Independent, UK - Record 82 million Americans expected to travel for Thanksgiving - with most taking to the roads
November 17, 2025
Federal judge finds evidence of government misconduct in Comey case
The Guardian - A US judge on Monday found evidence of “government misconduct” in how a prosecutor aligned with Donald Trump secured criminal charges against James Comey, the former FBI director, and ordered that grand jury materials be turned over to Comey’s defense team.
Last week, prosecutors were ordered to produce a trove of materials from the investigation, with the court saying it was concerned that the US justice department’s position on Comey had been to “indict first and investigate later”.
Comey is charged with lying to Congress in 2020 in a case filed days after the US president appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have argued that it is a vindictive prosecution brought at the direction of the Republican president and must be dismissed.
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick ruled on Monday that the justice department engaged in a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” on its way to indicting Comey. The federal judge directed prosecutors to produce to defense lawyers all grand jury materials from the ca
Last week, prosecutors were ordered to produce a trove of materials from the investigation, with the court saying it was concerned that the US justice department’s position on Comey had been to “indict first and investigate later”.
Comey is charged with lying to Congress in 2020 in a case filed days after the US president appeared to urge his attorney general to prosecute the former FBI director and other perceived political enemies. He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers have argued that it is a vindictive prosecution brought at the direction of the Republican president and must be dismissed.
Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick ruled on Monday that the justice department engaged in a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” on its way to indicting Comey. The federal judge directed prosecutors to produce to defense lawyers all grand jury materials from the ca
Immigration
Roll Call - The Trump administration announced a drastic reduction on refugee admissions for fiscal 2026 as part of a tough-on-immigration approach, but a mixture of prior policies, a court challenge and the recent partial government shutdown have added to uncertainty over U.S. policy.
The State Department last month said 7,500 refugees could be admitted during the year, under a proclamation that also makes as the only priority group white Afrikaners from South Africa, who are allegedly facing persecution under a new property confiscation law. That would be the lowest cap since the 1980 law that established the current refugee process.
RBReich - The Trump regime has fired an estimated 70
immigration judges since February. This is happening as immigration
courts face a record backlog of cases.
Word
Robert Reich - Next year, Americans will see the biggest jump in health insurance costs in 15 years. Meanwhile, the seven largest health insurance companies made a combined $71B in profits in 2024. It’s far past time for Medicare for All.
Politics
Newsweek - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has claimed beef prices are rising because of immigrants bringing diseased cattle across the border. Speaking to Fox News Sunday, Bessent addressed reports that beef prices could hit $10 per pound next year, saying it was an issue “inherited” by the administration due to long-standing factors.
“There’s also, because of the mass immigration, a disease that we’d been rid of in North America made its way up through South America as these migrants brought some of their cattle with them,” Bessent said....He added: “So part of the problem is we’ve had to shut the border to Mexican beef because of this disease called the screwworm.” ....
While risks of screwworm infection have halted trade from Mexico, foreign supply makes up a small share of U.S. cattle, and evidence does not support Bessent’s claim that individual migrants are bringing in diseased cattle.
NY Times - We heard it over and over on the campaign trail: Donald Trump’s promise of a crackdown on criminals and undocumented immigrants at a scale and breadth this country had never seen before. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly known as ICE, has swept into American cities and is detaining more people than ever before.
However, 71 percent of those held in immigrant detention by the end of September did not have criminal convictions, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank focused on immigration. Many law-abiding immigrants who followed the rules in their applications for visas, green cards or asylum are being taken into ICE detention centers.
FCC chair Brendan Carr is on a crusade to Trumpify the airwaves
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave an update on President Donald Trump’s proposal to give $2,000 checks to Americans from tariff revenue.
Bessent told Fox Business on Sunday that legislation would be required to hand out the tariff dividends, but noted that working families are likely to see a pay bump in the first quarter of next year due to planned tax cuts on tips, overtime and Social Security.
“We are going to see a big bump in the first quarter with the refunds and the real income. President Trump has also talked about sending $2,000 refunds, and that would be for working families, we will have an income limit, those could go out,” Bessent said.
