Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Devin Judge-Lord @judgelord.bsky.social · 19h

Befuddled scientists should understand that their animosity isn't mainly to our research; it is toward *us* and expertise as a source of independent voice they don't control.

"We have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country...The professors are the enemy."-Vance, 2021

Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 2d

Doctors and nurses and scientists — people who’ve dedicated their lives to advancing public health — are befuddled, stymied, and demoralized by the Trump administration’s extra-constitutional determination to stop American medical research in its tracks.

1

Devin Judge-Lord @judgelord.bsky.social · 22h

IRS layoffs are costly for the U.S., redistributing wealth to the top 1% (who lie on their taxes at jaw-dropping rates).

The bottom 99% generally pay their taxes. cepr.org/voxeu/column...

Taxes evaded as a percent of taxes owed from a study showing that the 99th wealth percentile and above evade significantly more taxes than everyone else. The richest evade 25% of the taxes they owe on average. The bottom 95% evade less than 3% of their taxes on average. While these data are from Scandinavia, similar patterns are likely in other countries, including the U.S.

6 190 530

Devin Judge-Lord @judgelord.bsky.social · 1d

bsky.app/profile/segf...

J. C. Cantwell 🌻 @segfaultvicta.aludel.xyz · 1d

FROG 🐸 SEMIOTICS 🐸 REDEMPTION 🐸 ARC

Ariella Elm @ariellaelm.bsky.social · 1d

I don’t think we’re talking enough about the fact that we successfully took back the frog. Like it has been a meme for the alt right for years now, and thanks to these Portland inflatable costumes, we’re taking it back

1 1

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

These guys have gotten incredibly rich by fleecing the government with subpar tech that was designed for rentseeking rather than performance. A smart Dem agenda item would be to build internal tech capacity. The fact that it would punish these guys is just a silver lining.

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 1d

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

42 470 1.9K

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 1d

Government shutdowns offer a rare opportunity to un-submerge the submerged state. Something Democrats could/should be doing is every day of shutdown, pick some agency and focus on it for the day. Highlight what it does and what we're losing each day their staff are furloughed.

Dustin Mulvaney @dustinmulvaney.bsky.social · 2d

A park employee, who spoke with SFGATE on the condition of anonymity to protect their job, said they know of only one wilderness ranger working the entire park. And technically, that person is not even a ranger, the employee said, but a volunteer.

SFGATE @sfgate.com · 2d

"It's the Wild Wild West."

3 63 210

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Thea Riofrancos @triofrancos.bsky.social · 1d

thanks! @commiedharma.bsky.social I also wrote a response to that piece from Commune, years ago when it was published fwiw viewpointmag.com/2019/05/16/p...

Plan, Mood, Battlefield - Reflections on the Green New Deal - Viewpoint Magazine

"At every node in this global chain, the technical and the political are intimately entangled. Declaring by fiat that decarbonization is unlikely or impossible amounts to an avoidance of the complex, ...

viewpointmag.com

1 4 12

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 2d

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 · 2d

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

130 2.3K 4.6K

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 15d

Scoop: Trump lost the legal battle over halting the offshore Revolution Wind project after Orsted, its developer, brought reams of evidence to court alleging the government was lying about military security concerns.

It’s a sign truth can empower companies Trump targets.

Via @heatmap.news

How Trump’s Case Against Revolution Wind Fell Apart

The administration argued in the name of national defense — but Orsted had receipts.

heatmap.news

19 540 1.7K

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Brady West @bradytwest.bsky.social · 2d

💯

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · Dec 14

it's wild that R, the ubiquitous statistical computing language, was co-created by a Māori prof (Ross Ihaka) — and yet the vast majority of scientists who use R don't know

this is like inventing the toaster. possibly the largest impact of a single member of an indigenous community on modern science

4 12

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 2d

Important reminder here that the US is not the only place where fossil fuel interests are pushing back hard against climate science and clean energy 👇

Saint Vice @savic.bsky.social · 2d

BBC decided to cancel a podcast on heat pumps deeming the topic "controversial" because it presented that the technology could contribute to net zero reducing carbon emmissions.

