Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 30m

Without Obamacare subsidies, this couple's insurance premiums are set to go up almost $2,000 PER MONTH
www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Without Obamacare subsidies, this couple's insurance premiums are set to go up almost $2,000

The subsidies are a key sticking point in the government shutdown: Democrats in Congress say that in order to secure their votes to reopen the government, they must be extended.

www.nbcnews.com

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 33m

Luigi Mangione’s lawyers seek dismissal of federal charges in assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO
apnews.com/article/unit...

Luigi Mangione's lawyers seek dismissal of federal charges in assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO

Lawyers for Luigi Mangione say a New York federal judge should dismiss criminal charges, including a death-eligible count, from a federal indictment brought against him in the December assassination o...

apnews.com

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 47m

NOAA says La Nina is back: expect cooler winters in Midwest, wetter winters in PNW, drier, hotter weather rest of country...
www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...

La Niña returns: What it could mean for Minnesota’s winter

The Climate Prediction Center has officially issued a La Niña advisory, signaling that cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures have returned to the eastern Pacific.

www.mprnews.org

Reposted by Randall Gross

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 12h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 51m

Are we great enough yet?

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 1h

Trump’s immigration crackdown is risking higher food prices for Americans, according to the Trump admin itself.  DOL warned in an obscure document last week that “near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens” is threatening “stability of domestic food production and prices for US consumers.”

Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices

U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document.

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Randall Gross

Aaron Bady @zunguzungu.bsky.social · 1h

“I had previously assumed a 10-year depreciation curve, which I now recognize as quite unrealistic...Based on my conversations over the past month, the physical data centers last for three to ten years, at most.” futurism.com/future-socie...

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Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 53m

WTaF?!! Does the grift ever stop?
www.bbc.com/news/article...

US says Qatar to build air force facility in Idaho

The facility in Idaho will be used to train Qatari pilots to fly F-15 fighter jets, the US defence secretary says.

www.bbc.com

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 58m

Here's that "see my big dick" Parade that Trump really wanted and did not really get.
www.nbcnews.com/world/north-...

North Korea displays new long-range missile at a military parade celebrating Kim Jong Un

North Korean state media said the parade featured a new, yet-to-be-tested ICBM called the Hwasong-20.

www.nbcnews.com

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 1h

Michelle Obama’s Girls Opportunity Alliance pledges $2.5 million for grassroots education for girls
apnews.com/article/mich...

Michelle Obama's Girls Opportunity Alliance pledges $2.5 million for grassroots education for girls

Former first lady Michelle Obama is putting new force behind efforts to ensure girls overcome educational barriers in some of the world’s most economically disadvantaged areas.

apnews.com

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 1h

Palestinians return to ruins and US troops land in Israel as ceasefire holds
apnews.com/article/isra...

Palestinians return to ruins and US troops land in Israel as ceasefire holds

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians are returning to their neighborhoods in Gaza as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is now in its second day.

apnews.com

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 1h

I've been cocooning & ducking news all week, which is rare for me. I only scored 3/10, a terrible score for someone who professes to be a news Junkie, but I've been happily buried in baseball and "The Expanse" all week. ‎Can you beat the AP’s weekend editor? apnews.com/quiz-weekly-...

‎Can you beat the AP’s weekend editor? Take this quiz and find out

Can you beat the AP's weekend editor? Take the weekly quiz.

apnews.com

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 1h

If explosives were taken before the plant exploded, how would anyone know?
wpln.org/post/powerfu...

Blast at Tennessee explosives plant leaves multiple people dead and missing

An explosion at a Tennessee military munitions plant left multiple people dead and missing on Friday, a county sheriff said, as first responders said secondary blasts forced rescuers to keep their dis...

wpln.org

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 1h

Burning hydrocarbons for energy is not good for climate change and terrible for human health since the discovery of fire. It was a necessary evil, but it does not have to be.

Mississippi Free Press @mississippifreepress.org · 1h

In the last decade, Europe has embraced biomass energy as a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels, and wood pellet production has surged across the U.S. to meet demand.

But in towns with biomass plants like 75% Black Gloster, Mississippi, residents fear it's harming their health and air quality.

Gloster Biomass Plant Continues Push to Increase Emissions

Mississippi regulators are revisiting an earlier decision to deny new permits for Drax’s Gloster, Mississippi, facility at an Oct. 14 public meeting.

buff.ly

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 1h

Are We Great Enough Yet? the Sub Prime Car Loan bubble:
Americans Are Falling Behind on Their Car Payments
Delinquency rates on subprime auto loans are at records
www.wsj.com/business/aut...

