Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Liz Dye @lizdye.bsky.social · 2h

They make up lies about paid agitators doing violence, and attach them to the name of a prominent Jewish person. This is antisemitism, and it infects every part of the GOP.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2h

Sen. Roger Marshall: "October 18 is when the protest gets here. This will be a Soros paid-for protest for his professional protesters. The agitators show up. We'll have to get the National Guard out. Hopefully it will be peaceful. I doubt it."

75 490 1.9K

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Luke Steuber @lukesteuber.com · 3h

“Multiplying protest frogs” 🤣

Troops to Portland still on hold, multiplying protest frogs, fact-check on Trump claims: Get caught up

It’s not clear when the 9th Circuit panel will issue its ruling, but it will likely come before an Oct. 17 hearing

www.oregonlive.com

12 76 300

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 1h

The administration dedicated to fighting antisemitism, folks

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2h

Sen. Roger Marshall: "October 18 is when the protest gets here. This will be a Soros paid-for protest for his professional protesters. The agitators show up. We'll have to get the National Guard out. Hopefully it will be peaceful. I doubt it."

3 12 70

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 22h

The administration dedicated to fighting antisemitism, folks 🤦‍♂️

8 24 180

Leah Berman Williams @leahwrenn.bsky.social · 1h

Right? It’s a mess. Apparently we’ve got another week of this nonsense at least.

1 1

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 3h

News: Bari Weiss just sent a memo to staffers at CBS News asking them to produce a memo explaining "how you spend your working hours—and ideally, what you've made (or are making) that you're most proud of."

One CBS News staffer puts it like this to me: "We just got Elon Musked."

250 1.4K 6K

Leah Berman Williams @leahwrenn.bsky.social · 1h

🧵

Johann Huntera @chattwjonathan.bsky.social · 2h

I've got a weather communication story to tell about #HurricaneMichael.

Probably the most frustrating job of safety communication that I have ever faced, and probably one that echoes some experience other meteorologists have had.

Brian McNoldy @bmcnoldy.bsky.social · 3h

Seven years ago today, Hurricane Michael continued to intensify as it headed north toward the coast. It made landfall near Mexico Beach FL with 160mph peak sustained winds, making it the 1st Category 5 landfall in the FL panhandle and only the 4th in U.S. history.

2

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 3h

MIT President Sally Kornbluth just issued a statement to the campus community saying NO to Trump’s authoritarian compact

“And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”

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%.
• 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 tree 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
CC
Ms. May Mailman
Mr. Vincent Haley

4 120 380

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 3h

Happy world squid and cuttlefish day!!

Text your friend a squid fact. Watch a video of a cuttlefish doing something cute.
Doodle a squid and then show it to me.

The world is cruel but squid are good.

A giant Australian cuddle fish swims up from the Moy seafloor and looks at the camera. She is red with w shaped curious pupils

14 94 320

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Ian Bogost 🍔 @ibogost.bsky.social · 3h

A better example is Dartmouth, which basically just short circuits the whole thing by not taking it seriously.

Response to the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’ | Office of the President

president.dartmouth.edu

1 5 27

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Adam Pascale @seislologist.bsky.social · 15h

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake occurred about 10 minutes ago in the Mindanao region of the Philippines, triggering all stations in our southeast Australian network. It’s offshore and around 50km, so hopefully far enough to not cause too much damage or trigger a tsunami.

1 10 27

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 16h

www.wweek.com/culture/2025...

Can you put into words what that purpose is? You and the frog have really become icons of this protest.

There’s been a nice overall whimsy that has shown up. The frog is amazing. We had a bunch of other inflatable people here last night, too. I saw people playing Twister the other day.

What they rely on is fear. So by coming out in an absurdist manner, it speaks to them, to some extent, that we’re actually not that afraid.

It also dismantles their narrative a little bit. When they try to describe this situation as “war-torn,” it becomes much harder to take them seriously when they have to post a video saying [U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security] Kristi Noem is up on the balcony staring over the Antifa Army and it’s, like, eight journalists and five protesters and one of them is in a chicken suit.

88 2.9K 9.9K

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 15h

“The Nobel Committee is an independent body and the Norwegian government has no involvement in determining the prizes. But I’m not sure Trump knows that. We have to be prepared for anything from him.”

That they have to say this...

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Norway braces for Trump’s reaction if he does not win Nobel peace prize

US president may impose tariffs, demand higher Nato contributions or even declare Norway an enemy, analyst says

www.theguardian.com

11 38 110

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 21h

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

1.6K 20K 48K

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

The Octopus Gallery @octopusgallery.bsky.social · 1d

Good news for sewists: the paper pattern company feared lost to bankruptcy has been saved as an independent company.

craftindustryalliance.org/sewing-patte...

