Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by David Daniel

Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 9h

The Post laid off seemingly the remaining of their liberal-leaning staff members on Opinion last Thursday, when some of them were observing Yom Kippur.

from @oliverdarcy.bsky.social for Status
status.news/p/washington-post-opinion-cuts-adam-oneal

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David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 3h

I wouldn't count Kevin Costner out -- he's made too many comebacks before -- but this piece illustrates how his Hollywood options may be narrowing.

Full disclosure: I've interviewed Costner several times, most recently for "Horizon" Part 1, and I hope we get Parts 2, 3, and 4 eventually.

How Kevin Costner Lost Hollywood

On-set brawls. Courtroom battles. Epic bombs. Why the world's most bankable cowboy is suddenly shooting blanks.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 3h

youtube.com/shorts/v7s1j...

ICE Agents Shoot Pastor With Pepper Ball Outside Broadview Detention Center

YouTube video by Storyful News & Weather

youtube.com

David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 3h

I'd say they matter equally -- part of the same process forward.

Reposted by David Daniel

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 4h

The historically volatile Texas grid was entirely stable this summer, despite extreme temperatures. Grid operators never once had to ask Texans to conserve energy or shut off their air conditioners.

Why? Solar & batteries. Want a stable grid? Try solar & batteries.

Solar and batteries had a record-setting, grid-stabilizing summer in…

Solar has set 17 power generation records in Texas so far this year, shoring up the grid alongside batteries as some gas plant developers step back.

www.canarymedia.com

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David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 4h

Pentagon Press Association statement:

"Limiting the media's ability to report on the U.S. military fails to honor the American families who have entrusted their sons and daughters to serve in it, or the taxpayers responsible for giving the department hundreds of billions of dollars a year."

Pentagon charges ahead with press restrictions ‘designed to stifle a free press,’ media orgs say | CNN Business

Military officials are pushing forward with new restrictions on the Pentagon press corps despite objections from news organizations and watchdog groups.

www.cnn.com

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Reposted by David Daniel

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 5h

We know more about the massive military-style raid on a Chicago housing complex thanks to the reporting of @southsideweekly.bsky.social, @blockclubchi.bsky.social, and neighborhood resident Eboni Watson who chronicled the event. Among the emerging questions: what's real estate's role in this?

section of text from South Side Weekly's coverage, which says: "The building was purchased by Wisconsin-based investor Trinity Flood in January 2020, according to Cook County records. On October 1, the day after the raid, a judge reviewed an emergency motion from Wells Fargo seeking to appoint Matthew Tarshis of Frontline Real Estate Partners as the property’s receiver.

Flood purchased three multifamily properties in South Shore in 2020. The neighborhood, which had the highest number of eviction filings in Chicago from 2015-2019 according to the Law Center for Better Housing, has seen a rise in outside real estate investors since the 2017 announcement of the Obama Presidential Center’s construction in the neighboring Jackson Park.

Wells Fargo Bank foreclosed on the building in mid-2024, bringing a $27 million lawsuit against Flood for missed loan payments. In late 2024, the City began closing its largest migrant shelters and, through state funding assistance distributed via Catholic Charities and moving support from New Life Church, relocated many families to buildings such as this one."

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David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 5h

Good stuff from @us.theconversation.com: New geothermal engineering techniques hold the promise of clean energy "without the ups and downs of solar or wind – and with little contribution to climate change."

Plus, using old oil wells? Sounds like the clean energy version of swords into plowshares.

Geothermal energy has huge potential to generate clean power – including from used oil and gas wells

The Earth’s own heat can be brought up from underground and used as a source of energy that emits almost no greenhouse gases and can operate 24/7 almost anywhere on the planet.

theconversation.com

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David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 6h

From @us.theconversation.com: "The cyberdefense agency is being hobbled at a time when the need for its services has never been greater, from the ongoing China-led Salt Typhoon attack on U.S. telecommunications networks to ransomware, data breaches and threats to infrastructure."

Federal shutdown deals blow to already hobbled cybersecurity agency

The triple whammy of deep staff cuts, shutdown furloughs and the expiration of an information-sharing law leaves national cybersecurity in a perilous state.

theconversation.com

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David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 6h

It's not all positive (this IS 2025), but there's a tremendous amount of good news and useful information in @billmckibben.bsky.social's latest post.

Something extraordinary just happened

But of course there's a but. Or two.

billmckibben.substack.com

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David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 16h

Maxine Peake played Politkovskaya in the recent film “Words of War,” which I wish more people had seen.

Words of War (2025) ⭐ 5.8 | Biography, Drama, History

1h 57m | R

www.imdb.com

David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 16h

It’s probably asking too much for Murphy, Mielants, and Emily Watson to make it official, form a repertory company, and continue turning out one novella adaptation a year, but I certainly wouldn’t mind.

