Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · May 28

The Dept. of Justice has filed its first voter suppression lawsuit aimed at disenfranchising voters. This is a critical juncture for democracy.

Paige and I discuss the implications and how it echoes claims made by failed state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin. youtu.be/8XEW-Ga428M

BREAKING: DOJ Files Anti-Voter Lawsuit in North Carolina

YouTube video by Democracy Docket

youtu.be

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Mar @mar7515bskysocial.bsky.social · May 25

Democrats: Eat the rich!
Republicans: Kill the poor!

(people, these aren’t the same thing)

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · May 25

Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" cuts Medicaid.

Cuts to health care for babies and new moms.

Cuts to heath care for seniors in nursing homes.

Cuts to health care for rural hospitals.

Cuts to health care for people with disabilities.

Republicans in Congress approved these cuts.

Mar @mar7515bskysocial.bsky.social · May 25

most Republican talking points are wasteful. You don’t even have to dig deep to find the waste.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal @jayapal.house.gov · May 25

Work requirements hurt poor people AND are a waste of money.

Arkansas spent $26 million on administrative costs for work requirements — and saw no increase in employment.

Georgia’s program cost $40 million in one year — 80% of that went to administrative and consulting costs.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · May 18

Under 65 years old? No Novovax COVID vaccine for you this year.

As expected, the Republicans have enabled RFK Jr. and his coterie of antivax grifters to take away your right to make your own medical decisions in consultation with your doctor.

Gift Link: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/h...

The new restriction will sharply limit access to the Novavax vaccine for people under 65 who are in good health. It may leave Americans who do not have underlying conditions at risk if a more virulent version of the coronavirus were to emerge. It could also limit options for people who want the vaccine for a wide array of reasons, including to protect a vulnerable loved one.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · May 9

seems like hegseth is more interested in his white supremacist ideological project than actually building an effective military

Greg Jaffe @gregjaffe.bsky.social · May 8

Pete Hegseth’s culture war hits West Point. Books banned, syllabuses scrubbed, two professors resign in protest, the librarian quit.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...

The Pentagon’s Culture Wars Strike West Point

www.nytimes.com

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NPR @npr.org · May 9

The U.S. Postal Service's governing board has named David Steiner, a board member of USPS competitor FedEx, to be the next postmaster general following the controversial term of Louis DeJoy.

David Steiner of FedEx is tapped to be the U.S. Postal Service's new leader

The U.S. Postal Service's governing board has named David Steiner, a board member of USPS competitor FedEx, to be the next postmaster general following the controversial term of Louis DeJoy.

www.npr.org

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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · May 9

His new executive order directs the government to roll back the use of “disparate impact” liability a standard that’s helped expose policies that disproportionately harm minority groups, even without explicit intent.

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David Kaib @davidkaib.bsky.social · May 9

Armed masked agents roaming the streets attacking our neighbors makes us all less safe.

Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid @dcmigrantmutualaid.org · May 9

🚨 ICE activity reports for 5/9:
Activity reported at
- Fort Totten Dr & Gallatin St NE at 8:00AM
- 5 officers - 3 ATF, others federal police
- 4 unmarked black cars with VA tags
- At least one person detained

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · May 9

NEW — I’ve obtained audio of new acting FEMA head David Richardson threatening staff in an all hands meeting this morning.

As first reported by Reuters, he told those who resisted change in the agency, “Don’t get in my way…I will run right over you.”

Listen to the clip here:

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · May 6

Great, so Senate Democrats can come out refreshed with the hot new battle plan of trying to be watered-down polite Republicans then blaming progressives and the left when this fails to rally the Dem base, fails to pick up swing voters, and gets laughed at by GOP voters.

Axios @axios.com · May 6

SCOOP: Senate Democrats have invited New York Times columnist Ezra Klein and Democratic data guru David Shor to talk to senators at their annual one-day issues retreat on Wednesday, sources tell Axios.

