December 31, 2025

U.S. Measles Cases Hit New High

December 31, 2025January 4, 2026 Buck Banks

2,000+

“The number of recorded measles cases in the U.S. during 2025 has exceeded 2,000 for the first time in more than 30 years,” Axios reports. “This year’s surge in cases and prolonged outbreaks could cause the U.S. to lose its globally recognized measles ‘elimination status’ for the first time in decades by the end of January 2026.” … “The outbreaks come amid Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to downplay the risks of measles and spread misleading claims about the vaccine, while suggesting other alternatives without evidence.”

Fear the New Year

December 31, 2025December 31, 2025 Buck Banks

Donald Trump’s first year back in office has felt like a curse,
The stupidity, cruelty and grifting are hard to put into verse.
But one thing’s for certain,
When we lift 2026’s curtain,
Things are going to go from extraordinarily bad to unbelievably worse.

The Show Won’t Go On

December 31, 2025 Buck Banks

Donald Trump slapped his name on the Kennedy Center because he’s an arse,
So musicians are canceling appearances, even some from the top of the charts.
The center is (unironically) suing them for “political acts,”
But really, Trump needs to face the overwhelming facts —
If artists won’t perform there, it’s no longer a “Center for Performing Arts.”

Epstein Files up to 5.2 Million Documents to be Reviewed

December 31, 2025 Buck Banks

5.2 million

“The Justice Department is seeking to enlist about 400 lawyers to review roughly 5.2 million pages of Epstein files documents, an effort that is drawing in prosecutors who work on national security and criminal cases, and in U.S. attorneys’ offices in New York and Florida,” the New York Times reports. “The number represents a more precise, and potentially much larger, figure than previous estimates provided by the department.” BTW, that comes out to 13,000 pages per lawyer for review.

Nobody Watched Trump’s “Kennedy Center Honors”

December 31, 2025 Buck Banks

3.01 million

“Ratings for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors sunk to its lowest numbers ever as President Trump hosted the once-prestigious event from the renamed Washington, D.C. performing arts center, which he altered to include his name weeks after its taping,” The Wrap reports. “The awards ceremony drew in just 3.01 million viewers as it broadcast on CBS and live streamed on Paramount+ on Tuesday, Dec. 23… As preliminary ratings suggested, the 2025 ceremony marked the lowest audience for the Kennedy Center Honors, and even sunk lower than the Covid-restricted 2021 program, which gathered 4.1 million total viewers, its lowest viewership at the time.”

Day: December 31, 2025

U.S. Measles Cases Hit New High

2,000+

Fear the New Year

The Show Won’t Go On

Epstein Files up to 5.2 Million Documents to be Reviewed

5.2 million

Nobody Watched Trump’s “Kennedy Center Honors”

3.01 million

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”