WalletHub - With the recent AT&T data breach impacting nearly 86 million customer accounts, including over 44 million Social Security numbers, the personal-finance company WalletHub released its report on 2025’s States Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft & Fraud.
WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 15 key metrics. The data set ranges from identity theft complaints per capita to the average loss amount due to fraud. For the full report
December 3, 2025
Cimate change
Axios - Number of the day: $400-$900 per household. That's the average annual cost of climate change to U.S. households based on a "narrow accounting" of a subset of costs, per a new analysis by MIT and UCLA researchers. "The breadth of this range is primarily explained by different assumptions regarding how to attribute weather-related costs to climate change," it states. Home insurance premium changes have the biggest effect. The bottom line: "Although the chief concerns about climate change lie in the future, climate change is already having consequential effects for US households and taxpayers." Full study
Trump kills nursing home staffing rules
Axios - The effort to set first-ever federal minimum staffing standards for nursing homes is officially dead after the Trump administration yesterday put out a notice formally repealing the Biden-era regulations.
The standards were billed as necessary to improve safety and quality of care in institutional settings.
- But nursing home operators argued the requirements were unworkable, and that CMS lacked that authority to create the policy. A federal judge in Texas agreed and vacated the rule in April.
- Congress subsequently used the GOP tax-and-spending bill to delay any new standards until 2034...
The policy would have required most nursing homes starting next year to have a registered nurse on-site at all times, and provide at least 33 minutes of care from an RN per patient per day.
December 2, 2025
Hegseth told soldiers in Iraq to ignore rules of engagement
Guardian - Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, told soldiers under his command in Iraq to ignore legal advice about when they were permitted to kill enemy combatants under their rules of engagement.
The anecdote is contained in a book Hegseth wrote last year in which he also repeatedly railed against the constraints placed on “American warfighters” by the laws of war and the Geneva conventions.
Hegseth is currently under scrutiny for a 2 September attack on a boat purportedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean, where survivors of a first strike on the vessel were reportedly killed in a second strike following a verbal order from Hegseth to “kill everybody”.
Hegseth has denied giving the order and retained the support of Donald Trump. The US president said Hegseth told him “he did not say that, and I believe him, 100%”. But some US senators have raised the possibility that the US war secretary committed a war crime. More
The anecdote is contained in a book Hegseth wrote last year in which he also repeatedly railed against the constraints placed on “American warfighters” by the laws of war and the Geneva conventions.
Hegseth is currently under scrutiny for a 2 September attack on a boat purportedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean, where survivors of a first strike on the vessel were reportedly killed in a second strike following a verbal order from Hegseth to “kill everybody”.
Hegseth has denied giving the order and retained the support of Donald Trump. The US president said Hegseth told him “he did not say that, and I believe him, 100%”. But some US senators have raised the possibility that the US war secretary committed a war crime. More
RFK Jr ready to make major changes to when children get vaccines
Indpeendent UK - An advisory panel appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly preparing to recommend significant changes to vaccination schedules, including potentially delaying the hepatitis B shot given to newborns.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory panel is scheduled to discuss and then vote on the hepatitis B vaccine dose recommendation during a two-day meeting beginning Dec. 4, according to a meeting agenda and a report by the health policy organization KFF.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, fired the entire 17-member panel earlier this year and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices.
The committee’s decisions are not legally binding, but experts warned any misinformation from this week’s meeting could lead parents to believe the hepatitis B vaccine is harmful to babies.
Hepatitis B is highly contagious and can cause severe liver damage. The disease is transmitted through blood and bodily fluids, and a vaccine dose has been recommended for newborns since 1991.
An advisory panel appointed by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. is reportedly preparing to recommend major changes to when children receive vaccines
An advisory panel appointed by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. is reportedly preparing to recommend major changes to when children receive vaccines (Getty Images)
If babies receive the dose within 24 hours of birth, the vaccine is 90 percent effective, and if they receive all three doses, 98 percent develop immunity that lasts for decades.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory panel is scheduled to discuss and then vote on the hepatitis B vaccine dose recommendation during a two-day meeting beginning Dec. 4, according to a meeting agenda and a report by the health policy organization KFF.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, fired the entire 17-member panel earlier this year and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices.