Scoop: Senate Democrats to host Ezra Klein as retreat special guest

Klein will have a dialogue with senators at the Mount Vernon retreat.

www.axios.com

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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · Apr 30

A "direct inverse correlation" between fluoride exposure and low IQ" means the more fluoride you get, the higher your IQ. What he's looking for is a "direct correlation," but he doesn't know what any of these words mean or how science works.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Apr 30

RFK Jr: "We found that there's a direct inverse correlation between fluoride exposure and low IQ in children. So the more you get, the stupider you are."

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · May 6

If the courts cannot pretty rapidly step in and stop this obvious abuse of public funds to settle political scores, they won’t do a whole lot else to hold against an authoritarian state

Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · May 6

🚨🚨 Deranged letter from Education Secretary Linda McMahon to Harvard’s president, cutting off federal funding for any new grants.

Worth reading in full. It is NUTS.

THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
WASHINGTON, DC 20202
May 5, 2025
Dr. Alan Garber
Office of the President
Harvard University
Massachusetts Hall
Cambridge, MA 02138
Dr. Garber,
The Federal Government has a sacred responsibility to be a wise and important steward of American taxpayer dollars. Harvard University, despite amassing a largely tax-free $53.2 billion dollar endowment (larger than the GDP of 100 countries), receives billions of dollars of taxpayer largess each year. Receiving such taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right. Yet instead of using these funds to advance the education of its students, Harvard is engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law. Where do many of these "students" come from, who are they, how do they get into Harvard, or even into our country—and why is there so much HATE? These are questions that must be answered, among many more, but the biggest question of all is, why will Harvard not give straightforward answers to the American public?
Harvard University has made a mockery of this country's higher education system. It has invited foreign students, who engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the United States of America, to its campus. In every way, Harvard has failed to abide by its legal obligations, its ethical and fiduciary duties, its transparency responsibilities, and any semblance of academic rigor. It had scrapped standardized testing requirements and a normalized grading system. This year Harvard was forced to adopt an embarrassing "remedial math" program for undergraduates.
Why is it, we ask, that Harvard has to teach simple and basic mathematics, when it is supposedly so hard to get into this "acclaimed university"? Who is getting in under such a low standard when others, with fabulous grades and a great understanding of the highest levels of mathematics, are being rejected?
Harvard has even been embroiled in humiliating plagiarism scandals, exposed clearly and plainly in the media, with respect to your then…

$running the institution in a totally chaotic way. Harvard alumnus and highly successful hedge fund manager Bill Ackman noted that, under her leadership, Harvard has become "a political advocacy organization for one party." Ackman has called for the resignation of Pritzker, concluding that the "[t)he mismanagement here is Penny Pritzker" and noting that any serious corporation would have removed her after a litany of recent failings and the fact that, incredibly, "Harvard is not in a good financial position." According to Ackman, one of the world's foremost finance experts, Harvard's so-called S53 billion endowment is "massively overstated as far as what it's really worth," and Harvard has irresponsibly taken out $8 billion in debt. If this is true, it is concerning evidence of Harvard's disastrous mismanagement, indicating an urgent need for massive reform-not continued taxpayer investment. If Harvard prefers not to change, then Harvard should have no problem using its overflowing endowment to fund its bloated bureaucracy. At its best, a university should fulfill the highest ideals of our Nation, and enlighten the thousands of hopeful students who walk through its magnificent gates. But Harvard has betrayed this ideal. Perhaps most alarmingly, Harvard has failed to abide by the United States Supreme Court's ruling demanding that it end its racial preferencing, and continues to engage in ugly racism in its undergraduate and graduate schools, and even within the Harvard Law Review itself. Our universities should be bastions of merit that reward and celebrate excellence and achievement. They should not be incubators of discrimination that encourage resentment and instill grievance and racism into our wonderful young Americans. The above concerns are only a fraction of the long list of Harvard's consistent violations of its own legal duties. Given these and other concerning allegations, this letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek GRANTS from the fede…$

Federal Agencies. The Administration's priorities have not changed and today's letter marks the end of new grants for the University.
These requests will advance the best interests of Harvard University, so it can reclaim its status as a respected educational institution for the future leaders of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Sincerely,
Linda E. McMahon
Secretary of Education

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · May 6

the story all but says it but hegseth is very clearly trying to purge the leadership of the military of black people and women

The New York Times @nytimes.com · May 6

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a 20% reduction of four-star officers.

