Author: John Hanno

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Bogan High School. Worked in Alaska after the earthquake. Joined U.S. Army at 17. Sergeant, B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 84th Artillery, 7th Army. Member of 12 different unions, including 4 different locals of the I.B.E.W. Worked for fortune 50, 100 and 200 companies as an industrial electrician, electrical/electronic technician.

Drink coffee, eat leafy greens, try this New Year’s champagne hack — plus 8 more health tips to help you have a great week

Yahoo! Life

Drink coffee, eat leafy greens, try this New Year’s champagne hack — plus 8 more health tips to help you have a great week

Kaitlin Reilly, Reporter – December 29, 2024

A fork and two plates covered in lettuce and greens sit on a wooden table.
Leafy greens include veggies like kale, spinach and collard greens. (Getty Creative)

Hello and happy New Year, Yahoo Life readers. My name is Kaitlin Reilly, and nearly every week throughout 2024 I’ve rounded up the internet’s latest health and wellness tips. This is our last Sunday edition of the year and it’s been a pleasure helping you improve your life in big and small ways.

With New Year’s Eve just days away, you may be considering the resolutions you’re setting for 2025. While the obvious choice for many may be to hit the gym more often (as so many of us will do come Jan. 2), one pro-health goal you may not have considered is getting better sleep.

There’s a good reason why you should: Getting quality shut-eye (aka “sleepmaxxing,” as social media has coined it) can improve your overall wellness, from boosting your immune system to enhancing memory and brain function. Plus, doing so may give you more energy to exercise and stop you from reaching for less nutritious foods as a pick-me-up (like, say, a Snickers bar from the vending machine when you hit that afternoon slump). Want some tips to get started? Establishing a consistent sleep schedule, creating a relaxing bedtime routine and limiting screen time before bed can be your gateway to better rest in 2025.

In the meantime, check the weather in your area and, if you are so inclined, your horoscope. Then read up on these wellness tips.

🍾 Stay safe on New Year’s Eve

Celebrating New Year’s Eve can be a fun and festive way to start 2025, but it’s important to keep a few safety tips in mind. More than 50% of crashes on New Year’s involve drivers with high blood alcohol content, per American Safety Council, so if you are planning on going out, make sure you designate a sober driver, plan for public transportation in advance or call an Uber or other ride-share service.

And speaking of alcohol — there’s also a risk of injury when popping that bubbly beverage, as many people do at midnight. To avoid shooting that cork into someone’s eye, make sure to chill the champagne to 45 degrees Fahrenheit, which will make it less likely to go rogue. Then, hold the bottle with one hand and use the other to twist the cork, nudging it gently out of the bottle and controlling the release of air. After a minute, the cork should come free.

🎆 Skip the fireworks and sparklers

Fireworks and sparklers may seem like a fun way to ring in the new year, but experts warn that playing with them can be dangerous, especially when children are in the mix. In 2023, fireworks led to 9,700 emergency room visits and eight deaths, per the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Sparklers, which can get up to 3,000 degrees, can also be risky — 700 injuries were caused by sparklers in 2023 alone.

If you do want to see some fireworks on New Year’s Eve, find a viewing of professional ones in your area — and keep children at least 500 feet away from where the fireworks will be set off in order to mitigate accident risk, as well as dampen noise. Pop noise-cancelling headphones on to protect you and/or your little one’s ears from intense sound, which can damage your hearing.

☕ Drink coffee and tea to help prevent cancer

A September report found that coffee consumption is linked to lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke — and now there’s another reason to pour yourself a cup of java. A review of 14 prior studies by the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium revealed that drinking four cups of caffeinated coffee daily could reduce the likelihood of developing head or neck cancer by up to 17%. Tea too may reduce head and neck cancer risk, according to some of the study interpretations. The theory is that coffee and tea contain powerful anticancer and anti-inflammatory compounds that could protect against the harmful effects of carcinogens.

Other warm beverages have some health benefits as well. The cocoa in hot chocolate, for example, may improve blood pressure as well as cholesterol and blood glucose levels. The spices in chai, like cinnamon, can also help fight inflammation and control blood sugar.

🥬 Eat leafy greens for heart health

Experts spoke to HuffPost about what veggies you should eat to improve different health factors. Dietitian Lena Bakovic said that those who want to improve their cardiovascular health should eat more leafy greens, which contain heart-healthy compounds like nitrates, which keep blood vessels open. Given that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, it’s a great reason to pile your plate with Swiss chard, spinach, kale and collard greens.

