by Steve Benen | Nov 3, 2026 | Maddowblog
Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The “energy truce” still doesn’t exist: “Russian strikes left hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, while Russian authorities reported major damage to an industrial site following Ukrainian drone attacks on Nizhny Novgorod region.”
* Whether the White House would recognize this as a warning is a matter of ongoing concern: “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia could use Tuesday’s midterm election to launch a massive attack against Ukraine.”
* An appeal worth watching closely: “The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block California from counting mail-in ballots of about 20,000 voters whom the Department of Justice suggests may not be U.S. citizens. The DOJ’s petition to the Supreme Court came three days after the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the department’s bid to overturn a federal district court judge’s ruling that allowed the ballots to be counted.”
* The White House’s campaign against Harvard continues to falter: “A federal judge on Monday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit seeking Harvard University’s admissions records, the latest win for the Ivy League school in its battle with the White House.”
* Important new allegations related to Kennedy Center operations: “Kennedy Center leaders jeopardized the institution’s operations by tying millions of dollars in funding to keeping President Donald Trump’s name on its building, a Democratic congresswoman who serves on its board alleges in a court brief filed Friday.”
* In related news: “A mystery spread among Washington’s design community in the months following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a major two-year renovation of the Kennedy Center: Who got the job of
by Chris Walker | Nov 3, 2026 | Article, health care, Politics and Movements: US, prison reform, Prisons, Prisons and Policing, Reprint, Supreme Court, Trump
This article was originally published by Truthout on Oct. 21, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
The U.S. Supreme Court has denied an emergency petition from the Trump administration, which sought a stay on a lower court’s injunction on a policy that would have denied gender-affirming care to federally incarcerated transgender people.
That policy was implemented by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January 2025 that denied the existence of transgender people. The order also directed federal agencies to take steps that would be consistent with that view, and included specific instructions for the BOP.
“The Attorney General shall ensure that the Bureau of Prisons revises its policies concerning medical care to be consistent with this order, and shall ensure that no Federal funds are expended for any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex,” the order reads.
After the BOP conformed to the order, a group of incarcerated trans people who had been receiving gender-affirming care sued the administration. The group is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which argued that their Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment were being infringed upon.
A federal judge agreed, and, in August, ordered the policy to be blocked. The Trump administration challenged that finding, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld it, prompting Solicitor General John Sauer to submit an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.
The court has regularly ruled against transgender people, allowing state bans on trans athletes’
by Victoria Valenzuela | Nov 3, 2026 | Abolition, abuse, California, Incarceration, Juvenile Detention, juvenile incarceration, Juvenile Prisons, Los Angeles, News, Organizing, Prisons, Youth, youth incarceration, youth prison, Youth Prisons
Mercedes Maradiaga sat across from her 19-year-old son in the Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles in complete devastation. Her son had at that point been incarcerated at the prison for two years and she had visited him every weekend. But that day in September 2024 was especially hard because it was their first visit since he had been beaten by officers earlier that week in a space in the…
Source
by The Associated Press | Nov 3, 2026 | News, World
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has conducted defensive strikes on some Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official said Monday, on the eve of crucial midterm elections.
Iranian state television reported that explosions were heard on Qeshm Island. The official, who wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said “Iranians using surface to air missiles against U.S. assets” had been targeted.
The strikes appeared to be limited as opposed to a return to full hostilities but followed President Donald Trump previously saying the U.S. wouldn’t launch strikes on Iran before Tuesday’s midterms. The strikes were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal.
The unpopular Iran war and the resulting impact on U.S. gasoline prices and other parts of the economy have been a vulnerability for Republicans as they try to keep control of Congress.
The administration was last known to have carried out some attacks in early September, but thousands of U.S. troops remain in the waters off Iran to maintain a naval blockade aimed at preventing tankers carrying Iranian oil from getting to the global market. Plus, a third aircraft carrier and thousands of additional troops are on their way to the Middle East.
Earlier Monday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance offered measured optimism that a deal can still be struck to prevent Trump from following through on his threat to potentially order new strikes on Iran after the midterm elections.
Vance sent a letter to Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, last week, but the White House has offered scant details about the contents of that correspondence. Trump told reporters that letter was focused on assisting Iran
by Mansa Musa | Nov 3, 2026 | Black Panthers, DC, Fascism, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, Rattling the Bars, Trump, video
October 22nd marks the National Day to Stop Police Brutality. Free DC and Pan-African Community Action (PACA) are two organizations in the nation’s capital engaged in building community and direct action against the various entities that form the policing apparatus in DC: police, FBI, HSI, National Guard, etc.
While Trump boosts their funding—much like giving a steroid to the carceral machine—Free DC and PACA are heightening the contradictions of the Trump administration’s fascist agenda by providing vulnerable communities with the resources that the government withholds and refuses to fund.
Trump’s deployment of the National Guard costs upwards of $3M daily and will total $2.9B by the end of his term. How would you spend $3M a day?
On this episode of Rattling the Bars, former political prisoner and Black Panther Mansa Musa speaks with organizers pushing back against the National Guard occupation of DC on the eve of the Black Panther Party’s 60th Anniversary.
Credits:
Production/Post-production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Mansa Musa:
Welcome to this edition of Rattling the Bars. I’m your host, Mansa Musa. The presence of the National Guard in the District of Columbia calls $3 million a day and an estimated $2.9 billion the next presidential election. Recently, I covered two organizations that are pushing back against their present. PACA, Pan-African, Community Action, who primarily organize in the Southeast section or the District of Columbia, Anacostia area, and Free DC. Take a look. We’re at the Black Workers Wellness Center. I’m talking to Alex from the Pan-African Community Action, PACA. And today they’re having political education form because of the anniversary, the 60th
