Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Stressed_Scientist @wittyretorthere.bsky.social · 7h

Surgeons a weird one, I mean they have such tiny precise stitches it seemed a waste not to become the go to for tailoring, but that's dangerously close to skilled. That's why they are the ones for holiday wear for pets only. Nuclear scientists will get that HVAC problem resolved.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 12h

Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.

26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
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(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.

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Stressed_Scientist @wittyretorthere.bsky.social · 8h

Even ignoring that asinine idea, there have been more rural protests along with the apparently don't count cities this year than anytime I can remember. "We need a mass movement" yeah my small hometown of 2000-ish has had 4 of them this year, and it feels very on the nose Brooks has no idea of that.

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Stressed_Scientist @wittyretorthere.bsky.social · 8h

A plumber for cataract surgery!? No they are colonoscopy only, never trust a plumber with eye stuff. Can you imagine? See you want to go to the welder for that.

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Stressed_Scientist @wittyretorthere.bsky.social · 14h

"follow zeb" you are in a dimly lit dusty room, the pollo de diablo glares from the corner.

(You caught me on a social media break from old text adventure games)

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 14h

don’t miss Lauren’s story on an execution Alabama is planning next week:

Lauren Gill @laurengill.bsky.social · 1d

Everything about this case shows how easy it is to send someone to death row.

Anthony Boyd was sentenced to death entirely on dubious eyewitness testimony. His lawyer had a month to prepare for trial. Alabama plans to execute him next week.

My latest @boltsmag.org:
boltsmag.org/anthony-boyd...

He Was Convicted Entirely On Clashing Eyewitness Testimony. Alabama Plans to Execute Him Next Week. - Bolts

No physical evidence connected Anthony Boyd to a 1993 murder. He was sent to death row on the word of a co-defendant who testified under the threat of capital punishment.

boltsmag.org

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Scott Lemieux @lemieuxlgm.bsky.social · 14h

I have no opinion about the Maine Senate primary but "my guy is a world-historic political talent, and if he gets a primary opponent this is tantamount to him being forced out of the race" is a singularly unpersuasive argument

CJ 🏳️‍🌈🤘 @nemoblue.bsky.social · 1d

my man, nobody is "sure to win" against Susan Collins, she is literally one of the most talented & successful Republican politicians of the last 60+ years. anyone who says ANY Democrat is a sure thing in Maine clearly has no clue what the fuck they're talking about other than their own vibes.

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 14h

I mean, if you’re worried about the optics of No Kings being too outre, you can just… join it. Normies will easily outnumber wacky leftists if they care enough to skip brunch.

Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 18h

I read the piece. You shouldn't. He dismisses the "No Kings" protests as liberals in blue cities. He invokes Rosa Parks, as if rural white people in the 60s loved everything that the movement then was doing. "We need a movement but not this one" is a core centrist tact these days.

Ezra Levin ❌👑 @ezralevin.bsky.social · 18h

Is this a joke. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

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🐱302czar🐱 @302czar.bsky.social · 14h

A decade of billing and coding here. When this happened in the last big shutdown in the late 2010s, my small (since closed) office had a very tricky 35 days. Yes, gigantic Medicare checks did some afterwards, but we were getting towards a tipping point very soon. Most offices will need help.

Pam Herd @pamherd.bsky.social · 15h

Medicare has stopped paying physicians due to the shut down. Standing right on the third rail www.statnews.com/2025/10/15/c...

Medicare payments to doctors paused as government shutdown drags on

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is pausing Medicare payments to doctors, as negotiations tied to the government shutdown drag on.

www.statnews.com

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Hunter @hunterub.bsky.social · 16h

There's literally no reason for Congress to exist if any random freak in the presidential orbit can nullify laws and seize federal funds. All of this is plainly illegal, but Mike Johnson leads the most corrupt Congress in US history (and by a wide margin.)

Reuters @reuters.com · 21h

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers reut.rs/4qjMIyT

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers

White House budget director Russell Vought said he wants to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and expects to do so within the next two to three months.

reut.rs

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 18h

The "anti-woke" backlash was always about white collar labor competition from nonwhites, not hr bullshit. bsky.app/profile/phil...

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 19h

NBC News has reportedly eliminated its NBC BLK, NBC Asian America, NBC Latino and NBC OUT teams

NBC News’ 150 Layoffs Gut Black, Latino, Asian American and LGBTQ+ Diversity Teams

The cuts affected teams across the NBC News operation and came as the network no longer needed to support two different news operations. MSNBC has begun growing its own newsroom, hiring swaths of tale...

www.thewrap.com

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 16h

Remember, brown 13-year-olds are hardened menaces to society, but 30-something Republican Hitler afficionados in positions of power are just li’l guys.

Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 16h

These. Were. Men. In. Their. 30s.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

No one in the GOP Hitler chat was a "kid"

We checked. Sorry, JD Vance.

www.motherjones.com

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Stressed_Scientist @wittyretorthere.bsky.social · 14h

Though it can be useful for consciousness of guilt when violating a law.

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Stressed_Scientist @wittyretorthere.bsky.social · 14h

NYT on Wednesday showed yet again they need to hire people with basic legal knowledge (and/or basic ethics) so they know the correct phrase is violating the ADA or just illegal...basically not whatever this crap is.

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 20h

tfw your 1,000-word tweets aren't working

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Stressed_Scientist @wittyretorthere.bsky.social · 16h

It's also really easy to push it without a major add on on the off chance R fold on it. "Ok we have agreed to fund the subsidies, now we will need the bill to saw no impoundments or rescissions will be honored in this years budget to make sure they stay for the whole year" kind of thing.

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Stressed_Scientist @wittyretorthere.bsky.social · 16h

Problem is a large chunk isn't listening and just vibes/oppositional. When either everyone is talking about X so must be worth voting for or I will vote against whoever is in charge is a big enough group to sway almost any election we are in a bad place. (Besides current bad place of course)

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 18h

very funny that JD Vance has so little to do with his time that he goes on podcasts to defend 30-year-old men for saying how much they love Hitler

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 22h

JD Vance dismisses Young Republicans who in a group chat said "I love Hitler" and joked about slavery and rape as "a bunch of kids" who "told stupid jokes" and adds that "most of the stupid things I did when I was a teenager and young adult, they're not on the internet."

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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 19h

NBC News has reportedly eliminated its NBC BLK, NBC Asian America, NBC Latino and NBC OUT teams

NBC News’ 150 Layoffs Gut Black, Latino, Asian American and LGBTQ+ Diversity Teams

The cuts affected teams across the NBC News operation and came as the network no longer needed to support two different news operations. MSNBC has begun growing its own newsroom, hiring swaths of tale...

www.thewrap.com

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 18h

Politico received an initial tip that a Taylor staffer had a swastika neatly pinned to his cubicle during a zoom call. When confronted, the congressman’s press office pretty implausibly sought to present the situation as a police matter, and Politico went along with that in its headline and lede.

Zach D Roberts @zdroberts.bsky.social · 19h

Capitol Police called to investigate swastika in GOP congressional office

An American flag altered to include an image of a swastika was found in Rep. Dave Taylor’s office.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Capitol Police called to investigate swastika in GOP congressional office

An American flag altered to include an image of a swastika was found in Rep. Dave Taylor’s office.

www.politico.com

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 17h

Land of the free, home of the brave

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 19h

UPDATE: Following the firing of the director of the student newspaper, Indiana University has now cut the print edition of the newspaper entirely.

www.idsnews.com/article/2025...

Indiana University cuts IDS print entirely, hours after firing student media director
By IDS staff
Oct 15, 2025 1:23 pm · Updated Oct 15, 2025 1:23 pm

IU previously directed the Indiana Daily Student to stop printing news coverage in our newspaper. Upon pushback, the university fully cut print, including our special editions. The IDS was not involved in the decision.

Media School Dean David Tolchinsky sent the order to IDS leadership in an email responding to its appeal that the school not censor the newspaper. And the dean attributed the decision to “the campus.” He has not yet responded to a message for clarification.

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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 17h

the president using the office to punish americans that didnt vote for him should really be one of the biggest scandals in americas history

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

Trump is upfront in saying he will use the shutdown to punish Democrats, and here are the receipts. About $27.2 billion cut from Dem districts compared to about $0.7 billion in GOP districts.
We all complain about the media, but need this type of in-depth journalism.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Trump Halts Billions in Grants for Democratic Districts During Shutdown (Gift Article)

The Trump administration has frozen or canceled nearly $28 billion primarily located in Democratic-led districts, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

www.nytimes.com

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James Hell Brooks @kleinman.bsky.social · 19h

Increasingly we need candidates who'd be comfortable cutting a wrestling promo

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 20h

Mamdani: "I just want to speak directly to the president. I will not be a mayor like Mayor Adams who will call you to stay out of jail. I won't be a disgraced governor like Andrew Cuomo who will call you to ask how to win this election. I can do those things on my own."

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Tom Joscelyn @tomjoscelyn.bsky.social · 20h

Hakeem Jeffries posted pictures of two Rep. Members posing with “Young Republicans” who were part of a racist text thread (as reported by Politico).

In response, Mike Davis (well-connected in Trump World & on the Hill) called Jeffries a “house slave” for George Soros - proving Jeffries’ point.

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Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 18h

"One party only needs 44% of the national popular vote to maintain control over the legislature" sure is a statement about the state of American democracy

Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 1d

If Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act falls, Democrats might need to win the national popular vote by 5 to 6 points to take control of the House, via Nate Cohn
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

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