Loren King
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lorenking.org
Loren King
@lorenking.org
"Ain't all buttons and charts, little albatross"

Dad, professor, marathon swimmer.

Not nearly as smart as @kimdej.bsky.social

@[email protected]
www.lorenking.org
www.greatlakestrust.org
Reposted by Loren King
One thing I don't get are the academics who would praise Epstein's intellect, even now. I honestly didn't see it. Even on just two minutes acquaintance, he seemed like a standard fast-talking charlatan, someone who trotted out lots of big words with no real understanding. A very common type.
February 9, 2026 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by Loren King
Listen to this. Not a penny more for this. Abolish and prosecute anyone who had anything to do with it.
"A modern-day concentration camp ... People have been killed by the staff here." Irish citizen Seamus Culleton has been in ICE detention since September, despite having a valid work permit and his own business in the US.
February 10, 2026 at 3:41 PM
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“The climate scientists we surveyed were unambiguous: current economic models can’t capture what matters most – the cascading failures and compounding shocks that define climate risk in a warmer world – and could undermine the very foundations of economic growth.”

This should be THE story everyday.
Flawed economic models mean climate crisis could crash global economy, experts warn
States and financial bodies using modelling that ignores shocks from extreme weather and climate tipping points
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 10:14 PM
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Whale evolution makes me uncomfortable
February 9, 2026 at 7:48 PM
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And here is my story: ‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September

www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘Absolute hell’: Irishman with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record
www.irishtimes.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:21 AM
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ethics professor here, can confirm
"should the government kidnap 5 year olds and deport them? We asked seventeen ethics professors and they all just screamed"
February 8, 2026 at 5:59 PM
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wrt to some of the replies to this post, part of why the media has “moved on” is because it has become extraordinarily difficult to document ICE activity on the ground, outside of them arresting citizens.
A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:
February 8, 2026 at 5:49 PM
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Industrial heat is one of the hardest parts of the energy transition.

This sand battery is now delivering fossil-free heat for industry, storing renewable electricity as high-temperature heat and releasing it when needed. Simple idea, big impact.
February 8, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by Loren King
Some of you will remember that I've spent a year saying that the fascists (including the young ones) aren't actually having fun. I am right, lol.
February 8, 2026 at 5:54 PM
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Look, if you are genuinely surprised, you haven’t really interacted deeply and widely within academia, you dont know its strengths and weaknesses, you dont understand its political economy, and you have not paid attention to claims and investigations when ten years ago MeToo made the academy shake.
Newly released files from the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein reveal that his ties to the scientific community were deeper than previously known.

go.nature.com/3Oq4Po2
Epstein files reveal deeper ties to scientists than previously known
Latest batch of documents show researchers consulting the financier and sex offender on publications, visas and more.
go.nature.com
February 8, 2026 at 10:08 AM
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The MAGA new right “seems to be betting that the American polity has a deep reserve of untapped nativist rage”—but may also be “underestimating the everyday decency and patriotism of the American public,” Laura K. Field argues:
The Intellectual Edgelords of the GOP
The mainstreaming of transgressive ideas is the culmination of a yearslong conservative project.
bit.ly
February 6, 2026 at 2:45 AM
Reposted by Loren King
“Nobody knows what America is anymore — not Americans, not their enemies, not their friends.”

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...
Opinion | The Globalization of Canadian Rage
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 7:32 PM
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I’ve been following Greg Bovino and Border Patrol around for months. Here’s some of my footage (and thoughts).
Following the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minnesota, "Commander at Large" Gregory Bovino was reassigned away from his leadership role in the operation.

Journalist Amanda Moore notes the violent culture and widespread fear he helped create won't be so easily removed.
February 7, 2026 at 8:23 PM
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Why are the comedy team of Witkoff and Kushner the lead negotiators on …. ANYTHING???

No Senate approval. No confirmation process.

The only expertise these two have is the ability to enrich themselves.
February 7, 2026 at 12:58 PM
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Recently used an "encrypted Signal chat" to share cat pics and figure out how to split booze costs from a get together 🙄
They text each other and have spreadsheets. scary
February 6, 2026 at 4:36 AM
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Well, there it is.
February 6, 2026 at 4:42 AM
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In contrast to Europe, Canada’s response has been to leave X/Musk’s many, many inexcusable actions to the largely toothless Privacy Commissioner, with AI Promotion Minister Evan Solomon reassuring everyone via a Midnight Tweet (on X — classy) that Canada wouldn’t be banning X.
February 5, 2026 at 12:39 PM
"Why, you must needs be strangers: would you be pleased
To find a nation of such barbarous temper,
That, breaking out in hideous violence,
Would not afford you an abode on earth"
Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.
February 6, 2026 at 4:11 PM
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Elon Musk et al are totally fucking up the night sky ALREADY and they plan to make it worse 🔭

www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/satelli...
Are we destroying our window to the cosmos? Satellite trails could make space science nearly impossible, say astronomers | BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Projected 560,000 satellites could overwhelm future observatories. Astronomers worry satellite trails will mar every view of the Universe.
www.skyatnightmagazine.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:13 PM
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No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology
She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.
www.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:09 AM
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I think it's best for everyone to understand that the unified class project of billionaires right now is to do to white collar workers what globalization and neoliberalism did to blue collar workers.
February 4, 2026 at 7:41 PM
!??
More attention here, please.
Floored by this story. A man wrote a pollite email to a federal prosecutor objecting to the deportation of an Afghan seeking asylum. DHS responded with an administrative warrant to get the man's info from Google, then visited his home to intimidate him.
February 4, 2026 at 12:57 AM
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We have no idea where Yglesias got his numbers but they’re wrong. This debate has for so long been plagued by numbers basically pulled out of thin air

Right pic is from my and @adambonica.bsky.social’s response essay: www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...
February 3, 2026 at 5:02 PM
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Definitely seems like they destroyed the country on purpose.
February 2, 2026 at 6:30 PM
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CHOTINER: That's very interesting. It reminds me of this rope I have here. The rope is tied into a noose. Would you like to try it on? It might look good on you.

INTERVIEWEE: yes, I think that would suit me very well. Let me see how it fits around my neck.
February 2, 2026 at 6:34 PM