Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

oce @ocelittle.bsky.social · 1d

So now that ChatGPT is offering erotica, all the card processors should refuse to authorize subscription charges, right? 😒 Or was this only about the people using something to make money and not a corporation?

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Nash @radiodeadair.com · 19h

If you intend to keep using Windows, you can remove the "AI" garbage and telemetry with Windows 11 Debloat.

It also works on Windows 10, because Windows 10 ALSO has Copilot.

GitHub - Raphire/Win11Debloat: A simple, lightweight PowerShell script to remove pre-installed apps, disable telemetry, as well as perform various other changes to customize, declutter and improve you...

A simple, lightweight PowerShell script to remove pre-installed apps, disable telemetry, as well as perform various other changes to customize, declutter and improve your Windows experience. Win11D...

github.com

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 6h

Things are grim & terrible for so many rn so I hesitated to post this, but I got some good news this fall—I was granted a mid-career endowed professorship in recognition of my work. Because I often went years at my last job w/o even basic recognition, it means a lot to me to feel valued in this way🥲

Dear Professor Hicks:
It is a pleasure to inform you that at a meeting of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia held on September 12, 2025, the following resolution was adopted, electing you to an endowed professorship

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 4h

The first Jim Crow was enacted under the auspices that racism is a necessity and a great and natural moral good.

The second one is being enacted under the auspices that racism doesn’t exist if you claim you don’t see it and anyone who questions your motives about that is oppressing you.

Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 5h

Roberts has always felt that the suggestion that white people might discriminate on the basis of race is a profound moral injustice, much greater than black people being denied the right to vote bsky.app/profile/jayw...

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 1d

Everything about John Roberts's approach to the Voting Rights Act makes sense when you remember that John Roberts has has always been hostile to the Voting Rights Act, never believed it was appropriate, and has spent most of his 45-year legal career working to hollow it out.

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 5h

Roberts has always felt that the suggestion that white people might discriminate on the basis of race is a profound moral injustice, much greater than black people being denied the right to vote bsky.app/profile/jayw...

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 1d

Everything about John Roberts's approach to the Voting Rights Act makes sense when you remember that John Roberts has has always been hostile to the Voting Rights Act, never believed it was appropriate, and has spent most of his 45-year legal career working to hollow it out.

One of the Biggest Cases of the Supreme Court’s Term Is John Roberts’ Decadeslong Pet Project

If there’s one thing the Roberts court has been consistent on, it’s this.

slate.com

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 4h

A radicalizing isolating funnel driven by ad tech

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 1d

We need to talk about how social media algorithms push moms down a slippery slope of distrust.

From "Are my kids getting enough support in school?" To "Maybe I should homeschool." To "Maybe modern medicine is bad."

I've seen this first-hand in research I'm doing on parenting apps. 1/🧵

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Bryce Covert @brycecovert.bsky.social · 5h

You don't find out until the 12th paragraph of this story that what Trump is doing is illegal. Just from a newsworthiness standpoint, how do you not lead with that? www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Trump is opting some of the government out of the shutdown

The administration is finding ways to pay troops and for government work Trump favors while targeting “Democrat programs” for layoffs or closures.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Ansley Erickson @ansleyerickson.bsky.social · 13h

Former Columbia Provost Jonathan Cole asks the university to bravely admit where it was wrong:

www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025...

Columbia must now show courage and empathy

Dear Columbia leaders,

www.columbiaspectator.com

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 13h

Some choice sections from the letter

Screenshot of article which reads: It takes empathy to feel for the faculty and students who, by standing up for their values and deeply felt principles, have suffered from Columbia’s reactions to their demonstrations. We have been through a lot over the past 24 months. I could not be prouder of our students and faculty for modeling what this courage can look like. Time has shown that the encampments and sit-ins put on by our students and faculty were in support of a just cause—an attempt to halt the inhuman treatment of the Palestinian people by the government of Israel. Organizations from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Israeli human rights groups, to the International Association of Genocide Scholars—as well as many nations across the world—agree that the killing of tens of thousands and the starvation of thousands of others in Gaza is immoral and unjust; it is consistent with the definition of genocide. Of course, some will disagree with this position, but surely this is not a matter of antisemitism, but of legitimate protest against a government’s actions.

