Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Elizabeth Pearson @lizzypearson.bsky.social · 5h

Tomorrow 9 October @vox-pol.bsky.social launches this excellent new report by @antoniavaughan.bsky.social Researching the Far Right Safely in Academia.

I'm chairing, @audreygagnon.bsky.social is discussing. Do come along!

Sign up below. Webinar - 9 October - 6pm BST 🕸️

voxpol.eu/events/new-v...

New VOX-Pol Report Online Launch - VOX - Pol

09/10/2025 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm - VOX-Pol is publishing a new report titled Researching the Far Right Safely in Academia: Current Practices and Constraints by Dr Antonia Vaughan on Thursday 9 October 2...

voxpol.eu

9 14

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 1d

The NY Times continues to be the biggest sucker in the world for bad faith bullshit, just so the publisher can claim they're not too liberal and to pretend they'll somehow convince MAGA they're being fair to them.

Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

Despite appearances, this is not a @nytpitchbot.bsky.social joke, it's an actual @nytimes.com column by some Claremont hack who praises Hegseth for his "nuanced vision of the military’s purpose and its relationship to civilian society."

Opinion
Guest Essay

That Hegseth Speech Was Actually Pretty Good
Oct. 7, 2025, 5:01 a.m. ET

35 260 1.5K

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Thor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social · 1d

It is a dumb question. The answer is yes

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

CNN: Is it the case that you are profiling brown people?

STEPHEN MILLER: What a dumb question

8 16 150

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 3d

Miller’s apparent elevation to shadow president and his seeming intent to declare an end to the constitutional order would, in any other administration, be treated as a executive branch meltdown that was immensely embarrassing for the president and requiring Miller’s immediate removal

360 2.1K 7K

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 5d

Chris Rufo's disastrous takeover of New College in Florida shows what universities would become if they sign the Trump regime's extortionary "compact."

New College was supposed to model the anti-woke conservative higher-ed Americans crave. Instead, it showed the opposite, and serves as a warning.

31 260 1.1K

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 4d

More @katmabu.bsky.social energy in the halls of power, fuckin please.

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 4d

I am just so fucking proud of her.

8 46

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 4d

Clear desire to use the US military against Americans for authoritarian theater.

“82nd is like our top tier [quick reaction force] for abroad. So it will cause a lot of headlines,” he added. ‘Probably why he wants potus to tell him to do it.’”

Minnesota Star Tribune @startribune.com · 4d

The messages show high-level officials in the Trump administration discussing the possible deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an infantry force that has dropped into combat zones in both World Wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

Trump officials discussed sending elite Army division to Portland, text messages show

A high-ranking White House official was indiscreetly texting about the Portland, Ore., planning last weekend, according to messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.

bit.ly

9 57 130

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · 4d

I have talked to CBS staffers who are worried about what will happen when they have a major story

Dave Infante @dinfontay.com · 4d

“'The fact that we don't have money to pay journalists, but we have money to pay Bari Weiss between $100 and 200 million is indicative of what the Ellisons' true goal here is,' a network correspondent said. 'And it's not journalism.'"

CBS News staffers are ‘literally freaking out’ about Bari Weiss taking over newsroom

EXCLUSIVE: ‘People are using words like depressing and doomsday – feels like some sort of doomsday,’ one source told The Independent about the mood inside CBS News right now.

www.independent.co.uk

21 83 300

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Global News @globalnews.ca · 4d

Judge Arun Subramanian said “a history of good works can’t wash away the record in this case."

globalnews.ca/news/1146141...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sentenced to 50 months in prison on prostitution charges - National | Globalnews.ca

Sean Combs has been behind bars since his September 2024 arrest, and the sentencing marks the conclusion of the disgraced hip-hop mogul’s New York trial.

globalnews.ca

1 4 8

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Himal Southasian @himalmag.bsky.social · 5d

A youth bulge, economic failures, corruption and the perversion of democratic processes are shared causes behind the protest movements that have toppled governments in Southasia, write Anupam Debashis Roy and Rishija Singh

The overlapping factors behind Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka’s uprisings

ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO, three Southasian nations underwent political transitions. In 2008, Nepal became a federal republic, ending 250 years of monarchy. Bangladesh

buff.ly

1 1

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 6d

It's like the Stanford Prison experiment is going on again, except it's the whole country.

Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 6d

“It looks like hell,” Jones said. “ICE really just a gang.”

South Shore Residents Return To Ransacked Apartments After ICE Raid: 'It Looks Like Hell'

A "now renting" sign outside touts granite countertops. Inside, residents are trying to make sense of the raid that made their already neglected building even worse.

blockclubchicago.org

2 23 55

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Liam Hoare 🇺🇦 @lahoare.bsky.social · 6d

A car ramming and stabbing attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester on the morning of Yom Kippur has left four people injured. The suspect was shot by Greater Manchester Police; their current status is unknown.

