Trina's Kitchen: Broccoli Cauliflower Cheese Casserole

Kathy has fallen in love with The Honour System's Broccoli Cauliflower Cheese Casserole recipe:

Ingredients

3 cups broccoli florets

3 cups cauliflower florets

½ cup cream cheese *softened

½ cup shredded cheese

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp fine sea salt

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ cup shredded cheese for the topping

Instructions

First, start by heating the oven to 375° and lightly greasing an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish. Use a bit of oil, butter, or spray.
Then, add about 2 inches of water to a large pot, set it over medium-high heat, and bring the water to a low boil. Once the water is bubbling, add the cauliflower and broccoli florets to the pot.
Let them cook for 3-5 minutes until they have softened and are easily pierced by a fork. Be careful not to overcook them as they will be mushy.
Once they are ready, drain the water and set them aside.
Next, in a large mixing bowl, stir together the softened cream cheese with the seasonings.
Once that is combined sprinkle in half a cup of shredded cheese and stir again.
Then, add the steamed broccoli and cauliflower to the bowl and stir to coat them with the cream cheese mixture.
Next, pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spread it out evenly.
Then, sprinkle on the remaining cheese on top.
Finally, place the dish in the preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes until the mixture is bubbling. For a crispier browned top, broil for 2-3 minutes.
Serve warm.

She says it reminds her of a Birds Eye frozen vegetable dish -- Birds Eye Broccoli & Cauliflower Au Gratin Bake.

News? Lex Harvey (CNN) reports:

Indigenous leaders waited on the snowy tarmac at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport Saturday as the precious cargo was unloaded from an Air Canada jet.

The boxes contained more than 60 precious cultural artifacts, including a rare Inuit sealskin kayak, which were taken from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities more than a century ago and have been held in the Vatican museums and vaults ever since.

The emotional homecoming, shown in footage by CNN-affiliate CBC News, represents the culmination of a tireless three-year campaign by Indigenous leaders, which was endorsed by Pope Francis before he died, on the heels of his historic apology for abuses committed at Canada’s church-run residential schools.

The repatriation of the artifacts also comes as museums around the world have increasingly returned items in their collections that were stolen or potentially acquired unethically to their countries of origin.

First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak hailed the return of the artifacts as an “important and emotional moment for many First Nations across the country” during a press conference Saturday.

But she acknowledged that the long project of reconciliation continues.

“We’ve come a long way, and we have a long way to go.”

And that is the story of America: We've come a long way and we have a long way to go. You can't appreciate what we've accomplished without acknowledging the harm we've done.

I'm sorry that so many think they can, for example, wish away slavery. Ignoring it is not the answer. We need to acknowledge and learn and make right our pasts.

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Monday:

Monday, December 8, 2025. Chump is enraged when one of the crooks he pardons doesn't scrape and bow, his ICE is all about quotas and not at all about crimes, Pete Hegseth's transition to War Criminal continues before our eyes, and much more.

Convicted Felon Donald Chump has abused the pardon power. He's pardoned thugs for January 6th and felt no qualms after wards when they've remerged to then threaten the lives of judges or Democratic politicians, when they've threatened police and/or FBI, nothing has bothered him about those pardons.

Because he only pardons his own. He's finally mad about a pardon he's made. Anushka Patil (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:

President Trump on Sunday upbraided Representative Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas, for not switching parties in his re-election bid after Mr. Trump pardoned him and his wife on bribery charges last week, saying Mr. Cuellar’s decision displayed a “lack of LOYALTY.”

Mr. Cuellar was indicted by a federal grand jury last year on charges that he and his wife had accepted roughly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani oil company and a Mexican bank in exchange for promises that he would use his position in ways that would benefit Azerbaijan and the bank.

As one of the few Democrats in Congress who openly criticized former President Biden for not imposing tougher immigration policies, Mr. Cuellar received public support and a pardon from Mr. Trump, who wrote on social media this week that the former president had gone “after the Congressman, and even the Congressman’s wonderful wife, Imelda, simply for speaking the TRUTH.”

