Politics

Republicans against Trump  - The House of Representatives voted 285–98 in favor of a resolution condemning socialism. Eighty-six Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the measure, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

NY Times -  President Trump plans to open 1.3 billion acres of U.S. waters to drilling. It is one of his most significant steps yet to increase the production of fossil fuels, as dozens of countries have been calling for a phaseout of oil, gas and coal 

The Hill - The Justice Department reversed course late Thursday, alleging the full grand jury did review the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.  The change comes 24 hours after lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan told a judge that all jurors were not privy to the final revised document displaying his charges.

The DNC took out a $15 million loan, an unusually large amount of debt for this point in the political calendar.

Washington Post -  In a stunning and hasty reversal, the U.S. Coast Guard announced late Thursday that swastikas and nooses are prohibited hate symbols — erasing an attempt to soften their definition after the plan elicited furious backlash... In a memo to Coast Guard personnel, the service’s acting commandant, Adm. Kevin Lunday, said the policy document issued late Thursday night supersedes all previous guidance on the issue. 

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Via Mayra

New US rules declare decency infringes on human rights

BBC - Countries enforcing race or gender diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies will now be at risk of the Trump administration deeming them as infringing on human rights.

The State Department is issuing the new rules to all US embassies and consulates involved in compiling its annual report on global human rights abuses.

The new instructions also deem countries that subsidise abortion or facilitate mass migration as infringing on human rights.

The changes, which the State Department says are intended to stop "destructive ideologies", have been condemned by rights campaigners who argue the Trump administration is re-defining long-established human rights principles to pursue ideological goals.

The changes reflect a major shift in Washington's established focus on global human rights protection, and signal the expansion into foreign policy of the Trump administration's domestic agenda on issues that have become a lightning rod of division in the US over recent years...

DEI policies were designed with the objective of improving outcomes for specific racial and identity-based groups. Since assuming office, US President Donald Trump has aggressively sought to terminate DEI and restore what he calls merit-based opportunity in the US.

Airports expect bad Thanksgiving weather

Newsweek -  Millions of Americans traveling for Thanksgiving could face weather-related travel chaos, with an AccuWeather report warning of stormy weather that could disrupt flights across the country.

Thanksgiving travelers could endure delays as early as Saturday morning, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski told Newsweek, as a storm system begins to impact the central and southeastern part of the U.S., namely Nashville, Charlotte, and Atlanta.

Thanksgiving is historically one of the busiest travel periods in the United States, with the American Automobile Association (AAA) expecting a record of nearly 82 million Americans to travel 50 miles or more in 2025. With so many travelers relying on both airlines and major highways, forecasts of multiple storms threatening key airport hubs across the country raise the prospect of widespread travel disruptions, delays, and cancellations during a holiday period synonymous with reunions and busy airport terminals.


A broad and dynamic storm system originating in the Southwest is forecast to impact the central, southern, and eastern United States through Thanksgiving week, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. Forecasters anticipate heavy rain, severe thunderstorms, and periods of snow that are likely to disrupt both roadways and air traffic in several major regions at the height of holiday travel demand. The busiest travel days, traditionally the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, fall in the forecast window for significant weather events.

Early in the week, heavy rain and mountain snow are predicted for California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, with snow likely in higher elevations and possibly affecting the I-70 transportation corridor. As the storm tracks east, major airport cities—including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Little Rock—could experience flight disruptions from gusty thunderstorms as soon as late Sunday and Monday.

Self-Driving Taxis Are Catching On

Immigration

NPR - A federal judge on Thursday ordered an end to the monthslong National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C. to tackle crime, declaring that the use of troops was "unlawful."

It's the latest legal resistance against President Trump's troop deployments in American cities as a means to suppress protests, combat crime or safeguard federal buildings and personnel, including ICE agents.

It comes just days after a Tennessee state judge issued a temporary block on the mobilization of Guard forces in Memphis, which was activated by the Tennessee governor at Trump's behest. Over the weekend, the Defense Department ordered hundreds of troops to leave Chicago and Portland, Ore. as federal courts kept those deployments at a stalemate.

The Intercept - The Intercept has learned that ICE is now considering hiring private bounty hunters to locate immigrants across the country. Meanwhile, ICE is building a sprawling network of privately operated detention camps and prisons — even as our reporting finds that their existing facilities offer life-threateningly little medical care for detainees.

Occupy Democrats -  A Chinese immigrant is found dead in ICE custody with his hands and feet bound in a “hog-tied" position and they’re insisting that it was suicide.

