curated news excerpts & citations
Jennifer Rubin: Another Undaunted City
Charlotte defends democracy and decency
North Carolina was Donald Trump’s past week’s site for a violent, chaotic, wasteful, and abusive invasion of Custom and Border Patrol agents. Beginning in Charlotte and quickly spreading to other cities, the operations have not focused on the “worst of the worst” as Donald Trump and his Homeland Security thugs falsely claim.
Once again, horrifying scenes have played out of immigrants and U.S. citizens alike being snared by masked agents in unmarked cars. “Eyewitness accounts and video circulated online show federal agents in tactical gear detaining people at locations across the city, including storefronts and public spaces,” Newsweek reported. “In one incident, members of a church congregation in east Charlotte said masked agents entered a yard where congregants were working and detained a man.”
The video is of an arrest of a Honduran-born U.S. citizen, Willy Aceituno, during which his car window was smashed and he was shoved to the ground, went viral. Aceituno said he voted for Trump but now concedes, “It was the worst decision of my life.” He was later released.
In response to the mayhem, state and city officials—as did those in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Portland—have risen to the occasion. In concert with magnificent displays of peaceful protest and community solidarity, state and local officials have been sending a powerful message that they are prepared to defend their neighbors against the predation of an unhinged, racist autocrat and his underlings.
(Jennifer Rubin more…)
Bulwark: A Baker, a Pastor, and Charlotte’s Stand Against ICE
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That Trump’s masked forces were ordered to focus their efforts on Charlotte is notable: It is a city that attests to the growing Latino presence in American society generally.
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Dispatch: Stay ‘Insubordinate’
It’s a good thing to be if you’re a journalist.
There is a reason the reporter in question, Mary Bruce of ABC News, seems insubordinate to Trump: She is not his subordinate.
(Dispatch more…)
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WSJ: Trump Issues an Ultimatum to Ukraine
The Trump Administration is making another run at ending the war in Ukraine, and a lasting peace with honor would be a laudable achievement. But for three years the only peace on offer has been Ukraine’s surrender, and the latest American offer—really, an ultimatum—is merely another dressed-up version.
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – November 21, 2025
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Ukrainian people today. The current moment, he said, is “one of the most difficult” for the country. “Ukraine may soon face an extremely difficult choice. Either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner. Either 28 complicated points or the hardest winter yet—and the risks that follow,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky’s use of the word “dignity” recalled Ukraine’s 2014 “Revolution of Dignity” that ousted Russian-aligned president Viktor Yanukovych and turned the country toward Europe.
…This plan, complete with its suggestion that the U.S. is no longer truly a part of NATO but can broker between NATO and Russia, would replace the post–World War II rules-based international order with a new version of an older order. In the world before NATO and the other international institutions that were created after World War II, powerful countries dominated smaller countries, which had to do as their powerful neighbors demanded in order to survive.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Hans Christensen: EU reactions to renewed US pressure on Ukraine. Unofficial statements show how Europe is outraged by Trump’s plan to force Ukraine to accept Russia’s demands for ending the war; surrender.
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NY Times: Trump Promised Lower Prices. His Policies Are Raising Them.
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The president recently shared a photo of a White House bathroom that he had renovated by covering everything in marble. What Americans need is a president who is more focused on the cost of toilet paper. It’s up more than 3 percent so far this year.
(NY Times more…)
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Morgaan Sinclair, Ph.D.: Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 92. Military Folk Must REFUSE to obey a “manifestly unlawful” order to “target civilians.”
- Members of the military must obey lawful orders.
- Members of the military (and vets on benefits) must refuse to obey unlawful orders, and if they don’t refuse, they can be booted out of the military or sent to the brig.
(Morgaan Sinclair, Ph.D. more…)
Miles Taylor: Trump “illegal orders” exposed — one day after he said Democrats should be executed for warning troops to refuse them
Federal judges, military lawyers, and DOJ investigators all point to unlawful orders across Trump’s government — validating the six lawmakers he threatened with death.
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Time: We Can’t Fix the Opioid Crisis If We Don’t Know What’s Killing People
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Much of our country still relies on toxicology panels built for yesterday’s drug supply. These panels can reliably identify heroin, oxycodone, and fentanyl, but fail to catch nitazenes, brorphine, or other new synthetic analogs. This gap means that policymakers and public health professionals chase outdated trends.
(Time more…)
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NY Times: Trump and Mamdani’s News Conference: Read the Transcript
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Dallas News: 5 plead guilty to providing support in attack on ICE facility in North Texas
The defendants face sentencing next year in the July 4 raid that left an officer shot at Prairieland Detention Center
(Dallas News more…)
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Snopes: Inspecting claim Education Department stopped counting nursing, other programs as ‘professional degrees’
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As of this writing, the proposal has not yet passed.
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NY Times: Abbott’s Moves to Restrict Muslims Leave Some Concerned and Puzzled
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ProPublica: Trump’s Anti-Green Agenda Could Lead to 1.3 Million More Climate Deaths. The Poorest Countries Will Be Impacted Most.
Most of the people expected to suffer these temperature-related deaths live in poor countries in Africa and South Asia that are least prepared to cope with the increasing heat from climate change.
(ProPublica more…)
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CHM: November 21, 1969 – First ARPANET Link Put Into Service
… Historians consider this worldwide network to be the origin of the Internet.
(CHM more…)
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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