Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 2h

Dang, the PlutoTV ads for this podcast painted it as fluff-filled. This is a pleasant surprise.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 2h

Time to return to self-hosted bulletin boards again. Most web hosts don’t pull down content unless it’s explicitly illegal or infringes on copyright.

Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 10h

The Facebook page ICE Sighting-Chicagoland with over 70,000 members has been taken down by Meta.

Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan, who was director of strategic response for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, said the page violated its policies on coordinating harm.

Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 10h

A Facebook group that shared information on sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Chicago area was taken down by Meta following pressure from the Justice Department, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Reposted by Smitha

Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 10h

The Facebook page ICE Sighting-Chicagoland with over 70,000 members has been taken down by Meta.

Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan, who was director of strategic response for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, said the page violated its policies on coordinating harm.

Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 10h

A Facebook group that shared information on sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Chicago area was taken down by Meta following pressure from the Justice Department, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Facebook removes Chicago-area page dedicated to ICE sightings after Justice Department intervenes

The Facebook page ICE Sighting-Chicagoland amassed over 70,000 members in recent weeks as the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz” has ramped up in Chicago and the suburbs.

trib.al

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Reposted by Smitha

Jeff Yang @originalsp.in · 5h

Korol is a US citizen. Her family hasn’t heard from her since she was taken, public charges haven’t been released—what crime did she even commit? 2nd-Degree Woodwinding?—and there has been no explanation for her “renditioning” across state lines.

We’ve moved into a new phase of Trump lawlessness.

Jeff Yang @originalsp.in · 5h

A musician, Oriana Korol, was peacefully playing clarinet with her protest band outside ICE facilities in Portland, OR.

When the band started playing “Ghostbusters,” ICE thugs suddenly poured outside, slammed her into the mud, arrested her and took her to a jail 9 miles away in Vancouver, WA.

Musician playing ‘Ghostbusters’ outside ICE facility is arrested by agents

‘Taking us citizens out of state to detain them without charge is a new action from the Feds and should be opposed,’ her band said

www.independent.co.uk

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 2h

ChatGPT-generated garbage ripping off Hayao Miyazaki = icing on the shit cake.

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 11h

Utterly unsurprising. It’s a safe assumption that there are innumerable group chats just like this.

Also, going off the photos included in the post, the people talking about the “obese Indian woman” really have no room to talk. But they probably call themselves “stocky” or “big-boned.”

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 14h

"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 driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery."

‘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 Smitha

JJ in DC @jjindc.bsky.social · 14h

13/
🧊✈️🤨 SEATTLE 👀

👉 A creepy white Avelo 737 on ICE charter duty arrives to pick up human cargo at Seattle's Boeing Field.

It will be serviced by Signature Aviation, whose owners include Bill Gates.

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Reposted by Smitha

Public Citizen @publiccitizen.bsky.social · 13h

Companies are dumping BILLIONS of dollars to develop AI data centers.

But they don't come without harm.

ONE center uses as much electricity as 100,000 households, & billions of gallons of water.

Real people are about to face the environmental & financial impacts.

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 13h

Okay, that’s good to know! I’m looking forward to seeing it all fall into place. Thanks. :)

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 13h

Started watching Andor S2 last night. It feels like a completely different show, and not in a good way. I assume it gets better?

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

I’m just so grateful to have this. And I’m so glad I never gave it up.

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

But that’s where experience comes in; if you know you’re right, you’re brave enough to play when others seem silent. (A friend said tonight that my cues/confidence help her…no pressure!)

And a newcomer also has that bravery, so we can both be anchors/guides for the rear players. It helps me a lot.

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

Finally there’s another person in the back of the 2nd violins whose playing I can actually hear. Most people around me play VERY quietly; I can only hear people way up front. So when I play a loud or weird passage but can’t hear anyone around me playing it, it’s easy to feel like I’m messing up.

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

Thinking something like “tech workers against” [Elon Musk/DOGE/the broligarchy/technocrats]?

I need to workshop this.

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Reposted by Smitha

Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.bsky.social · 1d

The perfect protest sign doesn’t exis…….

The New York Groove @nygroove.nyc · 1d

On today's dubious holiday, reread our report from the anti-Columbus protest this summer:

Chanting ‘Danny DeVito,’ Italians for Zohran tell protesters to get over Columbus already
nygroove.nyc/italians-for...

Chanting ‘Danny DeVito,’ Italians for Zohran tell protesters to get over Columbus already

Mamdani fans propose some other Italians to venerate instead of Columbus

nygroove.nyc

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

Got a solid poster mockup going. It looks like I’ll have to print it, though, rather than hand-drawing it. Ah, well. It’ll be worth it. Now for the back side…

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

The huge gasp I gasped when Hasan mentioned that the eating-with-hands hater is the son-in-law of Dinesh D’Souza!

Zeteo @zeteo.com · 1d

“Me eating biryani [rice] with my hands is something that outrages Republican Congressmen.”

Zohran Mamdani and Mehdi discuss the dangerous and dehumanizing threats of denaturalization and deportation from the Right.

Watch: zeteo.com/p/exclusive-...

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Reposted by Smitha

Zeteo @zeteo.com · 1d

“Me eating biryani [rice] with my hands is something that outrages Republican Congressmen.”

Zohran Mamdani and Mehdi discuss the dangerous and dehumanizing threats of denaturalization and deportation from the Right.

Watch: zeteo.com/p/exclusive-...

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

Sorry for apologizing too much. 😂 Kidding, kidding. Have a great day!

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

And I don’t want to perpetuate inaccuracies around feminism, either. So I do appreciate you calling that out!

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

Ah crap, too late, sorry. :(

Also, since this is still here, I now have no clue what I actually deleted, haha.

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

Oops, I meant to delete the original post and accidentally deleted my reply to you instead. Thank you for pointing this out. You’re absolutely right that there’s more to the female gaze than having a sexy man on-screen, especially since female flings/hookups are rarely depicted well.

Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

I hadn’t considered that it might not be an accurate usage. Matt Smith’s also generally un-problematic and comfortable playing eye-candy-type roles. Still, I’ll delete just to be safe. Thanks for checking me on that.

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Reposted by Smitha

Smörhuvud (he/surprise me) @guncelawits.bsky.social · 1d

I love my violin and am proficient at playing it because it has not once in fifty years had a UX or feature update.

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Smitha @smithakp.bsky.social · 1d

And for the record, I only like/repost others’ content about current events unless I have something of substance to add. I’m happy to post relatively shallow content in the meantime.

We shouldn’t feel guilty for indulging in fun; it’s an essential part of self-care in this grim and painful era.

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