Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Erin Lockwood @erinkaylockwood.bsky.social · 1h

@mcsardo.bsky.social and I were just talking about developing a classroom activity where students are given the profile of a migrant or would-be migrant and asked to figure out what their path to legal status would look like, how much it would cost, and whether it would even be possible.

Alexander Kustov @akoustov.bsky.social · 1h

Neither Democrats nor Republicans grasp how needlessly difficult the current legal process is even for the supposedly simplest, uncontested case of spousal immigration.

Once people learn it takes years and thousands of dollars, they're far more open to easing the process.

doi.org/10.1017/XPS....

1 3 7

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 4h

Whether it’s Joe Biden attending weekly mass or Donald Trump’s ICE agents shooting a priest in the face with a pepper ball, presidents of both sides have directly engaged with the Catholic faith.

15 310 1.5K

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Luke Herrine @lookheron.bsky.social · 4h

What's more, it's this effort to build faculty power and develop counternarratives that may provide the political foundation for a deeper renewal of support for US higher education and make the job market much better.

2 2

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Luke Herrine @lookheron.bsky.social · 4h

If the higher ed job market weren't terrible, so many faculty would have fled from the states that are cracking down on academic freedom and from schools that are negotiating with the Trump Admin.

But now many of these faculty are now engaged in organizing and activism for the first time.

Ironic

1 4 13

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 3h

People are 100% gonna memoryhole the White House condemning AOC and Tlaib for calling for a ceasefire in October and November 2023

18 87

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 7h

It is simply accurate to call this regime segregationist.

Trump Fires Black Officials From an Overwhelmingly White Administration

www.nytimes.com

25 410 1.4K

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 17h

But his DMs

Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 18h

Why is the President of the United States trying to communicate with the Attorney General about government business via direct messages on the social media site he owns?

And is a direct message on a privately owned social media site kind of like a private email server?

Sean O’Kane @seanokane.bsky.social · 18h

WSJ is reporting that the Truth Social post where Trump told Pam Bondi to prosecute Comey *really was supposed to be a private message*

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

3 88 590

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

stevelevitsky.bsky.social @stevelevitsky.bsky.social · 8h

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Harvard Must Take a Stand Against Trump’s Compact | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson

Harvard, rather than quietly pursuing its own appeasement strategy, should lead the way to preserve academic freedom and democracy.

www.thecrimson.com

3 5

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 1d

Virginia State Senate Dems just brought down fire and fury regarding the “Compact,” notifying the President and Rector that UVA would lose ALL STATE APPROPRIATIONS if it signs and cedes the University to “federal political control.” Notably, their letter directly restates points made here by @siva.

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 1d

The “compact” for higher ed is an unserious document written by unserious people from a position of spectacular ignorance. No one should take it seriously. Sadly, my bosses are taking it seriously.

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

16 520 2.1K

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 23h

Gonna say it, not enough games about defeating Klansmen, Confederates or neo-Confederates.

Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 23h

SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...

Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year

Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File

www.gamefile.news

27 160 740

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused 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

280 5.1K 14K

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Dan Greene @dmgreene.bsky.social · 1d

God it's so cooked. I could deal with the buyouts but the vision is gone and there's no desire to be a national paper, much less a local paper, anymore. This really hurts. Been reading the Post since I could read.

Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 1d

O'Neal is pushing "The Post into video podcasting, according to people familiar with the matter, aiming to launch a show hosted by Megan McArdle next month and a flagship program in January. The marquee show, I’m told, will be helmed by O’Neal himself."

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 1d

Last week, new WaPo opinion editor Adam O'Neal quietly carried out another purge of staffers, cutting editors and major names like Marc Fisher and David Hoffman, among others.

Meanwhile, he welcomed three conservatives to the section.

Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/washington...

3 2 23

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Jessica Green @greenprofgreen.bsky.social · 1d

5 yrs ago, I argued that climate change demands an activist academy. So does growing authoritarianism. Our universities need to act collectively, and we academics, as their beating heart, must demand that administrations do this.
My piece: direct.mit.edu/daed/article....
Henry's is a must read. 👇

Opinion | You Beat Trumpism by Banding Together. It’s as Hard and as Simple as That.

www.nytimes.com

5 13

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d

18 520 1.2K

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Dan Greene @dmgreene.bsky.social · 1d

Sign. Join. Go to the meeting. The first instinct is to keep your head down, get the work done, hope someone louder or smarter or whatever helps. But that's the coordination problem of fascism: if you, yes you, ordinary person who's never done this before, do nothing then we all lose.

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 1d

sign and share and join AAUP actionnetwork.org/petitions/tr...

