'Cracks beginning to show': Social security 'in turmoil' under Trump

A person holds a sign during a protest against cuts made by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to the Social Security Administration, in White Plains, New York, U.S., March 22, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Layne/File Photo

Thomas Kika

December 30, 2025 

ALTERNET

The Social Security administration was not in a stellar place to begin with when Donald Trump returned to the White House, but according to a new breakdown from the Washington Post, after one year of his presidency the agency is "in turmoil" with "cracks more than beginning to show" as its reduced workforce struggles to handle its backlog while dealing with haphazard leadership.

The SSA is responsible for handling retirement, disability, and survivor benefits payments to roughly 74 million Americans, a task it has already been struggling with for years. While the agency has been the target of Republican lawmakers for decades, things have gotten substantially worse under Trump, with thousands of employees fired or driven to quit by the massive DOGE firing waves, the Post explained in a report from Tuesday. All told, the agency shed around 7,000 employees earlier in 2025, or around 12 percent of its total workforce.

The remaining employees left at the SSA are left to handle "record backlogs," with 6 million pending cases and 12 million pending transactions in various field offices. "Hasty policy changes and reassignments" have also left inexperienced staff members in charge of key duties.

“It was not good before, don’t get me wrong, but the cracks are more than beginning to show,” John Pfannenstein, a claims specialist outside Seattle and president of Local 3937 of the American Federation of Government Employees union, explained to the Post in an interview. “It is a great amount of stress on our employees that remain on the job, who haven’t jumped ship.”

Claims of fraud and abuse in the Social Security system have also become more widespread from Trump and his GOP allies, despite being largely baseless or overblown.

"Exaggerated claims of fraud, for example, have led to new roadblocks for elderly beneficiaries, disabled people and legal immigrants, who are now required to complete some transactions in person or online rather than by phone," the Post explained. "Even so, the number of calls to the agency for the year hit 93 million as of late September — a six-year high, data shows."

The agency is working to combat its mounting backlog, with Commissioner Frank Bisignano approving millions in overtime pay for employees working around the clock. It also touted a number of improvements to its system in the last year, claiming to have "reduced the processing center backlog by 1 million cases this fall, cut pending disability claims by a third and kept the website live 24/7 after a series of outages earlier this year."

Social Security beneficiaries remain unconvinced by these claims of improvements, however, and Democrats have stepped up efforts to defend the program, which has long been one of the most popular in the entire US government.

“We’ve kept up the pressure and held Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Frank Bisignano accountable for the chaos they’ve caused,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said.

DOJ’s push to weaponize 1863 law to 'bully' companies panned by critics

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks to the media, in the Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington D.C., June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo/File Photo

Thomas Kika

December 30, 2025 

ALTERNET

Donald Trump's Department of Justice is getting in on the push to force diversity programs out of American businesses with a "novel" interpretation of an 1863 fraud law, but an analysis from MS NOW found that this new "bullying" tactic amounts to "a complete waste of resources."

According to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, the DOJ is now attempting to use the 1863 False Claims Act to go after companies that receive government money through federal contracts to make sure they do not have "diversity, equity and inclusion" programs in place. The report specifically singled out Verizon and Google's parent company, Alphabet, as some of the initial targets.

Trump issued an executive order in March calling for the end of all DEI initiatives in the federal government. His administration has also been aggressive in targeting such programs at private businesses with any means available to it, and major companies like Amazon, Target and Paramount opted to roll them back in response.

Examining the new legal tactic at the heart of this push, MS NOW's Hayes Brown explained that the False Claims Act was first introduced to take on defense contractors attempting to bilk the Union government for more money during the Civil War. Recently, it's mostly been used to go after healthcare companies suspected of overcharging the federal government.

This new intended use of the law by the Trump administration, holding companies liable and potentially leveling fines against them for having DEI programs in place while taking government money, would be a "novel" interpretation, Brown wrote, and one that "hasn’t been tested in court and could easily fall flat." Still, he argued, "the mere fact that DOJ is pursuing this route is chilling in and of itself."

Brown also noted that, by utilizing this novel approach to the False Claims Act, the Trump administration is shifting responsibility for its anti-DEI crusade onto the DOJ from the department's civil rights division to its fraud division, which has been ordered to "aggressively" pursue the matter. Aside from being "clear politicization of the legal system," Brown also argued that it represents "a major waste of resources" for the DOJ, which has recently "been struggling with its workload" under Attorney General Pam Bondi's remaking of the department.

"Even if the cases go nowhere, or don’t result in charges, businesses with less money than Google may step up efforts to roll back their diversity programs," Brown concluded. "MAGA pours a lot of resources into achieving its goals, but it prefers that its targets for bullying comply in advance."

MAGA will soon 'be relegated to the dustbin of history': Nobel economist

WISHFUL THINKING 

THEY ARE THE CONFEDERACY REBORN

A supporter wears an apron with Trump's picture before Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Rocky Mount Event Center in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, U.S., October 30, 2024. REUTERS/Jay Paul

Sarah K. Burris 

December 30, 2025

ALTERNET

In a Tuesday column, Thomas Krugman noted that even the most powerful organizations, like the Heritage Foundation, can fall and it's emblematic of what could also happen next to MAGA.

The anti-fan of Heritage, Krugman noted that the far-right group has gotten far worse over the past several months with the group's embrace of neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.

However, Krugman continued, "It turns out that even at a fundamentally corrupt institution like Heritage, there are lines you can’t cross.”

In the last month, the organization has experienced a flood of staff resignations from what Krugman calls "the marginally competent" and those who have "a reputation to protect."

Heritage President Kevin Roberts remains in his role. Krugman observed Roberts thinks that he can "ride out this storm," though he added: "I don't believe they can."

The Nobel Prize-winning economist asserted that the Heritage Foundation isn't exactly known for its credibility in the broader political world. Until now, he wrote that its role in the conservative movement had been "provide an intellectual gloss by producing what looked to the gullible — i.e., many people in the news media — like credible research.”
But now even the group's perceived credibility has disappeared, Krugman said.
"Now that its illusion of credibility is gone, what is Heritage good for?” Krugman wrote, noting that there was little point for the group's millionaire and billionaire donors to continue funding the organization. He added that the MAGA movement doesn't need "any genuine policy research," and argued that voters instead go off their gut. President Donald Trump doesn't need.

Krugman wrote that neither President Donald Trump nor the next leader of the MAGA movement needs "expertise, or even the illusion of expertise."

“What the debacle at Heritage suggests, however, is that many of these fellow-travelers have limits," he explained. "There are lines even corrupt institutions can’t cross without provoking mass defections. And such defections are, I believe, how MAGA will eventually be relegated to the dustbin of history."

He fantasized about what a MAGA takedown might look like: a mass exodus of Republicans who trash-talk Trump behind his back, finally finding the pluck to go public and withdraw their support.

"I don’t know what form their defection would take," Krugman confessed. "Would it involve a serious effort to wrest control of the G.O.P. back from extremists? Would it involve elected Republicans cooperating with Democrats? Would it mean leaving the G.O.P. altogether? America hasn’t seen a new major political party emerge since, well, the rise of the Republican Party in the 1850s, but this doesn’t mean it can never happen again."

But what he can say is that he doesn't believe it wise to assume that MAGA will survive after Trump. The non-MAGA Republicans likely won't stay quiet forever, particularly "in the face of ever more extreme corruption and bigotry at the top of their party.”

Read his full column here.

A war within a war: Yemen’s latest conflict

By AFP
December 30, 2025


A Saudi air strike damaged military vehicles in the port of Makalla, but the UAE inisisted there were no weapons aboard - Copyright AFP STRINGER
David STOUT, Haitham EL-TABEI

Yemen has been fighting a crippling war with itself since Iran-backed Houthi rebels ousted the government in 2014, triggering a Saudi-led military intervention.

Now, a new conflict is brewing within the conflict, involving rival armed factions loosely grouped under the government but separately backed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The confrontation could tear apart the already-fractured government and threaten slow-moving peace negotiations with the Houthis, including a UN-brokered ceasefire that has largely held since 2022.

It began earlier this month when the Southern Transitional Council (STC) — a UAE-backed secessionist group and key government partner — seized military bases, checkpoints and oil fields and captured in most of resource-rich Hadramawt province and swaths of neighbouring Mahrah.

Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s wealthy neighbour and chief supporter of the government, has hit back, striking what it called a weapons shipment from the UAE to the separatists on Tuesday.

The UAE denied sending weapons to the STC, saying it was shipping vehicles to its own forces in Yemen.

Here’s a guide to the latest events and what could happen next.



What’s happening now?



Tensions escalated on Tuesday when the Saudi-led military coalition attacked a shipment of weapons and combat vehicles that it said was sent from the UAE for the separatists.

STC positions were also hit by airstrikes on Friday, following calls from Riyadh for a withdrawal from Hadramawt and Mahrah.

A Yemeni military official said around 15,000 Saudi-backed fighters were amassed near the Saudi border, but had not been given orders to advance.

“The standoff risks upending Yemen’s fragile three-and-a-half-year truce, renewing a war that has repeatedly played to the advantage of the Iran-backed Houthis,” wrote April Longley Alley, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, in an analysis.

“It could also further strain relations between key US allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”

Abu Dhabi is key supporter of the STC, with UAE flags reguarly seen at the separatists’ rallies.



What does the STC want?



The STC appears to be launching a bid for greater self-determination over territories it controls or even outright independence, according to observers.

Headed by Aidaros Alzubidi, the STC is a coalition of groups that want to bring back South Yemen, which existed from 1967 to 1990, when it reunified with North Yemen.

They now control almost all of South Yemen’s former territory.

“The Southern Transitional Council is betting that if the South can be united under a single leadership –- its own, of course –- it can cordon the South off from the Houthis in the North, utilise oil and gas revenue, and create a stable and functioning state,” wrote Gregory D. Johnsen, a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute, in a recent analysis.

Such a move “is a tall order, and it will likely be contested both internally and externally”, Johnsen added.



Why is Saudi ‘sleepless’ over Hadramawt?



Hadramawt is Yemen’s largest province — compromising roughly a third of the country’s territory — and its wealthiest.

It home to most of the country’s petroleum deposits that are vital to government revenues, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north.

And its ports are away from the Red Sea hotspot that regularly comes under Houthi fire.

But, for the Saudis, the province that abuts its southern border is about more than just land and wealth.

For generations, Hadramawt families have been a force in the Saudi economy and make up a sizeable portion of the business community.

Seen as having entrepreneurial skills and grit, migrants from Hadramawt have long flourished in Saudi Arabia — from running family restaurants to starting multi-billion dollar construction consortiums.

Losing control and influence over Hadramawt to a militia backed by the UAE would be both a psychological and strategic blow to Riyadh.

“If I’m Saudi Arabia, I’d be sleepless if I lose Hadramawt,” said Farea al-Muslimi, a research fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.



Can the Saudis stop the separatists?



The latest conflict pits the Saudi alliance against a militia keen to exert control over territory that it sees as historically distinct from the rest of Yemen.

The decade-long, largely fruitless fight against the Houthis may not give Riyadh much cause for optimism.

Despite spending billions in a decade-long campaign including withering air strikes, the Saudi-led campaign has failed to bring the Houthis to heel.

Military experts cite the south’s more open terrain as playing to Saudi Arabia’s possible advantage. An air campaign alone, however, is unlikely to dislodge their forces.

Airstrikes “can never make a significant difference in battles if there is no ground war”, said Muslimi.

What do we know about deadly conflict in Yemen?

The war in Yemen, now in its second decade, is one of the world’s most devastating conflicts, involving local factions, regional powers and international interests.

 Members of UAE-backed southern Yemeni separatist forces stand by a tank during clashes with government forces in Aden / Reuters

TRT WORLD
12/30/2025

On Tuesday, a Saudi-led coalition targeted a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles — destined for UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces —that were being offloaded from ships at a port in Yemen.

Historically its ally, Saudi Arabia slammed the UAE for backing STC, which has recently claimed control over swathes of territory in southeastern Yemen. This marked the most significant escalation between the two Gulf nations.

The STC has been part of the coalition fighting alongside the internationally recognised government against the Iran-backed group Houthis, which holds Yemen's capital, Sanaa, and the heavily populated northwest.

The Houthis gained global prominence after the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, when they started attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea in what they said was solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, prompting the US and Israel to carry out strikes on Houthi targets. The Houthis have stopped their strikes since an October 10 ceasefire came into effect between Israel and Hamas.

The over two-decade conflict in Yemen has led to a devastating humanitarian crisis, with the UNICEF reporting in March 2025 that one in two children under five in Yemen is malnourished.

What is behind the current escalation in Yemen?

The unification

Yemen, situated between Saudi Arabia and an important shipping route on the Red Sea, was split into northern and southern states until 1990.

South Yemen agreed to unification with the north after a factional civil war in 1986 that wiped out its political leadership, and as its main financial patron, the erstwhile Soviet Union, collapsed.

Meanwhile, in the north, the Houthis emerged in the late 1990s, fighting guerrilla wars against the government.

The vast majority of Houthis are followers of Zaidi Shiaism and are backed by Iran.

In 2004, the group's founder launched a rebellion against the state, leading to six wars between 2004 and 2010. The group is led by Abdul Malik al Houthi.

Arab spring

Protests erupted across Yemen in January 2011, calling for an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule.

Key tribal groups and military commanders defected to the opposition, triggering clashes in the capital, Sanaa.

Saleh was seriously wounded in a June bombing and flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment before returning months later.

In November 2011, Saleh finally signed a deal transferring power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

In late 2014, the Houthis seized control of much of Sanaa after weeks of protests.


Houthis take control

By early 2015, the group had placed President Hadi under house arrest, prompting his resignation.

He later fled to the southern city of Aden, rescinded his resignation, and denounced the Houthi takeover as a coup.

As Houthi rebels advanced south, President Hadi fled Yemen for Saudi Arabia.

