Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 1d

Trump was caught on a hot mic arranging a meeting between a foreign head of state and Eric Trump, who runs the Republican's family business.

Isn’t this exactly the sort of thing GOP members of Congress used to care about? www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

‘Hot mic’ catches Indonesian president asking Trump for a meeting with son Eric

The American president was overheard arranging a meeting between Prabowo Subianto and Eric Trump, who runs the Republican's family business.

www.msnbc.com

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Senator Ed Markey @markey.senate.gov · 18h

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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Katharina Holler @katho333.bsky.social · 16h

Comey

youtu.be/cnUeCds20u0?...

Trump’s vindictive prosecution gets SURPRISE bad news

YouTube video by Brian Tyler Cohen

youtu.be

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Kodiak149 @kodiak149.bsky.social · 1d

Saturday October 18
Be there

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 17h

Good. Even if this doesn’t work, it’s time to go on offense.

www.newsweek.com/jb-pritzker-...

JB Pritzker looking at prosecuting ICE agents in Chicago

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has suggested that state prosecutors might examine the conduct of ICE agents.

www.newsweek.com

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jfbass.bsky.social @jfbass.bsky.social · 14h

Uggggggggg! The "Trump effect" is going to take years to undo. Make racism abhorrent again!

Carolleisa @carolleisa.bsky.social · 16h

Vile #NYYoungRepublicans Who gave them license? 🤨
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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jfbass.bsky.social @jfbass.bsky.social · 14h

Do it!

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 18h

NEW: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes threatens legal action if Mike Johnson continues to refuse to swear in Adelita Grijalva. www.politico.com/live-updates...

Arizona attorney general threatens legal action against Mike Johnson for failing to seat Adelita Grijalva

The Democrat accused Johnson of playing “political games” by delaying the swearing-in ceremony.

www.politico.com

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TiggsCupcake @tiggsisacupcake.bsky.social · 17h

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jfbass.bsky.social @jfbass.bsky.social · 14h

🤮🤢🤮

THEE Gutsy Woman🐝 🪷 @gutsywoman19.bsky.social · 1d

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 18h

Groceries are up

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SassySenora701 @sassysenior70.bsky.social · 21h

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editR @editr.bsky.social · 2d

imagine if trump were as focused on helping the people and fixing the nations issues as he is on going after his perceived enemies

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editR @editr.bsky.social · 2d

whats happening in cities like Portland and Chicago should be covered like the national crisis it is, 24 hours non-stop, just like 9/11. If there is even a mention of it on CNN or MSNBC its a short blip of a story. America is under attack from its own government
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...

Feds use tear gas, pepper balls on Portland ICE protest crowd, PDX spurns Noem video: Get caught up

“You’re making it a war zone,” a protester shouted as people ran for cover.

www.oregonlive.com

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 3d

Never forget this: The forces rigging our economy, undermining our democracy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win. Stay clear-eyed and ready for the fight ahead.

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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 3d

This heartfelt and meaningful statement by Portland resident and author Cristina Breshears on another social media platform bears reposting here. I don't think the intent is to idealize Portland but to remind all of us what is important and why. (Posted here with permission.)

For nine nights now, the steady thrum of Black Hawk helicopters has circled over Portland. The sound is constant, invasive; a low mechanical beating above our homes. It’s expensive. It’s intimidating. And it’s unnecessary.

Our protests have been largely peaceful. There is no insurrection here. Yet this federalized military presence makes us feel like we are living in a war zone (the very kind of chaos this administration claims to be protecting us from).

The irony is painful: it is only this occupation that makes Portland feel unsafe.

Each hour of helicopter flight costs taxpayers between $2,000 and $4,000, depending on crew, fuel, and maintenance. Multiply that by multiple aircraft over multiple nights, and you’re looking at hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars burned into the sky.

Meanwhile, the Woodstock Food Pantry at All Saints Episcopal Church — which feeds working families, elders, and people with disabilities — has seen its federal funding slashed by 75%. How can we justify pouring public money into intimidation while cutting aid to those who simply need to eat?

This is waste, fraud, and abuse in plain sight:
* Waste of public resources on military theatrics.
* Fraud in the name of “public safety.”
* Abuse of the communities that federal agencies claim to protect.

Portland is a Sanctuary City. A sanctuary city is not a fortress. It’s a promise — a living vow that a community will protect the dignity and safety of everyone who calls it home. It means that local governments and ordinary people alike will refuse to criminalize survival. That schools, clinics, churches, and shelters will remain safe spaces no matter who you are or where you were born. But the term reaches far beyond policy. It’s an ethic of belonging; a refusal to criminalize need, difference, or desperation.

