Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Eric Walters @ericwalters.bsky.social · 7h

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 21h

Under the Third Reich, most Germans generally lived in the law-bound normative state, while Jews and other disfavored people were victims of the arbitrary and violent prerogative state.

The dual state is characterized by the facade of normalcy obscuring the fact of an authoritarian state.

The “dual state” theory was invented to describe Nazis. The Supreme Court could take us there.

Authoritarianism—but make it look like the rule of law.

www.motherjones.com

Eric Walters @ericwalters.bsky.social · 1d

I’m more interested in policy and overall trends than specific projects

Also interested in learning from countries and regions that are pushing the fastest and whether/when we will start seeing overall reductions in overall GHG emissions

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Eric Walters @ericwalters.bsky.social · 2d

And still going gangbusters outside 🇺🇸

Will be interesting to see how things play out in the US with Trump pulling out all the stops to block cheap renewable energy

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Eric Walters @ericwalters.bsky.social · 2d

Puzzling that gov’t agencies esp in areas of public interest don’t require research papers to be published in journals available to those who paid for the research—taxpayers

There are researchers like @christianonre.bsky.social who seem committed to publish in open journals—we need more like that

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jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 3d

correspondent for The Economist

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 3d

I visited the apartment building ICE raided on Tuesday today. Story to come, but you can walk right in. Half of the apartments have no doors on them. Children's stuff abandoned in some flats. *Citizen* residents told me they were arrested and held for hours in zipties. This is America

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Monica Maalouf, MD @maaloufmd.bsky.social · 4d

My husband was detained by ICE today

Juan Muñoz, an American citizen, father of 2, and local government official, was peacefully protesting w. other elected officials. He was assaulted and taken away

I have had zero contact or updates since

#SOS
@duckworth.senate.gov @durbin.senate.gov

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Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 6d

Loyalty oaths for universities. The thing of the Third Reich. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference

www.nytimes.com

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Eric Walters @ericwalters.bsky.social · 5d

In these days of corrupted and captured corporate media ProPublica’s outstanding and independent investigative journalism deserves public support more than ever

ProPublica @propublica.org · 5d

1/ Donated to ProPublica recently? That means you’re a member.

Join us for our next Inside the Big Story event, a virtual discussion on Oct. 15 about how immigration policies are being enforced and how our reporters are documenting the consequences.

Check your email for the invite 📩

Graphic titled "Inside the Big Story: Documenting Immigration Enforcement." A description below reads: "Join us for a members-only virtual discussion about how immigration policies are being enforced and how our reporters are documenting the consequences. Wednesday, Oct. 15. 4 p.m. Eastern time." A photo collage on the right shows an immigration agent using a sledgehammer to smash a car window as well as agents taking a man out of a car.

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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 7d

Oh yes, this is clearly now.

A post on X by Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan
) expresses frustration, asking how anyone can read a definition of fascism and not be alarmed, emphasizing that it is happening now. The post includes a quote from Cody Johnston (@drmistercody
) from one day ago, defining fascism as a form of political behavior marked by an obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood, and compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity. The definition describes a mass-based party of nationalist militants working with traditional elites, abandoning democratic liberties, and pursuing redemptive violence for internal cleansing and external expansion without ethical or legal restraints.

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Eric Walters @ericwalters.bsky.social · 7d

Unfortunately, the ones who don’t react the “right” way will be fired or pushed out

They can be easily replaced with candidates who are at least as qualified to be generals as Hegseth is to be Secretary of Defense

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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 8d

This needs to become a huge story

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 8d

NEW: Rachel Maddow drops unseen bodycam footage of feds coordinating the arrest of Newark Mayor Baraka.

I REPEAT: the feds ordered his arrest even though he wasn’t breaking any laws.

Federal agent: “We are arresting the mayor right now per the Deputy Attorney General of the United States.”

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 9d

79. American citizen.

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Grist @grist.org · 9d

Major U.S. utilities earn an “F” on a new report card because they’re planning to build far too little clean energy and far too many gas-fired power plants.

grist.org/energy/utili...

#Climate #Utilities #Research #Science #GreenSky #News

Utilities are doing even worse on climate than they were 5 years ago

Major U.S. utilities earn an “F” on a new report card because they’re planning to build far too little clean energy and far too many gas-fired power plants.

grist.org

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Auke Hoekstra @aukehoekstra.bsky.social · 10d

I'm glad that @christianonre.bsky.social increasingly includes nuclear in his analysis, if only to show that adding nuclear is really more expensive than a system running completely (100%) on renewables.