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David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 16h

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." -- Mark Twain (maybe)

The great @hcrichardson.bsky.social ties the 2020s to the 1920s: the anti-intellectual Pres. Harding, his corrupt appointees, Congressmen better at obstruction than governing, and policies that led to the Great Depression.

Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR) @hcrichardson.bsky.social · 17h

October 7, 2025

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today floated the idea that workers furloughed during a government shutdown are not guaranteed back pay when the shutdown is resolved.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

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Reposted by David Daniel

Laura Chapin @laurachapin.bsky.social · 19h

Here's video of ICE shooting Rev David Black, a minister with the Presbytarian Church (USA) in the head with a pepper ball for exercising his First Amendment rights.

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 22h

Here’s video of the incident

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Reposted by David Daniel

Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 20h

The government is shooting priests in the head with pepper balls. I feel like this is a kitchen table issue.

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 22h

Here’s video of the incident

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Reposted by David Daniel

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 23h

NEW: I spoke to clergy and faith leaders who've joined protests at the Chicago-area ICE facility.

Three say they've been shot with pepper balls, sometimes while praying.

All say ICE is also violating their religious freedom, and one is arguing it in court. religionnews.com/2025/10/07/i...

Religious protesters say ICE threatens religious freedom in Chicago

(RNS) — Despite potential danger, religious leaders and faith activists have been a visible presence at Chicago-area ICE protests, some waving signs with slogans such as ‘Love thy neighbor’ and ‘Who w...

religionnews.com

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David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 21h

The Trump administration has banned drone photography over 935 square miles of Chicago, preventing journalists from using the tool to document the administration's use of force in the city.

NPPA Raises First Amendment Concerns Over Largest Drone Flight Ban Ever Issued in U.S.*

The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) today raised serious First Amendment concerns over the Department of Homeland Security’s request and the Federal Aviation Administration’s issuance ...

www.nppa.org

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Reposted by David Daniel

Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 1d

Another incident of federal agents pointing guns at Chicago area residents.

Tweet from @laura_n_rod

Text: A federal agent points a weapon at a woman who was recording them.

Jess, a U.S. citizen and member of a neighborhood patrol team that documents and shares ICE activity across the city, was filming when the incident occurred earlier today in the Berwyn area.

Photo: shows a federal agent in a truck pointing a gun

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David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 1d

You can own some happy little Bob Ross trees and help public television!

"This auction ensures his legacy continues to support the very medium that brought his joy and creativity into American homes for decades."

Bob Ross paintings to be auctioned to support public TV stations after federal funding cuts

Thirty paintings by Bob Ross are set to be auctioned to support public television stations. The Bonhams auction is to begin Nov. 11 in Los Angeles with three of the paintings.

apnews.com

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David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 1d

It's... a... movie. 🙄

Conservatives Take Aim at ‘One Battle After Another’: “Year’s Most Irresponsible Movie”

While Paul Thomas Anderson's film is being heralded as a masterpiece by many, some conservatives accuse it of potentially inspiring left-wing violence.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Reposted by David Daniel

Karl (sad trombone noise enthusiast) @brainnotonyet.bsky.social · 1d

Looks more and more like the raid in Chicago was more than just a fascist terror raid but the use of federal violence to help a bank empty a building they held in receivership.

flipinidaho @flipinidaho.bsky.social · 1d

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

The building is in a 27 million dollar foreclosure filed by Wells Fargo. The next day, Wells Fargo filed an emergency motion for receivership. The fascist regime kindly emptied the building for donor Wells Fargo.

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 David Daniel

Gremliny Nussboo @emilynussbaum.bsky.social · 1d

My profile of the delightful Keri Russell, the darkly funny, surprisingly introverted former New Mickey Mouse Club member who—even after Felicity, The Americans and The Diplomat!—has never fully embraced the idea of herself as an actress: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Keri Russell’s Emotional Transparency Has Anchored Three Decades of TV

But, offscreen, she’s not even sure that she wants to be an actress.

www.newyorker.com

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Reposted by David Daniel

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 1d

Mourning those murdered by Hamas isn't incompatible with mourning those murdered by the Israeli state.

Demanding that the hostages return isn't incompatible with naming & demanding an end to genocide.

Naming the power imbalance & impact thereof doesn't desecrate those murdered two years ago today.

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Reposted by David Daniel

Sarah @sosomanysarahs.bsky.social · 1d

A Colorado restaurant is helping out furloughed government workers! The special runs from October 6-10th, 11 AM through 2 PM. Furloughed workers get a free sandwich with a side or salad with a protein, plus one free beverage (including beer and wine!).

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Reposted by David Daniel

Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 1d

I recently wrote about how the US natural gas (methane) producers desperately need the world to get hooked on LNG imports. They need new markets for their gas. Why? From @ember-energy.org :

"global gas generation also fell (-6.3 TWh, -0.2%)"

The world is using less gas.

Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025 | Ember

Solar and wind outpaced demand growth in the first half of 2025, as renewables overtook coal’s share in the global electricity mix.

ember-energy.org

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