Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 7h

Not loving this trend where pop culture that treats racists as villains is considered "too political."
bsky.app/profile/step...

Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 8h

SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...

Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year

Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File

www.gamefile.news

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Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 8h

SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...

Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year

Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File

www.gamefile.news

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 14h

A ghostly simulacrum of your dead father who can't recognize you but can convincingly mime affection. An imp who promises to do your job while you slack off, but whose work is so shoddy it costs you everything. An ephemeral beauty who tempts you to leave your wife but who never existed at all.

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City Nolan @ndhapple.bsky.social · 1d

"140,000 N.Y.C. Students Are Homeless. Can the Next Mayor Change That? The city’s housing crisis has contributed to an education crisis, with more children than ever living in temporary housing. They face dismal outcomes"

Fixing housing crisis is a moral imperative: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/n...

140,000 N.Y.C. Students Are Homeless. Can the Next Mayor Change That?

www.nytimes.com

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 1d

That chart is 50% "which party talks about this more" and 50% the US having no national "leader of the opposition" role that most other countries have.

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Jennifer Prokop @jenreadsromance.bsky.social · 1d

BUCKING TRADITION.

NPR @npr.org · 1d

President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.

Trump's power to deploy National Guard, explained

President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.

n.pr

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 2d

Like, Trump has arguably had the highest "earning" 9 months in human history, but only because he came up with a way to financialize rampant corruption. It's not actually wealth.

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 2d

If the entire purpose of the Trump crypto currency is to bribe him, isn't all this going to evaporate the minute he dies?
www.forbes.com/sites/kylemu...

Here’s How Much Barron Trump Is Worth

Trump’s youngest son taught his dad a thing or two about crypto. Now the NYU sophomore is making a fortune before he even turns 20.

www.forbes.com

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Elvie 🍂🎃 @elviereads.bsky.social · 2d

"democrats are incapable of winning power and allergic to using it" is a genuinely stupid thing to say on the topic of the essentially-100%-democratic oregon government swiftly and effectively fighting trump's attempts to invade us. tbh a "fuck you" moment for me

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YES on Affordable Housing @yesonaffhousing.bsky.social · 2d

New Yorkers: After voting for candidates who will fight for affordability on the front of your November ballots, flip↩️your ballot to vote YES on affordable housing proposals 2-5

So that New Yorkers like Austin can afford to stay in the neighborhoods that raised them.

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 2d

Odds he doesn't come back?

Chris Sommerfeldt @c-sommerfeldt.bsky.social · 2d

Around 11:30 p.m. last night, Mayor Adams' office announced he's going to Albania this week.

On "day one" of his trip, Adams is meeting with the country's prime minister and will also "visit local businesses and factories."

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 5d

youtu.be/ToKcmnrE5oY?...

Mitchell and Webb: "Are we the baddies?"

YouTube video by CrystalRoseCreations

youtu.be

Reposted by Ben Wetzler

Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 5d

Is everyone appreciating how utterly sick this is

Aura Bogado @aurabogado.bsky.social · 6d

Shelters that house unaccompanied minors are bracing for "Freaky Friday," the start of an ICE operation that will first issue letters to children, seeking to pressure them to return to the countries they've fled in exchange for a cash payment. If they decline, their parents will be targeted by ICE.

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 6d

F--- this into space.
www.crainsnewyork.com/politics-pol...

Conservative group wants to run anti-Mamdani ads — but not disclose its donors

The American Future Fund sued the Campaign Finance Board over rules that require super PACs to disclose their donors.

www.crainsnewyork.com

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 6d

I wonder how much of this is nihilistic "hustler culture." Like, do ppl say they think it's bad for society but then do it themselves bc they "have a system?" That would be bad.

FWIW I personally took a hard turn on this once the ads started appearing everywhere.

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John Gramlich @johngramlich.bsky.social · 6d

% of US men under 30 who say legal sports betting is a *bad thing* for society

22% in 2022
47% in 2025

No other demographic group has seen a bigger increase.

Americans increasingly see legal sports betting as a bad thing for society and sports

Today, 43% of U.S. adults say the fact that sports betting is now legal in much of the country is a bad thing for society, up from 34% in 2022.

www.pewresearch.org

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Marco Chitti @chittimarco.bsky.social · 6d

This blue vs. red state framing of literally everything, from capital spending to housing policy, is poisoning the American democracy. I don't think you can recover unless you get rid of the Electoral College and the Senate as it is,

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City Nolan @ndhapple.bsky.social · 6d

You see this particularly in the crime discussion nationally, but folks outside of New York City (and often times in New York City) do not grasp the scale and scope of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Reinvent Albany @reinventalbany.bsky.social · 6d

NEW Report: States that voted for Trump got billions from MTA Spending

Companies in red states by U.S. Senate seats received more than $3.5 billion in MTA payments over 14 years. States that voted for Trump in 2024 received nearly $7 billion from the MTA over this period.

buff.ly/Yxt4KZ6

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Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 7d

Swear her in.

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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 7d

Good morning.

The government is shut down because Trump wants to act like a king and steal from you.

Democrats have no obligation to support a budget that funds the destruction of our democracy - and DOUBLES health premiums to fund a tax cut for billionaires.

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Hangman's Elm 🌳🍁🌴 @hangmanselm.bsky.social · 7d

My (very white + wealthy + blue) town has been planning a 100-unit affordable housing project for 3yrs, and we're weeks away from applying for LIHTC.

Except they just announced that a NIMBY appealed it under the State Environmental Policy Act, so we won't make the deadline.

I'm fucking furious.

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Adam Gurri @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com · 7d

So funny how blatantly hypocritical they are on this lol

George Pearkes @peark.es · 7d

Oh hell yes

*SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO LET TRUMP IMMEDIATELY OUST FED'S COOK

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 8d

Yeah. I think in Hegseth's mind, this was when he was going to tell them to get with the program or leave and the power of his masculine awesomeness would turn them all into MAGA loyalists, but instead they got a school assembly.

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 8d

When I ran for City Council I could only respond to text messages during my lunch break because I was a state employee and if any of them were from supporters that could be considered doing politics with government resources...

US Department of Housing and Urban Development website with a giant red banner reading "The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands. The Trump administration wants to keep the government open for the American people."

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Ben Wetzler @voteben.nyc · 8d

Horizon Zero Dawn. Any of the late-90s Final Fantasy games.

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