Paul Collins
LightNews LightNews
banner
paulcollins.bsky.social
Paul Collins
@paulcollins.bsky.social
1.3K followers 200 following 580 posts
Author, Professor of English at PSU, bewildered radio guest.

Personal account.

www.pdx.edu/english/profile/paul-collins
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Paul Collins
councilorgreen.bsky.social
I just got tear gassed along with thousands of union members, many of whom had their families with them. Federal agents at the ICE facility tear gassed children. We must abolish ICE, DHS, and we must have prosecutions. I expect to see enforcement of our city code prohibiting the use of tear gas.
February 1, 2026 at 1:23 AM
paulcollins.bsky.social
Go ahead and scoff, but it's a lock for Best Bribeumentary
Are people really going to see Amazon’s $75m Melania documentary?
This weekend sees the release of a controversially funded film about the first lady, directed by a disgraced film-maker
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Reposted by Paul Collins
mims.bsky.social
A lot of people are pointing out that handwriting isn't for everyone and typing is faster, and this is my plea for someone to reboot this beautiful and neglected classroom device
an alphasmart Neo keyboard with a four line black and white LCD dislay
January 28, 2026 at 6:07 PM
paulcollins.bsky.social
Keep up the pressure to cut off DHS funds until the *agency* is made accountable.

