Roll Call - The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging President Donald Trump’s plans to construct a ballroom on the site of the demolished East Wing.
The trust, a congressionally chartered nonprofit, argued in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that Trump and administration officials have violated, and are continuing to violate, the Administrative Procedure Act and National Environmental Policy Act by demolishing the East Wing and moving forward with construction of the ballroom.
The complaint said the administration violated the laws when it didn’t consult with the National Capital Planning Commission or the Commission of Fine Arts and failed to conduct environmental assessments before proceeding with the demolition.
The trust asked the court to prevent any further work until an adequate environmental assessment is prepared and “enjoin defendant President Trump, and anyone acting at his direction or in concert with him, from performing further work on the Ballroom Project.”
December 12, 2025
Seven Richest Billionaires Are All Media Barons
Mintpress News - Trump loyalist and CIA contractor Larry Ellison’s purchase of CNN appears imminent, and marks the latest venture into media for the world’s second-richest individual. But Ellison is not alone. Indeed, the world’s seven richest individuals are all now powerful media barons, controlling what the world sees, reads, and hears, marking a new chapter in oligarchical control over society and striking another blow at a free, independent press and diversity of opinion.
Polls
64% of
Americans are buying cheaper or less food. 34% have skipped a meal
altogether. 48% said they use savings for their basic expenses. Nearly
half of Americans say groceries, housing, utilities, and health care are
just getting harder to afford.
Illinois becomes 12th state to let terminally ill residents choose to end their lives
Independent UK - Illinois residents with terminal illnesses will soon be able to choose to end their lives on their own terms.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Medical Aid in Dying act into law Friday. It is also known as “Deb's Law” in recognition of Deb Robertson, a lifelong resident of the state living with a rare terminal illness who has pushed for the measure's approval.
She has testified to the suffering of people and their families wanting the chance to decide for themselves how and when their lives should end.
Pritzker said he was moved by stories of patients suffering from terminal illness and their devotion to "freedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak.”
“This legislation will be thoughtfully implemented so that physicians can consult patients on making deeply personal decisions with authority, autonomy, and empathy,” Pritzker said after singing the measure in Chicago.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Medical Aid in Dying act into law Friday. It is also known as “Deb's Law” in recognition of Deb Robertson, a lifelong resident of the state living with a rare terminal illness who has pushed for the measure's approval.
She has testified to the suffering of people and their families wanting the chance to decide for themselves how and when their lives should end.
Pritzker said he was moved by stories of patients suffering from terminal illness and their devotion to "freedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak.”
“This legislation will be thoughtfully implemented so that physicians can consult patients on making deeply personal decisions with authority, autonomy, and empathy,” Pritzker said after singing the measure in Chicago.
King Charles gives an update on his cancer
People - King Charles is sharing a rare — and hopeful — update about his ongoing cancer treatment in a new televised message.
On Dec. 12, the King, 77, appeared in Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer broadcast with a pre-recorded message filmed at Clarence House several weeks ago, speaking candidly about his own “overwhelming” diagnosis, the importance of early detection and the reality that millions of people in the U.K. are missing out on potentially life-saving screenings.
But he also revealed a significant development in his own health journey.
"Today I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to ‘doctors’ orders,’ my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the New Year," the King said.
"This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years; testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the fifty percent of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives," he continued.
On Dec. 12, the King, 77, appeared in Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer broadcast with a pre-recorded message filmed at Clarence House several weeks ago, speaking candidly about his own “overwhelming” diagnosis, the importance of early detection and the reality that millions of people in the U.K. are missing out on potentially life-saving screenings.
But he also revealed a significant development in his own health journey.
"Today I am able to share with you the good news that thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to ‘doctors’ orders,’ my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the New Year," the King said.
"This milestone is both a personal blessing and a testimony to the remarkable advances that have been made in cancer care in recent years; testimony that I hope may give encouragement to the fifty percent of us who will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in our lives," he continued.
