Source: Law & Liberty
by Matthew K Reising

“We often forget ourselves in this modern age, and one can’t help but feel that the amnesia is by design. For better or worse, the digital revolution has turned attention into a challenge and a commodity. Because of social media’s predominance, brain rot and doomscrolling are now part of everyday vernacular. Moreover, AI has raised serious questions about the nature of human consciousness, and distress about disinformation and polarization in the political sphere is rampant. Given these woes, Emily Katz Anhalt’s latest book, Ancient Wisdom for Polarized Times, hopes to remind us what it is to be human by enlisting an unlikely ally: the fifth-century BC historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus.” (12/08/25)

https://lawliberty.org/book-review/herodotus-the-storyteller/

Source: Town Hall
by EJ Antoni, Ph.D.

“President Trump put the affordability crisis squarely in his sights this week when he announced a major regulatory reform that will save American families billions of dollars on vehicles in the coming years. By rolling back onerous overreach from the Biden administration, Mr. Trump is ensuring consumers will be able to buy the cars and trucks they want, and at lower prices. The regulation concerned here is the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which are promulgated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. CAFE standards regulate fuel economy for cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks. Under Biden, these standards were raised to completely unreasonable levels, forcing costly changes for consumers and automakers alike. The Biden-era regulation would’ve required automakers to meet a fleet average of more than 50 miles per gallon for cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks in model year 2031, which is just a few years away.” (12/08/25)

https://townhall.com/columnists/ej-antoni/2025/12/08/trump-targets-car-affordability-with-regulatory-reform-n2667472

Source: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus
by David Beckworth

“President Trump will soon announce his pick for the next Federal Reserve Chair. Whoever takes the helm will inherit a full plate of challenges from Jerome Powell: interest-rate decisions, balance-sheet runoff, payment-system reform, regulatory overhaul, growing political pressures, and more. One thing the new chair will not inherit, however, is a Federal Reserve still incurring operating losses. Yes, as our friend Bill Nelson first reported, the Fed is now generating net interest income for the first time since August 2022. … The primary reason for the recent losses is that the Fed’s interest expenses exceeded its interest income.” (12/08/25)

https://macroeconomicpolicynexus.substack.com/p/the-feds-losses-atlantas-lesson-and

Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas JS Davies

“Donald Trump campaigned on ending endless wars and now boasts that he has resolved eight wars. In reality, this claim is delusional, and his foreign policy is a disaster. The United States remains mired in ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and now Trump is careening blindly into new wars in Latin America. The dangerous disconnect between Trump’s delusions and the real-world impacts of his policies is on full display in his new National Security Strategy document. But this schism has been exacerbated by putting US foreign policy in the hands of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose neocon worldview and behind-the-scenes maneuvering has consistently undercut Trump’s professed goals of diplomacy, negotiated settlements and ‘America First’ priorities.” (12/08/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/marco-rubio-venezuela

Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker

“The Guardian had a fascinating piece on how the Dollar store chains (both Dollar General and Family Dollar) seem to have a practice of advertising lower prices on their shelves than what they ring up at the register when the person checks out. The evidence they present in the piece indicates that these mispricing cases may account for more than 20 percent of all sales. … This piece is striking for three reasons. First, insofar as this sort of cheating is common, it indicates that inflation could be greater than is generally recognized. Second, it brings home the problem of ‘affordability’ in a way that many of us probably did not anticipate. … Finally, it shows how the Trump-Musk habit of laughing at consumer fraud has very real pocketbook effects.” (12/08/25)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/12/08/dollar-stores-where-trumpian-sleaze-meets-affordability/