It was at the height of the Cold War that the CIA and the American government—fearing the weakening of the capitalist bloc in Latin America due to the influence of Liberation Theology in the southern part of the continent—began subsidizing Protestant missions, mostly of Pentecostal denomination, with the intent of diluting Catholic presence and preventing the spread of Marxist ideals through religion.
Ten years ago, as the world’s governments met in Paris and agreed to eventually force policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions on their respective populations, combating climate change was seen as a major political issue.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics finally released its November report today—after a nearly ten-day delay—and the latest data shows that the employment situation in America continues to slowly worsen. During November, the unemployment rate increased to a fifty-month high of 4.6 percent even though total payrolls rose by 64,000 from October to November. Overall, November’s report showed lackluster payroll growth fueled by rising numbers in part time employment.
Saifedean Ammous: “Property rights in Palestine have been replaced by a government agency that owns the majority of land, constantly steals more, never sells, and only leases land to one racial group.”
Unless President Trump reverses course, the “Lower Prices Bigger Paychecks” banner that hung behind him at his “affordability” speech this month will be remembered as being to economic policy what President George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” banner was to foreign policy.
According to a Politico poll, many Americans are having difficulty paying for food, housing, transportation, and health care. Thirty-seven percent of Americans cannot afford to take their family to a professional sports event while 46 percent of Americans cannot afford airfare for a vacation.
On a recent road trip to a family event, I did an experiment while listening to Bloomberg for six hours in both directions. The various hosts were all interested in the topic of “contagion” and whether or not their guests thought we were in an artificial intelligence bubble. One pretty young host lamented that work was more fun when the market is going up.
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In his Executive Order of January 21, 2025, President Donald Trump fulfilled one of his campaign promises by terminating the Biden administration’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. He announced a new era of what he called merit-based opportunity (MBO).