The committee’s decisions are not legally binding, but experts warned any misinformation from this week’s meeting could lead parents to believe the hepatitis B vaccine is harmful to babies.
Hepatitis B is highly contagious and can cause severe liver damage. The disease is transmitted through blood and bodily fluids, and a vaccine dose has been recommended for newborns since 1991.
An advisory panel appointed by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. is reportedly preparing to recommend major changes to when children receive vaccines
An advisory panel appointed by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. is reportedly preparing to recommend major changes to when children receive vaccines (Getty Images)
If babies receive the dose within 24 hours of birth, the vaccine is 90 percent effective, and if they receive all three doses, 98 percent develop immunity that lasts for decades.
Why Recycling Can’t Solve Our Plastic Crisis
Time - Throwing your plastic bottles in
the recycling bin may make you feel good about yourself, or ease your
guilt about your climate impact. But recycling plastic will not address
the plastic pollution crisis—and it is time we stop pretending as such.
Less than 6% of plastic waste in the United States is recycled. This number tends to surprise people, in part, because it is a hard truth to accept. We all want a magic wand that can effortlessly eliminate the plastic trail of consumerism. Plus, we’ve been misled to believe that sea turtles would stop choking on our plastic waste if we faithfully chucked it into the recycling bin.
That deception was intentional. Powerful fossil fuel and chemical companies—the ones creating the pollution in the first place—knew as early as the 1970s that plastic recycling would never be able to handle the world’s plastic waste. At that time, consumers and policymakers were realizing there were severe environmental consequences to single-use, disposable plastics, and companies were feeling the heat. To prevent their products from being restricted by new laws, companies banded together to plant positive messaging about plastic recycling across our society. In the 1990s, television commercials about recycling felt as prevalent as Beanie Babies.
Industry deception continues today. For instance, when you place your old plastic shopping bags in the drop-off bins at grocery stores, that packaging often still ends up in a landfill. And the triangular “chasing arrows” symbol that everyone associates with recyclability routinely appears on non-recyclable plastic products.
Plastic, which is made from fossil fuels, wasn’t designed to be recycled. Roughly 16,000 chemicals can be found in plastic, many of them purposefully added during the production process to give plastic characteristics like flexibility, strength, color, and resistance to sunlight. Different plastic products contain different combinations of those chemicals, and these varied plastic types must all be sorted and recycled separately.
What’s more, plastic—unlike glass and aluminum—loses its functionality when it’s recycled. A glass bottle or aluminum can may be recycled into another glass bottle or aluminum can over and over again. By contrast, a plastic bottle can only be recycled into another plastic bottle two or three times before it becomes something like carpeting or clothing, which typically ultimately ends up in a landfill or incinerator, polluting our air, soil, and water. In this way, recycling doesn’t sustainably prevent plastic waste from ending up in the environment—it just delays it.
Now, from New York to California, state attorneys general are filing lawsuits against plastic producers like PepsiCo and ExxonMobil not just for their pollution but also their recyclability claims.
While the plastics industry was pulling the wool over our eyes, it was also exponentially increasing plastic production. The result: Plastic waste in the United States rose from 13.6 billion pounds in 1980 to 71.4 billion pounds in 2018—a whopping 263% increase.
Santa Fe raises its minimum wage
AP News - Santa Fe has long referred to itself as “The City Different” for its distinct atmosphere and a blending of cultures that stretches back centuries. Now, it’s trying something different — something officials hope will prevent a cultural erosion as residents are priced out of their homes.
It’s the first city in the United States to directly link wages to housing affordability, aiming to counter high rents by tying minimum wage increases to consumer prices as well as fair market rental prices.
Many see the new ordinance as a big step forward for workers, but Mayor Alan Webber also sees it as an important tool for addressing an affordability crisis that threatens the very fabric of Santa Fe.
“The purpose is to make a serious difference in assuring that people who work here can live here,” he said. “Santa Fe’s history and culture is really reflected in the diversity of our people. It’s that diversity that we’re trying to preserve.”
