Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 9h

I've been banging this drum for the past four months or so: DOGE and Russ Vought broke the appropriations process. What's the point of going through the arduous process of crafting 12 spending bills, clearing them through committee and getting them through two chambers if Trump does rescissions?

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 18h

If appropriations bills are not seen as enforceable contracts, why should any Member of Congress vote to fund any part of the federal government under Donald Trump? You're voting to provide money for lawlessness. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/there-is-n...

There is no budget "deal" to be made

President Trump has so broken the constitutional framework as to make joint normal, responsible government impossible.

www.doomsdayscenario.co

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 10h

She studied under Trump. I suspect Americans, who get bored easily, are eventually going to get bored with the constant performative lying.

Reposted by John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰

Lane Stellmaker @hipcrimevocab.net · 16h

If you are a Texan being investigated for your connections to "radical leftist" groups, I am interested in representing you against harassment by Ken Paxton's office.

Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 18h

Citing the “martyrdom” of Charlie Kirk, Texas AG Ken Paxton says his office is pursuing sweeping undercover investigations into “leftist” groups. “To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."

"Leftist political terrorism is a clear and present danger. Corrupted ideologies like transgenderism and Antifa are a cancer on our culture and have unleashed their deranged and drugged-up foot soldiers on the American people," said Attorney General Paxton. "The martyrdom of Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in America.
There can be no compromise with those who want us dead. To that end, I have directed my office to continue its efforts to identify, investigate, and infiltrate these leftist terror cells. To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."
The radical Left has incubated an environment where political violence is not only justified but celebrated and praised. In July, nearly two dozen armed leftists connected to various Texas-based Antifa-like groups ambushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") facility in Alvarado, Texas. On September 10, 2025, a leftist assassin connected to the radical transgender movement murdered Charlie Kirk because of Kirk's bold support for truth, love of country, and unshakable faith. Two weeks later, another deranged leftist opened fire at an ICE facility in Dallas.
President Donald Trump has officially designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization and instructed his administration to "utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa." Building on President Trump's bold actions, Attorney General Paxton has instructed his office to initiate sweeping investigations into radical leftist organizations engaged in or providing support to those performing political violence.

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 10h

Nobody is outraged though. Outrage doesn't last. Grim plodding disgust is more durable.

John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 10h

The MAGA lay siege to the University -- except for all the sports teams of course.

Eventually American universities will end all academic programs and focus on entertainment. Bit like the NYT becoming a games company.

City Nolan @ndhapple.bsky.social · 10h

Schadenfreude — apple.news/ANipig2r_RpC...

The Bill Belichick Nightmare Just Keeps Getting Worse — The Wall Street Journal

The 73-year-old coaching legend was supposed to turn North Carolina into a title contender. Instead, they’ve become a laughingstock, while his former NFL players have flourished since his departure.

apple.news

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 10h

I had same thought.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microso...

Microsoft Bob - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 10h

I had wondered if WK/UTD did a deal with OpenAI. They might have but this is big in medicine. It goes up against OpenEvidence (www.openevidence.com)

John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 11h

Bluesky people are bored and anxious.

utopia deferred @utopia-defer.red · 12h

Bluesky revealed that they are using an automated image filtering system, ie something that uses AI, and people are losing their shit.

It is made even dumber because people (understandably) have feelings about their art/photos being by AI systems… except this is a public network.

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Reposted by John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰

Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 11h

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

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Reposted by John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰

Brad Duplessis @bradduplessis.bsky.social · 11h

In actual combat — not this fake ass Stephen Miller wet dream — I would have destroyed any of my soldiers doing this to non-combatants. There is no gray area or fine line.

Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 15h

Another incident of federal agents pointing guns at Chicago area residents.

Tweet from @laura_n_rod

Text: A federal agent points a weapon at a woman who was recording them.

Jess, a U.S. citizen and member of a neighborhood patrol team that documents and shares ICE activity across the city, was filming when the incident occurred earlier today in the Berwyn area.

Photo: shows a federal agent in a truck pointing a gun

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 11h

Not the focus of this post, but I’m curious about the evolutionary history of this brain region. Reading seems too recent to have such specialized support … how do other primates use these tissues?

Reposted by John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰

Rose 🌹 @rose.bsky.team · 12h

@boston.gov onboarded all their agencies to Bluesky to engage with Bostonians. Whether it's broken sidewalks, missing signage, or community issues, they want to hear from constituents. With little to no engagement on X, their actual interactions on bsky have increased. Engagement > follower count

Boston Parks Department @parks.boston.gov · 17h

#DidYouKnow our Fall Fitness Series with @publichealth.boston.gov is back? 🍂💪

Register today for free in-person fitness classes at a park near you: boston.gov/fitness

Fall fitness graphic - boston.gov/fitness

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 11h

Great point. Even a decent ai needs more context than the typical google search string.

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 11h

Same

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 12h

Google’s ai summaries are low value. I don’t use Google much now, but the summaries I get are only about 50% correct.

I think a lot of the “ai scam” beliefs come from using Google’s ai summaries when doing search.

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 12h

At the UMN AI use is now expected. Big change from last year.

John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 12h

Alas, the ai's are inconsistent: "Alastair McIntosh has no formal expertise in biblical Greek theology". Claude Sonnet 4.5. It read your CV, etc.

I tried to tilt it towards a yes answer by specifically asking about your Biblical Greek theology expertise but it was not deceived.

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 12h

The one thing I want agentic ai to do for me today is set up my coffee meetup with W.\

I think this is too hard a problem for current agentic ai though.

Reposted by John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 12h

“.. flights are being delayed this evening at Nashville International Airport due to “staffing,” with average arrival delays of 126 minutes as of 5:30 p.m.”

@politico.com #shutdown
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

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Reposted by John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰

Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 17h

This is Adelita Grijalva.

She was elected to Congress two weeks ago, officially making her the final vote needed to force the release of the Epstein files.

She has still not been sworn in because Mike Johnson refuses to do so.

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 12h

I'm also on Mastodon, though active there. Curious what the abuse was ...

Reposted by John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰

Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 12h

3/ bsky.app/profile/jenn...

Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 12h

Trump in June 2023: “When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse. We would have taken it over, we would have gotten all that oil.” (h/t @acyn.bsky.social) … 1/

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Reposted by John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 18h

If appropriations bills are not seen as enforceable contracts, why should any Member of Congress vote to fund any part of the federal government under Donald Trump? You're voting to provide money for lawlessness. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/there-is-n...

There is no budget "deal" to be made

President Trump has so broken the constitutional framework as to make joint normal, responsible government impossible.

www.doomsdayscenario.co

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John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 12h

The 17x article claims the estimate came from "MacroStrategy Partnership".

I'm going to go with K on this one, though heaven knows he is not infallible.

John Gordon 🇨🇦🇩🇰 @johngordon.bsky.social · 12h

Sorry! I dug up the ref, it was from today's K column -

paulkrugman.substack.com/p/why-arent-...

"By the second quarter of this year spending on information processing equipment and software, as a percentage of GDP, had already matched its peak in 1999, the height of the Internet bubble"

Why Aren’t We Partying Like It’s 1999?

Fear, not hope, permeates today’s technology hype

paulkrugman.substack.com

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