Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ben Heath

Peggy McGuinness @peggymcguinness.bsky.social · 9h

Reposting this important @nycbarassociation.bsky.social statement on the illegality of the President's attacks against Venezuelan vessels, in light of today's news.

New York City Bar Association @nycbarassociation.bsky.social · 8d

Only by acting promptly can Congress bring our nation into compliance with the Constitution and international law, reduce the risk of hostilities with neighboring countries and assure that similar abuses of Presidential power do not expand to American shores. bit.ly/3KVqX84

Unlawful Attacks on Venezuelan Vessels | New York City Bar Association

New York City Bar Association Statement Introduction This September, President Donald J. Trump ordered U. S. military strikes against three […]

bit.ly

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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 10h

Same

Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 13h

Do yourself a favor and listen to Black Messiah today. 💔

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 13h

Rest in power, D'Angelo. Unforgettable vocals and obliques that shame and inspire us to this day.

youtu.be/SxVNOnPyvIU?...

D'Angelo - Untitled (How Does It Feel) (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by DAngeloVEVO

youtu.be

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

If you make "controversial statements" outside of classroom, that the President of the university dislikes, you can be summarily fired even if you are tenured.

Julie Greene @greeneland.bsky.social · 1d

I just learned, Thomas Alter, tenured professor, has been terminated effective immediately. Shame on Texas State! We mst build support for Tom. spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-tex...

Texas State upholds the firing of associate history professor Thomas Alter

Alter’s termination occurred on Sept. 10, stemming from his remarks at the Revolutionary Socialism Conference on Sept. 7.

spectrumlocalnews.com

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Alexandra Finley @alexfinley.bsky.social · Sep 12

LAWCHA Statement on the Unjust Firing of Professor Thomas Alter

Resolution on Academic Freedom and Firing of Tom Alter

Statement by the Labor and Working-Class History Association on Academic Freedom and the Unjust Firing of Professor Thomas Alter We, the Officers and Members of the Board of Directors of the Labor ...

docs.google.com

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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 1d

AWESOME. Well done.

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Francisco J. Quintana @fjquintana.com · 13d

What does de-dollarisation mean in practice? How does it relate to global law and governance?

My article 'Dollar Dominance, De-Dollarization, and International Law' is now out in JIEL. I present dollar dominance and de-dollarisation as competing legal institutions.

academic.oup.com/jiel/advance...

Dollar dominance, de-dollarization, and international law

Abstract. Recent proposals to seize Russian Central Bank assets expose how little international lawyers have engaged with the intensifying competition over

academic.oup.com

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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah. While I'm playing armchair sociologist over here ("look at these weird professional-political dynamics and how they get reported!"), this one has been a real journey for you.

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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 1d

Imagine, indeed. A forbidden tome is discovered in an ancient library. Just barely legible by candlelight, it reveals Madison's untold, true story of those fateful days in Philadelphia. The debates, the lunches, the original public meaning of "officer." U.S. democracy will never be the same.

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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 1d

Tbc, I'm not mad about it or anything. It's helpful to have someone from within the movement making these points (which in many ways are almost identical to key points Kagan made in the Seila Law dissent). It's just weird to not see that acknowledged

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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 1d

fair and equitable treatment

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 5d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 1d

It's less a paper than an oped essay. No new findings afaict bsky.app/profile/jben...

Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 1d

I took a spin through the "originalist 'bombshell'" essay. Am I right that it's not new historical work of its own, but a (good) synthesis of work by others (eg, @jdmortenson.bsky.social @jedshug.bsky.social)? So the "bombshell" isn't a new finding but rather the movement credentials of the author?

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 1d

The Originalist case for ignoring Originalism when it is inconvenient to your results-oriented jurisprudence.

In this essay, I will... www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...

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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 1d

I took a spin through the "originalist 'bombshell'" essay. Am I right that it's not new historical work of its own, but a (good) synthesis of work by others (eg, @jdmortenson.bsky.social @jedshug.bsky.social)? So the "bombshell" isn't a new finding but rather the movement credentials of the author?

James Goodwin @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social · 1d

The Originalist case for ignoring Originalism when it is inconvenient to your results-oriented jurisprudence.

In this essay, I will... www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...

Originalist ‘Bombshell’ Complicates Case on Trump’s Power to Fire Officials

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 4d

1/ New rare earth restrictions mark escalation in China’s weaponization of interdependence — adopting US extraterritorial permission structures. This is not just an export ban but regulated how global firms use Chinese equipment and material.
www.reuters.com/world/china/...