Sanctuary isn’t weakness. It’s courage. It takes moral strength to meet suffering with care instead of punishment, to believe that our neighbors’ safety is bound up in our own, to insist that safety is not achieved through force but through community, inclusion, and trust. It is living Matthew 25:40 out loud and in deed. It is an act of moral imagination and moral defiance. To hold sanctuary is to say: you belong here.

When we hold space for the most vulnerable — refugees, the unhoused, the undocumented, the disabled, the working poor, the displaced — we become something larger than a collection of individuals. We become a moral body. We do more than offer charity. We offer witness. We declare that the measure of a nation is found not in its towers or tanks, but in its tenderness.

Sanctuary cities are not lawless; they are soulful. They represent the conscience of the nation, a place where the laws of empathy still apply. To make sanctuary is to affirm that the United States is not merely a geographic territory, but a moral experiment: a republic that must constantly choose between fear and compassion, between domination and democracy.

A nation’s soul is measured not by the might of its military, but by the mercy of its people. When helicopters circle our skies in the name of order, while food pantries struggle to feed the hungry, we are forced to ask: What are we defending, and from whom? The soul of a nation survives only when we make sanctuary for one another. Not through walls or weapons, but through compassion and collective will. If we allow intimidation to replace compassion, we will have traded our conscience for control.

Please know that despite the hum of war machines overhead, the conscience of our city — whimsical, creative, stubbornly kind — can still be heard.

Portland is not the problem. Portland is the reminder. A reminder that a city can still choose to be sanctuary. That a people can still choose to be human.

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editR @editr.bsky.social · 1d

the carnage, the carnage. I seriously hope trump and company are paying attention. The people are not happy!

Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 2d

The US federal attack on Portland has resulted in the best advertisement for a city that I have ever seen. Round-the-clock joy, community solidarity and silliness that much of the West has lost and longs for.

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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 1d

Respect to those who got here first.

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Adam Gurri @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com · 1d

Be sure to spread it around

No kings
No dictators
October 18
Nokings.org

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FlyingEagle @johndavidson66.bsky.social · 2d

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Rebekah Jones @georebekah.bsky.social · 12d

MAGA mega-church pastor and former Trump “spiritual advisor” Robert Morris pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child yesterday.

The trend of white men getting light sentences for sex crimes is most severe in GOP-run states.

open.substack.com/pub/rebekahj...

The Pedophile Elephant in the Room

MAGA mega-church pastor and former Trump “spiritual advisor” Robert Morris pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child yesterday. The trend of white men getting light sentences for sex crimes is most s...

open.substack.com

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jfbass.bsky.social @jfbass.bsky.social · 1d

😡😡😡

Rebekah Jones @georebekah.bsky.social · 2d

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) faces its deepest cuts ever under Trump's budget.

The $2.9 billion allocated to the 574 federally-recognized tribes will be cut to $1.7 billion, with more cuts to supporting programs on the way.

Read for free:
www.mesoscalenews.com/p/bureau-of-...

Bureau of Indian Affairs faces deepest cuts in US History

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day this year — a day that ought to be a moment of reflection, honor, and renewal of Indigenous heritage — the reality instead evokes mourning, shame, and questions of national ...

www.mesoscalenews.com

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JOLENEandGRANT #NEVER51 NO DM's @joleneandgrant.bsky.social · 1d

🇺🇸📢
youtube.com/shorts/RdkSF...

This person ran over to talk to us about Trump’s actions on immigration and deportation.

YouTube video by Don Lemon

youtube.com

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Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 1d

How fashy do you have to be for the Washington Post to refuse to sign your pre-clearance policy? www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

News outlets broadly reject Pentagon rules before signing deadline

The Washington Post and other major news outlets have refused to sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new media policy, citing First Amendment concerns.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Sen. Adam Schiff @schiff.senate.gov · 1d

Congrats to University of California professors & alumni for being awarded 5 Nobel Prizes!

California’s scientists are leading the world in crucial breakthroughs.

www.sfchronicle.com/california/a...

University of California sets world record with five Nobel Prizes in one week

The UC system made history this week, as its faculty and alumni won five Nobel Prizes across medicine, physics and chemistry — the most ever awarded to a single institution in one year.

www.sfchronicle.com

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Obama: "When you see an administration suggest that ordinary street crime is an insurrection or a terrorist act, that is a genuine effort to weaken how we have understood democracy."

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