Congressional Oversight Hearings are meant to monitor the implementation of policy by any given presidential administration and hold those accountable who may have violated people’s civil rights, the nation’s laws, or codes of conduct. However, it seems that more focus than ever is on proselytizing, rather than asking hard questions. Meanwhile, confirmation hearings have always been partisan in this way. Those are largely based on support for a nominee, as we saw in the hearing for Markwayne Mullin, where Republican lawmakers and Mullin promoted false narratives about immigration and migrants who have been detained and deported under Trump.
Opinion: Oversight Hearings Are Great, But Where’s the Accountability?
Tag: Immigration
Fānpán – Is China Turning the Tables on the ‘Democratic’ West?
Fānpán – Is China Turning the Tables on the ‘Democratic’ West?
This isn’t unique to Germany or the EU; similar issues plague the U.S. and U.K., where bureaucratic hurdles in immigration, healthcare, and finance frustrate citizens. Xi’s governance model offers an alternative: efficiency through centralization, humaneness through collectivism. While not without flaws, critics note surveillance and censorship, and so Ai’s endorsement suggests that for many, China’s system delivers tangible freedoms. His words directly challenge the binary of “free West vs. authoritarian East,” urging a reevaluation based on lived realities. Ai Weiwei’s declaration that China feels more humane and freer than Germany isn’t a reversal of his principles, but an evolution based on experience. It underscores the success of Xi Jinping’s reforms in creating a society where bureaucracy recedes, community thrives, and daily life flows unencumbered. As the world grapples with uncertainty, perhaps the West can learn from China’s jade-like reassembly, piecing together a more practical freedom for all?
Personal: Genealogical Notes — January 2, 2026
Today I learned I’m approximately 75% German and 25% French. My third great‑grandfather on my paternal grandmother’s side was French. My paternal grandfather’s family was German, and my maternal side is entirely German. They immigrated to America before World War I. I still can’t find much about my paternal line, but I’m excited by this discovery.
‘Make Europe Great Again’ and more from a longer version of the National Security Strategy
From Brexit to Bannon’s failed Movement, the through‑line has always been fragmentation: dismantling the European Union into smaller, more pliable states that Washington could manage one‑by‑one. Where Bannon faltered, Heritage has stepped in — not only with slogans, but with policy machinery designed to export Trump’s nationalist agenda across the Atlantic.
‘Make Europe Great Again’ and more from a longer version of the National Security Strategy
Read More »silence is not neutrality. silence is murder.
US Economic Warfare Drives Venezuelans and Cubans to come to the US
US Economic Warfare Drives Venezuelans and Cubans to come to the US
Yet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua are the “enemies of humanity.” In contrast to the US, these countries provide their people with free healthcare and education from preschool through university, and housing for all. And they invade no one.
Previously:
NED targets Cuba with $6.6 million in 2025
Trump Administration Restores US National Endowment for Democracy’s Funding
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Breaks Spending Record, Fueled by Out-of-State Money
Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Breaks Spending Record, Fueled by Out-of-State Money
The two campaigns and their supportive outside spenders have already spent more than $73 million, and the rate of spending is likely to ramp up even more in the final week.
Crawford’s campaign spending of $19.4 million is more than double that of Schimel’s $8.9 million. (These figures are based on estimates of television ad spending, and candidate filings due this week will paint a fuller picture of their fundraising and spending.) But independent groups like super PACs and nonprofits spending untraceable “dark money” favor Schimel by a much larger margin: $12.9 million benefiting Crawford compared with almost $32.1 million boosting Schimel.
Two of the biggest spenders in the race, the Schimel-boosting America PAC and a group called Building America’s Future, have spent over $14.3 million, which is nearly one dollar for every five spent in the contest. Elon Musk has provided almost all the funding for America PAC. While Building America’s Future doesn’t reveal its donors, Musk is reportedly a major funder.
Schimel is also supported by $4.3 million from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, an industry dark money group; $4 million from Fair Courts America, a national group with ties to conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein of Illinois; $3.2 million from Americans for Prosperity, a libertarian group affiliated with Koch Industries; and $1.8 million from the Republican State Leadership Committee.
Crawford’s biggest independent support includes $6.2 million in expenditures by A Better Wisconsin Together, a state group with major donations from Wisconsin philanthropist Lynde Uihlein (a cousin of Richard Uihlein) as well as national liberal groups. The ACLU Voter Education Fund also spent $1 million boosting Crawford. In addition, liberal megadonor George Soros gave $1 million to the state Democratic party, which supports Crawford.
Related:
Noboa Taps Blackwater’s Prince to Battle Ecuador’s Chaos
President Daniel Noboa shocks the world, revealing a strategic alliance with Erik Prince, Blackwater’s founder, to tackle Ecuador’s security crisis.
Noboa Taps Blackwater’s Prince to Battle Ecuador’s Chaos (archived)
Related:
US and European armies should join our war on gangs, Ecuador president tells BBC
Noboa has already ordered the foreign ministry to seek cooperation agreements with “allied nations” to support Ecuador’s police and army, and is also seeking parliamentary approval to change the constitution to allow foreign military bases in Ecuador again.
Dems Demand Pete Hegseth Halt ‘Orwellian Book Purges’ In Military Schools
Dems Demand Pete Hegseth Halt ‘Orwellian Book Purges’ In Military Schools
After DoDEA last month directed its schools to pull lessons from its curriculum related to immigration, gender and sexuality, the schools responded with things like book bans, a portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama being removed, a Harriet Tubman poster being pulled down, rainbows being taken down in kindergarten classrooms and bans on school clubs for LGBTQ+ students and girls in STEM.
Ironically, Vice President JD Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” was also banned. 😹😹😹
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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