A Year-in-Review Miscellany, 12/29/25

1. The Second Trump Presidency and Policy Shifts: Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the resulting immediate policy reversals, the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), federal hiring freezes, aggressive new tariffs, and mass immigration enforcement raids were a continuous headline.
2. Middle East Escalation: Direct military action between Israel and Iran and the ensuing ten-day regional conflict was a major global event, alongside ongoing developments in the Israel-Hamas war and fragile cease-fire negotiations.
3. The New Year’s Day Terror Attacks: Coordinated terrorist attacks that occurred in New Orleans and Las Vegas garnered massive media attention and highlighted domestic security concerns.
4. Major Global Conflicts: The high-stakes meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February and Ukraine’s significant “Operation Spiderweb” drone offensive on Russian air bases were pivotal moments in international relations.
5. Election of the First American Pope: Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as Pope Leo XIV, marking a historic first for the Catholic Church and generating substantial global news coverage.
6. Climate-Intensified Disasters: Historic California wildfires, a deadly mid-air collision, and the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa were prominent examples of major natural and man-made disasters that impacted public attention throughout the year.
7. The Charlie Kirk Assassination: The killing of the prominent political activist became a significant news story, particularly within U.S. political discourse and talk media.
8. The Rise of Agentic AI: The rapid development and deployment of advanced AI that can act autonomously was identified as a major, industry-wide story, disrupting various sectors and raising significant societal questions.
9. The Jeffrey Epstein Files: Significant new disclosures related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation continued to drive news cycles and public interest.
10. The First Successful Pig-to-Human Kidney Transplant: A landmark medical milestone that represented a major scientific breakthrough and offered hope for future medical advancements.

The main problem here is that AI thinks too much of itself.  Yes, AI has been a big story and rightly so, but we do not have “Agentic AI”; that is, AI that exercises agency, the exercise of the will that characterizes human beings.  We see other bias in favor of technology in the prominence of the pig-to-human transplant, which may be an important and Frankensteinian development in medical technology, but didn’t get all that much attention in the news media.  We also see Gemini’s training material in the “climate-intensified disasters.”  A deadly mid-air collision was because of global warming?  Yes, Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica, but isn’t it significant that 2025 was the first year since 2015 that no hurricanes hit the U.S., despite the predictions of the climate alarmists?

The Top 10 U.S. Religion Stories of 2025

The Religion News Association still comes through with a ranked list of top stories, as determined by a poll of its members, the nation’s religion reporters:

TIE 1. The election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV — the first U.S.-born pontiff — sparks celebration among U.S. Catholics, especially in his native Chicago and at his alma mater, Villanova University. He weighs in on U.S. abortion and immigration politics, drawing both praise and criticism.

TIE 1. Trump administration launches sweeping deportations of immigrants lacking legal status and revokes temporary legal status for many. Catholic bishops and other faith-based groups protest and report parishioners avoiding worship for fear of arrest. The administration ends “sanctuary” protections from immigration enforcement in houses of worship.

3. Conservative activist Charlie Kirk is assassinated at a Utah campus, sparking debate over political violence and free speech. His wife, Erika, publicly forgives the gunman, whom authorities say had leftist motives. Top officials join tens of thousands in a worship-infused memorial service. Many Black pastors are alienated by praise of Kirk.

4. Zohran Mamdani is elected New York City’s first Muslim mayor, spurring pride for U.S. Muslims along with fierce anti-Islamic rhetoric and debate over his anti-Zionism. Many Jewish leaders say Mamdani’s rhetoric and associations are antisemitic. Others, particularly some younger Jews, cheer his progressive and pro-Palestiniance stances.

5. Deadly attacks target faith communities. A gunman and arsonist motivated by anti-Mormon hatred kills four at a Latter-day Saints church in Michigan. A former student kills two children at a Minneapolis Catholic school and injures many more; the assailant “expressed hate towards almost every group imaginable,” a prosecutor says. Congregations nationwide reassess security measures.

6. Jewish targets face major attacks allegedly motivated by opposition to Israeli policies: fatal shootings at the Israeli Embassy; a deadly Molotov assault at a Colorado rally; and an arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home. The ADL reports record-high antisemitism; the FBI says Jews remain the most frequent targets of religious hate crimes.

