Author | Lightnews

Reposted by Birdbrained

Senator Mark Warner @markwarner.bsky.social · 6h

Shutting Democrats out of a national security briefing and withholding the legal justification of the Venezuelan boat strikes from half the Senate is indefensible. This White House is eroding our national security.

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Paul Rauber @citizenstx.bsky.social · 18h

Halloween is coming: Mass-distribution opportunity.

Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 18h

Whistles: An extremely low-tech community tool that could prove invaluable over the coming months. I'd like to see a well-funded organization mass produce these and encourage people to hand them out liberally, to friends and neighbors, as party favors, for free at checkout counters, etc.

To stand up to ICE agents, some Chicagoans are arming themselves with whistles

The plastic whistles have become a way to loudly resist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and warn those who may be in danger.

www.wbez.org

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Birdbrained @chirpitychirp.bsky.social · 18h

Yes

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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 18h

Whistles: An extremely low-tech community tool that could prove invaluable over the coming months. I'd like to see a well-funded organization mass produce these and encourage people to hand them out liberally, to friends and neighbors, as party favors, for free at checkout counters, etc.

To stand up to ICE agents, some Chicagoans are arming themselves with whistles

The plastic whistles have become a way to loudly resist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and warn those who may be in danger.

www.wbez.org

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Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 18h

When Adrienne was little, during the first Trump administration, she organized her teddy bears into a picket line to imitate the one I was watching on the news, and asked me to write out “WE WILL NOT LISTEN” on a construction paper sign.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

A Part Of America

People say all kinds of things about this part of America. But they don't tell you how lovely it can be in Autumn.

www.patheos.com

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 2d

Americans are on the verge of losing their ability to choose their government. But they don't seem to have realized it yet.

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 2d

Donald Trumps plan to subvert the midterms is underway
From David Graham, on the cover of the next edition of @theatlantic.com

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Donald Trump’s Plan to Subvert the Midterms Is Already Under Way

Our election system is reaching a breaking point.

www.theatlantic.com

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 22h

A federal judge has ruled that the acting U.S. attorney for the Central District of California — the largest federal judicial district in the country — has been "unlawfully serving" in the role, in part because the Senate hasn’t confirmed him.

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 19h

DHS says our new piece is "dishonest, slanted, and fundamentally inaccurate" but won't say why. Here's the story where we show with evidence that DHS spliced together clips spanning years and multiple locations to create its own reality. Gift link wapo.st/4nuDGwf

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JJ in DC @jjindc.bsky.social · 1d

🧊✈️ KEY LIME AIR is part of a growing network of operators participating in immigration enforcement, especially flights between ICE detention centers throughout the country 🤨
coloradotimesrecorder.com/2025/10/colo...

Colorado Airline Flies Arrested Immigrants To Government Jails Across the U.S.

Colorado-based airline Key Lime Air is running flights of detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to government data, flight tracking and analysis by Colorado Newsline....

coloradotimesrecorder.com

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Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 21h

📣 IF YOU HAVE A LITTLE FREE LIBRARY TURN IT INTO A COMMUNITY PANTRY ASAP IF YOU ARE ABLE

In view of the SNAP crisis, providing pantry stable items to those in need. Please take what you need and leave what you can, no perishible items please.

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Birdbrained @chirpitychirp.bsky.social · 20h

Dysregulated nervous system

Birdbrained @chirpitychirp.bsky.social · 20h

On it!

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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 1d

New: Videos show ICE/CBP agents are scanning peoples' faces on the street to verify citizenship. ICE has tool to instantly look up unprecedented number of databases with just a photo

“I’m an American citizen so leave me alone”

“Alright, we just got to verify that”

www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...

ICE and CBP Agents Are Scanning Peoples’ Faces on the Street To Verify Citizenship

Videos on social media show officers from ICE and CBP using facial recognition technology on people in the field. One expert described the practice as “pure dystopian creep.”

www.404media.co

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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 1d

New incredible detail here: ICE says a match in its facial recognition app Mobile Fortify is a "definitive" determination of a person's status, and that this overrides birth certificates. This is an app ICE is using in the field to scan people

www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...

Ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie G. Thompson said in a statement “Mobile Fortify is a dangerous tool in the hands of ICE, and it puts American citizens at risk of detention and even deportation.” He also said “ICE officials have told us that an apparent biometric match by Mobile Fortify is a ‘definitive’ determination of a person’s status and that an ICE officer may ignore evidence of American citizenship—including a birth certificate—if the app says the person is an alien. ICE using a mobile biometrics app in ways its developers at CBP never intended or tested is a frightening, repugnant, and unconstitutional attack on Americans’ rights and freedoms.”

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Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 22h

Another illegal US maritime strike—again in the Pacific.

Against a vessel allegedly operated by an unspecified "designated terrorist organization."

Four reported fatalities—dubbed w/o ID or evidence "narco-terrorists."

There's a word for premeditated killings outside of armed conflict.

Earlier today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on yet another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) in the Eastern Pacific.

This vessel, like all the others, was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Four male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel—and killed—during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. No U.S. forces were harmed in this strike.

The Western Hemisphere is no longer a safe haven for narco-terrorists bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans. The Department of War will continue to hunt them down and eliminate them wherever they operate.

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@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 22h

This is an incredible LIE being told by the guy that manages the agency that oversees the ACA. It's obscene how easily, how frequently and how dramatically these Trump folks lie to us.

✅Fact check from the extremely reliable @kff.org (& no, KFF did not retract this.)

ACA Insurers Are Raising Premiums by an Estimated 26%, but Most Enrollees Would See Sharper Increases in What They Pay if Enhanced Tax Credits Expire

Percent change in gross and net premium payments, 2026
20406080100%
26%
114%
Increase in insurer premiums (gross)
Increase in enrollee premium payments (net of tax credit)
Source: KFF analysis of ACA Marketplace premium data

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Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis @jeffjarvis.bsky.social · 21h

Good news from sane(r) Europe:
Dutch Voters Deliver Major Setback to Far-Right Party of Geert Wilders www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/w...

Dutch Voters Deliver Major Setback to Far-Right Party of Geert Wilders

www.nytimes.com

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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 21h

We have had a lot of success fighting against Trump and election deniers in court. I am confident that won't change. What I worry about are the pillars of democracy that can't be fixed in court as well as the weaponization of DOJ against Trumps political opponents and free and fair elections.

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 21h

The last time the U.S. held a nuclear weapons test was 1992.

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 22h

California police boost patrols at grocery stores as millions set to lose SNAP benefits

www.foxla.com

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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 22h

what stage of capitalism is this

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 22h

California police boost patrols at grocery stores as millions set to lose SNAP benefits

www.foxla.com

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Jen Taub @jentaub.bsky.social · 21h

👀 Wow

“A jury took about two hours Tuesday to acquit a man accused of soliciting President Donald Trump’s assassination on social media, a setback for the Justice Department office led by Trump’s newly-installed loyalist Lindsey Halligan.”

news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Jury Acquits Man Accused of Soliciting Trump’s Murder on Bluesky

A jury took about two hours Tuesday to acquit a man accused of soliciting President Donald Trump’s assassination on social media, a setback for the Justice Department office led by Trump’s newly-insta...

news.bloomberglaw.com

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Mississippi Free Press @mississippifreepress.org · 22h

"We know when SNAP benefits get reduced, there’s more absenteeism from school. This doesn’t set children up for a healthy future, either,” University of California, San Francisco professor Dr. Hilary Seligman, an expert in food insecurity, told the Mississippi Free Press.

Mississippi to Halt SNAP Food Assistance on Nov. 1 Amid Shutdown

Mississippi residents who rely on food stamps will not be able to access SNAP benefits starting Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown.

buff.ly

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Pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 22h

So this story is super duper interesting for a whole ton of reasons, but one big one is its a very rare glimpse into the private valuation of high-end exploits held by major defense contractors

bsky.app/profile/lega...

Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 23h

Peter Williams, A former executive with US defense contractor L3Harris has pleaded guilty to selling digital spy tools to a Russian broker, the Justice Department announced. Williams pleaded to two counts of theft of trade secrets reut.rs/49o7Q0I

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Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 23h

The President wants to use the military to crack down on Americans who are exercising their 1st Amendment rights to oppose him. I can’t think of a better reason to insist on exercising those rights.

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