Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Lenore Palladino

Patrick Bigger @pmbigger.bsky.social · 16h

As the US ramps up brutality from Chicago to Venezuela, the state takes equity stakes in mining firms, & the economy perilously hinges on AI fool's gold, it's critical to reshape how war, climate, economy & geopolitics are intersecting. That's why we're launching @transitionsec.bsky.social next week

flyer for the transition security project online launch next week at 1 PM ET

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Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 12h

Rubio looking mighty uncomfortable

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 12h

You know that Hegseth wants to yell out "NEVER BEEN CIRCUMCISED" and then stare pointedly at Lutnick.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 13h

RFK JR: There are many other confirmations -- there are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they are given Tylenol

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George Pearkes @peark.es · 12h

*HAMAS NEGOTIATING CHIEF ANNOUNCES DEAL TO END WAR WITH ISRAEL

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 14h

Without comment.

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

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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 13h

it's fine it's fine nothing to see here

www.ft.com/content/fa7b...

UK watchdog monitors Tricolor and First Brands collapse for private credit risks

Failures of two US companies reliant on asset-based lending prove ‘useful case studies’, FCA says

www.ft.com

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Private Equity Stakeholder Project @pestakeholder.bsky.social · 18h

“Extractive real estate practices that contribute to harmful impacts on patients and reduced access to care for entire communities should have no place in healthcare.” — Mary Bugbee, PESP
🔗 www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-r...

Markey, Sanders, Blumenthal Introduce Legislation to Protect Health Systems from Predatory Real Estate Investment Trust Deals | U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts

Bill Text (PDF) Washington (October 8, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), top Democrat on...

www.markey.senate.gov

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Trevon Logan @trevondlogan.bsky.social · 16h

The call for the state to mass execute Black men is deliberate. Racial misandry as policy has implications for the lives of Black men. This discourse is something the work of @proftjcurry.bsky.social has been writing about for years. His work speaks to this moment. www.theroot.com/why-this-whi...

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Michelle Miller @michelleimiller.bsky.social · 16h

First unionized REI store. In the historic Puck building. God help us all.

Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · 17h

The fact that this is turning into OpenAI office space is such a depressing sign of the times.

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 17h

Oh no, my second-favorite store is closing :((( gothamist.com/news/rei-shu...

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 1d

If you come for my people, you come through me.

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Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · 1d

This sucks! These workers fought their asses off. Shout out to @reiunion.bsky.social

southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 1d

REI to close its soho location, the first shop that unionized. www.bicycleretailer.com/industry-new...

REI to close three stores, including NYC SoHo location

SEATTLE (BRAIN) — A week after announcing a strategic plan to employees that would involve difficult decisions to grow sales, REI Co-op said it will close three stores next year, including the New Yor...

www.bicycleretailer.com

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Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 1d

it's everything everywhere all at once in this story

Axios @axios.com · 1d

Federal authorities in L.A. arrested a man they accused of igniting January's Palisades wildfires, and prosecutors say he used ChatGPT to confide an obsession with fires and indulge it.

Prosecutors arrest man for Palisades fire, allege he used ChatGPT for planning

ChatGPT tied to Uber driver accused in deadly L.A. wildfire

trib.al

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Jim Kane @kanejim.bsky.social · 1d

"Big Ten Considering Investment From California Pension Fund" 🫣

frontofficesports.com/big-ten-cons...

Three private-equity firms are in contention, the source said: Apollo Global Management (which just launched a sports-focused fund), Sixth Street Partners, and Ares Management (Sports Illustrated first reported the news of the latter three funds’ interest).

Then, there’s CalPERS, a statewide pension fund for California public employees that manages more than $580 billion in assets for more than two million members. The fund, the largest public pension in the U.S., has about 18% of its assets allocated to private equity.

The proposal may include CalPERS investing in the Big Ten as a co-investment alongside any or all of the aforementioned PE firms. (In such a deal, CalPERS would invest in the Big Ten entity alongside a PE firm for a minority stake and less control and lower fees.)

