12/17 -- Year-End Fundraiser Update: About That Last $776.66 ...; Trump goes full McCain-Graham on Venezuela, orders blockade; Separation of Politics and Entertainment: Thoughts on the Death of Rob Reiner
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Thomas L. Knapp
Dec 17, 2025, 6:21:30 AMDec 17
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 12/17/25
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https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
0) Year-End Fundraiser Update: About That Last $776.66 ...
1) Trump goes full McCain-Graham on Venezuela, orders blockade
2) Frivolous litigation duel: Chinese regime countersues Missouri regime for $51 billion, apologies
3) Ukraine: Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Running on Single Power Line, Russian Regime Says
4) Hegseth: Video evidence of US regime murders is “top secret”
5) US FDIC proposes first stablecoin rule
6) Johnson says he won’t allow vote on ACA enhanced subsidies
7) France: Parliament approves social security budget
8) Pakistan: Court sentences cleric from banned party to 35 years for inciting violence
9) White House launches damage control over unfiltered Wiles interviews
10) PayPal applies to become a bank under Trump’s looser financial rules
11) Italy: Photographer finds thousands of dinosaur footprints near Winter Olympic venue
12) US payrolls rise 64,000 after October drop
13) White House torpedoes Biden attempt to shield “autopen presidency” files
14) France: Regime shifts to hard line on EU-Mercosur deal
15) US regime labels another Latin American cartel a terrorist group as anti-drug war [sic] escalates
16) LA: Driver shoots, wounds would-be hijacker
17) “Lost Canadians” citizenship bill now in place
18) Congo: Rwanda-Backed M23 Group Says It Will Withdraw From Seized Town After US Regime Request
19) US Capitol unveils statue of teen civil rights icon Barbara Rose Johns, taking Robert E. Lee’s spot
20) Senile reality TV actor files latest in series of frivolous defamation suits
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Separation of Politics and Entertainment: Thoughts on the Death of Rob Reiner
22) The Palmer Raids: A Precedent for Today’s Immigration Policy Abuses?
23) The Loaded Language of Protectionism
24) How schools still abuse “institutional neutrality” to silence speech
25) Our Parties Have Trapped Us
26) Democrats and Republicans lost the plot. Young voters know it.
27) Patrick Deneen’s Bullshit Case Against Liberalism
28) Has Orwell’s 1984 Become Reality?
29) Doin’-the-Right-Thing Rag
30) Conservatism Can’t Conserve Itself
31) A balm of heroism and truth for Australia
32) Poor Madsen’s Almanack
33) Australians Being Massacred Shouldn’t Bother Us More Than Palestinians Being Massacred
34) No Manufacturing Jolt from Tariffs
35) Israel’s all-seeing eye is the stealthiest cruelty of all in Gaza
36) The war on saturated fat, never based on good science, can now end
37) It’s Not Hard to NOT Be a Jerk
38) Trump is at it again with his tariff craziness. How should Canada respond?
39) Trump, AI, and States’ Rights
40) The Tariff Vindication that Still Isn’t
41) Extrajudicial Killings From Barack Obama to Donald Trump
42) The FCC’s Press Bias Fix
43) A Hero Americans Must Never Forget
44) On Supporting the Brave Women Who Fought Corruption in Politics
45) Minnesota fraud scandal exposes Dems’ indifference to the needy
46) Holiday wars at full blast, eh?
47) How Religious Freedom in America Was Founded on Privatization and Decentralization
48) The Increase in Polarization Mirrors the Growth of Government
49) Why Should We Replace Our ICBMs?
50) Trump’s Plan To Reclassify Marijuana Would Leave Federal Prohibition Essentially Untouched
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Trump Watch, 12/16/25
52) Capital Record, episode 274
53) The Good Fight, 12/16/25
54) Advisory Opinions, 12/16/25
55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 12/16/25
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 12/16/25
57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 12/16/25
58) (Re)Imagining Liberty, episode 95
59) Finding Freedom, 12/15/25
60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 12/15/25
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
0) Year-End Fundraiser Update: About That Last $776.66 ...
THANK YOU to long-time supporters DH and RRS, whose $105 in contributions yesterday bring our year-end fundraiser total to $1,973.84!
We adore "the usual suspects" who've been supporting our work for years, and who always seem to come through at crunch time ... but what about the rest of you?
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
We're $776.66 short of the finish line. Once we reach $2,750.50, we've got a "matching funds" pledge from supporter GL for the rest ... but we have to reach the halfway point to collect.
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... and have a great day.
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
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1) Trump goes full McCain-Graham on Venezuela, orders blockade
Source: CNBC
“U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday stateside designated Venezuelan government a ‘terrorist’ organization and ordered a ‘complete and total’ blockade of sanctioned oil tankers moving in and out of the country. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said ‘Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America.’ … The White House has reportedly undertaken a large military buildup in the Caribbean, including deploying its largest aircraft carrier to the region, as well as launching strikes against boats that it claims were trafficking drugs to the U.S.” (12/16/25)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/17/trump-orders-blockade-of-sanctioned-venezuelan-oil-tankers.html
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2) Frivolous litigation duel: Chinese regime countersues Missouri regime for $51 billion, apologies
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said Tuesday that China is now suing Missouri, in China, in the wake of the $24 billion American court judgment the state has obtained against China in connection with the pandemic. … In April, a federal judge in Cape Girardeau ordered the Chinese government to pay the money to Missouri after finding it hoarded personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. … Hanaway, in her news release Tuesday, said the new Chinese suit is demanding that the defendants in Missouri issue public apologies in the New York Times and other American media and internet platforms and in Chinese media and internet platforms. Hanaway also said the suit demands compensation equivalent to $50.5 billion plus legal fees and the right to claim further compensation.” (12/16/25)
https://archive.is/twHQE
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3) Ukraine: Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Running on Single Power Line, Russian Regime Says
Source: US News & World Report
“The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is currently receiving electricity through only one of two external power lines, its Russian management said on Tuesday. The other line was disconnected due to military activity, the management said, adding that radiation levels remain normal. Repair work will begin as soon as possible. The nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, has been under Russian control since March 2022, when Russian forces overran much of southeastern Ukraine. It is not currently producing electricity but relies on external power to keep the nuclear material cool and avoid a meltdown. Each side has regularly accused the other of shelling the facility.” (12/16/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-12-16/zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-running-on-single-power-line-russia-says
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4) Hegseth: Video evidence of US regime murders is “top secret”
Source: The Hill
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Pentagon will not release the full, unedited video of the U.S. military’s September strike on an alleged drug boat, which [murdered] 11 ‘narco-terrorists,’ including two survivors in a follow-up strike. ‘In keeping with long-standing Department of War [sic] policy … Department of Defense policy, of course, we’re not going to release a top secret full unedited video of that to the general public,’ Hegseth told reporters after briefing senators on the U.S. military’s ongoing, lethal strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.” (12/16/25)
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5651243-hegseth-pentagon-boat-strike-video/
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5) US FDIC proposes first stablecoin rule
Source: CoinDesk
“The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has rolled out the first official rule proposal stemming from the new law governing stablecoin issuers, with its board voting Tuesday to open a 60-day public comment period on its system for handling applications from its regulated banks looking to issue stablecoins from subsidiaries. The agency — led by Acting Chairman Travis Hill, who is also President Donald Trump’s nominee for the permanent seat — will gather comments and review them before it can release a final rule. The Tuesday proposal, approved by all three members of the shorthanded board, would establish the procedures for accepting applications, reviewing them under a 120-day approval window and offering an appeal process for those rejected.” (12/16/25)
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/12/16/u-s-fdic-proposes-first-u-s-stablecoin-rule-to-emerge-from-genius-act
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6) Johnson says he won’t allow vote on ACA enhanced subsidies
Source: United Press International
“House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he won’t call for an amendment vote to renew enhanced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, ensuring higher health insurance premiums through the healthcare marketplace next year. Speaking during a news conference after a House Republican Conference meeting, Johnson blamed the decision on about a dozen Republican members of the House in swing districts ‘fighting hard to make sure that they reduce costs for all of their constituents.'” (12/16/25)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/12/16/House-ACA-subsidies/2801765908803/
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7) France: Parliament approves social security budget
Source: Politico
“French lawmakers formally approved the country’s 2026 social security budget on Tuesday, handing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu an important political victory and offering some optimism to skittish markets worried France isn’t serious about getting its public finances in check. The bill, which covers state health care and pensions spending, was expected to pass after having already been approved by the National Assembly, France’s more powerful lower legislative chamber, last week, but its rejection by the Senate over the weekend forced another vote.” (12/16/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/french-parliament-social-security-budget-2026-national-assembly
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8) Pakistan: Court sentences cleric from banned party to 35 years for inciting violence
Source: ABC News
“A Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced a senior leader of a banned Islamist party to 35 years in prison for inciting violence, more than a year after the cleric publicly called for the killing of the country’s then-chief justice, court officials and a defense lawyer said Tuesday. Zaheerul Hassan Shah, a leader of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, was arrested last year after a video circulated on social media showing him offering 10 million rupees ($36,000) to anyone who beheaded then-Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa. Isa had faced criticism from hardline religious groups last year after he granted bail to a man from the minority Ahmadi community in a blasphemy case.” (12/16/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistani-court-sentences-cleric-banned-party-35-years-128443053
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9) White House launches damage control over unfiltered Wiles interviews
Source: Axios
“The White House rushed to defend chief of staff Susie Wiles on Tuesday after her blunt private views on President Trump’s first year were revealed in a series of stunning on-the-record interviews. Wiles is the most powerful aide in the White House — credited with running a more disciplined, loyal and effective operation than Trump’s first term, which was routinely undercut by leaks and internal feuds. That makes her candid commentary to Vanity Fair — in which she questioned the judgment, execution or consequences of many of Trump’s most aggressive policies — all the more striking.” (12/16/25)
https://archive.is/f8e04
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10) PayPal applies to become a bank under Trump’s looser financial rules
Source: Engadget
“PayPal is the latest company looking to become a bank in the US. On Monday, the company announced it had submitted applications for PayPal Bank to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI). PayPal is already a bank in Europe, based in Luxembourg. … Applications to become a bank have popped up left and right this year, with approval odds increasing under the Trump administration. On Friday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that five cryptocurrency companies, including BitGo, Circle and Ripple, received conditional approval to become federally charted trust banks.” (12/16/25)
https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/paypal-applies-to-become-a-bank-under-trumps-looser-financial-rules-143025772.html
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11) Italy: Photographer finds thousands of dinosaur footprints near Winter Olympic venue
Source: SFGate
“A wildlife photographer stumbled upon one of the oldest and largest known collections of dinosaur footprints, dating back about 210 million years to the Triassic Period, high in an Italian national park near the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic venue of Bormio, officials announced Tuesday. The discovery in the Stelvio National Park was striking for the sheer number of footprints, estimated at as many as 20,000 over some five kilometers (three miles), and the location near the Swiss border, once a prehistoric coastal area, that has never previously yielded dinosaur tracks, experts said. … The dinosaur prints are believed to have been made by long-necked bipedal herbivores that were up to 10 meters (33 feet) long, weighing up to four tons, similar to a Plateosaurus, Dal Sasso said. Some of the tracks were 40 centimeters wide, with visible claws.” (12/16/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/a-photographer-finds-thousands-of-dinosaur-21246092.php