🫀 Avoid heartburn while you sleep

If you often struggle with an uncomfortable burning sensation in your chest, known as heartburn, you know how important it is to find relief, especially if it interrupts your sleep. While popping antacids may quickly resolve the issue, doing so long-term can lead your body to produce more acid as a rebound effect — leading to more annoying symptoms over time.

Instead, experts told Yahoo Life to try sleeping at a slight elevation, such as with a wedge pillow, which can help keep stomach acid from flowing back into your esophagus. Another tip? Stop eating 90 minutes before lying down; that gives your body more time to digest food and reduces the likelihood of experiencing heartburn.

🐟 Dip into caviar

Caviar, which is made from sturgeon eggs, may be way too pricey to make a regular part of your grocery list, even as the high-low food trend spreads and people are putting the pricey delicacy on everything from potato chips to mozzarella sticks. If you do see it at your next party, however, or just feel like splurging on a fancy treat, dietitians give this fishy food the seal of approval, thanks to the fact that it is rich in protein, vitamin B12, vitamin D, selenium and iron. Just be cautious about how you consume it: While it may taste delicious with a dollop of crème fraîche, you could be getting more fat and calories than you’d like.

🥑 Eat these foods for longevity

Dr. Michael Roizen, a 78-year-old anesthesiologist, internist and longevity expert, claims he reversed his biological age by 20 years. One tip he gave Insider for how he did it? Eating lots of salmon, avocado and olive oil — all foods that are rich in healthy fats, which support heart health, reduce inflammation and promote cell repair. These are all foods included in the much-celebrated Mediterranean diet, which is plant-focused and high in omega-3s. Want to follow his lead? Try adding a salmon salad to your lunchtime routine.

🚶 Go for a big walk

Many in the U.K. take Christmas week walks, but going for a long stroll, especially after a meal, is a great idea no matter the day. Experts told Yahoo Life that these walks can help regulate your blood sugar, improve digestion and prevent post-meal energy dips.

Walking in a winter wonderland? Just make sure to stay hydrated, wear layers and shoes with proper tread, and keep a charged cellphone on hand in case you need assistance.

📖 Read a book

An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 people found that 46% of Americans didn’t finish a single book last year — and only 5% finished one, continuing a data trend of Americans reading fewer books overall. That’s unfortunate, given that research has shown there are many health benefits to doing so. Reading books lowers your heart rate, reduces stress, improves your cognition over time and may help you sleep better.

Want to get into a reading habit? Schedule a manageable amount of time to sneak in some pages — like, say, 20 pages per day right when you wake up in the morning, as Atomic Habits author James Clear does. Not into morning reading? Grab a book on your lunch hour, or swap out a TV show with a few chapters before bed.

❄️ Use wintertime to create SMART goals

You may have heard of the “Winter Arc,” which is a TikTok-fueled trend that has people committing to transforming their lives during the colder months by adopting intense fitness, productivity or self-improvement routines. Sam Hopes, a personal trainer, doesn’t think a total rehaul of your life this season is effective long-term, however. Instead, writing for Tom’s Guide, Hopes said to stick to SMART goals — specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based objectives. So instead of saying, “I’m going to walk more in 2025,” pick a reasonable goal — like walking 7,000 steps each day. You’ll be more likely to track your progress, which can help you stick to it over time.

🥗 Choose omega-3-rich foods

We all need both omega-3- and omega-6-rich foods in our diets, but the imbalance of them may lead to increased inflammation, which is linked to chronic diseases such as heart disease and arthritis. While most Americans tend to get more than enough omega-6-rich foods — which include vegetable oils, common in processed foods — many more are falling behind on omega-3s. A solution? Pile your plate with omega-3 foods like salmon, mackerel, chia seeds and spinach.

2024 was a bad year for basic decency in America. You can thank Trump for that.

USA Today – Opinion

2024 was a bad year for basic decency in America. You can thank Trump for that.

Rex Huppke, USA TODAY – December 29, 2024

How will the economy be impacted if Donald Trump follows through on mass deportations?

2024 was not a great year for basic human decency.

If we’re being honest, no year has been a great year for human decency since whatever it is that evolved into us emerged from the primordial ooze. Humans aren’t great at basic decency, and I assume it didn’t take long for the earliest iteration of a human being to do something obnoxious.

Still, 2024 was suboptimal.

2024 marked by Trump, hateful rhetoric, loony conspiracy theories

An entire community of legal immigrants in Ohio got labeled dog-eaters to give stupid politicians something to fearmonger. A convicted felon who had been found liable for sexual abuse and charged with a multitude of other crimes, a guy who lies with such reckless abandon he has all but eradicated the idea of “facts,” got elected president ‒ again ‒ on a promise of cruelty toward others.

