Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin
“The risk of migrant terrorism is low, immigrants generally have lower crime rates than natives, and migration restrictions are both unjust and less effective than other strategies for reducing violence.” (12/24/24)
Source: Law & Liberty
by Richard Gunderman
“In ancient Greece, those who sought counsel from the Oracle at Delphi passed under an arch that bore the inscription, ‘Know thyself.’ Presumably, those who did not know themselves would be ill-equipped to hear the truth. Yet unanswered questions reverberate down through the ages: what form does such self-knowledge take, how are we to gain it, and what difference will it make if we do? Knowing yourself could mean many things. Knowing your strengths and your limits. Knowing that you are both mortal and sinful. Knowing that you are an embodied creature with a soul. Knowing that you are not an island. Or knowing that, in knowing yourself, you glimpse reality itself, the universe.” (12/24/24)
Source: Bloomberg
“Banking and business groups sued the Federal Reserve over the central bank’s annual stress tests, saying they’re seeking more transparency in how the rules are adopted. The groups, including the Bank Policy Institute and American Bankers Association, contend that the Fed’s criteria for the tests are designed in secret and produce ‘vacillating and unexplained requirements and restrictions on bank capital.’ That’s affecting the cost of financial services in the US, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio. The lawsuit asks the court to declare unlawful the models and scenarios used in the 2024 stress test, as well as those in the 2025 and 2026 versions. The groups also want the Fed to allow for public comments on the models beforehand. A Fed spokesperson declined to comment.” (12/24/24)
Source: Libertarians Institute
“Will Trump Keep the Weapons Flowing to Ukraine?” (12/24/24)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-733-will-trump-keep-the-weapons-flowing-to-ukraine
Source: The American Conservative
by Jason Morgan
“South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of martial law is of little import compared to the American occupation of the country.” (12/24/24)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/eighty-years-of-martial-law/
Source: Newsweek
“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)
https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-drone-raid-russian-military-airfield-2005554
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)
Source: Reason
“Was Biden Right to Take Prisoners Off Death Row?” (12/23/24)
https://reason.com/podcast/2024/12/23/was-biden-right-to-take-prisoners-off-death-row/
Source: New York Times
“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)
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“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)