curated news excerpts & citations
404 Media: How a US Citizen Was Scanned With ICE’s Facial Recognition Tech
Jesus Gutiérrez told immigration agents he was a U.S. citizen. Only after they scanned his face, did the agents let him go.
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“This is a flagrant violation of rights and incompatible with a free society,” said Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy project director for the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “Immigration agents have no business scanning our faces with this glitchy, privacy-destroying technology—especially after often stopping people based on nothing more than the color of their skin or the neighborhood they live in.”
(404 Media more…)
OwlMedia, Jose Mejia, and Rook T. Winchester: Alligator Alcatraz didn’t survive by accident
Alligator Alcatraz is still operating because the courts made a decision and then hid that decision behind procedure. This was not drift. It was permission.
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ProPublica: Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.
- Early Warnings: Trump officials were told that cutting aid to South Sudan would exacerbate a deadly cholera epidemic. They did so anyway.
- Aid Charade: Even as lifesaving programs closed in South Sudan, Rubio and other officials maintained they were still active and that no one had died. We found that wasn’t true.
- A Surging Outbreak: After the funding cuts, cases in South Sudan spiked. It’s the worst cholera epidemic in the country’s history.
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Conversation: 6 myths about rural America: How conventional wisdom gets it wrong
- Rural America is disappearing due to depopulation
- Most rural Americans live on farms
- Only white people live in rural America
- Rural America is healthier than urban America
- Rural families are more traditional than urban families
- A new ‘rural revolt’ gave Donald Trump his presidential victories
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James Eagle: China’s trade engine is shifting not slowing
It is easy to assume China’s export machine is fading. Headlines focus on weaker shipments to the US and a softer global economy. But these charts tell a very different story. China’s overall trade surplus has pushed past $1 trillion which is the highest level on record. So what’s happening?
What has changed is where the surplus comes from. Exports to the US have fallen yet exports to everywhere else, especially other Asian countries, has climbed sharply. China has rerouted its trade rather than reduced it. Much of this reflects supply chain rewiring. China ships more components to neighbours who then assemble and re-export their finished goods. Some of it reflects new areas of dominance such as electric vehicles, machinery and low cost consumer electronics. The result is a surplus that keeps expanding even as one of its core markets shrinks.
(James Eagle more…)
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truthout: US Relied on Illegal Sanctions to Seize Venezuelan Oil Tanker
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When a country takes it upon itself to impose sanctions without Security Council approval, they are called unilateral coercive measures, which violate the UN Charter.
(truthout more…)
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NY Times: Eager for Center Stage, Patel Casts Aside Caution in Statements as F.B.I. Leader
Kash Patel’s impulse to publicize the work of the bureau under his leadership has revived questions about his competence and his future in the administration.
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NewsBreak: Trump’s Econ Goon Lets Slip That President Is Fed Flattering Numbers
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Mary Geddry: When the Adults in the World Leave the Room
Australia governs, Europe braces, Ukraine resists, and America, under Trump, forgets how to think, act, or protect its own.
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WSJ: The White House Misreads U.S. Interests in Europe
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Michael Thomas: Explore thousands of solar, wind, battery, and data center projects across the US—for free
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – December 15, 2025
“For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being president of this country was to a certain extent about character. And although I have not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I’ve been here three years and three days. And I can tell you, without hesitation, being president of this country is entirely about character.”
In 1995 the late Rob Reiner— who, along with his wife Michele Singer Reiner, lost his life yesterday— directed The American President, written by Aaron Sorkin. In the film, President Andrew Shepherd, a widower, is facing a challenge from Republican presidential hopeful Senator Bob Rumson, who attacks Shepherd by focusing on the activist past of the woman he is dating, lawyer and lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade.
The final scene of the film is a speech by the president rejecting the pretended patriotism of his partisan attacker, who is cynically manipulating voters to gain power. It is a meditation on what it means to be the president of the United States.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Sarah Jones: Facts Matter: Rob Reiner Condemned the Murder of Charlie Kirk and Praised His Widow
MAGA are attacking Rob Reiner to justify Donald Trump’s unpresidential comments about the beloved filmmaker after his murder, but Reiner condemned the murder of Charlie Kirk.
John Pavlovitz: Trump Derangement Syndrome Is Real. He and His Supporters Have It.
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The truth is, if Trump’s words were coming from their child’s school principal, MAGAs would demand his resignation.
If he were on staff at their church, they’d have him removed in seconds.
If he were someone in their employ, he’d be swiftly terminated.
If he were any adult other than the Republican President they’ve sworn their faithfulness to, they’d be deeply concerned about having proximity to them or their children.
(John Pavlovitz more …)Joyce Vance: The Absence of Decency
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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