Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Old Man J

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 58m

NEWS: ICE gave a Rogers Park man a $130 ticket for not having his papers on him. They rounded him up last week and eventually let him go, but not without a fine that some critics say is un-American. Trump admin enforcing little-used law
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/i...

ICE tickets Chicago man with legal residency $130 for not having his papers on him: ‘It’s not fair…I’m a resident’

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement fined Rueben Antonio Cruz $130 for not having his papers with him.

www.chicagotribune.com

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C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 4h

What The Hell Is Going On, a thread:

I’ve seen some thinkpieces and posts about Portland protests that fail to understand the long-term hyperspecificity of Portland culture/humor, and frame it as a sort of shitposting meme-pilled ironic thing. Which is wrong.

So I’m gonna give you my breakdown.

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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 47m

How two lawsuits could expand Citizens United, eliminate campaign donations restrictions, and turn America into a kleptocracy — and how this nightmare can be stopped.

The Right's Secret Plan to Help Billionaires Buy Elections

J.D. Vance and other MAGA interests are working to get the Supreme Court to end restrictions on campaign-spending limits.

www.rollingstone.com

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Old Man J @oldmanj.bsky.social · 5m

And he actually believes it

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 40m

Trump speaking in front of a group of world leaders: "I'm the only one that matters"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 42m

Trump on Orban: "We love Viktor. You are fantastic, alright? I know a lot of people don't agree with me, but I'm the only one that matters. He's a great leader. I endorsed him the last election he had and he won by 28 points. You're gonna do even better this time when you have another election."

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Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 1h

ICE agents blocked an ambulance that was trying to take an injured protester to hospital.

"We are still not being allowed to leave by ICE officers.” an EMT said on radio

When driver tried to get out, an agent yelled, "DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, I WILL SHOOT YOU"

www.wweek.com/news/2025/10...

Documents Allege a Federal Agent at Portland ICE Threatened to Shoot an Ambulance Driver

Feds delayed medics who had come to pick up an injured protester. Then, according to confidential incident reports, the agents became aggressive.

www.wweek.com

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Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 1h

👀 “The Ghost House”: Eye opening report from @punchbowlnews.bsky.social this am on how Mike Johnson has turned the House into a joke under Republican rule. He has turned House Republican leaders into Trump White House’s poodles (if you catch my drift) covering up for #EpsteinFiles.

$“The Ghost House. Speaker Mike Johnson and top House GOP leaders have kept members home since Sept. 19. While the complaints are growing louder inside House GOP ranks over the issue, Johnson insists Republicans have done their job and there’s no reason for them to be here. House GOP lawmakers passed a “clean” CR that would keep federal agencies open until Nov. 21. Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked that measure, which led to this shutdown. Democrats are demanding a vote on their own proposal to permanently extend expiring Obamacare premium credits, a rollback in massive Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the end of unilateral spending rescissions. Yet the House’s absence makes it easier for the shutdown to continue. Part of what ends shutdowns is anxiety building among the rank-and-file. Members are home, so there’s limited pressure on House GOP leaders to do anything. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and dozens of Democrats have been in D.C. throughout the shutdown. More importantly, Johnson has emerged as the “face” of the shutdown for House Republicans. He’s doing daily press conferences and more media interviews, putting himself in the center of the fracas. A C-SPAN caller begging Johnson to bring the House back last week went viral. So did Johnson’s hallway confrontation with Arizona Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly over Johnson’s refusal to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, a move that has infuriated Democrats.”$

OBBB and done. The reality is that since the OBBB passed on July 3, the House has been checked out. A virtual non-entity for more than three months. And this is the off-year, when Congress is supposed to be busy.
Since July 3, the House has only been in session for 20 days (out of more than 100 calendar days.) Even accounting for the normal August break — which began early because of the Epstein mess – the House has been AWOL.
There have been just over 90 floor votes during this period. A lot of these were amendment votes or votes on non-controversial suspension bills. Several were partisan FY2026 spending bills that have no chance of passage. All in all, very little of substance has been taken up. But as Johnson will remind you, the House did pass a CR.
The only period comparable to this in recent decades was in 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi used proxy voting to buttress the Democratic leadership’s power. Republicans yelled loudly about that at the time, even filing an unsuccessful lawsuit to stop it. But a similar thing is happening in reverse now.
If you see it, don’t say it. House Republicans have done virtually no oversight on the Trump administration, rolling over on a number of issues that their predecessors would have screamed loudly about. It’s true that House Democrats did little or nothing to rein in President Joe Biden when they controlled the House. But Trump has gone far beyond Biden in using executive authority. “Inside the White House, top advisers joke that they are ruling Congress with an ‘iron fist,’” the Wall Street Journal reported.
For an institution that has complained for years about the need to claw back power from the executive branch, it’s a sad state of affairs. And it shows no sign of ending soon.

