Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Tim

Jennifer Smith Richards @jsmithrichards.bsky.social · 3h

To understand the Trump administration’s vision for American education, @megomatz.bsky.social and I studied dozens of hours of political appointees’ speeches and podcasts and essays. What emerged is a desire to dismantle the nation’s system of public schools.

These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.

Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of publ...

www.propublica.org

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Katelyn Boo-urns @katelynburns.com · 8h

The existence of even one Catholic convert dismantles the central lie of religion, that it is an innate characteristic from birth and therefore should have human rights awarded to it.

See I can make bullshit, nonsense arguments too, Heritage Foundation.

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 9h

“The existence of even one ex gay dismantles the central lie of homosexuality, that it is an innate characteristic from birth and therefore should have human rights awarded to it.”

Same shit different era.

Chloe Cole: The existence of even one detransitioner dismantles the central lie of transgenderism, that it is an innate characteristic from birth and therefore should have human rights awarded to it.

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Tim @timmypi.bsky.social · 1d

Weiss allows elites to shit on minorities and poor people and feel good about it because she can do it without using slurs

It's all reactionary nonsense used to push everything to the right

Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 1d

Weiss very intentionally does not describe herself as a conservative or Republican and wraps her politics in terms like "free press." That makes more useful at advancing Trumpism than explicitly right-wing figures. newrepublic.com/article/2014...

MAGA Lite: What “Bari Weiss Conservatism” Is, and Why It’s Dangerous

The new CBS executive isn’t exactly MAGA. But her polite Trumpism will still help destroy America as we know it.

newrepublic.com

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

very cool that if you are working on behalf of right-wing culture warriors, you no longer need standing to have your claim adjudicated by the supreme court

Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 1d

It's not just that they're going to strike down a law against conversion therapy, it's that they're going to do it on behalf of made-up claims from a straw plaintiff who can't honestly show the law affected her at all

Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 1d

One thing about American's widespread distrust and disapproval of the Supreme Court is that mainstream news coverage mostly doesn't dwell on stuff like standing, so people don't even begin to grasp how rigged the Court truly is www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 1d

This has nothing to do with crime. This is an attempt to crush political dissent.

Never before, in our entire 250 year history, has the military or immigration agents been used like this. It's dystopian, illegal, and it should stop.

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 1d

I've written my analysis of today's grim Supreme Court oral argument in the conversion therapy case:

As far as the Court's concerned, imaginary medical uncertainty gives states the authority to hurt queer kids, and takes away states' authority to protect them

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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Nelson Flores @nelsonlflores.bsky.social · 1d

So according to SCOTUS it would seem that states have the right to ban gender affirmative care that professional organizations support but do not have the right to ban conversion therapy that professional organizations condemn. Professional expertise literally has no legitimacy anymore.

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Tim @timmypi.bsky.social · 2d

It's the whole "reality has a liberal bias" thing. Conservatives need to construct an alternative epistemic realm in order to make their arguments

Jack Turban MD @turban.bsky.social · 2d

The Guardian: Lawyers trying to get the Supreme Court to overturn conversion therapy bans deceived the court about the research they cited, according to the researchers themselves.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Christian group ‘deceived’ supreme court about LGBTQ+ research, cited scholars say

Exclusive: Experts say Alliance Defending Freedom, arguing to revive conversion therapy, ‘profoundly misrepresented’ their work in case threatening trans and queer youth

www.theguardian.com

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Jack Turban MD @turban.bsky.social · 2d

The Guardian: Lawyers trying to get the Supreme Court to overturn conversion therapy bans deceived the court about the research they cited, according to the researchers themselves.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Christian group ‘deceived’ supreme court about LGBTQ+ research, cited scholars say

Exclusive: Experts say Alliance Defending Freedom, arguing to revive conversion therapy, ‘profoundly misrepresented’ their work in case threatening trans and queer youth

www.theguardian.com

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Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 3d

I wrote about the ascendance of Bari Weiss from a hack columnist to media royalty, and what it means for the future of CBS News.

Bari Weiss Takes Her Grift Mainstream

Journalism's biggest fraud takes the reins at CBS

stringinamaze.net

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 3d

The President of the United States is lying and/or delusional, and it seems like we should be talking about this and nothing else.

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 3d

The protests are on one block. Nothing is burning down. His justification for sending in troops is all based on lies.

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 5d

One thing that comes through awfully clearly in these ICE videos is how many of these goons gravitated toward the job because being able to assault people with impunity is a big thrill for them.

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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 4d

Pritzker needs to take some sort of demonstrative action against this. But nothing he does will stop this.

