Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 49m

About a month ago, the Trump administration got rid of the de minimis exemption, whereby packages valued under $800 could slide in without import duties. Now there's a backlog as the government can't process all of this paperwork, leading to UPS just destroying packages

Business Insider headline reads: UPS is telling customers that their packages coming to the US are marked for destruction.

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Ash on a Star✨️ @ashonastar.bsky.social · 4h

Amazon Prime Video defaulting to an "AI Voiceover" dub of a documentary filled me with a level of visceral rage I never expected I'd have over something not particularly serious...

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LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @longtimehistory.bsky.social · 7h

ICE drag girl out of car & body slam her to ground—then pin her face down & kneel on her neck.

"I'm 15!" she cries out. "I'm not resisting!"

Agents have now asked multiple area housing associations to unlock main doors—so they can go door to door.

Hoffman Estates, Illinois

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Bev Paulan @bpaulan.bsky.social · 6h

A Green heron attempting to swallow a fish seems to qualify for #BirdoftheDay theme of #beakful. Also, #wader. A twofer!

A green and brown small heron has a fish halfway down its throat. The tail of the fish sticks out of the beak. The bird stands on a green mudbank with 2 fallen logs lying horizontally behind the bird

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Gillian Brockell @gbrockell.bsky.social · 14h

Hard to find a more obvious example of the journalism adage “If someone says it’s raining outside and someone else says it isn’t, your job is not to quote them both, your job is to go outside.”

David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 16h

A classic case of irresponsible both-sidesism from the NYT. The story is that Trump and MAGA propagandists are lying about Portland to incite a conflict, not that there are different views of the matter.

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Kelly McCullough @kellydmcc.bsky.social · 14h

The economics of AI (LLM) data centers continue to be utterly unworkable. This whole thing is going to crash sooner rather than later and leave a giant smoldering crater where a big chunk of the economy used to be.

The Pleasure Vice Principle (he/him/his) @hannibaltabu.bsky.social · 23h

I saw the dot coms crash from a front row seat. AI is running out of money way faster.

The evangelism is insecurity from people who made the wrong bet. I’ve seen it before. futurism.com/future-socie...

AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought

An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.

futurism.com

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Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 14h

Robert Roberson's stay of execution came after a months-long wait to see if the court would reconsider its previous denial in light of its grant of relief in a similar case last year. A lower court will now reconsider Roberson’s case.

‘I Got a Lot of People Believing in Me’: Robert Roberson Stares Down Death, Again

Set to be the first U.S. person executed based on the controversial “Shaken Baby Syndrome” diagnosis, Roberson told the Observer last week he hopes his story will mean something.

www.texasobserver.org

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 17h

This week, MAGA figures claimed Kristi Noem "stared down" violent antifa protesters in Portland. Turns out they were talking mostly about a guy in a chicken suit.

This episode opens a window into how MAGA propaganda works and MSM failure to handle it. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2016...

MAGA Implodes over Kristi Noem’s “Stare Down” with Man in Chicken Suit

A good New York Times piece on Portland nevertheless demonstrates how the conventions of objective reporting fail to accurately capture the bad faith driving pro-Trump propaganda.

newrepublic.com

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Kwon Y. @kwony.bsky.social · 14d

Regular reminder: the 1920s quotas that cut immigration to the U.S. by more than 80% "did not result in higher wages for U.S.-born workers. Instead, wages fell for U.S. workers in labor markets that were most affected by the decline in immigrant numbers."
economics.princeton.edu/working-pape...

The Effects of Immigration on the Economy: Lessons from the 1920s Border Closure - Princeton University - Department of Economics

This paper is now published in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. A common refrain in discussions of immigration policy is the concern that high rates of immigration result in fewer job...

economics.princeton.edu

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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 1d

I'm on the BBC talking about (how we won't be) evolving into crabs 🧪🦀

Also features Matt Wills (my academic older brother) and Ned Suesat-Williams (of the crab museum!). Unfortunately they were in London and I on zoom, so there was no time to tell Ned to join here

BBC Audio | The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry | To Crab, or Not to Crab?

Hannah and Dara investigate why nature has evolved the humble crabs so many times.

www.bbc.com

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Melissa Summers @lisservel.bsky.social · 2d

Feelin’ crabby?

#bird #EastCoastKin #PicMagnets #photography

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Michael Haslam @twigtechnology.bsky.social · 1d

Kudos to the editors @funecology.bsky.social for their suitably October cover 🕸️🎃🐠

This toothy alien is a Threadfin dragonfish (Echiostoma barbatum), a deep-sea hunter from the actual twilight zone

Cover of the October 2025 issue of the journal Functional Ecology. The image shows a dark, eel-like head rearing up and opening its mouth to show unevenly sized and very pointy white teeth. Its eye is light coloured and blank and a lure dangles from its chin. It’s a dragonfish auditioning for the next Alien film.

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Ash on a Star✨️ @ashonastar.bsky.social · 1d

I am also on this side of tiktok, and every new dancing puppetry video makes me feel like a fully enthralled medieval peasant child

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Ash on a Star✨️ @ashonastar.bsky.social · 2d

Yessssss

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Ash on a Star✨️ @ashonastar.bsky.social · 2d

I was insufferable about this as a kid...

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🌛Caio Santos Art🌜 @blacksalander.bsky.social · 5d

Thimble 😭

#Criticalrole #CriticalRoleSpoliers

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Stephen King @stephenking.bsky.social · 2d

Trump (eyes rolling back and forth in their sockets, muttering): I have enemies. They are everywhere.
[Voice raises to a shout]
ENEMIES EVERYWHERE! CUT THEM OUT! ROOT AND BRANCH! CUT THEM OWWWT!

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Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 2d

I teach in my undergrad class on the history of the US jury system that the institution's roots are in colonial juries serving as a counterweight to abuses of imperial power. The American jury has problems for sure but still can serve that roll. Don't blow off jury service.

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 3d

Jury Refuses To Indict Chicago ICE Protesters In Latest Revolt Against Trump Overreach talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things...

Jury Refuses To Indict Chicago ICE Protesters In Latest Revolt Against Trump Overreach

A grand jury Tuesday night declined to indict two protesters in the...

talkingpointsmemo.com

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John Shirley @johnshirley2024.bsky.social · 2d

The Nazis used the concept of "plenary power"—or complete, absolute authority—to legally dismantle Germany's democracy and establish a dictatorship. The Enabling Act of 1933 was the key piece of legislation that granted these powers to Adolf Hitler and his cabinet.

Stephen Miller Says Trump Has 'Plenary Authority'

YouTube video by HuffPost

www.youtube.com

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Ash on a Star✨️ @ashonastar.bsky.social · 2d

(I don't think there's any names/info attached to the report on books sold; it's just apparently noticeable to a small bookstore when an author's entire available collection is bought all at once.......😹)

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Ash on a Star✨️ @ashonastar.bsky.social · 2d

Speaking of indie bookstores, a while back, my local store was setting up a little display with a lot of @tkingfisher.com and I mentioned I'd (re-)purchased a bunch of Kingfishers audiobooks on libro.fm. "Oh, so that was you!!"

...turns out they get a list of the sold books with their checks😹

Buy audiobooks & support local bookstores

Libro.fm makes it possible for you to buy audiobooks directly through local bookstores.

libro.fm

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Ash on a Star✨️ @ashonastar.bsky.social · 2d

Oh no! getting reposts after the "antiprime" sale ended😭 but buy it anyways because 100% of the profits(minus their site/app server costs & the book publishers set fees) go to your affiliated local indie bookstore (set ur local store before ur purchase)💚

www.npr.org/2025/01/28/n...

Bookshop.org launches new e-book platform that exclusively supports local bookstores

Indie bookstores miss out on millions of e-book sales to big companies like Amazon. Bookshop.org's new platform could help them turn a new page.

www.npr.org

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Ash on a Star✨️ @ashonastar.bsky.social · 2d

FWIW I found this post searching for "newspaper appview" hoping someone's made an atproto app/site with this feature haha

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Ash on a Star✨️ @ashonastar.bsky.social · 2d

The past year has been a serious threshing for separating out which libertarian writers actually stand on libertarian principles...

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NPR @npr.org · 2d

Craig Clark, 79, calls himself the "Tech Fairy." Clark spends his time refurbishing old laptops and giving them away for free to people who need them. n.pr/48ihZvq

Need a laptop? This retiree refurbishes laptops, gives them away to those in need

Craig Clark, 79, calls himself the "Tech Fairy." Clark spends his time refurbishing old laptops and giving them away for free to people who need them.

n.pr

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