Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 5h

See under: "Shande." The billionaire whose $ pushed the ADL into the arms of the far right now wants to help Trump destroy higher education in the United States.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Badly Needed

www.nytimes.com

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 6h

Every person, journalist or not, who wrote an article based on this comically idiotic premise should be ceaselessly mocked by everyone they know and then forced into a different profession, together with whatever editors approved or assigned it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

Trump Has His Eyes on a Nobel Peace Prize. Will He Get It?

www.nytimes.com

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Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 1d

And our biggest news media companies are doing a pretty flawed job of covering reality and creating dissonance

bsky.app/profile/karl...

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 1d

you'd think a prominent news outlet like the New York Times might mention that "antifa" isn't an actual organization in a long story about antifa, but nope!

and the subhead helps props up a false claim this professor was up to something seedy as something up for debate

NYT headline: "Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats"

subheadline: "Mark Bray was teaching courses on antifascism. Turning Point USA accused him of belonging to antifa, which he denies. His flight to Spain was canceled abruptly on Wednesday night."

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 21h

There's nothing at all wrong with being Palestinian, and using "Palestinian" in this way is deeply racist against Palestinians, but it is also antisemitic, because it defines Jewishness as something that can be granted and removed for political reasons.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

JD Vance describes Chuck Schumer as "one of the most famous Palestinians in the world"

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 21h

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Farran Smith Nehme @selfstyledsiren.bsky.social · 1d

Why are Democrats the only ones who flip like Sammy the Bull?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

FOX: Do you think Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?

FETTERMAN: If this sticks. I think the whole point of having a Nobel Peace Prize is for ending wars and promoting peace. And if he brings the Ukrainian war to its end, I will be the Democrat leading the committee for his Nobel Prize Peace.

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Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 1d

Doug Wilson co-authored a (plagiarized) book that defended the institution of slavery *as it was practiced in the antebellum South*. This is how Douthat introduced the subject while providing him with the NYT's platform:

Douthat: So, just to take a related example, one of the controversies of many that you’ve been mixed up in has to do with slavery, and whether slavery is absolutely forbidden by the Bible, absolutely forbidden to Christians, or whether it is critiqued, but allowed for.

Wilson: Right.

Douthat: And you think it is critiqued, but allowed for.

Wilson: Right.

Douthat: On this, on a straightforward reading of the New Testament, I would agree with you. I would say, pretty clearly, there is a pretty clear path from the message of the Bible to the abolition of slavery. But there is no moment in the New Testament when Jesus insists on the manumission of slaves.

Wilson: Right.

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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 1d

Authorities have arrested a Florida man for intentionally starting the fire that burned Los Angeles's Pacific Palisades. So why does it feel like the fire was started by a cat-eating immigrant from war-ravaged Portland, Oregon?

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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 1d

Whether it’s Donald Trump saying J.B. Pritzker should be in jail or Donald Trump being convicted of 36 felonies but not going to jail because the American people re-elected him as president, both sides have been linked to jail time.

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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 1d

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.

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d

Any university that agrees to this outrageous “compact” is a full participant in Trump’s assault on democracy. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 1d

This is a microcosm of practically all federal spending under Trump: delays, uncertainty, empty promises. It is in fact why there is a shutdown right now: unilateral decisionmaking on spending appropriated by Congress is intolerable.

Politico @politico.com · 1d

The shutdown is already impacting delivery of nutrition aid to low-income moms and babies.

Trump officials said tariff revenue would fund WIC until the government reopens, but the money hasn’t started flowing yet.

States left in the dark on food aid despite Trump’s promise of tariff funds

The shutdown is already interrupting benefits for low-income moms and babies — and agencies don’t know when the next check is coming.

www.politico.com

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 1d

"It's About Time..."
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...

Nobel Prize in literature awarded to Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai

Krasznahorkai, 71, was recognised for his 'compelling and visionary oeuvre'.

www.aljazeera.com

Reposted by Eric Alterman

Dean Booth 🦆🐇 @deanbooth.bsky.social · 1d

Remember that WaPo endorsed Bondi as qualified and serious. Unfortunately, WaPo is neither.

