Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 10h

It’s hard to view people in inflatable costumes as a threat. Except that frog. Something ain’t right about that frog…

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 10h

This is the genius of the Portland protests - they make the claims of lawlessness look not just wrong, but comical

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 13h

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

Reposted by Matt Stocum

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 10h

What if the guy who inspires fear of reprisal for not winning does not actually deserve the Peace Prize?

headlines describing Norway shitting itself for when Trump does not win.

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Reposted by Matt Stocum

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 18h

It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.

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Reposted by Matt Stocum

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 14h

after careful study, I believe only people born between 1975 and 1995 should be allowed to use the internet

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 13h

I know someone who has had to take the MoCA a few times, after suffering concussions from being hit in the head with a softball. This is a test to make sure you have an absolute baseline level of cognitive function. It's not an IQ test like he seems to think it is.

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 13h

Not an easy test. I had to draw a clock and identify a camel. What's going on with the humps? That's where they store their water. Not a lot of people know that, but my uncle, really big brain, he told me. Also, that kid I'm always yelling at on the White House lawn

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montrea...

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 13h

Can someone, anyone, please ask him how that works? Just ask him to explain how you can reduce the price of anything by more than 100%. Ask him what the price of a $100 prescription would be after being reduced by 500%. Sure. he'll call you names and say you're nasty, but please do it.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17h

Trump: "We're gonna be reducing the cost of medicines by 100%, 200%, 300%, 500% and even more than that."

Reposted by Matt Stocum

mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 15h

Was a mistake to drop the "weird" attack

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 15h

RFK JR: There are many other confirmations -- there are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they are given Tylenol

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 14h

I know nothing about guns, but I know rule number 0 of gun safety is you never point a gun at anyone unless you're prepared to kill them.

Juliette Rihl @julietterihl.bsky.social · 16h

I don’t usually cover breaking news, but this story is truly wild.

A pastor in central PA brought an AR-15 to church and pointed it at people during his sermon. Gun safety experts and internet commentators are, predictably, not happy!

(Paywall free link below)

www.pennlive.com/news/2025/10...

Dauphin County pastor under fire for pointing assault-style rifle during sermon

In a move experts called a serious safety violation, he pointed the unloaded weapon at churchgoers, while asking for a 'violent action of faith.'

www.pennlive.com

Reposted by Matt Stocum

Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 23h

It cannot be made clearer.

If you continue to support the Harry Potter franchise in any way, you are directly funding the removal of trans people's human rights in the UK.

JK Rowling pledges to keep up fight against SNP trans policies

Author vows to bankroll campaigners after Scottish government fails to pay group's legal fees in Supreme Court equality case

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 19h

Why would anyone even want this? How does an ER only hospital serve the community? Great, you can get emergency care, but what if you just need an ultrasound, or planned surgery?

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 19h

Cratchit has a white-collar job and through his connections is able to arrange a white-collar apprenticeship for his son. He's definitely poor but not destitute.

Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 19h

This is one of those great posts where they're both wrong. Cratchit is not supposed to be destitute and doing a simple inflation calculation on his wages is not a fair comparison. There are other characters in the story who are far worse off than Cratchit.

www.measuringworth.com/blog/?p=256

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 19h

Bob literally gets a single paid vacation day per year:

"And yet," said Scrooge, "you don't think me ill-used, when I pay a day's wages for no work."

The clerk observed that it was only once a year.

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 20h

So happy I voted for this human turd.

The Intercept @theintercept.com · 21h

Republican Senators, with an assist from Sen. John Fetterman, voted down an attempt to block the Trump administration’s missile strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats. interc.pt/4o9CBur

A photo of Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., sits on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 1, 2025, in Washington, overlaid with the headline, "Fetterman Is Sole Democrat to Vote Against Blocking Caribbean Drug Boat Attacks," and the DEK, "It was the first time members of Congress were put on record about whether they supported or opposed the president’s war in the Caribbean."

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Reposted by Matt Stocum

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 21h

yeah, trump has made very clear that he doesn’t think black people deserve to be in jobs of influence! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Trump Fires Black Officials From an Overwhelmingly White Administration

www.nytimes.com

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 20h

Obama should not have received a Nobel Peace Prize, and Trump absolutely should not.

Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 22h

Trump’s desire for a Nobel Peace Prize has shaken up global diplomacy, as allies try to curry favor.

It may have even helped spur this week’s Hamas-Israel deal, one former Israeli negotiator said — a bid to help Trump cinch the Nobel before tomorrow’s announcement.

From @mbirnbaum.bsky.social + me

Trump wants a Nobel Prize. He’ll learn Friday if his campaign paid off.

President Donald Trump’s long quest for a Nobel Peace Prize has sparked an unusual global scramble.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 1d

Right? “MTG is making a good point.” Not something I EVER thought I’d say.

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 1d

They’re absolutely awful people, but what Trump is doing is wrong. No one, not even these assholes, should be the subject of a political prosecution to calm the ego of a manbaby.

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 1d

The greatest crime Trump has committed is making me support Bolton and Comey.

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 1d

WSJ reports that DOJ is going to charge John Bolton.

In case you needed anyone less sympathetic to rally behind than Jim Comey.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Prosecutors in Maryland are expected in coming days to charge one of Trump’s first-term national security advisers, John Bolton, now a top Trump critic, with mishandling classified information, according to people familiar with the matter.

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Reposted by Matt Stocum

Norm Charlatan @normcharlatan.bsky.social · 1d

This is what every Democratic state needs to do, tell its state university leaders that they will lose all state appropriations if they sign the compact. Take the decision out of feckless college administrators’ hands.

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

Virginia State Senate Dems just brought down fire and fury regarding the “Compact,” notifying the President and Rector that UVA would lose ALL STATE APPROPRIATIONS if it signs and cedes the University to “federal political control.” Notably, their letter directly restates points made here by @siva.

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 1d

The “compact” for higher ed is an unserious document written by unserious people from a position of spectacular ignorance. No one should take it seriously. Sadly, my bosses are taking it seriously.

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

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Reposted by Matt Stocum

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

Virginia State Senate Dems just brought down fire and fury regarding the “Compact,” notifying the President and Rector that UVA would lose ALL STATE APPROPRIATIONS if it signs and cedes the University to “federal political control.” Notably, their letter directly restates points made here by @siva.

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 1d

The “compact” for higher ed is an unserious document written by unserious people from a position of spectacular ignorance. No one should take it seriously. Sadly, my bosses are taking it seriously.

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

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Reposted by Matt Stocum

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 1d

Just split screen this nonsense with a live feed from the streets of Portland

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."

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Reposted by Matt Stocum

Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 1d

The Speaker of the House has firm views that Bad Bunny is a terrible pick for singing at the Super Bowl, but hasn't had time to watch the President's speech to our military leadership or form an opinion whether furloughed federal workers should be paid or Illinois' governor should be thrown in jail.

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Matt Stocum @matt.stocum.us · 1d

Keeping the tariff exemptions would be my guess.

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