Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 20h

But give enough monkeys enough typewriters and tell them who Mike Johnson is and they'd have tapped it out before long

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Zselyke Csaky @zecsaky.bsky.social · 4d

A reminder for the times we live in: once you break the rule of law, there is no easy way of fixing it again.

POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 4d

Poland’s centrist government is pushing to restore the rule of law undermined by the previous populist administration — but the country’s divided politics mean the chances of success are slim.

Poland tries to restore rule of law in the face of a hostile president

Polish President Karol Nawrocki is vowing to scuttle any effort to change the legal system set up by the previous Law and Justice party government.

www.politico.eu

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 3d

Clever, though it does raise questions for places that have a summer!

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Philip Bump @pbump.com · 6d

Oh, does it benefit the US to provide aid to foreign countries? That would have been good to know back in January and February.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 6d

“Stabilizing Argentina is ‘America First’.”

🇦🇷 🇺🇸

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Matt @tiredgenerally.bsky.social · 4d

the biomedical advances of the past twenty years have also been incredible. in a way, it really feels like we’ve been slouching towards utopia, so to speak, while society collapsed out from under us bc of changes in information technology/media diets

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الكسندرا ميراي @lexialex.bsky.social · 4d

Get ready for "one day"

meme: ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS
Omar El Akkad

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Sarah Parkinson @separkinson.bsky.social · 5d

“The blending of these elements gives the impression of seamless factual continuity. But instead of revealing hidden truths — as Israeli military officials insist, and as the international media readily amplifies — the visualizations actually blur them.”

Appreciate the research & the nuance here.

+972 Magazine @972mag.com · 8d

An analysis of dozens of 3D animations published by the Israeli army discovered digital assets sourced not from classified intelligence but rather from commercial libraries and content creators as far afield as Scotland and Port Orchard.

www.972mag.com/israeli-army...

@mekomit.bsky.social

How a Scottish maritime museum ended up in Israel’s 3D propaganda

An analysis of dozens of Israeli army animations discovered digital assets sourced not from classified intelligence but commercial libraries and content creators.

www.972mag.com

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 5d

"But they do the same thing in the US too."

Rights violations like this get held up by autocratic regimes worldwide as evidence that their own abuses are normal and acceptable:

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 6d

PERRY COUNTY, TN — a man arrested and faces felony “threatening mass violence in a school” for posting an image of Trump with his own words in a facebook group after Charlie Kirk’s murder.

His son calls it “an egregious violation of his 1A rights”
www.instagram.com/p/DPoq7b9Fez...

Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 6d

"China pushed more than 1 million people out of their homes... and flooded a vast area for the reservoir of the Three Gorges Dam. This year, China has been installing enough solar panels every 3 weeks to match the power generation capacity of that dam."

Why China Built 162 Square Miles of Solar Panels on the World’s Highest Plateau

www.nytimes.com

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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 9d

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted “no one has died” as a result of U.S. foreign aid cuts. In Myanmar, the grieving father of a 2-year-old boy who died after their food rations were cut calls such claims a lie.

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

bit.ly

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 8d

Crazy that this leak from US intel sources has not been a bigger story:

"Under international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict, the use of incendiary weapons against a civilian population or civilian objects is prohibited in all circumstances."

Netanyahu ordered drone attacks on Gaza-bound humanitarian aid boats off Tunisia, sources say

No one was hurt when two vessels that were part of a flotilla bound for Gaza mysteriously caught fire last month.

www.cbsnews.com

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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 9d

Famine’s Long Shadow

Even if food is surged into Gaza today, the history of weaponized mass starvation shows that the social aftershocks will reverberate for generations.

Alex de Waal

jewishcurrents.org/famines-long...

Famine's Long Shadow

Even if food is surged into Gaza today, the history of weaponized mass starvation shows that the social aftershocks will reverberate for generations.

jewishcurrents.org

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Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 9d

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 10d

New real-world AI usage data just dropped:

"The data suggests that for now at least, AI is an individual productivity tool — both at work and in our personal lives — rather than the broader workplace disrupter many in Big Tech predicted."

