Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Alison B. Hart

Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 6h

BREAKING from PP

We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens*

The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied:

Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer

More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado

www.propublica.org/article/immi...

by @nicolefoy.bsky.social

More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.

The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...

www.propublica.org

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Alison B. Hart @alisonbhart.bsky.social · 1d

We’ve got something in the works in Chapel Hill—stay tuned!

Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 2d

Fall of Freedom is gaining momentum. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/a...

Artists Plan Nationwide Protests Against ‘Authoritarian Forces’

www.nytimes.com

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Katelyn Boo-urns @katelynburns.com · 5d

I wrote a little about some of the little details you might have missed in this video and why it hit me so hard as a trans person this morning:

www.burnsnotice.com/you-have-to-...

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Alison B. Hart @alisonbhart.bsky.social · 4d

Same!

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Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · 9d

It takes no special technical expertise to know that
1) AI's main value proposition today is automating labor,
2) AI is going to supercharge economic inequality, and
3) If we do not get out in front of that policy-wise, we are fools.

www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/thinking-o...

Thinking of AI as a Social Problem

No need to know the unknowable. The knowable is bad enough.

www.hamiltonnolan.com

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Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 16d

Really the only question that matters

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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 16d

BREAKING: Judge William Young, a Reagan appointee, delivers the most scathing legal rebuke of the Trump era, ruling that Trump and his cabinet illegally targeted pro-Palestinian students for deportation to "strike fear" into First Amendment protesters. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 28d

This is the lead story in the New York Times. If you're in the business of communicating, whether through journalism, commentary, or art, this is the five-alarm fire. People are going to remember who spoke up and who stayed conveniently silent or postured about "neutrality."

Trump Says Broadcasters Should Lose Licenses for Criticizing Him

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Nell Scovell @nellscovell.bsky.social · Sep 10

A truly remarkable legislator, wife, and mother of two--gunned down in her prime while police cowered scared outside her home.

Remembering Melissa Hortman: Republicans and Democrats say her power came from her selflessness • Minnesota Reformer

“She wasn’t about the bullshit,” Rep. Aisha Gomez said. “The TV cameras or the next higher public office. Or about being glorified or having everyone like you. She was about doing the best she could d...

minnesotareformer.com

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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · Sep 10

I wrote about what I think is a genuinely revealing document of elite depravity and impunity. It is shocking and sickening. But it's also a crucial moment. We're about to see what happens when conspiracy theorists actually get what they asked for but it turns out not to be what they want.

You Really Need to See Epstein’s Birthday Book for Yourself

This time, the conspiracy theorists were right.

www.theatlantic.com

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Anagram Doe @anagramdoe.bsky.social · Sep 8

the supreme court says you can never use race to help people but you can always use race to hurt people

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Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · Sep 2

I know it’s all bad faith bs BUT I keep thinking about how the whole “reason” we apparently can’t pass any effective gun control legislation to prevent mass shootings is the idea that we need an armed populace in case the federal government decides to invade our cities and towns.

Like??????????

muscular baby jeb lund @mobute.bsky.social · Sep 2

you'd think the governor of illinois basically going "we're being invaded by an authoritarian" would be something you'd see real easy on the front page of most everything an hour later

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Aug 30

Stephen Manning, this guy’s lawyer, is one of the best in the country. It’s very good news that he’s taken this case.

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · Aug 30

I really hope this becomes the black eye it deserves to be www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The firefighter, whose name has not been made public, has lived in the US for 19 years after arriving with his family at the age of four. He received a U-visa certification from the US attorney's office in Oregon in 2017 and submitted his U-visa application with US Citizenship and Immigration Services the following year.
The U-visa program was established by Congress to protect victims of serious crimes who assist federal investigators, and the man has been waiting since 2018 for the immigration agency to decide on his application, according to Stephen Manning, a lawyer with Innovation Law Lab, a Portland-based nonprofit representing the firefighter.
Another homeland security policy says agents cannot detain people who are receiving or have applied for victim-based immigration benefits, his lawyer said. Charging the man with an immigration violation was "an illegal after-the-fact justification" given his U-visa status.

