Category: News
U-Haul Growth Index: Newsom’s California Dead Last For Six Straight Years
U-Haul Growth Index: Newsom’s California Dead Last For Six Straight Years
Moving company U-Haul has released its annual migration ranking, which continues to show a sustained outflow from high-tax, crime-ridden, Democrat-run states toward lower-tax states where law and order are cherished.
Right off the bat, the report’s authors note that “Florida ranks 2nd for net gain of one-way customers; California last for sixth year in a row.”
U-Haul just released its annual “Growth Index” for all 50 states. For the 6th straight year, California is ranked 50th. We have the highest rate of people moving out versus moving in.
Newsom has turned the greatest state in the country into the most popular state to leave.
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) January 6, 2026
The U-Haul Growth Index compares one-way truck and trailer rentals into a state versus out of a state, allowing researchers to calculate net migration, which reflects relocation trends nationwide.
This real-time tracker shows that Texas reclaimed the title of the No. 1 growth state for the seventh time in a decade. Florida ranked No. 2, followed by North Carolina at No. 3, Tennessee at No. 4, and South Carolina at No. 5. The common denominator among these states is that politicians are considered more based and grounded in reality than the far-left activists running blue states into the ground (cough, cough Tim Walz).
Conversely, the behavior-based migration indicator shows that blue states such as California ranked dead last – in other words, more people left than arrived. Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland also landed at the bottom of the list. The common denominator among these states is that their political leadership focuses on being left-wing activists rather than proper stewardship of their respective states.
“Blue-to-red state migration, a hotly debated political topic that became more pronounced after the pandemic of 2020, continues to be a discernable trend,” U-Haul wrote in the report.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/07/2026 – 21:35
US seeks to assert its control over Venezuelan oil with tanker seizures and sales worldwide
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday sought to assert its control over Venezuelan oil, seizing a pair of sanctioned tankers transporting petroleum and announcing plans to relax some sanctions so the U.S. can oversee the sale of Venezuela’s petroleum worldwide.
Trump’s administration intends to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following its ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid. Besides the United States enforcing an existing oil embargo, the Energy Department says the “only oil transported in and out of Venezuela” will be through approved channels consistent with U.S. law and national security interests.
That level of control over the world’s largest proven reserves of crude oil could give the Trump administration a broader hold on oil supplies globally in ways that could enable it to influence prices. Both moves reflect the Republican administration’s determination to make good on its effort to control the next steps in Venezuela through its vast oil resources after Trump pledged the U.S. will “run” the country.
Vice President JD Vance said in an interview the U.S. can “control” Venezuela’s “purse strings” by dictating where its oil can be sold.
“We control the energy resources, and we tell the regime, you’re allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America’s national interest,” Vance said in an interview to air on Fox News Channel’s “Jesse Watters Primetime.”
The vice president added, “And that’s how we exert incredible pressure on that country without wasting a single American life.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that the oil taken from the sanctioned vessels seized in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea would be sold as part of the deal announced by Trump on Tuesday under which Venezuela would provide up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S.
Venezuela’s interim authorities “want that oil that was seized to be part of this deal,” Rubio told reporters after briefing lawmakers Wednesday about the Maduro operation. “They understand that the only way they can move oil and generate revenue and not have economic collapse is if they cooperate and work with the United States.”
Seizing 2 more vessels
U.S. European Command said on social media that the merchant vessel Bella 1 was seized in the North Atlantic for “violations of U.S. sanctions.” The U.S. had been pursuing the tanker since last month after it tried to evade a blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed U.S. forces also took control of the M Sophia in the Caribbean Sea. Noem said on social media that both ships were “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.”
The two ships join at least two others that were taken by U.S. forces last month — the Skipper and the Centuries.
The Bella 1 had been cruising across the Atlantic nearing the Caribbean on Dec. 15 when it abruptly turned and headed north, toward Europe. The change in direction came days after the first U.S. tanker seizure of a ship on Dec. 10 after it had left Venezuela carrying oil.
When the U.S. Coast Guard tried to board the Bella 1, it fled. U.S. European Command said a Coast Guard vessel had tracked the ship “pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court.”
As the U.S. pursued it, the Bella 1 was renamed Marinera and flagged to Russia, shipping databases show. A U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, said the ship’s crew had painted a Russian flag on the side of the hull.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had information about Russian nationals among the Marinera’s crew and, in a statement carried by Russia’s state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti, demanded that “the American side ensure humane and dignified treatment of them, strictly respect their rights and interests, and not hinder their speedy return to their homeland.”
Separately, a senior Russian lawmaker, Andrei Klishas, decried the U.S. action as “blatant piracy.”
The Justice Department is investigating crew members of the Bella 1 vessel for failing to obey Coast Guard orders and “criminal charges will be pursued against all culpable actors,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
“The Department of Justice is monitoring several other vessels for similar enforcement action — anyone on any vessel who fails to obey instructions of the Coast Guard or other federal officials will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Bondi said on X.
