Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Frank Thames

Tim Nokken @timnokken.bsky.social · 17h

Some good work by the Texas Tribune about the erosion of academic freedom at Texas Tech. Hot on the heels of our incoming chancellor appearing at at TPUSA rally held in town recently. As they like to say, From Here It's Possible.

Texas Tech system’s vague guidelines on gender identity spur more questions than answers

Faculty have spent weeks seeking clarity on new restrictions, which have often been issued by word of mouth. A written Q&A was rescinded.

www.texastribune.org

1 1 4

Reposted by Frank Thames

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 2d

Mars was the Roman god of war.
That’s why we say ‘martial arts,' ‘martial law,' and 'court martial.'

Marshall was the Roman god of designer fashion at discount prices.
That’s why we have Marshall’s.

81 660 3.6K

Reposted by Frank Thames

Meduza in English @meduza.io · 13d

If you were on Sarah Palin's Alaskan porch yesterday, you might have looked up and gotten an entirely new view of Russia.

meduza.io/en/news/2025...

NORAD intercepts Russian aircraft near Alaska amid NATO airspace tensions in Europe — Meduza

U.S. fighter jets scrambled on Wednesday to intercept four Russian military aircraft flying near Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) reported a day later. The two Tu-95s and…

meduza.io

1 8 23

Reposted by Frank Thames

Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 14d

Yes

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 14d

So just to be clear: The US is propping up Argentina’s economy, and now Argentina can eliminate its export taxes, so it can sell tons of soybeans to China, so China isn’t forced to buy soybeans from the US, so the US can pay subsidies to keep our farmers solvent.

www.reuters.com/world/china/...

China expands Argentina soybean buying to 20 cargoes, traders say

Chinese importers kept up a hectic pace of Argentine soybean purchases after the South American supplier's move to abolish export taxes temporarily made its prices competitive, traders said on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

53 440 1.5K

Frank Thames @fthames.bsky.social · 14d

Looks tasty

Reposted by Frank Thames

Abigail Swingen @abigailswingen.bsky.social · 16d

Part of the Texas Tech system.

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 16d

Under pressure from Texas government officials, Angelo State University in Texas is banning all discussion or mention of the existence of trans people along with banning the LGBTQ pride flag from campus and forced misgendering of trans people.

conchoobserver.com/2025/09/19/a...

Alt text: Screenshot of a document outlining a new university policy. The bullet points state:

No discussion of transgender topics or anything suggesting more than two genders.

All information in syllabi about transgender topics must be removed.

Instructors must use students’ given names, not preferred names.

Safe-space stickers, LGBTQ flags, etc. are banned and must be removed.

Employees must remove pronouns from email signatures.

The university will not support faculty who teach or discuss these topics in class.

2 3

Reposted by Frank Thames

J. Elvis Weinstein @jelvisweinstein.bsky.social · 16d

I know antifa isn't a real organization because I don't get 40 texts a week from them asking for donations.

390 6.3K 32K

Reposted by Frank Thames

WuTangIsForTheChildren @wutangforchildren.bsky.social · 17d

Happy 21st of September 🎉….do you remember?

28 240 810

Reposted by Frank Thames

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 20d

I am biased but I don’t think there is a better website on the internet today than TheOnion.com.

Nation Grateful to GOP for Protecting It From TV

Report: You to Be Fired for Reading This Headline About Charlie Kirk

Trump Spends Entire UK Trip Trying to Figure Out Where He Knows Prince Andrew From

Charlie Kirk, Not In His Own Words: We Honor The Right-Wing Activist By Making Up Quotes That Sound Much Better, Given The Moment

80 1.2K 6.9K

Frank Thames @fthames.bsky.social · 25d

From Here It’s Possible!

2

Reposted by Frank Thames

The Athletic @theathletic.com · Sep 2

TCU's admin had some fun after the Horned Frogs dominated Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels 😅🐸

4 13 180

Reposted by Frank Thames

Dan Silverman @dmsilverman.bsky.social · Aug 30

Frankly I’m surprised more comparativists aren’t saying, “Aw that’s so cute. America’s having its first little premature rumor and speculation frenzy about the autocrat’s death after his public absence for a brief period” (common in authoritarian regimes)

2 130 940

Reposted by Frank Thames

Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · Aug 26

👀

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Aug 26

CNBC: I'm really interested in how you personally would see it if another country did something of this ilk back.

