Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Karen Elder

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 7h

ICYMI — Trump lied that Chicago had “4000” murders, when it’s projected to have 380 this year (way down from last year)

If it’s so bad there why does he have to keep lying about it?

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Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 @joshuaeakle.com · 15h

In Chicago, four vehicles descended and eight ICE agents moved in to kidnap a child.

She screams, “I’m 15,” as ICE yanks her from the car and kneels on her neck.

This is not about immigration enforcement.

It's about terrorizing Americans.

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Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 10h

It’s no wonder that Trump has such a twisted view of war and sacrifice. And the utility of bribes.

Donald was seven years old, and his father was brought before a U.S. Senate committee investigating abuses in a housing program for war veterans and middle class families. President Eisenhower had been outraged to learn of the bribes that developers paid to bureaucrats and of the alleged profiteering practiced by Trump and others. Ike called them "sons of bitches."
As federal investigators had discovered, the elder Trump had collected an extra $1.7 million in rent-equivalent to $15 million today-before beginning to pay back his low-cost government loan. He was able to do this because a bureaucrat named Clyde Powell approved the paperwork.
Powell, who had never been paid more than a modest government salary, had mysteriously amassed a small fortune. (While it was clear Powell accepted bribes, the sources were never officially identified.) In addition to collecting the extra rent, Trump paid himself a substantial architect's fee. And he charged inflated rents based on an estimate of construction costs that was far greater than what he actually spent. All of this was legal, even if it did victimize taxpayers, veterans, and other renters.

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 6h

Some Americans think making America weaker, poorer, more chaotic, less reliable, with fewer friends, worse relationships with democracies, and damaging international institutions America set up and benefited from is good.

Not sarcasm. I think they’re very wrong, but they’re getting what they want.

David Rothkopf @djrothkopf.bsky.social · 7h

On NYT Home Page there's a Douthat column w/the headline "Trump's Foreign Policy is Succeeding. He Should Apply It's Lessons at Home." On what planet? Betraying our allies. Blowing up the global trading system. Embracing autocrats. Pulling back support for Ukraine. Helping to support Gaza slaughter.

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Reposted by Karen Elder

Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 12h

I’m not trying to give @pbs.org ideas for raising money—but I am. I would buy women’s fit T-shirts of all my favorite childhood shows. Reading rainbow, 321 contact, square one, zoobiliee zoo. I feel like two generations will run to donate even more money for shirts with Levar Burton on them…

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 6h

A policy expert described Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s push in favor of private schools as a “great American heist,” funneling money from public schools: “It’s a strategic theft of the future of our country, our kids and our democracy.”

By @megomatz.bsky.social & @jsmithrichards.bsky.social

These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.

Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of publ...

www.propublica.org

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Reposted by Karen Elder

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 6h

Multi billionaire conducts months of historical and theological research into the Antichrist. Discovers, shockingly, that one thing the Antichrist would definitely do is tax billionaires. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Done
theguardian.com
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Jump to
He believes the Armageddon will be ushered in by an antichrist-type figure who cultivates a fear of existential threats such as climate change, Al and nuclear war to amass inordinate power. The idea is this figure will convince people to do everything they can to avoid something like a third world war, including accepting a one-world order charged with protecting everyone from the apocalypse that implements a complete restriction of technological progress. In his mind, this is already happening. Thiel said that international financial bodies, which make it more difficult for people to shelter their wealth in tax havens, are one sign the antichrist may be amassing power and hastening Armageddon, saying: "It's become quite difficult to hide one's money."

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Reposted by Karen Elder

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 6h

This is as much a legacy of the War on Drugs than anything else. He has a controlled substance conviction separate and apart from the exonerated murder conviction.

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 7h

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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Reposted by Karen Elder

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 1d

New from me at Cato: I go through the numerous and massive First Amendment and academic-freedom violations of Trump's proffered "compact" with universities and then talk about the mechanism by which it would be enforced, by way of what I describe as a "retroactive push-button guillotine."

Universities Must Defend Their Independence by Rejecting Trump's "Compact"

The Trump administration has proffered a “compact” to universities that would require them to surrender their independence and academic freedom. How many First Amendment violations can we identify in ...

www.cato.org

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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 6h

An important piece from @walterolson.bsky.social at @cato.org on Trump’s extortionary compact for US colleges and universities.

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 1d

New from me at Cato: I go through the numerous and massive First Amendment and academic-freedom violations of Trump's proffered "compact" with universities and then talk about the mechanism by which it would be enforced, by way of what I describe as a "retroactive push-button guillotine."

