Excited for Retro Covid.

The Trump administration is getting desperate enough to try criminalizing loud noise. A federal judge in Oregon has issued an order blocking the administration from enforcing a new rule that would make “loud or unusual noise” near federal buildings a criminal offense.

The ruling comes as protests continue outside immigration detention centers across the state, with advocates arguing the policy was designed to suppress public demonstrations.

Congressional Republicans once again placed the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) in their crosshairs Wednesday, holding the second hearing so far this year on the landmark pro-voting law. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Judge Emil Bove, Trump's former personal lawyer who Trump then appointed to the federal bench, has been hit with an ethics complaint for attending Trump's rally last night. "[T]his was a highly charged, highly political event that no federal judge should have been within shouting distance of."

Trump is so panicked by upcoming Epstein files release and bad economy he’s going to attack Venezuela

Chicago is where Michelle was raised, where I got my start as an organizer, and where we built a family together. When the Obama Presidential Center opens next June, it will be our way to give back to a city that has given us so much. obama.org/presidential-center

Powell: "Inflation for goods has picked up, reflecting the effects of tariffs."

Mike Johnson says the GOP healthcare plan will be announced in about two weeks.

White House Begins Christmas Season With Ceremonial Lighting Of Cross

I hope people understand that if Trump gets his way America will soon be part of the global axis of evil if we aren't already. You see it in the Caribbean, you see it in Ukraine, and you see it with Trump trying to buddy up to Xi. We are a malevolent force.

This keeps happening.

It’s been two weeks since ICE took Yuanxin Zheng from his father. He is six years old. He’s still not home. This has to end.

Likely the only way out is for a Democratic administration to actually enforce anti-trust laws. At some point.

Once right-wing oligarchs gain control of just about every national and local media company, social media platform, and big AI, as they are systematically doing with little notice from the general public, it will be game, set and match for the Republic.

Bass: We had an important victory today from the courts. The court determined what we knew all along: we do not need National Guard troops in our city. We didn’t need them in June, and we certainly don’t need them in December. I’m glad a decision was made saying the president is out of line

I can save you time so you can skip the play-by-play of manufactured drama in the House today. The usual suspects pretended to hold out claiming they were standing on principle for various things. Then they caved in exchange for symbolic bs, or nothing at all. Everyone declared victory.

Wow. Economic theory dictates that in this situation prices in the stores will rise dramatically. The stock market will go up. Unfortunately you cannot eat stocks.

The FED I guess feels the need to do something to resuscitate the stagnating US economy... but its just gonna make the dollar lose more value. The loss of 1.1 million jobs this year has taken a heavy toll. www.cbsnews.com/news/employe...

Most Democratic-led states will continue to recommend the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, despite a CDC advisory panel’s vote against it. www.wired.com/story/many-s...

BREAKING: The U.S. has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela in a major escalation between the two countries (Bloomberg)

"The Trump administration has declared, in its defining national security document, that the EU and they themselves are a security threat to the United States. I suspect that this is more likely to build solidarity and resistance than to break it down." Europe's Project 2025 moment.

Judge Breyer blocks Trump from deploying the CA National Guard, returning control to Gavin Newsom. He also quotes Marty Lederman in his determination that "regular forces" means the military. The Supreme Court will rule on that definition soon. My latest: www.muellershewrote.com/p/judge-dism...

Donald Trump is back to using rallies to campaign for a job he already has but can't do.

This #HumanRightsDay I am proud to be supporting Amnesty International’s efforts to support asylum seekers, immigrants, and refugees, as well as stopping the spread of dangerous authoritarian practices. Join me! amnestyusa.org/act

Trump brags about stock market up this year. It’s true the S&P 500 is up 16% this year. But what was it up last year under Biden? 25%. And in 2023 under Biden it was up 26%. Trump’s tariffs and chaos absolutely hurt the stock market returns.

Disturbingly enough I will be headed to N’awlins in a few hours. Will update if I see similar behavior downtown.

Your family should get less this holiday season, while Trump gets a golden ballroom.

'Florida just flashed a warning sign': Internet erupts over Dems' massive Miami flip

The first paragraph of Judge Breyer‘s opinion granting an injunction in the California National Guard case is a banger.

We cannot just accept that “every so often the administration is going to abduct some lawful resident who said something it doesn’t like about Israel or Palestine,” @seth-stern.bsky.social told @wabe.org. “The only way this will stop is if the public won’t tolerate it.”

Trump has given up on his biggest campaign promise. Now he mocks the cost of living crisis and calls affordability a "con job." Meanwhile, corporations that have the power to jack up prices, suppress wages, and bust unions are laughing all the way to the bank (and funding Trump's ballroom).

🚨Europe says Russia-linked parcel bombs were a rehearsal for burning U.S.-bound cargo planes in flight—an alleged 9/11-scale mass-casualty strike disguised as an accident—as Trump keeps praising Putin. theintellectualistofficial.substack.com/p/europe-rus...

Are farmers going to be on welfare for all 4 years of this Trump term, or just for 3 years like the first Trump term? We get you like voting for government handouts, but we are $38 trillion in debt.

Sean Duffy wants to you to sit next to this guy on your next flight

Turns out Trump was helping to bring about a golden age - the Golden Age of China.

🚨BREAKING: A federal judge Monday dismissed Missouri Republicans’ attempt to stop voters from pursuing a referendum against the state’s newly gerrymandered congressional map. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Important detail on Paramount's hostile takeover bid to buy WBD: Paramount's financing partners include Jared Kushner's private equity firm, plus Saudi Arabia's, Qatar's and Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth funds. Kushner's involvement was NOT publicized by Paramount. www.axios.com/2025/12/08/p...

Previously:

Once again, LLMs can’t believe reality is real.

Gross

Did MAGA forget their "reason for the season?"

I am pleased to announce another no-talent year!

" I have many questions about whose idea it was to import the confinement box to Alligator Alcatraz. But... I submit to you that its appearance here, structurally speaking, is the result of there being no criminal or even substantial political penalties for the architects of the torture program...:

The monopolies of the Gilded Age led Congress to establish the FTC as an independent agency. Its independence is meant to insulate it from political pressure so it can check corporate power and protect the American people. Trump wanting to upend this is very telling.

They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.

Story: www.thedailybeast.com/tim-walzs-da...