Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Stephanie Gal

News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 6h

If you had written this as a fake news headline a year ago, you would be called hysterical.

Reuters today. Fascism.

Reuters story headlines:

Trunp calls for jailing Democratic leaders as troops prepare for Chicago deployment

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Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 5h

People are wild, but also our math and probability education seems deficient :(

John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 8h

When you could code silly quizzes on Facebook, it was FULL of "what would you be in medieval times?!" etc.

I made one that nearly always answered "died as a child", "died in childbirth", "lived and died as a servant"

People got SUPER mad with it.

Everyone assumes they'll be at the top of the tree

William Carruthers @williamcarruthers.bsky.social · 8h

The subtext of ‘we should be more like Dubai’, beyond the obvious racism, is ‘I should have a servant’.

Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 5h

This is so horrific. It was such a small cost to help them live. How can the people doing this call themselves Christians?

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 13h

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted “no one has died” as a result of U.S. foreign aid cuts. In Myanmar, the grieving father of a 2-year-old boy who died after their food rations were cut calls such claims a lie.

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

bit.ly

Reposted by Stephanie Gal

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 6h

The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."

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Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 1d

Years ago, we had a family friend, living in Australia, who figured that the taxes when he died as a US citizen meant his wife would inherit "very little" (I was not privy to the math). He renounced his citizenship. He said the people at the US embassy treated him like a t-rrorist for renouncing it.

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Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 1d

I think the sound of motors is like chronic pain - it makes you less able to tolerate anything else. But also, eventually, you can’t imagine it disappearing, so you can’t imagine a world where something you can’t tolerate now might be tolerable in the absence of the pain.

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Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 2d

This actually applies to a lot of people who do things that statistically harm people.

politicsofcars.bsky.social @politicsofcars.bsky.social · 2d

The only thing more vulnerable than a child while they are being hit by a driver in a three ton metal box, is a driver's ego if anybody questions their automotive rights.

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Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 2d

Being American means being trapped in supply chains that rob us of our ability to spend money ethically. But apps can help you. Unfortunately I do believe that we hav to be voting with our wallets right now.

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Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 2d

I read that this is how the Germans lost WWII. American hydropower meant we could smelt aluminum and build planes faster. The writer felt this was what determined the war. (Book was Cadillac Desert)

Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 2d

This is horrifying

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Reposted by Stephanie Gal

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 3d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Reposted by Stephanie Gal

Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 3d

BREAKING: The Israeli government says there is no ceasefire taking effect in Gaza right now but just a temporary halt to some of the bombing of the besieged enclave.

🔴 LIVE updates: aje.io/1cl1ji

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Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 3d

Seems important.

Jeannette Eggers @jeannetteeggers.bsky.social · 9d

"We studied more than 70 different elections that took place in 12 western European countries over several decades, and found that when mainstream parties take more anti-immigration positions, it leads to more support for the radical right, not less."

Our research makes it clear: by capitulating to the right, Labour is driving voters to Reform UK | Tarik Abou-Chadi and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte

Mimicking Farage on immigration is senseless. Labour voters feel betrayed; anti-immigration voters see through the ruse, say academics Tarik Abou-Chadi and Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Gal

Unpleasant Reminders @joltyourmemory.bsky.social · May 10

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Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 4d

This is what I’ve wanted, and now that it has happened, I’m afraid to believe it. I don’t think this is over, but the first step is to stop the dying.

Donald Trump orders Israel to ‘immediately’ stop bombing Gaza as Hamas agrees to free hostages

Palestinian militant group accepts part of US president’s plan but seeks further negotiations on many terms

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Stephanie Gal

Strong Towns @strongtowns.org · 4d

A third of Americans don’t know their neighbors and 45% have no interaction with their neighbors. But that doesn’t mean people are opposed to the idea.

To begin bridging that gap, start simple: Organize a block party.

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Reposted by Stephanie Gal

Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · 5d

The sight of opposition politicians being arrested is becoming more and more common in America.

Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 5d

ICE just blatantly violated the law and arrested sitting Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes while seeking to illegally arrest a patient in a hospital. Fuck these fascists.

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Reposted by Stephanie Gal

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 6d

“Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” - Voltaire.

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Reposted by Stephanie Gal

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 6d

This is absolutely horrific. To attack a synagogue and kill people, and that too on Yom Kippur. Vile and inexcusable.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 6d

BREAKING: Two people have died and three others are in serious condition after a synagogue attack in the UK, police say.

Police are at the scene of a reported stabbing at a synagogue in English city of Manchester

Police are at the scene of a reported stabbing at a synagogue in Manchester, northwest England. Andy Burnham, the mayor of the Greater Manchester Area, said Thursday that the “immediate danger appears to be over” after reports of the incident in Crumpsall, north of the city.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Stephanie Gal

Marnie Shure @marnieshure.bsky.social · 7d

This is a good encapsulation of how "no ethical consumption under capitalism" is best understood: as an encouragement to make incrementally more conscious consumption choices wherever possible, NOT as an invitation to nihilistically consume fuck-all because systemic changes are outside our control

Liz Shannon Miller @lizshannonmiller.com · 7d

Jane Goodall, from a March 2020 Paste Magazine interview: www.pastemagazine.com/article/jane...

screenshot of text:

Do remember to tell people, when you write your article, that the most important message today is that every single day, each one of us lives, we make some impact on the planet, and we can choose what sort of impact we make; what we buy, what we wear, where does it come from? Did it harm the environment when it was made? Did it lead to cruelty to animals like terrible factory farms? Is it cheap because of child slave labor? If we start making ethical choices every day, millions and billions of us, we move towards a better world and a world of citizens who will push governments to make the ethical decisions themselves.

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Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 6d

Before I had an e-bike, I would never have considered biking to work (it takes 1.5 hours). But with an e-bike, it’s an hour, which is manageable. I only go into the office 2 days/week, but I almost always [e-]bike. It’s my joy!

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Reposted by Stephanie Gal

Metro @wmata.com · 8d

National #WeekWithoutDriving is about sharing the lived experience of those who don’t have a car. Meet Tino, a lifelong Metro customer who relies on transit to stay independent. Can you believe he’s almost 90?! 🫶 Learn more about Tino in a special video later this week!

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Reposted by Stephanie Gal

Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 7d

The real-life impact of Trump and Musk’s freeze on USAID

Drugs and food, intended for global aid, instead languished and rotted in warehouses — and some children withered and died.

Sweeping, damning investigation by my @washingtonpost.com colleagues.

Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting.

USAID antimalarial and HIV supplies valued at nearly $140 million were delayed in the first half of the year or not delivered at all due to the Trump administration’s foreign aid pause, The Post found...

www.washingtonpost.com

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Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 7d

This should matter.

"For a brief moment, in 2018, it seemed as if the state-sanctioned dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul might cause people to keep their distance, but [it] turned out to be little more than a blip for many American entertainers and businessmen"

The joke's on you at the Riyadh Comedy Festival

The lesson, once again, is that Americans aren't as offended by autocracy as you might have thought.

www.motherjones.com

Stephanie Gal @stephaniegal.bsky.social · 8d

I learned a new term: "wealth pump" - the transfer of money from the poor to the rich. Described in this article. It's a concept I'm familiar with, but now I can name it.

End Times

January 10 2024, 1pm to 2pm (UK time), Zoom

fairnessfoundation.com