Santa Fe is not alone. Rising rents and housing prices have squeezed households nationwide, leaving many with less income to pay for other necessities. Experts say the financial pressure on renter households has increased compared to pre-pandemic conditions.
Santa Fe’s minimum wage will increase to $17.50 starting in 2027. The annual increase historically has been tied to consumer prices, but going forward a new blended formula will be used to calculate the annual increase, with the Consumer Price Index making up one half and fair market rent data making up the other.
There’s a 5% cap in case costs skyrocket, and if consumer prices or rents tank in any particular year, the minimum wage will not be reduced.
Santa Fe first adopted a living wage in 2002. The ordinance has been expanded over the years and the mission this time was to deal with median housing prices and rental costs that were far above any other major market in New Mexico.
It’s the first city in the United States to directly link wages to housing affordability, aiming to counter high rents by tying minimum wage increases to consumer prices as well as fair market rental prices.
Many see the new ordinance as a big step forward for workers, but Mayor Alan Webber also sees it as an important tool for addressing an affordability crisis that threatens the very fabric of Santa Fe.
“The purpose is to make a serious difference in assuring that people who work here can live here,” he said. “Santa Fe’s history and culture is really reflected in the diversity of our people. It’s that diversity that we’re trying to preserve.”
Santa Fe is not alone. Rising rents and housing prices have squeezed households nationwide, leaving many with less income to pay for other necessities. Experts say the financial pressure on renter households has increased compared to pre-pandemic conditions.
Santa Fe’s minimum wage will increase to $17.50 starting in 2027. The annual increase historically has been tied to consumer prices, but going forward a new blended formula will be used to calculate the annual increase, with the Consumer Price Index making up one half and fair market rent data making up the other.
There’s a 5% cap in case costs skyrocket, and if consumer prices or rents tank in any particular year, the minimum wage will not be reduced.
Santa Fe first adopted a living wage in 2002. The ordinance has been expanded over the years and the mission this time was to deal with median housing prices and rental costs that were far above any other major market in New Mexico.
You'll need REAL ID to air travel in 2026
Shortlysts - Beginning February 1st, 2026, the Transportation Security Administration will charge air travelers a $45 fee if they arrive at airport security without a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or another acceptable government ID. This will apply to adults 18 and older. Minors are exempt as long as they are traveling with an adult who has proper identification.
The fee covers a ten-day period. Once a traveler pays it, they can fly during that window without an additional charge, but the payment is non-refundable. The TSA says the system replaces the earlier fallback method that relied on enhanced screening and additional questioning. Those earlier steps were time-consuming, inconsistent across airports, and cost more to run than the agency expected...
For most flyers, the change is simple: make sure your driver’s license has the REAL ID star or bring a passport. Anyone who shows up without accepted identification will have to pay $45 to continue their trip. That cost is per traveler, not per family, and it applies even if the lack of ID is accidental. The ten-day window is helpful only if the traveler has multiple flights within that span.
People who rarely fly should check their ID well before any upcoming travel, as a standard driver’s license without the required security features will not be accepted after the rule takes effect. DMVs are expected to see heavier demand as the deadline approaches and wait times may grow.
For airlines and airports, the fee is intended to reduce delays and provide TSA with a predictable way to handle noncompliant passengers. If travelers prepare ahead, airports should see fewer last-minute workarounds and shorter security slowdowns.
Presidential power: pardons
Axios - No presidential power is more absolute than the pardon. And no president
has wielded it more openly as a tool of personal and ideological
loyalty than Donald Trump. More
The Starbucks strike
The Guardian - Thousands of Starbucks baristas are on strike across the US, warning the world’s largest coffee chain to brace for the “longest and biggest” bout of industrial action in its history.
Barely a year after Brian Niccol, the Starbucks CEO, tried to draw a line under bitter divisions between its management and unionized workers, pledging to “engage constructively” with them, the American coffee giant is now grappling with an escalating strike during its lucrative holiday trading season.