Later that month, a Saudi-led coalition launched Operation Decisive Storm, citing a request from Hadi to restore his government.

In May 2015, former president Saleh formally allied with the Houthis, despite years of rivalry.

UAE-backed STC

By 2017, the war had triggered what aid agencies described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with widespread displacement, cholera outbreaks and growing fears of famine.

In December 2017, fighting erupted in Sanaa between the Houthis and Saleh’s forces after Saleh broke with the group.

Saleh was killed, consolidating Houthi control over much of northern Yemen.

In January 2018, the UAE-backed STC seized control of Aden after clashes with forces loyal to President Hadi.

The STC and the Hadi government, however, formalised a new power-sharing agreement in Aden in December 2020.

On 7 April 2022, Hadi announced in a televised speech that he was resigning from office and transferring power to the newly formed eight-member Presidential Leadership Council, chaired by Rashad al-Alimi.

While the internationally recognised government has formally been based in Aden since fleeing the Houthis in early 2015, it has spent much of that time operating from the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Its head, Rashad al-Alimi, and Prime Minister Salem Saleh Bin Braik both left Aden for Riyadh when the STC took over.

Since the April 2022 UN-brokered truce between Saudi-backed coalition forces and the Iran-backed Houthis, open warfare has paused, but peace has remained elusive.

Yemen tells UAE forces to leave as tensions escalate

The UAE-backed STC, which seeks a separate state in Yemen's south, has in recent weeks swept through swathes of the country.

12/30/2025

TRT/AA

Fighters from Yemen’s UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council during a military operation in Abyan province, southern Yemen, Dec. 15, 2025. / Reuters

Yemen's presidential council has ordered all forces of the United Arab Emirates to leave the country within 24 hours, and cancelled a security pact with the UAE as tensions rise in the years-long infighting in which regional powers back different factions.

The Presidential Leadership Council on Tuesday also imposed a state of emergency and a 72-hour ban on all border crossings into the territory they hold.

"The Joint Defence Agreement with the United Arab Emirates is hereby cancelled," according to a statement from Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad al-Alimi on Tuesday. At the same time, a separate decree from him announced a 90-day state of emergency, including a 72-hour air, sea, and land blockade.

The statement came as the Saudi-led coalition said it targeted a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles destined for Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces that were being offloaded from ships at Mukalla port in Yemen.

In remarks reported by the Saudi Press Agency, Coalition Forces spokesperson Major General Turki al-Maliki said two vessels arriving from the UAE port of Fujairah entered the port of Mukalla on December 27-28 without securing official authorisation from the coalition’s Joint Forces Command.

The UAE-backed STC, which seeks to revive the formerly independent state of South Yemen, has in recent weeks swept through swathes of the country, expelling government forces and their allies.



Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad al-Alimi orders UAE forces out within 24 hours. / AA


Tensions escalated after the STC took control of the Hadramaut and Al-Mahra provinces in December after clashes with government forces.

Alimi ordered the STC to hand over the territory, calling their advance an "unacceptable rebellion" in a televised address.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has said the UAE should respond positively to Yemen’s demand to withdraw its forces within 24 hours and to cease any military or financial support to any party.

A Saudi foreign ministry statement also expressed regret over the pressure exerted by the UAE on STC forces, pushing them to carry out military operations near the southern borders of Saudi Arabia.

Yemen’s presidential council government is a patchwork of groups that also includes STC members and is held together by shared opposition to the Iran-aligned Houthis.

The Houthis pushed the government forces out of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and secured control over most of the north.


Saudi Arabia slams UAE's backing of STC in Yemen as a 'red line' and national security threat

Saudi Arabia said the UAE should respond positively to Yemen’s demand to withdraw its forces within 24 hours and to cease any military or financial support to any party.

12/30/2025

TRT/AA

Tensions escalated after the STC took control of the Hadramaut and Al-Mahra provinces. / Reuters


Saudi Arabia has said the UAE's support for the separatist Southern Transitional Council's (STC) offensive in Yemen is a threat to it and regional security and called for it to respond positively to the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council's demand to withdraw its forces from Yemen within 24 hours.

The UAE's actions in Yemen "constitute a threat to the Kingdom's national security, as well as to security and stability in the Republic of Yemen and the region," read a statement by the Saudi foreign ministry published online on Tuesday, which added that the "steps taken by the brotherly United Arab Emirates are extremely dangerous.”

“The Kingdom stresses that any threat to its national security is a red line, and the Kingdom will not hesitate to take all necessary steps and measures to confront and neutralise any such threat.”

The statement came as the Saudi-led coalition said it targeted a large quantity of weapons and combat vehicles destined for Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces that were being offloaded from ships at Mukalla port in Yemen.

According to the Saudi-led coalition, the ships came from the UAE port of Fujairah and entered the port of Mukalla on December 27-28.

Meanwhile, Yemen's presidential council ordered all forces of the UAE to leave the country within 24 hours and cancelled a security pact with Abu Dhabi as tensions rose in the years-long infighting in which regional powers back different factions.

Saudi Arabia said the UAE must cease military or financial support to any party.


“The Kingdom stresses the importance that the brotherly United Arab Emirates accept the Republic of Yemen’s request for all its forces to leave the Republic of Yemen within twenty-four hours and halt any military or financial support to any party within Yemen.”

The UAE-backed STC, which seeks to revive the formerly independent state of South Yemen, has in recent weeks swept through swathes of the country, expelling government forces and their allies.

Tensions escalated after the STC took control of the Hadramaut and Al-Mahra provinces in December after clashes with government forces.

Yemen’s presidential council government is a patchwork of groups that also includes STC members and is held together by shared opposition to the Iran-backed Houthis.

The Houthis pushed the government forces out of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in 2014 and secured control over most of the north.

Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen over shipment of weapons for separatists that arrived from UAE

Supporters of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a coalition of separatist groups seeking to restore the state of South Yemen, hold South Yemen flags and a poster of their leader, Aidarous al-Zubaidi during a rally, in Aden, Yemen, Dec. 25, …more >

By Associated Press - Monday, December 29, 2025

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday said it bombed the port city of Mukalla in Yemen over a shipment of weapons for a separatist force there that arrived from the United Arab Emirates.

The attack signals a new escalation in tensions between the kingdom and the Southern Transitional Council, which is backed by the Emirates. It also further strains ties between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, which had been backing competing sides in Yemen’s decadelong war against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.


A military statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency announced the strikes, which it said came after ships arrived there from Fujairah, a port city on the UAE’s eastern coast.

“Given the danger and escalation posed by these weapons, which threaten security and stability, the Coalition Air Forces conducted a limited military operation this morning targeting weapons and combat vehicles unloaded from the two ships at the port of al-Mukalla,” it said.

There was no immediate comment from the UAE.

ECO-REVANCHISM

France pushes back plastic cup ban by four years


By AFP
December 30, 2025


France has gradually rolled out bans on single-use plastic products over the past decade as environmental campaigners have stepped up warnings about the impact on rivers and oceans - Copyright AFP/File DAVID GRAY

The French government on Tuesday postponed a ban on plastic throwaway cups by four years to 2030 because of difficulties finding alternatives.

