Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 4d

best headline ever

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 4d

The couple in costumes said they wanted to bring joy to the protests and show that demonstrators are "fun loving people."

Unicorn bride marries Kenny from South Park at Portland ICE protest

The couple in costumes said they wanted to bring joy to the protests and show that demonstrators are "fun loving people."

www.oregonlive.com

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 5d

From medicine to mysticism: the radicalization of Florida's top doc www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

From medicine to mysticism: the radicalization of Florida's top doc

Joseph Ladapo was a normie—until he met his wife and a guru into levitating and communicating with spirits.

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Mencimer

Ian Gordon @idgordon.bsky.social · 6d

Chain-link cages. Flooded tents. Clouds of mosquitoes. Malfunctioning AC. Scarce food. Zero recreational time: Inside the hell of Alligator Alcatraz. (1/x)

Inside the hell of Alligator Alcatraz

Despite shocking conditions and rampant “psychological warfare,” copycats are popping up around the country.

bit.ly

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 6d

American Gulag www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

American Gulag

The brutal rollout of Trump's police state.

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Mencimer

Noah Lanard @nlanard.bsky.social · 7d

Some background on the absolute monarchy where the Trump administration is now paying to imprison people deported by ICE

Story here: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 7d

One woman's quest to reclaim the ugly history of Black maternal health www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

One woman's quest to reclaim the ugly history of Black maternal health

Artist Michelle Browder's Mothers of Gynecology project is an act of resistance.

www.motherjones.com

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 7d

How the Border Patrol uses rodeos to recruit www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

How the Border Patrol uses rodeos to recruit

At fairgrounds full of young men, the government sets up shop to hire immigration agents.

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Mencimer

Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · 8d

NEW: I talked to scholars who study political contagion about how America’s freefall could affect the rest of the world. They are… concerned. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Is America contagious?

Scholars in political extremism are documenting the global spread of right-wing populism.

www.motherjones.com

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 9d

The @sltrib.com has all the deets here: www.sltrib.com/news/environ...

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 9d

The Trump BLM just sold 17,000 acres of land for oil and gas leasing in Utah to a company called Bro Energy. Some of that land is around the White River, which feeds into the Colorado. Biden had halted oil drilling there but now it's back on the table. www.motherjones.com/environment/...

The Colorado provides drinking water to 40 million people. Do they know what Utah does to it upstream?

I went to Mordor to find out.

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Mencimer

Martin Longman @booman23.bsky.social · 12d

Pizzagate Darling Jack Posobiec is Voting Illegally in My State

While he falsely accuses Democrats of fraudulently stealing elections, Posobiec is committing voter fraud himself.

Pizzagate Darling Jack Posobiec is Voting Illegally in My State

While he falsely accuses Democrats of fraudulently stealing elections, Posobiec is committing voter fraud himself.

www.progresspond.com

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 12d

There Was a Plan to Save These New Deal Masterpieces. Then Trump Won. newrepublic.com/article/2012... via @newrepublic.com

There Was a Plan to Save These New Deal Masterpieces. Then Trump Won.

A feasibility study was underway about restoring the ailing federal building that houses important Ben Shahn frescoes, Philip Guston murals, and other FDR-era artwork. But the Trump administration put...

newrepublic.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Mencimer

Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 12d

Today marks the 7th anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 12d

“It’s easier to talk here than it is in America.”

— Dave Chappelle, doing his shtick in front of a whooping, cheering crowd in … Riyadh.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/w...

At Saudi Comedy Fest, American Free Speech Becomes the Punchline

www.nytimes.com

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 13d

such a great headline

The Colorado Sun ☀️ @coloradosun.com · 13d

Powderhorn plans to replace a 54-year-old chairlift with a recycled 30-year-old chairlift

The Grand Mesa ski area will save several million by overhauling the Snowmass chairlift to replace its 54-year-old West End double chair

coloradosun.com

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 13d

Trump's deportation machine has diverted some 42,000 crime fighters from other tasks www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Trump's deportation machine has diverted some 42,000 crime fighters from other tasks

Feeling safer now?

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Mencimer

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 13d

If you saw "Trump Rx" and immediately thought "Trump Steaks" and other grifts, well, you're right. You will not even be able to buy anything on Trump Rx; it's just a funnel to existing corporate patient assistance sites that don't touch the structural factors that keep drug prices high. From me:

‘TrumpRx’ Is Another Pretend Solution for High Drug Prices

The proposed government website will just refer people to the drug companies, which use direct-to-consumer pricing to distract from continued high profits.

prospect.org

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 13d

!!!

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 13d

Am dying to know: Which friend? :)

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 14d

“I saw several co-workers who were walked out, crying, saying, ‘How could he do this? I voted for him!’” --What happened when DOGE came for one of this Trump-loving area's largest employers--the IRS. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Utah loves Trump. It didn’t stop him from taking a chainsaw to one of its largest employers.

What happened when Elon & Co. started slashing?

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Mencimer

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 15d

“The administration’s explicit goal to unleash the fossil fuel industry will also unleash plastic pollution.”

RFK Jr. promised to take on plastic. Now he’s part of an administration embracing it.

RFK Jr. promised to take on plastic. Now he's part of an administration embracing it.

Plastic is everywhere—including in us.

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Mencimer

Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 15d

Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting.

www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting.

USAID antimalarial and HIV supplies valued at nearly $140 million were delayed in the first half of the year or not delivered at all due to the Trump administration’s foreign aid pause, The Post found...

www.washingtonpost.com

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 15d

Heartbreaking: The New Deal Masterpieces Threatened by Trump’s D.C. Downsizing newrepublic.com/article/2010... via @timothynoah.bsky.social

The New Deal Masterpieces Threatened by Trump’s D.C. Downsizing

Your great-grandparents paid Ben Shahn and Philip Guston to create gorgeous public murals. Next year they could be rubble.

newrepublic.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Mencimer

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 21d

Trouble in paradise! @annamerlan.bsky.social and I wrote about how some corners of the anti-vax universe are displeased by Trump's Tylenol announcement. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Anti-vax groups struggle to explain how Tylenol fits in with their whole thing

The White House's very weird autism announcement triggers a moment of opportunity and crisis.

www.motherjones.com

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Stephanie Mencimer @smencimer.bsky.social · 21d

The Agony of Trump’s Oligarchs newrepublic.com/article/2007... via @newrepublic.com

The Agony of Trump’s Oligarchs

They signed on for tax cuts and deregulation. They didn’t expect regular shakedowns.

newrepublic.com

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Reposted by Stephanie Mencimer

Matt Cohen @mattdcohen.bsky.social · 21d

PSA: At 1pm ET, the Utah Redistricting Committee will discuss/vote on one of six maps congressional maps to advance in the state's court-ordered redistricting process. I'll be covering it, so follow along for updates.

Some background on what's going on: www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

In Big Win for Voters, Utah Supreme Court Upholds Block on Gerrymandered Congressional Map