Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by laura c

ashley scarebanks 💀🕯️ @ziibiing.com · 2h

Generating a 5 second video is the energy equivalent of running a microwave for an HOUR

We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard.

The emissions from individual AI text, image, and video queries seem small—until you add up what the industry isn’t tracking and consider where it’s heading next.

www.technologyreview.com

1 63 110

Reposted by laura c

Tom Parsons @tomparsons.bsky.social · 5h

'I was disabled by this virus nearly two years ago. It is not “crazy” to avoid a virus that already disabled me. It would be extremely odd to accept the public propaganda that this virus is harmless over my body’s own truth'

Julia Doubleday @juliadoubleday.bsky.social · 1d

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

7 23

Reposted by laura c

ktb ⧉ @kevinbaker.bsky.social · 16h

i try to not do this kind of thing, but a lot of the discourse over the last couple of days might be easily explained by the fact that memory loss is a long-term sequela of COVID-19

1 5 42

Reposted by laura c

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 1d

Fascism is such a fundamental attack on wonder and the human imagination and I think everyone should have the opportunity to let their imagination wonder as it wanders — doesn’t matter what you do for a living. Your mind matters! Your relationship with the universe is meaningful!

1 66 230

Reposted by laura c

Karl (sad trombone noise enthusiast) @brainnotonyet.bsky.social · 1d

Just a reminder the word remigrate is open Nazi language and should be seen as a threat of violence.

When the neo Nazis use this term their is another two words they use after it which are :or die

It’s important to understand the context that the word Remigrate is a threat to leave or be murdered.

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 1d

X post today from Homeland Security @DHSgov that says "Remigrate."
3:06 PM · Oct 14, 2025

3 300 730

Reposted by laura c

Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 1d

I also promise that this includes some people at your company that you don't even know are chronically ill because everyone has the choice of whether or not to disclose.

3 24

Reposted by laura c

Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 2d

Important to note that this isn’t a problem for the billionaire buying media properties. If they make them into successful rightwing propaganda? Cool more money. If it fails? Cool they’ve destroyed one of the few outlets with the resources to investigate them. Either way they achieved their goal

karl rove knausgård @uhactually.bsky.social · 2d

Lmao WaPo has fewer than 100K circulation now. It turns out “alienate your liberal subscriber base” is not a good strategy when the Republicans also hate you. www.forbes.com/sites/andyme...

The Washington Post Is Running Out Of Readers Willing To Pay

Once a titan of American journalism, The Washington Post now struggles to reach even 100,000 print subscribers most days.

www.forbes.com

21 370 1.6K

Reposted by laura c

Winifred Tylenol Spice Burton @authorwinifred.blacksky.app · 2d

Asserting you're uninterested in universal public masking is your right. The airborne virus that causes long term disability and death not being mitigated in any other way applauds your very good choices.

14 83

Reposted by laura c

s. eek smith 👻 @sesmith.lol · 3d

This special education news is really devastating and we're going to learn more in the coming days as we get more info and people figure out exactly what it means, but a reminder that disabled people are entitled to a free appropriate public education.

Amid shutdown, Trump administration guts department overseeing special education

Multiple sources tell NPR that, as part of the Trump administration's latest reduction-in-force, the U.S. Department of Education has gutted the office that handles special education.

www.npr.org

1 48 93

laura c @elmcee.bsky.social · 3d

Anyone able to tell me how they’re doing organizing classical music these days? I tried switching a few years back but their classical organization was an absolute nightmare, and that’s an important part of what and how I stream.

Reposted by laura c

Nick Rhodes 🇵🇸 @nickrhodes.bsky.social · 3d

This bit is key, too.
No land border with Egypt means Israel controls everything that enters or leaves.

2 76 190

laura c @elmcee.bsky.social · 5d

Re data centers being added in 2026: “Adding the two years together, and using the math from my prior post, you’d need approximately $1 trillion in revenue to hit break even, and many trillions more to earn an acceptable return on this spend”

Dave Infante @dinfontay.com · 5d

“I’ve spoken with over two-dozen rather senior people in the datacenter universe, and there was an interesting and overriding theme to our conversations; no one understands how the financial math is supposed to work. They are as baffled as I am, and they do this for a living.”

AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought

An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.

futurism.com

1

Reposted by laura c

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 6d

The vast, terrifying scale of Trump’s detention state

With $75 billion and thousands of masked agents, ICE is just getting started.

www.motherjones.com

5 120 210

Reposted by laura c

Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 7d

she goes to a different school though you guys don’t know her

Bobby Silverman @robertsilverman.bsky.social · 7d

Bondi claiming they arrested [checks notes] "the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa" has me in stitches

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d

Bondi: "Bondi: "Just like we did with cartels, we are going to take the same approach, President Trump, with antifa -- destroy the entire organization from top to bottom. We are going to take them apart."

55 470

Reposted by laura c

Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 8d

“We don’t have to approach and criticize this album as art, because it isn’t art. The Life of a Showgirl is made of Shein quality rip-offs of other people’s songs that are constructed shoddily and sold in ginormous quantities. Art takes time and care. This is profit. It’s content.”

WHEW.

No Good Art Comes From Greed | Defector

The packages arrived square and thin and carefully wrapped on Saturday afternoon. There were three of them, but only one was mine. If I could have rejected my package, sent it back from whence it came...

defector.com

44 240 1.4K

Reposted by laura c

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 8d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

420 9.8K 26K

Reposted by laura c

Nome @nome.bsky.social · 9d

11) I know I'm in the rare minority that's still masking because I take things like Covid seriously, but even outside of a pandemic, I have no idea what kind of person would willingly go through an airport unmasked.

