Author | Lightnews

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Congressman Don Beyer @beyer.house.gov · 1h

"The ballroom is really the president's main priority."

Not your health care.
Not rising prices.
Not the dragging economy.
Not ending the shutdown.

Trump's "main priority" is wrecking the White House so he can build a fancy new ballroom.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 3h

Leavitt: At this moment in time, the ballroom is really the president's main priority.

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Josh Gerstein @joshgerstein.bsky.social · 1h

BREAKING: New suit seeks TRO blocking Trump's White House ballroom project and further destruction of East Wing. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 1h

And wait... how much money did Trump just promise Argentina?

How much is Trump spending on his new ballroom?

🙄😡

@firedbutfighting.bsky.social

Fired but Fighting (National Public Health Coalition) @firedbutfighting.bsky.social · 6h

Federal workers across the country are not getting paychecks this week. Food banks are feeling the strain of federal employees who need help feeding their families.

Federal workers line up for food donations three weeks into shutdown

YouTube video by CNN

youtube.com

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1h

The architects have used the grand ballroom of the Romanovs' winter palace in St Petersburg as a model. Nothing explodes with "autocrat with unchecked power" quite like this. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

‘Dictator-for-life vibes’: our architecture critic on Trump’s bulletproof ballroom bling

He has already turned the Oval Office into a wrestler’s changing room. Now the president is building a place so gilded Nero would feel at home. Why did he pick an architect whose speciality is Catholi...

www.theguardian.com

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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 1h

White House platforming a guy who films people w/o consent & has 14 felony charges for identity theft (his own unhoused “clients”) and fraud, described as “targeting & victimizing” vulnerable people.

In addition to lying about harm reduction, he pushes the false fentanyl “door knobbing” conspiracy.

Karoline Leavitt:
Highly recommend following independent journalist@kevinvdahlgren, whose reporting on the ground in Portland really showcases the horrors taking place in the city every day. Portland clearly needs help.
It's a shame their Democrat elected officials are resisting it, simply because it's being offered by President Trump.

Quote tweet of Kevin Dahlgren:
This is right out of a twilight zone episode. Three people completely motionless, and one of them is standing. All three are nodded out on fentanyl. This was filmed in Delta Park Portland.

Kevin Dahlgren @kevinvdahlgren

"Door knobbing" is when you put fentanyl powder on a door knob of a business that an unsuspecting customer will touch and potentially consume" A fentanyl user describing the behaviors of certain
"mean" addicts and what a "nice dealer" is.
Fentanyl has flooded the market and

Kevin Dahlgren @kevinvdahlgren

user. Other severe addicts are aware of this and has seen them starting to lick the doorknobs of grocery stores in hopes of consuming the powder.
I don't know how widespread this is but I think door handles should be cleaned regularly in concentrated areas of drug activity.

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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 1h

“Homeless advocate” is an insane way to describe someone who stole thousands of dollars from homeless people while he was also being paid a salary specifically to get that money to them. katu.com/news/local/h...

Homeless advocate Kevin Dalhgren jailed after pleading guilty to three charges

Kevin Dahlgren is back in Multnomah County Jail after pleading guilty Monday to various charges.

katu.com

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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 2h

He doesn’t plan on leaving. We will kick him out.

A tweet from Mehdi Hasan reads: “This is his code for saying ‘We can’t have a free and fair election which we lose in 2028.’” It quotes Aaron Rupar’s post showing Donald Trump speaking at a desk with U.S. flags behind him, saying: “We can never let what happened in the 2020 election happen again… I know Kash is working on it, everybody is working on it… We can’t let that happen again to our country.”

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Mike Rothschild @rothschildmd.bsky.social · 1d

The optics of Trump building a ballroom that 99.9% of Americans will never set foot in while millions line up for food banks are worth more than any policy paper or economic proposal. This image is a visceral punch in the mouth that needs no words. It should haunt the GOP for a generation.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

a live look at the demolition of the White House's East Wing for Trump's ballroom

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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 7h

The DC ACLU is suing on behalf of a man who was arrested by a National Guardsman and MPD officers for playing the Imperial March (from Star Wars) as an act of protest. www.acludc.org/app/uploads/...

Ohio National Guard member Sgt. Devon Beck was not amused by this satire. On
September 11, 2025, Mr. O’Hara saw Sgt. Beck, along with several other Guard members, walking
in uniform in the Logan Circle neighborhood, near the intersection of 14th and R Streets NW. Mr.
O’Hara calmly walked behind the Guard members, began playing The Imperial March aloud on
his phone, and started recording. In less than two minutes, Sgt. Beck turned around and threatened
to call D.C. police officers to “handle” Mr. O’Hara if he persisted. Mr. O’Hara continued recording
and playing the music. Sgt. Beck contacted the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Defendant
MPD Officers Brown, Campbell, Reyes-Benigno, and Lopez Martinez came to the scene and, in
essence, did what Sgt. Beck had threatened, putting Mr. O’Hara in handcuffs and preventing him
from continuing his peaceful protest.

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Thor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social · 5h

A big strong guy, who was crying, told me that Trump is doing things that no president has ever done before

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6h

Enten: "Trump is doing absolutely awful in the minds of the American people. We're talking about new lows. CNBC, -13 net approval on the economy. It's -19 among Quinnipiac ... He's not just beating himself with record lows -- this is the lowest for any president ever."

