Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

gelbach @gelbach.bsky.social · 7m

A WHART on America

Plenary Popehat Power @kenwhite.bsky.social · 12m

The White House Antifa Roundtable is one of the best displays I’ve seen of this-is-how-bad-it’s-gotten — just a sewer of open fascism, dementia, morons and freaks, and incoherent rage.

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 8m

Putting aside the many reasons they should include it, this is also negotiation 101: don't negotiate against yourself, such as by locking your demand in low when your counterparty refuses to negotiate.

Dems shouldn't take stuff off the table until Trump & GOP are truly negotiating.

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 35m

Durbin on whether Democrats can use reining in ICE in Chicago as a precondition to rein in the government says “can’t do that. It’s gotta be health care all the way.”

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Matthew Stiegler @matthewstiegler.bsky.social · 1h

My wife @pattyskuster.bsky.social is in Portland today. It’s a war zone, insurrectionists and sunflowers everywhere.

Pretty flowers at the downtown farmers’ market.

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 1h

Again, when we get through this, every one of these laws with aircraft carrier-sized loopholes allowing POTUS to be a dictator bc REASONS needs to go. Every one. They rested on shared norms that simply no longer exist. We need complete contracts now. Rules, not discretion.

bsky.app/profile/mcop...

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 1h

White House officials have held increasingly serious discussions in recent days about President Donald Trump invoking the Insurrection Act, a rarely used 19th century law that gives the president the power to deploy active-duty troops inside the U.S. for law enforcement purposes

Trump administration officials seriously discussing invoking Insurrection Act, sources say

A decision is not expected to be imminent, one source said, but debate within the administration has shifted recently to more deeply exploring how and when the act might be invoked.

www.nbcnews.com

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Mike Murphy @mjamurphy.bsky.social · 3h

I still have to update my website & whatnot to do a fancy post, but in the meantime...

I'm going to be on the econ job market this year so if you know of cool openings in applied micro / development / environmental econ, please send them my way!

#EconSky

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gelbach @gelbach.bsky.social · 3h

Simple principle: if it would be a war crime when done to enemy soldiers, then it shouldn’t be done to civilians by the US government

Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 4h

One of the (many) legal gaps that needs to be filled after this nightmare is over is to prohibit federal law enforcement agencies from using federal funds to create propaganda videos with anyone in custody. This is all about spectacle and content creation, remove the incentive and the means

Tina Smith @smith.senate.gov · 6h

Weird how that didn’t make the cut.

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 6h

Fascists are desperate for violent disruption they can use an excuse for state violence and power grabs.

They have trouble with mockery, goofiness, and fun.

That holds across just about every type of authoritarianism. They like being feared for cruelty. They hate being laughed at and humiliated.

Courtney Vaughn @courtneyvaughn.bsky.social · 17h

Streets are still closed off in front of the Portland ICE facility at 8:30pm. Protesters have gathered on a side street. Dance party in progress.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 6h

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

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Richard Primus @richardprimus.bsky.social · 5h

Re National Guard deployments: @jacklgoldsmith.bsky.social says the Oregon TRO is less significant than people are saying, b/c DJT has other & more powerful tools than s.12406, such that if he wants to deploy troops, he'll be able to.

I think he's right about that part.

But...

(1/5)

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Richard Primus @richardprimus.bsky.social · 5h

That’s important. If the courts are going to put up any meaningful resistance to lawless executive behavior, they’re going to need to stop giving DJT lies a free pass and call it the benefit of the “doubt.”

(3/5)

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 5h

“.. Oh, we've entered the ‘shooting priests’ phase of the Glorious Trump Revolution. Good to know.”

- @therickwilson.bsky.social

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Neil Turkewitz @neilturkewitz.bsky.social · 5h

“We asked Cruz's office to explain why a senator pressuring Wikipedia is appropriate while an FCC chair pressuring ABC is not and will update this article if we get a response.”

Perfect! The 🧑🏽‍🍳’s 💋

Ars Technica @arstechnica.com · 1d

Cruz apparently took particular issue with Wikipedia's reliable sources/perennial sources list, which lists Fox News as a "generally unreliable" source for politics and science.

Ted Cruz picks a fight with Wikipedia, accusing platform of left-wing bias

Cruz sends letter demanding answers from Wikimedia Foundation.

arstechnica.com

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gelbach @gelbach.bsky.social · 5h

My sister used to eat those.
I never developed a taste, maybe because I never tried it

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Block Club Chicago @blockclubchi.bsky.social · 7h

A federal judge in Chicago says ICE violated a consent decree with warrantless arrests. blockclubchi.co/4nGUOQ8

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gelbach @gelbach.bsky.social · 5h

Definitely seems like there’s going to be a soybean shortage

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 7h

So this is funny.
The administration just issued a rule slashing foreign agricultural worker wages. And to justify it, in a public filing, Trump's Labor Department alleges that Trump's immigration enforcement has devastated the Ag workforce and caused a "risk of supply shock-induced food shortages."

Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis

In a filing in the Federal Register, the Labor Department argues there are “immediate dangers to the American food supply” due to a lack of migrant agricultural workers.

prospect.org

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gelbach @gelbach.bsky.social · 6h

Excellent, all three of us can have dinner

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HuffPost @huffpost.com · 7h

Justin Pearson, who was kicked out of the legislature for a gun control protest, is challenging Democratic incumbent Steve Cohen.

Tennessee Is The Next Front In Democrats' Generational War

Justin Pearson, who was kicked out of the legislature for a gun control protest, is challenging Democratic incumbent Steve Cohen.

www.huffpost.com

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Amy Feldman @amyfeldman7.bsky.social · 19h

Six former surgeons general appointed by every President since George HW Bush warn that RFK Jr. is endangering the health of the nation, calling his policies/positions a “profound, immediate + unprecedented threat”

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | Six surgeons general: It’s our duty to warn the nation about RFK Jr.

We took an oath to declare dangers when we found them. We’re doing that again today.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 7h

twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross

photo of Google News search results for Amazon Prime Day (the second this year)

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 7h

I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?