The tiny island of Taketomi, closer to Taiwan than Okinawa, has become ground zero in a fight involving Japanese politicians, teachers, and the weighty question of how to present Japan’s wartime history to students.

Coverage under Obamacare has only been live for one day, and already the interwebs are full of the single payer pivot. Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko) has an op-ed in the NYT arguing that we need to build on the ACA to set up a single-payer like system. At The New Republic a guest writer predicts that the public will increasingly demand a single-payer system that can address these lingering problems. Even as opponents of the Affordable Care Act continue to fight the law, proponents of the ACA are already suiting up for the next battle.

A retire abroad movement could help develop poorer economies and save US crucial health care dollars all while improving quality of life for retirees. One of the things that the “retire abroad” movement hasn’t yet picked up on is that you don’t need to be retired to take advantage of the very real benefits of living in Panama or Ecuador. We now have the technology that would allow many American companies to send employees of any age to the “new sun belt” to code or research or crunch numbers during the weekdays and scuba-dive on the weekends

The flawed human race, trapped in a cycle of cascading pain and wrong is what, and who, God is bound and determined to love; the question is how can he do it?

The Lebanese military, considered to be the most broadly representative institution in a country starkly divided into rival religious and political groups, got a major boost from Saudi Arabia last weekend. President Michel Sleiman made the announcement on live television: “The Saudi king decided to give a generous, well-appreciated grant to Lebanon amounting to $3 billion for the Lebanese army, which will allow it to buy new and modern weapons. The king pointed out that the weapons will be bought from France quickly…” President Hollande of France, visiting Riyadh, added: “If there are demands that are addressed to us, we will satisfy them.” It will be the biggest ever grant for Lebanon’s armed forces.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has put in place green policies that have drastically raised energy prices across the state—especially for low-income residents. We’ve seen this before. In European country after European country governments pushed through solar and wind subsidies while ignoring shale resources. In many cases, those governments have realized the failures of that approach, and are backpedaling in the face of widespread popular opposition to high energy prices. Maryland should learn from the European experience, and stop trying to prop up nascent technologies before it does even more harm to its citizens.

One California venture capitalist has latched on to one of our favorite ideas: splitting up California into a number of different states. As CNN reports, Tim Draper has proposed a ballot initiative to create six states out of the former Golden State. Make no mistake: it’s potentially one of the most important reform possibilities in the US.

America’s Syria policy has been a series of disasters, errors and own goals, humiliating President Obama, devastating his credibility across the region, reducing chances for both a good deal with Iran and peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Oh, and it’s also paved the way for mass death and serial atrocities in Syria.

The New York Times has a long piece out today calling Bill De Blasio’s mayorship as the cutting edge of a new wave of liberal progressivism sweeping through American cities, yet manages to completely avoid talking about the pensions crisis roiling most blue municipalities.

The Christmas story suggests that we can somehow try to both be loyal members of our nations, our families, our tribes—and also to reach out to the broader human community of which we are also a part.