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Data: Reason Foundation; Map: Thomas Oide/Axios

Colorado's highway system just can't catch a break.

What's happening: It ranked 37th in the nation for overall condition and cost-effectiveness, according to the latest annual report from the Reason Foundation, a libertarian organization.

Why it matters: Colorado lawmakers began pumping millions of dollars more into the state's transportation system in recent years, but not enough to make a dent in the rankings.

What they found: "Colorado ranks poorly, not because it is worst in any one category. Rather the state ranks middle to poor in most every category," the report found.

The other side: Colorado Department of Transportation officials took issue with the report's analysis of outdated pavement data from 2018 and 2019 that excludes recent improvements.

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Colorado's highway system ranks poorly, but more cash is on the way - Axios

As this Congressional session comes to an end, many people have been disappointed by the lack of action on important legislation. One of those is cannabis. Going forward, pro-cannabis legislators ultimately have choices to make. If comprehensive cannabis legislation is dead in this Congressand it isis any alternative palatable? Is the status quo of prohibition preferable to holding out hope for broad-based legislation at a later date?

As Democrats took control of the House, Senate, and White House in 2021, hopes were up. Many legalization supporters believed the time had arrived to advance this issue to the finish line. However, one year into the new Congress, reality should have finally set in: the math is still not favorable in Congress to pass comprehensive cannabis legalization and an alternative is likely necessary.

The reality that is holding Congress back from passing federal cannabis legalization is a simple one that often undermines complex, multi-faceted policy changes that have deep divisions within the legislative branch: there is not a sufficient coalition of House members and a filibuster-proof majority of senators who agree on comprehensive legalization. That result is often frustrating or bewildering for supporters of reform for two reasons. First, they look at national polling and see not just a majority, but a supermajority of Americans who support full-scale cannabis reform. Second, there are majorities of House and Senate members who would say yes to the basic question: Should cannabis be legalized nationally?

The latter, however, is the wrong question to ask. Often, in a legislative body, the issue is not whether a law should be reformed, but how that law should be reformed. And theres the rub for federal legalization legislation. Liberals and progressives in the Democratic Party cannot agree with moderate and libertarian Republicans on what cannabis reform should look like, even if majorities agree that the law should be changed. And as pro-cannabis reform members from both sides dig their heels in on the importance of provisions that are close to their heart (and the heart of their base), it makes assembling that coalition impossible.

Here are the fault lines

Liberal Democrats and especially the partys most progressive members are unwilling to support legislation that does not incorporate significant social equity and racial justice provisions into it. Their argument is a straightforward and convincing one: the War on Drugs was waged on the backs of Black Americans, Latinos, and indigenous populations, and reform should not proceed without a significant effort to right the wrongs of the past.

Moderate Republicans and libertarian members of the party see the issue from a market perspective. They believe government should get out of the way and let cannabis be treated as an agricultural commodity in which the business community and the free marketrather than government prohibitionshould prevail. (It should be noted that most pro-cannabis Democrats and Republicans do agree on some restorative justice such as pardons and record expungement for non-violent cannabis offenders.)

However, as legislation is drafted, any bill that does not include extensive provisions to advance social equity and racial justice is a non-starter for some key Democrats as well as within those communities hit hardest by the drug war. This situation played out most recently in efforts to include the SAFE Banking Act in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). That effort to include an amendment to expand access to financial institutions for the cannabis industry ultimately failed in the Senate as senators like Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) preferred their own, comprehensive legislation. The stripping of SAFE Banking from the NDAA happened even as some in the cannabis advocacy community argued that SAFE Banking would help minority business owners in the industry.

When the SAFE Banking Act passed the House as a standalone bill in 2021, it garnered the votes of 106 Republicans, demonstrating that the GOP can deliver votes on cannabis legislation that makes it easier for markets and businesses to operate. However, months later, Sen. Booker announced his outright opposition to SAFE Banking if the comprehensive MORE Act or his (and Leader Schumers and Sen. Ron Wydens [D-Ore.]) Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act did not pass.

It is here that the division over cannabis reform is most obvious. While SAFE Banking garnered the votes of more than half of the House GOP Conference, the MORE Act (which passed the House in December 2020) received only five Republican votes. Since the legislation was reintroduced in the 117th Congress it has, to date, garnered only one Republican co-sponsor.

It is clear that as a legalization bill shifts away from a pro-business direction, the number of Republican supporters plummets. And while in a Democratic-controlled House, leadership can muster the votes to pass something like the MORE Act, the requirement to beat a filibuster in the Senate makes passage of more social equity and racial justice-oriented comprehensive legislation an impossibility. It is not clear if Democrats can even keep all 50 of their Democratic members in line for such a vote, and it is a certainty that they cannot attract the 10 or more Republicans necessary to clear the 60-vote hurdle. And more moderate legislation that could attract more Republicans will likely lose the more progressive members of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

Surely some progressives (perhaps rightly) worry that moderate legislation with the vague promise to do better for communities of color at a later date is likely an empty promisethose communities have lost that hand of poker on other issues in the past. At the same time, the status quo means there will be more cannabis arrests every year that disproportionately impact communities of color. Could something that offers a bit to both sides be possible? Perhaps combining federal decriminalization, seed funding for state level record expungement, a presidential promise to pardon past offenders at the bill signing, and SAFE Banking could be seen as a step in the right direction? Would piecemeal legislation under a Democratic Congress be better than rolling the dice in a (likely) Republican Congress in 2023, knowing the hostility of Republican leadership to legalization? The latter is the central question legalization advocates must ask themselves and answer.

Ultimately, cannabis reform supporters inside and outside of Congress need a reality check about the state of play of current cannabis reform proposals, and what additional complications the future may offer. Regardless of the chosen path forward, there will be naysayers, holdouts, resistance, and anger. There will be accusations of bloated government or not doing enough to reverse the effects of the drug war. That is standard for an interest group environment on a passionate issue in a deliberative body. However, in the end, Congress has a choice between doing nothing and letting prohibition win the day and allowing all of the consequences of that to remain. Or doing something short of perfect, that addresses some of the real harms that drug prohibition has created in this country.

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The numbers for drug reform in Congress dont add up - Brookings Institution

If I knew the fun in 2021 was going to be so short lived, I wouldnt have worn Uggs for most of the time. Luckily, according to Tik Tok, they are trending again (at least the ultra minis).

When top search terms for the year are insurrection, cicadas and vaccines -- its fair to feel exhausted as this wild year winds down. A year that kicked off with swelling hope vaccines! was quickly blunted on January 6th. And yet, as things went sideways politically, there were still moments of inspiration. Amanda Gormans poetry at the inauguration. Social progress. More female CEOs. The hope we had was so grand it almost crescendoed to the palpable roar of a Pandemaissance. But the universe had other plans and the emergence of variants meant that we couldnt exactly exhale, let alone fully celebrate. So for the rest of the year we wobbled between office openings, social engagements, hope, disappointment, loss and waiting on PCR tests. We buoyed ourselves with Ted Lasso, Lil Nas Xs Montero, debates about what is and isnt cheugy and any other cultural gem or aesthetic that might give us momentary lift. Our exhaustion and longing would come and go, even though we didnt fully have that same freedom. Adam Grant nailed this mood by attaching the word languishing to our collective experience.

But now as a new year presents itself, we too have a chance to present ourselves again and think about what reinvention looks like in a world that keeps changing its rules. Pantone is betting that Very Peri, a medium lavender shade, will launch us into 2022 with the creativity we need to meet this challenge. This color, Pantone explains, combines the tranquility of deep blue with the energy of red, offering us creative courage and imagination. But in this cool color there are a slew of other associations -- the irises Van Gogh painted while in a mental asylum, the color of the cocktail Nathan hands Issa Rae in her multiverse reality on season 5 of Insecure, and of course Elsas icy, ethereal wardrobe in Frozen 2. The thread? All of these lavendered references conjure emotional tension that must be worked out or better yet, worked through. And isnt that all of us? Bruised but ready to recover. Choosing to hold on versus just hang on. As we look to 2022, the road to emotional recovery wont always be easy but it will offer us some relief as we find inspiration in the unexpected and the mundane. The selfish and the selfless. The peculiar and the divine. With that, lets take a look at the trends and movements that will move us in the new year.

Gen X Flex: Lets start with some positive news. Gen X, the scorned middle child, saddled between Boomers and Millennials will be put on a cultural pedestal in 2022. Historically this generation, born between 1965-1979 has been depicted in an unflattering light, mainly as defined by other generations who have marked them as too fiercely independent or borderline antagonistic. But turns out receiving Ataris instead of trophies may have better equipped them for more time at home and a society that is going through an enduring disruption. On top of that Gen Z has thrust Gen X culture into the spotlight making every relic feel relevant again, from the Sopranos to Lilith Fair, platform shoes, Grunge Rock and even the Gap Khaki's swing craze. Research has shown time and time again that while Gen X may be the most stressed of generations they are also equipped to handle it best. Maybe listening to Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and the Breeders for all of those years helped create an emotional toughness that would have longevity. Though they can be perceived as aloof, Gen X has historically been tolerant of difference and has wisely sat out of the tedious micro culture wars between Gen Z and Millennials, because who cares where you part your hair. In the new year well see a Gen X Flex emerge as this underdog generation takes on the role of older statespeople, helping us all find new perspectives in the year to come.

