It’s a “Hybrid Friday” at the freedom movement’s daily newspaper — we’ve got a full 60-item email and social media edition going out, plus another 50 (maybe more by the time you read this) news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links here at our web edition. Enjoy!
Crass commercialism:
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“The toll in Iran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests has reached at least 5,002 people killed, activists said Friday, warning many more were feared dead as the most comprehensive internet blackout in the country’s history crossed the two-week mark. The challenge in getting information out of Iran persists because of authorities cutting off access to the internet on Jan. 8, even as tensions rise between the United States and Iran as an American aircraft carrier group moves closer to the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump likened the carrier group to an ‘armada’ in comments to journalists late Thursday. Analysts say a military buildup could give Trump the option to carry out strikes, though so far he’s avoided that despite repeated warnings to Tehran.” (01/23/22)
“With just a week left to avoid another government shutdown, the U.S. House of Representatives voted Jan. 22 to send a $1.2 trillion spending package to the Senate. The appropriations bills passed despite widespread consternation from Democrats over keeping the lights on at the Department of Homeland Security. The Trump administration’s nationwide immigration enforcement operations – which came to a head recently with the [murder] of Renee Good in Minneapolis – prompted most Democrats to vote against funding the agency, which includes Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Seven Democrats supported the DHS bill.” (01/22/26)
“Before the US military snatched Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, earlier this month, Delcy Rodríguez and her powerful brother pledged to cooperate with the Trump administration once the strongman was gone, four sources involved at high levels with the discussions told the Guardian. Rodríguez, who was sworn in on 5 January as acting president to replace Maduro, and her brother Jorge, the head of the national assembly, secretly assured US and Qatari officials through intermediaries ahead of time that they would welcome Maduro’s departure, according to the sources. The communications between US officials from Delcy Rodríguez, who was then Maduro’s vice-president, began in the fall and continued after Trump and Maduro spoke in a crucial phone call in late November, the Guardian has learned, in which Trump insisted that Maduro leave Venezuela. Maduro rejected the demand.” (01/22/26)
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement has [abducted] four children from the same Minnesota school district this month, including a 5-year-old boy. Preschooler Liam Ramos was [abducted] in the driveway of his home along with his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, on Tuesday. The father and son were then transported to a detention center in Texas. … Ramos is the fourth child in the Columbia Heights Public School District to be [abducted] by ICE this month.” (01/22/26)
“Todd Burkhalter, the CEO of former Alpharetta-based financial advisory group Drive Planning, has pleaded guilty to orchestrating one of the largest Ponzi schemes in Georgia history. ‘This is a matter of public safety,’ said Theodore Hertzberg, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. ‘It’s about protecting the community. People losing perhaps their life savings or something close to their life savings has a devastating impact.’ Authorities said between 2020 and 2024, Burkhalter sold a dream that investors would receive a huge return if they invested their money with his company. He defrauded more than 2,000 people out of $380 million. ‘Investor money was used to pay off other investors instead of being put towards actual investments,’ according to Hertzberg.” (01/22/26)
“Murders fell 21% last year in 35 large U.S. cities — the biggest one-year drop ever and likely the lowest rate since 1900, Axios-reviewed data shows. The decline signals a complete reversal of the COVID-era crime wave. 11 of 13 tracked crimes were lower in 2025 than in 2024, according to data compiled by the Council on Criminal Justice.” (01/22/26)
“President Donald Trump and TikTok said Thursday that the company had formed a joint venture to keep the video-sharing app operating in the U.S. under new American leadership. The company said Adam Presser, who has been serving as TikTok’s head of operations and trust and safety, will be the CEO of TikTok USDS Joint Venture. Presser has worked at TikTok for almost four years and was previously a senior executive at Warner Bros. … ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, will retain 19.9% of the new venture. … ByteDance was subject to a national security law, originally signed by former President Joe Biden, that required the company to sell its U.S. operations or be effectively banned in the country.” (01/22/26)
“A major, widespread, long-lasting winter storm will hammer parts of the South, Midwest and Northeast Friday through Monday with potentially damaging ice and heavy snow for millions from New Mexico and Texas to parts of New England. This storm will lead to widespread dangerous travel and its destructive South ice storm could lead to long-lasting power outages and tree damage. The storm has been named Winter Storm Fern by The Weather Channel. According to The Weather Company forecasters, Fern could affect over 230 million in the U.S. with snow and/or ice, two-thirds of the nation’s estimated population.” (01/22/26)
“The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits inched up last week but U.S. layoffs remain historically low despite signs of a softening labor market. U.S. filings for jobless aid for the week ending Jan. 17 rose by 1,000 to 200,000, up from 199,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 207,000 new applications that analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting. Applications for unemployment benefits are viewed as a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.” (01/22/26)