The ban was meant to start on January 1. But the ministry for ecological transition said that results from a recent review into the “technical feasibility of eliminating plastic from cups” justified pushing back the deadline.

It said in an official decree that a new review would be carried out in 2028 of “progress made in replacing single-use plastic cups”. It added that the ban would now start January 1, 2030, when companies would have 12 months to get rid of their stock.

France has gradually rolled out bans on single-use plastic products over the past decade as environmental campaigners step up warnings about their impact on rivers and oceans.

A 2020 law set a deadline of 2040 to eliminate all single-use plastics. A ban on plastic bags for loads of less than 1.5 kilogrammes (3.3 pounds) of 30 fruit and vegetables was introduced in 2022 and has dramatically changed supermarket habits.

The postponement marks “yet another step backwards in the fight against plastic pollution, under pressure from lobby groups,” said Manon Richert, a spokeswoman for the environmental group Zero Waste France

She said “the argument put forward about technical feasibility is shaky” because solutions exist but haven’t been widely adopted due a lack of investment and an inadequate regulatory framework.

Environmental campaigners say the phase out of single-use plastics has been too slow.

At the start of 2024 the groups Zero Waste France, Surfrider Foundation Europe, Les Amis de la Terre, France Nature Environnement and No Plastic in my Sea issued a failing grade in their report card for implementation of the 2020 law.

They pointed to measures which had not been implemented and government decrees which limited the impact of the law.

Meanwhile, the government’s DGCCRF consumer protection agency said in a report released last year that almost a fifth of about 100 companies it checked in 2023 were breaching regulations on the production or use of single-use plastic items.

Its investigators said some marketed plastic-free products that in reality contained plastic, and some changed the name of the item in a bid to get around the ban.

Chinese homeschool students embrace freer youth in cutthroat market


By AFP
December 29, 2025


Estella, 14, a homeschooled student, does a Spanish class from her bedroom in Shanghai - Copyright AFP Hector RETAMAL

Mary YANG

Fourteen-year-old Estella spends her weekdays studying Spanish, rock climbing or learning acupuncture in her living room as part of her homeschooling since she left China’s gruelling public school system.

Her parents withdrew her from her Shanghai school three years ago, worried she was struggling to keep up with a demanding curriculum they believe will soon be outdated in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).

They are among a small number of parents in China who are rethinking the country’s rigorous education system, in which school days can last 10 hours, with students often working late into the evening on extra tutoring and homework.

“In the future, education models and jobs will face huge changes due to AI,” Estella’s mother Xu Zoe told AFP, using a pseudonym.

“We wanted to get used to the uncertainty early.”

Homeschooling is banned in China, although authorities generally overlook rare individual cases.

Just 6,000 Chinese children were homeschooled in 2017, according to the non-profit 21st Century Education Research Institute. By comparison, China had roughly 145 million primary and middle school students that year.

But that number of homeschoolers had increased annually by around 30 percent from 2013, the institute said.

Supporters say looser schedules centred around practical projects and outdoor activities help nourish creativity that is squashed by the national curriculum.

In Shanghai, Estella’s school day ended at 5:00 pm, and she often spent around four hours a night on homework.

“Instead of just doing a stressful exam in school, I will do the things I was interested (in),” said Estella, who, unlike many students her age, will not be cramming for high school entrance exams she would have taken next year.

Her parents have hired tutors in science, maths, Spanish and gym, and together with Estella decide her schedule.

On a Tuesday afternoon, she was the youngest at a nearby climbing gym, hoisting herself up the wall after a day of online Spanish studies from her living room and an acupuncture lesson taught by her mother.

Xu, 40, said her daughter has grown more confident since leaving the highly competitive public school system.

“We don’t use societal standards to evaluate ourselves but rather, what kind of person we want to be,” she told AFP.



– ‘Jobs are disappearing’ –



Experts say Chinese people are increasingly questioning the value of traditionally prized degrees from elite universities in an oversaturated market.

In 2023, fewer than one in five undergraduates from Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University found jobs immediately after graduation.

The country’s unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds reached a two-year high of 18.9 percent in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

“(China) has out-produced. Too many PhDs, too many Masters, too many undergraduates. The jobs they are trying to get are disappearing,” Yong Zhao, an author on China’s education system, told AFP.

Chinese authorities have tried to counter the competitive learning culture by cracking down on cram schools in recent years — but tutoring, paid under the table, remains in demand.

While homeschooling is technically illegal, Zhao said families can generally “get away with it without causing too much attention”.

One mother in Zhejiang province, who wished to remain unidentified for fear of repercussions, said she used an AI chatbot to create a lesson plan on recycling for her nine-year-old homeschooled son.

“The development of AI has allowed me to say that what you learn in a classroom, you don’t need anymore,” she told AFP.

Her son studies Chinese and maths using coursework from his former public school in the mornings and spends afternoons working on projects or outdoor activities.

However, his mother, a former teacher, plans to re-enrol her son when he reaches middle school.

“There’s no way to meet his social needs at home,” she said.



– ‘Don’t be afraid’ –



Time with children her age was one of the biggest losses for 24-year-old Gong Yimei, whose father pulled her out of school at age eight to focus on art.

She studied on her own with few teachers, and most of the people she called friends were twice her age.

But at home, Gong told AFP she had more free time to consider her future.

“You ask yourself, ‘What do I like? What do I want? What is the meaning of the things I do’?” said Gong, who hopes to launch an education startup.

“It helped me more quickly find myself.”

Back in Shanghai, college is an uncertainty for Estella, whose family plans to spend time in Europe or South America to improve her Spanish.

Her mother, Xu, is hopeful that homeschooling may become more mainstream in China. Xu said she would encourage other parents considering it to take the leap.

“You don’t need to be afraid,” she said.

WTF


Trump admin rushes to demolish 13 more historic DC buildings as preservationists fight back

Alexander Willis
December 30, 2025

RAW STORY


Demolition of the East Wing of the White House continues where U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed ballroom will be built, in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Not long after its demolition of the historic East Wing of the White House, the Trump administration is now looking to expedite the demolition of more than a dozen historic buildings in Washington, D.C. – and leading preservation organizations are fighting back.

According to documents obtained by The Washington Post, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is seeking emergency approval to demolish 13 historic buildings at the historic federal campus St. Elizabeths, established by Congress in 1855 and originally called the “Government Hospital for the Insane,” the newspaper reported Tuesday.

In a memo obtained by the Post, Noem said that the buildings constituted “a present risk to life and property” given that the buildings sit on the DHS’ West Campus complex, and that their vacancy could be used by “individuals seeking to cause harm to personnel,” including those seeking to carry out “active shooter scenarios.”

DHS filed an emergency notification with the General Services Administration (GSA) – the federal agency that manages government property – to expedite the buildings’ demolition, giving preservationist organizations just three days to respond to the inquiry. Not only did preservationist groups push back on the request, but some disputed Noem’s assessment as “problematic.”

