Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Jacob Soboroff @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social · 1h

Michigan Avenue right now.

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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 5h

My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 3h

As a reminder, when Jack Posobiec was in the US Navy, they assessed his full capabilities and concluded that he was best suited to collecting samples for urinalysis

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 5h

Incredible.

Jack Posobiec references the earliest version of antifa -- the anti-fascists in the Weimar Republic who were opposed to the Nazi Party -- as the bad guys.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 3h

😕

Here’s the video again: www.instagram.com/reel/DPi9m_2...

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 8h

Virginia State Senate Dems just brought down fire and fury regarding the “Compact,” notifying the President and Rector that UVA would lose ALL STATE APPROPRIATIONS if it signs and cedes the University to “federal political control.” Notably, their letter directly restates points made here by @siva.

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · 10h

The “compact” for higher ed is an unserious document written by unserious people from a position of spectacular ignorance. No one should take it seriously. Sadly, my bosses are taking it seriously.

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · Jul 25

Few “don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone” examples as potent as an independent DOJ

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jlp2024.bsky.social @jlp2024.bsky.social · 6h

This statement is literally proof that @cnn.com will report the "administration preferred narrative with fear and favor"

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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 7h

Fail

Jon Passantino @passantino.bsky.social · 7h

CNN is now using the Trump preferred “Department of War” name in its official statements

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jlp2024.bsky.social @jlp2024.bsky.social · 6h

@cnn.com is such a failed organization

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Elizabeth Joh @elizabethjoh.bsky.social · 7h

🚨A quarter of all FBI agents have been assigned to immigration enforcement www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

A quarter of FBI agents are assigned to immigration enforcement, per FBI data

Nearly a quarter of FBI agents are currently assigned to immigration enforcement, with the number climbing above 40 percent in the bureau’s largest field offices.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 10h

The Speaker of the House has firm views that Bad Bunny is a terrible pick for singing at the Super Bowl, but hasn't had time to watch the President's speech to our military leadership or form an opinion whether furloughed federal workers should be paid or Illinois' governor should be thrown in jail.

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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks, New Yorker

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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 2d

“A federal team in El Paso that once pursued child traffickers has been disbanded.

“A task force in Kansas focused on stemming fentanyl has been redirected.

“Highway checkpoints near the border—on roads identified as major drug-trafficking routes—have gone unstaffed”

🎁
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Trump’s Immigration Push Diverts U.S. Agents From Drug, Money and Sex-Crime Cases

Federal investigators are resigning, and morale is low, as they juggle complex cases and detain migrants.

www.wsj.com

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jlp2024.bsky.social @jlp2024.bsky.social · 20h

Pat Bagley @bagleycartoons.bsky.social · 1d

Thugs

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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 1d

"As one of the few Jews on [the flotilla]...they asked me if I was Jewish...threw me in front of the Israeli flag... we were strip-searched & zip-tied & blindfolded, & sent to this detention camp."

Horrifying testimony to Zeteo from freed activist David Adler:
zeteo.com/p/exclusive-...

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ncperiodista.bsky.social @ncperiodista.bsky.social · 1d

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Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 1d

We’re getting very used to this but the statement is unusually unhinged.

Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 1d

Citing the “martyrdom” of Charlie Kirk, Texas AG Ken Paxton says his office is pursuing sweeping undercover investigations into “leftist” groups. “To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."

"Leftist political terrorism is a clear and present danger. Corrupted ideologies like transgenderism and Antifa are a cancer on our culture and have unleashed their deranged and drugged-up foot soldiers on the American people," said Attorney General Paxton. "The martyrdom of Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in America.
There can be no compromise with those who want us dead. To that end, I have directed my office to continue its efforts to identify, investigate, and infiltrate these leftist terror cells. To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."
The radical Left has incubated an environment where political violence is not only justified but celebrated and praised. In July, nearly two dozen armed leftists connected to various Texas-based Antifa-like groups ambushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") facility in Alvarado, Texas. On September 10, 2025, a leftist assassin connected to the radical transgender movement murdered Charlie Kirk because of Kirk's bold support for truth, love of country, and unshakable faith. Two weeks later, another deranged leftist opened fire at an ICE facility in Dallas.
President Donald Trump has officially designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization and instructed his administration to "utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa." Building on President Trump's bold actions, Attorney General Paxton has instructed his office to initiate sweeping investigations into radical leftist organizations engaged in or providing support to those performing political violence.

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Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 1d

Supreme Court on banning gender-affirming care for trans youth: Sure, that's fine, no constitutional violation.

Supreme Court on banning so-called conversion therapy for gay youth: No, can't have that, grave constitutional violation.

Here, Ketanji Brown Jackson gets to the bottom of it:

Excerpt of Supreme Court transcript in Chiles v. Salazar:

JUSTICE JACKSON: No, but here's what
I mean, right? In Skrmetti, we had a state
that wanted to prohibit certain medical
treatment, gender-affirming care, being given
to minors in the form of medication.
And we said that was okay. And I
understand there are particulars with respect
to how the -- the arguments, the constitutional
arguments, worked, but the state can prohibit
that.

Here, we have a state that wants to
prohibit gender-related medical treatment in
the form of talk therapy, but we now have the
First Amendment that is inhibiting the state's
ability to do that.

And I'm just, from a very, very broad
perspective, concerned about making sure that
we have equivalence with respect to these
things.

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Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 1d

We have reached a level of authoritarianism, let’s use the word FASCISM, where the President, based entirely on lies about violence and disorder, and against the will of the governors of the states, can send hostile state’s National Guard to invade and sit on citizens

Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · 1d

Don’t think these Texas National Guard guys are going to be chasing any immigrants around Chicago on foot

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

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jlp2024.bsky.social @jlp2024.bsky.social · 20h

They currently face that choice

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d

What's it like living in Chicago today? This image gives us a strong sense of the fear that Chicagoans fear from Trump's secret police.

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 23h

Um, ICE just coldly shot an unarmed PRIEST in the head w a pepper ball when he (and everyone around him) clearly posed no threat.

For the crime of … complaining about government policy.

Core 1A speech.

With cameras rolling, they’re sniping priests for sport.

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 1d

Here’s video of the incident

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madison! @madepn.bsky.social · 1d

here is my first rendering of the bread scale of triviality (any suggestions welcome; I love thinking about bread)

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 22h

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com

“Can presidents unleash the armed forces on their own people based on facts that they contrive?” Stephen Vladeck asks in a guest essay. “The text of the relevant statutes doesn’t answer that question. But our constitutional ideals, to say nothing of common sense, should.”

Opinion | No, Trump Can’t Order Troops to Wherever He Wants

The president’s claims about cities don’t hold up.

nyti.ms

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