Americans Are Falling Behind on Their Car Payments

Delinquency rates on subprime auto loans are at records.

www.wsj.com

Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 1h

Writer's Guild responds to Bari Weiss email:
WGA Urges CBS News Staffers to Not Respond to Bari Weiss Info-Seeking Memo Until Company Provides Details on Purpose of Her Email (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.com/2025/tv/news...

WGA Urges CBS News Staffers to Not Respond to Bari Weiss Info-Seeking Memo Until Company Provides Details on Purpose of Her Email (EXCLUSIVE)

The Writers Guild of America, which represents employees at CBS News, told members at the company to not respond to an email sent to staff by Bari Weiss, The Free Press founder who this week was appoi...

variety.com

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Reposted by Randall Gross

Reuters @reuters.com · 15h

Nobel Peace Prize rallies Venezuela's opposition, deepens Maduro's isolation reut.rs/3L5KNNZ

Nobel Peace Prize rallies Venezuela's opposition, deepens Maduro's isolation

Mariluz Palma, the head of Maria Corina Machado's Vente Venezuela political movement in Colombia, does not sleep much these days. She says she was up before dawn on Friday, browsing social media, when she saw the news that Machado had won the Nobel Peace Prize.

reut.rs

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Reposted by Randall Gross

digby @digby56.bsky.social · 18h

I wrote about this:

www.salon.com/2025/10/09/d...

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Reposted by Randall Gross

digby @digby56.bsky.social · 18h

I agree with this, but I also think there's a subtext to the health subsidies tactic that could be very salient to the public in the same way as "you come through me" is if they could articulate it. I call it the RFK effect. "Health care" is now more than just an insurance/kitchen table issue. 1/2

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 20h

"Who will be viewed retrospectively to have understood the challenge correctly? The one who said, 'If you come for my people, you come through me'? Or the one who pivoted to health-care subsidies?"

This @brianbeutler.bsky.social thought experiment is illuminating:
www.offmessage.net/p/how-to-rev...

How To Reverse The Tide

It's the gap between what's needed and what we have that keeps us up at night.

www.offmessage.net

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Reposted by Randall Gross

Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 17h

Yesterday they were shooting priests in the head with rubber bullets. Today they're arresting journalists. If you have anyone in your life who doesn't regularly follow the news and doesn't understand how bad things are and how bad they're about to get, you need to tell them right now. Time is short.

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Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 1d

Everything we know about Ferrari’s first electric vehicle
Four motors, 800 V, more than 1,000 horsepower, and it's all made in-house.
arstechnica.com/cars/2025/10...

Everything we know about Ferrari’s first electric vehicle

Four motors, 800 V, more than 1,000 horsepower, and it’s all made in-house.

arstechnica.com

Reposted by Randall Gross

Charles Johnson @charles.littlegreenfootballs.com · 1d

Best thing about this is how *MAD* Trump and his gross sycophants are that they failed to bully the Nobel committee. The whole world is laughing at them.

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Randall Gross @randallgross.bsky.social · 1d

Why age verification laws are doomed to fail.
Discord says hackers stole government IDs of 70,000 users
arstechnica.com/security/202...

Discord says hackers stole government IDs of 70,000 users

As more sites require IDs for user age verification, expect more such breaches to come.

arstechnica.com

Reposted by Randall Gross

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 1d

The FCC is weakening rules making it easier for broadband monopolies to rip you off with bogus fees.

which is definitely something Trump's base was asking for!

Trump FCC Is Making It Easier For Your Broadband ISP To Rip You Off With Bogus Fees

When FCC boss Brendan Carr isn’t failing embarrassingly to censor comedians who make the President sad, he’s taking a hatchet to corporate oversight and consumer protection. From weaken…

www.techdirt.com

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Reposted by Randall Gross

Daily Kos @dailykos.com · 1d

No evidence of crime other than some graffiti.

www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...

Noem survives trip to Portland—despite super scary graffiti sightings

President Donald Trump held one of his tinpot Cabinet meetings Thursday, where his loyalists performed various acts of obsequiousness.� When it was Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's turn to…

www.dailykos.com

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Reposted by Randall Gross

Media Matters for America @mmfa.bsky.social · 1d

In direct contrast to coverage from right-wing media, Portland residents and officials have emphasized that it's actually federal agents who have been engaging in “violent tactics” against protesters.

Right-wing media say Portland is a war zone under siege. Local news paints a different picture.

Right-wing media claim that Portland’s protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement show a city “under siege” or “conquered by antifa,” but local news programs have reported the opposite. Mult...

www.mediamatters.org

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