Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Roger McCarthy @rogermccarthy.bsky.social · 2h

But TBF wasn't he quite keen on eliminating The Yellow Peril by biological warfare?

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Andrew 🇿🇦 Davis @thrownintosol.bsky.social · 2h

I think this is a good idea, and should also be done with starting wars.

And it's gotta be someone the leader KNOWS and LIKES.

Text from Wikipedia that reads;

"Fisher was known for a unique idea towards nuclear deterrence. In a March 1981 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, while discussing the importance on reaching a "wise decision", especially in terms of nuclear arms, he suggested implanting the nuclear launch codes in a volunteer. If the President of the United States wanted to activate nuclear weapons, he would be required to kill the volunteer to retrieve the codes.

My suggestion was quite simple: Put that needed code number in a little capsule, and then implant that capsule right next to the heart of a volunteer. The volunteer would carry with him a big, heavy butcher knife as he accompanied the President. If ever the President wanted to fire nuclear weapons, the only way he could do so would be for him first, with his own hands, to kill one human being. The President says, "George, I'm sorry but tens of millions must die." He has to look at someone and realize what death is—what an innocent death is. Blood on the White House carpet. It's reality brought home. When I suggested this to friends in the Pentagon they said, "My God, that's terrible. Having to kill someone would distort the President's judgment. He might never push the button."

— Roger Fisher, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March 1981"

1 1 2

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Waffle 🧇 @wafflecut.bsky.social · 4h

Learned that an anonymous outside expert on submersibles did an interview with the OceanGate Titan investigation, and they released a transcript, with all the names redacted. The first line of his first answer? "I'm sure you're familiar with my film Titanic."

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD
*****************
Investigation of:
LOSS OF THE SUBMARINE TITAN
IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
ON JUNE 18, 2023
*
*
*
*
*
*
Accident No.:
*********** * * * * * *
Interview of:
Co-designer/Pilot
Deepsea Challenger
DCA23FM036
via Microsoft Teams
Friday,
July 26, 2024

INTERVIEW OF
10
BY LCDR
11 Q. So how did you get yourself started into submersible
12 operations?
13
A.
Well, I'm sure you're familiar with my film Titanic.
When I
14
set down the path to make that film, the first thing that I did
15
was arrange to be introduced to the head of the submersible
16
program at the P.P. Shirshov Institute in Moscow, a guy named
17|
Professor
I. I did that through a mutual friend
18
of ours, a guy named
, who is one of the preeminent
underwater cinematographers in the world. And had been on a
20
submersible expedition out to Titanic the previous year with the
21
Russians. And that was organized by a Canadian company that was
22 doing an IMAX film which was released under the title Titanica.

180 2.2K 8.1K

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

utopia deferred @utopia-defer.red · 2h

the epistemological difference between "the worst outcome i can imagine is maybe losing my job" versus "they want to hunt my family like animals and put us in cages"

12 94

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Cardgrrl @cardgrrl.bsky.social · 6h

What do you suppose it would take for @nytimes.com to accurately use "fascist" in a headline?

Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis @jeffjarvis.bsky.social · 15h

"Diorama of power dynamics." Beyond euphemism, that is glib glorification of dictatorship. The #BrokenTimes would rather show off its turn of phrase than call fascism what it is.
Oval Office Becomes a Diorama of Power Dynamics as Trump Goes After Rivals www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

Oval Office Becomes a Diorama of Power Dynamics as Trump Goes After Rivals

www.nytimes.com

5 13 35

Roger McCarthy @rogermccarthy.bsky.social · 3h

Untrue that it starved its own people - it looted and starved other people to ensure that its own people remained well-fed.

This was actually the one key lesson the Nazis did learn from WW1 which far more than internal repression explained how its people and army did not finally riot and mutiny.

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Secretary of Defense Rock @sodrock.bsky.social · 4h

America didn’t win WWII through “inferior tech," it won through organization, integration, and strategy, as well as the myth that Nazi Germany’s “exquisite” weapons outclassed the Allies, and critiques how the media keeps misusing history to sound profound. My latest⬇️

The Myth of Allied Technological Inferiority

World War II, The Free Press, and the Problematic Use of History in Contemporary Media

secretaryrofdefenserock.substack.com

33 120 560

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Prof Katherine Schofield 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇪🇺 @katherineschof8.bsky.social · 3h

errr...it's a notepad, propped up on something?

The ancient Chinese want their paper back

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 5h

This minimalist, paper-based to-do manager can help you focus on completing your important tasks while staying offline. nyti.ms/4h8ijiC

An Ugmonk Analog card standing up in the card holder on a desk beside a keyboard and laptop sitting on a riser.

1 1 11

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 13h

This is how The Boston Globe chooses to frame the kidnapping of a local teenager.

Remarkably swift passage of Everett teen into deportation system showcases ICE reach and efficiency

42 370 1K

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · Mar 31

There is a shadow of something colossal and menacing that even now is beginning to fall across the land. Call it the shadow of an oligarchy, if you will; it is the nearest I dare approximate it. What its nature may be I refuse to imagine. But what I wanted to say was this: You are in a perilous position.

