Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Bo Bolander

@bbolander.bsky.social

who the fuck WANTS their posts to go viral, have you ever had that actually happen? it's like getting a winning pull on a slot machine if wasps started pouring out the bottom instead of quarters

January 19, 2026 at 11:48 PM

Drinkthepotion🖤

@drinkthepotion81.bsky.social

"Engagement" discourse again? This platform is the antidote to the townsquare. We saw that experiment with Twitter and it turned into an algorithmic hate/misinfo CSAM generator. "Virality" is cheap and is rarely authentic. No algorithms is freeing and you choose your level of engagement.

Patrick S. Tomlinson @stealthygeek.bsky.social · 12h

If Bluesky is to grow and become a viable alternative for the "Global Townsquare," which was the point, it needs to compete on engagement and virality is a part of that.

It isn't competing. Engagement here has been falling for a year. That's a problem if you, like me, want it to survive and thrive.

January 19, 2026 at 11:10 PM

Drinkthepotion🖤

@drinkthepotion81.bsky.social

Black people and people color don't work?
And on this day for some asshole to even think that sentence before publishing.
We have NEVER reckoned with our original sin of white supremacy.
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

utopia deferred @utopia-defer.red · 15h

it’s just so crazy to see it happen in real time

Politics
Yet to regain the majority, Democrats would need to run more competitively among White voters without a four-year college degree — the mostly widely accepted definition of the working class — than they typically have done in the Trump era.

January 19, 2026 at 10:12 PM

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Molly Shah

@mommunism.bsky.social

Every year

Molly Shah @mommunism.bsky.social · Jan 15

Only quote I ever feel like sharing on MLK Day is this one

"First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice;

Martin Luther King Jr Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963

January 19, 2026 at 9:48 PM

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kat

@katbamkapow.bsky.social

jack asked if i would sketch up a poster to tell people in nearby neighborhoods about the partnership between flock and ring, and this is what i came up with. it can be printed on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper.

YOUR RING CAMERA IS AN ICE AGENT
[a drawing of a ring camera with an ice agent dragging a person away in its field of vision]
"In October of 2025, Amazon's Ring announced its partnership with FLOCK, an A.I. surveillance group that freely shares its footage with ICE, the secret service, and the navy. Flock customers can use A.I. tools to sift through footage to assist in all manner of operations (like raids and deportations) without a warrant. Unplug Ring! Melt ICE! Protect your neighbors!
See: https://blog.ring.com/about-ring/ring-expands-community-requests-to-additional-community-safety-partners/
https://www.404media.co/ice-secret-service-navy-all-had-access-to-flocks-nationwide-network-of-cameras/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp9MwZkHiMQ
https://www.aclum.org/campaigns-initiatives/get-the-flock-out-resource-guide/

January 19, 2026 at 8:15 PM

Drinkthepotion🖤

@drinkthepotion81.bsky.social

If you're going to quote MLKJr's "I have a dream" speech today and consider yourself an LGBTQ ally, then you need to read up on Rustin. He was the driving force on organizing the march, until the committee said that he had to step away because he was gay.
Rights are intersectional.

January 19, 2026 at 7:58 PM

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Democratic Socialists of America

@demsocialists.bsky.social

“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.” – Martin Luther King Jr., Speech to SCLC Board, March 30, 1967. Photo of Martin Luther King Jr. speaking at a press conference on the release of his 1964 book, Why We Can't Wait.

January 19, 2026 at 6:27 PM

Drinkthepotion🖤

@drinkthepotion81.bsky.social

Theater is one of the queerest things ever! The hottest show if last year was "Oh Mary," was written and originated by non binary icon Cole Escola. These people have never gone to a play or a musical before because they fear culture. Art is inherently "woke." ❤️Dylan

Parker Molloy @parkermolloy.com · 16h

So apparently Dylan Mulvaney got cast in a Broadway musical... which resulted in transphobes losing their minds and threatening to "Bud Light" the show... and now the show's Twitter page is locked down. Cool cool.

January 19, 2026 at 7:34 PM

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Marisa Kabas

@marisakabas.bsky.social

ICE ended up returning the man, Saly, after realizing he’s a fucking US citizen with no criminal record, per his sister-in-law. These fucking animals.

January 19, 2026 at 5:41 AM

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Iron Spike

@ironspike.bsky.social

Fun fact: Black Panthers doing perfectly legal (at the time) open carry in CA in the 1960s spurred then-Governor Reagan to sign the Mulford Act into law in 1965, prohibiting it.

These people have no consistent politics outside a desperate, leering need to keep hold of power and privilege.

January 19, 2026 at 4:51 AM

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shaka 🦁👑

@beejonson.me

Y'all prepared yourselves for western liberals talking about how MLK preached peaceful protests, in a few days. MLK was a great socialist thinker and community mobiliser whose legacy and work has been utterly erased, whitewashed, and libbed up by the capitalist & white supremacist education system.

January 19, 2026 at 8:19 AM

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Mina Kimes

@minakimes.bsky.social

Quite a quote from Texans LB Azeez Al-Shaair, who was asked about his STOP THE GENOCIDE eye black after today’s game

www.usatoday.com/story/sports...

