Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Robert Francis @birdhistory.bsky.social · 11h

This was written in 1879, just a few years before passenger pigeons disappeared from the wild. These people are still out there

1 4 17

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Tibor M. Kalman @kalmantibs.bsky.social · 11h

"Slender-billed curlews were striking birds. They stood proud with their long legs and slim, pointed, black bill. Their calls were sweet and whistling, but somewhat haunting. It is a sad fact that this bird will never be seen or heard again."

💔🌍🕊️

theconversation.com/slender-bill...

Slender-billed curlews are officially extinct – here’s why the loss of these migratory birds really matters

Why the loss of this species shines light on the global extinction crisis.

theconversation.com

4 14 29

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Saoirse Ní Chiaragáin @miseryvulture.bsky.social · Dec 17

Now, more than ever, you have to be a weird little pervert who makes art of questionable quality. You need to be driven crazy by the flesh. Because, as we all learned from Cronenberg's The Fly, the computers are not made crazy by the flesh. They can't do it like us.

10 520 1.3K

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 10h

I have long believed that we should be WAY more vocal about how police and ICE constantly murder dogs, and I think this is great messaging actually.

The reality is that you can mobilize a whole lot of usually tuned-out Americans around a “someone is being mean to hecking doggos” cause.

37 280 1.5K

Reposted by Mike Westphal

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 7h

no surprise here, jd vance has a vested interest in being able to be an open nazi in american politics

Ghostin this Hell @hoovybaby.bsky.social · 8h

38 320 2.4K

Reposted by Mike Westphal

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 7h

curious to know what text chats our vice president is in

29 82 1.5K

Reposted by Mike Westphal

wmj3.bsky.social @wmj3.bsky.social · 6h

Gotta wonder if Vance shared this passage with Usha and the kids.

6 29

Mike Westphal @mfwestphal.bsky.social · 6h

Impressed with Bondi’s pro impersonation of Dedra Meero here

Aviel Roshwald @avielroshwald.bsky.social · 7h

Inflatable-frog wreckers and saboteurs to be held to account, vows Andrey Vyshinsky’s reincarnation.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7h

AG Bondi: "We're gonna get to the funding of antifa, we're gonna get to the root of antifa, and we're gonna find and charge all of those people who are causing this chaos in Portland and all these other cities across our country."

1

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.bsky.social · 11h

To everyone who says, "But this won't matter": *MAKE IT MATTER.*

You have that power! This is not inside baseball and your friends and neighbors will likely be appalled. And if they're *not* appalled, don't be cynical yourself. Take the lead, give the cue.

Politico @politico.com · 15h

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.

Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

‘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

51 960 2.6K

Reposted by Mike Westphal

lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 9h

only surprising thing about the racist young republican groupchat is that jd vance wasn't in there dropping crylaugh emoji reacts

23 140 1.7K

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Your Internet Friend Tom Tomorrow @tomtomorrow.bsky.social · 8h

there was a very sad, very cynical harlan ellison story about a couple who could live forever in a moment frozen in time as long as they never talked to each other. Now we might have the singular version of that particular torment nexus.

Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 9h

The one good thing about them taking the horny restraints off ChatGPT is that we will never hear from some people again

7 24 250

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Ra'chel R @ra-chel.bsky.social · 6h

Absolutely!!

1 1

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 10h

Q: Politico reported on a group chat of young Republicans. Does this just reflect some bad apples?

HOCHUL: Some bad apples? These are the future of the GOP. This is so vile it's hard to find the words to put into context ... there's gotta be consequences ... this bullshit has to stop.

390 3.4K 12K

Mike Westphal @mfwestphal.bsky.social · 6h

All that fake outrage. They weren’t outraged. They were just caught in the act.

Ra'chel R @ra-chel.bsky.social · 8h

Surprisingly, one of the two from KS was fired. Kansas Republican Party chair denounced the Kansas Young Republicans, and announced that the organization was inactive.
www.cjonline.com/story/news/p...

