Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Erin Alberty

Michael Feinberg @michael-feinberg.bsky.social · 5h

I’m at a loss for words, and it’s not because I’m surprised; rather, I’m in near despair at the sheer level of coarseness and vulgarity to which large swathes of our polity have sunk. There is an entire portion of our population with absolutely no urge to decency, and it’s heartbreaking.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 22h

POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

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Public Health Watch @pubhealthwatch.bsky.social · 1d

Decades of progress on children’s health coverage is being slowly erased, with the U.S. rate now at a 10-year high. Texas still has the highest rate of uninsured kids, with a total of over 1 million.
publichealthwatch.org/2025/10/14/u...

A Closer Look at What’s Driving the Rising Rate of Uninsured Children - Public Health Watch

Decades of progress on children’s health coverage is being slowly erased, with the U.S. rate now at a 10-year high. Texas still has the highest rate of uninsured kids, with a total of over 1 million.

publichealthwatch.org

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Your Brutal Boo @jmings.bsky.social · 6d

That's my MAN(sard)

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becca | they/them @beccaisoutside.bsky.social · 5d

this is the most pollen ive ever seen on a single bug, shes having the time of her life

photo of a bee covered all-over with bright orange pollen.

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Courtney E. Thompson @cethompson.bsky.social · 2d

Just think of how many TT faculty lines, graduate stipends, and resources for teaching and research this kind of money could buy...

Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 2d

the more things change, the more they stay the same in college football (coaches being showered in cash for not working)

Firings so far this season by Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Penn State, UAB, UCLA and Virginia Tech have those schools committed to buyouts totaling $93.9 million, subject to mitigation and offset, but not including amounts that also will be owed to assistant coaches

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Hobby Drifter in Tokyo @hobbydrifter.bsky.social · 9d

White people who have spent decades thinking “Born in the USA” is patriotic and “Every Breath You Take” is a great wedding song are suddenly very concerned about not being able to understand lyrics to some songs at the Super Bowl halftime show.

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Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 2d

This video frightened me.

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 2d

ICE / Border Patrol threatening to arrest a cyclist for following and recording in Chicago

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

OOOPS! UPDATE: Two HHS officials tell me that disease detectives, measles response officers, global health officials and the MMWR staff were laid off by mistake and will be reinstated. But Washington office is still RIFed

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 4d

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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altNOAA 🇺🇸 @altnoaa.bsky.social · 3d

Qatari Pilot: Idaho?

Qatari Pilot #2: You da ho!

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S.J. Moomaw @aboutamoo.bsky.social · 3d

We need fewer stories about the “male loneliness epidemic” and more about why men need to evaporate a small lake to come up with “hi, it was nice to meet you.”

C. Buckthorn @cbuckthorn.bsky.social · 3d

This is amazing. I laughed out loud www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

As 32-year-old Rich points out, though, "it's not like using ChatGPT guarantees success".
When he met someone in a bar one Friday night and swapped social media handles, he asked AI what his next move should be.
ChatGPT discerned that sending an initial message on Monday midmorning would set the right pace. "Then it gave me some options for what the message could be," says Rich.
"Keep it light, warm, and low-stakes so it reads as genuine interest without urgency," the bot advised. "Something like: Hey Sarah, still laughing about [tiny shared moment/reference if you've got one] - good to meet you!" Rich went back and forth with ChatGPT until he felt they'd hit upon exactly the right message ("Hey Sarah, it was lovely to meet you") but sadly she never replied, he says. "It's been two weeks now."

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Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 3d

I'm giggling at "F+" as a grade.

I think it took until high school for kids in my classes to stop asking why you couldn't get an F+ or F-, or why it went from D to F rather than E. 😅

Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 3d

I'm curious how competitive all these seats are. Gerrymandering has generally made House districts less competitive — i.e. less risk for affected Ds to move left. Senators' boundaries at least can't have been manipulated into uncompetitiveness (though some of them are organically uncompetitive).

Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 4d

I think it's harder on the governors. Some of these are matters of federal policy. Governors have little incentive to spend political capital defending measures their office can't even take. And they risk looking weak if they focus on actions where all they can do is beg the federal government.

Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 4d

To account for the surprise — the missing categories are federal actions. Governors can be accused of neglecting their constituents if they talk too much about nat'l policy their office can't directly affect. And they risk looking weak when they fixate on issues where all they can do is beg others.

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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 4d

Huh: TikTok took down my 8-second video featuring this image of Debbie Brockman — the news producer just detained by Trump’s CBP agents — saying it violates the “joy of TikTok”

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Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 4d

Awww thanks.

Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 4d

We can't just swap out another pot because they're bolted to the ground. Hubs wants to find a way to salvage the display, but as far as I can tell there's zero reason to put time and effort into any community you have to share with bros. They'll always ruin it.

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Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 4d

My husband and I planted cacti on this brutally hot, shadeless roundabout so drivers would actually see the hazard and stop speeding. Hubs got the pots & watered them for two summers. Last night some bros on scooters crashed into this one, cackled with laughter and ran away.

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Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 4d

It's been 20+ years of frantically trying to game ever-changing algorithms on platform after punishing platform, all while watching the news industry deteriorate around me.

I feel like that fairy tale girl who put on magic shoes that forced her to dance until she dropped dead.

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Jacqueline Sweet @jsweetli.bsky.social · 5d

A DeSantis supporter posted a mild critical comment about Hegseth's speech on X, and Kristina Wong, the Navy spox, has been posting proudly about how she caused the woman to have to lock her account due to harassment after Wong targeted her. Wong also asked on X who the woman's military husband was.

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Herb Scribner @herbscribner.bsky.social · 5d

Judge blocks federal agents from using force on journalists in Chicago

A White House spokesperson told Axios "we expect to be vindicated by a higher court."

www.axios.com

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Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 6d

Wow! Sucks!!

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 6d

Me, a guy who covers a lot of protests: Uhhhhhhhh what.

Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 6d

Some dispute over journalists "shouting" at protests.

Plaintiff attys bring up a journalist shouting "don't shoot," rather than shouting protest chants.

Govt. atty brings up the issue of presence.

"From our point of view, being at a protest can be construed" as protest activity, he says.

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Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 6d

My kid and I were driving around and looking at Halloween decorations, when we tuned into 103.1 The Wave — SLC's 80s-90s alternative rock station — and heard ... Christmas music.

See the video (and read the story) here at @axios.com: www.axios.com/local/salt-l...

103.1 "The Wave" switches to all Christmas music — in October

The new wave and alternative hits of the 1980s and '90s weren't getting audiences, per program manager.

www.axios.com

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Erin Alberty @erinalberty.bsky.social · 6d

Salt Lake Halloween map 2025 is up! We have nearly 100 displays & haunts already! www.axios.com/local/salt-l...

Salt Lake's best haunted houses and home displays

We've found scores of spooktacular haunts — most of them free to visit.

www.axios.com

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