Donald Trump

NBC News -  President Donald Trump said that he's "not threatening death" toward a group of Democratic members of Congress whom a day earlier he accused of "seditious behavior," which he said was "punishable by death."

"I’m not threatening death, but I think they’re in serious trouble," he said of the Democrats, who had released a video urging members of the military not to follow illegal orders.

Ukraine

Axios - President Trump's peace plan for Ukraine includes a security guarantee modeled on NATO's Article 5, which would commit the U.S. and European allies to treat an attack on Ukraine as an attack on the entire "transatlantic community," according to a draft obtained by Axios' Barak Ravid....

Between the lines: The plan could open Trump to backlash with his America First allies, as it would effectively commit the U.S. military to defending Ukraine in the event of another war.

The intrigue: The 28-point plan U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll presented to Zelensky yesterday, which was obtained by Axios, says simply that "Ukraine will receive reliable security guarantees." But alongside it, the U.S. presented the Ukrainians with another draft agreement.

 It states that any future "significant, deliberate, and sustained armed attack" by Russia on Ukraine "shall be regarded as an attack threatening the peace and security of the transatlantic community," and the U.S. and its allies will respond accordingly, including through military force. Go deeper

Bloomberg - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed to work on a peace plan crafted by Russia and the US that would force Ukraine to cede key territory, abandon its NATO ambitions, and hold elections within 100 days. Greece’s prime minister called it “problematic” and the UK’s Keir Starmer said any proposal must have Kyiv’s consent. European leaders will hold a call with Zelenskiy to discuss the proposal.

Americans like vaccines

Axios - Poll after poll finds that majorities of Americans have a lot of confidence in vaccines. A Pew Research study out this week, for example, found that nearly two-thirds of Americans are extremely or very confident that childhood vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illness. Just over half (51%) expressed confidence that the childhood vaccination schedule is safe, with another 23% saying they are "somewhat" confident.

Iowa City goes for free buses

The City of Iowa City Government

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice News - From cost savings to environmental concerns, there’s much to be said for taking the bus. So, it’s easy to see why a growing number of cities are offering free public busing. Many of these initiatives are found in international locales like Luxembourg and Montpellier, France, but the concept has also taken root in Iowa City, a college town in America’s heartland.

The city of under 183,000 residents slashed bus fares in August 2023 as part of a two-year pilot program aimed at lowering emissions and encouraging more people to try alternative modes of transportation, per The New York Times. Although some community members were initially skeptical, it has since garnered immense support, prompting the City Council to extend the program for another year.

And the effect on the environment has been notable: The local government estimates annual carbon dioxide emissions in the city have decreased by 24,000 metric tons thanks to the surge in ridership. “The transit system is one of the greatest tools communities have to combat climate change and reduce emissions,” Darian Nagle-Gamm, Iowa City’s transportation director, told The Times. “You can make a pretty immediate impact.” Learn more about the program’s impact.?

How to deal with doubts about your therapist

Alice Rizzi -  It’s not unusual to get a few sessions into therapy – or even more – and find that something doesn’t feel quite right. Maybe your therapist says something that doesn’t sit well with you. Maybe they don’t seem to ‘get’ you. You might leave your sessions feeling drained, or unheard. Or perhaps the doubts are quieter, but still you start to wonder: Is this person actually helping me?

Doubting whether your therapist is right for you can be uncomfortable and confusing, especially if you are new to therapy. You might feel guilty or disloyal for doubting them, or uncertain about whether your concerns are valid. But doubts are normal and worth paying attention to. In this Guide, I’ll help you approach them with curiosity and care so you can take the most informed next step.

As a clinical psychologist, I believe therapy should feel safe, supportive and genuinely helpful. If it doesn’t, it’s important to notice and honour your doubts. Sometimes talking about them with your therapist leads to greater clarity and connection; other times, your doubts help you recognise that a different therapist or approach might be a better fit. Either way, listening to these signals can guide you toward the kind of support you need to thrive.

When I speak to a potential therapy client for the first time, I always tell them: fit is paramount. ‘Fit’ refers to how well a therapist and client match in ways that foster trust, progress and wellbeing. It’s not about whether your therapist is perfect (no one is), but whether you feel seen, heard and supported in the ways that matter to you.  More

Trump is taking aim at state AI laws

The Hill - President Trump is taking aim at state AI laws that his administration sees as threats to the growing industry and the U.S’s ability to dominate it.

The clash with state legislatures has long been brewing, as statehouses have forged ahead with efforts to rein in risks from the rapidly developing technology while the Trump White House decries excessive regulation it argues could stifle AI innovation. 