About 2,500 workers are striking across 85 cities and 120 stores – and urging customers to steer clear. Starbucks claims less than 1% of its coffee houses have experienced disruption due to the industrial action.
But the union, Starbucks Workers United, which represents 11,000 baristas at more than 550 stores, is threatening to escalate the strike far beyond its current footprint unless executives make concessions during contract negotiations.
Four years after the first Starbucks-owned US store voted to form a union, defying intense resistance from the company, relations between both sides have deteriorated.
“It’s still shocking to me to wake up and have them every day still fighting us the way that they’re fighting us,” Michelle Eisen, spokesperson for Starbucks Workers United, told the Guardian. “Because we have proven time and time again that we’re not going anywhere.”
Barely a year after Brian Niccol, the Starbucks CEO, tried to draw a line under bitter divisions between its management and unionized workers, pledging to “engage constructively” with them, the American coffee giant is now grappling with an escalating strike during its lucrative holiday trading season.
About 2,500 workers are striking across 85 cities and 120 stores – and urging customers to steer clear. Starbucks claims less than 1% of its coffee houses have experienced disruption due to the industrial action.
But the union, Starbucks Workers United, which represents 11,000 baristas at more than 550 stores, is threatening to escalate the strike far beyond its current footprint unless executives make concessions during contract negotiations.
Four years after the first Starbucks-owned US store voted to form a union, defying intense resistance from the company, relations between both sides have deteriorated.
“It’s still shocking to me to wake up and have them every day still fighting us the way that they’re fighting us,” Michelle Eisen, spokesperson for Starbucks Workers United, told the Guardian. “Because we have proven time and time again that we’re not going anywhere.”
Juan Orlando Hernández
NY Times - The lawyer for Juan Orlando Hernández, a former president of Honduras who had been convicted in the United States of drug trafficking charges, said on Tuesday that his client had been released from a federal prison in West Virginia after receiving a full pardon from President Trump. Mr. Trump granted the pardon on Monday evening, fulfilling a pledge he had made days earlier that shocked U.S. officials who had built a major case against Mr. Hernández for flooding the United States with cocaine. Read more ›
Ukraine
NBC - President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was rallying European support in Paris, though he cautioned that some "tough issues" still have to be worked out with Washington.
It could be a pivotal week for diplomacy, said Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief. "It is clear that Russia does not want peace, and therefore we need to make Ukraine as strong as possible in order then to be ready to stand up for themselves in this very, very difficult time," Kallas told reporters Monday.
Putin signaled last week that he was ready to have a "serious" conversation after Kyiv and its allies demanded changes to the peace plan, but he has shown little sign of stepping away from hard-line demands that formed the basis of the original 28-point proposal backed by Trump. MORE
It could be a pivotal week for diplomacy, said Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief. "It is clear that Russia does not want peace, and therefore we need to make Ukraine as strong as possible in order then to be ready to stand up for themselves in this very, very difficult time," Kallas told reporters Monday.
Putin signaled last week that he was ready to have a "serious" conversation after Kyiv and its allies demanded changes to the peace plan, but he has shown little sign of stepping away from hard-line demands that formed the basis of the original 28-point proposal backed by Trump. MORE
Trump is running out of personal lawyers to distort the DOJ
MS NOW - It’s been a bad week for President Donald Trump’s attempts to transform the Justice Department into his personal retribution squad. Monday saw a federal appeals panel confirm that Alina Habba’s controversial appointment as the U.S. attorney for New Jersey wasn’t kosher. Their ruling came on the heels of a federal judge’s determination that Lindsay Halligan was unlawfully appointed to serve as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Both Habba and Halligan came to their roles after previously acting as personal attorneys to Trump. That they were tapped at all showcases how weak the backbench of lawyers willing to defend the MAGA agenda in court really is. And with their dismissals, it’s safe to say that Trump is running low on lawyers to fill in the massive gaps needed to skillfully defend his most controversial policies.
