11/25 -- Ukraine war: Deadly strikes as US, Moscow regimes hold talks; Inflation is Class Warfare Against the Poor
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Thomas L. Knapp
Nov 25, 2025, 6:26:34 AMNov 25
to Freedom News Daily
Freedom News Daily, 11/25/25
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Produced by the staff of Rational Review News Digest
https://news.rationalreview.com/
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Today's Freedom News:
0) Year-End Fundraiser Update: Or, Kinda Depressing
1) Ukraine war: Deadly strikes as US, Moscow regimes hold talks
2) US judge throws out criminal cases against Comey, James
3) Sudan: RSF announces unilateral three-month “humanitarian truce”
4) Bitcoin tracks stocks higher with crypto traders staying on edge
5) Trump, China’s Xi speak; commit to 2026 state visits
6) Spain: Ortiz resigns following Supreme Court conviction
7) Australia: Senator condemned for burka stunt in parliament
8) Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, 1943-2025
9) FL: Fishback enters gubernatorial race, challenging Trump’s pick
10) Eli Lilly Becomes First Trillion-Dollar Health Company
11) Boeing’s troubled capsule won’t carry astronauts on next space station flight
12) Japan: Regime Reaffirms Plan to Deploy Missiles to Area Near Taiwan
13) Thomas rebukes SCOTUS for denying widow’s case, says it lets government dodge blame
14) Union asks judge to order Trump officials to fund CFPB racket
15) US labels Cartel de los Soles as a terror organization
16) Pope heads to Lebanon, Turkey in debut overseas trip amid heightened Mideast tensions
17) Pentagon threatens to court-martial Democratic senator for telling military personnel they shouldn’t commit crimes
18) WI: Slender Man stabber is found a day after walking away from group home
19) US-backed aid company in Gaza shutters operations as Israel’s military and defense minister clash
20) Pakistan: Three killed in attack on regime paramilitary HQ
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Inflation is Class Warfare Against the Poor
22) Trump’s Plan to Give Americans $2,000 Tariff Dividend Checks Is “Pure Fiscal Fantasy”
23) Don’t Call This a “Peace Plan”
24) Thanks to the Supreme Court, presidential immunity is now a license to kill
25) Jack Mallers vs. Chase: Why Debanking is a Badge of Honor
26) Grocery Bills and Corporate Taxes Dominate Upset Bid in Tennessee
27) The case for treating adults as adults when it comes to AI chatbots
28) A Henry Ford for Housing
29) Extracting minerals in Africa – for Africa
30) The Fed Doesn’t Determine the Price of Credit. Markets Do
31) The Hot Tub of Death?: Bill Gates, Hurricane Melissa, and a Civilization Under Threat
32) Weaponised Lawfare as Domestic and International Threat to Western Democracies
33) It Should Be Illegal To Use AI To Deceive People
34) Enchanted by Socialism
35) Democracy at Risk
36) Most Americans Think Free Speech Is on the Decline, Survey Finds
37) High time liberal judges are held accountable for failing to lock up violent career criminals
38) Universal pre-K is an expensive experiment
39) Back From the Dead: Resurrecting the Ukraine Peace Plan
40) What does US “national interest” really mean?
41) NSPM-7: A Blueprint for Silencing Progressive Movements
42) We’re Led by an Administration of Liars
43) Foreign Policy, Justin Raimondo Style
44) It’s Time To Privatize Air Travel
45) Five reasons Trump’s Ukraine plan is deal Putin can’t afford to refuse
46) Palestine Doesn’t Need Another Oslo: Could Hamas Become the New Fatah?
47) Why don’t we recognize class rule?
48) The signs of educational decline are now impossible to ignore
49) It Is Up to Us to Defend Democracy [sic]
50) Trump the peace candidate became another war president
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 11/24/25
52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 855
53) George Conway Explains It All, 11/24/25
54) Rising, 11/24/25
55) History of Modern Politics, 11/24/25
56) Fountainhead Forum, episode 392
57) TechTank, season 5, episode 31
58) EconTalk, 11/24/25
59) The Dispatch Podcast, 11/24/25
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 11/24/25
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
0) Year-End Fundraiser Update: Or, Kinda Depressing
Hey, everyone ...
It's a "hybrid Tuesday" -- in addition to a regular 60-item email/social media edition below, we've got another 25 or 30 news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links lined up for you at the web edition:
https://news.rationalreview.com
A "zero-dollar day" in our year-end fundraiser yesterday. Our total remains at $1,285.84.
Our goal is $5,501; once we've raised $2,750.50, reader GL has pledged to "match funds" for the other half.
But to get that second half, we must raise the first half, and that's going more slowly than usual this year.
