Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Derek B. Johnson

Patrick Howell O’Neill @patrickhowelloneill.com · 13h

New: DHS has reassigned hundreds of national security specialists, including cyber personnel from CISA, into jobs that support President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts and said it would fire anyone who refuses to go along. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Homeland Security Cyber Personnel Reassigned to Jobs in Trump’s Deportation Push

The US Department of Homeland Security has shifted hundreds of national security specialists, including cyber personnel, into jobs that support President Donald Trump’s deportations and said it would ...

www.bloomberg.com

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Ollie Connolly @ollieconnolly.bsky.social · 15h

Per sources: Bill Belichick has discussed buyout options with North Carolina’s hierarchy. Belichick has signaled a willingness to trigger his own $1 million buyout if he can find a soft landing with another team or in media

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𝕍∃, Cyber closed shell syndrome relief fund coordinator @vortexegg.com · 16h

The people showing up to protest in inflatable animal costumes are doing way way better resistance counter-propaganda than any of the left-wing militia defense types who show up to civil defense actions in their cosplay operator gear.

Gonna start calling these guys the inflada.

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 22h

And now for a report from the hellish, war-zone that is Portland

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Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 16h

You'd really have to deepfake any other politician to get a video of them saying "we took the freedom of speech away" on camera.

Like, not even people trying to take away your freedom of speech tend to use that language!

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17h

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

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Daniella Diaz @daniellamicaela.bsky.social · 19h

The reelection campaign of Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington, D.C., is nearly broke as she faces a slate of Democratic primary challengers and questions about her political future.

@taylorgiorno.bsky.social

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s Reelection Campaign Is Nearly Broke as Challenges Mount

The Democratic congresswoman, who has represented D.C. since 1991, is facing internal pressure to retire.

www.notus.org

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Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 20h

Also just because you couldn't find Saudi Arabia on a map before they offered you a huge bag that doesn't also mean it true for your critics.

Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 20h

As a comedian if you're comparing your role and product in a repressive society in similar terms to a McDonalds, I feel like you are missing the point of your profession.

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Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 20h

I actually like Bill Burr, and put him in a somewhat separate category than most of the other Riyadh crew, but he has not reacted well to criticism.

Ex. These are all shallow, empty, consumer parts of US culture. The good stuff - like constitutional rights & free speech - are entirely absent.

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Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 20h

This is the correct take. That WCF loss to the Lakers felt like cosmic injustice (I'm not even a Kings fan!)

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 22h

The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."

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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 21h

when Sora was released, the entire app was people making Spongebob and Pikachu videos

Now there are guardrails preventing that, so the entire app is people complaining they cant make Spongebob and Pikachu videos

seems like an app with real staying power

www.404media.co/sora-2-conte...

People Are Crashing Out Over Sora 2’s New Guardrails

OpenAI’s Sora 2 platform started just one week ago as an AI-generated copyright infringement free-for-all. Now, people say they’re struggling to generate anything without being hit with a violation er...

www.404media.co

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Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai @lorenzofb.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: ICE purchased custom-made vans from a company called TechOps Specialty Vehicles (TOSV) that are equipped with fake cellphone towers designed to spy on phones.

TOSV president said the company integrates the cell-site simulators into their vans, but does not manufacture the surveillance tool.

ICE bought vehicles equipped with fake cell towers to spy on phones | TechCrunch

The federal contract shows ICE spent $825,000 on vans equipped with “cell-site simulators” which allow the real-world location tracking of nearby phones and their owners.

techcrunch.com

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Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 22h

Yeah, I'm talking specifically about the post-Obama period, so roughly 2016-2025.

Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 22h

Sanders is the most popular political figure in the country right now and will likely go down and the most influential D politician of this generation.

My point was that always striving for what makes "good politics" today can turn into long term liability tomorrow, something Sanders avoided.

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Francis Wilkinson @franciswilkinson.bsky.social · 1d

1. Trump Culture War quote.
2. Johnson CW quote.
3. *Imagined* Schumer CW quote.
4. “These culture wars get sillier by the day.”

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Don't Fret. It Adores You @seed-corn-thoughts.bsky.social · 1d

The problem the GOP has right now is the same one they had in Iraq turned up to 11- they think they really *can* change the world just by declaring it is so, like a wizard casting a magic spell. And they are crashing and burning on the hard stone of reality. Do we want to follow on that road?

