Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Beth Popp Berman @epopppp.bsky.social · Jan 3

Please forgive a little earnest-posting.

I’m finding the start of 2025 kind of hard and while there are obvious reasons to dread what’s coming, I think it’s more than the new administration. A lot of my ground truths have been unsettled in a way that makes it hard to know what to do next.

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Unseen History @unseenhistory.bsky.social · Feb 28

A Mongolian girl named Butedmaa shares a laugh with her camel, 2003.

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NPR @npr.org · Apr 16

JUST IN: The National Labor Relations Board told employees Wednesday that DOGE staffers would be assigned to the agency, one day after a whistleblower alleged DOGE may have removed sensitive NLRB data.

DOGE assigns staffers to work at agency where it allegedly removed sensitive data

The National Labor Relations Board told employees Wednesday that DOGE staffers would be assigned to the agency, one day after a whistleblower alleged DOGE may have removed sensitive NLRB data.

www.npr.org

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 23

Sad to see @pbsnews.org descending into both-siderism by including Chad Wolf's extremist views on cancelled student visas. He insinuated that if we knew more about these students, we'd see the justification for this extreme measure and lack of due process. Nick Shifrin: really?!

Foreign policy experts offer views on Trump administration's student activist crackdown

According to attorneys, over 1,000 student visas have been revoked in the Trump administration’s crackdown. Part of that effort has been a State Department argument that some students’ actions threate...

www.pbs.org

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Jun 11

Saddened to learn of Richard Alba’s passing. He touched many hearts and minds including mine. His voice lives on in print and in the many discussions of which he will still be a part. You will be missed Richard.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · May 22

Dozens of people were reportedly taken into custody at immigration courts around the country. Many of them were for people who were hoping to file asylum applications.

ICE's admitted goal for this? Place these people through "expedited removal" - no judge, order them deported on the spot.

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An ICE spokesperson confirmed to the Herald on Wednesday that ICE and its law enforcement partners were arresting people who qualified for expedited removals. “An immigration judge has reviewed DHS’s motion to dismiss proceedings and agreed that dismissal is appropriate in these cases,” the spokesperson said. “All aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and, if removable by final order, removed from the United States. Those who were arrested are going into ICE custody pending removal from the United States.”

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Science Magazine @science.org · May 8

Exclusive: National Science Foundation staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced.

Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions

Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund

scim.ag

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Arielle Zibrak @zibrak.bsky.social · May 8

You guys, a conclave of old cardinals can decide on a POPE faster than an academic search committee can decide on the four people we're bringing to campus for an assistant professor search.

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · May 6

Timely piece by @jodyav.bsky.social at a time when "progressives" and "dems" are happy to throw immigrants under the bus, forgetting their own family stories and how they daily benefit from immigrant labor.

Contributor: Californians must refuse to abandon the immigrants among us

What's happening to immigrants is testing how far our government can go in punishing, surveilling and silencing everyone.

www.latimes.com

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · May 3

The depths of insanity…

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · May 2

And Chris Rufo on @pbsnews.org So disappointing that they’re stooping so low

David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 23

Sad to see @pbsnews.org descending into both-siderism by including Chad Wolf's extremist views on cancelled student visas. He insinuated that if we knew more about these students, we'd see the justification for this extreme measure and lack of due process. Nick Shifrin: really?!

Foreign policy experts offer views on Trump administration's student activist crackdown

According to attorneys, over 1,000 student visas have been revoked in the Trump administration’s crackdown. Part of that effort has been a State Department argument that some students’ actions threate...

www.pbs.org

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · May 2

So sorry

David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 23

Cruel incompetence is probably one of the most apt descriptions of the current regime’s policies in most domains:

apple.news/AKvl4u-XSQrW...

'It is time for you to leave': DHS mistakenly sends notices to U.S. citizens — Los Angeles Times

Homeland Security sent an email to a Los Angeles attorney, warning: 'Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you.'

apple.news

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 21

QEPD.

apple.news/Axmv8TL2lSgm...

Pope Francis, Advocate for Economic and Social Justice, Dies at 88 — The Wall Street Journal

Pontiff urged grassroots activists around the world to bridge the gap between rich and poor

apple.news

David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 19

Puro flow in this visualization so far as I can tell

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 19

Well, if meta shows it….

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Opinion | To Understand Global Migration, You Have to See It First

These estimates, drawn from the location data of three billion Facebook users, provide a view of human migration in extraordinary detail.

www.nytimes.com

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Beth Popp Berman @epopppp.bsky.social · Apr 19

Federally funded R&D (not all of which is spent at universities) as a fraction of GDP is as low as it's been since we started tracking.

Which is a different way of looking at it than "line go up." 4/x ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf2332...

Line graph of the ratio of US R&D spending from various sources to GDP, 1953-2021. The federal percent ranges from about 0.6% of GDP to 1.8%, with the peak in the 1960s, and the low point at the very beginning and over the last 20 years.

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · Apr 19

You could fund "science" lots of other way, but our university system has its own benefits. One of the benefits of that system is, of course, protest and dissent. Try that in a world where Tesla, Google, Pfizer, and NASA and the NSA do all research.

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 19

The disclaimer is especially relevant to the nationalist libertarians of our day: “I have nothing to do with the crimes I’ve committed”

Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · Apr 19

Actually. How the US benefitted from outsourcing its research interests to experts in universities.

Chris Bail @chrisbail.bsky.social · Apr 19

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/u...

How Universities Became So Dependent on the Federal Government

For decades, universities got billions in federal dollars for research. The relationship was mutually beneficial, until President Trump decided it wasn’t.

www.nytimes.com

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 16

@profgalloway.com has a snappy take on this massive inside trading scheme: bsky.app/profile/prof...

