THANK YOU to supporter DB, whose $10 donation over the weekend brings our year-end fundraiser total to $1,433.84!
We’re 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.
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Thailand has launched airstrikes along its disputed border with Cambodia after both countries accused each other of breaching a ceasefire deal brokered by Donald Trump. Four Cambodian civilians and at least one Thai soldier have been killed in the renewed clashes, which have forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. Thailand’s military said airstrikes were launched after one of its soldiers was killed and four others wounded in fighting along the countries’ tense border on Monday morning. The Thai air force said it was striking military targets in several areas and accused Cambodia of mobilising heavy weaponry and repositioning combat units. Cambodia’s defence ministry blamed Thailand for the escalation.” (12/08/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/08/thailand-airstrikes-disputed-border-cambodia
Source: Antiwar.com
by Andrew P Napolitano
“When Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted a meme of Franklin the Turtle, the amiable child’s cartoon character, in a helicopter using a military weapon to kill people in a small boat below him, and captioned it ‘For your Christmas wish list,’ it understandably caused an uproar. Should the secretary of defense be mocking the people his troops have killed? Should he engage a child’s cartoon character to produce this mockery? Should anyone in his right mind, who professes to understand Christianity, suggest that this killing should be on a child’s Christmas wish list? Should he be killing nonviolent boatpeople? Here is the back story.” (12/05/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/andrew-p-napolitano/2025/12/04/murder-for-christmas
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Yep, that’s a War Crime.” (12/06/25)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-320-yep-thats-a-war-crime
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin traded just above $91,300 on Monday as Asian equities opened the week slightly higher ahead of a heavy run of central bank decisions, including a Federal Reserve meeting where markets have largely priced in a 25-basis-point rate cut. … Crypto markets followed the broader tone. Bitcoin rose 2% over the past 24 hours and is up more than 6% over the past week, extending last week’s rebound but meeting early resistance near the $94,000 area. … Ether gained 3% to trade near $3,135, outperforming most majors on the day and logging a 10.6% advance over the past week. BNB added 1%, Solana rose about 1.6%, Lido’s stETH climbed almost 3%, and XRP traded around $2.08 after a 1.2% uptick. Cardano led declines in the top tier, slipping about 1.4% on the day.” (12/08/25)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/12/08/eth-ada-xrp-lead-gains-as-bitcoin-edges-higher-on-fed-rate-cut-expectations
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“President Donald Trump embarked on a serial murder spree around the Caribbean in September, ordering boats (and people) blown up by US military forces on the pretense that he’s fighting a ‘narco-terrorist cartel’ headed by Maduro (on whose head he’s placed a $50 million bounty). He’s also steadily increased the US military presence in the region, rattling the American saber for ‘regime change’ in Caracas. It’s been tempting, so far, to write Trump’s belligerence off as an attempt to distract from his domestic political failures …. On the other hand, if he’s really going to take the US to war with Venezuela, what better moment — for theatrical and propaganda purposes — to launch a full-scale attack than just as his quisling of choice accepts a ‘peace prize’ in Oslo?” (12/06/25)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20193
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Russia continued its air strikes on Ukraine overnight, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a ‘very constructive’ phone call with Donald Trump’s negotiating team following three days of talks in Florida. Early on Sunday the mayor of Kremenchuk, a major industrial hub in central Ukraine, said the city had been repeatedly struck in a ‘massive’ attack. No deaths have been confirmed so far. Meanwhile, Russia said it had shot down 77 Ukrainian drones in several locations.” (12/07/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz680jx511no
Source: Pierre Lemieux
by Pierre Lemieux
“In 2019, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, famously wrote: ‘We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!’ The ‘boys’ are US soldiers, but who is we and which possessor does our refer to? … The fundamental problem with collectives is this: hidden under any collective are different and distinct individuals. Without starting from this elemental fact, one cannot understand the behavior of the collectives and sub-collectives that can be drawn around individuals. One cannot understand the social consequences of individual actions.” (12/06/25)
https://pierrelemieux.substack.com/p/our-killing-machines
Source: Reuters
“Benin’s government said on Sunday its armed forces had foiled a coup attempt after a group of soldiers in the West African nation claimed on national television to have seized power. … At least eight soldiers, several wearing helmets, went on state television on Sunday morning to announce that a military committee led by Colonel Tigri Pascal had taken over and was dissolving national institutions, suspending the constitution and closing air, land and maritime borders. … Gunfire could be heard earlier on Sunday in several neighbourhoods of Cotonou, the country’s largest city and economic hub, as residents were trying to make their way to church early on Sunday morning.” (12/07/25)
https://archive.is/6x2oZ
Source: Racket News
by Matt Taibbi
“The Digital Services Act, the European Commission’s content control law developed across multiple stages dating to the mid-2010s, has finally become fully operational, in Star Wars parlance. Officials announced a long-threatened €120 million (about $140 million) fine of Elon Musk’s X platform, with the major offenses being the use of a ‘deceptive’ check mark program and failure to ‘provide researchers with access to the platform’s public data.’ The fine comes at a strange time. A few weeks ago, the EC began a public campaign of walking back its biggest censorship initiatives, thanks to a growing belief that its stifling regulatory environment was costing Old-World companies a chance to compete for investment in AI technology.” (12/05/25)
https://www.racket.news/p/europe-fires-a-speech-warning
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“For the first time in two years, the Christmas tree in Bethlehem lit up the night sky, restoring a glimmer of joy to the birthplace of Jesus after seasons overshadowed by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Palestinians watching the lighting said the celebration carried a dual meaning: Hope in the Nativity and a yearning for freedom from the Israeli siege gripping Bethlehem and cities across the occupied territory. … This year’s celebrations were limited to religious rituals, attended by church leaders and local officials who stood on a stage in Manger Square for a modest tree-lighting ceremony. Thousands gathered in the square, singing hymns and listening to choirs carolling – the only form of festivity permitted at a time many described as a mix of joy and mourning.” (12/07/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/7/bethlehems-christmas-tree-lights-up-after-two-years-of-darkness
