Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kat O’Brien

@lavidagata.bsky.social

2.3K followers 540 following 6.8K posts

Iowa-born, NYC-influenced, Spain living. Former sports journalist working in sustainability. Runner, traveler, pro-democracy, love to read. My own opinions. Signal @Democracy.23

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 6d

I know the vibes are beyond atrocious. A bigoted dictator regime is taking hold in the U.S., & I’ve spent all summer looking for a job.
On the latter, watch this space. I’m going to start a business, and returning to my sports origins! Please send good thoughts for business visa getting approved!

3 12

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 5h

Those were the good guys.
If you think otherwise, you’re the bad guys. Your 4-year-old can explain it to you.

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 6h

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.

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 14h

More propaganda with painfully normal people zip-tied at the side of the road please, this will for sure convince the American people that you're the good guys

Homeland Security @DHSgov

We're having an All Night Revival

Still frame from a video: Painfully normal people zip tied on the side of the road, sitting on a guardrail in a row

14:30 07 Oct 25 2.1M Views

5 Reposts

940 Quotes 42.2K

2,584 Bookmarks

320 2.6K 9.2K

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 5h

I hear Sora is 🔥

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 5h

Yeah, you can’t do that, buddy.
Time to have you removed from office. Past time, obviously.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7h

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

1 2

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 5h

genuinely think they are feeding him AI videos

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6h

Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."

430 1.9K 11K

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 8h

….

brendanamartin.bsky.social @brendanamartin.bsky.social · 1d

WaPo’s Opinions editors are rightly anonymous.

They don’t mention the names of Trump and Kushner, much less that they’ve taken billions, but they have this jab at Biden:

“That’s why President Joe Biden promised to treat the Saudis as a ‘pariah’ state…” \1

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

Opinion | Laughter can’t launder what Saudi Arabia has done

Dave Chappelle says it’s easier to talk in Riyadh. Tell that to those executed for their speech.

www.washingtonpost.com

6 16 160

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 12d

I spent the week at the police surveillance convention and let me tell you my biggest observation: The name of the game now is consolidating as much information as humanely possible from surveillance devices, the internet, other governmental data, and literally a million other places. 🧵

46 880 1.8K

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Soraya Nadia McDonald @sorayanadiamcdonald.com · 10h

😳😳😳

Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 23h

Fascinating report just released by DropSite which reveals that David Frum, while working on a profile of an Israeli ambassador to the United Nations for the Atlantic, was also shadow-writing speeches for that same ambassador.

David Frum, Douglas Murray Secretly Drafted Speeches for Israeli Ambassador

Leaked emails from former Israeli UN Ambassador Ron Prosor show David Frum, Douglas Murray offering to write his speeches and a CNN producer fundraising for Israel’s Iron Dome during Israel’s 2014 war

www.dropsitenews.com

2 14 55

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Chuck Schumer @schumer.senate.gov · 1d

The government is shut down because Trump and the Republicans are hellbent on taking health care away from you.

And they won’t even come to the table to talk to us about it.

This is not about politics. It's about people.

Let’s break it down:

430 820 2.6K

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 10h

Something to keep in mind amidst the arrests based on skin color/appearance, or speaking Spanish. And if you think MAGA/Trump is an unstoppable force, the number of people that voted for Trump in 2024, is only about 13% higher than this.

Maria I. Puerta Riera 🌻 @maripuerta.com · 14h

One in five Americans is Latino, a new UCLA and Cal Lutheran study says thelatinonewsletter.org/p/latinos-re... via @julito77.bsky.social

U.S. Latinos Reach Record Highs in Population and Labor Force

Latinos now make up one out of every five people in the United States, according to a new analysis from UCLA’s Latino GDP Project and California Lutheran University, a media brief about the study note...

thelatinonewsletter.org

1 2

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 10h

Agreed.

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 13h

They’re just gonna do a little lite slavery.

In addition, the new rule allows farm employers to charge H-2A workers for their housing, which was not allowed before. "It's a way for employers to continue to house workers and also charge them, and bring down effective wages," said Marcos Lopez of the Labor and Community Center at the University of California, Davis.