New Blueprints: Over the past 18 months our society has been pressure tested like never before, and there are cracks in the system wherever we look--from family care to economic opportunity, social inequities to climate change. These fissures have catalyzed a great reprioritization, which has manifested into a great resignation. And now individuals and societies are creating new blueprints acknowledging the need for the revolutionary over the evolutionary. From conscious capitalism to B corp designations we are seeing the emergence of healthy organizations built around structures of wellness, sustainability, inclusion and equity--this new world is shifting power to employees, and forcing needed change for all of us. According to experts at Stanford University, and detailed in their new report The New Map of Life, theres no roadmap for the places we are going. Many children born today in the developing world will have the chance to live to 100. Well need to rethink models for life, work, and society that are not built on traditional timelines of marriage in the 20s and retirement in the 60s. The elongation of lives will create less mania in the middle for those juggling family, work, stress, and aging parents who have been asking the question: are we doing it wrong? In the new year and beyond, we will see conversations and shifts taking place around these issues: A commitment to lifelong education. Multiple careers in a lifetime. Concentrations of time spent with loved ones outside of parental leave. The widespread adoption of the four day work week. And well all be better off with these new foundations.

Speaking Outside the Box: Wherever you sit on the political spectrum, a reasonable amount of baggage has accumulated beside you. While many of us would like to check our bags, sometimes the best way to escape may be to catch a new train all together. In the new year, there will be noticeable momentum in this direction as political and cultural influentials dissociate from the right, left and center, with some even creating new spaces all together. These outside voices will challenge and provoke conversations in a variety of directions -- and there is a cultural appetite for it. Substack continues to gain steam, offering journalists a platform to create newsletters free from overly influential editors and advertisers. This model encourages writers to bring value over clickbait. Libertarian media is popping up in the mainstream with new spotlights on publications like Reason magazine (tagline: Free Minds and Free Markets). Reasons editor in chief, Katherine Mangu-Ward, is making rounds on national morning and late news shows by challenging the dominant political parties and their lack of flexibility. Adding to libertarian mojo, rising star Jane Coastan, just got a big podcast deal further growing her influence as she critiques both Democrats and Republicans. Fresh povs can also be found from linguist John McWhorter, former conservative Joe Scarborough who has denounced the Republican party, and of course New Yorks energetic new mayor, Eric Adams, known for bold ideas and even bolder soundbites. In the new year well hear hot takes that will veer away from predictable party lines, all in time to make the 2022 midterm elections more unpredictable.

: In a society that has endured so much, there is an understandable excitement around a new and next frontier. After all, thinking about the future has been proven to generate hope. Which brings us to all the buzz about the metaverse, even if most Americans arent sure what it is. Wired magazine defines the metaverse as connected technologies characterized by persistent virtual worlds that continue to exist even when you're not playing. This universe where value creation is fairly independent of the real world also includes bitcoin, NFTs and other trendy notions. Despite any confusion, these new markets are creating intrigue and opportunities for brands to reach exciting levels of engagement. WarnerMedias Wonder Woman: The Themyscira Experience has been visited nearly 30 million times on Roblox. Facebook plans to spend $10 billion to become a metaverse company. But its all fun and games when we are purchasing art, digital handbags and outfitting superheroes. But what happens when some of the more dystopian themes that we experience IRL move to a universe without moral code? Instagram has been linked to depression among teenagers. The U.S. Surgeon General recently issued a warning on the mental health crisis affecting teens as they straddle their lives on social media with the realities of the physical world. Weve seen misinformation flow freely across once trusted platforms like Facebook and consumers and brands boycotting the company accordingly. So in the new year the more we innovate in the metaverse, the more we will fuel a movement of the metADverse that is, major detractors who will challenge, question, and work to halt this very meta development.

Quirkouts: When culture fully embraced the phrase the Covid 19lbs to discuss the weight gain associated with quarantine life -- it marked a moment for much needed levity and perhaps a signal that we would see a shift in how we talk about weight and working out moving from self-serious to self-deprecating. During much of Covid many were forced to improvise fitness routines -- any time moving outside was considered a win. But even as gyms and fitness classes started to open again, there was a realization that we dont need to be warriors to ride an exercise bike or be part of a cult-like gym just to get fit. In 2022 expect to see this sentiment grow with the emergence of more quirkouts and a fitness and leisure world that will become increasingly strange. From the full adoption of work out dresses, to a rise in plogging a Swedish sport that combines jogging and picking up waste to pickleball courts popping up across the U.S. in parks, clubs, schools, mansions and parking lots. Pinterest is even noting the rise in search for activities like lazy workouts in bed. The best part of this movement? Departing from the serious tone of fitness will make exercise less intimidating for all kinds of people, ultimately making it even more effective. Plus no one has to commit their soul in order to play.

