Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Cynthia Hope Laub

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 1h

They arrested a giraffe.

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2h

PORTLAND — Robby Roadsteamer grabbed by ICE for singing… 🎵

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Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com · 6h

PA voters will cast their ballots in one of the most consequential elections of the year: the state Supreme Court race. With three Democratic justices up for retention, the outcome of this contest could flip control of a court that decides election laws. https://bit.ly/3JeB3Ax

Why Anti-Voting Activists Are Using the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Election to Spread Disinformation

Read about the fight for democracy from activists, elected officials, legal experts and others.

bit.ly

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50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 6h

The secret power of a people’s movement is that it’s random.

It’s neighbors protecting immigrants from ICE. It’s millions canceling Disney+. It’s a man throwing a sandwich. It’s inflatable frogs dancing.

Dictators struggle to fight a movement, because they can’t do what they want most—control us.

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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 6h

By allowing for the dismantling of minority districts held by Democrats, a ruling against the VRA could give President Donald Trump and the GOP enough additional seats to lock in the party’s control of the House for a generation. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Fair Elections — and Perhaps Control of Congress — at Stake as SCOTUS Hears Challenge to VRA

Read more here.

www.democracydocket.com

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CNN @cnn.com · 2h

A flyer with the words “journalism is not a crime” appeared Tuesday on the wall outside the “Correspondents’ Corridor” where journalists operate at the Pentagon.

It was a silent protest of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new policy that severely restricts press access. https://cnn.it/4qdizB1

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 2h

The leaked chats between Young Republican leaders were obviously disgusting.

JD Vance’s efforts to downplay the scandal and complain about “pearl clutching” made an awful story worse. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

JD Vance tries to downplay leak of disgusting Young Republican chats

For the vice president to suggest it’s “pearl clutching” to condemn those who were part of a racist group chat says a great deal about his judgment.

www.msnbc.com

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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 3h

Karl Marx: "The theory of communism can be summed up in one sentence: Abolish all private property."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: The Trump regime is systematically turning private companies into government-owned companies.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4h

EISEN: What do you say to people who say the government taking stakes in private companies and picking winners and losers sound socialist?

BESSENT: We're not going to come in and takes stakes in non-strategic industries, but we've identified seven industries

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1h

Three hours apart. 🤡

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 8h

Anyway, either State took the snitch lists fascists put together about Kirk and decided to find some foreigners -- did they use State databases to do this? Did State search on the identities of every post that exercised free speech abt Kirk and exclude the US Citizens?

The datamining is outrageous

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 8h

If that's the source, it's not even clear Sixtus has a visa (or would need anything but a tourist visa).

Neither interpretation or State's is accurate. Someone can help w/German nuance, but not complaining is different than celebrating.

This all feels like Darren Beattie's work bc he's so sloppy.

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 8h

Translation includes:

from ZDF screenwriter and publicist Mario Sixtus, published just hours after the assassination attempt on Charlie Kirk, marks a moral low point.
Anyone who speaks like this exposes themselves: not as a democrat, but as a cynic who tramples on the foundations of our free order

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 8h

Here's one of the posts that State listed as foreigners whose visa they stripped. Ask yourself, how they found this? Unlike the others, it doesn't mention Kirk, nor anything in English.

It likely came from this Facebook post.

www.facebook.com/philippbreit...

„Wenn Faschisten sterben, jammern Demokraten nicht.“
Dieses widerwärtige Zitat des ZDF-Drehbuchautors und Publizisten Mario Sixtus, veröffentlicht nur Stunden nach dem Attentat auf Charlie Kirk, markiert einen moralischen Tiefpunkt.
Wer so spricht, entlarvt sich selbst: nicht als Demokrat, sondern als Zyniker, der das Fundament unserer freiheitlichen Ordnung mit Füßen tritt. Wer den Tod eines politischen Gegners feiert, beweist nicht Haltung, sondern bestätigt, dass er in Wahrheit keinerlei Respekt vor der Demokratie hat – denn Demokratie lebt vom Wort, von der Debatte, vom Streit der Argumente, nicht vom Hass auf Menschenleben.
Ja, Charlie Kirk hat radikale Positionen vertreten, ja, er war streitbar und unbequem. Aber er hat die Debatte gesucht. Und solange Debatte, Rede, Diskurs möglich ist, gibt es einen zivilisierten, legitimen Rahmen. Gewalt, Häme über den Tod und Entmenschlichung gehören nicht dazu.
Darum sage ich es klar: Jeder, der sich über den Tod eines Menschen freut, disqualifiziert sich selbst als Demokrat. Wer vorgibt, gegen Unmenschlichkeit zu kämpfen, dabei aber selbst unmenschlich handelt, ist ein Heuchler.
Der Fall zeigt erneut, wie tief die Risse in unserer Gesellschaft sind – und wie groß die Gefahr, dass die selbsternannte „moralische Elite“ in Wahrheit jede moralische Orientierung verloren hat.

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LOLGOP ❌👑❌ @thefarce.org · 4h

"...to have accomplished this hunt would have taken the kind of database scan that fascists dream of, one cataloging the free speech of Americans."

