Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 1d

JPLers, because we are contractors via Caltech, had no voluntary deferred resignation program like NASA civil servants. The lab is bleeding high-level talent even without layoffs. It will take decades (or lots and lots of $) to recover.

www.nbcnews.com/science/spac...

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory lays off 550 workers

The director of the California lab said the layoffs — around 10% of the JPL workforce — aren't a result of the government shutdown.

www.nbcnews.com

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Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 1d

I'm a JPLer. This is not related to higher education, more so about under funding science.

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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 1d

He would have turned in the family hiding Anne Frank.

A tweet by Bill Melugin reads: “Regardless of how one feels about immigration policy, according to U.S. law, this is a felony. Harboring of aliens. 8 USC 1324.”

A tweet from Laura N. Rodríguez Presa reads: “During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door. It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help. He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.”

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bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 1d

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
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I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 1d

JPL Earth science is gonna get hit badly too based on the budget requests. Today is a frantic "make sure everyone's working files are copied somewhere that those that remain can get to" day.

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Kevin 🚀🤠 @astro-cowboy.bsky.social · 1d

If it wasn’t clear, this is all in the context of another 10% layoff at NASA JPL happening tomorrow.

Part of the cuts stem from JPL’s failure to put together a feasible mars sample return mission, but also a huge driver is NASA capitulating in advance to the presidents budget request.

Kevin 🚀🤠 @astro-cowboy.bsky.social · 1d

Tomorrow about a third of Perseverance rover staff will be laid off, despite the mission being the penultimate step in a decades long effort to bring samples back from mars.

Reckless, needless budget cuts intended to hinder the pursuit of knowledge.

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Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 3d

We have an anomaly.

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Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 3d

This Is Fascism

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 6d

As I observed in my Substack Round Up this past week, the endgame of the military strikes against drug cartels in international waters is to lay the groundwork to use lethal military force against Americans at home. Pay attention open.substack.com/pub/asharang...

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Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 5d

"ALPRs were marketed to the public as tools to find stolen cars and locate missing persons. Instead, they've become a dragnet that allows law enforcement to track anyone, anywhere, for any reason—including investigating people's healthcare decisions."

Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 5d

A sheriff told the media that his team searched a license plate reader database because they were worried about a woman's safety. Records show it was an abortion investigation. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Flock Safety and Texas Sheriff Claimed License Plate Search Was for a

New documents and court records obtained by EFF show that Texas deputies queried Flock Safety's surveillance data in an abortion investigation, contradicting the narrative promoted by the company and

www.eff.org

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Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 6d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 7d

Love my goldenrod!

Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 7d

I just signed up for the app! Have a butterfly garden in Central Texas and have Monarchs coming through. Hope a tagged one stops by.

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George Conway 🇺🇸🚫👑🐸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 8d

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Panic! At The Airport (ft. Punished Cat Guy) @majima.club · 7d

Drowning the government in a bathtub, that’s the Real American Dream.

Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 7d

as a kid growing up right-wing i regularly heard people express their desire for "a government so small I can drown it in the bathtub". imagine my surprise growing up to realize i was the only one who actually believed that.

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Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 8d

They are just making things up. Laws don't matter.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 8d

Breaking news: Furloughed federal workers are not entitled to automatic back pay after the government shutdown ends, the Trump administration argues, adding that a law Trump signed guaranteeing back pay to furloughed workers in 2019 does no such thing.

Federal workers not entitled to back pay after shutdown, budget office says

Federal workers may not be entitled to backpay after the government shutdown ends, the Trump administration’s budget office wrote in a new draft memo obtained by The Washington Post, ratcheting up ten...

wapo.st

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The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 11d

Federal officer blasts chemical spray into vocal but nonviolent Portland protester, video shows

The interaction illustrates how federal law enforcement officers do use aggressive tactics against protesters who yell and needle officers but don’t appear to present clear physical threats.

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Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 10d

The new AppleTV movie The Lost Bus set during the Paradise Fire is amazing depiction of how fast a wildfire can spread in mountainous forest out West. Worth watching!

youtu.be/XSDHjkuwaic

The Lost Bus — Official Trailer | Apple TV+

YouTube video by Apple TV

youtu.be

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Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 10d

This is fun - NYT has the best 100 films of the first 25 years of 21st century. I have seen 75!

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century (Gift Article)

More than 500 influential directors, actors and other notable names in Hollywood and around the world voted on the best films released since Jan. 1, 2000. See how their ballots stacked up.

www.nytimes.com

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James Talarico @jamestalarico.bsky.social · 12d

Jesus spent most of his time healing the sick.

Today, we have politicians in Congress with “Christ-follower” in their Twitter bios — but they’re trying to kick the sick off their healthcare.

And they’re willing to shut down the government to do it.

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Andrew McCarthy @ajamesmccarthy.bsky.social · 14d

One year ago today I found Gregory in the back of a cage at a shelter. He was the oldest cat and had been there the longest... and his sad eyes broke my heart.

Today he's a sassy, talkative friend who sits with me while I take photos of space. Happy adoption day Greggers!

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Susan Bell @susanbellair.bsky.social · 15d

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