Word
Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “You’re
asking us to destroy the structure of government and to take away from
Congress its ability to protect its idea that the government is better
structured with some agencies that are independent,” she told U.S.
Solicitor General John Sauer during the hearing in Trump v. Slaughter.
Donald Trump
The Guardian - London police chief Sir Mark Rowley on Trump's claims: How anybody in America can suggest the UK is violent is completely ridiculous. The homicide rate in London is lower than every single US state. It’s lower than all their big cities. The murder rate in New York last time I looked is three or four times higher than London per capita.
The homicide rate in London is lower than it is in Toronto, it’s lower than Paris, it’s lower than Brussels, it’s lower than Berlin.
The homicide rate in London is lower than it is in Toronto, it’s lower than Paris, it’s lower than Brussels, it’s lower than Berlin.
Bad snow storms predicted
Newsweek - Millions of Americans are on alert for treacherous winter conditions, with the National Weather Service (NWS) warning of up to 30 inches of snow in some areas.
Winter storm warnings, winter storm watches, and winter weather advisories have been issued, impacting at least 19 states and Washington, D.C., from the Rockies through the Midwest and Great Lakes to the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.
Authorities warn of avalanche risks as well as significant disruptions to travel and daily life due to hazardous conditions.
Winter storm warnings, winter storm watches, and winter weather advisories have been issued, impacting at least 19 states and Washington, D.C., from the Rockies through the Midwest and Great Lakes to the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.
Authorities warn of avalanche risks as well as significant disruptions to travel and daily life due to hazardous conditions.
How pop music hs changed over time
Study Finds - Popular music has become progressively darker, more stressed, and linguistically simpler over the past 50 years, tracking alongside America’s growing mental health crisis, according to research that analyzed over 20,000 Billboard Hot 100 song lyrics..
- Stress language surged: Words related to stress, anxiety, and pressure increased 81% from 1973 to 2023, tracking alongside rising depression and anxiety rates in clinical data.
- Songs got simpler: Lyrics became more repetitive and structurally less complex over five decades, paralleling declines in educational test scores and cognitive measures.
- Crises reversed trends: During COVID-19 and after 9/11, Americans unexpectedly chose less stressful, more positive music—suggesting people use songs as emotional relief rather than mirrors of distress.
- Economy didn’t matter: Income fluctuations showed no relationship with lyrical mood once time trends were removed, indicating subjective experiences may matter more than economic data.
Trump Admin Scraps ‘DEI’ Coins
Newsweek - The Trump administration scrapped Biden-era coin designs that highlighted themes like civil rights and the abolition of slavery to mark the U.S.’s 250th anniversary, which a Trump official described as focusing on “DEI.”
"The new Semiquincentennial Quarter designs will celebrate American history and the founding of our great nation," U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach told Fox News Digital on Thursday...
The coin design reversal is the latest example of the Trump administration’s broader effort to reshape how American history is officially depicted.
Trump officials have repeatedly moved to sideline interpretations of U.S. history that highlight racial injustice or systemic inequality, such as launching reviews of museum programs deemed ideologically “distorted,” and challenging how institutions teach the history of slavery.
"The new Semiquincentennial Quarter designs will celebrate American history and the founding of our great nation," U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach told Fox News Digital on Thursday...
The coin design reversal is the latest example of the Trump administration’s broader effort to reshape how American history is officially depicted.
Trump officials have repeatedly moved to sideline interpretations of U.S. history that highlight racial injustice or systemic inequality, such as launching reviews of museum programs deemed ideologically “distorted,” and challenging how institutions teach the history of slavery.
Intolerance
At a time of rising intolerance, the century-old work of C E M Joad reminds us what tolerance really is and why we need it
Childhood vaccination problems
Axios - The future of American health care may be shaped by a significantly less robust childhood vaccination schedule, especially now that President Trump has embraced rhetoric previously confined to anti-vaccine activists.
Less vaccination opens the door to a lot more infectious disease and its long-term ramifications, public health experts say. And complicating any effort to forecast how this all plays out is that it's not particularly clear which vaccines Trump would drop from the government's recommended list.
