Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 55m

A generation of people whose brains have never been allowed to develop their own critical, compositional or comprehensive structures, replaced instead by deep reinforcement of the dependency on exterior parental authority they start with?
Yeah, that's religious-totalitarianism-level catastrophic.

Athena Kugblenu @athenakugblenu.bsky.social · 1h

I think we have a window of opportunity to stop AI from ruining us that is slowly closing

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Pupils fear AI is eroding their ability to study, research finds

One in four students say AI ‘makes it too easy’ for them to find answers

www.theguardian.com

Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 2h

Yeah. As we've sort-of already done that, I guess I'd open music venue.

1

Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

PJ Holden @pauljholden.com · 2h

Oh I’d become a comic publisher.

doctober @docseuss.bsky.social · 1d

lets say a wizard has cursed you with a lot of money. you are going to become permanently brain damaged simply by being in possession of so much money. the only way out of it is to spend a lot of money on something ridiculous and not at all useful

what would you buy to break the curse?

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Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 2h

Wow, due to some (pretty serious) stuff going-on with one of my significant others, I hadn't been keeping up with the inevitable godawfulness around recent news. So Badenough's tactic is to go FULL MONSTER, then? We are so lost.

Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 13h

Keir the OK, Kemi the Dreadful. My SKETCH of Today In Is The Middle East Actually Quite Simple?
thecritic.co.uk/keir...

Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Adam @adamf23.bsky.social · 14h

Absolutely disgusting. The ECHR was created to deal with governments that think like this

Jolyon Maugham KC @goodlawproject.org · 15h

Woah! So Labour's position really is, 'telling us off for breaching human rights undermines the case for human rights'? Proper Trumpian stuff from Labour's answer to Suella Braverman.

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Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 1d

Thereby proving the point.

Unofficial BBCNews (World) Bot @bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social · 1d

Venezuela closes embassy in Norway after Nobel for opposition leader

Oslo calls the decision "regrettable", stressing that the Nobel committee functions independently.

www.bbc.com

1

Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 1d

NOTHING AND NO-ONE IS EVER READY FOR BLOBBY

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Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Santiago Mayer @santiagomayer.com · 1d

Spotify is now running recruitment ads for ICE.

It’s time to cancel your account.

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Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 1d

“An essential condition today for entry into the upper echelons of Conservative party politics is being willing to at least pretend that you think taking Britain out of the EU was a good idea. This is a never-ending lobotomy for the Tories”

Brexit will always ruin you in the end.
on.ft.com/4nZ6DBt

How Brexit drained the Tories’ talent pool

The party can’t keep expecting successful people to pretend that leaving the EU was a good idea

on.ft.com

30 170 670

Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 1d

Elon Musk is paying Tommy Robinson's legal bills.

The British media and political establishment is still on X and maybe this is the wake up call they need.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Tommy Robinson says Elon Musk is paying his legal costs as trial begins

Far-right activist is accused of refusing to comply with counter-terrorism police request at Channel tunnel

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 1d

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 1d

All together now...

Dan McPainInTheKnees @danmckee.bsky.social · 1d

“What’s the charge? Eating a seal?”

1

Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Dan Hirschman @asociologist.bsky.social · 1d

Two frames from The Good Place:

“Fun fact: Columbus is in the Bad Place
because of all the raping, slave trade, and genocide.”

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Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 1d

There are always a lot of folks around politics whose genuine desire to help blinds them to how counterproductive their contributions are. Knowing you're imperfect isn't enough to know the ways in which you're overconfident in your convictions. Conviction is no guide for insight. Quite the opposite.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d

Voters' voices are being shut out of British politics. Your Party has a radical plan to change that | Jeremy Corbyn

At our conference in November we will use a jury service-type model to allow members to discuss and decide policy, strategy and even the name of our party, says Your Party co-leader Jeremy Corbyn

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Disappointed Optimist @disappoptimism.bsky.social · 2d

If this happened at a steel plant there would be talk of government bail out to secure jobs

LopaLeach @lopa.bsky.social · 4d

Cuts equivalent to 15,000 jobs planned at UK universities – UCU www.timeshighereducation.com/news/cuts-eq...

Cuts equivalent to 15,000 jobs planned at UK universities – UCU

Proposed job losses almost triple since March as unions prepare to vote on nationwide industrial action

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 1d

The right-wing campaign group that helped topple Roe v Wade in the US is now working to roll back abortion laws in the UK, with the help of Nigel Farage.

Its first step? Trying to create a debate around "free speech"
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...

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Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Joel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 2d

The parade of these clippings from Prof Roberts is borderline hysterical. This is exactly the devil’s bargain with meaningless hierarchical celebrity that television routinely demands. Clunky slips aside, I like Rylan as a presenter, but I wish we’d notice how fucking weird it is.

Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 2d

Um. There’s a woman presenting this too.

ok.co.uk @ok.co.uk · 8d

Rylan Clark is set to delve into the eerie world of witchcraft in his new show, The Witches Of Essex.

4 7 37

Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Tammi, yeah, that one. 2.1 @tammi.bsky.social · 2d

I found a 19th century Cat Villain!

A huge chonk of a fluffy cat sitting on a table near an open fire. The cat is cream and grey and appears to be shaped like a barrel in a fur coat. They are scowling fiercely with their moustache and bewhiskered ears apparently flowing back into the cold wind. There's a definite vibe that this villainous cat twirls their moustache as they evict orphans into the aforementioned blizzard and think Scrooge was an easy-going lightweight. They are magnificent.

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Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 2d

This poll in The Times is still open.

Go to —> compass.pressekompass.net/compasses/ti...

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Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 2d

This is a) utterly terrifying and b) vital. Don’t turn away. The crisis is fixable because it is, ultimately, political. We know the chemistry. We decline the action necessary.

Gregory Norminton @gregorynorminton.bsky.social · 2d

The headline news that won't be headline news.

'A tragedy': World may have reached first climate 'tipping point' as coral reefs face collapse

Warm-water coral reefs - on which a billion people and a quarter of all marine life depend - are on the brink of collapse, according to a major new scientific study

www.businessgreen.com

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Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 2d

Stinky tofu
Guardians of the Galaxy
Chelsea Dagger

Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · 3d

Introduce yourself using only one food you refuse to eat, one movie you’ll never watch again, and one song you can’t stand

Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 2d

We got maybe half an hour into it and realised we just didn't care

2

Reposted by Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity.

Beagle Bunch @allowat3.bsky.social · 2d

Cruelty is their entire point.

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Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks to vaccines measles was essentially completely under control decades ago.
Now, thanks to a culture that sees scientific illiteracy as a badge of honour and has let smug new-agers hand rebelliousness over to the far right, we're back to the 1930's.
It's basically cultural child abuse.

VivianOfTheSierras @vivianofthesierras.bsky.social · 2d

Congratulations!
America is winning the Measles Champions!

U.S. measles cases continue to climb, with outbreaks across the country.

Thank a Republican in your state.

www.npr.org/2025/10/12/n...

U.S. measles cases continue to climb, with outbreaks across the country

In South Carolina, more than 150 unvaccinated schoolkids are under quarantine after being exposed to measles. Across the U.S., total case counts could be even higher than the official number.

www.npr.org

Rob Burton, once and future non-existent entity. @robertsburton.bsky.social · 2d

Also... Stopping folks watching things isn't their purpose.