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Nicole Chung @nicolechung.bsky.social · Aug 12

CMMP is a project that collects pledges from contributors and then transfers a set weekly amount of $ to individual recipients in DC, many of whom are raising young kids, not securely housed, and/or recently incarcerated. It's easy to participate and makes a real impact. Sign up for the next cycle:

CMMP Fall25 Season

Are you interested in being part of the upcoming new cycle for the Consistent Money-Moving Project? Our upcoming 13-week Fall25 season will distribute funds from September 1 through August 24, 2025; w...

consistentmmp-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com

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Nicole Chung @nicolechung.bsky.social · Aug 12

CMMP is trying to raise additional $ to be able to assist one more recipient this cycle. As DC residents are vilified by the fascist admin and increasingly threatened with police/military action, many CMMP recipients will face greater risk due to poverty & lack of secure housing. Every pledge helps!

CMMP: A Consistent Money-Moving Project – a Consistent Money-Moving Project

consistentmoneymoving.org

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Kara Jorgensen @authorkaraj.bsky.social · Aug 5

RFK Jr. backs down all the time when he gets push back, so if anyone wants to call, here's the HHS number 1-877-696-6775.
I'd also call your senators/reps as well.

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · Aug 5

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces he will cancel $500 million in vaccine development projects.

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City Nolan @ndhapple.bsky.social · Jul 31

I thought we had a deficit spending problem that made us cancel all cancer research

NPR @npr.org · Jul 31

After at least 15 years of talking about it, President Trump is building a ballroom at the White House. Work will begin this coming September, with a price tag of $200 million, the White House says.

Trump's dream of building a ballroom at the White House is becoming a reality

After at least 15 years of talking about it, President Trump is building a ballroom at the White House. Work will begin this September, with a price tag of $200 million, the White House says.

n.pr

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The Downballot @the-downballot.com · Jul 28

Former Gov. Roy Cooper announces he's running for Senate in North Carolina, officially giving Democrats one of their most converted recruits for any race in the nation.

I'm Running for U.S. Senate

YouTube video by Roy Cooper

www.youtube.com

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Lydia Kiesling @lydiakiesling.bsky.social · Jul 25

I truly intended this just as an email and not a public thing but fuck it we ball. The New York Times is not alone in its culpability but it is deeply culpable and its near-monopoly status in our blighted American media ecosystem allows it to do what it does.

a scholar with high standing in his field, should be "counterbalanced" by a columnist notorious for his incendiary, click-mongering, and manifestly ideological takes. And this is before we address the perversity of treating the legal designation of genocide as something to debate in the Opinion section.
(Alt text continued in reply)

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Nicole Chung @nicolechung.bsky.social · Jul 24

Amy Sherald says the Smithsonian suggested removing a painting of a transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty from her upcoming show at the National Portrait Gallery “to avoid provoking President Trump.” Sherald: “I cannot in good conscience comply with a culture of censorship”

Amy Sherald Cancels Her Smithsonian Show, Citing Censorship

www.nytimes.com

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UNRWA @unrwa.org · Jul 21

We are receiving desperate messages of starvation from #Gaza, including from our colleagues.

Food prices have increased 40 fold.

UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months, stockpiled just outside Gaza.

Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale.

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Bony Skeletino 💀 @notalegalrecord.net · Jul 18

WGBH building in Boston today

View of the WGBH building in Boston with an electronic marquee reading “Local. Trusted. Defunded.”

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Julia Ioffe @juliaioffe.bsky.social · Jul 18

One of the first things Vladimir Putin did on becoming president was take over NTV, the TV channel that hosted a satirical puppet show because he didn't like the Putin doll and how he was portrayed. He arrested NTV's owner and only released him when he signed the channel over. #Colbert

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Leo Barasi @leobarasi.bsky.social · Jul 15

“Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you're the one filming it.”

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · Jul 15

The 1 train on the NYC subway tonight

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Leyla Boulton @leylaboulton.bsky.social · Jul 14

A horrific dystopian reality: ‘If you secure any food and avoid being shot by the Israelis, you may not escape the gangs waiting outside,” said Abdallah, who has brought back supplies from only one of his seven trips. 🙏 @financialtimes.com colleagues for this reporting
on.ft.com/4lzxFOQ

Inside Gaza’s ‘death traps’

A US-backed scheme forces hungry Palestinians to trek kilometres for food aid. Many never make it back

on.ft.com

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