It's... you're crammed in with thousands of people, from everywhere. Breathing.

4 46 540

Reposted by laura c

Guggenheim Collection @guggenheim.bsky.social · 9d

Lacerta by Victor Vasarely, 1955
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137325

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Gift, Mr. and Mrs. Alan H. Pollack, 1984

© Victor Vasarely

8 48

Reposted by laura c

the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 9d

you're already seeing & will see more stories about how various attempts at reducing energy use "aren't working," etc -- those are propaganda. this is fantastic

Jonathan @renewableenergy.bsky.social · 9d

Huge historic turning point — Renewables surpassed coal as the world’s leading electricity source for the first half of 2025!

#greensky #energysky #renewableenergy

13 1.1K 2.8K

Reposted by laura c

The Editorial Board @editorialboard.bsky.social · 9d

27. To be sure, I don’t trust the press corps to do the work that democracy needs. Reporters are happy to show a live feed of Trump seemingly not knowing what’s going on, but that’s the extent of it. They are not going to ask for the names of the puppet masters.

1 5 42

Reposted by laura c

The Editorial Board @editorialboard.bsky.social · 9d

17. This pattern is so frequent and so public that the DC press corps really should be asking, as @froomkin.bsky.social suggested:

“Is he a confused old man?
“Is he being manipulated by his staff?
“Is he delusional? Is he gaslighting us?
“Who’s in charge?”
presswatchers.org/2025/09/trum...

Trump: 'Am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening?' | Press Watch

Why is this quote not all over the national media? Because it raises questions about his mental competence.

presswatchers.org

4 18 64

laura c @elmcee.bsky.social · 10d

very much this thread.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 10d

I don’t really understand the people who think we shouldn’t situate the current moment in context of the last 25 years in American politics, including the actions of the three Democrats who were president during that time

1

laura c @elmcee.bsky.social · 10d

The fact that it’s a pro-accessibility power user’s alt text that they’re using to justify a retaliatory permaban, and thus leading people to suggest alt text is unsafe to use, is fucking maddening. This ban is harmful nonsense on so many levels.

Aveta👾🇭🇹 @aliafonzy.blacksky.app · 10d

Unfortunate update: Link reached out to BlueSky and got email back now on reason.

His appeal is denied. He will remain permanently banned on BlueSky’s side.

Here are the screenshots he just sent me as of 8:22 AM EST(my time)

A screenshot of an email from the Bluesky Moderation Team with the subject line “Bluesky Account Behavior” sent at 22:15. The email states that a Bluesky account controlled by the recipient, with the handle @spacelawshitpost.me, posted a reply with an image where the alt text reads: Charlie Kirk sitting in a white T-shirt that says “Freedom.” A negative consequence follows. The email indicates this post violates Community Guidelines regarding violent or threatening speech, specifically listing threats of violence or physical harm against individuals, groups, institutions, or the general public, and incitement of self-harm or suicide.

A screenshot of an email continuation from the Bluesky Moderation Team displaying a bulleted list of Community Guidelines violations. The first bullet point describes threats of violence or physical harm as including threats or encouragement of violence against individuals, groups, institutions, or the general public. The second bullet point defines incitement of self-harm or suicide as content that encourages self-harm or suicide. The third bullet point explains wishes of harm as expressions of a desire for harm directed at a specific person or group. Below the bullets, a paragraph states that users may not use Bluesky to break the law or cause harm to others and that all users must be treated with respect. The next paragraph informs the recipient that as a result of these violations, your account has been taken down. A closing paragraph thanks the user for doing their part to keep Bluesky a welcoming and empowering place for all users and instructs them to email moderation@blueskyweb.xyz if they have questions or wish to appeal the decision. The email ends with the signature Bluesky Moderation Team.

A screenshot of an email from the Bluesky Moderation Team sent at 08:11 with the subject line Re: Bluesky Account Behavior addressed To: Hide My Email. The email reads:

Hi there,

Thank you for reaching out to appeal the takedown of your account on Bluesky. We have carefully reviewed your case, including the information you provided and the activity that led to the suspension of your account.

After investigating, we have determined that your account activity was in violation of our community guidelines, specifically promoting hateful content or being disruptive to other users. We take these guidelines seriously to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all our users.

As a result, we regret to inform you that your appeal has been denied, and your account will remain suspended. This decision is final and cannot be reversed. We understand that this may be disappointing news, but we must prioritize the well-being of our community and maintain a consistent enforcement of our policies. We encourage you to review our community guidelines to better understand the expectations we have for user behavior on our platform. Please do not create new accounts, since those will be taken down for ban evasion.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

40 99

Reposted by laura c

A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 15d

Increasingly, I feel as if these self-proclaimed coalition builders talking about "winning the middle" aren't talking about the people they hope to win over. Rather, they're talking about themselves, and defining what it will take to keep them in the tent. Not opposed to purity tests; issuing them.

7 140 650

Reposted by laura c

Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 13d

Washington Post dismantled the platform Jamal wrote on. Discarded the fellowship they created in his memory.

They fired me unjustly for speaking the truth.

But I’ll never stop talking about my friend, writer, and amazing human, Jamal Khashoggi.

RIP, Jamal.

open.substack.com/pub/karenatt...

Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post, and the Cost of Speaking Out

As Saudi Arabia hosts comedians and courts gamers, the silenced voice of Jamal Khashoggi still echoes.

open.substack.com

170 3.7K 11K