But by Sunday, Mr. Trump appeared to have soured on Mr. Cuellar for running for re-election in Texas as a Democrat. In a lengthy social media post, Mr. Trump accused Democrats of looking to “destroy” Mr. Cuellar and blasted him for not switching parties after receiving the pardon. “Next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!” he added.

Donald thinks he was a nice guy? When? For the record, Cuellar's a crook. But people pardoned by Chump this year have gone on to reveal that they're pedophiles, they've gone to kill people, you name it. And nothing resulted in rebuke towards them from Donald after the pardon until it was someone refusing to switch over to the GOP. His pardon system is corrupt and makes us all question the pardoning power of the president. Not just for the choices but also because it appears many pardoned have won their pardon from Chump via bribery. And, yes, giving a pardon as a result of bribery would be a crime and even the Supreme Court would find it difficult to stick their heads far enough up their asses to pretend otherwise.

.

Again, the only time he's been upset over a pardon is when the person didn't agree to become part of the Republican party.

Let's move over to immigration. Last Monday, we noted:

If you celebrated the holiday, hope it was good for you. Friends and family and love. For those who are emotionally and mentally healthy. Those who have issues may have celebrated differently. The dementia prone rage-a-holic in the White House celebrated by harming others. For example? Amanda Holpuch and Annie Correal (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

A 19-year-old college student was about to board a flight to surprise her family for Thanksgiving when she was detained at Boston Logan International Airport and deported to Honduras two days later, her father and lawyer said on Sunday.

The student, Any Lucía López Belloza, was brought by her parents from Honduras to the United States when she was 7. Her father, Francis López, said in a telephone interview on Sunday that neither Ms. López nor her parents knew there was an order for her deportation.

“When they arrested Any, that’s when they told her,” said Mr. López, a tailor.

He said his employer had arranged and paid for his daughter’s travel to Austin, Texas, to surprise him at work.

As if that wasn't bad enough, he's now targeting the young woman's family. Annie Correal (NEW YORK TIMES) notes:

On Sunday, immigration agents appeared at the family home of a recently deported college student in Austin, Texas, according to the family and their lawyer.

The agents arrived in three unmarked vehicles, and one agent in a green vest marked E.R.O. — Enforcement and Removal Operations — rushed toward the student’s father, Francis López, as he washed his car, Mr. López said. He ran into his backyard and closed a latched gate. The agent forced open the gate and proceeded to enter the backyard.

Mr. López entered his house and locked the back door, he said. After about two hours, the agents left, without ever trying to communicate with the family or knocking on the door.

Any Lucía López Belloza, a 19-year-old freshman at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., was traveling home to surprise her family for Thanksgiving when she was detained by immigration authorities at Logan International Airport in Boston on Nov. 20. She was deported two days later to Honduras, the Central American country from which she and her parents fled more than a decade ago.

Ms. López’s case has drawn attention to the expanding scope of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally.

Immigration authorities cited a 2015 order of deportation in justifying the removal of Ms. López. Her lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, said he found no record of such an order and that she had been deported in violation of a court order that a federal judge signed on Nov. 21 that said Ms. López could not be removed from the United States while her case was pending.

It was not clear why agents from E.R.O., which is part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, appeared at Ms. López’s parents’ home on Sunday, but Ms. López and her father have spoken broadly to the media about the case.

It seems very clear to me. It's not about crimes. It's about quotas. So they deport Any and then they go after her family. It's not about crimes, it's never been about crimes. It's about quotas. That's why ICE haunts courthouses and goes after those legally working to become citizens. They know where these people are and they get to meet their quotas. Sometimes I picture the US in 2035 and picture people like Kristi Noem slitting their own throats, unable to live anymore. Due to the guilt? Oh, hell no. People like that are deranged and blame their actions on others. No, people like Noem will take their own lives when they realize the whole country hates them and they no longer have an office that provides with security and lets them live on a military base or travel via government planes. No, when they're back in the mix and have to face the public and people say things to them like, "You're a trollop who publicly cheated on your husband while betraying democracy as Secretary of Homeland Security" or when just walking into a Kroger store results in every customer turning around and booing them, that's when losers like Noem take their own life.

