Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Iothisk Starclaw

@iothisk.bsky.social

I got myself a new toy, and I'm going to write and draw so much crap no one but me will ever get to see

LCD notepad with various doodles. Text: Smearing? Nope. Tearing? Nope. Sharpening? Nope. Changing pens? Nope. Saving for later? Nope. Papercuts? Nope. Distractions? Nope. Eraser shavings? Nope. Undo function? Nope. Embrace imperfection. Embrace temporariness. Write something heinous? Draw something regrettable? Gone with a tap. Begin again. And again. And again. Dimmer IRL FYI. OWO

January 19, 2026 at 5:14 AM

Iothisk Starclaw

@iothisk.bsky.social

Watching @kainik.com on twitch www.twitch.tv/kainiktf

kainiktf - Twitch

Unsupervised Drawing

www.twitch.tv

January 18, 2026 at 11:21 PM

Reposted by Iothisk Starclaw

Kai Kupferschmidt

@kakape.bsky.social

“akin to the idea that if we keep breeding horses to run faster and faster, one of them will give birth to a locomotive”
🧪

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 14h

Córy Doctorow with another verbal bullseye: pluralistic.net/2026/01/13/n...

I'm sorry. As a technology writer, I'm supposed to be telling you that this bet will some day pay off, because one day we will have shoveled so many words into the word-guessing program that it wakes up and learns how to actually do the jobs it is failing spectacularly at today. This is a proposition akin to the idea that if we keep breeding horses to run faster and faster, one of them will give birth to a locomotive. Humans possess intelligence, and machines do not. The difference between a human and a word-guessing program isn't how many words the human knows.

I'm sorry. I know that when we talk about "digital sovereignty," we're obliged to talk about how we can build more data-centres that we can fill up with money-losing chips from American silicon monopolists in the hopes of destroying as many jobs as possible while blowing through our clean energy goals and enshittifying as much of our potable water as possible.

January 18, 2026 at 6:37 PM

Iothisk Starclaw

@iothisk.bsky.social

Skills regression power, activate!

January 18, 2026 at 5:28 PM

Iothisk Starclaw

@iothisk.bsky.social

If you can't do it all by yourself, and you want help, get help.

January 18, 2026 at 5:22 PM

Iothisk Starclaw

@iothisk.bsky.social

Trying and somewhat succeeding at spending less time on my phone thanks to this bean

Bean from Focus Friend saying "boba is self-care."

January 18, 2026 at 4:13 AM

Iothisk Starclaw

@iothisk.bsky.social

Regular people like creativity but don't need it, so they'll settle for illusions of it.

Creative people don't like their creativity, they NEED it, and they grow weary of illusions quickly.

January 17, 2026 at 6:30 PM

Reposted by Iothisk Starclaw

Tangul Bei

@tangul-bei.bsky.social

Black Panthers have the right idea

January 15, 2026 at 8:36 PM

Reposted by Iothisk Starclaw

Fucking Bitch Hat

@kenwhite.bsky.social

Let’s talk about abolishing ICE.

Very few people who say “abolish ICE” mean “abandon all immigration enforcement.” Rather, they mean “the structure of immigration enforcement is irretrievably broken and needs to be reorganized, just like we did 23 years ago when we created ICE.”
/1

January 14, 2026 at 6:27 PM

Iothisk Starclaw

@iothisk.bsky.social

Once again, hoping I wake up to news about the MN occupation getting cancelled

January 17, 2026 at 4:11 AM

Iothisk Starclaw

@iothisk.bsky.social

I commit to staying off my phone for the next 2 hours and I better come back to some good stuff 😆

January 16, 2026 at 10:12 PM

Iothisk Starclaw

@iothisk.bsky.social

Onion really calling me out personally, it's defamatory I tell you

The Onion @theonion.com · 2d

Pioneering Female Archaeologist In Google Doodle Bears Silent Witness To Man’s Search For ‘Zootopia’ Porn https://theonion.com/pioneering-female-archaeologist-in-google-doodle-bears-silent-witness-to-mans-search-for-zootopia-porn/

January 16, 2026 at 8:10 PM

Reposted by Iothisk Starclaw

Zach Weinersmith

@zachweinersmith.bsky.social

As the guy who's been shouting into the wind against immigration restriction for 10 years, my new fantasy is to be an anti version of Steve Miller. I convince a president to send gov't employees into neighborhoods to set up welcome centers with language/employment services.

January 16, 2026 at 7:00 PM

Reposted by Iothisk Starclaw

IRL Loading Screens

@irlloadingscreens.bsky.social

Sources in the replies

January 12, 2026 at 9:18 PM

Reposted by Iothisk Starclaw

Fucking Bitch Hat

@kenwhite.bsky.social

In short, fuck this Nazi administration, fuck that loathsome Gestapo trash Tom Homan, and fuck the slobbering Nazi losers who support them.

January 16, 2026 at 4:51 PM

Reposted by Iothisk Starclaw

Trung Le Nguyen

@trungles.com

Abolish ICE. A little journal comic from South Minneapolis.

#iceoutmpls #iceoutcomics #iceoutofmpls

Just before Christmas, I got a puppy.
Her name is Minerva, and we call her *Minnie.

I'm still learning how to understand her.

Me: Do you need to go outside? Do you need to go outside, little baby? Do you need to do a poo?
Do you need to do a widdle piddle?

Minnie: Arf!

*I just call her "little baby" most of the time.

I'm also realizing I can't turn off the baby talk now.
Nobody tells you about that.

I got so lucky with my first puppy.
Her wonderful foster parents had her completely house-trained by the time we adopted her, so taking her outside for potty time has been pretty easy. I've got the puppy poopy routine pretty much down, now.

Me, putting on my coat: Let's see... I got the little poopy bags, puppy treats for bribes, jacket, scarf, phone… I think that's everything… Oh yes! And my passport.

I had been carrying around my passport for a while, but I knew it didn't matter. This is wrong. Nobody is required to carry around their papers.

I became a US citizen when I was seven. Since I was born in a refugee camp, I was stateless.
The US is the only nation where I've ever held citizenship. It's the only passport I've ever had, and it still felt important. Protective.

I would hold it in my pocket like a talisman, like it might ward off ghosts or something. But I realized I was holding onto it basically out of superstition.
ICE will pick up anybody.

I know that.

So I tucked my passport away.

And I largely avoid leaving my house.

I live a few blocks just South of George Floyd Square. I was in the neighborhood for that, too.
And all the neighbors came together to protect each other. We're already organized.
We'll do our best to get through this.

Me, to my dog: I hope I can take you for a walk someday soon. Won't that be nice, little baby?

January 16, 2026 at 1:27 PM

Reposted by Iothisk Starclaw

Jonathan Hoefler

@jonathanhoefler.bsky.social

While the pasty incels who work the federal agencies continue to churn out feeble, bloodless AI pastiches of Axis propaganda, here’s how a living breathing artist powerfully invokes design history. This is by illustrator Emily K in South Philly, a free poster-sized download on her website: →

January 15, 2026 at 7:57 PM

Iothisk Starclaw

@iothisk.bsky.social

May every evil meet its end today

January 16, 2026 at 4:46 PM

Reposted by Iothisk Starclaw

Mika - Tail Lover

@taillover.bsky.social

It's appreciate a dragon's tail day!

What? It's just appreciate a dragon day?

Well I say appreciating the literal best part of a dragon primarily still counts!

Go and appreciate the tails of all your dragon friends!

#DragonAppreciationDay