House & Senate contact info for your district: www.usa.gov/elected-offi...
Find and contact elected officials | USAGov
Use USAGov’s Contact Your Elected Officials tool to get contact information for your members of Congress, the president, and state and local officials.
www.usa.gov
January 27, 2026 at 1:45 AM
paulcollins.bsky.social
Today OPB radio interviewed the proprieter of Wayne's Chainsaw Museum, which displays "only about half of the 4,000 or 5,000 chainsaws he has amassed."
This Clark County private museum holds (literally) thousands of chainsaws
Wayne Sutton, a resident of Clark County, is the founder and curator of a private museum that showcases thousands of chainsaws he has collected over the years, offering a window into the evolution and...
www.opb.org
January 26, 2026 at 9:59 PM
paulcollins.bsky.social
Interesting (if unsurprising) recent study: habitually angry people tend to have a hard time comprehending irony.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Who understands irony? The relationship between cognitive flexibility, trait anger, and irony comprehension
Figurative language is integral to daily communication, with verbal irony being an example that involves a discrepancy between literal and intended me…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:34 PM
paulcollins.bsky.social
Senator Byrd, opposing the Homeland Security Act in 2002:
Transcript: I am very concerned that 30 years from now, Congress will be struggling to rectify the problems that we will be creating with hasty, ill-considered enactment of the Department of Homeland Security. There was all this rush, there was all this hue and cry that we ought to get this done before Congress goes out for the August recess. The House passed this bill after 2 days of floor debate and took off a week earlier than the Senate did. Then there was the idea we ought to do this by September 11. What we need to do is to develop a product that works. We need to have legislation enacted by Congress and signed by the President that is right, not something that is hurriedly passed just to conform with an artificial deadline on the calendar. How much harm could be done in the meantime can be imagined. I am referring to damage to the rights and the liberties that we hold most dear: civil rights, labor rights, labor protection, civil liberties of all Americans. I am talking about damage to our constitutional process. We can inflict damage upon the constitutional process if we act in haste, and that damage perhaps cannot be and will not be rectified for years to come. We must not inflict damage on our constitutional processes. Transcript: President Bush's proposed Department of Homeland Security is an enormous grant of power to the executive branch. I hope that everyone who hears me will understand that--an enormous grant of power to the executive branch. It constitutes control of 170,000 Federal workers and a huge piece of the Federal budget. It will mean a major change in the governmental infrastructure of our Nation. This may be for keeps. This may be the infrastructure that will last through the lifetimes of at least some of us. And we cannot and must not close our eyes to the threats that are involved here, by well- intentioned people I am sure, the threats to the constitutional processes that have guided this Nation for 215 years and should continue to guide it in the future. This Constitution is good enough to guide us through whatever emergencies may confront this country. We must not cede this power, power that the administration wants but not necessarily needs--but the administration wants it. Let's stop, look, and listen and be careful what we are doing.
January 25, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Paul Collins
dimitridrekonja.bsky.social
Alex from our time working together, while he was in nursing school. Later, he moved to ICU, working as a nurse to support critically ill Veterans. He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now
Alex Pretti from his early days working at the VA
January 24, 2026 at 7:39 PM
paulcollins.bsky.social
Some context from a Sept NYT article, when RFK appointed this menace to the panel: “In a 2024 hearing on vaccine safety led by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, he [Milhoan] said that getting a Covid vaccine increased the risk of developing the disease.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/h...
nytimes.com The New York Times @nytimes.com · 8d
Breaking News: Rejecting decades of science, the chair of the federal panel that recommends vaccines for Americans said that shots against polio and measles — and perhaps all diseases — should be optional. The vaccines are credited with preventing disability and millions of deaths worldwide.
Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional, Rejecting Decades of Science
Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist who leads the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said a person’s right to refuse a vaccine outweighed concerns about illness or death from infectious diseases.
nyti.ms
January 23, 2026 at 6:53 PM
paulcollins.bsky.social
Ok, but did you know that they make for great artificial reefs
Tesla Cybertruck sales plunge nearly 50 percent in 2025
Tesla's Cybertruck sales were cut nearly in half in 2025, according to new data released by Cox Automotive.
www.usatoday.com
January 23, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Paul Collins
sarahjeong.bsky.social
I wasn't sure what to expect from a group of Democratic state AGs, but I definitely was not expecting a long monologue about Ruby Ridge and the Boston Massacre www.theverge.com/policy/86588...
Just before the town hall, a reporter asked Ellison about the difficulty states faced in prosecuting federal agents like the ICE agent who shot Renee Good. “The idea that they’re absolutely immune is a misstatement of the law, and it is a dangerous misstatement of the law, because I don’t want any ICE agent or Border Patrol agent or any agent to think that they can just kill people and then that’s it,” Ellison told the group of reporters. Then he asked rhetorically: “What about Ruby Ridge? You ever heard of that one?” Years after an FBI sniper shot Vicki Weaver at Ruby Ridge, the state of Idaho prosecuted the federal agent. The federal government went to bat for the agent, claiming that he was immune under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. The Ninth Circuit ruled that Idaho was allowed to prosecute the sniper — similarly, Minnesota is also entitled to investigate and potentially prosecute the officer who shot Renee Good. But a different example loomed larger in Ellison’s mind: the Boston Massacre of 1770, where British soldiers shot into a crowd, ultimately killing five people. “It’s not exactly analogous, but we are talking about local authorities in Boston, prosecuting imperial agents of the colonial power, the central government, in England. And they were prosecuted. Two of them were convicted. John Adams actually represented a few of the imperial officers.” The Boston Massacre, said Ellison, was obviously “in the mind of the framers of the Constitution” at the time the document was written. “They were thinking about this event, and they would have never conceded the state’s authority to prosecute a federal officer,” said Ellison, going on to add, “The states of the United States pre-date the United States. It is federal courts that are limited. Not state courts. State courts have plenary power.” He finished with a dramatic flourish: “It’s true that the feds are denying us access to the investigative file. It’s also true that there’s no statute of limitations on murder.”
January 22, 2026 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by Paul Collins
bodleian.ox.ac.uk
The traditional Bodleian Oath which every reader is required to read aloud on seeking admission to the Bodleian Libraries. 🫡
An image showing a close-up view of the Bodleian Library's reader's declaration form with the grand interior of the library in the background.
January 21, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Paul Collins
baldiepete.bsky.social
It’s Penguin Awareness Day which seems like a great excuse to post the greatest ever Wikipedia edit.
January 20, 2026 at 9:37 AM
paulcollins.bsky.social
It sucks for an author to have a book come out head-to-head with a similar title — I remember, years ago, 3 or 4 narrative nf books on bees & honey all colliding with each other — but it happens. But from the same goddamn publisher?

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/b...
Screenshot of a passage from today's New York Times article on two books about Bernard Goetz, reading: "Williams was surprised to learn, a year into his research, that his Goetz book had company. But he added that the story is “incredibly ripe,” with plenty of angles. Thompson said she is “super excited to see how these books riff off each other.” Executives at Penguin Random House did not mention any face palm moment when they realized they had acquired two books about the same niche topic, originally to be published on Feb. 10. Different imprints at the house, they noted, don’t coordinate with one another. (“Five Bullets” is from Penguin Press, “Fear and Fury” from Pantheon.) “You always feel for the authors, above all, when you discover that two writers have spent a great deal of time and effort going down the same long road,” said Casey Denis, a senior editor at Penguin Press who edited “Five Bullets.” “I’ve no doubt the books differ in fascinating and important ways, owing to the individual perspectives they’ve brought to this subject.”
January 20, 2026 at 7:31 PM
paulcollins.bsky.social
Just remembering when McSweeney’s ran, verbatim and without comment, Trump’s incredibly stupid prayer breakfast comments on MLK, complete with a shout out to an apparently still alive Frederick Douglass.
My Very Good Black History Month Tribute to Some of the Most Tremendous Black People
Well, the election, it came out really well. Next time we’ll triple the number or quadruple it. We want to get it over 51, right? At least 51. Well...
www.mcsweeneys.net
January 19, 2026 at 9:21 PM
paulcollins.bsky.social
The headline's about vaccines, but the poll also shows health coverage emerging as a voter issue & Trump getting clobbered on it. Maybe because while you can lie about another person, lie about another city, & lie about another country, people know what their own medical bills look like?