Let's note this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

***(WARNING: Graphic Content) Photos of Wilmer’s injuries, photos of Wilmer and his children, and partial video of his detainment are available to the press HERE***

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the following statement condemning the violent and unwarranted assault of her constituent, Wilmer Toledo-Martinez, and calling for his immediate release from the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC).

“On November 14, 2025, my constituent Wilmer was mauled by an ICE attack dog even though he has consistently explained that he was not resisting arrest or attempting to flee. His wife and two of his young children, ages two and three, all U.S. citizens, were forced to watch helplessly as he was violently attacked and dragged away. For hours afterward, he was denied even basic medical care following this unprovoked assault. The photos documenting his injuries are horrific. This should shock the conscience of every one of us. I do not want to live in an America where federal agents can sic attack dogs on peaceful residents with impunity and face no consequences.

“While Donald Trump’s entire mass deportation agenda has been nothing short of depraved, this is especially sickening. By now, everyone should realize, Trump is not going after violent criminals or the worst of the worst—he is terrorizing everyone, including U.S. citizens and their loved ones.

“I am calling for Wilmer’s immediate release from NWIPC—he has no criminal convictions, he poses no threat to the community, and he urgently needs appropriate medical care since ICE is denying him the treatment he requires. I am grateful for Wilmer’s willingness to let me share his story—there’s no telling how many similar stories are not being told for fear of retaliation. Every one of us must demand justice and accountability and every one of us must speak out against these kinds of human rights abuses.”

According to his attorney, Wilmer was violently detained by ICE and mauled by an attack dog despite not resisting arrest or attempting to flee. An ICE agent lured Wilmer out of his home under false pretenses, posing as a construction worker who claimed to have hit Wilmer’s car and needed him to step outside to verify. Another agent, accompanied by a dog, was hiding nearby and released the dog on Wilmer shortly after he stepped outside. Following the attack, Wilmer was left shaking and dizzy, and at one point his vision went black, yet he was denied medical care for hours. He was eventually taken to a hospital, where he received stitches for his injuries. He was prescribed antibiotics and additional medication, but the antibiotics were not provided immediately, and the other medication was never provided. Throughout his detention, Wilmer has repeatedly reported that obtaining adequate medical care has been extremely difficult. Wilmer, who is currently undocumented, was brought to the United States at the age of 15. Wilmer is married to a U.S. citizen and is the father of three U.S. born children, ages two, three, and seven, and this brutality has devastated the entire family.

###

Senator Patty Murray did the right thing. A number of US senators are. Bernie Sanders doesn't and it's not just because ICE provides a lot of jobs in Vermont. Bernie's xenophobia has been the thing that Bernie Bros have ignored even though you can find IN THESE TIMES calling him out for that back when he was in the US House of Representatives. "They're taking our jobs!" That was Bernie for many years and he never disowned that attitude, he just stopped making public statements. That's because other Socialists were getting very offended by his remarks and his scapegoating. The 84 year old man needs to go and those who keep praising him only demonstrate their stupidity and their lack of history. Whether it was his early support for apartheid or anything else, Bernie's never been the Saint his bros paint him as. And right now he's failing immigrants in Vermont. You lying bros may be able to cover for him and run interference in the right-now but when he's out of office or dead, you'll be too busy lying for some other politicians to beat back the truth on Bernie. History will show just how lousy he was and how he was not held accountable.

As part of the destruction of America that the lack of accountability results in, we have Pete Hegseth who is in the midst of his transition from TV personality to War Criminal. Hegseth appears to be on hormone therapy which would explain how he suffers from road rage even when not behind the wheel of a car. Well captured in this SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE skit.

Saturday, before the skit aired, he spoke to the press about . . . nothing at all. Robert McCoy (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went to great lengths Saturday to avoid saying whether the military will release the full, unedited video of its controversial September 2 double-tap strikes on a boat it claims was carrying drugs in the Caribbean.

