Authored by Michael Snyder via The End of The American Dream blog,

How close can we get to the edge without falling over?  The largest military conflict in Europe since World War II is poised to go to the next level in 2026, war could erupt again in the Middle East at any moment, the U.S. is on the verge of starting a new war in Venezuela, and China is absolutely furious about a brand new weapons package that has just been approved for Taiwan.  The dogs of war are clawing at the gate, and yet most people don’t seem too concerned.  This is particularly true in the western world, and that is extremely unfortunate.  We really are dangerously close to a nightmare scenario, and the clock is ticking.

The following are 9 signs that leaders all over the globe have come down with a really bad case of “war fever”…

#1 The Europeans are feverishly preparing for war with Russia, and this is something that I covered extensively in a previous article.  After months of hearing them talk about the potential for a direct conflict with Russia, it sounds like Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost his patience with them.  In fact, Putin just referred to European leaders as “pigs” and “piglets”…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has derisively referred to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as a “little pig” and openly discussed the positioning of Russian missiles within striking range of the UK.

During an annual meeting of the Russian defense ministry, Putin pointed fingers at former US President Joe Biden for intentionally instigating the conflict in Ukraine, further stating that “European little pigs” were quick to support the Americans. “Everyone assumed that they would destroy Russia in a short period of time, they would ruin it,” Putin declared.

“And the European piglets immediately joined in to aid the former American administration in this task. They were hoping to profit from the collapse of our country. To get back something that was lost in previous historical periods and try to take revenge. As it has now become obvious to everyone. All these attempts and all these destructive plans towards Russia completely failed.”

#2 At that same meeting, Putin boldly declared that all of the Russian goals in Ukraine will either be achieved diplomatically or they will be achieved by force…

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared during a Defense Ministry board meeting on Wednesday that Russia will accomplish its goals, either through diplomacy or military force.

“The goals of the special military operation will undoubtedly be achieved. We would prefer to accomplish this and address the root causes of the conflict through diplomatic means. However, if the opposing side and its foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive dialogue, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means. The task of creating and expanding a security buffer zone will also be carried out consistently,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript.

#3 The Ukrainians will never willingly hand over the territories that the Russians want, and so it appears that fighting will continue for the foreseeable future. And the longer the fighting goes on, the more likely it becomes that the Ukrainians will be successful in dragging NATO into the war. In a very lengthy post on X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that next year will be “a year of war”…

Today, we again heard signals from Moscow that they are preparing to make next year a year of war. These signals are not only for us. It is crucial that our partners see them, and not only see them but also respond – especially partners in the United States, who often say that Russia wants to end the war.

Yet the signals coming from Russia are the exact opposite, taking the form of official orders to their army. This Russian mindset must be recognized – and acted upon. When Russia is in this mindset, it will also undermine diplomacy – seeking, through diplomatic language and pressure over specific points in documents – to merely mask its desire to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainians, and the desire to legitimize Russia’s theft of our land. And then come other countries in Europe, which someone in Russia might one day label their so‑called “historical lands.”

Real protection is needed against this Russian case history of madness, and we will continue working with all partners to ensure that protection is in place. Security measures are needed, financial measures are needed – including actions on Russian assets – political measures are needed. And the courage of all partners is required: to see the truth, acknowledge the truth, and act accordingly. I want to thank everyone who supports Ukraine.

#4 Russian forces continue to steadily move forward in Ukraine.  This week, it is being reported that Russian forces are on the verge of capturing Hulyaipole…

Assault groups of the Russian Armed Forces are already actively operating in the center of Hulyaipole, according to the German tabloid Bild. The publication notes that the attack on the city is currently underway from all sides.

Russian sources, while confirming this information, emphasize the difficulties faced by Kyiv regime militants defending Huliaipole. The city doesn’t have many high-rise neighborhoods. Moreover, most of them are either destroyed or under the control of Russian forces.

#5 It is being alleged that three members of Russia’s FSB snuck under the border fence and briefly crossed over into Estonian territory…

NATO Member Estonia has accused the Russian Federation of briefly infiltrating a small group of security agents under its border force into its territory, the latest in a series of incidents that have riled the Western alliance.

The Estonian government cited security camera footage showing a group of three Russian border guards, an agency under the Russian Federation’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the inheritor agency of the KGB and others, illegally crossing into its territory on Wednesday. According to their telling of events, three Russians crossed the Narva River on the Estonia-Russia border while riding on a hovercraft and disembarked onto a spit of land in the river on the Estonian side of the line of control.

The three agents of the Russian Federation’s border guard are said to have walked around before embarking back on their hovercraft and going home. Estonia has upped police and border patrols since the incident and say they have called diplomatic discussions with Moscow to make their protests known.

