Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

Obviously not saying this attack was right or should be expected, but the temerity of B. N. and his extremist government calling the kettle black makes them smell of fire and sulphur.

www.channelnewsasia.com/world/deatht...

Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the shooting as a "cruel attack on Jews" and urged the Australian authorities to step up the fight against antisemitism.

And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Australia's government of having fuelled anti-Jewish sentiment in the period leading up to the shooting.

December 14, 2025 at 11:43 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

And hello, I noticed the good ol’ Uma Thurman cap on Jimin and now she’s seated next to RM 9 years later!

Jimin of BTS at their HYYH Epilogue concert wearing a black cap with Uma Thurman on it in 2016

RM of BTS seated next to Uma Thurman at the Bottega Veneta runway show in 2025

September 28, 2025 at 11:27 AM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

My dear peace makers 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

All 7 members of BTS posing in a group photo before their 1st Weverse live after all members completed their military service. They look very happy and relaxed.

Screenshot of the alert for the 1st BTS Weverse live after military service

July 1, 2025 at 1:32 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

This part resonated

ARMYs were furious. Driven by anger, they fact-checked and revealed truth instead of the media. Eventually, the footage was confirmed to be false reporting, and the broadcaster deleted the video and apologized. Still, the media and anti-forces’ offensive didn’t stop. Foreign ARMYs who had loved and visited Korea, grateful for giving birth to BTS, became angry at Korean media and disappointed in Korean society. The aftermath was enormous.

June 26, 2025 at 3:15 AM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

FUTURE’S GONNA BE OKAY

Cover of D-Day by Agust D on Apple Music. The song is being blasted in celebration of BTS Suga’s military discharge on 21st June 2025.

June 20, 2025 at 3:36 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

I will only ever be thankful for this journey with my 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 and hope they will be healthy and happy ever ever ever after, my seven points of brightness lighting up this cruel world

A shot of J-Hope on the Stage Final concert day 1 from the East side of Goyang stadium. The venue is glowing red with army bombs and he is dancing on an elevated part of the stage.

June 14, 2025 at 3:52 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

J-Hope in Singapore Day 2: such a different experience from the livestream! The stagecraft, the performance, the presence — consider me Hoseoked all over again. And Singapore ARMY is no joke!!!

The final shot of J-Hope of BTS bowing onstage at Day 2 of his Hope on the Stage concert in Singapore. He is surrounded by his dancers and musicians and a galaxy of ARMYs, the name of the BTS fandom.

April 27, 2025 at 1:48 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

The news today has big Four Horsemen energy. Starting to suspect the end-timers have been accelerating their egging on of this foolishness.

Painting of Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by the Polish Jewish painter Marcin Kitz(1891–1943). He was murdered by the Gestapo for helping Jews to hide. The painting depicts each horsemen on their steeds in different colours. The horses and riders appear to leap joyfully over a strange barren landscape.

April 7, 2025 at 11:37 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

after “Greed is good” from the 1980s en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executi...

graph showing divergence between CEO and production worker pay accelerating since the 1980s. it used to be 20x in the 1960s and was 200x by end 2000s

March 13, 2025 at 2:33 AM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

“I played the song for all of the members. I made sure to share it with them when each of them was on their military leave, and I felt proud to be able to play it for them first. I was very happy that everyone liked it.”

Our Hobi … 🥹💜

www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

Extract: “There is a Korean phrase that addresses this kind of bond that South Korean men
form when they serve in the military together — which translates to ‘enlisting together.’ This doesn't necessarily mean they entered the military as buddies. Rather, they formed a unique kinship based on spending almost all their waking hours serving their country together for roughly 18 months. That J-Hope was able to spot the young man at a sold-out concert is indicative of the idol's charm. He sees and celebrates his fans, both literally and metaphorically.”

March 8, 2025 at 1:42 AM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

Like bedtime, the makeup process is such an unguarded and intimate time of one’s day. Their authenticity over the years cannot be doubted. Their trust in us has not always been rewarded by everyone but is always real.

J-HOPE of BTS getting styled for the day during his epic 12-hour Weverse Live. Listen to Sweet Dreams featuring Miguel wherever you get good music!

March 7, 2025 at 1:28 AM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

Get ready, whether you live inside or outside the US

apnews.com/article/rfk-...

If Kennedy is affirmed as the top U.S. health official this week, it would be "a danger to us, a danger to everyone," Ekeroma said. Kennedy would control U.S. funding for vaccination initiatives and could make affordable vaccines harder for small nations like Samoa to access, the official said.
"If he's going to be appointed, then we will have to actually discuss around the Pacific as to how we're going to try to neutralize his influence in the region," he added.

February 13, 2025 at 4:36 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

If you’re intrigued by Namjoon’s quotation, please contact the publisher for a reprint! www.meredithvictory.com

Title: Reflections from Prison—20 Years and 20 Days
Author: Shin Young-bok

Screenshot of Instagram story by RM of BTS:

A new year begins right in the middle of the winter, maybe, so as to keep certain things from dragging on. To be new, you have to depart from some old things. In the deepest of the winter, the remorseless cold will be of some help in cutting off the past.

At the end of a year, it is wisdom that allows us to forget the painful things of the past year.

