Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 1d

Powerful piece from @mimirocah1.bsky.social @joycewhitevance.bsky.social @dahlialithwick.bsky.social & @rachelfoster.bsky.social & Rachel Foster reminding us to avoid tabloid framing and center Epstein's victims in lieu of him and those who reprehensibly abetted him.

slate.com/news-and-pol...

1 6 19

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 2d

A true nadir given that the reason for the block is to avoid disclosure of facts on the relationships one of our countries' worst pedophiles had over his decades of malevolence.

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 2d

I know it's tiresome to play the "imagine if the parties were reversed" game, but thinking about how Republicans (and right-wing media) would be reacting if a Democratic-controlled House was refusing to swear in a newly elected *Republican* member may be the apotheosis of this particular meme.

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 2d

👋

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 5d

They can't seek nor would they expect credit but the First Circuit law clerks who worked on this did a bang-up job. A+.

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 5d

BREAKING: The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 100-page opinion -- says it is unequivocally, lopsidedly easy to determine that the Trump administration's view of birthright citizenship is wrong.

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

1

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 5d

OMG 😐

1

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 5d

Great thread full of great questions to which I'd add: does Congress act in dereliction of its duties under Article I when it sits idly by with an Executive assuming a carte blanche war power that derives from no law?

Tess Bridgeman @tessbridgeman.bsky.social · 5d

- Does DOJ believe Art. II of the Constitution gives the President authority to kill anyone he deems a terrorist? Under what law?

If so, what criteria need to be met to be deemed a terrorist?

-Does it give Trump the authority to kill anyone he suspects of planning to commit crimes in the US?

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 7d

www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Tucker Carlson made a chilling choice in his eulogy for Charlie Kirk

The conservative commentator, long accused of splashing around in antisemitism, dipped back into those waters in his speech.

www.msnbc.com

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 7d

Great piece and it somehow vanished from our memory that just last week Tucker Carlson told a packed stadium and millions viewing a funeral ceremony that his "favorite story" from the bible was when Jews conspired over a plate of hummus to kill Jesus.

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 8d

I published a piece yesterday on JD Vance and the rhetoric of blood libel. religiondispatches.org/jd-vance-tri...

JD Vance Trivializes Jewish History by Referring to ICE Criticism as 'Blood Libel' — But Reveals What this Admin Thinks of Jews

Last week, in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Vice President JD Vance accused critics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of committing “blood libel” against ICE agents. As Va...

religiondispatches.org

1

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 8d

indeed, also equal opportunity policies derive from our civil rights laws and the 14th Amendment which Hegseth can neither ignore nor flout (unless the Supreme Court permits him to, which has greater than fifty percent odds alas).

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 8d

yeah, this is hegseth straightforwardly announcing that it is free play time for bigots in the ranks. and together with his comments on standards, he clearly wants to purge as many women, black and brown people as he can from the armed services. a white man's military.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Hegseth: "We are overhauling an inspector general process that has been weaponized, putting complainers and poor performers in the driver seat. We are doing the same with the equal opportunity policies. No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complains ... no more walking on eggshells."

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 9d

None I'm aware of. The GENIUS Act will change that but, as you note, whether the Act's regulatory framework will succeed remains to be seen.

2

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 9d

Or even just regulated?

1

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 9d

Great piece and jarring to see FDR's central role in the history here given the effects polio had on his body.

Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 9d

For the November/December issue of @motherjones.com, I dove into the history of the word "able-bodied"—including how it's been harmful to disabled Americans since the 1930s and it most certainly will be when Medicaid work reqs come into play again. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The deceptive phrase behind Trump's Medicaid purge

How the idea of “able-bodied” is abused

www.motherjones.com

1 6

Reposted by Michael Pastor

Dave Infante @dinfontay.com · 9d

US wineries *alone* (i.e., not including retail, distro, F&B, etc.) employed ~64k people in 2022, per BLS statistics. Probably down a bit more since. The coal-mining industry *overall* employs ~40k and falling, per FRED.

www.bls.gov/spotlight/20...
fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES10...

Nearly 64,000 people worked in wineries across the United States in 2020
U.S. employment in the winery industry exceeded 60,000 for the first time in 2016. Aside from a small decrease from 2008 to 2009, employment increased steadily from 2001⸺when the data were first collected⸺until 2019. From 2019 to 2020, employment decreased from 70,596 to 63,820, or 10 percent.

The largest over-the-year employment net increase in the industry occurred in 2014, adding 4,493 jobs. The largest 12-month employment percentage increases occurred in 2003 and 2014, at 12.3 and 9.3 percent, respectively.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Release: Employment Situation
Units: Thousands of Persons, Seasonally Adjusted

Frequency: Monthly

Notes:
The series comes from the 'Current Employment Statistics (Establishment Survey).'

The source code is: CES1021210001

Suggested Citation:
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, All Employees, Coal Mining [CES1021210001], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CES1021210001, September 29, 2025.

7 32

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 9d

Most days now I'm not sure which mass shooting we're talking about.

1

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 13d

Cc @poojasalhotra.bsky.social who maybe can find out?

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 13d

What are the names of the murdered or wounded at the ICE facility? Why don’t we know this yet? Has the victim’s body been returned to his family?

1

Reposted by Michael Pastor

James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 14d

Yes, this judge's opinion is really something. (And, as DJT would put it, something "not good" for the guy who is now a Harvard dean.)

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 14d

Judge Cote's opinion granting the motion to exclude his testimony from the class action related to Tylenol is quite damning.

www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/defaul...

www.nysd.uscourts.gov

3 6 48

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 14d

Judge Cote's opinion granting the motion to exclude his testimony from the class action related to Tylenol is quite damning.

www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/defaul...

www.nysd.uscourts.gov

1 6 17

Reposted by Michael Pastor

Jessica Tarlov @jessicatarlov.bsky.social · 16d

Come join me at the 92nd Street Y for a conversation with Doriane Coleman and Dr. Joanna Harper about transgender athletes and the future of sports. Sign up today, you will not want to miss it: www.92ny.org/event/fair-p...

www.92ny.org

3 14 150

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 16d

"Look if thousands of soy bean farmers need to have their livelihoods ruined to advance the President's agenda, tough luck." -- Majority Leader Thune of South Dakota.

1

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 16d

So much this. Make Speaker Johnson give the "each kid only needs one small toy" speech during the whip count.

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 16d

If Dems want to pivot to "kitchen table issue" in their messaging this is the one! Say he has to come to congress for a vote on the tariffs or you don't vote for government funding bill.

1

Michael Pastor @mikejpastor.bsky.social · 16d

A great piece by @stevenlevy.bsky.social with all-world graphic work where the great prof @marklemley.bsky.social makes an appearance in the lede. My @wired.com subscription feels like the best thing I'm spending money on.

www.wired.com/story/silico...