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Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
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1) Ukraine war: Deadly strikes as US, Moscow regimes hold talks
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Russia and Ukraine launched overnight drone strikes against each other as the US confirmed American officials were set to meet Russian representatives in Abu Dhabi as part of efforts to end the war. Officials in Kyiv said at least six people had been killed in Russian strikes on the city, while Russian officials said at least three had been killed in a Ukrainian strike in the Rostov region.” (11/25/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy95jvw57v2o
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2) US judge throws out criminal cases against Comey, James
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A federal judge threw out the criminal cases against James Comey and Letitia James on Monday, concluding that the prosecutor handling the case was unlawfully appointed. Lindsey Halligan, who Trump named the interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia in September, had ‘no lawful authority to present the indictment’ against the former FBI director and New York attorney general, Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, wrote in her opinion. … Currie dismissed both cases ‘without prejudice,’ which means the government could theoretically try and bring the charges again under a properly appointed US attorney. But it is unclear if they could even do that in Comey’s case because the statute of limitations for the crime he is charged with passed on 30 September 2025.” (11/24/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/24/james-comey-letitia-james-charges-case-dismissed
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3) Sudan: RSF announces unilateral three-month “humanitarian truce”
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have announced an apparently unilateral three-month humanitarian truce in the country’s civil war. RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, made the announcement on Monday in a recorded address. The warring Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan did not immediately confirm that any agreement had been reached. Al-Burhan late on Sunday had rejected a ceasefire proposal put forward by the so-called Quad – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.” (11/24/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/24/rsf-announces-unilateral-three-month-humanitarian-truce-in-sudan
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4) Bitcoin tracks stocks higher with crypto traders staying on edge
Source: Los Angeles Times
“Bitcoin edged above $88,000 on Monday but lagged the broader rebound in U.S. equities, with the cryptocurrency still nursing losses from last week’s selloff. The modest move higher underscores the market’s cautious mood, as bullish conviction remains muted. The original cryptocurrency began to recover over the weekend after slumping to a seven-month low of $80,554 on Friday. Bitcoin, which had tumbled more than 20% in the last four weeks, was up less than 1% to about $88,400 on Monday. Other smaller, more volatile tokens increased more, with XRP jumping about 7% and Solana about 3% higher.” (11/24/25)
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-11-24/bitcoin-tracks-stocks-higher-with-crypto-traders-staying-on-edge
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5) Trump, China’s Xi speak; commit to 2026 state visits
Source: United Press International
“U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone Monday to discuss, among a number of topics, the Russia-Ukraine war, farming, the status of Taiwan and committing to future state visits. China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry stated that the two leaders, who also met last month in South Korea, ‘reached many important common understandings.’ The two reportedly agreed to reciprocal in-person meetings, lower U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and export measures for rare-Earth minerals. … Trump confirmed an invite from Xi to visit Beijing next year in April. In addition, Xi is expected to come to the United States later next year for an official occasion.” (11/24/25)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/11/24/China-Ukraine-Russia-Taiwan-Trump-Xi-call-state-visit/9021764006550/
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6) Spain: Ortiz resigns following Supreme Court conviction
Source: Politico
“Spanish Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz resigned Monday, stepping down before a judicial ruling banning him from holding public office for two years went into effect. Spain’s Supreme Court last week convicted García Ortiz of leaking details of a tax probe involving the partner of Madrid’s regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a rising star among the country’s conservative voters. The outgoing attorney general denies leaking the information, and several journalists who published articles about the probe testified he was not their source. Although the court announced García Ortiz’s guilty verdict within days of his trial’s conclusion, the panel of judges who tried him has yet to publish the legal reasoning behind the ruling.” (11/24/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/spain-attorney-general-resigns-following-supreme-court-conviction-alvaro-garcia-ortiz/
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7) Australia: Senator condemned for burka stunt in parliament
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“An Australian senator has provoked anger for wearing a burka in parliament, after pushing for a ban on the Muslim garment. Pauline Hanson was condemned by fellow senators, with one accusing her of “blatant racism”. Proceedings in the senate were halted as she refused to remove the item. The Queensland senator, of the anti-immigration One Nation party, was seeking to introduce a bill that would ban full face coverings in public – a policy she has long campaigned for. It is the second time she has worn the garment – which covers the face and body – in parliament, and said her actions were in protest at the senate rejecting her bill.” (11/24/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz94pdkzqvwo
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8) Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, 1943-2025
Source: New York Times
“Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, who as H. Rap Brown defined [b]lack militancy in the 1960s with a call to arms against white oppression, and who later lived quietly as a Muslim cleric and shopkeeper until his arrest in 2000 in the murder of a sheriff’s deputy, died on Sunday in a federal prison hospital in North Carolina. He was 82. … Before converting to Islam and changing his name in the 1970s, Mr. Al-Amin was one of the most incendiary orators among the Black Power activists who emerged in the late 1960s to challenge the leadership and nonviolent strategy of the civil rights movement.” (11/23/25)
https://archive.is/BHeBU
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9) FL: Fishback enters gubernatorial race, challenging Trump’s pick
Source: CNN
‘Another GOP contender has launched a bid to succeed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, teeing up a broader challenge to President Donald Trump’s chosen candidate to lead his adopted home state. James Fishback, a 30-year-old investor who lives in Florida’s rural Panhandle region, formally announced his candidacy Monday, immediately taking shots at Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, who has Trump’s endorsement and the inside track on the race to replace DeSantis, who can’t run again in 2026. … Following the governor’s footsteps, Fishback has pledged to eliminate property taxes and is taking aim at H-1B visas, which are meant to allow American companies to bring in people with technical skills that are hard to find in the United States.” (11/24/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/politics/gop-florida-governor-race
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10) Eli Lilly Becomes First Trillion-Dollar Health Company
Source: US News & World Report
“Eli Lilly reached a major milestone Friday, becoming the first healthcare company in the world to hit a $1 trillion market value. The drug company briefly crossed the trillion-dollar mark during morning trading before its stock pulled back slightly. Shares were last trading at around $1,048 each. Eli Lilly is now just the second non-technology company in the U.S. to reach a $1 trillion value, after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Much of that growth comes from two blockbuster drugs: Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for weight loss. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker’s stock is up more than 36% this year, as demand for its weight loss and diabetes treatments continues to rise, CNBC reported.” (11/24/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-11-24/eli-lilly-becomes-first-trillion-dollar-health-company
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11) Boeing’s troubled capsule won’t carry astronauts on next space station flight
Source: SFGate
“Boeing and NASA have agreed to keep astronauts off the company’s next Starliner flight and instead perform a trial run with cargo to prove its safety. Monday’s announcement comes eight months after the first and only Starliner crew returned to Earth aboard SpaceX after a prolonged mission. Although NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams managed to dock Starliner to the International Space Station in 2024, the capsule had so many problems that NASA ordered it to come back empty, leaving the astronauts stuck there for more than nine months. Engineers have since been poring over the thruster and other issues that plagued the Starliner capsule. Its next cargo run to the space station will occur no earlier than April, pending additional tests and certification. Boeing said in a statement that it remains committed to the Starliner program with safety the highest priority.” (11/24/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/boeing-s-troubled-capsule-won-t-carry-astronauts-21205640.php
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12) Japan: Regime Reaffirms Plan to Deploy Missiles to Area Near Taiwan
Source: Bloomberg
Japan’s defense minister, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing over the East Asian island. ‘The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,’ Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. ‘The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.’ … China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular briefing on Monday that the deployment of missiles would be ‘extremely dangerous’ and described it as a ‘deliberate move that breeds regional tensions and stokes military rivalry.'” (11/24/25)
https://archive.is/GeCUc
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13) Thomas rebukes SCOTUS for denying widow’s case, says it lets government dodge blame
Source: Fox News
“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas voiced disagreement Monday with his colleagues’ decision to reject a widow’s request that the high court consider whether the federal government owes her for her husband’s death. Thomas said that if the justices had taken up the case, it would have been an opportunity to rein in a decades-old precedent that says servicemembers’ families cannot file wrongful death lawsuits against the government if the victim was killed while performing his or her job duties. … The case centered on Air Force Staff Sergeant Cameron Beck, who was killed in 2021. Beck had been leaving a military base in Missouri on his motorcycle to meet his wife and then seven-year-old for lunch when a civilian government employee, distracted by her cell phone, struck Beck. He died on the scene, and the woman later admitted in a plea deal to causing the accident.” (11/24/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/justice-thomas-rebukes-scotus-denying-widows-case-says-lets-government-dodge-blame
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14) Union asks judge to order Trump officials to fund CFPB racket
Source: Reuters
