Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jeremy Konyndyk @jeremykonyndyk.bsky.social · Jul 14

Excited to take part in this - we are underway - tune in!

John Green @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social · Jul 14

This evening there's an important webinar about the attempts to codify cuts to everything from global health to NPR: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: From UNICEF to NPR: Trump’s Cuts End Here: A Town Hall to Defend Global Health and Public Media. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email ab...

us02web.zoom.us

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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · Jul 11

That sinking feeling when you accidentally send a tariff letter addressed to the leader of a ruling military junta that the United States refuses to recognize or (otherwise) engage with.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Shunned Myanmar leader thrilled at US contact after Trump tariff letter

Min Aung Hlaing expresses ‘sincere appreciation’ for letter from US president threatening 40% tariff

www.theguardian.com

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Adam Sternbergh @sternbergh.bsky.social · Jun 5

must be incredibly frustrating and disheartening to have federal funding that was promised to you for important work suddenly and arbitrarily ripped away

Best of Dying Twitter @bestofdyingtwit.bsky.social · Jun 5

“In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately”

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Conor Sen @conorsen.bsky.social · Jun 5

Someone should tell Trump that Elon would feel very owned if he fully funded USAID and the CDC.

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Karl (sad trombone noise enthusiast) @brainnotonyet.bsky.social · Jun 3

“Federal law enforcement officers on the scene declined to say what the purpose of the raid was, and directed the Reformer to an email address for ICE’s media contact. Some declined to identify which agency they were with. Most wore masks.”

That's called secret police and it looked like it.

Minnesota Reformer @minnesotareformer.com · Jun 3

Federal law enforcement officials including ICE raided Las Cuatro Milpas, a taco restaurant in Minneapolis, on Tuesday as immigrant rights activists and neighbors protested. minnesotareformer.com/2025/06/03/h...

Hundreds protest ICE, other federal law enforcement action in Minneapolis • Minnesota Reformer

Federal law enforcement officers raided a Minneapolis taco restaurant Tuesday morning, sparking protests from immigrant rights activists and neighbors. Officers wearing the uniforms of Immigration an...

minnesotareformer.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · May 31

While Jake Tapper is saying that covering up Biden’s decline was worse than Watergate, the case is weakened by the fact Biden did not make obviously bad decisions as a result. But Musk’s decisions really do seem like those of a guy who is way too online and on a drug associated with paranoia.

For example, the most persuasive reason why Musk decided to eliminate USAID appears to be that he believed social media conspiracy theories that it was full of criminals. And so now USAID no longer exists, and credible estimates suggest that 300,000 people have died as a result, two-thirds of them children.

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Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · May 31

“If Trump can so much bad in such a small amount of time, why can’t we do so much good? Now is the time for us to be impatient, too.”

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Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · May 12

The federal government is going into a multi-season tank job without even having a draft lottery to look forward to

Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · May 12

Just realized *we broke everything that was working so now you have to let us do a complete overhaul* is The Process, they're doing The Process but for crashing airplanes instead of losing basketball games

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · May 11

Duffy on the air traffic control system: "The lights are blinking, the sirens are turning ... what you see in Newark is gonna happen in other places across the country."

Good luck, air travelers!

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Paul Krugman @pkrugman.bsky.social · May 10

So let me get this straight: masks are bad and un-American if worn to fight a pandemic, but good if worn by people claiming to be government agents when they kidnap people off the street

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Ilya Somin @ilyasomin.bsky.social · May 9

Great moments in government efficiency!

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · May 8

CDC leadership just told staff on Monday that they could stop sending their "5 things I did last week" emails. Finally.

Per source, people were mostly just sending the same things every week. Many folks added read receipts and were able to see that no one at DOGE was actually reading the emails.

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The Associated Press @apnews.com · May 7

Judge says the Trump administration can't deport migrants to Libya unless they have a chance to challenge removal in court.

Judge says US must allow migrants a chance to challenge in court any deportations to Libya

A federal judge has found the Trump administration can’t deport migrants to Libya unless they have a meaningful chance to challenge their removal in court.

bit.ly

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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · May 6

Monday's declassified U.S. Intelligence Community assessment of lack of ties between Venezuelan government and TdA gang is a GAME CHANGER for Alien Enemies Act litigation.

It will also send ripple effects in how judges treat DOJ's credibility.

Check out @weissmann.substack.com and my conversation

What a Declassified Memo Means for Trump's Alien Enemies Act Cases | @AWeissmann

YouTube video by Ryan Goodman

youtu.be

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · May 6

Since Trump took office, his family has made $2.9 billion in crypto.

Again, this is a level of corruption so cartoonish, so obvious & on the surface, that it seems to have stunned everyone to silence.

