John Halloran
LightNews LightNews
banner
profhalloran.bsky.social
John Halloran
@profhalloran.bsky.social
5.1K followers 3.7K following 20K posts
By day: Professoring; social work/social policy/complex systems; PhD/JD. By night: Food/drinks; burritos; vapid entertainment; sport. 24/7: 450 kilos of stolen snails; epistemic humility; tepid legality; personal account.
Posts Replies Media Videos
profhalloran.bsky.social
So I'm just not going to entertain this. Budgetary decisions by the state are indications of state values. Louisiana has decided that it values college football to the tune of $53M. It is absolutely fair to contrast that with the relative value that the state of Louisiana places on other things.
An exchange where bsky user Joey suggests that I'm not being intellectually honest because it's not like "this money is being taken out of the academic budget." And then doubles down by smarmily suggesting that I don't know what I'm talking about.
November 28, 2025 at 4:35 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
Is this something?
Drake meme: No! Ralph Lee Abraham. Yes, F Murray Abraham.
November 26, 2025 at 12:40 AM
profhalloran.bsky.social
This is what my partner spent her day doing:
Cranberry sauce—like a hundred pounds of it—being cooked down on a commercial tilt skillet…
November 25, 2025 at 10:33 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
How I dress when I travel by air:
A photo of Miss Norway who is dressed as a relatively realistic looking salmon.
November 24, 2025 at 10:02 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
I fell through a Wikipedia rabbit hole this afternoon while waiting for basketball practice pickup, and I emerged knowing that the peak of Cayambe (in Ecuador) is the location where you rotate (along with the Earth) at the greatest velocity.
Highly exaggerated comparison of highest elevation (green), highest from its base (orange), farthest point from Earth's axis (pink) and farthest point from Earth's centre (blue), by CMG Lee. It shows Everest (8849m), Kea (4207m), Cayambe (5790m), and Chimborazo (6263m).
November 22, 2025 at 1:18 AM
profhalloran.bsky.social
Received!
Three bottles of hot sauce in front of Christmas wrapped presents.
November 19, 2025 at 12:55 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
It was so good. One of my favorite things was shrimp toast and crudités with béarnaise.
This dish described in the post, plated on black stoneware.
November 19, 2025 at 2:46 AM
profhalloran.bsky.social
Proceeding apace.
A picture of a red Dutch oven. There is a brown liquid in there and you can see white beans, garlic, celery, carrot, bay leaf, and parsley floating around in there.
November 15, 2025 at 9:23 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
I’ve made a terrible mistake.
A picture of a torta (with a Diet Coke can in the background for scale) that is just ridiculously enormous. Like this thing is 10” long and 6” wide. There is enough torta here to feed my entire family.
November 14, 2025 at 5:11 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 4:01 AM
profhalloran.bsky.social
Aurora looking north from the lakefront at about Wilson.
A glowing pink and purple sky, foregrounded by trees in shadow.
November 12, 2025 at 3:27 AM
profhalloran.bsky.social
Did I mention that I’m signing the Messiah in December? And did I mention that I’m wearing a tux for the performance?

And did I mention that you can livestream the 7pm concert on Saturday, December 13?

Well, it’s all been mentioned now. Link:

saintclement.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/9...
A photo of the outside of St Clement Church—a grey stone building with a large rosette window. There is a Handel sign in the foreground advertising the Messiah, which is in its fiftieth anniversary of being performed at the church (the actual piece is, ahem, somewhat older than that).
November 10, 2025 at 9:05 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
We had our reasons.
A photo of a person in a large inflatable rubber chicken costume and a smaller person in an inflatable rooster costume crossing the road.
November 1, 2025 at 12:28 AM
profhalloran.bsky.social
Posting to scare people with poor taste in hot dogs.
A fully dressed Chicago dog from Devil Dogs.
November 1, 2025 at 12:06 AM
profhalloran.bsky.social
Anyway:
Me in an inflatable rubber chicken costume.
October 31, 2025 at 7:55 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
OMG. Have you seen this???
A screenshot of the Admiral Ackbar Wikipedia page, which has a note that says "Not to be confused with Allahu Akbar."
October 31, 2025 at 5:44 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
All the while, political appointees are playing politics with which should be non-partisan stuff. The alert at the top of the SNAP page is an example of this drive to use the bureaucracy to apply partisan pressure—something that is, frankly, illegal.

(More examples in quoted thread.)
Screencap of the USDA SNAP page which has an alert which says, "Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01. We are approaching an inflection point for Senate Democrats. They can continue to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive critical nutrition assistance."
October 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
So can I admit something to you guys? I like the sea, but I don’t, like, *like* like it, you know?
A picture of a Atlantic Ocean wave breaking over some large rocks on the shore.
October 27, 2025 at 5:21 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
A favorite room from the Denver Art Museum.
This is a photo of a number of frames—without pictures—displayed on a wall in an art museum. The description of the exhibit follows: ON FRAMES The way we experience a picture can be influenced by the circumstances of its display. Lighting and wall color can play a role, but for paintings, choosing the frame is paramount. The right frame can enhance a picture by directing our gaze and intensifying highlights and colors, or it might seem to disappear, allowing us to focus. The wrong frame can distract and diminish. The making of picture frames in Europe and America has a long history, with different preferences, trends, and techniques reflected in each era. Frames-often works of art themselves-reveal much about the time in which they were created.
October 25, 2025 at 9:54 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
I mean, I cannot argue with this under any circumstances.
A pastor taco cooked outside on a spit. Served on a paper plate with lime, cilantro, onion, and a healthy dose of pineapple.
October 24, 2025 at 11:24 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
A picture of a Bengal Slow Loris—a small primate with big brown eyes, a very round head, and a brownish grey body. This particular loris is clinging to a tree branch.
October 23, 2025 at 3:05 AM
profhalloran.bsky.social
All microblogging is in admiralty!
Drake meme: First panel says, “This website is fringe.” Second panel says, “This website has a fringe.”
October 21, 2025 at 11:20 AM
profhalloran.bsky.social
See also:
Former Ohio Congressman Jim Traficant who ended a lot of his floor speeches with "BEAM ME UP" and ended up being disgraced, expelled from Congress, and ultimately convicted for a number of corruption charges.
October 20, 2025 at 9:01 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
About ten miles directly south of here are intact buildings of the Iroquois County poor farm, which was in operation for a little more than a century between the late 1850s and the early 1960s.
A captioned photo of two brick buildings captioned “County Farm of Iroquois County, Watseka, IL.”
October 17, 2025 at 8:00 PM
profhalloran.bsky.social
There is only one ultimate destination for any Trump triumphal arch in DC or elsewhere:
This is a picture of the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City being imploded.
October 16, 2025 at 11:20 PM