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12) US payrolls rise 64,000 after October drop
Source: Financial Review [Australia]
“US job growth remained sluggish in November and the unemployment rate rose to a four-year-high, pointing to a continued cooling in the labour market after a weak October. Nonfarm payrolls increased 64,000 in November after declining 105,000 in October, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The unemployment rate was 4.6 per cent last month, up from 4.4 per cent in September. The BLS had to forgo publishing an October jobless rate because it was unable to retroactively collect that data following the government shutdown. … The advance in November payrolls was driven by health care and social assistance as well as construction. Private payrolls increased by 69,000 in November after adding 52,000 jobs the prior month. Employment fell in transportation and warehousing as well as leisure and hospitality.” (12/16/25)
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/us-payrolls-rise-64-000-after-october-drop-20251217-p5noao
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13) White House torpedoes Biden attempt to shield “autopen presidency” files
Source: Fox News
“Former President Joe Biden requested executive privilege amid the Congressional investigations into his administration’s use of the autopen, with the Trump administration rejecting the request Tuesday, Fox News Digital learned. ‘I am concerned that disclosure of these materials would damage important institutional interests of the Presidency, including by impairing the ability of future Presidents to receive robust, candid advice from their close advisers. For these reasons, I hereby assert executive privilege over the documents listed,’ Biden wrote in a letter to Archival Operations Division of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Oct. 1, 2025, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Fox News Digital. … White House Counsel David Warrington responded Tuesday to the request in a letter to NARA, denying the calls for executive immunity. Such immunity protects government officials, notably the president, from lawsuits or prosecution over actions conducted while performing official duties.” (12/16/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/exclusive-trump-white-house-torpedoes-biden-attempt-shield-autopen-presidency-files
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14) France: Regime shifts to hard line on EU-Mercosur deal
Source: Le Monde [France]
“Despite concessions from the European Commission, including a safeguard clause that is due to be adopted by the European Parliament on December 16, Paris has called for a ‘postponement’ of the free trade agreement between the EU and countries in the South American trade bloc. … The issue of a free trade agreement with countries in the Mercosur bloc has always been highly sensitive in France, where part of the farming sector is categorically opposed to the deal, as well as nearly the entire political spectrum. France’s industrial sector, which might benefit from the export opportunities the deal would entail, has supported it, but only in a hushed way. Against this backdrop, an outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis among France’s livestock, uncertainty about the 2026 state budget, and the upcoming local elections, set for March 2026, have convinced the president to hit the brakes.” (12/16/25)
https://archive.is/LvgNS
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15) US regime labels another Latin American cartel a terrorist group as anti-drug war [sic] escalates
Source: SFGate
“The Trump administration on Tuesday designated another Latin American drug cartel as a foreign terrorist organization, increasing financial pressure on its members and opening the door to potential military action against them. The U.S. State Department said Clan del Golfo, which is based in Colombia, has been listed both as a foreign and a global terrorist group, calling it a ‘violent and powerful criminal organization’ that uses cocaine trafficking to fund violent activities. ‘Clan del Golfo is responsible for terrorist attacks against public officials, law enforcement and military personnel, and civilians in Colombia’, the statement said. The designation comes after the Trump administration in September added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in almost 30 years.” (12/16/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/the-us-labels-another-latin-american-cartel-a-21246374.php
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16) LA: Driver shoots, wounds would-be hijacker
Source: KALB 5 News
“A man was injured in what the Alexandria Police Department is calling a self-defense shooting on Marthas Drive …. APD said officers responded to a shooting call in the 5900 block of Marthas Drive. They learned that Avery Lewis, 31, had been shot after he jumped into a parked delivery truck in a threatening manner, and the driver, Robin Volson, shot him in self-defense. Volson then called the police. Lewis was moderately injured and was taken to a hospital.” (12/15/25)
https://www.kalb.com/2025/12/16/man-shot-self-defense-marthas-drive-alexandria/
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17) “Lost Canadians” citizenship bill now in place
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Canada will now extend automatic citizenship to children born or adopted abroad to a Canadian parent also born outside the country. There are conditions to the ‘Lost Canadian’ rules that came into effect on Monday – the Canadian parent must show a substantial connection’ to the country by having spent at least three years there prior to their child’s birth or adoption. ‘Lost Canadians’ refers to people who lost or never acquired citizenship because of what Ottawa deemed ‘outdated provisions’ of its citizenship laws. The changes on Monday stem from a 2023 Ontario court decision that ruled parts of the law limiting citizenship by descent were unconstitutional. The court ruling came after the federal government under former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper passed a law in 2009 that removed the automatic right to citizenship for descendants of Canadians born abroad.” (12/16/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgkj8gpkgwo
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18) Congo: Rwanda-Backed M23 Group Says It Will Withdraw From Seized Town After US Regime Request
Source: US News & World Report
“Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have said they would withdraw from the eastern Congo town of Uvira at the request of the U.S. administration, which had criticised seizure of the town last week as a threat to mediation efforts. The rebels entered Uvira, on the border with Burundi, less than a week after the presidents of Congo and Rwanda met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington and affirmed their commitment to a peace deal known as the Washington Accords. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Rwanda’s actions in eastern Congo violated the Washington Accords and vowed to ‘take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept.’ Rwanda denies supporting M23 and has blamed Congolese and Burundian forces for the renewed fighting.” (12/16/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-12-16/rwanda-backed-m23-group-says-it-will-withdraw-from-seized-congo-town-after-us-request
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19) US Capitol unveils statue of teen civil rights icon Barbara Rose Johns, taking Robert E. Lee’s spot
Source: SFGate
“The U.S. Capitol on Tuesday began displaying a statue of a teenaged Barbara Rose Johns as she protested poor conditions at her segregated Virginia high school, a pointed replacement for a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that was removed several years ago. An unveiling ceremony of the statue representing Virginia in the Capitol was taking place in Emancipation Hall, featuring Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Virginia’s congressional delegation. Johnson said more than 200 members of Johns’ family were on hand, listening on as the ceremony opened with a rendition of ‘How Great Thou Art’ performed by the Eastern Senior High School choir in Washington.” (12/16/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/us-capitol-statue-of-teen-civil-rights-leader-21245102.php
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20) Senile reality TV actor files latest in series of frivolous defamation suits
Source: NBC News
“The BBC has said it will defend itself against a $10 billion lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump on Monday, which alleges the British public broadcaster defamed him in a documentary before last year’s presidential election by deceptively editing parts of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech. In a brief statement, the BBC said it would fight the lawsuit, raising the possibility of a legal battle over whether the edit of the speech caused harm to the president’s reputation. … In a 33-page complaint, Trump’s attorneys asked a federal court in Miami for a jury trial and alleged a BBC documentary that aired a week before the 2024 presidential election was ‘a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election’s outcome to President Trump’s detriment.’” (12/16/25)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/president-files-10-billion-defamation-lawsuit-bbc-january-6-speech-rcna249420
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Separation of Politics and Entertainment: Thoughts on the Death of Rob Reiner
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“I could probably name 50 entertainers whose political positions I find odious … if I bother to notice those political positions. I mostly go out of my way NOT to. Is there any compelling reason to deprive ourselves of great films or great performances from Oliver Stone, Jon Voit, Jane Fonda, Sean Penn, James Woods, Susan Sarandon, Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, Leonardo DiCaprio … just to indulge our political disagreements with them and maybe cost them a buck or two in box office sales, TV residuals, etc.? The idea smacks of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. As for speaking ill of the dead, even dancing on their graves … well, I’m not against it in the case of particularly unsavory characters. But over political disagreements? No. Tom Smothers wasn’t Charles Manson and Pete Seeger wasn’t Joseph Stalin. They enriched our lives whether we liked their politics or not.” (12/16/25)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20204
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22) The Palmer Raids: A Precedent for Today’s Immigration Policy Abuses?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“The tactics that ICE and CBP are using seem far more appropriate for a police state than a democratic republic. As with so many other recent highlighted civil liberties abuses, though, the problem did not begin when Donald Trump became president. Instead, previous administrations set a number of troubling precedents. Unsavory practices to enforce U.S. immigration laws, including holding detainees without due process for extended periods in overcrowded conditions, certainly are nothing new. Even accosting suspects at their place of employment or on the streets is not unprecedented. One historical episode that bears an especially troubling similarity to the current conduct of ICE and CBP was the so-called Palmer Raids during Woodrow Wilson’s administration.” (12/16/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2025/12/15/the-palmer-raids-a-precedent-for-todays-immigration-policy-abuses/
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23) The Loaded Language of Protectionism
Source: The Daily Economy
by Donald J Boudreaux
“Language matters. Words have not only technical meanings; they also summon particular attitudes and impressions. And sometimes these attitudes and impressions differ significantly from the words’ technical meanings. In no domain of economic policy is the confusion created by the divergence of words’ technical meanings from the attitudes and impressions conveyed by those words greater than in the domain of trade policy.” (12/16/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-loaded-language-of-protectionism/
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24) How schools still abuse “institutional neutrality” to silence speech
Source: Expression
by Ross Marchand
“Defending the rights of students and faculty to speak freely has been part and parcel of FIRE’s mission for 26 years. We’ve seen universities try all sorts of ways to restrict expression, from free speech zones and excessive security fees to extensive pre-approval requirements for events. But one technique is particularly disturbing — using ostensibly pro-free speech policies to chill student and faculty expression. As my colleague Graham Piro recently wrote, colleges and universities regularly claim to embrace ‘institutional neutrality’ — an institution’s commitment to refrain from speaking out on the issues of the day — only to silence speech in the principle’s name. Under a genuine policy of institutional neutrality, students and faculty are empowered to debate such issues, without feeling as if the school administration has declared the matter settled.” (12/16/25)
https://expression.fire.org/p/how-schools-still-abuse-institutional
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25) Our Parties Have Trapped Us
Source: Persuasion
by Danielle Allen
“Every two years, Americans spend an average of $15 billion on campaign advertising trying to fend off the wolves attacking them. But we just end up changing which wolves are briefly ascendant. Maybe we could fend off those wolves once and for all—if we could just get our foot out of that dang trap. But what’s the trap? The trap is an electoral system that has been captured by party processes gone wrong. We’ve had decades of changes — some of them well-intentioned, some about accruing power — to how our political parties operate. They have left us in a place where most members of Congress are elected by only 5 to 8 percent of the electorate in their districts. … Every year, our two parties get better at claiming ever more power for a continuously shrinking membership base.” (12/16/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/our-parties-have-trapped-us
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26) Democrats and Republicans lost the plot. Young voters know it.
