Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 40m

🚨WOW. A unanimous per curiam (meaning no named author) panel of the 7th Circuit, made up of a Bush appointee, an Obama appointee, and a Trump appointee, decline to step in and block a lower court order barring the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago!

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 55m

#BREAKING The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refuses to undo an order blocking deployment of National Guard troops within Illinois.

"We conclude that the district court's factual findings … were not clearly erroneous, and that the facts do not justify the President's actions in Illinois."

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Mike Rothschild @rothschildmd.bsky.social · 3h

NEW: I wrote about how it feels as a survivor of the Eaton Fire to have the most powerful person in the world relentlessly lie about what happened to you, why it happened, and how he "stopped" it.

themikerothschild.com/2025/10/16/t...

When the President Lies About You

The president’s relentless lying about “breaking in” to release water from a giant spigot to put out the LA fires is harming survivors and making himself into the “real&#822…

themikerothschild.com

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 4h

This entire article is, unsurprisingly, kicked off by Brett Kavanaugh and includes this: "A spokesperson for Kavanaugh did not return an emailed request for comment."

Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 4h

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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Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 4h

NEW: A photo from 2024 shows Trump backstage at a campaign rally with two members of the Young Republican National Federation involved in the deeply disturbing, racist group chat leaked this week. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

Photo Shows Trump Backstage At Rally With Republicans In Racist Texts Scandal

JD Vance said the “kids” were just being “edgy” by praising Hitler. Except they were adults, and they rubbed shoulders with everybody in Republican politics.

www.huffpost.com

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Gary Delaney Comedian @garydelaney.bsky.social · 4h

A story in three parts

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Thom Hartmann @hartmannreport.com · 5h

Extending the Obamacare/ACA subsidies will cost around $35 billion.

Trump wants to give Argentina $40 billion to rescue his billionaire buddies’ investments there and screw American soybean farmers.

So, if he has that kind of money sloshing around, can’t he fix the ACA & end the shutdown?

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Dan Murphy @bungdan.bsky.social · 5h

This is Johnson saying the GOP Nazis had VIP tickets to Trump's inauguration. As proof there's no reason to be concerned about Nazis in the GOP.

What a time to be alive. bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5h

Q: Are you worried about extremist pro-Hitler sentiment among young Republicans?

JOHNSON: No. I don't know who any of these people are. I've never heard of them. Somebody posted a photo of me standing next to these guys wearing tuxedos. It was at the inauguration, people were coming up for selfies

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Pete Dominick @petedominick.bsky.social · 5h

Yesterday's oral arguments suggest an ominous future for the crown jewel of the civil rights movement

The voting rights act is under threat of being gutted by six unelected judges.

I spoke with one of the nations best experts on the issue to learn more @fairvotereform @davedaley.bsky.social

Stand Up! with Pete Dominick: 1461 David Daley on the Future of Voting Rights

Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you!  and gain access...

standupwithpete.libsyn.com

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 17h

"Jewish Americans told us —by a margin of nearly 3 to 1— that Trump manipulates antisemitism dishonestly, using it as an excuse to pause or cut university funding. Only about one-fourth of all Jews nationwide believe the president “truly cares about protecting Jewish students on college campuses.”"

Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 17h

Commentary: A wide majority of Jewish Americans say President Trump is exploiting antisemitism in disingenuous fashion — that it’s a thinly veiled disguise to justify his assault on higher education, as revealed by a national survey.

Professors: Most Jewish Americans believe Donald Trump is exploiting antisemitism to assault universities

A wide majority of Jewish Americans say Trump is exploiting antisemitism in disingenuous fashion, as revealed by a national survey.

www.chicagotribune.com

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David Simon @audacityofdespair.bsky.social · 5h

Hi there. We're the Republican Party. Our policies are such that without voter suppression, gerrymandering and a gutting of civil rights legislation, we couldn't stay in power. And, oh yeah, if you do somehow manage to win an election on the merits, we won't swear you in to serve.

Best of luck.

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More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 6h

California will start producing and selling its own supply of low-cost insulin in January.

The suggested price for consumers will be no more than $55 for a pack of five pens.

Currently even generic insulin typically costs about $260 for a pack of five.

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

In shot across Big Pharma's bow, California will sell its own insulin

Delivery of the state-branded drug makes good on a longstanding promise by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

www.politico.com

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The Rude Pundit @rudepundit.bsky.social · 6h

He solicited bribes. That's what Trump did here. There's no reason to pretend it's anything else.

Joe Sudbay @joesudbay.bsky.social · 6h

What shutdown? Skyrocketing food costs? Whatev:

"Trump hosted dozens of wealthy spenders for a dinner on Wednesday in exchange for what he called the “tremendous amounts of money” they agreed to donate to construct a $200 million ballroom addition to the White House"
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

Trump Hosts Dinner for Wealthy Donors to White House Ballroom

www.nytimes.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 6h

If you think that professors exist as repositories of knowledge that students ask for answers, you’re missing the entire point of a college education.

We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.

Vlad 🐸 Țepeș @porcupunk.bsky.social · 19h

Wow. Just wow.

"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."

When Knowledge is Free, What are Professors For?

Higher Education Must Stop Competing with AI on Information and Start Teaching What Machines Can’t Do

www.forbes.com

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 7h

X is a nazi bar.

Screenshot of a Twitter/X thread. At the top, a tweet by verified user David Pakman (@dpakman) reads: “JD Vance says the ‘I LOVE HITLER’ Republican leaks are no big deal because it’s ‘kids in chat rooms.’ In reality these are young Republican leaders likely to gain more power in a hypothetical future Vance administration. Terrifying stuff.” Below are icons showing 368 comments, 99 reposts, 888 likes, and 147K views.

