Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

LightNews

Erik Schreiber

@socialistschreiber.bsky.social

330 followers 610 following 1.1K posts

Reporter for the World Socialist Web Site, member of the Socialist Equality Party, and revolutionary optimist.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 17h

“Overtly political content” is no longer allowed at Pepperdine University’s Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art. The Christian university closed an exhibition with works that (horrors!) opposed racism and recognized immigrants’ humanity. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Political censorship of art exhibition at California’s Pepperdine University

Pepperdine is listed by one website among the “top 30 conservative Christian colleges and universities” in the US.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 18h

“When you see an administration suggest that the president can kill Americans by drone strikes without charge or trial, that is a genuine effort to weaken how we have understood democracy.” www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Obama administration asserts right to assassinate Americans

A memorandum drafted last year spells out the claim that the president can authorize a killing regardless of legal and constitutional prohibitions.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 18h

Mamdani defines socialism in terms of “whether you’re willing to fight for these ideals that you hold.” He has shown an impressive ability to abandon his own ideals, particularly during his closed-door meetings with billionaires. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Zohran Mamdani schmoozes with executives and landlords, praises Trump’s phony Gaza “ceasefire”

In the lead-up to the November mayoral election the Democratic Socialists of America member is doing everything in his power to reassure the ruling class his campaign presents no threat to their profi...

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 19h

The Kaiser Permanente strike is a major fight for healthcare workers’ objective needs. It must become the spearhead not only of a broader defense of public health, but also of a revolutionary socialist movement. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

46,000 Kaiser Permanente health care workers begin 5-day strike

The walkout by 46,000 Kaiser workers exposes decades of union-enforced corporate exploitation and signals a growing rebellion of health care workers against capitalism, inequality, and dictatorship.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 19h

“They make a desert and call it peace,” said Tacitus in 98 AD. The same words apply to the “peace” imposed on Gaza by Israel and the imperialist powers. The foul role of the Gulf regimes in oppressing the Palestinians must be stressed. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

“Peace” through genocide: Trump proclaims “historic dawn” for Middle East on the bones of the Palestinians

The only way to realise the democratic and social rights of the long-suffering masses of the Middle East and establish a genuine basis for peaceful coexistence is through the fight for the perspective...

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 1d

Jean-François Millet, who died 150 years ago, departed radically from French academic painting in the mid-19th century. He painted not historical or mythological subjects but rural toilers, imbuing them with dignity but not sentimentality. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

<em>Millet: Life on the Land</em>—A radical depiction of rural transition

The works of Millet and the Barbizon School endure not only as historical documents but as visionary meditations on humanity, nature, and the role of the artist in imagining a more just society.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 1d

Despite the shutdown, Trump is ordering that soldiers be paid while all other federal workers are not. He seeks to maintain the loyalty of the soldiers, whom he plans to send to repress civilian protests. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Trump orders military paychecks as troops move into cities

The move is aimed at ensuring the loyalty of soldiers ordered into action against the American population.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 1d

The major papers buried the story of the explosion at a munitions factory that killed 16 workers. Jacobin, the supposedly “socialist” publication, has said nothing at all about it. These organs all serve the bourgeoisie. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

16 workers killed in Tennessee explosion: Industrial carnage followed by media cover-up

Sixteen workers were incinerated in a US weapons plant—the largest mass death in an industrial disaster since the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion—and the news networks and other corporate media s...

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 2d

A PS-led government under Macron would not be socialist or left-wing, but a capitalist government abetting Macron’s rule against the people. Moreover, it would allow the neo-fascist RN to pose as the sole genuine opposition to Macron. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Behind plans for social-democratic government under Macron, French ruling elite plots dictatorship

A government led by the bourgeois PS under a despised “president of the rich” would impose the diktat of the banks and strengthen neo-fascist conspiracies to impose a far-right dictatorship.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 2d

The appointment of Lieutenant General Christian Freuding, who openly supports Ukrainian neo-Nazis, as the top official of the German army is a clear signal that Germany is reverting to its policy of imperialist conquest. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Top military brass intensifies Germany’s war preparations against Russia

With the appointment of Lieutenant General Christian Freuding as the new Inspector of the Army, the German government has taken another step in its aggressive rearmament and war preparations.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 2d

As far as using the federal government to target one's enemies goes, Nixon looks like an amateur next to Trump. We are seeing an assault on constitutional government that is unprecedented in US history. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Trump DOJ expands political vendetta with indictment of New York AG Letitia James

The indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday by a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, is an escalation of Donald Trump’s unprecedented use of the Department of Justice to purs...

