Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Asbjørn Dyrendal

Didrik Søderlind @didriksoderlind.bsky.social · 14h

En av Norges største podcaster dette altså. Thaulow er forresten (selvfølgelig) i partiet "Norgesdemokratene".

Wolfgang Wee diskuterer om vi har vært på månen.

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Institute for the Study of War @thestudyofwar.bsky.social · 20h

WARNING: The Kremlin is Preparing to Mobilize Reservists on a Rolling Basis to Fight in Ukraine for the First Time: isw.pub/UKRWARNO101325

Note: This warning does not suggest that the Kremlin is likely to undertake a single large-scale mobilization at this time.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 2d

It feels tragically appropriate that so many universities and colleges are cutting their religious studies departments and programs, just when we most need to understand religion to understand the people in power right now. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction

In leaked recordings of private lectures by tech billionaire Peter Thiel he argued that “the Antichrist” is likely to take the form of a critic of technology.

www.washingtonpost.com

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The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 3d

Outside of Portland's ICE facility last night, Kenny from South Park got married to a unicorn.

The betrothed Portland couple said they decided to get hitched on site to bring some joy and fun to a dark time.

"People can be fun loving people and still protest."

www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 2d

It's notable that one of the people who was invited to the White House for their "antifa round table" was Nick Sortor, a guy who has literally worked for "InfoWars." The feds are approaching the media aspects of this situation like an unabashed authoritarian state would. bsky.app/profile/opb....

OPB @opb.org · 3d

Right-wing media influencers are now being welcomed into the federal government to promote its messages. This kind of media access shows a deepening alliance between the Trump administration and an online world willing to misrepresent facts if it means furthering political goals.

Right-wing influencers shape nation and Trump’s understanding of Portland protests

Social media personalities, conservative media outlets and the Trump administration itself are blending online content to serve the administration’s policies.

www.opb.org

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David Neiwert @davidneiwert.bsky.social · 3d

This has always been part of the GOP playbook: Downplay incidents of right-wing violence, and then repurpose them as supposed acts of leftist terrorism for public consumption. They first did this in 2020.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Bondi: "We've been living through a horrific cycle of political violence in this country ... night after night antifa wrecks havoc on the streets of our cities. In Minnesota, a gunman murdered a state lawmaker and her husband."

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󠀁󠁿⁢⁢⁤⁤⁢⁢⁢⁤⁢⁢⁤⁤⁢⁢⁤⁤⁢⁢⁤⁤⁢⁢⁤⁤⁢⁢⁤⁤⁢⁤⁤⁤⁤⁤⁤⁤⁢⁢⁢⁢⁤⁢👻 @0x0.boo · 3d

Bad Apple, rotten to the core

Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses

Eyes Up's purpose is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." But it has been swept up in Apple's crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.

go.stonking.com

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 5d

Regrettably relevant research today

Disguised Repression: Targeting Opponents with Nonpolitical Crimes to Undermine Dissent
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

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Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 4d

When Fox News lies, people die | We explain on PBS Newshour how the antiscience disinformation spread by the Murdoch media empire and especially Fox News, likely lead to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths in the U.S. And that's just COVID-19. Their fossil fuel disinformation is as deadly.

Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 6d

"Authors of 'Science Under Siege' warn of concerted effort to discredit science" | My #ScienceUnderSiege co-author @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social & I spoke with @wbrangham.bsky.social of the @pbs.org #Newshour:
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Authors of 'Science Under Siege' warn of concerted effort to discredit science

From its embrace of dubious research about autism, its skepticism over vaccines and its wholesale rejection of the consensus about climate change, the Trump administration has set off alarm bells with...

www.pbs.org

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Arnfinn Pettersen @arnfinnp.bsky.social · 4d

Vår hukommelse er en troløs illusjonist, som byr oss på de fortellinger vi dikter om oss selv. Noen anne forklaring har jeg ikke på at noen kan skrive noe så dumt som dette:

"Ungdom skal boble av livsglede. I stedet sitter de slitne og usikre med hodet bøyd foran skjermen."