Source: USA Today
by Sara Pequeño
“If a new poll is any indication, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party should be worried about the youth vote in the 2026 midterm elections. According to polling from the University of Chicago, about 60% of Gen Z and millennial voters are dissatisfied with both political parties. This includes 25% of Republican voters ages 18-42 who have an unfavorable view of the GOP, as well as 36% of Democrats in that age range who have an unfavorable view of their party. None of this is really surprising, given that polling across age ranges has shown that voters are unhappy with both political parties. What might surprise party leaders, however, are the specific issues that Generation Z and millennials are worried about.” (12/16/25)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/12/16/trump-mamdani-economy-affordability-democrats-republicans/87723000007/
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27) Patrick Deneen’s Bullshit Case Against Liberalism
Source: The UnPopulist
by Matt Johnson
“Postliberals certainly agree that serious political, economic, and cultural missteps have happened under liberal regimes. But their critique runs much deeper than that. They believe liberalism itself is fatally flawed. Although postliberals come in many varieties, a common thread is that liberalism is intrinsically defective — that it inexorably leads to social atomization, cultural degradation, and oppression and inequality. Perhaps the best known purveyor of this view is Notre Dame political theorist Patrick Deneen …. Deneen’s analysis suffers from three basic problems: he misrepresents liberalism’s fundamental principles; he presents a warped history of liberalism that dismisses its achievements and exaggerates its weaknesses; and he offers nothing in place of the liberal-democratic framework he wants to destroy.” (12/16/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/patrick-deneens-bullshit-case-against
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28) Has Orwell’s 1984 Become Reality?
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Bert Olivier
“Most people would know that totalitarianism is not a desirable social or political set of circumstances. Even the word sounds ominous, but that is probably only to those who already know what it denotes. I have written on it before, in different contexts, but it is now more relevant than ever. We should remind ourselves what Orwell wrote in that uncannily premonitory novel.” (12/16/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/has-orwells-1984-become-reality/
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29) Doin’-the-Right-Thing Rag
Source: TomDispatch
by Nan Levinson
“Any story about resistance within the military must begin by recognizing that it’s not an easy thing to do. Apparently, that’s true even for a much-decorated retired Navy commander, former astronaut, and sitting United States senator. I’m talking about Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. He was one of six Democratic legislators, all military veterans or former intelligence officers, who, on November 18th, released a 90-second video reminding members of the military that the oath they took on enlisting requires them to refuse illegal orders. The implicit context was the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops to American cities, but their message took on added urgency after the Washington Post published an exposé about an order coming from high up to kill survivors of an airstrike in the Caribbean Sea.” (12/16/25)
https://tomdispatch.com/doin-the-right-thing-rag/
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30) Conservatism Can’t Conserve Itself
Source: The Dispatch
by Matthew J Franck
“The past decade, since the entry of Donald J. Trump into electoral politics, has been a disorienting one for … well, everyone. But especially, perhaps, for ‘movement’ conservatives who regard the principles they have always held dear to be as sound as ever, but beleaguered in practice by the events of this young century. Conservatism, from this point of view, should have emerged from the Bush and Obama years bloodied but unbowed, ready to refresh and recommit itself to principles of classical liberalism …. Yet that form of conservatism … is now eclipsed by a new right that is in many ways very old and reactionary: preferring authority to law and rent-seeking to free markets, cheap moralism to authentic morals, and a fearful and inward-looking nationalism to a confident, patriotic internationalism.” (12/16/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/maga-right-intellect-trump-ideas-extremism/
-----
31) A balm of heroism and truth for Australia
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Within a day after two gunmen killed 15 people during a gathering for the Jewish holiday Hanukkah at Australia’s most famous beach, a very resilient country began to focus on ways to prevent a similar tragedy: Better gun regulations. A warm embrace of Jewish Australians. A sterner check on antisemitism. Tighter surveillance of potential terrorists. Yet a particular act of selfless heroism during the Dec. 14 mass shooting has offered up one more possible solution. A video shows Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Muslim shop owner in Sydney, tackling and disarming one of the alleged Bondi Beach shooters, also a Muslim. This bystander, by bursting bravely into action, may have saved countless lives even as he was shot. ‘God gave me strength’, he reportedly told a cousin from a hospital bed. His father, Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed, perhaps best described the motives of his son, who gained Australian citizenship in 2022 after fleeing conflict in Syria.” (12/15/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/1215/A-balm-of-heroism-and-truth-for-Australia
-----
32) Poor Madsen’s Almanack
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie
“Based on shrewd observation of likely weather patterns and early budding of snowdrops and Indian maize, Madsen has been able to describe the events of 2026 as they actually happened.” (12/16/25)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/poor-madsens-almanack
-----
33) Australians Being Massacred Shouldn’t Bother Us More Than Palestinians Being Massacred
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“On March 16 of this year, Reuters published an article titled ‘Israeli strikes kill 15 people in Gaza over past day, Palestinian medics say’. Does anyone remember the 15 Palestinians who died on March 16, 2025? Does that day stand out in anyone’s memory as particularly significant in terms of mass murder? No? Same here. I honestly can’t remember it at all. This would have been during the tail end of the first fake ‘ceasefire’, a couple of days before Trump signed off on Israel resuming its large-scale bombing operations in Gaza, so this wasn’t one of those days with huge massacres and staggering death tolls. It doesn’t exactly stand out in the memory.” (12/16/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/12/16/australians-being-massacred-shouldnt-bother-us-more-than-palestinians-being-massacred/
-----
34) No Manufacturing Jolt from Tariffs
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy
“In theory, tariffs should shift jobs to the protected industries. If these tariffs protect manufacturing, why aren’t jobs shifting there? The argument for tariffs to protect manufacturing relies on an assumption that the imports are of final goods and that the protected country has tariff-free access to intermediate goods (the goods used in manufacturing). In 21st-century America, that assumption doesn’t hold.” (12/16/25)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/no-manufacturing-jolt-from-tariffs
-----
35) Israel’s all-seeing eye is the stealthiest cruelty of all in Gaza
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Connor Echols
“Discussions of the war in Gaza tend to focus on what’s visible. The instinct is understandable: Over two years of brutal conflict, the Israel Defense Forces have all but destroyed the diminutive strip on the Mediterranean coast, with the scale of the carnage illustrated by images of emaciated children, shrapnel-ridden bodies, and flattened buildings. But underlying all of this destruction is a hidden force — a carefully constructed infrastructure of Israeli surveillance that powers the war effort and keeps tabs on the smallest facets of Palestinians’ lives.” (12/16/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-surveillance/
-----
36) The war on saturated fat, never based on good science, can now end
Source: The Hill
by Nina Teicholz
“For more than half a century, Americans have been urged to shy away from saturated fats, found mainly in animal products. We have been told to cook with canola oil instead of butter, select skim instead of whole milk, and to fill our plates with pasta instead of steak. Paradoxically, decades of adherence to this advice has coincided with rising levels of chronic disease. As people cut more saturated fat from their diets, the nation grew heavier and sicker — not healthier. Put plainly, the war on saturated fat, rooted in the hypothesis that it causes heart disease, has never been based on sound science. In fact, a large and growing body of evidence reveals that saturated fats aren’t a menace but a key part of a healthy diet. And they should be recognized as such in national nutrition policy.” (12/16/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5649677-the-war-on-saturated-fat-never-based-on-good-science-can-now-end/
-----
37) It’s Not Hard to NOT Be a Jerk
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“When someone you disagree with politically dies, no matter the circumstances, should you be happy? That’s a rhetorical question; I don’t really care what your personal answer is. Everyone has weird thoughts that pop through their mind over which they have no control, most of which are fleeting and ignored. The problem occurs when those thoughts are followed by an ‘and the world needs to know this’ action. The world does not need to know your every thought, or even most of them. It’s hard not to laugh when you see someone in a ‘blooper’ video do something stupid or fall on their face somehow. You might feel phantom pain from it, but it’s still funny. It’s funny, at least in part, because we’ve all been there – there isn’t anyone who hasn’t done something stupid or clumsy.” (12/16/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2025/12/16/its-not-hard-to-not-be-a-jerk-n2667932
-----
38) Trump is at it again with his tariff craziness. How should Canada respond?
