Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Kirsti

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 6h

the people who say things like "TikTok is already a tool of Chinese propaganda, how could it be any worse" have absolutely no serious idea how bad the new MAGA TikTok is going to get in an authoritarian U.S. with no functioning regulators

3 14 82

Reposted by Kirsti

Accessibility Awareness @a11yawareness.bsky.social · 6h

Automatic captions make it difficult to watch videos because the viewer is forced to decipher misspelled or mistranslated words that appear in a string of text without any punctuation. These can be distracting and disorienting. Always edit your captions before publishing.

17 45

Reposted by Kirsti

Crystal Fincher @finchfrii.bsky.social · 6h

Seattle School Board Foiled City’s Covert Plan To Pay Cops With Education Dollars

Last week, the Seattle School Board voted 5-2 against reviving the School Resource Officer program at Garfield High School, which would have overturned one of the few, lasting policies won during the ...

www.theburnerseattle.com

2 10 29

Kirsti @kst.bsky.social · 5h

Oo! I didn’t realize P. Djèlí Clark had a new (as of last year) book out!

Atthis Arts @atthisarts.com · 8d

You may be familiar with Ring Shout or A Master of Djinn. Yet, if you haven't traveled with Abeni and her companions, please treat yourself! The exploration of secrets, the power of opening ourselves to others - knowing the true monster is weak - if we sing together. Abeni's Song by P. Djèlí Clark.

Abeni's Song

Check out Abeni's Song - IN DARKNESS, A SONG CAN LEAD THE WAY. BEWARE WHICH ONE YOU LISTEN TO. Abeni's Song by award-winning author P. Djèlí Clark is the enchanting beginni...

bookshop.org

1 1

Reposted by Kirsti

Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 7h

For the last five years, people being released from Cook County Jail have gotten out later and later at night.

In 2021, ~14% of people got out between 11 pm and 3 am. In 2024, ~40% of all releases took place in those wee hours.

My latest, for @chicagoreader.com

chicagoreader.com/news/cook-co...

Released from jail late at night

Over the last five years, the number of people released from the Cook County jail late at night has steadily increased.

chicagoreader.com

2 43 82

Reposted by Kirsti

Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 6h

You’ll notice that new developments in generative AI are always accompanied by new ways of depicting women without their consent—undermining their autonomy and harassing them—almost like it’s a pillar of the technology and its evolution

22 670 2.2K

Reposted by Kirsti

Jocelyn Leitzinger @jocelynl.bsky.social · 6h

It's like throwing your friends' lunch in the trash before the school bully even demands that you do it - not because you think it will keep you safe, but because you've always secretly wanted to

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 8h

I spoke with @insidehighered.com
@kathrynpalmer.bsky.social about OSU’s decision to cancel conference funds for racially marginalized students.

Under Anti-DEI Pressure, Ohio State Limits Conference Funds

The Education Department recently criticized Ohio State University’s involvement with a nonprofit that encourages people from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue doctorates. Now, OSU is rethinking ...

www.insidehighered.com

5 8

Reposted by Kirsti

Citizen.Coping @propcazhpm.bsky.social · 6h

This is a mf thread. 💜📚🧵🔥

Also, I have ordered speculative fiction from @atthisarts.com

Highly recommend
#Lit #BookSky #SpecFiction #Afrofuturism #SpeculativeFiction

Atthis Arts @atthisarts.com · 14d

All October, Atthis Arts is celebrating Black Speculative Fiction Month, and we hope you'll join us! We're going to start with a *spark*. This one is a must-read. Go get it. Incendiary by Gerald L. Coleman.

Incendiary: Poems & Essays

Poems & Essays

bookshop.org

1 11 11

Reposted by Kirsti

HMML @visithmml.bsky.social · 5h

🧵(3) The seven collections that comprise the Patriarchate’s manuscript library came from different neighborhoods throughout the city of Istanbul. Learn more in this story from Dr. Ani Shahinian, cataloger of Armenian manuscripts at HMML: hmml.org/stories/witn...

