South Carolina's measles outbreak, the worst in decades, is endangering babies as vaccination rates fall and anti-vaccine legislation gains momentum.
Record domestic oil and gas production hasn't saved US drivers from price spikes.
The glass panels of the Lynching Victims Monolith are simple, etched with the names of more than 600 victims of documented racial killings in Mississippi, along with the attackers' motives. One man, Malcolm Wright, was beaten to death in front of his family in 1949. His offense? "Hogging the road." Further research revealed that his mule-drawn wagon was, to his killers, moving too slowly.
Sudden outrage over a long-shot bipartisan immigration reform bill sparked a public battle among House Republicans, fueled by an onslaught of online activists, that's putting GOP divides over immigration policy squarely into the spotlight.
Several Californians sued Sutter Health and MemorialCare this week over allegations that an AI transcription tool was used to record them without their consent ... read more
New York Times Co. v. United States
en.wikipedia.org
... New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971), often referred to as The Pentagon Papers Case, is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on the First Amendment right to freedom of the press. The ruling made it possible for The New York Times and The Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censorship or punishment.[1]
President Richard Nixon had claimed executive authority to force the Times to suspend publication of classified information in its possession. The question before the court was whether the constitutional freedom of the press, guaranteed by the First Amendment, was subordinate to a claimed need of the executive branch of government to maintain the secrecy of information. The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did protect the right of The New York Times to print the materials.[1] ...
@#11 ... When is the drunk rapist/secretary of war crimes going to resign? ...
Good question.
There's this reporting ...
Pete Hegseth's Secret History (December 2024)
www.newyorker.com
... After the recent revelation that Pete Hegseth had secretly paid a financial settlement to a woman who had accused him of raping her in 2017, President-elect Donald Trump stood by his choice of Hegseth to become the next Secretary of Defense. Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, issued a statement noting that Hegseth, who has denied wrongdoing, has not been charged with any crime. "President Trump is nominating high-caliber and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his administration," Cheung maintained.
But Hegseth's record before becoming a full-time Fox News TV host, in 2017, raises additional questions about his suitability to run the world's largest and most lethal military force. A trail of documents, corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues, indicates that Hegseth was forced to step down by both of the two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran -- Veterans for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America"in the face of serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct. ...
Blasters - Dark Night (1985)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
[Verse 1]
Hot air hangs like a dead man
From a white oak tree
People sitting on porches
Thinking how things used to be
[Refrain]
Dark night, it's a dark night
Dark night, it's a dark night
[Verse 2]
The neighborhood was changing
Strangers moving in
A new boy fell for a local girl
When she made eyes at him
[Verse 3]
She was young and pretty
No stranger to other men
Open doors were being locked at night
And old lines drawn again
[Chorus]
I thought these things didn't matter anymore
I thought all that blood had been shed long ago
Dark night, it's a dark night
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[Verse 4]
He took her to the outskirts
He pledged his love to her
They thought it was their secret
But someone knew where they were
[Verse 5]
He held her so close
He asked about her dreams
When a bullet from a passing car
Made the young girl scream
[Chorus]
I thought these things didn't happen anymore
I thought all that blood had been shed long ago
Dark night, it's a dark night
Dark night, it's a dark night
...
Local news ...
Critics speak out against Mamdani's plan for New York City-run grocery stores
abc7ny.com
... Critics are speaking out after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled a plan for city-run grocery stores - a key campaign promise.
Mamdani says the first store could open as soon as next year in East Harlem with the goal of additional stores in the other four boroughs by the end of his term.
He says the stores are meant to make food more affordable, but bodega owners warn they could hurt private businesses.
On Monday, residents in East Harlem said a city-run supermarket would make their lives easier by making groceries more affordable.
"They need somewhere convenient so people could go and say, 'Yes, I can buy, you know, this and that,' and still have money for the next couple of weeks to buy some more food," a resident said. "But that'd be a great idea here."
On Sunday night, Mayor Mamdani marked 100 days in office by doubling down on a campaign promise to open a series of five stores in the coming years.
