Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Max Kennerly

Spooky action at a distance @mkranz.bsky.social · 8h

“At first glance, Skrmetti and Chiles seem logically inconsistent: Medical uncertainty confers authority here, yet restricts it there. There is, though, an internal consistency: For the Supreme Court, right-wing reactionaries should always win.” There it is, courtesy of @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 11h

SCOTUS signaled at its hearings today it may strike down Colorado's ban on conversion therapy

ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/chile...

The Conservative Justices Don't Trust Any Science That Supports LGBTQ Kids

States that want to facilitate discrimination against LGBTQ people have the Court's blessing. States that want to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination do not.

ballsandstrikes.org

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 9h

NEW: I spoke to clergy and faith leaders who've joined protests at the Chicago-area ICE facility.

Three say they've been shot with pepper balls, sometimes while praying.

All say ICE is also violating their religious freedom, and one is arguing it in court. 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

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Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 9h

Disarray!
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Politico: Republicans are in disarray 1 week into the shutdown

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 13h

“No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”

George Pearkes @peark.es · 13h

Well that's not how appropriations work at all

*WHITE HOUSE TO TRANSFER TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND WIC: LEAVITT

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 12h

Picture here is from 1992. LA riots. Ive seen this called bad news judgment. In any real journalism outfit this is more like a firing offense. I basically say such things. Beyond belief.

CNN @cnn.com · 1d

"President Donald Trump and his top aides are using the word 'insurrection' more frequently to describe anti-ICE protests in places like Portland," writes Zachary B. Wolf. https://cnn.it/4pWYmzr

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 17h

Trump White House & Congressional GOP have reached historic levels of "drunk on their own wine." Stephen Miller sees no problem referring to federal judges—including some appointed by Trump—as "terrorists," and zero Republicans complain.

I dunno, man, seems a rather imprudent thing to do.

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 17h

more and more I am convinced a good share of why Trump 2 is so much worse than before is because of what Elon did to Twitter. it's like those group chats where people gassed themselves up to join ISIS, scaled up a millionfold

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 22h

The Trump economy at work, the government can't function so investment managers are releasing economic numbers and everything looks great except for, y'know, employment and inflation.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

“What’s so interesting about the moment we’re in is the discrepancy between payrolls and the other economic indicators we’re looking at,” said Jason Thomas, Carlyle’s head of global research and investment management. “If you looked at the employment data, you’d think it’s an economy that’s on the cusp of or in a recession. That is nowhere else in the data.”

In particular, he said, “inflation looks much more widespread than just looking at the durable goods that would be subject to tariffs,” the implementation of which beginning in April has thus far caused less inflation than was anticipated.

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 22h

Despite appearances, this is not a @nytpitchbot.bsky.social joke, it's an actual @nytimes.com column by some Claremont hack who praises Hegseth for his "nuanced vision of the military’s purpose and its relationship to civilian society."

Opinion
Guest Essay

That Hegseth Speech Was Actually Pretty Good
Oct. 7, 2025, 5:01 a.m. ET

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

As part of this new Weissian Meritocracy, I am pleased to announce I am now the coach of The Eagles. My qualifications are that I have sporadically made baseless complaints about the way they play football, a game I did not play in high school, in college, or professionally.

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

The Ro Khanna Cycle:
???? -> ???? -> ???? -> ????

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Reposted by Max Kennerly

Daniel Kibblesmith @kibblesmith.com · 1d

Yes, very difficult to remember the extremely common name of "Ghislaine Maxwell," a person you might only from their association with one of the most famous criminals in history, who was also your best friend. I could see how you'd need a little refresher.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 1d

Trump on pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell: Haven't heard the name in so long. I’ll take a look at it. I’ll speak to the DOJ. A lot of people have asked me for pardons.

Reporter: But she’s convicted of sex trafficking

Trump: I’ll have to take a look at it.

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Jared Holt @jaredlholt.bsky.social · 1d

This really makes it sound like a Border Patrol agent tried to kill an anti-ICE activist in Chicago and DHS lied to cover for him

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 1d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

Big day for fans of exotic bearish stock market indicators as COR1M fell to 7.43, showing excessive exuberance in call options on big stocks compared to calls on the S&P 500 itself. A low COR1M often coincides with a relative market top, like in Feb 2025 & July 2024.

Or maybe line go up moar 🤷‍♂️

The Barclays Equity Timing Indicator, which analyzes 19 inputs like market internals, positioning and economic data to find inflection points in the market, implies an 82% chance that the S&P 500 will advance in the next two months, with an average gain of 4% during that time, based on data going back to 2015.

“Another round of above-consensus results and positive takeaways around a resilient consumer could give investors a confidence boost heading into year-end amidst government uncertainty and a shaky labor market,” said Bret Kenwell at eToro.

Deutsche Bank’s Parag Thatte wrote that aggregate equity positioning remains overweight but not stretched, although there are growing pockets of momentum chasing in large caps.

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

Hell, that describes at least half the people who have a statue in a town square or their name on a municipal building.

And boy is this section depressing. A functional immigration system would've given him legal status years ago for several different reasons.

And he spent about three years in the district office of St. Louis Public Schools and worked at a charter school network, developing a reputation as a specialist at turning around underperforming urban public schools, one of the toughest jobs in education.

In 2017, records show, he married an American citizen in Florida.

After the wedding, he twice filed for and received one-year work authorizations. He also submitted three more applications for a green card, according to ICE, all of which were denied for reasons the agency did not specify.

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

Yup. And this is supposed to be some long-term strategy for onshoring manufacturing—which is obviously not going to happen when it's merely the latest whim of one mentally unfit guy, rather than, y'know, an actual long-term national economic policy developed with care and supported by Congress.

