Author | Lightnews

Margaret E. Ward

@margareteward.bsky.social

1.6K followers 3.2K following 530 posts

Human. Boat rocker. Leadership consultant. Journalist. NYer in Ireland. Sharing trusted news sources & experts reporting on breakdown of US Democracy. #ireland #irish #leadership #business #democracy #resist #american #democrat #irishbluesky #broligarchy

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Margaret E. Ward @margareteward.bsky.social · Feb 14

The end of US democracy didn’t happen overnight…It’s a 60 year plot by America’s wealthy to destroy the middle class. Inspired by Irishman Edmund Burke! #democracy #autocracy #broligrachs #anerica #ireland #irish open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

The GOP’s 60-Year Conspiracy to Kill Our Democracy: None Dare Call It Treason—But I Will

It all traces back to billionaire-backed fearmongering in the 1960s—weaponizing panic around socialism and communism to crush unions, cut taxes, and hoard profits...

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Margaret E. Ward

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 1d

Walmart and McDonald’s are among the top employers of workers who rely on food stamps.

McDonald's CEO raked in $18.2M last year — over 1,000x the company's median employee pay.

Walmart's CEO pocketed $27.4M — 930x the company's median employee pay.

See the problem?

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Margaret E. Ward @margareteward.bsky.social · 1d

open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

The SNAP Scam: How Billionaires and Politicians Built a Welfare System for the Rich

Behind the rhetoric about ‘lazy freeloaders’ lies a stunning truth: America’s largest corporations depend on food stamps to prop up their low-wage empires...

open.substack.com

Reposted by Margaret E. Ward

Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · 2d

I continue to wonder when Americans will decide enough is enough. As Frederick Douglass reminds us:

“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

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Margaret E. Ward @margareteward.bsky.social · 2d

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Here’s How the AI Crash Happens

The U.S. is becoming an Nvidia-state.

www.theatlantic.com

Reposted by Margaret E. Ward

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 6d

The top three things Jesus was on about were feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and welcoming the stranger. Rich men have convinced so-called Christians to starve the hungry, gut health care, and deport the stranger to enrich themselves. It’s astoundingly anti-Christ.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 6d

FACTS about SNAP:

-35% to white people (largest share)
-90% to people born in 🇺🇸
-86% to households with kids
-70% work full time but aren’t paid a living wage (aka corporate welfare)

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Breeze @cool-summer-breeze.bsky.social · 6d

I'm not crying, you are crying. 🥺

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Reposted by Margaret E. Ward

Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 7d

Leaked document. Yikes, things are about to get much worse. It looks like we’re on the verge of becoming a military state across the country. Step out of line, and the man come and take you away.

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Margaret E. Ward @margareteward.bsky.social · 7d

This is it exactly. 👇👇👇 An impoverished, disempowered population will bend its knee to a dictator. It’s way past time that Americans & others started protesting en masse. We had 7million at the last @indivisible.org No Kings protest. Will you join us the next time or starve, let others go hungry?

Governor Tim Walz @governorwalz.mn.gov · 9d

Every $1 invested in SNAP generates $1.80 in economic activity.

It’s not about the money, Trump just wants Americans to go hungry.

Margaret E. Ward @margareteward.bsky.social · 7d

Ireland is riding two horses galloping in different directions across the Atlantic. Ireland cannot afford to be a spectator in this new global divide. We must be architects of a shared European future

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Ben Tonra: Ireland is riding two horses that are now galloping in different directions

Nostalgia can not blind us to the new realities of the collapsing alliance between the US and Europe

www.irishtimes.com

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Margaret E. Ward @margareteward.bsky.social · 8d

"To Americans Still "Staying out of Politics" There is no protection in a fascist regime: not silence or wealth or apathy or position. Eventually, they’ll come for all of us. We are tethered together." open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...

To Americans Still "Staying out of Politics"

A few days ago, I ran into a friend from my former church at the grocery store.

open.substack.com

Reposted by Margaret E. Ward

Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 9d

Feels symbolic that a Confederate statue first installed in 1901, at the peak of the consolidation of the Jim Crow system—when the states of the former Confederacy were in the midst of revising their constitutions to disfranchise Black citizens—has been reinstalled.
www.npr.org/2025/10/27/n...

A Confederate statue toppled in Washington, D.C., in 2020 has been reinstalled

A statue of Confederate general Albert Pike, which had been pulled down during the Black Lives Matter movement, has been put back up in Washington, D.C.'s Judiciary Square.

www.npr.org

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Margaret E. Ward @margareteward.bsky.social · 8d

“If you are not frighened, you are not paying attention” - www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Donald Trump’s Plan to Subvert the Midterms Is Already Under Way

Our election system is reaching a breaking point.

www.theatlantic.com

Margaret E. Ward @margareteward.bsky.social · 9d

Gates making a deeply damaging statement here. What does he hope to gain?

Margaret E. Ward @margareteward.bsky.social · 9d

Thank you.

Reposted by Margaret E. Ward

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 9d

The world is deeply unserious about dealing with climate change. We need to reduce emissions by 50% in 5 years and we're nowhere near that.

World’s climate plans fall drastically short of action needed, analysis shows

Recent plans submitted to UN by more than 60 countries would cut carbon by only 10%, a sixth of what is needed

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Margaret E. Ward

Ruth Zakarin @ruthz.bsky.social · 9d

It’s worth noting that if a parent took a minor child across state lines without the permission of the other parent, that would be considered kidnapping. But I guess that’s okay when it’s the federal government.

A 13 year old abducted by ICE. What are we doing? open.substack.com/pub/ruthzaka...

A 13 year old and ICE

Weeks ago I wrote about 13 and 17 year old sisters who went missing in the world after ICE abducted their mother from a Worcester, Massachusetts street, leaving them parentless and in state care.

open.substack.com

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WIRED @wired.com · 10d

NEW: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said earlier this month that ChatGPT now has 800 million weekly active users. The company’s estimates therefore suggest that every seven days, around 560,000 people may be exchanging messages with ChatGPT that indicate they are experiencing mania or psychosis.

Here's How Many People May Use ChatGPT During a Mental Health Crisis Each Week

OpenAI released initial estimates about the share of users who may be experiencing symptoms like delusional thinking, mania, or suicidal ideation, and says it has tweaked GPT-5 to respond more effecti...

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Margaret E. Ward

WIRED @wired.com · 9d

The new AI-powered Wikipedia competitor falsely claims that pornography worsened the AIDS epidemic and that social media may be fueling a rise in transgender people.

Elon Musk's Grokipedia Pushes Far-Right Talking Points

The new AI-powered Wikipedia competitor falsely claims that pornography worsened the AIDS epidemic and that social media may be fueling a rise in transgender people.

wrd.cm

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Reposted by Margaret E. Ward

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 9d

The government shutdown has put SNAP benefits at risk for millions of Americans. Travis Peters, an urban farmer in Detroit, is giving out free produce tomorrow

'If it's getting tight, my food is free. Don’t even sweat that'