The Common Ills

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

The Snapshot

Wednesday, December 31, 2025. Diana Ross performing on ABC tonight, Chump's war on immigrants and I start the day by getting stabbed in the back.

Tonight on ABC, the legendary Diana Ross performs on DICK CLARK'S NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE From the press release:

ABC and Dick Clark Productions (DCP), the world's largest owner and producer of televised live event entertainment programming, announced that legend Diana Ross will illuminate Times Square and usher in the new year with a dazzling live performance as the 2026 headliner for "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" (NYRE), the nation's most-watched New Year's Eve celebration. Ross anchors the most expansive and musically diverse telecast and lineup in the show's more than 50-year history, with 39 artists appearing across New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Puerto Rico and more, live on Wednesday, Dec. 31, from 8:00 p.m.–4:00 a.m. EST on ABC, next day on Hulu.
Ross will step onto the world's most iconic stage to celebrate with millions and welcome a new year with style, magic and unforgettable music in what will be a defining moment in the show's history. Her headline performance promises a spectacular blend of glamour and a timeless medley of hits, including "I'm Coming Out" and "Upside Down," which has seen a 373% surge in streams since being featured in Season 5 of "Stranger Things." With 12 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s with The Supremes — the most of any American group or female group in history — and six solo Hot 100 No. 1s, Ross remains one of the most beloved and influential artists in pop culture.
"Together we begin a new year. Let's embrace a new beginning, new opportunities, new joy — a celebration of love, where we all come together as we begin 2026," said Ross.
Ross joins the previously announced lineup of superstar performers set to deliver electrifying sets across the show's multicity broadcast: 4 Non Blondes, 50 Cent, 6lack, AJR, BigXthaPlug, Chance the Rapper, Charlie Puth, Chappell Roan, Ciara, Demi Lovato, DJ Cassidy's Pass the Mic Live! Starring Busta Rhymes, T.I. & Wyclef Jean, Filmore, Goo Goo Dolls, Jess Glynne, Jessie Murph, Jordan Davis, KPop Demon Hunters: The Singing Voices of HUNTR/X – EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, Leon Thomas, LE SSERAFIM, Lil Jon, Little Big Town, Madison Beer, Maren Morris, sponsored by Carnival Cruise Line, Mariah Carey, New Kids on the Block, OneRepublic, Pitbull, Post Malone, Rick Springfield, Russell Dickerson, The All-American Rejects, Tucker Wetmore and Zara Larsson.

The above isn't me being paid to include advertising. No money greased my palm. It's me noting a tremendous talent and a wonderful friend (Diana Ross) so if you're watching TV tonight, please, make a point to check it out.

Moving on . . .

The year comes to an end and it's a different feeling, isn't it? Fools and marks started the year lapping at Convicted Felon Donald Chump's crotch but by mid-year, even the most devoted weren't going anywhere near it. They'd joined the rest of America in seeing Chump for the piece of crap he is. All it took was his destroying the economy, lying non-stop, blaming every one of his failures on Joe Biden, destroying families, putting the country at risk of an attack and so much more.

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is only one person, a member of one family, that Chump has tried to destroy this year, only one person that has seen Chump break the law to attack and go after, abuse and misuse the power of his office to try to destroy. Alan Feuer (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:

Federal prosecutors in Nashville have insisted in the past few months that senior Justice Department officials had no involvement in their decision to file charges against Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the immigrant who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March and then brought back to the United States to face indictment.

But on Tuesday, excerpts from several emails released by a federal judge overseeing Mr. Abrego Garcia’s criminal case appeared to directly contradict those assertions, suggesting that Justice Department leaders — including Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general — played a greater role in bringing the charges than prosecutors have acknowledged so far.

The emails, which were made public as part of a newly unsealed judicial order, largely reflected communications about the case that Robert E. McGuire, the acting U.S. attorney in Nashville, had with members of his staff and with Aakash Singh, a top official in Mr. Blanche’s office. They raised serious questions about whether the Justice Department had misled Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., who is overseeing the case, by telling him that local prosecutors had acted alone in charging Mr. Abrego Garcia.

“These documents show that McGuire did not act alone and to the extent McGuire had input on the decision to prosecute, he shared it with Singh and others,” Judge Crenshaw wrote in the unsealed order. “Specifically, the government’s documents may contradict its prior representations that the decision to prosecute was made locally and that there were no outside influences.”

