Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 10h

the thing about caring more about securing flimsy indictments than winning cases is that you can just keep racking 'em up and calling it a victory

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 10h

my concern is that they go the "if at first you don't succeed, try try again" route in that case

Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Podcast @gonebabygone.bsky.social · 10h

Do you think anyone has explained to him that you can’t appeal acquittals to the Supreme Court yet or are they crossing that bridge when they come to it

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 10h

welp. i wrote about james comey's indictment earlier today arguing that it's more about trump's desire to humiliate his opponents the same way he was than actually bringing winnable cases. and now letitia james joins the club, despite the weakness of the evidence against her

Opinion | James Comey could be acquitted. Trump has still gotten what he wanted.

President Donald Trump's revenge campaign doesn't require convictions in court. Simple humiliation will suffice.

www.msnbc.com

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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 10h

The standard for securing an indictment before a federal grand jury is much lower than securing a unanimous conviction by a jury at trial. www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

Grand jury indicts N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James, a Trump opponent, on bank fraud charge

James, a Democrat, has clashed with President Donald Trump after bringing civil charges against him in New York.

www.nbcnews.com

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Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · 12h

NEW: Emboldened Democrats dig in on health care demands in shutdown fight

Senate Dem comms directors got a briefing and poll memo y'day. The pollster's advice? That Republicans are losing this battle, health care demands are popular, and stay the course.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

Emboldened Democrats dig in on health care demands in shutdown fight

Energized by public opinion, Democrats are refusing to budge on their demands to extend expiring Obamacare tax credits, frustrating Republican leaders as the shutdown continues.

www.nbcnews.com

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MSNBC @msnbc.com · 16h

OPINION by @hayesbrown.bsky.social:

“The White House's strongest efforts to end the shutdown clash heavily with the long-standing goals of the MAGA agenda.”

READ MORE:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Opinion | Trump's White House is struggling to pretend it hates the shutdown

Any threats the administration can muster to force Democrats to back down wind up sounding like long-standing MAGA goals.

www.msnbc.com

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 1d

New from me: It's hard to take the White House's good cop-bad cop shutdown routine seriously when all of the supposed "threats" are really just MAGA goals

Opinion | Trump's White House is struggling to pretend it hates the shutdown

Any threats the administration can muster to force Democrats to back down wind up sounding like long-standing MAGA goals.

www.msnbc.com

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 1d

My high school best friend’s first book of poems is now available for sale so you should absolutely buy it if you aren’t a total jerk

Streetlamp Nautilus|Paperback

"Catharine Batsios is a brilliant observer of broken and discarded things, which, being from Flint and Detroit, is a blessing. Streetlamp Nautilus is filled with decay, but a type of decay that create...

www.barnesandnoble.com

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 1d

Whew: "The Life of a Showgirl is made of Shein quality rip-offs of other people’s songs that are constructed shoddily and sold in ginormous quantities. Art takes time and care. This is profit. It’s content."

No Good Art Comes From Greed | Defector

The packages arrived square and thin and carefully wrapped on Saturday afternoon. There were three of them, but only one was mine. If I could have rejected my package, sent it back from whence it came...

defector.com

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Downtown Brandi Frown 😾 @itsthebrandi.bsky.social · 2d

Her sister definitely texts like a parent who says CALL ME NOW about something not urgent.

www.wsmv.com/2025/10/08/i...

‘I didn’t mean to scare anyone’: Dolly Parton’s sister says after asking for prayers

Dolly postponed her first Las Vegas residency in more than 30 years late last month, saying she was dealing with health challenges.

www.wsmv.com

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 1d

i'm back btw

Opinion | Trump's White House is struggling to pretend it hates the shutdown

Any threats the administration can muster to force Democrats to back down wind up sounding like long-standing MAGA goals.

www.msnbc.com

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 1d

New from me: It's hard to take the White House's good cop-bad cop shutdown routine seriously when all of the supposed "threats" are really just MAGA goals

Opinion | Trump's White House is struggling to pretend it hates the shutdown

Any threats the administration can muster to force Democrats to back down wind up sounding like long-standing MAGA goals.

www.msnbc.com

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Kelsey McKinney @mckinneykelsey.bsky.social · 3d

i wrote about The Life of a Showgirl

Defector @defector.com · 3d

No good art comes from greed: defector.com/taylor-swift...

No Good Art Comes From Greed | Defector

The packages arrived square and thin and carefully wrapped on Saturday afternoon. There were three of them, but only one was mine. If I could have rejected my package, sent it back from whence it…

defector.com

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George Ordiway @georgeordiway.bsky.social · 3d

"Jeopardy!" Sabermetrics | Data Science Blog share.google/SpSKItd7DaCH...