Joy & Rest Revolution: Since Arianna Huffington famously said women should sleep their way to the top, the notion of sleep has been a hot topic in culture, mainly around its wellness benefits and ability to unlock potential and cognitive ability. During the pandemic sleep and coziness remained top of mind resulting in soaring mattress sales and the golden age for PJ sets. But there is a sea change starting, an idea that positions rest and joy as an acknowledgement of human worth outside of productivity and output. This movement originated in the Black community among female voices advocating for rest among Black women as the ultimate act of resistance in a world that constantly burdens them. The conversation continues to expand as we see a number of feminists challenging the paradigm of women as super heroes, suggesting this narrative enables disproportionate stress and labor. Afterall, time bias proves womens time is valued less at home and at work resulting in a piling up of tasks that are undervalued, ultimately causing women to devalue their own time and worth. To combat this systemic issue Eve Rodsky, womens advocate and author, has just released Unicorn Space, a call for women to find time that isnt defined by work or who they care for, but instead time for retreat, wonder and creative pursuit not because its been earned but because it is a right of every human being.

Age of Innerlightenment: With nowhere to go for much of the past year and a half, many landed in their own heads. Time for big reflection meant time for big questioning and the chance to metabolize the individual and collective trauma weve all experienced. As we confront the future there is a new acknowledgement that although there are benefits to seeing bright spots in the dark, toxic positivity is actually detrimental to our psyches. In a recent article in The Atlantic, Scott Barry Kaufmann introduces another framing: tragic optimism or the ability to create meaning and connection by digesting negative experiences. This author references Austrian psychologist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl who first coined the term by discussing the growth that happens through both good and bad. But while past generations may have relied on faith as a tool to process, that is not no longer common among the majority of Americans. Today just 47% of adults belong to religious congregations compared to 70% in 1999. Luckily a crop of scholars have emerged helping us all find our way and its not self help or even self preservation its innerlightment. Brene Brown has garnered A-list attention with her calls for vulnerability and in her new book, Atlas of the Heart, identifies the 87 emotions that define the human experience while introducing frameworks that help us tell our stories and find our way to our truest selves. Priya Parker unpacks the origins of social gathering and the importance of group experience and social ritual, helping us understand the impact of a distanced world. Esther Perel discusses paradox in society today, a theory that proves two opposing ideas can both be true, inviting us to process what that means for our egos and relationships. This journey inward is enabling us to create stronger outward connections and a new social currency around emotional fluency. With this process comes a kind of peripheral vision that lets us see around corners and widens our lens to see others' fragility and strength along with our own. The magic of 2022 will not depend on any particular outcome, but instead it will live in the odd and joyous process of trial and error, experimentation, dialogue and the will to live with scar tissue.

Adrianna G. Bevilaqua is chief creative officer and MD at M Booth

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Emotional rescue. 7 trends for the new year - PR Week

By DAVID HAMPTONLos Alamos

Dear County Council,

In 2019, Council voted to use a LEDA Grant to give six lots of County-owned land to a developer to create a privately-owned convention center, cafe, and hotel under the Marriott brand at Trinity and 20th.

The contractual deadline for the developer to submit site plans for all aspects of the development is about to expire, and Council must decide how to handle this upcoming crossroads.

While we disagree on many issues, the undersigned members of the Republican Party of Los Alamos, theDemocratic Party of Los Alamos,and the Libertarian Party of Los Alamos oppose extending the contract between Los Alamos County and the developer of the land for the proposed Marriott convention center.

There has not been substantive progress toward the agreed upon goals in the original contract, and the small business environment in Los Alamos County has continued to deteriorate. We believe Council should revert the six lots of county land to what was originally intended: community capital investment to support owner-operated small business, similar to what is presently being pursued with Pet Pangea.

We believe that opportunities such as these are essential to retain successful businesses like those that have recently departed, such as Fleur de Lys.

We hope that this nonpartisan recommendation will encourage the current Council to choose to reclaim this land for its highest and best use: supporting community investment in locally-owned small businesses.

Thank you for your consideration:

Editors note: County Council Chair Randall Ryti replied to Hamptons letter as follows:

Mr. Hampton

On behalf of Council, I thank you and the signatories to this letter for your input on the question of extending the agreement for the 20th Street LEDA project.

Randall Ryti, County Council Chair

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Letter To The Editor: Request To County Council Concerning Property At 20th And Trinity - Los Alamos Daily Post

The hedge fund-owning son disagrees in the media with his father's tax policies.

