Progressive search for action

11+ min ago (361+ words) Ticket sales for the Kennedy Center's annual performance of "The Nutcracker" have plummeted under the new leadership of President Donald Trump, who took over as the organization's chairman earlier this year, CNN reported Saturday. According to internal sales data obtained and reviewed by CNN, ticket sales for the Kennedy Center's performance of "The Nutcracker" topped out at around 10,000 seats across the production's seven performances, around a 33% drop off from the around 15,000 ticket sales for the production seen in 2001 through 2024. A person with knowledge of the internal workings of the Kennedy Center told CNN that even if the performance of "The Nutcracker" were to have sold out this year, the costs for the performance would still outweigh the revenue from ticket sales. "Selling every ticket to "The Nutcracker' is absolutely not paying your bills," the person told CNN on the condition…...

12+ min ago (319+ words) At a People's Summit during the G20 leaders meeting in South Africa, activists challenged health care profiteering and other ills of a global economy for the 1%. South African billionaire Johann Rupert has enjoyed a'sudden surge in wealth. His expanding fortune, like those of billionaires around the world, is not a sign of brilliance or achievement. It is a symptom of a system built to funnel wealth upward into the hands of the 1%. This is not just an African story. In the United States, for example, private equity investors have spent more than'$1 trillion'on health care acquisitions in the past decade. And a growing body of evidence shows that when these wealthy private owners take over, the quality of patient care'declines. This is the context within which We the 99% met at the'People's Summit for Economic Justice'in Johannesburg in November. While world leaders…...

15+ min ago (174+ words) White House Communications Director Steven Cheung took to social media Saturday evening to gush over President Donald Trump's work ethic with remarks that quickly drew the attention of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose press office swiftly delivered a brutal response. Aside from heading White House communications, Cheung is also Trump's assistant, and noted that Saturday evening, Trump was "still in the Oval Office working," and said it was "truly remarkable to witness" the president's work ethic. Newsom's official press office account on X hit Cheung with a biting response. "What's it like to be on your knees, piggy?" reads the post from Newsom's press office. Newsom is unique among prominent Democratic figures in that he's weaponized Trump's own communications tactics, which include harsh insults and self gloating. Examples include Newsom's press office calling Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller…...

18+ min ago (1261+ words) And they're just getting started. Brown University senior Caitlyn Carpenter was working on a class discussion post the night of Oct. 1, when news broke that set off a firestorm of debate in academia. The Trump administration had just released a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education" and invited nine prominent universities, including Brown, to sign on. Schools that did so would receive preferential federal treatment. "I knew immediately we had to do something," said Carpenter, who is a member of Sunrise Brown and an outreach organizer for the national Campus Climate Network, or CCN. That night, Carpenter joined a Zoom call with other Brown students who spent two hours discussing what to do. They decided to launch a new organization,Brown Rise Up, specifically to counter the spread of authoritarianism on campus. Students at other universities that had been…...

20+ min ago (183+ words) Our skin goes through so many changes, and we ought to take care of it every step of the way. That's why we're so excited to see what shoppers are saying about this money-saving set that's Amazon's number-one-selling skincare set overall. Best part? The set costs just $34. "Good quality item, loved by teens," one shopper said. "Excellent stocking stuffer. This was a really hot item for teens last year. Amazon had it much cheaper than the big make up stores. It was a big hit for my niece." "This is not overpowering, but has a pleasant scent. It is also moisturizing and soothing to the skin," another shopper said. "Bought this due to other's review. Did not disappoint. Super creamy and smooth. The scent is great. I've actually had a lot of compliments on the smell. Will def buy again,…...

24+ min ago (375+ words) Many people may see removing dams as outlandish. After all, they provide clean, cheap energy, right? But it turns out that only3 percentof dams produce hydropower. Although hydropower is often placed in the "clean energy" column, dams and reservoirs also produce greenhouse gases, such asmethane, and some do so to a significant degree. Dams also don't have to fail to be dangerous. At U.S. low-head dams, many only a few feet tall, some1,400 peoplehave drowned because of the unseen and unsafe hydraulics that these dams produce. The 6-foot-tall Dock Street Dam in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has taken31 livesbetween 1913 and April 2025. These days, we're still building dams, although fewer than before, which is a step in the right direction. But to undo centuries of environmental harm, we'll need bigger leaps. American Rivers has set an ambitious goal to work with partners toremove30,000 dams and open up 300,000 river…...

24+ min ago (215+ words) Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) declared Sunday that America is not ready for a woman president when asked about the future of the Democratic Party by Kristen Welker on NBC's Meet The Press. "Former Vice President Harris has said sexism and racism played a major role in her defeat back in 2024," Welker said before playing video of former First Lady Michelle Obama proclaiming that the country's isn't yet ready for a woman president. "Congressman, do you think that America is ready to elect a woman president? Or do you agree with the former first lady?" Welker asked. "Well, history is prologued," Clyburn answered. "And I understand exactly what Kamala Harris has said." Clyburn said he spoke with Harris recently and agrees that Obama is "absolutely correct." "If you look at the history, we demonstrated that we are not ready. These are…...

26+ min ago (348+ words) President Donald Trump suggested on Sunday that he has "other ways" of charging tariffs against foreign countries regardless of what the Supreme Court says in an upcoming opinion. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision this upcoming week regarding Trump's authority to unilaterally impose tariffs against foreign countries. Trump has issued a wide swath of tariffs on several of America's largest trading partners, impacting goods ranging from appliances to lumber and electrical components. Trump seemed to address the upcoming opinion in a Sunday post on Truth Social. "While the United States has other methods of charging TARIFFS against foreign countries, many of whom have, for YEARS, TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF OUR NATION, the current method of Tariffing before the United States Supreme Court is far more DIRECT, LESS CUMBERSOME, and MUCH FASTER, all ingredients necessary for A STRONG AND…...

40+ min ago (258+ words) Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya is the managing editor of Autostraddle and a lesbian writer of essays, fiction, and pop culture criticism living in Orlando. She is the former managing editor of TriQuarterly, and her short stories appear in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Joyland, Catapult, The Offing, The Rumpus, Cake Zine, and more. Some of her pop culture writing can be found at The AV Club, Vulture, The Cut, and others. When she is not writing, editing, or reading, she is probably playing tennis. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram and learn more about her work on her website. Happy holigays to you! As a gift, I have prepared this quiz! I give you this gift every Sunday, but this one feels gift-ier, because it's a quiz ABOUT gifts! Hope you enjoy! Which Archetypical Queer Holiday Gift Are You? - Click to…...

52+ min ago (344+ words) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Somalis who move to the U.S. have to "learn not to defraud the American people," during an appearance on Face the Nation on CBS on Sunday morning. Bessent told host Margaret Brennan the Treasury was now investigating a billion-dollar fraud scheme carried out by dozens of Minnesota residents of Somali descent. President Donald Trump's'go-to economics guy said it was alarming that many of the crooks donated stolen tax dollars to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D); he also said his department was investigating whether the money was used to fund terrorism. To be clear, the initial fraud that was discovered by the IRS, for which I'm the acting commissioner, it was discovered by IRS Criminal Investigation Unit. This was not endogenous that the state of Minnesota decided. We…...