Trump, asked by reporters about the review of the childhood vaccination schedule that he ordered last week, said that "we're going to reduce it very substantially."
He referenced "88 different shots" children now receive when, in reality, it's more like 54 doses by age 18, including annual flu shots.
In the memo ordering the review, Trump directed health officials to "review best practices from peer, developed countries for core childhood vaccination recommendations."
The obvious question — to me at least — is which vaccines Trump and other health officials are concerned about...
Figuring out if there's a problem with the vaccine schedule depends on which country you're comparing the U.S. with, or even which genre of vaccine concerns you're talking about.
While the U.S. is certainly on the hefty end of the spectrum, we're not alone there. Countries like Australia have vaccine schedules pretty similar to ours.
Others, like Denmark — which was singled out by Trump and in discussions by CDC vaccine advisers — vaccinate every citizen against significantly fewer diseases.
Public health experts point out that Denmark is many times smaller than the U.S. and, unlike us, has a national health system, among other differences.
But where the U.S. stands in relation to other developed nations isn't the only avenue of concern being explored by the administration and its advisers, many of whom lack formal backgrounds in vaccine science.
Vaccine ingredients and even the FDA's approval processes have also come under fire, which further expands the potential list of vaccine targets.
The other side: "There [are] no problems that are being solved," said Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist and professor at Baylor College of Medicine.
"They just sit and scour the landscape for any excuse they can to disrupt the childhood immunization and vaccine schedule," he added.
"So I think you have to be very careful in giving too much credence to their reasons for it. They're all contrived reasons. These are not good-faith actors."
Ukraine
NPR - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the Ukrainian people
would need to speak through a referendum for his country to surrender
territory, which the U.S. wants Ukraine to do as part of a peace
deal with Russia. Zelenskyy and other Europeans are working to offer
answers and alternatives to pressure from Trump’s bid to end the war.
Zelenskyy is engaging with the Trump administration’s most painful proposals to show that Ukraine is negotiating in good faith, NPR’s Joanna Kakissis tells Up First. Giving up territory has been a red line for Ukrainians. Zelenskyy says he is examining the possibility of elections over the next 90 days or a referendum on giving up parts of eastern Ukraine to help end the war. Ukraine has not held elections because the country is under martial law due to the Russian invasion, and the constitution forbids elections during wartime, Kakissis says. Public opinion polls show that most Ukrainians think holding elections now is a terrible idea.
Zelenskyy is engaging with the Trump administration’s most painful proposals to show that Ukraine is negotiating in good faith, NPR’s Joanna Kakissis tells Up First. Giving up territory has been a red line for Ukrainians. Zelenskyy says he is examining the possibility of elections over the next 90 days or a referendum on giving up parts of eastern Ukraine to help end the war. Ukraine has not held elections because the country is under martial law due to the Russian invasion, and the constitution forbids elections during wartime, Kakissis says. Public opinion polls show that most Ukrainians think holding elections now is a terrible idea.
Trump said to be considering reclassification of marijuana
Bloomberg - Trump is said to be considering directing his administration to have marijuana reclassified as a drug with a lower potential for dependency—on the same level as ketamine, Tylenol with codeine, and anabolic steroids.
- Such a move would make it easier to buy and sell it, ease tax burdens, help draw in more mainstream investors, and bolster medical research. But the government would first need to finish a rulemaking process on hold since January.
- Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s spoken often about his own experiences with addiction, has said widespread state legalization and decriminalization offer a chance to study real-world effects.
- Legislation around cannabis is a patchwork. Though it’s banned federally, many states have legalized the drug for recreational use, opening the door for an industry valued at about $30 billion last year.
- Meanwhile, hemp-derived products have been around for years, thanks to a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill, giving rise to a thriving market for cannabis cocktails and THC beverages—that even enticed Target—but which has prompted Congress to clamp down.
