curated news excerpts & citations
Dean Obeidallah: We must support the musician Trump is targeting for refusing to play the “Trump Kennedy Center”
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As a lawyer myself, I can only assume Grennell didn’t speak to any lawyers before releasing this letter because dubbing Redd’s boycott “political” speech just made it just about impossible for them to win given the US Supreme Court decision cited above. And Grennell just undermined a breach of contract claim by saying in essence that no one was buying tickets to the show. That begs the question: What are the damages to the Kennedy Center if no one was buying tickets?!
But let’s put aside if the lawsuit will be successful or not. Trump’s lawsuits are not about winning or losing: They are about sending a message designed to intimidate others into submission and silence. Same goes for his Executive Orders targeting everything from Act Blue to universities.
This potential lawsuit is intended to scare other artists into not boycotting the Kennedy Center out of fear Trump will sue them—or use the power of the government to target them from IRS audits (like Richard Nixon did) to trumped up BS investigations.
Controlling the arts and artists is right from the far-right playbook. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin made control of the arts one of his priorities–utilizing the arts to further Stalin’s “cult of personality” as well as by creating an idealized version of the Soviet Union. And those artists who refused to submit to Stalin were dubbed an “enemy of the people” and then punished —including interrogation, torture, humiliating public trials, and execution. Trump now threatening to destroy this musician for defying him is right from the Stalin playbook.
(Dean Obeidallah more…)
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TNR: ICE Agents Violently Detain Pastor on Christmas Eve
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ by aggressively detaining a pastor.
Multiple agents in tactical gear can be seen in a video arguing with a man in his car on a video taken on Christmas Eve in Lewiston, Maine.
(TNR more…)
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – December 28, 2025
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Fifteen years ago, I wrote a book about the Wounded Knee Massacre, and what I learned still keeps me up at night. But it is not December 29 that haunts me.What haunts me is the night of December 28.
On December 28 there was still time to avert the massacre.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Cincinatti Enquirer: Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, candidate for Ohio governor?
Brian Allen: Vivek Ramaswamy Didn’t Just Hype a Drug, He Perfected the Exit
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In 2014, Ramaswamy acquired the rights to an experimental Alzheimer’s drug called intepirdine for roughly $5 million. The catch was not hidden. The drug had already failed key Phase 2 trials years earlier, missing its primary endpoints. In the world of drug development, that is usually the end of the road.It wasn’t the end for Ramaswamy.
Through Axovant Sciences, a Roivant subsidiary, the drug was reborn as a “breakthrough candidate.” By mid-2015, Axovant was being aggressively promoted across financial media. Ramaswamy appeared on CNBC praising what he framed as a revolutionary treatment for one of medicine’s most intractable diseases.
…In September 2017, Axovant announced that intepirdine failed its Phase 3 trial. The stock collapsed nearly 75 percent in a single day, wiping out billions in market capitalization. Subsequent trials failed again. The drug never worked. Axovant eventually lost over 99 percent of its value, rebranded, and faded from relevance.
The damage, however, was not abstract.
Institutional investors, including public pension funds, had bought in. Among them was the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, whose exposure would later become emblematic of how aggressively Axovant had been marketed despite its scientific fragility.
Ramaswamy did not share their fate.
Financial disclosures show that he cashed out tens of millions of dollars before the collapse, ultimately extracting roughly $37 million from the enterprise tied to intepirdine and related ventures. By the time the drug failed — again — his personal downside risk had already been neutralized.
This pattern did not end with Axovant. It became a template.
(Brian Allen more…)Brian Allen: Vivek Ramaswamy, Kriya Therapeutics, and the Billion-Dollar Biotech Black Box
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Lev Parnas: Two-week Donnie strikes again
… Putin called Trump and gave him his orders. Those orders were simple: delay everything another two weeks. And that’s exactly what Donald Trump did. Another two weeks while Ukrainians are dying. Another two weeks while families freeze in the dead of winter without heat, power, or safety. This isn’t diplomacy — it’s deliberate delay, and it benefits only one man: Vladimir Putin.
Hill: Zelensky: US, Ukraine negotiators agreed to ’90 percent’ of 20-point peace plan
Guardian: Trump says Ukraine peace deal ‘closer than ever’ after meeting with Zelenskyy in Florida
US president said ‘thorny’ questions over territory have yet to be resolved and expressed sympathy with Russia not wanting a ceasefire
WSJ: Ukraine Seeks Decadeslong Security Guarantee as Trump Offers 15 Years
U.S., Ukraine discuss security guarantees without reaching agreement on territory, nuclear power plant
DailyBeast: Trump, 79, Sends Jaw-Dropping Message to Families of Fallen U.S. Fighters
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BBC: China holds military drills around Taiwan as warning to ‘separatist forces’
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Marcy Wheeler: “Border security is the primary element of national security.”
Accountability Initiative ICE List
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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