Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 3h

It must be nice to be employed by an institution that can give its members unlimited time off with pay.
Maybe we should do something about this?

Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 3h

Has anyone noticed that the "affordability crisis" in housing actually benefits current homeowners, by propping up prices?
Homeowners are of course obsessed with "property values", since their home is usually their largest investment. They DON'T want to see its value decline! @ezraklein.bsky.social

Reposted by Puget Bob

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 4h

Is he just gonna steal $230 million dollars from us?

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 4h

Breaking News: President Trump wants $230 million from the Justice Department for investigating him, people familiar with the matter say. Any settlement might ultimately be approved by senior department officials who defended him or those in his orbit. nyti.ms/4hmIi5X

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Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 3h

As Frank says, they might have to live in *slightly* smaller mansions, but that won't seriously inconvenience them—if they all have to do it, poor dears.
Another benefit: it would put downward pressure on housing prices, helping with the affordability crisis.

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Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 3h

@drvolt.bsky.social: to your point that even disregarding the costs of climate change, savings in healthcare alone would more than pay for the transition to clean energy: www.psypost.org/air-pollutio...
(Hey, I wonder if air pollution causes autism, too!)

Air pollution worsens Alzheimer's brain pathology and accelerates cognitive decline

For the first time, researchers have directly linked air pollution to the physical hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease in human brain tissue. An autopsy study found individuals from more polluted areas h...

www.psypost.org

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Senator Chris Larson @senchrislarson.bsky.social · 8h

ICE is stockpiling arms, including chemical weapons, guided missile warheads and explosive components. The spending dwarfs anything we've ever seen in the agency - a 700% increase.

The President is building an army to attack his own country.

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 3h

Under Mike Johnson, the House has conducted just 20 days of business in the last 16 weeks and refused to swear in Democrat Adelita Grijalva.

Don't forget what this is really about: keeping the release of the Epstein Files at bay.

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Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 4h

Economist Robert H. Frank pointed out long ago: higher taxes on the rich would make life better for *everybody*—even the rich.
And if you raise taxes on *all* rich people, you won't upset the status hierarchy, which is what they really care about.

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God @thegodpodcast.com · 1d

Got buried in the news this weekend, but President Jesus said the F word on CNN at like 2pm in the afternoon. The next day he posted a poop-filled scat video, but tell Me more about the dignity of the office of the presidency.

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Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 4h

www.psypost.org/air-pollutio...
Set aside the issue of climate change: savings in health care costs alone would more than pay for the transition to 100% clean energy.

Air pollution worsens Alzheimer's brain pathology and accelerates cognitive decline

For the first time, researchers have directly linked air pollution to the physical hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease in human brain tissue. An autopsy study found individuals from more polluted areas h...

www.psypost.org

Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 4h

My favorite example of regulatory madness: a new power line in the Palm Springs area took:
• 12 years
• an 11,000 page Environmental Impact Report
• 70 permits
• through 28 agencies
If you haven't read "Abundance", do so if you wonder why we can't do big things.

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Jorge Liboreiro @jorgeliboreiro.bsky.social · 8h

Poland won't guarantee passage to Vladimir Putin's plane en route to Budapest.

"I cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court won't order the government to escort such an aircraft down to hand the suspect to the court in The Hague," Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said.

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Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 5h

Authoritarian governments have a long history of "disappearing" political opponents.
Is this what the Trump administration has done to the hundreds of "Alligator Alcatraz" prisoners who have apparently gone missing? Is anyone trying to find out?

Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 6h

Apropos of nothing, a reminder that when you see a map on your screen, it is probably a Mercator projection that *hugely* distorts landmasses. The farther north or south you go, the worse the distortion.
Canada and Alaska are nowhere near as big as they look, for example.

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George Conway 🇺🇸🚫👑🐸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 9h

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8h

I am completely awestruck by the ease with which Mike Johnson lies on a daily basis. I'll never understand how such a transparently fraudulent "man of faith" can live with themselves. Life is too short to be that phony.

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Joe Walsh @walshfreedom.bsky.social · 21h

Two days ago, he took a shit on the American people. Today, he began demolishing the People’s House. That’s all he does. He shits on people, and he destroys things. Bcuz he’s a horrible person. I blame him a lot for the death & destruction he’s caused. I blame his enablers & his appeasers even more.

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C Hanna @chcowgirl.bsky.social · 1d

IDK about you, but I'm pretty sure a US President who shares a video of himself as a KING literally shitting on his own citizens isn't fit for office.😢💩💩💩👑

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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 1d

Any investment in oil —any— is an investment in the destruction of the climate.

www.cnn.com/2023/10/02/e...

Head of OPEC warns of a ‘dangerous’ lack of investment in oil | CNN Business

The head of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries — a group of the world’s major oil producers — told CNN Monday that a lack of investment in the oil industry posed a danger to global ...

www.cnn.com

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 1d

We sure slipped into "mass murder whoever the fuck we want" without much of a ripple, huh?

Carol Rosenberg @carolrosenbergnyt.bsky.social · 2d

Pentagon discloses the latest strike on suspect boats in the Caribbean -- No. 7 in its current campaign -- with another video, but no evidence. In a first, this one is alleged to have ties to the Colombian insurgency group the ELN.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/u...

U.S. Kills 3 on Boat Suspected of Smuggling Drugs for Colombian Rebels

www.nytimes.com

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Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 1d

Trump *envies* Putin’s ability to crack down violently on people who oppose him. He’s doing his damnedest to replicate that here.

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Dr. Jack Brown @drjackbrown.bsky.social · 2d

World 'leaders' who Trump defends are either: despots/authoritarians themselves, giving him large sums of money/some form of enormous financial gain, named in the Epstein files, or in possession of the Epstein files and blackmailing him.

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Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 1d

The Republican position seems to be: healthcare is a luxury that only wealthy white people should be able to afford.
Is this their way of reducing the population of nonwhites and immigrants?

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Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 1d

Literally the Republicans are keeping government closed because they are that against making healthcare affordable. That’s jacked up

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Puget Bob @pugetbob.bsky.social · 1d

Jeez Louise!
The tariff on coffee—which the U.S. *can't grow*—is the stupidest thing ever.
Which genius decided on that?
Are we making America great yet?

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