Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 10h

Between this, the resegregation of the military, and the retooling of the Department of Justice to focus on (fake) discrimination against white Christians, and eviscerating Civil Rights Act enforcement, they have nearly erased the structural legacy of the Civil Rights Movement.

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 10h

Wednesday is gonna be a rough day:

The Supreme Court will be hearing oral argument in a pair of cases that threaten what little remains of the federal government’s ability to protect voters from racial gerrymandering under the Voting Rights Act

ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/louis...

Louisiana v Callais: The Republicans Justices Are Getting Ready to Finish Off the Voting Rights Act

In Louisiana v Callais, John Roberts will have the chance to finish his decades-long war on. voting rights.

ballsandstrikes.org

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 9h

Probably unrelated. www.citizensforethics.org/reports-inve...

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 9h

In the United States. Not another country. Happening right now.

Nick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 13h

In Portland, an ambulance was summoned to the ICE office to treat an injured protester (not clear how he was injured). But when the patient was loaded inside, ICE officers refused to let the ambulance leave and threatened to shoot the ambulance driver: www.wweek.com/news/2025/10...

Documents Allege a Federal Agent at Portland ICE Threatened to Shoot an Ambulance Driver

Feds delayed medics who had come to pick up an injured protester. Then, according to confidential incident reports, the agents became aggressive.

www.wweek.com

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Enzo Giordani @enzogiordani.bsky.social · 1d

It’s been brought to my attention that it’s World Migratory Bird Day. I can think of no better excuse to share four of my best pictures of the undisputed king of migratory birds - the kuaka (bar-tailed godwit), which boasts the longest non-stop migration on the planet. Alaska-Aotearoa. 🪶🇳🇿

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Miami Herald @miamiherald.com · 1d

Charmaine Gatlin admitted to swindling millions from the Jackson Health Foundation, which raises funds for patients at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

She embezzled millions from Miami’s public hospital charity. Here’s how she did it

Charmaine Gatlin admitted to swindling millions from the Jackson Health Foundation, which raises funds for patients at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

bit.ly

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 2d

Or as the New York Times puts it: “Mr. Trump's budgetary maneuvering appeared unorthodox…”

Mr. Trump's budgetary maneuvering appeared unorthodox, even though it may spare more than 1 million active-duty service members from the financial hardship of missing a paycheck next week. It was not clear how much money the administration had at its disposal, and how long it could rely on accounting moves to pay troops during the shutdown.

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Josh Mankiewicz @joshmankiewicz.bsky.social · 2d

In person, she was a gem. RIP variety.com/2025/film/ne...

Diane Keaton, Oscar-Winning ‘Annie Hall’ Star, Dies at 79

Diane Keaton, who starred in "Annie Hall," has died. She was 79.

variety.com

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Ashton Pittman @ashtonpittman.bsky.social · 3d

ICE left David, a 17-year-old boy, stranded on the side of Interstate 20 after pulling over his immigrant father, Hector, in Mississippi.

David began running in the scorching sun after the car and watched as it disappeared from sight—soon headed to a Louisiana ICE prison.

Here's their story.

ICE Stranded a 17-Year-Old on I-20 After Arresting His Father. The Mississippi Dad Now Faces Deportation.

A 17-year-old watched as ICE arrested his immigrant father, Hector, on I-20 in June. The family faces mounting legal fees and the risk of deportation.

www.mississippifreepress.org

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Angus Johnston @angus.bsky.social · 3d

Useful context on the House GOP's refusal to seat Rep. Grijalva. Once the election results are certified by the state—likely as early as Wednesday of next week—they have no legal basis to prevent her being sworn in.

T. Greg "Antifa General Counsel (Retired)" Doucette @gregdoucette.bsky.social · 3d

Once the results are certified by whatever state authority does it, yes

The statewide canvass is October 14th. I assume certification will be that day.

Rs aren't swearing Grijalva in early, which is shitty but not illegal. But there's nothing they can do once her results are certified

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 4d

"30-year-old conservative lawyer and activist who is Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, which deals with federal employee whistleblower complaints and discrimination" cancelled his colleague's hotel room so she would be forced to stay with him.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

In late July, Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, arrived at a Ritz-Carlton in Orlando with a lower-ranking female colleague and others from their department. When the group reached the front desk, the woman learned she didn’t have a hotel room.

Ingrassia then informed her that she would be staying with him, according to five administration officials familiar with the episode. Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him, three of those officials said.

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Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 4d

This is really useful if you want to understand how trumped up the charges against Tish James are

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 4d

The federal investigation into the death of Jeffrey Epstein was designed to obscure what led to his death, not find the truth, other experts have now concluded. www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...

Epstein’s death in jail failed multiple basic procedures, expert says

Photographs taken of Epstein’s cell hours after he was found have some inconsistencies

www.the-independent.com

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 4d

Did you flunk out of high school but have a criminal record full of violence but only petty crimes? ICE wants you to be one of its agents.