A disagreement over taxing the rich between Oregon U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and his hedge fund-owning son, Adam, is going increasingly public.

The Senate Finance Committee chairman is a major advocate of increasing taxes on the wealthy while his Florida-based son has criticized such efforts on social media and news interviews. The New York Times posted a lengthy story about the dispute Friday, Dec. 10, and printed the article in its Sunday edition. The Hill, an online political news outlet, then reported on the article.

"Why does he hate us / the American dream so much?!?!?!?!" Adam Wyden tweeted last month. "Reality is: most legislators have never built anything so I guess it's easier to mindlessly and haphazardly try and tear stuff down."

Ron Wyden told the Times that he has avoided talking to his son about their disagreement.

"He doesn't talk to me about his business, and I don't talk to him about mine," he was quoted as saying.

Ron Wyden is a Democrat and his son describes himself as a libertarian.

The U.S. senator is pushing to add his proposal to tax billionaires' unrealized capital gains to the Build Back Better legislation that has passed the U.S. House and is now before the U.S. Senate. Democrats are hoping to pass the massive social and climate spending package as soon as possible, but are still negotiating details with holdout members.

Adam Wyden has said he will personally not be hurt by his father's proposal.

"Thankfully, I think I can compound faster than my dad and his cronies can confiscate it," he tweeted last month.

The younger Wyden continued to criticize his father and other lawmakers. The younger Wyden was asked about his tweets during a CNBC interview last month.

"It's clear to me that the people that are making these policy decisions have never experienced the up and downs of running a business," he said.

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Wyden, son spar publicly over taxing the rich - Pamplin Media Group

Brian R. Morgan| Gaylord

Local school boards across the country have been bombarded by right-wing parents and their indoctrinated children, who oppose any type of mask mandate or vaccination efforts.

A closer look at this phenomenon reveals that it's a national effort by libertarian and very conservative Trump-style Republicans attempting to sow discord and division in our nation. So far they have succeeded. Some even have threatened violence against health department personnel who have attended such meetings.

Here in Gaylord, the Northwest Michigan Public Health Department has become the target of efforts to remove public health officials and/or deny them funding for simply doing their job. The opponents of mandatory masking in school are largely ignorant of medical science and care not that if their child is not masked, not only is that a risk to their own child, but to other classmates as well. They represent a very selfish and shortsighted attempt to obstruct public servants who are trying to save the lives of children in our public schools. There is no more of a noble effort than that. Not only do these right-wing malcontents lack medical knowledge, they also apparently lack legal knowledge as well, having to walk back several attempts at crippling our local health department when advised by attorneys that their actions would either be illegal outright or not wise in general.

Our nation is in the beginning stages of a civil war largely due to the ignorant ramblings of trailer park partisans like those who have attended these meetings locally. They don't represent a majority of voters. Unfortunately, many good county commissioners are justifiably afraid that these people will put forth a popular rabble rouser against them in the next Republican primary and might just win. They figure its better to appease these people and perhaps control them a bit rather than lose an election and give them complete authority to further intimidate and wreck units of state and local government.

It's time that good people in our community speak up and confront these bullies!

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Letter: It's time to speak up against ignorance - petoskeynews.com

Israel's Education Ministry invited a right-wing think tank to provide consultation at a policy meeting, drawing criticism from ministry officials because of the unusual amount of influence given to a partisan organization.

The invitation given to the Kohelet Forum, a highly-influential right-wing research center, marks the first time the group is officially recognized as an organization which provides consultation services to the ministry.

Why Christians are vanishing from all across the Middle East. LISTEN to Haaretz podcast

The meeting dealt with ways of implementing the "milestones" plan, which spells out the objectives of the Israeli school system and what tools are available in order to achieve them.

The milestones document was published last summer, shortly before the school year began in September. According to its introduction, it serves as a condensed policy document intended to assist school principals in planning the school year. The document contains a long list of goals and targets decided upon by the ministry, connected to learning, social and emotional fortitude, and the development of an Israeli identity.

Besides the Kohelet Forum, the discussion was attended by senior officials from the Education Ministry and the representatives of other institutions such as the Avney Rosha institute for school principal training and the Mandel School for Educational Leadership.

The brainstorming session was headed by the head of the ministrys pedagogic administration, who was the one to invite the Kohelet Forum. The pedagogic administration is considered one of the key branches of the Education Ministry because it is responsible for the pedagogic activities of all schools in Israel, from first through twelfth grade. This includes the development and allocation of the required resources that will enable the implementation of ministry policies; the planning, administration and assessment of schools; and the formulation of policies.