Between the Russia investigation, his two impeachment trials, the failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election, four criminal indictments, and several major civil cases against himself and his companies, Trump has accrued a massive roster of personal lawyers over the last decade. While their success rate in court has varied, along with their job satisfaction with their client, the sheer number has provided a fertile ground for presidential appointments this term. MORE
Both Habba and Halligan came to their roles after previously acting as personal attorneys to Trump. That they were tapped at all showcases how weak the backbench of lawyers willing to defend the MAGA agenda in court really is. And with their dismissals, it’s safe to say that Trump is running low on lawyers to fill in the massive gaps needed to skillfully defend his most controversial policies.
Between the Russia investigation, his two impeachment trials, the failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election, four criminal indictments, and several major civil cases against himself and his companies, Trump has accrued a massive roster of personal lawyers over the last decade. While their success rate in court has varied, along with their job satisfaction with their client, the sheer number has provided a fertile ground for presidential appointments this term. MORE
AI effects on elections
NPR - The organization Independent Center believes that artificial
intelligence could be the key to disrupting the two-party system in
American politics. Its goal is to elect several independent candidates
to the House of Representatives in 2026. By using AI, it aims to
identify districts where independent candidates have a chance of success
and uncover promising candidates. If they can win even a few seats, it
could prevent either party from achieving a majority and upend the way
the House currently operates.
➡️ The Independent Center aims to have around 10 candidates in place by
spring, targeting a win in at least half of the races. Adam Brandon, a
senior adviser at the organization, predicts this might encourage
moderate partisans in the House to switch affiliations.
➡️ AI also provides a good opportunity to get a snapshot of the core issues and concerns of voters by monitoring what people are talking about in real time.
➡️ One criticism the organization receives is that non-winning candidates on the ballot influence which candidate wins — an idea known as "spoilers." But Brett Loyd, who runs the nonpartisan polling and data firm overseeing the polling and research at the Independent Center, argues that critics of independents getting into races have a vested interest in the current system.
➡️ AI also provides a good opportunity to get a snapshot of the core issues and concerns of voters by monitoring what people are talking about in real time.
➡️ One criticism the organization receives is that non-winning candidates on the ballot influence which candidate wins — an idea known as "spoilers." But Brett Loyd, who runs the nonpartisan polling and data firm overseeing the polling and research at the Independent Center, argues that critics of independents getting into races have a vested interest in the current system.
Meanwhile. . .
Venezuela
Newsweek - Pope Leo has warned Donald Trump not to launch a war to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro using military force. The Pope said Tuesday: "It is better to search for ways of dialogue, or perhaps pressure, including economic pressure. NPR - President Trump and his advisers met yesterday evening to discuss next steps with Venezuela as tensions continue to intensify with the U.S. The Trump administration has faced scrutiny over its strikes against what it alleges are drug boats traveling from Venezuela to the U.S. These strikes have killed dozens of people. On Friday, The Washington Post reported that U.S. forces struck a boat on Sept. 2, leaving survivors. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly gave an order to kill those survivors. Some Congress members believe this may constitute a war crime. |
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Axios - Winter is getting warmer nearly nationwide, an updated analysis from the research group Climate Central finds. Warmer winters can be a bummer for skiers and snowboarders, affect water supplies tied to annual snowmelt, and more The bottom line: "The most rapid warming in the U.S. has generally occurred when and where it's coldest — including at night, in northern parts of the country, and during winter," the group adds in the report based on NOAA data. |
Tariffs
The Hill - Costco filed a recent lawsuit seeking a full refund if the Supreme Court strikes down the bulk of President Trump’s tariffs. The big-box warehouser joins dozens of companies that have lined up for refunds in recent weeks as the high court’s decision looms.
Word
POGO - Our democracy is coming undone.
Before this year, it would be unfathomable to imagine a president deploying armed troops into city streets saying they should be “training grounds for our military.”
In 2025, the administration tried to make this a new normal.
In a democracy, the military is charged with protecting national security — not acting as the president’s personal police force. The law prohibits a president from using the military as police on domestic soil, with an exception made only for the most dire emergency circumstances.
Before this year, it would be unfathomable to imagine a president deploying armed troops into city streets saying they should be “training grounds for our military.”
In 2025, the administration tried to make this a new normal.
