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)
“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)
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)
“If there’s one problem facing the story of renewable energy among American progressives, it is the grimness of the vibe. Renewables, as the story goes, are necessary to fight climate change, save the planet, and do our duty to our fellow living creatures. These things are, of course, all true. But the delivery feels like urging people to eat their vegetables. Yes, it will be good for you and will create new jobs, but any sense of green energy making life better and more exciting feels out of reach. … what if that story was wrong and renewable energy isn’t just a righteous yet painful solution to our problems? What if it was the herald of the greatest revolution in energy since the steam engine?” (12/22/25)
“Marcionism was an early Christian movement founded by Marcion of Sinope in the second century AD. Marcion taught that the God of the Old Testament — a deity focused on law and judgment — was entirely separate from and inferior to the God of the New Testament revealed by Jesus. Marcion not only rejected the Old Testament entirely but also created his own biblical canon, consisting of edited versions of Luke’s Gospel and ten of Paul’s letters. Crucially, he removed what he saw as Jewish influences. Early, mainstream Christians declared the sect heretical. Still, Marcionism remained influential for several centuries and ultimately pushed the Church to define its own scriptural canon and theological boundaries more formally. Marcionism is back — with an attitude.” (12/22/25)
“Earlier this month, the Trump administration released its new National Security Strategy, or NSS. Normally, such documents are poor predictors of what’s likely to happen in the real world. They are more like branding tools that communicate the attitudes of a given administration while rarely offering a detailed or accurate picture of its likely policies. The reason documents like the NSS are of limited import is simple enough: foreign and military policies aren’t set by documents but by power and ideology. Typically enough, the current U.S. approach to the world flows from struggles among representatives of contending interest groups, some of which, like the military-industrial complex (MIC), have a significant advantage in the fight.” (12/21/25)
“A Chinese billionaire tried. Give him that. But do we have to like what he was up to? The trier in question is fantasy video-game mogul Xu Bo, and The Wall Street Journal reports that he is trying to gain a foothold in the United States in a somewhat novel way … for a rich man, anyway. He’s fathering children in America. Many children. And by non-wives who are under surrogacy contracts to bear his children for him. … it’s a trend that the Chinese super-wealthy are taking advantage of. What advantage? Birthright citizenship: ‘Babies born via surrogacy in the U.S. are U.S. citizens by virtue of the 14th Amendment.'” (12/22/25)
“Social media has radically transformed not only the means of communication but also the very fabric of our daily lives. It has reshaped how we think, how we evaluate information, and whom we choose to trust. Instead of fostering informed dialogue, it has turned medical science into a contentious battleground where opinions clash and algorithms amplify the most extreme and polarizing voices, often sidelining more measured perspectives. Yet, amid the cacophony, there are invaluable elements that have emerged. Like medicine itself, social media encompasses a spectrum of experiences: the good, the bad, and the ugly.” (12/22/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The dumbest thing we are being asked to believe today is that pro-Palestinian protests caused the Bondi shooting. It’s self-evidently moronic. No one sincerely believes it. They’re just pretending to believe it to get protests banned and criticism of Israel outlawed. Nobody actually believes pro-Palestine protests caused the Bondi shooting. They’re just pretending to believe that to promote the interests of a genocidal apartheid state. Nobody actually believes ‘globalize the intifada’ means ‘kill all Jews.’ They’re just pretending to believe that to promote the interests of a genocidal apartheid state. Nobody actually believes pro-Palestine demonstrations are ‘hate marches’ or that pro-Palestine speech is ‘hate speech.’ They’re just pretending to believe that to promote the interests of a genocidal apartheid state.” (12/22/25)