A nutball who thinks vaccines, one of the greatest achievements in medical history, are bad and we should all fight diseases by drinking bacteria-laden raw milk got hoisted up as a person who should oversee the nation’s health.

President-elect Donald Trump addresses the conservative AmericaFest conference on Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix.
President-elect Donald Trump addresses the conservative AmericaFest conference on Dec. 22, 2024, in Phoenix.

A massive bridge collapsed in Baltimore and right-wing conspiracy theorists immediately pounced, trying to convince rubes it had something to do with the apparently evil concept of “diversity.”

A South Dakota governor admitted she murdered her dog Cricket in a gravel pit and, by the end of the year, was nominated to run the Department of Homeland Security.

School shootings continue unabated ‒ and don’t forget the wars

School shootings kept happening and politicians continued to do quite literally nothing to stop them. Wars continued war-ing, with little global regard for the loss of innocents, a fact that should shock the collective human conscience, assuming it has one.

I’m not so sure it does. As already stated above, decency isn’t really our thing.

But here at home, you’ll note, much of the indecency stemmed from one particularly indecent character. A man who has managed to melt brains preheated by reality television and, for the past decade, make himself the center of our political universe.

Trump is irredeemable, and he brings out the worst Americans have to offer
Protesters against former President Donald Trump rally on the National Mall on Oct. 2, 2024, in Washington, D.C.
Protesters against former President Donald Trump rally on the National Mall on Oct. 2, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

Trump is a golden calf and an amalgam of the worst in all of us. His prevalence in American life and his pending return to the presidency have normalized those worst tendencies. He has given comfort to white nationalists and insurrectionists and antisemites, and embraced cruel dictators. The basic things any parent would teach their child not to do ‒ lie, bully, brag ‒ are Trump’s calling cards.

I don’t want or need to hear another argument about him being a tough leader or the best choice for president or someone who appeals to “regular Americans,” whatever that means. Nothing justifies him. Nothing.

Opinion: Trump lied about food prices. Now he says it’s too ‘hard’ to bring down costs.

He is now and will forever be a stain on American history, a man whose narcissism and lust for power and money led him to sacrifice American decency at an altar he built to honor himself.

How the country does under his upcoming leadership is irrelevant. The moral cost of getting there has already been too steep.

If you thought 2024 was bad for American decency, just wait

Trump is certainly not to blame for all the ills in America ‒ not even close. We’ve been a flawed nation, replete with scoundrels, for some time.

But Trump has, singlehandedly and without question, made this country more cruel, more dishonest and more willing to believe immoral behavior can take you places.

He erodes our decency by example.

2024 was a bad year for America’s sense of right and wrong.

2025 will undoubtedly be far, far worse.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky.

In shift, Trump downgrades soaring rhetoric on campaign promises

The Hill

In shift, Trump downgrades soaring rhetoric on campaign promises

Brett Samuels – December 29, 2024

President-elect Trump on the campaign trail made grandiose promises to voters to bring down costs quickly, to end the war in Ukraine before he even took office and to use tariffs to bolster the U.S. economy and manufacturing.

Since winning November’s election, Trump has indicated delivering on those promises may not be as simple as advertised.

Trump in a recent “Meet the Press” interview said he could not guarantee tariffs would not lead to higher consumer prices.

He acknowledged in a Time magazine interview for his Person of the Year honor that it’s difficult to bring down the cost of groceries once they’ve gone up.

And in his first post-election press conference from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Trump suggested ending the war in Ukraine would be more difficult than easing tensions in the Middle East.

While Democrats and critics accused Trump of lowering expectations or signaling he would not deliver on his campaign promises, the Trump transition and other allies argued it was the president-elect shifting from sweeping campaign rhetoric to the nuances and realities of governing.

“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the transition and the incoming White House press secretary, in a statement.

One Trump ally argued the president-elect was not contradicting his promises on the trail, but he rather was shifting away from the sales pitch rhetoric that is typical of campaigns.

Trump made improving the economy, and inflation in particular, a core part of his campaign for the White House in 2024. He frequently railed against the Biden White House for the high cost of groceries specifically, and he often told supporters he would bring down costs by increasing the energy supply, which would have a ripple effect on overall prices.

“Prices will come down. You just watch. They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast. Not only with insurance, with everything,” Trump told supporters in North Carolina in August.

At a rally in Pennsylvania on the eve of Election Day, Trump said a vote for him meant “your groceries will be cheaper.”

Congress’ youngest woman says her election is a “signal” that future of Democratic Party is changing

Salon

Congress’ youngest woman says her election is a “signal” that future of Democratic Party is changing

Griffin Eckstein – December 29, 2024

Yassamin Ansari Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Yassamin Ansari Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The Democratic Party is searching for its soul. Tasked with rebuilding from an electoral loss in November, one of the biggest questions on Democratic voters’ minds is how the party will engage with checked-out young voters.

