Author | Lightnews

Ali Faruk

@alifarukrva.bsky.social

690 followers 530 following 1.9K posts

Public School Dad, Sci-Fi/Fantasy nerd, 3rd District #RVA school board member. www.alifarukrva.com.

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Ali Faruk @alifarukrva.bsky.social · 5d

“The halls have just been different because of the attitude. The attitude has changed. There’s been, I would say more joy, a lot more recognition and that everyone has realized ‘wow, we put hard work,’” one senior said. www.12onyourside.com/2025/10/16/j...

John Marshall High School achieves 100% graduation rate

The milestone comes as Richmond Public Schools saw a record 80.1% graduation rate in spring 2025

www.12onyourside.com

Reposted by Ali Faruk

maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 5h

This is a drum I've been banging for a while -- if it were true that higher taxes made rich people flee for low tax areas, there would be no rich people living in CA or NYC! It's a claim that's used a lot by anti-government types and it's long been visibly and demonstrably false.

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 5h

Research is clear: millionaire flight due to higher taxes is simply not a thing. Millionaires move *less* than the rest of us and often move from one higher-tax state to another (because of amenities!). prospect.org/2025/10/23/m...

The Myth That Mamdani Will Cause New York City’s Richest to Leave - The American Prospect

Millionaire tax flight would devastate a future Mamdani administration. If the rich leave, how could anything be financed? But research shows that wealthy individuals move at lower rates than others, ...

prospect.org

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Ali Faruk @alifarukrva.bsky.social · 1m

cc @mcclellan.house.gov @markwarner.bsky.social

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 22m

Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim, a 16-year-old a U.S. citizen, has been detained in an Israeli military prison, without trial, since February.

Pressure on the U.S. government to secure his release is mounting.

Pressure mounts for Trump to secure release of U.S. teen held by Israel

As Rubio visits Israel, family members and lawmakers push Trump to demand the return of 16-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim of Florida, detained eight months without trial.

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Ali Faruk

Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) @msf.ca · 2h

Sarah, Mira, Yazan and Ahmed are only four of the thousands of people in #Gaza who need medical evacuations. A fragile #ceasefire hasn’t ended their suffering.

MSF continues to advocate globally for critical patients to be able to access care.

www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/palestine-ce...

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rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 7h

this is actually a solid case study in why ‘just go into the trades’ is a bunch of foolishness: if you don’t know how to think or organize your thoughts or god forbid memorize then you’ll be just as much of a failure in jobs that don’t require a college degree as you will in jobs that do

Joe Kassabian @jkass99.bsky.social · 9h

New ICE recruiting methods have resulted in half of this group of absolute winners failing AN OPEN BOOK TEST

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Kyle Pfannenstiel @pfannyyy.bsky.social · 19h

Updates on the FBI/ICE raid in southwest Idaho:

The FBI and ICE deny that children were zip-tied, which advocates who were at the scene said happened.

And local law enforcement say the FBI led it, not ICE. That came after the Department of Homeland Security gave ICE credit for it.

FBI, not ICE, led southwest Idaho raid, Canyon County sheriff and Caldwell police chief say • Idaho Capital Sun

Local law enforcement leaders say the Federal Bureau of Investigation, not U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, led the raid.

idahocapitalsun.com

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Reposted by Ali Faruk

Jessie Gender @jessiegender.bsky.social · 19h

A really great self reflection here. Our future tries to teach us to see ourselves each as Heroes on the Heroes Journey to change society, when instead we need to see ourselves as part of a community shifting and changing. Individual and community need to be balanced - not one over the other.

call me Serica 🥟🍉 @robotenjoyer5000.bsky.social · 19h

Now watching: “Why Tech Oligarchs Love Star Trek” by @jessiegender.bsky.social. Incoherent amateur review, and even more incoherent self reflection, to follow.

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Ali Faruk @alifarukrva.bsky.social · 6h

Reposted by Ali Faruk

Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 20h

Large study finds no link between mRNA COVID vaccines early in pregnancy and birth defects www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/stu... via @cidrap.bsky.social

Study finds no link between mRNA COVID vaccines early in pregnancy and birth defects

www.cidrap.umn.edu

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Reposted by Ali Faruk

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 21h

This is how many conspiracy theories work, by exploiting real anger from legitimate grievances (often downstream from complex,
unjust systems) and redirecting it onto scapegoats through simplified “conspiracy” narratives.

Dr. Cat Hicks @grimalkina.bsky.social · 22h

Been thinking about how MAHA in its current articulation is a movement that allows them to harness people's real and justified anger at things like the betrayals of healthcare and insurance and turn it on scientists as scapegoats, by using conspiracy theories

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Ali Faruk @alifarukrva.bsky.social · 6h

A perfect encapsulation of the Democratic party

All In with Chris Hayes @allinwithchris.bsky.social · 16h

WATCH: @chrislhayes.bsky.social asks Rep. Hakeem Jeffries who he plans to vote for in the NYC mayoral election.

