Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jennifer Kavanagh

“Under the current plan — or what is publicly known about it — Ukraine would cede the 20 percent of Donetsk that it currently controls to Russia in return for a package of security guarantees including an ‘Article 5-style’ commitment from the United States, a European ‘reassurance force’ inside post-war Ukraine, and peacetime Ukrainian military of 800,000 personnel. Despite optimism from U.S. officials, this proposal is unlikely to be the one that ends the conflict. There is a better path for Ukraine, one that will leave the country more secure and more confident in that security over the long run, without crossing Russian redlines or requiring expansive commitments from the United States: armed un-alignment.” (12/22/25)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/ukraine-neutrality-peace/

Source: The American Prospect
by Gabrielle Gurley

“The major artificial intelligence companies’ prime directive to literally bulldoze AI infrastructure into states with minimal regulation has produced citizen-led, bipartisan demands for local and national moratoriums on data center siting. While the Trump administration is doing everything it can to facilitate the only capital spending with a pulse in the economy, these calls for moratoriums are growing, and connecting with local successes in blocking data center construction. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) recently called for a national moratorium on the construction of data centers that are ‘powering this unregulated sprint to develop and deploy AI’. Sanders did credit ‘the transformative power of AI and robotics’ before calling out Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, and Bill Gates with a simple question: ‘Are these multibillionaires staying up nights worrying about what AI and robotics will do to the working families of our country and the world?'” (12/22/25)

https://prospect.org/2025/12/22/demands-for-data-center-moratoriums-surge/

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Nayler

“El Gordo is the world’s second longest-running lottery, behind the Netherlands’ Staatsloterji, which started in 1726. It was first held on December 18, 1812, in the southwestern city of Cádiz, the home of Spain’s government-in-exile during the Napoleonic Wars. Though it raised much-needed money for cannons and bullets, some thought it morally questionable. Agustín de Argüelles, a member of the national congress, claimed that it ‘would be desirable to adopt more decent means … to sustain public necessities because the lottery, raffles and other games are resources that conspire with immorality and, as a consequence, are incompatible with the virtuous character that should be what distinguishes Spaniards in the future.’ Argüelles’s fears proved unfounded: over two centuries on, El Gordo is surely one of the most wholesome instances of mass-gambling on the planet.” (12/22/25)

https://fee.org/articles/sharing-the-wealth/

Source: The Atlantic
by Adam Serwer

“The Constitution of the Roberts Court is not color-blind. It is a Constitution that permits discrimination on the basis of race, but forbids alleviating discrimination on the basis of race. And over the next year, the Court will face more cases that could further erode both the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, pushing America back toward what some on the right believe is the true, Antebellum Constitution.” (12/21/25)

https://archive.is/dG36m

Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser

Cartoon. (12/21/25)

https://www.quantumvibe.com/strip?page=2566

Source: Racket News
by Eric Salzman

“At least in a real casino you get some free drinks and maybe a free suite if you lose enough.” (12/21/25)

https://www.racket.news/p/life-in-the-fast-lane-with-robinhood