Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Utamu

Tim Dickinson @timdickinson.bsky.social · 2h

Un-presidented brass band at city hall in Portland tonight celebrating the release of their clarinet player from federal custody

68 660 2.3K

Reposted by Utamu

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 16h

Almost like we founded the entire country on opposing this exact sentence.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17h

Bessent: "No kings equals no paychecks"

170 2.5K 10K

Reposted by Utamu

PBS News @pbsnews.org · 1d

D’Angelo, the Grammy-winning R&B singer who helped pioneer neo-soul music in the 1990s, has died at the age of 51.

14 77 310

Reposted by Utamu

Dan McQuade @dhm.bsky.social · 1d

I’m not sure what percentage of my body image issues are D’Angelo’s fault, but I respect him for doing it. That music video is our David. RIP.

5 13 220

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 14h

Marc Short: “Dems have been more consistent in their messaging about extending Obamacare subsidies & GOP has less consistent in their messaging. Dems are winning. … They are being more consistent in their messaging than Republicans have been to date.” s2.washingtonpost.com/camp-rw/

The truths beneath Republicans’ shutdown strategy

The Washington Post’s essential guide to power and influence in D.C. Republicans say they won’t negotiate with Democrats on health care right now. Here’s why.

s2.washingtonpost.com

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 16h

@thomaslfriedman.bsky.social: "If Trump wants to translate his 20-pt plan into regional peace, he has to start by once & for all breaking the twisted, codependent relationship btwn Netanyahu & Hamas — who've kept each other politically viable for over two decades." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/o...

Opinion | Mr. Trump, on the Middle East, Please Move Fast and Break Things

www.nytimes.com

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 1d

“At one time there was a long road ahead of me and now that road is a lot shorter, and I don’t have a lot of time to mess around. So you do the best you can with what you’ve got left.”

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 1d

"In his last decade, Redford reflected on his mortality, telling Woodward on NYE Eve 2021 he was aware his time was growing shorter. In light of that, he wanted to “do something that changes the scenario."

1

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 1d

“He doesn’t understand it,” Redford said, according to Woodward. “So it’s easy for him to destroy it. It is easy to destroy something you don’t understand. You can claim it doesn’t exist.”

1

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 1d

"Redford lamented US disunion, calling it the “divided states of America.” When Mr. Woodward showed Redford reporting indicating Trump was trying to “destroy democracy,” Redford explained: He doesn't understand it. So it's easy to destroy it."

1

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 1d

Woodward: “I loved him & admired him for his friendship, his fiery independence & the way he used any platform he had to help make the world better, fairer, brighter for others. Their friendship lasted half a century,
when they turned the story thru the prism of their relationship."

1

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 1d

"Redford, who portrayed him in the 1976 film “All the President’s Men,” was a “genuine, noble & principled force for good. He became known to generations in 1976 film as a swashbuckling truth teller, immortalizing an era when the public had affinity for the news biz." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/b...

Bob Woodward Remembers Robert Redford

www.nytimes.com

1 2

Reposted by Utamu

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 1d

Voodoo remains my favorite album of all time. I still listen to it constantly. Everything about it was brave, from how it was made to that one note in Devil’s Pie. This is tragic. RIP.

Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 1d

D’Angelo, the neo-soul trailblazer and modern visionary whose three albums were all heralded as classic works of art, has died at age 51.

Access the free article here: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

22 88 1.1K

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 1d

@rxgau.bsky.social in Village Voice in 2000. “He is R&B Jesus & I’m a believer." D’Angelo would vanish from the music world & public eye for years. After “Voodoo,” he didn't release an album until “Black Messiah.”
In May he withdrew from a festival performance in Philly, citing a recent surgery."

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 1d

"His biggest songs, “Lady,” “Brown Sugar,” “Untitled (How Does It Feel),” were hailed as supreme examples of the trend. D’Angelo was in heavy rotation on Black radio stations, along with artists like Erykah Badu, Mos Def & Common, whom he collaborated as part of a loose collective the Soulquarians."

1

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 1d

"In the years leading up to his triumph w/the 2000 album “Voodoo,” D’Angelo, who was born Michael Eugene Archer, was a leading light of the era’s revolution in soul music, melding the sweetly seductive melodies of classic singers like Al Green and Marvin Gaye with the beats and urgency of hip-hop."

1

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 1d

"D’Angelo, acclaimed & reclusive R&B innovator, dies at 51
After hitting No. 1 with “Voodoo,” his genre-melding 2000 album that he promoted with a risqué music video, he vanished for more than a decade." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/a...

D’Angelo, Acclaimed and Reclusive R&B Innovator, Dies at 51

www.nytimes.com

1 1

Reposted by Utamu

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 1d

Former President Barack Obama has filmed an ad for Gavin Newsom’s Prop 50.

12 160 550

Reposted by Utamu

Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · 2d

As a group of young musicians from the Lovett Hines Global Creative Arts Initiative performed John Coltrane compositions, the jazz legend’s son, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, spoke about his relief at seeing the site rescued from potential destruction.

John Coltrane’s endangered Strawberry Mansion home is finally being restored and revitalized

The jazz legend bought the house at 1511 N. 33rd Street and lived there until 1958. Fires, demolition, and legal troubles have long threatened its survival.

www.inquirer.com

3 58 390

Reposted by Utamu

David Sirota @davidsirota.com · 2d

🚨NEW: A case at the Supreme Court cites Trump reportedly promising oil donors favors as proof that pay-to-play influence is so pervasive that bribery laws must be narrowed so pay-to-play is no longer a prosecutable crime.

The case is represented by a Trump-connected law firm.

32 320 640

Reposted by Utamu

David Sirota @davidsirota.com · 2d

This is some of the best political news I've seen in a very long time.

There's a clear a way to end the Citizens United precedent by changing state incorporation laws - and now luminaries in both parties are forcing a vote on it in the 2026 election.

57 1.1K 2.8K

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 3d

"For Dems to successfully check Trump, they will need to forgo their endless hand-wringing and unify over a much bigger, more tactical and more outcomes-oriented vision than the failed one they’ve been clinging to."

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 3d

@governor.ca.gov: “This is not the fight we chose, but it’s a fight we will fight … As someone who’s tried to work with Trump — you can’t work with him, you can only work for him. Trying to get disaster aid and recovery aid for Los Angeles, they’ve had zero influence on Donald Trump.”

1

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 3d

"Designed explicitly to secure 5 more Dem House Dem rep seats. It's a direct response to the instigations of Trump, whose prodding has convinced Texas & other red states to redraw their districts to disenfranchise Dems & help GOP. It could net as many as 12 new unearned GOP seats in the House."

1

Utamu @utamu.bsky.social · 3d

"Do the ends justify the means? It's a question the Nov. 4th special election on Prop. 50 forces CA voters to confront. Passing it would temporarily throw out congressional maps drawn by CA's voter-approved independent redistricting commission in favor of gerrymandered maps drawn by Dems."

1