Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“What gives Congress the authority to censor, insult, abuse, humiliate, question, and pressure college presidents on any campus policy? The answer is that such authority comes from the schools’ decision to go on the government dole through the receipt of taxpayer-funded grants and subsidies from either the state or federal governments. Thus, the dole gives Congress the authority to control, manage, and supervise these institutions of higher learning. This is what all too many colleges and universities are loath to acknowledge — that when they went on the dole, the piper ended up calling the tune.” (12/08/23)
“Backing the war to the hilt has been an outrageous moral failure, and it is also an incredibly stupid policy because it just paves the way for more conflict and suffering in the future.” (12/08/23)
“One way of understanding the ongoing bloodbath pitting Israel against Hamas is to see it as just the latest chapter in an existential struggle dating back to the founding of the Jewish state in 1948. While the appalling scope, destructiveness, and duration of the fighting in Gaza may outstrip previous episodes, this latest go-around serves chiefly to reaffirm the remarkable intractability of the underlying Arab-Israeli conflict. Although the shape of that war has changed over time, certain constants remain.” (12/08/23)
“French prosecutors on Friday ordered far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen to stand trial over claims she used EU funds to finance party activities in France. The former presidential candidate will in March be joined by 26 other members of the National Rally (RN) party in the dock, all accused of setting up a system for embezzling EU money to hire staff in France. The fake jobs inquiry began in 2015, with prosecutors alleging that starting in 2004, National Front eurodeputies including Le Pen took part in the fake jobs scheme. The accused include Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the co-founder of what became France’s most successful far-right party. The party itself, as a legal entity, is suspected of receiving illicit funds, and of complicity in fraud.” (12/08/23)
“Even if one were to take at face value Israel’s declarations that its assault on the Gaza Strip and its two million residents is all about ‘destroying Hamas,’ the Israeli operation is too misguided for the United States or any other power to support or condone it. Hamas cannot be destroyed with bombs and a ground invasion, and even if it could, the operation is worsening, not enhancing, the future security of Israeli citizens. But the Israeli declarations should not be taken at face value in any event. Other motivations are also likely behind the Israeli assault. Almost two months into the Israeli offensive, the evidence is increasingly suggesting that Israel is engaged in nothing less than ethnic cleansing of Palestinians who live in the Strip.” (12/08/23)
“How do you mark the anniversary of Prohibition’s repeal? At Reason we celebrate the hard-won victory of (relative) sanity that led to the passage of the 21st Amendment repealing the 18th Amendment and clearing the way for Americans to again (legally) consume alcoholic beverages. We also point to lessons that can be learned from failed efforts to use the force of law to prevent people from making their own choices. But if you’re an international nanny-stater, you use the day to call for restrictions on popular beverages.” (12/08/23)
“There is a reason why Palestinians are keen on releasing their prisoners, despite the heavy price they continue to pay for their freedom. It may seem rational to ask the question: what is the point of releasing a few Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons, if the price of doing so is the death of over 15,000 Palestinians in Gaza? In fact, even if all Palestinian prisoners – numbering about 7,000 – are released, they would not even amount to 30 percent of the total number of Palestinian dead and missing, so far, in the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Strip. The logic may sound even more puzzling when we consider that, between October 7 and November 28, Israel has detained over 3,290 Palestinians in the West Bank and Occupied East Jerusalem.” (12/08/23)
“Clovis police say a homeowner shot an intruder as they tried to break into their home earlier this week. Around 11:00 p.m. on December 4, a resident called 911 to report someone trying to break into their home. Officers responded to the home on Rosa Boulevard. While officers were responding, the homeowner called 911 again and said the person tried to force their way into the home and they shot the intruder. The suspect was taken to the hospital before being transferred to a medical facility in Lubbock.” (12/07/23)
