Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Edge @czarbucks.bsky.social · 1h

Here too, but one can hope.

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 2h

Hannah Arendt distinguished totalitarianism “from other forms of political oppression known to us such as despotism, tyranny and dictatorship” in that totalitarianism seeks to subjugate civil society and private lives, not just political opponents, using psychological, not just physical, repression.

The Editorial Board @editorialboard.bsky.social · 3h

I saw the new George Orwell documentary last night. It’s called 2+2=5. I have been a little bit squeamish about applying the word totalitarian to Trump and the Republicans. Not anymore. We are experiencing a totalitarian movement. There’s no question.

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 5h

The regime gets more deranged every day. A rightwing conspiracy theorist assassinated a Democratic lawmaker - which the attorney general presents as an example of leftwing political violence in order to justify an authoritarian crackdown on the opposition…

We’re in incredibly dangerous territory.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Bondi: "We've been living through a horrific cycle of political violence in this country ... night after night antifa wrecks havoc on the streets of our cities. In Minnesota, a gunman murdered a state lawmaker and her husband."

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Amber Speaks Up @amberspeaks.bsky.social · 20h

Your grandfathers didn’t storm Normandy so you could be afraid of the word antifascist or “antifa”

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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 16h

After 10 long days, the hearing challenging Texas' gerrymandering ended. By the end, all of legacy media had vanished. But Democracy Docket stayed to keep you informed about just how far Republicans went to manipulate the state’s maps.

Support its vital work by subscribing now. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0

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Anita Earls @anitaearls.bsky.social · 17h

From the OBX to Cherokee, NC voters: Have you checked that your voter registration is complete? The State Board of Elections has identified over 100,000 North Carolinians whose voter registrations are missing key information. Visit ncsbe.gov/registrationrepair to check yours!

Registration Repair | NCSBE

Find out if your North Carolina voter registration is incomplete, learn how to fix it, and review the FAQ for more information.

ncsbe.gov

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Sara Partridge, Ph.D. @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 21h

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.

America’s children deserve better than this.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 15h

Who belongs in Trump's America?

USA TODAY @usatoday.com · 18h

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

bit.ly

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Harry Dunn @libradunn1.bsky.social · 14h

Lol majority Whip Republican Tom Emmer said people going to the No Kings Marches are terrorists and hate America... what a delusional asshole

www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Republican Rep Claims Everyone at “No Kings” Protest Is a Terrorist

This is how the Republicans begin to dismantle the First Amendment.

www.yahoo.com

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Edge @czarbucks.bsky.social · 2h

“Hate America” is their new talking point for us. We prove them wrong.

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 16h

Unprecedented corruption

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d

Trump said he deserved a cut for brokering the TikTok deal, and at once there was agreement that his son Baron would have a top executive slot... though he hasn't asked for it, and has no apparent qualifications to hold it. This is how Trump 2.0 works. www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025...

Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job

US president’s 19-year-old son could be appointed to the app’s board

www.telegraph.co.uk

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Michael Derby @michaelsderby.bsky.social · 14h

A big deal for inflation and also whether you’ll have reliable food supplies, due to Trump policy choices.

Simon Lester @simonlester.com · 1d

"The Labor Department warned in an obscure document filed with the Federal Register last week that 'the near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens' is threatening 'the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers.'”

Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices

U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document.

wapo.st

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Chris Cooper @chriscooperwcu.bsky.social · 19h

Beautiful morning at Judaculla Rock near Cullowhee. Definitely worth a visit if you're visiting Jackson County, or if you (like me) live here

The rock has more than 1,500 petroglyphs--the most of any boulder East of the Mississippi.

A 6 post 🧵 that no one asked for ⤵️

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Tom Sullivan @tmsullivan.bsky.social · 18h

As is often true of liars, bullies, and extremist conservatives, they can dish it out but cannot take it.
digbysblog.net/2025/10/11/l...

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Edge @czarbucks.bsky.social · 12h

I want to be on a grand jury. It would be great to be in a position to actually tell these mf'ers "no."

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Edge @czarbucks.bsky.social · 15h

🤬

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 16h

Nixon’s crimes look like harmless high school pranks compared to the now-daily unprecedented illegal & unconstitutional crimes being committed daily by this president & his staff

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 17h

Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it's to establish personalist control over the FUCKING MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine

Via: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

The Office of Management and Budget sent a notification to Congress about their intent to use research and development funds to pay members of the military, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.

A spokesperson for the OMB confirmed to NBC News that it plans to use the research and development funds and that there are two years' worth of funds available within the Department of Defense.

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Edge @czarbucks.bsky.social · 15h

This is ridiculous. They should read some of the emails I've send my 3 GOP electeds over this year.

Am I going to get a visit from the Gestapo, too?

Judy Stone @drjudystone.bsky.social · 16h

Law experts appalled as cops swoop on 77-year-old for writing 'innocuous' postcard

www.rawstory.com/florida-2674...

Law experts appalled as cops swoop on 77-year-old for writing 'innocuous' postcard

Florida resident James O’Gara received a surprise visit from law enforcement at his home last week in what First Amendment experts have labeled a clear attempt at intimidation in response to a “pretty...

www.rawstory.com

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Edge @czarbucks.bsky.social · 17h

Sorry, I hadn't read enough, I thought Trump was just spit-lying again.

My gods.

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Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 18h

When you think back to Trump’s unhinged Ebola freak out during Obama’s presidency this seems extra insane.

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 18h

Lots of Epidemic Intelligence Service officers ("disease detectives") gone.
In-country staff in Africa (including those helping to manage the current Ebola outbreak) are fired.

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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 22h

After Trump got his Covid shot, he chose to fire the scientists protecting the rest of us from diseases.

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Eric Blair @protecttruth.bsky.social · 23h

Members of Congress should be on the streets of DC—where many of them live! —putting their bodies between these law-abiding citizens and ICE. Congress should be demanding names, and promising ICE will be prosecuted when US democracy is re-established.

But they are not—b/c they think it polls badly.

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 23h

New — Video shared with me shows ICE officers in DC detaining a man on Friday.

Bystander filming asks man for his name. ICE agent lies and says he’s not allowed to speak to him “by law” and another says “We’ve arrested American citizens for being too close…If he gets any closer, put him in cuffs.”

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Ann Telnaes @anntelnaes.bsky.social · 21h

anntelnaes.substack.com/p/the-canari...

paulpro @mariopro.bsky.social · 22h

@anntelnaes.bsky.social

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Uncle Duke @uncleduke1969.bsky.social · 1d

[best read with a French accent]

“I am so very sorry sir, without a reservation, there is simply nothing I can do for you.”

2 photos of a fluffy black-and-white cat with a pencil-thin mustache. They appear to he looking up and speaking in the first, scowling in the second.

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 1d

What an emblem of the billionaire class—descending on a peaceful city in a private jet on the horn to NYT asking for the place to be invaded by federal authorities because the rent-a-cops you employ for a week to harass a few junkies outside the convention center cost too much.

Mr. Benioff spoke as his annual Dreamforce conference is set to begin Tuesday in downtown San Francisco, bringing 50,000 visitors to the city. He is scheduled to deliver a keynote address about the benefits of "agentic enterprise," a business model in which humans and artificial intelligence bots work together.
Speaking by telephone from his private plane en route to San Francisco, he lamented that he has to pay for nundreds of off-duty law enforcement officers to help patrol the convention area and said that San Francisco needed to "re-fund" the police.
The city never actually "defunded" its police force, and San Francisco's violent crime rates are below those in many other U.S. cities.
But San Francisco has struggled to recruit and keep officers, and it still has problems with lower-level crimes and open-air drug use, especially in neighborhoods like the Tenderloin near City Hall. It has about 1,500 police officers, and Mr. Benioff says it ne → another thousand.

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