How AI became our personal assistant

New data shows the ways millions have integrated the technology into their everyday lives

ig.ft.com

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 10d

Might seem less insane if these tools were useful but...

"...the equivalent of about $1,800 per person in America will be invested this year on AI. Without these investments, economic growth this year may have clocked in at around 1 percent. Instead, it is likely to land at almost twice that." 🎁:

Opinion | There Are Two Economies: A.I. and Everything Else

www.nytimes.com

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 11d

With so much that is broken, the West needs to tell a new narrative to survive:

"If democracies learn to articulate a more ambivalent narrative — one that acknowledges loss, confronts vulnerability, redefines progress and pursues resilience — they may paradoxically renew themselves."

Opinion | The West Is Lost

www.nytimes.com

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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 12d

A better world is possible

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 12d

According to the City of Paris, in the last 10 years 150K trees have been planted & 45ha of parks created in the already hot city, all intended to not only improve quality-of-life today, but also help the city adapt to & manage summer heatwaves of 50℃ (122F) by 2050.

Just the start.

Common sense.

Paris before and after street transformation

New urban forest planted in front of Paris City Hall

A Paris “School Street” where cars are removed and people space/tree planting are added

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 13d

"Peacetime breeds rule-followers. ... War demands ratcatchers." 💪💪💪

Democrats Must Embrace War Mindset

We have exited a long period of peace and entered into a struggle not unlike war, in which all the old certainties have gone malleable and the future of the republic is at stake.

www.liberalcurrents.com

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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 15d

A new report from Bright Line Watch finds experts now rate the U.S. as a "mixed" or "illiberal" democracy. The rating is dragged down by Trump's attacks on institutions, a weak legislature, political violence, and partisan gerrymandering www.gelliottmorris.com/p/experts-no...

Experts now rate the U.S. as a "mixed" or "illiberal" democracy

Experts say political violence, Trump's attacks against non-partisan agencies and institutions, and partisan gerrymandering are their top concerns

www.gelliottmorris.com

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Oz Katerji @ozkaterji.bsky.social · 16d

On this day 10 years ago, Russia entered the Syrian civil war on behalf of the Assad regime, devastating infrastructure, displacing millions and murdering thousands of Syrian civilians.

Despite all of these widespread crimes, Moscow and Assad would go on to lose.

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 15d

Take the good news seriously too

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 17d

An incredibly important election in a tiny country just went the right way. Moldova has resisted a huge Russian disinformation campaign and will not become a Russian puppet state.

Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 18d

Moldova 🇲🇩 👍

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 16d

A valuable reaction to the Klein-Coates convoy and to general feelings of listlessness in these times:

"If you’ve figured out your core principles, then they will guide you about what to do. Remember, you’re not just performing an idea, it’s your life. It’s who you are."

You don't have to swallow frogs

Klein and Coates show that if you don't know what your core beliefs are, you're going to get played.

degenerateart.beehiiv.com

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 16d

"L’émiettement en cours élargit en apparence la marge de manœuvre de la présidence de M. Tebboune... mais au prix d’une dérive autocratique aux effets délétères..."

En Algérie, un régime en équilibre instable derrière le raidissement autocratique

L’affaire de la disparition de l’ex-chef des services de sécurité intérieure, Nasser El-Djinn, a révélé la fragmentation du pouvoir en clans rivaux que dissimule mal l’apparente monopolisation autour ...

www.lemonde.fr

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 17d

Recommended: Ismail Ibrahim's "House Arab" in Bidoun

House Arab

I was working at the magazine as a fact-checker and my parents no longer considered me a failure, not because they read or admired it, but because when they said its name to friends and relatives it s...

bidoun.org

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Andrew Farrand @afarrand.bsky.social · 17d

But if the US sees that much depletion of its missile stocks in a 12-day Iran-Israel war, how does the Pentagon expect to fare in a theoretical toe-to-toe with China?

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