"At the end of the day, it's bigger than me. The things that are going through makes people uncomfortable, imagine how (Palestinians) feel?" he said. "That's the biggest thing. I have no affiliation, no connection, to these people - other than the fact that I am a human being. If you have a heart and you're a human being, and you see what's going on in this world, you check yourself real quick.
"I'm sitting here crying about football when there's people dying every single day."
Al-Shaair is the Texans' 2025 Walter Payton
Man of the Year nominee.

January 19, 2026 at 4:13 AM

Drinkthepotion🖤

@drinkthepotion81.bsky.social

If the international community is looking towards the dem party as an opposition force that will solve this, I'm going to hold your hand when I say this, they are not.
It's all about keeping their jobs so they can stuff their stock portfolios.
Sorry.

Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe their pollsters are telling them that the kitchen table stuff plays well domestically, but internationally it’s really bad. The Dems have their own sordid history of military interventionism. They aren’t trusted and their muted criticism says more than they suspect 2/x

January 19, 2026 at 2:28 PM

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Chronic Illness Humor

@chronicillness.bsky.social

onelife_livedwell - so much of healthcare still relies on the patient's ability to advocate, organize, and persist. But fatigue, brain fog, and systemic barriers mean those most in need often can't. Access shouldn't depend on who has the energy to fight for it.

January 19, 2026 at 1:30 PM

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Gretchen Felker-Martin 🍉

@scumbelievable.bsky.social

What all this self-pitying sludge about ICE agents feeling depressed and scared is forcing into our collective forebrain is the knowledge that our culture has placed a premium not just on creating classes of men who kill and torture at will, but on forcing the rest of us to love them at gunpoint.

January 19, 2026 at 12:44 AM

Drinkthepotion🖤

@drinkthepotion81.bsky.social

I expect the US teams to get the same reception in Milan Cortina next month for the Olympics.
And we deserve it.

Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 1d

“Leave Greenland alone!”

Heckler interrupts Star-Spangled Banner at NBA game in London, wins cheers from crowd. (Video via Reddit)

January 19, 2026 at 12:51 AM

Drinkthepotion🖤

@drinkthepotion81.bsky.social

They will have gravely miscalculated. And I'm not boasting. This city is way bigger than Mpls and most of the streets aren't conducive to the way they do their raids.
But yeah, I'll boast a bit.
The poles get greased when we win games. We're not letting anyone snatch our neighbors without a fight.

Jon Webb @jonawebb.bsky.social · 1d

I've heard rumors that Philadelphia is next for the ICE invasion after Minneapolis.
Maybe I'm wrong, but
1) More than 11% of all ICE agents are in Minneapolis, and they've utterly failed to pacify the city.
2) Philly is 5x the size of Minneapolis.
3) "Minnesota nice" is a thing. We don't have that.

January 18, 2026 at 11:46 PM

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Taniel

@taniel.bsky.social

I’m seeing a lot of people post that Spanberger has ended the ICE contracts.

She may well do so soon (it’s only day 2), and we’ll keep you informed, but that’s not what she did yesterday. The contracts are still in place — she would still have to decide to do that.

Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 1d

Abigail Spanberger did not end Virginia’s 287(g) partnership with ICE yesterday, despite reports to the contrary.

What Spanberger did do is rescind Glenn Youngkin’s order that required the state police + DOC to sign ICE contracts. She terminated the requirement, but not the contracts themselves.

January 18, 2026 at 8:45 PM

Drinkthepotion🖤

@drinkthepotion81.bsky.social

Actually, she only ended the Youngkin requirement for contracts.
Not the contracts themselves.
She didn't kick ICE out of Virginia.
Sorry about it.
#AbolishICE

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 1d

On her first day as Governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger made a decisive move: She vetoed Executive Order 47, ending Virginia's participation in the federal 287(g) program that allowed local law enforcement to act as ICE agents. www.whsv.com/2026/01/17/d...

Day One: Governor Spanberger ends Virginia’s ICE collaboration

On her first day as Governor, Abigail Spanberger made a decisive move by vetoing Executive Order 47, which ended Virginia’s participation in the federal 287(g) program.

www.whsv.com

January 18, 2026 at 9:39 PM

Drinkthepotion🖤

@drinkthepotion81.bsky.social

David Hogg should have your job.
We are absolutely coming for the consultant class.
People over parties.
All power to the people.

Jane Fleming Kleeb 🇺🇸thank you Pres. Biden @janekleeb.bsky.social · 1d

I work with state parties every single day. There are only a handful of national leaders who actually raise real money for the year organizing state parties do--Ken Martin (dnc chair), Simon Rosenberg (Hopium), Sen. Warren and Actblue. Come for Simon and you come for all of us.

Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · 1d

I'm not interested in arguing with the good people of Minnesota, on the front lines, doing the hard work of protecting our democracy. I've worked hard to bring your bravery and courage to the world in recent weeks on Hopium.

But attacks like this are false, defamatory, and need to end. 1/

January 18, 2026 at 8:29 PM