However, even as the president largely focuses on laws from liberal states, the move is likely to anger both Democrats and Republicans, who previously found common ground in opposing a preemption push by Congress. 

Drug boats from Venezuela are mainly moving cocaine to Europe, expert say

NBC News - President Donald Trump and his Pentagon chief say U.S. military strikes on suspected drug boats in waters off Latin America are saving lives by preventing narcotics from reaching America’s shores.  But drug cartels operating vessels in the Caribbean, where roughly 50% of the airstrikes have taken place, are mainly moving cocaine from South America to Europe — not to the United States, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement and military officials, as well as narcotics experts. And the deadliest drug of all, fentanyl, is almost exclusively smuggled over land from Mexico, the officials and experts say.

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RBReich: Remember: The oligarchs who control our economy and democracy seek to divide us so they can become more powerful. They want us to turn on each other so we don't look up and see where all the wealth and power have gone.

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Liz Cheney: “I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”

Ghislaine Maxwell

National Memo -  Newly released emails from Ghislaine Maxwell – who was deceased child predator Jeffrey Epstein's chief accomplice — show that the special privileges she's receiving in prison even include "secretarial services" from the facility's highest-ranking official.

The Atlantic's Isaac Stanley-Becker reported Thursday that he pored through dozens of emails that Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee received from a nurse who worked at the minimum security prison camp in Bryan, Texas (northwest of Houston) where Maxwell was transferred earlier this year. While NBC News reported on some excerpts of those emails, Stanley-Becker wrote that the most notable details had "not previously been reported."

According to The Atlantic journalist, Maxwell's emails were "notably free of regret, remorse, shame [and] self-doubt." He wrote that they provide a window into the "relatively comfortable life" of the woman serving a 20-year prison sentence for helping Epstein groom and exploit underage girls. One of Epstein's victims recalled that Maxwell was "more physically abusive" than Epstein.

Among the extensive privileges being exclusively granted to Maxwell include her being allowed to have visits in private in the prison's chapel, rather than in the facility's designated visitation space. She's also been allowed to have an unlimited supply of toilet paper, whereas other inmates are only allowed two rolls per week. She and her legal team are provided with "drinks and snacks" when visiting her. Additionally, prison warden Tanisha Hall has allowed Maxwell to bring in "private electronic equipment."...

California ex-police chief tells of colleagues’ racist harassment

The Guardian -  The embattled former police chief of Vallejo, a San Francisco Bay Area city that has attracted national attention over police violence, has said that he endured a steady procession of racist remarks from colleagues and online harassment and threats that ultimately led him to resign.

By the time Chief Shawny Williams tendered his resignation in 2022, he said he had received a slew of threats – at his office, at his home, and in his email inbox. Most demanded he step down. But even after resigning, the threats still came by mail to his home and a second property he owned outside the state.

“They were hostile, toxic,” Williams testified in a deposition on Wednesday. “I had safety concerns.”

Williams made the statements as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Vallejo police department brought by Deyana Jenkins, whom officers pulled from a car and tased during a traffic stop in 2019. The incident occurred months after six Vallejo police officers shot her uncle, Willie McCoy, a 20-year-old rapper, 55 times while he was asleep in his car. The killing attracted widespread attention and thrust a spotlight on the department’s use of force.

Meanwhile. . .

NBC News - An original copy of the first edition of the first "Superman" comic from 1939 — which had been lying undiscovered in an attic for decades — was sold at auction for more than $9 million, thought to be highest price paid for a comic book. 

NPR - A new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences quantifies how little plastic a marine animal has to ingest for it to be lethal. For an Atlantic puffin, it takes less than three sugar cubes’ worth of plastic

Climate change

NPR - The planet has warmed about 1.3 degrees Celsius, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Communities are already experiencing more severe storms, flooding, and heatwaves. Scientists warn that when the planet heats up beyond 1.5 degrees, there could be massive, self-reinforcing changes that could have devastating impacts worldwide. These changes are sometimes referred to as climate tipping points. They can unfold over decades or centuries and may be partially reversible. But they all have enormous and lasting implications for life on Earth. Here are some of the most important and well-studied changes:

💧 Coral reefs have been dying around the globe. They are very sensitive to heat, and their loss would destabilize many countries. Numerous people rely on them for food, income and livelihoods. Marine life that can only be found on these reefs would be at risk of extinction.
💧 Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica could melt and result in the rise of sea levels around the world.
💧 Permanently frozen ground in the Arctic is thawing, which can cause the land to sink, resulting in cracks in the foundations of buildings, buckling of roads and the kinking of pipelines. 

