Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 4h

“Since taking office in January, the second Trump administration have made war on the vision of government embodied by the Social Security Act, promoting in its place a return to the rugged individualism that is even less true today than it was a century ago.”

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

October 13, 2025

Last Tuesday, President Donald J.

open.substack.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 5h

The Frazier Falls in Plumas National Forest #frazierfalls #fraziercreek #plumasnationalforest #plumascounty #lostsierra #sierra #sierranevada #waterfall #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography

2

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 23h

Gardisky Lake and Tioga Peak #gardiskylake #tiogapeak #hooverwilderness #inyonationalforest #monocounty #easternsierra #sierra #sierranevada #naturephotography #landscapephotography

3

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 1d

“In the 1920s, Columbus mattered to Americans who opposed the KKK because celebrating an Italian defended a multicultural society. Now he represents the devastation of Indigenous people at the hands of European colonists who brought germs & a fever for gold & God.”

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

October 12, 2025

On October 9, President Donald J.

open.substack.com

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 2d

Overlooking Lee Vining Canyon and Tioga Road from Gardisky Lake #leeviningcanyon #tiogaroad #gardiskylake #hooverwilderness #inyonationalforest #monocounty #easternsierra #sierra #sierranevada #naturephotography #landscapephotography

4

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 3d

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

1 3

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 3d

“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 · 3d

“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 · 4d

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 · 4d

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

3

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 4d

“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 · 5d

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

4

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 5d

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 · 6d

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

6

Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 6d

“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 · 6d

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