The ship had been sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 on allegations of smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.
Easing some sanctions to sell Venezuela’s oil
The Trump administration, meanwhile, is “selectively” removing sanctions to enable the shipping and sale of Venezuelan oil to markets worldwide, according to an outline of the policies published Wednesday by the Energy Department.
The sales are slated to begin immediately with 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil. The U.S. government said the sales “will continue indefinitely,” with the proceeds settling in U.S.-controlled accounts at “globally recognized banks.” The money would be disbursed to the U.S. and Venezuelan populations at the “discretion” of Trump’s government.
Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA said it is in negotiations with the U.S. government for the sale of crude oil.
“This process is developed under schemes similar to those in force with international companies, such as Chevron, and is based on a strictly commercial transaction, with criteria of legality, transparency and benefit for both parties,” the company said in the statement.
The U.S. plans to authorize the importation of oil field equipment, parts and services to increase Venezuela’s oil production, which has been roughly 1 million barrels a day.
The Trump administration has indicated it also will invest in the electricity grid to increase production and the quality of life for people in Venezuela, whose economy has been unraveling amid changes to foreign aid and cuts to state subsidies, making necessities, including food, unaffordable to millions.
Meanwhile, Trump abruptly changed his tone about Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Trump said Wednesday that they had exchanged a friendly phone call and he had invited the leader of the South American country to the White House. Trump had said earlier this week that “Colombia is very sick too” and accused Petro of ”making cocaine and selling it to the United States.”
Ships said to be part of a shadow fleet
Noem said both seized ships were part of a shadow fleet of rusting oil tankers that smuggle oil for countries facing sanctions, such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran.
After the seizure of the now-named Marinera, which open-source maritime tracking sites showed was between Scotland and Iceland earlier Wednesday, the U.K. defense ministry said Britain’s military provided support, including surveillance aircraft.
“This ship, with a nefarious history, is part of a Russian-Iranian axis of sanctions evasion which is fueling terrorism, conflict, and misery from the Middle East to Ukraine,” U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said.
The capture of the M Sophia, on the U.S. sanctions list for moving illicit cargos of oil from Russia, in the Caribbean was much less prolonged.
The ship had been “running dark,” not having transmitted location data since July. Tankers involved in smuggling often turn off their transponders or broadcast inaccurate data to hide their locations.
Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document that at least 16 tankers had left the Venezuelan coast since Saturday, after the U.S. captured Maduro.
The M Sophia was among them, Madani said, citing a recent photo showing it in the waters near Jose Terminal, Venezuela’s main oil export hub.
Windward, a maritime intelligence firm that tracks such vessels, said in a briefing to reporters the M Sophia loaded at the terminal on Dec. 26 and was carrying about 1.8 million barrels of crude oil — a cargo that would be worth about $108 million at current price of about $60 a barrel.
Lawless reported from London.
Wyoming Supreme Court Rules Abortion May Stay Legal Due To Obamacare Amendment
Wyoming Supreme Court Rules Abortion May Stay Legal Due To Obamacare Amendment
Authored by Arjun Singh via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The Supreme Court of Wyoming, on Jan. 6, ruled that two state laws banning the procedure and the availability of abortion medication were unconstitutional.
The court, in the case of State v. Johnson, held that the two laws in question—the Life is a Human Right Act of 2023, which bans abortion procedures, and the state’s abortion drug ban—violated Article 1, Section 38 of the Constitution of Wyoming. That provision of the state constitution was added by a statewide referendum in 2012, which states, “Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.”
“All five Wyoming Supreme Court justices agreed that the decision whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy is a woman’s own health care decision protected by Article 1, Section 38,” wrote the court in a summary of its opinion and announcement of the decision.
The court added that “all five justices also concluded that an adult’s right to make his or her own health care decisions is a fundamental right because of the very specific language used,” even though the referendum was passed in response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known more commonly as “Obamacare.”
The court, however, split four to one on deciding whether the laws in question could be struck down.
“Four justices (Boomgaarden, Fox, Jarosh, and Fenn) voted to strike down the 2023 abortion laws. Justice Gray voted to uphold the laws,” the court’s summary read.
The court noted that even though Article 1, Section 38 was passed in response to Obamacare, the language of the provision was inflexible, writing, “The Court recognized it cannot add words to the Wyoming Constitution. … But lawmakers could ask Wyoming voters to consider a constitutional amendment that would more clearly address this issue.”
Lower courts, when reviewing the case, also struck down the laws.
Wyoming is a heavily conservative state that is dominated by the Republican Party, and pro-life sentiment is widespread. Following the ruling, Governor of Wyoming Mark Gordon called for a referendum to amend the constitution and invalidate the ruling.
“This ruling may settle, for now, a legal question, but it does not settle the moral one, nor does it reflect where many Wyoming citizens stand, including myself. It is time for this issue to go before the people for a vote,” Gordon wrote in a statement published on social media. “I call on the legislature to pass and place a clear constitutional amendment on my desk.”
