60 years ago today, The Beatles released their sixth studio album, Rubber Soul, a record that marked a defining shift in the group’s sound and in pop music as a whole.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/events131202/?utm_source=newsletter.goodnewsnetwork.org&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=a-pile-of-puppies-to-the-rescue&_bhlid=087b3866d87619d7566cda3324752fc2db7a193f

Bird populations are showing early signs of recovery after the EU banned bee-harming neonicotinoid pesticides.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/birds-start-to-show-signs-of-recovery-after-bee-harming-pesticide-ban-in-the-eu/?utm_source=newsletter.goodnewsnetwork.org&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=a-pile-of-puppies-to-the-rescue&_bhlid=76acd91dfd98011f37de02351720a23277b94239

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/a-pile-of-puppies-treatment-cheers-up-seriously-ill-kids-with-bundles-of-cozy-joy/?utm_source=newsletter.goodnewsnetwork.org&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=a-pile-of-puppies-to-the-rescue&_bhlid=61725781c9743c1df8dea1b1b5233aedd1a37695

The myriad factors driving up electricity demand are “actually just shining a spotlight on the fundamental design of the utility system,” Isaac Sevier, founder and executive director of Public Grids, told the Prospect. And that design is badly broken... https://prospect.org/2025/12/03/lightning-in-bottle-regulatory-capture-electricity/

It is possible that the number of vulnerable Republican seats will increase...The new ACA insurance premium hikes will take effect on January 1, 2026, and it appears that Republicans cannot organize themselves to do anything to prevent that from happening https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/tuesdays-cabinet-meeting-equal-parts?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

While Behn lost, she made a very strong showing, reducing the Republican advantage in CD-7 from 22 points to 8.6 points. A 13-point swing should send shivers down the spines of the 33 Republicans who won their 2024 races by 15% or less...putting 33 GOP seats in play is a major accomplishment. https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/tuesdays-cabinet-meeting-equal-parts?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

When former friends and colleagues are accusing you of ordering the military to commit war crimes, you know things are bad. Hegseth is toast, and the only question is whether his remaining tenure will be longer than the time it takes for a Liz Truss head of lettuce to wilt.
https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/tuesdays-cabinet-meeting-equal-parts?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

It is so obvious that Hegseth and everyone in the chain of command violated the law that Newsmax commentator and long-time Hegseth colleague at Fox News, Judge Napolitano, said that Hegseth had committed a war crime. See Mediate, Judge Napolitano on Pete Hegseth: Prosecute for War Crimes.
https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/tuesdays-cabinet-meeting-equal-parts?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

The Cabinet meeting was also consequential because both Trump and Hegseth tried to dodge responsibility for the war crime of killing two survivors on an alleged drug boat. Both men pride themselves on being “in charge”—except when it comes time to claim responsibility for their actions.
https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/tuesdays-cabinet-meeting-equal-parts?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Trump’s inability to remain awake during a Cabinet meeting is likely due to multiple factors, including age, deteriorating mental condition & lack of sleep...During the late night & early morning hours preceding the Cabinet meeting, Trump posted 160 crazed statements on social media. https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/tuesdays-cabinet-meeting-equal-parts?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Trump himself said he had no idea who crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao was after having pardoned him. And in March, Trump told reporters he had not signed the proclamation invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, although his signature appears on the proclamation in the Federal Register.
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/december-2-2025?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey says Trump’s attack on Somalis “violates the moral fabric of what we stand by in this country as Americans...” Minneapolis police—many of them Somali—will not work with federal officials in the sweep. https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/december-2-2025?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

They said Patel is “in over his head” and that deputy FBI director Dan Bongino is “something of a clown.” Both Patel and Bongino are arrogant, the report says, and have an “unfortunate obsession with social media.” Under Patel, they say, the FBI is a “rudderless ship” and “all f***ed up.” https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/december-2-2025?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Today, libertarian conservative writer George Will noted in the Washington Post: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement.” Will went on to refer to the Trump administration as a “moral slum.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/december-2-2025?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

People are unlikely to change their minds about the unreasonable power of that “Epstein class” as the deadline for the release of the Epstein files gets closer.
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/december-2-2025?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

G. Elliott Morris...pointed out...Americans’ concerns about affordability are not just about costs, though. They are concerns about social mobility, economic inequality & fairness, values that run opposite of Trump’s focus on funneling contracts & privileges to well-connected billionaires. https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/december-2-2025?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Trump could not stay awake while his Cabinet members were praising him, and so we had the wild visual of Secretary of State Marco Rubio praising Trump as the only man who could end Russia’s war in Ukraine, gesturing at the president sitting next to him, who was, to all appearances, sound asleep.
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/december-2-2025?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

There had already been significant pushback in the first place over the strikes, which legal experts say are unlawful. But the so-called double tap is illegal and a war crime even under the Trump administration’s flimsy justification for the strikes.
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/december-2-2025?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

There are 40 House seats held by Republicans who won by 12 points or less, and a double digit point shift in the national map would make the AK, IA, OH and TX Senate races competitive and put the Senate in play.
https://open.substack.com/pub/simonwdc/p/despite-rs-spending-millions-dems?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email