Source: Cobden Centre
by Walter E Block
“Trump has recently gone berserk with his interferences of international trade for a change. How should Canada react? There are four and only four realistic options (I rule out physically attacking the US over this imbecilic action of their government). One, do nothing, stand pat, ignore this latest moronic display of economic ignorance. Two, raise our tariff levels against the US; Trump threatens that if we do so, he will reciprocate, and then we will be off to the races with a real trade war. Three, lower the barriers to trade with the US that we have previously enacted. Four, eliminate them entirely.” (12/16/25)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2025/12/trump-is-at-it-again-with-his-tariff-craziness-how-should-canada-respond/
-----
39) Trump, AI, and States’ Rights
Source: The American Conservative
by Spencer Neale
“The Trump administration and its acolytes argue that permitting 50 different state governments to create wildly differing rules for AI will slow the development of research and allow liberal states to create ‘woke’ onramps for the nascent technology. ‘There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI,’ wrote Trump in a post shared to his Truth Social on Monday. ‘I will be doing a ONE RULE Executive Order this week. You can’t expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something.’ … Among the chief concerns for states’ rights advocates is a loss of flexibility when it comes to innovation and policy-making. Local variation allows states the ability to test different regulatory approaches before others follow, permitting state governments the opportunity to tailor AI systems to differing demographics, economies, and values.” (12/16/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/trump-ai-and-states-rights/
-----
40) The Tariff Vindication that Still Isn’t
Source: Law & Liberty
by David Hebert
“Lynn’s central argument rests on a fundamental confusion between what economists refer to as the ‘legal incidence’ and the ‘economic incidence’ of a tax. Legally, because tariffs are a tax on imports, it is the US importers who must write the check to Customs and Border Protection. But this says nothing about who actually pays the tariff. For example, when landlords’ property taxes go up, who pays? The landlord will obviously write the check to the county assessor, but unless Lynn thinks that landlords are running charities, that cost gets passed on to tenants in the form of higher rent, less frequent maintenance, or fewer included benefits (utilities or access to designated parking, for example). The legal incidence falls on the landlord, but the economic incidence falls disproportionately on renters, i.e., young Americans already besieged by high housing costs. Tariffs work the same way.” (12/16/25)
https://lawliberty.org/the-tariff-vindication-that-still-isnt/
-----
41) Extrajudicial Killings From Barack Obama to Donald Trump
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin
“In May 2013, as President Barack Obama delivered a major foreign-policy speech in Washington, I managed to slip inside. As he was winding up, I stood and interrupted, condemning his use of lethal drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia. ‘How can you, a constitutional lawyer, authorize the extrajudicial killing of people – including a 16-year-old American boy in Yemen, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki—without charge, without trial, without even an explanation?’ As security dragged me out, Obama responded, ‘The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to’. Perhaps my questions touched a chord in his conscience, but the drone attacks did not stop. Just before that incident, I had returned from Yemen, where a small delegation of us met with Abdulrahman’s grandfather, Nasser al-Awlaki – a dignified man with a PhD from an American university, someone who genuinely believed in the values this country claims to represent.” (12/16/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/extrajudicial-killing-obama-trump
-----
42) The FCC’s Press Bias Fix
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“You are operating a newsroom or, let’s say, a commentary room. Somebody accuses you of bias in how you decide what to publish. You deflect: Of course different media organizations have different perspectives; each to its own. Sometimes, too, we choose what to run less rationally than the Platonic philosopher-journalist would demand. Bias is everywhere, inevitable. Which makes the only cure maximal freedom of speech and openness of discourse. The answer to deficient speech is better speech, not either direct or indirect government censorship. Nevertheless, the FCC has proposed to ‘investigate’ the selection process of newsrooms.” (12/16/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/12/16/press-bias-fix/
-----
43) A Hero Americans Must Never Forget
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Lawrence W Reed
“Have you ever received a letter that changed your life? On July 4, 1775, a full year before the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, a 20-year-old Connecticut man named Nathan Hale received such a letter. It was from his Yale classmate Benjamin Tallmadge, who was on the front lines as a secret agent for the Americans while the British lay siege to Boston. … Tallmadge’s letter inspired Hale to accept a commission two days later as first lieutenant in Colonel Charles Webb’s 7th Connecticut Regiment. The teacher was now officially a soldier and a spy in a hastily organized, ragtag Colonial army. The enemy? Nothing less than the world’s greatest military power. Fourteen months later, Hale would be dead at the age of 21 and enter American history as one of its bravest patriots.” (12/16/25)
https://fee.org/articles/a-hero-americans-must-never-forget/
-----
44) On Supporting the Brave Women Who Fought Corruption in Politics
Source: Wast No More Time
by Nicholas Sarwark
“Unless you are in healthcare compliance law or live in Louisiana, you probably don’t know Beth Vest. If you’re not in Colorado or a parliamentary procedure nerd, you probably don’t know Caryn Ann Harlos. But these two women stood up against one of Donald Trump’s dirtiest political tricks and did what a complacent Libertarian National Committee failed to do: force the resignation of Angela McArdle as Chair of the Libertarian National Committee. … Beth Vest and Caryn Ann Harlos did what nobody else on the Libertarian National Committee was willing to do. They saw LNC officer misconduct and they filed suit to make it stop. Angela McArdle resigned and the misconduct stopped. But there’s still the matter of the legal bills.” (12/15/25)
https://nsarwark.substack.com/p/on-standing-up-against-corruption
-----
45) Minnesota fraud scandal exposes Dems’ indifference to the needy
Source: New York Post
by Liz Peek
“The Grinch is stealing hundreds of billions of dollars of welfare benefits from America’s needy, and Democrats couldn’t care less. The broadening scandal in Minnesota, where Somali criminals allegedly stole more than a billion dollars in taxpayer funds under the indulgent eyes of Democrat Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and other state officials, is the tip of the iceberg. All around the country, there is growing evidence that programs meant to serve the poor, the hungry and the homeless have been scammed; rather than investigate the frauds and prosecute those responsible, Democrats denounce efforts by those trying to stop the theft.” (12/16/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/liz-peek-minnesotas-fraud-scandal-exposes-democrats-indifference-needy
-----
46) Holiday wars at full blast, eh?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“The news this last weekend show that the end of 2025 is no better than the rest of the year. We aren’t talking about the traditional holiday wars on what decorations can be put where, and what people can use as greetings for the season. Or even what songs can be sung or broadcast. Nope, we are talking about shooting, knifing, and other ways of killing people.” (12/15/25)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2025/12/15/holiday-wars-at-full-blast-eh/
-----
47) How Religious Freedom in America Was Founded on Privatization and Decentralization
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Ryan McMaken
“A common myth about American history is the one in which a handful of so-called ‘founding fathers’ in the 1780s declared that America would create a ‘wall of separation’ between religious institutions and government institutions. After that, the First Amendment to the US constitution was instrumental in ensuring that religious institutions would be totally separate from American political institutions. Or so the story goes. Much of this myth is premised on the idea that the spread of religious freedom in America was a top-down process. … it is not at all the case that the First Amendment was central to the process of disestablishment — the process of abolishing the ‘official’ churches who held favored positions within most state governments. Rather, this process was carried out overwhelmingly in the state legislatures — and some of this was done before the First Amendment was even written.” (12/15/25)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-religious-freedom-america-was-founded-privatization-and-decentralization
-----
48) The Increase in Polarization Mirrors the Growth of Government
Source: Independent Institute
by Pierre Lemieux
“Politicians and policy experts like to talk about the ‘root causes’ of crime, homelessness, poverty, rising prices and other problems. If they want to understand the root cause of political polarization, they might want to consider the whole picture and look in the mirror. In a book published 40 years ago, economist and political philosopher Anthony de Jasay (1925-2019) proposed an explanation that did not receive the attention it deserved. … In de Jasay’s view, politics is necessarily polarizing. It is just a matter of degree. The larger the scope of the state (the entire apparatus of government), the more politics you have. And more politics leads to more polarization.” (12/15/25)
https://www.independent.org/article/2025/12/15/polarization-mirrors-growth-of-government/
-----
49) Why Should We Replace Our ICBMs?
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Rudney
“Kathryn Bigelow’s gripping film A House of Dynamite vividly depicts the contradictions and failings of U.S. nuclear weapons strategy in 2025. In the film, no one knows where a single intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) aimed at Chicago is coming from. No one can shoot it down. Senior civilian bureaucrats and military officers race around in search of an impossible solution. The clock keeps ticking to 19 minutes before impact. The U.S. president, the man with his finger on the button, is torn by conflicting options. Do we retaliate? Against whom? How can we avoid escalating to apocalyptic nuclear war? Ten million people are condemned to die from the detonation of this mystery missile.” (12/16/25)
https://prospect.org/2025/12/16/why-should-we-replace-our-icbms/
-----
50) Trump’s Plan To Reclassify Marijuana Would Leave Federal Prohibition Essentially Untouched
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum
“Placing marijuana in Schedule III would not legalize recreational use, and it would allow medical use only if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved specific cannabis-based products as prescription drugs. Producing and distributing marijuana, even in compliance with state law, would still be federal crimes, albeit subject to somewhat less severe penalties. Reclassifying marijuana nevertheless would be a financial boon to state-licensed marijuana businesses, relieving them of a disability that results in staggeringly high effective income tax rates. It also would make medical research easier by eliminating federal restrictions that are specific to Schedule I.” (12/15/25)
https://reason.com/2025/12/15/trumps-plan-to-reclassify-marijuana-would-leave-federal-prohibition-essentially-untouched/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Trump Watch, 12/16/25
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Moral Injury in the Caribbean Killings.” (12/16/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JhrbODtIpo
-----
52) Capital Record, episode 274
Source: National Review
“Making America Crony Again.” (12/16/25)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/making-america-crony-again/
-----
53) The Good Fight, 12/16/25
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Kelly Born on All the Ways AI Is Changing Politics.” (12/16/25)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/kelly-born
-----
54) Advisory Opinions, 12/16/25
Source: The Dispatch
“Burkeanism and the Administrative State.” (12/16/25)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/burkeanism-and-the-administrative-state/
-----
55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 12/16/25
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s my weekly therapy session with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos where we discuss current events and how to keep one’s sanity in a world turned upside down. Come and bask in the normalcy that we once took for granted.” (12/16/25)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-giwzu-19f1c89
-----
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 12/16/25
Source: The New Republic
“Marjorie Taylor Greene Humiliates Trump Over Reiner as MAGA Cracks Up.” (12/16/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/204469/marjorie-taylor-greene-humiliates-trump-reiner-maga-cracks
-----
57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 12/16/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“House To Vote on Venezuela War Powers Resolution, US Offers Ukraine NATO-Style Guarantees, and More.” (12/16/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwgIMcmFq1k
59) (Re)Imagining Liberty, episode 95
Source: Aaron Ross Powell
“Opposition Media versus Complicit Media (w/ Adam Gurri).” (12/15/25)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/095-opposition-media-versus-complicit-media-w-adam-gurri/id1614436300?i=1000741404389
-----
59) Finding Freedom, 12/15/25
Source: Lions of Liberty
“10 Health Rules to Survive the Holidays and Launch Strong Into 2026.” (12/15/25)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/ff-10-health-rules-to-survive-the-holidays-and-launch-strong-into-2026
-----
60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 12/15/25
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Ken Silva : Assassinations and Cover Ups.” (12/15/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-guest-ken-silva-assassinations-and-cover-ups
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Today's Freedom News:
0) Year-End Fundraiser Update: About That Last $776.66 ...