China expands rare earth restrictions, targets defence, semiconductor users

China tightened its rare earth export controls on Thursday, saying it planned to limit exports to overseas defence firms and semiconductor users and adding five rare earth elements to its list.

www.reuters.com

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 5d

Wtf

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 5d

US anti-fascism expert blocked from flying to Spain at airport www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

US anti-fascism expert blocked from flying to Spain at airport

Rutgers University professor who published book on antifa was informed at boarding gate that his trip was cancelled

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 5d

Brett Kavanaugh: “The Govt sometimes makes brief investigative stops …”

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Jacob Soboroff @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social · 6d

Michigan Avenue right now.

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 6d

My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."

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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 7d

This piece by @beaubaumann.bsky.social is really good and focusing on all the right questions. lpeproject.org/blog/rebuild...

Rebuilding State Authority In A Post-Trump America

In the ruins of the administrative state after Trump, many on the left see an opportunity to design a New Deal-type reconstruction agenda. But building state capacity requires a government that is…

lpeproject.org

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 6d

The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 6d

We know more about the massive military-style raid on a Chicago housing complex thanks to the reporting of @southsideweekly.bsky.social, @blockclubchi.bsky.social, and neighborhood resident Eboni Watson who chronicled the event. Among the emerging questions: what's real estate's role in this?

section of text from South Side Weekly's coverage, which says: "The building was purchased by Wisconsin-based investor Trinity Flood in January 2020, according to Cook County records. On October 1, the day after the raid, a judge reviewed an emergency motion from Wells Fargo seeking to appoint Matthew Tarshis of Frontline Real Estate Partners as the property’s receiver.

Flood purchased three multifamily properties in South Shore in 2020. The neighborhood, which had the highest number of eviction filings in Chicago from 2015-2019 according to the Law Center for Better Housing, has seen a rise in outside real estate investors since the 2017 announcement of the Obama Presidential Center’s construction in the neighboring Jackson Park.

Wells Fargo Bank foreclosed on the building in mid-2024, bringing a $27 million lawsuit against Flood for missed loan payments. In late 2024, the City began closing its largest migrant shelters and, through state funding assistance distributed via Catholic Charities and moving support from New Life Church, relocated many families to buildings such as this one."

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 6d

Chat, is it good that all the world's most powerful people are obsessed with the nazi jurist, Carl Schmitt?

Screenshot of a WIRED article titled “The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession” by Laura Bullard, published on September 30, 2025, at 12:05 PM. The subheading reads: “Thirty years ago, a peace-loving Austrian theologian spoke to Peter Thiel about the apocalyptic theories of Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt. They’ve been a road map for the billionaire ever since.”

Alt text:
Screenshot of a text excerpt discussing legal scholars’ research on Carl Schmitt. The highlighted section reads: “But over time, Vermeule’s fascination grew. ‘I noticed that Adrian had moved away from just being interested in Schmitt to actually embracing all dimensions of Schmitt’s theory: both the political dimension and the legal dimension,’ Dyzenhaus says.”

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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 6d

I’m giving a talk at @brooklynlawschool.bsky.social on Friday about the Compact as an example of domestic economic warfare. So naturally @himself.bsky.social scoops
me in the NY Times! My talk will argue that more experts in economic warfare need to start thinking about how the war comes home.

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 6d

"It wanted to signal strength. Instead, it’s revealing its weakness. The administration’s need to break the academy is forcing it to make a desperately risky gamble." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...

Opinion | You Beat Trumpism by Banding Together. It’s as Hard and as Simple as That.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Ben Heath

Beau Baumann 🍏 @beaubaumann.bsky.social · 7d

ICYMI, I did a blog post today at @lpeproject.bsky.social that’s really about the death of a 20 c mode of liberal/progressive politics. It’s about the need, as a first-order objective, to relegitimize the state around a representational legitimacy.

Rebuilding State Authority In A Post-Trump America

In the ruins of the administrative state after Trump, many on the left see an opportunity to design a New Deal-type reconstruction agenda. But building state capacity requires a government that is…

lpeproject.org

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Ben Heath @jbentonheath.bsky.social · 7d

Watching the mortals "discovering" my chronicles, as it were, guarded
by the old demons, even unknown to me

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