- Here’s what “rescheduling” marijuana would mean and how legal weed has changed the US, for better or for worse.
Washington state swamped by rain and swelling rivers
 |
NBC - Washington state is once again getting hammered by torrential rains and swelling rivers. Communities that have barely recovered from the last major series of storms are now facing another long rebuilding process. |
Health
NBC News - The Republican-controlled Senate voted to reject health care bills offered by each party
Politics
MS Now - Indiana’s Republican-led Senate rejected a new congressional map for the state on Thursday, breaking with President Donald Trump in his push to gerrymander more House seats for the GOP.
The stunning repudiation of the president’s redistricting demands marked the biggest break yet from Trump’s plan and could dent the party’s efforts to effectively claim more seats before the 2026 midterm elections are even held.
The stunning repudiation of the president’s redistricting demands marked the biggest break yet from Trump’s plan and could dent the party’s efforts to effectively claim more seats before the 2026 midterm elections are even held.
Meanwhile. . .
NBC News - A federal judge blocked the government from detaining Kilmar Abrego Garcia again at a scheduled Immigration and Customs Enforcement check-in Friday morning. Abrego Garcia was detained during a similar scheduled check-in in August.
Trump: America's first proto dictator
Sam Smith - I've been afraid to run this headline but the fact is Donald Trump is not only the first felon and biggest liar to win the White House, he also wants to run the country regardless of what laws, accepted principles or the Constitution would do otherwise.
Today, a journalist I highly respect, Thom Hartmnn, wrote these words
Many of us have long suspected or even predicted that Donald Trump would betray America, gut our democracy in favor of a police state, and align us with Russia....
We’re now there.
It’s the most under-reported story of the year, perhaps of the century: under Trump, the United States is abandoning advocacy of democracy (shutting down Voice of America, etc.), abandoning our democratic allies in Europe, and for the past year has abandoned Ukraine to the tender mercies of the Butcher of Moscow.
At the same time, Trump’s building ties to Middle Eastern dictatorships, adopting Russia’s explicit worldview, trashing civil and human rights at home, and now handing to China our most valuable military-potential technology.
In other words, we’ve been betrayed by Donald Trump and the people around him in ways that would have made Benedict Arnold blush.
So it is perhaps safe to now say that Trump is not only a crook and a liar but the president who most opposes or ignores the legal and moral standards that created the America he is trying to suppress.
I have some background for my judgement with a father who worked for FDR and my own journalistic background starting in the 1950s. I have never seen anyone so awful chosen to run our democracy.
Further, I have come to realize that many of those active in the media or politics have little memory or connection with the past and traditions that made America great. For example, what other president presumed to tell others who should own a major news channel, yet Bloomerg reported
Trump signaled he’ll oppose a Warner Bros. Discovery purchase that doesn’t include new ownership of CNN, a news network that’s long been the subject of derision from the Republican president. It also turns out that David Ellison, son of Trump donor and Oracle chief Larry Ellison, has a plan for the news organization should he get hold of it.
The Paramount Skydance chief executive, according to The Wall Street Journal, promised Trump sweeping changes at CNN if he took control of the network’s parent company. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been involved in setting up financing for Ellison’s competing offer against Netflix.
Ellison previously remade the leadership of CBS News after taking over its parent, bringing in officials seen by critics to be more closely aligned with the White House. It’s all part of what some media experts contend is an unprecedented campaign to impose political control over traditionally independent American news organizations.
The idea that the president gets to help decide who owns two of the largest news outlets would have seen absurd in pre-Trump politics.
And the thought that the president can start a war against Venezuela without the constitutionally required approval of Congress is another example of how America is drifting towards dictatorship. As the NY Times noted, "Venezuela’s government called the seizure [of a vessel] a 'barefaced robbery and an act of international piracy.”
We live in a time when our laws and Constitution are considered trivial and replaceable. This is not something we voted on but rather something we have accepted in part because our media and public figures decline to speak of the real horror that is happening, namely the collapse of the world's once greatest democracy.