"The first one will open next year, stores where prices are fair, where workers are treated with dignity, and where New Yorkers can actually afford to shop at our stores," Mamdani said. "Eggs will be cheaper. Bread will be cheaper. Grocery shopping will no longer be an unsolvable equation."
It begins with the La Marqueta site beneath the elevated rail line on Park Avenue in East Harlem.
"Now, some will insist that city-owned businesses do not work, the government cannot keep up with corporations," Mamdani said. "My answer to them is simple. I look forward to the competition."
Critics say city-run supermarkets will hurt ordinary bodega owners and could even produce chaotic lines for cheaper groceries.
"These stores are going to get jam packed, they're only four or five in the entire city of 8 million people," said Fernando Mateo with United Bodegas of America. "What do you expect is going to happen? You're going to have people rushing to these stores early in the morning to late at night, waiting on long lines. You know, it's going to be more turmoil than anything else. It's a great punch line for him and for the socialist movement. But New York is not a socialist city." ...
As birthrates tumble, some progressives say the left needs to offer ideas and solutions
www.npr.org
... When Emma Brennan and Lauren Wright got married last year, the couple began weighing seriously whether or not to have a child. "A lot of people our age are not having kids, or are waiting, and they have a great life regardless," Brennan said.
Wright and Brennan, who live in what they describe as a liberal enclave of Baltimore, said they lean toward wanting to be parents, but the world often feels like a scary place to raise children. They worry about climate change, rising income inequality, and America's polarized politics. "We have conversations about the state of the world," Wright said.
Like a lot of young, liberal-leaning Americans, they've heard about falling birthrates, and the world's rapidly shifting demographics. But they said the most prominent voices offering ideas and solutions are coming from the political right. "That whole Trump thing, we'll give you a bunch of money" to have a baby, Brennan said, sounding skeptical.
Emma Brennan, Lauren Wright and their cat, TV, sit in their home, in Baltimore, MD on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026.
Wesley Lapointe for NPR
A growing number of researchers, and thinkers on the left, told NPR they worry that progressive leaders have largely opted out of the growing public discussion over birthrates and shrinking families, ceding the policy space to right-wing voices.
"If progressives don't want to talk about it, and self-censor, then no one is going to talk about things that might impact progressives," said Alice Evans, who studies gender issues at Kings College London and is currently a visiting professor at Stanford University. ...
As families shrink, the right takes the lead
Birthrates around the world, including in the U.S., are dropping steadily, to a level that demographers say falls well below the number of children per woman -- roughly 2.1 on average -- needed to maintain a stable population. The "total fertility rate" in the U.S. has fallen to a record low of 1.6, while in many countries the rate has dropped below one child per woman on average. ...
... A full week of dangerous weather is looming for the central US ...
That's expected for this time of the year there. Some are more severe than others, though.
I lived in Louisville, KY (great people there, btw) during the severe weather event of 1974.
I remember my co-workers asking me to come outside the building to see the green-colored sky. And, yes, the clouds were green-colored. First time I have ever seen a green sky. But I digress.
50 years later | Remembering the 1974 Super Tornado Outbreak (2024)
www.whas11.com
... The 1974 Super Tornado Outbreak is known as one of the worst tornado outbreaks in U.S. history -- and the second largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period. ...
Within a 16-hour window, 148 tornadoes swept across the U.S. The states affected were Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and New York.
The twisters took a tragic toll on every one of those states and resulted in roughly $600 million in damages and 330 deaths.
Twenty-seven of those tornadoes hit parts of Kentucky, including Louisville and Brandenburg. An F4 tornado directly hit Louisville, killing three people and injuring more than 200 others.
The tornado first touched down near The Fairgrounds and caused the most damage as it moved into the city's East End, destroying homes, businesses and parks along the way.
...
The longer term issue to keep in mind is not the price of gas, but the price of diesel fuel.
The diesel fuel that is used to transport goods across the Country every hour of every day.
Why Diesel Prices Spike Faster Than Gasoline In A Crisis
www.forbes.com