Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 1h

Chris Murphy said as much to @gregsargent.bsky.social:
"The second thing I hear about is, “Well, we ran on democracy in 2024 and we lost. And so let’s not do democracy, let’s do economics and health care.”"

Reposted by Betcy Jose

Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 22h

This is horrific

Rutgers professor moving to Europe after threats over antifa accusations

Mark Bray says threats intensified after a Turning Point USA petition accused him of promoting political violence

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 18h

👏

💞Sabrina💞 @sabrinarina.bsky.social · 20h

Oregon National Guard Adjutant General, General Gronewold says if they are federalized, that he will advise the Title 10 commander to utilize National Guard Troops to PROTECT protesters at ICE facilities. This is the right answer.

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 2h

Putting the Taliban on notice:

UN launches probe into human rights violations in Afghanistan

The scope of the investigation notably includes violations and abuses against women and girls. It will also prepare files to facilitate independent criminal proceedings.

www.lemonde.fr/en/global-is...

UN launches probe into human rights violations in Afghanistan

The scope of the investigation notably includes violations and abuses against women and girls. It will also prepare files to facilitate independent criminal proceedings.

www.lemonde.fr

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 3h

Six of the nine Nobel Prize winners this year work in the U.S.
Three of the six were born outside the U.S., which is the pattern most years. No country has benefited more from welcoming immigrants from around the world.
www.nobelprize.org

The official website of the Nobel Prize - NobelPrize.org

The Nobel Prize rewards science, humanism and peace efforts. This is one of the central concepts in the will of Alfred Nobel, and it also permeates the outreach activities that have been developed for...

www.nobelprize.org

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

Dylan Williams @dylanwilliams.bsky.social · 1h

Senators will vote today on whether to block Trump’s use of US Armed Forces to attack vessels in the Caribbean.

Trump may soon expand these illegal attacks into a full-on war with Venezuela.

Call your Senators and ask them to vote for the Schiff-Kaine resolution.

Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 1h

This is an important point.

Everyone one of these people has been asked to leave their home, their family, and their job to work without pay bc of the shutdown. We're better off thinking of ways to make this backfire on Abbott than to treat them poorly.

Ben Raderstorf @raders.bsky.social · 10h

Texas National Guard troops arriving in Chicago (via ABC News)

Remember: These are not MAGA stormtroopers. These are everyday teachers and accountants who signed up to serve their country with their spare time. They're being used as political pawns by venal, un-American, draft-dodging president

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

UppsalaPeaceConflict @uupeace.bsky.social · 1h

In an interview for Expressen, UCDP Research Coordinator Therese Petterson explains why the UCDP’s current death toll in the war in Gaza of 61,400 is likely to be revised upward significantly, as more information becomes available. 👇

www.expressen.se/nyheter/sver...

@ucdp.bsky.social

Räknar antalet döda i Gaza: ”Siffran kommer skrivas upp”

Dödstalen i Gaza stiger. Samtidigt är det svårt att verifiera uppgifterna som kommer från det palestinska hälsoministeriet. Vid Uppsala universitet kartlägger flera forskare hur många som dött i krige...

www.expressen.se

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

Auschwitz Memorial @auschwitzmemorial.bsky.social · 1h

8 October 1934 | A Dutch Jewish boy, Helmut Loewenstein, was born in Eindhoven.

In November 1943 he was deported to #Auschwitz and murdered in a gas chamber after the selection.
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A short video showing the ruins of gas chamber and crematorium III: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ipQmBPAlJQ8

Black and white photo of a young boy smiling, wearing round glasses and a striped tank top.

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 14h

USA 2025

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 15h

Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 23h

www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/release...

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 16h

listen. when dolly parton’s sister says it’s time for us all to be prayer warriors for dolly. you fucking pray for dolly

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Mississippi Free Press @mississippifreepress.org · 16h

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to use a hub in Vermont to bolster its digital surveillance capabilities as the agency ramps up operations across the country at the direction of leaders in President Donald Trump's administration.
buff.ly/bdu2eRR

ICE Plans to Boost Social Media Surveillance Using Contractors

ICE plans to use a hub in Vermont to bolster its digital surveillance capabilities as the agency ramps up operations across the country.

www.mississippifreepress.org

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Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 18h

👏

💞Sabrina💞 @sabrinarina.bsky.social · 20h

Oregon National Guard Adjutant General, General Gronewold says if they are federalized, that he will advise the Title 10 commander to utilize National Guard Troops to PROTECT protesters at ICE facilities. This is the right answer.

