“Ukraine’s latest drone raid has struck a critical air base close to the border that serves as a key location for the launch of Russian missiles into Ukraine, Kyiv reported. The Millerovo area, located in Russia’s Rostov Oblast, was hammered by UAVs on Monday evening, Rostov Regional Governor Yury Slyusar posted to Telegram. Slyusar said about a dozen drones had been intercepted during the overnight raid and that no casualties had been confirmed. According to Ukrainian officials, however, the drones successfully struck Millerovo air base, situated a few miles from the occupied regions of Ukraine. The Ukrainian outlet Censor.net reported that local residents heard explosions near the airfield, while independent Russian newspaper the Moscow Times, citing eyewitnesses on social media, reported fires breaking out on the streets of Millerovo and damage to the Millerovo Cossack Cadet Vocational College.” (12/24/24)
Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“The Christmas story of a baby born in a manger is a familiar one. The Roman Empire, a police state in its own right, had ordered that a census be conducted. Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary traveled to the little town of Bethlehem so that they could be counted. There being no room for the couple at any of the inns, they stayed in a stable (a barn), where Mary gave birth to a baby boy, Jesus. Warned that the government planned to kill the baby, Jesus’ family fled with him to Egypt until it was safe to return to their native land. Yet what if Jesus had been born 2,000 years later? What if, instead of being born into the Roman police state, Jesus had been born at this moment in time? What kind of reception would Jesus and his family be given?” (12/23/24)
“President Biden on Monday commuted the sentences of nearly all prisoners on federal death row, sparing the lives of 37 men just a month before Donald J. Trump will return to the Oval Office with a promise to restart federal executions. Those affected by Mr. Biden’s action, all of whom were convicted of murder, will serve life imprisonment without the possibility of parole instead of facing execution. Only three men, who each carried out notorious mass killings, will remain on federal death row. The president campaigned in 2020 on ending the federal death penalty. Although proposed legislation to that effect failed to advance in Congress during his administration, Mr. Biden directed the Justice Department to issue a moratorium on federal executions. Thirteen prisoners on federal death row were put to death during Mr. Trump’s first term.” (12/23/24)
“Observers of the American presidency warn with increasing frequency that the office of the country’s chief executive has acquired power more befitting a monarchy than a republic with elected officials. But what if the person holding that office is a placeholder for aides who cocoon the president and who really make the decisions? That is, what if all that growing power is wielded by an unelected and relatively faceless circle of advisers? That brings us to the Biden administration which, in just one term, has powerfully reinforced the argument for making the presidency much less important.” (12/23/24)
“Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pleaded not guilty to state murder and terror charges Monday. Mangione, 26, replied ‘not guilty’ as he was presented the 11 charges in connection with the shooting, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. If convicted of the state charges, Mangione faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office said he has been working with federal authorities to make the arraignment happen even though a time has not been set.” (12/23/24)
“Charity naturally has circles and gradients. A charitable soul will perforce soon go bankrupt unless she targets and calibrates her gifts. Individual philanthropy might ignore the neediest, who tend to be socially remote from prosperous potential donors. Private institutions — for example, churches and charitable foundations — might partly specialize in extending the scope of sympathy and charity, if they, too, can reliably identify true need and desert. However, A Christmas Carol focusses narrowly on the issue of individual philanthropy by businessmen. Dickens ignores the invisible hand of markets-and-competition. Given the stark fallout of rapid industrialization and urbanization, his focus is understandable. Nonetheless the focus on Scrooge’s redemption implicitly oversells the potential effectiveness of seasonal charity in business circles as a remedy to destitution.” (12/23/24)
“A federal judge has struck down as unconstitutional two provisions of a state law aimed at criminalizing the furnishing of obscene materials to minors at public libraries and bookstores. The law was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas and others on behalf of a coalition of public libraries, booksellers, patrons of bookstores, boookseller associations and author associations. … Plaintiffs argued the law was vague and contained undefined terms that could subject the librarian and bookstore plaintiffs to a credible fear of prosecution, as they are uncertain what lengths they must go to in order to comply with the law. [U.S. District Judge Timothy L.] Brooks said it also follows that to avoid criminal prosecution, librarians and booksellers would have no other choice but to burden older minors’ and adults’ access to books that contain even a modicum of sexual content.” (12/23/24)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Roger Koopman
“Reproducing this story fifty years later delivers an especially poignant message. It is just as relevant now as it was in 1974, and none of the federal harassments Santa faced back then have gone away! They have only grown more pervasive and more crushing of our liberties.” (12/23/24)
“The office of French President Emmanuel Macron presented a new government under new Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Monday, almost three weeks after the collapse of the previous administration. This is France’s fourth government in 2024.” (12/23/24)
