Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 22m

Food pantries who've had their fresh farm donations canceled.

566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 23m

This is gruesome. Skip the video and just read the text. I'd love to read on Snopes tomorrow that this is somehow untrue. But it's starting to crop up in the news. Jesus. kfoxtv.com/news/local/e...

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Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 5h

“With your patient and rigorous work, you can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing,” he said. “You can be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth...”

apnews.com/article/pope...

Pope urges news agencies to stand as bulwark against lies, manipulation and post-truths

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation.

apnews.com

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566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 40m

Great piece from @gregsargent.bsky.social. Not only is 'provocateurs' euphemistic, it deflects that the propagandists *are* the White House. They *are* the government, the president, his staff, his AG, and all his cabinet members. Their propaganda is merely amplified by MAGA media.

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 1d

This week, MAGA figures claimed Kristi Noem "stared down" violent antifa protesters in Portland. Turns out they were talking mostly about a guy in a chicken suit.

This episode opens a window into how MAGA propaganda works and MSM failure to handle it. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2016...

MAGA Implodes over Kristi Noem’s “Stare Down” with Man in Chicken Suit

A good New York Times piece on Portland nevertheless demonstrates how the conventions of objective reporting fail to accurately capture the bad faith driving pro-Trump propaganda.

newrepublic.com

566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 48m

No one is exempt from cancelation in Trump world. Sorry, portly service guys. You can help us out in America 2.0 when floods and twisters strike, though.

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566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 53m

Hey folks in the right wing media sphere, All y'all gotta do is just stop. What did these so-called "moderates" who gave platform & legitimacy to these bat-schmidt, tin-foil-hat conspiracy ppl out of their anger at the finger-wagging pronoun police of 2020 think would happen?!

566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1h

Yikes! Guess you're singin' it loud and clear and "the universe" is getting the message!

566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1h

This is bad news down the path of authoritarianism.

Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 1h

“Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors ***
The conservative think tank told prospective donors that the project was part of its work to combat [alleged] antisemitism” 1/7/25 … 1/ forward.com/news/686797/...

Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors

The conservative think tank told prospective donors that the project was part of its work to combat antisemitism.

forward.com

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Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 1h

Sources say the 28-year-old was killed by members of Israel-linked 'militia' fighting Hamas in the Sabra neighbourhood.

Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi shot dead in Gaza City clashes

Sources say the 28-year-old was killed by members of Israel-linked 'militia' fighting Hamas in the Sabra neighbourhood.

bit.ly

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566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1h

A touch of good news in the ashes of bad news.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/r...

California Raises Minimum Payout for Wildfire Victims’ Items

www.nytimes.com

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Justin Elliott @justinelliott.bsky.social · 5h

Here is our full story that Vance is dismissing, with primary source documents showing Trump cabinet members with multiple primary-residence mortgages

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

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566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1d

a close up of a green praying mantis on a bird

Alt: A triangle-headed green praying mantis resembling Baron Trump licks off is long forearm

media.tenor.com

566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1d

The remainder of federal workdays should go on a general strike. We should join them.

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davidbowman17.bsky.social @davidbowman17.bsky.social · 1d

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566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1d

Seems crazy to pay for the logistics of moving troops, but not use them. This smacks of wishy washy both-sidesism that doesn't want to come down on either side, but straddle some incoherent baby-splitting middle.

566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1d

Like this is a surprise? And by end of TikTok, do you mean it's actual end, or its semantic end, as in yet another compromised social media platform? Because I think its compromise as a propaganda organ was already suspected, then cemented with the proposed sale to trump crone Larry ellison

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566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1d

Here's a good follow up about other surveillance methods and how to protect yourself. www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

Rayhunter: What We Have Found So Far

Rayhunter is a program that runs on a variety of mobile hotspots and watches for cell-site simulators—a tool police use to locate or identify people's cell phones, also known as IMSI catchers or Sting...

www.eff.org

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566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1d

This is crucial information to protect yourself from surveillance if you're planning to attend a #NoKings protest next Saturday. Leave your cell phone at home, or put it in airplane mode before you go so it doesn't connect to cell services. Use a burner phone. Research. www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

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566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1d

This is a really interesting and well reported story. It clearly breaks down how #BlueCross works across state lines. We might see more of this case in the future.

ProPublica @propublica.org · 1d

Blue Cross had refused to pay thousands of claims for the center’s patients, but on several occasions executives at the insurance company had signed special one-time deals with the center to pay for their wives’ cancer treatment.

(Published April)

“Slow Pay, Low Pay or No Pay”: Trial Reveals How Insurers Try to Wield Power Over Doctors

Blue Cross authorized mastectomies and breast reconstructions for women with cancer but refused to pay the full doctors’ bills. A jury called it fraud and awarded the practice $421 million.

www.propublica.org

566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1d

For my friends who track the #NRX movement of Theil, Andreesen, Musk, Yarvin et al, this book this sounds interesting. What helped drive the Gilded Age philanthropy was the rising power of labor unions. But Reagan broke them in the 80s, & culture war propaganda has conscripted workers' loyalties.

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 1d

The Gilded Age may have revealed the excesses of an unchecked oligarchy, but at least it left behind centers of learning, culture, and philanthropy. Today’s roster of plutocrats seems uninterested in that. www.thebulwark.com/p/why-our-te...

Why Our Tech Overlords Took a Hard Right Turn

A new book tells the story of how Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs became angry admirers of authoritarianism.

www.thebulwark.com

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566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1d

Bang. The hostage is shot.

566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 1d

This is a really interesting dive into where farmers stand right now in Trump's America.

Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 2d

Farm bankruptcies are back in the news, so it's time to pull this chart out again.

Hey look they kept rising during Trump's first term. Then they went way down under Biden.

Now they're up again? So weird. Thanks Farm Bureau for the graphic

Screenshot from Farm Bureau article on farm bankruptcies. It shows farm bankruptcies climbing steadily 2014-2020, falling by half in 2021, & continuing to fall through 2023.

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Veterans Against Trump @vetsat.bsky.social · 2d

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Patti Olivier EPSTEIN FILES NEVER FORGET @patti3333.bsky.social · 2d

NIGHTS OF BLUE SKIES

DAY 9 OCTOBER 2025

THESE HORRENDOUS TIMES

🚨PROP 50 IS SO IMPORTANT 🚨

BALLOTS HAVE BEEN MAILED

Dear Californians please help tell your friends and neighbors to VOTE YES ON PROP 50

Many of us are phonebanking to California Voters & we need your help !
Tell them YES

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566unicorns.bsky.social @566unicorns.bsky.social · 3d

a troll with a purple hair and a green vest is standing in the sand

Alt: a cartoon troll with a purple hair and a green vest is standing in the sand scowling

media.tenor.com