It doesn't quite answer your question, but it's using the right metrics to start the process. My favorite part is the 50% final jeopardy success rate

"Jeopardy!" Sabermetrics

America's Favorite Trivia Game“Jeopardy!” is America's longest-running quiz show. Originally airing 1964-1975, its Alex-Trebek-hosted 1984 reboot has become a staple of syndicated TV, airing over sev...

share.google

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 3d

this is a hell of a way for me to learn that Jess has switched beats and i'm v here for it

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Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 3d

I kind of can’t believe this Bari Weiss quote is even real, and yet www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...

“I know that there are some people in this room who don’t believe that my marriage should have been legal … and that’s ok. Because we’re all Americans who want lower taxes.”

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 3d

Very true! But I'm wondering since there seem to be so rarely questions where nobody knows the answer or rounds end with questions left on the board

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Haggie Witchlin 🧙‍♀️ @maggiewittlin.bsky.social · 3d

This is a great question, but I’m not sure that number of correct answers is the best measure of knowledge base, since they could make the questions harder alongside broader average knowledge.

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 3d

It seems so rare that none of them get it or that there are questions left on the board at the end of the round! I have to wonder if there were more missed answers before everyone had access to Everything

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Hayes Brown @hayesbrown.bsky.social · 3d

Random question I'm sure some nerd has already answered by now: Is there any correlation between the number of correct answers given on Jeopardy! and the ubiquity of the internet? Like, does the average contestant have a wider knowledge base now than in the early 90s?

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sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 3d

ok I didn't mention this in my piece on friday but one of the things the judge asked about was whether the guardsmen were going to get paid during the shutdown

the doj was like "idk"

the state of oregon was like "we looked into it and the answer is no"

Reyhan Harmanci @harmancipants.bsky.social · 3d

I keep forgetting the government is shut down bc Trump admin is so focused on sending troops to US cities

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Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם) @bestonetx.bsky.social · 3d

Spot-on framing, excellent headline.

Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 3d

Texas once feared a phantom federal occupation. Now Gov. Abbott’s troops are helping carry it out under Trump. And Houston may be next, writes the Houston Chronicle editorial board. bit.ly/48Q3D5C

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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.bsky.social · 3d

I need more “late bloomer” stories! Tell me about the things that you did at 50+ that you never thought you’d do or finally got to do!

And if you have examples that aren’t you, bring ‘em!

Elliot Blake @elliotblake.bsky.social · 4d

I’m over 50, and my first TV show came out on Friday. My first book, a novella, will come out next year. I’m a late bloomer.

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Sexy CHOAM Nomsky costume @samthielman.com · 4d

“Shaka, when the walls fell”

CNBC @cnbc.com · 4d

To shut down rude behavior instantly, try a simple yet powerful five-word response.

Use this 5-word phrase when someone is rude to you—it's like 'holding up a mirror,' says public speaking expert

When we encounter a rude person, our first instinct might be to fire back with a snarky comment. But that's not the right move, says public speaking expert John Bowe. Here's the perfect response to instantly shut down rude behavior.

cnb.cx

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☠️deadward niedermurder☠️ @niedermeyer.online · 4d

"general purpose humanoid robots are real" is an ancient folkloric tradition that today's tech founders and venture capitalists are faithfully keeping alive

Rakesh Khanna @blaftrakesh.bsky.social · 4d

When I was researching my book Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India, I learned of a 1000-year-old myth about Roman tech being used to build killer robots to guard the Buddha's remains in Pataliputra, and a Hungarian folklorist read my book & got excited about it, & she managed to dig up a🧵(1/3)

Romanised Pali manuscript of the Lokapannati

Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India
p. 60
Bhoota Vahana Yanta
Bhoota Vahana Yanta means “spirit movement machine.” The term is used
for several varieties of robot drone assassins and sword-wielding machine-
men mentioned in the Lokapannati, a Pali-language text written between
1000 and 1200 CE by Saddhammaghosa of Thaton, but concerning
events that took place much earlier, around 500 to 200 BCE.
According to the story, robots were first invented by engineers of the
early Roman Republic. These robots were used for commerce, in agriculture,
as a police force, and as executioners. The secret of how to build these
spirit-engines was fiercely protected. If any engineer dared to take the designs
out of the city, one of his own executioner robots would come after
him and kill him.
At that time, in Pataliputra (then in the kingdom of Magadha, now
Patna in the state of Bihar), there lived a young man who had heard of the
Romans’ magical androids. He became so determined to learn the secrets
of their manufacture and share them with the people of Magadha that he
arranged his own death. Then, on his deathbed, he vowed to be reincarnated
as a Roman.
This indeed took place. In his new life, the man grew up to join the
Roman guild of engineers. He even married the daughter of the Master
Robot-Maker, and had a son by her.
Once he learned the secrets of the Bhoota Vahana Yanta, the man resolved
to transfer the information back to Pataliputra. But he was well
aware that now, since he was a member of the guild, he would be killed as
soon as he left. So he cut a gash in his thigh, inserted the plans in his flesh,
and sewed the wound back up.

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