Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Wandering Scientist @wandsci.bsky.social · 2h

This thread is a travel nightmare

One entitled dude screwing with a plane full of people's day

Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 3h

This is absolutely wild. I’m on a cross country flight. We are being diverted midway through to Denver. The reason? Some dude is sitting in the exit row who didn’t pay the $155 fee and he refuses to move back to his seat.

Wandering Scientist @wandsci.bsky.social · 6h

Me too! A company I worked at had a lead compound that had a very narrow range of "efficacious and does not make the ferrets throw up"

Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 8h

Oh, the “vomiting ferret” model is absolutely a real thing - I’ve encountered it in my own drug discovery career.

They’re one of the smallest animals that show this response- weirdly, rodents can’t do it at all.

Dan Kaszeta FRHistS @dankaszeta.bsky.social · 8h

that's my day gone then

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madison! @madepn.bsky.social · 1d

here is my first rendering of the bread scale of triviality (any suggestions welcome; I love thinking about bread)

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Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 1d

We will rebuild

Frank A. Stengel @frankstengel.bsky.social · 1d

Horrible, horrible images from Portland:

Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 2d

It was a beautiful Sunday in Portland. Farmer’s markets, the Portland Marathon, peaceful protests, and some views of Mt. Hood. This city is vibrant, peaceful, and resilient. We do not need a federal occupation, and we sure as hell don’t want one.

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Wandering Scientist @wandsci.bsky.social · 1d

Ooh I second this as a reader

(V)Ladz The Impaler @ladzwriting.bsky.social · 1d

sometimes when you're plotting a book, it's important to consider if it wouldn't be more interesting if we already knew the great revelation to come

sometimes what we do with that information is far more compelling than learning it

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Wandering Scientist @wandsci.bsky.social · 1d

Ok shot in arm!

And to be clear I think all of them are safe and effective. Data is clear on this! Side effects are probably different for different people. Our immune systems are variable!

Wandering Scientist @wandsci.bsky.social · 1d

I gave up on my quest to get the novavax covid shot this year. Couldn't find it anywhere and have travel coming up so I'm currently at the pharmacy waiting for a Pfizer shot

If I feel like shit tomorrow I'm going to be so mad (past experience with side effects is moderna > Pfizer >>> novavax)

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Wandering Scientist @wandsci.bsky.social · 2d

I just left him a message, it really is easy!

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 3d

Reminder that @governor.ca.gov is reportedly considering vetoing SB79, the best housing bill to clear the CA legislature in decades.

It would be a *disaster*, substantively & for Newsom's political future. Really hope he doesn't self-immolate.

Tell him!

Contact the Governor | Governor of California

You can contact the Governor a few different ways. The best way is through his online form.

www.gov.ca.gov

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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 3d

I am feeling very stressed about ‘it all’ and watching a stupid action movie seemed like a good idea but in retrospect Matthew Mconaughey driving a bus full of school kids through a wildfire was not a good choice

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Asakiyume/Morinotsuma @asakiyume.bsky.social · 4d

This looks like a dove emerging from the body of a hawk.

Aves do Brasil @avesbrasil.bsky.social · 4d

🇧🇷Pomba-trocal
🌎Patagioenas speciosa
Conservação:Pouco Preocupante

A pomba-trocal é um Columbiforme da família Columbidae.

📷 Júlio Silveira

Um pássaro de porte médio, com plumagem marrom nas asas e parte superior do corpo, exibindo um padrão escamado preto e branco no pescoço e peito. A parte inferior do corpo é predominantemente branca com leves manchas acinzentadas. O bico é pequeno e rosado. Está empoleirado em um galho de árvore seco e rústico, com um fundo de céu claro e sem nuvens.
Atenção: O alt da imagem foi gerado automaticamente.

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Stephen Nuñez @socio-steve.bsky.social · 5d

Uncomfortable laughter! Deeply uncomfortable laughter!

Shawn @shawnhils.bsky.social · 5d

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 5d

Great Chris Murphy quote from our interview:

"I would be a sucker to agree to a budget that literally funds an operation to hunt me and my allies down—to imprison us, harass us, intimidate us. If you want our votes, it can’t be for rampant lawlessness."

Tons more like that all throughout:

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 5d

Everyone should listen to Chris Murphy's extraordinary warning about Trump on our pod. First, he says the logic must be that the more lawless he gets, the stiffer the resistance.

"If I give in and consent to these kinds of tactics then it just normalizes it all." 1/

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

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elias isquith @eliasisquith.blog · 5d

worth remembering that hoover's administration was defined by 4 years of economic chaos, suffering, dislocation, and fear. People genuinely believed the country itself was on the verge of irreversible collapse. He still got 40% of the vote.

wikipedia screen grab showing hoover won 39.6% of the popular vote in the 1932 presidential election

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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 6d

One of my many, many questions about America in 2025 is how long it will take for people to realize they’re on the wrong side of history

Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 6d

My best guess is still that we will get through to the other side with our democracy intact. The question for university leaders is whether they want to live with the shame of having been on the wrong side of history.

Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 6d

blognostrumuva.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/t...