The discussion on Monday focused on two of the goals laid out in the policy document: the closing of gaps in schooling and the promotion of gender equality, starting at a very early age. The deputy director-general of the ministry, Inna Zaltsman, wrote in an invitation obtained by Haaretz that the meeting served as "a mechanism for conducting discourse around systemic educational issues, and for obtaining diverse perspectives relating to the promotion and implementation of relevant issues.

The Kohelet Forum representative at the meeting was attorney Avital Ben-Shlomo, a research fellow at the Forum and the head of a team researching educational policies. In May, she participated in a conference held by an organization called National Vision, devoted to combating the roots of socialism that are still deeply entrenched in every aspect of our public and private lives. According to people familiar with the details, Ben-Shlomo argued that closing gaps between pupils should be done on an individual, not a systemic basis. She told Haaretz: Its a welcome sign that the Education Ministry is inviting people working on the ground, as well as researchers and people using different approaches to education. Beyond this, Im not interested in saying anymore.

Ben-Shlomo is one of the founders of a coalition for autonomy in education, an organization led by the Kohelet Forum, which is striving to achieve complete autonomy for schools, in administration, pedagogy, budgets and employment, along with allowing parents to choose their childrens school. Such stances, at least in their maximalist version, have not garnered much support among educators, who warn that they are an expression of absolving the state of any responsibility, a sure-fire way of increasing gaps. Last July, Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton spoke at a conference in which this coalition for autonomy was one of the organizers.

Its unacceptable that an organization with a controversial agenda take part in shaping general policies, said one source familiar with the details. He described the invitation of the Kohelet Forum to internal debates as a very unusual move. The Education Ministry refused to reveal who else was invited or participated in this brainstorming session, but knowledgeable sources said that there were mainly Education Ministry officials, senior regional and national administration officials, as well as representatives of the Avney Rosha institute for training principals, jointly run by the ministry and the Yad Hanadiv Foundation, and the Mandel Center for Educational Leadership. The latter two are organizations that are linked to the school system mainly through implementing policies, not shaping them.

According to another source, when you talk about closing gaps, its important to be as precise as possible in order to reach the root of the problem. One has to see the data, and use this as a basis for formulating policies. Ungrounded declarations create background noise, deflecting discussions from their goals.

Two weeks ago, Haaretz revealed that the Kohelet Forum was providing briefs to right-wing representatives on the committee for selection of judges. According to sources who participated in the committee, the current round of appointments, and earlier ones, employed the services of the Forum in order to collect and analyze all the data available regarding a candidate for the bench, including an analysis of his or her conservatism, as well as their political opinions.

The Education Ministry refused to respond to questions on this matter from Haaretz.

Originally posted here:

Israel's Education Ministry consulting with libertarian right-wing think tank - Haaretz

Economy watch: Inflations Long-Lasting Pain

When it comes to inflation, the word transitory started out as a forecast and has now turned into a punchline, snarks Jason Trennert at RealClear Politics. The bills coming due for nearly 13 years of unconventional monetary policy used to fix a variety of issues, from social justice to rising sea levels, for which it is at best ill-equipped. Add in unrestrained deficit-spending to deal with a global pandemic and regulatory policies in the United States and Europe, and it should be of little surprise that the CPI has been running at levels of greater than 5% for six months. Saddest of all is that theres no more regressive tax and no more potentially destabilizing political force than inflation. In the end, the poor always pay more. And once started, expansionary fiscal and monetary policies are very hard to stop without economic pain. Like the Hotel California, you can check out any time you want, but you can never really leave.

Researchers: Parents Are Key to 2022 Midterms

School closures are persisting, and not just because of Covid-19, observe Michael Hartney & Renu Mukherjee at City Journal and their research shows that could be devastating for Democrats in the 2022 midterms. In a Virginia focus group after that states recent gubernatorial race, participants cited school closures as their main motivation for backing Republican Glenn Youngkin. And in Virginias 132 school districts, in which they compared Youngkins performance to Donald Trumps in 2020, closures were associated with significant movement toward the Republican: Where schools were open for less than a month of in-person learning, Youngkin outperformed Trump by nearly 2 percentage points. Nor will parental frustrations abate soon. Neither party can afford to ignore families who want to return to the pre-pandemic normal brick-and-mortar school buildings functioning again in the old way.

From the right: Humiliated by Jussie Smollett

Now that Jussie Smollett has been found guilty of faking an anti-gay, racist hate crime against himself, recall how the left rushed to judgment about his absurd claim because it was ideologically convenient, snipes PJ Medias Matt Margolis. President Biden demanded we no longer give this hate safe harbor. Vice President Kamala Harris called the attack a modern-day lynching, while Sen. Cory Booker suggested the incident was proof that Congress needed to pass an anti-lynching bill. Democrats want to believe the worst of this country and the worst of [Donald] Trump and his supporters. But will they now admit Jussie Smollett made them look like fools?