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Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, lots of quotes that boil down to "Trump said he would do this, but I assumed the Norms Fairy would stop him."

Alex Aronson @alexaronson.bsky.social · 2d

Everything that's wrong with legal journalism in one New York Times headline and pie chart.

If all these "legal experts" are so shocked by the threats to the rule of law, maybe they're not the experts we should be asking in the first place.

All of this was foreseeable. Many forecast it.

NYT headline: "Bow to the Emperor: We asked 50 Legal Experts About the Trump Presidency."

Pie chart showing over 50% of surveyed legal experts saying that Trump's second term has posed "much more threat" to the rule of law "than I expected."

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Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 5d

Corporate outlets aren’t resisting fascism. They’re enabling it. All the president’s men aren’t breaking into the Watergate; they’re buying up the media and firing anyone who won’t toe the line.

thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/03/b...

Bari Weiss Doesn’t Want You to Read This

Bari Weiss’s reported hiring at CBS News is the latest example of corporate media capitulating to Trump.

thebarbedwire.com

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utopia deferred @utopia-defer.red · 1d

I know we’re going in circles but it is abundantly clear that they have literally no idea, let alone a plan, to fix their own mess.

Nobody is at the wheel, it is the first social media AI presidency and they drove themselves into a blind alley.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis - I don't know the details, I just saw a headline - but there are some legal analysts saying that might not be appropriate or necessary"

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 1d

I keep waiting for the powers that be in media to grasp the concept of bad faith, realize how often "restore trust in news" and similar statements mean "stop doing journalism, lie more in ways I like," come from people ideologically committed to destroying trust in news, and can never be satisfied.

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 1d

I too am keen to "restore trust in news" by turning a major broadcast network into a 24/7 slurry of right wing culture war propaganda and engagement trolling

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 1d

Bari Weiss introduced herself to CBS News staff today on the network's 9AM call, saying she wants to "win," which requires restoring trust to CBS. She also said she was excited for staff to get to know the Free Press, and ended her remarks by saying: "Let's do the fucking news."

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 1d

What the folks who no longer trust mainstream news fundamentally want is to be lied to, and not just on the editorial page. You will never win them back as long as you're doing serious journalism. I wish this wasn't the case, but for the moment it sure seems to be.

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Dean Jackson @dwj88.bsky.social · 1d

A secret meeting with X. A senior State Dept. advisor just out of college. The VP's speech in Munich. Pressure on European regulators.

What do they share? They're all part of an agenda to turn the transatlantic alliance into a far right international:

www.techpolicy.press/trumps-state...

Trump’s State Department Wants to Use Tech Policy to Remake Europe In Its Image | TechPolicy.Press

Tech policy is a key part of the Trump administration's dramatic project to replace the US's traditional European alliances, Dean Jackson writes.

www.techpolicy.press

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Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 1d

Tom Sietsema is stepping down from his longtime gig as WaPo restaurant critic, and showing his face. A terrific critic and absolutely lovely guy — big loss for the Post and I’m sure he will do something great next www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/10...

Column | Food critic Tom Sietsema is stepping down — and dropping his anonymity

After a quarter-century of reviewing restaurants, donning disguises and turning down photos, The Post’s food critic is ready for his next course.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Derek B. Johnson @derekbjohnson.bsky.social · 1d

This guy is a legend in DC media. I learned about so many awesome restaurants, food trucks etc tucked away in the DMV over the past two decades cuz of his work. Funny he went to such lengths to hide his appearance, I wonder how many restaurants had a picture of him up on the kitchen wall, lol.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 1d

Post food critic Tom Sietsema is stepping down after 25 years — and is finally showing his face.

In his final column, Tom shares some tricks of the trade after decades of reviewing restaurants anonymously. https://wapo.st/4pWgp8K

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Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 1d

Durbin is retiring, but this is a classic "Dem leaders are old" line.

Most conservatives now think Nixon did nothing wrong. Do people born after 1990 know what Nixon did? Doubtful

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Durbin: "What has taken place since January 20, 2025, would make even President Nixon recoil. This is your legacy, AG Bondi."

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