Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 4h

In retrospect, it was a mistake for Trump to appoint Joe Biden head of the FBI.

Trump on Truth Social: "THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6. If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM - DO SOMETHING!!! President DJT"

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 4h

"the would-be Jesus of psychedelics"

Terence McKenna, the would-be Jesus of psychedelics

A new biography explores the life and ideas of the man who founded the first primitive religion of the future.

reason.com

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 5h

And some bonus pics: 1970s hotel interiors, photographed by Diane Keaton. (via this thread: x.com/Dub__A/statu...)

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 5h

Your morning image: a portrait of Flaco the owl by Tony Fitzpatrick, who just passed away.

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 22h

"In one of the most profoundly American police standoffs imaginable, a man in Washington...surrendered after officers delivered him a Dairy Queen Blizzard"

Dairy Queen Blizzard ends armed standoff

In one of the most profoundly American police standoffs imaginable, a man in Washington allegedly set fire to his own apartment, fled from police with a car full of fireworks, meth, and lighter fluid.

boingboing.net

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 22h

Apparently, there are people who hear the name "Diane Keaton" and think: "Ah, yes. From FATHER OF THE BRIDE."

Tweet from People magazine: "Diane Keaton, Famed for Roles in 'Father of the Bride,' 'First Wives Club' and More, Dies at 79 (Exclusive)"

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 22h

R.I.P.

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 1d

This seems like an appropriate moment to reiterate a recurring theme of my social-media feeds, namely: The '70s were a weird time, man.

Clark Olofsson, 78, Dies; Bank Robber Helped Inspire ‘Stockholm Syndrome’

www.nytimes.com

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 1d

…or maybe it's real after all. Roderick Long sends an alternate etymology (found in www.sfgate.com/entertainmen... and the paywalled www.kerouac.com/herb-caen-di...) where the word was coined a few years earlier. "Nudnik" precedes "Sputnik," so that certainly could be true.

LETTERS TO DATEBOOK

The term was actually coined by Mrs. Leonard "Etya" Gechtoff, owner of the East and West...

www.sfgate.com

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 1d

Your morning image (via x.com/vintagemapst...)

Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 1d

This is a good point! The story, dated 1957, includes the word "beatnik," but Herb Caen didn't coin that term til 1958. Which makes me think either the manuscript is misdated or it ain't authentic.

Someone on Twitter replied to me: "Why would Kerouac be using the term 'beatnik' in April 1957, 18 months before the launch of the Sputnik satellite that directly led to the word’s invention?" (And then followed up: "Sorry, 6 months before, but the point still stands - it makes no sense.")

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d

"A 'very significant' unpublished story by Jack Kerouac...has been discovered after languishing in the files of an assassinated Mafia crime boss for at least 40 years"

‘Very significant’ Jack Kerouac story discovered after mafia boss auction

Exclusive: Two-page 1957 manuscript signed by author linked to his classic of beat literature On the Road

www.theguardian.com

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d

This just might be the most pathetic way possible to cover this story.

Nobel Peace Prize goes to Maria Corina Machado, despite calls for Trump to receive the award

Maria Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, beating out President Donald Trump despite brokering a historic deal between Israel and Hamas.

www.foxnews.com

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d

Your morning image

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d

Robert Altman at 100

Hollywood Could Use Another Robert Altman Right Now

The Criterion Channel’s retrospective on Robert Altman, the auteur behind masterpieces like Nashville, M*A*S*H, and The Long Goodbye, is a reminder that, not long ago, Hollywood backed maverick filmma...

jacobin.com

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d

Even when Johnny Cash was parked semi-permanently at the Wayne Newton Theater in Branson, you'd have to search pretty far to find someone calling him "deeply uncool."

Wall Street Journal headline/subhed: "It’s Finally Time to Give Johnny Cash His Due
Compared to Dylan and Springsteen, the country-music legend can seem deeply uncool. It took years for me to appreciate his profound, plainspoken strength."

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d

Oh, I like SMALL CHANGE best of his jazz-era albums. Long before I had a copy, high-school me kept calling the college radio station to request "Step Right Up" and "The Piano Has Been Drinking."

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d

It's not a bad album at all, but it's scattershot and IMO the follow-up is much better. (Though HEART is also the first album of his that I ever owned, back in the days when we acquired albums one by one as our budgets allowed and then listened over & over, so I have a sentimental attachment to it.)

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d

My most notable disagreement (with the Waits discussion; I have bigger disagreements with NR) came in part 1, when multiple people asserted that HEART OF SATURDAY NIGHT was a step down from CLOSING TIME.

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d

They don't skip discussing it, but they all say it's a letdown after Rain Dogs. (I'm a fan of the album myself, though I agree with them that Rain Dogs is better.)

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 2d

Tom Waits: The Avant-Gutbucket Years

Damon Linker / Tom Waits [Part 2] | National Review

Scot and Jeff discuss the second part of Tom Waits’ career (1983-2011) with Damon Linker.

www.nationalreview.com

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 3d

Sharing this for various reasons, including the line "Also, I think health insurance and all insurance is a scam, just be clear!"

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 on X: "I was not in Congress when all this Obamacare, “Affordable Care Act” bullshit started. I got here in 2021. As a matter of fact, the ACA made health insurance UNAFFORDABLE for my family after it was passed, with skyrocketing premiums higher than our house payment. Let’s just say https://t.co/hKH7pPh6CG" / X

I was not in Congress when all this Obamacare, “Affordable Care Act” bullshit started. I got here in 2021. As a matter of fact, the ACA made health insurance UNAFFORDABLE for my family after it was passed, with skyrocketing premiums higher than our house payment. Let’s just say https://t.co/hKH7pPh6CG

x.com

Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 3d

Your morning image

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 3d

One reason I don't think Stephen Miller is the "shadow president," no matter how much baleful influence he has, is that they didn't invoke the Insurrection Act months ago.

Trump administration officials seriously discussing invoking Insurrection Act, sources say

A decision isn't expected to be imminent, one source said, but debate within the administration has shifted recently to more deeply exploring how and when the act might be invoked.

www.nbcnews.com

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Jesse Walker @notjessewalker.bsky.social · 3d

"This might not sound all that notable. Americans support the 1st Amendment and the 6th Commandment: big whoop. That should be the bare minimum, right? But I do think these findings are noteworthy in light of the hordes of people who are telling us the opposite."

Two Things Americans Agree On

Murder bad. Speech good.

www.wakeuptopolitics.com

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