Screenshot of the article which reads: Are we cowardly Lions who cower in front of a false prophet or in the face of a blustering, empty wizard in Washington who is trying to destroy our autonomous universities? President Trump has an insatiable appetite for bullying individuals and institutions, particularly great educational institutions. This is what would-be authoritarians do.

Columbia’s leadership must act with courage rather than capitulation. The future of the University is not a matter of federal negotiation. Making “deals” with this federal administration will not save us. There will always be another ask, even if it has no support in law or fact. Columbia is better than what we have demonstrated over the past couple of years, so let’s recommit to acting with empathy and courage. I urge our administrative leaders and the board of trustees at Columbia to act now. We will be a better place for it.

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Jérôme Melançon @lethejerome.bsky.social · 14h

Every time students using AI to generate papers comes up, someone interjects with a more horrifying AI assignment as a... way to embrace AI?

Today's example: talking at a chatbot pretending to be a specific philosopher.

All fetishism of "great authors" aside, what the hell?

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Tim Dickinson @timdickinson.bsky.social · 12h

Un-presidented brass band at city hall in Portland tonight celebrating the release of their clarinet player from federal custody

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Janet D. Stemwedel @docfreeride.bsky.social · 12h

That’s super racist.

Gary Alexander @garyalexander.bsky.social · 19h

I am going to solve the "have young Republicans always been like this" discourse in one sentence: While it has long been possible to correctly identify their racism, either because you were politically educated or racially minoritized, they are now racist in a way that even white liberals can tell.

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Gary Alexander @garyalexander.bsky.social · 19h

I am going to solve the "have young Republicans always been like this" discourse in one sentence: While it has long been possible to correctly identify their racism, either because you were politically educated or racially minoritized, they are now racist in a way that even white liberals can tell.

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Janet D. Stemwedel @docfreeride.bsky.social · 12h

If the doctors are also trained on the AI-generated anatomy textbooks, this is going to be a real party…

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · 16h

2021, MSFT claimed a Teams app could read emotional affect & I's like "holy shit this will fuck over so many Black & autistic & otherwise neurodivergent & women & non-binary ppl & ppl w/ chronic pain & … like Everybody at any of those intersections."

This PainChek thing is that, but a doctors' tool

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 1d

Facial expressions common to all humans! 🙃

PainChek is one of these behavioral models, and it acts like a camera‑based thermometer, but for pain: A care worker opens the app and holds a phone 30 centimeters from a person’s face. For three seconds, a neural network looks for nine particular microscopic movements—upper‑lip raise, brow pinch, cheek tension, and so on—that research has linked most strongly to pain. Then the screen flashes a score of 0 to 42. “There’s a catalogue of ‘action‑unit codes’—facial expressions common to all humans. Nine of those are associated with pain,” explains Kreshnik Hoti, a senior research scientist with PainChek and a co-inventor of the device. This system is built directly on the foundation of FACS. After the scan, the app walks the user through a yes‑or‑no checklist of other signs, like groaning, “guarding,” and sleep disruption, and stores the result on a cloud dashboard that can show trends.

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 1d

We need to talk about how social media algorithms push moms down a slippery slope of distrust.

From "Are my kids getting enough support in school?" To "Maybe I should homeschool." To "Maybe modern medicine is bad."

I've seen this first-hand in research I'm doing on parenting apps. 1/🧵

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Hunter @hunterub.bsky.social · 17h

There's literally no reason for Congress to exist if any random freak in the presidential orbit can nullify laws and seize federal funds. All of this is plainly illegal, but Mike Johnson leads the most corrupt Congress in US history (and by a wide margin.)