Gift link:
Voters Skeptical of RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Overhaul
WSJ poll shows half of U.S. voters say they feel less confident in federal vaccine guidance. The survey also highlights concerns about healthcare costs.
www.wsj.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by Paul Collins
neglectedbooks.com
I was pleased to see recently that novelist/critic David Madden is still active on social media at age 92. The two collections of essays by novelists on their favorite neglected works of fiction—Rediscoveries (1971) and Rediscoveries II (1988)—are what led me to become obsessed with neglected books.
January 16, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Paul Collins
chronicle.com
Portland State will reinstate 10 faculty members who were laid off, in compliance with an arbitrator's ruling. But the university insists the layoffs complied with the contract. https://chroni.cl/4qtCJqg
Portland State Pivots, Agrees to Reinstate Laid-Off Faculty Members
The university will comply with an arbitrator’s order after initially resisting it.
chroni.cl
January 15, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Reposted by Paul Collins
sarahjeong.bsky.social
howling at the fact that someone just took photos of this man's phone from behind him. he was talking shit with his phone font set to large and screen at max brightness
portlandmercury.com Portland Mercury @portlandmercury.com · 18d
The Mercury has obtained a series of images of group messages that show racist, sexist, and homophobic tropes used by a local developer and other local conservative political activists during a council president election. Readers may find this content offensive.
"Racist, Dehumanizing": Chat Images Show Portland Power Players Disparaging Councilors of Color
Messages obtained by the Mercury contain a slew of offensive tropes sent during a council president election
www.portlandmercury.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:42 PM
paulcollins.bsky.social
"Laws of armed conflict prohibit combatants from feigning civilian status to fool adversaries into dropping their guard, then attacking and killing them. That is a war crime called perfidy.”

It's also the same boat where survivors clinging to wreckage were attacked. Just outrageous.

Gift link:
U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 1:45 AM
paulcollins.bsky.social
Gift link: www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
mims.bsky.social Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 21d
WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to:

* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon

The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire

www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
Videos Show How ICE Vehicle Stops Can Escalate to Shootings
A WSJ visual investigation found that the Minneapolis ICE killing is one of 13 incidents where federal immigration agents have used deadly force against civilians in vehicles since July.
www.wsj.com
January 10, 2026 at 4:52 PM
paulcollins.bsky.social
What an odd case. A 68 year-old novelist in France is being sued by her brother for libel for portraying their late mother -- in fiction -- as a Nazi collaborator. This sounds like something that will get thrown out tout de suite?
French writer sued by family members over novel allegedly depicting them as Nazi collaborators
Relatives of French novelist Cécile Desprairies sued her for libel on Wednesday, claiming her novel 'The Propagandist' presents a fictionalized but clearly identifiable version of them as collaborator...
www.lemonde.fr
January 10, 2026 at 2:41 AM
paulcollins.bsky.social
“I spent so much time in my bedroom. It really was my entire world."

Bowie's childhood home in London is being restored as a museum, complete with his picture of Little Richard on the wall.
David Bowie’s childhood home to open to public after 1960s restoration
South London house to feature never-before-seen archival items and creative workshops for young people
www.theguardian.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:58 PM
Reposted by Paul Collins
taylorgriggs.bsky.social
Vigil/press conference featuring six city councilors ends with an “abolish ICE” chant and the Portland crows circling overhead.
January 9, 2026 at 3:12 AM
paulcollins.bsky.social
A fascinating social science analog to slop-driven pitches to editors -- people game Mechanical Turk IDs to get paid for taking market and research surveys, & just basically answer "Yes" to everything.

50 US-based IDs for 7000 rupees, and they're up and running.

(preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps... )
neuroskeptic.bsky.social Neuroskeptic @neuroskeptic.bsky.social · 23d
"Most of the data-quality problems affecting online research using online panels can be tied to fraudulent users from outside of the United States - not bots." pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41493918/
January 8, 2026 at 6:01 PM