The lead plaintiff in the case, Wellspring Health Access in Casper, Wyoming, celebrated the ruling.
“Our clinic will remain open and ready to provide compassionate reproductive health care, including abortions, and our patients in Wyoming will be able to obtain this care without having to travel out of state,” said Julie Burkhart, the organization’s president, in a statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/07/2026 – 21:00
Dodgers contratan al relevista Brusdar Graterol por 2,8 millones tras perderse la temporada 2025
LOS ÁNGELES (AP) — Los Dodgers de Los Ángeles y el relevista derecho Brusdar Graterol llegaron a un acuerdo contractual de un año por 2,8 millones de dólares el miércoles, la misma cantidad que el venezolano ganó en 2024.
Graterol, de 27 años, evitó el arbitraje salarial y puede convertirse en agente libre después de la temporada 2026. Se sometió a una cirugía en noviembre de 2024 para reparar un desgarro en el labrum de su hombro derecho y se perdió la temporada 2025.
Ha lanzado apenas en siete juegos desde el inicio de 2024. También se perdió tiempo ese año debido a una inflamación de hombro y una distensión en el tendón de la corva.
Graterol tiene un récord de 11-9 en su carrera con una efectividad de 2.78 y 11 salvamentos.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
EU Strategery
EU Strategery
The EU, so desperate to exert their dictatorial powers, to feel the exhilarating rush of adrenaline from smashing someone’s face with the butt of a rifle, has revealed itself. It is that rarest of all birds, both fascist and communist in its outlook on the world. Having been able to conquer most of Western Europe with a simple change in immigration policy it is heady with success, brazen and anxious to lead the entire world from a small office in Brussels.
The aggressive, hostile EU is like a drunk trolling a bar looking for a fight. It chose to make Ukraine its sidekick, someone already subject to Russian aggression, who could be sent out to make loud claims and kick the bullies in the knees, while the EU sat back, waiting for an opportunity to bring big brother into the fray. Big brother, in this case, is NATO.
The EU has no army. To liken it to the United States, it would be as if there were no American troops, but National Guard from every state and even some foreign guard units to throw at their enemies. The EU supports Ukraine and threaten every day to intervene in that conflict to help Ukraine, but the EU has no money, it has no troops. Their intent is to take funds from all of their member states and give that to Ukraine to help fight Russia. It’s like the IRS extracting taxes to give to Somalian day care centers (an issue that needs resolution here).
While the Ukrainian people have my sympathy and I wish nothing other than that this war would end and Ukraine could live in peace, have elections and elect their leaders, the EU is against that. They’ve done all they can to prevent peace and now threaten Russia with an extension of the war.
All of this relies on NATO, the bulk of that force being made up of American military units. NATO was designed to deter the Soviet Union from being able to gain a foothold in Europe from which to strike the US. To that extent is has article 5 promises to enter the war on behalf of any member state that suffers from Soviet aggression and has laid somewhat dormant since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
It’s a different world, now, and these peons who run the EU and NATO believe that because big brother might be able to beat up some drunk in a bar, inciting violence to invoke it is stupid. But that’s the course they’ve chosen. Only now, they seem to believe that they are the puppet masters of the world. It’s bold, I have to give them that, but anyone can see through their tactics.
The latest move is to defend both Denmark and Greenland, but with what troops? NATO troops. Okay. So, largely an American-based group is going to go to war with America to protect Greenland under Danish control to establish the superiority of the EU?
Hubris is all that comes to mind. It’s radical and dangerous, but the EU has become used to standing on quicksand throwing rocks at those on shore, threatening them with lawsuits if they don’t come and help them gather rocks. There’s no limit to the illogical nature of their reasoning.
What it has done effectively, though, is it has placed them at odds both with Russia and the United States. This is what happens when local featherweights are given power, any power. They exaggerate their value by their associations with larger organizations until they come to believe that they are the masters of their masters. They become a Rasputin of sorts on the global stage. It’s the same with the WEF, the WHO, etc. If they can corrupt leaders of nations they can effectively control those nations with bribes and threats.
Holdouts like Hungary and Viktor Orban threaten that control. They submit to punishment rather than being bought off and any resistance is characterized as pro-Russian. That Orban has been able to survive the constant drumbeat of harassment from the EU is a miracle and recent polls show that the EU just might win the propaganda war it has unleashed on Orban. If it does, and Orban is defeated in April, it will be the end of Europe as it was once known. They will simply be the Greater Middle East, but with nukes.
That all of this is built on propaganda and censoring opposition views should alarm the world. The tactics are clearly both fascist and communist. The EU is the instigator of violence and world wars, but hold no territory of their own. They are a bureaucratic assembly, nothing more. NATO is the same, yet they preen around like the drivers of world policy, the headmaster to whom all nations must answer.
