Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Doug Milford

Gerardo Martí @gerardomarti.bsky.social · 23h

NEW BOOK on Post-Nazi Germany

How Protestant theologians, intellectuals, and activists reconstructed West German national identity and secular democracy by relying upon an older language of religious concepts stemming from Protestant theology and political thought 👇

When Theology Became Political: An Interview with Brandon Bloch

by Jacob Saliba

www.jhiblog.org

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Reposted by Doug Milford

Judy Stone @drjudystone.bsky.social · 1d

Lost Science. Carl Zimmer "interviews US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to the Trump administration's cuts this year. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied the life bees bring to forests." Gift link from him: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

She Studied How Logging Affects Pollinators

Kim Ballare was a research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service until her federal grant “got snatched away.”

nyti.ms

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 1d

The lawyer for Marimar Martinez (the woman shot by CBP on October 3) seems to think the communications that led to Tricia McLaughlin's claims about the shooting might start disappearing -- he's asking for a preservation order.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

MOTION FOR A PRESERVATION ORDER
Defendant, Marimar Martinez, by and through her attorneys, Cheronis & Parente LLC,
pursuant to the relevant provisions of Rule 2 and 16 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, as
well as the Due Process and Effective Assistance of Counsel Clauses of the Fifth and Sixth
Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, respectfully requests that the Court enter a
preservation order for the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to preserve and
maintain any and all records, emails, text messages, documents, notes and other materials related to
the circumstances surrounding the shooting of Ms. Marimar Martinez and the gathering of
information for the October 4, 2025, press release from Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued
by DHS titled “Vehicles Again Used as Weapon in Attack against DHS Law Enforcement, Officers
Forced to Fire Weapon on Armed Woman in Chicago.” In support thereof, Ms. Martinez states as
follows:

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Reposted by Doug Milford

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 1d

Since the Alien Registration Act of 1940, every noncitizen has been required to carry their documents with them at ALL times. That applies to every green card holder, every tourist, every foreign student, etc...

No admin in the modern era has EVER tried to enforce this law.

(e)Personal possession of registration or receipt card; penalties
Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him pursuant to subsection (d). Any alien who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction for each offense be fined not to exceed $100 or be imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 1d

Wow, wow, wow. This has always been legally possible but the law has virtually never been enforced — and now this is the SECOND case I've heard of in the last month (first involving a person with a green card) of a noncitizen being charged for failure to carry their papers.

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 1d

NEWS: ICE gave a Rogers Park man a $130 ticket for not having his papers on him. They rounded him up last week and eventually let him go, but not without a fine that some critics say is un-American. Trump admin enforcing little-used law
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/13/i...

ICE tickets Chicago man with legal residency $130 for not having his papers on him: ‘It’s not fair…I’m a resident’

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement fined Rueben Antonio Cruz $130 for not having his papers with him.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Doug Milford @dougmilford.bsky.social · 1d

STEVE BANNON: “If it’s going to be a two-state solution, why not a three-state solution? Why is there not a Christian state?"

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 1d

Bannon Calls For Third “Christian State” In Israel www.joemygod.com/2025/10/bann...

Reposted by Doug Milford

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 1d

Heritage president Kevin Roberts, in a truly revealing passage of his Foreword to the Project 2025 policy agenda, states that the project of “dismantling the administrative state” is not about the actual size of government at all:

The goal is to cut “the secret lifeblood of the Great Awokening.”

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.

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Randall Stephens @randalljstephens.bsky.social · 1d

Roy Justus on Congress bowing to King Richard, October 1973.

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Jeremy Faust, MD @jeremyfaust.bsky.social · 4d

Typos aside, there is simply no such thing.

ECGs are not an indicator of age.

They literally do not contain that information, either directly or indirectly.

This is just made up gobbledygook.

So, my question is: why?

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 3d

The pope calls Trump’s immigration policy “inhuman” and “not pro-life”

www.npr.org/2025/10/01/n...

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Jorie Graham @joriegraham.bsky.social · 3d

Well—more brilliant clowns in Portland. Please post images of peaceful protest in Portland,Chicago, Memphis…

x.com/charise_lee/...

