Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Joe Zissman @jzissman.bsky.social · 12h

Lock 'em up: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...

26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations

www.law.cornell.edu

8 22

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 11h

A Wednesday's news: Sent IRS to investigate Democratic donors, canceled billions for infrastructure in blue states, fired workers providing poor women's reproductive health care, directed the CIA to overthrow the Venezuelan government, limited asylum to White Christians, and defended young Nazis.

2 20 45

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 12h

"a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority"

The phrasing you're looking for is that he's suspending parts of the Constitution by decree.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 12h

President Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent federal funds to pay members of the military during the government shutdown, escalating his challenge to the authority of Congress on spending matters.

Trump Signs Memo Expanding His Authority to Spend Federal Money

The president gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wide authority to repurpose funds to pay members of the military without approval from Congress, which has the sole constitutional authority to decide federal spending.

nyti.ms

27 540 1.6K

Reposted by Rodger Payne

nkell2002 @whattfisgoingon.bsky.social · 12h

The Founding Members of ANTIFA at it’s inaugural meeting in 1787

7 53 240

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 11h

A bar chart from the Economist titled "The ideologies behind political violence in America" showing that most years, most criminal cases involving political violence are instigated by the right, not the left, Islamists, or "other."

15 37

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Molly Reynolds @mollyereynolds.bsky.social · 12h

The executive branch not spending the money that Congress has told them to spend is bad. The executive branch spending money on things for which Congress has not given them money is also bad (and, arguably, worse).

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 12h

President Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent federal funds to pay members of the military during the government shutdown, escalating his challenge to the authority of Congress on spending matters.

Trump Signs Memo Expanding His Authority to Spend Federal Money

The president gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wide authority to repurpose funds to pay members of the military without approval from Congress, which has the sole constitutional authority to decide federal spending.

nyti.ms

20 150 540

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 14h

The Supreme Court’s majority right wing indicated in oral arguments that they think racism is over on the same day that the vice president defended the “I love Hitler” guy, and that the NYT reported that the current administration plans to accept only white, English-speaking refugees.

61 1.7K 4.5K

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 18h

Considering the remarkable gap in vote choice between urban and rural counties.
www.pbump.net/o/the-votes-...

10 16 120

Rodger Payne @rodgerp.bsky.social · 17h

Succession 2019 season 2, Ewan Roy about his brother's TV network:

"Logan's denial of climate change will result in more deaths than Hitler."

Rodger Payne @rodgerp.bsky.social · 17h

Covert?

"not openly acknowledged or displayed."

Max Boot @maxboot.bsky.social · 17h

I’m sure this will end well. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 1d

There is no conceivable argument that these ships, even if we assume they were carrying narcotics, could not be dealt with in some other way. I think we can just drop the caveats and say: This is mass murder.

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 1d

Unless and until some kind of compelling legal and moral argument is presented as to why this is a legitimate use of deadly force, this is just…mass murder.

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 1d

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...

16 870 3.4K

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 2d

An interesting study of political violence in the United States. Two main findings. It is relatively low. It skewes right, that is right-wing groups/individuals have conducted more politically motivated killings since 1975.

www.alexnowrasteh.com/p/alex-respo...

Alex Responds to the Critics: Politically Motivated Terrorist Killings in the United States

The critics are mistaken

www.alexnowrasteh.com

5 3

Rodger Payne @rodgerp.bsky.social · 4d

The Brewers have gifted baseball fans a reasonable bedtime.

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Ryan Katz-Rosene, PhD @ryankatzrosene.bsky.social · 6d

About *a third* of global fossil fuel CO2 emissions emitted during the Industrial age have occurred in roughly the last 17 years. The previous third was emitted over a period of roughly 26 years. The first third was emitted over a period of about 131 years.

