Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Eddlem
“There are lots of historical precedents for large numbers of multigenerational non-citizens in a country. None of them are attractive examples to follow. There were the Jews in ancient Egypt, the Huns and the Vandals in the Roman Empire, Irish Catholics under penal laws of English occupation from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, and more recently black tribes in apartheid South Africa. Sure, most of those empires continued on the maps for centuries afterwards, but they all endured massive civil discord and violent revolts as a result of the arrangement. And yet, among the Republican right, there’s a crusade against birthright citizenship enshrined in the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment …. Jettisoning birthright citizenship would create the same kind of large permanent underclass that caused the violent chaos in the aforementioned empires above.” (12/17/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/birthright-citizenship-just-makes-sense
Source: SFGate
“With the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act by the Senate on Wednesday, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is all but assured to become a federally recognized tribal nation. The state-recognized tribe, whose historic and genealogical claims have been a subject of controversy, has been seeking federal recognition for generations. Congress has considered the issue for more than 30 years, but the effort gained momentum after President Donald Trump endorsed the tribe on the campaign trail last year. ‘It means a lot because we have been figuring out how to get here for so long,’ said Lumbee Tribal Chairman John Lowery moments after celebrating the victory in the Capitol office of North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. ‘We have been second-class Natives and we will never be that again, and no one can take it away from us.'” (12/17/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/the-lumbee-tribe-s-federal-recognition-is-21248191.php
Source: CounterPunch
by Robert Koehler
“A hundred deaths, a thousand deaths, quickly turn into ‘collateral damage.’ But the killing of two desperate men, clinging to the wreckage of their boat in the Caribbean – their boat that has just been bombed – rips open the abstraction of military public relations. They’re just ordinary human beings – like you, like me, like our parents and our children – rather than … uh, narco-terrorists. And suddenly this new war the Trump administration has launched is more than just a videogame. Hey, Pete, this is not keeping us safe! Indeed, as I write these words, I picture the so-called Secretary of War clinging to the wreckage himself. Perhaps he’ll eventually realize that war always comes home, that what we do has consequences, that creating peace is a bit more complex than killing the bad guy (and thus preventing him from contradicting the official narrative).” (12/17/25)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/12/17/humanity-clings-to-the-wreckage/
Source: Reuters
“The European Commission unveiled a plan on Tuesday to drop the EU’s effective ban on new combustion-engine cars from 2035 after pressure from the region’s auto sector, marking the bloc’s biggest retreat from its green policies in recent years. The move, which still needs approval from EU governments and the European Parliament, would allow continued sales of some non-electric vehicles. Carmakers in regional industrial powerhouse Germany and in Italy had sought easing of the rules. The EU executive appears to have bowed to calls from carmakers to keep selling plug-in hybrids and range extenders that burn fuel as they struggle to compete against Tesla and Chinese electric vehicle makers.” (12/16/25)
https://archive.is/zN9jH
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Bob Murphy on How Central Banking Fuels the War State.” (12/16/25)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/12-11-25-bob-murphy-on-how-central-banking-fuels-the-war-state/
Source: Antiwar.com
by Roger D Harris
“Washington brands Nicolás Maduro a dictator, celebrates Volodymyr Zelenskyy as democratic, and sponsors María Corina Machado to achieve regime change in Venezuela rather than promote genuine democracy.” (12/17/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/roger_harris/2025/12/16/whos-the-dictator-venezuelas-maduro-or-ukraines-zelensky/
Source: Fox News
by Rachel Sheffield
“The U.S. welfare system is broken, and the Minnesota scandal is a blaring warning to that reality. The failure of political leaders on many fronts bears some of the blame. But the main culprit is the massive federal welfare system that annually passes hundreds of billions of dollars down to states to dole out, with the philosophy that the more people on the rolls, the better. The structure of the U.S. welfare system creates incentives for states to expand the rolls – and little incentive for them to ensure that money is going to those who truly need it. As welfare rolls expand, programs receive more money. It’s a system based on the Democratic perspective that government should provide more support to more people. And the U.S. welfare system is massive. It consists of roughly 90 different programs that cost more than $1 trillion annually.” (12/17/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/taxpayer-cash-zero-accountability-minnesota-fraud-proves-welfare-broken
Source: New York Times
“Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Wednesday that she will sign a bill that will allow terminally ill New Yorkers to end their lives, using unusually personal language as she settled an emotional, decade-long battle between religious leaders and right-to-die advocates. The law will apply to adults who have incurable, irreversible illnesses and six months or less to live, and each patient will need the sign-off of three doctors. Eleven states, the District of Columbia and several countries in Europe have passed similar laws over the objections of some disability-rights advocates and religious organizations, most notably the Catholic Church, which have characterized the bill as legalizing assisted suicide.” [editor’s note: Why should anyone be required to seek permission from the state or from any number of doctors? – TLK] (12/17/25)
https://archive.is/Wbc36
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Elon, Trump, Fuentes: Bad Men or Trolls or Both? | Robert Wright & Paul Bloom.” (12/16/25)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/69185
Source: Orange County Register
by Sal Rodriguez
“Any reasonable person knows that President Donald Trump’s comments on the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner have been, to use a word, deplorable. In a message amplified through official accounts, Trump said Reiner died ‘reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding and incurable affliction … known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.’ Fortunately, some Republicans found this to be a tasteless and irresponsible thing to say. … So, I figured I’d ask local Republican members of Congress what they think. Their response: crickets.” (12/16/25)
https://archive.is/ZGnM0
