Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

@sp1nnylights.bsky.social

i feel so sad and angry at all the immigration stuff going on. it hurts everyone. immigrants in the U.S., people in other countries, everyone in the U.S. itself, just for the sake of meaningless, pointless racism and xenophobia. i wish i had something more productive or insightful to say, just upset

September 28, 2025 at 11:21 PM

✩ milky resonances ✿

@sp1nnylights.bsky.social

a landscape in utah

September 16, 2025 at 2:57 AM

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🌕🌏🌕🌎🌕

@townmap.bsky.social

YOU TOO can experience visions of the underworld, if only you'll join me...

Molleindustria - Wishlist FUTURE? NO THANKS! @molleindustria.org · Sep 1

Lilith Zone: The Immersive Experience
A show of games, crypts, and dungeons by Pittsburgh-based artist Lilith, one of the most influential experimental game makers imho.

This Friday + next month
LIKELIKE, Pittsburgh

likelike.org/2025/08/31/l...

September 1, 2025 at 8:26 PM

✩ milky resonances ✿

@sp1nnylights.bsky.social

apropos of relatively nothing, i think a nice way to think about (in Ruby) the syntax of `alias` and `alias_method` is as analagous to `def`; e.g. `alias_method :inspect, :to_s` is like saying "here we define a new method called 'inspect' that's just an alias of 'to_s'"

August 30, 2025 at 1:13 AM

✩ milky resonances ✿

@sp1nnylights.bsky.social

one upside of using vim is that when your cat walks on your keyboard it's particularly crazed 😂 as you can see this single line comes out to 3,539,131 characters (approx. 3.5 MB of text)

There is a computer screen with a black background showing only text with a monospaced font. The letters are various colors—eggshell blue, pale lime green, and white—with some horizontal slate grey and purple bars going across the screen and a few small numbers up against the left side in burnt orange-scarlet. Most of the screen is filled with the text "*6888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888/54r/"8u97777777*" repeating over and over. At the bottom of the screen where the horizontal bars are, on the last six lines, it instead says things in various places like "src/modules.hpp", "197,1", "74%", "virtual std::string blank_name() const =0;", and "[Scratch] [Preview]".

There is a computer screen with a black background showing only text with a monospaced font. The letters are mostly white, with some horizontal slate grey and purple bars going across the screen and a few small numbers up against the left side in burnt orange-scarlet. About 2/3rds of the screen is filled with the text "*6888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888/54r/"8u97777777*" repeating over and over, but starting from the middle. Most of the remaining two thirds is filled with repeating quote marks (i.e. `"`). At the bottom of the screen where the horizontal bars are, on the last six lines, it instead says things in pale silvery green, periwinkle, eggshell blue, and white, in various places, like "src/modules.hpp", "197,1", "74%", "virtual std::string blank_name() const =0;", and "[Scratch] [Preview]".

August 25, 2025 at 7:18 AM

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Alejandra Caraballo

@esqueer.net

No, HIPAA does not protect these records. Here's why, from my preprint.

5.1. The HIPAA Paradox: How Permissive Disclosures Are Exploited
HIPAA is widely, and often mistakenly, regarded by the public as an impenetrable fortress protecting all health information. In reality, the HIPAA Privacy Rule is a complex regulatory framework with numerous exceptions that permit the disclosure of Protected Health Information (PHI) without a patient's consent. State and federal actors targeting transgender healthcare have become adept at exploiting one of these critical exceptions: disclosures for law enforcement and administrative oversight purposes.
Under 45 C.F.R. § 164.512(f), a covered entity is permitted to disclose PHI in response to "an administrative request, including an administrative subpoena or summons, a civil or an authorized investigative demand, or similar process authorized under law". This is the precise legal loophole through which the Attorneys General of Tennessee and Missouri drove their investigations. By issuing a CID—a tool authorized by their respective state laws for investigating Medicaid fraud or consumer protection violations—they could demand vast quantities of patient records, and the targeted hospitals could argue that HIPAA permitted them to comply. This mechanism allows state actors to circumvent the need for patient authorization or a court-ordered warrant, as the administrative demand itself is deemed a sufficient legal basis for disclosure under the regulation.
The critical and often overlooked nuance, however, is that HIPAA permits but does not require disclosure in these situations. The regulation provides a legal safe harbor for a provider who chooses to comply, but it does not compel them to do so. This distinction is paramount, as it places the ultimate responsibility for protecting patient privacy squarely on the shoulders of the healthcare institution.

August 20, 2025 at 8:19 PM

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Alejandra Caraballo

@esqueer.net

Working on getting a copy of this up on SSRN this week now that I'm back from vacation. Incredibly relevant. bsky.app/profile/esqu...

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · Aug 13

Just submitted my initial manuscript for my law journal article on trans medical privacy. Hoping to get it up on SSRN soon as a preprint.

It covers how the medical privacy of trans folks has been eviscerated and how it is a model for the destruction of medical privacy for any disfavored group.

First page of a manuscript draft titled "The Death of Medical Privacy for Trans Patients," marked “Not for distribution” in the upper right corner. Section 1, titled "INTRODUCTION," discusses the foundational principle of medical privacy in U.S. law and ethics, emphasizing its importance for transgender Americans whose care often involves both health and identity. It states that legal and ethical protections for privacy have been eroded through coordinated legislative restrictions, executive actions, vigilantism, and administrative oversight, especially from Republican-led states and later the Trump administration. The introduction outlines how these actions circumvent safeguards like the Fourth Amendment and HIPAA, rendering sensitive trans patient information accessible to state actors as part of a broader political strategy against transgender existence. The article intends to trace this erosion of privacy through political context, case studies from Tennessee, Missouri, Texas, and Florida, and the escalation at the federal level, ending with an examination of the psychological, physical, and legal consequences, as well as the precedent set for politically disfavored medical care.

