Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 5h

Honestly the admin must feel incredibly threatened by this given how much free publicity they're giving to this fun party they're sad about not being invited to.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8h

Johnson: "We call it the Hate America Rally that will happen Saturday. Let's see who shows up for that. I bet you you'll see Hamas supporters, I bet you'll see antifa types, I bet you'll see Marxists on full display, people who don't want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic"

Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 1d

Trump wants to turn his assault on cities into visual propaganda for suburbanites.

The inflatable animal suits ruin the imagery.

But so would everyone carrying American flags.

The left should reclaim patriotic imagery so the only videos ICE can make are of beating up banner-waving patriots.

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 2d

I generally don't like two-way bikeways without grade ad signal separation.

It feels weird biking nearly into oncoming traffic, turns like this seem awkward and unsafe since drivers are unlikely to be looking for you in an unusual part of the road, and right of way is ambiguous.

Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 2d

#Minneapolis bike people: I'm confused by how to take left turns on two-way bikeway (like W 40th St). Are we supposed to:

1. Merge out of the bikeway into the main road and signal left from the center of the road? or
2. Cross the road we want to turn left at and then cross from the corner?

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 3d

I think Kingfield / Lynnhust / East Harriet actually are perfect on these dimensions. Pleasantly walkable with lots of little corners to walk to, most of which have no off-street parking. But it kind of proves the point that Minneapolis needs more occasional corner retail and fewer stroads.

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 5d

I actually think that would be a loss for downtown from the perspective of people who work there.

My point is that we should not trade one for the other, but try to figure out a way to get people to use both (even if it's different sets of people in each space).

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 5d

I'm suspicious the skyway doubles the required foot traffic to keep downtown feeling vibrant. If you only had street-level business, you'd need X amount of foot traffic; same if you only had skyway-level. To have both, you need ~2X. To get that you need destinations other than office buildings.

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Reposted by Thomas Leeper

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 6d

Nothing remotely resembling an insurrection is happening anywhere in the country. Any violence associated with protest has been isolated, mild, and, in nearly every case, instigated by federal law enforcement. If we let Trump get away with calling dissent an insurrection, our republic is over.

BREAKING: Trump Admin 'Seriously' Considering Using the Insurrection Act, Reports NBC

President Trump is "seriously" considering invoking the Insurrection Act in order to more easily deploy National Guard troops to major cities as part of crime crackdown, NBC reported on Wednesday

www.mediaite.com

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Reposted by Thomas Leeper

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 7d

#WarRavagedPortland

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Reposted by Thomas Leeper

Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7d

The President of the United States is living in an alternate reality and it's long past time for media outlets to start talking about it.

We're beyond "Trump said without evidence." Trump is governing a world that only exists in his warped mind.

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 7d

Every day I wonder: how is this America? how is this the America that anybody wants?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

Reposted by Thomas Leeper

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 7d

Never before in American history has one state's military force been deployed in another state over its objection.

I say never because the Civil War involved states whose governments legally ceased to exist, their offices vacated by constructive resignation, with no legitimate governors to object.

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 8d

Sale and possession of guns and most dangerous knives are heavily restricted. It's hard to kill people with limited access to weapons.

In fact there's a single, still-missing gun that has been used in multiple unrelated shootings because guns are so hard to come by: www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...

Gun No 6: The untold story of Britain's deadliest illegal firearm

www.bbc.co.uk

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 9d

To be fair, in Minnesota it's always jorts season.

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 12d

It used to be the INS. 2003 was just a rebrand, really.

Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 12d

Does the federal government need capacity to enforce immigration laws? Obviously.

Does the federal government need police to investigate and address serious crimes? Yes, that's why we have the FBI.

Does the government need masked henchmen who rough people up with impunity? No, of course not.

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 12d

Democrats need to commit to removing the police powers from ICE. It should be reimagined as an agency where its employees wear suits and badges and have to treat people with dignity and respect. And its entire current workforce should be fired, if only for symbolic reasons.

Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 12d

ICE just blatantly violated the law and arrested sitting Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes while seeking to illegally arrest a patient in a hospital. Fuck these fascists.

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 13d

That's about the same as 3 Lake of the Isles mansions but for 300x as much land area.

Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 13d

TIL the Minikahda Club pays basically no property taxes.

gis.hennepin.us/Property?C=4...

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 13d

One wonders where the alleged 'small government' conservatives and libertarians are at this moment.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 13d

Surreal moment for America. Needless to say, if the normal police ever pulled something like this — pulling every single person out of an apartment building and handcuffing them to run warrant checks — they would be sued into oblivion.

Yet ICE is going to get away with it entirely.

"It was scary, because I had never had a gun in my face," Fisher said. "They asked my name and my date of birth and asked me, did I have any warrants? And I told them, 'No, 'Ididn't."
Fisher said she was handcuffed before being released around 3 a.m., and she was told that if anyone had any kind of warrant out for them, even if it was unrelated to immigration, they would not be released.

Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 15d

I'm pretty sure - not 100% but let's say 99% sure - that the purpose of having 11 carrier strike groups, etc. is in fact to specifically not kill or break anything at all the overwhelming majority of the time.

Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 15d

“You kill people and break things for a living” is one of the most insane sentences I’ve ever heard

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15d

Hegseth: "A few months ago I was at the White House when President Trump announced his liberation day for America's trade policy. It was a landmark day. Well, today is another liberation day. The liberation of America's warriors ... you kill people and break things for a living."

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 15d

By minor infractions, he means war crimes.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15d

Hegseth: "You should not pay for an earnest mistake for your entire career. That's why today, at my direction, we're making changes to the retention of adverse information on personnel records."

Reposted by Thomas Leeper

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 15d

the president of the united states wants to use the american military to kill american citizens on american soil. that's the whole story!

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 15d

On the spectrum from "incoherent national embarrassment" to "Stalinist purge" I really should have expected this to land firmly at the former.

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Thomas Leeper @thosjleeper.bsky.social · 16d

The 'snipe hunt' aesthetics of people dressing up very seriously and walking around somewhere they are convinced is incredibly dangerous while everyone around them is like 'look at these absolute dorks' is something we really need to spend more time talking about.

PEIPolitical 🇨🇦 @peipolitical.bsky.social · 16d

The absurdity in Chicago right now. #cdnpoli