Doom, Despair, and Agony on Us (Year-End Fundraiser Update)

After a “zero-dollar day,” our year-end fundraiser total remains at $1,433.84.

We’re more than 75% of the way through our only annual fundraiser period, but only 52% of the way to our goal. I don’t know if we’ve ever been this far behind, this late in the game, before.

In order to reach our goal of $5,501, we must raise another $1,316.66. That will get us to the halfway point, after which reader GL has pledged to “match funds” for the other half.

But unless we raise the first half, we don’t get the second.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT’S DAILY NEWSPAPER AT:

https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily

France: Brigitte Macron criticised after using sexist slur against feminist protesters

Source: The Guardian [UK]

“French celebrities and politicians on the left have expressed outrage after Brigitte Macron was filmed using a derogatory and sexist slur to describe feminist protesters at a theatre show in Paris. A video filmed on Sunday showed France’s first lady in discussion backstage at the Folies Bergère theatre in Paris with Ary Abittan, a French actor and comedian previously accused of rape, before a performance he was about to give. The previous night, feminist campaigners had disrupted his show with shouts of: ‘Abittan, rapist!’ Before Sunday’s performance, Macron asked him how he was feeling. When he said he was feeling scared, she referred to the protesters as ‘sales connes’ (dirty or stupid bitches) and adding that if they reappeared, ‘we’ll toss them out.’ … Politicians on the left criticised the use of a sexist slur and some said Brigitte Macron should apologise.” (12/09/25)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/09/brigitte-macron-filmed-slur-feminist-protesters-paris

How To Heal When The World Is On Fire

Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

“I think first we need to be clear that healing and feeling secure are two different things. Healing isn’t about getting away from uncomfortable feelings, it’s about moving right into them and feeling them fully. After we have done our work and healing has occurred we tend to notice that we feel better, but the actual work of healing begins in discomfort. That’s where the rubber meets the road on this path. Healing is when you find a part of yourself that has been acting out unconsciously over and over again throughout your life, by getting annoyed or upset or collapsing into helplessness, or by freezing up, freezing out, or freaking out. You start paying attention to how these unconscious behaviors play in yourself (either in your outward behavior or privately in your internal suffering), and you get real curious about how that is happening.” (12/09/25)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/12/09/how-to-heal-when-the-world-is-on-fire/

TX: Two abducted for doing business; $50 million in merchandise stolen

Source: Engadget

“The Southern District of Texas announced the seizure of more than $50 million in NVIDIA GPUs bound for China in violation of US export laws. Authorities arrested two businessmen, one of them the owner of a Houston company, accused of smuggling the chips used to train and run AI models. … The smuggling operation used a combination of falsified paperwork, purposefully misclassified goods, straw purchasers and even removing the NVIDIA labels on GPUs to ship them to both mainland China and Hong Kong. The conspirators face between 10 and 20 years in prison if convicted.” (12/09/25)

https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/texas-authorities-have-made-multiple-arrests-in-an-nvidia-gpu-smuggling-operation-144749526.html?src=rss

The “double-tap” is not the issue; it’s the whole war

Source: The Hill

“The Pentagon’s own manual on the laws of war describes a scenario similar to the Sept. 2 boat-strike in discussing when service members should refuse to comply with unlawful orders. ‘For example,’ says Section 7.3 of the manual, ‘orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal.’ But I would argue that all the focus on the ‘double-tap’ is misguided. The real issue, the issue we should be focusing on, is not one illegal double-strike on Sept. 2. The issue is Trump’s whole illegal war. As of this writing, the U.S. military has bombed 23 small boats allegedly transporting illegal drugs off the coast of Venezuela, killing 87 people. And yet to date, the administration has not provided one iota of proof that the boats were actually carrying illegal drugs. Even if they were, those boats posed no national security threat to the U.S.” (12/09/25)

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/5639880-double-tap-caribbean-bombing/

Promoting free or even paid-for landfill use

Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie

“There are economic, environmental, and practical arguments for making landfill disposal free or even subsidized, rather than charging tipping fees. The major case for free or subsidized landfill disposal is that it reduces Illegal dumping. Charging per ton or per bag creates an incentive for some households and businesses to illegally dump waste to avoid fees. And illegal dumping cleanup is expensive for municipalities, because cleanup costs sometimes exceed the revenue from tipping fees. Eliminating fees would remove the incentive to dump in streets, rivers, or abandoned lots. Free disposal would lead to fewer external cleanup costs. Furthermore, it would encourage proper waste management by small businesses. Many small contractors, such as roofers, landscapers, carpenters face tight margins, and tipping fees can encourage burning waste onsite, causing air pollution, dumping in forests or fields.” (12/09/25)

https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/promoting-free-or-even-paid-for-landfill-use

Lithuania: Regime declares emergency over Belarus balloons

Source: BBC News [UK state media]

“The Lithuanian government has declared a ‘nationwide emergency situation’ in response to a series of incursions from neighbouring Belarus by weather balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes. Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene condemned the balloon incursions as a ‘hybrid attack’ by Belarus that posed a real risk to national security and civil aviation. This year alone, officials say about 600 balloons linked to smuggling and almost 200 drones have entered Lithuanian airspace, leading to the repeated closure of Vilnius airport. Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko denies being behind the incursions, alleging the issue has been ‘politicised’ by Lithuania, which is a member of both the EU and Nato.” (12/09/25)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39pr3d10wlo