanna @blaftrakesh.bsky.social · 3d

When I was researching my book Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India, I learned of a 1000-year-old myth about Roman tech being used to build killer robots to guard the Buddha's remains in Pataliputra, and a Hungarian folklorist read my book & got excited about it, & she managed to dig up a🧵(1/3)

Romanised Pali manuscript of the Lokapannati

Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India
p. 60
Bhoota Vahana Yanta
Bhoota Vahana Yanta means “spirit movement machine.” The term is used
for several varieties of robot drone assassins and sword-wielding machine-
men mentioned in the Lokapannati, a Pali-language text written between
1000 and 1200 CE by Saddhammaghosa of Thaton, but concerning
events that took place much earlier, around 500 to 200 BCE.
According to the story, robots were first invented by engineers of the
early Roman Republic. These robots were used for commerce, in agriculture,
as a police force, and as executioners. The secret of how to build these
spirit-engines was fiercely protected. If any engineer dared to take the designs
out of the city, one of his own executioner robots would come after
him and kill him.
At that time, in Pataliputra (then in the kingdom of Magadha, now
Patna in the state of Bihar), there lived a young man who had heard of the
Romans’ magical androids. He became so determined to learn the secrets
of their manufacture and share them with the people of Magadha that he
arranged his own death. Then, on his deathbed, he vowed to be reincarnated
as a Roman.
This indeed took place. In his new life, the man grew up to join the
Roman guild of engineers. He even married the daughter of the Master
Robot-Maker, and had a son by her.
Once he learned the secrets of the Bhoota Vahana Yanta, the man resolved
to transfer the information back to Pataliputra. But he was well
aware that now, since he was a member of the guild, he would be killed as
soon as he left. So he cut a gash in his thigh, inserted the plans in his flesh,
and sewed the wound back up.

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Eric Blair @protecttruth.bsky.social · 3d

The only way out of this is for local or state law enforcement to start arresting these guys in the camo for assault.
Toss them in jail, @govpritzker.illinois.gov. Get their names public, get their mug shots on TV. Let them litigate. But show strength in opposition.

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 4d

Genuinely crazy how much we went from debates about body cams to "is the camera rolling? good. now watch me assault this dude."

Daniel Connerton @lordnad.bsky.social · 4d

@govpritzker.illinois.gov

37 and Kedzie, East Garfield, Illinois.

This is assault.

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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 4d

If you like yelling about misuse of the passive voice, THIS IS IT.

CNN @cnn.com · 5d

Adults and children alike were pulled from their Chicago apartments, crying and screaming, during a large overnight raid that has left tenants and neighbors shaken. https://cnn.it/4pPCXIt

37 people arrested and American kids separated from parents after ICE raid at Chicago apartments | CNN

Adults and children alike were pulled from their Chicago apartments, crying and screaming, during a large overnight raid that has left tenants and neighbors shaken.

www.cnn.com

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Dylan Roth @dylanroth.bsky.social · 4d

Babe, c’mahhhn! It’s parta my culture!!

An ad for three different wooden trains from the popular Munipal series, each representing a car or locomotive from the NJ Transit system. The ad is titled “Jersey Threesome!”

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Steven @padnick.bsky.social · 4d

Oh that’s me.

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