Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Bettina

Ken Stone @kenstonemedia.bsky.social · 10h

Basement of courthouse horror stories: “One immigrant got her period during the meeting in which she was detained, and was forced to wear that same underwear for days.”
timesofsandiego.com/politics/202...

Asylum-seekers now held for days – in a downtown San Diego basement

Migrants held in makeshift conditions in basement offices say they slept in the cold, used the restroom without privacy and went without medical attention.

timesofsandiego.com

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unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 16h

Border Patrol returned to the O'Hare rideshare lot today after taking 11 people on Saturday 10/18. No official word yet on how many were detained.

When we visited yesterday, drivers told us it was very empty for a Sunday.

Last Friday 10/10, they took 18 people here (it's city-owned property).

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hannah gais @hannahgais.bsky.social · 17h

Of course American fascism is just consumerist slop.

tweet from the department of homeland security x account showing a bottle of coke on top of a red ford bronco with the caption: "we can return" and a link to join USCIS

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 17h

“.. They are the asylum seekers, the rule followers. They go into the federal building holding papers .. hoping for a measure of due process. Some leave the courthouse with a hearing date set months or years from now. Others disappear into ICE’s prison system.”

@nymag.com
nymag.com/intelligence...

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"spooky simchas" daniel s. @self.agency · 1d

lmfao

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Block Club Chicago @blockclubchi.bsky.social · 1d

Federal agents arrested 11 rideshare drivers at O'Hare Saturday, the second time agents have targeted workers who are the "backbone" of the city's transportation network, an advocacy group said.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/19/b...

Border Patrol Arrests 11 Rideshare Drivers At O'Hare Parking Lot

It is the second time federal agents arrested rideshare drivers at O'Hare Airport, targeting workers that are the "backbone of Chicago's transportation system," an advocacy group said.

blockclubchicago.org

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

xAI bought X now Space X and xAI are buying Musk's clunkers. Because that is what real businesses creating real value do! electrek.co/2025/10/13/e...

Elon Musk's SpaceX and xAI are buying Tesla's unsold Cybertrucks

Hundreds of Tesla Cybertrucks have been spotted being delivered Elon Musk’s private companies, SpaceX and xAI, as Tesla is having...

electrek.co

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Steven W. Thrasher is finishing The Overseer Class @thrasherxy.bsky.social · 1d

Folks I know there’s a lot going on, but if you’re free tmrw in Chicago plz support NU students been banned from classes for refusing to watch Israeli propaganda. Their lawyer (& mine), Rima Kapita, has filed an emergency order demanding the courts intervene. I filed an affidavit of support. 🙏🏾

SHOW OUT TO OUR COURT HEARING TO SUPPORT THE NU STUDENT'S CLASS ACTION
MONDAY OCT. 20 2:00 PM
COURTROOM: 1719
219 SOUTH DEARBORN
STREET, CHICAGO, IL 60604
THE BUILDING IS ON THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF DEARBORN & JACKSON
WE INVITE NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS, FACULTY, THE GREATER EVANSTON COMMUNITY, AND THE GREATER CHICAGO
COMMUNITY TO COME TO THE HEARING!
TO SHOW THAT WE ALL CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND THAT THIS CASE AFFECTS US ALL!
[HEARING ON PLAINTIFFS' PETITION FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING
ORDERI
COURT
ETIQUETTE
• BRING YOUR ID
• NO BANNERS OR
DISRUPTIONS
• DRESS
NEUTRALLY
• BE RESPECTFUL
• BE ON TIME
CASE INFO: HTTPS://TINYURL.COM/FILEDCOMPLAINT

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Jennifer N. Victor @jenvictor.bsky.social · 1d

“Largest single-day protest in American history.” Roughly 2% of the population rose up to demand the restoration of democracy. So powerful.
From @gelliottmorris.com

open.substack.com/pub/gelliott...

Second "No Kings Day" protests the largest single-day political protest ever*, with 5.2-8.2 million participants

Here are the initial results from our crowdsourced crowd-counting estimates

open.substack.com

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 2d

“likely the largest single-day political demonstration since 1970” www.gelliottmorris.com/p/second-no-...

Second "No Kings Day" protests likely the largest single-day political demonstration since 1970, with 4.2-7.6 million participants

Here are the initial results from our crowdsourced crowd-counting estimates

www.gelliottmorris.com

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Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 1d

Among the 35 jail births identified in the news over 10 years, jail staff ignored repeated cries for help or medical assistance in at least 24 cases.