“If the space within these vacant buildings is accessible, [it’s the GSA and Homeland Security that have] “failed to effectively secure them,” reads a joint letter sent to the GSA from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the D.C. Preservation League, according to the Post.

“A unilateral declaration like this is problematic because it bypasses the procedural safeguards designed to ensure stability, legitimacy and fairness. [Noem’s concerns over safety] imply a fundamental flaw in the facility’s security as a whole.”

The DHS’ rush to demolish historic buildings in Washington follows President Donald Trump’s controversial efforts to construct his White House ballroom, a project that saw the demolition of the historic East Wing that has been condemned by critics and historians alike.

Artists Cite Trump’s ‘Ego’ and ‘Overt Racism’ While Canceling Kennedy Center Performances

“When American history starts getting treated like something you can ban, erase, rename, or rebrand for somebody else’s ego, I can’t stand on that stage and sleep right at night,” said folk singer Kristy Lee.


Workers adjust the name of the “John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” on December 19, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Brad Reed
Dec 30, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

President Donald Trump’s decision to slap his name on the side of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is not going over well with many of the artists scheduled to perform there.

Days after the annual Kennedy Center Christmas Eve jazz concert was canceled over performers’ objections to the name change, more artists have decided to withdraw in protest over the president’s actions, leading to the cancelation of New Year’s Eve festivities at the center.

‘Gross’: Critics Recoil After Trump-Appointed Board Adds His Name to Kennedy Center



‘This Is a Desecration!’ DC Residents Rage After Trump Slaps His Name Atop Kennedy Center

A Monday report from the Washington Post quoted saxophonist Billy Harper, a member of the jazz ensemble the Cookers that had been set to perform on New Year’s Eve, as saying his group did not want to play in a venue that had been unofficially renamed after the current president.

“I would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name... that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture,” said Harper. “After all the years I spent working with some of the greatest heroes of the anti-racism fight like Max Roach and Randy Weston and Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Stanley Cowell, I know they would be turning in their graves to see me stand on a stage under such circumstances and betray all we fought for, and sacrificed for.”

The Cookers weren’t the only artists to withdraw from a scheduled performance at the Kennedy Center, as the New York-based dance company Doug Varone and Dancers also announced Monday that they were withdrawing from April performances at the venue.

In a social media post announcing the cancelation, the company explicitly linked its decision to Trump’s renaming of the building.

“With the latest act of Donald J. Trump renaming the Center after himself, we can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution,” the company explained.

Doug Varone, the head of the company, told the New York Times that his decision to cancel the performance was “financially devastating but morally exhilarating,” and he noted that the troupe was set to take a $40,000 hit from withdrawing.

Folk singer Kristy Lee last week also announced she would not be performing at a scheduled Kennedy Center show in January, even while acknowledging that doing so “hurts” her financially.

However, she emphasized that “losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck,” and argued that “when American history starts getting treated like something you can ban, erase, rename, or rebrand for somebody else’s ego, I can’t stand on that stage and sleep right at night.”

Trump-appointed Kennedy Center chairman Richard Grenell has lashed out bitterly at artists for canceling their performances, and accused them of having “a form of derangement syndrome.” Grenell has also threatened to sue the jazz musicians who withdrew from the Christmas Eve performance for $1 million in damages.

Our trust in AI systems to make moral decisions is a long way off



By Dr. Tim Sandle
SCIENCE EDITOR

DIGITAL JOURNAL
December 29, 2025

Chatbots are seen as one of the greatest annoyances - Copyright AFP OLIVIER MORIN

AI continues to advance across all fields and in differing ways, at different levels of sophistication. However, our acceptance of AI depends on the context in which we seek to use it. Meal recommendations is one thing, morality is another.

This is not least because studies have demonstrated how AI systems tend to take on human biases and amplify them. In addition, people interacting with biased AI systems can then become even more biased themselves, creating a potential snowball effect wherein minute biases in original datasets become amplified by the AI, which increases the biases of the person using the AI.

As an example, AI systems like ChatGPT can develop ‘us versus them’ biases similar to humans — showing favouritism toward their perceived ‘ingroup’ while expressing negativity toward ‘outgroups’.
Artificial moral advisors

Artificial moral advisors (AMAs) are systems based on artificial intelligence (AI) that are starting to be designed to assist humans in making moral decisions based on established ethical theories, principles, or guidelines. While prototypes are being developed, at present AMAs are not yet being used to offer consistent, bias-free recommendations and rational moral advice.

Yet as such machines powered by artificial intelligence increase in their technological capacities and move into the moral domain it is critical that governments and technologists understand how people think about such artificial moral advisors.

It would appear there is some way to go.

Research from the University of Kent’s School of Psychology has explored how people would perceive these advisors and if they would trust their judgement, in comparison with human advisors.

The study found that while artificial intelligence might have the potential to offer impartial and rational advice, people still do not fully trust it to make ethical decisions on moral dilemmas.
A significant aversion

The research shows that people have a significant aversion to AMAs (compared with humans) giving moral advice, even when the advice given is identical, while also showing that this is particularly the case when advisors — human and AI alike — gave advice based on utilitarian principles (actions that could positively impact the majority).

Advisors who gave non-utilitarian advice (e.g. adhering to moral rules rather than maximising outcomes) were trusted more, especially in dilemmas involving direct harm. This suggests that people value advisors — human or AI — who align with principles that prioritise individuals over abstract outcomes.

Even when participants agreed with the AMA’s decision, they still anticipated disagreeing with AI in the future, indicating inherent scepticism.

This is perhaps because trusting AI in such matters is not simply about the level of accuracy or the degree of consistency; it also about the aligning with human values and expectations.

The research appears in the journal Cognition, titled “People expect artificial moral advisors to be more utilitarian and distrust utilitarian moral advisors.”
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Renault launches a range of eco-friendly engine oils


By Dr. Tim Sandle
SCIENCE EDITOR

DIGITAL JOURNAL
December 29, 2025


French President Emmanuel Macron stands by a new electric Renault R5 E-Tech at the Paris Motor Show - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File STEPHEN BRASHEAR

Renault Group has become the first automotive manufacturer to introduce a complete range of premium engine oils with lower carbon footprints. Automotive lubricants are produced and used in considerable volumes. The oils are formulated into engine oils, transmission fluids, and other automotive lubricants, providing necessary vehicle performance. Conventional oils, however, are produced through environmentally damaging processes.

Renault has introduced the range in collaboration with Castrol. These are engine oils made with Re-Refined Base Oils (RRBO). Renault has developed the oils to ensure high performance, engine protection, and the preservation of the manufacturer’s warranty.

Re-refined base oils are high-quality lubricants produced from used oils, offering significant environmental benefits and contributing to a circular economy in the lubricant industry.
Environmental impact

In terms of the environmental impact, the use of RRBO is estimated to be able to reduce the carbon footprint by 15% for the RN17 Oil specification, marking a step forward in lowering CO₂ production emissions into a more circular automotive industry.