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Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 22h

This is horrific

Rutgers professor moving to Europe after threats over antifa accusations

Mark Bray says threats intensified after a Turning Point USA petition accused him of promoting political violence

www.theguardian.com

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Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 23h

Attorney General Ken Paxton Launches Undercover Operations to Infiltrate and Uproot Leftist Terror Cells in Texas After Increased Political Violence

In response to the political assassination of national hero Charlie Kirk and the disturbing rise of leftist violence across the country, Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched undercover investigati...

www.texasattorneygeneral.gov

Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 23h

www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/release...

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

Kyle Clark @kylec.bsky.social · 1d

President Trump is threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act and is sending red state National Guard troops into blue states.

Colorado Dems passed a law that's unlikely to stop that.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctZs...

President Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act

YouTube video by Next 9NEWS

www.youtube.com

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Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 1d

Another stellar series by my favorite podcast, @empirepoduk.bsky.social. Most especially bc @anitaanand.bsky.social and @willdalrymple.bsky.social handle Gaza’s long and fascinating story with such sensitivity, nuance, and humility, traits many current commentators sorely lack

291. Ancient Gaza: The Philistines (Part 1)

Podcast Episode · Empire · 09/17/2025 · 45m

podcasts.apple.com

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

Simon Adams @simonadams.bsky.social · 1d

There is never any justification for deliberately targeting and killing civilians. Not in Israel. Not in Gaza. Not on 7 October. Not today. Collective punishment and indiscriminate attacks are not military strategies, they are crimes under international law. www.globalr2p.org/countries/is...

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory - Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect

Israeli forces have perpetrated atrocity crimes in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Hamas and other Palestinian armed gro...

www.globalr2p.org

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · 1d

OPINION: "Signing on to the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education offered by the Trump administration would end the school's ability to determine its own future." — The Inquirer Editorial Board

Federal funding is not worth Penn’s independence | Editorial

Signing on to the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education offered by the Trump administration would end the school's ability to determine its own future.

www.inquirer.com

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Reposted by Betcy Jose

New Lines Magazine @newlinesmag.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: In a country long accustomed to stage-managed politics, Syria’s first elections after the fall of Bashar al-Assad offered both the trappings of democracy and a revealing look at a process of improvisation, reports Pauline Vacher for @newlinesmag.bsky.social

newlinesmag.com/spotlight/in...

Inside Syria’s First Post-Assad Elections

The vote brought chaos, compromises and quiet optimism to a country long accustomed to stage-managed politics

newlinesmag.com

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Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 1d

"the issue is going to come down to who decides the facts when it comes to domestic use of the military. That question meant one thing when we had presidents who... were constrained to acknowledge reality. It means something else altogether in an administration for which... 2 + 2 = 5."

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 1d

The federal government does and should have the authority to deploy troops into our cities—even without local consent—*when the circumstances actually warrant it.*

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com, me on why the real issue in Portland, Chicago, and elsewhere is the missing / contrived factual predicate:

Opinion | No, Trump Can’t Deploy Troops to Wherever He Wants

www.nytimes.com

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Betcy Jose @betcy.bsky.social · 1d

Another stellar series by my favorite podcast, @empirepoduk.bsky.social. Most especially bc @anitaanand.bsky.social and @willdalrymple.bsky.social handle Gaza’s long and fascinating story with such sensitivity, nuance, and humility, traits many current commentators sorely lack

291. Ancient Gaza: The Philistines (Part 1)

Podcast Episode · Empire · 09/17/2025 · 45m

podcasts.apple.com

1 4 11

Reposted by Betcy Jose

Auschwitz Memorial @auschwitzmemorial.bsky.social · 1d

7 October 1941 | A French Jewish boy, Claude Vecksler, was born in Paris.

He arrived at #Auschwitz on 25 September 1942 in a transport of 1,000 Jews deported from #Drancy. He was among 475 of them murdered in gas chambers after the selection.

He was 11 months old.

Vintage black-and-white photo of a baby with a slightly open mouth, looking to the side.

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