Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social

This is a fucking DISGRACE. The Republicans of the United States Congress are permitting a man to spew dangerous and harmful disinformation to the public.

This is dangerous. This will kill infants and children.

Republicans DO NOT CARE about babies after they are born

www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safe...

Autism and Vaccines

Answers to common questions about vaccine safety and autism.

www.cdc.gov

November 20, 2025 at 2:59 AM

Reposted

Michael Brown OBE 🌍

@mentalhealthcop.bsky.social

As usual, nothing from me on "world mental health day" - the annual tendency to remember we might need to "do something" (whatever that means) and "raise awareness" (whatever that means), might be why some spend 365 days a year wondering why little changes.

October 10, 2025 at 8:30 AM

Reposted

James Hance

@jameshance.com

“Simple Acts Of Kindness” - A new original painting up on jameshance.com today 🧙‍♂️

“I've found it is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay.” ❤️

✨🎨 (Gesso / Acrylic Gouache / Color Pencil on Illustration Board)

September 2, 2025 at 10:37 PM

Reposted

AlmaLinux

@almalinux.org

AlmaLinux 8, 9, 10, and Kitten 10 are all impacted by libblockdev CVE-2025-6019, so we have decided to update this ahead of our upstream.

Learn more and help us test the patched versions of libblockdev: almalinux.org/blog/2025-06...

Call for testing - libblockdev CVE-2025-6019 Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Yesterday, Qualys published details about a vulnerability discovered in the libblockdev package. Two vulnerabilities were announced, CVE-2025-6018 and CVE-2025-6019. AlmaLinux is not impacted by…

almalinux.org

June 19, 2025 at 3:23 PM

Reposted

AlmaLinux

@almalinux.org

Due to community requests about VMWare open-vm-tools CVE-2025-22247, we're releasing patched versions of open-vm-tools on AlmaLinux ahead of our upstream.

Learn more and help us with testing: almalinux.org/blog/2025-06...

Call for testing - VMWare open-vm-tools CVE-2025-22247

About a month ago Broadcom (VMWare) released a security advisory for CVE-2025-22247 impacting the open-vm-tools package commonly installed inside of virtual machines on VMWare hypervisors. VMware…

almalinux.org

June 17, 2025 at 10:00 PM

Reposted

Frances Hardinge

@franceshardinge.bsky.social

I'm utterly delighted to reveal that Island of Whispers (one of my collaborations with brilliant illustrator Emily Gravett) is on the shortlist for the Children's Literature category of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards!
mythsoc.org/news/news-20...

The Mythopoeic Society: 2025 Mythopoeic Awards finalists announced

mythsoc.org

June 17, 2025 at 11:16 AM

Reposted

Michael Brown OBE 🌍

@mentalhealthcop.bsky.social

It's Mental Health Awareness Week and as ever, I'm not playing that game -

We've been raising awareness for decades, whilst slashing services, making promises we can't keep and dashing expectations whilst some of us die.

May 13, 2025 at 7:50 PM

Reposted

dan sinker

@dansinker.com

Guess where they got their weird trade deficit math from?

A tweet by "rohit" discusses the application of AI in geopolitics, specifically focusing on tariffs, and includes a table comparing tariff rates between China and the US.

April 3, 2025 at 12:32 AM

Reposted

Amy Hoy

@amyhoy.bsky.social

guess where they got their weird trade deficit math from?

i went to the pit for y'all and brought back the screenshots with alt text

chatgpt log:

What would be an easy way to calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even-playing fields when it comes to trade deficit? Set minimum at 10%.
Reasoned about trade tariffs and deficits for 10 seconds v
A straightforward (if naïve) method is to set the tariff rate for each trading partner equal to the percentage share of the trade deficit relative to that country's total imports-always no less than 10%. In formula form:
Tariff Rate (%) = max(10, (Trade Deficit ÷ Total Imports) *
100)
For example, if the US runs a $20 billion deficit on $100 billion worth of imports from a country, the calculated rate is (20/100)×100 = 20%. If the deficit were only 5%, you'd still impose a 10% floor.
This method ignores the intricate dynamics of international trade-such as elasticities, retaliatory measures, and supply chain nuances-but it provides a blunt, proportional rule to "level the playing field." One might implement it in Python like so:

[code]

Gemini answer:

Okay, let's break down the idea of using tariffs to achieve an "even playing field" defined as eliminating the US trade deficit.
While the goal of balancing trade is understandable, devising an "easy way" to calculate tariffs to achieve this is extremely complex, and most economists would argue it's not feasible or desirable for several reasons.
However, let's outline a highly simplified conceptual approach based only on the numbers, ignoring the vast real-world complexities and consequences:
Simplified (and Problematic) Calculation Idea:
1. Identify the Bilateral Deficit: Determine the trade deficit the US has with a specific country (Country X).
Deficit_X = Value of Imports from X - Value of
• Exports to X
2. Target Reduction: The goal is to reduce imports from Country X (or increase their cost to US buyers) by the amount of the deficit, so that the value effectively balances out.
3. Calculate Required Tariff (Ignoring Economics):
• If you assume, very unrealistically, that a tariff directly reduces the value of imports by a corresponding percentage (which it doesn't
- it increases the price), you could try:
Required Reduction % = Deficit_X / Value of
• Imports from X

Claude:

What would be an easy way to calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even-playing fields when it comes to trade deficit? Set minimum at 10%.
To calculate tariffs that could theoretically level the playing field for trade deficits, I'd suggest a straightforward approach based on the trade imbalance percentage:
1. Calculate the bilateral trade deficit with each trading partner: Trade Deficit - US Imports from Country - US
Exports to Country
2. Express this as a percentage of total bilateral trade: Deficit Percentage - (Trade Deficit / Total Bilateral Trade) × 100
3. Apply a tariff rate that corresponds to this percentage, with
your minimum 10% floor: Tariff Rate = max(Deficit
Percentage, 10%)
This creates a proportional response where countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher tariffs.
For example:
• If Country A has a 25% trade surplus with the US (meaning the US has a 25% deficit), apply a 25% tariff
• If Country B has a 5% trade surplus with the US, apply the minimum 10% tariff
This method is relatively simple to calculate and directly ties tariff levels to trade imbalances. However, I should note that economists generally caution that trade deficits alone don't necessarily indicate unfair trade practices, and tariffs can have complex economic consequences including increased consumer prices and potential retaliation.
Would you like me to elaborate on any part of this approach or discuss potential refinements to make it more sophisticated?

Grok:

the deficit. The deficit as a percentage of total trade is
$295B/$582B = 50.69%. Using the formula Tariff% = 10% +
(Deficit% × Scaling Factor), we choose a scaling factor of 50 for illustration:
• Tariff = 10% + (50.69% × 50) = 10% + 25.345% = 35.345%, rounded to 35.3%.
This means a 35.3% tariff on Chinese goods could be proposed to offset the imbalance, aiming to reduce imports and encourage domestic production or exports.
Extending to Other Countries
To provide a broader view, here's a table of top US trading partners with 2024 deficits, using data from The Motley Fool and similar calculations (assuming scaling factor of 50 for consistency):

[data table headings]
Country

Deficit
(USD
Billion)

Total
Trade
(USD
Billion)
Deficit %

Calculate d Tariff %

China
-295
582
50.69%
35.3%

Mexico
-172
840
20.48%
20.2%

Vietnam
-123
(Data incomplet e, estimate)
~30%
25.0%

Ireland
-87
(Data incomplet e, estimate)
~25%
22.5%

Germany
-85
(Data incomplete estimate)
~20%
20.0%

April 3, 2025 at 12:42 AM

Reposted

Timothy Snyder

@timothysnyder.bsky.social

If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.

March 24, 2025 at 10:18 PM

Reposted

Frances Hardinge

@franceshardinge.bsky.social

If your books are among the 7.5 million pirated works on #LibGen, the resource #Meta has been using to train their #AI, you can at least send Meta a letter (using the @authorsguild.bsky.social's handy template) to state that they are violating your copyright.
actionnetwork.org/letters/auth...

Tell AI Companies They Do Not Have the Right to Use Your Work

I just sent a letter telling AI companies they do not not have the right to use my work. Use the Authors Guild's letter template to send your own.

actionnetwork.org

March 21, 2025 at 11:01 AM

Reposted

Patton Oswalt

@pattonoswalt.bsky.social

Hey NYTimes — *now* you’re lighting the beacons? NOW?!? After months of “Sauron: Avatar Of Evil… Or Extreme Uniter?” thumbsucker reporting you’re screaming what we’ve known since 2015? Fuck all the way off.

February 9, 2025 at 10:28 PM

Reposted

Technology Connections

@techconnectify.bsky.social

The comments on this article make my head spin.

Yes, activating non-tesla chargers is a stupid awful experience involving too many goddamn apps and failed sessions.

And that's entirely the result of cost-cutting bean counters who couldn't figure out how to reliably build a fucking vending machine.

December 5, 2024 at 12:54 AM

Reposted

Unfuck Your Habitat

@teamufyh.bsky.social

Whatever mess situation you have going on in your home, I promise, other people have it, too. The depression nest, the floordrobe, the random boxes that have come with you unopened through multiple moves, the closet/room you never open the door to, all of it.

December 3, 2024 at 4:38 PM

Reposted

Technology Connections

@techconnectify.bsky.social

Y'know, of the many things I don't love about the Current State of Things, the seeming acceptance of half-assery in every endeavor is certainly up there.

I'm not entirely opposed to AI upscaling, but inventing detail which isn't there is definitely not a good outcome.