curated news excerpts & citations
James Eagle: Venezuela after Maduro: what the data says, not the headlines
Venezuela rarely disappears. It simply recedes, becoming a background problem until something forces it back into focus.
That moment arrived over the weekend. A sudden escalation involving the United States and the removal of Nicolás Maduro from power has returned Venezuela to the centre of geopolitical attention. The reaction has been loud and polarised, but the underlying conditions did not change overnight. They have been building quietly for years
(James Eagle more…)
James Eagle: China’s energy transition is happening on top of coal
China’s energy story is often told as a pivot away from fossil fuels. This chart shows something more complicated and more revealing.
(James Eagle more…)
Wired: Trump Wants Venezuela’s Oil. Getting It Might Not Be So Simple
The administration has made it clear that Nicolás Maduro’s capture was tied to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. Much less certain is how US companies will actually access them—or if they even want to.
Jess Piper: The Ozarks and Venezuela
Alternet: Police arrest woman speaking out against Trump’s Venezuela invasion mid-interview
A protest organizer in Grand Rapids, Michigan was recently arrested while speaking out against President Donald Trump’s ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — while she was in the middle of speaking to reporters.
Politico: Trump suggests US used cyberattacks to turn off lights in Venezuela during strikes
Christina Pagel: The paper trail to Caracas
Jay Kuo: Back To Legal Basics On Venezuela
With various smokescreens billowing from the White House, let’s not lose sight of the fundamental illegality
AP: Rubio, Hegseth brief congressional leaders as questions mount over next steps in Venezuela
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Leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee — Republican chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and ranking Democrat Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois — said they should have been included in the classified briefing, arguing they have oversight of the Justice Department under Bondi.
Politico: Trump has a list of demands for Venezuela’s new leader
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – January 5, 2026
Five years ago, on January 6, 2021, more than 2,000 rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the process of counting the electoral votes that would make Democrat Joe Biden president of the United States. They tried to hunt down House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and chanted their intention to “Hang Mike Pence,” the vice president.
…Trump has taken on himself the right to go to war with another country in order to take its oil, and is openly working to destroy the rules-based international order that has stabilized the world since the 1940s. Today, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told CNN’s Jake Tapper: “We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” he said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
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Maureen Tkacik (American Prospect): The Narco-Terrorist Elite
Why is Marco Rubio so hell-bent on making Iran-Contra again?
If you’re a little too online, you likely know that Marco Rubio as a teenager made extra cash working for his late brother-in-law Orlando Cicilia. The business imported and sold exotic animals as a front for moving nearly a half million pounds of cocaine and marijuana. It was later said, when kingpin Mario Tabraue became a main character on the monstrously popular documentary series Tiger King, that the cocaine was actually stuffed into the bodies of vipers and boa constrictors, though an 80-page indictment of the enterprise makes no mention of that, and Tabraue has been known to sue those who accuse him of animal cruelty.
(Maureen Tkacik more…)
Steven Beschloss: This Is What Happens When America Goes Mad
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Yesterday Secretary of State Marco Rubio was questioned by NBC’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press. One minute Rubio was justifying the regime’s decision not to seek Congressional approval before invading Venezuela because it was simply a law enforcement operation. The next minute Rubio acknowledged he’s been charged to “run” Venezuela and take control of the oil business after kidnapping President Nicolás Maduro and flying him to New York to face drug and weapons charges.
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Five years and one day ago, on Jan. 6, 2021, Donald Trump convinced thousands of people to believe his lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him—and to storm the Capitol to express their anger and obstruct the election’s certification. He fed them those lies, he fueled their anger and he incited them to violence with an additional lie that their participation in a deadly insurrection was a patriotic act, not a criminal one.
(Steven Beschloss more…)
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Joyce Vance: January 6 Again
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Dean Blundell: Trump Just Invented a Venezuelan Election Hoax — And This Time, It’s Not About 2020
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Mary Geddry: From OPEC to Ottawa, the World Learns to Hedge America
… Trump can seize a country. He can kidnap a president and shout about oil until his voice gives out. What he cannot seize back is trust.
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Heather Delaney Reese on Facebook: Greenland in 20 days
This evening, while standing in the press cabin aboard Air Force One, the President of the United States gave one of the most disturbing interviews of his presidency. Unlike what we have seen from him in recent times, he appeared less confused and almost jolly. He was deliberate and stopped to laugh and make jokes between words that should never have been spoken by a sitting president.
Surrounded by reporters as his plane cut through the night sky back to Washington, Donald Trump made clear he isn’t just hungry for power. He is mapping out exactly where he intends to take his terrorist takeover of the world next. He noted 6 countries he has his eyes on. A second possible strike in Venezuela, and potential new military action in Cuba, Mexico, Iran, and Colombia. When asked about Greenland specifically, an allied territory and a constitutional part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Trump said, without flinching,
“We need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security. And Denmark is not gonna be able to do it… Let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days… and the European Union needs us to have it.”
(Heather Delaney Reese more…)
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Your Local Epidemiologist: A unilateral change to childhood vaccines: What it means for you
Well, he did it. He actually did it.
RFK Jr. unilaterally made sweeping changes to the routine vaccination schedule for children in the United States. This change isn’t based on new data or new evidence, but rather on political and ideological reasons. He bypassed every scientific and clinical process we have, including not taking public comment.
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FAQ: What does this mean for you?- Can I still go to the “before” schedule?
- Will insurance cover my child’s vaccines, even if they’re not on the schedule?
- Was this change legal?
- Will health departments or NGOs be able to fill the gap?
- Will this change access in the future?
- What is shared clinical decision making (SCDM)?
- Why will this impact vaccination rates?
(Your Local Epidemiologist more…)
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Liz Dye: Is DOJ Trying To Blow The DNC Pipe Bomb Case?
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According to the Wall Street Journal, the break in the case came when someone at the FBI wrote a code to unscramble a cache of damaged cell tower data. There’s zero indication that this code went unwritten for five years because the FBI was in mandatory DEI training, and the Journal reports that agents expressed “resentment over FBI Director Kash Patel, who has suggested that they didn’t work doggedly on the probe until Trump administration leadership arrived.”But that may wind up being the high water mark for this case, which has been prosecuted in truly shambolic fashion since being handed off to Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for DC.
(Liz Dye more…)
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ABC: Corporation for Public Broadcasting votes itself out of existence
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Wired: Flu Is Relentless. Crispr Might Be Able to Shut It Down
Innovative research into the gene-editing tool targets influenza’s ability to replicate—stopping it in its tracks.
(Wired more…)
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
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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