In a democracy, the military is charged with protecting national security — not acting as the president’s personal police force. The law prohibits a president from using the military as police on domestic soil, with an exception made only for the most dire emergency circumstances.
December 1, 2025
Starbucks agrees to pay workers $35 million
BBC - Starbucks has agreed pay more than $35m to thousands of workers in New York City, to settle the city's claims that the company denied them stable schedules and arbitrarily slashed their hours.
Over 15,000 hourly workers are set to receive $50 for each week they worked during from July 2021 through July 2024, city officials said.
Vilda Vera Mayuga, commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, cited alleged violations of city law requiring predictable schedules for workers.
Starbucks said in a statement that it is "committed to creating the best job in retail and to ensuring our practices follow all laws". It added that it has recently outlined plans to invest $500m to improve coffeehouse staffing and training.
Officials in New York City started investigating Starbucks in 2022 - a probe that began with dozens of worker complaints and grew to encompass all Starbucks locations across the city.
The city's worker protection department found "a pattern of systemic violations", officials said in a statement. Starbucks broke the city's Fair Workweek Law more than half a million times since 2021, they said, calling the agreement announced on Monday the largest worker protection settlement in the city's history.
"All workers deserve to be treated with dignity, and we are proud to stand up for our neighbors when a multibillion-dollar company like Starbucks chooses to systematically violate their employees' rights," Mayuga said in a statement.
Under the terms of the agreement, Starbucks will also be forced to comply with the city's worker protection laws moving forward, which require fast food employers to give employees regular schedules and opportunities to take on extra shifts.
The company noted that New York City's worker protection laws are "complex".
"We support the intent of the law and remain committed to compliance, but its complexity creates real-world challenges," Starbucks said. Compensation to employees in New York City will be for legal compliance, not unpaid wages, the chain said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called it a "landmark settlement" that will "put tens of millions of dollars back into the pockets of hard-working New Yorkers and reinforce every New Yorker's right to a reliable schedule, full hours, and basic dignity".
Starbucks has in recent years faced consumer boycotts, a wave of new competitors and a customer backlash over high prices, as well as turmoil in its leadership ranks.
What 24 experienced FBI agents think of Kash Patel
Independent, UK - The FBI is a “rudderless ship” under director Kash Patel, who was described as being “in over his head” in a damning assessment by active-duty and retired agents.
Days after President Donald Trump denied reports he was considering ousting Patel from his post as FBI director, a group of 24 experienced agents has shared a scathing report detailing their thoughts on his first six months in office, due to be presented to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees later this week.
The report, obtained by the New York Post, comes after Patel has faced the heat for his use of government aircraft for multiple personal trips, assigning a SWAT team to protect his girlfriend, and reported clashes with senior Trump administration officials.
The White House denied media reports that Patel was “on thin ice,” but the withering report by FBI insiders revealed a “troubling picture of a chronically underperforming agency debilitated by low confidence in FBI Leadership based on a lack of prior experience.”
The immigrants in Trump's family
CNN, 2015 - It’s more than a little ironic that a guy as hardline on immigration as Donald Trump has been surrounded by immigrants his entire life, starting from the very beginning.
“My mother was born in Scotland, in the Hebrides, in Stornoway, so that’s serious Scotland. And she was a great woman,” Trump said in a 2010 documentary. “Whenever anything was on about, ceremonial about the Queen she could sit at the television and just watch it. She had great respect for the Queen and for everything (she) represents”
In 1930, an 18-year-old Mary MacLeod sailed for America from Glasgow on the S.S. Transylvania, according to a copy of the ship’s passenger list on Ancestry.com. MacLeod arrived in New York and married Fred Trump, the son of German immigrants himself.
“My grandfather Frederick Trump came to the United States in 1885. He joined the great gold rush and instead of gold he decided to open up some hotels in Alaska. He did fantastically well. He loved this country, likewise my father and now me,” Trump said in a taped message for a German-American pride parade a few years ago.
But on the campaign trail, Trump sounds more like a nativist than the son and grandson of immigrants.
Trump told a meeting of conservative activists last year that the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants would never vote Republican.
