Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · 18d

TBF, Cuba is lovely.

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · 20d

I'll add that a homeless man may have been lynched in Mississippi. www.kcrg.com/2025/09/17/w...

What we know about the hanging deaths of two men in Mississippi

Investigations into the hanging deaths of a black Delta State University student and a white man in Vicksburg are ongoing.

www.kcrg.com

Reposted by Chris Cunningham

Vox @vox.com · 20d

Let’s be clear about what just happened: Jimmy Kimmel, a prominent late-night comedian, was just taken off the airwaves because the Trump administration didn’t like what he had to say — and threatened his employer until they shut him up. voxdotcom.visitlink.me/fryLLE

47 290 700

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · 20d

Maybe I'm still 12 at heart, but can't we acknowledge this is just a little bit awesome?

1 2

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · 25d

This is a really important paper. American infrastructure is expensive because we outsourced the capacity design (or perhaps even bid) effectively.

Zach Liscow @zliscow.bsky.social · 26d

🚨NEW RESULTS (w/ Slattery & Nober)
- When gov't engineers retire, highway projects cost more: the engineers pay for themselves 6 times over
- Improving gov’t engineer quality from the 25th to 75th percentile reduces costs by 14%, equal to 3x avg. engineer pay

Paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

2 13 35

Reposted by Chris Cunningham

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 27d

Kirk paid to bus people to J6, man. He was not invested in a peaceful path
to winning democracy through debate, he was happy to have the appearance of playing within the rules of constitutional liberalism while actively working to overthrow it. www.govinfo.gov/app/details/...

1
it was because the 1743 time stamp is likely the local time where the website was being
2
archived from. But in any event, you can see here @charliekirk11, which is your Twitter
3
handle, tweeted on January 4th, "This historic event will likely be one of the largest and
4
most consequential in American history. The team @TrumpStudents and Turning Point
5
Action are honored to help make this happen, sending 80-plus buses full of patriots to
6
D.C. to fight for this President."
7
Now, Mr. Kirk, how many buses did Turning Point pay to travel to D.C. for
8
January 6th?
9
A
I am invoking my Fifth Amendment right.

44 210 770

Reposted by Chris Cunningham

The Urbanist @theurbanist.org · 27d

“If Spokane, Bremerton, Bothell and Shoreline can eliminate parking mandates citywide, Seattle should be no sweat. After all, Seattle leads the region in ditching cars and forming carfree households.”

1 21

Reposted by Chris Cunningham

Giulio Mattioli @giuliomattioli.bsky.social · 28d

The oldest trick in the climate delay playbook:

1. Rule out all other measures as unnecessary and counterproductive because we will introduce CO2 pricing

2. Then rule out CO2 pricing because it would make things unaffordable

3. Checkmate

Giulio Mattioli @giuliomattioli.bsky.social · 28d

German Conservatives call for ditching the 2035 phaseout of fossil fuel vehicle sales, arguing that we (will) price CO2 with ETS2, so no other measure is needed

But the minute ETS2 starts in 2027 and makes fuel more expensive, they *will* campaign against it, mark my words

3 120 280

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · 27d

He died as he lived, discounting the costs of America's gun fetish.

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 28

These vehicles are absurd. Most tradesmen need either a full bed and/or an enclosed bed. This is just for men that are trying to compensate for some perceived inadequacies. We moved to Europe in part to escape these things gunning up our streets and they're far, far, deadlier than a conventional car

David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · Aug 26

Trump is trying to force the EU to legalize US car bloat, and European safety leaders are furious:

"Europe now risks being flooded with oversized, under-regulated U.S. pick-up trucks and SUVs – vehicles that are...completely out of step with Europe’s vision for safer, more sustainable mobility."

ETSC: Mutual Recognition Deal with U.S. Will Cost Lives on Europe’s Roads

By signing up to mutual recognition of vehicle standards with the United States, the European Union has waved the white flag on road safety. This is not a technical detail – it is a political choice…

etsc.eu

2

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 12

Perhaps I'm still scarred by a grad school summer in a light shaft-only apartment in Philly, but I wonder if some of this is just an arms race. My A/C (especially window or wall mounted mini-splits) dump hot air onto my neighbors, forcing them to get an A/C unit to off set it.

Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome.bsky.social · Aug 12

New @nberpubs: "Why Did Air Conditioning Adoption Accelerate Faster Than Predicted? Evidence from Mexico" www.nber.org/papers/w3410...

1 1

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 12

Soon to be re-branded as the "Grand Wizards."

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 11

Also Russian agents.

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 11

Please, please, please let the FBI agents that were leaking Clinton email investigation materials to Giuliani in 2016 end up on the beat.

2

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 11

The Netherlands is curtailing english instruction to deter foreign students. One challenge, many texts books that the faculty use aren't available in dutch.

Marcello Graziano 🇺🇦 @marcellograz.bsky.social · Aug 11

Notice how it is not just the US. Even “good boys” govs are being idiots.

Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · Aug 10

Nature’s careers team spoke to students, academics and immigration-policy specialists in the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia to take the pulse of student-visa challenges. #Academicsky 🧪

1 1

Reposted by Chris Cunningham

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Aug 10

Sabotage.

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · Aug 8

Head of NASA Sean Duffy intends to destroy a satellite that collects key data on carbon dioxide and plant health, by causing it to burn up in the atmosphere. The U.S. Dept of Agriculture and private agriculture firms use the data to forecast crop yield, drought conditions and more.

Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose

The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.

www.npr.org

14 100 330

Reposted by Chris Cunningham

Toomas Hendrik Ilves @ilvestoomas.bsky.social · May 24

I guess tourism is something to be discouraged.

www.news.com.au/travel/trave...

Ex-cop jailed and deported during holiday to US

A former NSW police officer has described the terrifying ordeal she faced after she was detained, jailed overnight and deported from the United States – despite travelling there legally on a tourist visa to visit her US military husband.

www.news.com.au

4 37 90

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 8

Another fine whine?

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 8

If we're going to live in a plotocracy, then lets at least make sure they understand how they're screwing themselves.

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 8

N: Oslo,
E: Tokyo,
S: Capetown,
W: Oahu.

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 8

Do you remember when violating US and international law was something we'd try to keep on the DL?
youtu.be/sWwN-yDCjOM?...

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/u...

Trump Directs Military to Target Foreign Drug Cartels

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Chris Cunningham

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · Aug 7

1/3 of BLS leadership positions are currently vacant.
Field offices around the country are closing due to staff shortages.
They fired the advisory council that was assessing how to increase survey response rates.
These are not actions you take if you actually want to improve the data.

8 99 380

Reposted by Chris Cunningham

Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · Aug 8

Badgers can't talk, so thank goodness they have the National Highways PR department to help communicate their appreciation.

Major New A-Road Is Wildest Dream for Mammals

9 11 100

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 8

When you train an AI on people's personal emails, it learns how people actually respond to serious set backs:

www.businessinsider.com/gemini-self-...

Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments

Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."

www.businessinsider.com

Chris Cunningham @econcunningham.bsky.social · Aug 8

Invstr: What's Bitcoin's innate value proposition?
BitBro: It offers a trustless means of payment.
Invstr: Cool. I'll buy some of your shares on the exchange. I trust you to buy and hold Bitcoin for me.

Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · Aug 8

Sorry to pollute the feed with technical financial terms, but this is all fxcking nuts
www.ft.com/content/8a16...