Why It Matters
The $2,000 checks have been repeatedly floated by Trump, but uncertainty remains about the possible timeline and final form. The payments would require Congressional approval, and Bessent has linked them to already-promised tax cuts.
Falmouth keeps good lawn care ordinance
Friends of Casco Bay - If Casco Bay could talk, it would say thank you to the citizens of Falmouth, who voted to uphold their town’s pesticide and fertilizer ordinance. Falmouth developed the ordinance over several years of study and with considerable public input.
On election day, Falmouth citizens were given the choice to overturn the ordinance. Instead, by a healthy margin, they voted to keep it. By doing so, they chose to use lawn care that doesn’t put our kids, pets, or local waters at risk.
The Falmouth Town Council passed the ordinance earlier this year in response to the well-documented risks posed by toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Friends of Casco Bay contributed data that showed fertilizer and pesticide loads in local waters and supported the ordinance. We asked our members in the town to support it too.
With the vote, Falmouth joins Harpswell, Portland, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth in adopting similar ordinances. These efforts are encouraging other municipalities in the Casco Bay watershed to work on their own ordinances.
On election day, Falmouth citizens were given the choice to overturn the ordinance. Instead, by a healthy margin, they voted to keep it. By doing so, they chose to use lawn care that doesn’t put our kids, pets, or local waters at risk.
The Falmouth Town Council passed the ordinance earlier this year in response to the well-documented risks posed by toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Friends of Casco Bay contributed data that showed fertilizer and pesticide loads in local waters and supported the ordinance. We asked our members in the town to support it too.
With the vote, Falmouth joins Harpswell, Portland, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth in adopting similar ordinances. These efforts are encouraging other municipalities in the Casco Bay watershed to work on their own ordinances.
Michelle Obama on why she's not running for president
Collin Rugg - Michelle Obama says she isn't going to run for president because she doesn't want to waste her time because America "ain't ready."
Tracee Ellis Ross: How do you feel about the fact that the First Lady is an archetype for wifedom and femininity?
Obama: I don't agree with that...
Ross: Do you think that impacts the room we have made for a woman to be president?
Obama: Don't even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You're not ready for a woman. So don't waste my time. We got a lot of growing up to do.
Tracee Ellis Ross: How do you feel about the fact that the First Lady is an archetype for wifedom and femininity?
Obama: I don't agree with that...
Ross: Do you think that impacts the room we have made for a woman to be president?
Obama: Don't even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You're not ready for a woman. So don't waste my time. We got a lot of growing up to do.
Community caregiving
Nice News - How do you address the childcare shortage? In rural Nebraska, one community took matters into their own hands, raising $3 million to create a centralized early childhood education facility, while another is advocating for more men to step into caregiving positions. Get a behind-the-scenes look into the programs.
Gen Z employees facing workplace criticism
The Guardian - Gen Z is undisciplined, apparently; entitled, some critics claim; and purportedly hates work. One viral column in the Wall Street Journal went so far as to suggest this entire generation was potentially “unemployable”.
As younger employees establishing themselves at work continue to face relentless criticism from the higher rungs of corporate America, those old enough to remember the arrival of the last generation could be forgiven for experiencing a sense of deja vu.
Millennials were once derided as lazy, entitled, delusional, narcissistic and unreliable, too: many of the same accusations now leveled at gen Z.
“Every generation tends to complain about the one next to us,” said Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at Wharton Business School. “Everyone used to hate millennials, and now it’s gen Z.
“We tend to compare [the younger generation] to our current selves, which is a mistake because most people are more narcissistic and self-centered at age 20 than they are at age 40. That’s part of development and maturity.”
While this is a recurring cycle, in which each new generation faces scrutiny as they enter the workforce, this time it has been intensified, according to industry experts, by gen Z’s disillusionment with the institutions that they deem to have failed them.
As younger employees establishing themselves at work continue to face relentless criticism from the higher rungs of corporate America, those old enough to remember the arrival of the last generation could be forgiven for experiencing a sense of deja vu.