Politics
New York Times - A Republican-drafted proposal to set up health savings accounts for people who buy their health insurance on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace failed to advance on a largely party-line vote on Thursday, leaving Congress no closer to addressing the substantial rise in health care premiums in 2026.
NY Times - Indiana Lawmakers Reject Trump’s New Political Map. Republicans hold an overwhelming majority in the Indiana Senate, but more than a dozen of them defied the president’s wishes, voting against a map aimed at adding Republicans in Congress.
Trump signs order banning state limits on AI
The Hill - President Trump signed Thursday night an executive order to impose a national AI standard, a move that would seemingly limit states’ efforts to enact their own AI laws....
“We have to be unified. China is unified because they have one vote and that’s President Xi [Xinping],” Trump said, speaking in the Oval Office. “We have a different system, but we have a system that’s good. But we only have a system that’s good if it’s smart.”
White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks, who joined the president in the Oval alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), said the order would give the administration “tools to push back on the most onerous and excessive state regulations.”
However, Sacks suggested they would not fight all state AI laws, pointing to kids’ safety measures as an example...
The president initially appeared to be considering an order last month, as House Republican leaders faced push back amid a renewed effort to pass a measure preempting state AI laws.
GOP leaders reportedly urged the president to hold off, as they sought to include a preemption provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). However, the issue faced resistance from several Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis...
It was ultimately not included in the final legislation, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) saying last week that they were “looking at other places” for the measure.
This is the second time that Republicans lawmakers have attempted to include such a provision in key legislation. A 10-year moratorium on state AI laws was included in Trump’s tax and spending bill earlier this year but was ultimately stripped out by the Senate.
December 11, 2025
Polls
AP News - Only 31% of U.S. adults now approve of how Trump is handling the economy, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds. That is down from 40% in March and marks the lowest economic approval he’s registered in an AP-NORC poll in his first or second term. The Republican president also has struggled to recover from public blowback on other issues, such as his management of the federal government, and has not seen an approval bump even after congressional Democrats effectively capitulated to end a record-long government shutdown last month.
The Maine Lawsuit That Could Save Democracy From Big Money
The Nation - A legal fight could restore the state’s power to set its own limits on contributions to super PACs and encourage public financing.
When voters in Maine passed a ballot measure last year to cap donations to super PACs—also known as independent political action committees—it appeared to be another milestone toward fairer elections. In a state known for election reforms such as public campaign financing and ranked-choice voting, the proposal looked like another way to successfully curb the flow of money from corporate and wealthy donors into local races.
Then came the lawsuit. In October, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit agreed to hear Dinner Table Action v. Schneider, a case that could decide the future of money in American politics.
Fifteen years after the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to dark money and unchecked spending with Citizens United, the Maine initiative has exposed a tension in the movement for clean elections: should advocates pursue state and local reforms, or bet on a high-stakes legal battle that could radically rewrite the rules of campaign finance nationwide?
In the summer of 2023, Maine residents began to think about how to place a question about limiting super PAC contributions on the ballot. Drawing on a legal theory developed by Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig, organizer Cara McCormick founded Citizens to End Super PACs, the ballot-question committee formed to lead the campaign.
McCormick, who pushed for Maine to adopt ranked-choice voting in 2016, crafted the initiative to cap donations at $5,000 based on efforts by Lessig’s nonprofit, Equal Citizens, which had pursued similar initiatives in Alaska and Massachusetts—both ultimately blocked in court.
When voters in Maine passed a ballot measure last year to cap donations to super PACs—also known as independent political action committees—it appeared to be another milestone toward fairer elections. In a state known for election reforms such as public campaign financing and ranked-choice voting, the proposal looked like another way to successfully curb the flow of money from corporate and wealthy donors into local races.
Then came the lawsuit. In October, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit agreed to hear Dinner Table Action v. Schneider, a case that could decide the future of money in American politics.