August 20, 2025 at 8:00 PM

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Alejandra Caraballo

@esqueer.net

The DOJ subpoenas to providers of gender affirming care wanted the therapy notes, social security numbers, and addresses of patients. This is an unprecedented and disgusting violation of medical privacy.

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Government’s demand for trans care info sought addresses, doctors’ notes, texts

Legal experts said the Justice Department subpoenas related to medical care for transgender minors appear to be unprecedented.

www.washingtonpost.com

August 20, 2025 at 7:41 PM

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@sp1nnylights.bsky.social

I did not leave Gaza to forget it

In July 2025, Nour ElAssy was able to evacuate from Gaza to France. Here, she writes about the pain of leaving and the promise of return.

www.thenewhumanitarian.org

August 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM

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@sp1nnylights.bsky.social

finally getting this going

🌕🌏🌕🌎🌕 @townmap.bsky.social · Aug 18

stampede of roaches

August 18, 2025 at 1:39 AM

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🌕🌏🌕🌎🌕

@townmap.bsky.social

stampede of roaches

August 18, 2025 at 1:38 AM

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POKEY THE PENGUIN

@pokeythepenguin.bsky.social

DO YOU NEED ART IMAGES FOR YOUR PROJECT???? YOU MAY USE ME!!

HERE I AM!! LOOKING PENSIVE, FEELING MELANCHOLY, PLANNING A ROBBERY, THINKING OF FRIENDS!!!!

IT IS A NICE DAY AND I AM THINKING OF FRIENDS!!!!!!

August 5, 2025 at 3:31 PM

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@sp1nnylights.bsky.social

do y'all know what i'm talking about? i know "extraordinary rendition" hasn't been in the media much since like, the 2000s, but i do think that tendency has an awful lot in common with the current style of deportations, both in terms of the diplomatic mechanics and the u.s. executive mentality

✩ milky resonances ✿ @sp1nnylights.bsky.social · Aug 15

if anyone wonders where the u.s. executive picked up the impulse to skirt around the courts by unilaterally throwing people it's afraid of into holes of state in more conveniently repressive countries, or how it built up the connections to do this quickly and easily, i can't help but recall…

In a New Yorker interview with CIA veteran Michael Scheuer, an author of the rendition program under the Clinton administration, writer Jane Mayer noted:

In 1995, American agents proposed the rendition program to Egypt, making clear that it had the resources to track, capture, and transport terrorist suspects globally – including access to a small fleet of aircraft. Egypt embraced the idea ... 'What was clever was that some of the senior people in Al Qaeda were Egyptian,' Scheuer said. 'It served American purposes to get these people arrested, and Egyptian purposes to get these people back, where they could be interrogated.' Technically, U.S. law requires the CIA to seek 'assurances' from foreign governments that rendered suspects won't be tortured. Scheuer told me that this was done, but he was 'not sure' if any documents confirming the arrangement were signed.[31]

Scheuer testified in 2007 before Congress that no such assurances were received.[32] He acknowledged that treatment of prisoners may not have been "up to U.S. standards":

This is a matter of no concern as the Rendition Program's goal was to protect America. The rendered fighters delivered to Middle Eastern governments are now either dead or in places from which they cannot harm America. Mission accomplished, as the saying goes.[33]

Thereafter, with the approval of President Clinton and a presidential directive (PDD 39), the CIA elected to send suspects to Egypt, where they were turned over to the Egyptian Mukhabarat.[34] (→ Tal'at Fu'ad Qasim)

(from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition#Historical_cases)

August 15, 2025 at 7:32 PM

✩ milky resonances ✿

@sp1nnylights.bsky.social

if anyone wonders where the u.s. executive picked up the impulse to skirt around the courts by unilaterally throwing people it's afraid of into holes of state in more conveniently repressive countries, or how it built up the connections to do this quickly and easily, i can't help but recall…

August 15, 2025 at 12:11 AM

✩ milky resonances ✿

@sp1nnylights.bsky.social

i think this would make for a lovely design on a trivet or potholder

a rounded square with a rectangularly-symmetric mosaic design in 16 colors, with a background of plum and magenta and highlights in green, yellow, red, blue, and cyan, having impressionistic motifs of flowers, diamonds, and buildings

August 13, 2025 at 9:17 AM

✩ milky resonances ✿

@sp1nnylights.bsky.social

re last rt, lily and i did the aquarium zone for that game, v fun project ^^ iir she did most of the 3D models and textures, and i did most of the animations and materials/shading, as well as the audio…we did everything together tho ultimately, it was very side-by-side collaborative

August 12, 2025 at 12:27 PM

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Gattacaca

@gattacaca.bsky.social

Melting Encyclopedia is out Now! Check it out!
#GameDev #IndieGame #IndieDev #GameTeaser

Gattacaca @gattacaca.bsky.social · Aug 6

Tomorrow is the realese day of "Melting encyclopedia". It's a game about travelling to parallel dimensions. Here are some of them.
store.steampowered.com/app/2826670/...

#GameDev #IndieGame #IndieDev #GameTeaser