Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 8h

Remember when Stephen Miller claimed the Chicago apartment raid was on a building “filled with Tren de Aragua terrorists”?

Well, DHS has now dropped the number of alleged TdA members arrested in the building from 2 to 1.

Just one "verified" Tren de Aragua member and one U.S. citizen with an active warrant were among the 37, DHS said, without saying how it had verified that gang affiliation. Others taken that day, the agency said, were "illegal aliens."

82 1.4K 3.5K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

John Berlinsky @berlinskyjohn.bsky.social · 8h

This is the life-saving work that the Trump Regime is doing its best to destroy.

I have to add: please note that this work is the result of long years of university research, much of it federally funded. And note that the years (decades) of less-successful attempts that have led up to these papers are in the same category: NIH and NCI money are all over this field. This is the very thing that the Trump administration has been working tirelessly to destroy. I am not exaggerating. They have been hitting these funding agencies over and over with layoffs, budget cuts, and whatever obstacles they can dream up, and they are also ripping into the universities where these funds have been granted. The exact phrases that J. D. Vance, Stephen Miller, Russell Vought and their henchmen have used is "universities are the enemy" and federal workers "need to be put into trauma". More specifically, the attitudes of our HHS head (RFK, Jr.) and his own minions toward mRNA research and vaccination are easy to summarize: they hate it and they want it to stop. It seems bizarre and insane and almost impossible to believe, but that is exactly what is happening. Every time you see scientific progress being made from US universities, remember that our elected officials are trying every day to defund it, to cripple it, to kill it outright. They are hitting it again and again in the hopes that it will finally stop moving. Act accordingly.

8 24

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15h

Q: We've seen images out of Chicago of federal agents shooting faith leaders with pepper balls and arresting journalists. Where's the limit for you on what's acceptable conduct by federal agents?

MIKE JOHNSON: I've not seen them cross the line yet.

3.3K 4.3K 11K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 9h

we’ve gone so far past “sex workers are the canaries in the coal mine” re: internet freedom, to an internet that’s run off and robbed from all the sex workers in order to replace them with planet-destroying simulations of sex workers

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 12h

Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.

8 280 770

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

WIRED @wired.com · 9h

NEW: A presentation that has been shared with the Trump administration references Tesla, Ikea, TSMC, and more in its plan to rebuild the region. Some of these companies say they had absolutely no idea they were mentioned.

A Plan to Rebuild Gaza Lists Nearly 30 Companies. Many Say They're Not Involved

A presentation that has been shared with the Trump administration references Tesla, Ikea, TSMC, and more in its plan to rebuild Gaza. Some of these companies say they had no idea they were mentioned.

www.wired.com

23 140 330

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 13h

"we're saving Christianity" as ICE fires pepper balls at a minister's head

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14h

Eric Trump: "We're saving Christianity. We've saving God. We've saving the family unit. We're saving this nation. I mean, DEI is out of the window, Benny. You no longer have Colin Kaepernick kneeling for the national anthem. You no longer have Budweiser going woke as hell. All of this is dead."

7 21 140

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 13h

CBS aired a segment by Olivia Reingold—a reporter for the Weiss-founded Free Press—in which NYPD officers are worried about Mamdani, with some “considering retiring.” The evidence? Four unnamed officers quoted out of ~33,000.

The story is thinly sourced, fearmongering, tabloid drek. trib.al/hfqsrL0

29 110 330

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 1d

Across the country, airports are refusing to air a video from the Homeland Security chief blaming Democrats for the shutdown. trib.al/tw3Hd3X

Airports Are Pushing Back Against Kristi Noem’s Shutdown Propaganda

Across the country, airports are refusing to air a video from the Homeland Security chief blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

trib.al

120 540 2.8K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

ThePatrick&WatsonLabs @thepwlab.bsky.social · Jul 15

A P/W lab student who had his F31-DIV terminated just got a very fundable score on the (same) F31 he submitted again as a new application in April.

Its almost as if his science and aptitude had nothing to do with "DEI" 🤔

Hope this inspires others with unfairly terminated awards to try again!

a woman with a surprised look on her face and the words `` pretends to be shocked '' written below her .

ALT: a woman with a surprised look on her face and the words `` pretends to be shocked '' written below her .

media.tenor.com

2 8 21

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 1d

In Portland, an ambulance was summoned to the ICE office to treat an injured protester (not clear how he was injured). But when the patient was loaded inside, ICE officers refused to let the ambulance leave and threatened to shoot the ambulance driver: www.wweek.com/news/2025/10...