Voters under 30, who strongly lean Democratic, failed to turn up for Vice President Kamala Harris, with 54% of the age group voting for her compared to the more than 60% who voted for President Joe Biden in 2020. While the loss is no doubt driven by a multitude of factors, some young voters said they simply feel left behind by the party.

Critics took Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s, D-N.Y., unsuccessful bid for House Oversight leadership as a sign that the party was unwilling to change its ways after 84-year-old ex-speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reportedly campaigned against her in favor of 74-year-old Gerry Connolly, D-Va. Still, some choose to focus on the progress, not the setbacks.

In an interview with Salon, 32-year-old Rep.-elect Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., counted herself as part of a new generation of Democratic leaders ready to make change.

“There truly is a shift happening with young people getting more involved,” Ansari said, adding that part of the transition to younger leadership is getting young voters more involved.

Ansari connects with constituents through informal, online outreach. On TikTok and Instagram, the congresswoman-elect documents the procedural business for new members, provides legislative updates and organically promotes constituent services.

“One of the major lessons learned from this election and overall the climate that we’re living in is that people are really wanting authenticity,” she told Salon. “I don’t wanna prescribe for others what they should do because I think the most important thing is that no matter who you are, if you’re an elected official or have a platform, that you’re doing what feels natural to you and comfortable to you.”

Ansari’s TikTok videos aren’t so much a savvy strategy as they are the authentic output of a power user. In one post on the platform, Ansari admits she can be found scrolling through the app most nights. “Most of my feed is the Eras Tour,” she admits. That connection to the platform makes it easier for her content to break through.

“I think it’s incumbent upon elected officials to, again, go out of their way and go above and beyond to be more proactive in the community,” Ansari said. “We do live in a time where we can be less worried about… just being on script all the time… It’s important for people to see that politicians are people and have some of the same interests and hobbies as they do.”

Slated to be the youngest woman in Congress when she’s sworn in on Jan. 3, Ansari was elected the Democratic freshman class president last month. In a statement, she called her election to that post a “small signal to Democratic voters, and especially young people, that the party is ready for new, young voices in Congress to be given opportunities to lead.”

Amid criticism, Ansari points to major signs that the Democratic Party is ready to listen to young people.

“Angie Craig, who is a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota representing a rural community, beat out someone that is several decades her senior,” Ansari said. “She will be, now, the lead Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, which I think is awesome and really encouraging for younger members.”

Likewise, 35-year-old Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, will take a leading role in the lower chamber, chairing the House Progressive Caucus.

“It may not be happening as quickly as some people would like,” Ansari acknowledged, adding that winning leadership posts required building a large and diverse coalition, reflective of the entire Democratic caucus.

Ansari also recognizes how important Democratic leadership will be over the next four years, as President-elect Donald Trump prepares an assault on Arizona’s most marginalized residents.

“I’m acutely aware that [Arizona’s] District 3 is going to be on the front lines of the immigration battle and particularly Trump’s devastating and harmful pledge to carry out mass deportations … I have not stopped working since election day preparing for this,” Ansari told Salon. “I am representing a blue district, a racially diverse district in a red or purple state, that’s going to be on the front lines of this battle. So I’m not gonna sit out. I intend to do everything I can to protect families in Arizona’s 3rd district.”

Amid fear and discontent, Ansari emphasized that staying involved in the political process was crucial, especially for young people who feel left behind.

“It can be very tempting to wanna completely disengage from politics,” Ansari said. “I would say that just because you’re disassociating from politics doesn’t mean it is disassociating from you. And at the end of the day, politics do matter.”

Though she holds a relatively uncompetitive seat, replacing Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Ansari is no stranger to the importance of each vote.

The rep.-elect won a heated primary in Arizona’s third congressional district by a wire-thin margin in August, besting former Arizona Democratic Party chair Raquel Terán by just 36 votes.

“Stay active when you can because it does matter — and it’s exciting!” Ansari said.

Reagan FBI director urges caution against Gabbard, Patel

ABC News

Reagan FBI director urges caution against Gabbard, Patel

Luke Barr – December 28, 2024

The only man to lead both the FBI and the CIA urged caution to senators who might vote to confirm former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and Kash Patel to lead the FBI, according to a letter sent to senators this week.

“I am deeply concerned about the potential nominations of Mr. Kash Patel to lead the FBI and the inclusion of Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as DNI in intelligence roles,” William Webster, who led the FBI during the Carter and Reagan administrations and the CIA after that, said in a letter to senators on Thursday.