Witnesses of Light: Armenian Manuscripts as Testimony and Digital Memory After Genocide

“The extraordinary manuscripts held at the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul are a poignant testament to the survival...”

hmml.org

2 5

Reposted by Kirsti

HMML @visithmml.bsky.social · 5h

🧵(2) In 2004, HMML formed a partnership with the 84th Patriarch of Istanbul, Mesrob II Mutafyan (1956–2019), to preserve and share these manuscripts in digital form. HMML’s digitization studio operated from March 2005 to June 2009, completing the project with photographs of nearly 800 manuscripts.

A 19th-century manuscript depicting the Trinity as the Armenian letter Ա (for “God”) and a man—presumably the author of the text, Patriarch Yakob Nalean (1702–1764)—praying St. Nersēs Shnorhali’s wisdom prayer. The background of the latter depicts Constantinople and the Bosphorus Strait, likely viewed from Beşiktaş district. Collection of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, Ortaköy. (APIO 00157, folios 4–5)

1 2 8

Reposted by Kirsti

HMML @visithmml.bsky.social · 5h

🧵(1) The extraordinary manuscripts held at the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul are a poignant testament to the survival of Armenian cultural & spiritual heritage in the aftermath of the Genocide in Ottoman Turkey during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Learn more: hmml.org/stories/witn...

The opening folio of an illuminated Yaysmawurkʻ (Armenian Synaxarion), copied in 1684 in Constantinople. It depicts Saint Gregory the Illuminator (left) healing King Trdat (right) from a disfigurement—a story of healing that communicates a deeper meaning of what it means to be human beyond acts of animalistic authority, represented as the boar. Collection of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, Balat. (APIB 00002)

1 7 19

Reposted by Kirsti

Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · 5h

And, again, maybe the immediate answer here isn't "train on more disabled users' faces!" but rather perhaps stopping and thinking "hey maybe a sociotechnical paradigm that is literally predicated on and made of unending surveillance and a demand for certain 'right kinds' of bodies is bad actually 🤔"

Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · 5h

The increasing proliferation of facial recognition systems which often fail to properly capture and categorize disabled users with facial differences As Faces At All is leading to mischategorization, inaccessible systems, personal tech lockout, & other harms, & like… Yeah, dawg: we told you it would

When Face Recognition Doesn’t Know Your Face Is a Face

An estimated 100 million people live with facial differences. As face recognition tech becomes widespread, some say they’re getting blocked from accessing essential systems and services.

www.wired.com

1 17 46

Reposted by Kirsti

𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗡𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔓𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔢 @outlawvern.bsky.social · 19h

I only saw D'Angelo live one time. It was the Voodoo Tour, on the Pier here in Seattle. I remember that at some point he went into the crowd, and all the women screamed and jumped onto their chairs. When they got back down and I could see again he was back on stage with no shirt.

2 2 25

Reposted by Kirsti

Sussex Pride @sussexpride.org · 15h

On your phone or laptop, be sure to check out our newly expanded and interactive Delaware LGBTQ+ Resource Guide! Discover some great resources or click 'add listing' to includeyour own group to the databse.
sussexpride.org/organizations

Delaware LGBTQ+ Resource Guide

Visit the post for more.

sussexpride.org

1 2

Reposted by Kirsti

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 14h

You gently run your hand through the rack. You can feel it—pure cotton, rich wool, Irish linen. The plump buttonholes are handsewn; the buttons attached with a firm shank. You flip the price tag over. It's affordable

You buy the jacket and go home, which is only 15 mins away. Your apt is $600/month

Headline reads: Altman says ChatGPT will soon allow erotic for adult users.

420 2.1K 16K

Reposted by Kirsti

Tim Gruver @timgruver.bsky.social · 17h

Lovely mural in Third Place Commons honoring Octavia Butler, Lake Forest Park’s most famous resident, probably.

Designed by Stephen Crowe and painted by Katie Todaro, 2025. Butler was a frequent customer here, I hear.

A mural of sci-fi author Octavia Butler in Third Place Commons shopping mall in Lake Forest Park, Wa near Third Place Books where Butler was purportedly a frequent customer.

1 5

Kirsti @kst.bsky.social · 17h

Is it just me or did SDOT make way better decisions when Greg Spotts was still in charge?

