Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 15h

鍋ディナーの翌日のご馳走は残り汁&野菜で作った雑炊ランチ。別の日の残りものだった鳥の胸肉と山椒をプラスして。

Leftover broth and veggies from last night’s hotpot dinner turned into a soup with the addition of rice, leftover rotisserie chicken, and some 山椒.

Reposted by 永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara

Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 17h

A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:

Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges.
We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.
• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%.

source:
https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact

• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.
These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth

7 340 1.1K

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 16h

It's a "no thanks" from MIT to Trump's "Compact": "...fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."

links.mit.edu/nl3/N5Jy2cKq...

Regarding the Compact

links.mit.edu

7

Reposted by 永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara

Levi McLaughlin @levimclaughlin.bsky.social · 21h

Big upheaval in Japanese politics. Today (Japan time), after a ninety minute meeting between Saitō, head of Komeito, and Takaichi, the LDP politician who recently won her party’s presidency, Saitō announced an end to their parties’ 26-year-long coalition agreement.

1 29 85

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 1d

初鍋!

Hotpot full of veggies on a portable stove with a plate of meat next to it.

19

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 1d

今日は室温が一日中19度以下。とうとう恒例の「いつまでヒーターつけずに頑張れるかニューイングランド人選手権」(勝手に命名)の季節が来てしまった。

3

Reposted by 永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara

Dr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · 1d

rising above the mediocre haters like

A scene from the Kasuga gongen scrolls of a woman (deity) rising above a room full of people gazing up at her in amazement. To the left are four monks and to the right are six women and children, hands clasped together as they look up.

1 7 27

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 2d

This article from 2020 also makes an oblique reference to it. The Asahi piece is much more explicit about it.

www.forbes.com/sites/japan/...

How Kyoto Is Rebuilding Itself As A Nanotech And Regenerative Medicine Powerhouse

As humans continue to pump more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, concerns about global warming and climate change continue to grow. But what if that CO2 could be turned into a source of en...

www.forbes.com

3

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 2d

I hear that yet another politician somewhere is lazily labeling humanities and social sciences as "rip-off" which is of course BS. Also: this year's Japanese Nobel laureate for chemistry credits a Daoist idea he read about as the inspiration for his work.

digital.asahi.com/articles/AST...

北川進さん「役に立たないものも役に立つ」　ノーベル賞に導いた本は：朝日新聞

ノーベル化学賞の受賞が決まった北川進さん（74）が開発したのは金属有機構造体（ＭＯＦ）という多孔性の材料だった。物質にあいた無数の「孔」（穴）。着目したきっかけは学生時代に読んだ書籍にあった老荘思想…

digital.asahi.com

2 4 9

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 2d

Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
or sit in the seat of scoffers...

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 3d

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

1 8

Reposted by 永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 3d

"Any university leader who signs on to this compact would betray everything good and solid about the university and would do deep and permanent harm to the United States and the world."

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 3d

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

24 91

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 4d

Still struck by how when Coates asked Klein if he wanted liberals to go to evangelical churches just to "own" them a la Kirk on campus, Klein ignored the substance of the question and just insisted that liberals needed to go to "unfriendly" places and "have conversations" in good faith unlike Kirk.

7

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 4d

A line that stood out to me from this piece: "There is a tone of despair in Ezra Klein’s voice." Despair verging on nihilism, I might add.

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 4d

ICYMI yesterday:

I wrote about Ezra Klein, Ta-Nehisi Coates, the struggle to define the boundaries of what is acceptable in America – and why democratic citizens have an obligation to hold the line on what we consider beyond the pale.

Some thoughts from my new piece:

🧵

Where Is the Line?

On Ezra Klein, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and the struggle to define the boundaries of what is acceptable in America

steady.page

1 7

Reposted by 永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 4d

ICYMI yesterday:

I wrote about Ezra Klein, Ta-Nehisi Coates, the struggle to define the boundaries of what is acceptable in America – and why democratic citizens have an obligation to hold the line on what we consider beyond the pale.

Some thoughts from my new piece:

🧵

Where Is the Line?