If the US thought it was safe from the warmongering of the EU it’s mistaken. The EU criticizes Russia and attempts to rally the world against it, just as it criticizes the US and is trying to rally the world against it. They pretend to be the champions of the victimized while they attempt to victimize.
What they should recognize, that the world recognizes already, is that they have used strategery to place themselves on a war footing with both the US and Russia. What they should be worried about, is that they may be the catalyst for a renewed alliance between those two nations against it, their now common enemy.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/07/2026 – 20:30
The Truth About Venezuela Under Socialism, From Those Who Fled It
The Truth About Venezuela Under Socialism, From Those Who Fled It
Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
DORAL, Fla.—Zarai Maza survived a torched vehicle and a horrific car crash after peacefully protesting the Venezuelan regime, an unacceptable act in her home country, where speaking out could cost you your life or those of your family members.
She said she believes that the Venezuelan dictatorship was trying to kill her over her activism.
“They started the persecution against me in 2014, and it lasted until 2017,” Maza said. “They made three assassination attempts against my life, and after the last one, I was in the hospital. I couldn’t remember anything.”
Holding back tears, Maza said the last encounter started off as a normal taxi ride. She recalled waking up in a hospital with no memory of what happened and no feeling in her body.
She moved to Florida in 2017, and after two years of physical therapy in the United States, she regained her ability to walk upright again.
She is among the millions of Venezuelans who have fled the brutal regime, which turned a prosperous country into a repressive, failed socialist nation. And like many Venezuelans at home and abroad, Maza cheered the U.S. military operation that captured Nicolás Maduro, the country’s leader, and his wife on Jan. 3 and brought them to New York City to face federal charges including narco-terrorism.
The pair pleaded not guilty to all charges on Jan. 5. If convicted, they face life in prison.
The Epoch Times spoke to dozens of Venezuelan expatriates, who shared grisly stories of survival, persecution, murder, harassment, and intimidation and explained how they rebuilt their lives after surviving the dictatorship. Their experiences are a sample of many accounts of how socialism not only ripped Venezuelan families apart, but also brought their country to ruin.
President Donald Trump said the United States will maintain control of Venezuela until a “safe, proper, and judicious transition” to a new government occurs, noting that U.S. oil companies would be involved in rebuilding the country’s economy.
Some Venezuelan expats told The Epoch Times that they may go back if the United States can help fix their country.
A Survivor Story
Maza is a human rights advocate and the founder and executive director of the Guardians of Human Rights Foundation, based in Doral, Florida. Her work as an activist goes back to about 2010, when she still lived in her home country and attended the Central University of Venezuela—before she faced three attempts on her life, which she believes were orchestrated by the Maduro regime.
Over the years in Venezuela, many of her fellow students and professors were unjustly imprisoned, she said. In clear anguish, she described the first attempt on her life during a peaceful protest on campus, when the Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela came after her and others.
“I think that no American can imagine the fear that you can feel for just being—standing in a place,” Maza said.
She made it to an SUV with her mother, but then their vehicle was torched. Maza said her mother kicked the window out so they could escape the burning car. Maza later told The Epoch Times that her mother has since also fled Venezuela “for protection” and currently lives in the United States.
Maza stopped short of describing the second attempt on her life, saying that the memories were too painful.
“Imagine that you can’t be in any place of the area that you live [in], that you love, that you grew up [in],” she said. “They are after you in any place. … It almost makes me break.”
In the third attempt on her life, a vehicle caused Maza’s taxi to crash and flip, with her spine taking the brunt of the damage.
“I couldn’t move or feel my body,” Maza said. “I was 25 years old, just trying to fight for my country at that time. … I didn’t realize how bad and far these people can go just to maintain [their] power.”
Her symptoms—physical and mental—linger.
“There’s still things that I live with. … I don’t have enough strength in my hands,” Maza said, making a weak fist.
“Even now, when I’m in any place, and here comes a motorcycle, and I listen to the sound,” she said, trailing off.
Maza said it took years for her to be able to sleep comfortably at night after she moved to the United States.
Pressure and Murders
Carlos Higuerey came to the United States in 2018, after years of working for a state-run employer and a string of family deaths that he blames on the regime.
He said he worked as an accountant for 12 years at Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company, with access to information that he described as secretive and corrupt. Some of his family members also had ties to opposition politics in Venezuela, linking him to what his employers would call “escuálido”—those who oppose the government—or “Chavismo.”
The first death in Higuerey’s family occurred in 2010, when his father passed away.
“My father had to take pills, but [at] this time in Venezuela, you cannot find the pills because the government expropriates all pharmacies,” he told The Epoch Times. “I buried people, a lot of people, for this reason.”
Within 10 days of his father’s death, his aunt and uncle were murdered inside their home, which Higuerey said he believes was orchestrated by the regime over political differences.
“There was blood on the walls,“ he said. ”It was a horror movie. It was horrible.”
When asked who would do that, he replied without hesitation, “The government.”