Millennials were once derided as lazy, entitled, delusional, narcissistic and unreliable, too: many of the same accusations now leveled at gen Z.
“Every generation tends to complain about the one next to us,” said Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at Wharton Business School. “Everyone used to hate millennials, and now it’s gen Z.
“We tend to compare [the younger generation] to our current selves, which is a mistake because most people are more narcissistic and self-centered at age 20 than they are at age 40. That’s part of development and maturity.”
While this is a recurring cycle, in which each new generation faces scrutiny as they enter the workforce, this time it has been intensified, according to industry experts, by gen Z’s disillusionment with the institutions that they deem to have failed them.
The Charlotte attack
NPR- Border Patrol agents fanned out across Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, and by Sunday morning, they had arrested 81 people. The agents detained people outside supermarkets, laundromats and a church in the latest city to see a federal immigration crackdown.
Fear is spreading in immigrant communities as Nick de la Canal, with network station WFAE, says. Some restaurants locked their doors with customers inside and other businesses closed early. There’s also been pushback, including a large protest in uptown Charlotte and advocacy groups recruiting volunteers to monitor agents.
Fear is spreading in immigrant communities as Nick de la Canal, with network station WFAE, says. Some restaurants locked their doors with customers inside and other businesses closed early. There’s also been pushback, including a large protest in uptown Charlotte and advocacy groups recruiting volunteers to monitor agents.
American universities getting fewer international students
Axios - American universities enrolled far fewer new international students this fall...
In the first year of President Trump's second term, students have faced abrupt visa terminations, legal fights over their academic futures and, in some cases, arrest and detention by immigration agents over political speech.
A survey of 825 U.S. higher education institutions showed a 17% drop in international students matriculating in the fall for the first time.
Total enrollment among international students fell 1%. Undergraduate enrollment actually increased 2%, but graduate enrollment fell 11%. Share this story
Donald Trump
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| Via Annie |
Hartmann Report: When Does Trump Become Too Corrupt for the GOP?
Axios - In a major reversal last night, President Trump said in a Truth Social post that House Republicans "should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it's time to move on from this Democrat Hoax."
It's one of the few moments in Trump's second term where internal GOP pushback has forced his hand.
The big picture: Trump's apparent change of heart indicates that the vote on releasing the Epstein files would likely pass, though it's unclear if it would come up for a vote in the Senate...
He has faced backlash from some in the MAGA movement and publicly split with former loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a leader of the quest to force a House vote on the files, predicted a "deluge of Republicans" could vote alongside him and Greene in defiance of the White House. "There could be 100 or more," he told ABC's Jonathan Karl on "This Week" yesterday.
Trump announced his political divorce from Greene, whom he called "Wacky," a "ranting" lunatic and a "Traitor." Greene was one of a handful of Republicans who signed the discharge petition led by Massie and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) despite the president's opposition. Share this story
Airlines resume normal operations
Bloomberg - US airlines are set to resume normal operations today after the Federal Aviation Administration lifted the flight cuts put in place during the shutdown. Next time your flight is cancelled, here’s some advice on how to deal with the stress.
November 16, 2025
Trump's criminal status
Factually - Donald Trump was convicted in a New York state criminal trial on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records connected to a Stormy Daniels hush-money payment, a verdict delivered in late May 2024 that made him the first former or sitting U.S. president to carry a felony conviction on the public record. The conviction remains part of the record while multiple appeals are active and courts have recently given avenues to challenge or seek to erase that conviction; sentencing in state court produced an unconditional discharge in January 2025, and appellate decisions since have left the conviction legally contested but not vacated as of the most recent reporting.
Federal alcohol report being buried
Huffington Post - How many alcoholic drinks do you have in an entire week? Five, seven, 10? More? If you have one drink a day, your health could be impacted - but the powers that be aren’t doing much to make that fact known.
In September, Vox reported that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Department of Health and Human Services decided not to publish a large federal study on the negative impact alcohol has on our health. A draft of the report, known as the Alcohol Intake and Health Study, was published for public comment in January and is available online.
