Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5h

Q: Politico reported on a group chat of young Republicans. Does this just reflect some bad apples?

HOCHUL: Some bad apples? These are the future of the GOP. This is so vile it's hard to find the words to put into context ... there's gotta be consequences ... this bullshit has to stop.

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Dr Lucy Stewart @lcsnz.bsky.social · 35m

I was slightly less polite on Nine to Noon

Science funding body announced

The new science funding body has been announced - pooling what was previously three separate funds.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Reposted

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 45m

a few of us made public comments regarding the govt's consolidation of NZ's research funding

Richard Easther @rjme.bsky.social, Lucy Stewart @lcsnz.bsky.social, Nicola Gaston, me, et al

admittedly mine is a bit less polite than the others

comments at www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/10/14/b...

Samuel Mehr, 2023 Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist; Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, University of Auckland; and Associate Professor Adjunct, Child Study Center, Yale University, comments:
“The consolidation of New Zealand’s primary sources of science funding is a terrible idea. It will weaken our global competitiveness and accelerate our ‘brain drain’ to Australia, Canada, Europe and various other attractive destinations for our top scientific minds.

“The biggest problem in the new science funding system its disregard for the importance of basic science, which isn’t even a ‘pillar’ and barely warrants two phrases of mention in the new funding structure. This year a Nobel Prize went to three economists who demonstrated that investment in discovery science drives sustained growth.

“One wonders if anyone in government noticed. Simply put: without core investment in basic science, our economy will suffer, and New Zealand’s universities will simply be unable to recruit and retain top talent.

“The second-biggest problem is moving oversight of funding decisions to the Research Funding New Zealand Board, which will be mainly comprised of non-academics. This is a highly unusual structure relative to the world’s top funding bodies, whose funding decisions are typically made by highly trained domain specialists.

“Take the US National Institutes of Health, who spends more annually on science than New Zealand spends on roads, tunnels, and bridges. There, panels of expert scientists in all areas of biomedical research confidentially review grant proposals, providing scores for proposals; then, separate panels of ‘program staff’ — most of whom have PhDs in the area they are making funding decisions about — decide which proposals should be funded.

“Moving control of science funding decisions away from the experts and toward government ministers is a recipe for under-informed funding decisions that are likely to be biased by external influence, whatever topics are currently exciting (but don’t necessarily have any long-term value), and, worst of all, the personal interests of the specific members of the board.

“Basic science in New Zealand has yielded world-changing discoveries in neonatal care, life-saving genomic advances in cancers, and the invention of R, a programming language used at every university on the planet. This is the country of Ernest Rutherford! Our government can and must do better.”

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flaneuse1.bsky.social @flaneuse1.bsky.social · 20m

Too much horrible stuff happening. Here's a lovely song for you instead.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOid...

Paulo Flores & Tito Paris - Clarice

YouTube video by alcom34

www.youtube.com

Reposted

The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · 5h

⚡️Trump says Putin should 'do something' to end war in Ukraine, cites 'a million and a half' Russian losses.

"I mean, I had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin, but he just doesn’t want to end that war," Trump said during a meeting with Argentina's President Javier Milei on Oct. 14.

Trump says Putin should 'do something' to end war in Ukraine, cites 'a million and a half' Russian losses

"I mean, I had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin, but he just doesn’t want to end that war," Trump said during a meeting with Argentina's President Javier Milei on Oct. 14.

kyivindependent.com

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 33m

What 'remigrate' is a dog-whistle for.

Remigration - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 33m

The Christchurch terrorist's violent extremist 'Great Replacement' ideology, now officially signalled by the current US administration, gleefully retweeted by individuals who on influential far-right podcast platforms in NZ, week after week, promote the same violence with impunity. Quite something.

A tweet by Department of Homeland security which says "Remigrate".

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flaneuse1.bsky.social @flaneuse1.bsky.social · 33m

I am shocked, but not at all surprised.

Reposted

Jersey Craig @jerseycraig.bsky.social · 9h

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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flaneuse1.bsky.social @flaneuse1.bsky.social · 35m

I truly don't know how she can say the things she does and not choke.

flaneuse1.bsky.social @flaneuse1.bsky.social · 36m

Yes it would.

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Reposted

Paul Le Comte 🇳🇿🇨🇦📷 @paullecomtephoto.nz · 3h

The magnificent Waimakariri River draining the waters of Kā Tiritiri-o-te-moana (the Southern Alps) onto Kā Pākihi-whakatekateka-a-Waitaha (Canterbury Plains), Aotearoa New Zealand.

The hot NorWester foehn wind was absolutely howling

Nikon Z7ii 20mm F/11 ISO62 1/200th

#GreatNZRoadie #Nikon #NZ

A view from Bealey in the upper reachers of the Waimakariri River looking back to the Southern Alps at Arthur's Pass National Park. It was absolutely bucketing down on the West Coast, while even here the wind was warm.

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flaneuse1.bsky.social @flaneuse1.bsky.social · 42m

He'll hang on like grim death. The ignominy for him stepping down would be a huge admission of defeat & I just can't see him doing that. Luxon will have to be rolled.

Reposted

henry cooke @henrycooke.bsky.social · 4h

NEW POLL: Half of voters want Christopher Luxon to step down - and Christopher Bishop is the top choice to replace him

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Chris Bishop emerges as Luxon’s successor-in-waiting

The latest The Post/Freshwater Strategy poll signals a leadership swap could lead to boost for National, with half of voters wanting Christopher Luxon gone.

www.thepost.co.nz

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Reposted

Rev. Angela Denker @angeladenker.bsky.social · 1h

minnesotareformer.com/2025/10/14/y...

Your Minnesota neighbors are making sure voting is safe, easy and secure • Minnesota Reformer

My name is Matt Kinney, I live in St. Louis Park, and every year I volunteer to serve as an election judge. That means that when I walk into a school gym or community center on Election Day, I am the...

minnesotareformer.com

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Reposted

Rev. Angela Denker @angeladenker.bsky.social · 1h

www.reuters.com/world/china/...

Exclusive: Chinese buyers book at least 10 Argentine soybean cargoes, sources say

Chinese buyers have booked at least 10 cargoes of soybeans from Argentina, three traders told Reuters on Tuesday, taking advantage of low prices to build inventories for the fourth quarter amid Sino-U.S. trade tensions.

www.reuters.com

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flaneuse1.bsky.social @flaneuse1.bsky.social · 46m

Speaks volumes about the direction this CoC has taken AoNZ.

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Reposted

Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 55m

Meanwhile, in New Zealand: Conservative US commentator Candace Owens granted NZ visa after government intervention www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

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Reposted

Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 2h

Possibly an unpopular opinion in these parts, but I think Labour is so far handling the chaos within its potential coalition partner fairly well. If they say absolutely nothing, opponents get to fill the space. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/...

'Sad for them': Willie Jackson believes Te Pāti Māori split 'inevitable' if issues not sorted

"We don’t get any joy in watching them killing each other off," the Labour MP said.

www.nzherald.co.nz

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Reposted

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 2h

Today’s announcement from Stellantis is a major win for Illinois workers, our economy, and the future of American manufacturing.

Bringing back the Belvidere plant and creating 3,300 good-paying jobs demonstrates the skill, dedication, and productivity of Illinois’ workforce.

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flaneuse1.bsky.social @flaneuse1.bsky.social · 1h

Good grief.

Reposted

Andrew Geddis @acgeddis.bsky.social · 1h

Well, this is a bit dumb ... the consequence is that even though he hasn't officially been declared elected yet, once he is then he'll have to formally resign the seat and a by-election be held.

Object lesson in making sure you know what you're getting into when standing for office.

Councillor at centre of online storm quits days after being elected

Newly-elected Central Otago councillor Dave McKenzie has quit amid online accusations, saying the pressure is too much for his family. His...

www.odt.co.nz

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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 1h

"The trouble with the government’s idea for a simple, more efficient science fund is that it’s trying to be a Ferrari on tin can funding." - @cillaw.bsky.social via @smcnz.bsky.social → www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/10/14/b... 🧪

Big shakeup for NZ's research funding - Expert Reaction

The Government will consolidate decision-making for New Zealand's science research funding as part of its new science system strategy. Research Funding New Zealand will be a new independent board that...

www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz

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Reposted

Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 2h

Jack Smith speaks. Congress wants to hear more from him. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Jack Smith Speaks

You have choices about where you get your news and analysis.

open.substack.com

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flaneuse1.bsky.social @flaneuse1.bsky.social · 2h

Thank you! 😊