Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 1d

Gardisky Lake #gardiskylake #hooverwilderness #inyonationalforest #monocounty #easternsierra #sierra #sierranevada #naturephotography #landscapephotography

1 3

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 1d

“We once lived in a country that, for all its frequent imperfections, was a place where the rule of law was a broadly shared value and where leaders acted with democratic restraint. We now live in a country where there is no rule of law.”

newrepublic.com/post/201625/...

Memo to Future Historians: This Is Fascism, and Millions of Us See It

From Chicago to Portland, James Comey to Letitia James, and so much else—this is no longer America.

newrepublic.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 1d

“Legal scholar David Noll noted that it’s ‘interesting that if you say the [C]onstitution creates a separation of powers systems in which there are no kings, they think you hate [A]merica.”

open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

October 10, 2025

All of President Donald J.

open.substack.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 1d

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, said in a statement that the “shutdown does not give Trump or Vought new, special powers” to lay off workers.

“This is nothing new, and no one should be intimidated by these crooks,” she added.

apnews.com/article/gove...

Firings of federal workers begin as White House seeks to pressure Democrats in government shutdown

Mass firings of federal workers have begun. That was the announcement Friday from the White House as Republicans worked to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers to end the government shutdown.

apnews.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 2d

Gardisky Lake #gardiskylake #hooverwilderness #inyonationalforest #monocounty #easternsierra #sierra #sierranevada #naturephotography #landscapephotography

3

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 2d

“The Department of Justice is supposed to be nonpartisan, and it certainly is not supposed to be an arm of presidential lawfare. Nonetheless, Trump has been perverting it to protect his loyalists and persecute his perceived enemies.”

open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

October 9, 2025

Today Trump appointee Lindsey Halligan did what President Donald J.

open.substack.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 3d

Gardisky Lake #gardiskylake #hooverwilderness #inyonationalforest #monocounty #easternsierra #sierra #sierranevada #naturephotography #landscapephotography

4

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 3d

Pritzker noted that Trump, a convicted felon, has a lot of nerve calling for Pritzker’s arrest. “[T]his guy’s unhinged. He’s insecure, he’s a wannabe dictator…We’ve done nothing wrong here and…it’s Donald Trump that is breaching the Constitution, breaking the law.”

open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

October 8, 2025

Yesterday, journalists observed members of the Texas National Guard at a U.S.

open.substack.com

1

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 4d

Heading up Gardisky Lake Trail #gardiskylaketrail #hooverwilderness #inyonationalforest #monocounty #easternsierra #sierra #sierranevada #naturephotography #landscapephotography

6

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 4d

“In the 2nd Trump administration, the president does not seem especially interested in governance. He seems to want to use the government to persecute those he considers his enemies & to protect & enrich himself…power appears to have flowed to unelected officials.”

open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

October 7, 2025

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today floated the idea that workers furloughed during a government shutdown are not guaranteed back pay when the shutdown is resolved.

open.substack.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 4d

Enjoying the fall colors yesterday morning at Lundy Csnyon #lundycanyon #monocounty #inyonationalforest #easternsierra #sierra #sierranevada #naturephotography #landscapephotography

4

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 4d

"It's an extremely dangerous slope, because it essentially says the president can just do about whatever he chooses," said General Randy Manner (ret) "It's absolutely, absolutely the definition of dictatorship and fascism."

www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

www.reuters.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 4d

I fixed the headline to be more accurate.

“Supreme Court seems skeptical about state bans on religious torture for LGBTQ+ kids.”

apnews.com/article/supr...

Supreme Court seems skeptical about state bans on 'conversion therapy' for LBGTQ+ kids

A majority of Supreme Court justices seem to be leaning in favor of a Christian counselor who is challenging bans on LGBTQ+ “conversion therapy” for kids as a violation of her First Amendment rights.

apnews.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 4d

There are some real sadists in the White House who really enjoy causing harm to others, and once again, thank you highlights their glaring lack of empathy.

www.cnbc.com/2025/10/07/t...

Trump suggests not all furloughed workers will get back pay: 'It depends'

Trump also said at the White House that if the shutdown drags on several days longer, a "substantial" number of jobs "will never come back."

www.cnbc.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 4d

Yesterday morning at Conway Summit in the Eastern Sierra #conwaysummit #hwy395 #elcaminosierra #monocounty #easternsierra #sierra #sierranevada #landscapephotography

3

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 5d

“It is increasingly clear that the cuts Vought and the MAGA Republicans are making to programs are hitting a wide swath of Americans…and members of the administration appear to be aware they are unpopular with a large part of their own base.“

open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

October 6, 2025

If White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller is at the head of the administration’s deployment of federal agents against undocumented immigrants, it appears that Office of Management and Budget...

open.substack.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 5d

Truckee was so happy to be in the mountains #truckeethedog #dogsofinstragram #sierra #sierranevada

3

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 5d

Truckee was so happy to be in the mountains #truckeethedog #dogsofinstragram #sierra #sierranevada

4

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 5d

Truckee was so happy to be in the mountains #truckeethedog #dogsofinstragram #sierra #sierranevada

1 3

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 5d

The fall colors at Green Creek yesterday evening #greeencreek #humboldttoiyabenationalforest #toiyabenationalforest #sierra #sierranevada #easternsierra #monocounty #landscapephotography

5

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 6d

“Trump has been focused on the misguided idea that Portland, Oregon, is a war zone ever since he apparently watched a September 4 Fox News Channel special report that passed off footage from the violence of 2020 as happening now.”
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

October 5, 2025

On Friday the Minnesota Star Tribune reported a conversation on the messaging app Signal between one of Stephen Miller’s top deputies, Anthony Salisbury, and a senior advisor to Secretary of Defense P...

open.substack.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 7d

A peaceful moment along the upper section of Cataract Creek #cataractcreek #mttamalpais #mttam #mttamwatershed #mnwd #marinwater #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography

3

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 7d

Judge Immergut, a Trump appointee stated:

“This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach…This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law.”

apnews.com/article/depl...

Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from deploying troops in Portland, Oregon

A federal judge in Oregon has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from deploying the National Guard in Portland. U.S.

apnews.com

1

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 7d

The Frazier Creek Canyon in Plumas National Forest #fraziercreek #plumasnationalforest #plumascounty #lostsierra #sierra #sierranevada #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #blackandwhitephotography

1 12

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 8d

“Trump’s memo NPM7 redefines dissent as terrorism and orders the military to prepare for “domestic combat” in American cities. Anti-racism? Extremism. Gender equality? Terrorism. Criticism of ICE? Pro-democracy or anti-fascisim? All threats to national security.”

substack.com/@marygeddry/...

Mary Geddry (@marygeddry)

As Trump hides during his own shutdown, Johnson barricades Congress to bury the Epstein files, and families brace for healthcare premiums to double, the rest of us face a choice. We can watch the mark...

substack.com