The reason why the environmental impact is low is because the process of re-refining used oil significantly reduces waste and prevents environmental contamination. It conserves resources by allowing the same oil to be reused multiple times, leading to lower carbon emissions—up to 80% less compared to virgin oil production.

To derive at this assessment, cradle-to-gate lifecycle carbon intensity comparisons were conducted by Castrol, in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Life Cycle Accounting & Reporting Standard.

In addition, the re-refining process is generally more energy-efficient than producing new base oils from crude oil, saving energy and reducing the overall carbon footprint.

The development helps to enable used oil recycling, reduces waste, uses less crude oil, and helps lower Scope 3 emissions.
Scope 3 emissions & the circular economy

The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard classifies a company’s GHG emissions into three ‘scopes’. Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy. Scope 3 emissions are all indirect emissions (not included in scope 2) that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions.

The standard covers the accounting and reporting of seven greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).
Renault roll-out

Starting with the RN17 (5W-30) product which covers over 50% of Renault Group’s vehicles in Europe, this new oil formulation will be extended to formulations for all models by 2026.

Combined with RN700 and RN710 already launched and to be followed by RN720 and AN2022 in 2026, Renault Group will then be able to offer a full range of premium engine oils for all its models, formulated to include RRBO.

Commenting on the roll-out, François Delion, Vice President Global After-Sales at Renault Group says: “This launch makes Renault Group the first OEM to provide its entire recent vehicle range with next-generation lubricants formulated with re-refined base oil…It’s a true demonstration that sustainability can go hand-in-hand with uncompromising performance and quality, over the complete lifecycle of the vehicle.”

'Big issue': Analysts reveal Trump's true intentions behind focus on Minnesota fraud

Robert Davis
December 29, 2025 

RAW STORY

President Donald Trump is not being honest about his intentions for focusing his attention on social services fraud committed in Minnesota.

The fraud cases gained renewed attention over the weekend after a right-wing influencer named Nick Shirley posted a video on X that claimed to find $110 million in child care fraud committed by Somalians in Minnesota. Trump and several MAGA voices have focused intently on the cases, using them to attack Trump's political foes like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat.

Former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci and British journalist Katty Kay discussed the story on a new episode of the podcast "The Rest is Politics US." They argued that Trump's true intentions for focusing on the story is to change the subject of the 2026 midterm from the economy to immigration.

"The step-back, the bigger picture is about welfare and fraud and government and trust in government and thrown into that [is] immigration, particularly Muslim immigrants, because these most Somali immigrants will be Muslim immigrants and you've got a kind of toxic mix there of things that will be brought up," Kay said. "I can imagine the Haitian immigrants and eating the dogs and the cats was brought up in the last election campaign. This is going to resurface in the midterms."

"That's the big issue for me," Scaramucci said. "If I look at the midterms coming up and giving people a a preview of this, it's going to be about presidential approval rating. It's going to be about jobs and inflation. It's going to be about the state of the economy."

Trump's approval rating has steadily fallen since he took office in January. According to The Economist, his approval rating stands at 39%, which represents a 17-point decline since the beginning of the year.

Trump's approval rating on the economy is also hovering in the mid-30s, according to polls.

A recent AP-NORC poll found that immigration is one of Trump's strongest issues, with a 49% approval rating.

Trump flings open the door for founder of
firm that funneled Kremlin cash to GOP influencer

Matthew Chapman
December 29, 2025

RAW STORY

The Trump administration is authorizing visas for the founders of an infamous company that facilitated payments from the Russian government to pro-Trump influencers, The Bulwark reported on Monday evening.

Specifically, Lauren Chen, a Canadian right-wing activist who founded the YouTube channel Tenet Media, is getting a second chance after being driven from the United States in disgrace.

"The September 2024 indictment from the Southern District of New York targeted Tenet’s FARA-skirting Russian funders, not Chen or her husband, Liam Donovan. But the Canadian couple were clearly described in the indictment as allegedly scheming with RT employees to direct $10 million to Tenet and even create a fictional persona to mislead one pundit about the source of the funding," said the report. "In the wake of the indictment, Chen lost her work visa and was forced to leave the country. She also vanished from social media. It seemed unlikely she would return to the United States anytime soon."

Tenet Media had been a MAGA platform that paid for commentary from a number of far-right figures, including Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, and Dave Rubin.

None of them were specifically charged with a crime in connection with the Russian cash flowing through Tenet Media to their operations, and indeed Pool has said the FBI reached out to him as a potential crime victim.

Nonetheless, Chen and her husband could soon be right back to work with a new lease on life from the Trump administration.

"This holiday season, Chen and her husband were back in Nashville, where she lived while running Tenet. She broke the news herself, by announcing on Instagram and X on Christmas Day that she could now return to the United States, and specifically thanking the State Department’s Joe Rittenhouse, a senior adviser on consular affairs and former Trump presidential campaign worker, for his help," said the report. "'The biggest thank you to Joe Rittenhouse at the State Department for moving mountains to ensure we were able to return in time for the holidays!' Chen wrote on Instagram."

Per the report, "Rittenhouse does appear to be a fan of right-wing media. In August, he posted a picture with his feet up on a desk in what appeared to be a government office building, watching a video from right-wing British YouTuber 'Sargon of Akkad,'" who is famous for his anti-immigrant content.

Watchdog Warns Trump and Burgum’s Halting of Offshore Wind Projects Is Illegal

“Burgum’s actions on offshore wind appear to be motivated by the personal financial interests of those in the administration, not our collective national interests.”



US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum speaks during an event with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on October 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Julia Conley
Dec 29, 2025
COMMON DREAMS

A week after the US Department of the Interior said it was immediately halting five offshore wind projects in the interest of “national security,” a watchdog group told congressional committees Monday that the move is “not legally defensible” and raises “significant” questions about conflicts of interest concerning a top DOI official’s investments in fossil gas.

Timothy Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), wrote to the top members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Committee on Natural Resources regarding the pause on projects off the coasts of Virginia, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts—projects that account for billions of dollars in investment, employ thousands of people, and generate sustainable energy for roughly 2.5 million homes and businesses.
.


Trump Continues ‘War Against Renewables’ With Halt of Five Offshore Wind Farms

The announcement made by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last week pertained to “five vague, perfunctory, cookie-cutter orders” halting the projects, wrote Whitehouse, but PEER is concerned that the orders were issued to evade the Congressional Review Act (CRA), under which the action to halt the projects likely constitutes a “major rule.”

Whitehouse explained:
Under the CRA, a rule that meets any one of three criteria (an annual effect on the economy of $100,000,000 or more; a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, federal, state, or local government agencies, or geographic regions; or in pertinent part significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, or innovation) is a major rule. Interior’s pause likely meets all three.

As a major rule under the CRA, the pause cannot take effect until at least 60 days after BOEM provides Congress the requisite notification and report under the CRA, which, according to GAO’s database, has not yet occurred. Congress must use its oversight authority to unveil the truth and, as appropriate, and to enforce the rule of law.

He said in a statement that “Burgum’s move is designed to bypass all congressional and public input.”




The CRA states that a rule is “the whole or a part of an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or describing the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of an agency.”

