Author | Lightnews

Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 1d

Trump is shaking down everybody all the time.

A hundred million here, a hundred million there, eventually you're talking real money.

nystateofpolitics.com/state-of-pol...

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 1d

"Trump launches latest attack on NYC with federal order to stop work on 34th St. busway"

There is no federal money involved so Trumpettes argue 34th is a “principal arterial” for National Highway System

www.nydailynews.com/2025/10/17/t...

Trump launches latest attack on NYC with federal order to stop work on 34th St. busway

Midtown is the latest front in the Trump administration’s apparent war on New York City’s transit system, with federal regulators demanding the city halt work on the recently revived 34…

www.nydailynews.com

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 3d

Great history & analysis of a big hole in our constitution that really accelerated amazingly a dozen years ago and is set to get much worse

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Aziz Huq · Short Cuts: Gerrymandering

The notion that democratic elections are supposed to allow voters to make a real choice between candidates, or even kick...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 7d

This article about Zohran's right-hand person is a perfect complement and updating to the last section of @ettingermentum.bsky.social's article. Elle & Zohran learned by doing, together:

www.cityandstateny.com/personality/...

How Elle Bisgaard-Church became Zohran Mamdani’s most trusted adviser

The first-time campaign manager steered him to victory in June. Now she’s focused on the likely next administration.

www.cityandstateny.com

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 7d

From back in June, a sharp, clear (& relatively concise) history of left vs center, 2016 to today by @ettingermentum.bsky.social

www.ettingermentum.news/p/the-left-i...

The Left is Being Greatly Underestimated

How the center has gotten its opponents wrong, and what it is costing them.

www.ettingermentum.news

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 13d

I might end up talking about this graph all day.

I think one thing Dems need to realize is that "Americans" are not buying into the "cities on fire" lies of this admin.

It's JUST Republicans. So if you're a governor of a solidly blue state, or a blue-city mayor, the national story is NOT YOURS.

Gallup poll showing a wild divergence in "is crime rising" over the past two years, w GOP at 90, independents at 68, Dems at 29.

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 9d

Also, just for the record, police ALWAYS threaten to quit when someone they don’t like (ie, someone who threatens anything but the most superficial of change), and they never do.

But it always gets taken at face value, not as the genuinely *political* statement it is.

@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 9d

CBS News would never put a thinly sourced 'story' by a rookie blogger like this on it's air. Until now. The Free Press isn't a journalism outlet, it's bloggers aren't reporters. This piece is more NYPost than Tiffany Network but I guess that's the goal.

www.cbsnews.com/video/some-n...

Some NYPD officers worry about Mandani becoming the NYC mayor, The Free Press reports

The Free Press spoke to several New York City Police Department officers who are worried about Zohran Mamdani becoming mayor. Olivia Reingold joins CBS News with more.

www.cbsnews.com

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 8d

What Trump is doing is very bad. But I want to push back against some of the numbers here.

ICE did not hire 10,000 agents. It WANTS to. That it keeps running ads suggests it is struggling. And when it does, it seems to cannibalize local police, who don't like that.

More significantly:

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 8d

"(Officers) refuse to recognize local or court authority. A judge says you can’t arrest journalists. Watch us. A judge says we have to wear badges. No. State law says we can’t drive around in unmarked vans? Too bad. Elected officials who want to see what is going on should prepare to be arrested."

Purge, Merge, and Surge

Trump is creating a omniforce of armed loyalists to establish his police state

donmoynihan.substack.com

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 8d

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Daniela Gabor @danielagabor.bsky.social · 9d

an alien species looking back to our end of times, and notice that in the year of the most gigantic (AI) bubble to ever inflate, the powers that be gave the Nobel to the most insipid theory of technological change and growth in economics

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 10d

This is a great piece of intellectual history

tl/dr: When he says "antichrist" is the ultimate terrifying enemy, he means "world government," which is what you'd expect from him.

It's after that point that it gets wild.

www.wired.com/story/the-re...

The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession

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.

www.wired.com

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 10d

About a month ago, the Trump administration got rid of the de minimis exemption, whereby packages valued under $800 could slide in without import duties. Now there's a backlog as the government can't process all of this paperwork, leading to UPS just destroying packages

Business Insider headline reads: UPS is telling customers that their packages coming to the US are marked for destruction.

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 11d

Excellent summary of the essentials, as always. Roubani is the best.

dawnmena.org/western-stat...

Western States Recognize Palestine: Mouin Rabani’s Five Key Questions

Multiple Western states have advanced a renewed push to recognize the state of Palestine, including France, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, reigniting a unique but fraught path for Palestini...

dawnmena.org

Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 11d

My favorite use of this video is disgruntled Yankee fans who captioned it "Giancarlo Stanton running to third"

Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 11d

"The survey found that the penalty for running as a Democrat was around nine percentage points"

Great summary of great survey by Center for Working Class Politics by Jenny Brown

labornotes.org/2025/10/labo...

Labor Needs an Independent Political Program, Says UAW’s Fain

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain recently laid out four priorities he says should form the nucleus of a workers’ political program. And he said that a broad strike in May 2028 is one way to fi...

labornotes.org

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 12d

If we reroute 3% of the flights for a couple minutes each it'll fix 80% of the problem for a nickel a passenger.

And it might be easiest climate policy we ever passed.

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 12d

Talk about a win-win-win. Contrails are one of the loopiest conspiracy theories & its advocates are rabid. But what do you know, it turns out contrails are bad in a rational way - they add to global warming - and incredibly easy to fix.

www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/eliminatin...

Eliminating contrails from flying could be incredibly cheap

Could we halve aviation's climate impact at a fraction of the cost of sustainable aviation fuels?

www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 14d

Um, ICE just coldly shot an unarmed PRIEST in the head w a pepper ball when he (and everyone around him) clearly posed no threat.

For the crime of … complaining about government policy.

Core 1A speech.

With cameras rolling, they’re sniping priests for sport.

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 14d

Here’s video of the incident

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 13d

Great short piece by @dsquareddigest.bsky.social

backofmind.substack.com/p/canaries-a...

Reposted by Michael Pollak

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 13d

The historically volatile Texas grid was entirely stable this summer, despite extreme temperatures. Grid operators never once had to ask Texans to conserve energy or shut off their air conditioners.

Why? Solar & batteries. Want a stable grid? Try solar & batteries.

Solar and batteries had a record-setting, grid-stabilizing summer in…

Solar has set 17 power generation records in Texas so far this year, shoring up the grid alongside batteries as some gas plant developers step back.

www.canarymedia.com

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 16d

😭

IG newberlinlibrary

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 16d

"There are currently one to two Starlink satellites falling back to Earth every day ... Soon, McDowell told us, there will be up to 5 satellite reentries per day." 😳

1 to 2 Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth each day

earthsky.org

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Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 15d

Another great installment by Michael Kinnucan in Taking the Sociological Perspective

Michael Pollak @mdpollak.bsky.social · 16d

Concise, detailed article could be titled "Wile E Coyote is US:

www.ft.com/content/6cc8...

America is now one big bet on AI

It’s seen as the magic fix for every threat to the US economy

www.ft.com

Reposted by Michael Pollak

Patrick De Klotz @patdeklotz.bsky.social · 17d

Stephen Miller is a fascist lunatic

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