PHOTO: In this Dec. 18, 2014, file photo, former FBI Director and Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) under Ronald Reagan, Judge William Webster is interviewed for a documentary about directors of the CIA. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images, FILE)
PHOTO: In this Dec. 18, 2014, file photo, former FBI Director and Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) under Ronald Reagan, Judge William Webster is interviewed for a documentary about directors of the CIA. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images, FILE)More

MORE: Why most of Trump’s Cabinet picks will get confirmed by the Senate

Webster wrote that Patel’s loyalty to Trump may cause problems.

“Statements such as ‘He’s my intel guy’ and his record of executing the president’s directives suggest a loyalty to individuals rather than the rule of law — a dangerous precedent for an agency tasked with impartial enforcement of justice,” said Webster, who turns 101 in March.

PHOTO: Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for director of the FBI, speaks to reporters before a meeting with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 2024. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)
PHOTO: Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the FBI, speaks to reporters before a meeting with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 2024. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)More

MORE: Chris Wray’s FBI departure won’t immediately clear path for Kash Patel: Experts

He said that during his tenure at the FBI, he was contacted by the president only twice — once by President Jimmy Carter, who asked him to investigate an issue, and once when President Ronald Reagan had a question about Nancy Reagan’s security.

Webster added that Gabbard’s “profound lack of intelligence experience and the daunting task of overseeing 18 disparate intelligence agencies further highlight the need for seasoned leadership.”

“History has shown us the dangers of compromising this independence. When leaders of these organizations become too closely aligned with political figures, public confidence erodes and our nation’s security is jeopardized,” he wrote. “Every president deserves appointees they trust, but the selection process must prioritize competence and independence to uphold the rule of law.”

The letter was first reported by Politico.

Webster did endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president in 2024 and Joe Biden for president in 2020.

The Trump transition team defended both Patel and Gabbard to Fox News.

“Kash Patel is loyal to the Constitution. He’s worked under Presidents Obama and Trump in key national security roles,” said Alex Pfeiffer, a Trump transition team spokesman.

PHOTO: President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Director of National Intelligence, former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, is shown at the Hart Senate Office Building, Dec. 18, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
PHOTO: President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Director of National Intelligence, former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, is shown at the Hart Senate Office Building, Dec. 18, 2024, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)More

MORE: Who is Tulsi Gabbard? Meet Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence

Alexa Henning, a Trump transition official, also defended Gabbard.

“Lt. Col. Gabbard is an active member of the Army and has served in the military for over two decades and in Congress. As someone who has consumed intelligence at the highest levels, including during wartime, she recognizes the importance of partnerships with allies to ensure close coordination to keep the American people safe,” she told Fox News.

Congress has the power to block Trump from taking office, but lawmakers must act now

The Hill – Opinion

Congress has the power to block Trump from taking office, but lawmakers must act now

Evan A. Davis and David M. Schulte – December 26, 2024

The Constitution provides that an oath-breaking insurrectionist is ineligible to be president. This is the plain wording of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. “No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” This disability can be removed by a two-thirds vote in each House.

Disqualification is based on insurrection against the Constitution and not the government. The evidence of Donald Trump’s engaging in such insurrection is overwhelming. The matter has been decided in three separate forums, two of which were fully contested with the active participation of Trump’s counsel.

The first fully contested proceeding was Trump’s second impeachment trial. On Jan. 13, 2021, then-President Trump was impeached for “incitement of insurrection.” At the trial in the Senate, seven Republicans joined all Democrats to provide a majority for conviction but failed to reach the two-thirds vote required for removal from office. Inciting insurrection encompasses “engaging in insurrection” against the Constitution “or giving aid and comfort to the enemies thereof,” the grounds for disqualification specified in Section 3.

The second contested proceeding was the Colorado five-day judicial due process hearing where the court “found by clear and convincing evidence that President Trump engaged in insurrection as those terms are used in Section Three.” The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed. On further appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the court held that states lack power to disqualify candidates for federal office and that federal legislation was required to enforce Section 3. The court did not address the finding that Trump had engaged in insurrection.

Finally, there is the bipartisan inquiry of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol. More than half of the witnesses whose testimony was displayed at its nine public hearings were Republicans, including members of the Trump administration. The inescapable conclusion of this evidence is that Trump engaged in insurrection against the Constitution. In particular, Trump unlawfully demanded that his vice president, Mike Pence, throw out votes in the Electoral College for political opponent Joe Biden, a power he did not have. While the riot was in progress, Trump used Pence’s rejection of his demand to further enflame the crowd and cause them to chant “Hang Mike Pence!”

