Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Prof. Carrie McDonough @carrieamcdphd.bsky.social · 6h

Unknown concentration internal standard

Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 @joshuaeakle.com · 1d

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.

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 2d

George was just trying to get to work.

ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process.

This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 2d

"They put me on suicide watch and they put me in the cell, I'm naked, in like a hospital dress and just a concrete bed with like a mattress, like a thin mattress and, they leave the light on 24/7."

@timmiller.bsky.social talked to a veteran who ICE wrongly detained and brutalized

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

scott b. weingart @scottbot.bsky.social · 20h

My life improved last year when I started pronouncing AI as the name Al (AL) in my head whenever I saw it. In case you need that.

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 23h

As a Professor Emerita from the University of Arizona and an alumna, the UA *cannot* accept Trump’s “compact” aka selling their academic soul to the Devil.

This moment is when UA decides whether they will stand by academic freedom and integrity or become a tool of The Regime.

U of A president breaks silence on White House compact

University of Arizona President Suresh Garimella sent an email to the campus community about the White House’s proposed higher education compact, a week after receiving it.

tucson.com

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 1d

Fustiliarian Friday: Trump/Kennedy/GOP use the shutdown as an excuse to destroy the CDC’s elite field epidemiology team and one of the most important epidemiology journals in the world.

Gift link.

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 2d

This is what courage in the face of authoritarianism looks like. No university should take Trump's bribe & surrender their integrity — bending the knee to a bully only feeds the beast & puts ALL our rights at risk.

Others should follows MIT’s example ASAP.

MIT rejects Trump administration deal for priority federal funding

MIT is one of the nine schools that were asked to agree to adopt conservative priorities and policies in exchange for funding perks.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 1d

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 1d

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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Prof. Carrie McDonough @carrieamcdphd.bsky.social · 2d

Thank you MIT

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 2d

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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Prof. Carrie McDonough @carrieamcdphd.bsky.social · 2d

"“It feels like the efforts of a couple of generations of scientists who have worked extremely diligently to produce the world’s most highly vetted assessments has been set aside with no path forward.”

Prof. Carrie McDonough @carrieamcdphd.bsky.social · 2d

PFNA has the same molecular structure as PFOA (or C8, of Dark Waters fame...) but one more CF2 group, so the perfluorinated chain is one carbon longer. Same as PFOA, PFNA doesn't break down via natural processes, and lingers in the environment forever, as far as we know.

Scientists Completed a Toxicity Report on This Forever Chemical. The EPA Hasn’t Released It.

Agency scientists found that PFNA could cause developmental, liver and reproductive harms. Their final report was ready in mid-April, according to an internal document reviewed by ProPublica, but the ...

www.propublica.org

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Prof. Carrie McDonough @carrieamcdphd.bsky.social · 2d

You heard that right - there is NO SAFE LEVEL of PFOA in drinking water... yet we are being denied information on the toxicity of PFNA, one of its closest chemical relatives.

Prof. Carrie McDonough @carrieamcdphd.bsky.social · 2d

The EPA-set ideal level of PFOA in your water (the MCLG) is 0 ppt because PFOA is a known human carcinogen. The MCL (feasible max level) is 4 ppt. There is no reason to think PFNA would be very different in terms of toxicity given the similar structure. Regulating PFNA is common sense.

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 2d

This is always the way in the human rights and civil rights world. It's one key reason why my work in those areas for many years was recording abuses and gathering evidence as events occur.

It's extraordinarily difficult to piece events together later w/o contemporaneous records to mine for clues.

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Prof. Carrie McDonough @carrieamcdphd.bsky.social · 2d

PFNA has the same molecular structure as PFOA (or C8, of Dark Waters fame...) but one more CF2 group, so the perfluorinated chain is one carbon longer. Same as PFOA, PFNA doesn't break down via natural processes, and lingers in the environment forever, as far as we know.

Scientists Completed a Toxicity Report on This Forever Chemical. The EPA Hasn’t Released It.

Agency scientists found that PFNA could cause developmental, liver and reproductive harms. Their final report was ready in mid-April, according to an internal document reviewed by ProPublica, but the ...

www.propublica.org

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Prof. Carrie McDonough @carrieamcdphd.bsky.social · 2d

I have been worried about this for a while - whatever we're seeing isn't the half of it. We won't know the true story till much later, and then whoever's in charge will get to decide what stories we tell, what history we know.

Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 2d

It is impossible—even for those of us who spend a pathological amount of time every day working on CBP, ICE, and DHS—to fully track these agencies’ misdeeds.

Transparency trails years behind, if we are lucky and persistent. Someday, the accounting from this period will be terrible.

David Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 2d

I keep learning of months old horrors and I follow this stuff very closely. I’m sure the level of brutality and misconduct has not fully reached the public. The population cleansing agents are out of control.

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Prof. Carrie McDonough @carrieamcdphd.bsky.social · 2d

They should just give it to Obama again so Trump explodes

Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Alt US Coast Guard @altcoast.altgov.info · 2d

This article does a fantastic job of summarizing Hegseth's many attacks on the military, and on anyone who isn't a straight white male serving. Please give it a read!

The military is smarter, more ethical, and more well-rounded with diverse SMs - all descriptors that the regime is fighting against.

ACLU @aclu.org · 2d

All servicewomen serving in combat roles already have to meet stringent gender-neutral physical standards.

But Secretary Hegseth is intent on smearing those women as unqualified — and pushing all women out of military service.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Moves to Push Women Out of the Military

From eliminating the Pentagon’s gender advisory committee to misrepresenting women’s combat readiness, Hegseth’s record shows a clear campaign against women in uniform.

www.aclu.org

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Sarah Szalavitz💡 @dearsarah.bsky.social · 3d

Rutgers Professor @mark-bray.bsky.social, who studies & writes about Antifascism,Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats

By the time he & his family reached the gate, their tickets were cancelled.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/n... flagrantly & appallingly lawless. Hope he & his family are ok.

Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 3d

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 2d

Indicting political opponents & critics because they are political opponents & critics is terrifying.

It's completely inconsistent with the rule of law & democracy.

It should scare everyone - and (hopefully) will get people to realize that we all need to stand against this.

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Prof. Carrie McDonough @carrieamcdphd.bsky.social · 3d

can someone please make an explainer on how to remove the new "AI features" from like every app and program in existence? plz thx.

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 3d

Documenting what has been lost... and what still could be found with a renewed commitment to science in America.

👇

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 3d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Aaron Cynic @aaroncynic.bsky.social · 3d

Chicagoans still marching on Michigan Ave chanting "up up with liberation, down down with deportations!"

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Reposted by Prof. Carrie McDonough

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 4d

"We took the freedom of speech away," says the president

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

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