Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 1h

Sometimes I speed through SNL the next day looking for the 20 minutes of funny bits. I don’t know who Role Model is, because I’m old, but he sounds like Temu Tom Petty and looks like the last two pages of a high school notebook.

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Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · 3h

John Oliver sounded the alarm this week on how secret donations to presidential libraries provide cover for bribery. We couldn’t agree more.

It’s time to close the library loophole — and you can help.

Read this story and much more in our secrecy newsletter, The Classifieds.

John Oliver rips presidential library loophole

Plus: There shouldn’t be secret law. Pam Bondi didn’t get the memo

freedom.press

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 4h

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 · 4h

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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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 5h

And then by the time of Andor/the original trilogy, apparently the Force is widely regarded as some kind of hokey superstition? Less than 20 years after the Jedi fall? I mean, memories are short, but not THAT short.

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 5h

Though also reminds me of one of my weird plot niggles about the Star Wars setting: During the prequels, the Jedi are a legendary order of warrior monks who’ve been around for millennia, flying around the galaxy doing conspicuous space wizard shit, serving as generals in the Clone Wars, etc.

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 5h

Catching up on the second season of Andor and boy does it feel creepily prescient.

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 1d

ICE is an armed gang, and they’re only going to get worse. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Opinion | The Chicago raids send a worrying signal about the ideal ICE agents in Trump's America

The agency is on a hiring spree. But we know what that kind of breakneck expansion of the workforce can result in because we’ve seen it before.

www.msnbc.com

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Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 @joshuaeakle.com · 1d

In Chicago, four vehicles descended and eight ICE agents moved in to kidnap a child.

She screams, “I’m 15,” as ICE yanks her from the car and kneels on her neck.

This is not about immigration enforcement.

It's about terrorizing Americans.

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Simon Lester @simonlester.com · 1d

"The Labor Department warned in an obscure document filed with the Federal Register last week that 'the near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens' is threatening 'the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers.'”

Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices

U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document.

wapo.st

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Elliot @1t2ls.bsky.social · 1d

This article is such a good summary of the situation.

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 1d

ICE is an armed gang, and they’re only going to get worse. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Opinion | The Chicago raids send a worrying signal about the ideal ICE agents in Trump's America

The agency is on a hiring spree. But we know what that kind of breakneck expansion of the workforce can result in because we’ve seen it before.

www.msnbc.com

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 1d

That’s actually what my first draft said.

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 1d

ICE is an armed gang, and they’re only going to get worse. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Opinion | The Chicago raids send a worrying signal about the ideal ICE agents in Trump's America

The agency is on a hiring spree. But we know what that kind of breakneck expansion of the workforce can result in because we’ve seen it before.

www.msnbc.com

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 1d

“YOU hit HER.”

CHICAGO - Trump’s ICE goons ram into a passing car after snatching someone, then brutally drag the female driver of the car they hit out of her car with guns drawn and arrest her too. (Her brother says she’s a citizen)

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 1d

Protesters getting cuffed should insist on calling the arresting officers “Daddy” just to make them feel weird as hell about the whole thing.

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 1d

New — Video shared with me shows ICE officers in DC detaining a man on Friday.

Bystander filming asks man for his name. ICE agent lies and says he’s not allowed to speak to him “by law” and another says “We’ve arrested American citizens for being too close…If he gets any closer, put him in cuffs.”

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 1d

A classic case of irresponsible both-sidesism from the NYT. The story is that Trump and MAGA propagandists are lying about Portland to incite a conflict, not that there are different views of the matter.

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 1d

A favorite repost by Chicagoans

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Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 1d

New from me at Cato: I go through the numerous and massive First Amendment and academic-freedom violations of Trump's proffered "compact" with universities and then talk about the mechanism by which it would be enforced, by way of what I describe as a "retroactive push-button guillotine."

Universities Must Defend Their Independence by Rejecting Trump's "Compact"

The Trump administration has proffered a “compact” to universities that would require them to surrender their independence and academic freedom. How many First Amendment violations can we identify in ...

www.cato.org

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Cohen is a Ghost @skullmandible.bsky.social · 1d

"even if it's AI, it's at least true" hard to overstate the damage this stuff is doing to people's brains. we're gonna be cleaning the slop out of archives for decades

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 3d

As I observed in my Substack Round Up this past week, the endgame of the military strikes against drug cartels in international waters is to lay the groundwork to use lethal military force against Americans at home. Pay attention open.substack.com/pub/asharang...

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Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · 1d

They're literally installing Racism Dial bsky.app/profile/numb...

Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · Jan 15

vox populi

Altman: thanks a lot for these! some common requests:

AGI (a little patience please)
GPT-5
better voice mode
higher rate limits
better GPTs
better reasoning
control over degree of wokeness/behavior
video
personalization
better browsing
'sign in with openai
open source

Quoting:
what would you like openai to build/fix in 2024?

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 1d

“That word, I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Dante Atkins @danteatkins.bsky.social · 1d

Guy does a 180 in 10 seconds from saying he's a libertarian for limited government to calling for banning pride parades

Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 1d

Ross Douthat treats this guy like they're having some deep conversation about the relationship of Christianity and the government, but the dude is a garden-variety dull, shallow, hateful, worthless bigot with nothing interesting to say, just endless riffs on "God hates everything/everyone I do."

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 1d

My first thought was “wow I hope this guy didn’t give out his name because he could absolutely be charged” and yup, he is correct to stay anonymous.

This man’s account is shocking. His neighbors’ situation is shocking. The entire Chicago raid is shocking.

On the other side was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for his help.
"I wasn't planning on letting her stay, but I didn't know what the hell was going on," the man said of his Venezuelan migrant neighbors. But he quickly relented. The little girl was inconsolable and hid under his bed.
"I didn't want them to take her," said the man, who didn't want to be named because he fears he'll be targeted by federal authorities for his actions.
"I gave her my bedroom, and I just told her,
'Just stay there. Don't open, don't, shh, just stay quiet," he recalled telling the mom and daughter as he choked back tears.

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 1d

Non-Trump Republican judges seem to be doing a better job recognizing the stakes of the present moment than the modal elected Dem.

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 2d

As a group, District Judges (from across the ideological spectrum!) performing as well as just about anyone right now in defending democratic liberty.

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 2d

As a group, District Judges (from across the ideological spectrum!) performing as well as just about anyone right now in defending democratic liberty.

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