Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ellie Margolis

Carl Cecere @carlcecere.bsky.social · 1h

The “do not mock the speech” directive really raises a lot of questions that are answered by the “do not mock the speech” directive.

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 2h

NEW: Pentagon officials are forcing staff to watch Pete Hegseth's "Warrior" speech he forced generals to listen to.

Officials are even "testing" staff to see if they watched — and are threatening consequences if they lie about watching it or if they mock it, sources tell @swin24.bsky.social and I.

The Pentagon Is Ordering Staff to Watch Hegseth’s ‘MAGA Garbage’ Speech… Or Else

Defense Department sources tell Zeteo that staff have been warned that if they don’t watch or read the speech, or if they speak negatively of it, they could face severe consequences.

zeteo.com

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IndivisiblePHL ❌👑 @indivisiblephl.bsky.social · 3h

Attending #NoKings in Philly this Saturday? Here is what you can expect - Thank You @whyy.org for the Interview! @indivisible.org whyy.org/articles/phi...

Philly is hosting a ‘No Kings’ protest on Saturday. Here’s what to know

Organizers expect upwards of 20,000 people to march against President Donald Trump’s administration.

whyy.org

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Sarah Fackrell @design-law.bsky.social · 4h

Transformative work of the day:

Heidi Kitrosser @heidikitrosser.bsky.social · 4h

I love this so much. Funny, sweet, hopeful, and kind of bad-ass.

youtu.be/bw5zxdSObso?...

A Message From The Frog Resistance

YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

youtu.be

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Ellie Margolis @elliemargolis.bsky.social · 4h

I did not know that!

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State Court Report @statecourtreport.org · 6h

From abortion to voting to property rights, state constitutions offer distinct and often more expansive protections than the U.S. Constitution.

JOIN US Nov. 6-7 for a free symposium exploring the future of state constitutional rights. RSVP to attend virtually or in-person: bit.ly/4hemOby.

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 7h

wrote about last week's super interesting tribal sovereignty decision in Washington Supreme Court

one justice wrote a standalone concurrence basically saying 'the court applied the law correctly, but also the law is terrible and it's our responsibility to say so'
ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...

A Washington State Supreme Court Justice Condemns Federal Indian Law as Racist and Awful

"Each time a court cites a case that has as its foundation such racist fallacies, it is incumbent on us to call out that racism, even if just in a footnote."

ballsandstrikes.org

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Senator Ed Markey @markey.senate.gov · 7h

Trump just bombed six more people in the Caribbean, for a total of 27 civilians who have been killed so far by the US military. It’s illegal for the military to target civilians who do not pose an immediate threat. This is murder.

U.S. Military Kills Another 6 People in 5th Caribbean Strike, Trump Says
In a social media post, the president said the people aboard a boat were suspected of smuggling drugs for an unspecified group his team had labeled terrorists.

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Ellie Margolis @elliemargolis.bsky.social · 8h

Such sad news. I gasped when I saw it.

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Carly Goodman @carlygoodman.bsky.social · 14h

Solidarity is the way

Karl Jacoby @karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 1d

History faculty at Columbia & Barnard decrying the harassment of @mark-bray.bsky.social: "This is the first case in recent memory of a historian who has fled the country after receiving death threats on account of the history that they teach."

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Ellie Margolis @elliemargolis.bsky.social · 14h

Lots of exciting books here.

Harare Review of Books @hararereview.bsky.social · 14h

Brandon Taylor, Megha Majumdar, Susan Orlean, and more: 27 new books out today! lithub.com/brandon-tayl...

Brandon Taylor, Megha Majumdar, Susan Orlean, and more: 27 new books out today!

Literary fiction-heads (as LH devotees usually are) must celebrate: new Brandon Taylor AND Megha Majumdar in one week?! Not to mention exciting, unputdownable novels by Quan Barry, Anna North, Adam…

lithub.com

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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 16h

Insightful thread.

Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 16h

one of the reasons they're so mad at "no kings" is that they thought they were going to get a different kind of protest. they *want* the black bloc to be out there fighting with the cops. those are the images they've been trying to generate from "go." instead--

newrepublic.com/article/2016...