Libertarian: Musk Gets Government Right

Tesla CEO Elon Musk may have unseated free speech-loving warlock Jack Dorsey as Americas richest, staunchest government skeptic, quips Reasons Liz Wolfe. Musk thinks it would be better not to pass President Bidens Build Back Better Bill, calling the federal budget deficit insane and opposing subsidies. Yet, while its good to hear him question government intervention, Musk has benefited handsomely from subsidies himself, so this looks a bit like hes pulling the ladder up behind him to stymie encroaching competitors. Indeed, his business thrives on handouts, mandates and regulations. Still, Musks suspect motivations for ending subsidies dont make the substance of his comments less true. When he says things like the government is simply the biggest corporation, it shows hes thinking correctly.

Legal beat: Bidens Vax Mandate Loses Again

A fourth federal court has ruled against one of President Bidens vaccine mandates, notes Jonathan Turley at Fox News, this time finding hed exceeded his authority in mandating the vaccine for all federal contractors. Expect a showdown in the Supreme Court, where three justices have already expressed skepticism over the mandates. White House confidence of victory in the end remains an exercise of hope over experience in such litigation. In all, as those three justices put it, if human nature and history teach us anything, it is that civil liberties face grave risks when governments proclaim indefinite states of emergency.

Compiled by The Post Editorial Page

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Inflation's long-lasting pain and other commentary - New York Post

GREENFIELD A small number of Libertarians in Hancock County are making plans to ramp up the Libertarian Partys local presence, with the objective of winning races or at least increasing the profile of the third-party alternative.

The Hancock County Libertarian Party recently held a meeting to elect officers, and Luke Lomax became its new chairman. Lomax also serves as the 6th District representative on the Libertarian Partys state committee, and he said theres an opportunity in Republican-dominated Hancock County for Libertarians to make inroads.

Were very much looking forward to the opportunity to present a third option on that ballot, or a second option, Lomax said.

Two Libertarian candidates plan to run in upcoming elections Nathan Luke for Hancock County Council in 2022, and Larry Silver for mayor of Greenfield in 2023. Lomax said there will also be Libertarians on the ballot in 2022 running for attorney general of Indiana and for the U.S. Senate.

Weve kind of been working to revive the party on the local and state level, Lomax said.

Theyre hoping to capitalize on the performance of the party in Indianas 2020 election for governor, when Libertarian candidate Donald Rainwater won 11.4% of the vote. Thats well above what its presidential candidate, Jo Jorgenson, scored on either the state or national level. Many Rainwater voters, including some in Hancock County, said they cast their votes in protest of Gov. Eric Holcombs COVID-19 policies, such as lockdowns and mask mandates, which they felt were overly restrictive.

Lomax said the Hancock County Libertarian Party currently has about 18 active members, but he doesnt think the small size will prevent the party from continuing to grow or from helping its candidates mount campaigns.

Theres some county affiliates out there that are doing some really great stuff with half of the people that weve got, he said.

In general, Libertarians favor a smaller role for government, lower taxes and less regulation. Spending is a major concern for Larry Silver, the first candidate to declare that hell be running for mayor when Chuck Fewell retires in 2023.

Luke, who operates a pinball machine company and lives in Greenfield, is waiting for the process of county council redistricting to be completed before he formally declares which seat he will be running for, Lomax said. Districts 2 and 3, currently held by Republicans Mary Noe and Jim Shelby, will be up for a vote.

As Silver campaigns for the mayoral position, he said he hopes to emphasize that Greenfields tax rates for citizens could be lower if the city spent less.

Im going to keep highlighting the fact that the citys wasting too much money, Silver said.

Silver criticized the city government for maintaining a $1.5 million rainy day fund, intended to fulfill unexpected financial needs. If there is money left over from an annual budget, he said, the city should return the balance to the citizens.

Government truly is a nonprofit, so there shouldnt be any surplus at the end of the year, he said.

He also said the city spends too much money on parks, and on its mayor. If Silver were in the mayors office, he said, he would cut the offices salary from around $89,000 to about $55,000, and eliminate the offices travel budget.

Silver said the largest part of his campaign will involve talking to citizens by going from door to door and appearing at public events. He said hes optimistic that the Libertarian Party, and his bid for the mayors office, will find support in Greenfield.

We have a lot of volunteers on board, and we have quite a bit of support from the state party, Silver said.

Read more here:

Libertarians will expand local election efforts - Greenfield Daily Reporter

Libertarians should prioritize the Bitcoin strategy above all others.