Reposted by Ali Faruk

Richmond Times-Dispatch @richmond.com · 7h

Virginia elected officials and advocates call for the federal government to tap contingency fund to prevent the loss of food assistance benefits to needy families next month.

Virginia faces 'crisis' if shutdown disrupts food benefits

Virginia elected officials and advocates call for the federal government to tap contingency fund to prevent the loss of food assistance benefits to needy families next month.

richmond.com

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Reposted by Ali Faruk

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 15h

Corruption goes courtside.

A screenshot of a post on X from Andrew Cuomo showing him sitting courtside at Madison Square Garden next to Mayor Eric Adams.

The tweet says: "No better way to celebrate winning tonight's debate than making it to the @nyknicks game in time for the 2nd half."

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Reposted by Ali Faruk

Edothefish @edothefish.bsky.social · 16h

Try 47

Israel has violated ceasefire 47 times and killed 38 Palestinians, says Gaza media office

Authorities urge UN to intervene ‘to protect unarmed civilian populations’ after attack on bus that killed 11

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Ali Faruk

Its Aya 🇵🇸 ✌️ @zein-majd.bsky.social · 14h

From Gaza, I wish they could see what real “damage” looks like — crushed homes, buried children, and parents digging with bare hands. Words can’t undo what weapons funded by politics have done to us.

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Reposted by Ali Faruk

Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 7h

"Instead of approaching all children with care, the administration has waged war on immigrant and Black youth. And it is a war that benefits no one."

Contributor: The Trump administration is targeting children of color

Instead of policies that reduce crime, we get rhetoric of locking up 'bad children.' It's counterproductive and expensive, and it distracts from real solutions that were working before Trump cut their...

www.latimes.com

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Reposted by Ali Faruk

Network for Public Education @network4pubed.bsky.social · 17h

NPE Alert: Federal Special Ed Staffing Gutted Putting IDEA Protections at Risk - Without staff the $15 billion in federal funding for special ed may not reach states, leaving millions of students without essential services
Please send your email today. networkforpubliceduc...

Alert: Federal Special Education Staffing Gutted Putting IDEA Protections at Risk - Network For Public Education

Hundreds of employees in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) — including staff in both the Special Education Programs and Rehabilitative Services divisions — were laid off on Friday. Without staff to administer and monitor the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the $15 billion in federal funding for special education may […]

networkforpubliceducation.org

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Ali Faruk @alifarukrva.bsky.social · 22h

Ali Faruk @alifarukrva.bsky.social · 1d

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Ally Whelan @amwhelan.bsky.social · 1d

In the US., the risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes is more than 4X higher for someone giving birth in Louisiana than in Cali, and a child born in Mississippi is nearly 3X more likely to die before age 5 than a child in Massachusetts.

Maternal and Child Mortality: How Do U.S. States Compare Internationally?

This brief compares U.S. maternal and child mortality rates at the national, state, and racial and ethnic level to 200 countries.

www.commonwealthfund.org

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Reposted by Ali Faruk

The IMEU @theimeu.bsky.social · 1d

“We have not forgotten that so many of the laws, charters, and conventions established to safeguard and protect all human life were created in response to the Holocaust. Those safeguards have been relentlessly violated by Israel.”

Jewish figures across the globe call on UN and world leaders to sanction Israel

Exclusive: In an open letter, Israeli ex-officials, artists and intellectuals say ‘unconscionable’ actions in Gaza amount to genocide

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Ali Faruk

Streets.mn @streets.mn · 1d

"If it's not safe to ride a bike, it's going to be hard to get people on bikes," says Laura Mitchell, who lives in the city.

Mitchell says getting a cargo bike was a "game changer" for her family. So, earlier this year, she started the Minneapolis Cargo Bike Library..."

Why more parents are riding cargo bikes, skipping the minivan

Many parents are now are forgoing minivans for greener alternatives: cargo bikes. They have been around for decades, but the advent of the electric bike motor has made them much more popular.

www.npr.org

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Reposted by Ali Faruk

Wear The Peace @wearthepeace.bsky.social · 1d

The occupation has released three children who were abducted from their homes in the town of Beit Fajjar, in the occupied West Bank. Humam Taqatqa, 16 years old, Mohammad Thawabteh, 15 years old, and Mahmoud Taqatqa, 13 years old, were abducted from their homes for months.

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Ali Faruk @alifarukrva.bsky.social · 1d

This is, un-ironically, the strategy of many Democratic Party leaders.

Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 1d

If you keep lowering your standards to “win” against the other side, eventually you’ll just be on the other side

Reposted by Ali Faruk

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 1d

"Prominent Jewish figures around the world are calling on the United Nations and world leaders to impose sanctions on Israel over what they describe as “unconscionable” actions amounting to genocide in Gaza." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Jewish figures across the globe call on UN and world leaders to sanction Israel

Exclusive: In an open letter, Israeli ex-officials, artists and intellectuals say ‘unconscionable’ actions in Gaza amount to genocide

www.theguardian.com

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