MAGA Rage at “No Kings” Boils Over—and It Quickly Backfires on Trump

As Trump allies smear the coming protests, a good writer on MAGA skewers the absurdity of these attacks on large swaths of Americans—and explains why our best recourse will be to turn out in force.

newrepublic.com

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Ellie Margolis @elliemargolis.bsky.social · 16h

Ha. That’s excellent.

Ellie Margolis @elliemargolis.bsky.social · 16h

Uh oh. Do I want to look?

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Ellie Margolis @elliemargolis.bsky.social · 1d

Wisdom

Carly Goodman @carlygoodman.bsky.social · 1d

There are so many people whose mental health would be helped immensely by living in Philadelphia

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Ellie Margolis @elliemargolis.bsky.social · 1d

You are an honorary Philadelphian

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bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 1d

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Carolyn Shapiro @cshaplaw.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, I am afraid this is true.

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 1d

"The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were expressly crafted to grant Black people equal rights as citizens in a democratic society. The Court is preparing to use those very Amendments to deny those rights instead."

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 1d

Our university system has been without doubt our single greatest source of soft power worldwide, and (for both better and worse) often the source of our hard power as well.

And spiteful conservatives are burning it all to the ground.

Julie Greene @greeneland.bsky.social · 1d

I just learned, Thomas Alter, tenured professor, has been terminated effective immediately. Shame on Texas State! We mst build support for Tom. spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-tex...

Texas State upholds the firing of associate history professor Thomas Alter

Alter’s termination occurred on Sept. 10, stemming from his remarks at the Revolutionary Socialism Conference on Sept. 7.

spectrumlocalnews.com

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John Collins @logicallyjc.bsky.social · 1d

This is the way.

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NPR @npr.org · 1d

A Statement from NPR’s Editor in Chief on the Pentagon’s Press Policy.
Read More: www.npr.org/2025/10/13/g...

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Dara Purvis @darapurvis.bsky.social · 1d

On one hand, I know and respect very good professors at red state publics who I expect will join this compact. This kind of decision isn't up to them and any individual faculty, staff, or student is at a school for lots of reasons. On the other hand...(Cont)

Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 1d

After getting zero firm commitments to this point from the first nine invitees, the Trump administration is extending its proposed compact to all colleges. Expect some red-state publics to say yes.

Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT

The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in re...

www.bloomberg.com

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 1d

Fenway health in Boston has stopped providing gender affirming care to trans youth.

I was previously on the board of this organization and I've never been so disgusted with their leadership cowardly capitulating like this.

Alt text:
Statement from Fenway Health explaining that due to new federal requirements effective October 1, 2025, they can no longer provide medical gender-affirming care such as hormones and puberty blockers to patients under 19, but all other services for patients of all ages will continue unchanged.

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Matthew Segal @segalmr.bsky.social · 1d

Demonstrating once again that, by holding that partisan gerrymandering is a nonjusticiable “political question,” SCOTUS set up a situation in which voters and their representatives are essentially punished in Congress if they choose to run their own states fairly.

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 1d

North Carolina Republicans announced today they’re going to pass a new congressional map to draw a Dem out of Congress; they already did last cycle, going from 7-7 to 10-4. Thus would be 11-3. t.co/XLJIhe8vZn

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Nate Ela @nateela.bsky.social · 1d

Dispiriting to see that the Prez axing a tenured prof for off-campus speech is (was?) a sociologist who self-describes as “steadfast in ensuring that all are welcome, all belong, and all are heard.”

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 1d

Mind you, the Constitution very plainly gives Congress the power to protect voters from racial discrimination

But GOP argues that remedying a racial gerrymander is *also* a racial gerrymander, because it's taking race into account when drawing electoral maps

ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/louis...

Louisiana v Callais: The Republicans Justices Are Getting Ready to Finish Off the Voting Rights Act

In Louisiana v Callais, John Roberts will have the chance to finish his decades-long war on. voting rights.

ballsandstrikes.org

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