Thus far, only footage of the first strike has been released to the public. The full unreleased video, however, reportedly goes on to show two survivors clinging to the wreckage, before they were killed by a second strike that legal experts have described as a war crime or murder.

Democratic lawmakers who viewed the full video of the strikes, which killed 11 people, this week said it was “one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service” and that it “confirmed my worst fears about the nature of the Trump administration’s military activities.”

When asked Wednesday if his administration would release footage of the second strike, President Donald Trump’s answer was simple: “Whatever they have, we’d certainly release, no problem.”

His defense secretary was much more evasive.

Can he evade answers for ever? CBS NEWS notes, "Two people who survived an early September U.S. attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean were waving overhead before they were killed in a now-controversial second strike, according to two sources familiar with a video that was shown to lawmakers this week." Hegseth got an answer to that?

No.

Andre Damon (WSWS) notes:

On Saturday, NBC reported that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth “ordered the US military on September 2 to kill all 11 people” on a motorboat traveling between Venezuela and Trinidad, contradicting the administration’s denials that no such order was given.

The report substantiates the claim made by the Washington Post in a report on November 28 that Hegseth gave a “spoken directive” and that “The order was to kill everybody.”

NBC’s report contradicts the statement also issued by Hegseth Saturday that allegations that he gave an order to “kill everybody” were “patently ridiculous.”

Following an initial attack on a civilian speedboat in the Caribbean on September 2, the US military, at the direction of Admiral Frank Bradley, launched a second strike, targeting two survivors who had climbed on top of the capsized boat and were reportedly waving at US military aircraft in a request for rescue. The US military launched two more strikes, sinking what was left of the boat in a likely effort to conceal their crimes.

The Pentagon’s law of war manual declares that soldiers have a duty to refuse to carry out “clearly illegal” orders, such as killing shipwrecked sailors. “Orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal,” the manual declares.

The story isn't going away. People are focused on this. He continues to lose support in Congress. Sarah Fortinsky (THE HILL) reports:

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot and combat veteran, said the military operation that killed 11 alleged drug traffickers, including two initial survivors, in the Caribbean in early September was “essentially murder.”

In a Sunday interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Duckworth pushed back on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comparison of the operation in the Caribbean to the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, where both Duckworth and Hegseth deployed.

“Well, there was actually a vote by Congress to put us at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. There was no such a vote, there was no such debate here in this situation,” Duckworth said.

She praised military personnel as “the utmost professionals” but said, “The problem is, they have not been authorized to be at war.”

Duckworth said she sees critical differences in the way the operations are being carried out. For one thing, she said, the individuals targeted by the U.S. military in the alleged drug boat “were not even aimed at the United States.”

Here's the video.

And it's not just Democrats like Tammy Duckworth. SKY NEWS notes:

Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney claims some members of the Republican Party are beginning to “push back” against US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s boat strikes. “It’s interesting to me as an observer because it’s one of the places that the Republican Party, on the hill, the Senate and the House, have started to push back a little bit against the Trump administration,” Mr Mulvaney told Sky News Australia. “Now you’ve got some very high-profile Republican senators and high-profile Republican House members starting to call Hegseth’s decision-making, especially regarding these Venezuelan drug boats, into question.”

Congress is talking about it. The story gets more and more traction. Snigdha Gairola (BENZINGA) reports:

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is demanding full transparency from the Pentagon after a recent military strike reportedly killed shipwrecked survivors at sea, calling the action both unlawful and morally unacceptable.

On Sunday, Schiff posted on X, criticized the killing as "a textbook violation of the laws of war" and called on the Pentagon to release the full video.

"If Hegseth is so proud of the killing of these survivors, the Pentagon should release the full video, just like they have with other boat strikes," he said.

And Kaja Hubbard (CBS NEWS) notes:

Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has "zero credibility" on the September strikes on an alleged drug boat, citing "shifting explanations" from the Pentagon for the second strike, which has drawn scrutiny in recent weeks.