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 4h

The Fascist Dragnet To Avenge Charlie Kirk's Honor

www.emptywheel.net/2025/10/15/t...

The Fascist Dragnet To Avenge Charlie Kirk's Honor - emptywheel

It's bad enough that the State Department using free speech about Charlie Kirk to exclude purported visa holders. It's still worse that two of six claimed accounts don't do what State accuses. But the...

www.emptywheel.net

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 3h

With his baseless attack on No Kings, Scott Bessent has demonstrated himself to be unfit to sign these documents.

A picture of an old dollar bill, with Washington's picture.

A picture of an old $10 bill, with Alexander Hamilton's picture.

A picture of a newish $100 bill, with Ben Franklin's picture.

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 2h

These people are insane.

After Patrick Byrne failed to call Stephanie Lambert his "lawyer," he instead defaulted, so now Lambert is ... please sanction this lady.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
Western Division
ROBERT HUNTER BIDEN,
an individual,
Plaintiff
v.
PATRICK M. BYRNE,
an individual,
Defendant.
Case No. 2:23-cv-09430
PRO SE PETITIONERS
PETER TICKTIN’S AND
STEFANIE LAMBERT’S
NOTICE AND MOTION FOR
STAY OF PROCEEDINGS
PENDING APPEAL TO U.S.
SUPREME COURT
Date: November 10, 2025

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Jacob Soboroff @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social · 17h

here’s more context to the videos DHS is putting out from Chicago.

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Ariella Elm @ariellaelm.bsky.social · 1h

If you have never been to a protest before, and you’re nervous about going to no Kings, but you wanna go, comment below with your concerns.

And if you’ve protested, read the comments, and if you find one that you can alleviate their concern, reply.

Hopefully this will get more people to attend!

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Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 3h

Bring as many American flags to No Kings as you can.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3h

Scalise refers to No Kings as the "Hate America Rally"

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Pete Buttigieg @petebuttigieg.bsky.social · 2h

Emerging from the darkness of this era will require us to acknowledge that the previous status quo, including many institutions that may have served us well in another era, have been failing for my entire lifetime.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3h

Q: This has been reported for a while. Cory Mills was accused of beating a girlfriend in his DC apt. Are you concerned about these allegations?

JOHNSON: You have to ask Rep. Mills about that. He's been a faithful colleague. I don't know the details. Let's talk about things that are really serious

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 11h

I just checked and this is real. It's on Border Patrol's official Instagram (I don't see it on Facebook) and is being celebrated by Nazis on Twitter, as you can see in the screenshot.

The clip is just 13 seconds long too, so it's a very intentional thing. We've got a Nazi government.

Twitter account: Uncensored @HmanQuotes1945: Official border patrol Facebook page is posting with the banned lyrics of Michael Jackson's song.
"Jew me sue me... Kick me k*ke me."
Epic

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Jamal Greene @jamalgreene.bsky.social · 3h

Justice Kavanaugh in the Callais oral argument keeps alluding to some longstanding requirement of strict scrutiny that use of race have a time limit. This is invented.

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 3h

Oof, relatable disclosure in Illinois's/Chicago's National Guard case: One of Judge Perry's law clerks tried to text a fellow clerk to complain about DOJ, accidentally texted a friend who worked for the opposing party (IL AG's office)

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social • 15m
U.S. District Judge April Perry just took the bench for this morning's status hearing in Illinois v. Trump, over deployment of the National Guard.

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social • 10m
Perry called everyone in to make a disclosure. After listening to 9th Circuit oral arguments on Nat Guard over the weekend, Perry says one of her clerks realized the government had taken a position there
"inconsistent" with what had been said in Perry's courtroom.

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social • 8m
That frustrated law clerk texted someone they "believed" to be another law clerk, but who turned out to be a "friend of theirs who works at the Illinois attorney general's office."

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social • 7m
That clerk realized what they'd done within about 90 seconds, deleted/edited the message and asked the friend if they'd read it. The friend said they'd "seen enough to know it was not meant for them."

Jon Seidel
@jonseidel.bsky.social
Bottom line: Perry says that clerk will no longer be working on this case, going forward.
Neither side made a motion based on this disclosure, but I didn't hear anyone rule it out, either.
Either way, hearing adjourned.
October 15, 2025 at 10:40 AM

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 16h

To be clear:

LA County has declared a state of emergency BECAUSE OF the federal government.

The Feds, LA County is (correctly) saying, have CAUSED the emergency.

This is a striking political moment of internal collapse. Local govts feeling compelled to protect their ppl from … their own govt.

Los Angeles County declares state of emergency over immigration raids

Los Angeles County officials voted on Tuesday to declare a state of emergency over ongoing federal immigration raids.

abcnews.go.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 6h

“A clarinet player was arrested after playing her instrument to the tune of the ‘Ghostbusters’ theme song outside of a Portland ICE facility…”

Musician playing ‘Ghostbusters’ outside ICE facility is arrested by agents

‘Taking us citizens out of state to detain them without charge is a new action from the Feds and should be opposed,’ her band said

www.independent.co.uk

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