BREAKING: Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service The headquarters is going to Utah. Every regional office is being shuttered. The research program is being destroyed.

If you're wondering what's happening with the US Forest Service and why it matters, read this:

Home | L.A. Material News for Los Angeles.

For about a year I've been working with some of the best reporters and editors in L.A. to build a brand new city news outlet. It launches tomorrow.

Is it possible to operate a sustainable local journalism business in 2026? Let me know! lamaterial.com

How DOGE Gutted the NEH in 22 Days Internal documents show how leadership at the National Endowment for the Humanities handed over the grant termination process to DOGE and ChatGPT.

Great piece on the lawsuit producing all these insane DOGE boy depositions, if you’re looking for a deeper dive that will infuriate you: www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Among other truths

‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

Retired British couple in their 60's detained by ICE for 8 weeks, sleeping on a mat on a concrete floor. No reason.

notorious radical left communist rag says tax the rich

History as an Inalienable Right Why Every Month Should Be Black History Month

Today is the 100th anniversary of Black History Month. Am I in trouble for mentioning this? substack.com/home/post/p-...

DOJ has since killed this link. This is what was there:

Video before it happens is showing this guy they shot in the head in Minneapolis was just standing there videoing them before and they got out to push him back and then murder him.

Compare this thread analyzing the video footage with DHS’s statement stating that the man approached officers with a gun and “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

He was a nurse with a phone trying to help someone and he was murdered by ICE.

We need another Nuremberg.

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

- Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail

Silence is not neutral. It is a choice.

Danish Parliament Deputy Speaker Lars-Christian Brask:

"If I could come with some advice, it would be for the Senate & House to start to take control of political power in America because with this erratic & mad behaviour, you have to ask the question, is the President capable of running the US?"

A statement from Columbia Journalism School faculty on the federal raid of a @washingtonpost.com reporter’s home: journalism.columbia.edu/news/faculty-statement-w...

Pew Research Institute (2023):

• Red State Texas has about 2.1 million undocumented immigrants

• Red State Florida has 1.6 M undocumented immigrants

• Blue State Minnesota has 130,000.

And yet only Minnesota is being occupied by masked thugs over "immigration."

It's *not* about immigration.

Videos Show How ICE Vehicle Stops Can Escalate to Shootings A WSJ visual investigation found that the Minneapolis ICE killing is one of 13 incidents where federal immigration agents have used deadly force against civilians in vehicles since July.

WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to:

* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon

The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire

www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...

Washington National Opera leaves Kennedy Center, joining slew of artist exits The WNO is just the latest to say they will no longer perform at the Kennedy Center since Trump took over last year.

The WNO is just the latest to say they will no longer perform at the Kennedy Center since Trump took over last year. n.pr/4pRgdXr

Rapid Response Call: ICE Killing and Lawlessness in Minneapolis · Indivisible Join us tomorrow, Thursday, January 8th, at 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT to discuss the killing and lawlessness by ICE in Minneapolis. We will talk with leaders and provide concrete next steps on how you...

We’re hosting a national rapid response call tomorrow night to go over concrete next steps. Please circulate - we need a national response. More details to come. www.mobilize.us/indivisible/...

How are voters meant to understand how serious things are if in lieu of shouting fire AND going into building with hoses, you're simply posting fire safety suggestions on social media?
Not introducing articles of impeachment is a message that Trump hasn't committed impeachable offenses.

Exactly one month ago.

This @peterbakernyt.bsky.social paragraph is a perfect summary of our descent into authoritarianism.

He’s not even editorializing. He’s just reporting what’s happened, and what we’ve become numb to. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/u...

The Best Albums of 2025 From Mavis Staples to the Kronos Quartet—these are our music critic’s favorite works from this year.

www.thenation.com/article/cult...
Rosalia: Yes! But also Little Simz, Ted Hearne, Mavis Staples, and Thomas Morgan and his wiggy little robot.

There goes the lucrative industry of international tourism, already fairly wrecked. The US was "the world’s most powerful Travel & Tourism market, contributing a record-breaking $2.36 TN to the nation’s economy last year" said the World Travel & Tourism Council in 2024.

Congrats, Emily! Any time you need a plus-one…

$28 million of cocaine seized off Miami Beach. Three men charged Coast Guard and CBP seized about 3,715 pounds of cocaine worth $28 million from a 65-foot vessel near Government Cut off Miami Beach; three men were arrested.

Whoa … this is really strange.

Federal law enforcement managed to confiscate almost two tons of cocaine, and arrest 3 suspects, without blowing the boat out of the water or killing anyone.

🎁 link ⤵️

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...

The New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner Interviews Santa Claus For several centuries, Santa Claus has been one of the most prolific mythical gift-givers in the world. Formerly known as Saint Nicholas of Myra, a...

I wrote a bit for McSweeney's about Isaac Chotiner interviewing Santa Claus. Just a little something for the holiday season. Enjoy!

Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence

More than 1,000 people submitted statements attesting to their losses, according to prosecutors, who characterized the victims as “hardworking, everyday people,” including small business owners, farmers, veterans, teachers and nurses.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/u...

Thanks, Tim. FYI, I’ll be talking about Strayhorn on WKCR at 4:00 pm EST today.

Committee on Arts & Culture Hiba Abid, New York Public Library Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, Mellon Foundation Suroosh Alvi, Vice Jessica Baker, Vodoor Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden Alexis Bittar, Jewelry Designer Rocky Bucano, Hip Hop Museum Gonzalo Casals, Culture & Arts Policy Institute Carolyn Concepcion, ARTNOIR Colm Dillane, KidSuper Kimberly Drew, Pace Gallery Atiba Edwards, Brooklyn Children's Museum Kamilah Forbes, Apollo Theatre Lisa Gold, Asian American Arts Alliance Jenna Hamed, Curator and Book maker Kemi Ilesanmi, KG1 Wes Jackson, BRIC Ruba Katrib, MoMA PS1 Coco Killingsworth, Cultural Institutions Group Mino Lora, The Peoples Theatre Patricia McGregor, NY Theatre Workshop Lydia Pilcher, Cine Mosaic Victoria Rogers, Leadership Strategist Hal Rosenbluth, Kaufman Astoria Studios Legacy Russell, The Kitchen Kenny Savoca, IATSE 161 Hannah Traore, Hannah Traore Gallery Diya Vij, Powerhouse Arts Dennis Walcott, Queens Library

The @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social arts and culture transition committee for those who (like me) are into such matters: