Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Laura Chapin @laurachapin.bsky.social · 42m

We Rate Dogs has joined the frogs.

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elias isquith @eliasisquith.blog · 4h

this is extremely smart and should be the checkbox all future D candidates have to clear to be taken seriously

Ritchie Torres, the Bronx Democrat and frequent critic of progressives, said Mamdani is “a once-in-a-generation communicator” who has mastered what he called the “three threes”: A candidate in today’s day and age needs to be able to explain ideas in a 30-second vertical social media video, a three-minute television hit and a three-hour long-form podcast.

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Laura Chapin @laurachapin.bsky.social · 1h

Tell me again how I or any Democrat are supposed to 'find common ground' or 'moderate' with these people. 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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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 2h

It’s been fun being attacked for years for saying bigotry motivates these people more than low taxes and small government

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 2h

Turns out your assumptions about what republican group chats are like is correct 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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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 6h

ICYMI: “And now, a response from the leader of the frog resistance...” 🐸 🎵 #Colbert

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zooleegoo.bsky.social @zooleegoo.bsky.social · 2h

Same. Never will understand why so many wanted a president without dignity, class, or etiquette. The president should represent the best of us. I wouldn't pick a surgeon because she 'talks like me' & is dumber than me. I want the smartest motherfucker you got.

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Laura Chapin @laurachapin.bsky.social · 2h

* or she

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Laura Chapin @laurachapin.bsky.social · 2h

@carlquintanilla.bsky.social Colorado.
www.cpr.org/2025/08/06/c...

In private group chat, GOP lawmakers made crude jokes about a Democratic colleague's clothing

The thread was sparked by a photo that was later posted to social media, unleashing online harassment.

www.cpr.org

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Laura Chapin @laurachapin.bsky.social · 2h

We saw this here in Colorado with how Rep Yara Zokaie was treated in a group chat.
Trump has given these people permission to be as morally malignant as they want to be and they are running with it.

Politico @politico.com · 3h

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.

Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

‘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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Caitlyn Kim @caitlynkim.bsky.social · 3h

"It feels terrible." Federal worker's family tightens their belts as shutdown drags on www.npr.org/2025/10/11/n...

"It feels terrible." Federal worker's family tightens their belts as shutdown drags on

With no end in sight to the funding standoff, financial anxiety is growing. One single mom in Colorado raided her retirement savings to get through the shutdown.

www.npr.org

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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 4h

He supported America’s war, escaped Afghanistan and started a family in the U.S.

Then ICE arrested him.

If he is deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.

America saved him from the Taliban. Trump wants to send him back.

He supported America’s war, escaped Afghanistan and started a family in the U.S. Then ICE arrested him. If he is deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.

www.washingtonpost.com

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@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 16h

@jacobsoboroff.bsky.social with a helluva story on ICE in Chicago: “they’re assaulting women, deporting children, mothers and fathers — not criminals. And if they’re criminals, he needs to prove it. We haven’t seen that evidence yet.”

Jacob Soboroff @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social · 21h

The government’s own data and detentions like the ones we reported on in Chicago raise serious doubt about whether the Trump administration’s mission is to target “the worst of the worst” at all. New reporting from @msnbc.com. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/t...

Trump says migrants drive violent crime in Illinois. But ICE can’t find many violent criminals.

Masked ICE agents and other federal forces showed up in Chicago to go after gangsters. Instead, they keep catching people who are just living their lives.

www.msnbc.com

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Tim Dickinson @timdickinson.bsky.social · 17h

The Portland ICE protest camp literally has a rack full of inflatable costumes for demonstrators who want to try one on...

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50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 19h

The Portland Frog army has now infiltrated Tulsa, OK and they’ve made an unlikely alliance with the T-Rex infantry and Sharks on Hoverboards mercenary forces.

This is truly terrifying.

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James Hell Brooks @kleinman.bsky.social · 19h

I hate getting the error screen because I forgot the land acknowlegement

Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 1d

It’s great to be paid for protesting and everything but let me tell you the whole antifa reimbursement process is just terrible

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Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 22h

Was waiting to see how Olivia Reingold (who Oliver's piece destroyed almost as much as Bari Weiss) would respond, and you can see the tweet below which also shows she either did not watch his piece, or just didn't understand it, since he actually addresses this point directly.

Olivia Reingold quote tweeting Variety.

The Variety tweet is about John Oliver's piece on Bari Weiss leading CBS News, saying:

John Oliver slams Bari Weiss' takeover of CBS News:

"I wouldn’t want anyone who led a pure opinion outlet, not even one that I happened to agree with, to suddenly be running CBS News. But it is especially alarming to have someone doing it who has spent years putting out work that, in my opinion, is at best irresponsible and at worst deeply misleading."

Reingold then quotes it saying:

Why does this sound like John Oliver commenting on……John Oliver

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🎃 Trick or Pete 🎃 Lucier @peterlucier.bsky.social · 1d

After commenters deriding the appearance of TX NG troops made photos of their deployment to Chicago go viral, the Texas Military Department quietly recalled and replaced them

For their appearance.

They didn’t send the Guard to serve.
They sent them to be seen.

taskandpurpose.com/news/texas-n...

Some Texas National Guard troops replaced in Illinois after failing to meet standards

An unspecified amount of Texas National Guard troops were replaced in Chicago, shortly after photos of their appearance were mocked.

taskandpurpose.com

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Laura Chapin @laurachapin.bsky.social · 21h

I'm picky about my white guys but Chris Van Hollen and JB Pritzker are both growing on me.

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Senator Chris Van Hollen @vanhollen.senate.gov · 22h

These are the same kind of weasels who would’ve called George Washington & America’s revolutionaries “terrorists.” They spend their days sucking up to King Trump & demonizing peaceful protest just as some in America sought to appease King George III.

Looking forward to No Kings Day.

Johnson describes planned No Kings rally as ‘hate America,’ ‘pro-Hamas’ gathering

Organizers largely blew off the rhetoric, but some Democrats online criticized the tone.

www.politico.com

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Laura Chapin @laurachapin.bsky.social · 1d

@sallyjenx.bsky.social
In which comedian John Oliver does the fact checking journalism you and Caitlyn Flanagan refuse to do and systematically dismantles the imbecilic grift that is Bari Weiss.
Call it a ratio if you like. But it uses Weiss's own words.
youtu.be/gieTx_P6INQ?...

Bari Weiss: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

youtu.be

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Laura Chapin @laurachapin.bsky.social · 1d

We not only memorized phone numbers, we memorized *patterns*.

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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Laura Chapin @laurachapin.bsky.social · 1d

My southern grandmother Frances hated Reagan because, among other reasons, she thought he was dumb as a post. She was right.
I don't want a President who's dumber than me & talks like 'real people'.
I want someone who's so goddamn whip smart he terrifies the rest of the room when he walks into it.

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politiBOO! @politiburb.bsky.social · 1d

I don't want politicians to "talk normally", I like when my elected leaders sound more intelligent and calculated in their words than I do. I would be terrified if I could see myself in a political leader. I want them to be smarter than me, that's their job as a leader.

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KedricKillian @kedrickillian.bsky.social · 1d

The idea that there are activists and citizens who attend protests because it’s what they believe in is completely foreign to them. If it isn’t a personal grift, they don’t understand the motivation.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Sean Duffy: "The No Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. This is part of antifa, paid protesters. It begs the question who's funding it."

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