Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Celeste Revell

William Shakespeare

@shakespeare.lol

[Exit King.]

June 14, 2025 at 6:37 PM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

PBS News

@pbsnews.org

EXCLUSIVE: In their first broadcast interview since his release from ICE detention, Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri and his wife, Mapheze Saleh, spoke to @lbarronlopez.bsky.social
about Khan Suri's release after nearly two months in a detention facility in Texas. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e4X...

WATCH: Georgetown scholar says he was 'chained, shackled' in ICE detention

YouTube video by PBS NewsHour

www.youtube.com

May 22, 2025 at 10:49 PM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Chris Geidner

@chrisgeidner.bsky.social

It is an astounding opinion written by an 80-year-old, conservative Reagan appointee who — along with his former colleague, Judge J. Michael Luttig (a note that makes its own point about this moment) — once led what many considered to be the most conservative appeals court in the nation.

It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it
is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country
in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our
constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody
that there is nothing that can be done.
This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that
Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.
The government asserts that Abrego Garcia is a terrorist and a member of MS-13.
Perhaps, but perhaps not. Regardless, he is still entitled to due process. If the government
is confident of its position, it should be assured that position will prevail in proceedings to
terminate the withholding of removal order. See 8 C.F.R. § 208.24(f) (requiring that the government prove "by a preponderance of evidence" that the alien is no longer entitled to
a withholding of removal). Moreover, the government has conceded that Abrego Garcia was wrongly or "mistakenly" deported. Why then should it not make what was wrong,
right?

"Facilitation" does not permit the admittedly erroneous deportation of an individual to the one country's prisons that the withholding order forbids and, further, to do so in disregard of a court order that the government not so subtly spurns. "Facilitation" does not sanction the abrogation of habeas corpus through the transfer of custody to foreign
3
detention centers in the manner attempted here. Allowing all this would "facilitate" foreign
detention more than it would domestic return. It would reduce the rule of law to lawlessness and tarnish the very values for which Americans of diverse views and persuasions have always stood.

The Executive possesses enormous powers to prosecute and to deport, but with
powers come restraints. If today the Executive claims the right to deport without due
process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home?* And what assurance shall there be that the Executive will not train its broad discretionary
powers upon its political enemies? The threat, even if not the actuality, would always be
present, and the Executive's obligation to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"
would lose its meaning. U.S. CONST. art. II, § 3; see also id. art. II, § 1, cl. 8.

Now the branches come too close to grinding irrevocably against one another in a
conflict that promises to diminish both. This is a losing proposition all around. The Judiciary will lose much from the constant intimations of its illegitimacy, to which by dent
of custom and detachment we can only sparingly reply. The Executive will lose much from a public perception of its lawlessness and all of its attendant contagions. The Executive may succeed for a time in weakening the courts, but over time history will script the tragic gap between what was and all that might have been, and law in time will sign its epitaph.
It is, as we have noted, all too possible to see in this case an incipient crisis, but it
may present an opportunity as well. We yet cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos. This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time.

April 17, 2025 at 8:15 PM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Andrea Junker

@strandjunker.com

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943

April 16, 2025 at 8:30 PM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Senator Chris Van Hollen

@vanhollen.senate.gov

I’m about to board my flight to El Salvador, where I hope to meet with senior government officials to discuss the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

I also hope to see Kilmar and check on his condition — and remind him that we won’t stop fighting until he’s home.

Headed to El Salvador to meet with government officials and discuss return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

YouTube video by Senator Chris Van Hollen

youtube.com

April 16, 2025 at 10:13 AM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Thomas

@quintonthomas.bsky.social

“One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps” by @andreapitzer.bsky.social is one of the most revelatory books I’ve ever read. It is a vital resource in this moment. The below passage is from the intro, “Sailing to Guantánamo”:

April 12, 2025 at 3:14 PM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Republicans Against Trumpism

@rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social

“Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work”

April 5, 2025 at 4:32 AM

Celeste Revell

@celshorvell.bsky.social

@heardislandgov.bsky.social is a must follow.

Heard Island Government @heardislandgov.bsky.social · Apr 3

Our open letter response to the #USCommerceDept and #POTUS

April 3, 2025 at 8:12 AM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Plant Powered A-ron🌱🌎💙🌊

@plantpowered1971.bsky.social

This!!

March 29, 2025 at 3:41 PM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Kent Parkstreet, Laird of Doofus

@kentparkskeet.bsky.social

“Researchers at the Per Capita think-tank say Australians are still living with the consequences of severe wage stagnation from 2012 to 2022.”

Who was in government through this period?

Who was a senior cabinet member?

Who would return us to Gina’s dream of low wages in a heartbeat?