Just five months after his father, uncle, and aunt died, Higuerey said his brother was also killed over politics. After facing years of pressure and dealing with family members being murdered, he decided to take a break in 2018 and traveled to the United States.
At the time, he did not know that this trip would become a years-long stay.
“When I came here, the next day, I’m checking my phone,“ Higuerey said. ”I see a message [from] my neighbors. My sister was kidnapped.”
He said the neighbors witnessed government agents take her. The agents were really after Higuerey, for the secrets he knew about the oil company, he said. Although his sister was freed the next day, Higuerey said he faced a soul-crushing choice.
“I took the decision that I don’t want to come back to Venezuela,“ he said. ”I don’t want to feel under depression. I’m broke inside. I’m broke inside.”
Read the rest here…
Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/07/2026 – 20:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/truth-about-venezuela-under-socialism-those-who-fled-it
Federal freeze of $1B for Illinois sows fear among child care providers, parents, draws backlash from state leaders
Small Stride Academy has been caring for children in the Beverly neighborhood for about 40 years, but the day care center and preschool isn’t sure how it will keep its doors open if subsidies that help families afford child care in Illinois are cut.
More than half of the day care’s children benefit from subsidies from the Child Care Assistance Program, said center administrator Lisa Griffin. That program is partly funded by federal dollars that President Donald Trump’s administration said Tuesday night it plans to withhold from Illinois and four other states with Democratic governors over concerns about fraud and misuse of the money.
“It is going to be a problem,” Griffin said of the potential loss of dollars. “Families depend on us. Then you’re expecting this to trickle down to the parents’ employment. How could they not be affected if we weren’t open?”
Child care professionals, parents and local elected leaders expressed horror Wednesday after the federal government announced that it would freeze about $10 billion in funding for child care and family assistance programs in Illinois, California, Colorado, Minnesota and New York. About $1 billion is being withheld from Illinois, according to Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s office.
“Rather than making life easier and more affordable for our families, Donald Trump is stripping away child care from Illinois families who are just trying to go to work,” Pritzker said in a news release.
“Thousands of parents and children depend on these child care programs to help them make ends meet, and now their livelihoods are being put at risk,” Pritzker said. “This is wrong, it is cruel, and we will take every step possible to defend the kids and families depending on all of us right now.”
Illinois Action for Children, which is the largest administrator of the Child Care Assistance Program in Cook County, said in a statement Wednesday that funding delays and disruptions would have “immediate, harmful impacts on children and working families across the state of Illinois.” The organization said that the decision to freeze funds has created “fear and confusion” across the state.
The money is frozen in three areas: the Child Care and Development Fund, Social Services Block Grant funds and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
In Illinois, about 100,000 low-income, working families receive subsidized child care through the Child Care Assistance Program, which is partly funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant, according to the governor’s office. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant helps to support thousands of child care providers throughout the state, according to the governor’s office. Nearly 10,000 families participate in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which is for families with children and pregnant women who need temporary financial assistance, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services.
The Social Services Block Grant goes toward hundreds of organizations statewide that support human service providers, according to the governor’s office.
The federal government said it decided to freeze the funds over concerns that “these benefits intended for American citizens and lawful residents may have been improperly provided to individuals who are not eligible under federal law,” according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services news release.
“Families who rely on child care and family assistance programs deserve confidence that these resources are used lawfully and for their intended purpose,” said Deputy U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Jim O’Neill in the release.
Pritzker’s office said the Trump administration hasn’t provided Illinois with any detailed information or evidence about any alleged fraud. His office accused the administration of targeting Illinois and the four other states because they’re led by Democratic governors. The Trump administration announced it was withholding the funding the day after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who was the Democrats’ 2024 vice presidential candidate, ended his run for reelection as Trump intensely focused on fraud allegations in the state’s child care programs, as well as the Somali community.
Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement: “For too long, Democrat-led states and governors have been complicit and allowing massive amounts of fraud to occur under their watch. HHS identified serious concerns in these five states that warranted immediate action to prevent further potential misuse while reviews are underway.”
Child care professionals across Chicago, however, were alarmed by news of the freeze and wondered what it would mean for their businesses and the families that rely on them. Several said that if Child Care Assistance Program funds are cut, they might have to reduce their staff and may lose a lot of their families.
“I’m praying for all day care owners because everybody is on pins and needles right now and everyone is scared,” said Daphne Williams, director of Smarty Pants Early Learning Center in Bronzeville where about 40% of the children are in the program.
Kenya Hatch picks up her son R.J. Pendleton from the Smarty Pants Early Learning Center in Bronzeville on Jan. 7, 2026. She says her son has blossomed at the school. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
At Angels R Us Kidz Academy, also in Bronzeville, about 90% of the families are part of the Child Care Assistance Program, said Bernard Joiner, director of the center. If the subsidies are cut, “It will be a huge hit to our business,” Joiner said. The center might have to provide discounts and some families may no longer be able to afford it, Joiner said.
