Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 11h

Agree! NOT an impressive reason!

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 18h

Closely examining the Supreme Court’s use of the Shadow Docket and how they’ve made unprecedented abuse of it.
www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...

Federal judges call SCOTUS's shadow docket "inappropriate," "opaque," and a "judicial crisis"

The current Supreme Court is making unprecedented use of the ‘shadow docket’. Reaction has been mixed. Liberals say the Court is a rubber stamp enabling Trump’s imperial presidency. MAGAs argue that S...

www.dailykos.com

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 18h

New York Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James appears to have a pretty strong case for “selective prosecution,” that is, that charges against her would never have been filed had she been someone who had never come to the attention of our current president.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Opinion | Why a jury may never hear the case against Letitia James

The New York state attorney general was indicted on charges related to alleged mortgage fraud — but the case looks like an unconstitutional selective prosecution.

www.msnbc.com

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 18h

A biography of Machado. www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...

Who is Maria Corina Machado, 2025 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize?

The 'Iron Lady' of Venezeula, an opposition leader who is currently in hiding, has been lauded by the Nobel Committee.

www.aljazeera.com

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 18h

Actually, Trump was probably telling us what was closer to the truth, that María Corina Machado told him she was dedicating her prize to Trump. She and Trump are pretty much on the same page as far as their politics go.
crooksandliars.com/2025/10/trum...

Trump Breaks Silence On Machado's Nobel Prize Win, And It's A Doozy

This is about what you expected.

crooksandliars.com

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Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 18h

Antifa appears to be an active part of the Trump Administration trying to create an emergency that justifies their power grab. Fortunately, they occasionally reveal how ridiculous the whole set-up really is.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/for-the...

For the Trump Administration, The Enemy is Everywhere

Hello it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕️ The Crisis Factory...

talkingpointsmemo.com

2

Reposted by Rich Gardner

dbnewtondoors.bsky.social @dbnewtondoors.bsky.social · 1d

www.the-express.com/news/politic...

The First Lady proudly admits she has been in contact with the Dictator running our greatest enemy, who is at war with Europe, and the media is talking about the deaths of people you never heard of.

What has happened to this country?

Melania lays bare details of private letter from Putin in surprise announcement

The first lady said Vladimir Putin had signaled a "willingness to engage with me directly" in an unexpected White House announcement.

www.the-express.com

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Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 1d

Velly intelestink!

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 1d

All-righty! Tried to get this out well before the big march next weekend. Had some thoughts on SecDef Hegseth's speech to the 800 or so officers on the importance of physical fitness. He's not so much wrong as he neglects other factors that go into victory.
pastphotoessays.blog/2025/09/23/r...

Rally at McCormick’s office

25Sep22 We were supposed to have an indoor meeting today, but for various reasons (Our leader David Gibson explained those reasons at length), the indoor meeting didn’t happen. Please keep in…

pastphotoessays.blog

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 1d

... Christmas gifts under the tree for kids because China makes all of our toys! Naturally, markets dropped 800 points as soon as Trump announced his new policy!

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 1d

Oh, THIS sounds REALLY bright! I guess it wasn’t enough to lose China as a soybean market, now we’re going to lose China for everything else! There were already predictions that there won’t be any...
www.dailykos.com/stories/2025...

Trump tanks markets with 100% China tariff threat

As reported in the New York Times: President Trump on Friday said he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all products from China in response to curbs Beijing announced this week on rare-earth mineral...

www.dailykos.com

1

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 1d

President’s living in a world of complete fantasy. I guess if someone says it on one of his TV programs, it’s real. He has so little contact with the outside world, he can’t distinguish between fantasy and reality.
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 1d

This is an issue that just absolutely burns me up! There is NO law under which blowing up boats in international waters is okay! There is absolutely ZERO justification for doing this!
crooksandliars.com/2025/10/trum...