#AusPol

'Lost decade' of low wage growth stopped young Australians buying homes

A 'lost decade' of low wage growth broke the social compact for young Australians when it comes to housing.

www.abc.net.au

March 30, 2025 at 5:48 AM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

The New Yorker

@newyorker.com

Ronan Farrow reports on the case of Sean Williams, who may be one of America’s most prolific serial rapists—and how the police let him get away.

How Police Let One of America’s Most Prolific Predators Get Away

When a prosecutor began chasing an accused serial rapist, she lost her job but unravelled a scandal. Why were the police refusing to investigate Sean Williams?

www.newyorker.com

March 29, 2025 at 10:43 PM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Mark Chadbourn

@chadbourn.bsky.social

Passwords and mobile numbers for Hegseth, Waltz and Gabbard have been found online.

Hegseth, Waltz, Gabbard: Private Data and Passwords of Senior U.S. Security Officials Found Online

Donald Trump's most important security advisers used Signal to discuss an imminent military strike. Now, reporting by DER SPIEGEL has found that the contact data of some of those officials, including ...

www.spiegel.de

March 26, 2025 at 8:53 PM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Josh Marshall

@joshtpm.bsky.social

It's critical for everyone to remember what an Executive Order is. It is the President communicating orders to members of the executive branch. Policies to pursue, actions to take, etc. They are not laws. They are not close to being laws. They are formalized memos to employees. That's all.

March 25, 2025 at 11:53 PM

Celeste Revell

@celshorvell.bsky.social

I did think the leopard face eating party would eat faces, I just didn’t think it would be MINE or MY loved one’s face :(

Republicans Against Trumpism @rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social · Mar 16

He voted for Trump. Now his wife sits in an ICE detention center
www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

He voted for Trump. Now his wife sits in an ICE detention center.

ICE's deportation actions signal that anyone who isn't a US citizen is 'at risk – period,' immigration attorney says.

www.usatoday.com

March 17, 2025 at 9:28 AM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Guardian Australia

@australia.theguardian.com

Women to save thousands of dollars a year as new fertility and endometriosis drugs listed on PBS

New contraceptives, IVF and endometriosis treatments added to federal subsidy scheme, with Coalition leaders backing the move * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast New…

www.theguardian.com

March 16, 2025 at 4:34 AM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Stephen Collins

@stephencollins.bsky.social

March 9, 2025 at 9:15 AM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

The Kyiv Independent

@kyivindependent.com

Trump and Vance have repeatedly claimed that Zelensky has not been sufficiently grateful for U.S. support throughout the war.

We compiled instances where Zelensky has publicly expressed gratitude to the U.S., its people, and its leadership for being Ukraine’s largest supporter.

Zelensky thanks America for four minutes straight

YouTube video by Kyiv Independent

www.youtube.com

March 1, 2025 at 12:07 AM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

NY Times Pitchbot

@nytpitchbot.bsky.social

Volodymyr Zelensky's Oval Office visit ended early when Donald Trump and JD Vance began angrily yelling at him. Here's why women like Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton are too emotional to be president.

March 1, 2025 at 12:53 AM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

ex-Lethality Jane

@lethalityjane.bsky.social

The measles outbreak in Texas is reminding me of the public letter Roald Dahl wrote about losing his daughter to measles in 1962, just before the vaccine was publicly available.

Excerpt from a public letter Roald Dahl wrote encouraging people to vaccinate their children.

Olivia, my eldest daughter, caught measles when she was seven years old. As the illness took its usual course I can remember reading to her often in bed and not feeling particularly alarmed about it. Then one morning, when she was well on the road to recovery, I was sitting on her bed showing her how to fashion little animals out of coloured pipe-cleaners, and when it came to her turn to make one herself, I noticed that her fingers and her mind were not working together and she couldn’t do anything.

“Are you feeling all right?” I asked her.

“I feel all sleepy,” she said.

In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead.

The measles had turned into a terrible thing called measles encephalitis and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her. That was twenty-four years ago in 1962, but even now, if a child with measles happens to develop the same deadly reaction from measles as Olivia did, there would still be nothing the doctors could do to help her.

On the other hand, there is today something that parents can do to make sure that this sort of tragedy does not happen to a child of theirs. They can insist that their child is immunized against measles. I was unable to do that for Olivia in 1962 because in those days a reliable measles vaccine had not been discovered. Today a good and safe vaccine is available to every family and all you have to do is to ask your doctor to administer it.

February 15, 2025 at 5:49 PM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Brian Tyler Cohen

@briantylercohen.bsky.social

The community note 🤌😘

February 15, 2025 at 10:33 PM

Reposted by Celeste Revell

Jason Alexander

@i-jasonalexander.bsky.social

Happy Festivus everyone. Always amazed this crazy episode birthed a real celebration that seems to be enjoyed by so many around the world. So may your feats be strong and your grievances few. Enjoy.

December 23, 2024 at 4:42 PM