Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 9h

The idea of a genetic change heralding behavioral modernity around 70-80kya is both racist, and easily disprovable by talking to modern descendants of some South African herding tribes that split off from the rest of us (or maybe vice versa) at least 150kya.

ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 13h

Kissinger had to wait a whole 5 years!

Just Jack @just-jack-1.bsky.social · 15h

Apparently, they don’t hand out a Nobel Peace Prize to those who negotiated a ceasefire they had sabotaged a year ago just to get elected.

ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 1d

How’s a lowbie meant to make it to the big leagues without a little cheap heat anyway.

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, I think most elites do not really have ideology or beliefs so much as a desire to be perceived favorably by whatever institution or group they’ve embedded themselves within - that’s how you become an elite! So asking “who are they trying to impress” is a great way to understand their behavior

Kevin 🚀🤠 @astro-cowboy.bsky.social · 1d

This is a much more plausible explanation for why NYT carries water for Trump than “they like Trump and want to help them.”

Sure, maybe a few people actually like Trump, but the real motivation is that the whole newsroom is obsessed with coming off as enlightened centrists.

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

The psychology that twists coverage in Trump’s favor is transparent, once you accept that psychology plays a role. They want to be perceived as neutral by their peers, and they know their peers suspect them of anti-Trump bias. So they demonstrate independence by scrutinizing Dems and praising Trump.

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

The psychology that twists coverage in Trump’s favor is transparent, once you accept that psychology plays a role. They want to be perceived as neutral by their peers, and they know their peers suspect them of anti-Trump bias. So they demonstrate independence by scrutinizing Dems and praising Trump.

Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 1d

There were at least two ceasefires under Biden! In which more than five times as many living Israeli hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinians! Has everyone forgotten this?

Coffee Indiana @coffeeindiana.bsky.social · 1d

Also, ceasefires have happened under prior Presidents! The day he gets Palestine their own country he can be told he's the most special boy deserving of a shiny prize.

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ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 2d

Can’t believe that everything that needs to be said about standing up to the mob (of overly sensitive teenagers) in 2025 was written by a kind of fash poet 90 years ago.

ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 4d

Other people can escalate conflicts? Mods! Mods!

ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 4d

Power of a title. Tron became a byword for cyberpunk aesthetics just cause it’s funny short memorable sounds like a real word. I’ve never seen a Tron movie. I know what it means to put on a tronsuit. That linguistic resonance makes the movie seem culturally bigger than it ever was.

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Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 5d

Andrew Cuomo keeps saying he’s the only candidate who can take on Trump once he’s in office.

Yet in his statement about the indictment of Letitia James, the highest-ranking Black elected official in the state, he doesn’t even mention Trump by name….and, more importantly, he doesn’t mention James.

Andrew Cuomo * @andrewcuomo
X.com
In a democracy, the rule of law must be sacred - impartial, objective, and above politics. When the law is weaponized or manipulated to advance political agendas, it erodes public trust and weakens the very foundation of justice. Whether it comes from the right or the left, from prosecutors or politicians, the politicization of law enforcement is dangerous and corrosive.
We must restore faith in fairness, facts, and due process - because once justice becomes partisan, everyone loses.
3:56 PM • 10/9/25 • 41K Views

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ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 5d

It always struck me as a bad move on their part to trade “politically correct” for “woke” as their epithet of choice. Much less grating label.

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ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 5d

The “TV needs to be painfully didactic“ people are trying to solve for humans needing a regular dose of moral exhortation to be tolerably social.
In 250K years we haven’t found a way to do this that doesn’t risk being boring, exploitative, fanatical or just pedophiles.
Except Sesame Street ofc.

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ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 6d

Given swing voters are suffering an epidemic of Medieval Peasant Mindset you just know blaming the kings evil advisor is the go to move.

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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 6d

Steven Carrillo, another boogaloo boi, pleaded guilty to murdering a security guard in Oakland in 2020.

He had posted on Facebook about wanting to start an anti-government revolution. The right loves framing the left for violence.

They are always trying to set Reichstag fires.

