Source: SFGate
“Gov. Gavin Newsom is celebrating a win after a judge ruled last week that his $787 million defamation lawsuit against Fox News can move forward. Newsom filed the defamation lawsuit in June against the conservative-leaning news network, alleging it misled the public about a phone conversation that took place between the California governor and President Donald Trump during civil unrest that erupted in Los Angeles earlier that month. Judge Sean P. Lugg said in an April 30 decision rejecting the network’s motion to dismiss that he found it ‘reasonably conceivable’ that Fox knew the statements were false before making them. ‘Looking forward to discovery,’ Newsom wrote Thursday on X after the judge’s decision, alluding to the legal process where each side turns over documents, including private communications that could be embarrassing.” (05/04/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/newsom-trump-lawsuit-fox-news-22236767.php
Source: The Bulwark
“Tech Broke Democracy With Social Media. AI Is Next. (w /Josh Tyrangiel).” (05/03/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g3dv46M5Xo
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
by Will Bunch
“From friendly grand juries to Jim Crow voting maps, the former Confederacy looks to save Trump’s autocratic ambitions.” (05/03/26)
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/trump-comey-prosecution-southern-grand-juries-20260503.html
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“The day I talked to Dan Osborn last month, he had just quit his job. He had been working as a steamfitter at Grunwald Mechanical, an HVAC contractor in Omaha, while also running his second campaign for U.S. Senate as an independent. The first one, two years ago against Republican Sen. Deb Fischer, nearly succeeded, with Osborn performing 14 points better against his Republican opponent than Kamala Harris did in Nebraska against hers. But a nonpolitician has to eat, so Osborn went back to work, even while signing up for a second campaign against Nebraska’s other senator, former Gov. Pete Ricketts. The demands of the campaign trail got to be too much for a full-time job, and Osborn knows choosing it over a steady paycheck is a risky move.” (05/04/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/05/04/dan-osborn-nebraska-senate-working-class-billionaire/
Source: United Press International
“North Korea denied allegations that it was behind recent international cryptocurrency hacking and cybercrime cases, calling the claims ‘false information’ and warning that it would not tolerate them. A spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued the statement Sunday in response to a question from the Korean Central News Agency. The ministry called the allegations ‘absurd slander’ aimed at damaging North Korea’s image for political purposes. … The international community has repeatedly identified North Korea-linked hacking groups as suspects in major cyberattacks and cryptocurrency thefts. The Lazarus Group, believed to be linked to North Korea, has been cited as a possible actor behind an April 18 hack of decentralized finance platform KelpDAO that reportedly involved about $290 million in cryptocurrency.” (05/03/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/05/03/denied-cryptocurrency-hacking-cybercrime-cases/9581777849845/
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Larry Johnson on Trump’s Tenuous Ceasefire with Iran.” (05/03/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/scotthortonshow/4-30-26-larry-johnson-on-trumps-tenuous-ceasefire-with-iran/
Source: The Realist Review
by Ted Snider
“U.S. President Donald Trump has been very publicly aggressive in expressing his anger at NATO. He told NATO members they will ‘have to start learning how to fight for yourself’ because ‘the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.’ … On April 8, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte held a two-hour ‘frank and open’ discussion with Trump to try to heal the rift. Rutte may have failed to soothe the angry Trump, who, following the meeting, posted ‘NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.’ But Rutte may have failed in more than that mission as Secretary General of NATO. He may have failed in that role to represent NATO members and NATO values.” (05/03/26)
https://therealistreview.substack.com/p/the-nato-secretary-general-is-failing
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“A drone hit a residential tower in an upscale Moscow district in a rare strike near the city centre ahead of the traditional World War II Victory Day parade. Moscow air defences repelled an attack by two Ukrainian drones, and one hit the building on Mosfilmovskaya Street, according to a post on Monday by Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Emergency services were sent to the scene, and there were no reports of casualties. Mosfilmovskaya is about 6-8km (about 4-5 miles) from the Kremlin, and local media showed damage to the upper floors of a high-end residential building.” (05/04/26)
https://archive.is/hWMU2
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“On May 2, Spirit Airlines ceased operations after it failed to get the US government to bail it out of the latest in a series of untenable situations — at least two of which the US government put it in to begin with. … Maybe Spirit would have failed even absent the massive jet fuel price increases. Perhaps the proposed merger with JetBlue would have dragged that airline down, too, instead of profitably folding Spirit’s assets into a more efficient operating environment. And maybe all of Ted Bundy’s victims were mere moments away from choosing suicide when he strangled them to death instead. We’ll never know, will we? What we do know is that the US government’s murder of Spirit Airlines will almost certainly result in (checks notes) ‘higher fares, fewer seats, and harm [to] millions of consumers.'” (05/02/26)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20562
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Alex wants his underwear back.” (05/01/26)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-339-alex-wants-his-underwear
