Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Erik Halvorsen

Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 5h

I just signed a series of bipartisan bills in Altadena to support wildfire survivors.

We're providing tax relief, a survivor-first streamlining of home insurance, higher penalties for looting and responder impersonators in evacuation zones, and help with rebuilding livelihoods.

Governor Newsom signs a bipartisan package of bills to aid in the rebuilding and recovery efforts in Los Angeles following the devastating fires earlier this year.

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 1h

Crazy man has nuclear codes

Joe Walsh @walshfreedom.bsky.social · 5h

Every word he says here is a lie. Every. Single. Word. He’s living in an alternate reality. #25thAmendment.

Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 1h

It’s a good thing Republicans never get sick

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 2h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

Reposted by Erik Halvorsen

Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 7h

Yesterday they were shooting priests in the head with rubber bullets. Today they're arresting journalists. If you have anyone in your life who doesn't regularly follow the news and doesn't understand how bad things are and how bad they're about to get, you need to tell them right now. Time is short.

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 6h

Loser

Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 9h

Bari Weiss’s first project for CBS brought in a phenomenal 145 viewers. Love this for her.

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 7h

Release the #TrumpEpsteinfiles

George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 4d

Love this. Superbly done. Please send this far and wide. @donwinslow.bsky.social

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 8h

The Republican war on your healthcare

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15h

C-SPAN caller from Missouri to Missouri Rep. Mark Alford: "I hope you, sir, as an elected official, will think of the people who are in nursing homes, their parents are in nursing homes, their Medicaid is going to be cut. What is going to happen to Missourians whose hospitals are gonna close?"

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 8h

Stock whose “value” is based on fantasy of never ending growth

Hong Zhang @hz-udhr.bsky.social · 3d

"So far this year, the Model Y has been sold in 83,314 units, a significant decrease of 34% over last year, while the Model 3 saw 50,237 sales, down 29% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the overall EV market went up 26% from January to August"
Europe in the right direction.

Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 18d

“EV Sales Are Booming In Europe–Except For Tesla

European EV sales increased by double digits. Meanwhile, Tesla experienced the exact opposite.”

#TSLA #SellTesla

insideevs.com/news/773092/...

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 8h

Hello @columbiauniversity.bsky.social @harvard.edu

Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 13h

A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:

Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges.
We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.
• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%.

source:
https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact

• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.
These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 11h

Let’s save democracy in America

secure.actblue.com/donate/socia...

Invest in WisDems to safeguard democracy:

WisDems are the forefront of our fight to save American democracy. Help us scale up our organizing and voter protection programs.

secure.actblue.com

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Reposted by Erik Halvorsen

ElizabethC @econklin44.bsky.social · 1d

Dems have a 5-2 majority on the PA Supreme Court, but 3 Dem justices are up for retention. In Nov. voters can vote yes/no on whether to retain them. If any justices aren’t retained, an election to name their successor will take place in 2027.
#ProudBlue www.democracydocket.com/analysis/why...

Why Anti-Voting Activists Are Using the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Election to Spread Disinformation

Read about the fight for democracy from activists, elected officials, legal experts and others.

www.democracydocket.com

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Reposted by Erik Halvorsen

Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 1d

Mabel & I hope all our fellow Californians vote YES on Prop. 50!

#FightFireWithFire

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Reposted by Erik Halvorsen

Morgan J Freeman @mjfree.bsky.social · 1d

DO NOT BE DISTRACTED!!!!

TRUMP & EPSTEIN ARE SEX TRAFFICKERS!!! I’m gonna post this every day so nobody forgets exactly who Pedophile Trump is and why the Epstein files have suddenly disappeared.

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Reposted by Erik Halvorsen

Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 1d

Performative public lying is a hallmark of far right authoritarian parties

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "I also did a cognitive exam. Which is always very risky because if I didn't do well, you'd be the first to be blaring it and I had a perfect score. And one of the doctors said he's almost never seen a perfect score. I had a perfect score. That made me well good ... not the easiest test."

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 1d

Republicans are stealing your healthcare and their

A Better Wisconsin Together @abetterwis.bsky.social · 1d

Republicans like Tom Tiffany are choosing to shut down the government over protecting affordable healthcare and extending ACA tax credits.

The enhanced premium tax credits help millions lower their healthcare costs—without them, ACA premiums could double.

Why ACA tax credits for 22 million Americans are at the center of the government shutdown drama

With time running out to avert a government shutdown, millions of Americans who get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act could soon face sharply higher premiums.

www.cbsnews.com

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 1d

“Justice” Kavanaugh ruled these stops were very minimal and over in seconds.

CollinCountyDems @collincountydems.bsky.social · 1d

This is terrifying!

ICE breaks into this woman’s car in the pick-up line at West Loop Elementary school in Chicago and detains her before she can pick her kids up from school. (They were eventually let go after showing their documents)

This is Trump’s America.

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Reposted by Erik Halvorsen

Home of the Brave @ofthebraveusa.bsky.social · 1d

Joe Rogan on Trump's immigration policies: "It shows no heart. You're not gonna get any reasonable people to want to go along with that. Any kind person would look at that and go, 'This can't be the only way.'"

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Reposted by Erik Halvorsen

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 1d

Shapiro: I filed that amicus brief last night to make it very clear that the Pennsylvania National Guard is under my command.

The way the President has chosen to deploy the Guard in other states—and, in at least one case, deploy the Guard from one state into another—is extremely dangerous.

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 1d

The GOP war on your healthcare and their own voters

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

SCARBOROUGH: The Nebraska Rural Health Association says at least 6 rural hospitals would have to close bc of the big beautiful bill

FLOOD: Here's the deal: Some hospitals that are rural hospitals are going to eventually have to transition from being acute bed hospitals into being an ER model

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 1d

Remember this.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · May 20

HASSAN: What is habeas corpus?

NOEM: Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country

HASSAN: That's incorrect

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Reposted by Erik Halvorsen

Hillary Rodham Clinton @hillaryclinton.bsky.social · 1d

Yesterday: Trump bragged, "We took the freedom of speech away."

Today: New reporting on Trump's plans to go after opposition groups.

In 9 days: We mount the largest peaceful protest in modern history to say, loud and clear, that America has no king.

nokings.org

USA Today: 'We took the freedom of speech away:' Trump on flag burning protection, First Amendment

Reuters: Trump's war on the left: inside the plan to investigate liberal groups

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 1d

Crazy crazy liar

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "We're gonna be reducing the cost of medicines by 100%, 200%, 300%, 500% and even more than that."

Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 1d

“Trump’s fortress economy is starting to hurt America

The pain from trade and immigration restrictions cannot be postponed forever”

www.economist.com/leaders/2025...

Donald Trump’s fortress economy is starting to hurt America

The pain from trade and immigration restrictions cannot be postponed forever

www.economist.com

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Erik Halvorsen @erikhalvorsen.bsky.social · 1d

Release the #TrumpEpsteinFiles

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 1d

Rep. Jamie Raskin has sent letters to four of the nation's largest banks demanding information related to "more than $1.5 billion in suspicious financial transactions flagged by the banks tied to sex trafficking crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and their co-conspirators."

Reposted by Erik Halvorsen

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 2d

"A rival petition began circulating Sunday, calling on the Rutgers chapter of TPUSA to be disbanded, accusing it of inciting violence. As of today, that petition had several hundred more signatures than the petition calling for Dr. Bray’s firing..."

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/n...

Rutgers Expert on Antifa Flees to Spain After Receiving Death Threats

www.nytimes.com

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