Christian Breyer @christianonre.bsky.social · 12d

1/ New @lut.fi study in collaboration with European partners finds prioritising nuclear power expansion over renewable energy (RE) leads to 71–84% higher annual system costs in Finland by 2050 compared to a cost-optimised RE system. doi.org/10.1016/j.en...

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 10d

Troops to Portland? Illegal and absurd. But the absurdity is the point. Trump policy is to ignore real threats to US security coming from abroad and use the armed forces to pursue imaginary threats from within, thereby creating an atmosphere suitable for personal rule. (1/2)

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 12d

I hear the President has decreed that it is possibly a crime to refer to Americans as "fascists," but "fascism" is a word that has a relatively clear meaning that's worth understanding. Here's how an official publication of the US Army defined "fascism" in 1945.

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · Aug 1

The central point is that when fascism came to America it wouldn't call itself that, nor would it be wearing a swastika. It would call itself "patriotic" and "100% American."

Can We Spot It?
(Question: How can we identify native American fascists at work? )
An American fascist seeking power would not proclaim that he is a fascist. Fascism always camouflages its plans and purposes. Hitler made demagogic appeals to all groups and swore: "Neither I nor anybody in the National Socialist Party advocates proceeding by anything but Constitutional methods." Any fascist attempt to gain power in America would not use the exact Hitler pattern. It would work under the guise of "super-patriotism" and "super-American-ism." Fascist leaders are neither stupid nor naive.
They know that they must hand out a line that "sells." Huey Long is said to have remarked that if fascism came to America, it would be on a program of "Ameri-canism."
Fascists in America may differ slightly from fascists in other countries, but there are a number of attitudes and practices that they have in common. Following are three. Every person who has one of them is not necessarily a fascist. But he is

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 15d

Critics of renewables often point to land use as a reason not to invest in wind & solar. Land use IS a real issue for all energy assets incl renewables (unless on-site).

But what critics conveniently forget is the huge land impact of fossil fuels. Aerial view of fracking sites in Wickett, Texas. 👇

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Oxfords not Brogues @tancred1098.bsky.social · 12d

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 12d

This is, without any exaggeration, exactly how Putin and Orbán proceeded — using antisemitism to discredit the idea of civil society and political opposition, and as an excuse to undo the rule of law.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/u...

Justice Dept. Official Pushes Prosecutors to Investigate George Soros’s Foundation

www.nytimes.com

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Eric Walters @ericwalters.bsky.social · 12d

In a country with a functioning legal system, former French 🇫🇷President Sarkozy sentenced to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy to solicit election funds from the Kadhafi regime in Libya

Le Monde @lemonde.fr · 12d

En direct, procès Sarkozy-Kadhafi : Nicolas Sarkozy condamné à cinq ans de prison avec mandat de dépôt à effet différé

L’ex-président n’échappera pas à la prison, même en faisant appel. « Cette injustice est un scandale », a réagi l’ex-chef de l’Etat, reconnu coupable d’association de malfaiteurs dans l’affaire du financement libyen.

www.lemonde.fr

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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 13d

Donald Trump is about to have me indicted on bogus charges. Here’s why I’m still glad I got him elected in 2016.

by James Comey

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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 13d

UCLA in the ranks of institutions that stand up—and prevail.

And another [non-Scotus, of course] federal judge in the ranks of those who stand up for rule of law.

Courage and principle are contagious. Stand up, and support others who do.

Blake Emerson @blakeprof.bsky.social · 13d

UCLA’s funds reinstated after yesterday’s court order! Thanks to the brave researchers and their amazing counsel, including Dean Chemerinsky, who brought suit. This is just another turn in the ongoing fight, but a great result for now.

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 13d

The richest man on earth owns X.

The second richest man on earth is about to be a major owner of TikTok.

The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.

See the problem here?

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 13d

Unprecedented corruption & lawless authoritarianism happening right in front of us, every day.

Casey Michel @cjcmichel.bsky.social · 13d

There's now an official U.S. governmental website hawking the "Trump gold card" visa scheme—selling American residency to any kleptocrat, cartel head, or oligarch who can afford it.

trumpcard.gov

Trump Gold Card

Available now.

trumpcard.gov

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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 17d

"By the end of the year, we aim to have 200 percent more dipshits writing columns for us. As long as you are a Ben Shapiro knockoff who can string together the words 'the intolerant left' and occasionally criticize Trump, you have a home here on our opinion pages."

In Order to Keep Our Editorial Page Completely Balanced, We Are Hiring More Dipshits

Here at the New York Times, we believe that all sides of the story should be tolerated and explored, from white supremacists being actually kinda c...

buff.ly

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