Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 5m

Sure it’s reduced risk,(tho over 40% asymptomatic is a lot,) but it’s still risk for yourself and others, and living with it means adapting. With something that can completely derail the life of even the healthiest people, throwing on a mask is simple, not this massive chore they make it out to be.

Reposted by Briana Mackay

Julia Doubleday @juliadoubleday.bsky.social · 3h

People continue to call COVID advocates’ pleas for masking “unreasonable”.

Yet people who’ve already been disabled by COVID have no choice but to live with the “unreasonable” burdens of constant COVID safety.

My latest:
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Beyond all reason

Long COVID patients are constantly harangued about our requests for COVID safety. Yet what we're asking for is far less than what we're called on to do to survive.

substack.com

4 57 160

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 33m

Putting on a mask on your face is “living like you have long covid,” be real ffs. That’s so absurd & insulting to millions of people suffering with it. What a childish perspective. How would a mask prevent you from helping people??!
You know what CAN prevent you from that? Chronic illness/disability

1

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 4h

A good thing! So you still believe that what you’d deem “severe cases” are the only thing to worry about? Enough people aren’t sick enough for you to care? Are you unaware of Long Covid? Zero or mild symptoms can lead to Long Covid. You’re like years behind here, it’s exhausting, go educate yourself

1

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 4h

The only ppl concerned about conformity are the ones refusing to mask as this virus continues to mutate, spread, and disable people. And it still kills people. The fact that you think masking undermines “normalcy” says a lot. Who the fuck care about “normalcy?” Disabling/killing ppl is ok? Normal?

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 4h

It’s not “for me,” that’s the entire point. Only one of us here is only thinking of themselves.

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 4h

So you only exist for yourself, you live in a vacuum? No, your choices affect others. You act like you’re stating facts but you’re going on feelings and vibes, that you’ve decided work for you, when in reality/long run they work for no one.
Not being selfish and ableist isn’t unreasonable.

1

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 5h

So facts = mania to you? Even if that stuff were true, on what planet is everyone vaxxed?? You don’t have to be symptomatic, with any virus, you’re contagious even before you’re showing symptoms. This is basic stuff. Outside isn’t magic. This is all widely documented for years. Get a grip on reality

1

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 6h

Meant to say “annoy people? Huh?” As in I honestly have no clue what you’re talking about with that. Who is saying the goal of protests is to annoy people?? What does that have to do with anything

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 6h

Zero idea what you’re trying to say there. Annoy people, huh? What is anti-vax?? The vax is one tool, not the end all be all. It’s important of course but doesn’t absolve you of responsibility, you can still make other people sick.

1

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 6h

And? The ones we currently have aren’t sterilizing vaccines so you can still spread & catch it, and end up with Long Covid, or disable/kill someone else. The vaccine reduces severity and death, it’s not a “vax & relax” situation, that was a lie sold 4 years ago, that should be pretty obvious by now

1

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 17h

Have you tried the black Trident? I find the size “regular with extended straps” to be really close to the fit of an Aura for me. I’ll wear them for shorter spurts because my nose bridge gets a tiny bit sore after a long wear, it’s not perfect, but it’s nice to feel safe in a black one finally!

2

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 17h

A person has no way of knowing for certain at any given time that they don’t have it, but they can still be sharing it.
And we’ve known for a long time that transmission can absolutely occur outside.
You can’t protest if your health is robbed by a virus & you could be robbing others of that chance

2 4

Reposted by Briana Mackay

Julia Doubleday @juliadoubleday.bsky.social · 1d

I’m sorry that THE SITUATION feels unreasonable. It’s fair to say that the situation is unmanageable, a situation that all the ppl who already have contracted long covid and who can’t afford more infections have been thrust into. That is something to take up with the govt - a reason to be furious

1 27 230

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 1d

Leaving the cardiologist disappointed, exhausted, pissed, over it. The only person in a mask. Resistance from nurses when nicely ask them to mask while sharing the air in a tiny room with me. I’m the unreasonable, weird one, despite THOUSANDS of studies showing the ways Covid damages the heart. FFS.

3 6

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 1d

The vaccines we currently have aren’t sterilizing vaccines, though. You can still catch and spread it. Doing what you can to avoid spread it is wearing a mask and cleaning the air.
And there’s no way to always know when you’re sick, you can be pre- or asymptomatic and have no idea.

2 28

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 1d

Here to say the same, so well said and very much appreciated. I wish people would listen and understand.

4

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 1d

So ridiculous, glad he let me know I should unfollow. And the OP he’s responding to suggested we all just wash our hands, so clearly a very informed exchange.

6

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 2d

Exactly! I’m getting so tired of the lack of inclusion, and just basic human compassion, when it comes to many people in all areas of activism. People who claim to care deeply about things yet feel totally cool with excluding people with disabilities. It’s gross.

2

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 2d

Thank you for organizing a virtual rally, they seriously need to do a lot better. No excuses for not offering a virtual option in 2025. They should advocate for wearing masks at the events as well. Almost no one else was masked last time, so disappointing.

1 1

Reposted by Briana Mackay

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 2d

ai is a fascist tool. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Ilyasah Shabazz didn’t want to look at the AI-generated videos of her father, Malcolm X. The seemingly realistic clips — made by OpenAI’s new video-maker Sora 2 — show the legendary civil rights activist making crude jokes, wrestling with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and talking about defecating on himself.

“It is deeply disrespectful and hurtful to see my father’s image used in such a cavalier and insensitive manner when he dedicated his life to truth,” Shabazz, whose father was assassinated in front of her in 1965 when she was 2, told The Washington Post. She questioned why the developers were not acting “with the same morality, conscience, and care … that they’d want for their own families.”

18 360 1.2K

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 2d

Ugh. I miss old Twitter. Doomscrolling there was at least entertaining and informative. There was camaraderie. This app is no fun anymore. My feed is a random, boring mess. And the “trending” list is nothing but sports, I literally could not care less about something.

A screenshot of Bluesky’s list of what is tending which is nothing but sports. Sports. Sports. Yuck.

1 1

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 3d

Wait, what?! That’s just embarrassing. Now I’m extra glad I’d already written it off because of Leto, but sucks because my family really likes Legacy and Uprising.

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 4d

I keep telling this to my dad, but he’s a man obsessed. And raking messes him up physically, but it’s an affliction with the boomers I guess, I don’t get it. I’ve even tried hiding the rakes. 🤦‍♀️

1

Briana Mackay @brimack.bsky.social · 5d

This is beyond demented and unnecessary.

“Usage of ChatGPT, he noted, has jumped 10-fold in the past 18 months.”

Just stop using AI. Be done. We’ve lived without it our entire lives until now. It massively sucks. And the cost is our fucking planet. Our kids’ future is BLEAK, why make it worse?

Stand.earth @stand.earth · 5d

That’s a lot of electricity.

So is the amount Microsoft is expected to need by 2030 – as much as the entire region of New England 🤯

https://bit.ly/48kXDBS

Let’s be clear: AI data centers must run on 24/7 renewable energy, or not be built at all: https://bit.ly/48eVKqf

Sam Altman’s AI empire will devour as much power as New York City and San Diego combined. Experts say it’s ‘scary’ | Fortune

Andrew Chien told Fortune he’s been a computer scientist for 40 years but we’re close to “some seminal moments for how we think about AI and its impact on society.”

fortune.com