Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

s. eek smith 👻

@sesmith.lol

44K followers 1.1K following 26K posts

that person with the peaches national magazine award-winning culture critic & writer for hire 🖋️ in bitch, the nation, the verge, rolling stone, &c @theflytrapmedia.com cofounder @scarleteen.com coconspirator & more! ✉️ sesmith at realsesmith.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · Nov 13

‘pie situations’

5 3 120

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 10m

There's a reason that actors/models/others build appearance rights into their contracts!

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 38m

Altman claims the company didn’t anticipate people not wanting their deepfakes to say “offensive things or things that they find deeply problematic,” which sounds like a lie but is also indicative of how they recklessly release tech into the world.

OpenAI wasn’t expecting Sora’s copyright drama

It felt “more different to images than people expected.”

www.theverge.com

1 1 14

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 12m

As I put it to a friend, 'wow, other people don't have 14 radios BLARING IN THEIR HEAD at all times?'

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 15m

It's also one reason I was like hey I want to be really thorough and careful here because I didn't want stolen valor on my conscience. (Or to be recommended medications and other options that simply would not help and might make things worse.)

Reposted by s. eek smith 👻

the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 31m

this is wonky stuff and is also really important

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 44m

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

4 32 110

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 17m

My psychiatrist and I have talked a lot about the overlap between various neurodiversity things! This is so real. It's one reason it took so long for me to get diagnosed with ADHD lol.

2 6

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 25m

I'm also glad we are building a culture where we can be more open about our experience and find common ground with each other as well as people more broadly! But like, what I talk about on the internet is a tiny slice of my life.

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 28m

YIKES

Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 43m

The Post laid off seemingly the remaining of their liberal-leaning staff members on Opinion last Thursday, when some of them were observing Yom Kippur.

from @oliverdarcy.bsky.social for Status
status.news/p/washington-post-opinion-cuts-adam-oneal

4 20

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 28m

Also, being in these communities is a source of pride and shared identity and understanding. I don't oppose self-dx and advocacy, but natural variation (and bad days!) are also a thing, and a lot of our struggles are internal and never seen, so identifying with a small slice is troubling.

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 30m

You know I think A LOT about how the diversity/spectrum of human experience gets pathologized! Everyone struggles with stuff from time to time and it's great if they can use tools developed by/for the disability community but sometimes a trait is just part of who you are, not a diagnosis.

2 22

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 33m

'The modeling results also indicated that the warehouses expose about 90 percent of the city’s population to a cancer risk above 1 in 1 million and residents living closest to the warehouses can be exposed to risk levels as high as 1 in 5,000.'

Breast cancer, dizziness, headaches: El Paso residents ask if a warehouse's toxic emissions are to blame

After a Grist investigation revealing exposure to the carcinogen ethylene oxide, El Paso residents confront troubling questions about their health.

grist.org

8 12

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 1h

Not even spreadsheets can soothe me

1 10

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 1h

Who else wants to read about polar disasters.

Famed polar exploration ship Endurance not as strong as legend held, researcher says

Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton's crew famously survived after the Endurance became stuck in ice in 1915. A researcher says the ship was ill-equipped for the voyage and Shackleton was aware.

www.npr.org

2 19

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 1h

Definitely not, once my brain is up it's in it to win it, but thank you! I hope your day eases as well.

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 2h

Why yes I AM up at 3am with rampant uncontrolled anxiety as my housing terror consumes every corner of my mind.

3 1 38

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 8h

‘Unfortunately, we composed in the CMS’

2 9

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 8h

Oh is this why the charge port on my phone isn’t working

1 4

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 8h

Oh 100%

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 9h

Well, fuck

1 6

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 9h

FYP blessed me with this upon opening TikTok it was meant to be @erinbiba.bsky.social

5 10 53

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 13h

Last words were ‘stars turn to light’ which is honestly a pretty good one I might need to steal it.

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 13h

'At various points, there was no way to be in the thick of the protest without getting exposed to tear gas, or risking getting shot with pepper balls. At numerous points, agents fired from behind barbed wire fences, seemingly with no provocation — or even interaction — with protesters.'

“Even When They Gas Us": Hundreds Brave Tear Gas, Pepper Balls to Protest ICE

Investigative reporting about corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, analysis of national and world affairs, and cultural criticism that matters.

inthesetimes.com

6 30

Reposted by s. eek smith 👻

mady castigan✨ 🏳️‍⚧️ @madycast.com · 18h

Hi, I'm a trans Californian who reported on the CA bills. This headline is misleading at best. You haven't noted that he has until the 12th to sign the other bills, leaving that out is irresponsible and fearmongers.

People can and should still pressure him on those bills.

bsky.app/profile/mady...

mady castigan✨ 🏳️‍⚧️ @madycast.com · 18h

He hasn't signed the other bills yet, but he still has days to do so
This headline is misleading for not mentioning that.

The gender education veto is bad, but far from the most important trans rights bill on his desk.

There's still time to contact Newsom for the rest!

www.gov.ca.gov/contact/

26 310 710

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 14h

Fair enough!

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 14h

I also enjoyed it! I had some small quibbles but overall, big fan.

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 14h

Like it MUST be out there somewhere! I would like to give you money to support your endeavors especially in light of the increased workload!

1 3