Universities Must Defend Their Independence by Rejecting Trump's "Compact"

The Trump administration has proffered a “compact” to universities that would require them to surrender their independence and academic freedom. How many First Amendment violations can we identify in ...

www.cato.org

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Reposted by Karen Elder

The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 6h

“I … met with the governor, met with the mayor, met with the chief of police, and the superintendent of the highway patrol. They’re all lying, and disingenuous, and dishonest people,” Noem said, because they wouldn’t back up her baseless claims that the streets were overrun with terrorists.

ICE Barbie Says an Entire State’s Worth of Officials Are “Lying”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is convinced, against all evidence, that Portland is a war zone.

trib.al

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Reposted by Karen Elder

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 6h

An HHS source says admin also RIFed entire Office of Population Affairs last night.
“Not a single staff person to run our nation's family planning program or the evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention program. The Office of Adolescent Health which nested within OPA functionally ceases to exist”

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Reposted by Karen Elder

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 14h

Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)

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Max Boot @maxboot.bsky.social · 5h

Glad the troops are getting paid but the president should not have the power to do this. This is another usurpation of Congress’s power of the purse. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump orders Defense Dept. to issue military paychecks during shutdown

Trump said that the Pentagon would repurpose money to make payroll, as military service members were poised to miss paychecks on Wednesday. Most other government workers will not be paid.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Karen Elder

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 7h

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 5h

The ease with which a handful of MAGA influencers can get another loyal MAGA person in the doghouse is one of those funny/scary things. @willsommer.bsky.social on Todd Blanche's MAGA blues: www.thebulwark.com/p/maga-turns...

MAGA Turns on Trump’s Top Lawyer

Todd Blanche discovers that your place is never totally secure in the modern conservative movement.

www.thebulwark.com

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 6h

found exactly the one use of “evil recoils in the presence of Christ” I am willing to sign off on, HOOOOOOOOLY SHIT

Father Larry did not come here to fuck around

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 12h

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 9h

Several people have asked variants of “mass layoffs happen in the private sector all the time, why shouldn’t this be ok for govt employees too?”

A central principle of civil service law is the president doesn’t get to remove civil servants because he disagrees with them. And Congress must be…

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Reposted by Karen Elder

Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 10h

So to summarize:

- There is a pattern where Vought makes the RIFs too wide, apparently to flood the zone with sh*t and see who will draw protests.
- They restore some people after outrage and work by us.
- But we are still left with many who remain fired at the end.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 5h

More context in this thread:

bsky.app/profile/mark...

Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 10h

Seeing a lot of celebration of this as a win.

But at NIH we have seen this exact play before.

It looks like it is the Vought strategy -and to stop the lawless firings we have to see the bigger picture.
A 🧵:

Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Karen Elder

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 5h

Thankfully, some of yesterday's CDC firings have been rescinded.

But this should be a major scandal, not business as usual in this shitshow of an administration. It's either spectacular incompetence or an effort to make even politically untouchable positions feel precarious to those in them.

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 6h

100s of #CDC employees were notified Friday they were being fired — RIF'd. The firings cross multiple parts of the agency, endangering its core mission of keeping Americans safe.
Saturday, some were informed they were RIF'd in error.
Hard to imagine how this happens www.statnews.com/2025/10/11/c...

CDC battered by government shutdown firings, while some are rescinded

The White House’s mass firing of CDC staff on Friday has decimated offices related to injury prevention, respiratory disease surveillance, and chronic disease, according to four people familiar with t...

www.statnews.com

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 5h

Trump fires most of the CDC and then scrambles to hire them all back in another demonstration of gross incompetence. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Trump axes, then scrambles to rehire, critical CDC workers amid shutdown job cuts

Hundreds of the fired CDC workers may be brought back, but it’s unclear when they’ll return to work

www.independent.co.uk

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Christopher Miller @christopherjm.ft.com · 5h

New: The US has for months been helping Ukraine mount long-range strikes on Russian energy facilities, in what officials say is a co-ordinated effort to weaken Vladimir Putin’s economy and force him to the negotiating table.
w/ @a-mackinnon.bsky.social @maxseddon.bsky.social
on.ft.com/4h7zHUD

Ukraine hit Russian energy sites with US help

Trump administration supported Kyiv’s operations since summer in co-ordinated push to weaken Moscow

on.ft.com

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 5h

RESULT: New Orleans has a new mayor. Helena Moreno, a Democrat known as a progressive member of the city council, easily won today’s mayoral race and cleared the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff. She’ll replace the retiring Democratic Mayor, Cantrell.

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 5h

se·cret po·lice /sēkrit pəˈlēs/, noun. Secret police are police, intelligence, or security agencies that engage in operations against a government's political, ideological, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police are characteristic of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.

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