Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Leon Robertson @profleonaz.bsky.social · 5h

Scary prospect.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Republicans could draw 19 more House seats after an upcoming Supreme Court ruling

Many experts are forecasting the end of a key provision of election law — enabling Republicans to shore up their advantage in the House, according to a new report.

www.politico.com

Reposted by Leon Robertson

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 11h

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 12h

I’ve always wanted to live in a theocracy. 🥲

Trump's Crusaders: Christian Nationalists Are Gaining a Solid Foothold in Washington

U.S. President Donald Trump has opened the doors of power to far-right Christian nationalists. Their goal: an American theocracy. The separation of church and state in America is at risk.

www.spiegel.de

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Leon Robertson @profleonaz.bsky.social · 11h

insights.som.yale.edu/insights/how...

How Nations Use Economic Power to Shape the World Order

Yale SOM’s Christopher Clayton is helping to pioneer the field of geoeconomics, which explains how countries wield economic weapons to reshape global power dynamics—and what happens when they go too f...

insights.som.yale.edu

Reposted by Leon Robertson

Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS @dimitridrekonja.bsky.social · 1d

So pathetic 🤦🏻‍♂️

Denise Wheeler @denisedwheeler.bsky.social · 1d

Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst noticed that Bondi flipped open a file during the Senate hearing and he zoomed in.

Inside were her crib notes for attacking the senators.

The GOP now practicing Cliff's Notes Fascism

In other words, under oath Bondi was purely a performance.

Bondi senate hearing had a folder full of notes for attacking the senators

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

Philippa Matthews @pippa-matt.bsky.social · 18h

The impact of cutting #ClinicalTrials - yes this is certainly very bad for investigators & #patients… but also for #biotech, drug development, #academia, training & scientific progress, global collaboration, economic health, and so, in fact, all of our futures. 🧪 #MedSky @naturemedicine.bsky.social

‘When clinical trials are suddenly halted… there are repercussions for investigators and patients, and they do not stop at borders’

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2d

😬 awkward

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

Aunty Em @everycourthouse.bsky.social · 2d

“We are home now. We marched from the park to ICE, very peaceful crowd. We were standing around ICE pushed us down, sprayed us with chemical and I was hit in the head with a projectile. This was so unprovoked. People have to know that the Feds are attacking people with NO provocation whatsoever.”

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Leon Robertson @profleonaz.bsky.social · 1d

I wouldn't be surprised if this is used to cancel the midterm elections.
www.axios.com/2025/10/07/t...

How Trump could use the Insurrection Act to send troops to American cities

The president told reporters Monday that "we have an Insurrection Act for a reason."

www.axios.com

Leon Robertson @profleonaz.bsky.social · 1d

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

White House memo says furloughed workers might not get back pay

Trump is using the threat of federal workforce cuts to force them to back the GOP’s clean continuing resolution.

www.politico.com

Reposted by Leon Robertson

Center for American Progress @americanprogress.bsky.social · 2d

This past term, the Supreme Court undermined one of the most sacred tenets of American democracy—the separation of church and state. Recent rulings have created a system where religion and government are not separate, but instead increasingly intertwined. www.americanprogress.org/article/how-...

How the Supreme Court Is Dismantling the Separation of Church and State

Chief Justice John Roberts’ court is actively eroding the separation of church and state, breaking with centuries of First Amendment jurisprudence.

www.americanprogress.org

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

Jake Scott, MD @jakescottmd.bsky.social · 1d

“We have 1,544 measles cases this year, 92% in unvaccinated people, and 3 deaths. The problem isn’t the vaccine — it’s that people aren’t getting it. O’Neill hasn’t offered a single scientific rationale for breaking up MMR.”

@aniloza.bsky.social
@statnews.com
www.statnews.com/2025/10/06/t...

Acting CDC director calls for MMR vaccine to be broken up into three shots

There's no evidence that breaking up the MMR shot would make the immunization safer or more effective.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

Ian Weissman, DO @drianweissman.bsky.social · 2d

Bottled water isn’t as pure as it seems—each sip may contain invisible microplastics that can slip through the body’s defenses and lodge in vital organs. These tiny pollutants are linked to inflammation, hormonal disruption, and even neurological damage.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

New research reveals what’s really hiding in bottled water

A chance encounter with plastic waste on a tropical beach sparked a deep investigation into what those fragments mean for human health. The research reveals that bottled water isn’t as pure as it seem...

www.sciencedaily.com

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

“.. On closer inspection, however, it turned out that the image was not a photograph of a real event in Portland, but instead a fabrication created by combining two photographs of scenes that unfolded in South America nearly a decade apart ..”

@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 1d

“People over Papers, a crowdsourcing project that maps sightings of US immigration agents, was taken offline yesterday by Padlet, the collaborative bulletin board platform on which it was built. It’s just the latest ICE-tracking initiative to be pulled by tech platforms in the past few days.”

Another effort to track ICE raids was just taken offline

People over Papers was removed by Padlet, the platform it was built on, yesterday.

www.technologyreview.com

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

Ellen Braaten @ellenbraaten.bsky.social · 1d

Also if you didn’t vote for her.

John Pavlovitz @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social · 13d

If you voted for him, you've done this.

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 2d

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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Reposted by Leon Robertson

Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 2d

Union of Concerned Scientists report out with some nice recommendations for how to avoid captive residential customers paying for the infrastructure needs of data centers owned by tech giants (which is currently happening):

Customers in 7 PJM states paid $4.4B for data center transmission in 2024: report

Transmission lines built for data centers fall into a "regulatory gap,” with utility customers on the hook for the costs, the Union of Concerned Scientists said.

www.utilitydive.com

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Leon Robertson @profleonaz.bsky.social · 1d

The dictator attempts to legitimize the suppression of dissent. New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...

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Leon Robertson @profleonaz.bsky.social · 1d

Can we do it again peacefully, or does it take a depression and a war?
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/o...

Opinion | How to Save the American Experiment

www.nytimes.com

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Leon Robertson @profleonaz.bsky.social · 2d

Paul Krugman on ICE and the end of democracy:

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Leon Robertson @profleonaz.bsky.social · 2d

Your Local Epidemiologist notes effects of government shutdown:

Reposted by Leon Robertson

Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS @dimitridrekonja.bsky.social · 3d

This judge entered a restraining order preventing South Carolina from handing voter information over to the admin. Now her house is toast and family injured. Horrific.

Netaloid 📸 @netaloid.bsky.social · 3d

Here's the latest being reported out of Charleston, SC.

Video shows blaze that injured 3 at Edisto Island home of SC judge, former SC senator

Video shows an Oct. 4 fire that took place on Edisto Island, at Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein's home in Planters Retreat in the Jeremy Cay Community.

www.postandcourier.com

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

Xela Hart @xelahart.bsky.social · 3d

The most banned titles included “A Clockwork Orange” and “Wicked,” while the most banned authors included Stephen King, Sarah J. Maas and Jodi Picoult. More than 80% of all bans originated in just three states: Florida, Texas and Tennessee.

www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-...

The 15 most banned books in U.S. schools

In the 2024-25 school year, book bans affected more than 3,700 unique titles in 87 school districts across 23 states, according to PEN America.

www.nbcnews.com

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Reposted by Leon Robertson

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 3d

Iceland is becoming no-ice land.

How Icelanders are grieving the loss of 'dead' and melting glaciers

Iceland’s glaciers are disappearing. For locals, it’s a profoundly sad loss.

www.thejournal.ie

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