Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 9h

Marc Benioff, who used to lean kind of liberal, has decided it's more convenient to be right-wing, and he owns Time. (I heard an interesting podcast conversation about how MAGA despises Silicon Valley oligarchs because they have no real commitments except maximal profit.)

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 12h

Just in case the dramatically low Leni Riefenstahl-style angle was too subtle, they used a word from her most famous movie

Time magazine cover featuring a photo of Trump from a dramatically low angle

HIS
TRIUMPH
by ERIC CORTELLESSA
THE LEADER ISRAEL NEEDED
by EHUD BARAK
HOW GAZA HEALS

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Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 13h

There’s been an active cover-up since the mid-2000s to conceal the Epstein Files.

The damning info from the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility’s investigation & report into allegations of professional misconduct by the federal prosecutors, including Alex Acosta.

youtu.be/7et6kS7r-T4?...

YIKES! DOJ BUSTED in Epstein COVER-UP as GOP STALLS RELEASE

YouTube video by Katie Phang

youtu.be

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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 13h

“This is absolutely a violation of federal law.”

Trump's layoffs could lead to major problems with funding for the education of disabled students. And some say, potential violations of federal law.

Trump's new layoffs hurt disabled kids

"This is absolutely a violation of federal law."

www.motherjones.com

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Bylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 13h

Words, and the corruption of the US government

The language used by media to report Trump’s grip on America and the role played by the US government

By J 'Masharubu' Strauss

@yorkshirebylines.co.uk

Words, and the corruption of the US government

The language used by media to report Trump’s grip on America and the role played by the US government

yorkshirebylines.co.uk

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cuuixsilver.bsky.social @cuuixsilver.bsky.social · 12h

Exemplary.

Kara Fagan 🇨🇦 Liberal @fagankara.bsky.social · 13h

#successfulcoup

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 13h

"Madagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, is reported to have fled...On Saturday, some Capsat soldiers had posted a video...: “Let us join forces, military, gendarmes and police, and refuse to be paid to shoot our friends, our brothers and our sisters..."

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

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Kate Elliott @kateelliottsff.bsky.social · 13h

Your yearly reminder that in 1972 the state of Hawaii changed the name of the holiday observed on the second Monday of October to Discoverers Day in honor of all discoverers a& particularly the Pacific navigators whose skill and courage populated the many islands spread across the vast Pacific Ocean

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Bolts @boltsmag.org · 13h

Miami almost didn't hold local elections this fall: City officials this summer tried to postpone them and give themselves an extra year in office, but a judge blocked the move.

Now, Miami's mayoral race is among dozens we're watching around the nation:

Your Cheat Sheet to the 2025 General Elections - Bolts

Four contests have come to largely define the 2025 elections this fall: the elections to lead New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City, plus California’s redistricting measure. But there’s so... Read More

boltsmag.org

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Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 13h

This is true, and…

It also reflects the assymetry in media. RW media trumpet every GOP/Trump achievement as a glorious success, because that is their job.

Actual journalists see puffing up those in power as the opposite of their job.

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 13h

The hostage release is a reminder of how bad the Dems are at politics. Not only did Biden refuse to force this deal on Netanyahu & thereby help Harris win, but most people aren’t even aware that Biden got way more Israeli hostages (over 100) released with his 2023 ceasefire than Trump did with his.

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Truthout @truthout.org · 13h

“It is still a disruption to families. It creates this mistrust, that you are gone and back and gone and back," said Lisa McConachie of the Oregon DeafBlind Project.

Ed Dept Restores Funding for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss After Outcry

The Trump administration targeted the programs in its attacks on diversity…

buff.ly

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cuuixsilver.bsky.social @cuuixsilver.bsky.social · 12h

Platner is really popular up here because not only does he speak forcefully in support of justice issues, he doesn't just stump for his own campaign. He came out to support graduate employee contract negotiations at UMaine, for example. Hoping he wins the primary.

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Dr. Jeff Masters @drjeffmasters.bsky.social · 13h

A massive storm that brought a record storm surge to Alaska was poorly forecast, and “this is one of the clearest possible examples to date where missing upper air soundings due to NWS constraints may have led to a degraded forecast.”