Hegseth Orders 20 Percent Cut in Military’s Senior Ranks

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has already fired a raft of military leaders, many of them women and people of color, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

www.nytimes.com

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More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · May 5

Aetna announced it plans to exit the health insurance exchange in 17 states.

1 million people could lose their health coverage.

“This decision is... to focus the company’s portfolio,” Aetna’s parent company CVS said.

CVS' revenue was up 7% last quarter.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · May 5

the president’s policies will carpet bomb the economy and ruin millions of lives but don’t worry, he and his failchildren will come away from everything as rich as ever

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · May 5

NYT Page One:

“.. a blitz of moneymaking ventures capitalizing on their father’s name and power, each seemingly trying to outdo the other.”

@nytimes.com

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · May 5

NEW YORK (AP) - ProPublica wins 2025 Pulitzer for Public Service for reports on deaths of pregnant women in abortion-restricted states.

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · May 4

it will never stop being crazy that conservatives have brain poisoned people to the extent that we now have to care deeply about the results of school board elections in places where we don’t live

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Mar @mar7515bskysocial.bsky.social · May 3

Talk about a horse with blinders on.

Sitting back and waiting for the:
Raising black boys in America,
Raising black girls in America,
Raising brown boys in America,
Raising brown girls in America,
editions to drop. They are going to be 🔥

🙄 jfc

Josh Olson @josholson.bsky.social · May 2

It's a brutal time for young men, and to be raising one. The primary message they now is get is "YOU'RE BAD" without any meaningful attempt to offer healthy pathways beyond "Don't be a boy."

Absolutely perfect time for right wing monsters to sweep in with shitty answers.

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · May 3

The word “journey” used to mean a single day’s travels, and the French word for day, jour, is packed neatly inside it, like a single pair of shoes in a very small case. Maybe all journeys should be imagined as a single day, short as a trip to the corner or long as a life in its ninth decade.

The Art of Arrival

I published this in Orion Magazine in 2014, about the environmental activist Jo Anne Garrett of Baker, NV, who would've turned 100 on April 30th. I wanted to pay tribute to her by republishing this (s...

www.meditationsinanemergency.com

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Mar @mar7515bskysocial.bsky.social · May 3

Remove a letter, ruin a movie.

Thelma & Louis

Lauren McKenzie @themckenziest.gay · May 3

Remove a letter, ruin a movie.

A Bug’s Lie

darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · May 2

ai bud

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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · May 3

dude, where’s my AR

Lauren McKenzie @themckenziest.gay · May 3

Remove a letter, ruin a movie.

A Bug’s Lie

darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · May 2

ai bud

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Brian PJ Cronin @brianpjcronin.bsky.social · May 3

If Biden, who is actually Catholic, posted a picture of himself as Pope there would be a thousand op-eds and cable news hits for months about how it was the most blasphemous thing an American president has ever done and we’d assume he had gone insane.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · May 3

This is real

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Living Safely With Covid @covidsafenz.bsky.social · May 3

NIOSH: “Cuts had already upended approvals of new N95 respirators”

Alexander Tin @alexander-a-tin.bsky.social · May 3

Nearly all of remaining staff at CDC's NIOSH received lay off notices today, we're told

This is an org chart shared with us illustrating eliminated divisions to date

Cuts had already upended approvals of new N95 respirators and probes of firefighter injuries

www.cbsnews.com/news/worker-...

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shauna @goldengateblond.bsky.social · May 3

get the fucking vaccine and you likely won’t need treatment at all, you addled fruit leather

The New York Times @nytimes.com · May 2

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will direct federal health agencies to explore potential new treatments for measles as the U.S. faces its largest outbreak in 25 years. Experts fear the decision could have grave consequences, as studies show the existing vaccine is 97% effective in preventing infection.

RFK Jr. Orders Search for New Measles Treatments Instead of Urging Vaccination

Decades of research have turned up no miracle treatment for measles, but studies show the M.M.R. shot is 97 percent effective in preventing the disease.

www.nytimes.com

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · May 2

Just deranged. This was a *solved* problem.

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