Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“The Trump administration released its National Security Strategy (NSS) last week. There is limited value in trying to make sense of Trump’s foreign policy by looking at strategy documents when the president largely just makes things up as he goes and often makes policy decisions for arbitrary and irrational reasons. The only real value that the NSS has this year is that it tells us how the administration is justifying the president’s ad hoc interventions around the world. For the Western Hemisphere, this means dressing up the president’s militarism and meddling as the ‘Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.'” (12/09/25)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-crude-imperialism-of-the-trump
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Rights watchdog groups in the United States have filed a lawsuit seeking greater clarification on the legal rationale being used to justify the Trump administration’s targeting of alleged drug trafficking vessels off Latin America. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the group’s New York state affiliate NYCLU, and the Center for Constitutional Rights, seeks the release of an opinion from the internal Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), which advises the executive branch on legal matters. … At least 86 people have been killed since the Trump administration announced the first strike in early September, in what the president has depicted as a counter-narcotics effort.” (12/09/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/9/aclu-files-lawsuit-seeking-legal-basis-for-trumps-caribbean-boat-strikes
Source: The UnPopulist
by Ilya Somin
“Nationalism doesn’t just historically correlate with bigotry — it consistently drives antisemitism and other racial and ethnic prejudices. Indeed, nationalism intensifies preexisting antisemitic impulses. To the degree that today’s conservatives decide to embrace — or even just make peace with — nationalism and dispense with the universalist liberal principles of the American Founding, they will find it difficult to impossible to stem the spread of antisemitism in their midst.” (12/09/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/nationalism-is-driving-the-neo-rights
Source: CBS News
“Japan issued a megaquake advisory Tuesday after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck the northern part of the country, causing 34 mostly mild injuries and some damage to roads and buildings. The government has estimated that an offshore megaquake could cause a tsunami of up to 98 feet and kill nearly 200,000 people. Officials said the advisory is not a prediction and the probability of a magnitude 8 or larger quake is only about 1%. But there’s hope the advisory will serve as a wake-up call for a quake that could have the devastation of the 2011 disaster that killed nearly 20,000 people and destroyed a nuclear plant. There’s said to be an increased risk of a subsequent, magnitude 8 or larger quake within the next week.” (12/09/25)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/japan-earthquake-megaquake-advisory-tsunami/
Source: Orange County Register
by Mimi Robson
“If there is one theme that has shaped recent American politics, it is the steady concentration of power in the presidency. Congress — under both parties — has repeatedly delegated authority that was never meant to rest in a single office. The consequences are now impossible to ignore. The actions of President Donald Trump reveal how fragile our liberties become when one person holds too much power.” (12/08/25)
https://archive.is/8XRlG
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Over the weekend, tens of thousands of Brazilian women participated in rallies calling for stronger action to tackle violence against women, which remains intolerably high. A few weeks earlier, several thousand South African women participated in ‘lie-downs’ across the country to call attention to the same issue. ‘Just as women many years ago protested … for the changes that we are privileged to experience today,’ said a South African participant in her 20s, ‘we also need to be the generation that steps up.’ Coinciding with the global ’16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’ campaign, these events underscore how much remains to be done to uphold the safety and dignity of women and girls the world over. As well as laws and enforcement, the process requires confronting deep-rooted traditions and cultural notions that constrain the full participation and vigorous contributions of half the world’s population.” (12/08/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/1208/Defending-women-s-worth-and-well-being
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Tensions are high in Tanzania after the government outlawed planned protests over its disputed victory in elections in October. Police and soldiers were patrolling largely empty streets in major cities on Tuesday – Tanzania’s Independence Day – after the government preemptively ruled that any protest would be illegal and treated as a coup attempt, and urged people to stay at home. … police trucks and officers on foot patrolled the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, the administrative capital Dodoma and the northeastern city of Arusha, while roadblocks were erected near key government installations including President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s heavily guarded offices. The situation appeared calm as of late morning, although one resident and some activists on social media said small protests had begun in some parts of the city. This could not be immediately confirmed.” (12/09/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/9/tanzania-tightens-security-bans-protests-against-disputed-election
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Via the USDA, President Trump has announced a fresh $12 billion aid package for farmers, with $11 billion earmarked specifically for crop producers of corn, soybeans, and wheat. The administration says this is a ‘bridge’ to help farmers survive low prices and trade disputes. The money, they claim, comes directly from tariff revenues. Payments are set to arrive early next year, provided farmers file their respective paperwork by December 19. Supporters are cheering this as ‘putting American agriculture first.’ But let’s get real. In plain English: the government is breaking farmers’ legs with tariffs and then handing them crutches paid for by you, the consumer. … Who actually gets this money? You might picture a struggling family with a small red barn. The actual data says otherwise. According to the Cato Institute, farm subsidies overwhelmingly benefit large, wealthy agribusinesses.” (12/09/25)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/the-real-cost-of-trumps-12-billion
Source: Associated Press
“Conservative Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared to back a Republican-led drive, supported by President Donald Trump’s administration, to overturn a quarter-century-old decision and erase limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president. … The limits stem from a desire to prevent large donors from skirting caps on individual contributions to a candidate by directing unlimited sums to the party, with the understanding that the money will be spent on behalf of the candidate. The Federal Election Commission and the GOP argue that the court should cast a skeptical eye on the limits, in line with recent high court decisions.” (12/09/25)
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-campaign-finance-republican-spending-limits-0381e78b1e8a8da0e49f5b55b543894e
Hey, everyone …
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