“There wouldn’t really be any other option for those parents other than trying to figure out how to stay at home, and if they’re at home they can’t work,” Joiner said.
Sabrina Oliver, director of Kids Are Us Learning Academy in South Shore, said if the center lowered its prices to help offset a loss of subsidies for families, it could be difficult to stay open. About 95% of the center’s children benefit from Child Care Assistance Program subsidies, Oliver said.
“It’s not right,” Oliver said of the frozen funds. “It really helps these parents. If they want to work, someone has to watch their child, and they need to have a safe environment, somewhere for them to go.”
Parent Varaneesala Rhodes said not only does the program help pay for child care for her three youngest children, but it also supports the center where she works as a teacher, Small Stride Academy in Beverly.
Without the subsidies, the cost of child care for Rhodes would exceed her income as a single parent. She also worries about the stability of her job if the center can no longer receive subsidies. She doesn’t anticipate being able to find a different job that would cover the costs of child care, rent and other expenses.
“When I got the news, I was like, ‘Oh shoot, what’s going to happen?’” Rhodes said. “It’s kind of scary.”
Like Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Democratic lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly decried the move by the Trump administration to strip federal funds from the state’s child care assistance apparatus.
Johnson on Wednesday said it was another example of Trump continuing “to abdicate his responsibility to the interests of working people.”
“These are the types of threats that this administration has put forward across the board since he’s been in office,” Johnson said at a City Hall news conference. “It’s going to be severe.”
State Rep. Joyce Mason, who chairs the House committee on Child Care Accessibility & Early Childhood Education, said the cuts will be devastating to families who benefit from some of these programs due to the exorbitant amount of money that won’t be available.
“I always try to give everybody grace and think that people are doing things for the right things (or) the right reasons,” said Mason, a Democrat from Gurnee. “In this case, Trump has shown time and time again that he is really just a cruel and vindictive, horrible excuse for a human. And I think that everything he does is politically-based. I don’t think he does anything in the best interest of the people of the country that he represents.”
State Sen. Li Arellano, a Republican who sits on the Health and Human Services Committee, said this federal funding needs to be protected and that he’d like to work with Pritzker and the federal government to address any concerns over whether the funds have sufficient oversight. But he criticized Pritzker’s office for accusing the Trump administration of playing politics with this issue.
“Your response isn’t immediately to call them out and pick a fight with them. Your response is, ‘All right, what do we need to do to get this addressed? What do we need to fix on our end? What is maybe a mistake on the state’s end and how can we get this fixed?’ And that’s the approach you take,’” said Arellano, a former mayor of Dixon. “And the problem with the governor’s approach is absolutely the opposite of that: He politicizes everything.”
Tuesday’s announcement from the Trump administration is part of a pattern of the Republican president targeting Pritzker and the rest of blue Illinois under motivations they claim to be nonpolitical.
The two have long been political archenemies going back to Trump’s first term, with Pritzker chiding Trump over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic while the president’s supporters have accused the Democratic governor of taking too strict of measures with COVID mitigations.
During the first year of Trump’s second term in office, Pritzker, who is running for a third term as governor and is considered a potential presidential contender in 2028, has raised his national profile in becoming one of Trump’s most ardent critics, something the president has taken notice of.
“And now I understand he wants to be president. But I noticed he lost a little weight, so maybe he has a chance, you know? You never know what happens,” Trump said in August of Pritzker when discussing the possibility of deploying National Guard troops to Chicago. “But Pritzker’s a gross incompetent guy.”
During Operation Midway Blitz, which saw an influx of federal immigration agents descend on the Chicago area to conduct mass deportation missions, Trump in October federalized 500 National Guard troops — 300 from Illinois and 200 from Texas — and deployed them to Illinois over Pritzker’s objections.
The president had previously discussed the possibility of sending Guard troops to Chicago to address violent crime, despite double-digit percentage drops in gun violence in the city over the last several years. Trump’s underlings later said the troops would be used to protect federal property and immigration agents in case they got into any clashes with violent demonstrators opposed to their presence.
In the end, Texas Guard troops were only deployed to the streets for one day while being stationed at a U.S. Army Reserve training center in Elwood, near Joliet. The Illinois Guard members were never sent out on any missions and have been spending a lot of time at a state-owned military installation about 75 miles southwest of Chicago.
And last month, the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court sided with Pritzker in denying a request from the Trump’s administration to allow him to deploy Guard troops to Illinois streets for the time being.
The Trump administration has also repeatedly used violence that has occurred on public transit systems to politically attack blue cities such as Chicago.
The administration threatened in early December to withhold up to $50 million in federal funding from the Chicago Transit Authority if it did not comply with a directive to improve security on buses and trains. In doing so, despite CTA crime being down along the city’s rail system, the administration invoked the apparently random attack against a 26-year-old woman who was set on fire while riding a Blue Line train in November.
