Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Andy O'Brien

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 16h

Welp, here it is: maybe the funniest thing we've ever done, in its entirety.

The Onion Investigates: Jeffrey Epstein

YouTube video by The Onion

www.youtube.com

180 1.9K 6.6K

Reposted by Andy O'Brien

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 2d

these people worship the devil

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 2d

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

12 38 260

Reposted by Andy O'Brien

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 2d

Donald Trump has heard the wails and lamentations of all the Rust Belt communities left behind by neoliberalism, and he has a message for them: fuck you and die

Emily Pontecorvo @emilypont.bsky.social · 2d

Some additional info on the new list of axed DOE projects circulating.
- All 7 H2 Hubs
- All 13 IRA grants to convert at-risk auto plants to EV mfg
- 11 of 15 grants to speed domestic clean energy mfg in former coal communities
- 10 of 38 grants for battery materials
heatmap.news/politics/doe...

Trump to Axe All 7 Hydrogen Hubs, Bucking Bipartisan Law

A new list of Department of Energy grants slated for termination will hit clean energy and oil majors alike, including Exxon and Chevron.

heatmap.news

37 620 2.1K

Reposted by Andy O'Brien

Amy Fried @asfried.bsky.social · 2d

@aobrien2024.bsky.social is a must read on the Newburgh ballots, #mepolitics tweeps. (I also recommend my latest Substack post on deception by the No on 1 campaign, which has a section on how they're misleadingly using the situation. amyfried.substack.com/p/misinforma...)

4 7

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 2d

Amazon believes the stolen ballots were not placed in the box when they were packed at the warehouse or in the delivery network. Steve Robinson bends over backwards to defend his source. My latest on AmazonBallotgate.

substack.com/inbox/post/1...

Amazon Suggests Stolen Ballots Placed in Box After Delivery

And Steve Robinson bends over backwards to defend his source's innocence.

substack.com

1 2 10

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 3d

The City of Sanford is installing cloud Automatic License Plate Reader cameras, which scan every car that goes through the downtown & uploads the data to a national database that can be accessed by ICE & other law enforcement across the country. www.amjamboafrica.com/civil-libert...

Civil liberties advocates raise alarm over use of Flock cameras

By Andy O’Brien On September 16, the Sanford City Council voted 4-3 to move forward with a contract with Georgia-based security company Flock Safety for a free, 60-day trial of its cloud Automatic Lic...

www.amjamboafrica.com

2 3 7

Reposted by Andy O'Brien

nuthatchme.bsky.social @nuthatchme.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks to @aobrien2024.bsky.social for laying out the facts. #MEpolitics

250 Missing Ballots in Ellsworth, 250 Turn Up in Newburgh?

The saga of the Mystery of the Stolen Ballots continues.

substack.com

4 5

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 3d

Good question! And why didn’t that person immediately report it to law enforcement or the SoS Elections Division or a TV station? They went to a Republican politician & the Maine Wire instead.

1

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 3d

Here is my recap of Secretary of State Shenna Bellow's press conference today on the stolen ballots and the attempt by Sen. Susan Collins to smear Bellows over the theft and use it to cast doubt on the integrity of our election system.

open.substack.com/pub/andyobri...

250 Missing Ballots in Ellsworth, 250 Turn Up in Newburgh?

The saga of the Mystery of the Stolen Ballots continues.

open.substack.com

9 25 74

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 4d

The ballots have been authenticated by election officials which is why I think someone got from a municipality & dropped them in the box.

Goose the Moose @fubarspeaks.bsky.social · 4d

We have such hideously detailed tracking systems now that I can tell you the adventures of a can of beer from the brewery to your hand just by scanning it. And if there's a break in that chain, we know exactly where and when it happened, and who was responsible for that can when it did.

2 2

Reposted by Andy O'Brien

Sara in Maine @sara207.bsky.social · 5d

Great piece. Thank you @aobrien2024.bsky.social for explaining (among other things) why that stack of ballots wouldn’t do anyone any good anyway.

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 5d

I wrote a piece about the weird case of the stolen Maine ballots in an Amazon box & former free speech warrior Steve Robinson's war on free speech.

substack.com/inbox/post/1...

The Maine Wire, Ballotgate & Stochastic Terrorism

In the past few days I have been swamped by right-wing trolls sending me threats and trying to get me fired from my job because I have questioned the narrative of the Maine Wire’s story Maine Woman Di...

substack.com

1 4

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 5d

I wrote a piece about the weird case of the stolen Maine ballots in an Amazon box & former free speech warrior Steve Robinson's war on free speech.

substack.com/inbox/post/1...