In 2025 an anti-science posture is not only valid, but required in any debate to be considered "balanced" 😬

5 84 270

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Pam Herd @pamherd.bsky.social · 3d

This has been the time eternal argument about new technologies. It’s not the technology. It’s a policy choice. It’s why places like Belgium are reducing their workweek, while American tech gods want us to sleep on pullouts in our offices.

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 3d

Ari Emanuel bets AI will boost leisure time with three-day working week on.ft.com/48RbY99

Ari Emanuel bets AI will boost leisure time with three-day working week

Hollywood agent raises almost $3bn from investors including Apollo and QIA for venture spanning tennis to car auctions

on.ft.com

8 18

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 3d

Harvard (and all universities) must take a stand against Trump's extorionary "compact". Enos and Levitsky.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Harvard Must Take a Stand Against Trump’s Compact | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson

Harvard, rather than quietly pursuing its own appeasement strategy, should lead the way to preserve academic freedom and democracy.

www.thecrimson.com

6 79 250

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Sarah Szalavitz💡 @dearsarah.bsky.social · 3d

Rutgers Professor @mark-bray.bsky.social, who studies & writes about Antifascism,Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats

By the time he & his family reached the gate, their tickets were cancelled.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/n... flagrantly & appallingly lawless. Hope he & his family are ok.

Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats

www.nytimes.com

27 340 640

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Hannah Walser @hkpmw.bsky.social · 2d

One significant thing about this video: this is WGN news. This is what my grandparents watched every night when they lived in the northwest suburbs. And although they’re not saying it outright, they are absolutely representing federal law enforcement as the bad guys.

Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 2d

ICE agents clash with Forest Park cemetery workers attempting to help man in Des Plaines River youtu.be/aPtEmAwgPRk...

Video: ICE agents clash with Forest Park cemetery workers attempting to help man in Des Plaines Rive

YouTube video by WGN News

youtu.be

6 42 89

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 3d

Kavanaugh stop

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 3d

ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.

12 100 400

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 3d

Maybe it's because I'm a parent, but avoidable harm to kids really gets to me. My kids can be difficult when they don't get an afternoon snack at the usual time. I'm sure various parents and teachers can say the same. Watching a kid starve to death? And the US govt did it on purpose?
Unconscionable.

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 3d

The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."

34 230 880

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Wendy Y. Li @wendyyli.bsky.social · 3d

Hahrie is such an inspiring and brilliant scholar, and I’m so glad she’s getting this well-deserved recognition! (That’s my boss y’all!!!)

Hahrie Han @hahrie.bsky.social · 3d

Totally, completely flabbergasted. #MacFellow

hub.jhu.edu/2025/10/08/h...

Johns Hopkins political scientist Hahrie Han receives MacArthur genius grant

Han, who studies political organizing and collective action and who has led the university's SNF Agora Institute since 2019, among 22 individuals to receive coveted MacArthur Foundation recognition

hub.jhu.edu

1 2

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Paul Kelleher 🎃 @paulkelleher.net · 5d

I’ve read this book twice now and I’ve appreciated the chance to grapple with a new conceptual framework for climate policy analysis. If (like me) you’re a proponent of carbon pricing, it’s your responsibility to read this and explain exactly where you disagree.

Jessica Green @greenprofgreen.bsky.social · 5d

Today is the day!!! Existential Politics is out in the world!

Read about why we’re doing climate policy wrong (too focused on measuring emissions) & what we should do instead (focus on $$ to constrain fossil asset owners & expand green asset owners). Just in time for #COP30.

Existential Politics

A new way to tackle the real politics of climate change through asset revaluation

press.princeton.edu

1 6 20

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Nick Bednar @nicholasbednar.bsky.social · 4d

I haven't seen the actual memo but I cannot come up with any plausible interpretation that would support the White House's interpretation. The early shutdown guidance even acknowledged furloughed employees were entitled to post. It's all a bluff seeking more leverage in negotiations.

