Progressive search for action

2+ min ago (578+ words) Although in vitro fertilization (IVF) enables many couples to overcome fertility problems and have kids, the process is vehemently opposed by some evangelical Christian fundamentalists. One of them is House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who, according to The Guardian's Mike Sherman and MS NOW reporters Julianne McShane and Mychael Schnell, stripped an IVF provision from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) earlier this year.The NDAA, established by Congress in 1961, is a series of federal laws that specifies budget expenditures for the U.S. Department of Defense. The NDAA laid out earlier this year included a provision funding IVF treatment for active-duty members of the military, but Johnson, Sherman reports, had it removed.In an article published on December 8, Sherman explains, "Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House and a diehard anti-abortion Republican, worked behind the scenes to strip the provision from…...

3+ min ago (372+ words) The New Republic's Jim Geraghty thinks MAGA has gone completely off the deep end with its latest conspiracy theory: that Charlie Kirk is not really dead, placing him alongside figures like Elvis Presley and Tupac Shakur in the pantheon of "still alive" myths. Writing Monday, Geraghty said the conspiracy is coming from people known for insisting they are "just asking questions," and added, "I wish I were making that up, but I am not." Far-right commentator Tim Pool welcomed "controversy-courting gadfly" Milo Yiannopoulos on the show where he questioned if Kirk's assassination was real. "The astronomically inadequate explanations given, in my view, for the actions before, at, and after Charlie's death and the behavior afterwards from both the federal government and Turning Point executives " you think nothing of his deeply, deeply sinister wife?" he continued. Former Rep. George Santos (R-N....

5+ min ago (444+ words) This month's hottest club is the new queer hockey series Heated Rivalry. It has everything: tension, longing'and Marvel origins? Yes, you've read that right. It has been speculated that the Canadian-produced show'airing on HBO Max'had origins within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically with Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, known on the internet as Stucky. "I did everything wrong with Game Changer," author Rachel Reid said while speaking with Salon ahead of the premiere in Montreal. 2016 was when she began drafting Scott and Kip's romance. At the time, she was reading a lot of fanfiction, especially on Archive of Our Own (AO3). The allure of a website like that, which values anonymity and can give writers instantaneous feedback through comments, made it feel like, to her, a space to build her confidence as a writer. "I was so nervous. I'd never written…...

15+ min ago (191+ words) The Bureau of Labor Statistics won't be publishing a delayed report on wholesale price inflation this month. The federal agency will skip the postponed October report on the Producer Price Index and instead roll those figures into November's report, which will be published Jan. 14, reported the Wall Street Journal. "The monthly report on wholesale prices doesn't get much attention from policymakers on its own, but data from the report are important for the Fed's preferred inflation indicator, the personal consumption expenditures price index," the newspaper reported. "The delayed PPI figures suggest further challenges ahead for the Fed in getting its hands around the current inflation backdrop." The BLS is still working to catch up on government statistics that were missed during the record 43-day government shutdown. The Federal Reserve will meet later this week, but the most recent data those…...

15+ min ago (238+ words) Capitol Hill reporter Manu Raju is warning that things are about to get "really bad" in 2026 when it comes to costs Americans will face. Speaking on the "Inside Politics" lunchtime panel, host Dana Bash cited the Kaiser Family Foundation's data revealing that the average yearly premium for health insurance will increase from $888 in 2025, to $1,904 for 2026 because subsidies for the Affordable Care Act are set to expire at the end of the year. Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Penn.) is in a district won by Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in 2024. Speaking to Raju on Sunday, he acknowledged that "affordability is a crisis" and it extends beyond health care costs. Lawmakers like Fitzpatrick "want to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies for a couple of years, with some changes," said Raju. GOP "Senator Susan Collins of Maine is working with Bernie Moreno, a…...

16+ min ago (616+ words) + Mass school kidnappings escalate as schoolchildren are taken in consecutive attacks Just days earlier, on Monday, Nov.17, 25 Muslim schoolgirls were abducted from their boarding school in the northern Kebbi state, 106 miles away from Friday's attack. One girl managed to escape soon after, and all the girls were later released under unclear circumstances. Following the attacks, schools in the area have been closed." Mass kidnappings from schools have become increasingly common in Nigeria in the past decade. Some victims are released with ransoms, but many remain missing. Since the 2014 Chibok abduction of nearly 300 girls, more than 1,500 children have been taken from Nigerian schools." + New Taliban rule denies healthcare for women who do not wear burqas On November 5, the Taliban imposed yet another new law in Herat requiring women to wear a burqa'a full-body covering with only a small mesh screen over…...

18+ min ago (148+ words) Republicans are facing a potentially bruising primary fight in the New York governor's race, as Rep. Elise Stefanik finds herself facing competition. Stefanik, a longtime Trump loyalist who previously headed up the House Republican Conference, kicked off her campaign for governor a month ago. But this week, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman jumped into the race as well on Monday, setting up a clash. A spokesperson for Stefanik, Bernadette Breslin, put out a statement following the announcement that signaled the likely tone for the competition. Despite the statement posturing Stefanik as the clear frontrunner, President Donald Trump himself refused to endorse a candidate in the race when asked on Monday, at least for the time being, per Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman. "He's great and she's great," he simply said. ALSO READ: Trump will be battered by a midterm ferocity " if…...

29+ min ago (759+ words) Body camera footage released this week exposes how El Centro police gunned down 14-year-old Mikey Jimenez. Jimenez was killed on October 5, yet the edited video was withheld for more than six weeks before being made public on November 19. The footage leaves no ambiguity. Police opened fire almost immediately, unleashing a barrage of bullets at a terrified child who posed no threat. The video confirms Jimenez was executed in a storm of gunfire. Police claim they were responding to an automated license plate reader alert that flagged a white Hyundai sedan as stolen. Officers located the car in the parking lot of a local restaurant, then moved in with multiple vehicles to box in 14-year-old Mikey Jimenez, setting the stage for the killing that followed. The released footage shows Jimenez driving from behind the restaurant toward the exit as officers rush…...

38+ min ago (264+ words) During a Kennedy Center Honors appearance, President Donald Trump used a tribute to Sylvester Stallone to launch into an on-stage rant, calling parts of the audience "miserable, horrible people" after quoting Rocky Balboa. Trump appeared multiple times throughout the event to honor Stallone, KISS, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Crawford, and George Strait, insisting he "just wanted to be myself" and hadn't prepared remarks. Data reviewed by CNN shows Kennedy Center ticket sales have plunged since Trump shook up the board and made himself chairman earlier this year. Holiday performance "The Nutcracker" has sold only about two-thirds of its usual seats, failing to cover the production's massive costs.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag. Trump slams "miserable, horrible people' in Kennedy Honors speech after Rocky quote Trump slams "miserable, horrible people' in Kennedy Honors speech after…...

43+ min ago (312+ words) A federal judge Monday said he is pushing forward with a contempt inquiry over whether the Trump administration intentionally disregarded his order in March to stop deporting more than 100 Venezuelan men to an El Salvador prison. James Boasberg, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Washington, has now demanded that two of the Justice Department lawyers who were part of the March 15 deportation operation appear for questioning next week, Politico reported. One of the lawyers has reportedly been fired for opposing some of the Trump administration's methods. Boasberg said it was "premature" to recommend a criminal prosecution of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who admitted she gave the order to turn the 100 Venezuelan men over to authorities in El Salvador after administration attorneys advised her to do so. "Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act on March 14, and the men…...