Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 22d

Sliante!

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 25d

And now the "lighters" of the 21st Century come out...

1

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 25d

1 1

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 25d

Bez opens its set at the @ex-yurockcentar.bsky.social Come rock out here in Dom Mladih!

1 6

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 27d

My quotes included in this @rferl.org.web.brid.gy article on the upcoming military parade in #Serbia. In naski.
www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/srbija-vuc...

Vojna parada u Beogradu za jedinstvo koga nema

www.slobodnaevropa.org

1 2

Reposted by Kurt Bassuener

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 28d

How do you even measure the Washington Post cringe factor at being embarrassed like this in coverage of your own city...

Same event:

Left side - New York Times headline

Right side - Washington Post white house press release I mean headline

460 2.2K 8.8K

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · 28d

Ahura Mazda and Ahriman
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahura_M...

Ahura Mazda - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Reposted by Kurt Bassuener

Professor Amanda Sturgill @drsturg.bsky.social · 29d

Nice analysis and video on what MAHA influencers really say [GIFT LINK]

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/o...

Opinion | You Might Have Already Fallen for MAHA’s Conspiracy Theories

www.nytimes.com

1 8 22

Reposted by Kurt Bassuener

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · Sep 8

“There’s an irony in Northwestern’s President being pushed out to *fight antisemitism on campus* — he’s a Jewish descendent of Holocaust survivors.”😳

Trump using antisemitism as a cover to crack down on colleges and impose right wing ideology only fuels antisemitism.

20 270 730

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · Sep 8

Bingo

Reposted by Kurt Bassuener

Ann Telnaes @anntelnaes.bsky.social · Sep 8

Trump announces new Dept of Education guidelines for protecting prayer in public schools.

A reminder:

4 78 370

Reposted by Kurt Bassuener

Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · Sep 8

👇

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · Sep 8

Sad thing recent events have made me accept: a lot of US elites are weak, amoral people, whose guiding star is "what does power want?" mixed with "what's easiest for me in the short-term?" And that unfortunately means we can't appeal to principle or patriotism, we need to structure their incentives.

Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · Sep 8

I think the answer to the “paradox” of Trump consolidating dictatorial power despite being incompetent and unpopular lies in Democrats rattling their sabers at people and entities who capitulate to Trump over the objections of the American majority. But first they’ll have to find those sabers!

26 95 750

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · Sep 8

... At a time in which the EU faces existential challenge from east, west, and within, the time for smaller genuinely democratic member states to finally get over their hangups on QMV ought to finally have arrived. I'm not even hearing it discussed. (End)

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · Sep 8

...helped bring us to where we are now in the EU. Close to home here, Hungary has torpedoed the EU's agreed "restrictive measures" designed to address the callenge Dodik is mounting to BiH's legal/constitutional order since 2022. It is now just absorbed as a given, without any countermeasures...

1

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · Sep 8

Thanks, Toby.

Another thought occurred to me after reflection. While Orban was at the helm in 2015, people were met at Keleti railway station with water and offers of help. A different Hungary in 2025.

I'd posit that the fact that erosion of commonly agreed rules got accepted in 2015...

1

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · Sep 8

That cartoon floored me.

It also made it sound like the call at the time for other EU members to take a share of asylum seekers was out of step with standing legal commitments...

1

Reposted by Kurt Bassuener

Toby Vogel 🇪🇺 @tobyvogel.bsky.social · Sep 8

What is it about migration that brings out the worst in people?

Really worth reading this terrible column in @economist.com about the ten years since Merkel opened German borders to refugees.

Come for the racist cartoon, stay for the factual errors and race- and class-baiting.

Also worth...

Cartoon depicting brown people, including several coded as Muslim, holding up a banner reading "War schaffen das" - we will manage.

2 2 5

Reposted by Kurt Bassuener

Eric Gordy @ericgordy.bsky.social · Sep 8

An exhibit on the history of workers' self-management, for people who are around (Bg, Zg, NS).
fabrikeradnicima.com

Istorija jugoslovenskog radničkog samoupravljanja

Izložba posvećena istoriji jugoslovenskog radničkog samoupravljanja povodom 75 godina od njegovog uvođenja. Arhivska građa i kritički uvidi otkrivaju složenost ovog sistema i njegovo nasleđe.

fabrikeradnicima.com

4 7

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · Sep 8

Informative thread on the US kicking our close ally, South Korea, gratuitously in the nuts. And risking the single largest FDI in Georgia. 👇

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · Sep 7

Something folks are missing here: this raid wasn’t about “illegals taking American jobs.” It was about ICE storming the Hyundai–LG battery plant in Georgia, part of a $7.6B Metaplant project that isn’t even operational yet.
🧵

1 2

Reposted by Kurt Bassuener

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Sep 7

Warner on Laura Loomer: "Is she actually the acting Secretary of Defense, or Secretary of War as of this morning, or is she the real Director of National Intelligence?"

230 1.6K 5.5K

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · Sep 7

Fuckin' A. Every word

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · Sep 6

This part.

1 1

Reposted by Kurt Bassuener

Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · Sep 7

"Five tactics used by industry to undermine science. The disinformation playbook tactics are employed by industry during the scientific process and the science-based decision-making process"

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The disinformation playbook: how industry manipulates the science-policy process—and how to restore scientific integrity - Journal of Public Health Policy

For decades, corporate undermining of scientific consensus has eroded the scientific process worldwide. Guardrails for protecting science-informed processes, from peer review to regulatory decision ma...

link.springer.com

2 67 140

Reposted by Kurt Bassuener

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · Sep 6

As your Governor, I won’t stop fighting to defend your reproductive freedom.

200 2.2K 12K

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · Sep 6

And here is my piece for @newlinesinst.bsky.social on the Biden's Serbia-centric regional policy from summer 2023. 3/

newlinesinstitute.org/wp-content/u...

newlinesinstitute.org

1

Kurt Bassuener @kurtbassuener.bsky.social · Sep 6

Legitimate concern (as was protecting democracies against internal threat after 1/6/21) to be sure, but not the same as supporting democratic progress or change beyond that pool.

This was our assessment in March 2023, in advance of the 2nd Summit. 2/
www.democratizationpolicy.org/gaslighting-...

Gaslighting Democracy in the Western Balkans: Why Jettisoning Democratic Values is Bad for the Region and the Liberal World – Democratization Policy Council

www.democratizationpolicy.org

1