Libertarians generally believe in the non-aggression principle (NAP), meaning that it is wrong to initiate aggression against someone elses person or justly-acquired private property. What does Bitcoin have to do with the non-aggression principle? The chief violator of the NAP principle is the state. And the chief reason the state is so large and so powerful is that it has access to cheap debt. Bitcoin fixes this.

Lets explore:

If you have been forced into some form of lockdown, restriction, travel-ban, mask-wearing, jab-taking compliance over the last two years of Hysteria-19, it is obvious that states around the world have become extremely powerful.

As Robert Higgs outlined in his classic Crisis And Leviathan, the state expands dramatically during crises, but it doesnt necessarily give all the freedoms back after the crises. Weve notably seen this ratchet effect with 9/11 and the Patriot Act, which forever changed travel and various other freedoms that we used to have.

But what use is the desire for a state to expand its remit and reach, without the funding for such an endeavor? In a more honest system, the state and its politicians would have to explicitly tax the population, which is not so popular. The modern day fiat fractional reserve system enables cheap debt funding of bureaucracy and governmental enforcement of the papers please mindset.

What do you think would happen if Bitcoins number go up technology kept operating and fiat money kept devaluing? Government bureaucrats and thugs would experience reduction in their purchasing power, and it would effectively act as a right sizing of government.

Fine, but even still, its mostly true to say that you want a smaller-sized state than what we have today. Starving the beast is the only way to enforce some accountability here. Governments and complicit media have grown too large, too powerful, too influential and they have made the population weak and scared over time.

Even if you dont believe that Rothbardian anarcho-capitalism is The Way, most libertarians would be happier if the state was smaller. So, why not push for adoption of the technology that will do precisely this?

Trying to win at the ballot box has not been a fruitful strategy for most libertarians worldwide. The population simply does not understand the issues of socialism and statism, and they will gladly vote for more government-sponsored redistribution if the cost artificially appears to be low enough.

How many times have you genuinely seen libertarian directions being pursued politically and winning as a political strategy? Other than the Ron Paul U.S. presidential campaigns of 2008 and 2012, I have barely seen it. And, being fair, those campaigns were not a win politically, they were more of a win in supporting and engaging new ranks of libertarians into the movement.

Even if we could somehow convince the world or the U.S. government to adopt a gold standard, theres not really anything stopping them from claiming its an emergency and that we need to drop the gold standard and temporarily close the gold window. In this way, Bitcoin provides stronger assurances about our money than gold ever could.

When you run a Bitcoin node, it checks all of the rules of the system and it is a more decentralized form of validation and enforcement of the rules. Were less reliant on government and big banks or big gold vaults to defend the integrity of the system. Think of it like: Bitcoin is less corruptible than fiat money or the gold standard.

Titus Gebel outlined the idea of free private cities on my show (SLP161). Imagine an opt-in city where you pay a subscription fee upfront with the rules set upfront as well. The state or public services in this instance would be far smaller than the current governments of the world, and there would be more competitive pressure between Bitcoin citadels or free private cities to ensure inhabitants are getting a good deal.

Alternatively, there are efforts in the direction of seasteading. Others like agorism-style strategies, and in this case, Bitcoin can obviously play a role in being able to support the private entrepreneur.

There might even be something to the idea of a Bitcoin and libertarian policies advocacy. But it doesnt work without Bitcoin as an important part of the mix.

Without Bitcoins monetization continuing apace, there will be little incentive for politicians and political parties to support liberty-friendly policies. But in a world where Bitcoin is rapidly rising, and job opportunities are present in the industry, politicians like Texas Governor Greg Abbott will come out in support of the idea that Texas should be a competitive state for Bitcoin.

Stack sats and build alternatives to statism. This means that you should set up your automated sat-stacking plan, whether thats with Swan Bitcoin or whoever else.

Or, if automated sat stacking isnt your thing, you can earn bitcoin by selling your goods and services for sats, or you can mine it too. Buying non-KYC coins is another way to do it, too, either by meeting people at Bitcoin events, meetups, conferences or using platforms like Bisq or Hodl Hodl.

The point is to enact regular and steady accumulation of bitcoin, and HODL as much of it as you can to restrict the supply. In doing so, you are speeding the process of hyperbitcoinization: the monetization of Bitcoin, the non-state, free market money.

When you dont like the current options, you have to go build something that makes it better. This is what Satoshi did. Bitcoiners follow this example, and if youre a libertarian, you should too.

This is a guest post by Stephan Livera. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

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Why Libertarians Should Prioritize The Bitcoin Strategy Above All Others - Bitcoin Magazine