1

Reposted by Kirsti

South Seattle Emerald @soseaemerald.bsky.social · 1d

Want to learn an ancient Hawaiian game about balance and sustainability? Just ask Uncle John.

At Marination Columbia City, Uncle John Kaohelauli‘i teaches Kōnane, an ancient game that reflects Hawaiian ideas of harmony, stewardship, and community.

Alex Garland reports here: soseaem.org/4ojXQtt

With a Handkerchief and Bottlecaps, Uncle John Keeps an Ancient Hawaiian Game Alive

Part history, part philosophy, Uncle John Kaohelauli‘i’s Kōnane lessons connect players to Hawaiian values of balance, stewardship, and community that colonization tried to erase.

southseattleemerald.org

1 4

Reposted by Kirsti

Jillian Whitton 🏳️‍⚧️, rising @jillianw.bsky.social · 1d

GREAT piece on the tensions between visibility and safety under fascism.

I've been thinking a lot about this too - I'm sure a lot of us have.

But going back isn't an option. And I wouldn't want it to be.

🏳️‍⚧️

Parker Molloy @parkermolloy.com · 1d

I wrote about trans visibility in a time of rising transphobia for @theverge.com www.theverge.com/cs/features/...

How trans visibility became a trap

People who have documented their lives online are discovering the dark side of digital permanence.

www.theverge.com

1 6

Kirsti @kst.bsky.social · 1d

What?!

Henry Snow @henrysnow.bsky.social · 1d

really don't love that some stores now use DoorDash for shipping without asking or telling you-- replacing unionized USPS or UPS delivery with gig work feels like basically scabbing. keep an eye out for this and warn your friends about brands that do this (Best Buy is the guilty culprit here)

1 3

Reposted by Kirsti

Aarne Granlund @aarnegranlund.bsky.social · 1d

This would not be possible in Russia, so at least you’re not there yet.

50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 1d

The Portland Frog army has now infiltrated Tulsa, OK and they’ve made an unlikely alliance with the T-Rex infantry and Sharks on Hoverboards mercenary forces.

This is truly terrifying.

3 19

Reposted by Kirsti

Kendra K. Levine @kklevine.bsky.social · 1d

Libraries have been moving to rely more on networks to fill the gaps of austerity, and now they are unraveling.

Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 1d

“ALL of Florida lost its [interlibrary loan] services as of October 1. This, of course, most harms those in rural communities. That means those with the most to lose and with the weakest access to education and entertainment materials are now wholly dependent on what their own library owns…”

The Current State of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (October 2025 Edition)

Grant money that should be going to library projects is going to state-sponsored propaganda, among other IMLS updates.

buttondown.com

17 26

Reposted by Kirsti

Guy Oron @guyoron.net · 1d

Earlier this year, @realchangenews.bsky.social vendor Don Lowe passed away. He cultivated a community of 50+ friends who cared for him in the last part of his life. They pooled their funds every month to pay his rent for more than 5 years. It truly shows how an act of kindness can snowball.

1 4 26

Reposted by Kirsti

KOIN 6 News @koin6.bsky.social · 1d

A clarinet player is apparently being held without bail on no specific charges at the Clark County Jail in Vancouver after her husband said she was arrested Sunday during a protest across the street from the ICE facility in South Portland.

Clarinetist playing ‘Ghostbusters’ arrested at ICE facility

The woman’s husband — who asked KOIN 6 News not to identify either of them for safety reasons — said his wife was tackled by federal agents while she was playing her clarinet arou…

www.koin.com

2 20 34

Reposted by Kirsti

graveyard dirt @upfromsumdirt.bsky.social · 1d

happy day of official recognition, little guy...

THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN'S WIFE • poems • upfromsumdirt

available from @kentuckypress.bsky.social - or (hopefully) everywhere books are sold.

photo of blue hardback book with orangish, goldish illustrations of a mermaid with a leopard on the front. the book sits on a desk with an assortment of stuff on it, lime an orange notebook, a blue sharpie, and a bottle of black.

photo was taken at about 3am. why isnt the poster asleep?!?

8 26 59