Trump family's net worth has increased by $2.9 billion thanks to crypto investments, new report says

As the Trump family's crypto ventures increase their wealth, the president's administration pauses a dozen federal crypto probes.

www.cbsnews.com

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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · May 6

Not a great time for the top U.S. intelligence and defense officials to be people the president picked because he liked their TV hits.

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Leah Greenberg ❌👑 @leahgreenberg.bsky.social · May 5

👀👀👀

Emily (I'm not leaving) Feiner @emilyjaynef.bsky.social · May 5

Well, I had an interesting Sunday night, how 'bout you?

Jennifer C @thejenniwren.teamlh.social · May 5

🧵
NY-17 Rep. Mike Lawler had a local social worker physically dragged out of his town hall Sunday night.

Emily Feiner was singled out by private security, lifted out of her seat, as the crowd chanted “let her stay” and “shame, shame.”
She’s a constituent.
Not a threat.
Fascism again.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Apr 23

It turns out that if you gut public goods, you create far greater private costs.

Revolving Door Project @revolvingdoordc.bsky.social · Apr 23

Trump has already slashed the U.S. Forest Service's workforce by 10%, with more firings expected.

This is a recipe for disaster, as we explained in January: prospect.org/environment/...

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Center for American Progress @americanprogress.bsky.social · Apr 21

New DOGE cuts event: Join @jeremykonyndyk.bsky.social, Chloe Schwenke, and Jordan Schermerhorn on April 28th for a discussion on the global impact of the abrupt cuts to U.S. foreign assistance and how these cuts affect Americans here in the U.S.

Cutting Deep Abroad and at Home: Slashing Foreign Assistance Causes Worldwide Harm

Please join the Center for American Progress for the third in a series of virtual events highlighting the impact that DOGE’s cuts are having on the lives of everyday Americans; this event will focus...

www.americanprogress.org

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Edward Luce @edwardluce.bsky.social · Apr 22

Today's shaping up to be a good one. Trump backing off from firing Powell and Elon Musk is preparing his exit having failed spectacularly in his Doge mission and simultaneously ruined Tesla's outlook.

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Senator Ed Markey @markey.senate.gov · Apr 22

I filmed this yesterday on my way to Lousiana where my constituent Rümeysa Öztürk is being wrongfully held by ICE. I’m there now demanding her release. More to come.

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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · Apr 15

To prevent anti-constitutional, authoritarian control of the United States, blue states will need to end most cooperation with fascist-aligned federal agencies.

Governors need to start talking about it publicly because massive public support will be necessary to pull something like this off.

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · Apr 15

First time we’ve seen this in any poll in a long time.

Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · Apr 14

👀🚨JICYMI: New Quinnipiac Poll: More Americans now disapprove of Trump on immigration by 50% to 45% (including 51% independents)

MAJORITY of Americans now disapprove of Trump on deportations by 53% to 42% poll.qu.edu/poll-release...

cc: @schumer.senate.gov @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social l

Q poll screenshot:

"4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling - immigration issues?
- REGISTERED VOTERS
- Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom
Approve 45% 90% 4% 43% 54% 35%
Disapprove 50 8 92 51 41 59
DK/NA 5 3 4 6 5 6"

Q poll screenshot:

"9. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling - deportations?
- REGISTERED VOTERS
- Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom
Approve 42% 87% 4% 38% 51% 33%
Disapprove 53 11 92 56 45 61
DK/NA 5 2 4 6 4 6"

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Apr 15

Another set of masked officers. ICE HSI must be really afraid of the cameras.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Apr 14

Breaking News: Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia student activist who is a legal permanent resident, was arrested by ICE at a meeting he thought was a step to becoming a U.S. citizen. nyti.ms/4cxlwG4

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · Apr 14

I think the Ozturk case suggests that 1) yes, Canary is being used to ID students for deportation 2) someone in State is OVERRIDING evidentiary analyses (like the one WaPo reports that said there was no evidence against Ozturk) to sustain Canary "conclusions."

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Apr 14

It looks very much like the Department of Homeland Security memo seeking to revoke Ozturk's visa copied language directly from the Canary Mission website. Is DHS just following the "deport list" from an anonymous website? donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-attack...

The Department of Homeland Security memo asking the State Department to revoke her visa used exactly the same language as the website: “OZTURK engaged in anti-Israel activism in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israelis on October 7, 2023.” In other words, it looks like the DHS accusation against Ozturk was copied directly from Canary Mission.

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · Apr 14

WSJ reports that Pete Marocco is out at State. It politely. says that Marocco disagreed with Rubio.

From court filings, it appears far more likely that Marocco bureaucratically overrode Rubio.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Marocco and Rubio sometimes disagreed over the scale and implementation of foreign aid cuts. During a 90-day review of U.S. assistance programs, Marocco advocated for deeper, far-reaching cuts, while Rubio pushed to keep as many lifesaving initiatives as possible, officials said.

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