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George Pearkes @peark.es · 1d

Chucky has sauces inside Paramount Skydance, which is not at all surprising.

Anyhow, they're looking to get PE involved in the WBD bid.

Exclusive | Paramount Skydance talking to Apollo, buyout firms to join possible $60B Warner Bros. Discovery bid: sources

“These companies bring a lot to the table since they own stakes in Hollywood properties and have a lot of money,” said one source.

nypost.com

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Private Equity Stakeholder Project @pestakeholder.bsky.social · 1d

What happens when BlackRock takes control of your power company?

James Baratta gives an inside look at the private-equity takeover of a vital Minnesota utility—and what it means for communities and clean energy.

🔗 prospect.org/environment/...

BlackRock Just Bought a Minnesota Utility

On Friday, state regulators voted unanimously in favor of allowing private equity to take a Duluth-based utility holding company private. The Prospect takes you inside the room where it all went down.

prospect.org

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Spooky Adult Paul OBE(S) @sanjukta.bsky.social · 2d

David (whom many of us know, to various degrees) describing his experience being singled out and abused over the last couple of days. Horrific.

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 2d

NEW: David Adler—a Jewish American on the Gaza aid Flotilla—details Israeli detention.

At one point, he says, he was forced to his knees for a photo op with the Israeli flag, as Ben Gvir yelled in his face, calling him a terrorist.

Says US "hung up" on families of Americans, veterans seeking help.

EXCLUSIVE: Freed Flotilla Activist David Adler Details His ‘Violent Abduction’ by Israel

The Jewish American writer says Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir specifically targeted him, forcing a photo op with the Israeli flag and calling him a “terrorist.”

zeteo.com

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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 1d

Dutch merchant in 1647: “Yes I've sold my land for a handful of bulbs, but there is nothing especially alarming about price of tulips.”

Bloomberg Opinion @opinion.bloomberg.com · 1d

Is AI a bubble about to burst, bringing down the economy? Although the spending is massive, at this point there’s nothing especially alarming.

The AI Spending Boom Is Massive But Not Unprecedented

The boom in capital expenditures related to generative artificial intelligence is generating lots of questions about whether it is sustainable. Coming up with definitive answers to them is something of a fool’s errand. Quantifying the size of the capex surge seems like a more productive endeavor — and one that may offer some hints as to its sustainability.

bloom.bg

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Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 1d

saving this one

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Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 1d

so unregulated finance is *very* important but not *systemically* important

make it make sense

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

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Bryce Covert @brycecovert.bsky.social · 1d

As pensions have disappeared, Americans are on the hook to find ways to create a comfortable retirement. Advisors who aren't required to act in their clients' best interests are preying on the opportunity, and Trump is likely to let them keep scamming retirees. inthesetimes.com/article/unle...

Unleashing Retirement Scammers

The Trump administration may reopen a loophole that allows investment brokers to enrich themselves at clients' expense.

inthesetimes.com

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Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 2d

also let it be clear that this is the type of deal that the Tr*mp admin just told us should go into the $12 trillion 401(k) market

aka that account that is supposed to give workers a marginal cushion of economic security

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Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 2d

it's amazing how passive writers make it sound when things turn out to not be what the company said they were:

"The company, whose fortunes unraveled in recent weeks as it grappled with a debt pile from a flurry of acquisitions over the past few years"

www.reuters.com/markets/us/a...

www.reuters.com

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Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 2d

unregulated finance, in this case private credit funds, is hiding all its activities in the dark & we're going to see more and more issues come to light

it's deeply connected with both banks and pension funds

peri.umass.edu/publication/...

The Risks of Unregulated “Private” Credit Funds

Abstract The “private” financial industry—which contains financial instruments not traded on open exchanges and financial institutions that are underregulated—is no longer an ‘alternative’…

peri.umass.edu

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Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 2d

well well well, all that private credit due diligence not looking so great now, is it

the implosion of First Brands is raising "broader questions about the dangers lurking in the booming private credit market" 🧵

on.ft.com/48pSHf3

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Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 2d

same .. I stare longingly at the unhedged link sometimes

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