Press statements by the DOI and by Burgum last week were “statements of general applicability and imminent future effect, designed to implement policy,” wrote Whitehouse, who also said the interior secretary embarked on “a coordinated rollout with Fox News entities.”

On December 22, Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo asked Burgum at 8:00 am Eastern, “What next action did you want to tell us about this morning?” Five minutes later, FoxNews.com published its first story on Burgum’s orders, citing a press release that had not yet been made public and including a quote from the secretary about the “emerging national security risk” posed by the offshore wind projects.

“If last week’s actions are allowed to stand, future presidents will have unchecked authority under the guise of national security to target federal leases related to entire disfavored energy industries for political purposes.”

Burgum’s announcement to Fox came at least one to two hours before Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) acting Director Matthew Giacona provided the orders to the lessees running the five wind projects.

Further, wrote Whitehouse, “Burgum’s voluminous public comments in the hours and days since the pause further show the true purpose of Interior’s singular action.”

“The national security pretext quickly gives way to broad and spurious talking points about the ‘Green New Scam,’ how ‘wind doesn’t blow 24-7’ (evincing Burgum’s seeming unfamiliarity with energy storage technologies), and unyielding promotion of liquified natural gas projects,” wrote Whitehouse.

Aside from the alleged illegality of Burgum’s order, PEER pointed to Giacona’s potential conflicts of interest with BOEM operations and specifically with halting wind projects. Giacona is a “diligent filer” of financial disclosure forms required by the Ethics in Government Act, noted Whitehouse—but those forms point to potential benefits he may reap from shutting down offshore wind infrastructure.

Giacona reported his purchase of interests in the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) on September 16. The fund tracks daily price movements of “natural” gas delivered at the Henry Hub in Louisiana and is subject to regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“Accordingly, a government employee who has an interest in UNG also has a potential conflict of interest with the underlying holdings of UNG (currently primarily natural gas futures contracts at the Henry Hub),” wrote Whitehouse.

PEER does not know whether Giacona continues to hold a financial interest in UNG or whether the offshore wind pause will have a “direct and predictable effect on a financial interest in UNG,” but Whitehouse noted that Burgum and DIO have entwined the pause with the promotion of liquefied natural gas.

“It is disconcerting that Mr. Giacona temporarily had even a de minimis financial interest in natural gas futures while also leading the agency that manages the development of natural gas resources on the outer continental shelf,” wrote Whitehouse, adding that Giacona also sold interests in the United States Oil Fund on September 3, while overseeing BOEM.

Based on Giacona’s investments, said Whitehouse, “Burgum’s actions on offshore wind appear to be motivated by the personal financial interests of those in the administration, not our collective national interests. This is another misguided step in transforming the federal government into a franchise of the fossil fuel industry.”

“On public lands across the United States, the Department of the Interior has tens of thousands of additional active leases related to oil, gas, wind, solar, and geothermal production and mining for energy-related minerals,” he added. “If last week’s actions are allowed to stand, future presidents will have unchecked authority under the guise of national security to target federal leases related to entire disfavored energy industries for political purposes.”

New State Laws Aim to Protect Environment, Consumers as Trump Wages All-Out War on Climate

“The gridlock and partisanship we see in Washington, DC can be dispiriting. But history shows that states can build momentum that eventually leads to change at the federal level.”


Harry the Happy Dragon, the mascot for Harris Teeter, on reusable plastic bags

 for sale at a grocery store on December 22, 2025 in Durham, North Carolina.

(Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

Brad Reed
Dec 29, 2025
COMMON DREAMS


Even as President Donald Trump and his administration have been ripping up environmental and consumer protection regulations, a number of state laws are set to take effect next year that could at least mitigate some of the damage.

A Monday statement from Environment America and the Public Interest Network highlighted a number of new laws aimed at curbing corporate polluters and enhancing consumer welfare.



11 House Democrats Help GOP Pass ‘Disastrous’ Pro-Polluter Permitting Bill



Senate Dems Stop Permitting Talks Over Trump’s ‘Reckless and Vindictive Assault’ on Wind Power

First, the groups highlighted “Right to Repair” laws set to take effect in Washington, Nevada, Oregon, and Colorado, which give people the right to repair their own appliances and electronics without burdensome costs or barriers.

The groups lavished particular praise on Colorado’s “Right to Repair” laws that they said provide “the broadest repair protections in the country,” with new regulations that will give businesses in the state “access to what they and independent repair providers need to fix their electronics themselves.”

Illinois, meanwhile, will fully phase out the sale of fluorescent lightbulbs, which will be replaced by energy-efficient LED bulbs. The groups estimate that eliminating the fluorescent bulbs will collectively save Illinois households more than $1.5 billion on their utility bills by 2050, while also reducing energy waste and mercury pollution.

Illinois also drew praise for enacting a ban on polystyrene foam foodware that will take effect on January 1.

The groups also highlighted the work being done in Oregon to protect consumers with legislation mandating price transparency to eliminate surprise junk fees on purchases; prohibiting ambulance companies from socking out-of-network patients with massive fees for rides to nearby hospitals; and placing new restrictions on the ability of medical debt to negatively impact a person’s credit score.

California also got a mention in the groups’ release for closing a loophole that allowed supermarkets to continue using plastic bags and for creating a new privacy tool for consumers allowing them to request that online data brokers delete all of the personal information they have gathered on them over the years.

Emily Rusch, vice president and senior director of state offices for the Public Interest Network, contrasted the action being taken in the states to protect consumers and the environment with a lack of action being done at the federal level.

“The gridlock and partisanship we see in Washington, DC can be dispiriting,” said Rusch. “But history shows that states can build momentum that eventually leads to change at the federal level. As we build on this progress in 2026, we look forward to working with anyone—Republican, Democrat, or independent—with whom we can find common ground.”

Stephen Miller, Frank Sinatra, and the Promise and Limits of American Liberalism ​

Looking back at exemplary moments of American liberalism to counter MAGA rhetoric is an entirely understandable and even comforting move to make, but there is no golden age to return to.

Frank Sinatra educates the youth in the 1945 short film “The House I Live in.”
(Photo: YouTube/Screengrab)

Jeffrey C. Isaac
Dec 29, 2025

Common Dreams


Stephen Miller misses no opportunity to exult in racism and xenophobia. Friday’s Common Dreams headline gets right to the point regarding Miller’s most recent offense: “‘Horrible Racist’ Stephen Miller Slammed for Using Classic TV Christmas Special to Bash Immigrants.”

Apparently Miller spent Christmas day watching a 1967 holiday special called “Christmas with The Martins and The Sinatras” and, being the miserable misanthrope that he is, the show—featuring Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, two very famous children of first-generation Italian Americans—prompted him to wax nostalgic about a world in which America was Great and there was no mass immigration. Everything that Miller says or does deserves outrage, and his X post was no exception. One form the justified outrage has taken recently crossed my Facebook feed:

The Sinatra video that has gone viral is a clip from a 10-minute film short that premiered in November, 1945 called “The House I Live In.” It’s a powerful film, featuring a young and very charismatic Sinatra both speaking and singing against bigotry and for toleration and cultural pluralism.