19 220 410

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 11h

Thanks! 🙏🏼

1 1

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 13h

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?

Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.

980 6.9K 24K

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 12h

Projection, as per usual. Miller is the one invoking stochastic terrorism and having policies enacted of inflicting violence on people and groups he isn’t a fan of.

3 9

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 12h

Yes, did you read my next skeet in which he talked about Romania and Moldova having more success than the U.S. bc they tried to prevent and not react?
And the challenges are not the same in each country.
Try yelling at somebody who hasn’t been talking about misinfo/disinfo for many years.

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Fonsi Loaiza @fonsiloaizap.bsky.social · 17h

Dambéle, Alfa y Jorge son los obreros de la construcción que han muerto trabajando en el edificio derrumbado en Madrid. Eran trabajadores inmigrantes de Mali, Guinea y Ecuador. Esos que dicen los ultraderechistas de VOX que vienen a nuestro país a delinquir y llevarse "paguitas".

39 400 670

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 13h

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

110 900 2.2K

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

stevelevitsky.bsky.social @stevelevitsky.bsky.social · 13h

They are not Trump's enemies. They are critics and opponents. He sees them as enemies, because that's how autocrats perceive their critics. NYT should not repeat and normalize authoritarian discourse.

How Trump Is Using the Justice Department to Target His Enemies www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How Trump Is Using the Justice Department to Target His Enemies

President Trump has long spoken of seeking vengeance against his political enemies. Here’s a list of whom he is targeting.

www.nytimes.com

14 81 240

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 12h

Yurchyshyn spoke of Moldova and Romania’s success in battling disinformation. Why did they succeed, he asked, while the U.S. and several European countries failed? The latter tried to react and not to prevent.
For Ukraine, he said, time is human life, as Russia kills a Ukrainian every 10 minutes.

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 12h

During #OGPSummit session on combatting disinformation, Ukraine Parliament member Yaroslav Yurchyshyn spoke on the use of disinformation and need to fight it at a global level: “We believe disinformation is a form of hybrid warfare” and that it can “emotionally manipulate” people against democracy.

Yaroslav Yurchyshyn speaks on battling disinformation at OGP Summit.

2 2 3

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

The Media and Democracy Project @mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social · 13h

This is huge moment in American history.

@chicagotribune.com
#FrontPage for comparison

NYT leadership continues to normalize and democracywash an accelerating fascist movement shredding our Constitution.

“Normalization warriors are central to fascist creep”.
-Jason Stanley

3/n

Chicago Trubune front page.

Texas National Guard arrives

1 4 12

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Pablo Manríquez @pabloreports.bsky.social · 15h

SCOOP: Apple Quietly Made ICE Agents a Protected Class

Internal emails show tech giant used anti-hate-speech rules meant for minorities to block an app documenting immigration enforcement.
migrantinsider.com/p/scoop-appl...

SCOOP: Apple Quietly Made ICE Agents a Protected Class

Internal emails show tech giant used anti-hate-speech rules meant for minorities to block an app documenting immigration enforcement.

migrantinsider.com

8 72 79

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d

Wanna learn more about the pastor in this photo?

I talked to him yesterday.

He's currently part of a lawsuit against DHS, in part due to this exact moment: religionnews.com/2025/10/07/i...

Religious protesters say ICE threatens religious freedom in Chicago

(RNS) — Despite potential danger, religious leaders and faith activists have been a visible presence at Chicago-area ICE protests, some waving signs with slogans such as ‘Love thy neighbor’ and ‘Who w...

religionnews.com

39 530 2.1K

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 16h

#OGPSummit panel on Rethinking Democracy Support.
Marybeth Goodman of OECD on aid cuts: The U.S. “has been the most chaotic, most destructive, most rapid decline”, but other nations also cutting aid.
Humanitarian aid has had sharpest cuts, 2nd-most democracy & governance, 3rd health, 4th education.