1) Trump goes full McCain-Graham on Venezuela, orders blockade
2) Frivolous litigation duel: Chinese regime countersues Missouri regime for $51 billion, apologies
3) Ukraine: Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Running on Single Power Line, Russian Regime Says
4) Hegseth: Video evidence of US regime murders is “top secret”
5) US FDIC proposes first stablecoin rule
6) Johnson says he won’t allow vote on ACA enhanced subsidies
7) France: Parliament approves social security budget
8) Pakistan: Court sentences cleric from banned party to 35 years for inciting violence
9) White House launches damage control over unfiltered Wiles interviews
10) PayPal applies to become a bank under Trump’s looser financial rules
11) Italy: Photographer finds thousands of dinosaur footprints near Winter Olympic venue
12) US payrolls rise 64,000 after October drop
13) White House torpedoes Biden attempt to shield “autopen presidency” files
14) France: Regime shifts to hard line on EU-Mercosur deal
15) US regime labels another Latin American cartel a terrorist group as anti-drug war [sic] escalates
16) LA: Driver shoots, wounds would-be hijacker
17) “Lost Canadians” citizenship bill now in place
18) Congo: Rwanda-Backed M23 Group Says It Will Withdraw From Seized Town After US Regime Request
19) US Capitol unveils statue of teen civil rights icon Barbara Rose Johns, taking Robert E. Lee’s spot
20) Senile reality TV actor files latest in series of frivolous defamation suits
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Separation of Politics and Entertainment: Thoughts on the Death of Rob Reiner
22) The Palmer Raids: A Precedent for Today’s Immigration Policy Abuses?
23) The Loaded Language of Protectionism
24) How schools still abuse “institutional neutrality” to silence speech
25) Our Parties Have Trapped Us
26) Democrats and Republicans lost the plot. Young voters know it.
27) Patrick Deneen’s Bullshit Case Against Liberalism
28) Has Orwell’s 1984 Become Reality?
29) Doin’-the-Right-Thing Rag
30) Conservatism Can’t Conserve Itself
31) A balm of heroism and truth for Australia
32) Poor Madsen’s Almanack
33) Australians Being Massacred Shouldn’t Bother Us More Than Palestinians Being Massacred
34) No Manufacturing Jolt from Tariffs
35) Israel’s all-seeing eye is the stealthiest cruelty of all in Gaza
36) The war on saturated fat, never based on good science, can now end
37) It’s Not Hard to NOT Be a Jerk
38) Trump is at it again with his tariff craziness. How should Canada respond?
39) Trump, AI, and States’ Rights
40) The Tariff Vindication that Still Isn’t
41) Extrajudicial Killings From Barack Obama to Donald Trump
42) The FCC’s Press Bias Fix
43) A Hero Americans Must Never Forget
44) On Supporting the Brave Women Who Fought Corruption in Politics
45) Minnesota fraud scandal exposes Dems’ indifference to the needy
46) Holiday wars at full blast, eh?
47) How Religious Freedom in America Was Founded on Privatization and Decentralization
48) The Increase in Polarization Mirrors the Growth of Government
49) Why Should We Replace Our ICBMs?
50) Trump’s Plan To Reclassify Marijuana Would Leave Federal Prohibition Essentially Untouched
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Trump Watch, 12/16/25
52) Capital Record, episode 274
53) The Good Fight, 12/16/25
54) Advisory Opinions, 12/16/25
55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 12/16/25
56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 12/16/25
57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 12/16/25
58) (Re)Imagining Liberty, episode 95
59) Finding Freedom, 12/15/25
60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 12/15/25
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0) Year-End Fundraiser Update: About That Last $776.66 ...
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1) Trump goes full McCain-Graham on Venezuela, orders blockade
Source: CNBC
“U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday stateside designated Venezuelan government a ‘terrorist’ organization and ordered a ‘complete and total’ blockade of sanctioned oil tankers moving in and out of the country. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said ‘Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America.’ … The White House has reportedly undertaken a large military buildup in the Caribbean, including deploying its largest aircraft carrier to the region, as well as launching strikes against boats that it claims were trafficking drugs to the U.S.” (12/16/25)
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/17/trump-orders-blockade-of-sanctioned-venezuelan-oil-tankers.html
-----
2) Frivolous litigation duel: Chinese regime countersues Missouri regime for $51 billion, apologies
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said Tuesday that China is now suing Missouri, in China, in the wake of the $24 billion American court judgment the state has obtained against China in connection with the pandemic. … In April, a federal judge in Cape Girardeau ordered the Chinese government to pay the money to Missouri after finding it hoarded personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. … Hanaway, in her news release Tuesday, said the new Chinese suit is demanding that the defendants in Missouri issue public apologies in the New York Times and other American media and internet platforms and in Chinese media and internet platforms. Hanaway also said the suit demands compensation equivalent to $50.5 billion plus legal fees and the right to claim further compensation.” (12/16/25)
https://archive.is/twHQE
-----
3) Ukraine: Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant Running on Single Power Line, Russian Regime Says
Source: US News & World Report
“The Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is currently receiving electricity through only one of two external power lines, its Russian management said on Tuesday. The other line was disconnected due to military activity, the management said, adding that radiation levels remain normal. Repair work will begin as soon as possible. The nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, has been under Russian control since March 2022, when Russian forces overran much of southeastern Ukraine. It is not currently producing electricity but relies on external power to keep the nuclear material cool and avoid a meltdown. Each side has regularly accused the other of shelling the facility.” (12/16/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-12-16/zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-running-on-single-power-line-russia-says
-----
4) Hegseth: Video evidence of US regime murders is “top secret”
Source: The Hill
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Pentagon will not release the full, unedited video of the U.S. military’s September strike on an alleged drug boat, which [murdered] 11 ‘narco-terrorists,’ including two survivors in a follow-up strike. ‘In keeping with long-standing Department of War [sic] policy … Department of Defense policy, of course, we’re not going to release a top secret full unedited video of that to the general public,’ Hegseth told reporters after briefing senators on the U.S. military’s ongoing, lethal strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.” (12/16/25)
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5651243-hegseth-pentagon-boat-strike-video/
-----
5) US FDIC proposes first stablecoin rule
Source: CoinDesk
“The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has rolled out the first official rule proposal stemming from the new law governing stablecoin issuers, with its board voting Tuesday to open a 60-day public comment period on its system for handling applications from its regulated banks looking to issue stablecoins from subsidiaries. The agency — led by Acting Chairman Travis Hill, who is also President Donald Trump’s nominee for the permanent seat — will gather comments and review them before it can release a final rule. The Tuesday proposal, approved by all three members of the shorthanded board, would establish the procedures for accepting applications, reviewing them under a 120-day approval window and offering an appeal process for those rejected.” (12/16/25)
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/12/16/u-s-fdic-proposes-first-u-s-stablecoin-rule-to-emerge-from-genius-act
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6) Johnson says he won’t allow vote on ACA enhanced subsidies
Source: United Press International
“House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he won’t call for an amendment vote to renew enhanced subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, ensuring higher health insurance premiums through the healthcare marketplace next year. Speaking during a news conference after a House Republican Conference meeting, Johnson blamed the decision on about a dozen Republican members of the House in swing districts ‘fighting hard to make sure that they reduce costs for all of their constituents.'” (12/16/25)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2025/12/16/House-ACA-subsidies/2801765908803/
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7) France: Parliament approves social security budget
Source: Politico
“French lawmakers formally approved the country’s 2026 social security budget on Tuesday, handing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu an important political victory and offering some optimism to skittish markets worried France isn’t serious about getting its public finances in check. The bill, which covers state health care and pensions spending, was expected to pass after having already been approved by the National Assembly, France’s more powerful lower legislative chamber, last week, but its rejection by the Senate over the weekend forced another vote.” (12/16/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/french-parliament-social-security-budget-2026-national-assembly
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8) Pakistan: Court sentences cleric from banned party to 35 years for inciting violence
Source: ABC News
“A Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced a senior leader of a banned Islamist party to 35 years in prison for inciting violence, more than a year after the cleric publicly called for the killing of the country’s then-chief justice, court officials and a defense lawyer said Tuesday. Zaheerul Hassan Shah, a leader of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, was arrested last year after a video circulated on social media showing him offering 10 million rupees ($36,000) to anyone who beheaded then-Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa. Isa had faced criticism from hardline religious groups last year after he granted bail to a man from the minority Ahmadi community in a blasphemy case.” (12/16/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pakistani-court-sentences-cleric-banned-party-35-years-128443053
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9) White House launches damage control over unfiltered Wiles interviews
Source: Axios
“The White House rushed to defend chief of staff Susie Wiles on Tuesday after her blunt private views on President Trump’s first year were revealed in a series of stunning on-the-record interviews. Wiles is the most powerful aide in the White House — credited with running a more disciplined, loyal and effective operation than Trump’s first term, which was routinely undercut by leaks and internal feuds. That makes her candid commentary to Vanity Fair — in which she questioned the judgment, execution or consequences of many of Trump’s most aggressive policies — all the more striking.” (12/16/25)
https://archive.is/f8e04
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10) PayPal applies to become a bank under Trump’s looser financial rules
Source: Engadget
“PayPal is the latest company looking to become a bank in the US. On Monday, the company announced it had submitted applications for PayPal Bank to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI). PayPal is already a bank in Europe, based in Luxembourg. … Applications to become a bank have popped up left and right this year, with approval odds increasing under the Trump administration. On Friday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that five cryptocurrency companies, including BitGo, Circle and Ripple, received conditional approval to become federally charted trust banks.” (12/16/25)
https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/paypal-applies-to-become-a-bank-under-trumps-looser-financial-rules-143025772.html
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11) Italy: Photographer finds thousands of dinosaur footprints near Winter Olympic venue
Source: SFGate
“A wildlife photographer stumbled upon one of the oldest and largest known collections of dinosaur footprints, dating back about 210 million years to the Triassic Period, high in an Italian national park near the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympic venue of Bormio, officials announced Tuesday. The discovery in the Stelvio National Park was striking for the sheer number of footprints, estimated at as many as 20,000 over some five kilometers (three miles), and the location near the Swiss border, once a prehistoric coastal area, that has never previously yielded dinosaur tracks, experts said. … The dinosaur prints are believed to have been made by long-necked bipedal herbivores that were up to 10 meters (33 feet) long, weighing up to four tons, similar to a Plateosaurus, Dal Sasso said. Some of the tracks were 40 centimeters wide, with visible claws.” (12/16/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/a-photographer-finds-thousands-of-dinosaur-21246092.php
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12) US payrolls rise 64,000 after October drop
Source: Financial Review [Australia]