Some will argue that the Supreme Court decision in the Colorado case, Trump v. Anderson, precludes Congress from rejecting electoral votes when they convene on Jan. 6, on the basis of 14th Amendment disqualification. This view lacks merit for three reasons.

First the majority’s suggestion that there must be new implementing federal legislation passed pursuant to the enforcement power specified in the 14th Amendment is what lawyers call dicta. Dicta are the musings of an opinion that are not required to decide the case. The holding that Section 3 is not self-executing may be an alternate holding, but thoughts about the kind of implementing statute required are plain dicta. Dicta are not precedential. The four dissenters strenuously objected to this part of the opinion as overreach to decide a question not presented. This overreach is a power grab which Congress is not required to credit.

Second, counting the Electoral College votes is a matter uniquely assigned to Congress by the Constitution. Under well-settled law this fact deprives the Supreme Court of a voice in the matter, because the rejection of the vote on constitutionally specified grounds is a nonreviewable political question.

Third, specific legislation designed for this situation already exists. The Electoral Count Act was first enacted in 1887 and later amended and restated in 2022. That statute provides a detailed mechanism for resolving disputes as to the validity of Electoral College votes.

The act specifies two grounds for objection to an electoral vote: If the electors from a state were not lawfully certified or if the vote of one or more electors was not “regularly given.” A vote for a candidate disqualified by the Constitution is plainly in accordance with the normal use of words “not regularly given.” Disqualification for engaging in insurrection is no different from disqualification based on other constitutional requirements such as age, citizenship from birth and 14 years’ residency in the United States.

To make an objection under the Count Act requires a petition signed by 20 percent of the members of each House. If the objection is sustained by majority vote in each house, the vote is not counted and the number of votes required to be elected is reduced by the number of disqualified votes. If all votes for Trump were not counted, Kamala Harris would be elected president.

The unlikelihood of congressional Republicans doing anything that might elect Harris as president is obvious. But Democrats need to take a stand against Electoral College votes for a person disqualified by the Constitution from holding office unless and until this disability is removed. No less is required by their oath to support and defend the Constitution.

Evan Davis was editor in chief of the Columbia Law Review and David Schulte was editor in chief of the Yale Law Journal. Both clerked for Justice Potter Stewart. Davis is a New York lawyer who served as president of the New York City Bar, and Schulte is a Chicago investment banker.

Americans and their leaders are to blame for returning Trump to the White House

Nashville Tennessean – Opinion

Americans and their leaders are to blame for returning Trump to the White House

April Lieberman – December 26, 2024

From rural Tennessee to Democratic presidential politics, I’ve lived in both worlds − of “us and them.”

Here’s my take on why:

  1. my neighbors don’t trust Democrat
  2. a convicted felon is returning to the White House.

There’s plenty of blame to go around.

Biden himself is among those to blame among Democrats
  • President Joe Biden: for selfishly pursuing the presidency despite cognitive decline, his sundowning obvious back in the 2019 primary debates.
  • Biden supporters and allies: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and his family for letting him. White House staff, the Democratic National Committee, and party leaders, for enabling this epic disservice to the country. His Cabinet, profiles in cowardice, for not invoking the 25th Amendment and removing him.
  • Attorney General Merrick Garland: for delaying appointing a special counsel, allowing now President-elect Donald Trump to run out the clock. Rep. Jim Clyburn, for delivering Biden South Carolina in the 2020 primaries. Former President Barack Obama, for strong-arming Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, out of the race, placing loyalty over country, then again by preemptively supporting Biden’s reelection bid, deterring primary challengers.
  • The Clintons: 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and coastal elites, for underestimating Trump in 2015-2016 and neglecting the Blue Wall. Former President Bill Clinton and ‘90s NAFTA Dems for decimating small towns across America, including mine. All of them (not named Bernie Sanders), for decades of ignoring rural and blue-collar voters while taking Black and Latino Americans for granted, instead pushing agendas far left of the American electorate.
  • Miscellaneous: Whichever idiot coined “Bidenomics,” an infuriating attempt to gaslight America.
  • Vice President Kamala Harris: for not distancing herself from Biden or showing us she felt our pain. Her campaign, for inaccessibility and insularity (shades of Hillary Clinton), ignoring those devastating anti-trans ads, and fundamentally misreading what mattered most to voters: It’s still the economy, stupid.

Opinion: Kamala Harris is the best Democrats can do? Looks like they don’t want to beat Trump

MAGA voters and justice system are responsible for returning Trump to the White House
  • MAGA: For placing a racist/rapist/convicted felon over our Constitution.
  • Other Republicans: Most of them, for striking Faustian bargains in normalizing Trump, sacrificing their integrity for power, none more craven than Sen. Lindsey Graham’s betrayal of “Amigo” John McCain on his deathbed to worship at the orange altar. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, for not saving us this national nightmare by ordering his minions to remove the Insurrectionist-in-Chief, forever barring him from federal office − Howard Baker he is not.
  • Right-wing Supreme Court justices: For not checking the presidency, instead placing Trump above the law, dismantling our rights and democracy itself.
  • Judge Juan Merchan: For delaying sentencing on 34 felony convictions until after the election, instead of letting Trump campaign from a New York City jail cell.

Opinion: Tennessee Democrats should build upon the movement Gloria Johnson created

Media, dictators, billionaires and Congress bear responsibility too

Opinion: Nashville’s star is fading. The Big Sort is creating a rural and red revolution.

April Lieberman
April Lieberman

April Lieberman is a former appellate attorney with family experience in presidential politics, a Yale Law School graduate who studied philosophy at Vanderbilt, and Democratic politics in the backwoods of West Tennessee.

Dem Plan to Block MAGA Revolution

Daily Beast

Chuck Schumer Reveals Stealth Dem Plan to Block MAGA Revolution

David Gardner – December 26, 2024

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer believes the record number of judicial appointments may keep the Biden administration's legacy intact.
Kent Nishimura / Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has revealed the Democratic Party’s secret weapon in fighting a rearguard action against Donald Trump’s MAGA offensive.

The Democrats are holding onto one last hope after a disastrous election in which they lost control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.

For the past four years, President Joe Biden, Schumer, and his colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee have been quietly stacking the federal judiciary with liberal-minded judges knowing they could one day provide a crucial bulwark against a resurgent Trump.

Just before Christmas, they achieved their goal of pushing through a record 235 judicial nominations, more confirmations in a single administration than any since the Jimmy Carter White House. That total includes 150 women judges, the most under any president.

With less than a month to go before Trump can begin putting his MAGA policies into action, Biden and Schumer see the batch of new judges as their best, and perhaps their only chance of preserving any kind of legacy from the last four years.

“I don’t know exactly what (Trump will) do. But I can tell you this: The judiciary will be one of our strongest — if not our strongest — barrier against what he does,” Schumer told Politico Playbook in an exclusive interview.

“They’re going to come after everything,” he said of the Trump administration. “They have so many different parts of MAGA: the people who are anti-women’s rights; the people who are anti-environment; the people who are anti-working people rights and union rights; the people who are anti-the consumer. They’re going to use the judiciary in every way they can.”

The Democrats didn’t go the traditional route of picking prosecutors and lawyers from “fancy” firms but chose people from all walks of life – civil rights lawyers, voting rights experts, teachers, mentors, union reps, scholars – to “resemble America,” Schumer boasted.

Schumer said they tried to get “as many judges confirmed as possible because we knew that Trump had loaded the bench up with a lot of MAGA judges and achieving balance was important. And the more the better.”

He told Politico: “In a time when there’s more legislative gridlock and there’s an attempt to use the judiciary to actually legislate, having judges that are not MAGA judges, that are not extreme judges, is more important than it’s ever been.”

Schumer saw the writing on the wall in the last couple of years and he said: “We also saw that the hard right was gearing up to use the bench in case after case to achieve their goals.”

It will be a struggle to control a rampant Republican Congress, fueled by a White House intent on recrimination. But Schumer is hoping his army of judges can hold the fort until (he hopes) the cavalry arrives in the mid-terms two years away.

The use of the Senate’s power to shape the judiciary was aggressively practiced by Schumer’s Republican opposite number Mitch McConnell, who had set a record for confirmations under Trump’s first term. McConnell also created a conservative super-majority on the Supreme Court with a series of power moves. First he blocked the nomination of Merrick Garland, then a federal appeals court judge, by then-President Barack Obama to replace the conservative justice Antonin Scalia who died in March 2016, then when presented with an almost identical vacancy by the death of the liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2020, rushed the conservative Amy Coney Barrett on to the bench.

Russia’s multibillion-dollar revenue stream may soon grind to a halt, thanks to Ukraine. Its ripple effects could hit Europe

Fortune

Russia’s multibillion-dollar revenue stream may soon grind to a halt, thanks to Ukraine. Its ripple effects could hit Europe

Prarthana Prakash – December 24, 2024

While Russia has lost its gas market share in Europe to the likes of Qatar and Norway since it invaded Ukraine, some countries like Slovakia and Austria still rely heavily on the supplies. (Olga Rolenko—Getty Images)

Russia’s wartime economy has been sustained, in part, by oil and gas revenues as Europe has relied on it for several decades. Key to that arrangement is Ukraine, the country Russia is at war with, as the countries have a deal in place to allow Russian gas to transit via Ukraine and reach Europe.

