On December 17, 1777, France formally recognized the United States of America.
The 17th of December, 1819, was the day Simon Bolivar declared the independence of the Republic of Gran Colombia in Angostura.
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.
Any such investigation is necessarily biased from the get-go against freedom of speech and press. Even if it never gets to the regulation stage, the investigation itself constitutes interference. It is impossible for anyone being asked formal investigatory questions by the FCC to be unaware that the questioner has the power of government behind him.
How, for example, is a conscientious employee who respects the rights of his boss supposed to answer this loaded question: “Have you ever suggested coverage of what you consider a story with critical information for your customers that was rejected by management?”?
FCC commissioner Ajit Pai reports that this is one query being considered as part of a “Critical Information Needs” study to determine how stories are selected, “perceived bias,” and how responsive a newsroom is to “underserved populations.”
Pai, who opposes the project, says: “The government has no place pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.”
Or not covering others.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.
Winston Churchill, speech at Harvard University, September 6, 1943, in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (1999), p. 215.
On December 16, 1689, England’s Convention Parliament began, not only transferring power from one king to another, but establishing procedures and rights.
In many cities, homeowners need a permit to make such additions. But although the city had no problem with his proposed construction, it required something more than a permit fee: half of Tausch’s front yard — without even offering to pay for it. No land surrender, no permit.
The city has been making the same demand of other homeowners who need alteration permits.
The city has a plan, a goal: Pile up land that the city might one day use to widen roads. The Institute for Justice (IJ) has identified “more than 1,000 homes threatened by this scheme across 66 streets.”
“The right to prevent the government from unlawfully taking your property is a right recognized from the very start of this nation,” says Suranjan Sen, an attorney with IJ. “The city of Miami cannot simply decide to take your property away because it wants it.”
Well, thus far, the city has thus simply decided. It’s been operating the scheme for years. The question is whether it’s constitutionally entitled to do so; obviously, no.
Tausch didn’t submit to the extortion. Instead, he turned to IJ for help in challenging Miami’s practice in court. As a result of the litigation, the city has waived the land-for-permit requirement in his case.
Victory! But what about all those other homes on the 66 streets, which remain in jeopardy?
Well, the Institute for Justice is continuing the lawsuit, seeking to liberate all Miami homeowners from the city’s sneaky scheme.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position, and be bruised in a new place.
Washington Irving, Tales of a Traveler (1824), Preface, p. 7.
On December 15, 1791, the United States’ Bill of Rights became constitutional law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.
On December 15 in 1933, the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution officially became effective, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment that had, by enabling the Volstead Act, prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol for any other than medical and industrial uses.
December 15 birthdays include that of Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad, 1861, first Head of State of independent Finland, serving in this capacity first as leader of the Senate and then as Protector, or Regent. In 1930 he became Prime Minister, and in 1931 was elected President, leaving office in 1937.
During the Civil War of 1918, his anti-socialist refugee government, Valkoiset, or “Whites,” opposed the “Reds,” a Social Democrat Party faction, for control of the government as it transitioned from Russian rule as a Grand Duchy, to independent status.
He died in 1944.
The U.S. federal budget landscape in late 2025 remains tense, as we say, with looming deadlines and partisan clashes over spending, taxes, and entitlements. On December 10, 2025, Chairman Jodey Arrington of the House Budget Committee praised the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut rates, citing it as relief for families amid inflation pressures. The FOMC statement noted inflation remains “somewhat elevated” but affirmed commitment to maximum employment.
If you are (a) wondering what sense any of that makes, and (b) overcome with a nauseating sense of déjà vu, welcome to the club.
The Boom & Bust Club, that is, where insiders pretend they’re in control and outsiders like us just hope to shore up a big against the ruin.
On the 6th, Trump signed a $12 billion farmer aid executive order, aimed at countering “unfair” trade impacts; it bridged gaps for farmers until full budget reconciliation.
Meanwhile, thr Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act (H.R. 1968) is in play to avert shutdowns, but reconciliation battles persist. Congressional Budget Office projections warn economic shifts could widen deficits through 2035.
Man is an animal that diddles, and there is no animal that diddles but man.
Edgar Allan Poe, “Diddling Considered as One of the Exact Sciences,” The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Vol. IV: The Raven Edition.
On December 14, 1918, Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King Väinö I, renounced the Finnish throne.
In 1939, on this date, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland and starting the Winter War.
On December 14, 1819, Alabama became the 22nd state of these United States.