Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 8m

Axios: "The most expensive political ad campaign of the year is being run by the Department of Homeland Security."

DHS has spent "at least $51 million this year on ads thanking President Trump for securing the border, according to AdImpact."

U.S. government pays for 2025's most expensive political ad campaign

The next closest ad campaign is the $41 million effort to support California's redistricting measure.

www.axios.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 2h

“WIRED contacted the 28 companies shown alongside proposals for construction, security, and private-sector investment in postwar Gaza…Some had absolutely no knowledge they were named in this plan.”

www.wired.com/story/a-plan...

A Plan to Rebuild Gaza Lists Nearly 30 Companies. Many Say They’re Not Involved

A presentation that has been shared with the Trump administration references Tesla, Ikea, TSMC, and more in its plan to rebuild Gaza. Some of these companies say they had no idea they were mentioned.

www.wired.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 3h

Goldman Sachs predicts US consumers will likely shoulder 55% of tariff costs by the end of the year, with American companies taking on 22%

Goldman Sees US Consumers Paying More Than Half of Trump Tariffs

Americans are set to pay more than half of President Donald Trump’s tariff costs as companies raise prices, according to economists of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

www.bloomberg.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 15h

"It’s hard to imagine a musician more reluctantly but universally beloved than D’Angelo.”

www.stereogum.com/2326405/dang...

D’Angelo Dead At 51

The great soul artist D’Angelo, one of the most gifted and mythic musicians of his generation, has died. TMZ reports that he passed away from pancreatic cancer this morning in New York. D’Angelo was 5...

www.stereogum.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 15h

At the ceremony awarding Charlie Kirk a presidential medal of freedom, Trump said the left has “the devil’s ideology. They are failing and they know it. They feel it and they become violent.”
time.com/7325567/char...

Trump Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charlie Kirk

Trump will award Charlie Kirk Presidential Medal of Freedom during White House ceremony honoring his life.

time.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 19h

Always thought D'Angelo’s Voodoo had one of the best four-track runs ever

D’Angelo’s Voodoo tracks 5-8: Send It On, Chicken Grease, One Mo Gin, The Root

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 1d

“The [Gaza] deal depends almost entirely on Trump maintaining pressure on the principals. In turn, this requires him to remain closely engaged, week after week and month after month, with a broad spectrum of actors—not just individual power brokers.”

What Trump Does—and Doesn't—Get Credit for in Gaza

President Donald Trump helped secure a ceasefire in Gaza. Now, he must see this fragile peace through to something more durable.

time.com

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Reposted by Aman Batheja

Scott Nover @scottnover.bsky.social · 1d

Secretary Pete Hegseth's press policy will receive just one signatory according to my current tally—from OAN. For context, there are more than 100 journalists who are members of the Pentagon Press Association. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

News outlets broadly reject Pentagon rules before deadline for signing

The Washington Post and other major news outlets have refused to sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new media policy, citing First Amendment concerns.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 1d

“Even the wording on Apple’s own announcement highlights the muddled branding, saying that F1 is available to purchase on Apple TV ‘ahead of its global streaming debut on Apple TV,’ and that ‘Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app’ on devices like… you got it, Apple TV.”

Apple TV Plus is being rebranded to… Apple TV

Apple says it’s given the streaming service a ‘vibrant new identity.’

www.theverge.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 2d

Now this is a lede: “Republicans have tried more than 70 times over the past 15 years to weaken or kill Obamacare. But their campaign keeps backfiring.”

Why Republicans’ attempts to kill Obamacare keep backfiring

The White House and some Republicans are growing nervous that Democrats’ demand to boost Obamacare as part of a government funding bill has salience with voters.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 3d

Yeah the behavior makes sense in the scene, but funny to realize his gripe didn’t fit the situation

Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 3d

One of my favorite pieces of movie trivia/mistakes comes from a Diane Keaton movie—Father of the Bride

In the scene where George is flipping out in the supermarket about hotdog buns, he claims he wants to buy "8 hot dogs and 8 hotdogs buns." He then proceeds to remove 4 buns from three bags of 12. This implies that he wants to buy 24 hotdog buns. If he had only kept the buns in the bags and bought two, he actually would have gotten 24 and saved money at the same time.

