by Maximillian Alvarez | Dec 18, 2025 | east palestine, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Politics and Movements: US, video
Life for Zsuzsa Gyenes has become a never-ending nightmare after a Norfolk Southern “bomb train” carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in her hometown of East Palestine, OH, on Feb. 3, 2023. “When the derailment happened, my son and I [got] very sick,” Gyenes says, “we were forced to leave our home very shortly afterwards, and we had been displaced continuously for over a year and a half.” When Norfolk Southern eventually helped Gynes locate and pay for a new home, she hoped it was a chance for a fresh start—but her troubles were only just beginning.
Additional links/info:
Zsuzsa Gyenes Facebook page and fundraiser page
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “A billion-dollar company poisoned my home and destroyed my town”
Maximillian Alvarez, Steve Mellon, & Mike Balonek, The Real News Network, “Trainwreck in ‘Trump Country’: Partisan politics hasn’t helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)”
Credits:
Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Maximillian Alvarez, David Hebden
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Zsuzsa Gyenes:
When the derailment happened, my son and I were very sick the night that it had happened, and we were forced to leave our home very shortly afterwards, and we had been displaced continuously for over a year and a half. We still don’t have any help. We know that people are still sick. We’ve known people are sick. There’s still people in town wanting to get out.
Maximillian Alvarez:
So I’m back here in East Palestine, Ohio where the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster happened in early February, 2023. The media since then has moved on. Politicians have moved on, and just recently, Norfolk Southern itself said that
by Medea Benjamin | Dec 17, 2025 | Article, Drones, Opinion, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Dec. 16, 2025. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
In May 2013, as President Barack Obama delivered a major foreign-policy speech in Washington, I managed to slip inside. As he was winding up, I stood and interrupted, condemning his use of lethal drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia.
“How can you, a constitutional lawyer, authorize the extrajudicial killing of people—including a 16-year-old American boy in Yemen, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki—without charge, without trial, without even an explanation?”
As security dragged me out, Obama responded, “The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to.” Perhaps my questions touched a chord in his conscience, but the drone attacks did not stop.
Just before that incident, I had returned from Yemen, where a small delegation of us met with Abdulrahman’s grandfather, Nasser al-Awlaki—a dignified man with a PhD from an American university, someone who genuinely believed in the values this country claims to represent. He looked at us, grief etched into his face, and asked, “How can a nation that speaks of law and justice kill an American child without apology, without even a justification?”
Under Obama, drone strikes killed thousands of people. Entire communities lived under the constant terror of buzzing drones—never knowing whether a flash in the sky meant death for them, their children, or the neighbors who ran to help.
We heard these horrors firsthand in 2012, when CODEPINK traveled to Pakistan to meet with victims’ families. A tribal leader from Waziristan described attending a peaceful jirga—a gathering of elders—when a US missile obliterated the meeting. Dozens were instantly killed. As survivors rushed to help the wounded, a second missile struck.
Forty-two people died, including elders
by Michael Fox | Dec 17, 2025 | Panama, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Stories of Resistance
On Dec. 20, each year, people march in Panama City. They march to remember the fallen. They march to continue to demand justice for the violence, the destruction, and for those who were killed in the last US invasion in Latin America—the 1989 invasion of Panama.
BIG NEWS! This podcast has won Gold in this year’s Signal Awards for best history podcast! It’s a huge honor. Thank you so much to everyone who voted and supported.
And please consider signing up for the Stories of Resistance podcast feed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, or wherever you listen. And please take a moment to rate and review the podcast. A little help goes a long way.
The Real News’s legendary host Marc Steiner has also been in the running for best episode host. And he also won a Gold Signal Award. We are so excited. You can listen and subscribe to the Marc Steiner Show here on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Please consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews.
Written and produced by Michael Fox.
Resources:
Panama. US invasion. | Under the Shadow Episode 13
The upcoming Season 2 of Under the Shadow
Resources used in today’s episode:
“Deja el canal”: panameños protestan contra Donald Trump ante embajada de Estados Unidos
Nov. 25, 2025: PROTESTAS EN PANAMÁ contra la presencia militar de EE.UU.: “GOBIERNO VENDEPATRIAS…”
Protestas en Panamá contra acuerdo con UU. EE., reforma pensional y minería | FRANCE 24 Español
Panama: 8th anniversary of US invasion to topple Noriega marked
Transcript
On December 20, each year, in Panama City, people march. They carry banners
by Adam Johnson | Dec 17, 2025 | AI, Article, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Politics and Movements: US
Earlier this month, Vox announced a new vertical dedicated to “growth” that’s funded entirely by the Arnold Foundation, the influence arm of billionaire former Enron energy trader and founder of energy commodity hedge fund Centaurus Energy John Arnold. Arnold has long-donated to center-liberal causes, some seemingly benign (investigative journalism) and others that are, to say the least, controversial (spy planes in poor majority-Black cities, for example). Arnold’s latest ideological—and economic—agenda is to promote so-called Abundance, a vague political movement currently fashionable among wealthy liberals that’s a constellation of conferences, think tanks, political action group, billionaire donors, and best-selling books by New York Times and Atlantic authors. Their primary ethos is “growth” through deregulation of industry. Some of the proposals are sensible (obviously not all regulations make sense and regulations can, and often are, manipulated by other capital actors). But this seed of a decent, if entirely banal, idea has predictably morphed into an all-encompassing politics of deregulation and anti-Left populism that dovetails with the political needs of Silicon Valley, and the ultrawealthy in general.
Aside from the broader ideological aims it’s worth noting that, in a direct and urgent way, the primary focus on “growth” through rapid and broad deregulation aligns neatly with the most direct and urgent needs of Silicon Valley billionaires—including Arnold, and the company whose board of directors he joined in February 2024, Meta (formerly Facebook). Arnold has discussed publicly how he was brought onto Meta’s board specifically to handle the energy crisis facing AI companies, telling Bloomberg’s David Rubenstein in August of last year:
“I think [Meta was] looking for somebody who had some energy expertise. The amount
by Maximillian Alvarez | Dec 17, 2025 | east palestine, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Inequality, Politics and Movements: US, video
Ashley McCullom’s quiet, small-town life “changed in an instant” on the night of Feb. 3, 2023, when a Norfolk Southern “bomb train” derailed near her home in East Palestine, OH. The derailment, followed by the disastrous decision to “vent and burn” multiple carloads of hazardous chemicals, exposed residents in East Palestine and the surrounding area to toxins that have made them sick, poisoned their homes, and changed their community forever. While Norfolk Southern, politicians, and media pundits have all moved on from the East Palestine train derailment and chemical disaster, residents like McCullom are still dealing with the toxic fallout.Additional links/info:
Maximillian Alvarez, Steve Mellon, & Mike Balonek, The Real News Network, “Trainwreck in ‘Trump Country’: Partisan politics hasn’t helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)”
Credits:
Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Maximillian Alvarez, David Hebden
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
WKYC Channel 3:
Breaking news from Columbiana County. East Palestine is now under an urgent mandatory evacuation order after a toxic train derailment
ABC News:
State of emergency in Ohio. After a train derailment and massive fire, some of the cars were carrying hazardous chemicals.
NBC News:
Some 2000 residents, nearly half of East Palestine still under evacuation orders. Visitors told to stay away.
PBS NewsHour:
For Ashley McCullum, the fear is warranted. She lived two blocks from the derailment site.
Ashley McCullom:
When I looked out, everything looked like it was on fire. The entire entire thing looked like it was going up in smoke in flames. I’m Ashley McCollum and this is my house. It’s pretty bad inside. I had multiple chemical testing done. I don’t go in without
by Dean Baker | Dec 16, 2025 | Article, Economy and Inequality, health care, Opinion, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Dec. 16, 2025. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
During his first term, after repeatedly promising the country a terrific healthcare plan, Donald Trump famously commented, “Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated.” In fact, everyone who spent even a few minutes looking at the issue knew that healthcare was complicated. That is why Obamacare ended up being a hodgepodge that was pasted together to extend healthcare coverage as widely as possible. It is also the reason Trump and the Republicans never produced a healthcare plan in Trump’s first term.
The basic problem is that healthcare costs are hugely skewed. Ten percent of the population accounts for more than 60% of total spending, and just 1% accounts for 20% of spending. Most people have relatively low healthcare costs. The trick with healthcare is paying for small number of people who do have high costs.
Individual Choice, Cherry-Picking the Pool, and Screwing Cancer Survivors
The Republicans in Congress, along with Trump on alternate days, are pushing plans that are supposed to give choice to individuals and somehow take it away from insurers. It’s not clear what they think they are saying. They seem to still envision that people will buy insurance, as they do now in the Obamacare exchanges, but somehow that they will have more control in the Republican option.
There is one story they could envision, which would make it much easier for insurers to skew their pool. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) restricted what sort of plans could be offered in the exchanges in order to limit the ability for insurers to avoid high-cost individuals.
It would be possible to relax
