Source: The Daily Economy
by Kimberlee Josephson
“Attempts to push a ‘moral mission’ onto business subverts the actual goal: creating goods, services, and investment returns.” (01/02/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/co-opting-capitalism-from-value-creation-to-virtue-signaling/
Source: Common Dreams
by Marcy Winograd
“Launched in 1913 to counter antisemitism and discrimination, the Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, now resembles a mythological shapeshifter that presents alternately as a civil rights organization and a pro-Israel propagandist. In its ‘No Place for Hate’ program that caters to both elementary and secondary schools, the ADL’s stated mission is to empower students, teachers, and parents to ‘stand against bias and bullying …’ with school-wide pledges, projects, and games aimed at celebrating diversity and stamping out hate in the halls, in the cafeteria, in the reading circle, anywhere that hate may manifest. In Norse mythology, the jealous god Loki is a shapeshifter who appears alternately as a salmon or an old woman. Disguised as the old woman, Loki (the god of darkness) carves an arrow out of mistletoe to trick the blind god Hodr into hurling an arrow at his exalted twin brother, Baldr (the god of light).” (01/02/25)
Source: Orange County Register
by Thomas D Elias
“Later this month, the man who promised to be ‘a dictator on Day 1’ will take the presidential oath of office for the second time. He’s likely spent much of his time during the two month-plus transition period since the Nov. 5 election drafting executive orders and other measures to act immediately on that promise. About the least surprising order will likely be one declaring a national state of emergency on immigration. Trump has promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, with about one-third of the nation’s 11 million now living in California. … most police won’t cooperate with the Border Patrol and whatever other federal agents Trump may press into service to help enforce a wide-ranging deportation order. … Even as he deploys thousands of federal agents, Trump divulged soon after his election, he plans to use the military to roust many immigrants from their quarters.” (01/02/25)
https://www.ocregister.com/2025/01/02/will-trump-deportations-see-troops-in-california-streets/
Source: Law & Liberty
by Max Skjonsberg
“The Present Discontents laid out Burke’s vision for how the relationship between MPs and constituents could be strengthened by organizational means. He stressed the responsibility of voters to pay attention to the conduct of their representatives. To this end, they should arrange meetings and establish ‘standards, for judging more systematically upon their [Members of Parliaments’] conduct.’ In order to be able to do this properly, the public needed access to division lists to see how their MPs voted. In a word, Burke believed that the relationship between voters and representatives should be a close one, and that politics needed to be transparent for this to be possible.” (01/02/25)
https://lawliberty.org/classic/burke-a-prophet-of-modern-politics/
Source: Fox News
by Carol Roth
“The resounding win by Trump and the Republicans in November signaled that the country is desperate for change, with Americans clearly saying to Washington ‘this isn’t working’ vis-a-vis the current state of the US. While the mandate may be clear, the execution of that change is going to be a gigantic challenge. The Biden-Harris administration has left our fiscal house in complete disarray, limiting many of the options that will be available to Trump, as well as putting core policy proposals at odds with our fiscal reality. Here are three of the biggest challenges that the incoming administration will have to navigate …” (01/02/25)
Source: Beat The Press
by Dean Baker
“One development for 2025 that can be seen clearly in the crystal ball is improving trade ties between China and Europe. The reason this is a virtual certainty is Donald Trump is doing everything he can to convince the world that, under his leadership, the United States is an unreliable trading partner. He already worked hard to establish this point in his first term when he arbitrarily slapped tariffs on various imports from Canada and the European Union. His ostensible rationale was national defense, but no one outside of Mar-a-Lago could take that one seriously. We worried that we may not be able to get steel from Canada if the US is engaged in a war with another country? Or maybe we’re worried we will be at war with Canada, and they will cut us off. But Trump is showing that the craziness will get even worse in his second term.” (01/02/25)
https://cepr.net/best-bet-for-2025-stronger-trade-ties-between-europe-and-china/
Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis
“Have you ever noticed how China never seems to have these mass terrorist attacks that plague America? Ever wondered why? I know there are multiple reasons, and the issue shouldn’t be oversimplified. Perhaps the main reason the Muslim terrorists usually target America is that our country has been Israel’s main defender for the past 75+ years. That has changed somewhat under Biden, but not enough to assuage 7th century barbarians. China hasn’t shown such overt support for Israel, thus hasn’t angered the Muslim world quite like America has. But there are other reasons why these terrorist attacks never seem to hit China. China has a controlled immigration policy, so crazy Muslims who fly planes into buildings or drive cars into hordes of pedestrians don’t often get into the country. But let me suggest a few other reasons China doesn’t have a terrorist problem.” (01/02/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2025/01/02/why-do-terrorists-rarely-hit-china-n2649876
Source: The UnPopulist
by Shikha Dalmia
“Eugene Ionesco’s play still offers the best allegory for our times.” (01/02/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-rhinos-epidemic-is-growing
Source: Common Dreams
by Jamal Kanj
“The recent Israeli raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, or KAH, the only partially operating hospital in northern Gaza, is the latest phase of Israel’s egregious disregard for international humanitarian law and the sanctity of medical facilities. This audacious act highlights the alarming impunity with which Israel conducts its war of genocide in Gaza, and further aggravate the suffering in Gaza. In attacking KAH, Israel resorted to the same discredited lies used to justify its assault on al-Shifa Hospital in November 2023, falsely alleging that Hamas operated a command center beneath the facility. This fabricated story has long been employed as a pretext to target medical facilities across Gaza. During its raid on al-Shifa Hospital in November 2023, Israeli forces found no evidence of a military presence yet proceeded to arbitrarily destroy the hospital without justification.” (01/02/25)
Source: The New Republic
by Steve Kennedy
“With some calling Luigi Mangione a folk hero for the alleged killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the concept of jury nullification — which has a long history of use in the U.S. as a means of popular resistance to unpopular laws and unjust prosecutions — has been dragged back into the spotlight. But even as the pundit class frets about this jury power being used to free someone undesirable to the ruling class simply because he is popular online, we ought to consider the tactic more broadly. With Donald Trump threatening to weaponize agencies like the FBI and Department of Justice against his political and personal enemies, among other overt vows to corrupt the justice system, jury nullification can be an important way of fighting back, even under a Republican trifecta.” (01/02/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/189451/trump-jury-nullification-bulwark-misrule