In September, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote a letter to the CTA asking it to lay out plans to reduce crime and fare evasion on the system or risk losing funding. This was a few weeks after the apparently random fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte, North Carolina train that was captured on video, a killing that sparked rhetoric about “Black-on-white-crime” over the internet and elsewhere and renewed old racist tropes about the Black community being a threat to white populations. The victim in the CTA Blue Line attack is also white and her alleged attacker is Black.
After Duffy’s September letter, the Trump White House did in fact freeze $2.1 billion in federal grant funding already awarded to the CTA, mostly for its long-awaited Red Line Extension project — but it did so citing the agency’s diversity requirements for contractors, not crime.
Last month, Trump’s Justice Department sued the executive director of the Illinois State Board of Elections, alleging the board’s refusal to release sensitive information on the state’s roughly 8.3 million registered voters violated federal civil rights law.
The legal challenge comes as Trump has repeatedly and erroneously insisted voter fraud kept him from being reelected in 2020 — and in each of his three presidential campaigns since 2016, he was soundly defeated in Illinois.
The 10-page lawsuit seeks a judge’s order instructing state election officials to release to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi “the current electronic copy of Illinois computerized statewide voter registration list, with all fields, including each registrant’s full name, date of birth, residential address, and either their state driver’s license number, the last four digits of their Social Security number” or other unique identifier.
The complaint, signed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, argues the federal Civil Rights Act gives Bondi “the sweeping power to obtain these records,” which the Justice Department has said it needs as part of an investigation into the state’s compliance with federal elections laws.
The lawsuit was filed on the same day the Justice Department filed a similar complaint in federal court in Madison against the Wisconsin Elections Commission, as well as in Georgia and Washington, D.C., bringing the Justice Department’s nationwide total to more than 20 such lawsuits.
The Associated Press contributed.
Gorner reported from Springfield.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/07/child-care-federal-freeze/
Yuki Kawamura re-signs with the Chicago Bulls after a monthslong recovery from a blood clot in his leg
Yuki Kawamura is back in the NBA.
The Chicago Bulls re-signed the Japanese point guard to a two-way contract this week. The acquisition occurred after Kawamura, 24, was medically cleared following a 12-week recovery from a blood clot in his lower right leg, which originally was diagnosed in October.
Although he was waived at that time, Kawamura remained in Chicago and underwent the entirety of his recovery process with the Bulls medical team. Coach Billy Donovan said the Bulls always intended to re-sign Kawamura once he returned to full health.
At 5-foot-8, Kawamura is the shortest player in the NBA.
“You always take those things seriously,” Donovan said. “He’s worked really, really hard. I’m happy for him because at that point, when you have something like that, you just don’t know what that’s going to look like in the future. I’m just happy it all worked out well for him.”
Blood clots are a serious condition that typically require athletes to spend months off the court. This is a rare — but not unheard of — issue throughout the NBA. San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama missed the final two months of the 2024-25 season after the discovery of a blood clot in his shoulder.
When athletes are diagnosed with a blood clot, they are placed on a blood-thinning medication that helps the body pass the coagulation naturally. The medications increase an individual’s risk of experiencing extreme internal bleeding from impact or collision, which means athletes cannot return to full activity until they are no longer taking an anticoagulant.
Donovan noted that Kawamura could have played basketball during this time, but the Bulls medical staff held the guard out of all contact activities during his recovery. Since receiving medical clearance from the league, Kawamura has been able to successfully participate in practices with the Windy City Bulls in the G League.
The guard’s return couldn’t have come sooner. The Bulls have a guard shortage with Coby White limited by calf injuries and Josh Giddey sidelined with a strained left hamstring. Backup guard Tre Jones has been filling into the starting lineup, but the Bulls prefer to restrict his workload closer to 25 minutes. Ayo Dosunmu and Matas Buzelis also have helped pick up shifts as on-ball playmakers, but that role comes less naturally to both wings.
As a pass-first point guard who takes the majority of his shots from behind the arc, Kawamura could be a natural short-term fix for the Bulls backcourt. The team originally signed Kawamura to a two-way contract in July after a strong summer league performance.
“We’re certainly going to need another ball handler,” Donovan said. “That would help. He obviously has played in the league. I want to see where he’s at physically — he’s obviously had a long stretch of not any live action — but it’ll probably take him a little bit of time to get back into a rhythm. But I’m not opposed to (playing Kawamura) if we are continuing to deal with some of the things that we’ve dealt with in our backcourt.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/07/chicago-bulls-yuki-kawamura-blood-clot/
Why Trump Soured On Machado: It Has Nothing To Do With The Nobel Prize
Why Trump Soured On Machado: It Has Nothing To Do With The Nobel Prize
The fact that the Trump administration chose to anoint Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Nicolás Maduro’s staunchly loyal (or so he thought) Vice President, as the new leader of the country has left many wondering why he passed over Maria Corina Machado.