“A federal employees’ union on Sunday asked a federal judge to order the Trump administration to fund the top U.S. consumer watchdog, weeks after the agency said its cash could run out by year’s end. In a court filing, lawyers for the National Treasury Employees Union and other plaintiffs disputed officials’ claim that they cannot legally fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. President Donald Trump has sought to dismantle the CFPB since he took office in January and installed Russell Vought, his budget director, as the acting head of the agency. While Vought’s effort to fire the vast majority of its employees is tied up in litigation, he has successfully shut down most of the CFPB’s activities.” (11/24/25)
https://archive.is/3hTtZ
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15) US labels Cartel de los Soles as a terror organization
Source: SFGate
“President Donald Trump’s administration has ramped up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by designating the Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. But the entity that the U.S. government alleges is led by Maduro is not a cartel per se. The designation, published Monday in the Federal Register, is the latest measure in the Trump administration’s escalating campaign to combat drug trafficking into the U.S. In previewing the step about a week ago, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, of ‘being responsible for terrorist violence’ in the Western Hemisphere. The move comes as Trump evaluates whether to take military action against Venezuela, which he has not ruled out despite bringing up the possibility of talks with Maduro.” (11/24/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/us-set-to-label-maduro-tied-cartel-de-los-soles-21204541.php
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16) Pope heads to Lebanon, Turkey in debut overseas trip amid heightened Mideast tensions
Source: France 24 [French state media]
Pope Leo XIV embarks on his debut overseas trip Thursday, travelling to Turkey and Lebanon to promote Christian unity and urge peace efforts amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. The six-day trip is the first major international test for the US pope, who was elected head of the Catholic Church in May and whose understated style contrasts with that of his charismatic and impulsive predecessor, Francis. In Turkey, Leo will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, where the Creed – a foundational declaration of the Christian faith – was written.” (11/24/25)
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20251124-pope-heads-to-turkey-lebanon-in-first-overseas-trip
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17) Pentagon threatens to court-martial Democratic senator for telling military personnel they shouldn’t commit crimes
Source: Fox News
“The Department of War announced Monday that it has opened a formal review into allegations of misconduct against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over a video calling on service members to ‘refuse illegal orders.’ The Pentagon said it may even call Kelly, a retired Navy captain, back to active duty to face court-martial proceedings or other administrative actions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. ‘This matter will be handled in compliance with military law, ensuring due process and impartiality,’ the department said, adding that further comments will be limited to protect the integrity of the proceedings. The statement also underscored that military retirees remain subject to the UCMJ and reminded [sic] servicemembers that ‘orders are presumed to be lawful’ and must be obeyed.” (11/24/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon-threatens-court-martial-democratic-senator-over-refuse-illegal-orders-video
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18) WI: Slender Man stabber is found a day after walking away from group home
Source: Seattle Times
“A Wisconsin woman who admitted to nearly stabbing a classmate to death at age 12 to please the online horror character Slender Man has been found in Illinois after she cut off an electronic monitoring device and left a group home, authorities said. Madison police issued an alert Sunday for Morgan Geyser, now 23, saying she was last seen around 8 p.m. Saturday with an adult acquaintance. The department issued an update late Sunday that Geyser was taken into custody in Illinois. … Geyser was placed in a group home this year after being granted conditional release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. She was sent to the psychiatric institute in 2018 after pleading guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison. The stabbing happened in 2014.” (11/24/25)
https://archive.is/oOt4r
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19) US-backed aid company in Gaza shutters operations as Israel’s military and defense minister clash
Source: SFGate
“The U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, set up to distribute aid to Gaza as an alternative to the United Nations but which Palestinians said endangered the lives of civilians as they tried to get food, said Monday it would shutter operations. The company had already closed distribution sites after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect six weeks ago in Gaza. It announced Monday that it was permanently shutting down, claiming it had fulfilled its mission. ‘We have succeeded in our mission of showing there’s a better way to deliver aid to Gazans,’ GHF director John Acree said in a statement. Also Monday, Israel’s defense minister clashed publicly with the military’s chief of staff over the army’s latest probes of its failures in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian militants that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. The operations of the GHF were shrouded in secrecy during its short time in operation.” (11/24/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/us-backed-aid-company-in-gaza-shutters-operations-21205101.php
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20) Pakistan: Three killed in attack on regime paramilitary HQ
Source: Firstpost [India]
“Suicide bombers on Monday attacked the Federal Constabulary’s (FC) headquarters in Pakistan’s Peshawar city in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The bombing killed at least three FC soldiers and injured 11 others, according to Dawn. A bomber blew himself up on the gate and two others tried to enter the FC’s premises but were gunned down by FC personnel, Mian Saeed Ahmad, a Peshawar police officer, told the newspaper.” (11/24/25)