Kansas Young Republicans go inactive after racist chat leaks

The Kansas Young Republicans vice chair, a former candidate for Topeka City Council, was fired from the Attorney General's Office for his comments.

www.cjonline.com

1 1 1

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Ellen Datlow @datlow.bsky.social · 10h

The formerly titled The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy is finally available as an ebook from Open Road. We had to change the title for legal reasons but here it is.
openroadmedia.com/.../the-big-...
Here's to a new life for one of my favorite, mixed-genre anthologies.

cover for The Big Book of SF&F (aka The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)

4 10 35

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 6h

The official government account for DHS appears to be run by far-right trolls deliberately trying to provoke a response by using a term openly associated with ethnic cleansing. They will attack anyone who points this out and express faux outrage at the suggestion. They know what they are doing.

Remigration Wikipedia Page.

Not to be confused with Return migration.
Remigration is an originally European far-right proposal of ethnic cleansing via the mass deportation of non-white immigrants and their descendants, sometimes including those born in Europe, to their place of racial ancestry.
It is popular especially within the Identitarian movement. Some proponents of remigration suggest excluding some persons with non-European background from such a mass deportation, based on a varyingly defined degree of assimilation into European culture.

57 740 1.7K

Reposted by Mike Westphal

John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · Mar 27

A lot of love for Drew Struzan rolling through the feeds right now. If I had to pick a favorite, it’s this one. ♾️

The best Blade Runner poster ever created. Art by the legendary Drew Struzan.

2 33 120

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Kate Clancy @kateclancy.bsky.social · 18h

I am being asked to tell my department which pieces of lab equipment should be supported with backup power because they expect rolling blackouts and brownouts in 2026 due to increased energy demands from AI. In case you're wondering how my day is going.

23 530 1.2K

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Split/Lip Press @splitlippress.com · 16h

10/10 all true, and Aubrey makes this so easy to understand in her newsletter! We should have had her make this graphic for us a long time ago!!!

Aubrey Hirsch @aubreyhirsch.bsky.social · 18h

Did you know that if you buy my book on Amazon, Jeff Bezos makes 5 times as much as I do on each copy sold? Sharing some behind-the-scenes book math on why buying directly from presses is best for EVERYONE (except Bezos) in my newsletter today! aubreyhirsch.substack.com/p/book-math

8 18

Reposted by Mike Westphal

ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 15h

The whites are literally arguing it's literally *unconstitutional* if they're not OVERREPRESNTED in Congress.

Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 16h

Just so everyone is clear, the main issue in the Supreme Court voting rights case tomorrow is whether it's racist against white people to enforce the Voting Rights Act.

I'm dead serious. We live in incredibly stupid times.

38 410 1.4K

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 16h

I'm going to be doing an intense two-hour intensive later this month, and: Check it out!

Being Your Own Best Editor - Five Things I've Learned

Join me in this live two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned about how you can make your writing more effective, clearer, and sharper. For more than thirty years I’ve worked to help ...

myfivethings.com

1 15 32

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Matt Zoller Seitz @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social · 18h

Incredible interview with Tim Curry, with great stuff about his development of the Dr. Frank N. Furter performance, his father's early death, his explosively bipolar mother, and surviving a stroke. I wish nothing but the best for this amazing man.

Dr Phoenix CS Andrews @thatdocphoenix.com · 18h

I love him so much (same problem on mobile)

John Self @john-self.bsky.social · 19h

Good interview with Tim Curry but annoying format where you have to pause and read a couple of pull-quotes every so often before you can move on. (On desktop anyway.)

3 18 87

Mike Westphal @mfwestphal.bsky.social · 16h

This rabbit hole is well worth going down

Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 1d

We are living through the most consequential shift in the constitutional government of the United States in over a hundred and fifty years and nobody seems to have even noticed yet.

Mike Black @mikeblack114.bsky.social · 1d

Congress no longer holds the power of the purse, the executive can just do whatever they want with federal monies

1

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 19h

They are terrified of the No Kings rallies and doing everything they can to discredit them.

If you're on the fence about going, just think of how much it'll piss off these assholes.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19h

Emmer: "We call it the 'Hate America' rally because you'll see the hate for America all over this thing when they show up. The rumor is that they can't end this shutdown because this small but very violent and vocal group is the only one that's happy about this."

310 1.5K 5.7K

Reposted by Mike Westphal

Richard Kadrey @richardkadrey.bsky.social · 19h

Spotify is running recruitment ads for ICE and their owner is helping to develop military AI. Maybe hit that "cancel my account" button?

Santiago Mayer @santiagomayer.com · 1d

Spotify is now running recruitment ads for ICE.

It’s time to cancel your account.

17 400 560