Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Andrew Robertson

David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 1h

Just locker-room talk, right?

And these were not kids. They were adults, some working iwthin the Trump administration.

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 2h

Vance on public outrage over the "I love Hitler" group chat: "Grow up! Focus on the real issues. Don't focus on what kids say in group chats... The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys — they tell edgy, offensive jokes. That's what kids do."

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Chris Giles @chrisgiles.ft.com · 8h

There is no need for a moral panic about the UK's welfare system.

Far from perfect but recent discourse is nuts

Spending is controlled, not spiralling

Worklessness is near record lows

My column www.ft.com/content/ee67...

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1h

Mamdani: "Andrew Cuomo is gonna say a lot of things tomorrow night on the debate stage. And frankly, I wish it was more like Nascar so New Yorkers could see the billionaires that were sponsoring him right on his suit jacket. He watches Fox News as well. So I'll just speak to him directly ... "

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Andrew Robertson @andrewrobertson.bsky.social · 5h

Trump dodging the draft is the most un-American thing.

Reposted by Andrew Robertson

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 12h

You might think controlling GB News gives you huge influence over UK politics – especially on the right. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, as we reveal in this week's issue of @thenewworldmag.bsky.social

Full story: www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-p...

A network/ownership diagram showing a range of organisations controlled by Paul Marshall or his associates, or which receive donations from them

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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 10h

“By 2028, Marshall boasted, “we will be left with two dominant news channels: the BBC representing the centre left, and GB News representing the centre right”. Marshall and the other backers of GB News don’t need to do anything other than wait to be guaranteed a breakthrough – and they know it.”

Paul Marshall, the man who owns the right

The multimillionaire controls a network of news channels, publications and think tanks that the left could only dream of. If Reform or the Tories win the next election, he will become the country’s mo...

www.thenewworld.co.uk

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Reposted by Andrew Robertson

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 19h

To be clear:

LA County has declared a state of emergency BECAUSE OF the federal government.

The Feds, LA County is (correctly) saying, have CAUSED the emergency.

This is a striking political moment of internal collapse. Local govts feeling compelled to protect their ppl from … their own govt.

Los Angeles County declares state of emergency over immigration raids

Los Angeles County officials voted on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over ongoing federal immigration raids.

abcnews.go.com

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 5h

This administration’s policy of serial open murders on the high seas is starting to make some members of Congress mildly uncomfortable. www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

Members of Congress growing concerned over lack of information from administration about Venezuela strikes, sources say

Republicans and Democrats say the administration is failing to share basic information with Congress about the intelligence, rationale and goals of its war on drug trafficking.

www.nbcnews.com

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George Pearkes @peark.es · 5h

This is all a blatant violation of Article I of the Constitution.

Trump’s troop pay move is a ‘temporary fix,’ Johnson says

A Pentagon funding shift covered Wednesday's active-duty paychecks. But another threat looms if the shutdown continues to Oct. 31.

www.politico.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 5h

Apparently, the official GOP response to the leaked Young Republican chats is “come on, it’s not a big deal that these guys are using racial slurs and praising Hitler, that’s totally normal” and, uh, that sorta raises more questions?

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WIRED @wired.com · 12h

Google's autonomous taxi subsidiary will hit the UK's capital next year, regulations permitting—but its first international service could be Waymo's biggest challenge yet. www.wired.com/story/waymos...

Waymo's Robotaxis Are Coming to London

Google's autonomous taxi subsidiary will hit the UK's capital next year, regulations permitting—but its first international service could be Waymo's biggest challenge yet.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Andrew Robertson

zuzak 🦭 @zuzakistan.com · 1d

Glasgow City Council has a whole sovereign citizen FAQ

whoever wrote this was so very tired

glasgow.gov.uk/whyyouneedto...

Why you require to pay Council Tax - Glasgow City Council

Information about why you are required to pay Council Tax.

glasgow.gov.uk

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Jeff Tiedrich @jefftiedrich.bsky.social · 23h

I swear I did not have "I'm better at ducking bullets than Charlie Kirk" on my Donny Batshit Bingo card

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump at the Charlie Kirk memorial event: "They fired sniper rifles at ICE agents, and me. But I made a turn at a good time. I made a turn at a good time. Charlie couldn't believe it, actually."

