Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Laurie @labelbda.bsky.social · 8h

Is this demolition & new build being challenged legally?

Reposted by Laurie

Senator Mark Warner @markwarner.bsky.social · 8h

Trump said that his big, ugly ballroom “won’t interfere with the current building.” Well, here Trump is demolishing part of the White House to build a $250 million structure all while his shutdown prevents federal workers from getting paid.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump’s ballroom

The president had claimed construction of the $250 million ballroom wouldn’t “interfere” with the existing White House structure.

www.washingtonpost.com

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💫⭐️N. Jules⭐️💫 @northjules.bsky.social · 8h

The Jan. 6 rioter who breached the Senate floor - and was subsequently pardoned by Trump - was arrested Sunday for threatening to assassinate Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Here are a few of his text messages. Tell me again how Democrats are radical nut jobs⁉️

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Dean Obeidallah @deanobeidallah.bsky.social · 8h

NEW: Jan 6 terrorist pardoned by Trump has been charged with threatening to kill Hakeem Jeffries. Message sent by Trump pardoning people who attacked Capitol is you can attack and kill people in service of me and I will have your back. Trump will pardon him again. www.mediaite.com/media/news/t...

Trump-Pardoned Jan 6 Rioter Charged With Threatening to Kill Top Democrat

A January 6 rioter pardoned by President Donald Trump has been charged for allegedly threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

www.mediaite.com

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Laurie @labelbda.bsky.social · 22h

It already felt like the Republicans were recycling the 1980s with a stricter playbook. Well done, Ontario!

Reposted by Laurie

Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · 1d

Many of my liberal peers see clearly how mainstream outlets have ruined their already imperiled businesses by capitulating to bad-faith right-wing criticism. They have a harder time seeing that the Democratic Party has fallen victim to the same kind of self-sabotage.

Democrats Fell Prey To The Same Toxic Dynamics That Destroyed Mainstream News

Instead of fighting smears, they appeased the smear merchants.

www.offmessage.net

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Laurie @labelbda.bsky.social · 1d

The stock market is a false flag for the health of the economy because its buoyancy comes from the AI/crypto bubble. The wealth distribution gap worsened under the current administration’s policy. 1929 / 2008 might start looking like depression lite. Where will the bailout be coming from this time?

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d

More Americans are struggling to make their monthly car-loan payments, one of the clearest indications that low- and middle-income families could be starting to buckle, even as the U.S. economy on its surface has appeared to hold up relatively well.

Lower-Income Americans Are Missing Car Payments

Inflation and a tough job market are making it harder for some people to pay back the car loans they signed in better times.

nyti.ms

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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 2d

I'm grateful to @60minutes.bsky.social featuring our study published @justsecurity.org.

Link to the study (on the 'presumption of regularity'): www.justsecurity.org/120547/presu...

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Denise Wheeler @denisedwheeler.bsky.social · 1d

The Supreme Court is about to decide whether private contractors can break the law—and get away with it.

After being sued under state human trafficking laws for forcing immigrant detainees to work for free, the nation’s largest private prison company, GEO Group, wants blanket immunity.

ICE’s Private Prison Contractor Is Hoping to Get Blanket Immunity

After being sued for violating state-level human trafficking laws, GEO Group, the nation’s largest private prison company, is pushing the Supreme Court to grant private government contractors like its...

jacobin.com

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Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 2d

We love our Marines and owe a debt of gratitude to Camp Pendleton, but next time, the Vice President and the White House shouldn’t be so reckless with people’s lives for their vanity projects.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/u...

Artillery Shell Detonated Over Interstate 5 During Marines’ Celebration, California Officials Say

www.nytimes.com

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 2d

Samuel Douglass, a Vermont Republican legislator who faced bipartisan condemnation after participating in a long-running group chat that routinely used racist and antisemitic language, said on Friday that he would resign. He was one of a dozen young Republicans who had participated in the texts.