7. Donald Trump returns to the presidency, framing his mandate in religious terms, saying he was “saved by God to make America great again.” He creates a Faith Office, Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, and Religious Liberty Commission, advancing policies and appointments favored by conservative Christians; progressive critics say he is eroding church-state separation.

8. Trump administration freezes most refugee admissions and funding, prompting faith-based networks to cut services. Critics say persecuted refugees face danger. Episcopal refugee service refuses to help resettle white South Africans granted immediate entry ahead of others blocked after years of processing.

9. Progressive faith groups protest Trump administration policies including immigration crackdowns, troop deployments in cities and diversity rollbacks. Black clergy condemn efforts to downplay slavery’s legacy in cultural institutions. President Trump rebuffs Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s plea for mercy toward LGBTQ+ people and migrants.

10. The IRS reinterprets the Johnson Amendment to exempt internal political speech within houses of worship from enforcement, sparking debate over political endorsements by churches.

Well, lots of pro-illegal-immigration sentiment, with three of the top 10 dealing with that issue:  separate listings for Catholic protests, progressive faith groups protest, and Episcopalians protest.  Odd inclusions and soft-pedaling:  attacks on Jews “allegedly motivated by opposition to Israeli policies”?  On the entry about the Charlie Kirk murder, “Many Black pastors are alienated by praise of Kirk”?

The Funniest News Stories of 2025

It was a sober, somber, mad, bad year.  On the whole it wasn’t funny.  And yet some funny things happened.  Or at least some humorous things can be said about some of the serious things that happened.  To lighten the mood of our retrospective, here are two takes on the year’s absurdities.

First, the Free Press asked its writers to offer their opinions for the story Our Funniest News Items of the Year.  The article is behind a paywall, though you might get a free visit.  Each contributor mentioned several candidates and what they had to say about them was also pretty funny.  I’ll just list the top honors, not in ranked order but as given by each of the writers:

1.  Katy Perry in Space
2. Kamala Harris’s election memoir, 107 Days
3. A raccoon that got drunk and passed out in front of a toilet
4. President Trump musing that he might not get into Heaven. (Not funny!)
5. The robbery of the Louvre, with the photograph of the detective that turned out to be a 15-year-old boy
6. The new pope’s brother, the outspoken and embarrassing Louis Prevost
7. The Dallas Fed chart giving the four possible outcomes of AI:  things go on as usual, AI improves productivity; AI solves all our problems; human extinction.

But for true madcap commentary, read Dave Barry’s The Year in Review, the annual skewering of all sides by one of the funniest Americans.  Just a very few samples:

On January 20 Trump is sworn into office and — after unsuccessfully attempting to kiss his wife, Melania, who as a defensive measure is wearing the wide-brim style of hat popularized by both the Hamburglar and Zorro — he pardons pretty much everybody who was not pardoned by Biden. . . .In keeping with presidential tradition, Trump signs executive orders reversing all the Biden executive orders that reversed all the previous Trump executive orders that reversed all of Barack Obama’s executive orders that reversed all of George W. Bush’s executive orders that reversed all of Bill Clinton’s executive orders, and so on back to George Washington. . . .

Speaking of the Democrats: Recognizing that their main message in 2024 — that anybody who would vote for Donald Trump is a racist idiot — failed badly, the Democrats have decided to win voters back with a more positive message, namely, that they are positive that anybody who would vote for Donald Trump is a racist idiot. This is the kind of tactical shrewdness that makes the Democratic Party such a formidable foe of the Democratic Party. . . .

Speaking of financial responsibility, in…

JULY

…a heated debate rages in Washington over the budget bill, as two competing ideologies clash over the nation’s financial future:

— One side believes that the federal government, for a variety of reasons, must continue to spend way more money than it actually has;

— Whereas the other side believes that the federal government, for somewhat different reasons, must continue to spend way more money than it actually has.

It comes down to the wire, but after many hours of passionate debate Congress passes, and President Trump signs, a bill under which the federal government will continue to spend way more money than it actually has. Both sides congratulate themselves, secure in the knowledge that they will be comfortably retired or dead when the massive ticking debt bomb they have helped create explodes all over whatever future generations are stupid enough to not have been born earlier.

Read it all.