Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 10m

See?

2 3

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Removal Coalition @removalcoalition.bsky.social · 14h

Think about this every time a politician gives you the DIAGNOSIS for how bad things are and doesn't walk to talk about the remedy.

The REMEDY is impeachment, conviction and removal. Start demanding it!!

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 1d

“I wish I could be the guy who says, ‘everyone calm down; things have been just as bad before, and we got through it.’ But I can’t be that reasonable-sounding moderate floating above it all. Things are very bad. People should be far more alarmed than they are.”

open.substack.com/pub/michaelw...

The Emerging Shape of American Politics

Dynamism v. Reaction / Open v. Closed

open.substack.com

4 36 130

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Veni Kunche @veni.dev · 11h

"CNBC found that one Microsoft data center in Illinois received more than $38 million in data center sales tax exemptions but created just 20 permanent jobs."

What are we doing?! 😐

www.cnbc.com/2025/06/20/t...

In race to attract data centers, states can forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue to tech companies

Amazon, Meta and Google are among the beneficiaries of state tax exemptions for data centers that help power AI.

www.cnbc.com

11 49 110

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 9h

Two big GOP activists from Oregon were in DC last month for meetings with Trump admin officials. On their podcast they talk about a plan they discussed to nullify the results of Oregon's 2026 federal elections. Pass federal voter ID law, then refuse to seat OR delegation because OR didn't comply.

Ep. 18: September to Remember
October 6 • S1 E18 • 44 min
Also, we proposed a idea how to do a end run on vote by mail. Concept is based on what Trump proposed. When you vote, you check everyone's citizenship as well as voter ID.
In a vote by mail state, you might be able to check citizenship during voter registration. You can send copies of your passport and your birth certificate in.
How in the world are you going to check our voters?
Voter ID, right? Vote by mail. So that creates a problem for Oregon.
But if federal government new requirement is to check both, and if Oregon can comply with the requirements, what would happen to our election result? I'm talking about the entire federal delegation.
For federal elections, we're talking about only federal elections.
COMMON SENSE
Vascluar

Ep. 18: September to Remember
October 6 • S1 E18 • 44 min
So entire federal delegation, congressmen and senators could be challenged, could be unseated because you didn't follow federal requirements to elect them. So I said the trade-off is worth it. You know why?
Democrats control two Senate seats out of six congressional seats. We only control one. They control five.
You talk about trade-off, right?
COMMON SENSE
Sanctuany

33 720 1.3K

Reposted by Ben Bellows

JazzReads📚 @jazzreads.bsky.social · 10h

‼️

2 130 220

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Liz Highleyman @lizhighleyman.bsky.social · 9h

The real issue here is that health insurance premiums cost $25K/year, not who’s paying for them. But you can’t just cut people off — you need better alternatives in place first. Medicare for all would be fairer, more efficient & very likely less costly.

2 1

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Freedom Writers Collaborative @fwcollaborative.bsky.social · 10h

G.O.P. Blocks Bid to Halt Trump’s Attacks in the Caribbean Sea

Republicans in the Senate blocked a measure that would terminate the president’s legally disputed campaign targeting alleged drug runners.

dlvr.it

8 20 28

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 10h

But they, like the current majority in Congress, are really dancing on the edge of rendering themselves merely a rubber stamp to an unrestrained executive.

4 11 190

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Aaron Cynic @aaroncynic.bsky.social · 12h

Now: Hundreds assembling in the Chicago Loop for a march and rally to demand the National Guard leave town. Folks chanting "Donald Trump you racist clown! You're not welcome in this town!"

A photo of a large group of protesters gathering in downtown Chicago near Michigan Ave. Skyscrapers are behind the crowd in the background.

5 220 830

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Colette Delawalla @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 14h

MORE OF THIS PLEASE.

StrictlyChristo 🦋🇺🇦🌻❌👑 @strictlychristo.bsky.social · 16h

The Oregon National Guard general says if they were to be deployed, they would be instructed under his leadership to protect the protesters and not ICE

9 39

Reposted by Ben Bellows

J. Offir, PhD @joffirphd.bsky.social · 1d

Parents now need to stand guard at schools to protect against the federal gov. When has this ever happened before? It seems like civil war. So when are our Dem. elected officials going to start organizing constituents, so community members don't have to do it all?

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...

Neighbors Warn Neighbors as Fear of ICE Ripples Across Chicago

www.nytimes.com

3 27 72

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 10h

First Republicans shut down the government instead of lowering health care costs, and now they blocked our bill to end Trump's sham "energy emergency" — which is just a gift to Big Oil that is gutting clean energy and RAISING energy prices.

