curated news excerpts & citations
Reuters: How Trump’s Venezuela embargo could put Taiwan at risk
- Move pressures Maduro but risks weakening US credibility in blockade scenario around Taiwan
- Experts say Beijing would seek to prevent US from building coalition to oppose a Taiwan blockade
- Taiwan would see a full Chinese naval encirclement as act of war
People’s World: U.S. blockade of Venezuela is also an attack on Cuba
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Radley Balko: 104 murders in 107 days
The Trump administration’s assault on alleged drug boats has killed about one person per day since early September. These are murders, and basic humanity demands that we not get complacent about them.
(Radley Balko more…)
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – December 19, 2025
This past week feels like the final, chaotic days of a political era.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Jennifer Rubin: Undaunted in Faith
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Pope Leo sounds as if he is directly criticizing Trump, because Trump exemplifies evils that the pontiff decries—neglect of the poor, crass materialism, embrace of violence, and bigotry. While Trump oppresses; the pontiff stands with the oppressed, bringing light and hope to the dark Trump reign.
…After reminding Trump these are people of faith, [Bishop Budde] implored him to “have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and … those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands, to find compassion and welcome here.”
…While [Pastor Jamal Bryant] did not start the boycott, he quickly became the face of the movement responding to Target’s cowardly compliance with Trump’s assault on DEI. “I wanted to bring a spiritual dynamic to it,” he told April. The movement had a stunning impact, inflicting $12B in losses and prompting the CEO’s exit (unfortunately, the COO replaced him), although Target persists in its anti-DEI stance.
(Jennifer Rubin more…)
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NY Times: The Interview — Why Won’t Senators Stand Up to Trump? We Asked 3 Who Called It Quits.
… I told them that I hoped, because they are out of or nearly out of office, that they would feel free to be candid, to which Manchin replied, “That’s why we left!”
(NY Times more…)
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Brian Allen: Jack Smith Wants the Facts Heard and He Wants Them on the Record
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Times of London: DoJ to miss deadline to release all the Epstein files
Wired: Here’s What’s in the DOJ’s Epstein Files Release—and What’s Missing
From photos of former president Bill Clinton to images of strange scrapbooks, the Justice Department’s release is curious but far from revelatory.
Dean Obeidallah: Trump didn’t just meet the 14-year-old child Epstein was abusing–he put her in his beauty pageant
Did Trump create a pipeline between the pageant and Epstein?
Rebecca Solnit: Feminism Versus Trump and Epstein
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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