“US job growth remained sluggish in November and the unemployment rate rose to a four-year-high, pointing to a continued cooling in the labour market after a weak October. Nonfarm payrolls increased 64,000 in November after declining 105,000 in October, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The unemployment rate was 4.6 per cent last month, up from 4.4 per cent in September. The BLS had to forgo publishing an October jobless rate because it was unable to retroactively collect that data following the government shutdown. … The advance in November payrolls was driven by health care and social assistance as well as construction. Private payrolls increased by 69,000 in November after adding 52,000 jobs the prior month. Employment fell in transportation and warehousing as well as leisure and hospitality.” (12/16/25)
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/us-payrolls-rise-64-000-after-october-drop-20251217-p5noao
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13) White House torpedoes Biden attempt to shield “autopen presidency” files
Source: Fox News
“Former President Joe Biden requested executive privilege amid the Congressional investigations into his administration’s use of the autopen, with the Trump administration rejecting the request Tuesday, Fox News Digital learned. ‘I am concerned that disclosure of these materials would damage important institutional interests of the Presidency, including by impairing the ability of future Presidents to receive robust, candid advice from their close advisers. For these reasons, I hereby assert executive privilege over the documents listed,’ Biden wrote in a letter to Archival Operations Division of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Oct. 1, 2025, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Fox News Digital. … White House Counsel David Warrington responded Tuesday to the request in a letter to NARA, denying the calls for executive immunity. Such immunity protects government officials, notably the president, from lawsuits or prosecution over actions conducted while performing official duties.” (12/16/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/exclusive-trump-white-house-torpedoes-biden-attempt-shield-autopen-presidency-files
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14) France: Regime shifts to hard line on EU-Mercosur deal
Source: Le Monde [France]
“Despite concessions from the European Commission, including a safeguard clause that is due to be adopted by the European Parliament on December 16, Paris has called for a ‘postponement’ of the free trade agreement between the EU and countries in the South American trade bloc. … The issue of a free trade agreement with countries in the Mercosur bloc has always been highly sensitive in France, where part of the farming sector is categorically opposed to the deal, as well as nearly the entire political spectrum. France’s industrial sector, which might benefit from the export opportunities the deal would entail, has supported it, but only in a hushed way. Against this backdrop, an outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis among France’s livestock, uncertainty about the 2026 state budget, and the upcoming local elections, set for March 2026, have convinced the president to hit the brakes.” (12/16/25)
https://archive.is/LvgNS
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15) US regime labels another Latin American cartel a terrorist group as anti-drug war [sic] escalates
Source: SFGate
“The Trump administration on Tuesday designated another Latin American drug cartel as a foreign terrorist organization, increasing financial pressure on its members and opening the door to potential military action against them. The U.S. State Department said Clan del Golfo, which is based in Colombia, has been listed both as a foreign and a global terrorist group, calling it a ‘violent and powerful criminal organization’ that uses cocaine trafficking to fund violent activities. ‘Clan del Golfo is responsible for terrorist attacks against public officials, law enforcement and military personnel, and civilians in Colombia’, the statement said. The designation comes after the Trump administration in September added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in almost 30 years.” (12/16/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/the-us-labels-another-latin-american-cartel-a-21246374.php
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16) LA: Driver shoots, wounds would-be hijacker
Source: KALB 5 News
“A man was injured in what the Alexandria Police Department is calling a self-defense shooting on Marthas Drive …. APD said officers responded to a shooting call in the 5900 block of Marthas Drive. They learned that Avery Lewis, 31, had been shot after he jumped into a parked delivery truck in a threatening manner, and the driver, Robin Volson, shot him in self-defense. Volson then called the police. Lewis was moderately injured and was taken to a hospital.” (12/15/25)
https://www.kalb.com/2025/12/16/man-shot-self-defense-marthas-drive-alexandria/
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17) “Lost Canadians” citizenship bill now in place
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Canada will now extend automatic citizenship to children born or adopted abroad to a Canadian parent also born outside the country. There are conditions to the ‘Lost Canadian’ rules that came into effect on Monday – the Canadian parent must show a substantial connection’ to the country by having spent at least three years there prior to their child’s birth or adoption. ‘Lost Canadians’ refers to people who lost or never acquired citizenship because of what Ottawa deemed ‘outdated provisions’ of its citizenship laws. The changes on Monday stem from a 2023 Ontario court decision that ruled parts of the law limiting citizenship by descent were unconstitutional. The court ruling came after the federal government under former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper passed a law in 2009 that removed the automatic right to citizenship for descendants of Canadians born abroad.” (12/16/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgkj8gpkgwo
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18) Congo: Rwanda-Backed M23 Group Says It Will Withdraw From Seized Town After US Regime Request
Source: US News & World Report
“Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have said they would withdraw from the eastern Congo town of Uvira at the request of the U.S. administration, which had criticised seizure of the town last week as a threat to mediation efforts. The rebels entered Uvira, on the border with Burundi, less than a week after the presidents of Congo and Rwanda met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington and affirmed their commitment to a peace deal known as the Washington Accords. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Rwanda’s actions in eastern Congo violated the Washington Accords and vowed to ‘take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept.’ Rwanda denies supporting M23 and has blamed Congolese and Burundian forces for the renewed fighting.” (12/16/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2025-12-16/rwanda-backed-m23-group-says-it-will-withdraw-from-seized-congo-town-after-us-request
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19) US Capitol unveils statue of teen civil rights icon Barbara Rose Johns, taking Robert E. Lee’s spot
Source: SFGate
“The U.S. Capitol on Tuesday began displaying a statue of a teenaged Barbara Rose Johns as she protested poor conditions at her segregated Virginia high school, a pointed replacement for a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that was removed several years ago. An unveiling ceremony of the statue representing Virginia in the Capitol was taking place in Emancipation Hall, featuring Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Virginia’s congressional delegation. Johnson said more than 200 members of Johns’ family were on hand, listening on as the ceremony opened with a rendition of ‘How Great Thou Art’ performed by the Eastern Senior High School choir in Washington.” (12/16/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/us-capitol-statue-of-teen-civil-rights-leader-21245102.php
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20) Senile reality TV actor files latest in series of frivolous defamation suits
Source: NBC News
“The BBC has said it will defend itself against a $10 billion lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump on Monday, which alleges the British public broadcaster defamed him in a documentary before last year’s presidential election by deceptively editing parts of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech. In a brief statement, the BBC said it would fight the lawsuit, raising the possibility of a legal battle over whether the edit of the speech caused harm to the president’s reputation. … In a 33-page complaint, Trump’s attorneys asked a federal court in Miami for a jury trial and alleged a BBC documentary that aired a week before the 2024 presidential election was ‘a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election’s outcome to President Trump’s detriment.’” (12/16/25)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/president-files-10-billion-defamation-lawsuit-bbc-january-6-speech-rcna249420
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Separation of Politics and Entertainment: Thoughts on the Death of Rob Reiner
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp
“I could probably name 50 entertainers whose political positions I find odious … if I bother to notice those political positions. I mostly go out of my way NOT to. Is there any compelling reason to deprive ourselves of great films or great performances from Oliver Stone, Jon Voit, Jane Fonda, Sean Penn, James Woods, Susan Sarandon, Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, Leonardo DiCaprio … just to indulge our political disagreements with them and maybe cost them a buck or two in box office sales, TV residuals, etc.? The idea smacks of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. As for speaking ill of the dead, even dancing on their graves … well, I’m not against it in the case of particularly unsavory characters. But over political disagreements? No. Tom Smothers wasn’t Charles Manson and Pete Seeger wasn’t Joseph Stalin. They enriched our lives whether we liked their politics or not.” (12/16/25)
https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20204
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22) The Palmer Raids: A Precedent for Today’s Immigration Policy Abuses?
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“The tactics that ICE and CBP are using seem far more appropriate for a police state than a democratic republic. As with so many other recent highlighted civil liberties abuses, though, the problem did not begin when Donald Trump became president. Instead, previous administrations set a number of troubling precedents. Unsavory practices to enforce U.S. immigration laws, including holding detainees without due process for extended periods in overcrowded conditions, certainly are nothing new. Even accosting suspects at their place of employment or on the streets is not unprecedented. One historical episode that bears an especially troubling similarity to the current conduct of ICE and CBP was the so-called Palmer Raids during Woodrow Wilson’s administration.” (12/16/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_galen_carpenter/2025/12/15/the-palmer-raids-a-precedent-for-todays-immigration-policy-abuses/
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23) The Loaded Language of Protectionism
Source: The Daily Economy
by Donald J Boudreaux
“Language matters. Words have not only technical meanings; they also summon particular attitudes and impressions. And sometimes these attitudes and impressions differ significantly from the words’ technical meanings. In no domain of economic policy is the confusion created by the divergence of words’ technical meanings from the attitudes and impressions conveyed by those words greater than in the domain of trade policy.” (12/16/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-loaded-language-of-protectionism/
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24) How schools still abuse “institutional neutrality” to silence speech
Source: Expression
by Ross Marchand
“Defending the rights of students and faculty to speak freely has been part and parcel of FIRE’s mission for 26 years. We’ve seen universities try all sorts of ways to restrict expression, from free speech zones and excessive security fees to extensive pre-approval requirements for events. But one technique is particularly disturbing — using ostensibly pro-free speech policies to chill student and faculty expression. As my colleague Graham Piro recently wrote, colleges and universities regularly claim to embrace ‘institutional neutrality’ — an institution’s commitment to refrain from speaking out on the issues of the day — only to silence speech in the principle’s name. Under a genuine policy of institutional neutrality, students and faculty are empowered to debate such issues, without feeling as if the school administration has declared the matter settled.” (12/16/25)
https://expression.fire.org/p/how-schools-still-abuse-institutional
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25) Our Parties Have Trapped Us
Source: Persuasion
by Danielle Allen
“Every two years, Americans spend an average of $15 billion on campaign advertising trying to fend off the wolves attacking them. But we just end up changing which wolves are briefly ascendant. Maybe we could fend off those wolves once and for all—if we could just get our foot out of that dang trap. But what’s the trap? The trap is an electoral system that has been captured by party processes gone wrong. We’ve had decades of changes — some of them well-intentioned, some about accruing power — to how our political parties operate. They have left us in a place where most members of Congress are elected by only 5 to 8 percent of the electorate in their districts. … Every year, our two parties get better at claiming ever more power for a continuously shrinking membership base.” (12/16/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/our-parties-have-trapped-us
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26) Democrats and Republicans lost the plot. Young voters know it.
