Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 55m

Can that generation fuck off already? Have they not ruined enough for all the generations that follow?

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 57m

Janet Mills going to the Senate at 79 would make her the oldest elected freshman senator in history — but just as old as or younger than 1 in 9 senators serving in this congress. www.pbump.net/o/a-79-year-...

A 79 year-old freshman senator would be … unusual

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) has announced her intention to run for Senate against the state's well-known — ahem — incumbent, Susan Collins. When the next Senate term begins in January 2027, Collins wil...

www.pbump.net

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Waldo Jaquith, but Spooky @waldo.net · 2h

It turns out that what Todd Gilbert meant by "that escalated quickly" is that he was unwilling to support a grand jury investigation into the origins of the Trump/Russia case. I'm surprised and impressed that Gilbert took this stand. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 3h

This is no more lawful than if Iran / North Korea / whoever blew up a couple American yachts in the Mediterranean for suspected drug trafficking. On the legal spectrum it sits in the middle of a Venn diagram between overt acts of military aggression, state-sponsored terrorism, and simple murder.

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 8h

The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...

U.S. Military Kills Another 6 People in 5th Caribbean Strike, Trump Says

www.nytimes.com

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 5h

Good. Even if this doesn’t work, it’s time to go on offense.

www.newsweek.com/jb-pritzker-...

JB Pritzker looking at prosecuting ICE agents in Chicago

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has suggested that state prosecutors might examine the conduct of ICE agents.

www.newsweek.com

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 5h

I saw some references to a study showing fewer young people were trans. The author is "Director of the Centre for Heterodox Social Science" who recently published "The Third Awokening: A 12-Point Plan for Rolling Back Progressive Extremism."

His "science" has the credibility of a wet fart.

Hex Anderson @dexanderson.com · 7h

The "study" is by Eric Kaufman, a DeSantis supporter who left his post at the University of London citing "cancel culture." He believes that trans identity is a social contagion.

Here's what he believes his study proves.

Executive Summary
• After surging in the 2010s and 20s, trans and queer identities are in decline among young Americans
• The transgender share among university students peaked in 2023 and has almost halved since, from
nearly 7 percent to under 4 percent
• The share of students identifying as not heterosexual fell by around 10 points in the same period
• The decline in non-heterosexual share is concentrated in the queer or other sexual categories (i.e.
pansexual, asexual) and, to a lesser extent, bisexuality
• Today’s freshmen are less BTQ+ than seniors, suggesting that decline will continue
• The decline in BTQ+ identification does not appear to be connected to lower social media use, religious
revival, a shift to the political right or lower support for woke ideology
• There is evidence that improved mental health has reduced BTQ+ identification

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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 13h

Showing up to No Kings with a sign reading “monarchy is an affront to human dignity but, when incorporated into a liberal democratic system, may nevertheless be a useful safety valve for nationalist and/or authoritarian impulses” and then getting clobbered by a Buttigieg-supporting grandmother

Jo Kershaw @mthrjo.bsky.social · 14h

Incidentally, I’ve been chafing a bit at the “No Kings” thing, because there are loads of monarchies that have more limits on executive power than the US does, but it has the great advantage that it makes Americans who want to oppose it sound, well, unamerican….

Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 16h

one of the reasons they're so mad at "no kings" is that they thought they were going to get a different kind of protest. they *want* the black bloc to be out there fighting with the cops. those are the images they've been trying to generate from "go." instead--

newrepublic.com/article/2016...

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Homeless Advocacy Project @hap-philly.bsky.social · 4d

HA HAs for HOMES is BACK! On 11/15 at 4pm at @heliumcomedyphl.bsky.social, laugh it up at some of Philadelphia's finest comedians for an incredibly important cause--fighting homelessness. Tickets WILL move fast. Order yours today!

philadelphia.heliumcomedy.com/shows/329965

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 15h

Just make it Latin, call it manupedosanus disease.

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social · 19h

"We can table this argument until I see you in hell" is an all timer hater line

lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 20h

One thing I am glad this did (might not be accessible in the UK alas unless you have Means) is just absolutely go in on that nonsense "does it really count as starving children if the children are also sick for other reasons?" thing the Free Press did.

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

Bari Weiss: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

www.youtube.com

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

In the spirit of his DOGE efforts, obviously the most cost-effective way to combat drug use in San Francisco is to send Elon there to use all the drugs himself.

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ashley scarebanks 💀🕯️ @ziibiing.com · 1d

lol “find your own instead of stealing” in defense of columbus day

AJ West • 1h
Find your own holiday instead of stealing. Today is Columbus Day as designated by the federal government
Reply
6

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

I appreciate @punchbowlnews.bsky.social noting something that's objectively true and necessary context, but routinely elided over:

The House GOP is not away because of the shutdown, but to avoid taking a vote on releasing info about a notorious pedophile because that info implicates Trump.

Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 1d

👀 “The Ghost House”: Eye opening report from @punchbowlnews.bsky.social this am on how Mike Johnson has turned the House into a joke under Republican rule. He has turned House Republican leaders into Trump White House’s poodles (if you catch my drift) covering up for #EpsteinFiles.

$“The Ghost House. Speaker Mike Johnson and top House GOP leaders have kept members home since Sept. 19. While the complaints are growing louder inside House GOP ranks over the issue, Johnson insists Republicans have done their job and there’s no reason for them to be here. House GOP lawmakers passed a “clean” CR that would keep federal agencies open until Nov. 21. Senate Democrats have repeatedly blocked that measure, which led to this shutdown. Democrats are demanding a vote on their own proposal to permanently extend expiring Obamacare premium credits, a rollback in massive Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the end of unilateral spending rescissions. Yet the House’s absence makes it easier for the shutdown to continue. Part of what ends shutdowns is anxiety building among the rank-and-file. Members are home, so there’s limited pressure on House GOP leaders to do anything. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and dozens of Democrats have been in D.C. throughout the shutdown. More importantly, Johnson has emerged as the “face” of the shutdown for House Republicans. He’s doing daily press conferences and more media interviews, putting himself in the center of the fracas. A C-SPAN caller begging Johnson to bring the House back last week went viral. So did Johnson’s hallway confrontation with Arizona Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly over Johnson’s refusal to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, a move that has infuriated Democrats.”$

OBBB and done. The reality is that since the OBBB passed on July 3, the House has been checked out. A virtual non-entity for more than three months. And this is the off-year, when Congress is supposed to be busy.
Since July 3, the House has only been in session for 20 days (out of more than 100 calendar days.) Even accounting for the normal August break — which began early because of the Epstein mess – the House has been AWOL.
There have been just over 90 floor votes during this period. A lot of these were amendment votes or votes on non-controversial suspension bills. Several were partisan FY2026 spending bills that have no chance of passage. All in all, very little of substance has been taken up. But as Johnson will remind you, the House did pass a CR.
The only period comparable to this in recent decades was in 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi used proxy voting to buttress the Democratic leadership’s power. Republicans yelled loudly about that at the time, even filing an unsuccessful lawsuit to stop it. But a similar thing is happening in reverse now.
If you see it, don’t say it. House Republicans have done virtually no oversight on the Trump administration, rolling over on a number of issues that their predecessors would have screamed loudly about. It’s true that House Democrats did little or nothing to rein in President Joe Biden when they controlled the House. But Trump has gone far beyond Biden in using executive authority. “Inside the White House, top advisers joke that they are ruling Congress with an ‘iron fist,’” the Wall Street Journal reported.
For an institution that has complained for years about the need to claw back power from the executive branch, it’s a sad state of affairs. And it shows no sign of ending soon.

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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 1d

When authoritarians tell you they like authoritarianism, over and over and over and over and over again, believe them

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump on Egypt: "They have very little crime. Because they don't play games. That's why. Like we do in the United States with governors that have no idea what they're doing."

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amy brown (spooky edition) @amybrown.xyz · 1d

inspiring 💗💖

LinkedIn post about how a guy got a job interview at Strava by running a route that spelled HIRE ME on the map

HIRE ME written on the map (looking more like HIRE NE tbh)

commenter asks if the guy got the job and OP says “I don't think so. But his effort got him noticed and a foot in the door when so many others didn't”

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

It's easy to dismiss legal theory as blah blah blah, and it often has little relevance to the daily practice of law.

But at SCOTUS level, consistent application of theory is synonymous with the rule of law. Words can always be thrown together to justify outcomes; legitimacy arises from consistency.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

obviously john roberts and the trump majority aren't going a little thing like "history" or "the written text of the constitution" get in the way of their ideological drive to remake the (republican) presidency as an elected dictatorship.

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

www.nytimes.com

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C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 1d

Here is a poster that hung in my house my entire life, and which my mom gave to me when we moved to CT. The photo in it was taken in downtown Portland in 1978, and the man in it was a bar owner at the time - six years later he became the Mayor.

THIS is Portland humor, which is not new!

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 2d

But after not getting enough orders, the company closed. Managing partner Kenneth Ragland said: “Lots of people talk about Made in the USA as being so necessary, but when the rubber meets the road, most Americans want cheap goods, which do not make it easy for US firms to survive.”