“You’d better be smart and you’d better be tough,” Trump said. “They’re taking your jobs, and you’d better be careful.”
It’s tough rhetoric that comes with a twist. Trump’s current wife is an immigrant herself.
Melania Trump moved to New York about 20 years ago. The Slovenian born model now has her own jewelry and caviar-cream skincare lines. She married Trump in 2005 in a fairytale wedding that included a wedding gown reported to cost $100,000. And the next year, she became a citizen – a decade after arriving in America.
“She went through a long process to become a citizen. It was very tough,” Trump told CNN recently, adding that Melania agrees with his immigration position. “When she got it, she was very proud of it. She came from Europe, and she was very, very proud of it. And she thinks it’s a beautiful process when it works.”
And of course, Trump’s first wife, Ivana, was an immigrant too. Born in Czechoslovakia, she married an Austrian ski instructor in order to get a foreign passport to leave the communist country, her divorce lawyer has said.
A few years later, she “went to my aunt and uncle in Canada,” she has said.
She and Trump married in 1977, but she didn’t become an American citizen for another 11 years.
Word
RBReich: Remember: Almost all of us are the descendants
of immigrants who fled persecution, or were brought to America under
duress, or sought better lives for themselves and their descendants.
Global urbanization
Nice News - Jakarta — Indonesia’s vibrant, multicultural capital — is now the largest city in the world. The metropolis of nearly 42 million residents
has overtaken the longtime title-holder Tokyo, with its population of
33 million, according to a new United Nations report. The Japanese
capital now ranks third, with Dhaka, Bangladesh, coming in second with a
population of almost 37 million.
The U.N.’s 2025 World Urbanization Prospects report underscores a major shift in global population trends over the past several years. In 2018, the last year the organization updated the report, Jakarta clocked in at 33rd. Even more strikingly, the percentage of the world’s population residing in cities has jumped from 20% in 1950 to 45% today. And the number of megacities, which the U.N. defines as those with 10 million or more residents, has quadrupled from eight in 1975 to 33. More than half of these are in Asia, with Cairo, Egypt, being the only non-Asian metropolis among the top 10 most densely inhabited locales.
The U.N.’s 2025 World Urbanization Prospects report underscores a major shift in global population trends over the past several years. In 2018, the last year the organization updated the report, Jakarta clocked in at 33rd. Even more strikingly, the percentage of the world’s population residing in cities has jumped from 20% in 1950 to 45% today. And the number of megacities, which the U.N. defines as those with 10 million or more residents, has quadrupled from eight in 1975 to 33. More than half of these are in Asia, with Cairo, Egypt, being the only non-Asian metropolis among the top 10 most densely inhabited locales.
Jeffrey Epstein
The Guardian - As the clock ticks toward the congressionally mandated deadline of 19 December by which Donald Trump’s justice department must release its files related to Jeffrey Epstein, there is intense speculation about the contents of these documents – but also questions as to what happens when they are released.
The US president on 19 November signed a bipartisan bill requiring that the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, disclose these documents to the US public within 30 days. Given that other tranches of materials related to the disgraced financier included damning correspondence with high-profile individuals, many expect that still more names of the rich, famous and powerful will be named.
Victims of Epstein and their advocates, including an overwhelming majority of Congress, have expressed hope that they will also learn why he was able to avoid meaningful prosecution for years despite numerous minors telling authorities that he abused them.
Many also believe that these papers could lift the veil on more details of Trump’s relationship with Epstein, as the president, who had been his friend before a falling-out, is mentioned repeatedly in previously released communications.
Trump, whose decision to sign the bill marked a reversal from his months-long opposition to it, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. His representatives have slammed reports of Trump’s prior ties to Epstein as “tired and pathetic attempts to distract from all the success of President Trump’s administration”.
If Trump’s justice department does comply with this law – as Bondi has vowed it will – experts and observers told the Guardian that the long-fought battle for transparency could prompt deep ramifications for those named in the files. These could range from severe ostracism to legal liability.
