Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by BevBall

Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 6h

This thread is…concerning.

(I get more understated the more alarmed I am.)

Kate Ross @kateross.bsky.social · Aug 1

In a two week period:

Trump fired 7 of the 8 members who do independent federal oversight on nuclear waste.

Peter Thiel (Palantir) is found to be backing the first privately developed uranium enrichment facility in the US.

Billionaire Peter Thiel backing first privately developed US uranium enrichment facility in Paducah

A California-based company with ties to billionaire investor and Trump ally Peter Thiel announced plans Friday to build America’s first U.S.-owned, privately developed facility to enrich uranium in fa...

www.wkms.org

6 59 130

BevBall @bevball.bsky.social · 3h

yes this is too bad. She’s too old.
Lawrence O’Donnell, who I usually like, had Mills on his Show tonight.
No mention was made of Platner
Maine has many jobs in defense contracting. You can research. It is a LOT of money.
corporate Dems fear loss of that money.

Reposted by BevBall

Matthew Simon Ryan Cavalletto @mcavalletto.bsky.social · 4h

Platner is on track to be the Zohran of Maine… so of course the institutional Democratic Party is lining up against him.

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 15h

🚨 The DSCC — led by Kirsten Gillibrand, Mark Kelly, Adam Schiff, and Lisa Blunt Rochester — has formed a joint fundraising committee with Janet Mills.

Mills, running against Graham Platner in the Maine Democratic Senate primary, would become the oldest freshman (79) ever elected, to a 6-year term.

1 1 2

Reposted by BevBall

Leah Millis @leahmillis.bsky.social · 8h

The @chicago.suntimes.com photographer who risked their personal health and safety to take this photograph is Anthony Vazquez. Please credit photographers and media outlets. In this age of misinformation, a photo with no context could be anything at all.

50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 8h

Please remind us who the domestic terrorists are again.

Photo from Chicago: DHS militarized agent holding a gun up directly in someone’s face as the victim has their hands up, pleading for them not to shoot.

58 2.3K 7K

Reposted by BevBall

Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 13h

Remember when Alex Pareene predicted this after Charlottesville in 2017 www.splinter.com/charlottesvi...

10 220 860

Reposted by BevBall

Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 14h

It’s a res publica, not a democracy, say people who support the wealthy demagogue ruling without the senate or popular assembly and suggesting paying the army from private funds.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14h

Trump: "I had a very wealthy person who called -- a donor, a great gentleman -- and he said, 'if there's any money necessary, shortfall, for the paying of the troops, then I will pay it.' Meaning he will pay it. How about that?"

15 73 220

BevBall @bevball.bsky.social · 7h

The Pentagon Is Ordering Staff to Watch Hegseth’s ‘MAGA Garbage’ Speech… Or Else
open.substack.com/pub/zeteo/p/...

The Pentagon Is Ordering Staff to Watch Hegseth’s ‘MAGA Garbage’ Speech… Or Else

Defense Department sources tell Zeteo that staff have been warned that if they don’t watch or read the speech, or if they speak negatively of it, they could face severe consequences.

open.substack.com

BevBall @bevball.bsky.social · 10h

Booker takes a lot of AIPAC money

2

Reposted by BevBall

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 12h

Trump claims ICE’s reign of terror in Chicago is targeting the “worst of the worst.”

But out of the 1,000 undocumented immigrants that have swept up, the agency has only cited 10 men with a criminal background.

Don’t believe his lies for a second.
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/t...

Trump says migrants drive violent crime in Illinois. But ICE can’t find many violent criminals.

Masked ICE agents and other federal forces showed up in Chicago to go after gangsters. Instead, they keep catching people who are just living their lives.

www.msnbc.com

120 1.5K 3.9K

Reposted by BevBall

darren32359.bsky.social @darren32359.bsky.social · 21h

490 3.6K 9.2K

Reposted by BevBall

Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 11h

Seeing multiple news orgs join together to reject the Pentagon's gag rules and now multiple airports refuse to air partisan govt propaganda.

There've been weeks when the wind is at authoritarians' backs. Let's hope these suggest a different wind direction this week. www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

O'Hare and Midway airports won't show Kristi Noem video criticizing Democrats for government shutdown

O'Hare and Midway airports in Chicago have decided not to show travelers a video of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem criticizing Democrats for the ongoing federal government shutdown.

www.cbsnews.com

13 120 790

Reposted by BevBall

Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.bsky.social · 11h

To everyone who says, "But this won't matter": *MAKE IT MATTER.*

You have that power! This is not inside baseball and your friends and neighbors will likely be appalled. And if they're *not* appalled, don't be cynical yourself. Take the lead, give the cue.

Politico @politico.com · 15h

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.

Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

52 970 2.6K

Reposted by BevBall

George Conway 🇺🇸🚫👑🐸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 11h

It's a no-brainer that her appointment is invalid. So the question becomes, is the indictment (on she was the only lawyer signatory) invalid as a result—and, if so, is it too late for the Trump DOJ to remedy that problem, given that the statute of limitations ran on Sept. 30.