Manchester synagogue attack latest: suspect shot after four people injured in vehicle and stabbing attack at synagogue, police say

Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, tells people to avoid the area after a ‘serious incident’ in Crumpsall

www.theguardian.com

3 19 31

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 6d

What a weak, sad, broken, little man.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6d

Stephen Miller: "All that bullshit is done, over, it's finished. The gangbangers you deal with- they think they're ruthless? They have no idea how ruthless we are. They think they're tough? They have no idea how tough we are. They think they're hardcore? We are so much more hardcore than they are"

280 420 2.7K

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 6d

💔

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 6d

Jane Goodall was my first childhood hero, as I loved animals as a kid and was inspired by her story. I still remember the National Geographic specials about her. RIP.

Jane Goodall reaches out and touches a small monkey.

3 32

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Canadian Anti-Hate Network @antihate.ca · 6d

Last week, Trump declared “Antifa” a domestic terrorist organization.

This is why the far-right in the US & Canada see it as an obstacle that has to be cleared in order to carry out their smash-and-grab of the political establishment. 👇

🧵
www.antihate.ca/trump_lying_...

Trump is Lying About Antifascism

As an antifascist organization ourselves, we can help explain antifascism and why the far-right in the United States and Canada see us as an obstacle that has to be cleared in order to carry out their...

www.antihate.ca

3 60 110

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Jess Davis @jessmarindavis.bsky.social · 7d

From the Insight Monitor archives, here's a look at how states employ criminals for targeted killings and transnational repression:

newsletter.insightthreatintel.com/p/state-secr...

State Secrets: Hiring Criminals for Targeted Killings (and more)

The intersection of state and criminal threats

newsletter.insightthreatintel.com

4 11

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 7d

Democrats "blocked" this bill by ... not voting for it.

No dirty tricks or sneaky moves, they just didn't vote for a GOP bill. It needed 60 votes to pass, 53 Reps and 2 Dems voted for it.

That, according to the broken Washington Post, means Democrats Are To Blame even though the GOP runs it all.

The federal government was set to shut down at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, after Senate Democrats rejected a bill that would have extended the deadline and kept agencies open through Nov. 21.

The upper chamber voted 55-45 on the Republican-led proposal Tuesday night, which needed 60 votes to pass. Only two Democrats, Sens. John Fetterman (Pennsylvania) and Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada), voted with the GOP for the measure, along with Angus King (I-Maine). Just one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul (Kentucky), joined with Democrats in opposing it. Lawmakers had already voted down a Democratic alternative that was widely expected to fail.

53 250 910

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Dr. Marc-André Argentino @maargentino.com · 7d

Shoutout to @hereticmasked.bsky.social for another amazing book cover 🔥

Dr. Marc-André Argentino @maargentino.com · 8d

It is Book Launch day for @amaramarasingam.bsky.social and My edited volume "Contemporary Far-Right Culture The Art, Music, and Everyday Practices of Violent Extremism"

www.routledge.com/Contemporary...

10 27

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 7d

So good to see the obvious written out though.

“In a blistering opinion, a federal judge in Boston said the Trump administration used the threat of deportations to systematically intimidate certain campus demonstrators into silence.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech

www.nytimes.com

10 34

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Natalie Brender @nataliebrender.bsky.social · 7d

Must be harrowing to spend research careers studying these topics--but it's very important and couldn't be more timely given mainstream cluelessness about what's happening in these hideous cultures. It's why academia matters. Kudos to @maargentino.com, @amaramarasingam.bsky.social & others.

Dr. Marc-André Argentino @maargentino.com · 8d

It is Book Launch day for @amaramarasingam.bsky.social and My edited volume "Contemporary Far-Right Culture The Art, Music, and Everyday Practices of Violent Extremism"

www.routledge.com/Contemporary...

6 15

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Dr. Marc-André Argentino @maargentino.com · 8d

It is Book Launch day for @amaramarasingam.bsky.social and My edited volume "Contemporary Far-Right Culture The Art, Music, and Everyday Practices of Violent Extremism"

www.routledge.com/Contemporary...

16 95 240

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 8d

Dude dragged everyone from around the world to his Patton movie set.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Hegseth: "It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of war can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals."

6 3 32

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 8d

Quick reminder that fascism is almost always obsessed with the aesthetics of the male body—sculpted, uniformed, disciplined.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Hegseth: "It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of war can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals."

19 110 320

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Megan Goodwin @mpgphd.bsky.social · 8d

dumbest.

fucking.

timeline.

Lady “What Fresh Hell Is This?” @nakiajpnw.bsky.social · 8d

www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/phoenix...

QAnon Shaman says he's rightful president, sues Trump for $40 trillion

In a rambling complaint, Jacob Chansley claims DJs are spies, that the NSA stole his work for a Batman movie and more.

www.phoenixnewtimes.com

2 11 34

Reposted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 9d

I have been haunted by this statement all day www.kgw.com/article/news...

Local News
Trump seems to back off Portland military plan: 'Am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening?'

380 2.1K 9.5K