Fifteen years after the Supreme Court opened the floodgates to dark money and unchecked spending with Citizens United, the Maine initiative has exposed a tension in the movement for clean elections: should advocates pursue state and local reforms, or bet on a high-stakes legal battle that could radically rewrite the rules of campaign finance nationwide?
In the summer of 2023, Maine residents began to think about how to place a question about limiting super PAC contributions on the ballot. Drawing on a legal theory developed by Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig, organizer Cara McCormick founded Citizens to End Super PACs, the ballot-question committee formed to lead the campaign.
McCormick, who pushed for Maine to adopt ranked-choice voting in 2016, crafted the initiative to cap donations at $5,000 based on efforts by Lessig’s nonprofit, Equal Citizens, which had pursued similar initiatives in Alaska and Massachusetts—both ultimately blocked in court.
States take on AI with their own new laws
New Republic - California’s new AI law is aimed at preventing “catastrophic risk,” which it defines as “serious injury to more than 50 people” or damages of $1 billion. Colloquially discussed as S.B. 53 but formally titled the Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act, the law has already been replicated in New York where, as in California, they’re concerned with an AI model going—let’s say … “semi-sentient”—and “evading the control of its frontier developer or user.” Similar legislation is winding its way through statehouses in Michigan, Massachusetts, and Illinois.
U.S. to require foreign tourists to submit 5 years of social media history
Newsbreak - The Trump administration is proposing to ask visitors from several dozen nations that enjoy visa-free travel to the U.S. to submit additional personal information before entering the country, including five years of their social media history, the Department of Homeland Security said in a notice this week.
Citizens of 42 countries enrolled in the visa waiver program can generally come to the U.S. for up to 90 days for tourism or business travel, without needing to apply for a visa at an American embassy or consulate, a process that can take months or even years.
The list of countries in the visa waiver program includes many European nations like the United Kingdom, Germany and France, as well as some U.S. allies around the world, including Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea...
The notice said CBP plans to ask visa waiver travelers to share their social media history for the past five years, emails they have used for the past 10 years and the personal information of immediate family members, including phone numbers and residences. The submission of social media history from the last five years will be a mandatory requirement under the proposal, according to the notice.
CBP said the changes, which still have to be reviewed by the White House's budget office, are designed to enforce an executive order President Trump issued earlier this year with the stated objective of denying entry to foreigners who may pose a threat to national security or public safety.
But critics of the proposed changes said they could scare prospective travelers and negatively impact tourism, especially months before the U.S. hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup, alongside Canada and Mexico, next summer.
Citizens of 42 countries enrolled in the visa waiver program can generally come to the U.S. for up to 90 days for tourism or business travel, without needing to apply for a visa at an American embassy or consulate, a process that can take months or even years.
The list of countries in the visa waiver program includes many European nations like the United Kingdom, Germany and France, as well as some U.S. allies around the world, including Australia, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea...
The notice said CBP plans to ask visa waiver travelers to share their social media history for the past five years, emails they have used for the past 10 years and the personal information of immediate family members, including phone numbers and residences. The submission of social media history from the last five years will be a mandatory requirement under the proposal, according to the notice.
CBP said the changes, which still have to be reviewed by the White House's budget office, are designed to enforce an executive order President Trump issued earlier this year with the stated objective of denying entry to foreigners who may pose a threat to national security or public safety.
But critics of the proposed changes said they could scare prospective travelers and negatively impact tourism, especially months before the U.S. hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup, alongside Canada and Mexico, next summer.
Politics
Bolts - Democrats, buoyed by Trump’s unpopularity and a fired-up base,
flipped 21 percent of all the GOP-held seats that were on the ballot
throughout 2025.
According to Bolts’ analysis, Democrats gained 25 state Senate and House seats that were held by the GOP, out of the 118 that were resolved this year in regular or special elections.
The swing is even stronger than in 2017, when Democrats flipped 20 percent of all GOP-held legislative seats up for election, per Bolts’ review of data compiled at the time by elections websites Ballotpedia and The Downballot.
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