https://www.firstpost.com/world/pakistan-paramilitary-federal-constabulary-headquarters-peshawar-suicide-bombing-13953477.html
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Inflation is Class Warfare Against the Poor
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Eddlem
“[I]nflation is the most effective instrument in making the rich richer, and the poor poorer. But what would happen in an alternative scenario where the money supply doesn’t increase much over a long period of time? As it happens, we have a historical case of this happening in nineteenth century America.” (11/24/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/inflation-is-class-warfare-against-the-poor
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22) Trump’s Plan to Give Americans $2,000 Tariff Dividend Checks Is “Pure Fiscal Fantasy”
Source: Cato Institute
by Colin Grabow & Clark Packard
“This is not a dividend at all. It’s a deficit-financed giveaway, arriving at a moment when the federal government is already projected to run a $1.8 trillion deficit. Worse still, the money is already spoken for. Congress counted tariff revenue as an offset when passing the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill tax reform package earlier this year. Revenue cannot fund both tax cuts and rebate checks. The administration is trying to spend the same dollar twice. But suppose, for the sake of argument, the money actually existed and the deficit didn’t matter. The proposal would still be misguided. For one thing, it’s economically pointless. Tariffs are taxes paid by Americans, not foreigners, and the government’s plan amounts to collecting that money in Washington, skimming off administrative costs, and then mailing a smaller amount back to the public.” (11/24/25)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/trumps-plan-give-americans-2000-tariff-dividend-checks-pure-fiscal-fantasy
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23) Don’t Call This a “Peace Plan”
Source: Foreign Policy
by Christian Caryl
“Today’s Ukraine is not 1938 Czechoslovakia. Yet the 28-point ‘peace plan’ negotiated between the United States and Russia and leaked to the media late last week suggests that U.S. President Donald Trump considers the Munich deal a precedent. Like Chamberlain, he seems to believe that he can make a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine’s land and future over the latter’s head. But this calculation is flawed. It betrays Trump’s fundamental misunderstanding of European geopolitics — both Russia’s unbroken designs to control Ukraine and the Ukrainians’ continued willingness to fight for their land and independence.” (11/24/25)
https://archive.is/Jdecc
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24) Thanks to the Supreme Court, presidential immunity is now a license to kill
Source: The Hill
by Steven Lubet
“President Trump often portrays himself as a mythical, hyper-masculine character. On his digital trading cards, for example, he is depicted as an astronaut, a cowboy, a race-driver, a boxer and of course, a costumed superhero. Although he hasn’t yet appeared as a secret agent, Trump does have one thing in common with the fictional James Bond: They have both been licensed to kill. … In Trump’s case, the authorization is all too real, backed up by exponentially more firepower than Bond’s tricked-out Aston Martin. Enabled by a Supreme Court decision granting presidents immunity for official acts, Trump has deployed planes, missiles and drones to sink 21 small, unarmed boats suspected of drug smuggling in international waters in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. As of last week, at least 83 crew members or passengers had been killed. Neither the evidence nor the purported legal basis for the strikes has been made public.” (11/24/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/supreme-court/5617710-supreme-court-trump-immunity/
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25) Jack Mallers vs. Chase: Why Debanking is a Badge of Honor
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Do you know Jack Mallers? Have you heard of the company Strike that he runs? Perhaps you’ve heard of JP Morgan Chase? Well, let me tell a quick story of how the world is a-changin’. Yesterday, on X, Mallers posted the September 2, 2025, letter he framed from Chase, noting the closure of all his accounts. … The letter informed Mallers that Chase had flagged ‘concerning activity’ during routine monitoring. The result? His accounts were being closed immediately, and he was permanently barred from opening new ones. No specifics were offered. No recourse was suggested. He was simply ejected from the financial system by one of its most powerful gatekeepers. Of note, Strike is somewhat of a competitor to JP Morgan Chase, and if not a direct threat today, certainly is for the future. For many, this would be a crisis. For Mallers, it was a milestone.” (11/24/25)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/jack-mallers-vs-chase-why-debanking
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26) Grocery Bills and Corporate Taxes Dominate Upset Bid in Tennessee
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“In Tennessee, another test of the ongoing fragmentation of the Trump coalition is playing out in a December 2 special election for the U.S. House. After bad losses for Republicans across the country over the last month, a seat that Donald Trump won last year by 22 points is at enough risk that conservative groups have thrown $3.3 million at the race in the final stretch. The seat was vacated in July by Rep. Mark Green, who opted to take a private-sector job. Republican Mark Van Epps, a member of Gov. Bill Lee’s administration, is facing Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn. It was designed as a gerrymandered red seat …. But the possibility of a monumental upset has brought DNC chair Ken Martin and 2024 presidential nominee Kamala Harris to the district, earned Behn cable news appearances, and raised a ton of anticipation.” [editor’s note: This is my district. I am choosing neither the Trumper nor the Mamdani in a dress – SAT] (11/24/25)