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Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 6h

Tapping the sign

Why Underachievers Dominate Secret Police Organizations: Evidence from Autocratic Argentina
Adam Scharpf and Christian Gläßel

Autocrats depend on a capable secret police. Anecdotal evidence, however, often characterizes agents as surprisingly mediocre in skill and intellect. To explain this puzzle, this article focuses on the career incentives underachieving individuals face in the regular security apparatus. Low-performing officials in hierarchical organizations have little chance of being promoted or filling lucrative positions. To salvage their careers, these officials are willing to undertake burdensome secret police work. Using data on all 4,287 officers who served in autocratic Argentina (1975-83), we study biographic differences between secret police agents and the entire recruitment pool. We find that low-achieving officers were stuck within the regime hierarchy, threatened with discharge, and thus more likely to join the secret police for future benefits. The study demonstrates how state bureaucracies breed mundane career concerns that produce willing enforcers and cement violent regimes. This has implications for the understanding of autocratic consolidation and democratic breakdown.

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❀°。Der Siebenschläfer *.ﾟ✿ ⋆ @sababausa.bsky.social · 5h

My first reaction before even familiarizing myself with the allegations is 31 co-defendants is a whole lot for the prosecutor to bite off in a federal non-RICO conspiracy case, and has big potential to be a procedural fiasco

John Annese @johnannese.bsky.social · 5h

Poker game indictment here:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 5h

"nearly half..." ???

it's an open book test.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...

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Shanlon Wu @shanlonwu.com · 5h

Trump hired an "insurance lawyer." Turns out she might’ve voided her own policy. Comey’s defense says Lindsey Halligan’s appointment was illegal - and it could tank the indictment.

Full Legal AF breakdown: youtu.be/y7b54E3_qnI

#ShanWu #LindseyHalligan #Comey #TrumpDOJ @legalafmtn.bsky.social

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Kenny Akers @keneakers.bsky.social · 5d

A former Utah judge, Kevin Robert Christensen, who served in Box Elder County, has been arrested and charged with multiple serious crimes, including enticing a minor, attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, and dealing in materials harmful to minors. 👇🏾

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 8h

Here's the letter, from last week, that @warren.senate.gov sent to Google about the quid pro quo, settling their YouTube lawsuit in exchange for helping to destroy the East Wing.

Wyden, Sanders, Blumenthal, and Merkley also signed.

www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

On September 29, 2025, YouTube agreed to settle President Trump’s censorship case for
$24.5 million13 — despite the fact that legal experts viewed the lawsuit as “likely doomed
from the start,” and YouTube as well-positioned to prevail in court.14 $22 million of the
settlement will be given to President Trump, which he has directed to be contributed, on
his behalf, to the Trust for the National Mall, “to support the construction of the White
House State Ballroom.”15 President Trump has discussed his dream of a White House
ballroom for over 15 years and reportedly values the ballroom as an opportunity to host
large groups and “put his aesthetic stamp on the White House itself.”16 According to a
White House official, construction of the ballroom will continue throughout the federal

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 8h

Half of the chuds applying for ICE jobs these days are unable to pass the written part of the application process, even though it’s an open book test.

Some new ICE recruits have shown up to training without full vetting

The recruits have had criminal backgrounds or failed drug tests or were unable to meet physical or academic standards, raising concerns about the agency’s rush to hire immigration officers, sources to...

www.nbcnews.com

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Coach Pāṇini ® @paninid.mastodon.world.ap.brid.gy · 8h

@gwensnyder.bsky.social

Reminds me of this anecdote.

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Joe Kassabian @jkass99.bsky.social · 13h

New ICE recruiting methods have resulted in half of this group of absolute winners failing AN OPEN BOOK TEST

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𝑲𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒂𝑺𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 @kassandraseven.bsky.social · 8h

There are a bunch of questions in this thread that people should be asking themselves.

We are at the “fix your heart or die” stage, basically.

Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 8h

I very much wish the whole Platner tattoo thing hadn't happened, it would be much better if he really was an ideal progressive candidate able to take on Susan Collins

However, there is a huge silver lining here: we are learning a lot of important info about certain individuals and orgs on the left

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Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 23h

Voters should pick their representatives, not the other way around. Glad to get the chance to talk to some of the volunteers and organizers doing the hard work to make sure Prop 50 passes. This vote will have critical implications, not just for California, but for our entire country.

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Total Lowlife Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 19h

I for one think the Epstein Ballroom will be magnificent. I love the decor theme of “what if Uday Hussein ran a Ramada Inn.” And giving it a theme song everyone will associate with it is a stroke of brilliance! “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” is very catchy.

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 21h

Looks as if Trump is saying no Democrat will be allowed to win another national election—and he will use the FBI, the DOJ, and the CIA to make sure of that. This is a full-scale attack on American democracy, and every Republican, CEO, and conservative mouthpiece who doesn't object is complicit.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump: "We can never let what happened in the 2020 election happen again. We just can't let that happen. I know Kash is working on it, everybody is working on it. And certainly Tulsi is working on it. We can't let that happen again to our country."

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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 18h

Every single Republican should be speaking out against Trump trying to take millions from the DOJ to pay for his legal defence.

Millions of their constituents are about to go hungry, yet there’s always money for war. For ICE. For Trump.

Jesspooka Kant 🎃 @jessdkant.bsky.social · 18h

The total amount of SNAP received in a month in Massachusetts is $240 million. This is both a staggering amount of money and less than the cost of a single F-22 fighter. It is also incidentally just north of the amount Trump is attempting to extort from his own DOJ right now during the shutdown.

"The federal government provides about $240
million a month in SNAP benefits to
Massachusetts residents," Healey said. "There's no way that the state can make up for that, which is why l urge, along with governors everywhere, the president to do the right thing and unfreeze Snap, feed our families even during the shutdown.'
"

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Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 18h

Just remembering when Musk banned a ton of people (mostly journalists) for pointing out that he banned the ElonJet account, and he (and many of his vocal supporters) argued that merely mentioning the existence of ElonJet was doxxing and designed to harm Musk.

Seems like a bit of a double standard.

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