Still, liberal voters and elected leaders are confronted by the fact that the police are not democratically accountable. They have no interest in protecting you or your rights from the feds.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 5d

Gov. Pritzker has said all the right things, but now he needs to act and get these state troopers out of there.

unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 5d

A protester with a mobility aid (cane) was sitting in the road. Illinois state troopers dragged them to the grass and arrested them.

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 4d

If you’re white, your accomplishments are your own and you can resent and criticize the country all you like, but if you’re black and successful you should be grateful to white people for allowing you in their presence. bsky.app/profile/jess...

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 4d

Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.

Tweet from the VP:
Joy Reid has had such a good life in this country. It's been
overwhelmingly kind and gracious to her. She is far wealthier than most.
Yet she oozes with contempt.
My honest, non-trolling advice to Joy Reid is that you'd be a much
happier person if you showed a little gratitude

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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 4d

this is also white nationalist framing straight from the Jim Crow era, as if Joy Reid citizenship is a gift from Vance, whose belonging is of course unquestioned

it’s what @profkori.bsky.social would call “know your place aggression”

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 4d

Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 4d

also, in keeping with Vance’s view of american identity, only white people are fully American with the right to critique or dissent. nonwhites must show proper gratitude (supporting Trump or marrying JD Vance) before they can speak critically of the country (in approved ways, of course)

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 4d

Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.

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Tim @timmypi.bsky.social · 6d

Libs of TikTok can terrorize schools and get inclusive books banned and it isn't "cancel culture" but some college kids asking a professor to do better is nefarious censoriousness. Like "political correctness," who gets to be a victim is really just where you are on the hierarchy

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Tim @timmypi.bsky.social · 6d

Libs of TikTok can terrorize schools and get inclusive books banned and it isn't "cancel culture" but some college kids asking a professor to do better is nefarious censoriousness. Like "political correctness," who gets to be a victim is really just where you are on the hierarchy

Tim @timmypi.bsky.social · 6d

"Cancel culture" is really just an expression of who wields power and privilege in society. Only those in dominant groups are "canceled." Dominant groups get to claim neutrality so forcing minoritized people into line isn't coded the same way

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Tim @timmypi.bsky.social · 6d

"Cancel culture" is really just an expression of who wields power and privilege in society. Only those in dominant groups are "canceled." Dominant groups get to claim neutrality so forcing minoritized people into line isn't coded the same way

Annie Kelly @annieknk.bsky.social · 6d

You only needed to look at the overwhelming success of stuff like Libs of TikTok, a crowdsourced campaign to get teachers fired for the crime of being gay on social media, to see this. But it seems that for lots of media types, it's only real cancel culture if it's people like them losing their jobs

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 7d

We're getting a wave of articles that are like, "gee willikers it sure seems like the people who complained about 'cancel culture' for years really like canceling people."

Yes! This was extremely obvious at the time and a lot of us pointed it out!

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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 6d

its weird that the president brags about inflicting pain on american citizens and cities right?

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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 6d

"This is a very race-conscious administration. It just happens to be the case that its policies, its prescriptions, its advocacy, its project is in service of whiteness. ...Whiteness is a race, too. It's also an ideology," says @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social. newrepublic.substack.com/p/race-and-r...

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 6d

a heartwarming story of how being an unethical and talentless hack is no barrier to success when you are willing to endlessly flatter the wretched views of rich dipshits

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 6d

Bari Weiss is set to be named the editor in chief of CBS News, the New York Post reports

Paramount Skydance is poised to name Bari Weiss as editor in chief of CBS News in the coming days — giving the hard-charging journalist unusual clout to revamp the struggling network as it also acquires her scrappy news site the Free Press, The Post has learned.

Weiss — a 41-year-old former New York Times opinion writer who has built the Free Press into a buzzworthy site with a contrarian bent — is expected to be named to the top post in a Monday announcement, although the talks are in flux and the timing could change, a source close to the situation said.

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

As with Charlie Kirk, Republicans are fiercely loyal to the general idea of Donald Trump but will furiously refuse to grapple with anything specific that he actually says or does.

Your Internet Friend Tom Tomorrow @tomtomorrow.bsky.social · 7d

I didn't see the tweet. I didn't hear the comment. I didn't watch the speech.

Republicans have been feigning ignorance about their mad king for eight years now.

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Kathleen Belew @kathleenbelew.bsky.social · 7d

"Globalist" has long been used by the white power movement to signify a Jewish conspiracy to eliminate the white race. It sometimes means something less alarming, like opposing the UN, worrying about cosmopolitanism, etc, but that's not who this meme is for. This meme is bread & butter racism.

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 7d

Last night, the ADL took down its "Glossary of antisemitism" which included an entry for the term "globalist," describing it as a far-right codeword for Jews.

Hours later, the official DHS account authors a post with a common far-right meme, saying that "globalists" will be denied entry to the US.

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