Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Democracy Now! @democracynow.org · 8h

At least 19 Palestinian doctors are still being held in Israeli detention without charge.

Free Dr. Abu Safiya: Calls Grow for Israel to Release Imprisoned Gaza Healthcare Workers

Pressure is mounting for Israel to release many more detainees as part of the U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire deal, including Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, who has been he...

www.democracynow.org

2 130 180

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Stephen West @stephenwest.bsky.social · 1d

How W. E. B. Du Bois responded to government policing of "anti-American" sentiment during the 1910s:

"I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, 'We are seeking to have the Constitution of the United States thoroughly and completely enforced.' ”

Federal agents invaded even the offices of The Crisis and the National Association for the advancement of colored people and asked searching questions: " just what, after all, were our objects and activities?” I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, “We are seeking to have the constitution of the United states thoroughly and completely enforced.” It took some ingenuity, even for Southerners, to make treason out of that.

18 1.2K 4K

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Save Ohio Parks @saveohioparks.bsky.social · 8h

China surges and U.S. lags in adding battery storage for expanding solar. California shows the way forward. @financialtimes.com: bit.ly/4qaP0jI

Lead or step out of the way, Ohio GOP. We want more jobs for Ohioans and clean energy. You aren't delivering.

@ccbecker271.bsky.social

How mega batteries are unlocking an energy revolution

Vast battery units are shoring up grids and extending the use of clean power

bit.ly

2 4

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 2d

🏥 Dr. Munir Al-Barsh, Director General of Gaza’s Ministry of Health, outlined several urgently needed steps to support the medical needs in Gaza.

“We demand justice, not pity,” he said. “The health sector is devastated and suffering severely after two years of extermination. The world must stand...

▪️ Field hospitals must be established in the north, center, and south to relieve pressure. Over 17,000 patients need urgent treatment already approved by WHO.

▪️ “Children with cancer and deformities, women with chronic diseases — this is their right.”

▪️ Water and sewage networks must be repaired to prevent epidemics such as cholera, diarrhea, and skin diseases.

▪️ A program is needed to employ health graduates, technicians, and administrators to sustain operations.

▪️ Support is required for prosthetics, assistive devices, and rehabilitation programs to reintegrate people with disabilities into work, education, and society.

Dr.Muneer Alboursh د.منيرالبرش via X (@Dr_Muneer1):
We are facing major challenges in the health sector and thousands of wounded are still in hospitals, while saving patients and restoring hospitals requires a long time… The occupation destroyed Gaza City’s hospitals including Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital, Sheikh Radwan Clinic, large parts of Hamad Hospital and the Psychiatric Hospital… Thirty-eight hospitals were destroyed and only around twelve remain partially functioning with operating rooms, intensive care units and laboratories destroyed and severe shortages of beds, blood units and ventilators… There are power and water cuts and even clean water is almost unavailable in hospitals… More than 1700 health workers were martyred and over 360 were arrested… Medical teams are physically and mentally exhausted after two years of continuous work… Diseases have spread amid overcrowding and displacement with rising cases of skin infections and diarrhea and disruption of supply chains… More than 17000 wounded must be evacuated immediately and their names are approved by the United Nations… We have estimated our health sector needs at over 7 billion dollars… What is urgently required is to rescue the system by rehabilitating and reopening hospitals or establishing field hospitals, dispatching surgical missions, and supplying medicines, emergency and intensive care materials, chronic disease treatments, vaccines and antibiotics, and opening safe and permanent medical corridors… The

1 49 83

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 2d

She screams, “I’m 15,” as ICE yanks her from the car and kneels on her neck.

Video below ⬇️

Joshua Reed Eakle via X (@JoshEakle): In Chicago, four vehicles descended and eight ICE agents moved in to kidnap a child.

She screams, “I’m 15,” as ICE yanks her from the car and kneels on her neck.

This is not about immigration enforcement.

It's about terrorizing Americans.

4 35 110

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

RainSurname @rainsurname.bsky.social · 1d

Someone left a rack full of inflatable costumes near the ICE building in Portland.

I love this town.

This is a wonderful thread that explains how & why Portland is Like This.
bsky.app/profile/ceau...

A clothing rack on a sidewalk, full of colorful inflatable costumes, with a sign that says free.

4 220 600

Cathy Cowan Becker @ccbecker271.bsky.social · 1d

I truly hope it comes to pass. But Haaretz said he's on the release list.

1 1

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

CM Janeese Lewis George @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social · 3d

Every sign in DC marks the loss of someone’s neighbor, someone’s loved one, someone’s friend.

Every sign marks yet another step in the march toward authoritarianism.