#6 Israel and Hezbollah are supposed to have a ceasefire, but fighting continues to break out.  Just within the past 24 hours, Israeli leaders authorized “a series of airstrikes across southern and northeastern Lebanon”…

Israel reportedly carried out a series of airstrikes across southern and northeastern Lebanon just ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline for the terrorist organization Hezbollah to disarm.

The strikes hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites and launching sites in a military compound that the terror organization uses to train and hold courses for its members, according to The Associated Press, which cited the Israeli military. Israel also said it struck Hezbollah military structures that stored weapons.

#7 The U.S. House of Representatives could have passed a bill that would have prevented a war with Venezuela from starting without congressional approval.  Unfortunately, members of the House voted it down…

The House on Wednesday voted down a War Powers Resolution meant to block President Trump from launching a war with Venezuela without congressional authorization, as required by the Constitution.

The bill failed in a vote of 211-213, with nine representatives not voting. Just three Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the bill: Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), and Don Bacon (NE). One Democrat, Henry Cuellar (TX), voted against the legislation.

The legislation would have directed the president to remove “United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Venezuela that have not been authorized by Congress.”

#8 Our leaders just keep on doing things that they know will greatly anger the Chinese.  For example, we have just learned that the largest package of arms sales for Taiwan in history has been approved…

Just a day ago the US administration communicated to China that it is ready to defend American interests in the Pacific region. Now, it’s being reported that the US has approved $11.1 billion in arms-sales for Taiwan, the single largest ever such announced transfer and clear show of support from Washington.

Unveiled late Wednesday, the major arms sales are intended to support Taipei’s efforts to “modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability,” according to the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

#9 The Chinese are absolutely furious about this aid package.  They are strongly condemning what we have done, and they are demanding that we immediately stop “arming Taiwan”…

Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said Washington’s decision undermines China’s sovereignty and security interests and sends a wrong signal to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces.

Calling the authorization of the massive arms sale a “blatant interference in China’s internal affairs,” Chen said it seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US Joint Communiques, particularly the Aug 17 Communique of 1982.

“We firmly oppose and strongly condemn this,” Chen said, demanding that the US immediately stop “arming Taiwan” and cease supporting “Taiwan independence” separatist forces.

The Chinese are also very upset about our blockade of Venezuela, because they purchase more oil from the Venezuelans than everyone else combined.

U.S. officials seem to think that they can keep pushing the Chinese around without experiencing any serious consequences.

Needless to say, I am convinced that they are completely wrong about that.

In my opinion, it is easy to imagine a scenario in which we are witnessing war in Asia, war in South America, war in the Middle East and war in Europe simultaneously.

If such a scenario actually unfolds, it truly would be a worldwide war.

If global leaders want to choose the path of peace, now is the time to do so.

Unfortunately, “war fever” has gripped most global leaders at this stage, and that is not good news for anyone.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

There’s been yet another tragic attack targeting Syria’s religious minorities by fanatical jihadists which are allied with the Syrian government of President Ahmed Sharaa.

“A bombing at a mosque located in the Syrian city of Homs during Friday prayers killed at least eight people and wounded 18 others,” authorities said, the Associated Press reports. It was an Alawite religious site that was targeted. Notably this is the same non-Sunni sect that former President Bashar al-Assad belongs to.

“Images released by Syria’s state-run Arab News Agency showed blood on the mosque’s carpets, holes in the walls, shattered windows and fire damage,” the report continues. “The Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque is located in an area of the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood dominated by the Alawite minority in Homs, Syria’s third-largest city.”

State-run SANA said that explosive devices were planted inside the mosque, and it doesn’t appear to have been the result of a suicide bomber, also as there’s a search on for the attack perpetrators.

But the government, which is dominated by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), probably won’t be ‘looking’ for the attackers with too much intensity. There are currently unverified reports that the terror organization responsible was only until very recently a sub-group of the ruling HTS.

It has been a year since the overthrow of secular Ba’ath ruler Assad and a very disturbing and sadly predictable trend has emerged…

In Julani’s Syria, you can get blown up for going to church.

In Julani’s Syria, you can get blown up for going to the wrong mosque.

But sure, tell us more about “stability.” pic.twitter.com/hJwQ9mkbk0

— Kevork Almassian (@KevorkAlmassian) December 26, 2025

But the mainstream media in the West has remained mostly silent, and has not spotlighted the new regime’s abuses. Instead the MSM has often romanticized the rise of Jolani: aka Sharaa… on the mere basis that the Assad government is gone. 

As we previously described, the Alawites have been targeted repeatedly by other factions, and the government itself, with a high-profile massacre of Alawite civilians in the northwest of the country in March leading to low level violence against the religious minority ever since.