8 91 180

Reposted by Rodger Payne

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 5d

he also said that 80% of antifa's members are landlords and if you lower the cost of housing, you basically starve the network of its financing

51 750 6.5K

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 5d

Hegseth sucks. The Qataris suck. But we aren’t giving Qatar an airbase in Idaho. It’s building dorms etc. at an existing base to train them on F-15s we sold them, just like Singapore already has there. Common arrangement we have with lots of countries. This one was already being planned under Biden.

120 380 1.4K

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Daniel A Collier, PhD @dcollier74.bsky.social · 5d

Oh.... I know what's about to happen. Someone is about to ask me for some free labor.

"An account has been created for you...."

2 3

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Eze @ezetheigwe.blacksky.app · 5d

About to activate my 3 free months of Health+ so I can get in on the eventual class action lawsuit

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 5d

“Apple is reportedly prepping a Health+ service that will use AI to dispense advice on nutrition, exercise and more.”

Apple might launch Health+ with AI doctor, food tracking and more

Apple is reportedly prepping a Health+ service that will use AI to dispense advice on exercise and eating right.

www.cultofmac.com

11 86 490

Rodger Payne @rodgerp.bsky.social · 5d

Lawyers: is this a Hatch Act violation?

William Adler @williamadler78.bsky.social · 5d

Petty garbage www.cnn.com/2025/10/09/u...

Video of Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for shutdown “rolling out” at TSA security checkpoints across the country | CNN

Travelers waiting in airport security lines across the country will now be met with a video where the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem blames Democrats for the government shutdown.

www.cnn.com

Rodger Payne @rodgerp.bsky.social · 5d

I predict that the rallies will end when the chief executive stops asserting powers he doesn't have and when the Congress acts to retain powers it does. True checks and balances would go a long way to satisfying protesters.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Mike Johnson: "This hate America rally that they have coming up for October 18? The antifa crowd, the pro-Hamas crowd, and the Marxists, they're all gonna gather on the Mall. It is an outrageous gathering for outrageous purposes ... all this has gotta come to an end."

1

Rodger Payne @rodgerp.bsky.social · 5d

Awaiting the "America First" explanation of this. And looking forward to the ICE raids when the Trump administration needs some leverage over its new Qatari golf resort.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Hegseth: "I'm also proud that today we're signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emeri air force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho."

1

Rodger Payne @rodgerp.bsky.social · 5d

This line about professional protesters appears often in Republican circles. The claim goes back to anti-war protests in Feb 2003 through the pink protests in early 2017 to today.

I've known lots of people who attend demonstrations & no one gets paid.

Projection? Do Republicans pay protesters?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Sen. Roger Marshall: "October 18 is when the protest gets here. This will be a Soros paid-for protest for his professional protesters. The agitators show up. We'll have to get the National Guard out. Hopefully it will be peaceful. I doubt it."

1

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 5d

The guy has threatened to seize the territory of our closest NATO allies, taken us from a working JCPOA to bombing Iran, & repeatedly sided with Putin about Ukraine. Stop it. This stuff should have ended his presidency months ago, let alone won him a Nobel Peace Prize.

David Darmofal @daviddarmofal.bsky.social · 5d

MAGA Has Utter Meltdown Over Trump Nobel Peace Prize Snub

'Absolute Joke': MAGA Freaks Out Over Trump Nobel Peace Prize Snub

Donald Trump's failure to win was slammed by his base.

www.huffpost.com

19 78 390

Reposted by Rodger Payne

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 5d

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

34 490 1.9K

Rodger Payne @rodgerp.bsky.social · 6d

Looking forward to the "America First" explanation...

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 6d

The Trump administration confirmed that the U.S. bailed out Argentina.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had directly bought Argentine pesos in global currency markets in a bid to relieve pressure on the nation’s embattled President Javier Milei, a supporter of President Trump.

The U.S. just bailed out Argentina, Treasury Secretary confirms

The US Treasury has finalized a $20 billion financial rescue of Argentina, including a currency swap arrangement with the country's central bank.

www.washingtonpost.com

1