Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 12h

And just like that, nobody ever died again.

Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 15h

This is staggering. “The staff of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the journal that reports on health trends and emerging infectious threats, was also laid off.”

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Laura Hercher

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 18h

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 17h

Perhaps someone would remind him that the Democrats HAD the majority in 2021 and (sadly) none of this happened.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Thune: "If the Democrats had won the majority, they probably would've tried to nuke the filibuster. And then you'd have four new senators from Puerto Rico and DC, you'd have a packed Supreme Court, you'd have abortion on demand ... "

Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 1d

All changed, changed utterly
A terrible beauty is born

Danny K @dannykpolitics.bsky.social · 6d

WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 2d

Aspiring to be the Portland frog.

Danny K @dannykpolitics.bsky.social · 6d

WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 2d

Wherein Comstack rears its ugly head.

David S. Cohen @dsc250.bsky.social · 2d

Great thread about the "new" case challenging FDA allowing mailed abortion pills.

Greer Donley @greerdonley.bsky.social · 2d

NEW-ish: Louisiana is suing FDA over its 2023 REMS change for mifepristone, which removed the in-person dispensing requirement. That change allowed mail or pharmacy dispensing of mife after significant data showed it was safe and effective. A few things to note about this new lawsuit.

Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 3d

I like this guy how about you?

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 3d

I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?

Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.

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Reposted by Laura Hercher

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 3d

Six of the nine Nobel Prize winners this year work in the U.S.
Three of the six were born outside the U.S., which is the pattern most years. No country has benefited more from welcoming immigrants from around the world.
www.nobelprize.org

The official website of the Nobel Prize - NobelPrize.org

The Nobel Prize rewards science, humanism and peace efforts. This is one of the central concepts in the will of Alfred Nobel, and it also permeates the outreach activities that have been developed for...

www.nobelprize.org

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Reposted by Laura Hercher

George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 3d

THESE PAGAN LIBTARD WAR DANCES CAN ONLY PRESAGE CALAMITY!!

MEIN LEADER PRÄSIDENT TRUMP, HERR REICHSCOUCHVUCKER VON VANCE, HERR VERRÜCKTPSYCHO STEPHANMÜLLER, DER VOLK DEMAND YOU DEPLOY DIE PANZERBRIGADEN NOW!!!

Vielen Damk für your attention to this matter

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 3d

Says this like it’s a bad thing.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

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Reposted by Laura Hercher

McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 3d

"No doubt Chuck Schumer and the head of Antifa (whose name escapes me at the moment) were in cahoots to shut down the government so that they can turn America’s national parks into training grounds for leftist guerrillas."

We Are Not Fascists, and If You Call Us Fascists, We Will Arrest You

President Trump had another successful week of what is already the greatest presidency of all time, and yet, the woke leftist mob continues to deli...

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 3d

Makes you wish there was a hell.

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 3d

“Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar”

Never forget or forgive that Trump, Rubio, & Musk *chose* to inflict this monumental level of death and suffering on the poorest & most vulnerable people.

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 4d

It's the guns

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 4d

It's so incredible how low homicide rates are in Europe. The UK, with a population of 70 million people, had fewer than 600 murders in 2023.
www.connexionfrance.com/news/double-...

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 6d

Irony is dead, part one million.

Scary Werewolf Bar Kochba @dickius.bsky.social · 6d

Wow, it must be terrible being told that you can’t use the bathroom.

'Very difficult situation': Kristi Noem whines locals not letting ICE agents use restrooms

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem complained that her agents were not being permitted to use restrooms in Chicago because of opposition from residents.During a Sunday interview on ...

www.rawstory.com

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Reposted by Laura Hercher

Mississippi Free Press @mississippifreepress.org · 6d

A baby in Mississippi has died of whooping cough for the first time since 2012.

The infant was less than two months old and was not old enough to receive the pertussis vaccine.