Trump Admin Has Yet To Provide Evidence Venezuelan Boats Had Drugs

Of course they didn't.

crooksandliars.com

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 1d

All about Stephen Miler “De-funding the Left.”
talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

Stephen Miller Has ‘Central Role’ Probing Liberal Groups

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This...

talkingpointsmemo.com

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Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 2d

... better relations with the crown princes of the Gulf and with Netanyahu, which is a major reason that the deal has and likely will work better than if Harris had done it.

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 2d

The fellow who runs TPM feels that the peace plan Trump has put out for Israel and Gaza is bad and done for bad reasons, and is far from complete, but is likely to lead to good results. Trump has... talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/has-t...

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Reposted by Rich Gardner

Ruth Ben-Ghiat @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social · 2d

💕

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 2d

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

8 94 530

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 2d

And oh yeah, Argentina got its promised $20 billion. Keep in mind also, that China will buy Argentinian soybeans, but not American because of the Trump tariffs.
bsky.app/profile/hele...

Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.bsky.social · 3d

$20 billion for a trump fan. But we are stripping our own people of health care, food stamps and cancer research.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 3d

The Trump administration confirmed that the U.S. bailed out Argentina.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had directly bought Argentine pesos in global currency markets in a bid to relieve pressure on the nation’s embattled President Javier Milei, a supporter of President Trump.

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 2d

DOJ will not defend itself against the charge of vindictive prosecution in the case of Kilmar Abrego, meaning that he doesn’t get discovery on the case against him. His lawyer argues that whole case should be dismissed.
bsky.app/profile/empt...

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 3d

Earlier today, DOJ basically told the judge in the Kilmar Abrego case they were going to blow off the vindictive prosecution claim.

His attorneys responded, fine, then the criminal case must be dismissed.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Ultimately, as the defense explained in its Status Report, to the extent the government
maintains its position that it will not produce the relevant discovery, under a claim of privilege or
otherwise, the government cannot rebut Mr. Abrego’s demonstrated, prima facie case of
vindictiveness, making dismissal of this case the only proper remedy. (Dkt. 146 at 3-4).

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 2d

/5

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 2d

/4 Russians bomb Sloviansk. “The attack damaged at least 33 private homes, 8 apartment buildings, a boiler facility, and 5 vehicles.”
Ukrainian drones are now targeting Russian fuel trains.
balloon-juice.com/2025/10/09/w...

Balloon Juice - War for Ukraine Day 1,323: Putin Long Tried To Control Ukraine's Natural Gas Industry, Now He Seaks To Destroy It

(Image by NEIVANMADE) The cost: On Sept 28, a russian drone killed nurse Oksana Katerusha from the Kyiv cardiology institute. Following protocols, all patients and staff moved to the shelter when the ...

balloon-juice.com

1

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 2d

/3 The Nobel Peace Prize has long since been decided on, but Zelenskyy has some fun and specifies under what conditions Kyiv will nominate Trump for one.
Russians claim to have shot down a Flamingo missile.
Russians hit ammonia pipeline near Odesa.

1

Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 2d

/2 ...in turn. Europe will do what it can to supply Ukraine with natural gas during winter.
Georgian poet sentenced to two years in prison.
44 people now under arrest for the October 4th protest. Among them are a pediatrician and an art director.

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Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 2d

Russia purchased Chinese electronic warfare kits to use against Ukrainian drones and to jam Starlink.
Another mass attack of drones on Ukraine.
“Russian strikes have destroyed more than half of Ukraine's natural gas production capacity ahead of winter” Ukraine hits Russia’s natural gas ...

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Rich Gardner @rlgardner190.bsky.social · 2d

Told directly by a Republican caller that her kids could die if the shutdown isn’t ended, Speaker Johnson makes up something about the Democrats. Democratic leaders have no idea what Johnson is talking about.
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

‘My kids could die’: Speaker Mike Johnson confronted by Republican voter on C-SPAN

A woman called in to tell the House speaker that she was “very disappointed in my party, and I’m very disappointed in you.”

www.msnbc.com