The administration is lying again. And they're lying in a court of law again. That was not part of the oath each member -- including the president -- had to take. It is, in fact, a violation of their oaths. They're violating their oaths and they've destroyed their own reputations by repeatedly lying to the courts.

And that's especially true when it comes to immigrants. At THE ATLANTIC, Nancy Gertner lists some of their crimes -- yes, crimes, "ICE agents have detained suspected illegal immigrants without cause—including U.S. citizens and lawful residents. They have, in effect, kidnapped people, breaking into cars to make arrests. They have used tear gas and pepper spray on nonviolent protesters. They have refused to identify themselves, wearing masks, using unmarked cars, and switching license plates, presumably to avoid detection. They have kept people in detention without access to lawyers. They have questioned people simply for appearing Latino, speaking Spanish, and being in areas believed to be frequented by illegal immigrants." These are crimes, they can't be prettied up.

And the whole thing gets even uglier the closer you look. WOSU reports:

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the Columbus area detained more than 214 people from December 17-23, according to the Ohio Immigrant Alliance (OIA). Among those detained were legally-authorized immigrants, people with legal work permits and pending immigration cases and at least two U.S. citizens.

[. . .]

The OIA released an analysis of those arrested in recent raids. They found 80% of those detained are Latino, and more than 90% male.

“80% of those arrests are Latino based on the internal report that we ran, which is appalling, which is considered as forced bias, we can say even racist targeting,” said Demba Ndiath, the Advocacy Director for the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.

While Latinos are the bulk of the ones being persecuted, they aren't the only ones. Vahid Abedini, an Oklahoma University professor, was kidnapped by ICE in November and he's of Iranian descent. The Middle East Studies Association released the following on Vahid:

The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) was disturbed to learn of the detention of Dr. Vahid Abedini, the Farzaneh Family Assistant Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Oklahoma (OU). Dr. Abedini was detained on November 22 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) before boarding a flight to attend the MESA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Dr. Abedini is a political scientist working in the U.S. under an H-1B visa. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Florida International University and served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas prior to his employment at OU, where he currently teaches.

MESA remains deeply concerned about the circumstances of the detention of Dr. Abedini, a MESA member.

Update: Dr. Abedini has been released from detention.

Three days after his kidnapping -- he was attempting to participate in a DC conference, he was released. Mark Arsenault (NEW YORK TIMES) reported:

It is still unclear why Dr. Abedini was arrested. Dr. Abedini posted on his LinkedIn page early Tuesday morning that he was “relieved to share that I was released from custody tonight.”

“It was a deeply distressing experience, especially seeing those without the support I had,” he wrote. He thanked friends and colleagues at the university, the Middle East Studies Association “and the wider Iran studies and political science community for helping resolve this.”

[. . .]

Other international scholars have been caught up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown this year, such as the Georgetown researcher Badar Khan Suri, a native of India, and Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University graduate student from Turkey. Both were arrested and detained last spring but were ultimately released after legal challenges arose.

Sina Azodi, assistant professor of Middle East politics at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said Dr. Abedini’s detainment would have a chilling effect on international scholars in the United States. Mr. Azodi said he did not know Dr. Abedini extremely well but they had met several times.

Mr. Azodi, who said he was an American citizen originally from Iran, added that many international scholars were being “forced into silence” by fear of arrest. “They are afraid to speak and to write what they think in papers,” he said.

Everything about what was done to Vahid is wrong, sad and scary. Scary? Homeland Security's Tricia McLaughlin is a known liar who should be subject of a Congressional investigation for the sweetheart -- and unethical -- deal Homeland Security's Kristi Noem gave Tricia's husband -- is quoted stating that Vahid "was detained for standard questioning and was released."

In route to a conference, Vahid is kidnapped, held for days, and this is "standard"? Who approved Tricia? Did she just go through an auditing with Pam da Bimbo Bondi or did the 'church' approve her as well? Pam, how much is your secret faith influencing our government? How much do the American people know? Is the cross you were an attempt to hide your ties to Scientology? If the average American knew about those ties to that cult -- it's not a religion, it's a cult -- would they dislike you even more than you do? I know you pretend to be Catholic, but, Pam, it's a pretense. And Americans aren't real fond of non-Christians who try to trick them into believing that they are followers of Jesus Christ. That cross is just a little disguise for Pam. Did she audit Tricia? How many Scientologists are in Chump's inner circle?

