Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 25m

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_oF...

You Don't Own Me - Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn & Diane Keaton

YouTube video by decay21450

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Eric Alterman

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 15h

It’s pronounced cyclist.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 14h

Who belongs in Trump's America?

USA TODAY @usatoday.com · 17h

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

bit.ly

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 15h

Nixon’s crimes look like harmless high school pranks compared to the now-daily unprecedented illegal & unconstitutional crimes being committed daily by this president & his staff

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 16h

Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it's to establish personalist control over the FUCKING MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine

Via: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

The Office of Management and Budget sent a notification to Congress about their intent to use research and development funds to pay members of the military, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.

A spokesperson for the OMB confirmed to NBC News that it plans to use the research and development funds and that there are two years' worth of funds available within the Department of Defense.

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Dean Frey @dean.bsky.social · 15h

Remembering Art Blakey on his birthday 🎂
📷 Francis Wolff

"He would turn each piece into an epic voyage, starting out calmly, slowly packing the tune with texture after texture, always controlling the dynamics until a thunderous barrage released the tension."
- Peter Watrous

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Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 8h

“The Biden FBI”

Who was President on January 6?

Donald J. Trump * © @reaDonaldTrump • 1m
THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6. If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM - DO SOMETHING!!! President DJT

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Paul Barrett ❌👑 @paulthedogman.bsky.social · 21h

Holy cannoli, NYT!! Trump is a "peacemaker abroad"? What about his egging on Putin's murderous war against Ukraine?! What about blowing up boats in the Caribbean?! Get a grip! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

The Trump Split Screen: A Peacemaker Abroad, a Retribution Campaign at Home

www.nytimes.com

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Ford @ford422.bsky.social · 15h

Isn't it a media/journalism no-brainer to keep a running tab of all the wrongfully detained people? I haven't checked this list but it's a simple concept that would probably make a captivating graphic on the right of screen.

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 14h

More than 23 million Americans are currently enrolled in Obamacare plans, and nearly all of them will face higher health care costs next year if extra federal funding for subsidies expires, as scheduled, on Dec. 31.

Obamacare Enrollment by State: Most Enrollees Live in Republican Areas

Millions of Americans depend on Obamacare. Here's where they live.

nyti.ms

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Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 18h

The structure of this lede is quite instructive. Use action words ("slams") and extensive quotes to amplify Johnson's heinous lie, then, rather than plainly stating that this is complete bs, the reporters avers that his statement "drew condemnation from some Democrats."

Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday slammed the No Kings protest march scheduled to take place at the National Mall next week, describing the planned protest as the “hate America rally” that would draw “the pro-Hamas wing” and “the antifa people.” His characterizations, however, drew condemnation from some Democrats who defended the protest movement, whose first big demonstration was overwhelmingly peaceful.

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 20h

I mean "expert" needs to be in quotes to be used that way and it's not. This whole notion that there is such a thing as antifa is proving quite dangerous

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 20h

Susan Orlean's memoir Joyride should not be seen by any aspiring journalist as an inspiration. Rather, it's a portrait of a lost world.

Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 20h

It's not a use of the term I would approve of

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 20h

How can you be an "expert" on an imaginary phenomenon? What's next, a round of Atlantis "experts?"

J Hoberman @jhoberman.bsky.social · 1d

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/n...

"Casablanca" ban next?

Rutgers Expert on Antifa Flees to Spain After Death Threats

www.nytimes.com

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 20h

Times headline writers are either total idiots or have members of their family being held by Trump-aligned mob men. Either way the result is the same

NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 23h

Best combination of a terrible headline and a great article I've seen in a while. Click-bait put to a good use.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/o...

Opinion | With Mamdani, the Left Finally Has Its Trump

www.nytimes.com

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 22h

apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

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Brooke Harrington @ebharrington.bsky.social · 1d

What Thiel is saying about tax havens = what Altman is saying about copyright:

"I can't be rich unless you let me steal from you."

This is how Broligarchs differ from oligarchs of yore: the latter tried to hide their thievery; the Broligarchs trumpet their entitlement to steal as a natural right.

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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 1d

Reminder that RFK Jr is a raging antisemite (remember his assertion that covid was somehow genetically engineered to not affect Ashkenazi Jews?). There is no aspect of him that isn't absolute poison

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 2d

Besides linking Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, RFK Jr. now says circumcision is part of the reason why kids are autistic.

"Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. None of this is positive..."

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d

This is a perilous moment for democracy in the United States, but I couldn’t be prouder of the Knight Institute’s work right now, and I don’t take for granted that we have the freedom and resources to do it. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

This free speech group at Columbia is taking on Trump when the university won’t – and winning

The Knight Institute is defending free speech at a school now synonymous with compromising on it

www.theguardian.com

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Liz Dye @lizdye.bsky.social · 1d

They make up lies about paid agitators doing violence, and attach them to the name of a prominent Jewish person. This is antisemitism, and it infects every part of the GOP.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Sen. Roger Marshall: "October 18 is when the protest gets here. This will be a Soros paid-for protest for his professional protesters. The agitators show up. We'll have to get the National Guard out. Hopefully it will be peaceful. I doubt it."

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 2d

See under: "Shande." The billionaire whose $ pushed the ADL into the arms of the far right now wants to help Trump destroy higher education in the United States.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Badly Needed

www.nytimes.com

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 2d

Every person, journalist or not, who wrote an article based on this comically idiotic premise should be ceaselessly mocked by everyone they know and then forced into a different profession, together with whatever editors approved or assigned it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

Trump Has His Eyes on a Nobel Peace Prize. Will He Get It?

www.nytimes.com

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Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 2d

And our biggest news media companies are doing a pretty flawed job of covering reality and creating dissonance

bsky.app/profile/karl...

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 2d

you'd think a prominent news outlet like the New York Times might mention that "antifa" isn't an actual organization in a long story about antifa, but nope!

and the subhead helps props up a false claim this professor was up to something seedy as something up for debate

NYT headline: "Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats"

subheadline: "Mark Bray was teaching courses on antifascism. Turning Point USA accused him of belonging to antifa, which he denies. His flight to Spain was canceled abruptly on Wednesday night."

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 2d

There's nothing at all wrong with being Palestinian, and using "Palestinian" in this way is deeply racist against Palestinians, but it is also antisemitic, because it defines Jewishness as something that can be granted and removed for political reasons.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

JD Vance describes Chuck Schumer as "one of the most famous Palestinians in the world"

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 2d

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