Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Mark Welch

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 8h

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

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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 7h

Trump's Justice Department is firing the people who prosecute terrorists, Jake Tapper argues. The president's politically motivated personnel decisions make "the United States and the world less safe":

Trump’s Purge of Terrorism Prosecutors

The politicization of the Justice Department is making Americans less safe.

bit.ly

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Bill Conroy @bconroy.bsky.social · 7h

The Portland frogs are a dilemma action.

If ICE lets the frogs dance, they look weak. If they assault the frogs, they look stupid.

No good choice. And it's all blasted over social media.

I believe many agents detailed to ICE frog patrols are losing trust in a regime that puts them in that spot.

Protest frogs vs. MAGA media influencers: the information war over ICE in Portland and Chicago | CNN Business

As the Trump administration floods social media with “propaganda” videos, and MAGA personalities flock to Portland and Chicago in search of a “rebellion,” local residents are responding with… chicken ...

www.cnn.com

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Reposted by Mark Welch

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 5h

"The courts have no job to do here other than read the plain language of the Constitution." And so far, with the exception of one very big, important court, they're doing it.

Courts Keep Smacking Down Trump’s Lawless Attempt to End Birthright Citizenship

But he keeps plugging away—believing his allies on the Supreme Court will ultimately side with him.

www.thebulwark.com

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 4h

This is an exact encapsulation of why I moved to Bluesky.

No amount of handwringing in the Atlantic about how I owe some eternal Promethean suffering to the discourse is going to make me stay on a site I hate, that stopped doing anything for me professionally years ago.

Well – no. Bluesky may or may not be, as one centre-right friend who felt unwelcome put it, “self-righteous island”. But the idea that’s why we went is nonsense. That I’ve largely stopped posting on a site that’s done more to shape my career and social circle than the rest of the internet combined is less about avoiding rival opinions (I love arguing with people who are wrong!) than with the fact the site simply became unusable. It stopped generating the things (good jokes, interesting debate, clicks) I wanted; it became extremely good at generating the things (racists, pornbots, racist pornbots) I did not.

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 3h

It’s not enough to round up and detain those here illegally; video of it must be shot, edited, dramatized, and disseminated. ICE is now in the content creation business. ICYMI @adriancarrasquillo.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/ice-propag...

The ICE Propaganda Campaign Goes Into Overdrive

MAGA commentators are stepping up as soldiers in Trump’s culture war to provoke confrontations against “Antifa” with the backing of DHS.

www.thebulwark.com

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Reposted by Mark Welch

George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 17h

Next Saturday is #NoKings Day.

Stand up for democracy before it's too late.

Find a protest near you at nokings.org.

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Dan Gillmor @dangillmor.bsky.social · 16h

American news media now routinely -- and lazily -- use the word "conservative" to label the radical right wing, i.e. the Trump regime and its cult, now firmly in control of our government and increasingly our media.

This is just one way our purported "news" organizations have normalized extremism.

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 15h

Never forget this: The forces rigging our economy, undermining our democracy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win. Stay clear-eyed and ready for the fight ahead.

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 13h

The mainstream media loves making it seam like dysfunction in Washington is coming from both parties.

Hello?

Much of the GOP no longer accepts the rule of law, or the norms of democracy, or the legitimacy of the opposing party.

Enough of the false equivalence.

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Waxwing @waxw.ing · 11h

For real guys, it is so hard to be a celebrity these days. You can get cancelled just for viciously dehumanizing entire categories of people

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 23h

I am anti-fascist. If there really is an Antifa organization, please send me details so I can join and donate. In its absence, try 5051 or Indivisible. I'll see all of you at the "No Kings - We Love America" protests next Saturday on October 18.
www.fiftyfifty.one
indivisible.org
www.nokings.org

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 3d

I wish! But my prediction remains: even if the evidence turns up Super-8 and VHS videos of 47 having sex with a 10-year-old girl, it will NOT disqualify him in the eyes of his supporters or THE GOP. Nor would a notarized contract selling his soul to the devil.
@ericswalwell.bsky.social

Marie 🇨🇦 @pawbaby2.bsky.social · 3d

Eric Swallwell (D-CA) says it’s coming to an end and House Republicans are privately breaking, that a “jailbreak” is brewing the moment the Epstein files hit the floor, and that Trump’s aura of fear is finally cracking.

#ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles
#USDemocracy
#Pinks

open.substack.com/pub/deanblun...

SWALWELL’S BOMBSHELL EPSTEIN TWEET: "The Epstein Files Are Coming And The GOP Are Getting Ready To Abandon Trump"

218 or chaos: Inside the House moment that could shatter Trump’s grip

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 13h

“No, Speaker Johnson — the No Kings rally on October 18 is not a hate America rally. In fact, it’s quite the contrary: It’s a love America rally.” #NoKings

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Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 12h

I wonder about this box on a downtown city street. Why would a sane person mark it this way? How many cameras are aimed at this spot? #infrastructure #security

Metal box on a downtown city street, marked as "uninterruptible power supply." #infrastructure #security

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Rebecca MacKinnon @rebecca-mackinnon.bsky.social · 12h

I jusr learned abou this fantastic project. @unbreaking.org

Unbreaking

How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.

unbreaking.org

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 12h

The corporate myth is that embracing AI will get you results that are cheap, fast and good with fewer employees.

The reality is a lot of companies will find out they got things done for a lot cheaper and a lot faster but if definitely wasn’t good.

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Jeffrey Vagle of the Carcosa Vagles @jvagle.me · 11h

“The goal isn’t to police all behavior at all times. It’s to make us fearful to the point that we police our own behavior.”

radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-courag...

The courage to be decent

The Trump administration wants to make us too afraid to look out for one another. Don't let them.

radleybalko.substack.com

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Kathy Reid (she/her) @kathyreid.au · 10h

This is a compelling essay on the linguistic power of the word "cancer", the dread and obscenity it evokes, and how reframing cancer using less emotive terms might change prevailing attitudes towards treatment - that may not be necessary.

By @bc-y.bsky.social for @aeon.co

aeon.co/essays/the-w...

The word ‘cancer’ leads to overtreatment and fear. Should we drop it? | Aeon Essays

Saying the word ‘cancer’ changes a person’s life and can lead to overtreatment and fear. Is the word too hot to use at all?

aeon.co

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Brian Keith Jackson @bkjwordplay.bsky.social · 10h

It seems we're at the point when paying 45K a year for private college is just about social capital, because everyday I hear about vital courses that are no longer being taught. That is a form of indoctrination. The social programming of playing along, feeling nothing. Rule. Basically, colonialism.

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Reposted by Mark Welch

🦋🕊️🦋GinLy47 @ginly47.bsky.social · 9h

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Reposted by Mark Welch

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 11h

Portland's famous Unipiper was spotted at the Portland ICE protest where he played his bagpipes in front of Santa, Mr. Potato Head, Garfield and more -- all while surrounded by bubbles.

More on how the tone of Portland's protests has shifted: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 8h

Incredible. Exonerated after 43 years of being falsely imprisoned, rather than releasing him to his awaiting family, the police released him to ICE, beginning deportation proceedings.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 8h

When do we transition from “rapidly moving towards authoritarianism” to “definitely arrived”? I think it depends on who you are. The immigrant deported w/o due process? The prof terminated for speech? The workers fired by DOGE w/o regard to their contracts? They’re mired in the ick of lawlessness.

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Reposted by Mark Welch

Veena Dubal @veenadubal.bsky.social · 8h

“Among those wrongly dismissed were the top 2 leaders of the fed measles response team, those working to contain Ebola in the Democratic Rep of Congo, members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, & the team that assembles the C.D.C.’s vaunted scientific journal”

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

Trump Administration Is Bringing Back Scores of C.D.C. Experts Fired in Error

www.nytimes.com

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