Stop conspiracy theorist Kash Patel from running the FBI!

Elon Musk endorses post suggesting Americans are too "retarded" to do skilled jobs
In a truly remarkable "hold my beer" moment, Elon apparently caught wind of his Department of Government Efficiency sidekick's hot take on what ails the American workforce (see below) and wanted to be sure he got in on the super-offensive action, essentially declaring a huge swath of MAGA as too "retarded" to work higher-skilled jobs. Hey America First™, this your guy? [RETWEET THAT!]

Take Action: Say NO to Elon's DOGE department!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: Democrats score surprise win with federal judges
Republicans are none-too-pleased as a raft of federal judges who had previously announced retirements are now reversing those decisions considering President Biden won't be able to appoint their successors. Brian Tyler Cohen and Marc Elias discuss the ramifications on the latest episode of Democracy Watch.

Take Action: Support The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s mission to cure Parkinson’s disease!

UNFPA leads the charge to protect women's dignity around the world
United Nations Population Fund: When the worst comes to pass and women are plunged into conflict, access to simple things like tampons can be suddenly cut off at a moment's notice. That's why UNFPA is working overtime to deliver life-saving "dignity kits" to women in conflict zones like Ukraine, Sudan, and Gaza, so that even in the darkest of times, women and girls are able to manage their periods with dignity. Make a donation to UNFPA and help deliver out-of-reach and forgotten-about supplies like menstrual pads, clean underwear, and soap to the women who need it the most!

Vivek Ramaswamy blames '90s sitcoms, "jock" culture for tech companies hiring smarter immigrant workers
A ha! The root cause of tech companies apparently relying on more foreign-born and first-generation workers over their mentally lazy American counterparts today can be traced back to...television sitcom tropes in the 1990s, if for some odd reason you want to take Vivek Ramaswamy seriously. "A culture that venerates Cory from Boy Meets World or Zach & Slater over Screech in Saved by the Bell, or "Stefan" over Steve Urkel in Family Matters will not produce the best engineers,” Ramaswamy wrote — then published and did not delete later — for other people to actually read. He continued, "A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.” Is it just us, or does it sound like Vivek might be working through some bottled up, adolescent nerd trauma after sampling some of his DOGE co-manager's array of mind-altering consumables?

Take Action: Stop Dr. Oz from dismantling Medicare!

Trump's incoming "border czar" says undocumented parents of US-born kids will be kicked out, with or without children
The MAGA cult leader's "border czar" is openly signaling the imminent start of a family-busting deportation operation, vowing to oust parents of US-born children, with or without their kids. Tom Homan, regarded as the “architect” of the widely vilified family separation policy applied to undocumented immigrants in the first Trump administration, promised to resume the controversial policy of putting families with children in detention centers as part of a drive to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. It would be left to parents to decide, Homan claims, whether they want to depart the country as a family, or leave their children in the US, thus splitting up their families. The Biden administration ended family detention in 2021, closing three facilities with about 3,000 beds that ICE had operated. The closures followed criticism from immigration advocates and pediatricians, who warned that such conditions were harmful for children.

Take Action: End the electoral college!

IDF loosened rules of engagement after Oct. 7, allowing more civilian deaths
The Israeli military significantly loosened its rules of engagement in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, letting officers approve striking targets in the Gaza Strip that had been low-priority or off-limits in earlier wars, and allowing strikes that endangered more civilians than had previously been tolerated for similar targets, according to an investigation published Thursday in The New York Times. The investigation, which cited more than 100 soldiers and officials, including some 25 who helped plan, vet, or approve strikes, echoed some previous reports alleging widespread use of artificial intelligence software to select targets, as well as claims that a few strikes that targeted Hamas leaders endangered more than 100 noncombatants each. Israeli military leadership issued an order at 1 PM on Oct. 7 — as the Hamas invasion was ongoing — that granted mid-ranking officers authority to target low-ranking Hamas fighters, and allowed them to risk killing up to 20 civilians in each strike. In previous wars against Hamas, many strikes were only approved once it was concluded that no civilians at all would be harmed, while other strikes endangered up to five, the report said. Ten or more civilians would be endangered for the sake of killing a combatant only on rare occasions, according to the report. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 45,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 18,000 combatants in battle as of November and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

Elon Musk’s conservative critics stripped of verification badge on X after publicly challenging world's richest man
Several conservative critics of mega-billionaire Trump surrogate Elon Musk were stripped of their verification badges on X after publicly challenging the oligarch's not-nearly-enough-America-First stance on immigration. Trump ally and hard-right provocateur Laura Loomer, New York Young Republican Club President Gavin Wax, garbage-spewing InfoWars host Owen Shroyer, and the pro-Trump ConservativePAC were all stripped of their verification badges after criticizing Musk’s controversial remarks about American workers and foreign H-1B visa holders. Folks, we're three weeks out from inauguration and the hyenas are already turning on each other. It's going to be a really interesting 2025.

Sister District fights to take back our state houses
Sister District: If we’re going to take back power from Trump and the GOP, we’re going to need to build progressive power at EVERY level — local, state, and national. Sister District is on the front lines building the grassroots networks and infrastructure to win back our country from the GOP. Sister District’s efforts helped Democrats break the GOP supermajority in the North Carolina House and Wisconsin Senate while keeping control of the Pennsylvania House and Minnesota Senate — and their next targets are critical 2025 races in Virginia. Will you chip in to Sister District and help take back our statehouses from the GOP?

Embattled healthcare provider that faced dozens of prisoner lawsuits is filing for bankruptcy
For years, Wellpath, the largest commercial provider of healthcare in jails and prisons across 37 states, has been the target of federal lawsuits and scrutiny by lawmakers for its practices that have been alleged to cause long-term health problems and the deaths of dozens of incarcerated individuals. The company says that, while bankruptcy proceedings are ongoing, it will continue operating services in more than 400 facilities, including prisons, jails, and hospitals, as it attempts to reduce approximately $550 million in debt and plans a reorganization of its Wellpath Correctional Healthcare division. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, a federal judge in Texas granted a pause in all lawsuits that involve Wellpath. Legal proceedings in such cases can take years in normal circumstances, but Wellpath's bankruptcy means dozens of those cases are conveniently on hold for the foreseeable future.