41-year sentence for Ex-Air Force sergeant who killed guard

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A former U.S. Air Force staff sergeant and alleged member of the “boogaloo” extremist movement was sentenced to 41 years in prison Friday for the fatal shooting of a federal sec...

apnews.com

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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 6d

Another riot in Minneapolis was instigated by a right-wing agitator who was convicted of shooting into a police station and setting it on fire, in the hopes of starting a civil war.

A self-described "boogaloo boi," he drove up from Texas to create a false flag.

Texas man in 'boogaloo' movement pleads guilty to firing at police station during Floyd protest

Ivan Harrison Hunter, a self-proclaimed member of the “boogaloo bois,” is accused of firing 13 rounds from a semi-automatic assault-style rifle at a Minneapolis station.

www.nbcnews.com

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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 6d

The very first riot after a George Floyd protest was started by a white supremacist nicknamed "Umbrella Man."

He spraypainted "free shit" on an AutoZone, broke the windows, and encouraged others to come in. abcnews.go.com/amp/US/man-h...

Man who helped ignite George Floyd riots identified as white supremacist: Police

A masked umbrella-wielding man helped incite riots and looting in the immediate aftermath of George Floyd's death, police said.

abcnews.go.com

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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 6d

🧵 Trump is criminally invading states under false pretenses. His supporters are trying to instigate violence by dressing as antifa and committing crimes.

In this clip from Portland, Joey Gibson of "Patriot Prayer" and his fiancée, Lindsey Nichols, tried to cause trouble before being forced away.

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ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 6d

I think this is particularly true of the “what if someone transitions in name only just for the woman’s heavy weight boxing final” which appeals a lot to lawyers brained elites and is easily dismissed with “why would anyone do that?” by normies.

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ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 6d

To be clear I think this is desirable, possible, but not likely. Trump general tendency has been to quadruple down on loyalists lately.

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 7d

My statement on the two year anniversary of October 7, 2023.

“Two years ago today, Hamas carried out a horrific war crime, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and kidnapping 250 more. I mourn these lives and pray for the safe return of every hostage still held and for every family whose lives were torn apart by these atrocities.

In the aftermath of that day, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government launched a genocidal war: adeath toll that now far exceeds 67,000; with the Israeli military bombing homes, hospitals, and schools into rubble. Every day in Gaza has become a place where grief itself has run out of language. I mourn these lives and pray for the families that have been shattered. Our government has been complicit through it all.

This must end. The occupation and apartheid must end. Peace must be pursued through diplomacy, not war crimes, and our government must act to end these atrocities and hold those responsible to account.

These last two years have demonstrated the very worst of humanity. We must answer it by modeling the very best: a relentless pursuit of our higher ideals and an unwavering commitment to universal human rights.”

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ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 7d

The good but deeply un-cathartic path now looks like Trump ditching Miller et al for making him look bad, doing replacement level Republican evil, and spending 2028 tweeting how he’d be up 10 points but Vance doesn’t have the juice. Probably too high on his own supply / brain dead for that though.

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ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 7d

Unfortunately I think a lot of people will read this quantification as “a new thing to worry about” rather than correctly “one less thing to worry about”.

Good to know. Put it very low on the priority list.

ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 8d

There’s a wide stable terrace on which to stand and denounce the state of Israel but TikTok is full of people speeding down the slopes to gutter antisemitism like a 5 man bobsleigh team.

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 10d

Aside from Vance, who as veep is functionally unemployed, farming the approval of racist trolls for validation, this is their worldview: white people are true Americans and are entitled to be here, the rest of us are guests and must behave accordingly

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 10d

If you’re white, your accomplishments are your own and you can resent and criticize the country all you like, but if you’re black and successful you should be grateful to white people for allowing you in their presence. bsky.app/profile/jess...

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 10d

Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.

Tweet from the VP:
Joy Reid has had such a good life in this country. It's been
overwhelmingly kind and gracious to her. She is far wealthier than most.
Yet she oozes with contempt.
My honest, non-trolling advice to Joy Reid is that you'd be a much
happier person if you showed a little gratitude

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ciarangallagher.bsky.social @ciarangallagher.bsky.social · 11d

Pretty much all non-elites in history were living on a calorific knife edge in an insecure nil-sum economy, a context abolished even in most developing countries today. That was understood and greek writers frequently contrast ruthlessness driven by “necessity” from that driven by “ambition”.

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