Meidas_Charise Lee on X: "THIS IS THE COOLEST WAR ZONE EVER‼️ Portland’s strategy …maybe if we act weird enough they’ll leave‼️ https://t.co/4AzxQzZ4kV" / X

THIS IS THE COOLEST WAR ZONE EVER‼️ Portland’s strategy …maybe if we act weird enough they’ll leave‼️ https://t.co/4AzxQzZ4kV

x.com

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 4d

Grab the popcorn.

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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 3d

My info is from sources close to CDC. The groups above are affected by sweeping RIF notices. I don't know if they are entirely eliminated but it seems close to it, if not. The 1,100 HHS number is from a Trump admin court filing summarized here federalnewsnetwork.com/government-s...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 3d

The Trump admin is in the midst of laying off 1,100-1,200 HHS staff. The CDC's outbreak responders, gone. The office producing CDC's weekly journal MMWR is gone. CDC staff securing sensitive data, gone. Worker safety, gone. Immunization group, gone.

Instead, Congress watches RFK "make the proof"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 5d

www.wweek.com/culture/2025...

Can you put into words what that purpose is? You and the frog have really become icons of this protest.

There’s been a nice overall whimsy that has shown up. The frog is amazing. We had a bunch of other inflatable people here last night, too. I saw people playing Twister the other day.

What they rely on is fear. So by coming out in an absurdist manner, it speaks to them, to some extent, that we’re actually not that afraid.

It also dismantles their narrative a little bit. When they try to describe this situation as “war-torn,” it becomes much harder to take them seriously when they have to post a video saying [U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security] Kristi Noem is up on the balcony staring over the Antifa Army and it’s, like, eight journalists and five protesters and one of them is in a chicken suit.

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Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 5d

Thank you @nytopinion.nytimes.com for publishing this rot. Marc Rowan has run hundreds of companies into the dust to extract profits from their failure and bankruptcies. Now he wants to do the same to American higher education. Do not believe a word this man says. 1/ www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/o...

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Badly Needed

www.nytimes.com

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Doug Milford @dougmilford.bsky.social · 3d

“Under Title 10 of the US Code, the president has plenary authority, has–”

There he abruptly stopped. The man whose entire head looks as if it’s covered by a stocking mask seemed to betray a feeling. Maybe regret, maybe embarrassment. Maybe: Oh shit, I just gave away the game.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 5d

Stephen Miller is the most dangerous man in the Trump administration | Judith Levine

In the White House deputy chief of staff, we see that Maga will not simply end with Trump. We must keep our eyes on Miller

www.theguardian.com

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 5d

Congratulations to Maria Corina Machado, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - her incredible optimism has already changed her country. I spoke to her, and wrote about her, at the beginning of this year:
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

The ‘Anthropological Change’ Happening in Venezuela

Maduro is still in place, but a pro-democracy movement is transforming the beleaguered country.

www.theatlantic.com

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Jay Ulfelder @jayulfelder.bsky.social · 5d

"What they rely on is fear. So by coming out in an absurdist manner, it speaks to them, to some extent, that we're actually not that afraid."

Willamette Week @wweek.com · 5d

Jack Dickinson, 26, says “we’re winning this.”

An Interview With the Portland Chicken

Rachel Saslow

www.wweek.com

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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 4d

Huh: TikTok took down my 8-second video featuring this image of Debbie Brockman — the news producer just detained by Trump’s CBP agents — saying it violates the “joy of TikTok”

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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 4d

I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.

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Crawford Kilian @crof.bsky.social · 4d

Dr. Jeremy Faust: BREAKING NEWS: CDC employees terminated in apparent Friday night massacre. open.substack.com/pub/insideme...

BREAKING NEWS: CDC employees terminated in apparent Friday night massacre.

The Trump administration is using the shutdown to further weaken the our national public health infrastructure.

open.substack.com

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Odette Yousef @oyousef.bsky.social · 4d

"Days before the raid, the man who sheltered the mother and her daughter saw someone he believed to be a worker from the building taking pictures of the units “where the Venezuelans lived.”

(1/2)

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

www.wbez.org

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 5d

Reporting live from Chicago, there’s no “hellscape” I’d rather be in.

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Reuters @reuters.com · 5d

'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

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