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 23h

Indeed.

The government has chosen to prioritise reducing (skilled, legal, for work) migration over growth and hence over improving public services.

No economic rationale - but even worse, no political rationale either.

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 1d

One mistake Labour made in their first year is loading quite a few new costs onto business all at once. They are risking doing something similar on immigration, I think.

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Dr Nick @nmwilkinson.bsky.social · 23h

WankGPT

Welcome to the future

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David Head @davidheadviews.bsky.social · 1d

Follow the money to get to the reality behind "Tommy Robinson".

Chris @oakymoron.bsky.social · 1d

So why was he driving a Bentley?

Who did it belong to and why so much cash…….

news.sky.com/story/tommy-...

Tommy Robinson's arrest at Channel Tunnel 'discriminatory', barrister says

A barrister representing Tommy Robinson claimed in court that the "predominant influence" on an officer's decision to stop the activist was: "'Oh look, it's Tommy Robinson.'"

news.sky.com

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Reposted by Andrew Robertson

Kate Knibbs @knibbs.bsky.social · 1d

Thinkin about how much pushback I got for reporting this last year ! www.wired.com/story/openai...

OpenAI Is ‘Exploring’ How to Responsibly Generate AI Porn

OpenAI released draft guidelines for how it wants the AI technology inside ChatGPT to behave—and revealed that it’s exploring how to ‘responsibly’ generate explicit content.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Andrew Robertson

Violet Blue® @violetblue.bsky.social · 1d

They stole over 30 of my books, primarily *most* of my (award-winning) erotica collections.

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 1d

Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.

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Stephen Nuñez @socio-steve.bsky.social · 1d

I like when people who do bad things suffer the consequences of doing bad things.

Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 1d

Dr. Phil went full MAGA and tried to reinvent himself as a MAGA media mogul and culture warrior. Now his world is unraveling, his media company is laying off thousands and had to file for bankruptcy, and he's being sued for fraud. The whole plan is collapsing.

www.rawstory.com/dr-phil-trump/

Dr Phil faces 'total collapse' after MAGA alignment backfires massively: report

Dr. Phil McGraw's attempt to transition from daytime television personality to a politically aligned media mogul during Donald Trump's second presidential term has been marked by spectacular failure a...

www.rawstory.com

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Reposted by Andrew Robertson

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 1d

"a test"? you mean...a violation?

AP: Israel plans to halve aid into Gaza over slow return of dead hostages, a test for the Gaza ceasefire

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Bruce Wilson @brucewilson.bsky.social · 1d

[the boys' club cackles]

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump ignores a question from a woman reporter but says, "I just like to watch her talk. Good job. Thank you darling."

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Andrew Robertson @andrewrobertson.bsky.social · 1d

This is a perfect example of how Trump is wasting your tax dollars - America.

kamimagic @kamimagic.bsky.social · 1d

Did they really need all that law enforcement for one weiner dog?

#ProudBlue

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Reposted by Andrew Robertson

Barry Dorrans @blowdart.me · 1d

It's Patch Tuesday and ASP.NET Core has a doozy, with a CVSS score of 9.9, our highest ever. Let's examine why.

The bug enables http request smuggling, which on its own for ASP.NET Core would be nowhere near that high, but that's not how we rate things...

* Thread- (1/7)

Microsoft Security Advisory CVE-2025-55315: .NET Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability · Issue #371 · dotnet/announcements

Microsoft Security Advisory CVE-2025-55315: .NET Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability Executive summary Microsoft is releasing this security advisory to provide information about a vulnerability i...

github.com

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Reposted by Andrew Robertson

Evan Sutton @evansutton.bsky.social · 1d

Even after we deal with Trump, we'll be cleaning up the mess he created for decades. Once you mainstream bigotry, it takes a long time and a lot of work to make it shameful again.

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 1d

every young Republican staffer is a Nazi, it's that simple www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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Reposted by Andrew Robertson

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

Hey news people: I know you like to pretend this doesn't exist, but you need to pay attention to the Nazi drama on Twitter. Basically, it seems as if Elon just restored two major neo-Nazi accounts that were banned by his product head, and might be about to fire the product head for banning them

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