Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 1h

When Putin's on the other side of the world, he's always talking like Tony Soprano.

But any time Vlad's in the same room, he becomes Artie Bucco.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1h

Trump on Ukraine: "They'd like to have Tomahawks. We talked about that. We'll see. I might have to speak to Russia, to be honest with you, about Tomahawks. Do they want to have Tomahawks going in their direction? I don't think so."

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Julie DiCaro @juliedicaro.bsky.social · 2h

So Kilmer Abrego-Garcia will not challenge a deportation to Costa Rica, who has agreed to for him residency, but DHS won’t agree to send him there because it’s not cruel enough.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

For weeks, Mr. Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who is married to a U.S. citizen, has made clear that he would not challenge his deportation if he were sent to Costa Rica, which has promised him legal residency and guaranteed that he would not be sent back to El Salvador.

But the Trump administration has refused to deport him to Costa Rica, and in an earlier hearing this week, Judge Xinis pressed the administration to consider the option or clarify why it was unacceptable.

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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 7h

Shared courtesy of my Penn History colleague, Ben Nathans

Image: A variation on Benjamin Franklin’s “Join, or Die” engraving, originally published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. Each segment of the snake has the name of a university sent Trump’s “compact”: Texas, AZ, Vanderbilt, USC, Dartmouth, UVA, Brown, Penn, MIT.

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Sarah Kendzior @sarahkendzior.bsky.social · 3h

Www.hidinginplainsightbook.com

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 3h

As I'm feeling lazy and deciding whether the likelihood of drizzle is a good enough excuse to forgo my run, I see this:

Reuters @reuters.com · 3h

Triathlon-Eighty-year-old becomes oldest woman to finish Ironman World Championship reut.rs/48sD727

Triathlon-Eighty-year-old becomes oldest woman to finish Ironman World Championship

Natalie Grabow proved that age really is just a number when the 80-year-old became the oldest woman ever to complete the gruelling Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii on Saturday.

reut.rs

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 3h

And not just any reporter. Radley Balko's reporting has gotten an innocent man off death row. He's broken multiple major stories about huge scandals. He goes in-depth on the ground with tons of local sources. Dismissing his detailed debunking as Weiss did is something no serious journalist would do.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 4h

Hi Sally. When Weiss published a supposed expose on the death of George Floyd, a veteran criminal justice reporter showed in deep detail that the piece was not just wrong but filled with falsehoods and misrepresentations. Weiss did not retract the piece. What do you think of that?

Sally Jenkins @sallyjenx.bsky.social · 6h

This is really smart. Amazed at the hysteria over the ascendance of a woman entrepreneur who clearly knows how to cover and sell news and who's not afraid to take on a mob. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 4h

Hi Sally. When Weiss published a supposed expose on the death of George Floyd, a veteran criminal justice reporter showed in deep detail that the piece was not just wrong but filled with falsehoods and misrepresentations. Weiss did not retract the piece. What do you think of that?

Sally Jenkins @sallyjenx.bsky.social · 6h

This is really smart. Amazed at the hysteria over the ascendance of a woman entrepreneur who clearly knows how to cover and sell news and who's not afraid to take on a mob. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Don’t Bet Against Bari Weiss

The new editor in chief of CBS News triumphs over her critics.

www.theatlantic.com

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 3h

Mr Vice President:
♦️ Not only is @propublica.org one of the best sources of #journalism in America today, but they've brought all the receipts.
♦️If you actually believed your own allegations about Lisa Cook, you'd definitely want to know that several Cabinet Members have done exactly the same thing.

Justin Elliott @justinelliott.bsky.social · 5h

Here is our full story that Vance is dismissing, with primary source documents showing Trump cabinet members with multiple primary-residence mortgages

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 3h

Flanagan's argument for Bari Weiss:
1. She, her spouse, and her sister are "close friends of mine."
2. "We share the same disgust at what has become of so much of the mainstream, legacy press."

That's it.
That's all of it.

If you find this convincing, then we have different ideas of #journalism.

Sally Jenkins @sallyjenx.bsky.social · 5h

Ratio me. Please. It's a badge of honor. If you don't like a link, go follow some chicken-heart who needs the approval of the thought-police. Caitlin Flanagan of @theatlantic.com is a tremendous writer and this piece is an excellent read. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Don’t Bet Against Bari Weiss

The new editor in chief of CBS News triumphs over her critics.

www.theatlantic.com

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 5h

This would be one of Admin's most unconstitutional actions yet:
♦️Directly contrary to Article I, Section 8.
♦️Clever trap: Will Dems object to paying the troops?
♦️But if Admin can simply use all IRS revenue any way it wishes, w/o Congressional approp: It'll be $100 billion/year for ICE, $0 for CDC.

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 8h

That is different from what the admin said. They claimed it was coming out of DOD R&D funds. Tariff money cannot be touched by the Trump Regime without congressional approval.

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 7h

Preach, Rev.