“This report and our findings were, as we were told, going to inform the new drinking guidelines,” said Priscilla Martinez, the deputy scientific director at the Alcohol Research Group and an author of the report...
Now, instead, a competing report that’s in-line with the country’s current drinking guidelines (one drink or fewer a day for women and two or fewer for men) will inform the guideline update, according to the New York Times. Some of the panelists behind this competing report have financial interests aligned with the alcohol industry, the New York Times reported.
“I think you generally want to have any recommendations about diet or lifestyle behaviors [to be] informed by the most sound science,” Martinez said. “And so that’s what I think is unfortunate about the [the Alcohol Intake and Health Study] not being included.”
Corporate layoffs vs. CEO pay
RBReich - Amazon announced 14,000 layoffs. Its CEO made over $40M last year.
UPS announced 48,000 layoffs. Its CEO made over $24M last year.
Intel announced 20,000 layoffs. Its new CEO's pay package is valued at nearly $69M.
UPS announced 48,000 layoffs. Its CEO made over $24M last year.
Intel announced 20,000 layoffs. Its new CEO's pay package is valued at nearly $69M.
Trump regime
Republicans against Trump - The Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. — The New Yorker
Jeffrey Epstein
Epstein's email says Bill Clinton 'NEVER EVER' went to his island. Trump says otherwise.
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom - Tune into Fox News (don't, actually) and you will see a steady stream of Trump sycophants alongside curious case of California Derangement Syndrome.
But here are some cold, hard facts you will never see on the network.
🆙 Prices are not, down ... they are UP.
☕️ Coffee: UP 18.9%
🛜 Utilities: UP 11.7%
💡Electricity: UP 5.1%
🚗 Vehicles: UP 11.5%
💰 Middle class families in California pay less in taxes than in states like Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
🔴 Life expectancy, infant mortality, deaths of despair, wages and uninsured rates are all worse off in red states.
🚨 For Greg Abbott and Texas Republicans talking trash: California is the fourth largest economy in the world. We contribute $83 billion to the federal government while Texas takes $71 billion.
🥇 California is #1 in manufacturing, #1 in farming, #1 in new business starts, #1 in tech and VC investments, #1 in Fortune 500 companies, and the #1 public higher education system in the country.
👨👩👧👧 California has some of the strongest gun laws in the country and as a result has a 43% lower gun death rate than the rest of the U.S. according to data from the CDC while President Trump oversaw the largest spike in homicides recorded in U.S. history.
Florida suing Planned Parenthood for "racketeering"
MS NOW - In a new lawsuit, Florida’s Republican attorney general accuses Planned
Parenthood of “misrepresenting the safety” of abortion pills and alleges
its activities constitute “racketeering” — a charge usually applied to
organized crime. He is seeking $350 million in penalties and asking the
court to consider shutting the organization down, writes UC Davis law professor Mary Ziegler.
While public opposition to abortion restrictions has given pause to the
Trump administration and Republicans in Congress, a judge in a red
state might not have the same qualms. Meanwhile, Missouri’s Republican
attorney general is making similar claims. Neither lawsuit is meant to
be limited to those states, however, as the damages would have an effect
nationwide. Read the column here.
Tariffs
MS NOW - Trump’s latest
pledge to send “low- and middle-income” Americans a $2,000 tariff rebate
check should be taken with a grain of salt. The biggest problem is that
the math doesn’t add up, writes Philip Bump.
Sending checks to everyone making less than $100,000, for example,
would require $249 billion, far more than tariffs are likely to raise by
year’s end. The other problem is that American consumers already pay
55% of tariff revenue, according to a Goldman Sachs analysis. That means
that any tariff checks would just be moving money from one group of
Americans to another. Read more.
Healthcare
MS NOW - The government
shutdown ended after 43 days, but for millions of Americans, the
uncertainty has only just started. Because the deal to end the shutdown
didn’t extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, millions of families
are seeing their insurance rates for next year spike, writes Dr. Uché Blackstock, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equity.
Health policy research organization KFF estimates the average annual
premium payment for subsidized enrollees could more than double, from
$888 to $1,904. Read more.
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