At any rate, Vahid was mistreated and William C. Wertz (THE OKLAHOMAN) notes today that ICE owes him an apology. ICE and Chump owe him an apology, they owe the entire country an apology.

Maher Tarabishi? He has a green card. He's been kidnapped as well. Priscilla Rice (KERA) reports:

The family of an Arlington man detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is making a plea to President Donald Trump for his immediate release.

Maher Tarabishi is the primary caregiver for his 30-year-old son, Wael, who was recently hospitalized for the second time since his father was detained in October. Wael is a U.S. citizen who suffers from Pompe disease, a rare genetic condition that causes muscle deterioration and has left him bedridden.

Speaking Tuesday morning outside the Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, family and advocates pleaded for Maher Tarabishi’s humanitarian release so he can care for his son while his case is underway.

“Studies tell that when the family is there, the patients survive,” said Dr. Bilal Piracha, an ER physician from another hospital who is not treating Wael but is helping the family. “And when the families are not there, the patients are in pain.”

Piracha said the trauma of his father’s detention is affecting Wael’s medical condition. He is not able to eat or drink, and his feeding tube is not working, Piracha asaid.

In a long form journalism piece for THE NEW YORK TIMES, Luis Ferré-Sadurní reports:

In just 11 months, about 500,000 people would be deported in an unrelenting campaign celebrated by those who saw it as long overdue and lamented by those who saw it as inhumane.

Over the year, the deportations forced Americans, even those who welcomed the stepped-up enforcement, to reckon with the human consequences of rounding up and expelling people from their streets.

Homes were emptied. Families were splintered. Neighborhoods were subdued.

In the kitchen of a buzzy Manhattan pub and bistro, where a Guatemalan line cook stopped showing up, a chef was left scrambling for answers.

Electric bicycles littered sidewalks in Chicago and Washington after the riders were detained while making deliveries.

In the New York suburbs, Maria Priego huddled for dinner with her four children, leaving empty the chair where her husband, Alejandro Juarez, had sat every night before he was deported to Mexico after 20 years in the United States.

And in Georgia, a family cleaned white Nike sneakers, hoping to ship them to El Salvador, where two brothers, Josué, 19, and José Trejo Lopez, 20, were deported in May after growing up in the United States.

Chump has turned communities into ghost towns. He should be held accountable for his hate and for his illegal actions.

Democracy Forward's Skye L. Perryman addressed the lies of the administration in the MS NOW video above. The lies have destroyed so many lives. Taylor Dolven and Sandra Fish (COLORADO SUN) reports:

In just one Sunday in April, immigration officers arrested at least 72 people in Colorado, data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows, the busiest day for immigration enforcement in the state so far since President Donald Trump took office in January.

That day, federal agents from several agencies raided a Colorado Springs nightclub, arresting dozens of people they suspected of being in the country illegally.

“Colorado Springs is waking up to a safer community today,” Jonathan Pullen, special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division, said after the raid.

But newly released data shows that just nine of the 72 people ICE agents arrested in Colorado that day were marked by the agency as having any prior criminal convictions. ICE said the convictions were for a traffic offense, obstruction, assault, illegal entry, driving under the influence, heroin smuggling and marijuana possession.

They lie. And then they lie again. Chump is just a liar.

I want to be done with this post. Let me explain what's going on.

I feel stabbed in the back. Not the first time. But there's an outlet that we note about once a month because it's run by an old friend. I started dictating the snapshot this morning hours ago. At one point, I had to stop because 30 calls had come in -- right now it's almost seven o'clock in the morning -- I'm in the Pacific time zone. And 30 calls that early in the morning, what is going on?

So I returned a few. Friends who are outraged on my behalf. Have I seen it?

Have I seen what?

At that friend's outlet, that friend has written a defense of a man. He shouldn't be defending the man. He's hero worshipped him for years -- the friend, now former friend, has daddy issues and he's worshiped a piece of garbage for years. People on the left right now are sort of awakening to the fact that hero was a scoundrel.