Ungdommens blikk

Ungdom skal boble av livsglede. I stedet sitter de slitne og usikre med hodet bøyd foran skjermen.

www.nrk.no

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Olga Lautman 🇺🇦 @olgalautman.bsky.social · 3d

In case anyone missed this

Erdoğa said that Trump ended Halkbank’s criminal case after talks w him. He said that Trump told him “The Halkbank problem is finished for us.”

Halkbank was helping Iran evade taxes and launder billions.

Qatar and now this. The corruption is off the charts

Turkey’s Erdogan Says Halkbank US Case to End After Trump Talks

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said state lender Halkbank’s legal case in the US is due to be resolved following recent talks with President Donald Trump, prompting bank shares to rise.

www.bloomberg.com

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Lauren MacIvor Thompson @lmacthompson1.bsky.social · 4d

I am writing this because it has swiftly become crystal clear to me that many people have no idea what is happening or how this works. Here is a thread for non-academics to put into context what just happened to Dr. Mark Bray, a fellow historian.

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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 3d

You would not fire these people—including the staff of the hugely, HUGELY important 'Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report'—if you cared at all about public health, if you wanted people to live.

And you would not let your thuggish henchmen fire people like this if you were a responsible president.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 3d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Stiftelsen Expo @stiftelsenexpo.bsky.social · 4d

Det allvarligaste hotet för den judiska minoriteten i Europa kommer framförallt från två politiska miljöer – extremhögern och jihadismen. I veckans Studio Expo pratar vi jihadism, antisemitism och radikalisering.

Jihadisternas judehat

Det allvarligaste hotet för den judiska minoriteten i Europa kommer från framförallt från två politiska miljöer - extremhögern och jihadismen. I veckans Studio Expo pratar vi jihadism, antisemitism oc...

expo.se

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 4d

The House Majority Whip is also insisting that a peaceful "No Kings" demonstration is in fact a "hate America rally" held for the "terrorist wing" of the Democratic Party.

Really feels like they're trying to manifest a violent reaction to it.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Emmer: "This is about one thing and one thing alone -- to score political points with the terrorist wing of their party, which is set to hold a hate America rally in DC next week."

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Morgan Finnsiö ⤦⤦⤦ @morganfinnsio.bsky.social · 4d

"I andra fall då nazister misshandlat någon från den egna miljön har man ofta försökt tiga ihjäl det. Att så inte är fallet här tyder på att AKS saknar tydliga ramverk och principer. Istället tycks de ledande aktivisterna ha en status som gör att de får organisationens uppbackning i alla lägen."

Stiftelsen Expo @stiftelsenexpo.bsky.social · 4d

Aktivklubb Sverige har de senaste månaderna uppmärksammats för flera grova våldsbrott. När den våldsbejakande organisationen nu i helgen firade femårsjubileum skedde det i Det fria Sveriges Svenskarnas hus, skriver Expos Jonathan Leman.

DFS kastar masken när de välkomnar Aktivklubb

Aktivklubb Sverige har de senaste månaderna uppmärksammats för flera grova våldsbrott. När den våldsbejakande organisationen nu i helgen firade femårsjubileum skedde det i Det fria Sveriges Svenskarna...

expo.se

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🦇🧛‍♂️Bram Stoker’s GuitarMoogula🧛‍♂️🦇 @guitarmoog.bsky.social · 4d

Worth noting that these are precisely the type of measures that have been used against pro-democracy NGOs in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan etc.

A DOJ official declined to elaborate on task force plans but said the FBI's role includes analyzing financial networks for funding of activities involving violent crime.
Potential tools to defund or shut down these groups include IRS investigations to strip them of tax-exempt status; criminal probes by the Justice Department and FBI; surveillance by federal law enforcement agencies; the use of RICO statutes typically used for organized crime and financial investigations under anti-terror laws to identify donors and funders, according to people familiar with investigations and public statements by officials.

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Morten Myksvoll @mortenmyksvoll.bsky.social · 4d

Ser fleire saker om fredsprisen som refererer at Trump seier han har stoppa 6-7 krigar. Det er ikkje berre lov å ta med at det ikkje stemmer — det er nødvendig. Poenget med nyheitssaker er å spreie fakta, ikkje løgner. At noko er i sitatform betyr ikkje at det er unntatt frå faktasjekk.

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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 4d

Picture how big the Hoover Dam is. An absolute unit. The Hoover Dam has a power capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW).

The solar farm that the Admin just cancelled could have produces 6.2 GW of power. That's more than 3 Hoover Dams.

jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 4d

SCOOP: The Bureau of Land Management says the largest solar project in Nevada — the Esmeralda 7 mega-farm — has been canceled

The news was quietly dropped via a sudden website update with no public word from any of the companies involved or a statement from the agency

@heatmap.news

Esmeralda 7 Solar Project Has Been Canceled, BLM Says

It would have delivered a gargantuan 6.2 gigawatts of power.

heatmap.news

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Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 4d

Some good news!

A librarian got fired for refusing to remove LBGTQ books and sued the county, its board of commissioners, the library board, and members of both government boards for violating her 1st amendment rights, and discriminatory and retaliatory firing.

www.rawstory.com/wyoming-libr...

Librarian gets massive payday after firing for refusal to yank LGBTQ books off shelves

A librarian fired by county officials in Campbell County, Wyoming, for refusing to remove LGBTQ books from shelves got the last laugh with a $700,000 settlement. According to The New York Times, "Terr...

www.rawstory.com

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AKA NickleDave @nicholdav.bsky.social · 4d

Study from @anthropic.com + Turing Institute finds just 250 documents are enough to "poison" any LLM, allowing you to trigger a backdoor with a fixed prompt, here ''

www.anthropic.com/research/sma...

wow LLMs really do learn just like humans

A small number of samples can poison LLMs of any size

Anthropic research on data-poisoning attacks in large language models

www.anthropic.com

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Kai Arzheimer @kai-arzheimer.com · 5d

Have (Western) Europe's radical right-wingers finally found religion ⛪? Political Psychology says no #PolRel

LSE EUROPP Blog @lseeuroppblog.bsky.social · 7d

Are Christians in Western Europe more likely to be Islamophobic than other citizens?

New research finds no link between personal Christian beliefs and Islamophobia, but a close association with nativism/authoritarianism.

✍️ @kai-arzheimer.com @powimz.bsky.social

🔗 blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...

Islamophobia in Western Europe is not driven by religiosity

Are Christians more likely to be Islamophobic than other citizens in Europe? New research finds European Islamophobia has no link to a person’s religiosity.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

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Dr. Lotte Pummerer @lpummerer.bsky.social · 5d

Why are some people more prone to believe in conspiracy theories? Part of the answer may lie in metacognition, i.e., the ability to correctly estimate one's own knowledge about topics.
-> New paper with @kwinter.bsky.social, @kaisassenberg.bsky.social & Helen Fischer
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/2044...

“Knowing what I don’t know” – belief in conspiracy theories relates to lower metacognitive sensitivity: a signal detection theoretic approach

Beliefs in conspiracy theories are seemingly hard to dispute through facts. Researchers have partly attributed this resistance to certain information processing styles that are associated with cons...

doi.org

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David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 7d

NEW:

Last month Trump and RFK Jr announced the FDA was was recommending a new drug to treat autism — leucovorin

But they failed to provide any more information. So parents flocked to a Facebook group, that quickly filled with chaos, confusion and conspiracies

www.wired.com/story/chaos-...

Chaos, Confusion, and Conspiracies: Inside a Facebook Group for RFK Jr’s Autism ‘Cure’

A Facebook group set up to share information about leucovorin has been spammed by affiliate links and supplement companies trying to shame parents of autistic kids.

www.wired.com

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 7d

Happening right now. To us. In America.

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