“Ending wars and creating lasting peace are rarely easy, and it usually requires an outright victory by one side (followed by a reasonable settlement that discourages the losers from trying to reverse the results) or mutual recognition that nothing is to be gained by continuing the fighting. In the latter case, both sides must accept that they are not going to get everything they want and focus instead on obtaining enough of what they need to be satisfied. In either case, however, a host of details need to be worked out …. Ideally, a peace agreement will also point the way to long-term reconciliation, a process that typically takes a long time. Evenhanded third-party mediators can facilitate all these steps and help guarantee that an agreement sticks. Trump is a poor peacemaker because he and his team ignore all these requirements.” (12/22/25)
“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to force a vote on a measure to allow the chamber to jump-start litigation against the Trump administration for failing to comply with the new law requiring the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. ‘The law Congress passed is crystal clear: release the Epstein files in full so Americans can see the truth,’ the New York Democrat said in a statement Monday. ‘Instead, the Trump Department of Justice dumped redactions and withheld the evidence — that breaks the law. Today, I am introducing a resolution to force the Senate to take legal action and compel this administration to comply.’ … It’s unlikely that enough Republicans would join Democrats in supporting the measure, but Schumer intends to put his colleagues on the spot in January, bringing the resolution to the floor when the Senate reconvenes after the holiday recess.” (12/22/25)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“As with American young people, the suicide rate among current and former military personnel continues to rise. The way I figure it is that when young people are checking out of life early, that’s a surefire way to know that there is something dreadfully wrong with that society. I believe that the same holds true for a nation’s military personnel — those who ostensibly devote their lives to the defense of the United States. The common perception is that soldiers who commit suicide are suffering from PTSD — that is, from the mental and emotional problems arising from the overall horror of combat and war. That might well be a factor but I don’t believe it is the biggest factor. I have long contended that the biggest factor leading soldiers and former soldiers to take their own lives is guilt — deeply seated guilt arising from the wrongful killing of other human beings.” (12/22/25)
“South Korea’s rival political parties are set to appoint special prosecutors to investigate allegations that the Unification Church bribed and lobbied politicians across the ideological divide, a rare move that observers have said could test the country’s constitutional separation of religion and politics. On Monday, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said it would accept a proposal from the conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP) for the team of special prosecutors to investigate the church’s alleged political influence. The decision marks a turnaround for the DPK, which has previously opposed the idea, and reflects growing public pressure to launch an inquiry to examine politicians from both ruling and opposition parties over their supposed links to the Unification Church.” (12/22/25)
“You may have heard of Bari Weiss. Ms. Weiss became famous for leaving her position as an opinion writer at the New York Times and starting the Free Press and recently being named editor-in-chief at CBS News under the pro-Trump ownership of the Ellison family. The Free Press embraced conspiracy, controversy, and ‘debate’ in a bid to earn newsletter subscribers, which resulted in backing down from Radley Balko over an inaccurate and conspiratorial George Floyd story. It’s an incredible rise, but is unlikely to end well because Bari Weiss doesn’t know what she doesn’t know. Reporting on the news requires attention to detail and accuracy that writing an opinion column doesn’t. If you’re wrong about an opinion, nobody gets sued for defamation. Wrong about material facts that damage someone’s reputation … well that’s a different story.” (12/22/25)
Source: The Erick Erickson Show
by Erick-Woods Erickson
“A story has come out that the State of Georgia inappropriately counted 315,000 votes in Fulton County, Georgia. Elon Musk and others have recirculated the claim and it is being amped up by conservative writers, talk hosts, etc. It is simply not true. 315,000 is the early in-person votes cast in Fulton County. The issue is not about the legitimacy of the votes. It is about the failure of an election bureaucrat to sign a certificate related to poll closing tapes. There actually is no law that requires the certificate be signed for the votes to count. … Y’all, there were absolutely issues in the election. But this really is not one.” (12/22/25)
“The Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 career diplomats from ambassadorial and other senior embassy posts as it moves to reshape the U.S. diplomatic posture abroad with personnel deemed fully supportive of President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ priorities. The chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries were informed last week that their tenures would end in January, according to two State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel moves.” (12/22/25)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Lucas Sylveira de Campos Mouawad
“President Donald Trump created new tariffs on April 2, a day he would come to call the Liberation Day. In July, he decided to increase tariff rates. On November 20, the same decided to pull 10 percent of the tariff he had imposed on Brazilian goods entering the US economy, leaving the rate at 40 percent. Brazil is the greatest coffee producer and exporter in the world, and its coffee used to represent one-third of what the United States of America consumed. With the tariffs imposed in April, prices rose rapidly and consumers in the US felt unsatisfied with the quality of product they had been getting, and — in case they wanted the same type of coffee they had been getting before Liberation Day — they would have to pay more for the same.” (12/22/25)
“Aircrete Harry comes back on the show to talk about building and construction techniques, with Aircrete, what he has learned over the years, equipment, materials, structural, R-Value, cost, popularity, etc.” (12/22/25)
