The protesters showing up every week to shut down ‘Alligator Alcatraz’: ‘We will end this’; The Guardian, December 26, 2025

 Richard Luscombe , The Guardian; The protesters showing up every week to shut down ‘Alligator Alcatraz’: ‘We will end this’

"They come on buses, in cars and RVs. Some ride on motorcycles. Every Sunday afternoon, convoys of protesters from all over Florida, and others from out of state, descend on the notorious “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration jail in the Everglades to stand vigil for those held inside.

It is a ritual that began in August, a month after the opening of the remote detention camp celebrated by Donald Trump for its harsh conditions, and hailed by Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, as a model for the president’s aggressive detention and deportation agenda.

The open air vigils continued, and grew in size, through the brutal heat and torrential rains of the south Florida summer. They endured through a federal judge’s order in August that “Alligator Alcatraz” should close, and a subsequent reversal by an appeals court; the protesters’ voices grew louder at alleged human rights abuses and violence inflicted on detainees.

Over the holiday season, thousands more people are expected to join the protests. The Guardian spoke to several people at the heart of the vigils:..

The pastor

As pastor of the Allendale United Methodist church in St Petersburg, Andy Oliver has never been afraid of diving into political issues. The treatment of detainees at “Alligator Alcatraz”, he said, compelled him to organize a bus to attend the vigils, and he was encouraged that other locals joined his parishioners to make their voices heard.

“We filled up the bus and had to rent a couple more vehicles. We had so many people wanting to be there,” he said.

Oliver sees parallels at the immigration jail with the religious stories he preaches.

“In the Christmas story, the person who came to announce Jesus’s arrival was his cousin John the Baptist, and he was pretty quickly thrown in jail for calling for liberation,” he said.

“Jesus came to bring liberation to people. We have people that are physically being detained even beyond the scope of what the law allows, families are being separated, harms are being done. Jesus was born as a refugee. He spent most of his ministry with people on the margins. I think that’s where Jesus would be, he’d be calling for these prisons to be emptied.”

Oliver said the diversity of the vigil crowd was notable, and that it was “powerful” to share the experience with people of different faiths."

The Service Dogs Helping Veterans With PTSD; The New York Times, December 24, 2025

 Simar Bajaj , The New York Times; The Service Dogs Helping Veterans With PTSD

There’s research suggesting that these four-legged “battle buddies” can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. But shortages and long wait times pose barriers.

"Dr. Bahr is part of a growing cadre of veterans using service dogs for PTSD relief. In a 2024 study, veterans with service dogs were followed for three months and found to have less severe PTSD, depression and anxiety than those on the waiting list.

This research doesn’t say whether service dogs caused these mental health benefits or how long they might last.

Still, many veterans say these dogs make life more manageable. They are trained to catch subtle signs of distress, like thumping legs or a hitch in breathing, said Maggie O’Haire, a human-animal interaction expert at the University of Arizona. But researchers suspect that service dogs can also smell the chemical changes that accompany stress and anxiety.

Labrador retrievers are among the most common breed of service dogs, prized for their steadiness and eagerness to bond.

With a nuzzle or a tug of the leash, these dogs can interrupt the swell of panic in veterans, Dr. O’Haire said. “They know your environment is not filled with danger,” she explained, so they help veterans ground themselves."

Through the lens of history, Trump’s legacy will be more of a blotch than a Maga masterpiece; The Guardian, December 28, 2025

 Simon Tisdall, The Guardian; Through the lens of history, Trump’s legacy will be more of a blotch than a Maga masterpiece

"Revolutions are overrated, intrinsically unpredictable and typically followed by counter-revolutions. True turning points in history are actually quite rare – and difficult to spot. Even rarer are genuinely world-changing leaders. Donald Trump presents a case study.

The way Trump tells it, he’s Alexander, Charlemagne, George Washington, Napoleon and Mahatma Gandhi all rolled into one. Yet after a decade at the top of US politics, solid achievements are few. His peacemaking flounders, his economic and trade tariff policies falter, his personal approval rating tumbles. Towering ego, ignorance, vulgarity and bottomless narcissism are Trump’s only exceptional traits.

Right now, the global and domestic upheavals triggered by Trump and Maga seem transformational. They are symbolised by the new US national security strategy – an authoritarian, anti-European, transatlantic alliance-rupturing charter. On all sides the cry is heard: “The old order perishes. Chaos looms!” Yet looked at in the round, the Trumpian moment is fleeting. Trump, 79, has three years remaining in power, at most. Even if a loyalist wins in 2028 – a huge “if” – no heir can match his monstrous appeal. His Maga coalition is fracturing.