The deal is nearing expiry when the year ends, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has resisted renewing the contract on the same terms even if the Kremlin wants it to. This could create a worry for Russia amid the plunging value of the ruble and a protracted war.

Russia’s gas revenues from supply sent via Ukraine to Europe will be worth $5 billion this year, according to Reuters estimates. In 2023, Russia shipped about 15 billion cubic meters of gas—only a fraction of the supply to Europe pre-pandemic.

Meanwhile, Ukraine makes just $800 million from facilitating the transit of gas to Europe, the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) said last week.

“Despite reams of evidence that Russia uses gas exports to inflict harm on Europe, buyers in Moscow-friendly countries are now pressuring Ukraine to continue the transit from 2025,” CEPA experts wrote.

The dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies has built up over time. In 2022, much of that reliance needed to be rethought following the invasion, forcing gas prices to shoot up. However, governments slowly began decoupling from Russia’s gas supplies, which had a direct impact on Gazprom’s revenues as a state-owned energy supplier.

While Russia has lost its gas market share in Europe to the likes of Qatar and Norway since it invaded Ukraine, some countries like Slovakia and Austria still rely heavily on the supplies. Moreover, because of sanctions, Russia has already taken a big hit on energy-related revenues, which still account for a fifth of its GDP.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov admitted to the impending fallout on the gas transit contract as being “very difficult, requiring greater attention,” on Monday.

A sharp energy-price spike because of the gas transit contract is unlikely. Still, given that transit fees are much higher in other European countries, it could add to uncertainties, ruling them out as viable options for countries such as Hungary.

Russia’s economy has shown some cracks owing to inflation and overexposure by military-adjacent industries. But in sum, it has remained resilient despite the war being dragged on for three years.

For instance, Russia has built trade relationships with allies elsewhere in the world, such as China and India. “The Russian economy has adapted, and key industries have found ways to get the goods and components they need from alternative suppliers or via more circuitous trade routes,” Sergey Vakulenko, a senior fellow at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, wrote earlier this year.

Russia calls gas sales to Europe ‘complicated’ as deal with Ukraine nears end

Reuters

Russia calls gas sales to Europe ‘complicated’ as deal with Ukraine nears end

Reuters – December 23, 2024

Illustration shows natural gas pipeline, Russian Rouble banknote and flag

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Monday the situation with European countries that buy its gas through a transit deal via Ukraine was very complicated and needs more attention, a day after talks between President Vladimir Putin and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Ukraine has said it will not be renewing a five-year deal to pipe Russian gas to Europe, which is due to expire at the end of the year, as it does not want to aid Moscow’s military effort.

The flow accounts for around half of Russia’s total pipeline gas exports to Europe, with Slovakia, Italy, Austria and Czech Republic set to be most affected if it ends.

Kremlin-controlled Gazprom also exports gas to Europe via the TurkStream pipeline on the bed of the Black Sea.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he could not give more details about Sunday’s talks between Putin and Fico, which also touched on bilateral relations and the Ukraine conflict.

Fico said that Putin had confirmed Russia’s willingness to continue to supply gas to Slovakia, although this was “practically impossible” once the Ukraine transit deal expires.

It was not clear what potential solution the two leaders might have discussed.

Slovakia has said the loss of supplies from the east would not hit its consumption and it has diversified supply contracts. However, it would drive up its costs and the country sought to preserve the Ukraine route to keep its own transit capacity.

Slovakia’s main gas buyer SPP has contracts for the purchase of gas from a non-Russian source with BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, Eni and RWE.

The benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF gas hub rose by 1.52 euros to 45.33 euros per megawatt hour (euros/MWh) by 1443 GMT, LSEG data showed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday criticised what he said was Fico’s lack of desire to end his country’s dependency on Russian natural resources as a “big security issue” for Europe and Slovakia.

Hungary has also been keen to keep the Ukrainian route, although it will continue to receive Russian gas from the south, via the TurkStream pipeline.

Zelenskiy said last week it might be possible to renew the transit deal, but only if Russia was not paid for the gas until after the war is over, a condition Moscow is unlikely to accept.

“You heard the statement from the Ukrainian side, and you know about the positions of those European countries that continue to buy Russian gas and that consider this necessary for the normal operation of their economies,” Peskov told reporters.

“Therefore, there is now a very complicated situation here that requires increased attention,” Peskov added.

Putin said last week it was clear there would be no new deal with Kyiv to send Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe.

(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, additional reporting by Jason Hovet; writing by Mark Trevelyan and Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Alexander Smith)