Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Kevin

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 58m

Two big GOP activists from Oregon were in DC last month for meetings with Trump admin officials. On their podcast they talk about a plan they discussed to nullify the results of Oregon's 2026 federal elections. Pass federal voter ID law, then refuse to seat OR delegation because OR didn't comply.

Ep. 18: September to Remember
October 6 • S1 E18 • 44 min
Also, we proposed a idea how to do a end run on vote by mail. Concept is based on what Trump proposed. When you vote, you check everyone's citizenship as well as voter ID.
In a vote by mail state, you might be able to check citizenship during voter registration. You can send copies of your passport and your birth certificate in.
How in the world are you going to check our voters?
Voter ID, right? Vote by mail. So that creates a problem for Oregon.
But if federal government new requirement is to check both, and if Oregon can comply with the requirements, what would happen to our election result? I'm talking about the entire federal delegation.
For federal elections, we're talking about only federal elections.
COMMON SENSE
Vascluar

Ep. 18: September to Remember
October 6 • S1 E18 • 44 min
So entire federal delegation, congressmen and senators could be challenged, could be unseated because you didn't follow federal requirements to elect them. So I said the trade-off is worth it. You know why?
Democrats control two Senate seats out of six congressional seats. We only control one. They control five.
You talk about trade-off, right?
COMMON SENSE
Sanctuany

19 290 530

Reposted by Kevin

NPR @npr.org · 1h

When millions lost power in Spain and Portugal this spring, some were quick to blame too much solar and wind power. That wasn't the cause, but the misinformation had an impact. n.pr/4nLAI7A

After Spain's blackout, critics blamed renewable energy. It's part of a bigger attack

When millions lost power in Spain and Portugal this spring, some were quick to blame too much solar and wind power. That wasn't the cause, but the misinformation had an impact.

n.pr

5 75 200

Reposted by Kevin

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 8h

The historically volatile Texas grid was entirely stable this summer, despite extreme temperatures. Grid operators never once had to ask Texans to conserve energy or shut off their air conditioners.

Why? Solar & batteries. Want a stable grid? Try solar & batteries.

Solar and batteries had a record-setting, grid-stabilizing summer in…

Solar has set 17 power generation records in Texas so far this year, shoring up the grid alongside batteries as some gas plant developers step back.

www.canarymedia.com

16 340 1.1K

Reposted by Kevin

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

very cool that if you are working on behalf of right-wing culture warriors, you no longer need standing to have your claim adjudicated by the supreme court

Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 1d

It's not just that they're going to strike down a law against conversion therapy, it's that they're going to do it on behalf of made-up claims from a straw plaintiff who can't honestly show the law affected her at all

Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 1d

One thing about American's widespread distrust and disapproval of the Supreme Court is that mainstream news coverage mostly doesn't dwell on stuff like standing, so people don't even begin to grasp how rigged the Court truly is www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

130 1.6K 7.9K

Reposted by Kevin

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 19h

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted “no one has died” as a result of U.S. foreign aid cuts. In Myanmar, the grieving father of a 2-year-old boy who died after their food rations were cut calls such claims a lie.

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.

bit.ly

170 1.7K 3.1K

Reposted by Kevin

Tab Combs @drtcombs.bsky.social · 1d

If you feel yourself being drawn in by a vision of uncongested city streets, please come talk to me. I can help. Traffic Impact Assessment will charm you, exploit your fear of driving slowly, and then will STAB YOU RIGHT IN THE BACK.

It's ok though. You're worth saving.

Tab Combs @drtcombs.bsky.social · 1d

I got not beef with people getting in touch with their spiritual selves, but please, people, #TIA is snake oil. Do not fall for it! Please read my paper and save yourselves from that false prophet, "congestion mitigation"

#TrafficImpactAssessment

doi.org/10.1177/0739...

Evolution in Local Traffic Impact Assessment Practices - Tabitha S. Combs, Noreen C. McDonald, William Leimenstoll, 2023

This study evaluates the state of traffic impact assessment (TIA) practice at the local level in North Carolina and the Washington D.C. metro area. Using semist...

doi.org

1 3 13

Reposted by Kevin

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 2d

Not happening somewhere else. Here. In America. Right now.

Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 2d

CHICAGO (AP) — Storming an apartment complex by helicopter as families slept. Deploying chemical agents near a public school. Handcuffing a Chicago City Council member at a hospital.

apnews.com/article/chic...

Using helicopters and chemical agents, immigration agents become increasingly aggressive in Chicago

Activists, residents and elected leaders say increasingly combative tactics used by federal immigration agents are sparking violence and fueling neighborhood tensions in the nation’s third-largest cit...

apnews.com

21 390 1.1K

Kevin @kevinrmatthews.bsky.social · 3d

A bunch of nerds playing video games wiped out the tough guys. youtu.be/QPoQDYaHzd0?...

1

Reposted by Kevin

Adam Freedgood @adamfreedgood.bsky.social · 4d

We were on track for such a boom in the US.

It’ll come roaring back when market forces intervene but talk about self sabotage. Killing IRA and making pretend investments in unprofitable coal will only drive electricity costs up in the meantime.

Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 5d

#Solar becomes main source of electricity in the #EU for first time. More than half of the EU’s #electricity in the second quarter of 2025 came from #RenewableEnergy
www.independent.co.uk/tech/solar-p...

Solar becomes main source of electricity in the EU for first time

More than half of the EU’s electricity in the second quarter of 2025 came from renewable energy

www.independent.co.uk

7 69 330

Reposted by Kevin

TPM @talkingpointsmemo.com · 5d

The Department of Homeland Security just featured a mascot associated with Neo Nazis in a video promoting mass deportation.

DHS Includes ‘White Supremacist’ Meme in Video Promoting Deportation Blitz

A video posted on X by the Department of Homeland Security included...

talkingpointsmemo.com

12 61 98

Reposted by Kevin

Kevin Erdmann @kevinerdmann.bsky.social · 5d

I present, without comment, 50 seconds of Dave Chappelle at a hearing in his town about building a few affordable homes.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJms...

Dave Chappelle - Village Council Mic Drop

YouTube video by Reelblack One

www.youtube.com

4 6 20

Kevin @kevinrmatthews.bsky.social · 5d

"War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want".

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 5d

"The question is not one of policy or strategy. The question is one of character." www.liberalcurrents.com/democrats-mu...

Democrats Must Embrace War Mindset

We have exited a long period of peace and entered into a struggle not unlike war, in which all the old certainties have gone malleable and the future of the republic is at stake.

www.liberalcurrents.com

1

Reposted by Kevin

Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 7d

No need to be scared of him. The trend is clear - everyone outside of his hard base is abandoning him.

240 1.4K 6K

Kevin @kevinrmatthews.bsky.social · 6d

This isn't remotely true.

5

Reposted by Kevin

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 6d

straight up child murder www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting.

USAID antimalarial and HIV supplies valued at nearly $140 million were delayed in the first half of the year or not delivered at all due to the Trump administration’s foreign aid pause, The Post found...

www.washingtonpost.com

8 190 580

Reposted by Kevin

Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 6d

1. UPDATE: Billionaire Rob Citrone, whose hedge fund bet heavily on Argentina, pressed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, his longtime friend and former colleague, to rescue the country, according to Argentine media.

Shortly thereafter, Bessent announced a $20 billion taxpayer-funded bailout.

UPDATE: Hedge fund billionaire pressed Treasury Secretary for Argentina bailout, Argentine media reports

Rob Citrone, whose hedge fund bet big on Argentina, reportedly asked his friend for a rescue package. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered.

popular.info

40 420 700

Reposted by Kevin

Dr. Mar 💙 @boldnewme.bsky.social · 7d

The President is unwell.

PBS comments: “his remarks were rambling and incoherent,” in multiple appearances.

The Guardian calls some of his speeches “baffling” and “weirder than ever.”

Cambridge analysis says that his statements often require “translation” or annotation to make sense.

490 3.1K 12K

Reposted by Kevin

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 7d

So at the same time the Trump regime claims it's fighting antisemitism (which was always a lie) it's now saying it will deny citizenship (or visas?) to "globalists" which is mostly used in their crowd as a barely coded euphemism for "Jews"

Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 7d

DHS appears to suggest that it will deny citizenship to "globalists"

Homeland Security
@DHSgov
"Communist?"
DENIED.
"Terrorist?"
DENIED.
"Globalist?"
DENIED.

Above a meme of a bearded smiling guy, in this case wearing a USCIS hat

30 420 1.5K

Reposted by Kevin

Steph Vigil for Colorado @stephvigil.bsky.social · 7d

It's the last day of a reporting period & there's a big fight ahead. Billionaires spent over $2m in dark money to oppose me in 2024, and they’ll do it again bc there’s nothing they hate more than a working class leader.

Donate to fuel my people-powered campaign!

secure.actblue.com/donate/webvi...

Donate to Stephanie Vigil

Show your support with a contribution.

secure.actblue.com

1 4

Kevin @kevinrmatthews.bsky.social · 8d

Early 90s to late 90s saw a real mood shift

Kevin @kevinrmatthews.bsky.social · 8d

I never doubted.

1

Kevin @kevinrmatthews.bsky.social · 9d

Even when voters blamed Republicans for previous shut downs, it didn't affect their electoral performances in future elections one bit, and polling currently shows a plurality of voters would blame the GOP for a shutdown. I doubt this changes much in the immediate future.

2

Reposted by Kevin

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 10d

White House Deputy Press Secretary seen here posting data showing how much more prevalent right wing domestic terrorism is than left wing domestic terrorism... while thinking she's showing the reverse.

Apparently she can only read headlines, but not the actual graph with the data.

Abigail Jackson saying: Democrats, calling your political opponents Nazis has consequences.

Study: Left-wing terrorism climbs to 30-year high

And posting a graph from Axios that shows WAY WAY WAY more right wing terrorism, and showing a very slight increase in left wing terrorism this year that would still have it lower than basically every other year of right wing terrorism.

88 1K 3.7K

Reposted by Kevin

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 11d

it is just a straightforward statement of fact to say that the trump administration sees any black student at an elite institution as one too many

So Much for Class-Based Affirmative Action

The Trump administration considers even race-blind admissions policies illegal if they’re intended to achieve diversity.

www.theatlantic.com

47 960 4.7K

Reposted by Kevin

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 13d

Literally the authoritarian playbook:
1. Call your opponents terrorists.
2. Deploy state power against them.

There's nothing subtle or confusing or complex about what's happening. The *outcome* is uncertain but the authoritarianism is right out in the open.

52 820 1.9K