Source: USA Today
by Sara Pequeño
“If a new poll is any indication, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party should be worried about the youth vote in the 2026 midterm elections. According to polling from the University of Chicago, about 60% of Gen Z and millennial voters are dissatisfied with both political parties. This includes 25% of Republican voters ages 18-42 who have an unfavorable view of the GOP, as well as 36% of Democrats in that age range who have an unfavorable view of their party. None of this is really surprising, given that polling across age ranges has shown that voters are unhappy with both political parties. What might surprise party leaders, however, are the specific issues that Generation Z and millennials are worried about.” (12/16/25)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/12/16/trump-mamdani-economy-affordability-democrats-republicans/87723000007/
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27) Patrick Deneen’s Bullshit Case Against Liberalism
Source: The UnPopulist
by Matt Johnson
“Postliberals certainly agree that serious political, economic, and cultural missteps have happened under liberal regimes. But their critique runs much deeper than that. They believe liberalism itself is fatally flawed. Although postliberals come in many varieties, a common thread is that liberalism is intrinsically defective — that it inexorably leads to social atomization, cultural degradation, and oppression and inequality. Perhaps the best known purveyor of this view is Notre Dame political theorist Patrick Deneen …. Deneen’s analysis suffers from three basic problems: he misrepresents liberalism’s fundamental principles; he presents a warped history of liberalism that dismisses its achievements and exaggerates its weaknesses; and he offers nothing in place of the liberal-democratic framework he wants to destroy.” (12/16/25)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/patrick-deneens-bullshit-case-against
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28) Has Orwell’s 1984 Become Reality?
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Bert Olivier
“Most people would know that totalitarianism is not a desirable social or political set of circumstances. Even the word sounds ominous, but that is probably only to those who already know what it denotes. I have written on it before, in different contexts, but it is now more relevant than ever. We should remind ourselves what Orwell wrote in that uncannily premonitory novel.” (12/16/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/has-orwells-1984-become-reality/
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29) Doin’-the-Right-Thing Rag
Source: TomDispatch
by Nan Levinson
“Any story about resistance within the military must begin by recognizing that it’s not an easy thing to do. Apparently, that’s true even for a much-decorated retired Navy commander, former astronaut, and sitting United States senator. I’m talking about Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. He was one of six Democratic legislators, all military veterans or former intelligence officers, who, on November 18th, released a 90-second video reminding members of the military that the oath they took on enlisting requires them to refuse illegal orders. The implicit context was the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops to American cities, but their message took on added urgency after the Washington Post published an exposé about an order coming from high up to kill survivors of an airstrike in the Caribbean Sea.” (12/16/25)
https://tomdispatch.com/doin-the-right-thing-rag/
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30) Conservatism Can’t Conserve Itself
Source: The Dispatch
by Matthew J Franck
“The past decade, since the entry of Donald J. Trump into electoral politics, has been a disorienting one for … well, everyone. But especially, perhaps, for ‘movement’ conservatives who regard the principles they have always held dear to be as sound as ever, but beleaguered in practice by the events of this young century. Conservatism, from this point of view, should have emerged from the Bush and Obama years bloodied but unbowed, ready to refresh and recommit itself to principles of classical liberalism …. Yet that form of conservatism … is now eclipsed by a new right that is in many ways very old and reactionary: preferring authority to law and rent-seeking to free markets, cheap moralism to authentic morals, and a fearful and inward-looking nationalism to a confident, patriotic internationalism.” (12/16/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/maga-right-intellect-trump-ideas-extremism/
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31) A balm of heroism and truth for Australia
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“Within a day after two gunmen killed 15 people during a gathering for the Jewish holiday Hanukkah at Australia’s most famous beach, a very resilient country began to focus on ways to prevent a similar tragedy: Better gun regulations. A warm embrace of Jewish Australians. A sterner check on antisemitism. Tighter surveillance of potential terrorists. Yet a particular act of selfless heroism during the Dec. 14 mass shooting has offered up one more possible solution. A video shows Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Muslim shop owner in Sydney, tackling and disarming one of the alleged Bondi Beach shooters, also a Muslim. This bystander, by bursting bravely into action, may have saved countless lives even as he was shot. ‘God gave me strength’, he reportedly told a cousin from a hospital bed. His father, Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed, perhaps best described the motives of his son, who gained Australian citizenship in 2022 after fleeing conflict in Syria.” (12/15/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/1215/A-balm-of-heroism-and-truth-for-Australia
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32) Poor Madsen’s Almanack
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie
“Based on shrewd observation of likely weather patterns and early budding of snowdrops and Indian maize, Madsen has been able to describe the events of 2026 as they actually happened.” (12/16/25)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/poor-madsens-almanack
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33) Australians Being Massacred Shouldn’t Bother Us More Than Palestinians Being Massacred
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“On March 16 of this year, Reuters published an article titled ‘Israeli strikes kill 15 people in Gaza over past day, Palestinian medics say’. Does anyone remember the 15 Palestinians who died on March 16, 2025? Does that day stand out in anyone’s memory as particularly significant in terms of mass murder? No? Same here. I honestly can’t remember it at all. This would have been during the tail end of the first fake ‘ceasefire’, a couple of days before Trump signed off on Israel resuming its large-scale bombing operations in Gaza, so this wasn’t one of those days with huge massacres and staggering death tolls. It doesn’t exactly stand out in the memory.” (12/16/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/12/16/australians-being-massacred-shouldnt-bother-us-more-than-palestinians-being-massacred/
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34) No Manufacturing Jolt from Tariffs
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy
“In theory, tariffs should shift jobs to the protected industries. If these tariffs protect manufacturing, why aren’t jobs shifting there? The argument for tariffs to protect manufacturing relies on an assumption that the imports are of final goods and that the protected country has tariff-free access to intermediate goods (the goods used in manufacturing). In 21st-century America, that assumption doesn’t hold.” (12/16/25)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/no-manufacturing-jolt-from-tariffs
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35) Israel’s all-seeing eye is the stealthiest cruelty of all in Gaza
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Connor Echols
“Discussions of the war in Gaza tend to focus on what’s visible. The instinct is understandable: Over two years of brutal conflict, the Israel Defense Forces have all but destroyed the diminutive strip on the Mediterranean coast, with the scale of the carnage illustrated by images of emaciated children, shrapnel-ridden bodies, and flattened buildings. But underlying all of this destruction is a hidden force — a carefully constructed infrastructure of Israeli surveillance that powers the war effort and keeps tabs on the smallest facets of Palestinians’ lives.” (12/16/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-surveillance/
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36) The war on saturated fat, never based on good science, can now end
Source: The Hill
by Nina Teicholz
“For more than half a century, Americans have been urged to shy away from saturated fats, found mainly in animal products. We have been told to cook with canola oil instead of butter, select skim instead of whole milk, and to fill our plates with pasta instead of steak. Paradoxically, decades of adherence to this advice has coincided with rising levels of chronic disease. As people cut more saturated fat from their diets, the nation grew heavier and sicker — not healthier. Put plainly, the war on saturated fat, rooted in the hypothesis that it causes heart disease, has never been based on sound science. In fact, a large and growing body of evidence reveals that saturated fats aren’t a menace but a key part of a healthy diet. And they should be recognized as such in national nutrition policy.” (12/16/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5649677-the-war-on-saturated-fat-never-based-on-good-science-can-now-end/
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37) It’s Not Hard to NOT Be a Jerk
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter
“When someone you disagree with politically dies, no matter the circumstances, should you be happy? That’s a rhetorical question; I don’t really care what your personal answer is. Everyone has weird thoughts that pop through their mind over which they have no control, most of which are fleeting and ignored. The problem occurs when those thoughts are followed by an ‘and the world needs to know this’ action. The world does not need to know your every thought, or even most of them. It’s hard not to laugh when you see someone in a ‘blooper’ video do something stupid or fall on their face somehow. You might feel phantom pain from it, but it’s still funny. It’s funny, at least in part, because we’ve all been there – there isn’t anyone who hasn’t done something stupid or clumsy.” (12/16/25)
https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2025/12/16/its-not-hard-to-not-be-a-jerk-n2667932
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38) Trump is at it again with his tariff craziness. How should Canada respond?