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Old Man J @oldmanj.bsky.social · 10m

The president of Canada, you say?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 46m

Trump: "You have Canada. That's so great to have, in fact. The president called and he wanted to know if it's worth -- well he knew exactly what it is. He knew the importance. Where's Canada, by the way? Where are you? He knew the importance of this."

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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 34m

Kudos to ⁦‪@mehdirhasan‬⁩.

Not only did he invite me on his show in 2018 to talk about my investigation into Farage’s funders (no UK channel ever did).

But he also asked a former colleague of Nathan Gill’s in the EU parliament whether UKIP had ever taken Russian bribes 🔥

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18m

Trump's conversation with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is caught on a hot mic. Hard to tell exactly what they are talking about, but Subianto asks Trump about meeting Eric Trump and Don Jr, who supposedly have nothing to do with government while they run the family business.

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Old Man J @oldmanj.bsky.social · 15m

Out of control ICE in Portland threaten to shoot an ambulance driver
www.wweek.com/news/2025/10...

Documents Allege a Federal Agent at Portland ICE Threatened to Shoot an Ambulance Driver

Feds delayed medics who had come to pick up an injured protester. Then, according to confidential incident reports, the agents became aggressive.

www.wweek.com

1

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Carol Rosenberg @carolrosenbergnyt.bsky.social · 1h

Declassified: Fragments of a graphic cable about 2002 circa torture in a CIA black site.
Alarmed co-workers reported it, triggering investigations that allowed critics of the program to cast it as out of control, and eventually contributed to its being shut down.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...

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Karoli @karoli.bsky.social · 1h

Apparently so. You’d think this was the first time.

Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 1h

There were at least two ceasefires under Biden! In which more than five times as many living Israeli hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinians! Has everyone forgotten this?

Coffee Indiana @coffeeindiana.bsky.social · 1h

Also, ceasefires have happened under prior Presidents! The day he gets Palestine their own country he can be told he's the most special boy deserving of a shiny prize.

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Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 1h

While Israelis celebrated the return of captives from Gaza, Israel warned Palestinian families against holding celebrations over the return of prisoners – some who had been held for decades. Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh explains.

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The Ass is the father of the legs @internethippo.bsky.social · 1h

They always do the paid protester bit but I think part of the reason is this particular gang of corrupt nihilists literally can't understand why someone would give a shit about anything without getting money for it

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5h

Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it."

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Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 2h

ICE is thug trash.

Jonah @anotherjonah.bsky.social · 4h

This morning I was filming ICE abducting sometime in Petworth. One of the agents told me "the last US citizen that did this he put in cuffs all the way to the courtroom".

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Old Man J @oldmanj.bsky.social · 20m

💯

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 8h

A miracle they’re still alive. Elated for their families. Can’t help but think of all the hostages who would have also come home two years ago had Netanyahu chosen his own people over his thirst for war.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 8h

Hamas has released all 20 remaining living hostages.

The Israeli military says it has taken custody of them and will transport them onward to Israel. Follow AP's live updates.

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Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 3h

For those who don’t intimately understand how news works and why Bari Weiss’s unearned elevation to head of CBS News matters, I’d recommend watching this in entirety. Also, will forever point out irony of how an admitted DEI hire thinks her hire was meritorious while Black people’s aren’t.

Katelyn Boo-urns @katelynburns.com · 5h

Holy shit go off John Oliver youtu.be/gieTx_P6INQ?...

Bari Weiss: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

youtu.be

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Rebecca Fishbein @bfishbfish.bsky.social · 1h

It’s so funny when they call the No Kings protesters “antifa” when they’re like 70% enraged senior citizens (complimentary)

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5h

Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it."

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 1h

"Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God's children." —MLK Jr.

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George Conway 🇺🇸🚫👑🐸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 14h

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Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR) @hcrichardson.bsky.social · 14h

October 12, 2025

On October 9, President Donald J.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

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George Conway 🇺🇸🚫👑🐸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 14h

There is absolutely zero chance that a man who took $50,000 in cash in a paper bag from an FBI agent on camera would have been appointed to any position by any other president.

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Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 13h

Unsure how many times I have to repeat it, but health care shouldn’t be for-profit.

Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 1d

Drug Rehabs Lure In Patients for Insurance Money—Then Leave Them on the Street

Operators promise high-end treatment, help addicts sign up for insurance then pile on charges for little in return, say former patients and insurers.

www.wsj.com

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Jacob Shamsian @jayshams.bsky.social · 17h

The Wall Street Journal reports that Ghislaine Maxwell had a meeting with an unknown person in her new prison camp, during which the entire prison was on lockdown.

Inmates say she's getting unusually favorable treatment by the prison.

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George Conway 🇺🇸🚫👑🐸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 12h

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