1 1 10

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 5d

Governor Newsom has a bill on his desk to hold utilities accountable, and get them to stop passing along their dark money campaigns to everyday Californians.

Is he going to side with utilities, or side with the public and help lower electricity rates?
energyandpolicy.org/california-l...

California passes bill curbing utilities use of ratepayer money for political spending

State lawmakers last week made California the seventh state to pass a bill limiting investor-owned utilities from using customer money to pay for political and lobbying costs.

energyandpolicy.org

7 89 270

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Rachel Porter @rachelporter.bsky.social · 5d

🚨 Call for PostDoc or Visiting PhD Student 🚨

apply.interfolio.com/175219

We're seeking an American Politics scholar of leg. institutions or representation, under the direction of Jim Curry, Jeff Harden, and Rachel Porter (me!), affiliated with our Representation and Politics in Legislatures Lab

1 33 48

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Dan Deacon @dtdeacon.bsky.social · 5d

Over at the Notice and Comment blog, today's Ad Law Reading Room entry is "Remedies in the Officer Removal Cases," by Sam Bray. Check it out! www.yalejreg.com/nc/ad-law-re...

Ad Law Reading Room: "Remedies in the Officer Removal Cases," by Samuel Bray - Yale Journal on Regulation

Today’s Ad Law Reading Room entry is “Remedies in the Officer Removal Cases,” by Samuel L. Bray. Here is the abstract: When a federal officer challenges her removal by the president, what forms of int...

www.yalejreg.com

4 8

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 7d

Student protests are basically a necessary condition for any democracy movement

open.substack.com/pub/data4dem...

Student-Led Pro-Democracy Protests and Their Impact Worldwide (1955-2025)
Outcome
• Successful Transition
• Long Term Impact|
• Partial Gains|
• No Immediate Gains
Hungary Uprising' °

1960
1970
Poland Protests' ® 'France May '68
° South Korea April Revolution
Mexico Movement, a, Yugoslavia Protests
Greece Polytechnic, o
1980
Poland Solidarity, O
" 'South Africa Soweto
Philippines People Power,®
Brazil Diretas Já
South Korea June Movement
Burma 8/8/88 China Tiananmen
1990
Vepal Jana Andolan|
Indonesia Reformasi, o
2000
zechoslovakia Velvet- & ,East Germany Participation
Taiwan Wild Lily
Serbia Otpor, & ran University Protests
o Ukraine Orange Revolution
Venezuela Movement, o
2010
long Kong Umbrella
Tunisia Participation
gypt Tahrir, & Chile Winter urkey Gezi Park, g, Ukraine Euremaidan
•,Ethiopia Protests
2020
Myanmar Protests' 8, Iran Life Freedom
Bangladesh July Revolution' & Serbia
Algeria Hirak' 8 Thailand Students
Note: This timeline illustrates major student-led protests from 1955 to 2025, highlighting their outcomes in terms of political and social change. Outcomes are categorized as 'Successful Transition' (leading directly to significant reforms or government changes), 'Long Term Impact' (initially limited but influential over time),
'Partial Gains' (achieving some concessions or moderate changes), and 'No Immediate Gains' (little to no short-term change despite protest efforts).

3 96 450

Reposted by Devin Judge-Lord

Ángel Saavedra @polpsychangel.bsky.social · 5d

APSA Grants for Indigenous Politics Research.

apsanet.org/DIVERSITY/AP...

Advancing Research Grants- Indigenous Politics - American Political Science Association (APSA)

APSA Advancing Research Grants for Indigenous Politics Applications for the Diversity and Inclusion Advancing Research Grant – Indigenous

apsanet.org

3 4

Devin Judge-Lord @judgelord.bsky.social · 6d

Miller going off on the Portland PD, while quoting a court opinion that is mostly a log of how "PPB worked in close coordination with FPS, asking if they need help" and the feds saying no thanks, we're “not concerned” about the protestors.

1 7