Source: Cobden Centre
by Walter E Block
“Trump has recently gone berserk with his interferences of international trade for a change. How should Canada react? There are four and only four realistic options (I rule out physically attacking the US over this imbecilic action of their government). One, do nothing, stand pat, ignore this latest moronic display of economic ignorance. Two, raise our tariff levels against the US; Trump threatens that if we do so, he will reciprocate, and then we will be off to the races with a real trade war. Three, lower the barriers to trade with the US that we have previously enacted. Four, eliminate them entirely.” (12/16/25)
https://www.cobdencentre.org/2025/12/trump-is-at-it-again-with-his-tariff-craziness-how-should-canada-respond/
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39) Trump, AI, and States’ Rights
Source: The American Conservative
by Spencer Neale
“The Trump administration and its acolytes argue that permitting 50 different state governments to create wildly differing rules for AI will slow the development of research and allow liberal states to create ‘woke’ onramps for the nascent technology. ‘There must be only One Rulebook if we are going to continue to lead in AI,’ wrote Trump in a post shared to his Truth Social on Monday. ‘I will be doing a ONE RULE Executive Order this week. You can’t expect a company to get 50 Approvals every time they want to do something.’ … Among the chief concerns for states’ rights advocates is a loss of flexibility when it comes to innovation and policy-making. Local variation allows states the ability to test different regulatory approaches before others follow, permitting state governments the opportunity to tailor AI systems to differing demographics, economies, and values.” (12/16/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/trump-ai-and-states-rights/
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40) The Tariff Vindication that Still Isn’t
Source: Law & Liberty
by David Hebert
“Lynn’s central argument rests on a fundamental confusion between what economists refer to as the ‘legal incidence’ and the ‘economic incidence’ of a tax. Legally, because tariffs are a tax on imports, it is the US importers who must write the check to Customs and Border Protection. But this says nothing about who actually pays the tariff. For example, when landlords’ property taxes go up, who pays? The landlord will obviously write the check to the county assessor, but unless Lynn thinks that landlords are running charities, that cost gets passed on to tenants in the form of higher rent, less frequent maintenance, or fewer included benefits (utilities or access to designated parking, for example). The legal incidence falls on the landlord, but the economic incidence falls disproportionately on renters, i.e., young Americans already besieged by high housing costs. Tariffs work the same way.” (12/16/25)
https://lawliberty.org/the-tariff-vindication-that-still-isnt/
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41) Extrajudicial Killings From Barack Obama to Donald Trump
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin
“In May 2013, as President Barack Obama delivered a major foreign-policy speech in Washington, I managed to slip inside. As he was winding up, I stood and interrupted, condemning his use of lethal drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia. ‘How can you, a constitutional lawyer, authorize the extrajudicial killing of people – including a 16-year-old American boy in Yemen, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki—without charge, without trial, without even an explanation?’ As security dragged me out, Obama responded, ‘The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to’. Perhaps my questions touched a chord in his conscience, but the drone attacks did not stop. Just before that incident, I had returned from Yemen, where a small delegation of us met with Abdulrahman’s grandfather, Nasser al-Awlaki – a dignified man with a PhD from an American university, someone who genuinely believed in the values this country claims to represent.” (12/16/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/extrajudicial-killing-obama-trump
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42) The FCC’s Press Bias Fix
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“You are operating a newsroom or, let’s say, a commentary room. Somebody accuses you of bias in how you decide what to publish. You deflect: Of course different media organizations have different perspectives; each to its own. Sometimes, too, we choose what to run less rationally than the Platonic philosopher-journalist would demand. Bias is everywhere, inevitable. Which makes the only cure maximal freedom of speech and openness of discourse. The answer to deficient speech is better speech, not either direct or indirect government censorship. Nevertheless, the FCC has proposed to ‘investigate’ the selection process of newsrooms.” (12/16/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/12/16/press-bias-fix/
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43) A Hero Americans Must Never Forget
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Lawrence W Reed
“Have you ever received a letter that changed your life? On July 4, 1775, a full year before the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, a 20-year-old Connecticut man named Nathan Hale received such a letter. It was from his Yale classmate Benjamin Tallmadge, who was on the front lines as a secret agent for the Americans while the British lay siege to Boston. … Tallmadge’s letter inspired Hale to accept a commission two days later as first lieutenant in Colonel Charles Webb’s 7th Connecticut Regiment. The teacher was now officially a soldier and a spy in a hastily organized, ragtag Colonial army. The enemy? Nothing less than the world’s greatest military power. Fourteen months later, Hale would be dead at the age of 21 and enter American history as one of its bravest patriots.” (12/16/25)
https://fee.org/articles/a-hero-americans-must-never-forget/
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44) On Supporting the Brave Women Who Fought Corruption in Politics
Source: Wast No More Time
by Nicholas Sarwark
“Unless you are in healthcare compliance law or live in Louisiana, you probably don’t know Beth Vest. If you’re not in Colorado or a parliamentary procedure nerd, you probably don’t know Caryn Ann Harlos. But these two women stood up against one of Donald Trump’s dirtiest political tricks and did what a complacent Libertarian National Committee failed to do: force the resignation of Angela McArdle as Chair of the Libertarian National Committee. … Beth Vest and Caryn Ann Harlos did what nobody else on the Libertarian National Committee was willing to do. They saw LNC officer misconduct and they filed suit to make it stop. Angela McArdle resigned and the misconduct stopped. But there’s still the matter of the legal bills.” (12/15/25)
https://nsarwark.substack.com/p/on-standing-up-against-corruption
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45) Minnesota fraud scandal exposes Dems’ indifference to the needy
Source: New York Post
by Liz Peek
“The Grinch is stealing hundreds of billions of dollars of welfare benefits from America’s needy, and Democrats couldn’t care less. The broadening scandal in Minnesota, where Somali criminals allegedly stole more than a billion dollars in taxpayer funds under the indulgent eyes of Democrat Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and other state officials, is the tip of the iceberg. All around the country, there is growing evidence that programs meant to serve the poor, the hungry and the homeless have been scammed; rather than investigate the frauds and prosecute those responsible, Democrats denounce efforts by those trying to stop the theft.” (12/16/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/liz-peek-minnesotas-fraud-scandal-exposes-democrats-indifference-needy
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46) Holiday wars at full blast, eh?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton
“The news this last weekend show that the end of 2025 is no better than the rest of the year. We aren’t talking about the traditional holiday wars on what decorations can be put where, and what people can use as greetings for the season. Or even what songs can be sung or broadcast. Nope, we are talking about shooting, knifing, and other ways of killing people.” (12/15/25)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2025/12/15/holiday-wars-at-full-blast-eh/
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47) How Religious Freedom in America Was Founded on Privatization and Decentralization
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Ryan McMaken
“A common myth about American history is the one in which a handful of so-called ‘founding fathers’ in the 1780s declared that America would create a ‘wall of separation’ between religious institutions and government institutions. After that, the First Amendment to the US constitution was instrumental in ensuring that religious institutions would be totally separate from American political institutions. Or so the story goes. Much of this myth is premised on the idea that the spread of religious freedom in America was a top-down process. … it is not at all the case that the First Amendment was central to the process of disestablishment — the process of abolishing the ‘official’ churches who held favored positions within most state governments. Rather, this process was carried out overwhelmingly in the state legislatures — and some of this was done before the First Amendment was even written.” (12/15/25)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/how-religious-freedom-america-was-founded-privatization-and-decentralization
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48) The Increase in Polarization Mirrors the Growth of Government
Source: Independent Institute
by Pierre Lemieux
“Politicians and policy experts like to talk about the ‘root causes’ of crime, homelessness, poverty, rising prices and other problems. If they want to understand the root cause of political polarization, they might want to consider the whole picture and look in the mirror. In a book published 40 years ago, economist and political philosopher Anthony de Jasay (1925-2019) proposed an explanation that did not receive the attention it deserved. … In de Jasay’s view, politics is necessarily polarizing. It is just a matter of degree. The larger the scope of the state (the entire apparatus of government), the more politics you have. And more politics leads to more polarization.” (12/15/25)
https://www.independent.org/article/2025/12/15/polarization-mirrors-growth-of-government/
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49) Why Should We Replace Our ICBMs?
Source: The American Prospect
by Robert Rudney
“Kathryn Bigelow’s gripping film A House of Dynamite vividly depicts the contradictions and failings of U.S. nuclear weapons strategy in 2025. In the film, no one knows where a single intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) aimed at Chicago is coming from. No one can shoot it down. Senior civilian bureaucrats and military officers race around in search of an impossible solution. The clock keeps ticking to 19 minutes before impact. The U.S. president, the man with his finger on the button, is torn by conflicting options. Do we retaliate? Against whom? How can we avoid escalating to apocalyptic nuclear war? Ten million people are condemned to die from the detonation of this mystery missile.” (12/16/25)
https://prospect.org/2025/12/16/why-should-we-replace-our-icbms/
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50) Trump’s Plan To Reclassify Marijuana Would Leave Federal Prohibition Essentially Untouched
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum
“Placing marijuana in Schedule III would not legalize recreational use, and it would allow medical use only if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved specific cannabis-based products as prescription drugs. Producing and distributing marijuana, even in compliance with state law, would still be federal crimes, albeit subject to somewhat less severe penalties. Reclassifying marijuana nevertheless would be a financial boon to state-licensed marijuana businesses, relieving them of a disability that results in staggeringly high effective income tax rates. It also would make medical research easier by eliminating federal restrictions that are specific to Schedule I.” (12/15/25)
https://reason.com/2025/12/15/trumps-plan-to-reclassify-marijuana-would-leave-federal-prohibition-essentially-untouched/
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Trump Watch, 12/16/25
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Moral Injury in the Caribbean Killings.” (12/16/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JhrbODtIpo
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52) Capital Record, episode 274
Source: National Review
“Making America Crony Again.” (12/16/25)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/making-america-crony-again/
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53) The Good Fight, 12/16/25
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Kelly Born on All the Ways AI Is Changing Politics.” (12/16/25)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/kelly-born
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54) Advisory Opinions, 12/16/25
Source: The Dispatch
“Burkeanism and the Administrative State.” (12/16/25)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/burkeanism-and-the-administrative-state/
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55) The Bryan Hyde Show, 12/16/25
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“It’s my weekly therapy session with Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos where we discuss current events and how to keep one’s sanity in a world turned upside down. Come and bask in the normalcy that we once took for granted.” (12/16/25)
https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-giwzu-19f1c89
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56) The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 12/16/25
Source: The New Republic
“Marjorie Taylor Greene Humiliates Trump Over Reiner as MAGA Cracks Up.” (12/16/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/204469/marjorie-taylor-greene-humiliates-trump-reiner-maga-cracks
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57) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 12/16/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“House To Vote on Venezuela War Powers Resolution, US Offers Ukraine NATO-Style Guarantees, and More.” (12/16/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwgIMcmFq1k
59) (Re)Imagining Liberty, episode 95
Source: Aaron Ross Powell
“Opposition Media versus Complicit Media (w/ Adam Gurri).” (12/15/25)
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/095-opposition-media-versus-complicit-media-w-adam-gurri/id1614436300?i=1000741404389
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59) Finding Freedom, 12/15/25
Source: Lions of Liberty
“10 Health Rules to Survive the Holidays and Launch Strong Into 2026.” (12/15/25)
https://www.lionsofliberty.com/episodes/ff-10-health-rules-to-survive-the-holidays-and-launch-strong-into-2026
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60) The Kyle Anzalone Show, 12/15/25
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Ken Silva : Assassinations and Cover Ups.” (12/15/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/the-kyle-anzalone-show-guest-ken-silva-assassinations-and-cover-ups
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