Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 1d

I wrote about the “compact” for higher education

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

2 58 94

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Rodney Brooks @rodneyabrooks.bsky.social · 8d

My 2nd law of robotics: When robots and people coexist in the same spaces, the robots must not take away from people’s agency, particularly when the robots are failing, as inevitably they will at times. -- Here it is cops stymied by Waymos. www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...

‘No driver, no hands, no clue’: Driverless car pulled over on Bay Area road

Police say they warned the company about the "glitch."

www.sfgate.com

4 11 39

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Rodney Brooks @rodneyabrooks.bsky.social · 3d

From my previous company. This Sawyer ran for 35,236 hours in a factory in Oregon. You can move within its workspace, and grab it as it is operating. This is what real robots, real deployments, and real ROI are all about; productive, reliable, and safe operation. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

So proud of Sawyer, from my previous company. We designed them to run for 30,000 hours. That is 15 years (= 15 x 50wks x 40 hrs) of human work. This one provided 17.5 years of productivity. And… |...

So proud of Sawyer, from my previous company. We designed them to run for 30,000 hours. That is 15 years (= 15 x 50wks x 40 hrs) of human work. This one provided 17.5 years of productivity. And Sawyer...

www.linkedin.com

3 1 33

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Rodney Brooks @rodneyabrooks.bsky.social · 1d

Promised 5,000 Optimus this year. "Tesla slashed its production goal to 2,000 a few months later ... Then, ... summer, staffers told Musk Tesla could meet the 2,000 target, but the robots wouldn’t be very useful due to issues with their hands." But, dancing!! www.theinformation.com/articles/elo...

As Elon Musk Preps Tesla’s Optimus for Prime Time, Big Hurdles Remain

When Elon Musk takes the stage at Tesla’s annual meeting next month, one of the centerpieces of his plan to impress shareholders will be a dancing troupe of Optimus bots, the humanoid machines that he...

www.theinformation.com

2 16

Janet H Murray @janethmurray.bsky.social · 2d

ICE = lawless thuggery

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 4d

The regime banned non government drones from flying over Chicago for 12 days

They’re suppressing the media

Without drones, it’s difficult to capture the black hawks. The children being dragged from the homes in the middle of the night

They know the world is watching, & they don’t want us to see

27 300 730

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Kate Compton @galaxykate.bsky.social · 9d

2026 internships available in my team at The LEGO Group!

Internships in
Story,
Ideation,
Concept Model Design (ie, building with bricks),
Prototyping (3D printing etc),
Hardware (soldering and weird sensors!)
Physical (springs and spinny things)
Digital (code for doing stuff with bricks)

!!!* INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY *!!! Hey everyone… great news! please share with your network of budding young students. We have now opened applications for our internships in Story, Ideation, Concept…...

!!!* INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY *!!! Hey everyone… great news! please share with your network of budding young students. We have now opened applications for our internships in Story, Ideation, Concept ...

www.linkedin.com

1 47 47

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 5d

The government is in full shutdown and the Republicans are refusing to call the House back into session.

Want to know why?

Because we have secured the final vote on releasing the Epstein Files and they don’t want it out.

Call GOP and tell them to swear in @adelitaforcongress.bsky.social.

420 5.7K 20K

Reposted by Janet H Murray

The Ass is the father of the legs @internethippo.bsky.social · 5d

"We're going to create superintelligence" How about making outlook search work first. How about that

100 1.6K 10K

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 6d

Washington Post dismantled the platform Jamal wrote on. Discarded the fellowship they created in his memory.

They fired me unjustly for speaking the truth.

But I’ll never stop talking about my friend, writer, and amazing human, Jamal Khashoggi.

RIP, Jamal.

open.substack.com/pub/karenatt...

Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post, and the Cost of Speaking Out

As Saudi Arabia hosts comedians and courts gamers, the silenced voice of Jamal Khashoggi still echoes.

open.substack.com

160 3.7K 11K

Reposted by Janet H Murray

ACLU @aclu.org · 5d

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.

Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

660 16K 32K

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 5d

This might be one of the most important announcements of the day. I hope New York State will follow, @governor.ny.gov

Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 6d

IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY'LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY.

CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.

New York Times: "Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference."

The White House asked nine top universities to pledge support for President Trump’s agenda to help ensure access to research funding.

25 99

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 5d

so the US government just forced a tech company to delete an app it doesn’t like, which is totally normal stuff

www.404media.co/iceblock-own...

ICEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: ‘We Are Determined to Fight This’

Apple removed ICEBlock reportedly after direct pressure from Department of Justice officials. “I am incredibly disappointed by Apple's actions today. Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never t...

www.404media.co

770 7.1K 17K

Reposted by Janet H Murray

🎃 public HELLth guy 🎃 @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 5d

this should be a much bigger story

The Xylom @thexylom.com · 6d

BREAKING: Mario Guevara, the Atlanta-based Spanish-language journalist who was arrested covering an anti-Trump protest, has been transported to a Louisiana immigration facility, from where his family said he will be deported to El Salvador tomorrow at 11 a.m.

www.wabe.org/family-says-...