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 2d

More than 20 workers, most of whom are still missing, were injured or killed in an explosion at a Tennessee munitions plant. Trump's plans to cut the budget and staff of OSHA are an attack on worker safety that will facilitate further tragedies. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Nineteen missing after explosion at Tennessee munitions plant: Another tragedy in America’s industrial slaughterhouse

Nineteen workers are missing after mass detonation at a Tennessee munitions plant, exposing the deadly consequences of deregulation.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 3d

David Walsh has written a valuable appreciation of Italian actress Claudia Cardinale and, in her words, "a cinema that is no more." Cardinale's death raises the question of the enormous decline in European cinema after the early 1970s. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Italian actress Claudia Cardinale and European cinema of the 1960s

For her beauty, intelligence and personal strength, she was sought out by many filmmakers.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 3d

In Chicago, ICE agents handcuffed an employee of a news organization, rammed a vehicle into that of an innocent commuter, and attempted to break into workers' homes. The working class must put an end to this fascistic violence. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Trump’s war on American cities escalates, as troops arrive in Memphis and immigration Gestapo assault and kidnap Chicago residents

Far from opposing Trump’s coming dictatorship, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, following in the footsteps of California Governor Gavin Newsom, has deployed State police to protect the immigration Gesta...

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 3d

Right. The article refers to Tom Lehrer's comment that the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Kissinger had made political satire obsolete.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 3d

Trump has already fired 4,000 workers during the shutdown, which he is using to consolidate his personal control of the government. The unions' response? "Avoid any actions that could reflect poorly on you!" This is treachery! www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Union aparatus does nothing as Trump launches new wave of mass firings

The Trump administration has begun issuing reductions-in-force notices to federal employees, marking an escalation in its use of the shutdown to impose structural cuts on government services and seize...

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 3d

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Maria Corina Machado, who makes common cause with fascists and acts as the willing tool of US imperialism. This outrage is a warning that the ruling class is preparing bloody new crimes. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Nobel Prize for imperialist war and regime change goes to Washington’s Venezuelan puppet María Corina Machado

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded its 2025 Peace Prize to the leader of Venezuela’s far-right opposition, Maria Corina Machado, an event that is as significant as it is sinister.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 4d

Commenting on the AI surge in the Financial Times, Ruchir Sharma, the chair of Rockefeller International, said that “America has become one big bet on AI” and the US and its markets could “lose the one leg they are standing on.” www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Unprecedented “circular deals” inflate AI bubble

Deals entered into by OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, are estimated to cost $1 trillion, even as the company has yet to turn a profit.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 4d

The Trump administration’s extraordinarily hostile and vocal denunciations of Zach Bryan’s “Bad News” reflect the administration’s consciousness of the mass opposition to its fascistic policies. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Country music’s Zach Bryan: “ICE is gonna come bust down your door”

The lyrics to the partially released song “Bad News” by Zach Bryan, denouncing ICE raids and defending immigrant families, have been the subject of a campaign by Trump administration officials against...

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 4d

The “ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas opens the door to the colonial control of Gaza and the disenfranchisement of the Palestinians. The Arab nationalist regimes have played a foul role in preparing this betrayal. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

“Ceasefire” deal includes permanent Israeli occupation of Gaza

The agreement is yet another step in the Israeli-imperialist plan to dominate Gaza and suppress the national rights of the Palestinian people.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 4d

Trump’s meeting with neo-Nazis, Christian nationalists, and white supremacists left no doubt that he is preparing a dictatorship. The Democrats and the media have ignored this threat. It’s up to the working class to defeat fascism. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Fascist gathering in the White House signals mass repression and violence

The White House has been transformed into the headquarters of a conspiracy to legitimize fascism, brand anti-fascism as “terrorism,” and mobilize the repressive machinery of the state against the popu...

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 5d

Tony Harrison combined a respect for common speech, an abiding appreciation for the relevance of the classics, and political engagement in work that is among the most compelling in contemporary poetry. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Poet Tony Harrison: a classical voice

Harrison was always faithful to his vocation. “I hate being called poet/dramatist/translator/director,” he said. “Poet covers it all for me.”

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 5d

The issues that Kaiser Permanente workers face—unsafe staffing, sub-inflation pay raises and relentless overwork—flow from the subordination of medicine to profit. These issues can’t be resolved without overturning capitalism. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

46,000 Kaiser workers set to walk out October 14: Build rank-and-file committees to transform strike into battle for public health and democracy

The following is an open letter from the WSWS Healthcare Worker Newsletter to the nearly 46,000 Kaiser Permanente workers.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 5d

The rail unions have said nothing about Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena’s advice to Trump about where to deploy the National Guard. This silence is an attempt to disarm the working class, thus aiding the corporate oligarchy. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Why are the rail unions silent on Trump’s talk with Union Pacific’s CEO on where to deploy troops?

By refusing even to acknowledge this conspiracy to use military force against workers, the rail unions show themselves to be tools not only of the railroads but also of the would-be dictator.

Erik Schreiber @socialistschreiber.bsky.social · 5d

Trump has decided to invoke the Insurrection Act at the right moment, thus paving the way for martial law. The Democrats are proposing no resistance. Dictatorship can only be prevented by the working class in the struggle for socialism. www.wsws.org/en/articles/...

Operation Dictatorship: Trump is poised to invoke the Insurrection Act

On Wednesday, NBC News reported that the Trump administration is actively preparing to invoke the Insurrection Act, which provides the military the authority to conduct law enforcement operations with...