The carceral system is no place for pregnant people.

www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2025/07...

Infographic showing the outcomes of 35 in-jail childbirths reported by media, 2013-2023

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "Don't forget I can use the Insurrection Act. 50% of the presidents almost have used that. And that's unquestioned power."

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Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 1d

“No public criminal charges have been filed against anyone in connection with the raid … The @chicagotribune.com has been able to confirm the identity of only one immigrant taken into custody by federal agents that night: a 41-year-old pizza delivery man … who has no apparent criminal history.”

They were already living in one of Chicago’s worst apartment buildings. Then came the ICE raid.

In what appears to have been a warrantless operation, the federal government will not say how many people were detained, who remains in custody and what happened to the children.

www.chicagotribune.com

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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 1d

Those with sharp eyes might detect a subtle difference in NYT play last month of an event in one city, w 100,000+ attendees, versus play this morning of some 2500+ events w many millions of attendees, in all 50 states.

See if you can spot it! /s

Then you can find today's story on p A23

Front page of NYT on September 22, 2025, with large top-of-page photo of a Charlie Kirk memorial service, and the lead page-one story on the same topic.

Front page of today's NYT, Oct 19, with no story about the nationwide protests, and a "below the fold" montage of two photos, and a link to a story on page 23.

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Bettina @lesypersound.bsky.social · 1d

…was on the otherside of this a few months ago and the response to a very short lived posting was the largest we could remember AND so many qualified and way overqualified ppl in the pool. 😐

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eva (^_^)/ @eva.computer · 3d

white house has joined bluesky
click here to block all official us government accounts instantly

bsky.app/profile/did:...

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, that tracks.

@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/u...

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Bettina @lesypersound.bsky.social · 1d

This may be what white supremacists and billionaires think they’re doing… “restoring the republic” via a tyrant to MAGA by reestablishing an unambiguous white supremacist State (eg where only landowner/megarich m white men vote). 😬

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Shane Burley (Blue Sky Edition) @shaneburley.bsky.social · 3d

New from me: The notion that Charlie Kirk represented speech “done right” is a smokescreen manufactured specifically to distract from the single greatest attack on free speech in the 21st century. Kirk wasn’t simply offering an opinion, he was right-wing power personified.

Charlie Kirk and the Free Speech Hoax

The Right doesn't really care about free speech, and their reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk proves it.

inthesetimes.com

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Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 3d

“Jeffrey Epstein had multiple appointments, phone calls and dinners with Matthew Menchel — the Miami U.S. Attorney’s office chief criminal prosecutor who spearheaded Epstein’s sweetheart deal in 2007, newly released documents show.”

Epstein skied with, had dinners with a top Florida prosecutor on his case, docs show

Matthew Menchel, who spearheaded Jeffrey Epstein’s 2007 criminal prosecution, left the DOJ in 2008 to take a job as a trial lawyer at Kobre & Kim. Epstein’s calendars show Menchel met with Epstein in ...

www.miamiherald.com

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 3d

Among George Santos’ many scams was a “pet charity” where he swindled people out of money who needed it for medical care for their pets. This is who Trump just pardoned www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/n...

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 3d

Less than three months of a seven year sentence.

Editing the Blue-Gray Lady @nytdiff.bsky.social · 3d

Change in Abstract

Before: George Santos, the disgraced Republican congressman, had been sentenced to prison after his web of deceit unraveled. His lawyer said Mr. Santos expected to be released Friday.
After: George Santos, the disgraced Republican congressman, had been sentenced after his web of deceit unraveled. He served less than three months in prison.

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Bettina @lesypersound.bsky.social · 3d

If folks have suggestions on brands of mace or pepper spray and other defensive things to get for the car and for an individual pls lmk.

Things are getting worse and I know there’s actual grounded community here to ride this out.

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Bettina @lesypersound.bsky.social · 3d

I believe in making racists afraid again.

These fascists live in Chicago and there should be consequences for their racism…

I was able to act in alignment with my values—I just followed the dbag for a bit with my loud mouth repeating what he said to me while pointing him out — then kept it moving.

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Bettina @lesypersound.bsky.social · 3d

Yesterday was an unusually bad day… ICE bs is daily, couldn’t sleep after a shooting near my bldg (becoming less usual but still sucks), and then I was called the n-word by an ugly skinhead-looking coward driving a white jeep on Montrose & Ravenswood… but that man ended up scared of me so… lol.

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