State and local voting officials preparing for midterm election manipulation

NPR - State and local voting officials from both major political parties are actively preparing for the possibility of the Trump administration's interference in the midterm elections, which are less than a year away. The president has consistently spread false claims about voting in the U.S. In the spring, he issued an executive order aimed at imposing significant changes to election systems. Although courts have largely blocked the order, he has hinted at the possibility of taking other executive action as well. The election community is concerned that Trump plans to have a heavy hand in their processes next year. Here are a few things voting officials are watching for.

Official disease website now says link between vaccines and autism can not be ruled out but scientists say they didn't change the site

NPR - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website now says a link between vaccines and autism cannot be ruled out. This is a reversal from the agency’s longstanding position that there is no link. This message aligns with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s opinion that vaccines are dangerous. 

CDC scientists say they didn’t change their website, and the Department of Health and Human Services wouldn’t divulge who ordered the adjustment to the wording, NPR’s Pien Huang tells Up First. There is no new scientific evidence to support the claim of a link between vaccines and autism. Huang notes that it is interesting that a headline on the CDC’s webpage still states that vaccines don’t cause autism. However, there is an asterisk next to this statement, which explains that the agency will not remove it due to an agreement with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who provided a key confirmation vote for Kennedy to become the HHS secretary. 

Senate and House GOP leaders no longer on same page

The Hill -  Friction is emerging in the once unified GOP relationship between Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.).

The two congressional leaders have been visibly out of sync in recent days on a bill to release the Jeffrey Epstein files and on an electronic records seizure law that could enrich senators while drawing a hostile reaction from many House Republicans.

The dynamic is bringing classic House-Senate tensions out into the open, and it’s putting the Speaker in a position of having to defer to the upper chamber — even though it is Johnson who has a more publicly close relationship with President Trump.

And it comes as the two leaders face serious challenges on other legislative issues, including how to address ObamaCare subsidies that expire at the end of the year; passage of the National Defense Authorization Act; and another looming government funding deadline in January that could lead to a second shutdown in a matter of months.

Johnson told reporters Wednesday night that he has “a very good relationship” with Thune. 

“We have different processes and procedures in the two chambers, and sometimes we all get frustrated by that, but it’s not personal,” Johnson said.

After a rebellion in the House forced Johnson to bring the Epstein Files Transparency Act to a vote Wednesday, Johnson spent nearly 20 minutes in a press conference in the hours ahead of the vote detailing his concerns with the bill, even though it got a face-saving endorsement from Trump. Johnson argued it needed fixes for how it handled sensitive victim information and the possible release of untrue allegations about other individuals in relation to the financier and sex offender. 

Thanksgiving weather around the country

Texas governor declares Muslim group "a foreign terrorist organization"

Independent UK  -  Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared one of the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy groups in the US, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a 'foreign terrorist organization' and a 'transnational criminal organization'.

He stated this proclamation would allow the state to attempt to shut down the group and prevent it from acquiring land within Texas.

The Muslim Brotherhood was also included in this designation.  However, neither CAIR nor the Muslim Brotherhood are officially designated as foreign terrorist organisations by the US government.

Independent, UK -  Texas is undertaking the nation’s largest attempt to hang the Ten Commandments in public schools. In the rush to navigate the Republican-led mandate that took effect in September, the rollout has forced some districts to confront hard choices.

Federal courts have ordered more than two dozen of the state's nearly 1,200 school districts to not hang the posters, including on Tuesday when a judge ruled that the mandate violates First Amendment language guaranteeing religious liberty and forbidding government establishment of religion. Courts have also ruled against similar laws in Arkansas and Louisiana, and the issue is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Pedestrian deaths have surged

Washington Post -  Between 2010 and 2023, yearly deaths caused by cars and trucks striking pedestrians rose 70 percent, an examination of federal data and other public records by The Washington Post shows.

City by city across the United States, the surge — from 4,302 in 2010 to 7,314 deaths in 2023 — largely occurred on roads with a few things in common. They were concentrated on multilane roads, with the largest clusters of deaths occurring on thoroughfares that cut through economically distressed neighborhoods and had fading commercial strips, according to the Post investigation.

Wide roads and fast-moving vehicles — especially when combined with signs of poverty, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, and a lack of pedestrian-focused roadway improvements — produced a pattern of death-by-vehicle that is uniquely American, according to the investigation, which draws on crash data, census records and thousands of pages of police reports, as well as interviews with current and former officials, engineering experts and victims’ families.