And he was.

He's the one who tried to recruit me into the CIA -- I had huge analytical skills as demonstrated on the test I had to take to get into grad school. His whole career has been about not calling out the CIA -- hero's career. His work has white washed CIA actions. And the reason is because the hero has long worked with the CIA It's not unlike Gloria Steinem who at least has had the good sense to crawl under a rock for the last four or so years. May she stay under that rock.

Like Gloria who worked with the CIA because she was in favor of their goals, hero did as well.

If you're new to this topic, see Ava and mine "Why Gloria Steinem's CIA past still matters (Ava and C.I.)" (2016), my "Mafia Wives (Susan Williams' WHITE MALICE)" (2023) and Ava and my "TV: The four stories of LOVE TO LOVE YOU, DONNA SUMMER " (2023) to cite only three pieces. Or the note to Michael Steven Smith and Heidi Boghosian's "Inside the Organized Crime Syndicate Known as the CIA: Interview with Douglas Valentine" (LAW & DISORDER transcript posted at DISSIDENT VOICE):

Gloria Steinem was an iconic leader of the American feminist movement and co-founded Ms. Magazine. In March 1967, Ramparts magazine broke one of the first major exposes in the CIA’s history. From the early 1950s until 1967, the international program of the National Student Association and some of its domestic activities were secretly underwritten by clandestine funding from the Central Intelligence Agency.
During the years 1958-67, Steinem accepted a paid position with the CIA when she went undercover with the “Independent Research Service” as she infiltrated the student-based NSA, not the other super-secret NSA—the National Security Agency. In her covert capacity, she attended the World Youth Festival of Students and Youth, first in 1959 in Vienna, Austria, attended by 18,000 delegates coming from 112 nations, and secondly in Helsinki, Finland, attended by 18,000 delegates from 137 countries. While claiming that her CIA collaboration ended in 1962, new data suggest that her secret work lasted until 1967.
To view a revealing interview of Steinem by journalist Cory Morningstar about her CIA adventures, see link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HRUEqyZ7p8. [↩]

And my now former friend (who's attempted to call me three times in the last hour and I'm not answering and I'm not calling back) is defending that man.

Now when I went back to hero after the interview he set up -- I thought I was just meeting one of hero's friends for lunch and praying it wasn't a romantic set up -- I confronted him and he didn't just cop to it, he tried to cop a feel. He seemed to think he could 'comfort' me or maybe he was turned on by being discovered.

The former friend who wrote that piece? He also knows that happened.

So he shouldn't be trying to white wash his hero and insist that his hero never did anything wrong to women. I've been very kind about hero. So have other women. I slapped his face hard and that didn't deter him. I had to fight him off. Other women who fought his advances weren't always so lucky.

(Make me mad and try to physically harm me and you better kill me because I will physically destroy you -- I won't feel whatever you're doing -- punching, kicking -- I will only be focused on physically stopping you and that might mean I bite your nose until you get off me as one writer knows because he still carries that scar and when he attacked me on KPFA in the '00s, I reminded him of that -- that if I wanted to come forward about his assault, it wasn't going to be just my word or my journal entries in real time or the friends I'd told about the assault, it would also be my teeth marks that still, all these years later, are visible on his nose if you look for them.)

Former friend should grasp that a lot of us have been kind over the years but when he writes garbage like that, it angers us and makes it more likely for us to write something like ______ Assaulted Me And The Left Needs To Stop Defending And Excusing Him. I could write that right now.

I was just trying to get through the morning. Get a snapshot pulled together and get on with my day. Instead, I had to keep stopping and post another video to this page to buy some more time to try to do a simple snapshot.

I'm officially triggered. I've used that phrase while writing and speaking of others. But for a friend to betray me by defending a man who tried to assault me? I haven't felt this betrayed in many, many years. And stop calling me, former friend, there's no excuse for what you did. The man will thankfully be dead soon. He didn't need you rushing to his defense. But you've needed many times. The next time your outlet needs money, don't come to me. We are not friends anymore.

Again, my intent was to have a real snapshot this morning and I'm sorry that it's not. I'm sorry that I'm really struggling to deal with the fact that someone I considered a friend has stabbed in the back rushing to defend a man who tried to assault me.

The following sites updated: