“Many people have recently discovered that government is authoritarian. What a shock! Most only complain about it when it affects something they personally care about. When it crushes something they dislike, they either ignore it or call for even more authoritarianism. The dictionary says ‘authoritarian’ means demanding blind obedience to authority instead of respecting individual freedom, considering individual freedom subordinate to the power of the state, or exercising complete or almost complete control over the will of others. It’s a perfect description of ordinary, everyday government.” (12/17/25)
“Donald Trump is, from time to time, ungracious on social media. Republicans who accepted, justified, and celebrated outrage after outrage after outrage from Donald Trump for a decade — from ‘grab ’em’ to endless constant lies to gross corruption to illegal deportations to mass murder in the Caribbean to the attempted coup of 2021 and much more — have decided to draw the line at mocking the murder of the Reiners? That doesn’t mean that Republicans have rediscovered decency or their spines — it only means that Trump is starting to quack like a lame duck.” (12/17/25)
“The Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful, secretive, and unaccountable institutions in U.S. history. Its insulation from oversight, combined with its massive coffers and strong statutory authorities, makes it a uniquely troubling institution. To give you an idea of just how powerful the Fed is, in 2018, Forbes ranked Jerome Powell, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, as the 11th most powerful person in the world, ahead of the prime ministers of France and the United Kingdom. Earnest oversight is long overdue. Current law prohibits the Government Accountability Office from auditing the Fed’s vast monetary policy functions, and the Fed’s Inspector General serves at the pleasure of the Fed Board of Governors, the very institution it’s supposed to hold accountable. This summer, I began investigating the Fed.” (12/17/25)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“When I was at school, learning about the privatization waves of the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, my teacher made a comparison between our own fortunes in Britain, and those of our North Sea neighbors in Norway, that stuck with me. In Britain, we used the proceeds from re-privatizing key industries like British Petroleum to fund the tax cuts that were considered necessary to revitalize the economy. The story is well-told: by liberalizing the economy, the initial shortfall in direct income would be offset in the short-term and exceeded in the long-term from the proceeds of an energetic private sector, and a free-market economy would provide the future prosperity, built on a broad and reliable tax base, necessary to keep Britain afloat. In Norway, on the other hand, such future prosperity was secured in a different way: through a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).” (12/17/25)
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin
“The result press freedom and human rights advocates feared has arrived: 78-year-old media tycoon, Chinese Communist Party critic, and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai was found guilty in Hong Kong this week. After five years in detention, much of it in solitary confinement, a West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court found him guilty of sedition and collusion with foreign forces on Monday morning. He will be sentenced at a later date. Lai, who has suffered deteriorating health amidst his detainment, may very well die in prison. It’s a page straight out of the authoritarian playbook: Censorship after a crisis to protect the interests of the state from the fallout. Unfortunately, authorities in Hong Kong are not straying away from this strategy.” (12/17/25)
“Many Americans feel buffeted by a cycle of tit-for-tat political rhetoric, whipsaw policymaking, and norms breaking. A recent poll found that 82% of voters believe the way people talk about politics contributes to violence. Only one-third say it is possible to lower the temperature on political rhetoric. Yet, in recent weeks, more voices are calling for civic civility. They are based on a mix of political principles as well as moral and religious values. On Dec. 9, for example, two governors – a Democrat and a Republican – clasped hands after modeling respectful political dialogue at the National Cathedral in Washington. Democrat Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Republican Spencer Cox of Utah both often share how their faith traditions imbue their public service. Speaking to The Washington Post, Mr. Cox noted, ‘Bridge-building is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It takes … strong faith and strong courage’.” (12/16/25)
“Western civilization is inconceivable without the biblical proposition that all humans were created in God’s image (Tzelem Elokim [צֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים] in Hebrew; imago Dei in Latin). But over time, paradoxically, the idea turned humanity against its own Maker. So argues Tomer Persico of the Shalom Hartman Institute in his ambitiously titled In God’s Image: How Western Civilization Was Shaped by a Revolutionary Idea, recently translated from the 2021 Hebrew version.” (12/17/25)
“Do you know what a ‘neopronoun’ or a ‘xeopronoun’ is? The teachers’ unions want to make sure your little kids do. Earlier this month, the National Education Association held an ‘Advancing LGBTQ+ Justice’ event. Documents obtained by the education watchdog group Defending Education (full disclosure: I am on the group’s board) contained slides illustrating these neo- and xeopronouns. Neopronouns are ‘new’ ‘pronouns’ such as ‘xe/xem/xyr’, and other letters randomly shoved together. Xeopronouns are for ‘conceptual identities’ such as ‘cat/cats/catself’. Got it? No? But our kids are being force-fed this garbage in America’s public schools.” (12/16/25)
“The rapid growth of AI data centers has become a major election issue, emerging as a flashpoint in statewide races in November and a central theme in candidates’ platforms. Once-overlooked state public service commissioners — utility regulators — drew unprecedented attention this cycle, with Democrats in Georgia unseating two Republican incumbents criticized for raising rates and expanding fossil fuels for data centers. Why the growing voter interest? Because our energy bills are skyrocketing. … utilities are relying on unreliable, often inflated data center demand forecasts, which may never materialize. They are offering data centers sweetheart deals and states are greenlighting them in opaque, fast-tracked proceedings. We deserve to know how big these discounts are.” (12/17/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Looks like some kind of memo went out or something, because pro-Israel outlets and individuals are all loudly amplifying one specific talking point about the Bondi Beach shooting. Here are some examples: ‘Bondi Beach Is What ‘Globalize the Intifada’ Looks Like’ ~ Bret Stephens, New York Times; ‘The Intifada Comes to Bondi Beach’ ~ David Frum, The Atlantic; ‘The Intifada Comes to Australia’ ~ Walter Russell Mead, Wall Street Journal; ‘Shooting at Bondi Beach is what a globalized intifada looks like’ ~ Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post; ‘The Intifada Comes to Australia’ ~ Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Free Press; ‘Welcome to the global intifada’ ~ David Harsanyi, Washington Examiner; ‘Palestinian propaganda has globalized the intifada’ ~ Zachary Faria, Washington Examiner; ‘Bondi Beach massacre is what globalizing the intifada looks like’ ~ Vivian Bercovici, National Post; ‘Chanting ‘globalise the intifada’ leads to Bondi Beach’ ~ Danny Cohen, The Telegraph…” (12/17/25)