Rev. Benjamin Cremer @brcremer.bsky.social · 10h

Many of us grew up in the church being taught to root for Moses, Daniel, and John the Baptist in the Bible, only to grow up and have our churches question our faith for not cheering on the Pharaohs, Nebuchadnezzars, and Herods in our world today.

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 7h

Whether it's a "low income woman" putting fast food into a Cava bag, or a corrupt multimillionaire taking $50,000 out of it-- gotta let folks earn their green.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 7h

Vance: I’m sure that in the course of his life he has been paid more than $50,000 for services. The question is did he do something illegal.

Stephanopoulos: I’m asking if Homan accepted the $50,000

Vance: Is it illegal to take a payment for doing services? Low income women can’t get food

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 7h

Brilliant.

If it had been Chuck Schumer (OK, sorry for inflicting the mental picture of a bicycling Schumer on you), he would have: 1. Pretended not to hear; or
2. Gone into a five-minute monologue about the need for bipartisan cooperation to achieve shared economic goals.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 1d

It’s pronounced cyclist.

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FLAVOR FLAV ⏰ @flavorflav.bsky.social · 7h

I post this article too much,,,
But we have mass shooting too much

www.newsweek.com/2025/07/18/f...

Why Flavor Flav says the US must ban firearms now | Opinion

The lack of U.S. gun laws has created a violence epidemic unlike anywhere else on Earth. This is domestic errorism

www.newsweek.com

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 7h

In other words:
♦️Yes.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7h

JD Vance: "The idea that we're gonna have troops on the ground in Gaza and Israel -- that is not our intention, that is not our plan."

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M. Kabir @mkabir.bsky.social · 7h

“There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one’s head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people’s pain.”

— James Baldwin

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 8h

Welcome to the club.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 10h

BREAKING: An attempted coup is underway in the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, the country's president says.

An attempted coup is underway in Madagascar, the country's president says

The president of madagascar says an attempted coup is underway in the Indian Ocean island country. A statement from President Andry Rajoelina’s office said it “wishes to inform the nation and the international community that an attempt to seize power illegally and by force” has been “initiated” on S

bit.ly

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 8h

Stopped clock...

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 9h

CANDACE: “Trump wants a Nobel Prize for the planned ethnic cleansing of Gaza they can profit off of and turn into a beach town… every family set to inherit what they did will be cursed… when they build a Trump Hotel there, I caution 🌍 to stay far away from that cursed land.”

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 8h

Advice to young guys looking to meet human women:
♦️"Hey Sarah, still laughing about the tiny shared moment/reference-- I have genuine interest without urgency" ...probably won't be as effective as your pick-up artist mentor seems to believe.

C. Buckthorn @cbuckthorn.bsky.social · 15h

This is amazing. I laughed out loud www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

As 32-year-old Rich points out, though, "it's not like using ChatGPT guarantees success".
When he met someone in a bar one Friday night and swapped social media handles, he asked AI what his next move should be.
ChatGPT discerned that sending an initial message on Monday midmorning would set the right pace. "Then it gave me some options for what the message could be," says Rich.
"Keep it light, warm, and low-stakes so it reads as genuine interest without urgency," the bot advised. "Something like: Hey Sarah, still laughing about [tiny shared moment/reference if you've got one] - good to meet you!" Rich went back and forth with ChatGPT until he felt they'd hit upon exactly the right message ("Hey Sarah, it was lovely to meet you") but sadly she never replied, he says. "It's been two weeks now."

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 9h

PSA: Trump was president on 1/6

(Can’t wait to read @jaketapper’s book about this)

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 10h

Epstein files giving House Republicans over two months paid vacation and counting.

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 8h

That's not a "no."

Welker even gave JD a massive loophole: The "directly" meant he could truthfully say "no," since US troops would almost certainly be deployed by way of Israel (there's no port in #Gaza, and it's unlikely US troops would parachute in).

He still didn't deny it.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 9h

WELKER: Can you guarantee that no US troops will ever be sent directly into Gaza?

JD VANCE: We're not planning to put boots on the ground

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 1d

Translation:
"Excellent" health =
♦️"Given his abominable diet, lifelong avoidance of any physical activity, and obvious fleshly decomposition, he remains still classifiable as medically 'alive.' "
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump is in ‘excellent’ health, White House says, amid questions about second exam

Outside physicians asked why the president was making a return trip to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, six months after undergoing medical tests.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 1d

I can:
♦️As he's made clear so times: He has utter contempt for people foolish enough to believe him.

Lakota Man 🪶 @lakotaman.bsky.social · 1d

Trump received his COVID inoculation yesterday at Walter Reed Hospital. However, he vehemently urges his followers not to get the jab.

Can someone please explain the rationale behind this?

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Jonah Blank @jonahblank.bsky.social · 1d

As is so often the case with this Administration's destruction of the Federal government:
♦️Almost certainly illegal. But the courts are powerless to stop it.
♦️GOP-controlled Congress will never do anything to stop it.
♦️Core question: Who is helped by this? As always: Not the American people.

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 1d

Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)

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