Himes was among a small number of lawmakers who last week received briefings from military officials behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, which centered on the Trump administration's campaign against alleged drug trafficking boats off the coast of South America, including the Sept. 2 follow-on strike that has become a flashpoint in Congress. The lawmakers were shown video of the second strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat, after the Washington Post reported a week earlier that a second attack killed two survivors of the initial strike.

Himes, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters after the briefing that "what I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service."

Appearing on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sunday, Himes urged that it's "really important that this video be made public," noting that the interpretation of the video from lawmakers who were briefed "broke down precisely on party lines."

"And so this is an instance in which I think the American public needs to judge for itself," Himes said. "I know how the public is going to react because I felt my own reaction."

Steff Danielle Thomas (THE HILL) notes:

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) took his criticism of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth a step further Friday, claiming the Pentagon chief’s recent decisions have “ruined his credibility.”

“I’ve been on the record already,” he told Politico’s Dasha Burns, who also hosts “Ceasefire” on C-SPAN. “After Signalgate, I think I’ve seen enough. What I really wanted to see was someone take responsibility -- own to a mistake.”

Joseph Gedeon (GUARDIAN) reports:

Senator Patty Murray, the Democratic vice-chair of the Senate appropriations committee, called for Hegseth’s firing following a bipartisan briefing on the incident on Thursday. “Between overseeing this campaign in the Caribbean, risking US servicemembers’ lives by sharing war plans on Signal, and so much else, it could not be more obvious that Secretary Hegseth is unfit for the role, and it is past time for him to go,” Murray said.

No accountability, not even coherent lies. Bernd Debusmann Jr (BBC NEWS) notes the constantly changing storyline the White House attempts to pimp. The frustration continues to mount. Articles of Impeachment were introduced on Thursday:

[. . .] Congressman Shri Thanedar wrote Articles of Impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for Murder and Conspiracy to Murder, and for Reckless and Unlawful Mishandling of Classified Information.

“Pete Hegseth is uniquely unqualified to serve as Secretary of Defense,” said Congressman Thanedar. “Every day he serves in this role, he puts American servicemembers and their families in danger. He gave direct, unlawful orders to kill every single person on a civilian boat from Venezuela, violating the Defense Department’s Law of War Manual.”

“Additionally, his mishandling of classified information, leaking war plans in a Signal chat which included sensitive operations details, including target systems and attack times, has put American lives at risk. He can no longer serve as our Secretary of Defense, which is why I am introducing these articles of impeachment.”

And that's only one of Hegseth's two scandals currently. Joseph Gedeon (GUARDIAN) reports:

Pete Hegseth is facing the most serious crisis of his tenure as defense secretary, engulfed by allegations of war crimes in the Caribbean and a blistering inspector general report accusing him of mishandling classified military intelligence. Yet despite the long list of trouble and as lawmakers from both parties call for his resignation, Hegseth shows no signs of stepping down and still holds Donald Trump’s support.

The twin crises have engulfed the former Fox News personality in separate but overlapping allegations that lawmakers, policy experts and former officials say reveal a pattern of dangerous recklessness at the helm of the Pentagon. Democratic legislators have reignited calls for his ouster after revelations that survivors clinging to wreckage from a September boat strike were deliberately killed in a “double-tap” attack, while a defense department investigation released on Thursday concluded he violated Pentagon policies by sharing sensitive details via the Signal messaging app hours before airstrikes in Yemen.

[. . .]

Compounding Hegseth’s bad week, the defense department inspector general report released on Thursday concluded that he violated Pentagon policies by using Signal to share precise details about upcoming airstrikes in Yemen, including the quantity and strike times of manned US aircraft over hostile territory, approximately two to four hours before the missions were executed on 15 March.

The report determined that Hegseth’s actions “created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed US mission objectives and potential harm to US pilots”. The information, which was marked as secret and not to be shared with foreign nationals, was transmitted via Hegseth’s unclassified personal device in group chats with other Trump administration officials. The investigation also found he failed to retain all associated messages, violating federal record-keeping requirements.

The following states updated: