Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Katherine Arnold @arnoldke.bsky.social · 22h

Love following @bionomia.net & today is my lucky day! I've been working on Drège for several years now - he's a super interesting commercial collector who only left scant archival traces that I've been slowly piecing together 🌿 #nathist #envhist #envhum

Bionomia @bionomia.net · 23h

Johann Franz Drège https://bionomia.net/Q6215799 collected the holotype PLANTAGINACEAE: Plantago cafra Decne. in South Africa https://gbif.org/occurrence/439202719 #TypeSpecimenToday

Image of the holotype PLANTAGINACEAE: Plantago cafra Decne.. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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JB_AU @jbau.bsky.social · 10d

This whole section really.

Finally: AI cannot do your job, but an AI salesman can 100% convince your boss to fire you and replace you with an AI that can't do your job, and when the bubble bursts, the money-hemorrhaging "foundation models" will be shut off and we'll lose the AI that can't do your job, and you will be long gone, retrained or retired or "discouraged" and out of the labor market, and no one will do your job.
AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations:

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Drew McKevitt @drewmckevitt.bsky.social · 5d

"In a study published in The Lancet in September, UC Davis researchers surveyed over 9,300 people. They found that those who hold racist, xenophobic, and transphobic beliefs and negative attitudes toward gay people are more likely to support political violence and be inclined to commit lethal acts."

The Trace @thetrace.org · 5d

Two recent studies from the Centers for Violence Prevention at the University of California, Davis, aim to understand how political acts of violence are linked to certain beliefs and support of specific organizations. Their findings are striking.

Read more: thetr.ac/GUM7t

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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 7d

ER doc here! This is a lie. Wait times are up because the American healthcare system is an unsustainable business model and a for-profit national healthcare system just doesn’t work. These problems will continue to get worse until we change that system. It literally has nothing to do with immigrants

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d

Vance: "If you're an American citizen & you've been to the hospital in the last few years, you've probably noticed wait times are especially large & very often somebody who's there in the ER is an illegal alien. Why do those people get healthcare benefits at hospitals paid for by American citizens?"

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Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · 8d

Some good news.

London is meeting legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution for the first time – almost 200 years earlier than predicted – following the Mayor’s "world leading air pollution policies," City Hall announces.

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone - and similar policies - really do work.

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 15d

This is part of a massive generative slop / plagiarism operation seemingly being run by one dude operating a bunch of similarly designed websites - "Krishna Pathak" (not sure if actual real dude)

Also being syndicated on MSN. Registered at 'paper mill' address in Wyoming

GenAI is the WORST

Regtechtimes
22.1K Followers
🌍 Climate collapse ahead? Norway’s $1.6 trillion fund warns of 19% U.S. portfolio loss
Story by Krishna Pathak • 2mo • 4 min read
In this article

MSCI INC.
MSCI
▲ ‎+1.48%‎

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Anupama Ranawana @msamrc.bsky.social · 15d

Please God. Can some mainstream news outlet explain properly how long and how costly the immigration process in the UK is? And that there is NO RECOURSE TO PUBLIC FUNDS the whole time. And you PAY A SURCHARGE for the NHS. And you pay your taxes.

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 17d

We need more in-depth reporting on UK university finances like this. Research , research funding and their relation to teaching and teaching funding could do with a similar level of detail. Here's a sharing link for 3 non-subscribers: on.ft.com/3ImSMWa

The shadow economy behind the international student boom

A lucrative revenue stream for universities has led to an industry of unregulated agents now under scrutiny for making lofty promises

www.ft.com

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Chuck Schumer @schumer.senate.gov · 20d

What Trump said is a fucking outrage.

It’s against democracy.

If Donald Trump has his way on this, our democracy is over.

A headline from USA Today reads: "Trump suggests FCC should consider revoking licenses over negative coverage of him"

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 20d

The Republican reaction to Kirk’s murder has been a campaign of state repression that ends with Trumpist toadies deciding what Americans are allowed to think, do and say. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

What happened to Jimmy Kimmel is not about one comedian who said something he should not have said. The Trump administration and its enforcers want to control your speech, your behavior, even your public expressions of mourning. You are not allowed to criticize the president’s associates. You do not even retain the right to remain silent; you must make public expressions of emotions demanded by the administration and its allies or incur its disfavor, which can threaten your livelihood. This is the road to totalitarianism, and it does not end with one man losing his television show.

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 22d

"...every ounce of my energy has been devoted to an active
opposition to cruel bigotry, convulsive violence, and the sadistic persecution which has characterised the philosophy and practice of fascism...nothing fruitful or sincere could ever emerge from association between us."

Adanedhel🌹 @danielwaweru.bsky.social · 22d

Bertrand Russell Writes an Artful Letter, Stating His Refusal to Debate British Fascist Leader Oswald Mosley (1962)

Image by National Portrait Gallery, via Wikimedia Commons Changing the minds of others has never counted among humanity's easiest tasks, and it seems only to have become an ever-stiffer challenge as h...

www.openculture.com

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 24d

Trump is posthumously awarding Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Vance flew his casket on Air Force 2. A memorial is happening at The Kennedy Center.

State Dept and Pentagon are taking steps to prevent criticism of Kirk.

This is NOT normal treatment for an extremist. It’s a message.

Rewriting Extremism: Right-Wing Seeks Nation to Mourn Charlie Kirk

The Right’s ‘martyr’ was an ideologue, a conspiracy theorist, a bigot, and an agitator who glorified violence.

www.importantcontext.news

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 28d

Elizabeth Warren on people who say Dems needs to tone down their rhetoric: "Oh, please. Why don't you start with the president of the United States? And every ugly meme he's posted and every ugly word."

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 28d

The professor has been fired and senior administrators removed from their post. No mention of this in the New York Times, The Free Press, The Atlantic or other outlets who drove the campus speech moral panic.

Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 29d

Texas A&M University System orders audit of all courses after gender identity lesson goes viral

Details: bit.ly/42jauQZ

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 28d

'The British Academy has warned that students in parts of the North, South West & East of England, as well as large areas of Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland, are losing access to social sciences, humanities & arts courses.'
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/humanit... @timeshighered.bsky.social

Humanities and arts degrees disappearing in parts of UK

Students from rural and disadvantaged areas disproportionally affected by subject cuts, British Academy warns

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Darin Self @darinself.com · 29d

Clearly the answer to this is to make kids spend more time on a laptop with AI.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 29d

High school students had worse scores in reading and math on national tests in 2024 than they did before the pandemic.

Only about 1 in 3 seniors were ready to do college-level work in math and reading.

Student test scores are sliding, reaching new lows

Scores for 12th-graders in math and reading continued their years-long slide, reaching new lows on national tests, new data released Tuesday show.

wapo.st

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 29d

This is the official spokesperson for the White House, stating that the President hopes to deploy the United States military to occupy every city controlled by the political party that opposes him. Explicitly.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 29d

Leavitt: "These are the bad guys that we are picking up in Washington DC every day. The president would love to do this in every Democrat-run city across the country."

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · Sep 8

In the last week of the 1936 campaign, FDR reminded a massive crowd in Madison Square Garden that "organized money" was "unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred!"

And then the country rewarded him with a 523-8 landslide in the electoral college.

This is, in fact, good politics.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · Sep 8

"How Are the Very Rich Feeling About New York’s Next Mayor?"

A Dramatic Reading of The Recent New York Times Dispatch from the Hamptons.

Presented by The Gilded Age's Morgan Spector.

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James Downie @jamescdownie.bsky.social · Sep 6

Almost goes without saying, but if this happened under a Democratic president, there would be at least a week of headlines and GOP lawmakers would demand hearings.

Ben Rothenberg @benrothenberg.bsky.social · Sep 6

More news breaking at Bounces about Donald Trump's visit to the US Open men's final.

The US Open has sent an email to broadcasters, obtained by Bounces, ordering them to censor any reactions or protests from the crowd to Trump's appearance.

Read more here:

www.benrothenberg.com/p/us-open-do...

U.S. Open Orders Broadcasters to Censor Reactions to Trump

An email obtained by Bounces includes instructions from the U.S. Open on supporting Trump's planned stagecraft during the National Anthem.

www.benrothenberg.com

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Jasper Sharp @jaspersharp.bsky.social · Aug 30

“The EU is continuously implementing major new policy rules on environmental protection. If the UK doesn’t keep up, it could find itself unintentionally out of step.”

Bylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · Aug 30

The UK's environmental laws are not matching the EU's. Without stronger laws, our precious habitats and species are at risk. Read why this also risks our trade agreement with the EU ⤵️

@eastangliabylines.co.uk @jennyrhodes42.bsky.social

Cost of Brexit: Environment threatened, trade on the line

As the EU strengthens green laws, the UK lags behind – risking both environmental harm and potential EU trade sanctions

eastangliabylines.co.uk

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Public Citizen @publiccitizen.bsky.social · Aug 27

We’re spending over $1 MILLION a day to deploy the National Guard in D.C.

Trump says this is for Fighting homelessness & crime.

But guess what... just a QUARTER of that million would house D.C.'s ENTIRE unhoused population.

Think about it.

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Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · Aug 21

@elysegraham.bsky.social: "The health of the nation’s libraries is a national security issue."

During WWII, the Office of Strategic Services...sent the war’s most unlikely spies, professors and librarians, overseas as undercover agents to hunt down maps and other documents.
time.com/7024056/libr...

Ideas | History

We Underfunded Our Libraries Once.
It Almost Lost Us World War II

7 minute read

[photograph of an enormous reading room at NY Public Library]

By Elyse GrahamSeptember 25, 2024 7:00 AM EDT

Graham is a historian and professor at Stony Brook University. Her latest book is BOOK AND DAGGER: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II

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Katherine Arnold @arnoldke.bsky.social · Aug 7

Woohoo! Congratulations @gianamar97.bsky.social! Really looking forward to reading it - will be really useful 😍

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Gianamar Giovannetti-Singh 🍉🌻🟥 @gianamar97.bsky.social · Aug 7

So excited to share my new article in @pastpresentsoc.bsky.social:
"Colonial World-Making and Global Knowledges at the Early Modern Cape of Good Hope" (Open access)
academic.oup.com/past/advance...

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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · Aug 4

Thinking about how, in 1979, Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the White House roof, to provide hot water for the building. Ronald Reagan removed them.

The forgotten story of Jimmy Carter's White House solar panels » Yale Climate Connections

More than four decades ago, President Carter said the U.S. could harness “the power of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling dependence on foreign oil.”

yaleclimateconnections.org

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