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: 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: 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
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)
Source: EconLog
by John Alcorn
“Charity naturally has circles and gradients. A charitable soul will perforce soon go bankrupt unless she targets and calibrates her gifts. Individual philanthropy might ignore the neediest, who tend to be socially remote from prosperous potential donors. Private institutions — for example, churches and charitable foundations — might partly specialize in extending the scope of sympathy and charity, if they, too, can reliably identify true need and desert. However, A Christmas Carol focusses narrowly on the issue of individual philanthropy by businessmen. Dickens ignores the invisible hand of markets-and-competition. Given the stark fallout of rapid industrialization and urbanization, his focus is understandable. Nonetheless the focus on Scrooge’s redemption implicitly oversells the potential effectiveness of seasonal charity in business circles as a remedy to destitution.” (12/23/24)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Roger Koopman
“Reproducing this story fifty years later delivers an especially poignant message. It is just as relevant now as it was in 1974, and none of the federal harassments Santa faced back then have gone away! They have only grown more pervasive and more crushing of our liberties.” (12/23/24)
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson
“Syria. Bangladesh. Poland. South African democracy. The Ukrainian defense forces. The Greek economy. If there is a lesson to be learned from the events of 2024, it is this: There are no lost causes.” (12/23/24)
Source: Common Dreams
by Nicolas JS Davies
“The United States, Turkey, and Israel all responded to the fall of the Assad government in Damascus by launching bombing campaigns on Syria. Israel also attacked and destroyed most of the Syrian Navy in port at Latakia, and invaded Syria from the long-occupied Golan Heights, advancing to within 16 miles of the capital, Damascus. The United States said that its bombing campaign targeted remnants of Islamic State in the east of the country, hitting 75 targets with 140 bombs and missiles, according to Air Force Times. A long-standing force of 900 U.S. troops illegally occupies that part of Syria, partly to divert Syria’s meager oil revenues to the U.S.’s Kurdish allies and prevent the Syrian government from regaining that source of revenue.” (12/23/24)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/israel-invasion-of-syria
Source: The Daily Economy
by Jason Sorens
“How can the new administration slash spending and red tape, if beltway insiders won’t trim even the most wasteful programs?” (12/23/24)