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 1d

In any other administration this would be considered insane policy uncertainty and rank incompetence. "TRUCK TARIFFS START IN ONE WEEK" only for the deadline to lapse uneventfully and then be followed up by "TRUCK TARIFFS START IN ONE MONTH"

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 12d

Every day, Trump wakes up and thinks “what product should I make arbitrarily more expensive today?”

Truck tariffs means drivers pay billions more for vehicles, companies/consumers pay more for shipping, & the benefits to truckmakers get outweighed by costs to other manufacturers

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Matthew Stiegler @matthewstiegler.bsky.social · 1d

A top Trump official accusing federal district court judges, "as a class," of engaging in insurrection is a profoundly dangerous development.

Matthew Stiegler @matthewstiegler.bsky.social · 1d

❗❗❗

Stephen Miller: "It's simply a factually accurate statement that when a judge assumes for him- or herself the powers that have been relegated or delegated by the Constitution to the president, that that is a form of illegal insurrection." ...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Q: You called the judge's ruling 'legal insurrection.' Are you recommending the president take action against judges who rule against him?

STEPHEN MILLER: No. It's simply a factually accurate statement

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 1d

The Sora AI disinfo nightmare is here

For more like this:
tiktok.com/@drewharwell
instagram.com/bydrewharwell

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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 1d

Whenever someone running a news org talks about representing "all... perspectives" or throws around phrases like "diversity of opinion," ask if they regularly hire and include the viewpoints of abolitionists and socialists.

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING— David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, just sent out this email to Paramount employees re: The Free Press acquisition/Bari Weiss. Says she has passion for "rigorous, fact-based reporting & a relentless commitment to amplifying voices from all corners of the spectrum."

Text shared w me:

Dear Team Paramount:

I think we can all agree that the temperature of our nation's social discourse feels higher than ever. Too often, the space once reserved for thoughtful dialogue has been consumed by partisan division and hostile disputes. If we are to move forward, we must find our way back to the ideals that shaped both our country and civilization itself: open exchange of ideas, vigorous yet respectful debate, and a genuine regard for the beliefs and traditions of others.

This challenge extends to the media. While it was founded with the mission of informing the public and fostering discussion on the issues of the day, too often it has become a platform that amplifies the very partisanship tearing our society apart. George Washington warned that the primary danger in politics is partisanship. Today, that danger extends far beyond politics - threatening the fabric of our communities. When we reduce every issue to "us vs. them" or "my way vs. the wrong way," we close ourselves off from listening, learning, and ultimately growing, both as individuals and as a society.

I don't pretend to have a solution to this challenge. But I do believe we each have a responsibility to do our part. At Paramount, we have both a unique opportunity and an obligation as stewards of one of the most iconic and respected news organizations in the world. We are challenging ourselves to do better - recognizing that we have the ability to reach a broad audience and demonstrate constructive, respectful, and bipartisan dialogue in our own work.
Our mission is clear: to ensure that this global platform remains a place where people can seek the truth, gain understanding, and engage with the facts. That is our purpose.

With this in mind, I am excited to share that The Free Press is joining our Company. Since its launch just five years ago, The Free Press, under cofounder Bari Weiss' leadership,

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

In some instances, yes. But there's still ample room to retaliate against Texas. What stops NY/CA/etc from saying public pension funds can't be invested in companies with inadequate shareholder rights? Because that's exactly the case with Texas, which obliterated shareholder derivative suits.

Mike Palmer @icengineer.bsky.social · 1d

Wouldn't the commerce clause prevent Texas-company-specific regulations intended specifically to interfere with Texas companies?

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

Other states need to begin intentional punishment of the hostile Texas government, including cancelling state government contracts with Texas companies and interfering with their commerce such as by imposing onerous Texas-company-specific certifications and licensing.

Daniel Gilmore @gilmored85.bsky.social · 1d

This is both true and also we need to note how eager Texas has shown itself to be to send its own NG into blue states to try and forcibly occupy them. The Texas GOP is a source of evil in this country snd the next Dem administration needs to go about breaking them as an R power center.

Henry @henrythedog.bsky.social · 2d

okay but its kinda funny that every time Trump is like "I'm going to war with America's cities!" it just kinda falls apart and a judge dunks on him for being a criminal moron

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

Seems the most significant problem in America right now: rich, powerful, horrible men who cannot accept their own mortality and so must destroy the future.

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David S. Cohen @dsc250.bsky.social · 1d

So everyone on the right so upset about the political violence of Charlie Kirk’s murder (even before we knew the facts) is going to speak out loudly and clearly about this too, right?

Judge Diane Goodstein’s home burns to ground after ruling against Trump

Judge Diane Goodstein's husband was among those injured after he jumped from the burning house.

www.newsweek.com

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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 2d

Judge Immergut then set a hearing for 7 pm PT/10 pm ET regarding the second motion for a restraining order.

There's a call-in line for the hearing, but a pre-recorded message is currently repeating "Waiting for your host to join" over and over again.

TBD if we'll get remote access to the hearing.

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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 2d

This represents a major escalation.

President Trump effort to mobilize TEXAS National Guard for deployment in Portland and Chicago.

Court filing just entered in Oregon v. Trump⬇️

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 2d

There’s an essay to be written about how maga patriotism is just shitty fandom. Anyone who follows sports knows fans like this, it’s always the ref’s fault, the other team doesn’t exist, there’s some plot/player/coach holding the team back otherwise they’d always win easy bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump: "The problem with Vietnam, we, you know, we stopped fighting to win. We would've won easy. We would've won Afghanistan easy. We would've won every war easy. But we got politically correct. 'Oh, let's take it easy.' We're not politically correct anymore, just so you understand."

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