I don't think Kim Gordon was sad to see 2025 go bye bye. Kim Gordon still making relevant music. youtube.com/watch?v=Tkyu...

"China's monthly export surpluses passed $100bn seven times last year - a sign that Trump's tariff campaign have barely affected its overall trade with the rest of the world." www.bbc.com/news/article...

A Private Life” (the French title: “Vie privée”) is the first film in which Jodie Foster delivers a solo lead performance in French. And she speaks not just any French — but fluid, fast-moving, just about accent-less French. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/m...

"While it is not unusual for FBI agents to conduct leak investigations of reporters who publish sensitive government information, it is highly unusual and aggressive for law enforcement to conduct a search on a reporter’s home." www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

"The announcement of the resignations followed the administration’s highly unusual decision to not include the Civil Rights Division in the initial investigation of an immigration officer’s fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis." www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

"The 0.7 percent jump in food prices from a month earlier was the largest one-month increase in grocery prices since October 2022. That was up from 0.2 percent in September." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/b...

"The thorny legal distinction between judicial and administrative warrants came to the fore on Sunday when immigration law enforcement raided a private home to make an arrest in Minneapolis, after clashing with protesters who confronted the heavily armed agents." apnews.com/article/ice-...

The country's population is getting more diverse, so the Trump administration decides to go with White Segregationists circa 1950s 2.0. This White Southerner who paid attention to life in the Deep South as he was growing up is not a fan. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/u...

All hail the golden king, the supreme leader. 😂 www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

This essay confirms I should read more books, seek out meandering conversations and build in time each day for daydreaming. Is that possible for a working journalist? I'd say it's crucial. To mental health, to critical thinking, to creating hope and joy. We'll see. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/o...

“We’ve had our assets seized there twice, and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes,” said Darren Woods, who leads the largest U.S. oil company, Exxon Mobil. “Today it’s uninvestable.” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/b...

"oil giants like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips that have deep pockets, vast expertise and, crucially, experience in that country have privately expressed reservations about committing the kind of money it would take to meaningfully boost Venezuelan oil production." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/b...

"Iran signaled Friday that security forces would crack down on protesters, directly challenging U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to support those peacefully demonstrating as the death toll rose to at least 50." apnews.com/article/iran...

The bill now goes to the Senate, where pressure is building for a bipartisan compromise. apnews.com/article/hous...

President Trump declared "Wednesday evening that his power as commander in chief is constrained only by his “own morality,” brushing aside international law and other checks on his ability to use military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...

Trump said he expected the U.S. would run Venezuela & extract oil from its huge reserves for years, insisting the interim government of the country is “giving us everything that we feel is necessary.” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...

Trump administration officials defended the shooting as self defense while state and local officials called that characterization propaganda and false. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...

"An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Minneapolis motorist on Wednesday — a shooting that federal officials claimed was an act of self-defense but that the city’s mayor described as “reckless” and unnecessary. apnews.com/live/minneap...

A helpful analysis from the BBC on how this weekend's violent capture of Nicolas Maduro might affect China, which has invested more than $100 billion over 20+ years "to finance railways, power plants and other infrastructure projects." www.bbc.com/news/article...

Diosdado Cabello, the leader of Venezuela's security forces and brutal militias, is a wild card in the U.S.'s hopes for a peaceful transfer of power in the South American country. www.wsj.com/world/americ...

The Trump administration ignored guidance from career scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and sidestepped an advisory committee to change the vaccination schedule for children. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...

"The U.S. took the unprecedented step Monday of cutting the number of vaccines it recommends for every child — a move that leading medical groups said would undermine protections against a half-dozen diseases." apnews.com/article/chil...

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday in a social-media post that the Defense Department has initiated steps to reduce the Arizona Democrat’s retired rank, resulting in a significant cut in the lawmaker’s retirement pay. www.wsj.com/politics/heg...

"Some of Trump’s former advisers warn that the world the president is building may turn out more dangerous than the era of the 1990s and 2000s, when the United States was the preeminent global power and backed a broad effort to strip barriers to trade. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

"The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.” " apnews.com/article/okla...

Gone 22 years ago today. #JoeStrummer One of my favs by Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros. I heartily endorse this message. I get hungry just listening to it. #welcometothehumbleneoghborhoods youtu.be/SZiPCJrd0_4?...

Mei Semones put out one of my favorite albums of 2025 -- Animaru. Her music mixes jazz, indie, Bossa Nova and chamber pop. Great Sunday morning music.https://youtu.be/dtbkd4pgXHE?si=MUALTjcz2l4nkpEL

Raja Shehadeh Believes Israelis and Palestinians Can Still Find Peace www.nytimes.com/2025/12/20/m...

Don't think the name will outlive his presidency unless there's a violent coup to end American democracy. The renaming reads as if it were lifted straight from the strongman playbook if one reads history focused on dictatorships, autocracies & empires. apnews.com/article/trum...

Don't know what to say other than to wonder if our president actually is a petulant child dressed up as an adult or is this a signal of advancing mental illness? Maybe it's just me and the expectations I have for presidential behavior. apnews.com/article/trum...

To quote the dearly departed Prince ... Sign 'o the Times. apnews.com/article/osca...

"Four centrist Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday and signed onto a Democratic-led petition that will force a House vote on extending for three years an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowers health insurance costs for millions of Americans." apnews.com/live/donald-...

This should be interesting. Question: How many voting-age Americans who supported Donald Trump last year will be more skeptical of the promises he will make tonight after living through the last 10 1/2 months? apnews.com/article/trum...