LightNews LightNews
banner
memsomerville.bsky.social
@memsomerville.bsky.social
1.2K followers 1.2K following 1.4K posts
Scientist. Lacemaker.

lacecouvige.com for Wikipedia project
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted
gottalaff.bsky.social
Who ever could have seen this coming
startribune.com Minnesota Star Tribune @startribune.com · 1h
Minnesota farmers are worried they won’t have enough hands to tend livestock and manage crops this year, a consequence of ongoing federal immigration enforcement in the state.
Minnesota farms face labor shortage as workers fear federal immigration action
Agriculture leaders say some farms might not survive the season since migrant workers might avoid the state.
www.startribune.com
February 16, 2026 at 3:23 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
Someone pointed out to me recently that the logo for Wuthering Heights new film is actually... #lace!

I am here for the lace font. I am agnostic on the actual film.
February 15, 2026 at 3:14 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
I've been hearing for years that the failure to teach/learn cursive handwriting was going to blow back somehow. I didn't really think so.

Am now watching youngsters struggle with 19th century really nice penmanship in #LostCanadians forums (on church documents + census forms).

Struggle. Real.
February 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
All men too. Just the way they want it.

Speaking of: what is the name on JD Vance's birth certificate? I mean, I know he has a passport because he got booed in Italy. But I'm curious.....
jbf1755.bsky.social Joanne Freeman @jbf1755.bsky.social · 1d
This is precisely what polling places were like for part of the 19th century.

People often traveled long distances by horse to vote. It was a big deal when folks got together this way.
February 15, 2026 at 12:35 AM
Reposted
radleybalko.bsky.social
Please read this long but important thread from an immigration defense attorney.

If this administration is permitted to scale its current abuse, neglect, and inhumane treatment of immigrants to the breadth and scope for which they’re currently planning, we’ll all be witness to mass atrocities.
mddoogie3.bsky.social MdDoogie3 @mddoogie3.bsky.social · 4d
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.

I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”

1/
February 14, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Reposted
crindivisible.bsky.social
Yesterday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at today’s ICE Out of Lindenwold protest is a must watch 😭. @maddow.bsky.social
February 14, 2026 at 2:37 AM
Reposted
ottawapublichealth.ca
Roses are red,
violets are blue,
follow public health advice,
thanks,
we couldn't think of a way to end this....

Happy Valentine's day.
February 13, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Reposted
onewheeldoin200.bsky.social
February 12, 2026 at 5:46 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
The battle of Big Food and Big Pharma?

We live in interesting times.

#GLP1 #MCD #PEP
On the Yahoo finance page, a story about McDonalds and weight loss drugs is illustrated with an image of a Ronald McDonald statue seated on a bench. Behind is the window ads for "Everyday Meals Big Savings!" and some price cut from 375 to 149 that might be in Yen? Headline below the image says: "McDonald's CEO says company is preparing to battle weight-loss drugs" Yahoo Finance • 1h ago Has ticker symbols for MCD up 1.65% and PEP up 0.98%.
February 12, 2026 at 2:39 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
Oh, wow: I had no idea. George Washington Carver was also a #crochet lace maker!

You can try the patterns.

#BlackHistoryMonth #lace

pieceworkmagazine.com/george-washi...
The Scientist Who Crocheted: George Washington Carver’s Unexpected Legacy
Discover George Washington Carver’s quiet lifelong passion for crochet and fancywork and download free crochet patterns for his swatches.
pieceworkmagazine.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:04 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
I'm old enough to remember when interfering with some clergy was full-on outrage....
jjinandtonic.bsky.social Jjinandtonic @jjinandtonic.bsky.social · 5d
I can’t believe we’re back to medieval level conflicts like “local government thugs stop, harass priests, cardinal intervenes”
February 11, 2026 at 12:57 AM
memsomerville.bsky.social
This is clearer than any media I've seen (even from immigration law firms) on the #LostCanadians issue.

There are displaced Acadians, descendants of the Underground Railroad, and the economic diaspora all working this now. It's fascinating.
assignedmale.bsky.social Sophie Labelle @assignedmale.bsky.social · 6d
I'm not saying that Canada is perfect, I'm saying that the bar is pretty low right now.
Four frame comic. First frame shows a Canadian flag. Text reads : the new canadian citizenship policy, which was enacted in December 2025, restores citizenship by descent, for ancestors as far as you can prove. 2nd frame shows a locomotive. Text reads : that means that if one of your grandparents, great-grand- parents or even farther was demonstrably born in Canada, you don't even need to apply for citizenship - you are retro- actively granted it. Third frame shows an old dusty register book. Text reads : the process involves linking your CanadA-born ancestor to yourself by digging up a paper trail of birth or wedding certificates, proof of immigration or adoption, etc. thanks to Canadian archive- keeping traditions, this is possible by reaching out to towns, parishes, national archives*... Fourth frame shows old factory chimneys. Text reads : between 1840 and 1930, 925 000 French-Canadians fled persecution and economic oppression by moving to the usa. today, their descendants represent around ten million people, or 3% of the U.s. population. if it's time for you to come back, we haven't forgotten about you.
February 10, 2026 at 6:15 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
Hey neighbors: some good news.

#SomervilleMA #RumeysaOzturk
joshuajfriedman.com Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 6d
NEW: An immigration court has terminated removal proceedings against Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, finding that DHS did not meet its burden of establishing that she was removable, her lawyers tell the Second Circuit. live-awp-vermont.pantheonsite.io/app/uploads/...
Dear Ms. Wolfe, Petitioner-Appellee Rümeysa Öztürk submits this Rule 28(j) letter to advise the Court that on January 29, 2026, the immigration court held that the Department of Homeland Security had not met its burden of proving removability, and the immigration court thereby terminated removal proceedings against Ms. Öztürk.' This development underscores the dangers of the government's interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the government's view, it could punitively detain any noncitizen in retaliation for her speech for many months, so long as it simultaneously institutes removal proceedings—no matter how unmeritorious—all without any federal court review of the lawfulness of detention at any time. To be clear, the termination of Ms. Öztürk's removal proceedings does not moot her habeas case. (By contrast, as Ms. Öztürk has argued, this appeal is moot. Br. 18-20.) Without habeas jurisdiction and the bail order that is currently in place, any government appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals would again subject Ms. Öztürk to re-detention. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.6(a). For that reason, she continues to suffer the threat of continuing "now-or-never" First and Fifth Amendment harms. Br. in Opp. 55-57.
February 10, 2026 at 12:28 AM
memsomerville.bsky.social
Today in "things you don't hear from US news". Cuba is seeing consequences from the Venezuela activity.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Air Canada halts Cuba flights as Havana airport warns it will run out of jet fuel | CBC News
Air Canada announced it is suspending service to Cuba effective Monday as the Caribbean island's major airport warns it will run out of jet fuel.
www.cbc.ca
February 9, 2026 at 9:32 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
Lecture from the Royal School of #Needlework (RSN) this week.

#BobbinLace #Needlelace #lace

royal-needlework.org.uk/product/ttot...
TTOT190 Stitching in the City: A History of Lace in New York
Elena Kanagy-Loux surveys four centuries of history of lace production and consumption in New York City up to the present-day revival.
royal-needlework.org.uk
February 9, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Reposted
jtforward2.bsky.social
Cordially inviting my fellow Somerville business owners to print these for their front doors

www.rrsupershoppingcenter.com/s/ICE-Flyer-...

(All credit to artist Ryan Adams)
Sign: private property, absolutely no bitch-ass ICE allowed If you are an ice agent: please crawl back into the asshole you fell out of ICE agents may not enter private areas without a judicial warrant
February 7, 2026 at 11:23 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
I enjoyed the emu getaway story in these otherwise bleak times to read the news.

I also love that they identified Enzo in the group photo like you couldn't tell.

#emu #runaway

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Enzo the emu makes a break for it, local stardom ensues | CBC News
A female emu named Enzo briefly escaped from an eastern Ontario animal rescue sanctuary earlier this week, and has now turned into something of a local celebrity.
www.cbc.ca
February 7, 2026 at 11:17 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
I was just out shoveling and saw a guy in shorts too. Also Boston.
February 7, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Reposted
heykellyjensen.bsky.social
Grant Guidelines for Libraries and Museums Take “Chilling” Political Turn Under Trump

Thank GOD some other outlets are finally talking about this.

www.propublica.org/article/inst...
Grant Guidelines for Libraries and Museums Take “Chilling” Political Turn Under Trump
Former Institute of Museum and Library Services leaders from both political parties expressed concern that the new funding guidelines could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American h...
www.propublica.org
February 6, 2026 at 4:29 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
This whole administration lies like they breathe--all naturally. And not a single fucking consequence for any of them, for any heinous and deadly thing they are doing.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Newly revealed emails undermine RFK Jr testimony about 2019 Samoa trip ahead of measles outbreak
Kennedy later said the purpose of his trip had nothing to do with vaccines. US embassy and UN staff at the time said otherwise, emails show
www.theguardian.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Reposted
standupforscience.bsky.social
BREAKING: Over 680 members of the National Academy of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering have endorsed articles of impeachment against RFK Jr.
(1/2 🧵)
Top of the photo in white text reads: "BREAKING OVER 680 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES MEMBERS, INCLUDING 10 NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATES, ENDORSE IMPEACHING RFK JR." Below that in black text is a statement reading: "We, the undersigned Members of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering, writing in our private capacities, endorse the Articles of Impeachment introduced in the House of Representatives on Dec 10, 2025 by Representative Haley Stevens." Below that is the red "STAND UP FOR SCIENCE " logo. Below that is a link in white text reading: "standupforscience.net/impeach-rfkjr".
February 5, 2026 at 9:08 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
There are a lot of creepy details on the #EpsteinFiles of course. But who knew he was a power user of #23andme kits....

Ugh.
February 5, 2026 at 5:59 PM
memsomerville.bsky.social
No doubt that fact-based reporting will be incompatible with the future of the CDC and NIH and FDA and...everything science-adjacent going forward.

That said, already WaPo had slid into some crankery of late. Maybe those reporters are the ones that are staying.
markhisted.org Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 10d
Without the Washington Post health and science team the public would have known far less about what’s been happening at NIH and CDC this year.

Post reporters have done absolutely key reporting, for example a profile on NIH cancer researcher Steve Rosenberg speaking up about damage to his work.
fenitn.bsky.social Fenit Nirappil @fenitn.bsky.social · 11d
The Washington Post gutted the health team which I helped to lead despite our stories being among the most widely read, impactful and adept at reaching new audiences.
February 5, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Reposted
gidmk.bsky.social
The term ultra-processed food is ridiculous and the entire idea is a painfully silly extension of the naturalistic fallacy
February 5, 2026 at 12:38 AM