Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jack Carter Benjamin

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 1h

That’s $5 billion more than the entire annual USAID budget. All to one country. To rescue one friend of the president’s.

Ilhan Omar @ilhanmn.bsky.social · 1h

Trump found another $20 BILLION to give to Argentina, totaling their bailout to $40 BILLION.

Yet we can’t afford to prevent millions of Americans from losing their healthcare.

Shame.

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Ryan Mac 🙃 @rmac.bsky.social · 3h

this is the dumbest shit i have ever read

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 8h

Fascinating. Politico notes that when notified of the texts, many state-level Republicans fired or condemned these cretins. Now Vance emerges to excuse the racism, and calls the reaction to it "pearl clutching."

He seems determined to purge the party of its last enclaves of decency.

‘College Group Chat’: JD Vance Dismisses ‘Pearl Clutching’ Over Young Republicans Leak to Attack Jay Jones

Liberals hit back at Vance's blunt dismissal of racist, antisemitic and misogynistic messages leaked from a Young Republicans group chat.

www.mediaite.com

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Annette Gordon-Reed @agordonreed.bsky.social · 14h

1)You may remember the articles criticizing liberal students for their hesitancy to make friends with conservative students—alleging that they were less open-minded than their conservative counterparts.

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 21h

Here are the little darlings they’ve created. Horrifying.

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 1d

I was lucky to catch Del Toro’s Frankenstein in cinemas. Shelley’s classic is one of my all-time favorite novels.

It was… okay. Not as faithful to the source material as I’d hoped, often in ways I found totally confounding.

Feel bad saying it, but it makes me yearn for a Robert Eggers adaptation.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

Alternatively I think a reasonable middle ground is to rejoin but keep a harsh limit on who you follow and allow to follow you. Basically only close friends and family.

And force yourself to check the app only once every so often, and only check the chronological feed.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

I did the same a year or two ago and don’t regret it on principle. In my case, at least, my actual close friends rarely posted and it was skewing my perception of whose personal life I cared about.

If you miss seeing updates from close friends, maybe check in more regularly? And ask for photos?

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

Here we have a “reporter” whose demonstrated capacity for conducting due diligence includes not reading beyond the headline.

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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 2d

Promoting the editor-in-chief's personal side project. Zero named sources in a story that promotes the editor-in-chief's personal political position. Misspelling the subject's name. It took one day for CBS News to become a conservative blog.

www.cbsnews.com/video/some-n...

CBS News: Some NYPD officers worry about Mandani becoming NYC mayor the Free Press reports.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 2d

Groundbreaking.

Variety @variety.com · 2d

Apple has rebranded its streaming service Apple TV+ to Apple TV — which is the same name as its connected smart TV product.

“Apple TV+ is now simply Apple TV, with a vibrant new identity,” the company announced on Monday.

Apple TV+ Rebrands to Apple TV, Ditching the Plus Sign for ‘Vibrant New Identity’

It's just Apple TV now, no plus.

variety.com

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 3d

This two-parter below is exactly why it's hard to make clothes in the United States.

Let's look at how much it costs to produce a button-up shirt in the US. 🧵

Someone on Twitter replies to me: "meh. buy american or stfu."

Two hours later, in a separate thread, the write: "$30 for a single button-up is ridiculous unless it is decent quality silk."

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 3d

The galling thing is all the editor needed to do here was add 9 characters onto the end of that description: “It isn’t.”

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 3d

I think There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece (soundtrack, cinematography, performances from DDL + Dano in particular), but it’s definitely not a movie I’m constantly itching to watch again.

OBAA, on the other hand… I wanted to rewatch it as soon as I left the theater.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 4d

Guy who wrote this post: Stephen King

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 4d

Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it's to establish personalist control over the FUCKING MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine

Via: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

The Office of Management and Budget sent a notification to Congress about their intent to use research and development funds to pay members of the military, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.

A spokesperson for the OMB confirmed to NBC News that it plans to use the research and development funds and that there are two years' worth of funds available within the Department of Defense.

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 4d

Trump said he deserved a cut for brokering the TikTok deal, and at once there was agreement that his son Baron would have a top executive slot... though he hasn't asked for it, and has no apparent qualifications to hold it. This is how Trump 2.0 works. www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025...

Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job

US president’s 19-year-old son could be appointed to the app’s board

www.telegraph.co.uk

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 4d

Fake AI videos mocking dead celebrities are going viral. We talked to their families, and they're horrified.

We break down OpenAI's Sora 2 and the moral and legal problems of "synthetic resurrection."

Gift link: wapo.st/4nNKzd3 w/ @tatumhunter.bsky.social

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News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 5d

BREAKING: ICE agents just abducted a press camera operator in Chicago.

WGN-TV’s Debbie Brockman was dragged to the ground, cuffed and bundled into a van - which then rammed her vehicle to escape.

What the hell is happening in America?

(🎥 Original footage via Josh Thomas/FB)

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Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 5d

News: Bari Weiss just sent a memo to staffers at CBS News asking them to produce a memo explaining "how you spend your working hours—and ideally, what you've made (or are making) that you're most proud of."

One CBS News staffer puts it like this to me: "We just got Elon Musked."

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Will McKinley @willmckinley.bsky.social · 5d

"CBS is no longer independent, but under the tutelage of a conservative billionaire who is putting more than his thumb on the scale."

Kudos to Dan Rather, a 44-year veteran of CBS News, for speaking truth to power.

deadline.com/2025/10/dan-... #CBS #Paramount

Dan Rather Says Bari Weiss Hire And Skydance-Paramount Merger Mark “A Dark Day In The Halls Of CBS News”

Rather said that Weiss' hire will add to fears journalists have of losing their jobs.

deadline.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 5d

“A destructive A.I., like a nuclear bomb, is now a concrete possibility. The question is whether anyone will be reckless enough to build one.”

Opinion | The A.I. Prompt That Could End the World

www.nytimes.com

Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 5d

Watch there be "retaliatory" tariffs against Norway now.

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 5d

Interesting new start-up out of the UK - don't want to see banner ads on The Guardian or The Independent? Into-It has partnered with the publishers to replace them with "notifications" about musical artists you like.

Details:

(Yes I am a huge BCNR fan)

Into-It relaunches Chrome extension to 'bring music industry budgets to publishers'

The UK-based startup seeks to replace banner ads with notifications about musical artists, giving users greater choice and relevance over what they see. After a modest start this year, the new extension and a subsequent marketing campaign will look to accelerate user uptake.

uk.themedialeader.com

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Patrick LaForge @palafo.bsky.social · 6d

We live in Pynchon’s world www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/m...

Thomas Pynchon Saw Where America Was Headed. What Does He See Now?

www.nytimes.com

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Jack Carter Benjamin @jackcarterbenjamin.bsky.social · 6d

Exclusive from me this morning: ITV has launched a generative AI production service that can create TV ads for small- and medium-sized businesses in under thirty seconds, with a low entry cost.

Details on The Media Leader:

ITV launches GenAI Ads Manager

Exclusive: The broadcaster has partnered with Streamr.ai to form the basis of its new AI-driven production service, aimed at making it easier for SMEs to invest in TV.

uk.themedialeader.com