Reuters @reuters.com · 22h

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers reut.rs/4qjMIyT

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers

White House budget director Russell Vought said he wants to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and expects to do so within the next two to three months.

reut.rs

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 14h

‼️ this is one of the reasons why the Musk shutdown of USAID broke me, like

Congress said 'we're allocating these funds to save lives'

a random asshole with too much money and unresolved bitterness about the end of Apartheid said 'no you're not'

so the funding disappeared??

and people are dying??

Hunter @hunterub.bsky.social · 17h

There's literally no reason for Congress to exist if any random freak in the presidential orbit can nullify laws and seize federal funds. All of this is plainly illegal, but Mike Johnson leads the most corrupt Congress in US history (and by a wide margin.)

Reuters @reuters.com · 22h

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers reut.rs/4qjMIyT

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Black Aziz Anansi @blackazizanansi.blacksky.app · 13h

Promise me that yall aren't going to platform the eventual "repentent ICE agent" stories that will come out...

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Dr. Divya 🇵🇸🧿 (offline) @divyampersaud.com · 12h

19 hours left - six families rely on this one link, so when support stops, how can we expect them to survive?

Every dollar is being doubled for:

- Food
- Shelter / tents
- Winter items
- Newborn supplies
- Transport north

We’re matching 185. Last check 273/1000

Keep Hope Alive: a Gaza Giving Circle

We are a team of volunteers in the US and UK, led by two sisters passionate about helping our friends on the ground keep their families and neighbors alive with food, water, & shelter. We saw that…

chuffed.org

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Patrick Hickey, MD @pwhickey.bsky.social · 13h

While I’m happy troops and their families can pay the bills, there were other - legal - ways to accomplish this. This wasn’t one of them. We will all be worse off because of yet another law broken with no consequences

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 17h

President Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent federal funds to pay members of the military during the government shutdown, escalating his challenge to the authority of Congress on spending matters.

Trump Signs Memo Expanding His Authority to Spend Federal Money

The president gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wide authority to repurpose funds to pay members of the military without approval from Congress, which has the sole constitutional authority to decide federal spending.

nyti.ms

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

👻 ZH0000GE LIANG 臥龍 / 伏龍 👻 @shuchancellor.online · 13h

My nephew is a citizen and he is 8. What real protection do we have in this country beyond the grace of his minders at school and our own instincts as his family?

Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 17h

"The boy, who is Hispanic and African American, was held in a garage for five hours “without informing his family, stating any charges, or allowing him to call an attorney,” the statement said. He is a U.S. citizen, as is his entire immediate family, the release said."

Feds ram SUV after chase down residential street in Chicago, then tear-gas crowd

The crash happened late Tuesday morning near 105th Street and Avenue N in the East Side neighborhood. Two men being pursued were arrested as were two bystanders. The crash drew dozens of neighbors who...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 17h

"The boy, who is Hispanic and African American, was held in a garage for five hours “without informing his family, stating any charges, or allowing him to call an attorney,” the statement said. He is a U.S. citizen, as is his entire immediate family, the release said."

Feds ram SUV after chase down residential street in Chicago, then tear-gas crowd

The crash happened late Tuesday morning near 105th Street and Avenue N in the East Side neighborhood. Two men being pursued were arrested as were two bystanders. The crash drew dozens of neighbors who...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Reposted by Janet D. Stemwedel

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 20h

NBC News has reportedly eliminated its NBC BLK, NBC Asian America, NBC Latino and NBC OUT teams

NBC News’ 150 Layoffs Gut Black, Latino, Asian American and LGBTQ+ Diversity Teams

The cuts affected teams across the NBC News operation and came as the network no longer needed to support two different news operations. MSNBC has begun growing its own newsroom, hiring swaths of tale...

www.thewrap.com

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🇬🇾🗽Sydette The Dreaded Gorgon🗽🇬🇾 @blackamazon.bsky.social · 13h

Thank you.

The real is that these people love a place that lets them pretend their inner desire to keep that out for certain people means women should never have ethics

Ghostly Bree @mostlybree.kitrocha.com · 13h

we're not shaming her for fucking, man. we're shaming her for fucking the genocidal animal carcass obsessed whackjob while compromising her professional ethics.

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