Alan Gerard @wxmanms1.bsky.social · 13h

Sunday a massive storm surge event from the remnants of Typhoon Halong caused catastrophic damage in remote western Alaska. Thanks to @alaskawx.bsky.social for his help with this deep dive, including the forecast challenges in an area dealing with reduced NWS upper air soundings
tinyurl.com/4ycxaez9

Historic coastal flooding strikes western Alaska

Remnants of Typhoon Halong produce hurricane force winds and push massive storm surge inland in Kuskokwim River Delta, destroying and carrying away homes, leaving devastated communities.

tinyurl.com

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cuuixsilver.bsky.social @cuuixsilver.bsky.social · 13h

Actual American ships: www.navy.mil/Resources/Ph...

www.navy.mil

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Raven Song Farm @ravensongfarm.bsky.social · 13h

Fascist-speak from the right about protests and No Kings in particular . #ProudBlue

www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Maddow Blog | Ahead of No Kings events, Republicans’ anti-protest rhetoric takes an ugly turn

Republican leaders appear so concerned about a scheduled protest that they're falsely labeling a No Kings gathering as a “hate-America rally.”

www.yahoo.com

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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 13h

yes, democrats really should have broken the filibuster to reform the insurrection act in 2021

Jonathan Ladd @jonmladd.bsky.social · 13h

This is an essential. "Democrats need to beat the Trumpists in elections that we ensure are free" is the best strategy for the next 2-4 years. But it is not a long-term strategy! The only possible long-term strategy is that someone else needs to defeat the Trumpists for control of the Repub Party.

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 17h

“Win every election” is not a viable strategy for preventing authoritarianism

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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 13h

Big media outlets are rejecting the new Pentagon press restrictions imposed by TV entertainer and inexplicably Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

So far: The Guardian, WaPo, CNN, The Atlantic and NYT.

Prominent news outlets reject Pentagon rules before signing deadline — The Washington Post

The Washington Post and other major news outlets have refused to sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new press policy, citing First Amendment concerns.

apple.news

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Reuters @reuters.com · 13h

Climate tipping points are being crossed, scientists warn ahead of COP30 reut.rs/4nTrk1G

Climate tipping points are being crossed, scientists warn ahead of COP30

Global warming is crossing dangerous thresholds sooner than expected with the world’s coral reefs now in an almost irreversible die-off, marking what scientists on Monday described as the first “tipping point” in climate-driven ecosystem collapse.

reut.rs

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Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · 18h

Christopher Columbus was dragged back to Spain in chains by a crusading knight, convicted of tyranny and immeasurable cruelty, pardoned by Isabella but banned from returning to Hispaniola.

Fuck Columbus.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 14h

I read Caleb Nelson's piece on the removal power and I was taken with a reference he makes in the conclusion.

When the First Congress confronted the same ambiguities, more than one member warned against interpreting the Constitution in the expectation that all Presidents would have the sterling character of George Washington. The current Supreme Court may likewise see itself as interpreting the Constitution for the ages, and perhaps some of the Justices take comfort in the idea that future Presidents will not all have the character of Donald Trump. But the future is not guaranteed; a President bent on vengeful, destructive, and lawless behavior can do lasting damage to our norms and institutions. As one member of Congress argued in 1789, we should not gravitate toward interpretations of the Constitution that “legaliz[e] the full exertion of a tyrannical disposition.”

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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 14h

Ah yes, air traffic controllers must show up for work without pay, but Congress can take the day off. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he’ll be making “necessary cuts” to the department, because nothing fixes staffing shortages quite like firing more people.

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Patrick S. Tomlinson @stealthygeek.bsky.social · 14h

From a friend. Despite having a budget bigger than the US Marines, ICE seems to be having real trouble scraping the bottom of the barrel for people willing to be brownshirts.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14h

if anybody is good at lip reading or can isolate the audio, I'd be very curious to learn more about what these two were talking about here. it certainly didn't sound on the level.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14h

Trump's conversation with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is caught on a hot mic. Hard to tell exactly what they are talking about, but Subianto asks Trump about meeting Eric Trump and Don Jr, who supposedly have nothing to do with government while they run the family business.

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cuuixsilver.bsky.social @cuuixsilver.bsky.social · 14h

Exactly. Just as during slavery there was an active abolition movement. There is really no excuse for the overt cruelty or racism. They were bad people.

Caleb Dume @thacalebdume.bsky.social · 14h

Shol did!

Craig Johnson @cajohnson-craig.bsky.social · 17h

historian of Latin America here, reminder that Columbus's extreme cruelty to indigenous peoples was known to his contemporaries and got him in trouble *then*

yes this man was so racist that he got chastised for it in *1500*

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Caleb Dume @thacalebdume.bsky.social · 14h

Shol did!

Craig Johnson @cajohnson-craig.bsky.social · 17h

historian of Latin America here, reminder that Columbus's extreme cruelty to indigenous peoples was known to his contemporaries and got him in trouble *then*

yes this man was so racist that he got chastised for it in *1500*

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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 16h

GOP hypocrisy: “bring down the temperature” when it comes to Dems calling out Trump.

Meanwhile, he’s cranking up the heat, falsely painting Democrats as violent radicals with zero evidence in order to justify sending troops into LA, Chicago, DC, and Portland. It’s all part of the Project 2025 plan.

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Rep. Ted Lieu @reptedlieu.bsky.social · 16h

This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we honor the rich and vibrant history, culture, and traditions of Indigenous communities throughout our country.

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