It’s claimed Trump has permanently changed how Americans view the world. But they said that about 1930s America First isolationism, and that didn’t last, either. Time will show the Trump era to be less turning point, more freakish aberration – a sort of Prohibition for populists. In history’s bigger picture, Trump is a blotch, an unsightly smear on the canvas.

At an unsettling moment in world affairs when the tectonic plates are shifting (to recycle another melodramatic cliche), it’s important to stay grounded, to maintain perspective. As 2026 trepidatiously creeps through the door, nursing hangovers from the tumultuous year just ending, try counting the continuities and bridges rather than dwelling on earthquakes and chasms.

Given a free choice (which is the whole point), democracy, for all its flaws, continues to be the preferred system of governance worldwide. Divisive hard-right and neo-fascist parties remain, mostly, on the fringe; they do not rule. Authoritarian leaders such as Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu have no recognised successors, not least because they fear usurpers. When they go – and it won’t be long – successor governments may opt for reform, as was the case post-Stalin and post-Mao.

Most countries still support the UN and respect international law. Music, film, theatre and the arts continue, overall, to connect and bind the peoples of the world, as does sport, the great global leveller. Religious faith, broadly defined, acts as a timeless, superhuman unifying force, despite the distortions of extremists. And the quest for knowledge and understanding, pursued through schools, universities, scholarship, historical research, books, scientific inquiry and technological innovation, inexorably advances with each new generation.

If one is allowed a wish for 2026, it’s that there be no great geopolitical turning points, no epic spasms or watersheds (with possible exceptions for Putin’s defeat and Trump’s resignation). Most people, given the option, would surely prefer to live their lives peacefully, striving to improve their lot and that of others, free from importunate, lying politicians, divisive dogmas, shaming bigotry, competing great power hegemonies and renewed conflicts.

Que no haya novedad – let no new thing arise, as the old, wistful Spanish saying has it. For a still hopeful, vibrant world haunted by fear of another cold (or hot) war, it would be a gift and a blessing."

Burlington library serves holiday meals to community; WCAX, December 25, 2025

 Kendall Claar , WCAX; Burlington library serves holiday meals to community

"Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library opened its doors Christmas Day for more than just reading, distributing about 150 meals to anyone who wanted one.

The Farmhouse Group provided the pre-packaged meals, which community members picked up directly from refrigerators at the front of the library. The initiative addresses food scarcity in the area amid rising costs of living. Library staff also provided a warm gathering space on the holiday.

“Libraries are often at the center of community in a variety of different ways,” said Emer Feeney, Fletcher Free Library’s assistant director. “So it makes a lot of sense for the library to be a place that’s open on a day when so many places are closed to make sure that everybody gets to have a nice, warm and cozy day.”"

U.S. anniversary coins won’t feature any Black Americans or notable women; The Washington Post, December 20, 2025

 Emmanuel Felton, The Washington Post; U.S. anniversary coins won’t feature any Black Americans or notable women

"In a preview of the Trump administration’s approach to celebrating the country’s 250th birthday, Treasury Department officials announced earlier this month that the agency would ignore the committee’s recommendation and produce quarters that are far less diverse and more traditional. Instead of addressing the country’s racial history, the five coins will feature images of former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln, as well as a Pilgrim couple.

The Biden administration was focused on diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory, U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach told Fox News, but the “Trump administration is dedicated to fostering prosperity and patriotism.”...

The administration is also considering a commemorative dollar with President Donald Trump’s face on one side and his raised fist with the words “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT” on the other, a reference to the widely circulated image of the president following an assassination attempt in 2024. Democratic senators have decried the idea as “un-American” and introduced legislation to prohibit “the likeness of a living or sitting president” from appearing on American currency."

We’re pastors. The fight against Maga Christianity starts locally; The Guardian, December 21, 2025

 Doug Pagitt and Lori Walke, The Guardian ; We’re pastors. The fight against Maga Christianity starts locally

"Donald Trump wants us to believe that the “war on Christianity” is spreading across the globe. The US president recently sounded the alarm on the “mass slaughter” of Christians in Nigeria while threatening a US invasion of the African nation. We shouldn’t be surprised. This falls right in line with Trump’s ongoing attempts to project Maga Christianity on to the global stage and crack down on religious freedom.

Maga Christianity represents a self-serving, commercialized version of the Christian faith – putting power over service and empathy – and it is everywhere in our federal government. In February, Trump announced a taskforce led by Pam Bondi with the goal of rooting out “anti-Christian” bias. In September, Trump announced his plans to protect prayer in schools. Later that month, he issued a memorandum identifying anti-Christianity as a potential driver of terrorism. These are not just one-off incidents. This is a national effort to push the Maga Christianity agenda on Americans, and we’re already seeing the consequences.

Despite the Bible’s clear call to “love thy neighbor”, the Maga movement has used its version of the Christian faith to oppress immigrants, oppose the rights of women and condemn the LGBTQ+ community. At the same time, we’ve seen shootings at places of worship and arrests of faith leaders at peaceful protests.

As faith leaders, our greatest strength during Trump 2.0 and the rise of Christian nationalism is our local congregations. It’s our ability to physically come together in our communities, communicate with one another, support our neighbors in need and elevate our own Christian values that set us apart.

Faith leaders have a powerful role to play, especially as the Trump administration continues to use religion to divide us."

Artist to Pull Kennedy Center Show Over Trump Rename; The Daily Beast, December 21, 2025

 Laura Esposito , The Daily Beast ; Artist to Pull Kennedy Center Show Over Trump Rename

"The Kennedy Center is already losing performers after Donald Trump slapped his name on the storied arts institution.

Kristy Lee, a folk singer scheduled to perform at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 14, is in talks to cancel her appearance, her spokesperson told NOTUS, as other artists also move to sever ties with the venue...

“Kennedy Center is supposed to be a memorial, focusing on being nonpartisan. A place where people, it doesn’t matter what party they believe in, should be performing and experiencing the arts together regardless of what their party is. And it has not become that.”"

The Trump Vibe Shift Is Dead; The New York Times, December 21, 2025

 EZRA KLEIN, THE NEW YORK TIMES; The Trump Vibe Shift Is Dead

"In January, I made a prediction: “I suspect we are at or near the peak of Trump vibes.” Now, as this long year grinds to its end, I think it can be said more declaratively: The Trump vibe shift is dead. And there are already glimmers of what will follow it...

Political backlash always seeks the opposing force to the present regime. Closed and cruel are on their way out. What comes next, I suspect, will present itself as open, friendly and assertively moral. But it will also need to credibly offer what Trump and Trumpism have failed to deliver: real solutions to the problems Americans face."

Senators freeze Coast Guard admiral’s promotion over swastika, noose policy; The Washington Post, December 17, 2025

 

Tara Copp

 and 

Marianne LeVine

, The Washington Post; Senators freeze Coast Guard admiral’s promotion over swastika, noose policy

"At least two U.S. senators have put holds on the nomination of Adm. Kevin Lunday to lead the U.S. Coast Guard, citing concerns with a new workplace harassment policy that downgrades the definition of swastikas and nooses from hate symbols to “potentially divisive.”

The move upends Lunday’s confirmation, which the Senate was due to vote on this week, and raises new questions about the decision to implement the policy revisions after Lunday in November had forcefully denounced such symbols and declared a wholesale prohibition on them.

The holds on Lunday’s promotion were exercised by Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada). They follow a series of Washington Post reports detailing plans to include the incendiary language within the Coast Guard’s new workplace harassment manual — and the policy’s quiet implementation this week despite the admiral’s explicit directive last month. The manual is posted online and makes clear that its previous version “is cancelled.”"

US librarians tackle ‘manufactured crisis’ of book bans to protect LGBTQ+ rights; The Guardian, December 15, 2025

 Claire Wang, The Guardian ; US librarians tackle ‘manufactured crisis’ of book bans to protect LGBTQ+ rights

"As the culture wars descended on America’s public libraries, librarians like Young have moved to the frontlines of a battle to protect free speech and LGTBQ+ rights. In at least half a dozen states, they have joined forces with civil rights groups to oppose book bans, often facing personal and professional repercussions. Some of their legal challenges and victories, organizers and experts say, can provide a roadmap for grassroots resistance against coordinated censorship campaigns."

HHS changes transgender former official Rachel Levine’s name on portrait; The Hill, December 9, 2025

 LEE ANN ANDERSON  , The Hill; HHS changes transgender former official Rachel Levine’s name on portrait

"The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) changed the name of former Adm. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who served as the agency’s assistant secretary under former President Biden, to her birth name, or “dead name,” on her official portrait. 

HHS confirmed on X Tuesday that the department changed the name during the government shutdown, saying that they wanted to depict “biological reality.”...

Rep. Rebecca Balint (D-Vt.) was among the critics who blasted the move online...

“Consummate professional, was always thinking about the American people, that was her charge and that’s what she did, so every time they do something like this, they reveal their own pettiness, smallness, vindictiveness, but also how incredibly insecure they are about their own identity.”

Levine, who was the first Senate-confirmed transgender official, told NPR that she wouldn’t “comment on this type of petty action.”

Rubio orders State Department to change official memo font, citing DEI issue: Official; ABC News, December 10, 2025

 Mariam Khan, ABC News; Rubio orders State Department to change official memo font, citing DEI issue: Official

The font was changed two years ago to assist readers with visual disabilities.

"The Calibri font is going the way of the typewriter at the State Department after Secretary of State Marco Rubio inked a memo mandating that the agency use only Times New Roman for official communications – and size 14 to boot, according to a department official.

The new directive, which was sent to all diplomats, is the latest action by the Trump administration to roll back diversity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The change is effective immediately, according to the directive.

Two years ago, Rubio’s predecessor, Antony Blinken, switched the State Department font to Calibri, on the recommendation of the State Department’s office of diversity and inclusion, in part to assist individuals with certain visual disabilities, such as low vision and dyslexia."

With Dreadlocks and Yoga, Oslo’s Bishop Practices an Atypical Evangelism; The New York Times, December 12, 2025

Lynsey Chutel, The New York Times ; With Dreadlocks and Yoga, Oslo’s Bishop Practices an Atypical Evangelism

"“When Putin and Trump, in their different ways, are using Christianity, my religion, in a very politicized, destructive way, it’s really important for me that we, as a church, lift up our voices for justice, for solidarity, for welcoming the stranger among us, for less differences between poor and rich.” Bishop Gylver told journalists in the days before her ordination.

Since formally assuming her new role, her public utterances have become a little more circumspect.

“As a bishop, I should not point to specific people or parties to say, ‘This, and not this; that and not that,’” she said during an interview in September. “I don’t even have to name them, but we have quite a few world leaders that are practicing and articulating Christian faith in a way that is very foreign to me...

As part of her emphasis on inclusion, she raised the Rainbow flag over the Oslo cathedral to celebrate Pride Week in June. It was a precursor to the church’s formal apology to Norway’s L.G.B.T.Q. community this October for decades of discrimination."

Trump administration says sign language services ‘intrude’ on Trump’s ability to control his image; AP, December 12, 2025

 MEG KINNARD , AP; Trump administration says sign language services ‘intrude’ on Trump’s ability to control his image

"The Trump administration is arguing that requiring real-time American Sign Language interpretation of events like White House press briefings “would severely intrude on the President’s prerogative to control the image he presents to the public,” part of a lawsuit seeking to require the White House to provide the services.

Department of Justice attorneys haven’t elaborated on how doing so might hamper the portrayal President Donald Trump seeks to present to the public. But overturning policies encompassing diversity, equity and inclusion have become a hallmark of his second administration, starting with his very first week back in the White House.

The National Association for the Deaf sued the Trump administration in May, arguing that the cessation of American Sign Language interpretation — which the Biden administration had used regularly — represented “denying hundreds of thousands of deaf Americans meaningful access to the White House’s real-time communications on various issues of national and international import.” The group also sued during Trump’s first administration, seeking ASL interpretation for briefings related to the COVID-19 pandemic."

Some Native Americans draw shocked response over contract to design immigration detention centers; AP, December 13, 2025

 HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, JOSHUA GOODMAN AND JOHN HANNA , AP; Some Native Americans draw shocked response over contract to design immigration detention centers

"The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, whose ancestors were uprooted by the U.S. from the Great Lakes region in the 1830s, are facing outrage from fellow Native Americans over plans to profit from another forced removal: President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. 

A newly established tribal business entity quietly signed a nearly $30 million federal contract in October to come up with an early design for immigrant detention centers across the U.S. Amid the backlash, the tribe says it’s trying to get out of it...

Tribal Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick promised “full transparency” about what he described as an “evolving situation.” In a video message to tribal members Friday, he said the tribe is talking with legal counsel about ways to end the contract. 

He alluded to the time when federal agents forcibly removed hundreds of Prairie Band Potawatomi families from their homes and ultimately corralled them on a reservation just north of Topeka.

“We know our Indian reservations were the government’s first attempts at detention centers,” Rupnick said in the video message. “We were placed here because we were prisoners of war. So we must ask ourselves why we would ever participate in something that mirrors the harm and the trauma once done to our people.”"

'This is the end': Australian teens mourn loss of social media as ban begins; Reuters, December 10, 2025

 Christine Chen, Reuters ; 'This is the end': Australian teens mourn loss of social media as ban begins

"Australian teenagers have taken to social media for the last time to farewell their followers and mourn the loss of the platforms that shaped much of their lives before a world-first ban took effect on Wednesday.

In the hours leading up to the ban's midnight start (1300 GMT on Tuesday), a flurry of goodbye messages came from teenagers - as well as adults - on platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Reddit.

Australia has ordered 10 major platforms including TikTok, Alphabet's YouTube and Meta's nstagram and Facebook to block around one million users under the age of 16 or face massive fines.

Some 200,000 accounts have already been deactivated on TikTok alone, the government said, with "hundreds of thousands" to be blocked in the coming days.

Young Australians, who have grown up using social media, faced the prospect of losing access to their favourite apps with a mix of sadness, humour and disbelief."

Scouts ‘surprised and deeply saddened’ by Hegseth’s proposal to cut ties; The Hill, November 25, 2025

 ELLEN MITCHELL , The Hill; Scouts ‘surprised and deeply saddened’ by Hegseth’s proposal to cut ties

"Scouting America responded on Tuesday to a reported memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seeking to cut ties with the organization, saying it was “surprised and disappointed” by the potential policy change, as the military has given its support to the Scouts since 1937. 

“The Scouting movement has had a strong relationship with our nation’s military going back more than a century,” according to the group. “From the tremendous support of the West Virginia National Guard at our National Jamborees to Scout troops that provide stability for the children of military families deployed around the globe, our nation’s military has walked side-by-side with Scouts for generations.”

It also noted that “an enormous percentage of those in our military academies are Scouts and Eagle Scouts.”

Hegseth is reportedly upset with the group for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. His memo, first reported by NPR, accuses Scouting America — formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America — of attacking boy-friendly spaces and for being “genderless.” The memo has yet to be sent to Congress.

“The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys,” Hegseth wrote in the memo."

Indiana Republican with disabled child rejects redistricting bid after Trump-Walz spat; The Hill, November 29, 2025

RYAN MANCINI , The Hill ; Indiana Republican with disabled child rejects redistricting bid after Trump-Walz spat

"A Republican state Senator from Indiana on Friday said he will vote against President Trump’s redistricting effort in his state after the president used a slur demeaning people with disabilities in his online spat with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).

“Many of you have asked my position on redistricting,” state Sen. Michael Bohacek (R) wrote in a Facebook post. “I have been an unapologetic advocate for people with intellectual disabilities since the birth of my second daughter. Those of you that don’t know me or my family might not know that my daughter has Down Syndrome.

“This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choices of words have consequences,” Bohacek continued. “I will be voting NO on redistricting, perhaps he can use the next 10 months to convince voters that his policies and behavior deserve a congressional majority.”

Trump attacked Walz in a Truth Social post on Thursday and called him the slur. He slammed the governor for doing “nothing” about the number of Somali refugees in Minnesota, either “through fear, incompetence, or both.”"

Chicago’s faith leaders on front lines of resistance against ICE crackdown; The Guardian, November 28, 2025

 Siri Chilukuri, The Guardian ; Chicago’s faith leaders on front lines of resistance against ICE crackdown

"For weeks, Chicago has been at the center of the Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Homeland Security officials have arrested 800 people as of 1 October, while also using violent tactics such as body-slamming and deploying teargas in residential areas.

Amid the raids and arrests, which have created a pervasive sense of fear, faith leaders have stepped up, putting themselves on the front lines of resistance.

“Faith leaders bring a very powerful prophetic and moral compass into the space,” said the Rev Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, executive director of Live Free Illinois, a group that mobilizes Black churches around social justice issues in Chicago. “While many others may be able to argue the economic impact, or argue the law, faith leaders are typically the ones who are arguing and standing on the side of humanity and for people.”