ATTORNEY GENERAL
Pam Bondi [thumbs up]
Florida's former attorney general is qualified; lawyers who have worked with her report that she is serious.

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d

“We took the freedom of speech away”

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 2d

Which party controls the presidency, House and the Senate? It depends who you ask.

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 1d

@brucespringsteen.net
Have you heard the news?

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 2d

Have you heard the news?

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Laura Hercher @laurahercher.bsky.social · 2d

Says this like it’s a bad thing.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Eric Alterman @ericalterman.bsky.social · 2d

"Some critics express concern" @nytimes
"Trump Calls for Jailing of Chicago Mayor and Illinois Governor"

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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 2d

Historically, the Insurrection Act has only been used in response to genuine emergencies. Some experts believe that if President Trump invokes the Insurrection Act simply as a pretext for a military invasion and occupation of multiple blue cities, it would represent a possible violation of norms.

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 2d

I grew up going to Zabar's. So many of my childhood memories center around the best lox in NYC (which is saying something). With Saul Zabar's passing today, the Upper West Side has lost a legend who turned his parent's humble store into a culinary institution.

Saul Zabar, Smoked Fish Czar of Upper West Side, Dies at 97

www.nytimes.com

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Virginia Scharff @vscharff.bsky.social · 2d

Epstein Shutdown.

Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 2d

This is Adelita Grijalva.

She was elected to Congress two weeks ago, officially making her the final vote needed to force the release of the Epstein files.

She has still not been sworn in because Mike Johnson refuses to do so.

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Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 3d

please read my memo www.theverge.com/business/793...

Memo to Bari Weiss Re: CBS News: You’re doomed

Bari Weiss has sold her company, The Free Press, to manage the decline of broadcast news at CBS. How many ways can it go wrong?

www.theverge.com

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Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 2d

“Who was president in 2020?” is the question of our time

Senator Jim Banks V
@SenatorBanks
Follow g..
The 2020 Census was a fraud. The Biden admin used a shady "privacy" formula that scrambled the data and miscounted 14 states.
It included illegal immigrants and handed
Democrats extra seats. Americans deserve a fair count and l'm fighting to fix it.
Zinited Statcs SScnate
MASHNORON DEYNN
October 6, 2025
an. Thow arewutn
Socretary
U.S. Department of Commerce Washington, DXC 20230
Dear Secretary Lutaick:
I urge you to investigate and correct erroes from the 2020 Census that handed disproportionntd political power to Democrats and illogal alicns. The Census Burcau adoptod a now and opaque
voting districts. As preparod by the Biden administration, the 2020 Censas roports miscountod the population of fourteen states, ' wrongly allocating six congressional scats aod Electoral
xx conwuu tmora uy, toc taroro tu mot đoo tnn Cunu lc pung t imber of votine districts. And the reoorts de aniovety inchaded ilecnl nhens widhout track those aliens' citiz enship status, If left uncorrected, these erroes will coetinue diluting the political power of American citizens.
Consus data plays a crucial role in allocating political roprescntation and goverment funding
Under the Constitution, cach state gets Congressional represcotutives and Electoeal College votes- based on "the whole number of persons" within the state." The number of persoes is in
tum clabaabod by a consttubocalty-mandalcd dcccacaal ccavas. Pcual agcco nely on census data to allocate billions of dollars in federal funding, much of which hinges ee opulation. And states use consus data to deaw congrossicnal and voting districts, »hich the
The it eiy of tie soaren alie n tor dur at ce hor inc ae oam toy ee n
nght wilbout statsica ly signilicant ciroo.
Diffcrcntial privacy is opaque and liable to mistakcn count totals. Sure cnough, the 2020 Ccnsus ovarocunted the noculation in cicht states and undercounted it in six." Tihe most extrcmi andercount was Arkansas, at 5.04%, and the larg…

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