Another betrayal of American families.

thehill.com

9 89 330

Reposted by Ben Bellows

darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 11h

i am not saying the world has gone completely bonkers but
the world has gone absolutely completely bonkers

Danny K @dannykpolitics.bsky.social · 3d

WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents

130 790 4K

Reposted by Ben Bellows

ChatGPT Quantum Particle Physician @smullins3000.bsky.social · 11h

It's still funny that Marge is only just now realizing this.

Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 12h

Marjorie Taylor Greene just said the Republican Party is “getting destroyed” during this government shutdown as they refuse to protect health care.

“Everyone’s just getting destroyed... Republicans, you have no solutions... It is hurting so many people.”

2 3 5

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 18h

Stand up for the rights of trans folks because everyone should have human rights and freedom to live their lives, it's really not complicated.

2 78 280

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Monica Maalouf, MD @maaloufmd.bsky.social · 13h

Bluesky fam we need help! One of our outstanding student doctors - a true future leader - had to run out of the hospital today after hearing her mom had been detained by ICE while going to a routine immigration hearing.

She needs all the help she can get: chng.it/DC9sXXg5mk

Sign the Petition

Demand release for Maria Francisca Villanueva Caballero from ICE detention

chng.it

1 12 15

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · 3d

Proud to partner with @theintercept.com on this article by Jeremy Busby of @joinjeremy.org.

Jamming cell phones in prisons isn't about crime, it's about stopping incarcerated people from exposing abuses, like those shown in the upcoming @hbo.bsky.social documentary The Alabama Solution.

The Latest FCC Censorship Push No One Is Talking About Targets Incarcerated People

Brendan Carr is advancing a plan to choke communications for people who use cellphones to expose abuses in prison.

theintercept.com

1 47 88

Reposted by Ben Bellows

James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 12h

We need more leaders, Dems and (come ON!) even Republicans to speak up this way.

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 14h

Donald Trump is breaching the Constitution and breaking the law.

A show of force so he can militarize our cities because of the 2026 elections.

We need to stand up together and speak up.

2 68 310

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 13h

One of the basic points in my new Dispatch piece on the right to record immigration raids and raiders is that ICE agents are already informally “enforcing” their disapproval of at-the-scene recording by roughing up journalists, freelance photographers, and others with cellphone cameras. /1

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 1d

New from me at The Dispatch: DHS says it's illegal to videotape ICE agents. That's not what the courts say. @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social

DHS Says Videotaping ICE Agents Is Illegal. Federal Courts Disagree.

Filming law enforcement serves important goals central to a free republic.

thedispatch.com

9 190 490

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 14h

A study of nearly 300,000 people published today in the New England Journal of Medicine found “that last season’s 2024–2025 mRNA COVID vaccines reduced people’s risk of emergency department visits by 29 percent, their risk of hospitalizations by 39 percent and their risk of death by 64 percent.”

Annual COVID Vaccines Save Lives, New Study Shows

A new study shows that receiving an updated COVID vaccine reduced people’s risk of severe disease and death in all age groups, regardless of immunity from prior infection or vaccination

www.scientificamerican.com

1 120 220

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 17h

Also, it’s such a sick joke that ICE is here to keep us safe. This was a video of a perfectly safe day in the city - couldn’t feel safer - until a bunch of armed thugs run out of nowhere to start a fight and kidnap random pedestrians, which is one of the most terrifying things I can imagine

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 19h

ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.

6 65 250

Reposted by Ben Bellows

Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 16h

Trump officials and Laura Ingraham don’t get the difference between furloughing and firing federal workers.

Let me break it down for them: workers are furloughed because Trump shut down the government. His threats to FIRE them are illegal — and would devastate American families:

What Trump officials and Laura Ingraham don't get about the shutdown

YouTube video by Senator Chris Van Hollen

youtube.com

19 87 320

Reposted by Ben Bellows

svateboje.bsky.social @svateboje.bsky.social · 18h

love it

ljoeckel.bsky.social @ljoeckel.bsky.social · 1d

2 22 82

Reposted by Ben Bellows

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 18h

A rare bloom in Chile's Atacama desert has briefly transformed one of the world's driest places into a dazzling carpet of fuchsia-colored wildflowers.

The world's driest desert blooms into a rare, fleeting flower show

A rare bloom in Chile’s Atacama desert has briefly transformed one of the world’s driest places into a dazzling carpet of fuchsia-colored wildflowers.

bit.ly

2 20 130

Reposted by Ben Bellows

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 18h

"The president has already announced that if a judge does rule against him, he will invoke the Insurrection Act and then continue the military deployments. This is where we’ve been headed since January 6, 2021.
www.thebulwark.com/p/emergency-...

Emergency Triad: The Chicago Rubicon and What Comes Next

We aren’t at the worst-case scenario yet. But if you squint, you can see it looming out there, just over the horizon.

www.thebulwark.com

20 84 230