https://prospect.org/2025/11/24/tennessee-aftyn-behn-congress-house-race-nashville/
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27) The case for treating adults as adults when it comes to AI chatbots
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by John Coleman
“Recent news reports describe a wave of lawsuits alleging that OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, caused adult users psychological distress. The filings reportedly seek monetary damages for people who conversed at length with a chatbot’s simulated persona and reported experiencing delusions and emotional trauma. In one reported case, a man became convinced that ChatGPT was sentient and later took his own life. These situations are tragic and call for genuine compassion. Unfortunately, if these lawsuits succeed, they’ll effectively impose an unworkable expectation on anyone creating a chatbot to scrub anything that could trigger its most vulnerable users. Everyone, even fully capable adults, would be effectively treated as if they are on suicide watch. That’s a standard that would chill open discourse.” (11/24/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/case-treating-adults-adults-when-it-comes-ai-chatbots
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28) A Henry Ford for Housing
Source: Law & Liberty
by Nathan Smith
“To house people more affordably, we need to make homebuilding more efficient. But a deeply entrenched overregulation of land use and the building trades keeps homebuilding firms small and backward. Other industries — aviation, computing, agriculture, containerized shipping, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications, and so on — have raised productivity through deregulation, big business, innovation, automation, standardization, and scalability. Homebuilding needs to follow suit.” (11/24/25)
https://lawliberty.org/a-henry-ford-for-housing/
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29) Extracting minerals in Africa – for Africa
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“This week, top leaders of Africa and Europe gathered in Angola in an attempt to answer this question: Can ethical business practices win out in the global race to extract Africa’s vast mineral resources? The moral tone for the summit was set last month by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In a speech, she said Europe seeks critical materials for its China-challenged industries but ‘not just for Europe’s needs – but with local processing and added value [in Africa].’ In other words, can European mining companies help Africa process its raw minerals into consumer and industrial goods while also boosting local jobs and local skills? For some countries in Europe, that would mean a shift away from how it often treats former colonies. As President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic put it in September, ‘The era of Africa’s dependence is over.'” (11/24/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/1124/Extracting-minerals-in-Africa-for-Africa
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30) The Fed Doesn’t Determine the Price of Credit. Markets Do
Source: The Daily Economy
by Alexander W Salter
“Recent movements in short-term loan markets are a timely reminder of a forgotten truth: The Federal Reserve is not the master of credit conditions. It can influence interest rates, but it cannot dictate them. Interest rates ultimately reflect supply and demand conditions in the broader financial system. When those conditions shift, the Fed’s administered rates give way to market realities. That’s precisely what we’re seeing in the repo market now.” (11/24/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-fed-doesnt-determine-the-price-of-credit-markets-do/
-----
31) The Hot Tub of Death?: Bill Gates, Hurricane Melissa, and a Civilization Under Threat
Source: TomDispatch
by Juan Cole
“In late October, Hurricane Melissa (that should have been called ‘Godzilla’) battered western Jamaica with 185-mile-an-hour winds. It tossed the roofs of buildings about like splintering javelins, demolished municipal buildings and hospitals, snapped telephone poles like matchsticks, flattened crops, and dumped torrential floodwaters everywhere, leaving $8 billion in damage. That Category 5 storm’s unprecedented ferocity was driven by an overheated Caribbean Sea, produced by 275 years of industrial civilization that has spewed obscene amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually. The same week that U.N. officials spoke of an ‘apocalypse’ in Jamaica, American billionaire Bill Gates expressed a certain unease about officials and scientists concerned with climate change who, he thought, were being hysterical.” (11/24/25)
https://tomdispatch.com/the-hot-tub-of-death/
-----
32) Weaponised Lawfare as Domestic and International Threat to Western Democracies
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Ramesh Thakur
“Lawfare, when weaponised, can pose a double threat to democracies. Domestically, the rule of law is an integral component of the theory of liberal democracy, and it underpins the institutions and practices of democratic governance. The expansion of the role of the state in regulating an increasing range of individuals’ and private entities’ behaviour has led to a proliferation of lawfare that can frustrate the ability of governments to govern and, in turn, lessen their legitimacy. In its international dimension, the rule of law should tame the exercise of power by states and mediate relations between the strong and the weak and the rich and the poor. However, illiberal states have no scope for activists using law to rein in their excesses, and no effective checks can be exercised on the strong behaving badly.” (11/24/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/weaponised-lawfare-as-domestic-and-international-threat-to-western-democracies/
-----
33) It Should Be Illegal To Use AI To Deceive People
