As omicron surges, Christmas—that bright and wintry holiday that atheists, agnostics, and Christians alike tend to enjoy—looms. Across the world, those who enjoy a big meal, a sparkling tree, and exchanging gifts (though not necessarily those of other faiths, no matter what Big Lie Guy says), have some very hard choices to make.

Multiple media outlets reported Thursday that billionaire Ken Griffin, who is the wealthiest person in Illinois, is willing to spend at least $150 million to defeat Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker if Republicans nominate his preferred slate in the June primaries.

Hello again Daily Kos Community, and welcome back to Daily Kos Week in Action, a new series from the Daily Kos Activism team! Each week, we’ll check in to share the issues we’re working on, and get feedback on where you think we should focus our future efforts.

This week, we are fighting to extend the Child Tax Credit and expand the Supreme Court.

by Kinko Kiema

This story was originally published at Prism.

More than 38 million people experience hunger or food insecurity in the U.S., yet one-third of all food produced for consumption goes to waste.

My colleague Gabe Ortiz has been following the story of workers at a Kentucky candle factory who were threatened with firing if they tried to escape a deadly tornado. Those Kentucky workers aren’t alone. 

Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois were also told to keep working despite the weather, and say they lacked adequate safety training.

Hello Friday, folks! The weekend is here. If you need to do last-minute shopping for holiday events, make sure you wear a mask and wash your hands! The only time I ever hope that there is a hell is when I think about rich people like Sen. Joe Manchin whose self-absorbed cynicism is so grotesque that they are willing to allow children to slip into poverty to service their ego. Oh, and millionaire insider trader David Perdue is back.

To most of us, Kanye West’s short-lived presidential run was just one more sideshow to the existing circus surrounding everything former President Donald Trump touched in 2020.

West was largely dismissed, and some even felt that perhaps he was going through a mental health crisis and tried to simply look the other way at much of what he said and did, dismissing it as symptoms of an illness.

In a devastating development for thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated and traumatized by the previous presidential administration, the Justice Department has ended settlement talks with families who have filed legal action against the federal government. The department claimed in a statement that while parties were “unable to reach a global settlement agreement at this time,” it was still open to future talks.

Calls for the resignation of a Massachusetts city council member continue after the discovery of an anti-Asian Halloween costume she once wore. Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) activists in Malden, Massachusetts, are urging Jadeane Sica to step down after a photo from 2019 resurfaced last month showing the woman wearing an Orchids of Asia T-shirt and a bamboo hat while holding a bottle of lotion, NBC News reported.

As Republicans continue to find fresh energy to push discriminatory anti-trans legislation, following the news can feel pretty frustrating and depressing. With that in mind, it’s important to celebrate every win we can. A recent example comes to us from the suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri, where an openly trans former student was awarded more than $4 million in damages on sex discrimination charges, as reported by The Los Angeles Blade.