For the 63rd year in a row, the President signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act. This act outlines defense spending for the next year, with $886 billion being budgeted. https://politico.com/news/2023/12/22/biden-defense-bill-spying-program-00133124

So why should you care about this?

First, there is a major provision that greenlights the ability of the US to surveil its own citizens, something the ACLU has likened to spying. Known as Section 702, this initially emerged as a provision to enhance surveillance of non-US citizens, but now is enforced domestically

This has major impacts on the rights of people to avoid mass government surveillance and further reinforces the government's reputation for monitoring people in the country and outside of it without their consent. Here's the ACLU's primer on this - https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-slams-congress-for-ndaa-vote-extending-mass-surveillance-program-with-no-reforms

This act also authorizes funding to Ukraine. It has provisions to allow the US to send more weapons and supplies to the country up through 2025. The Ukraine Security Alliance Initiative will be continued through 2027. https://www.axios.com/2023/12/23/biden-billions-defense-israel-ukraine-ndaa

Ukraine is not the only country that will be funded though - much more concerning is that the US will provide additional funding to projects it has with Israel, specifically the David's Sling weapon system used for intercepting missiles.

The US will also continue researching "anti-tunnel capabilities" with Israel through 2026.

This is something that is heavily concerning - with war crimes and the genocide in Gaza being ongoing, and with Western news organizations reporting on this now, this only serves to suggest that the US is going to continue to add fuel to the fire. The question now is focused on how many civilians have to die before the US decides to intervene and push for a ceasefire? https://truthout.org/articles/allegations-of-israeli-war-crimes-grow-as-us-again-delays-security-council-vote/

There is, however, some positive news out of the NDAA. A former draft of the bill contained anti-transgender provisions, however the current revision has them cut, along with other issues like anti-DEI and anti-abortion measures. https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/in-major-victory-for-lgbtq-community-annual-defense-bill-passes-without-flood-of-discriminatory-provisions
https://www.axios.com/2023/12/23/biden-billions-defense-israel-ukraine-ndaa

While this doesn't explicitly protect transgender rights, it does serve as a preventative measure to keep harmful legislation out of some of the most significant bills in the country.

Finally, the White House has a press release on the NDAA that you can read here. It contains additional rationale for certain provisions and outlines some core points from the Biden administration's perspective.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/12/22/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-h-r-2670-national-defense-authorization-act-for-fiscal-year-2024/

Saint Mary's College, a private Catholic university in Notre Dame, Indiana, has just reversed its decision to allow transgender women into its campus. This is a huge step backwards and immensely heartbreaking to see.

https://www.wndu.com/2023/12/21/saint-marys-college-reversing-new-admission-policy-allowing-trans-applicants/

This comes after immense backlash from conservative Catholics, especially those across Indiana.

This is only going to further harm transgender women and contribute to a huge ongoing culture of transphobia.

Learned about this from the Tom Scott newsletter, but here's a bit of a cool and eerie science footnote - a lot of old satellites from the mid 20th century are, in some capacity, able to produce radio signals. An enthusiast website suggests these are due to sunlight & radiation, but I haven't verified the authenticity of that.

Nonetheless, here's a recording of a decommissioned satellite and the signal it emits. Very reminiscent of science fiction! https://clyp.it/hr0xwa4x

Here's the enthusiast website I mentioned https://www.rtl-sdr.com/receiving-dead-satellites-rtl-sdr/