Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 11h

From the New Republic: "ICE agents kidnapped a U.S. citizen in Chicago who had just finished working a double shift because she didn’t “look” American to them." newrepublic.com/post/201745/...
Surely this is illegal and should be stopped.

ICE Detains Citizen After Saying She Doesn’t “Look Like” Her Last Name

She even had her U.S. passport on her.

newrepublic.com

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Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 5d

One day after the court order protecting journalists: "masked border patrol agents pinned WGN-TV producer Debbie Brockman to the ground and arrested her after she recorded agents detaining a Latino man. "

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Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 5d

"..., U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis granted a two-week temporary restraining order prohibiting federal agents in Chicago from “[d]ispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, threatening or using physical force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a Journalist..."

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 7d

I have just subscribed to Heather Cox Richardson's letters from an American. Here is a link for others who might want to subscribe: heathercoxrichardson.substack.com?r=4j2oxj&utm...

Letters from an American | Heather Cox Richardson | Substack

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics. Click to read Letters from an American, by Heather Cox Richardson, a Substack publication with millions of subscribers.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 8d

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's lack of respect for congressional oversight is unacceptable. If a democratic AG behaved that way, Republican members would call for her removal. Why are they silent now?

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 10d

Donald Trump may be seriously dement. According to the Guardian (5. Oct 2025) Madeleine Dean, a Democratic congresswoman from Pennsylvania, said: “The president is unhinged. He is unwell.” Certainly his social media posts and recent speeches suggest that. Congress has a responsibility to act.

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 13d

At 1:00 AM Tueday Federal agents raided a building on Chicago’s South Shore Drive. Agents said that they believed that it was a drug trafficking site. ABC News reported that people were terrified. Even children were zip-tied together. No evidence of any crime was offered. Is the rule of law dead?

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 15d

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Remind Donald Trump!

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 16d

According to Guardian, President Trump said: "We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military – national guard, but military – because we’re going into Chicago very soon, that’s a big city with an incompetent governor." Surely that suggestion is unconstitutional?

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 17d

Robert Reich wrote: "Trump is showing growing signs of dementia. He’s increasingly unhinged. He’s 79 years old with a family history of dementia. He could well be going nuts... Perhaps the most telling evidence of Trump’s growing dementia is his paranoid thirst for revenge..." Congress needs to act!

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 20d

The prosecution of former FBI director James Comey gives new life to the old phrase "Trumped up charges". :-)

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 20d

The Guardian just published an article about the National Railway Museum: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

‘A hub of humanity’: National Railway Museum space reopens after £11m refit

Station Hall displays from a microwave-burger box to royal carriages intended to showcase best and worst of rail travel

www.theguardian.com

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Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 21d

Why did Khalil not get due process?

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 21d

Robert Reich writes: "On March 8, immigration agents appeared at Khalil’s apartment building and told him he was being detained. They then revoked Khalil’s green card and student visa and held him at a Louisiana detention facility for 104 days before a federal judge ordered him released."

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Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 24d

William Kristol wrote: "In an undercover operation last year, the FBI recorded Tom Homan, now the White House border czar, accepting $50,000 in cash after indicating he could help the agents — who were posing as business executives — win government contracts ...." Sounds like corruption.

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Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · 24d

Donald Trump's attacks on the constitutional right to free speech ought to alarm citizens. News sources report: "Trump pushes justice department to prosecute his political opponents". That is a violation of the US constitution, for which a president can be impeached.

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · Sep 16

Robert Reich ([email protected]) writes that Amazon is marketing a fake version of his Book "Coming up Short". He wrote: "I’ve repeatedly alerted Amazon to these frauds, but they’ve done nothing."

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · Sep 1

Robert Reich quoted William Butler Yeats today;

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,...
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · Aug 21

It is interesting to watch Republicans violate the law and the constitution out of fear that Trump's poll numbers have fallen so low that they are sure they will lose badly in any mid-term elections that are not rigged. And this was once the party of law and order.

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · Aug 20

From the Washington Post: "Oklahoma will test some incoming teachers with ‘America-first’ exam" This sounds dangerously like fascism. It seems that teachers no longer have freedom of speech or of opinion.

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · Aug 20

Today Robert Reich posted a cartoon of people holding a sign where the M in Trump's name was replaced by a swastika.
See: robertreich.substack.com/p/office-hou...

Office Hours: What the hell do they tell themselves?

How do Trump's Republican enablers in Congress, the Cabinet, and the White House justify their roles in dismantling American democracy?

robertreich.substack.com

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · Aug 18

From a US American friend in Los Angeles: "ICE slammed US citizen Andrea Velez to the ground. No probable cause, no warrant. They arrested her to cover it up, throwing her in a
cell. No water for 24 hours." This is not acceptable behaviour and deserves punishment.

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · Aug 18

Trump seems to want to repeat the errors of the 1938 Munich Agreement with Hitler. where the western powers allowed Nazi Germany to take key parts of Czechoslovakia. In this case it would mean giving defensible Ukrainian territory to Russia. How quickly people forget history and its consequences.

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · Aug 17

That message was sent to my Republican representative.

Michael @mseadle.bsky.social · Aug 17

"Why do you not force the government to reveal the Epstein papers? As a Republican you must want evidence that President Trump was not involved in trafficking underaged girls. Not revealing the papers just reinforces the suspicion that he was involved at some level. You don't want that, do you?"

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