Mississippi Baby Dies of Whooping Cough Amid Rising Cases

A baby in Mississippi has died of whooping cough for the first time since 2012. The baby was less than two months old—too young for vaccination.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Laura Hercher

Mallory Harris, PhD @malar0ne.bsky.social · 6d

IMO this hasn't gotten enough attention: a recent memo at NIH announces that peer review will be devalued in determining which grants get funded, granting more power to political appointees to make decisions based on the admin's whims over scientific merit

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Changes at NIH Give Political Appointees Greater Power To Fund or Block Research - KFF Health News

The National Institutes of Health’s long-held standard of peer review for grantmaking has been subverted by President Donald Trump and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who gave unprecedented power to po...

kffhealthnews.org

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 6d

Support ProPublica

ProPublica @propublica.org · 6d

ProPublica and @theassemblync.bsky.social found that in some North Carolina counties, homeowners with the highest incomes received two to three times as much FEMA housing assistance as those with lower incomes after Hurricane Helene.

By @jenniferberryhawes.bsky.social and Ren Larson

Arduous and Unequal: The Fight to Get FEMA Housing Assistance After Helene

An analysis by ProPublica and The Assembly of the more rural counties in North Carolina hardest hit by Helene shows that the households that got the most aid tended to have the highest incomes.

www.propublica.org

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 8d

Psst: How bad are the September jobs reports? Trump shut down the goverment so you wouldn't see them.

Pass it on.

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 8d

As I was saying, affirmative action for incompetent ideologues.

Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 9d

In case it wasn’t clear, the anti-DEI crusade has never been about merit. Zero news experience. Never been a reporter. Elevated to Editor in Chief of CBS News, one of the most storied news institutions in the nation. www.mediaite.com/media/news/p...

Paramount Officially Acquiring The Free Press and Making Bari Weiss CBS News Editor in Chief: Report

Paramount Skydance will be officially acquiring The Free Press and hiring its founder Bari Weiss as editor in chief of its CBS News division, with the deal to be announced this coming Monday, accordin...

www.mediaite.com

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 8d

Every time politicians demand equal representation for conservative academics, remember that they are requesting affirmative action for incompetent ideologues.

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 9d

Yes, New College is incredibly inefficient but it also dropped 60(!) spots on the US News & World Report rankings. Not easy!
Everytime Chris Rufo is introduced as an impt voice in higher ed, remember that the one time he had a hand in running an institution has been a disaster.
Competence matters.

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 10d

You'll be shocked to learn New College of Florida is on the brink of implosion just a couple of years after DeSantis engineered an extreme right-wing takeover

Fun fact: NCF's new overlords spend $134K per student (!!...the average at other FL publics is $10K) www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

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Reposted by Laura Hercher

Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 10d

“It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.”
― Jane Goodall

💙 RIP to a real one. My childhood hero

Jane Goodall with monarch butterfly scarf

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 11d

Slipping a little farther down the slope

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 11d

New: ICE has bought a tool that tracks the locations of hundreds of millions of phones globally, updates every single day. Usually harvested from apps and advertising

www.404media.co/ice-to-buy-t...

ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day

Documents show that ICE has gone back on its decision to not use location data remotely harvested from peoples' phones. The database is updated every day with billions of pieces of location data.

www.404media.co

Reposted by Laura Hercher

Danielle Froom 🏳️‍🌈 @danifroom.bsky.social · 12d

I don't think we'll ever get another sentence which sums up everything the New York Times embodies quite like "Some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily kill civilians".

Matt Cameron @mattcameron.bsky.social · 12d

hey @nytimes.com: there is no counterpoint here. There are no credible legal experts who would EVER say that the US military has any right or authority to blow civilian craft out of the Caribbean and kill their crews from afar without any provocation. There is no other side to this question.

"Some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily kill civilians not directly taking part in hostilities, even if they are believed to be smuggling drugs."

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 12d

I wish I believed in hell.

Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 13d

As soldiers prepare to invade Portland to stamp out protest, one of your friendly Silicon Valley overlords fantasizes about imposing his ideal of "best behavior" which I assume means... whatever he wants it to mean.

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 14d

Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.'

Larry Ellison predicts rise of the modern surveillance state where ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ | Fortune

Oracle's Larry Ellison believes citizens and police alike will be under constant surveillance of each other.

fortune.com

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