India's Reserve Bank of India (RBI) urged adding a plan to the 2026 BRICS summit agenda to link member nations' central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for easier cross-border trade, tourism payments, and reduced U.S. dollar reliance. All core BRICS countries have CBDC pilots underway, though none have been fully launched, and the focus of the group has largely stayed on interoperability, governance, and handling trade imbalances rather than developing a single shared currency. While I think BRICS is totally right to try to undermine the Western power structure by overthrowing the dominance of the dollar, they might be better served by adopting the use of a decentralized currency like bitcoin or something similar as opposed to attempting to create some type of shared centralized currency.

The UK approved a huge 20,000 square-meter Chinese embassy at Royal Mint Court near London's financial district, set to become China's largest in Europe. Critics, including lawmakers and residents, raised alarms over spying risks, proximity to sensitive fiber-optic cables, and threats to dissidents, but the government imposed conditions like mitigation measures and a three-year start deadline while noting intelligence agencies found the risks manageable. This is a terrible idea and a good reminder of the deep disconnect that is currently manifest between the typical citizen and elites all throughout the world.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told the World Economic Forum that the unprecedented wealth creation since the Cold War had not spread broadly, leaving many behind and fueling distrust in capitalism. He highlighted AI as a potential repeat of globalization's unequal impacts on jobs, urging the system to evolve in ways that create shared prosperity beyond GDP growth and to include more voices outside elite circles. Larry Fink is perhaps the chief architect of the elitist vision of what the world ought to look like so his concern not only reflects his individual logic, but the concerns of the global elite class writ large.

Lawmakers clinched a $1.2 trillion package covering the Pentagon, Dept of Homeland Security (DHS), and major domestic agencies like Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Transportation, and Education. It includes boosts for health centers and oversight on ICE detention while limiting some fund transfers, with votes needed soon to meet the late-January deadline. The numbers that are required to think about the fiscal obligations of the federal government seem absurd because that's more money than my mind can quite comprehend but at least we likely won’t have another government shutdown as it seems like another round of that level of dysfunction could have sent the country into a tailspin.

President Trump released a Martin Luther King Jr. Day proclamation late on the holiday, honoring King's legacy of freedom and justice while recommitting to America's greatness. The delayed issuance drew criticism from civil rights groups after the administration skipped events and focused elsewhere, amid broader questions about the holiday's status. MLK Jr.'s legacy has been increasingly scrutinized but he largely has come to be a stand-in for a commitment to justice and racial reconciliation and to the degree that he stands as a shared symbol for those ideals in the minds of most Americans I think the holiday should remain.

The Supreme Court agreed to review Hawaii's ban on concealed firearms on private property without owner consent in Wolford v. Lopez. The case tests Second Amendment limits post-Bruen, weighing gun rights against property owners' control and historical tradition standards. This case is quite significant as Hawaii has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country and in my speculative opinion, they will likely be struck down given the current makeup of the court.

Governor Abigail Spanberger issued 10 executive orders on day one, including rescinding prior cooperation with federal immigration enforcement to refocus police on local crime. Other actions created task forces for economic resiliency against federal cuts, health care cost reductions, housing regulation reviews, and anti-discrimination efforts. If this is an indication of what her tenure will look like, it appears Virginia is in for a number of rapid changes that will have a significant impact on how the state is run for many years after Spanberger is gone.

An $850 million investment will be used to build the first commercial-scale coal reformation plant in Mason County using waste-free technology to produce fuels, fertilizers, and carbon products. The project should create over 2,000 construction jobs and 200+ permanent positions while expanding coal's commercial uses beyond traditional power and steel. It is good to see the coal industry being revived in West Virginia as, for many decades, areas like these have been chronically neglected and suffered the decay that comes along with economic stagnation.

Buddhist monks reached Greensboro on day 86 of their 2,300-mile, 120-day walk from Texas to D.C., sharing messages of mindfulness, compassion, and nonviolence. The visit tied to MLK Day included a city proclamation for “Walk for Peace Day” and drew thousands to hear calls for the daily practice of loving kindness amid national unrest. The traveling monks continue to be a source of national intrigue and for me it conjures examples of times long gone when religious figures traveled through lands spreading messages of hope and redemption. But, I still don’t get it though.

Kansas City passed a moratorium blocking permits for non-city-operated detention centers to stop a potential 7,500-person ICE facility in a local warehouse. The federal government could preempt it via the supremacy clause, though the city vowed to fight such a decision in court in an effort to delay the project or redirect it elsewhere. This would be a showdown for the ages as the federal government obviously has the authority to do as it sees fit but the city could make the implementation of the project such a nightmare that the project would never be able to really get off the ground.