The Maine Wire, Ballotgate & Stochastic Terrorism

In the past few days I have been swamped by right-wing trolls sending me threats and trying to get me fired from my job because I have questioned the narrative of the Maine Wire’s story Maine Woman Di...

substack.com

8 81 210

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 7d

Steve Robinson at the Maine Wire doxxed the Newburgh woman who reported that ballots were allegedly delivered to her in an Amazon box by posting a photo of the box with the her name & address on it after he promised to protect her identity. But sure blame the “union thug!” 🤣

1 1 7

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 7d

So a Republican woman in Newburgh claims she received this Amazon box, which had clearly been opened & taped back up, full of blank ballots & immediately reported it to the Maine Wire & won’t talk to any other news outlets. Right before we vote on a GOP voter suppression referendum. 🤔

1 10

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 10d

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Colby College had to evacuate today due to a bomb threat after Leonard Leo’s Maine Wire, Libs of Tik Tok & Fox News sensationalized the defacing of some Republican flyers on campus.

1 4

Reposted by Andy O'Brien

Brad Lander @bradlander.bsky.social · 14d

I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today, where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital. (🎥: Elias Eliahu)

5.8K 14K 28K

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 16d

I was just at our initial local training in Camden yesterday and it was pretty inspiring. Lots of people. There was a big emphasis on deep canvassing and focusing on canvassing against Question 1in the first phase.

1

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 17d

It's so ubiquitous now I just think guys think it's edgy and cool. I don't know why they included that in the story, but it's rare for local reporters to really understand this kind of stuff.

1

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 17d

Ward is part of the virulently antisemitic group "Goyim Defense League." goyimdefenseleague.noblogs.org/richard-ward

Richard Levi Ward (Bangor, ME) – Goyim Defense League Exposed

goyimdefenseleague.noblogs.org

1 2

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 17d

Nothing to see here - just a literal Nazi candidate for Bangor City Council posing for a photo with Bangor cops. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/09/22/b...

Photo shows Bangor police officers posing with far-right City Council candidate

Richard Ward said he took the photo while attending a vigil at the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge for Charlie Kirk.

www.bangordailynews.com

2 2 7

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 21d

Republicans can't stop trying to restrict our right to vote.

maineaflcio.bsky.social @maineaflcio.bsky.social · 21d

Firefighter/paramedics rely on absentee voting because they often work long shifts on Election Day and can't get out of work to vote. Question 1 on the November ballot would restrict our ability to vote absentee. VOTE NO ON 1! #SaveMaineAbsenteeVoting

3

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 23d

More details about Brooks’ bigoted behavior from @bywayofplymouth.bsky.social here: bywayofplymouth.noblogs.org/post/2025/09...

Brandon Brooks – By Way of Plymouth

bywayofplymouth.noblogs.org

2

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 23d

Below is a statement from Fox Island Electric Cooperative defending its white nationalist employee. And here is the employee giving what appears to be a Roman salute while climbing a utility pole. His bio in Neo Nazi telegram chats is “Nate Higgers”

2 2 6

Andy O'Brien @aobrien2024.bsky.social · 23d

This thread provides more details about white nationalist organizer Brandon Brooks of Vinalhaven & his rabidly bigoted ideology.

By Way of Plymouth @bywayofplymouth.bsky.social · 23d

It's with exceedingly high confidence that I can confirm that lineman Brandon Brooks, currently of Vinalhaven ME and previously of West Deptford NJ, is dead certainly a member of Patriot Front, and occupies several neo-Nazi and neo-fascist spaces on Telegram.

A triptych of images from various points in the life of Brandon Brooks, a white man with brown hair and a muscular build, of Vinalhaven ME. The first is a photo of Brooks atop a utility pole circa 2023. He is dressed in jeans a long-sleeve shirt, as well as climbing harness and climbing spikes on his boots. His arm is extended in what is conceivably a Roman salute. The second is the photo of Brooks posted by the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative circa January 2024. Brooks wears an F.I.E.C.-branded hoodie and a white hardhat, and has tucked his hands into his jeans' pockets. He smiles blankly. The third is a photo of Brooks taken by an antifascist activist in Bangor ME. Brooks, wearing khakis, a gray t-shit, and sunglasses, is walking away while turned slightly toward the cameraperson. He is grinning, holding his phone with his right hand, and flexing his left bicep.

1 4 6

Reposted by Andy O'Brien

Collins Watch @collinswatch.bsky.social · 24d

NEW: Susan Collins casts tie-breaking vote to confirm to the Federal Reserve Board a MAGA stalwart WHO HAS VOWED TO KEEP HIS WHITE HOUSE JOB while on the Fed. #MEpolitics

Senate Press Gallery @senatepress.bsky.social · 24d

By a vote of 48-47, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Stephen Miran to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the unexpired term of fourteen years from February 1, 2012.

2 11 24