curated news excerpts & citations
CNN: CDC says flu activity probably has not peaked amid record-breaking season
After a record week of flu activity in the US, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise.
About 40,000 people were admitted to the hospital with flu during the week ending January 3, according to data published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 10% more than the 36,600 hospitalizations in the week before. Overall, there were about 12 flu hospitalizations for every 100,000 people in the US last week, CDC data shows.
Seniors are most likely to be hospitalized with flu, but rates among children are also high. At least 17 children have died from the flu this season, the CDC says – a number that nearly doubled over the past week, with eight new deaths reported.
(CNN more…)
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – January 10, 2026
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In the case of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, the murderers and their protectors were clearly so isolated in their own racist bubble they could not see how regular Americans would react to the video of them hunting down and shooting a jogger.In the case of the murder of Renee Good, the shooter and his protectors are clearly so isolated in their own authoritarian bubble they cannot see how regular Americans would react to the video of a woman smiling at a masked agent and saying: “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you,” only to have him shoot her in the face and then spit out “F*cking b*tch” after he killed her.
The thread that runs through both is the assumption that an American exercising their constitutional rights must submit, without question, to a white man holding a gun.
This is the larger meaning of federal agents from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol in U.S. cities. While they are attacking primarily people of color, the message they carry is directed at all Americans: you must do what the Trump administration and its loyalists demand.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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BBC Mundo: “I never thought they were going to attack me”: survivors of the missile attack on Block 12, the building where a woman died in the US bombing in Venezuela
It was 2:00 in the morning when a projectile landed in his apartment. “The blast wave threw me against the wall,” recalls Wilman González.
Lying on the ground, he opened his arms, looking up at the sky, and said goodbye: “God, forgive all my sins.”
At that moment, he recalls, “I felt like I had died.” Moments later he realized that a splinter of wood that had come loose from the door was embedded in his face.
“I managed to pull it out and went to help my brothers who were stunned by the impact,” the 54-year-old electrician told BBC Mundo.
Still with his right cheekbone bruised, he can hardly believe what happened to him and his family on January 3, when US military forces attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
(BBC Mundo more…)
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Marcy Wheeler: No One Could Have Anticipated, Venezuelan Edition
The United States has urged its citizens to leave Venezuela immediately amid reports that armed paramilitaries are trying to track down US citizens, one week after the capture of the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
In a security alert sent out on Saturday, the state department said there were reports of armed members of pro-regime militias, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence that the occupants were US citizens or supporters of the country.
“US citizens in Venezuela should remain vigilant and exercise caution when traveling by road,” the alert added, urging citizens to depart immediately now that some international flights from Venezuela have restarted.
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Daily Mail: Donald Trump ‘orders army chiefs to draw up plan to invade Greenland’: US President emboldened by success of Maduro capture operation
Donald Trump has ordered his special forces commanders to draw up a plan for the invasion of Greenland – but is being resisted by senior military figures, The Mail on Sunday has learned.
…According to the sources, the President has asked the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) to prepare the invasion plan, but it is being resisted by the joint chiefs of staff on the grounds that it would be illegal – and would not be supported by Congress.
(Daily Mail more…)
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Wikipedia: Barnes v. Felix
Mother Jones: Misconduct Expert Says State Has the Right to Charge ICE Officer Who Killed Renée Good
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What happened in Barnes v. Felix?It’s a shooting case where the officer walked around the car, [lunged and jumped onto the door sill], and put himself in harm’s way. You can’t bootstrap your own bad situation [to] allow a use of force.
(Mother Jones more…)
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NY Times: F.B.I.’s Inquiry Into ICE Shooting Faces Doubts After White House’s Remarks
Ex-law enforcement officials said the administration’s declarations that the killing was justified elicited questions about the F.B.I.’s willingness to scrutinize the agent who fatally shot an unarmed activist.
(NY Times more…)USA Today: Immigration enforcement ramp-up has only just begun, VP Vance promises
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Speaking on a Jan. 7 FOX NEWS broadcast, Vice President JD Vance said ICE would be going “door to door” in the coming months as agents carry out President Donald Trump’s plans for the largest mass deportation in history. Federal officials say they’ve now got about 22,000 agents and investigators, up from 10,000 a year ago.
(USA Today more…)Anne Applebaum: The Real Purpose of ICE
It’s not just for detaining immigrants
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Although we recorded these interviews before Christmas, the first espisode turned out to be eerily relevant. The subject is the transformation of ICE into a type of national police force. Although this has been covered as an immigration story, America’s immigration and customs agents aren’t only being used for that purpose. Even before the horrific murder in Minneapolis this week, the Trump administration had already begun to use ICE and the National Guard to project power, to demonstrate that it can operate without restraint and in defiance of the law. Armed, unidentified masked men now patrol the streets of some American cities. They are seemingly allowed to harass, arrest or even kill other Americans, as well as immigrants, with impunity. They are allowed to break the law. This kind of paramilitary force could have other uses in the future. For example, it could be used to intimidate people and prevent them from voting.
(Anne Applebaum more…)
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Joyce Vance: A Little Good News on a Saturday Night
Saturday night, a federal judge prevented the Trump administration from revoking “parole” as many as 15,000 people who don’t have legal immigration status but have been permitted to remain in the U.S. for family reunification.
…A key point here is that instead of going after violent criminals or people engaged in fraud—Trump’s main rationale for mass deportations—this is about going after people who have legal permission to be in this country. The fact that the administration is doing this suggests the administration can’t meet its stiff deportation targets and is now propping itself up to claim success by deporting people who are here legally.
(Joyce Vance more…)
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Right Wing Watch: Joel Webbon Calls On Trump To Arrest And Execute Tim Walz
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Prem Thakker: US Authoritarian Regime Executes Unarmed Civilian as Ruler Grows More Erratic, Isolated
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Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
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Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism —The right to criticize.
The right to hold unpopular beliefs.
The right to protest.
The right of independent thought.The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood nor should he be in danger of losing his reputation or livelihood merely because he happens to know someone who holds unpopular beliefs.
(Margaret Chase Smith 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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