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · Apr 16

According to a public disclosure, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene bought between $21,000 and $315,000 in stocks last week just hours before President Trump announced the partial pause.

AOC: “I got one question for [Greene]: How much did you make? How much did you make off that panic?”

AOC Asks MTG One Damning Question on Tariffs

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has one question for Marjorie Taylor Greene on what she did during the tariffs whiplash.

newrepublic.com

David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 16

Foxes in the hen house. That always ends well

NPR @npr.org · Apr 16

JUST IN: The National Labor Relations Board told employees Wednesday that DOGE staffers would be assigned to the agency, one day after a whistleblower alleged DOGE may have removed sensitive NLRB data.

DOGE assigns staffers to work at agency where it allegedly removed sensitive data

The National Labor Relations Board told employees Wednesday that DOGE staffers would be assigned to the agency, one day after a whistleblower alleged DOGE may have removed sensitive NLRB data.

www.npr.org

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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · Apr 16

According to a public disclosure, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene bought between $21,000 and $315,000 in stocks last week just hours before President Trump announced the partial pause.

AOC: “I got one question for [Greene]: How much did you make? How much did you make off that panic?”

AOC Asks MTG One Damning Question on Tariffs

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has one question for Marjorie Taylor Greene on what she did during the tariffs whiplash.

newrepublic.com

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Apr 14

Since the Trump admin continues to claim Mr. Abrego Garcia is a gang member, I thought I'd take the time to put together a timeline, based on all the documents filed in court, which lays out all the "evidence" the government has ever offered.

As you'll find out, there's very little "there" there!

TIMELINE
ABREGO GARCIA GANG ALLEGATIONS - SEPARATING FACT FROM FICTION.

2011-2019: Entry and Early Life: Kilmar Abrego Garcia flees El Salvador to the US at age 16, after M-18 gang members extort his family and threaten to kill him and rape his sisters if they didn’t keep paying. He moves in with his US citizen brother in Maryland and lives there without trouble for years.

March 28, 2019: PGPD Arrest. Kilmar is arrested for loitering outside Home Depot while looking for day labor. A Prince Georges County PD detective grills him about whether he’s a gang member. He denies any involvement. Four hours later, he is transferred to ICE custody, without PGPD charging him for any offense.

April 2019: ICE Allegations: At a bond hearing, ICE claims Kilmar is part of MS-13. They submit one piece of evidence: a “Gang Field Interview Sheet” (GFIS) filled out by the PGPD detective that claims Kilmar is part of MS-13. The GFIS says (1) he was wearing Chicago Bulls gear, and (2) a “confidential informant” allegedly claimed that Kilmar was a ranking member of the “Westerns” clique, which is in Long Island, a place he has never lived in.

Summer 2019: Investigation: Kilmar’s lawyers reach out to PGPD to investigate these claims. They find out that (1) the police did not even file an incident report about his arrest, and (2) the detective that filled out the GFIS has been suspended for an unknown reason.

August 2019: IJ Decision: At his final bond hearing, ICE declines to offer any evidence of gang membership other than what’s in the GFIS. The IJ denies bond, finding that the GFIS is sufficient proof of membership at this time, despite noting its obvious flaws. Kilmar appeals this decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

October 2019: Withholding Win: The immigration judge rules that Kilmar is ineligible for asylum because he filed the application too late. But the judge does grant “withholding of removal,” finding that it was “more likely than not” that he would be subject to persecution if deported to El Salvador. A removal order is issued, but with a restriction that the one country he cannot be deported to is El Salvador.

December 2019: BIA Decision: Kilmar appeals the bond decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The appeals board declines to find “clear error” in the immigration judge’s decision to rely on the GFIS document. However, he is released anyway because he had won withholding of removal.

2019-2025: Normal Life: Kilmar lives a normal life in Maryland with his U.S. citizen wife, their biological son, and his two stepchildren. With his work permit, he gets a job as a sheet metal worker, joins a union, and raises his family in a DC suburb. He doesn’t get into any trouble with the law.

March 2025: Sent to CECOT: On March 12, 2025, ICE comes to Kilmar’s home and arrests him in front of his children. Three days later he’s transferred to Texas, where, thanks to an “administrative error,” he is put on a plane to El Salvador and sent to CECOT

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Maria Sacchetti - reporter - The Washington Post @mariasacchetti.bsky.social · Apr 6

NEW Judge says in a written decision Sunday there's "no evidence" man mistakenly deported to El Salvador is a gang member, contrary to Trump administration claims.

And the judge finds that the US can bring the man back.

Waiting for a decision on appeal.

www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Judge slams U.S. contentions in case of wrongly deported Salvadoran man

In a decision released Sunday, a federal judge takes the Trump administration to task, saying it has “no evidence” the wrongly deported man from Maryland is a gang member.

www.washingtonpost.com

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PBS News @pbsnews.org · Apr 5

Today, across the country and around the world, tens of thousands of people turned out for what organizers say has been the single biggest day of protests against President Trump and his second-term policies and actions.

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 1

And here's the source: slate.com/life/2025/02...

Dear Fellow College Presidents: We Need to Do More Than Wait This One Out

Why civil society needs university leaders to speak up.

slate.com

David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Apr 1

From the ancient archives of last week:

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Mar 30

NEW: As Americans increasingly get their news from online shows and streamers, our analysis found that this expanding media ecosystem is overwhelmingly right-leaning.

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David Cook Martín @dcm19.bsky.social · Mar 27

Two excellent takes on the Columbia debacle:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Columbia must stand up to the Trump administration in the second round

The <a href="https://president.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/03.21.2025%20Columbia%20-%20FINAL.pdf">letter</a> that the University submitted in response to the Trump administration’s demand...

www.columbiaspectator.com

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