Trump Higher Ed Compact 2025

We stand for education—for science, for students and for freedom—and against this backward, anti-American policy. We call on university leaders, faculty, staff and students to unite in rejecting the T...

actionnetwork.org

1 35 58

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d

The authoritarian threat is not just at the federal level

Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 2d

Citing the “martyrdom” of Charlie Kirk, Texas AG Ken Paxton says his office is pursuing sweeping undercover investigations into “leftist” groups. “To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."

"Leftist political terrorism is a clear and present danger. Corrupted ideologies like transgenderism and Antifa are a cancer on our culture and have unleashed their deranged and drugged-up foot soldiers on the American people," said Attorney General Paxton. "The martyrdom of Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in America.
There can be no compromise with those who want us dead. To that end, I have directed my office to continue its efforts to identify, investigate, and infiltrate these leftist terror cells. To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."
The radical Left has incubated an environment where political violence is not only justified but celebrated and praised. In July, nearly two dozen armed leftists connected to various Texas-based Antifa-like groups ambushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") facility in Alvarado, Texas. On September 10, 2025, a leftist assassin connected to the radical transgender movement murdered Charlie Kirk because of Kirk's bold support for truth, love of country, and unshakable faith. Two weeks later, another deranged leftist opened fire at an ICE facility in Dallas.
President Donald Trump has officially designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization and instructed his administration to "utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa." Building on President Trump's bold actions, Attorney General Paxton has instructed his office to initiate sweeping investigations into radical leftist organizations engaged in or providing support to those performing political violence.

4 41 110

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Lea Ypi @leaypi.bsky.social · 1d

no words

Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead

Every name on a list compiled by health authorities in Gaza of the child victims of Israel’s offensive

www.theguardian.com

140 210

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 1d

- Grim that media barons are buying up mainstream media and making them fascism-enabling propaganda engines

- ULTAGRIM that so many of the big-name journalists escaping that fire are voluntarily leaping directly into a completely separate newsletter website trap set by the same fascists

Substack’s “Nazi problem” won’t go away after push notification apology

Substack may be legitimizing neo-Nazis as “thought leaders,” researcher warns.

arstechnica.com

8 150 320

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Nathan Kalmoe (he/him) @nathankalmoe.bsky.social · 1d

This is what the states should’ve been doing from the start to stop lawless ice goons. About damn time.

💞Sabrina💞 @sabrinarina.bsky.social · 1d

Oregon National Guard Adjutant General, General Gronewold says if they are federalized, that he will advise the Title 10 commander to utilize National Guard Troops to PROTECT protesters at ICE facilities. This is the right answer.

2 23 77

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

AAUP @aaup.org · 2d

NO LOYALTY OATHS IN HIGHER ED!

Trump's attacks on our universities are an attempt to consolidate power. This loyalty oath directly undermines our right to academic freedom & goes against every democratic principle our country should uphold.

Please click below, sign, & share.

#DefendHigherEd

University Administrations: Reject Trump's "Loyalty Oath" Compacts

The Trump administration is trying to blackmail schools to let him and his unqualified bureaucrats run our schools. They want to dictate what schools teach, who they admit and hire, what researchers s...

actionnetwork.org

1 110 160

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 2d

It's a pretty big deal that the NYC Bar Association--one of the most prominent and respected bar associations in the country--is accusing the President of ordering the "unlawful summary execution," i.e. murder--of civilians in violation of US and international law. www.nycbar.org/press-releas...

310 6.8K 18K

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 1d

Journalism Fail: This implies there is a donut shop aflame in Portland, Oregon right now but the photo is
1) Not Portland
2) Not 2025

It's a 33 YEAR OLD FILE PHOTO. You have to open the story & read the fine print to find out it's Los Angeles in 1992.

Come on @cnn.com. Do better.

CNN @cnn.com · 2d

"President Donald Trump and his top aides are using the word 'insurrection' more frequently to describe anti-ICE protests in places like Portland," writes Zachary B. Wolf. https://cnn.it/4pWYmzr

15 68 190

Dan Hirschman @asociologist.bsky.social · 1d

Tim Bartley comes to mind! earthcommons.georgetown.edu/profiles/tim...

Tim Bartley - The Earth Commons

Tim Bartley is a sociologist who studies sustainability standards, environmental/environmental justice movements, and the regulation of global industries. More broadly, he is interested in political, ...

earthcommons.georgetown.edu

1 1

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 1d

This has nothing to do with crime. This is an attempt to crush political dissent.

Never before, in our entire 250 year history, has the military or immigration agents been used like this. It's dystopian, illegal, and it should stop.

820 5.5K 18K

Reposted by Dan Hirschman

Evelyn Douek @evelyndouek.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote about an under-appreciated aspect of AAUP v. Rubio. It is the first case of the Trump Era to explicitly identify and reject the primary and most pernicious form of speech suppression employed by this Administration: Chill.

balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/aaup...

Balkinization: AAUP v. Rubio and the Big Chill

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

21 31