Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 6h

Breaking News: A U.S. military strike killed six people on a boat in international waters near Venezuela,

*which is a war crime or a crime against humanity*,

President Trump said, asserting without evidence that they were drug smugglers for an unspecified group his team had labeled terrorists.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 6h

Breaking News: A U.S. military strike killed six people on a boat in international waters near Venezuela, President Trump said, asserting without evidence that they were drug smugglers for an unspecified group his team had labeled terrorists.

U.S. Military Kills 6 People in Another Attack on Boat, Trump Says

In a social media post, the president said the people aboard a boat were suspected of smuggling drugs for an unspecified group his team had labeled terrorists.

nyti.ms

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Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 6h

Look I'm not out here to try to judge consenting adults for their personal tastes and preferences, but the venn diagram of "wants to use Open AI to goon" and "legitimately alarming and dangerous person" has gotta too close to a circle for comfort.

Quantian @quantian.bsky.social · 6h

October 2025
AI gooning is the master of the Internet
Only Claude stands against it
Waifus are now battlefields

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Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 6h

It's really the least of concerns, but every time one of these freaks gets exposed they're obsessed with physical purity and look like absolute pitiful pudwhacks. It's been happening since *at least* Himmler. Just the biggest dufuses alive holding standards for others they couldn't ever clear.

Jane Coaston @janecoaston.bsky.social · 6h

the least surprising news of our time 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 Jon Ficke

LOLGOP ❌👑❌ @thefarce.org · 7h

As long as they didn't quote Charlie Kirk, their jobs should be fine.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 8h

POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

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Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 7h

literally had the exact same reaction.

Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 10h

To quibble with this, or maybe to expand on it, isn't this a feature of thousands of years of history?

I (*totally* not myopic and self-serving) read scripture* to justify or even to mandate action X (which furthers my personal power goals).

*replace with any appeal to authority as appropriate.

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Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 23h

Run of the mill 8-6-2, 2-unassisted double play.

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Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 23h

It was a good and fun play.

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Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 1d

Having read this unhinged take I can only respond by saying:

a man in a military uniform is standing in a room with flags and says `` right to jail , right away '' .

ALT: a man in a military uniform is standing in a room with flags and says `` right to jail , right away '' .

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Jon Ficke

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 2d

Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.

www.cbsnews.com

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Reposted by Jon Ficke

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 3d

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 2d

Look I’m not saying he was *right* but I can’t say he was *wrong*

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Reposted by Jon Ficke

Ari Cohn @aricohn.com · 3d

Some weirdo on Twitter has been absolutely melting down for like 36 straight hours because I posted:

When this is over, do not forget what ICE did, and what ICE is. And do not make room for them in society. Make sure they know that they are, and will continue to be, reviled and beneath contempt.

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Reposted by Jon Ficke

Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 3d

Also: if you work for ICE, even if you’re not one of the ones arresting citizens or tackling 15-year-olds or zip-tying kids together and segregating them by race, you’re part of the mechanism making it happen, and you should suffer long-term social and post-regime-change consequences.

Ari Cohn @aricohn.com · 3d

Some weirdo on Twitter has been absolutely melting down for like 36 straight hours because I posted:

When this is over, do not forget what ICE did, and what ICE is. And do not make room for them in society. Make sure they know that they are, and will continue to be, reviled and beneath contempt.

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Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 3d

Authors leaving is one piece of the puzzle, even less visible are the people who drop out before breaking in in the first instance because we can see the hellscape the industry is becoming and attrition takes us out before we find rep/debut deal.

J.T. Greathouse @jeremyteg.bsky.social · 3d

The absolutely nightmarish situation for authors right now is a big part of why I'm probably never going to stop teaching.

I like teaching, but it's frustrating that full-time authoring feels like it will never, ever be an option. At least until I hit retirement age.

Georgina Kiersten @ingloriousgigi.bsky.social · 3d

You should be concerned about the rate of authors leaving publishing. Especially from marginalized communities. This year I have seen so many authors just pack it up and go. And it's only getting worse.

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Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve wondered whether the is an analogous class of feckless cowards in the Roman senate during the death of the republic that history has generally forgotten the names of.

Maybe a question for @mikeduncan.bsky.social or @patrickwyman.bsky.social

James @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social · 3d

It's incredible the extent to which Congress just utterly refuses to defend itself. You'd think for entirely self-interested reasons you would stridently oppose having the power of the purse arbitrarily ripped from you, ya know?

Why would you allow yourself to become the Roman Senate circa 27 BC.

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 3d

Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it's to establish personalist control over the FUCKING MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine

Via: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 3d

I think it’s probably this

Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 3d

/3 It‘s entirely possible it’s a mix of (1) everything being a constant fire drill because there is so much litigation because they are so lawless and (2) they likely don’t like or trust the long-term civil service staff like legal secretaries and paralegals.

Jon Ficke @jonficke.bsky.social · 3d

As someone with memory of counting spaces and zooming in to confirm punctuation compliance with bluebook style in law school this kind of thing is a real witches brew of horror, shock, and schadenfreuede because these people are monsters who deserve misery in every facet of their lives.

Bradley P. Moss @bradmossesq.bsky.social · 4d

Someone gonna get fired …. @kenwhite.bsky.social @annabower.bsky.social

Reposted by Jon Ficke

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 4d

This man is being Gorilla Channel'd with a rotating selection of AI slop riot porn by several known white supremacists who are secretly running the government.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Trump: "Portland, I mean -- every time I look at that place it's burning down. There are fires all over the place. When a store -- there are very few of them left -- but when a store owner rebuilds a store they build it out of plywood. They don't put up storefronts anymore. They just put wood up."