More people in these areas lack cars and are forced to walk, while many of those killed tended to be impaired and were taking risks trying to cross, the review found.

The country has become a global outlier, as fatality rates in such incidents have declined almost 30 percent in other developed countries in the decade ending in 2023.

Polls: Most Americans believe the US is on the path to another civil war

Republicans against Trump - Fox News poll: 76% of voters view the economy negatively. That’s worse than the 67% who felt that way in July.

Independent, UK -  A majority of U.S. citizens believe the country is on the path to a second civil war because of the polarizing nature of modern politics, according to a shocking new poll.

The survey from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, conducted between October 30 and November 6, asked respondents which issues they felt most strongly about, with 57 percent saying they feared a new war between the states.

Other statements those taking part agreed with most emphatically included the suggestion that consumers are sacrificing too much privacy to Big Tech, 89 percent agreement, that American freedom of speech is under threat, 76 percent, that the government is not doing enough to protect minority rights, 73 percent, that democracy itself is under threat, 69 percent, and that race relations in the U.S. are worsening, 60 percent.

National Memo -  Riding a streak of unexpectedly strong election wins, Democrats have found yet another reason to feel bullish about 2026. A new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll shows a clear majority of voters leaning blue if the midterms were held today—a rare cushion in an era defined by razor-thin margins.

The headline number is almost jarring: Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot 55 percent to 41 percent. That’s the party’s biggest edge in this poll since late 2017, just before Democrats flipped more than 40 House seats during President Donald Trump’s first term. The symmetry isn’t perfect, but it’s close enough to make operatives on both sides sit up straighter. It’s the same point in Trump’s presidency; same polling drift away from the GOP; same ominous rumble of a potential blue wave.

But the map today is far less forgiving. A decade of hyper-aggressive gerrymandering—much of it encouraged by Trump—has drained the battlefield of competitive districts. Red states have raced to redraw maps mid-decade, and blue states have retaliated. The House is now a chessboard engineered to resist blowouts, even as public sentiment sours against the party in power.

Add endangered species to Trump's victims

The Hill - The Trump administration is proposing to axe protections for some animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act.The administration argues that the current rules are too stringent and stifle economic development, while their supporters say they are necessary to protect wildlife from harm.

The administration is proposing to cut protections for species that are newly designated as “threatened,” which is a step below endangered. 

Under existing rules, threatened species are subject to protections. Under the Trump proposal, newly designated ones would not get these protections, but they would stay in place for species that are currently listed.

The changes also appear to make it more difficult both to designate species as endangered and to conserve habitat for such species.

Comey case

American Watchdog - A federal judge has issued an extraordinary ruling revealing profound investigative missteps by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the case against former FBI Director James Comey. The judge’s critique highlights serious procedural errors that could potentially undermine the integrity of the prosecution, raising significant concerns about government misconduct, procedural fairness, and the broader issue of politicization in high-profile federal cases. The ruling mandates the rare release of all grand jury materials to Comey’s defense, marking a critical intervention in the ongoing debate over the independence and accountability of federal law enforcement. NPR - The Justice Department yesterday informed the judge overseeing the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey that the full grand jury never reviewed the final indictment against him. The government described this as little more than a paperwork error. But Comey’s attorney disagreed, saying this is grounds to have the case dismissed. Comey faces false statement and obstruction charges tied to congressional testimony he gave in 2020.

Former federal prosecutors expressed to NPR’s Ryan Lucus that the fact that the full jury didn't see the final indictment is a self-inflicted wound by the government. Lucus says the judge overseeing the case sounded concerned, and the DOJ's action raises questions about the validity of the indictment itself. A magistrate judge who ordered the government to hand over all grand jury materials to the defense a few days ago says there has been a pattern of “profound investigative missteps” in the case.

Maryland's AG joins 24 other jurisdictions in opposing deployment of National Guard without state approval

Anthony Brown - Trump’s attempt to deploy the National Guard in Illinois and his threat to do so in other cities is unlawful, unconstitutional, and undemocratic.

That’s why I’m leading an amicus brief with 24 other jurisdictions against the Trump administration’s attempted deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois, as I have in other places like DC and Oregon.

As Maryland’s Attorney General and a U.S. Army veteran, I take public safety seriously. However, Trump’s use of the National Guard to patrol American cities without the approval of state leaders is an abuse of power motivated by politics, not public safety.

This is the fourth time in four months that Donald Trump has deployed the Guard to a city without the consent of its leaders. The courts must intervene; otherwise, this disturbing militarization of cities could become the new normal.