Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Michael

Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 2d

last Wednesday, the Republican president said "we took the freedom of speech away"

ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · 1d

If you have contacted the SSA or plan to, read this thread and make sure you keep your own records of your contact dates.

AltSSA @altssa.altgov.info · 2d

‼️‼️‼️ Got word of a new way the billionaire in charge of SSA is fucking over the American people!!!! TLDR: This will definitely lead to people applying for benefits losing out on money, and probably some hefty lawsuits for attorneys that know what’s up. The long version is gonna be long so let’s go.

2

Reposted by Michael

Peter Morley ♿️ @petermorley.bsky.social · 3d

👉DID YOU KNOW? The Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024 was voted UNANIMOUSLY BIPARTISAN out of committee (unheard of these days) in December 2024 (& previous votes were also UNANIMOUSLY BIPARTISAN).

BUT IT NEVER MADE IT TO THE FLOOR. Speaker Johnson wanted it to be held FOREVER tethered to the CR!

17 190 370

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · 3d

CFPB was created by law. The president swears an oath to faithfully execute the laws. Vought is admitting they have broken that oath, by saying that CFPB under his and Trump's control has not been doing what the law says it must do. It is illegal to close it, and illegal to run it the way they have.

Reuters @reuters.com · 3d

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers reut.rs/4qjMIyT

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers

White House budget director Russell Vought said he wants to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and expects to do so within the next two to three months.

reut.rs

2 5

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · 7d

I hope California or another large blue state steps up to hire the entire MMWR staff and keep their work going. Harder to produce MMWR without the direct access to info, but it would be out from under the thumb of these lunatics.

1 16

Reposted by Michael

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 7d

They have fired the staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, who are disease detectives that respond to outbreaks around the world.

I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.

160 2K 4.6K

Reposted by Michael

Nikkolas Smith @4nikkolas.bsky.social · 8d

after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.

320 8.2K 24K

Reposted by Michael

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 11d

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

280 5.2K 14K

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · 13d

This whole thread is important.

Tzfardea b'Yachad Chazek 🐸 @jsx.bsky.social · 15d

1) my synagogue openly calls for an end to the genocide in Gaza, and it doesn't stop of us from receiving threats and requiring security.

2) "just don't go to the only synagogue(s) in your location on Yom Kippur" is a ridiculous ask of observant Jews.

3

Reposted by Michael

pissed-off-g.bsky.social @pissed-off-g.bsky.social · 14d

11 110 250

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · 14d

We continue losing civil society for the foreseeable future.

DaylightCounter @daylightcounter.bsky.social · 15d

We continue losing daylight for 78 days.

1 1

Reposted by Michael

Puck Arks @puckarks.bsky.social · 16d

How many rights need to be taken before you say enough is enough?
#GeneralStrike

3 65 220

Reposted by Michael

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 19d

"Dems will get blamed for a shutdown" as opposed to what, all the friendly coverage and positive credit they'd get for caving yet again? This whole premise is built on a delusion about what the alternative is. There's no cowering in the corner and being so inoffensive they won't still attack you.

110 1.1K 5.6K

Reposted by Michael

Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 19d

“We are under invasion from within, no different than a foreign enemy, but worse—they don’t wear a uniform.”

This is the President of the United States, who ordered the entire leadership of our military to sit and listen to him, speaking a few minutes ago.

1 260 1.1K

Reposted by Michael

Roxane Gay @roxanegay.bsky.social · 19d

If any other president in all of history said the military should use American cities as a training ground he would be removed from office that same day. The hardest thing to tolerate in all this is how relatively silent elected democrats are. It’s ridiculous.

250 3.2K 12K

Reposted by Michael

Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 18d

I don’t talk about this publicly, but hegseth drives me out of my silence.

I attended West Point from 1998-2000. I left, along with about 5 other young women, as a direct result of the military’s then-shameful (non) policies addressing sex harassment and assault.

2 510 2K

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · 19d

When someone is this incapable of leadership and this devoid of judgment, their lack of fitness for office is obvious. The failure of the cabinet and of Congress to remove him from office is a betrayal of their oath to our nation.

#impeach

1

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · 19d

It seems so clear that Trump has hit the stage of being swayed by whoever has his ear most recently. The winner will be whoever has the greatest access. The loser will be every single one of us who care about other people and the planet, because the people with the greatest access are sociopaths.

1 1

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · 24d

Apparently some, but not all, good people were raptured. Because so many didn't make the first cut, there will be another opportunity in a few years. Please pay more attention to welcoming ALL the strangers, caring for ALL the poor and ill, and feeding ALL the hungry. All means all. #heaven #rapture

2

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · 26d

I have never believed the rumor that Don Jr. is actually a human-shaped sculpture made entirely out of cocaine.

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · 26d

The Dominican Republic says they have recovered hundreds of pounds of cocaine from one of the boats we recently blew up in international waters.

Has anyone seen Don Jr. since then?

1

Reposted by Michael

Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 27d

Oh my god. This musical number by a famous #Disney character is savage. Thank you @colbertlateshow.bsky.social. #Disney #ABC #DonaldTrump and #BrendanCarr won't be happy if you widely circulate this. So shut your trap. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGD...

Disney’s Message To Employees: Shut Your Trap

YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

www.youtube.com

18 140 350

Reposted by Michael

Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · Sep 19

They just tear-gassed us. They tried to run us over in a van holding a peaceful protester. They shot us with pepper balls. They dragged another protester into the facility.

shawn @mulchy.bsky.social · Sep 19

moments ago, ice agents again came out of the broadview detention/“professing” facility to escort a silver suv out of the lot.

one of the agents picked up and threw congressional candidate kat abughazaleh to the ground.

1.7K 13K 27K

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · Sep 19

/end

Footnote: For anyone who is unclear whether Trump cares about anyone but himself, here's Trump today on Air Force One after his helicopter made an emergency landing:

"Fly safely," he said. "You know why I say that? Because I'm on the flight. I want to get home, otherwise I wouldn't care."

Michael @cascadilla.bsky.social · Sep 18

The thing about informed consent and vaccines is that informed people consent.

2