Excerpt reads: Garland Apparel Group is working to find the next occupant for the town’s long-standing Garland Shirt Company after a lack of orders to meet basic costs necessitate furloughs — and ultimately the closure — of the factory.

“The factory was placed on furlough in November. It was our intention to return to work, however, orders needed to keep the factory open and functional, did not materialize,” Kenneth Ragland, managing partner for Garland Apparel Group, told The Independent. “The factory required a minimum number of orders to meet basic costs and wages. The aggregate total of orders we had were simply far too low to support day-to day operations.”

During the period of November through today, company leaders have been working with several parties “who have a desire to acquire the factory,” Ragland noted.

“One transaction is now close to completion. I cannot opine on the buyer nor their plans, but I know they are North Carolina based and they have need for factory capacity, which Garland can provide,” Ragland stated.

Excerpt reads: Despite bringing back a majority of the workforce, and enjoying success for a couple years, the factory was fighting an uphill battle in the long run.

“The factory suffered from Brooks Brothers owning it too long, from Brooks not investing in basic upkeep or in better systems, and ultimately, the lack of interest in Made in the USA,” Ragland stated bluntly. “Lots of people talk about Made in the USA as being so necessary, but when the rubber meets the road, most Americans want cheap goods which does not make it easy for U.S. firms to survive.”

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Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 2d

Her most important contribution may be this paragraph here, setting out, by my lights, an objective standard for federalizing the National Guard.

To wit: It’s a last resort. If the civil power hasn’t failed and the courts remain open, the president may not call forth the guard.

Screenshot from ruling, which reads in part:

“Here, there has been no showing that the civil power has failed. The agitators who have violated the law by attacking federal authorities have been arrested. The courts are open, and the marshals are ready to see that any sentences of imprisonment are carried out. Resort to the military to execute the laws is not called for.”

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 2d

One example of Peter Thiel's genius is how he was the first person to ever figure out that an extremely common name for a character like "Ozymandias" might present subtle clues about the character.

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 2d

This is infuriating. She excuses the orders as "preliminary," but that's an argument for applying settled law or preserving the status quo. Allowing POTUS to disregard Congressional appropriations and fire independent agency heads are neither, they're a radical restructuring of Constitutional order.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 2d

Former Presidents consistently talk about the difficulty of getting good information as President, how everyone has an agenda, is telling them what they want to hear, etc.

Most Presidents make some effort to mitigate that well-known problem, but Trump's like "moar bubble, I want only bubble."

Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 2d

For my piece today at @zeteo.com i wanted to truly underscore how punishingly stupid american fascism is now. Like, my original proposed headline for this was:

Our Democracy Is Imperiled Because One Old Man Won’t Stop ‘Yelling’ At His TV. zeteo.com/p/trump-addi...

Trump’s Addiction to Watching Fox Is Killing American Democracy

Our country is falling apart because one old man, Trump advisers and former administration officials say, won’t stop ‘yelling’ at his TV.

zeteo.com

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 2d

Y'know, on top of everything else bad about this guy, FHFA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac have real things they need to do all day!

But two essential criteria for a Trump appointment are (1) you're not qualified to do the job and (2) you don't do the actual job anyway, you do this stuff.

Peter Baker @peterbakernyt.bsky.social · 3d

Before targeting Trump foes, Pulte practiced on his own family, per @
Brian Slodysko and Chris Megerian. He accused his grandfather’s widow of insider trading, was tied to a website trashing an aunt as a "fake Christian" and called another relative "a fat slob." apnews.com/article/trum...

How Bill Pulte learned the art of the attack, from his own family to Letitia James

Bill Pulte has become a significant player in the Trump administration. Known for his aggressive online persona and bitter public fights with several family members, Pulte currently serves as director...

apnews.com

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 2d

I assume Sean Penn's, ahem, hair styling technique was an homage to this classic:

Paul Wolfowitz Goes to Fashion Extremes in 'Fahrenheit 9/11'

YouTube video by Michael Moore

www.youtube.com

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 2d

In a huge coincidence, a Bitcoin billionaire just-so-happened to put up massive leveraged bets against Bitcoin and Ethereum right before Trump posted about new tariffs on China, prompting a market crash.

$200m in profits instantly. $200m we know about, because they likely used many accounts.

Early Bitcoin Whale Shorted $1.1B Right Before Tariffs, Now Up $27M - How Did He Know?

Satoshi-era whale shorted $1.1B in BTC and ETH 30 minutes before Trump tariffs, banking $190M-$200M as liquidations hit $19.33B.

cryptonews.com

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Aubrey Gilleran @aubreygilleran.bsky.social · 2d

Well golly it sounds like you should let long-standing precedents stand until you rule on the merits, then. That is not what you’re doing!

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."

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