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 6d

Take the good news seriously too

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 9d

An incredibly important election in a tiny country just went the right way. Moldova has resisted a huge Russian disinformation campaign and will not become a Russian puppet state.

Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 10d

Moldova 🇲🇩 👍

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 7d

One of my favorite anecdotes from THE PREHISTORY OF THE FAR SIDE: "That doesn't sound like the Jane Goodall we know."

A few days after this cartoon was published, my syndicate received a very indignant letter from someone representing the Jane Goodall Institute.
Not only did my syndicate and I both get read the Riot Act, there was a vague implication that litigation over this cartoon might be around the corner.
I was horrified. Not so much from a fear of being sued (I just couldn't see how this cartoon could be construed as anything but silly, but because of my deep respect for Jane Goodall and her well-known contributions to pri-matology. The last thing in the world I would have intentionally done was offend Dr. Goodall in any way.
Before I had a chance to write my apology, another complication arose.
The National Geographic Society contacted my syndicate and expressed a

desire to reprint the cartoon in a special centennial issue of their magazine. My editor, aware of what had just occurred, declined, explaining why.
Apparently, whoever it was that sent the inquiry from National Geographic was shocked. They told my editor that "that doesn't sound like the Jane Goodall we know." They did some checking themselves, and an interesting fact was eventually discovered: Jane Goodall loved the cartoon. Furthermore, she was totally unaware that any of this "stuff" was going on. Some phone calls were made, and the cartoon was not only reprinted in the centennial issue of National Geographic, but was also used by her Institute on a T-shirt for fund-raising purposes.
I've since had an opportunity to visit Dr. Goodall at her research facility in Gombe. It's a wonderful place (sort of like right out of National Geographic).
"To refer to Dr. Goodall as a tramp is inexcusable even by a self-described 'loony' as Larson. The cartoon was incredibly offensive and in such poor taste that readers might well question the editorial judgment of running such an atrocity in a newspaper that reputes to be supplying news to persons with a better than average intelligence. The cartoon and its message were absolutely stupid." —Excerpt from the above-mentioned letter that started the ruckus

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Wandering Scientist @wandsci.bsky.social · 7d

I love this

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 7d

A bus of Bronx middle schoolers pulled up to the Capitol this morning for a long-planned field trip just a few hours after the government shut down.

All Capitol tours were cancelled as the guides can’t work in shutdown.

So I escorted them in myself and gave them a personal tour. They were great!

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Cait @caitesq.bsky.social · 9d

I really like the phrase "Kavanaugh stop." It's not a Terry stop, because a Terry stop is short and based on reasonable suspicion of a crime. A Kavanaugh stop, by contrast, is when masked goons kidnap a person for speaking Spanish.

P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 9d

"Kavanaugh stops" are in full swing in an occupied blue city near you. Learn how DC intends to fight back:

with @lizdye.bsky.social

www.lawandchaospod.com/p/scotus-ble...

SCOTUS Blessed "Kavanaugh Stops." Will They Also Give Thumbs Up To "Roberts Residencies?"

Maybe Barrett Bookings? Alito Arrests? Gorsuch Guest Passes?

www.lawandchaospod.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 7d

For at least the past 15 years, my colleagues in academia have grappled with angry letters to university officials for doing their jobs. They have weathered campaigns for their firing. They have contended with an internet army obsessed with doxxing them, their parents, their kids. I've been contacted by the F.B.I. more than once in my career. Not because I hold any important state secrets or know a biker gang but because one of my colleagues has lived with so much sustained harassment from right-wing
"activists" that it has become a matter of federal concern. Watch lists (one of which was constructed by Kirk's organization) do not distinguish between public intellectuals at wealthy enclaves and hoi polloi who teach popular classes at cash-strapped schools. In either case, an army of trained provocateurs stands ready to destroy their lives to prove their bona fides as conservative activists. That threat has been chilling speech on campuses for years.
Now it's coming for all of you.

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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 8d

Two senior Republican appropriators agree it doesn't make any sense for Democrats to agree to a government funding deal unless Trump actually adheres to the deal.

The Democratic alternative CR had language that would address this, but the White House came out strongly against.

“I don’t think the Democrats want to shut down either,” Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), a senior appropriator, told Bloomberg Government. “Their concern right now, and it’s a legitimate concern, is that, how can we agree to any deal when our OMB director will just impound the funds and say we’re not going to spend them there?”

“If you’re a Democrat — even just like a mainstream Democrat — your predisposition might be to help negotiate with Republicans on a funding mechanism,” said Rep. Steve Womack, a senior GOP appropriator. “Why would you do that if you know that whatever you negotiate is going to be subject to the knife pulled out by Russ Vought?”

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Wandering Scientist @wandsci.bsky.social · 7d

I found this piece really helpful

kottke.org @kottke.org · 7d

I really appreciated this thoughtful piece about Ta-Nehisi Coates & Ezra Klein. Andrea Pitzer says “lost” folks like Klein “don’t have a clear idea how this moment fits into history and what it is exactly that they’re doing”. [degenerateart.beehiiv.com]