The film begins with Sinatra, playing himself, in the studio recording a love song. He then takes a break, goes outside, and encounters a group of boys on an unnamed American city street who are very much modeled on Hollywood’s 1940s “Dead End Kids.” He finds them taunting a young, somewhat different-looking boy who is pretty clearly Jewish, and stops to interrupt the taunting and to engage them in conversation about the meaning of “America.”

When the boys inform him that they are bullying the (Jewish) boy because “we don’t like his religion,” Sinatra teases them: “You must be a bunch of those Nazi werewolves I’ve been reading about.” When one of the boys incredulously suggests he is “screwy” to think this, Sinatra replies: “Not me, I’m an American.” When the boys insist that they too are Americans, and one of them volunteers that his father had indeed been wounded in the war, Sinatra points out that the dad had probably needed a blood transfusion, and then points to the excluded boy: “Maybe his pop’s blood saved your dad’s life.”

Sinatra then delivers a monologue:
Look fellas. Religion makes no difference, except maybe to a Nazi or somebody who’s stupid. Why, people all over the world worship God in many different ways. God created everybody. He didn’t create one people better than another. Your blood’s the same as mine, mine’s the same as his. Do you know what this wonderful country is made of? It’s made up of a hundred different kinds of people and a hundred different ways of talking. A hundred different ways of going to church. But they’re all American ways. Wouldn’t we be silly if we went around hating people because they comb their hair different than ours?... My dad came from Italy. But I’m an American. But should I hate your father because he came from Ireland or France or Russia? Wouldn’t I be a first-class fathead?

He then tells them a story about how, after Pearl Harbor, American airmen had inspired the entire country by bravely bombing a Japanese battleship: “They sank it, and every American threw his head back and felt much better. The pilot of that ship was named Colin Kelly, an American and a Presbyterian. And you know who dropped the bombs? Meyer Levin, an American and a Jew. You think maybe they should have called the bombing off because they had different religions?”

Sinatra then heads back to the recording studio. But before entering, he stops to sing for the boys the song he is recording inside, “The House I Live In.” Here are the lyrics:
What is America to me?
A name, a map, the flag I see,
A certain word, “Democracy.”
What is America to me?

The house I live in,
A plot of earth, a street,
The grocer and the butcher
And the people that I meet,

The children in the playground,
The faces that I see;
All races, all religions,
That’s America to me.

A place I work in
A worker by my side
A little town or city
Where my people lived and died
The howdy and the handshake
The air of feeling free
And the right to speak my mind out
That’s America to me

The things I see about me
The big things and the small
The little corner newsstand
And the house a mile tall
The wedding and the churchyard
A laughter and the tears
And the dream that’s been a growing
For 180 years

The town I live in
The street, the house, the room
Pavement of the city
Or a garden all in bloom
The church, the school, the clubhouse
The millions lights I see
But especially the people
That’s America to me.


Sinatra then smiles, returns to the studio, and the boys walk off together, inviting the Jewish kid to join them, while the music of “America the Beautiful” plays in the background.

The film is very powerful and uplifting. It is emblematic of the spirit of American liberalism in the immediate aftermath of WWII, a spirit perhaps symbolized by the stardom of Sinatra, the child of working-class Italian immigrants who grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey. Critics of Miller, and of President Donald Trump, are right to invoke the film, and to evoke the idealism of Rooseveltian liberalism, as a reproach to MAGA xenophobia.

At the same time, there are at least three important ways that the film exemplifies the limits of Rooseveltian idealism and the depth of the forms of illiberalism repudiated in the very lyrics of “The House That I Live In”—forms of illiberalism with which we are still reckoning today.

The first relates to the political circumstances surrounding the song itself. The music was written by Earl Robinson, a composer and folk musician from Seattle who belonged to the Communist Party from the 1930s through the 1950s; collaborated with Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger, and other well-known leftist artists and performers; and was blacklisted during the McCarthy period. And the lyrics were written by Lewis Allan, the pseudonym of Abel Meeropol, also a Communist at the time, who also composed the lyrics to “Strange Fruit,” the anti-lynching song made famous by Billie Holiday, and later adopted the sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg after their parents were executed as Soviet agents in 1953.

Robinson and Meeropol were two of the hundreds of writers, artists, musicians, and performers who made seminal contributions to American culture during the 1930s and 1940s in connection with the Popular Front, described by historian Michael Kazin as “a vigorously democratic and multiracial movement in the arts and daily life that was sponsored but not controlled by the Communist Party.” The patriotic rhetoric of “The House I Live In”—both the song and the film—bears the traces of Popular Front leftism even as the connections to the left, and to anti-capitalism, were as disguised, and erased, as the actual name of the lyricist.

The second is the way in which the film’s repudiation of antisemitism, and its message of tolerance, is advanced—through an understandable anti-fascist patriotism that is juxtaposed to evil “Nazi werewolves” and invading “Japs.” Sinatra’s uplifting story of the bombing of the Japanese battleship Hiruma three times uses the racist term “Japs.” Erased from the story are some very memorable recent events: the wartime incarceration of well over 100,000 Japanese Americans; the 1945 American fire-bombing of Tokyo that killed over 100,000 Japanese civilians; and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945, months before the film’s release. (It is worth nothing that the film’s producer-director, Mervyn Leroy, also produced the 1944 film “30 Seconds Over Tokyo,” a glorification of the 1942 “Doolittle Raid,” the first US bombing of Tokyo, starring Spencer Tracy). The film’s valorization of American democracy is thus linked to a racially-tinged narrative of American innocence with increasingly illiberal ramifications as the Cold War evolved.

And there is, finally, the striking fact that while Sinatra powerfully gives voice to the idea that “God created everybody, he didn’t create one people better than another,” and that “your blood’s the same as mine, mine’s the same as his,” every person in the film—Sinatra, the boys, the studio orchestra—is white.

To point these things out is not to disparage “The House I Live In,” a very important cultural creation that contained genuinely progressive elements while also condensing some of the contradictions of its time. It is simply to note the complexity of the recurrent historical contests over what it means to be “an American,” and the lack of innocence of even the most appealing episodes of the past. Trumpism is xenophobic, racist, deeply anti-liberal, and literally reactionary. Looking back at exemplary moments of American liberalism to counter MAGA rhetoric is an entirely understandable and even comforting move to make. Rewatching “The House I Live In” this holiday season was genuinely uplifting for me. But post-WWII liberalism at its height was no Golden Age, and we can no more return to it than we can to the time of Andrew Jackson, or William McKinley, or 1920s racist Madison Grant, or George Wallace, or Bull Connor, or whoever it is that warms Stephen Miller’s deformed and shriveled heart.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Jeffrey C. Isaac
Jeffrey C. Isaac is James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. His books include: "Democracy in Dark Times"(1998); "The Poverty of Progressivism: The Future of American Democracy in a Time of Liberal Decline" (2003), and "Arendt, Camus, and Modern Rebellion" (1994).
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