Underneath, a reply by Myron Gaines (@MyronGainesX) contains antisemitic and offensive language. His tweet says: “Yeah we like Hitler. No one gives a **** what you woke jews think anymore. Bro was a revolutionary leader and saved germany. The jews declared war on Germany first. If can israel deny a genocide with 4k video proof, I’m questjoning everything you guys have said about the painter during WW2.” Below are engagement metrics showing 574 comments, 931 reposts, 9.3K likes, 555 bookmarks, and 811.8K views. Content includes hate speech.

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Celeste Headlee @celesteheadlee.bsky.social · 7h

OK, this is great.

Photo of armed officers loading bags of leaves into a van, headline says "ICE detains leaves as they turn brown."

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Molly McKew @mollymckew.bsky.social · 9h

Sooo much more money is moving into billionaire pockets under this admin. It’s actually kind of nuts that we don’t directly frame it this way.

Molly McKew @mollymckew.bsky.social · 20h

…So this Venezuela thing is just Argentina pt 2 — aka debt vulture billionaires using US taxpayer money to convert Latin debt?

Suddenly reminded of the 1930s when the State Dept/Treasury was fine with the Nazis as long as they thought Germany would make good on its huge debts

on.ft.com/46RJDye

Venezuela's dollar bonds have surged more than 50 per cent in price this year as investors bet that pressure on Nicolás Maduro's government from the Trump administration has increased the likelihood of Caracas one day regaining access to global markets.
The South American country defaulted in 2017 and has been barred from restructuring its debts by US and international sanctions.
However, the bonds still trade, in effect allowing investors to buy and sell claims on an eventual debt workout.
Prices have rallied this month to about 25 cents on the dollar, their highest level in more than half a decade, up from 16 cents at the start of the year as Maduro's grip on power has appeared to weaken.
Venezuelan debt is "pricing a higher optionality that 'something' could happen in Caracas", one bondholder said, referring to the possibility of Maduro being forced out.

"Venezuela has gone from deep freeze, to people asking why it keeps going up and being forced to get involved," said Edward Cowen, chief executive of Winterbrook Capital, a London-based specialist asset manager that advises and manages more than $130mn in Venezuelan assets.
Venezuela's enormous potential for increased oil production — it has the world's largest proven reserves - is one reason investors believe that eventual recovery on the bonds will be much higher than current prices, even though oil output is in a parlous state because of sanctions, mismanagement and decay.
Distressed debts of Petróleos de Venezuela, the state-owned oil company, have joined the rally, with a bond due in 2035, for example, rising from 11 to about 19 cents on the dollar.
Prices for the bonds "could climb further as the Trump administration continues to ratchet up pressure toward an outcome that remains auite deliberatelv — undefined". said Daniel

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 17h

It's going up to $40 billion.

USAID's budget last year was $28 billion.

Joe Walsh @walshfreedom.bsky.social · 19h

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 18h

AOC: You're damn right that it's a Democratic priority to keep people from getting poisoned, from dangerous chemicals

You're damn right that it's a Democratic priority to bring down the cost of housing

If they want to say that that's a Democratic priority, they're right,

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Keith Boykin @keithboykin.bsky.social · 14h

The Trump administration is planning to change the US refugee system to favor white people. At the same time, they’re in the Supreme Court fighting to gut the Voting Rights Act.

It’s no wonder young Republicans are sending racist messages. Racism is the official policy of the Republican Party.

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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 12h

Oklahoma's new public schools superintendent is rescinding a mandate from his predecessor that forced schools to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for students.

New Oklahoma schools superintendent rescinds mandate for Bible instruction in schools

Oklahoma's new public schools superintendent is rescinding a mandate from his predecessor that forced schools to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for students.

bit.ly

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Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 20h

BREAKING via WSJ

The Trump administration is planning sweeping changes in criminal division at the IRS.

Full Story: on.wsj.com/3LbVFtK

The Trump administration is preparing sweeping changes at the Internal Revenue Service that would allow the agency to pursue criminal inquiries of left-leaning groups more easily, according to people familiar with the matter.
A senior IRS official involved in the effort has drawn up a list of potential targets that includes major Democratic donors, some of the people said.
The undertaking aims to install allies of President Trump at the IRS criminal-investigative division, or IRS-CI, to exert firmer control over the unit and weaken the involvement of IRS lawyers in criminal investigations, officials said. The proposed changes could open the door to politically motivated probes and are being driven by Gary Shapley, an adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 17h

Q: “Most hospitals + people who will lose insurance are in rural areas. If Trump & Republicans are so intent on sticking it to their own voters, why not let them?”

@aoc.bsky.social : “That’s the difference between us & Trump. I don’t care if you voted for me, I want you to have health care.”

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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 23h

This is now more than double the NASA budget, which the White House wants to slash.

More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: The Trump administration is doubling its Argentina bailout to $40 billion.

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 23h

The Bush/Cheney US Attorney scandal lasted months, generated dramatic congressional hearings, led to many resignations, and contributed to the ouster of an attorney general.

Trump’s ongoing campaign against prosecutors is, in some ways, worse. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Team Trump forced out another U.S. attorney who failed to toe the White House line

The more Team Trump ousts federal prosecutors who’ve done nothing wrong, the more serious the law enforcement scandal becomes.

www.msnbc.com

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Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 23h

"One party only needs 44% of the national popular vote to maintain control over the legislature" sure is a statement about the state of American democracy

Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 1d

If Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act falls, Democrats might need to win the national popular vote by 5 to 6 points to take control of the House, via Nate Cohn
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

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