Documents Allege a Federal Agent at Portland ICE Threatened to Shoot an Ambulance Driver

Feds delayed medics who had come to pick up an injured protester. Then, according to confidential incident reports, the agents became aggressive.

www.wweek.com

210 1.9K 3.2K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · 1d

this girl Gloria who got into my local newspaper for seeing Titanic 50 times in Rome and who I have remembered since reading about her in 1998

Published March 14, 1998|Updated Sept. 12, 2005

A 12-year-old from Rome, identified only as Gloria, goes to the movies every day. Same time, same place, same movie: Titanic. So far, the girl has seen the hit film about 50 times, leading the pack of Italy's fervent Titanic fans. And she's still not tired of it. She even has cats named Jack and Rose. The young movie buff was discovered by the newspaper La Repubblica. "She comes to the 9 o'clock feature every night," said Giancarlo Malferrari, the owner of the only movie theater in Castelfranco Emilia, a town of 11,000 in central Italy. "And every weekend, she watches two shows in a row." Now the theater has started saving her favorite seat and even letting her in free. Neither he nor La Repubblica used the girl's last name, citing Italy's privacy law. Gloria told La Repubblica it isn't heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio that attracts her, but the character he plays: Jack Dawson, a struggling artist who wins his passage on the Titanic in a poker game. "Jack is cuter than Leo," she said. "And it's for real; it's a true story. That's what makes it so beautiful." Gloria's mother, a cleaning woman who works at night, says she hasn't seen Titanic yet but she's not worried about her daughter's obsession. "She's not doing anything bad," she told the newspaper, adding that Gloria has to do her homework first every night.

6 110 420

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 3d

I’m still thinking about “No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament” and desperately wishing Democrat leadership had a fraction of this tactical savvy

4 61 420

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

🌈Dr. Franken Frizzle 🎃 @swilua.bsky.social · 1d

He was considered horrific BY THE PEOPLE WHO STARTED THE SPANISH INQUISITION

Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 1d

You don't have to judge Columbus by the standards of today. His tenure as governor of Hispaniola was so horrific that he was dragged back to Spain in chains to answer for his many crimes.

Plus he never set foot on any land that would ever be a part of the United States of America.

5 120 480

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 @joshuaeakle.com · 3d

In Chicago, four vehicles descended and eight ICE agents moved in to kidnap a child.

She screams, “I’m 15,” as ICE yanks her from the car and kneels on her neck.

This is not about immigration enforcement.

It's about terrorizing Americans.

530 3.7K 7.7K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE @golikehellmachine.com · 2d

my father (a retired white engineer who has been in oklahoma for 40 years) is my weathervane for what normal people who just watch the news periodically think, and he was like “so, they want to call the guard out on a bunch of kids wearing frog suits? is that true?”, the admin is losing the PR war

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

WELKER: Are you looking at invoking the Insurrection Act?

VANCE: We have to remember we are talking about this bc crime has gotten out of control

W: Crime is down in both Chicago & Portland

V: Crime is down bc they are so overwhelmed at the local level they are not even keeping stats properly

41 490 2.9K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 1d

check this out: here in Norway we tax cars (including EVs!) by weight

www.skatteetaten.no/en/rates/wei...

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

5 27 110

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

AltBiker @altbiker.altgov.info · 5d

#NoKingsDay

3 16 81

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 3d

Extinguishing MLK's Eternal Flame is both outrageous and a hell of a metaphor for right now www.wsbtv.com/news/local/a...

Eternal flame at Martin Luther King Jr.’s Atlanta burial site destroyed

Police say the man also urinated in the reflective pool.

www.wsbtv.com

47 540 1.1K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 3d

Hey, you idiotic propagandists at the New York Post:

God Bless America isn't the national anthem. It's a SHOW TUNE written by Irving Berlin.

1.4K 5.5K 23K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Elise Wang @elisewang.bsky.social · 3d

For those not fluent in Catholic: refusing the Monstrance is not denying prisoners the Eucharist, it is refusing Christ himself, since Christ is present in the Monstrance.

If Portland’s blow up animals are the right language for Portland, this is the right language for Chicago.

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 3d

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

30 720 2.5K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 3d

vought's view is that the president is an elected dictator and lo and behold he is seizing outright the power of the purse

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 3d

Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it's to establish personalist control over the FUCKING MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine

Via: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

The Office of Management and Budget sent a notification to Congress about their intent to use research and development funds to pay members of the military, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.

A spokesperson for the OMB confirmed to NBC News that it plans to use the research and development funds and that there are two years' worth of funds available within the Department of Defense.

73 1.2K 4.5K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 3d

worth reading vought's 2022 essay where he lays this out, focusing on his complaint that congress can shape policy against the wishes of the president americanmind.org/salvo/renewi...

Renewing American Purpose

Statesmanship in a post-Constitutional moment

americanmind.org

8 81 470

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

Ify Nwadiwe @ifycomedy.com · 3d

I think we really should stop using antifa and just fully say anti-fascist and get them saying they are against anti fascism. Using antifa is giving them some distance and I genuinely think some of their base don’t even know that’s what it stands for.

450 6.4K 21K

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 3d

The House speaker claims this has nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Then why delay the swearing in of Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva, who handily won a special election in Arizona *two weeks* ago?

He can easily prove it. trib.al/yUJZ0OT

Mike Johnson Struggles to Explain Delay in Swearing In Democratic Rep

The House speaker claims the delay in swearing in Representative-elect Adelita Grijalva has nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. He can easily prove it.

trib.al

39 100 310

Reposted by Dr Sian Gramates

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 3d

really striking the degree to which not a single person working in the trump administration appears to be interested in serving the american people

230 1.9K 10K