Sewing Patterns Rise from DGA Bankruptcy Ashes - Craft Industry Alliance

The “Big 4” sewing patterns are saved. Simplicity, McCall’s, Vogue & Butterick get new life under Rubelmann Capital.

craftindustryalliance.org

20 560 1.1K

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 16h

"30-year-old conservative lawyer and activist who is Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, which deals with federal employee whistleblower complaints and discrimination" cancelled his colleague's hotel room so she would be forced to stay with him.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

In late July, Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, arrived at a Ritz-Carlton in Orlando with a lower-ranking female colleague and others from their department. When the group reached the front desk, the woman learned she didn’t have a hotel room.

Ingrassia then informed her that she would be staying with him, according to five administration officials familiar with the episode. Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him, three of those officials said.

270 1.7K 4.1K

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Dominick Albano @dominickalbano.bsky.social · 21h

Job ratings for 6 prominent federal government agencies are now at or near their lowest points, including the FEMA, CIA, CDC, FDA, EPA, and IRS, says new Gallup poll.
The U.S. Postal Service is the only agency to maintain a majority-level positive rating.
news.gallup.com/poll/696059/...

1 3

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 17h

I have to fan-girl for a minute here. My friend @rosvall-lab.bsky.social built an app to gather data on bird behavior during the 2024 solar eclipse. 10,000+ citizen scientists contributed (including my kids), and the resulting paper was published in Science today!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Total solar eclipse triggers dawn behavior in birds: Insights from acoustic recordings and community science

On 8 April 2024, a total solar eclipse disrupted light-dark cycles for North American birds during the lead-up to spring reproduction. Compiling more than 10,000 community observations and artificial ...

www.science.org

9 140 460

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Justin Glawe @justinglawe.bsky.social · 15h

Last I checked: Ingrassia was a 29-year-old former law firm staffer who had never passed the bar.

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 15h

Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s nominee to lead the office investigating Jack Smith, has recently been investigated for harassing a colleague, Politico reports.

“Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him..”

=
POLITICO
By DANIEL LIPPMAN
10/09/2025 08:22 PM EDT
f
In late July, Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, arrived at a Ritz-Carlton in Orlando with a lower-ranking female colleague and others from their department. When the group reached the front desk, the woman learned she didn't have a hotel room.
Ingrassia then informed her that she would be staying with him, according to five administration officials familiar with the episode. Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him, three of those officials said.

6 4

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Alan Taylor @kokogiak.bsky.social · 15h

A remarkable video clip from astronaut Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit on X), showing his "best sighting of a Starlink satellite 'train' from orbit!" - x.com/astro_Pettit...

3 9 65

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Jacob Shamsian @jayshams.bsky.social · 22h

I've been wondering why Dominion Voting Systems suddenly reached settlements with Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and One America News.

Turns out, it's been purchased by a Republican-owned election tech firm that insisted on it, per Axios.

www.axios.com/2025/10/09/d...

130 1.4K 2.7K

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 15h

9th Circuit just made anti-SLAPP laws (like the good ones in California and Nevada) a lot less effective. This is going to lead to a ton of suppressed speech. Stupid and dangerous. Especially now.

We need a federal anti-SLAPP law now. And we won't get one.

cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...

cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov

12 220 840

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

ballerinaX @ballerinax.bsky.social · 15h

"A judge gave the government 10 days to respond, and when they failed to do so during that period and in another 30-day window, the motion to terminate was granted."

www.fox13now.com/news/local-n...

Utah violinist no longer in deportation proceedings after ICE detainment

Utah violinist John Shin, who spent weeks in an ICE detention center, no longer faces deportation after the U.S. government failed to appeal the termination of his removal proceedings.

www.fox13now.com

1 31 100

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · 19h

This is why mandatory online age verification is bullshit.

3 28 270

Reposted by Leah Berman Williams

404 Media @404media.co · 1d

BREAKING: A catastrophic breach has impacted Discord user data including selfies and identity documents uploaded as part of the app’s verification process, email addresses, phone numbers, approximately where the user lives, and much more.

🔗 www.404media.co/the-discord-...

The Discord Hack is Every Users’ Worst Nightmare

A hack impacting Discord’s age verification process shows in stark terms the risk of tech companies collecting users’ ID documents. Now the hackers are posting peoples’ IDs and other sensitive informa...

www.404media.co

83 1.6K 2.4K