Shots on Christmas Eve – ICE increasingly out of control – 2 injured
On Christmas morning, ICE agents in Maryland fire at a moving vehicle. Two people are injured, one by gunfire, another during the operation. Police say neither injury is life-threatening, but the incident itself is grave. Federal agents approach a white van, the vehicle moves, shots are fired immediately, without warning. The van only stops in a wooded area. According to authorities, only ICE agents were involved. The Department of Homeland Security later claims both civilians were in the country without valid status. This raises the question of how such an assessment can be made when the vehicle was moving and ICE agents opened fire immediately. Arrests were not confirmed after the operation, which nearly knocks the bottom out of the whole affair. Our information so far – still only verbal – is now that both individuals were legally in the United States and were undergoing asylum proceedings. But even if their status had been illegal, opening fire immediately is indefensible and violates American law. Instead, a political framing follows from Washington, shifting responsibility. There is talk of alleged incitement and resistance to deportations. Yet why the silence when asked about possible arrests? Investigations are underway by local police, the FBI, and internally at ICE. What remains is an image that hardly fits Christmas: armed operations, firearms, injured people – and the question of how normal such scenes have become, just like the inflammatory reporting of Trump’s “state broadcaster” Fox News.
Concert canceled after Trump name added to Kennedy Center
A Christmas Eve without jazz, without an audience, without music. The traditional Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center was canceled after the White House announced that Donald Trump’s name had been added to the building’s facade. Musician Chuck Redd pulled the plug and canceled the event, which had been a fixture of the holidays there for more than twenty years. Not as a spontaneous protest, but out of fundamental rejection. By law, the Kennedy Center is a living memorial to John F. Kennedy, not to sitting presidents or political vanity. Legal experts point out that such a renaming would only be permissible through Congress. Trump, however, has replaced leadership and the board, set the course, and installed himself at the top. Culture is being politically appropriated, memory repurposed. More and more artists are drawing consequences and canceling performances. In the end, an empty house remains – and a memorial stripped of its meaning.
Festnahme ohne Namen, ohne Haftbefehl – ICE Offensive über die Feiertage läuft an
We had already announced this days ago. In the morning, in the middle of Manhattan, a woman is taken away by masked ICE agents. No warrant, no visible identification, no explanation on site. Witnesses speak of a scene that looked more like an abduction than a lawful arrest. The woman holds a valid green card, her residency status is legal. Yet she is detained in full public view. The suspicion arises that skin color and mere presence were enough. “Walking while brown,” many call it. Authorities have so far remained silent in response to our inquiry. This silence only deepens the situation. Those who remove people without a judicial order and without identifying themselves as officers abandon the ground of the rule of law. What is visible here is no longer a marginal phenomenon. It is a system that normalizes intimidation and evokes fascist times.
Clean coal and other fairy tales!
Trump: “What should Santa bring you?” Child: “No coal.” Trump: “You mean clean, beautiful coal? I had to say that, I’m sorry. Coal is clean and beautiful. Please keep that in mind at all costs.”
A child says it does not want coal for Christmas, meaning exactly what children have meant for generations. Trump hears something else. Or rather, he twists it. A clear no becomes “clean, beautiful coal.” A phrase that says more about its author than about energy policy. Clean coal does not exist, neither technically nor morally, yet it lives on as a story. Even in conversation with a child, Trump cannot let go of this fiction. The moment shifts from harmless to revealing. A president who would rather defend a fairy tale than accept reality. When even Christmas wishes must be ideologically corrected, it is not humorous, but a glimpse into a mind that has long since departed from reality.
Uniformed in a Christmas frenzy
“Fully authorized uniform modification! 🎅 – Merry Christmas to our warriors – America’s best.” (Pete Hegseth, December 24, 2025)
Fully authorized uniform modification, they say, with a Santa hat on the helmet. National Guard troops walk through American cities like this, accompanied by Christmas greetings to “America’s best.” What may be intended as a gesture comes across as farce. Armed soldiers, state power, festive costume. The line between seriousness and absurdity has long been crossed. Military presence becomes a backdrop, discipline a punchline. While elsewhere people argue about deployments, rights, and responsibility, here it is red hats and forced cheer. This is not closeness, it is trivialization. When uniforms turn into costumes, the state loses not only dignity but credibility. The question is not whether this is still funny. The question is how much sense Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has left at all.
Judge blocks Trump retaliation against whistleblower attorney
A federal judge has barred the Trump administration from stripping prominent Washington attorney Mark Zaid of his security clearance. The order did not target only him, but also other named individuals who politically or legally displease the White House. The judge made clear that a blanket revocation via presidential memorandum is not sustainable. Zaid had sued because the loss of clearance would have made his work in sensitive national security cases practically impossible. He described the move as political retaliation, not a security measure. The context is especially explosive: in 2019, Zaid represented an intelligence whistleblower whose statements triggered Trump’s first impeachment proceedings. That history now hangs unspoken in the room. The court emphasized that security clearances must not be misused as a pressure tool against lawyers. The state may not punish attorneys for whom they represent. The ruling joins a series of judicial blocks against Trump’s attempts to use power for personal vendettas. It is further evidence that the judiciary is currently one of the last effective barriers against political intimidation.
The return of the Monroe Doctrine
Landry says Denmark should not worry about Greenland because Americans are extremely nice. “We don’t go anywhere to conquer anyone or take over another country.”
Jeff Landry, Trump’s appointed special envoy for Greenland, launches a frontal attack on Europe. Europe, he says, neglected Greenland, creating a vacuum that attracted other actors. Russian submarines, Chinese access to rare earths, strategic blindness. Then Trump was elected and said something Washington had allegedly forgotten: the Monroe Doctrine is real. This refers to the U.S. doctrine from the 19th century that foreign powers have no place in the Western Hemisphere. Landry declares Greenland a security issue, a geostrategic key area between North America and Europe. One hour from the United States, several from Europe, according to his calculation. Europe did nothing, America cares. Trump, he says, did not restore strength through apologies, but by drawing lines. What is sold here as protection is in truth a revival of old power claims. The message is clear: the West is to be constrained, Trump sets the boundaries, and Greenland becomes the symbol of this almost openly aggressive policy.
A hero on four paws – strength on duty, trust at heart
This is a Belgian Malinois in K9 service. On duty highly focused, strong, and fearless – off duty simply a big baby. After a long day protecting the streets, he is carried like a prince by his handler. A quiet proof that even elite police dogs need closeness, calm, and affection. A special bond shaped by trust, respect, and care.
A million more documents – and the story grows thinner
The Justice Department says it has discovered more than a million additional Epstein documents, delaying their release yet again. Not newly evaluated, but apparently overlooked. They were lying somewhere, long enough not to be noticed, and now suddenly surface. A law explicitly obliges the state to disclosure, with narrowly defined exceptions. Democratic lawmakers speak of a possible violation of the law. Around 130,000 pages have already been released, some heavily redacted, and now the file mountain grows immeasurably. The larger the number, the smaller the credibility. Anyone who overlooks such material either loses control or acts negligently. Both undermine trust. Transparency here feels less like a principle than like obfuscation. What seemed complete yesterday is incomplete today. And tomorrow perhaps something else again.
At the same time, long-known elements are being circulated once more. The pattern is familiar: what is known is relabeled, the old sold as discovery, while what matters remains unclear. Clarity avoided. But piles of files do not replace clarification. When documents surface by chance and long-established facts are repackaged, the problem lies not in the material but in how it is handled. Either the administration is failing or there is a lack of will for clean disclosure. Both are fatal. Because credibility arises from precision, not from surprise effects.
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