—JACK LONDON, THE IRON HEEL

1 18 86

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 4h

Here’s the paper where we do all of this in detail (using science 🧪) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Old money: Campaign finance and gerontocracy in the United States

Politicians in the United States rank among the oldest globally. This study examines how money in politics contributes to age inequality in political …

www.sciencedirect.com

2 27 200

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 4h

As you may have noticed, white supremacists want to stop the influx of hardworking young people (aka immigration) while somehow forcing white women to have lots more babies to compensate, but they refuse to make having kids more affordable and less arduous an experience.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5h

RFK Jr: "When my uncle was president, the fertility rate in this country was 3.5%. Today it is 1.6%. The replacement rate -- in other words the amount of fertility you need to keep your population even -- is 2.1%. We are below replacement. That is a national security threat to our country."

160 620 2.3K

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 6h

i mean, i don't think it's a mystery NYT

The military commander overseeing the Pentagon’s escalating attacks against boats in the Caribbean Sea that the Trump administration says are smuggling drugs is stepping down, two U.S. officials said on Thursday.

The officer, Adm. Alvin Holsey, is leaving his job as head of the U.S. Southern Command, which oversees all operations in Central and South America, even as the Pentagon has rapidly built up some 10,000 forces in the region in what it says is a major counterdrug and counterterrorism mission.

It was unclear why Admiral Holsey is leaving now, less than a year into his tenure, and in the midst of the biggest operation in his 37-year career.

22 380 1.8K

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕝 @sundaedivine.bsky.social · 8h

Here's Jonathan. He was born in 1832 and he's 193 years old. He's also Mitch McConnell's younger brother.

120 290 1.7K

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

steven monacelli @stevanzetti.bsky.social · 12h

If you missed the story when it came out, you can read it here.

www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

The Texas Historical Commission Removed Books on Racism and Slavery From Plantation Gift Shops

An agency spokesperson claimed that the move had nothing to do with politics. Internal emails show otherwise.

www.texasmonthly.com

5 49 270

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

A.V. Deggar @avdeggar.bsky.social · 12h

The party of government, that won a generational landslide just over a year ago, is polling at just 15%.

Starmer will be remembered as one of the worst prime ministers in British history, and a willing midwife for the fascism to come.

21 80 300

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Kate Clancy @kateclancy.bsky.social · 2d

I am being asked to tell my department which pieces of lab equipment should be supported with backup power because they expect rolling blackouts and brownouts in 2026 due to increased energy demands from AI. In case you're wondering how my day is going.

28 610 1.4K

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Mia Farrow @miafarrow.bsky.social · 12h

Message from the Keaton family via People Mag

Mia Farrow @miafarrow.bsky.social · 13h

“The Keaton family are very grateful for the extraordinary messages of love & support
She loved animals & she was steadfast in her support of the unhoused community, so any donations in her memory to a local food bank or an animal shelter would be a wonderful and much appreciated tribute to her”

45 230

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Jimmy Perez @jimmyperezshetland.bsky.social · 13h

79 years ago today terrible people got what they deserved.

2 21 67

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Actual names @actualnames.bsky.social · 12h

Count Hugues “The Timid” de Tours
www.findagrave.com/memorial/146...

Count Hugues “The Timid” de Tours (775-837) - Find...

Hugh (or Hugo) (c. 780 – 837) was the count of Tours and Sens during the reigns of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious, until his disgrace in February 828. Hugh had many possessions in Alsace, as well as ...

www.findagrave.com

1 1

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 19h

In today's least surprising news

190 400 2.2K

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 12h

Did hoarding gold in lonely mountain work for the dwarves?

No, but it could work for us.

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas @ebonyteach.blacksky.app · 12h

About the extreme technofascist obsession with high fantasy:

Much of the fault lies within their own (mis)readings, but some of it is embedded in the text itself.

Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 1d

Tolkein continues to resonate. The new bank being set up by Palmer Luckey and backed by Peter Thiel is named Erebor after the “lonely mountain” in The Hobbit. This was also an interesting line in this rpt on the new bank by @tabbykinder.bsky.social www.ft.com/content/202d...

12 55 350

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 12h

The old Saudi brand was “austere theocracy,” but the new one is “fun, fun, fun, but still with beheading.” - brilliant piece with so many laugh out loud moments:

Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 14h

"Sometimes you have to ask yourself: How did I get here—sitting in Saudi Arabia, listening to Louis C.K. do jokes about Barely Legal magazine?"

I went to Riyadh to see the transformation of a country with the world's biggest cultural chequebook. Gift link:

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

How Many Comedians Does It Take to Change a Country?

What it’s like to watch Louis C.K. do stand-up in Saudi Arabia

www.theatlantic.com

7 38 160

Roger McCarthy @rogermccarthy.bsky.social · 12h

"It is indeed my opinion now that evil is never ‘radical’, that it is only extreme, and that it possesses neither depth nor any demonic dimension. It can overgrow and lay waste the whole world precisely because it spreads like a fungus on the surface".
(Arendt)

Reposted by Roger McCarthy

John Ganz @lioneltrolling.bsky.social · 12h

In which I call for a Brown Scare and a left-wing McCarthyism.— www.unpopularfront.news/p/the-coming...

The Coming Purge

We're going to need a left-wing Joe McCarthy

www.unpopularfront.news

7 74 340