Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 3h

There would be nothing more fitting, on a biblical level, of a pandemic hitting both of Trump’s presidencies.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 5h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 11h

I didn't play that game but it's one I watched a playthrough of. Great story!

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 13h

Go YIMBY, go!!

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Reposted by Scott Santens

Senator Scott Wiener @scottwiener.bsky.social · 15h

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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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 13h

Robots are pretty quickly becoming more capable and affordable. If you think this won't impact the labor market, you're engaging in cope, and if you don't think we should all benefit from robot labor via universal basic income as a fair GDP dividend, you're helping billionaires become trillionaires.

Figure AI's New Humanoid Robot Can Fold Your Clothes, Do the Dishes

It might also take jobs that Figure AI deems 'unsafe and undesirable.'

www.pcmag.com

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 15h

A guy who was homeless started getting $1,000/mo in basic income and used the money to prevent his aunt from becoming homeless.

Denver Basic Income Project (DBIP) @denverbip.bsky.social · 17h

DBIP participant story archived in the U.S. Library of Congress! 😱🏛️

Mark Gaskin, DBIP Group A participant, was interviewed by StoryCorps, a nonprofit that collects powerful stories and archives them in the U.S. Library of Congress.

Full interview here: storycorps.org/stories/unho...

Unhoused in Denver, He Emptied His Bank Account to Save His Elderly Aunt - StoryCorps

Mark Gaskin was living out of his car, when he learned his elderly aunt faced eviction. Without hesitation, he emptied what he had left in his bank account to pay her rent.

storycorps.org

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Reposted by Scott Santens

📎 Otto Von Danger @ottovondanger.bsky.social · 15h

Any nation not looking into UBI, as AI and automation kill millions of jobs, wants their population to be poor and destitute.

Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

A new study of Finland's basic income experiment, where 2,000 unemployed people got paid basic income instead of typical unemployment income, revealed that average incomes went up by 9% to 11%, because their UBI didn't go away with employment, which we also already know slightly increased.

New study of Finland's basic income experiment reveals that UBI increased work incomes by around 10%

YouTube video by Scott Santens

youtube.com

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

A new study of Finland's basic income experiment, where 2,000 unemployed people got paid basic income instead of typical unemployment income, revealed that average incomes went up by 9% to 11%, because their UBI didn't go away with employment, which we also already know slightly increased.

New study of Finland's basic income experiment reveals that UBI increased work incomes by around 10%

YouTube video by Scott Santens

youtube.com

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

I'm just pointing out the difference. Many people confuse them as the same and call UBI paying people to do nothing. UBI is different because it doesn't go away with earned income and thus has no employment disincentive that traditional programs do. UBI pays people to do anything.

to.do

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

Please read this.

17 Key Variables That Determine UBI’s Inflationary Impact

Will universal basic income cause inflation? Will the prices of everything rise? I get asked that all the time. Here's the deal about UBI and inflation: it all depends. Can UBI be inflationary? Sure,...

www.scottsantens.com

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 16h

New study of Iran's almost-UBI shows that replacing fossil fuel subsidies with a universal and unconditional cash transfer reduces consumption inequality by 8% per $30/mo per person.

Study by @alimok.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Abstract
Recent estimates suggest that eliminating fossil fuel subsidies could prevent 1.6 million premature deaths annually by reducing air pollution, while also addressing the unequal distribution of resources. How unequal are the benefits of these subsidies? Using Iranian household expenditure data (1984–2019) covering three major subsidy reforms, this study estimates the inequality-reducing impact of replacing fuel subsidies with direct, universal, and unconditional cash transfers. Our robust estimates show that reallocating USD 1 per capita per day from fuel subsidies to direct cash transfers reduces the Gini coefficient of expenditure by 8 %. These findings underscore the redistributive potential of such reforms and their role in fostering more equitable and sustainable policy design.

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 17h

No, not unless cash is seen as an important service. Services can't ever be properly universal. They won't ever meet every need people have everywhere at all times. Because UBI is cash, it can fill all those gaps and actually reduce spending on services like healthcare via prevention.

Why ‘Universal Basic Services’ is no alternative to Basic Income

It's time for advocates of ‘Universal Basic Services’ to stop juxtaposing the idea of more and better public services with giving people basic income security.

www.opendemocracy.net

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 17h

New York promises to pay people an additional $365 a week on the condition that they remain unemployed. As opposed to offering a universal basic income that has no such condition, that continually shows increases in employment as a result.

THE CITY @thecity.nyc · 18h

The maximum unemployment check will increase from $504 to $869 per week, the state’s first rise in payouts since 2019.

Unemployed New Yorkers Get Benefit Boost

After years stuck at $504 per week, the maximum unemployment insurance payout set to hit $869 on Oct. 13 — helping more than half of those currently on the rolls.

buff.ly

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 18h

"I know I won’t produce anything worthwhile until it gets to the point where, if I don’t, we won’t be able to afford my partner’s chemotherapy anymore and I’ll have to watch them die a horrible, agonizing death. I guess that’s just how my brain works!”

The Onion basically pushing for UBI and UHC:

The Onion @theonion.com · 1d

Woman Tends To Do Best Creative Thinking When Backed Into Corner With Livelihood At Stake https://theonion.com/woman-tends-to-do-best-creative-thinking-when-backed-in-1851338274/

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 18h

Love it! Just needs a mention of universal basic income and how it's a good thing she doesn't have it.

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Reuters @reuters.com · 22h

'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 18h

They are also pro-UBI economists.

11 Nobel Prize Winners Who Have Endorsed Universal Basic Income (UBI)

Nine winners of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and two Nobel Peace Prize winners The idea of an unconditional basic income (UBI) [http://www.scottsantens.com/basic-income-faq] floor w...

www.scottsantens.com

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Reposted by Scott Santens

Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 20h

“This is a movement…This is an achievement of a whole society…I am just one person.”

The beautiful humility of Venezuelan pro-democracy leader, Maria Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 19h

*murdering fishermen off their coast.

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 19h

The Nobel Committee is like, "This is why that orange asshole doesn't deserve the Nobel Peace Prize and why we are rewarding the exact opposite of him."

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 20h

NOBEL rewards democracy over authoritarianism

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 19h

Ha! It's like they wrote an entire explanation about why Trump doesn't deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.

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Reposted by Scott Santens

Charles Louis Richter @richterscale.bsky.social · 19h

"Mark Bray was teaching courses on the early modern witch craze. Turning Point USA accused him of being a witch, which he denies."

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 1d

you'd think a prominent news outlet like the New York Times might mention that "antifa" isn't an actual organization in a long story about antifa, but nope!

and the subhead helps props up a false claim this professor was up to something seedy as something up for debate

NYT headline: "Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats"

subheadline: "Mark Bray was teaching courses on antifascism. Turning Point USA accused him of belonging to antifa, which he denies. His flight to Spain was canceled abruptly on Wednesday night."

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Reposted by Scott Santens

Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 1d

Picture how big the Hoover Dam is. An absolute unit. The Hoover Dam has a power capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW).

The solar farm that the Admin just cancelled could have produces 6.2 GW of power. That's more than 3 Hoover Dams.

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 1d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 1d

Things are happening at Portland's ICE facility tonight.

Read more of our protest coverage here: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 1d

thor says " because that 's what heroes do " while looking at the camera

ALT: thor says " because that 's what heroes do " while looking at the camera

media.tenor.com

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