3 380 830

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 5d

you know you have good and popular ideas when you have to buy up all the old and new media companies and staff them with soulless hacks and sycophants dedicated to blowing smoke up your ass

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 6d

Bari Weiss is set to be named the editor in chief of CBS News, the New York Post reports

Paramount Skydance is poised to name Bari Weiss as editor in chief of CBS News in the coming days — giving the hard-charging journalist unusual clout to revamp the struggling network as it also acquires her scrappy news site the Free Press, The Post has learned.

Weiss — a 41-year-old former New York Times opinion writer who has built the Free Press into a buzzworthy site with a contrarian bent — is expected to be named to the top post in a Monday announcement, although the talks are in flux and the timing could change, a source close to the situation said.

14 140 740

Janet H Murray @janethmurray.bsky.social · 6d

A wonderful example of the academic administrative version of Silicon Valley vaporware AI (or metaverse or blockchain )pitches - promising magical improvements to everything via ChatGPT — without specifying anything in particular.

jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 6d

I read this last night and reflected on why it was so transparently incoherent. I think it makes more sense if you think of the target audience not as students or faculty, but funders who love LLMs

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 7d

“The pilot will explore how AI can enhance teaching, research and university operations, while also gathering feedback to guide the responsible and effective use of AI across campus.”

2

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 6d

This is fascism. Absolute trashing of the Bill of Rights. Illegal. Trash.

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 6d

“ABC7 spoke to Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building. She said ICE agents took everyone in the building, including her, and asked questions later….’They was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other.’”

It can’t happen here, you say. But it is happening.

ICE agents raid South Shore apartments; Trump says Chicago could become military training ground

ICE agents raided a South Shore apartment building overnight as the city braces for a possible military deployment.

abc7chicago.com

2 54 140

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 6d

This is extortion. Faculty, students, staff, alumni across the country need to get to their Presidents & Trustees today. Just say no. This blackmail only works if most everyone folds. Capitulation now means the end of American higher education for a generation. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference

www.nytimes.com

21 200 430

Reposted by Janet H Murray

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 7d

The White House abruptly terminated a large share of the council members advising the National Endowment for the Humanities, an advisory board to the head of the government’s grantmaking agency, retaining only four Trump appointees.

White House fires much of the National Council on the Humanities

The White House appeared to fire all but four members of the National Council on the Humanities, an advisory board to the head of the government’s grantmaking agency.

www.washingtonpost.com

18 110 140

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 7d

This thread is worth a careful read.

Silverman on Security @silvermansecurity.bsky.social · 7d

This bit, & the one in the next reskeet, need to be fully unpacked. What Hegseth is asserting here is that the zero defect concept, which plays an important role in an up or out military, is going away as long as he's SecDef. 1/

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Hegseth: "You should not pay for an earnest mistake for your entire career. That's why today, at my direction, we're making changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records."

11 160 410

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 12d

Excellent reporting from Heated and Atmos.

It looks like some of the biggest investors in the anti-trans movement are fossil fuel billionaires who are trying to use trans issues to ensure that Republicans pass policies favorable to their industry.

heated.world/p/fossil-fue...

Fossil fuel billionaires are bankrolling the anti-trans movement

An investigation shared exclusively with Atmos and HEATED finds that 80% of anti-trans organizations receive fossil fuel funding.

heated.world

62 1.3K 2.8K

Reposted by Janet H Murray

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 12d

If we’re renaming departments and calling the DOD the “Department of War”, we might as well go ahead and make the DOJ the “Department of Revenge”

380 3.7K 12K

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Molly White @molly.wiki · 13d

Coinbase is now lobbying the Department of Justice to pressure Congress to prohibit states from enforcing regulations against crypto businesses after some states have stepped in to fill the federal regulatory void. They also want to stymie state-level laws "undermining" federal deregulation.

After Coinbase was hit with a lawsuit from Oregon’s Attorney General, who argued that “states must fill [the] enforcement vacuum being left by federal regulators who are abandoning [crypto enforcement] cases under [the] Trump administration” [I82, 85], Coinbase has sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking them to pressure Congress to enact “broad” federal preemption provisions for cryptocurrency markets. They also argue the DOJ should lean on the SEC to issue rules excluding digital assets from securities laws. Besides the list of cases and cease-and-desist orders against Coinbase under state securities laws, they also protest state-level crypto licensing regimes (like New York’s BitLicense). They write, “In signing Illinois’s law just last month, Governor J.B. Pritzker made clear that the law aims squarely to undermine what he called the federal government’s efforts to ‘actively deregulat[e] the crypto industry.’” [I91] Heaven forbid any states should obstruct the deregulation that crypto spent so generously to secure!

4 24 84

Reposted by Janet H Murray

Amy Bruckman @asbruckman.bsky.social · 13d

Hidden fees and deceptive sales practices are about to get worse with the introduction of "AI Agents":
asbruckman.medium.com/the-cost-of-...

The Cost of a Taco: Accelerating Dark Patterns for Consumers and the Threat of AI Agents

There are four pretty good taco shops near my office. Yesterday for lunch I had one fish taco and one grilled chicken. Here’s my receipt:

asbruckman.medium.com

1 3

Reposted by Janet H Murray

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 13d

“Who do you think you are? Killing thousands and flattening neighborhoods, then wrapping yourself in Judaism like it’s some shield from criticism. You’re making life for Jews miserable.”

Netanyahu makes a South Park appearance

130 1.7K 5.9K