Authored by Joaquim Couto via The Brownstone Institute,

There was a time when debates about determinism and free will belonged to philosophy departments and late-night dorm room conversations.

They were enjoyable precisely because they seemed harmless. Whatever the answer, life went on. Courts judged, doctors decided, teachers taught, and politicians were still—at least nominally—held responsible for their actions.

That era is over.

Artificial intelligence has transformed what once appeared to be an abstract philosophical question into a concrete issue of governance, power, and accountability. Determinism is no longer merely a theory about how the universe works. It is becoming an operating principle for modern institutions. And that changes everything.

AI systems are deterministic by construction. They operate through statistical inference, optimization, and probability. Even when their outputs surprise us, they remain bound by mathematical constraints. Nothing in these systems resembles judgment, interpretation, or understanding in the human sense.

AI does not deliberate.

It does not reflect.

It does not bear responsibility for outcomes.

Yet increasingly, its outputs are treated not as tools, but as decisions. This is the quiet revolution of our time.

The appeal is obvious. Institutions have always struggled with human variability. People are inconsistent, emotional, slow, and sometimes disobedient. Bureaucracies prefer predictability, and algorithms promise exactly that: standardized decisions at scale, immune to fatigue and dissent.

In healthcare, algorithms promise more efficient triage. In finance, better risk assessment. In education, objective evaluation. In public policy, “evidence-based” governance. In content moderation, neutrality. Who could object to systems that claim to remove bias and optimize outcomes? But beneath this promise lies a fundamental confusion.

Prediction is not judgment.

Optimization is not wisdom.

Consistency is not legitimacy.

Human decision-making has never been purely computational. It is interpretive by nature. People weigh context, meaning, consequence, and moral intuition. They draw on memory, experience, and a sense—however imperfect—of responsibility for what follows. This is precisely what institutions find inconvenient.

Human judgment introduces friction. It requires explanation. It exposes decision-makers to blame. Deterministic systems, by contrast, offer something far more attractive: decisions without decision-makers.

When an algorithm denies a loan, flags a citizen, deprioritizes a patient, or suppresses speech, no one appears responsible. The system did it. The data spoke. The model decided.

Determinism becomes a bureaucratic alibi.

Technology has always shaped institutions, but until recently it mostly extended human agency. Calculators assisted reasoning. Spreadsheets clarified trade-offs. Even early software left humans visibly in control. AI changes that relationship.

Systems designed to predict are now positioned to decide. Probabilities harden into policies. Risk scores become verdicts. Recommendations quietly turn into mandates. Once embedded, these systems are difficult to challenge. After all, who argues with “The science?”

This is why the old philosophical debate has become urgent.

Classical determinism was a claim about causality: given enough information, the future could be predicted. Today, determinism is turning into a governance philosophy. If outcomes can be predicted well enough, institutions ask, why allow discretion at all?

Non-determinism is often caricatured as chaos. But properly understood, it is neither randomness nor irrationality. It is the space where interpretation occurs, where values are weighed, and where responsibility attaches to a person rather than a process.

Remove that space, and decision-making does not become more rational. It becomes unaccountable.

The real danger of AI is not runaway intelligence or sentient machines. It is the slow erosion of human responsibility under the banner of efficiency.

The defining conflict of the 21st century will not be between humans and machines. It will be between two visions of intelligence: deterministic optimization versus meaning-making under uncertainty.

One is scalable.

The other is accountable.

Artificial intelligence forces us to decide which one governs our lives.

President Trump’s Western Hemisphere defense posture, including expanded gunboat diplomacy in the Caribbean targeting Venezuela and, by extension, Cuba, is disrupting Venezuela-to-Asia oil flows, a U.S. foreign policy move that has angered Beijing. This friction was indirectly signaled by Chinese state media on Friday, which aired a segment featuring People’s Liberation Army wargaming simulations of hypothetical conflict scenarios in the Caribbean theater.

The South China Morning Post reported that China Central Television (CCTV) showed red (PLA) and blue (enemy) forces maneuvering aircraft and warships near Cuba and Mexico, with blue units near Houston before moving into the Gulf of Mexico.

SCMP explained further:

One screen in the report showed red and blue opposing unit “indicators” – represented by aircraft and ships – manoeuvring near the coasts of Cuba and Mexico. Some of the blue side congregated near Houston, Texas, and headed southeast into the Gulf of Mexico, while the red side was seen in the Caribbean Sea.

In a typical PLA drill, the red side usually represents the Chinese military while the blue side is the enemy.

During the CCTV report, a close-up focused on Cuba showed the lines of trajectory of aircraft and ships in the region in what was likely a simulation of a tactical operation. Chinese researchers were seen pointing to the screen and discussing the situation.

The footage was recorded at a PLA wargaming event held in Xuchang, Henan province, which was attended by 20 units from across the military and its academies. Dozens of simulation systems were demonstrated – all of them developed in China.