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“It should be against the law to use generative AI to deceive the public. I’ve got absolutely no problem with outright government censorship in this case, and I say this as an aggressive and outspoken proponent of free speech. AI products which deceive people should be illegal in the same way fraud is illegal. I want it to be illegal to knowingly circulate AI video footage and pass it off as real. I want AI companies to be severely penalized if they don’t prevent people from using their products to generate fake videos that get passed off as real.” [editor’s note: When you say you have “no problem with government censorship” in ANY case, you are by definition not “an aggressive and outspoken proponent of free speech” – TLK (11/24/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/11/24/it-should-be-illegal-to-use-ai-to-deceive-people/
-----
34) Enchanted by Socialism
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“The Fabian Society was founded in 1884 in London as a socialist organization committed to gradual change rather than violent revolution. It has served as the primary think tank of Britain’s Labour Party, which means it’s steeped in so-called democratic socialism. Their original logo is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The Fabian Society took its name from Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus, known for wearing down enemies through patient, deliberate tactics rather than direct attacks. The name is meant to reflect the society’s commitment to gradualism. No violence. No gulags. No famines. Just slow ‘permeation.’ But a wolf is still a wolf. And socialism is still a predatory project.” (11/24/25)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/enchanted-by-socialism
-----
35) Democracy at Risk
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“The European Union has just unveiled the so-called European Democracy Shield. The name, while promising, claims to ‘protect’ democracy on the basis of two pillars which, on principle, should raise concerns: combating ‘disinformation’ and ‘foreign interference.’ To that end, the EU will create a new European Centre for Democratic Resilience, intended to collect data from Member States on information manipulation; foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI); and phenomena classified as disinformation. The same package also includes a European network of independent fact-checkers and a European Digital Media Observatory, which will be endowed with monitoring and analytical capacities during elections or moments of crisis. Regarding free elections and the risk of foreign interference, the Commission additionally proposes to finance ‘independent journalism.’ The irony that journalism financed by political institutions can never be genuinely independent seems lost on the Commission.” (11/24/25)
https://fee.org/articles/democracy-at-risk/
-----
36) Most Americans Think Free Speech Is on the Decline, Survey Finds
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Cancellations, sometimes violent protests, behind-the-scenes censorship, and overt government threats to muzzle the media. Free speech is doing better in the U.S. than elsewhere in the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s doing well. It’s besieged by hostile politician and a shifting culture that is eroding the foundations of tolerance for dissent and an open marketplace of ideas. That has Americans worried, though even as they fret over the future of free speech a significant minority contribute to the problem.” (11/24/25)
https://reason.com/2025/11/24/most-americans-think-free-speech-is-on-the-decline-survey-finds/
-----
37) High time liberal judges are held accountable for failing to lock up violent career criminals
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“Liberal judges who decide not to jail violent career criminals and sadistic psychopaths ought to be held liable when the felons attack innocent citizens. Two horrendous, unprovoked attacks on helpless young women on public transit in recent weeks would never have happened if the legal system had done what it’s designed to do. Instead, BLM-inspired reparatory justice has endangered the most vulnerable among us — women, children, the elderly and disabled. We pay police and judges to keep evil and dangerous predators away from weak and defenseless innocents. Yet radical Democrats who have taken over blue cities are hellbent on a destructive ideological crusade to defund the police, close the jails and install obedient judges who side with the perpetrator over the victim.” (11/23/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/11/23/opinion/its-high-time-liberal-judges-are-held-accountable-for-failing-to-lock-up-violent-career-criminals/
-----
38) Universal pre-K is an expensive experiment
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown & Colleen Hroncich
“Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman’s passionate case for guaranteeing preschool access for every 4-year-old in the state deserves scrutiny. The evidence for universal pre-K as an economic development strategy is far weaker than she suggests. Kentucky families deserve honesty about what this expensive and expansive program can – and cannot – deliver. Coleman omits the most rigorous recent research on the subject. Researchers from Vanderbilt University followed nearly 3,000 low-income children through sixth grade with alarming results: Children who attended Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre‑K (TN-VPK) program fared worse on a range of metrics compared with children who didn’t attend.” (11/24/25)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/universal-pre-k-is-an-expensive-experiment/
-----
39) Back From the Dead: Resurrecting the Ukraine Peace Plan
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“Between the Trump-Putin meeting in Anchorage Alaska and the proposed Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest, the diplomatic track that the U.S. and Russia were on seemed to die. In October, Trump and Putin had a ‘very productive’ two hour phone call that led to a phone call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov that was to lay the groundwork for a meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest. But, by the time Rubio had hung up the phone, the Budapest meeting was off. … But then hints emerged that restarting talks may not be impossible.” (11/24/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2025/11/23/back-from-the-dead-resurrecting-the-ukraine-peace-plan
-----
40) What does US “national interest” really mean?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Christopher Mott