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 4d

I complained earlier that WaPo's story on Trump inviting PizzaGate guy to the White House was insane. Not so this Independent story.
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Not to be outdone, in came Jack Posobiec, one of the right’s weirdest hangers-on, who is perhaps most famous for the time he spread the “Pizzagate” theory and then got removed from the pizzeria in question by police for filming a child’s birthday party. Running with the major theme of the hour — that Antifa is definitely, certainly, really real despite all evidence to the contrary, and that everybody needs to stop saying it’s not real — Posobiec made a startling claim: Antifa is so clearly real that it “has been going on for almost 100 years ... going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany.”

And look, yes, it is absolutely true that there were anti-fascist protesters in the Weimar Republic. If you’ll remember, those were the people taking issue with the early versions of the Nazis. But it’s sort of difficult to position yourself as the good guys if you’re aligning yourself with the Nazis in your historical analogy. I’m just saying that, if I was Posobiec’s publicity guy, I might ask him to drop that soundbite from future public appearances.

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David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 4d

How Mark Bray, author of the book on antifa, was targeted with death threats:

— Trump signs EO designating antifa as terrorists
— DHS memo warns about "antifa-aligned" individuals
— Far-right trolls target Bray on X
— TPUSA treasurer launches petition against Bray

www.wired.com/story/mark-b...

He Wrote a Book About Antifa. Death Threats Are Driving Him Out of the US

Rutgers historian Mark Bray is trying to flee to Spain after after an online campaign from far-right influencers was followed by death threats. He was turned back at the airport on his first attempt.

www.wired.com

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Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 4d

"Jack Posobiec, a far-right influencer and conspiracy theorist... called Bray a 'domestic terrorist professor.' 'The day after the Posobiec tweet, I received a very direct death threat saying that someone was going to kill me in front of my students,' says Bray." Jack was at the White House on Wed.

He Wrote a Book About Antifa. Death Threats Are Driving Him Out of the US

Rutgers historian Mark Bray is trying to flee to Spain after after an online campaign from far-right influencers was followed by death threats. He was turned back at the airport on his first attempt.

www.wired.com

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Jennifer Smith Richards @jsmithrichards.bsky.social · 5d

To understand the Trump administration’s vision for American education, @megomatz.bsky.social and I studied dozens of hours of political appointees’ speeches and podcasts and essays. What emerged is a desire to dismantle the nation’s system of public schools.

These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.

Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of publ...

www.propublica.org

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Rep. Zooey Zephyr @zoandbehold.bsky.social · 5d

Casual reminder that this video is AI-generated.

Media literacy is going to have to start including ways to recognize artificial intelligence, as well as ways to identify & source factual material.

I know that feels hopelessly aspirational given the current state of things, but a girl can dream.

Newfie912 @newfie912.bsky.social · 6d

Porch bandit

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Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · 5d

Never forget.

Musk: We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.

Could gone to some great parties.

Did that instead

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Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 5d

Merrick Garland green-lit the search of Mar-a-Lago. It happened in August 2022 three months before Jack Smith was appointed. Jack Smith was in the Netherlands at the Hauge prosecuting Kosovo war crimes when Mar-a-Lago was searched. Eric should have listened to my podcast.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Eric Trump accuses Jack Smith of "planting classified documents at Mar-a-Lago"

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Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 5d

Ask Mike Benz and Michael Shellenberger about all the lies they told to help accomplish this. Ask Joe Rogan about how he nodded along mutely while hosting Benz on his show while he spouted bullshit about “CIA fronts”.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/dog...

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 5d

FBI agents assigned to Musk concluded he was systematically avoiding conduct standards imposed on those holding high-level clearances. FBI management concluded it could do nothing about this because of Musk's ties to Trump and the GOP.

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 5d

JUST IN: A federal judge has granted the New York Times’ demand for a list of Elon Musk’s security clearances. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 5d

just putting this in my back pocket in case there turn out to be criminal penalties for violating security clearance protocols. looking into it

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 5d

FBI agents assigned to Musk concluded he was systematically avoiding conduct standards imposed on those holding high-level clearances. FBI management concluded it could do nothing about this because of Musk's ties to Trump and the GOP.

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 5d

JUST IN: A federal judge has granted the New York Times’ demand for a list of Elon Musk’s security clearances. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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eyesoredwn.bsky.social @eyesoredwn.bsky.social · 5d

I’ve been saying this for a while. This is the correct way to frame things.

Anonymous @spartazc.bsky.social · 5d

For example, ICE is raiding immigrants, the vast majority of these people are Catholic or some other denomination, call them Christian immigrants, suddenly Trump is now prosecuting Christians and locking them up in cages. Lean into it, voice it that way, create and amplify the narrative.

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Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 5d

Portland has elevated protesting to an art form.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 5d

#WarRavagedPortland

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