Adam Klasfeld @klasfeldreports.com · 17h

James Comey formally notifies the court of his intent to try to disqualify Trump’s lawyer Lindsey Halligan as unlawfully appointed.

The motion cites rulings DQ-ing two other Trump top prosecutors: Sigal Chattah and Alina Habba.

67 520 2.2K

Reposted by BevBall

CajunBlueAZ ⚜️🇺🇸 🇺🇦 @cajunblue.bsky.social · 14h

🚨🚨🚨Where the fuck is any accountability?!? This is a TEENAGER who, at the end of this video, is shackled. The only reason to shackle a kid is to traumatize him and those around. This was just uploaded. 1/2

63 610 830

Reposted by BevBall

Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine.bsky.social · 14h

Chuck Schumer should be focused on fighting Donald Trump and protecting healthcare for millions of Americans, not meddling in a Maine primary.

DC's choice has lost to Susan Collins five times in a row. We can't afford a sixth.

44 180 690

Reposted by BevBall

Dr Emma L Briant 🐸🎃 @emmalbriant.bsky.social · 2d

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’

Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’, a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warns

www.theguardian.com

3 73 120

Reposted by BevBall

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 14h

Donald Trump is giving $20 billion of taxpayer money to Argentina – to help his political ally stay in power and bail out Wall Street hedge funds – while Americans at home can't afford health care or groceries.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14h

Trump on Milei: "If he loses, we will not be generous with Argentina."

88 690 2.2K

Reposted by BevBall

Sarah Longwell @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social · 13h

No Kings has Republicans in Disarray

@cheetah.bsky.social latest Press Pass @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/no-kings-r...

‘No Kings’ Has Republicans in Disarray

Why GOP lawmakers are spreading fear about the upcoming rally.

www.thebulwark.com

38 170 780

Reposted by BevBall

The Gray Matters Report @graymattersrep.bsky.social · 18h

Pentagon coverage restrictions tighten & the press resists:
www.npr.org/2025/10/14/g...

Opinion: Why I'm handing in my Pentagon press pass

Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years. He says the Pentagon's new media policy makes it impossible to be a journalist, which means finding out what's really going on behind the scen...

www.npr.org

1

Reposted by BevBall

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 17h

JUST IN: Comey confirms he will challenge the legality of Trump's appoint of Lindsey Halligan as US attorney.

He cites the cases of Trump's disqualified US attorney picks in NV and NJ. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

17 190 750

Reposted by BevBall

Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 17h

The thing that I see pro-Israel commentators struggle with the most of all is that anti-Israel sentiment is just not going to recede. The reason for this is really simple but it's one that they can't even comprehend because they don't see it this way: the Palestinian question isn't resolved.

Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 17h

It is not clear to me what exactly would be permissive to say about Israel's regime of control over Palestinians if one can't even assess what they saw with their own eyes on a personal visit to the very site of the situation.

6 23 140

Reposted by BevBall

Sara @sara-the-intern.bsky.social · 17h

in ACTUALLY IMPORTANT NEWS:

is the ceasefire in the room with us??

Sophia Babai @swingingstorm.bsky.social · 17h

So far TODAY Israel has:

- bombed Gaza City
- bombed Khan Younis
- shot and killed five Palestinians in Gaza City
- refused to open the Rafah border crossing
- announced they would once more block aid

This is what a "ceasefire" with Israel looks like. This is what it has always looked like.

3 6

Reposted by BevBall

❀°。Der Siebenschläfer *.ﾟ✿ ⋆ @sababausa.bsky.social · 18h

For the goldfish-brained politicians & pundits who were handing it to Donald Trump over the weekend, it’s critical to understand Trump thinks his job is done, especially re the surviving Israeli hostages, and he could not care less if Israel uses or contrives any reason to resume hostilities

Five Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza despite ceasefire

Israeli army confirmed it opened fire, saying a group had approached its soldiers before being targeted.

www.aljazeera.com

7 16

Reposted by BevBall

Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 16h

Just so everyone is clear, the main issue in the Supreme Court voting rights case tomorrow is whether it's racist against white people to enforce the Voting Rights Act.

I'm dead serious. We live in incredibly stupid times.

56 1.1K 4K

Reposted by BevBall

Roy Edroso @edroso.bsky.social · 16h

Some ceasefire.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 16h

BREAKING: Israel plans to halve aid into Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating ceasefire with slow release of dead hostages, AP sources say.

Israel plans to halve aid into Gaza over slow return of dead hostages, a test for the Gaza ceasefire

The tenuous ceasefire in the two-year Israel-Hamas war is being tested as complex issues remain a day after widespread jubilation over the return to Israel of the last 20 living hostages held in Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

bit.ly

3 5 19