Vermont Legislator Resigns Over Racist Texts in Republican Group Chat

The G.O.P. officials who participated in a group text chat have faced calls to step down. State Senator Samuel Douglass was the group’s only elected member.

nyti.ms

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 2d

The 100 lowest-paying US corporations spent $644B on stock buybacks from 2019 to 2024.

Buybacks artificially boost share prices and inflate CEO pay.

The typical worker at these companies earned $35k last year.

Meanwhile, the average CEO was paid $17.2M

See the problem?

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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 3d

Imagine being the largest newspaper in Washington, DC with the motto "Democracy Dies in Darkness" and thinking to publish this today.

You might think WaPo editors would look out the window and realize something more important is happening. But perhaps democracy already died over there.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 3d

Our friend Mark Cuban blames social media for younger people being disillusioned with capitalism, as Bill Maher went after Zohran — we’d offer that’s because it exposes what their generation’s unbridled greed has done to inequality in 🇺🇸 (and their futures)

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Laurie @labelbda.bsky.social · 3d

corporations, “too big to fail” corporations, c-suite compensation packages,….. and the disintegration of the middle class.

Trickle-down economics doesn’t work whether you are a Democrat or Republican billionaire/oligarch.

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Laurie @labelbda.bsky.social · 3d

@mcuban.bsky.social, @andrewrsorkin.bsky.social, @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social, Cuomo, etc. are showing their individual net worth, privilege and age. The issue is not capitalism, per se, it’s wealth distribution aided by an outdated global/federal/state/municipal tax system, highly leveraged 🪡

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 3d

@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social snapped this at the #nokings protest in McLean, VA

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 5d

Newsom: This president appears unhinged… seems listless… he seems, dare I say, in decline—cognitively, and… physically. These are just the rantings of someone who needs an intervention, needs some help, needs to be stabilized.

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Tax Justice UK @taxjusticeuk.bsky.social · 4d

📈Amazon paid just £932 million in taxes in 2023, on £29 billion of turnover.🤑

If it wasn't for the Digital Services tax, they'd have paid less than half of that!

No wonder they want it scrapped — its too hard to dodge.

Stop tax cuts for tech giants!👇
taxjustice.eaction.org.uk/protect-the-...

No new tax breaks for Tech Giants

Donald Trump and big tech billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are pressuring the UK to drop our ‘Big Tech Tax’.

taxjustice.eaction.org.uk

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Qasim Rashid, Esq. @qasimrashid.com · 4d

It costs ~$70 to produce a year’s supply of insulin.

Yet, the average annual cost of insulin went from $2,864 in 2012 to $5,705 in 2016 to $18,000 in 2025. A 25,714% markup. That isn’t inflation or supply chain—It’s corporate greed.

Now—California will sell insulin for $11. Make this nationwide!

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 5d

Mike Johnson has now had the House adjourned for 73 out of the last 85 days.

Epstein Shutdown.

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AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes @azagmayes.bsky.social · 5d

Time is up. I gave Speaker Mike Johnson two days to swear in Adelita Grijalva. Arizona's 7th congressional district 813,000 Arizonans are now being taxed without representation. I have lawyers downstairs right now drafting litigation.

youtu.be/9OBdjsGntQI?...

AG Mayes Demands Speaker Johnson Swear In Adelita Grijalva | The Lead with Jake Tapper CNN

YouTube video by Arizona Attorney General's Office

youtu.be

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The Japan Times @japantimes.co.jp · 4d

As tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela escalate, a U.S. military strike on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean has left survivors, a U.S. official has said.

In a first, U.S. strike in Caribbean leaves survivors, U.S. official says

Tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela have escalated amid U.S. strikes on alleged drug vessels off the South American country's coast.

ebx.sh

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 5d

Himes: If you've got the capability to blow a boat out of the water, you've got the capability to interdict it, arrest everyone on board, interrogate them, and find out where it was going, where it came from, who the bosses are, and what the distribution networks look like.

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Kimberly Atkins Stohr @kimberlyeatkins.bsky.social · 6d

Good afternoon to everyone but especially Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, who argued her heart out today in an effort to stop the Supreme Court from destroying the Voting Rights Act.

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