PLA war games are rarely revealed, and to air on state television is yet another sign Beijing is furious with the Trump administration’s gunboat diplomacy to topple regimes in Venezuela and Cuba. 

Earlier this week, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian criticized the Trump administration for its seizure of multiple crude tankers.

Context is important: China has received much of Venezuela’s seaborne crude exports in recent years, accounting for well over half of total shipments. This is facilitated through a network of “dark fleet” tankers.

PLA’s decision to publicly broadcast wargaming scenarios, an unusually rare event, constitutes an external signal directed at the Trump administration in response to U.S. gunboat diplomacy in the Caribbean. The signaling reinforces the rationale for Trump’s move to secure the Caribbean basin first, thereby preempting potential Chinese naval encroachment. This U.S. military reposturing is best characterized as a shift toward Western Hemisphere defense, a framework we view in play through the 2030s (here’s how to profit).

Authored by Javier Simon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

When you leave this earth, you want to make sure your loved ones are taken care of and that you leave behind a cherished legacy. But without a plan, you can leave your family with some serious headaches. That’s why it’s important to take some steps today to make sure this doesn’t happen. Let’s take a look at some options.

Consider a Living Trust

Without a proper plan dictating how you’d like your assets distributed after your passing, your estate—that is, everything you own—would need to go through a court process known as probate to determine who gets what. This can take months and even years. And with it can come hefty court fees and other expenses. Plus, it’s all public record.

But you can bypass this with a revocable living trust. As a trust grantor or creator, you can transfer various types of assets into a trust, such as cash, real estate, and investments. In the trust document, you can clearly outline how you’d want your assets distributed and under what terms. As trustee, you can also manage the assets in your lifetime or appoint someone else. In addition, you can appoint a successor trustee to manage and distribute assets based on your direction.

A living trust doesn’t go through probate. And because it removes assets from your estate, it can potentially shield you from the estate tax.

Update Beneficiaries

Certain accounts such as retirement plans can allow for beneficiaries that you may list when you open the account. This holds a lot of weight. In fact, it overrides wills. But as time passes, your intentions may change. Maybe you set your spouse as a beneficiary, but a divorce may have you thinking you’d want to change beneficiaries to someone else, such as your child. But if you don’t act fast, the initial beneficiary designation stays. So you may want to review beneficiary designations periodically to make sure they still align with your wishes.

Set Up a Durable Power of Attorney

Nobody likes to think about it, but anyone can become incapacitated at some point in their lives. This is why it’s important to establish a durable power of attorney. This individual, also called an agent, can step in to legally handle your financial matters should you become mentally incapable to do so. This agent also can oversee assets that don’t typically fit into a trust such as retirement plans.

In the durable power of attorney document, you should clearly outline your agent’s responsibilities, powers, and limitations.

But, overall, you’d have someone competent to continue managing your finances for the benefit of your loved ones.

Write a Will

Although a trust can open the door to a smooth distribution of your assets and avoid probate, a will can still come in handy.

More importantly, it allows you to designate legal guardians for any minor children. It also can provide guidance for personal items or assets unintentionally left out of your trust.

Take Advantage of Gift Tax Exclusions

So far, we’ve discussed passing on assets to your loved ones. But you can always pass on gifts to help your loved ones during your lifetime. In fact, current tax laws give you a lot of freedom here.

For 2025, as an example, you can give up to $19,000 per individual without incurring a gift tax. And married couples can double that limit, up to $38,000. But if you go over those limits, you generally won’t owe a tax. Still, you’d need to file IRS Form 709. And the amount that spills over decreases your lifetime gift and estate tax exclusion of $13.99 million for 2025 or $27.98 million for married couples. Once you go past those limits, you may face taxes.

However, the strategy of gifting substantially can shrink the size of your estate over time and potentially reduce or avoid the estate tax as a result.

Stay Organized

Even if you have the advantages of safeguards like trusts and durable power of attorney, one thing that could force the courts to step in is lack of information.

So, make sure you keep all important digital and physical documents safe and secure. Be sure to list all assets and asset types. Keep all account numbers, pins, passwords, and other crucial data safe and accessible for your agent or a trusted family member. Keep physical documents like financial statements, deeds, and titles in fireproof safes or something just as effective.

The Bottom Line

Without a solid plan, you may leave behind some stress for your family, and your assets may not be distributed as you would have thought fit. But you can take action to prevent this today. You can look into revocable living trusts, durable powers of attorney, wills, and more to create a sound estate-planning strategy. But as these tasks can be complex, it’s crucial that you design your plan with the help of a qualified estate-planning attorney.

The Epoch Times copyright © 2025. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is furious with journalist Megyn Kelly after she accused prominent Jews in the media – Ben Shapiro and Bari Weiss – of “making antisemites” through their attempts to censor criticism of Israel.”

(If you don’t care about any of these people, feel free to stop reading here… fair warning) 

To bring you up to speed: Following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, podcaster Candace Owens pointed the finger at Israel, suggesting that Kirk’s shifting views on Israel made him a target – and suggesting that Israel and France plotted Kirk’s death. This drew sharp criticism from the Daily Wire‘s Ben Shapiro (Owens’ former boss), journalist Bari Weiss, and the ADL – with Shapiro further accusing Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson of amplifying ‘antisemitism’ by platforming Owens and refusing to condemn her claims, while Kelly says attempts to censor criticism of Israel is in fact ‘making’ people into antisemites. 

So – a lot going on here. Prominent Jews are condemning conservatives who haven’t condemned Candace Owens – accusing them of fueling antisemitism, while Megyn Kelly says that in general, attempts to label conservatives critical of Israeli policy as ‘antisemites’ is actually creating antisemites. 

Tensions peaked at Turning Point USA’s AmFest conference last week, where Shapiro downplayed the 1967 USS Liberty incident in which Israel attacked a US Navy ship that killed 34 Americans – calling it a ‘mistake’ that’s now largely irrelevant because it happened so long ago:

The TPUSA AmFest audience erupted in cheers after a young White attendee questioned Ben Shapiro about Israel’s 1967 attack on the USS Liberty.

Shapiro—who frequently invokes the Holocaust—dismissed the incident as largely irrelevant today because it occurred so long ago.… pic.twitter.com/TkuYLT6scM

— AF Post (@AFpost) December 19, 2025

To which Carlson suggested that Shapiro’s deflection the question vs. debating it wasn’t what the movement should be about: 

Tucker Carlson bashed Ben Shapiro for calling a young man who posed a question about the USS Liberty as a “Hitlerite” moments prior.

Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/xSEwL5nUr2

— AF Post (@AFpost) December 19, 2025

The next day, Shapiro escalated during a speech at the Heritage Foundation in which he called Carlson an “enemy of the conservative movement” for promoting conspiracies.

Meanwhile, in a concurrent Vanity Fair interview, Megyn Kelly accused Shapiro and Weiss of “making antisemites” by aggressively labeling critics, calling Shapiro “Israel first,” and criticizing their alleged efforts to “cancel” her from the movement. 

To recap the drama:

Moments after Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, opened the conference with a speech calling her late husband a “peacemaker” and urging an end to the squabbling, Shapiro issued a blistering jeremiad that recalled William F. Buckley Jr.’s attempted excommunication of the far right. “The conservative movement is in serious danger,” Shapiro said, “from charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty, who offer nothing but bile and despair.”

He denounced Candace Owens—a podcaster he once employed at The Daily Wire, the media company he co-founded—who has emerged as the chief purveyor of conspiracy theories about Kirk’s murder. Her videos investigating the killing, infused with all the drama of a true-crime documentary, have been viewed millions of times.

Shapiro extended his criticism to those he said have “refused to condemn Candace’s truly vicious attacks,” naming Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, and Steve Bannon. A few hours later on the same stage, Carlson fired back. “To hear calls for like, de-platforming and denouncing people at a Charlie Kirk event, I’m like, what?” Carlson said, with an air of annoyed confusion. “I mean, this kind of was the whole point of Charlie Kirk’s public life, and I think that he died for it.” -Vanity Fair

And Kelly’s comments on Shapiro etc. ‘making antisemites’ for quashing criticism of Israel:

“What Charlie and I saw at the same time was that the country is turning,” Kelly said. “And young Republicans are turning on Israel.” 

She argued that figures like Shapiro and Weiss are actually fueling the rise of antisemitism through their attempts to censor criticism of Israel. “They are making antisemites,” she said. “Tucker is not making antisemites. They are.” -Vanity Fair

The ADL replied to Kelly’s in a thread on X (with replies closed to anyone they don’t mention or follow): 

1/ Megyn Kelly’s recent comments cross a dangerous line. Accusing Jews of “making antisemites” blames Jewish people for the hate directed against them—a classic victim-blaming trope. 🧵 https://t.co/OU0JCzYoEf

— ADL (@ADL) December 23, 2025

continued…

3/ Moreover, calling Ben Shapiro “Israel first” invokes the age-old antisemitic dual loyalty trope that has fueled persecution and hatred against Jews for centuries.

ADL has documented time and again how this kind of rhetoric from public figures helps normalize antisemitism and…

— ADL (@ADL) December 23, 2025

Kelly fired back, telling the ADL “Nice try but these labels don’t work anymore,” adding “Instead of attacking me they should listen to me. Or keep on keeping on & create more enemies!”

Nice try but these labels don’t work anymore. The @ADL has defanged itself. Instead of attacking me they should listen to me. Or keep on keeping on & create more enemies! https://t.co/WM6T8lNtvh

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) December 24, 2025

As a somewhat funny aside, pro-Israel accounts are calling Kelly ‘Grandma Groyper…‘

If you read this far, it’s kinda on you at this point. 

Authored by Duncan Burch via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Epictetus, a Greek Stoic philosopher who flourished during the early second century, said the chief task in life is to separate what is within one’s control from what is not.

“Externals are not in my power; will is in my power,” the famed Stoic said, according to a series of teachings compiled by his student Arrian and known as “The Discourses.” “Where shall I seek the good and the bad? Within, in the things which are my own.”

The philosophy of Stoicism promotes the reliance on reason and logic to determine what is good or virtuous and calls on its adherents not only to make such a determination but to act on it.

Stoic ideas have had a profound effect on Western culture, including in the fields of philosophy, literature, ethics, and even mathematics, and many of the teachings remain popular today.

The word “Stoic” derives from the Greek term “Stoa Poikile,” or “painted portico,” which refers to a colonnade adorned with murals depicting famous battles in the central public hub of ancient Athens. It was along this decorated colonnade that Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, walked with his students, imparting the tenets of his philosophy.

Born into a merchant family during the reign of Alexander the Great, Zeno initially took up his father’s trade. However, after surviving a shipwreck, he went to Athens, where he discovered teachings by Socrates and decided to devote himself to philosophy.

After studying under several prominent Athenian philosophers, Zeno opened up his own school. He taught regularly in the public marketplace for almost 40 years, until his death around 262 B.C., and his ideas became the foundation of what became known as Stoicism.

Although most of the writings of Zeno and the other early Stoic philosophers did not survive, their ideas had a profound influence on the philosophical discourse of the time, in Athens and beyond.

They became especially popular in the early period of the Roman Empire, where Stoic ideas were often part of the educational curriculum and espoused by prominent statesmen such as Cicero and Seneca, and even by the emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Zeno and other early Stoics were undoubtedly influenced by Socrates, and the philosophy of Stoicism shares certain basic ideas with other philosophers in the Socratic tradition.

The four cardinal virtues taught by the Stoics—prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice—were also discussed in the writings of both Plato and Aristotle. Stoics considered these virtues to be the highest virtues, on which all other virtues depend.

Prudence

“It’s not the accident that distresses this person,” said Epictetus, according to a short manual of practical Stoic ideas compiled by Arrian known as “Enchiridion.” “[It] is the judgement which he makes about it.”

Prudence comes from the Latin word “prudentia,” meaning foresight or sagacity. It is described by Stoics as the ability to discipline one’s thoughts and actions through the use of reason.

Stoics taught that each individual has the potential to think and act in accordance with the divine reason of the universe by employing the portion of reason that resides in his or her own mind. By applying the intellect to the impressions created by the universe, one can make logical judgments concerning what is good or virtuous and what is not.

One of the main themes of Stoic philosophy is distinguishing between external factors that one can’t control and internal factors that one can. While many things that occur in the world are beyond our control, what we can control are our thoughts, actions, and reactions.

Fortitude

Roman statesman Seneca, who faced his death at the order of Roman emperor Nero with Stoic calmness, had written in one of his letters: “He who has learned to die has unlearned slavery; he is above any external power, or, at any rate, he is beyond it. What terrors have prisons and bonds and bars for him?”

Fortitude refers not only to patience and endurance, but also to courage and bravery. Stoics pointed to the importance of forbearance, of calmly enduring those things in life that cause pain and suffering, and of accepting those things as part of the world in which we live.

Suffering is an inevitable part of human existence. Though we can’t stop or prevent it, we can control how we react to it. To consider it reasonably and bear it nobly is wisdom.

Yet it is not only suffering that must be faced with courage, but also fear. Whether the fear of battle, loss, poverty, or even death, Stoics believe that it should be overcome with reason and faced with bravery.

According to his student Arrian in “Enchiridion,” Epictetus said, “I must die. If now, I am ready to die. If, after a short time, I now dine because it is the dinner-hour; after this I will then die. How? Like a man who gives up what belongs to another.”

Another theme that recurs frequently in Stoic writings is that of acting in accordance with one’s beliefs. It is not enough to merely attain wisdom; one must act in a manner that conforms to the wisdom one has attained. This is especially true when those actions might bring trouble, condemnation, or even death, as a violation of one’s conscience is worse than all of those.

Temperance

Temperance means self-control or self-restraint, and it was often used by Stoics to refer to guarding against both the indulgence in pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

The early Stoic philosopher Chrysippus described passion, or strong emotions, as a misleading force resulting from a failure to reason. In his treatise “On Passions,” Chrysippus identified the four primary passions to guard against: sorrow, pleasure, fear, and desire.

He referred to sorrow and pleasure as present emotions, while identifying fear and desire as emotions directed at the future. In all cases, he believed these emotions should be constrained by reason whenever they appear in one’s mind.

Stoics did not believe in seeking pleasure, nor in pursuing wealth, fame, or status. They also did not advise avoiding hardship or shying away from difficult, unpleasant, or uncomfortable tasks. They believed in using reason to determine what is right, and in acting on that determination regardless of whatever emotions may arise.

Justice

Cicero, who wrote extensively on Stoic ideas in “On Duties,” deemed justice as “the crowning glory of the virtues” and its primary duty to “keep one man from doing harm to another.”

He said that justice constitutes the common bond of human society and of a virtuous community of life. The Stoic virtue of justice is based on acting in accordance with the highest good.

In other words, justice compels each person to conscientiously perform whatever duties fall to them, and it requires doing what is best for the community in which one lives. Thinking and acting with justice means fulfilling your duties to your fellow man, whatever they may be.

Justice, then, to the Stoic, is not some external system of punishment and reward, but rather a way of thinking and acting.

“Neither the senate nor the people can give us any dispensation for not obeying this universal law of justice,” Cicero wrote in “Treatise on the Commonwealth.” “It needs no other expositor and interpreter than our own conscience.”

Enduring Value of Stoic Virtues

These four cardinal virtues of Stoicism—prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice—are interdependent.

Courage without prudence or temperance, or for purely selfish means, is not true courage, and neither is wisdom of any value without the fortitude to act on it. And of course, temperance, prudence, and fortitude are all necessary components of acting in service of the highest good, which is justice.

The virtues of Stoicism still provide guidance to the people living in modern society. The fact that this ancient philosophy has endured throughout the centuries and continues to inspire people around the world is a testament to its inherent value.

“The true felicity of life is to be free from perturbations, to understand our duties towards God and man, [and] to enjoy the present without any anxious dependence upon the future,” Seneca wrote in “Seneca’s Morals of a Happy Life, Benefits, Anger and Clemency.”

“[Rest] satisfied with what we have, which is abundantly sufficient; for he that is so, wants nothing,” he continued. “The great blessings of mankind are within us, and within our reach.”

Concealing missile and rocket artillery launchers, as well as loitering munition swarms, within civilian-style transport platforms such as container ships and commercial trucks is a long-established and well-documented tactic in asymmetric warfare.

Over the years, we have observed a wide range of these concealable missile systems:

• Watch: Hellfire Missile Launcher Hidden Inside Civilian Box Truck

• Ukraine Receives Missile System Disguised As “Ordinary” Shipping Container

• There Are Growing Fears That China Could Be Hiding Missiles In Containerships Worldwide

• Ukrainian Drone Swarm Attack Marks Grim “Inflection Point In History Of Warfare”

The latest example comes from a report published earlier this week by The War Zone, which documents a Chinese commercial cargo ship converted into a heavily armed vessel equipped with containerized weapons and high-tech sensors.

“It appears we are getting at least one installment of this in the form of a medium-sized cargo ship packed full of containerized vertical launchers, along with sensors and self defense systems,” TWZ’s Tyler Rogoway wrote in a note, adding, “The message is clear, China is making it known that it could, and likely will, turn ships from its behemoth of a commercial fleet into not just shooters, but arsenal ships.”

Rogoway noted that one of the most striking features is a deck covered with containerized vertical-launch system modules, providing an estimated 60 large launch cells, approximately two-thirds of the missile capacity of a U.S. Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. This suggests that the vessel will serve as a multi-operational platform. 

One factor that does make me wonder if this whole thing is real, however, is the text on the containers…

If one is able to read Chinese, the text is rather… amusing, for proper PLA projects. https://t.co/gmv3z2Pf1A pic.twitter.com/H6eq5kgDc8

— Rick Joe (@RickJoe_PLA) December 25, 2025

We have long pointed out that weaponized container ships constitute a credible asymmetric threat…

… with Beijing reportedly wargaming scenarios in the Caribbean theater amid elevated tensions over President Trump’s gunboat diplomacy aimed at destabilizing the Venezuelan and Cuban regimes, the big question is how many such ships China has already outfitted with VLS modules.

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

The worsening of Indo-US ties under Trump 2.0 has been one of the most unexpected foreign policy outcomes of his second presidency thus far, which this analysis here argues is due to him wanting to punish India for refusing to subordinate itself to the US.

Pakistani-US ties have inversely strengthened despite being very troubled under Trump 1.0, so much so that there’s been talk about Pakistan giving the US a commercial port for re-establishing its regional presence, which could have dual military purposes.

This background explains why Trump 2.0’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) was such a surprise for South Asian observers. Pakistan is only mentioned once and just in the context of Trump’s contentious boast of brokering a ceasefire between it and India even though Pakistan has been the centerpiece of this second administration’s regional policy up till this point. India is mentioned three other times in the document, however, with the next one pertaining to the Quad.

In their words, “We must continue to improve commercial (and other) relations with India to encourage New Delhi to contribute to Indo-Pacific security, including through continued quadrilateral cooperation with Australia, Japan, and the United States (‘the Quad’).”

They then proposed that “America should similarly enlist our European and Asian allies and partners, including India, to cement and improve our joint positions in the Western Hemisphere and, with regard to critical minerals, in Africa.”

In connection with that, “We should form coalitions that use our comparative advantages in finance and technology to build export markets with cooperating countries. America’s economic partners should no longer expect to earn income from the United States through overcapacity and structural imbalances but instead pursue growth through managed cooperation tied to strategic alignment and by receiving long-term U.S. investment.”

This can be interpreted as an allusion to India’s allegedly “unfair” trade practices.

The final reference was about “keep[ing] [South China Sea] lanes open, free of ‘tolls,’ and not subject to arbitrary closure by one country. This will require not just further investment in our military—especially naval—capabilities, but also strong cooperation with every nation that stands to suffer, from India to Japan and beyond, if this problem is not addressed.” In other words, building upon the second Quad-related reference, the US wants India playing a more active military role in the South China Sea.

Putting it all together, the US’ NSS sends mixed signals to India.

On the one hand, Pakistan’s conspicuous omission except in the context of Trump’s boast about brokering spring’s ceasefire should please India, provided that it believes that this presages a policy recalibration.

On the other hand, this is apparently conditional on India ramping up cooperation with the Quad, cooperating with the US on African mineral deals, opening its markets to more US exports, and containing China in the South China Sea.

Joint projects in third countries are possible as is India’s lowering of tariffs on US imports, but the Quad’s role has been overshadowed by AUKUS (and its informal NATO-like expansion of AUKUS+), while the incipient Sino-Indo rapprochement makes India reluctant to contain China outside of South Asia.

If the US’ attaches security strings to improving ties with India, particularly if it demands that India contain China in the South China Sea, then India will likely decline this proposal to avoid becoming the US’ proxy.

A federal judge on Monday issued a permanent injunction – ruling that California can’t prevent parents from learning when their children switch genders. 

US District Court Roger T. Benitez (Bush) entered the injunction barring officials from enforcing state policies, writing in in a 52-page decision “The State’s desire to protect vulnerable children from harassment and discrimination is laudable,” but that “the parental exclusion policies create a trifecta of harm: they harm the child who needs parental guidance and possibly mental health intervention to determine if the incongruence is organic or whether it is the result of bullying, peer pressure, or a fleeting impulse.”

“They harm the parents by depriving them of the long-recognized Fourteenth Amendment right to care, guide, and make health care decisions for their children, and by substantially burdening many parents’ First Amendment right to train their children in their sincerely held religious beliefs And finally, they harm teachers who are compelled to violate the sincerely held beliefs and the parent’s rights by forcing them to conceal information they feel is critical for the welfare of their students,” the decision continues. 

Among California’s policies are rules prohibiting teachers from telling parents when their children begin going by a different name and/or gender, and forces teachers to use the child’s chosen names and pronouns when parents are not around. (Homeschooling FTW). 

Lawyers for the state argued that the policies provide a safe learning environment such that children “can learn without fear of being outed to their parents before they are ready.”

In his ruling, Benitez said that the state’s interest is too broad and not narrowly tailored to respect parental rights.

“In articulating their interest, the State Defendants completely ignore the fact that parents of students possess a free exercise right to direct a child’s religious teaching,” he said. 

As the Epoch Times notes further, the permanent injunction includes language that bars any employee in California’s education system from “misleading the parent or guardian of a minor child in the education system about their child’s gender presentation at school, whether by: (i) directly lying to the parent; (ii) preventing the parent from accessing educational records of the child; or (iii) using a different set of preferred pronouns/names when speaking with the parents than is being used at school.”

Attorneys for the Thomas More Society, who are representing teachers in the case, celebrated the ruling.

“The Court’s comprehensive ruling—granting summary judgment on all claims—protects all California parents, students, and teachers, and it restores sanity and common sense,” Paul Jonna, special counsel at the society, said in a statement.

“With this decisive ruling from Judge Benitez, all state and local school officials that mandate gender secrecy policies should cease all enforcement or face severe legal consequences.”

The Office of the California Attorney General has not yet released a statement on the decision, and an email seeking comment was not returned by publication time.