Signs popping up around D.C. note: ‘ICE kidnapping happened here’

The signs range in style and mark numerous locations where people have been taken by federal agents.

www.washingtonpost.com

3 180 350

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 1d

First images of some of the 1,700+ Palestinian hostages freed by Israel returning to Gaza today. Many had been held in military camps under cruel and inhumane conditions, deprived of medical care and food. Some endured severe torture and neglect that led to permanent injuries, including amputations.

2 60 87

Cathy Cowan Becker @ccbecker271.bsky.social · 1d

Yes.

1 1

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 1d

🚨Haaretz reports that Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya — the hero director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, imprisoned since December 2024 — is widely expected to be released today.

According to the paper, the Israeli government approved a reserve list of 5 Gaza prisoners who could be freed if any...

4 18 33

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 2d

a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 2d

What he’s railing against is a profound shift in culture, status… He’s obsessed with the idea that America is controlled by a leftist “ruling elite” - but “elite” isn’t defined socio-economically or by political power, it means something like: Getting to define “real America” and who gets to belong.

290 3.3K 14K

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 1d

#IndigenousPeoplesDay “is not just a counterpoint to Columbus Day—it’s a declaration. A refusal to be erased. A reminder that we are more than what happened to us. We are who we have always been.”

“Today and every day, it’s a good day to be Indigenous.” nativenewsonline.net/opinion/we-r...

We're Still Here: Why It's Still a Good Day to Be Indigenous

Opinion. It’s a good day to be Indigenous.

nativenewsonline.net

1 42 90

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

The American Prospect @prospect.org · 2d

Trump’s new Social Security Commissioner said “I’m Googling Social security…What the heck’s the commissioner of Social Security?” This administration is destroying the Social Security Administration, starting at the top. From Robert Kuttner: trib.al/U08jtz2

More Sneak Attacks on Social Security

Today on TAP: It's hard to kill America's most loved program outright—so Trump is strangling it by stealth.

trib.al

2 19 43

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 2d

2 11 21

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 3d

There’s a March for Health and Science being organized in DC for Wednesday, November 5.

MARCH FOR HEALTH & SCIENCE
Washington DC, November 5@4PM

1 95 210

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 3d

“Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an ‘astonishing rate,’ scientists have found.” www.cnn.com/2025/10/10/c...

Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica | CNN

Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed, with new seeps being discovered at an “astonishing rate,” raising fears that future global warming predictions may have been und...

www.cnn.com

12 84 140

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 6d

So this is funny.
The administration just issued a rule slashing foreign agricultural worker wages. And to justify it, in a public filing, Trump's Labor Department alleges that Trump's immigration enforcement has devastated the Ag workforce and caused a "risk of supply shock-induced food shortages."

Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis

In a filing in the Federal Register, the Labor Department argues there are “immediate dangers to the American food supply” due to a lack of migrant agricultural workers.

prospect.org

110 940 2.3K

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

ACLU @aclu.org · 6d

The public has a right to know how ICE is planning to expand its network of detention centers — especially when these centers hold thousands of our neighbors and loved ones in inhumane and unconstitutional conditions.

Civil rights group sues ICE for withholding records of the agency's detention expansion plans in Virginia

ICE solicited bids to expand detention in Virginia—then failed to respond to a public records request. Now, the ACLU is suing.

reason.com

5 130 410

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 6d

“In a city once choked with cars and infamous for its traffic snarls, Paris has pulled off a remarkable turnaround…the French capital has officially become Europe’s best city for children to walk, cycle, and move around independently.” Via @momentummag.bsky.social

A victory for FAST leadership.

Paris Pedals to the Top: How the City of Light Became Europe’s Best for Young Cyclists

The French capital has officially become Europe’s best city for children to walk, cycle, and move around independently

momentummag.com

6 170 560

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 6d

Never forget that Dolly Parton gave a million bucks for covid research at the *very start* of the pandemic—including money that helped fund the development of the Moderna vaccine.

17 610 2K

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 6d

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

1.7K 21K 56K

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 6d

It’s not “partisan” to defend science, evidence, and objective reality.

It’s partisan to attack science, evidence, and objective reality, to benefit your political “team.”

That’s true with climate science, with vaccinology, & with evidence-based city-building, all of which are being attacked.

2/2

2 48 160

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

LCV – League of Conservation Voters 🌎 @lcv.org · 8d

The government may be closed for you but it is still very much open for billionaire CEOs and polluters

E&E News: Trump inks order to advance halted Alaska mining order

President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order reversing a Biden-era decision that blocked a mining road in Alaska, which faces fierce opposition among tribes and environmental groups.

subscriber.politicopro.com

14 17

Reposted by Cathy Cowan Becker

Climate Desk @climatedesk.org · 8d

The national parks are in deep shit—perhaps literally.

Read our latest dispatch from Climate Desk Weekly, recapping what the shutdown means for National Parks: link.motherjones.com/view/647e4ef...

41 77