The Waiting Is The Hardest Part (Year-End Fundraiser Update)

Hey, everyone …

After a VERY good Tuesday that I hoped would generate momentum, we had a “zero-dollar” Wednesday in our year-end fundraiser. Our total remains at $1,683.84. That’s $1,066.66 short of our $5,501 goal (once we’ve raised the first $2,750.50, supporter GL will “match funds” for the other half).

We run one formal fundraiser per year, with a pretty modest goal and one request: If you find value in the Internet’s oldest and longest-running daily news and commentary update for libertarians — and you wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t — please return some of that value as financial support.

No, your $2.50 or $5 contribution is not “too small to bother with.” In fact, if each of our readers ponied up $2.50, we’d more than double our goal. So:

PLEASE SUPPORT THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT’S DAILY NEWSPAPER AT:

https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd

And have a great day!

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily

14th Amendment is plain on citizenry

Source: Orange County Register
by the editorial board

“As a general rule, babies born in the United States of America are citizens of the United States of America. There isn’t any question about that. It’s in the Constitution, 14th Amendment: ‘All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.’ … If the president, as with any other citizen, thinks there’s a problem with some part of the Constitution, he’s welcome to lead the charge to repeal it, and with his bully pulpit he would have a better chance than most in his quest. But instead of pursuing normal legal channels, Trump on his first day back in office issued an executive order …”

https://www.ocregister.com/2025/12/10/14th-amendment-is-plain-on-citizenry/

Sperm donor with cancer-causing gene fathered nearly 200 children across Europe, investigation finds

Source: CBS News

“Sperm from a donor who unknowingly carried a cancer-causing gene has been used to conceive nearly 200 babies across Europe, an investigation by 14 European public service broadcasters, including CBS News’ partner network BBC News, has revealed. Some children conceived using the sperm have already died from cancer, and the vast majority of those who inherited the gene will develop cancer in their lifetimes, geneticists said. The man carrying the gene passed screening checks before he became a donor at the European Sperm Bank when he was a student in 2005. His sperm has been used by women trying to conceive for 17 years across multiple countries.” (12/10/25)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sperm-donor-with-cancer-causing-gene-fathers-nearly-200-children-across-europe/

Trump’s presidency is crumbling before our eyes

Source: The Hill
by Max Burns

“It doesn’t take a political genius to recognize that things are in free fall over at the White House. Less than a year after staffing his administration with a cadre of bumbling goons valued only for their slavish devotion to his ego, President Trump now finds himself leading a government wholly incapable of governing. Forgive my lack of surprise. … Trump’s crumbling administration is living proof that the best way to convince voters to elect Democrats is to let Republicans run things for a year.” (12/10/25)

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5640504-trump-white-house-dysfunction/

US regime threatens new ICC sanctions unless court pledges not to prosecute Trump

Source: Reuters

“President Donald Trump’s administration wants the International Criminal Court to amend its founding document to ensure it does not investigate the Republican president and his top officials, a Trump administration official said, threatening new U.S. sanctions on the court if it did not. If the court does not act on this U.S. demand and two others — dropping investigations of Israeli leaders over the Gaza war and formally ending an earlier probe of U.S. troops over their actions in Afghanistan — Washington may penalize more ICC officials and could sanction the court itself, the official said. … ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. In March 2020, prosecutors opened an investigation in Afghanistan that included possible crimes by U.S. troops.” (12/10/25)

https://archive.is/fZTqY

Musk’s SpaceX “preparing for flotation that could value it at over $1 trillion”

Source: The Guardian [UK]

“Elon Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX is preparing to list on the stock market next year in a move that could raise more than $25bn (£19bn) and value the business at more than $1tn, according to reports. SpaceX, which designs, builds and launches rockets, is said to have started discussions with banks about an initial public offering (IPO). It could join the stock market in about June or July, according Reuters, which cited an unnamed source familiar with the matter. A flotation could rival the market value that the oil company Saudi Aramco achieved during its listing in 2019, which remains the biggest in history. It raised $29bn at the time, at a valuation of $1.7tn.” (12/10/25)

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/dec/10/elon-musk-spacex-preparing-for-2026-flotation-of-more-than-1tn

Trump Says That You Are the Problem

Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman

“Last night Donald Trump gave an important speech on the economy in Pennsylvania …. The event was initially touted as the start of an ‘affordability tour,’ the first of a series of speeches intended to reverse Trump’s cratering approval on his handling of inflation and the economy. A number of news analyses suggested that he would use the occasion to blame Democrats for the economy’s troubles. That was never going to happen. … to blame Democrats for the economy’s problems he would have to admit that the Trump economy has problems. … Trump and his minions seem to have come around to admitting that Americans are, in fact, unhappy with the state of the economy. But if the economy is A+++++, why don’t people see it? The problem can’t possibly lie with him — so it must lie with you.” (12/10/25)

https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/trump-says-that-you-are-the-problem

Militarism Without Strategy: How the 2025 National Security Document Institutionalizes Perpetual Conflict

Source: Antiwar.com
by Peter Rodgers

“On December 4, 2025, the Trump administration released a document claiming to herald a ‘Golden Age of Peace;’ yet a careful reading reveals an entirely different picture: a roadmap for institutionalizing chronic militarism and perpetuating conflict in a new form. The new U.S. National Security Strategy portrays Trump as the ‘Peace President’ who has allegedly ‘chieved peace in eight global conflicts,’ yet the same document simultaneously authorizes the use of ‘lethal force’ in other countries, the expansion of military deployments at borders, and the weaponization of economic tools. This apparent contradiction is not accidental; it is part of a structural logic that links claims of non-interventionism with the reality of expanding military dominance.” (12/10/25)

https://original.antiwar.com/peter_rodgers/2025/12/09/militarism-without-strategy-how-the-2025-national-security-document-institutionalizes-perpetual-conflict/