Machado, as a longtime Venezuelan opposition and democracy activist, had made headlines last month when she traveled to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Given that President Trump had apparently expected to receive it, recently boasting of “ending seven wars” – she tried to soften the awkwardness of the situation by the symbolic gesture of ‘dedicating’ it to Trump.
But in a fresh Fox News interview, Machado took shots Delcy Rodríguez, who was formally sworn in on Tuesday, describing that she does not represent democratic aspirations or true reform.
“So this is very alarming. This is something that has to be followed carefully, I’m sure, by the United States government and by the Venezuelan people,” Machado said. “And certainly we believe that this transition should move forward.”
She said of the woman who has been Maduro’s number two since 2018:
“Delcy Rodriguez, as you know, is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narco trafficking,” Machado said.
“She’s the main ally and liaison with Russia, China, Iran, certainly not an individual that could be trusted by international investors. And she’s really rejected, repudiated by the Venezuelan people.”
Machado too must be really questioning why she was clearly dropped from consideration in terms of new Venezuelan leadership.
One analyst says that despite the amusing and distracting nature of Trump’s apparent obsession with the Nobel, choosing Rodriquez really has nothing to do with this at all.
Daniel DePetris of Defense Priorities explained in the following astute X thread [emphasis ZH]:
Why Trump soured on Machado, and it has nothing to do with his obsession about the Nobel Peace Prize…
Trying to install Machado (or Gonzalez) atop the Chavismo system, which remains intact, was untenable. It was never going to work. She had zero support from the people who actually held the levers of power.
So going through with such a scheme would require a re-ordering of the Venezuelan political system and the crafting of a new one from scratch. That, in turn, would require a much deeper U.S. commitment—far deeper than Trump and most Americans are willing to tolerate.
Working within the system and giving Delcy Rodriguez a chance is frankly easier. And because Trump doesn’t really care about democracy to begin with, it was the best—or least worst—option available to him. This will make a lot of democracy proponents livid, of course.
For some reason, highly qualified people don’t understand this.
For most of the Western public, Machado was a complete unknown even up to the eve of her winning the Nobel award. Giving her the prize seemed politically manufactured in the first place as she was viewed by elites in Europe and the West as a prime ‘option’ for new Venezuelan president.
This is a very sad sight to watch for so many reasons https://t.co/BzbWK8Toib
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) January 6, 2026
While Trump did decapitate the regime, some pundits are saying it should not be understood as full-on regime change, given the same governing system has remained in place. Trump has frequently cited the lessons of Iraq – and apparently is at least prudent enough to not attempt to place American officials directly over entire government ministries, as the US once did in the Middle East. Regardless, there is still a lot of blowback which likely awaits just around the corner.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 01/07/2026 – 19:30
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/why-trump-soured-machado-it-has-nothing-do-nobel-prize
Fallece Martin Chivers exdelantero destacado del Tottenham
LONDRES (AP) — Martin Chivers, el exdelantero del Tottenham y de la selección de Inglaterra, ha fallecido. Tenía 80 años.
El fallecimiento de Chivers fue confirmado en un comunicado por el Tottenham el miércoles. El club de la Liga Premier inglesa no indicó la causa de la muerte.
“Con inmensa tristeza anunciamos el fallecimiento de nuestro legendario exdelantero”, publicó el Tottenham en X.
El club describió al jugador como “uno de los más grandes de todos los tiempos”.
Chivers ocupa el cuarto lugar en la lista de máximos goleadores en la historia del Tottenham con 174 tantos en 367 apariciones. Únicamente está detrás de Harry Kane, Jimmy Greaves y Bobby Smith en esa lista.
Se unió al club londinense en 1968, ganando dos Copas de la Liga Inglesa y la Copa de la UEFA. Se fue al equipo suizo Servette en 1976.
El Tottenham indicó que sus jugadores llevarían brazaletes negros en honor a su exjugador para el partido del miércoles contra el Bournemouth.
Chivers comenzó su carrera en el Southampton, donde anotó 108 goles en 189 apariciones. El Southampton manifestó que estaba “profundamente entristecido” por la noticia de su muerte.
Asimismo, Chivers jugó 24 veces para la selección inglesa y anotó 13 goles.
“Nuestras condolencias van para sus amigos y familiares en este momento de tristeza”, expresó la Asociación de Fútbol de Inglaterra.
Después de ayudar a que Southampton ascendiera a la máxima categoría del fútbol inglés, Chivers se unió al Tottenham por una cifra récord británica de 125,000 libras (168,000 dólares al tipo de cambio actual).
Fue parte de un exitoso equipo del Tottenham que llegó a cuatro finales en igual número de años. Anotó ambos goles en la final de la Copa de la Liga de 1971 cuando el Tottenham venció al Aston Villa 2-0 para levantar el trofeo.
Marcó dos más en la final de la Copa de la UEFA al año siguiente en una victoria global de 3-2 sobre el Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Chivers ayudó al Tottenham a un segundo título en la Copa de la Liga en 1973.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