And it is courage that enables us to preserve some of them. In the middle of the winter, with a new year ahead, I keep wondering which things to cut off, which things to forget, and which things to preserve. (tr. by Orun Kim)
_<감옥으로부터의 사색> 중에서

January 11, 2025 at 4:58 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

Claude AI translation continued

After lying in my job interview 10 years ago - when asked if my worldview had ever been completely overturned, I claimed that an illness had broadened my perspective.
While the illness was real, it hadn't actually changed my worldview. I thought it was due to my stubborn nature, but in reality, it was due to lack of experience.
My thinking completely changed after experiencing martial law on December 3,
2024.
Among my interview subjects as a reporter, many are "adults" who graduated university in the 1970s-1980s. Many of them show unique intelligence and insight as experts in their fields, beyond just providing information for weekly articles. However, I could never quite agree with a certain premise that many sources from this generation seemed to share - their mixture of hostility and slight fear, saying
"those people (conservative forces) are capable of anything." I interpreted this as a kind of trauma. While I understood generations who feared North Korea or held hostility toward Imperial Japan, being extremely wary of the military regime's successors - I thought the 'reality' was different.

Looking back now, my thought of "surely that couldn't happen" was the real prejudice. My thinking completely changed watching the president's crazed eyes declaring "we will root out anti-state forces at once," the martial law troops deployed to the National Assembly, and burning phone messenger services on the night of December 3, 2024. My head spun with the realization that 'they were always right and I was completely wrong.' Citizens who appeared to be in their 50s-60s were still blocking martial law forces in front of the National Assembly that night. They had an air of "we knew this would happen someday." This contrasted with me, who stood dazed before events I never thought I'd experience.

In a way, I'm grateful to Yoon Suk-yeol. I'm reminded of what a source once said: "There is knowledge that accumulates gradually, but there is also knowledge that comes from what you thought you knew crumbling." He shattered the belief that those in power couldn't run wild in 2024 Korea. He broke the faith that even a conservative ruling party would prioritize defending the constitution over maintaining power when faced with a fundamental constitutional crisis. The majority of citizens now know that those who steadily warned of this fact truly had insight.

College friends with completely different jobs and political leanings each attended impeachment rallies with their families. I had long conversations over messenger with those who didn't attend rallies. This experience will instill a certain worldview in many of us. To younger generations, it might appear as collective
'prejudice.' Perhaps that prejudice might save our community again someday.

January 11, 2025 at 3:35 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

Still can’t believe I got to watch AgustD live. Future’s gonna be okay!

Suga of BTS in concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. He’s playing a guitar signed by the BTS members and seated alone in the middle of the stage. Around him are armys waving army bombs.

January 1, 2025 at 4:48 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

Sir, the spirit is willing but the eyes are weak

Screenshot of Bluesky app showing how small the font size is on a screenshot

December 31, 2024 at 2:43 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

Yooooo one of these women iS NOT like the others

Am on guard against anyone keen to boost her alongside the others, keen to swallow the narrative force fed by this admitted PR master, keen to brush off the critiques of a predominantly female fandom

Screenshot of a tweet https://x.com/OSIM_xc/status/1868246399684636677

December 15, 2024 at 4:03 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

I am? So impressed? By Claude!

Claude AI translation note after being asked to refine its translation of a message by RM of BTS:

Note: Knowing it's RM, I've kept the translation quite literal to preserve the introspective, poetic tone that's characteristic of his writing style. The vulnerability, the reflection on time and connection, and the subtle hope are all very reminiscent of his personal communications.
Would you like me to make any further adjustments to capture more of RM's unique voice?

December 14, 2024 at 3:43 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

Also don’t have to live in fear of such takes on martial law apnews.com/article/sout...

Quote from linked AP article:

Sydney Seiler, Korean chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, argued that the move was symbolic for Yoon to express his frustration with the opposition-controlled parliament.

"He has nothing to lose," said Seiler, comparing Yoon's move to the Hail Mary pass in American football, with a slim chance of success.

December 14, 2024 at 9:01 AM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

Learnt from @triumphicdhq.bsky.social on threads that Conan O’Brien’s parents passed on within days of each other

Screenshot of linked post on the passing of Conan’s parents

December 13, 2024 at 3:32 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

The post that identified her as Nancy Joyce sidebars.typepad.com/sidebars/201...

Excepting the linked blog post:

Titled "I Have No Secrets," the 18 second bite consists of a man-on-the-street interview of an obviouslky harassed woman pedestrian who turned out to be an unidentified Nancy Joyce.
The quite obvious Chicago locale was a few steps south of the Michigan Avenue bridge looking southeast. Dressed warmly for the Chicago winter and asked if her hat might be a secret to staying warm, Joyce replies: "I have no secrets. I'm mad, I have to go to work, I have to earn a living, l'd rather have a private income and get laid well and often."

You might look it up. My old public TV pal delivers the droll lines with the kind of brilliant flippancy endearingly reminiscent of actresses Betty Davis and Eve Arden. Judging from the clothing and Nancy's appearance, l'd bet the ranch she was on her way 40 years ago to a job at WTTW.

December 13, 2024 at 2:22 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

Han Kang on literature and the cultivation of the resilient soul m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN2024...

Excerpt from Han Kang Nobel prize press conference:

Han described literature as the act of exploring the inner worlds of others while simultaneously delving into one's own inner self.

Repeatedly engaging in this process helps cultivate "inner power," she said. "When we have this power, we are able to make a judgment and decide what to do in certain situations that we have not foreseen."

December 6, 2024 at 2:24 PM

Belinda Tan

@belindatan.bsky.social

This 9th-century Irish poem, translated by Seamus Heaney, is about a man who captures meaning and a cat who catches mice: www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...