Sam Bassett, a criminal defense attorney with the Austin, Texas, firm Minton, Bassett, Flores & Carsey, explained that statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse crimes in various states have expanded in recent years. Federal law does not have time limits for pursuing sex crimes involving minors.
Prosecutors might be able to pursue cases and other investigations if these files “were to reveal enough evidence for somebody to seek charges and or an indictment”.
“It is possible, depending on the jurisdiction,” Bassett said.
That wouldn’t mean that charges would automatically result for anyone implicated with even damning evidence, given logistical constraints. “Given the passage of time, they’re going to have to be pretty selective on which kind of which case or cases they would seek prosecution on,” Bassett said.
Affordability yes. . . but don't forget wages
MS NOW - Affordability – or the lack of it – is dominating the public discourse. “Affordability, affordability, affordability: Democrats’ new winning formula,” proclaims Politico. “Trump tries to seize ‘affordability’ message,” reports The New York Times. Election results in New Jersey, Virginia, New York and elsewhere showed that voters are responding to candidates who speak directly to the cost of living.
Today’s affordability debate, however, focuses almost entirely on prices, as if the only way to make life affordable is to make things cheaper. But that approach misses the bigger picture. Affordability depends on both prices and wages. The roots of today’s affordability crisis actually lie not in recent price spikes, but in the long-term suppression of workers’ pay.
If pay for typical workers had kept pace with productivity over the past 45 years, their paychecks today would be roughly 40% larger.
For more than four decades, employers have been actively suppressing the wages of working people, so that corporate managers and owners can claim an ever-larger share of the income generated by what workers produce. Government policies facilitated these efforts. Policymakers allowed labor standards such as the minimum wage to erode (and reduced enforcement of the standards we do have), blocked adequate protections for workers’ right to organize and promoted macroeconomic policy that allowed unemployment to remain too high for long periods, undermining workers’ leverage.
One way to see this shift is by comparing the growth in workers’ pay to the growth in productivity, which measures how much income is generated on average in an hour of work. If pay for typical workers had kept pace with productivity over the past 45 years, their paychecks today would be roughly 40% larger. That wage shortfall is what is really driving America’s affordability crisis – and reversing it must be central to any serious affordability agenda.
Policymakers who only look at prices and ignore paychecks are missing a huge set of affordability policy levers. Stronger labor law, which helps workers’ ability to unionize and bargain collectively, is affordability policy. A higher minimum wage is affordability policy. Macroeconomic policy that keeps unemployment low and protects workers’ bargaining power is affordability policy. A durable social safety net that keeps families from falling into poverty when they lose a job or get sick is affordability policy.
Handling AI videos
NPR - AI-generated videos seem to be everywhere these days, leaving many
people confused about what is real and what is fake. While it can be
challenging to determine the authenticity of online content, experts
suggest following these simple dos and don’ts to help you evaluate what you see.
Now, put these tips to the test and see if you can tell the real from the fake with this quiz.
➡️ Many AI videos are typically around 8-10 seconds long.
➡️ These videos tend to perfectly frame their subject, and the action starts and stops cleanly.
➡️ Context is important. Take note of where the content was posted and who shared it. If the content comes from an account that has been active for a long time and covers a range of topics, it may indicate that it came from a real person.
➡️ If you are uncertain whether a video is originally from the account you’re viewing, consider performing a reverse image search on Google or another platform.
➡️ These videos tend to perfectly frame their subject, and the action starts and stops cleanly.
➡️ Context is important. Take note of where the content was posted and who shared it. If the content comes from an account that has been active for a long time and covers a range of topics, it may indicate that it came from a real person.
➡️ If you are uncertain whether a video is originally from the account you’re viewing, consider performing a reverse image search on Google or another platform.
Now, put these tips to the test and see if you can tell the real from the fake with this quiz.
Immigration
NPR’s Ximena Bustillo tells Up First that she obtained a memo issued by the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services late last month that calls for a review of all refugees admitted into
the country under the Biden administration. This action would
essentially reopen their cases and may involve reinterviewing them, with
the possibility that some could lose their status.
Immigration advocates have described the recent changes to refugee
reviews, visas and green cards as destabilizing for families already
living in the U.S
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