LUTNICK: You mean like China does it every day?

CNBC: Yeah. Exactly.

18 42 350

Reposted by Frank Thames

mike taddow @miketaddow.bsky.social · Aug 16

when ya dad yelled at you, grounded you, took your car keys and then made you shake hands

2 19

Reposted by Frank Thames

Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · Aug 14

Is it really head-scratching tho?

finance.yahoo.com/news/ppi-inf...

PPI inflation shock: Core producer prices hit 3-year high in July in 'head-scratching' inflation surge

Producer prices rose faster than expected in July, giving investors an inflation surprise early Thursday.

finance.yahoo.com

140 320 1.9K

Reposted by Frank Thames

Patton Oswalt @pattonoswalt.bsky.social · Aug 14

The future (hopeful and optimistic): Flying cars and jet packs!

The future (reality): You will never stop filling out forms online.

110 250 2.9K

Reposted by Frank Thames

Joel Sievert @jsievert.bsky.social · Aug 10

See Chyzh and Urbatsch for insights into the electoral cost of tariffs under Trump 1.0

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....

Rahel Freiburghaus @rfrbrghs.bsky.social · Aug 10

Trump ‘s tarrifs are backfiring – even in rural Republican heartlands and in key battleground states.

So much for „but his voters want this“

They don‘t.

2 5

Reposted by Frank Thames

Christina Wolbrecht @cwolbrecht.bsky.social · Aug 10

Shout out to the colleagues who ask why I bother studying a settled issue like women’s suffrage.

People For the American Way @peoplefor.bsky.social · Aug 8

Pete Hegseth shares a clip saying women shouldn’t have the right to vote, the 19th Amendment should be “repealed,” and women should “submit” to their husbands: “All of Christ for All of Life”

22 420 1.9K

Reposted by Frank Thames

Barry Burden @bcburden.bsky.social · Aug 8

New article: "Path to the Polls: A Study of How Poll Workers Become Poll Workers" by Matt Lamb, Bob Stein, & me in APR shows that veteran poll workers are recruited by different pathways than new recruits. News you can use for election officials. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

5 20

Reposted by Frank Thames

Diana O'Brien @dzobrien.bsky.social · Aug 8

So proud of @gdilandro.bsky.social for successfully defending his thesis "Political Parties and the Gender Voting Gap in Western Democracies: A Supply and Demand Framework." He's already published one dissertation paper in @bjpols.bsky.social & there's more great gender & politics work to come! 🍾

1 3 11

Reposted by Frank Thames

Misja Baas @misjabaas.bsky.social · Aug 2

Dune, 1965

57 2.3K 7.1K

Reposted by Frank Thames

Tony DiTerlizzi @diterlizzi.bsky.social · Aug 1

August 1st , 1981: MTV debuted on cable television throughout certain regions across the US and ushered in a cultural shift in pop music and pop culture.

“Video Killed the Radio Star” indeed. 📺

1 10 47

Reposted by Frank Thames

Jonathan B. Singer, PhD, LCSW @jbsinger.bsky.social · Aug 1

Politicians pitting the haves against the have nots is nothing new. Plato saw economic inequality as a threat to any republic because it creates a society of the rich and the poor. Learn more in Ep. 140 w/ @laywilliams.bsky.social on The Greatest of All Plagues

The Greatest of All Plagues: David Lay Williams, PhD on Economic Inequality

The first podcast by social workers for social workers. Big names talking about bigger ideas. 24/7/365.

socialworkpodcast.blogspot.com

3 5

Reposted by Frank Thames

The Onion @theonion.com · Jul 25

HR Improves Company Morale By Giving Employees Constant Stream Of Dumbass Bullshit To Mock

AUSTIN, TX—Providing workers with an opportunity for some lighthearted fun, the human resources department of local ad agency Milner-Ferraro reportedly improved company morale by giving employees a co...

theonion.com

22 260 2.4K

Frank Thames @fthames.bsky.social · Jul 23

I clearly remember being criticized for our desk reject rate at PRQ. The critics never had a good solution to the reviewer and space problems.

1