Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 1h

My hot take of the day is that people on the liberal-to-left side of the political spectrum who parse their positions excessively through a frame of moral purity are at elevated risk of sliding into authoritarianism

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Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 1h

What? About as many people voted for Harris as voted for him

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Monica Maalouf, MD @maaloufmd.bsky.social · 1d

So this IL Hospital Association memo describes an incident where ICE detained a US citizen, gave them HEART PROBLEMS, took them to a hospital where the fought with medical personnel, then left when they realized they detained a CITIZEN.

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

jam @socialistboat.dad · 5h

Stella Sacco
@antlervel.vet
It's really funny that The Art of War is treated as this like alpha male book when it's clearly meant to be read by ancient Chinese failsons because it's all "please don't forget you have to feed your troops" and "if someone asks if you're going to attack them consider lying about it"
April 23, 2024 at 1:28 AM © Everybody can reply
486 reposts 45 quotes 1.9K likes 4 saves

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 16h

caaaaaaan I interest you in Denmark’s groundbreaking national agriculture, nature, and climate policy, agreed to in 2024, with a Ministry of Green Transition established to implement it?

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Charles Bergquist @cbquist.bsky.social · 13h

do not worry every body

Instead of the MMWR we can all just ask chat gpt what diseases are breaking out where

everything will be completely* fine

(it is not fine)

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Lauren MacIvor Thompson @lmacthompson1.bsky.social · 1d

I am writing this because it has swiftly become crystal clear to me that many people have no idea what is happening or how this works. Here is a thread for non-academics to put into context what just happened to Dr. Mark Bray, a fellow historian.

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Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 14h

never

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Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 14h

hey @ucsfchildrens.bsky.social

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 16h

Being a billionaire must really fuck with your mind. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

Marc Benioff Says Trump Should Send Guard Troops to San Francisco

www.nytimes.com

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Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 15h

experiencing a burning need to make scrambled eggs tomorrow with shichimi togarashi

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 19h

chat I'm not sure they're thinking things through

www.axios.com/2025/10/10/s...

Congress erupts at Trump's shutdown mass firings: "This is a disaster"

Democrats are warning that Trump officials who carry out the layoffs could be prosecuted.

www.axios.com

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Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 19h

More housing near public transit means fewer cars on the road!

Senator Scott Wiener @scottwiener.bsky.social · 1d

MAJOR NEWS: @GavinNewsom signed SB 79, my bill allowing more housing near public transit — rail, subway, rapid bus.

It’s a huge step for housing in California. It’ll create more homes, strengthen our transit systems & reduce traffic & carbon emissions.

Thank you, Governor!

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 1d

Three key points:
1) The admin has been planning mass firings to begin in October since February
2) The work necessary to carry out mass firings is illegal during a shutdown, violating the Antideficiency Act, which carries a criminal penalty
3) This harms America, ridding us of talent and expertise

Russ Vought v @russvought
The RIFs have begun.
12:27 PM • 10/10/25 • 15K Views

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Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 1d

Yep. It is actively *unsafe* for a majority of people in my extended academic social circle to speak up.

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d

MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

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Dr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 1d

One of the sober realities behind this is that many academics are not citizens, or not born citizens.

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Rep. Greg Stanton @repgregstanton.bsky.social · 2d

Violent political speech needs to stop.

@RepYassAnsari.bsky.social, Rep.-elect Grijalva, and I are demanding the state legislature take action against state Rep. Gillette for his threats against our colleague Rep. @Jayapal.house.gov.

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Matt Gabriele @profgabriele.com · 1d

I know this case is all over - & it should be - but Turning Point USA has waged a harassment campaign against faculty for more than a decade. I know of at least a half dozen other faculty, personally, who have received death threats and several of those who felt so unsafe they too left their homes

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

Are we great yet?

Mark Bray, a Rutgers University professor and expert on anti-fascist groups, is fleeing to Spain with his family due to death threats that stem from a campaign by Turning Point USA and other conservative groups to get him fired, falsely labeling him as an antifa member.

Antifa expert at Rutgers University says he is moving to Spain because of death threats

An expert on anti-fascist groups who teaches at New Jersey’s flagship state university is moving his family overseas.

apnews.com

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 1d

You won’t believe what degrading practice the Pope just condemned

Communication must be freed from clickbait and misguided thinking, head of Catholic church tells journalists The Pope has condemned clickbait as a “degrading” part of journalism, at a private audience with global newswires. Australian media representatives were among those to hear directly from Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Thursday with about 150 members of newswire alliance MINDS International. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

John Fasullo @jfasullo.bsky.social · 1d

"By most metrics, 2025 has been the worst year for the American scientific enterprise in modern history". The result - we are "essentially ending America’s longstanding role as the world leader in science and innovation,” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/s...

Trump Seeks to Cut Basic Scientific Research by Roughly One-Third, Report Shows

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Shana Gadarian @sgadarian.bsky.social · 1d

Everyone who studies research methods just had an aneurysm

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Matthew Kay @mjskay.com · 2d

to appear at #alt.vis 2025: THEORY IS SHAPES

sure "theory figures" are great, but @matthew.wiki, @maryamhed.bsky.social, me, and Carolina Nobre wonder: why always a 2D plane or a flowchart? why not icebergs, horseshoes, Möbius strips, or BLT sandwiches?
arxiv.org/abs/2510.01382

#ieeevis #hci

Abstract and teaser figure of the paper "Theory is Shapes" by Matthew Varona, Maryam Hedayati, Matthew Kay, and Carolina Nobre.

The teaser figure is an "iceberg" theory figure, showing four levels: the tip of the iceberg, containing a nested set diagram and a Cartesian plane. The next level down (just under the water) has a complicated flow charts and a combination flow chart and matrix. The next level down has the iceberg figure itself and a horseshoe. The final level contains a Möbius strip and a BLT sandwich.

The abstract reads:

"Theory figures" are a staple of theoretical visualization research. Common shapes such as Cartesian planes and flowcharts can be used not only to explain conceptual contributions, but to think through and refine the contribution itself. Yet, theory figures tend to be limited to a set of standard shapes, limiting the creative and expressive potential of visualization theory. In this work, we explore how the shapes used in theory figures afford different understandings and explanations of their underlying phenomena. We speculate on the value of visualizing theories using more expressive configurations, such as icebergs, horseshoes, Möbius strips, and BLT sandwiches. By reflecting on figure-making's generative role in the practice of theorizing, we conclude that theory is, in fact, shapes.

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 1d

When I was reporting in Sudan several years ago, a driver warned me not to tell government officials when I was leaving because the airport is where they stop and detain writers.

So, yeah, this is a very bad sign. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

US anti-fascism expert blocked from flying to Spain at airport

Rutgers University professor who published book on antifa was informed at boarding gate that his trip was cancelled

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 2d

🧵🚨

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

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UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Reposted by Dr. Katharine Dickson

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 2d

Not for nothing but if you're high profile and need to flee the US, don't tell anyone in advance. It's also most certainly better to leave via a smaller land border crossing and catch your flight from Canada or Mexico. Much less ability for the feds to prevent you from leaving that way.

David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 2d

“I’ll kill you in front of your students.”

This is just one of the death threats that has driven @mark-bray.bsky.social to try and flee the US.

But at the airport last night, after checking in and clearing security, his booking mysteriously disappeared

www.wired.com/story/mark-b...

He Wrote a Book About Antifa. Death Threats Are Driving Him Out of the US

Rutgers historian Mark Bray is trying to flee to Spain after after an online campaign from far-right influencers was followed by death threats. He was turned back at the airport on his first attempt.

www.wired.com

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