On Ezra Klein, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and the struggle to define the boundaries of what is acceptable in America

steady.page

9 82 260

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 6d

Every once in a while I catch a Dodgers game on TV and first I’m excited to see Ohtani at bat…and then I see him start pitching and I’m catch myself asking for a split second, “Wait, he can do that TOO??? 🤯🤯🤯”

5 27

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 6d

Interesting reporting that Aso Taro supposedly instructed his faction to split their votes between Motegi and Kobayashi in round 1, in exchange for the two candidates bringing in votes for Takaichi in round 2.

youtu.be/a3w6TJmiULQ?...

「麻生さんとは貸し借りあった」高市新総裁逆転勝利のキーマンは麻生最高顧問　1回目の投票では小林氏・茂木氏に協力｜TBS NEWS DIG

YouTube video by TBS NEWS DIG Powered by JNN

youtu.be

1 1 7

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 6d

お疲れ様でーす！

Reposted by 永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara

Tobias Harris @tobiasharris.bsky.social · 6d

I’m nearing the limits of my endurance, but I took a first crack at thinking about the winners and losers from Takaichi’s surprising upset Saturday. Much more to come.

open.substack.com/pub/observin...

Takaichi wins!

Who wins and who loses from her shocking upset

open.substack.com

2 19 68

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 6d

I went to bed during the second round of LDP voting because it was late but also because I had this feeling that Takaichi was going to win after watching the runoff speeches. Koizumi focused on appealing to his colleagues while Takaichi gestured towards the party supporters beyond the auditorium.

2 18

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 7d

This is TV Asahi’s live feed of the LDP presidential election but if you rewind you can watch an endless footage of LDP Diet members walking into the Party HQ which is kinda mesmerizing and fascinating in its own way.

www.youtube.com/live/KxlR7vd...

【地上波特番同時配信】自民党総裁選ポスト石破の行方は？小泉進次郎氏、高市早苗氏、林芳正氏、小林鷹之氏、茂木敏充氏から自民党が選ぶ新しいリーダーは？【LIVE】(2025年10月4日) ANN/テレ朝

YouTube video by ANNnewsCH

www.youtube.com

13

Reposted by 永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara

Tobias Harris @tobiasharris.bsky.social · 7d

We're less than two hours from the start of voting for the next LDP leader. I made a little cheat sheet.

1 8 43

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 7d

まあその、シカたがないかもね。

I’ll show myself out.

Tobias Harris @tobiasharris.bsky.social · 14d

While the attention is on Koizumi's campaign, murmurs about Takaichi having her own problems.

www.nikkan-gendai.com/articles/vie...

高市早苗氏は総裁選“決選投票”にも残らない？完全裏目の「鹿スピーチ」でまさかの大失速｜日刊ゲンダイDIGITAL

完全にやってしまった。10月4日投開票の自民党総裁選で有力候補のひとり、高市前経済安保相が急減速。最大の原因は、...

www.nikkan-gendai.com

1 1 14

Reposted by 永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara

Shotaro Tsuda @brighthelmer.bsky.social · 7d

新聞社から取材を受けるときというのは、わりと難しいお題が与えられることが多く、今回もけっこうな難題ではありました。

しかも、取材の依頼が来たときと、実際に取材を受けたときとで、状況がかなり違っていて、いろいろと悩みながら話をしました。

というわけで、10月4日19時ぐらいまで読めるURLです。

digital.asahi.com/articles/AST...

ネットに「いっちょかみ」した総裁選　自民の世論配慮は「裏目に」：朝日新聞

自民党総裁選が4日に投開票される。投票権は国会議員と約100万人の党員・党友に限られる党内イベントだが、少数与党の状況もあってか、自民党はメディアを通じて一般世論に耳を傾ける姿勢を演出しているように…

digital.asahi.com

30 60

永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara @hiromunagahara.bsky.social · 8d

"Please clap."
(LDP presidential candidate Motegi Toshimitsu edition)

At 1:50~ mark in this clip:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vfy...

LDP presidential candidate telling his audience, "This is where I should be receiving applause."

1 8

Reposted by 永原宣 Hiromu Nagahara

Gautham Rao @gauthamrao.bsky.social · 11d

Took about 20 years. And I never thought a book about enslavers using deputization to give themselves policing power would be relevant to our times. But we are where we are.

My book, White Power: Policing American Slavery, is now available for preorder.

a.co/d/29c7EIP

49 380 1.1K