Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 7h

The situation in America is not great. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 21h

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

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Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 7d

If Harvard bows down to this lawless president, it will cover itself in shame and betray its motto “Veritas.”

Don’t pretend to stand for truth if you’re going to surrender to this bully. Appeasement only feeds the beast and puts us all at greater risk.

Trump Says a Deal With Harvard Is Close

www.nytimes.com

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 7d

This is a VERY well crafted lawsuit.
1) Plaintiff is natural born.
2) He was detained 2X in a fast-growing part of Alabama, not in a city that Brett Kavanaugh could be easily duped into believing was all migrants.
3) Unwarranted detentions were on private property.
4) He showed Real ID both times.

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 7d

JUST IN: A U.S. citizen from Alabama who has been detained twice by ICE while working at a construction site, has filed a class action suit claiming ICE's broad warrantless arrest powers violate the constitution. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 7d

That's the definition of fascism from Robert Paxton, one of the preeminent historians of the subject, from his book ANATOMY OF FASCISM which came out more than two decades ago.

George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 8d

Oh yes, this is clearly now.

A post on X by Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan
) expresses frustration, asking how anyone can read a definition of fascism and not be alarmed, emphasizing that it is happening now. The post includes a quote from Cody Johnston (@drmistercody
) from one day ago, defining fascism as a form of political behavior marked by an obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood, and compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity. The definition describes a mass-based party of nationalist militants working with traditional elites, abandoning democratic liberties, and pursuing redemptive violence for internal cleansing and external expansion without ethical or legal restraints.

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Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 15d

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site

As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.

www.miamiherald.com

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TVMoJoe @tvmojoe.bsky.social · 14d

ABC has posted the first 28 minutes of @jimmykimmellive.bsky.social

WATCH:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1tj...

Jimmy Kimmel is Back!

YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Matt Gold

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 24d

korean reporting is nightmarish on the conditions Korean workers were contained in

Their waists and hands were tied together, forcing them to bend down and lick water to drink. The unscreened bathrooms contained only a single sheet to cover their lower bodies. Sunlight barely penetrated through a fist-sized hole, and they were only allowed access to the small yard for two hours. Detained by US immigration authorities for eight days, the workers and their families expressed shock, describing human rights violations and absurdities they could not have imagined as ordinary Koreans living in 2025.

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 24d

People missing an important point about folks getting fired for whatever they said about Charlie Kirk: Americans are being conditioned to be snitches on their fellow citizens who don’t toe a party line on what is “allowed” to be expressed. And employers are going along. It’s the new secret police

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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 28d

Harvard can't use someone's race to decide if they are going to be a student, but ICE can use a student's race to decide if they are going to detain/incarcerate them.

According to the Supreme Court, race can only be a factor if you want hurt, not help, someone.

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Republicans Against Trumpism @rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social · Sep 7

This isn’t Moscow or Beijing. It’s Chicago. Masked federal agents grabbed U.S. citizens protesting ICE and threw them into an unmarked van.

“Who are you? Where are you taking them?” people shouted. “You are kidnapping them!”

What has America become?

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · Sep 4

Another way of saying this is that the murderous strike was carried out without any legal authority.

Pentagon officials were still working
Wednesday on what legal authority they would tell the public was used to back up the extraordinary strike in international waters.

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Jason "Red5" Lyall @jaylyall.bsky.social · Sep 4

Nine grafs deep into the article and we find out:

"Pentagon officials were still working Wednesday on what legal authority they would tell the public was used to back up the extraordinary strike in international waters."

Trump Administration Says Boat Strike Is Start of Campaign Against Venezuelan Cartels

www.nytimes.com

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Matt Gold @mkgold.bsky.social · Sep 3

Congrats!!!!

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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · Sep 2

Looking at this collection of words and wondering how this company still exists.

Meta to stop its AI chatbots from talking to teens about suicide

The firm says it will add more guardrails "as an extra precaution" and temporarily limit chatbots teens can use.

www.bbc.com

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Tatyana Deryugina @tderyugina.bsky.social · Aug 27

Over 125 economists signed the open letter calling on the President, Congress, and the American public to uphold the principles of Federal Reserve independence and not remove Lisa Cook without due process.

There's still time to sign! And please share.

#EconSky

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Open letter

Click here to add your signature. An Open Letter from Economists in Support of Governor Lisa Cook and Federal Reserve Independence To the President, Members of Congress, and the American public: We wr...

docs.google.com

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Jacqueline Sweet @jsweetli.bsky.social · Aug 28

New acting director of CDC Jim O'Neill expressed being pro paid organ donation.

"There are plenty of healthy spare kidneys walking around, unused."

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🎃 public HELLth guy 🎃 @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · Aug 28

A former CDC staffer adds: “This is the work of a death cult.”

RFK Jr. Sends CDC Spiraling, Leading to Wave of Resignations

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been pressured to support vaccine policy changes, and several leaders have resigned

www.rollingstone.com

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Demetre Daskalakis @drdemetre.bsky.social · Aug 28

Enough is enough. The health of the country is in danger. Read our resignation letters: insidemedicine.substack.com/p/breaking-n...

Breaking News: Read three top CDC officials' resignation emails.

The end of an era.

insidemedicine.substack.com

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Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · Aug 27

NEW: Yesterday, I posted that I was unable to get the COVID vaccine at my VA clinic, and many of you assured me that the new one would be available soon and that I was overreacting. I was not overreacting. I am no longer eligible for the vaccine. apnews.com/article/vacc...

FDA approves updated COVID-19 shots but limits access for some kids and adults

The Food and Drug Administration has approved updated COVID-19 vaccines for the upcoming fall and winter season.

apnews.com

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Matt Gold @mkgold.bsky.social · Aug 27

I'd welcome feedback and suggestions on the course schedule. Tried to set it up, generally, in four sections:

* What is AI?
* Critical Toolkits
* Critical Issues
* AI in Fiction and Film

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Matt Gold @mkgold.bsky.social · Aug 27

Started teaching "Critical AI Studies" last night in the @gc-dh.bsky.social & @cunyenglish.bsky.social programs. Great first class discussion in which we tried to come up with a community agreement on the use of AI for coursework (still unsettled).

Website: criticalai2025.commons.gc.cuny.edu

Syllabus – Critical AI Studies

criticalai2025.commons.gc.cuny.edu

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Matt Gold @mkgold.bsky.social · Aug 27

This is terrifying.

performative male @milesklee.bsky.social · Aug 27

I spoke to a tech activist attorney representing the parents of a teen who died by suicide, allegedly after receiving instructions on hanging himself from ChatGPT, in the first wrongful death suit against OpenAI. She believes we’re seeing a shift in public opinion on AI and can expect more suits.

ChatGPT Lawsuit Over Teen's Suicide Could Lead to Big Tech Reckoning

First wrongful death lawsuit against OpenAI alleges that ChatGPT advised a 16-year-old on how to hang himself, and may trigger more complaints.

www.rollingstone.com

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Reposted by Matt Gold

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · Aug 26

Elon's DOGE Muskjugend uploaded a dataset of every Social Security number to the god damn cloud www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/u...

DOGE Put Critical Social Security Data at Risk, Whistle-Blower Says

www.nytimes.com

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Martha Nell Smith @marthanellsmith.bsky.social · Aug 25

Enough is enough, comrades. Glad to see some fellow travelers are taking action. We should refuse to be held hostage to bigotry. medium.com/@carmitage/i...

It’s Time for Americans to Start Talking About “Soft Secession”

Blue states are finally learning what red states have known all along: you don’t need federal permission to govern.

medium.com

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