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 3d

This is the line to get into the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History, which will close in a few hours and not reopen until the shutdown ends

Long line of people waiting to get through security at the museum

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 3d

“When Netanyahu visited the Oval Office, Trump forced him to apologize to Qatar’s prime minister by phone as everyone looked on. Hamas officials later said the spectacle…encouraged them to trust his vows that the peace pact would be enforced.”

time.com/7325169/trum...

Trump’s Earns Praise From the Unlikeliest of Places for Gaza Deal

Hamas credits the floridly pro-Israel U.S. President with coercing Benjamin Netanyahu into accepting a ceasefire deal.

time.com

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Reposted by Aman Batheja

Edward Wong @ewong.bsky.social · 5d

Marco Rubio co-signed a letter in support of the nomination of María Corina Machado for the Nobel Peace Prize. Here’s the letter he and several other GOP lawmakers sent to the Nobel committee last year. Mike Waltz also co-signed the letter. www.rickscott.senate.gov/services/fil...

www.rickscott.senate.gov

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 4d

Trump laid off around 4,200 federal workers on Friday.
At the IRS, at least one employee who was laid off had been working Friday because they had been exempt from shutdown furloughs
www.govexec.com/workforce/20...

Trump’s promised shutdown layoffs lead to at least 4,200 cuts at seven agencies

More RIFs possible as the Trump administration is following through on its threat to leverage the shutdown to implement federal workforce reductions.

www.govexec.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 4d

"Any RIF notices issued in the coming days will likely come with a 60-day notice period before employees are actually terminated. While admin. officials have suggested the layoffs represent a permanent action, OMB has advised agencies they may revise their layoff plans" after the shutdown.

‘Substantial’ layoffs begin at federal agencies, White House says

The Trump administration is following through on its threat to leverage the shutdown to implement federal workforce reductions.

www.govexec.com

Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 4d

“Thousands of U.S.-bound packages shipped by UPS are trapped at hubs across the country, unable to clear the maze of new customs requirements imposed by the Trump administration…the company told NBC News it has begun ‘disposing of’ some shipments.”

UPS is 'disposing of' U.S.-bound packages over customs paperwork problems

Shifting Trump tariffs have created a nightmare for UPS, as thousands of packages from overseas pile up at its hubs while they await customs clearance.

www.nbcnews.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 5d

New: The National Zoo’s Giant Panda Cam will go dark on Sunday. The federal workers who operate it are about to be furloughed.

time.com/7324850/smit...

All Smithsonian Museums to Close Sunday as Shutdown Drags On

The National Zoo's popular Giant Panda Cam will stay turned off until the shutdown is over.

time.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 5d

time.com/7324832/trum...

Trump Loses Nobel Peace Prize He Shamelessly Campaigned For

The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday said the recognition would instead go to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.

time.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 5d

Jeff Bezos' Washington Post: "I tracked Amazon’s Prime Day prices. We’ve been played."

"I found products listed as Prime Day discounts that cost the same as I’d paid less than a month earlier."
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Column | I tracked Amazon’s Prime Day prices. We’ve been played.

Here’s what you should do to actually get a good deal on Amazon.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 5d

That wasn't him

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 5d

CNN: Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy predicts his landmark opinion legalizing same-sex marriage won’t be overturned
www.cnn.com/2025/10/09/p...

Justice Anthony Kennedy predicts his opinion legalizing same-sex marriage won’t be overturned | CNN Politics

The current court majority has shown no collective interest in discarding the decade-old landmark. And Kennedy stressed his belief in a core judicial principle of adherence to precedent, known by the ...

www.cnn.com

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 5d

As the shutdown continues, all of the Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are about to run out of funding, They're all set to close to visitors starting this Sunday—in the middle of a holiday weekend—and won't reopen until the government does.

Screenshot of top of Smithsonian's homepage: "Our museums, research centers, and the National Zoo are open today and will remain open through Saturday, October 11. If the government shutdown continues past October 11, Smithsonian locations will be closed starting Sunday, October 12."

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Aman Batheja @amanbatheja.bsky.social · 6d

“Most federal employees got their last paycheck in the final hours before the shutdown. Their next check—covering pre-shutdown work—should still arrive…But some could miss pay as soon as Friday. Military members are eyeing Oct. 15, when their next paycheck could be in limbo.”

Washington Can’t Even Agree If The Two Sides Are Talking About the Shutdown

Washington is paralyzed by a deepening partisan shutdown, with Trump and Congress trading blame as 750,000 federal workers face growing financial strain.

time.com

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