“In foreign policy discourse, the phrase ‘the national interest’ gets used with an almost ubiquitous frequency, which could lead one to assume it is a strongly defined and absolute term. Most debates, particularly around changing course in diplomatic strategy or advocating for or against some kind of economic or military intervention, invoke the phrase as justification for their recommended path forward. But what is the national interest, really?” (11/24/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/national-interests/
-----
41) NSPM-7: A Blueprint for Silencing Progressive Movements
Source: Common Dreams
by Barry Trachtenberg
“In the past few months, the Trump administration has intensified its assault on political dissent. The September 25 release of National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, titled ‘Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,’ capitalized upon the shooting death of Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk and marked an alarming escalation in the regime’s suppression of political dissent in the name of national security. The NSPM-7 memorandum casts a wide net by identifying a wide swath of previously protected criticisms of American policy, capitalism, Christian nationalism, and fascism as potential threats to US security. This language reveals the government’s effort to construct a political category of terrorism so broad that it can encompass nearly any form of progressive or left-aligned civil society work.” (11/24/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/what-is-nspm-7-2674337917
-----
42) We’re Led by an Administration of Liars
Source: The Bulwark
by Jill Lawrence
“The Trump administration’s lying-to-Congress case against former FBI director James Comey is a comedy of legal errors that could move offstage soon. But it has highlighted the plain fact that American life and America itself are now being shaped — in terrible, even tragic ways — by people who really did mislead and outright lie to Congress under oath. Let’s start at the top. Not just once but twice, Donald Trump put his hand on a Bible and swore to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ He’s been violating that oath, and lying nonstop in all conceivable venues, ever since. Right below Trump on the organizational chart is the problem wreaking daily havoc on the country: that so many of these havoc perpetrators were less than forthright when they were trying to get their jobs.” (11/24/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-administration-of-liars
-----
43) Foreign Policy, Justin Raimondo Style
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by David Brady, Jr.
“Raimondo spent much of his time polemicizing on the latest intervention abroad, but, in 2011, he wrote two articles ‘Why Governments Make War’ and ‘Looking at the Big Picture’ wherein he articulates his theory of libertarian realism. He juxtaposes his theory with traditional realism, that emphasizes the supposed interests of broad states, liberalism, which promises perpetual peace in the tradition of Immanuel Kant, and Marxism, which sees all conflicts as products of the capitalist class structure. Libertarian realism looks to domestic political pressures and influences to inform it on the reason why a state’s foreign policy looks the way it does. If Nobel Prize winner James Buchanan characterized his public choice theory as ‘politics without romance,’ then Raimondo’s realism is international relations without romance.” (11/23/25)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/foreign-policy-justin-raimondo-style
-----
44) It’s Time To Privatize Air Travel
Source: Independent Institute
by Scott Beyer
“The idea that only government can keep air travel running makes no sense in an era of political dysfunction.” (11/23/25)
https://www.independent.org/article/2025/11/23/its-time-to-privatize-air-travel/
-----
45) Five reasons Trump’s Ukraine plan is deal Putin can’t afford to refuse
Source: Fox News
by Rebecca Grant
“Over the weekend, representatives of the United States and Ukraine met in Geneva for talks that were ‘highly productive,’ according to the White House. On the table now is a draft 28-point plan that represents a solid business deal for Ukraine. This plan is no victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He didn’t get Ukraine or eliminate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ‘Something good just may be happening,’ former President Donald Trump said Monday morning. The loss of territory in the Donbas region is painful and tragic. Unfortunately, Russia still has enough missiles to pummel Ukraine’s cities and energy infrastructure for years. It is a daily humanitarian disaster. This war must end — for America’s sake, too. Since 2022, it has unleashed global geopolitical chaos, with China bankrolling Russia’s invasion and Putin reportedly trading nuclear weapons design secrets for North Korean ammunition and soldiers.” (11/24/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/five-reasons-trumps-ukraine-plan-deal-putin-cant-afford-refuse
-----
46) Palestine Doesn’t Need Another Oslo: Could Hamas Become the New Fatah?
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“Israel has violated the shit out of this so-called peace deal. The only thing that’s really changed is that Hamas is no longer firing back and that was the real point behind that theatric signing ceremony on the Senai Peninsula. Neither Israel nor Hamas were even present for the shindig at Sharm El-Sheik. The papers were signed by Qatari Emir Sheik Tamin Bin Hamad al Thani and Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Hamas'[s] two largest foreign financiers, along with Pharoah Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, who polices Gaza’s western borders. The real deal was for those thugs to agree to pressure Hamas into giving up just so long as Israel allows them to share in the profits of the resort Donald Trump plans to build on the graves of 5% of the Strip’s Population.” (11/23/25)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2025/11/palestine-doesnt-need-another-oslo.html
-----
47) Why don’t we recognize class rule?
Source: The Peaceful Revolutionist
by David S D’Amato
“Where primitive societies understood power and thus sought to preempt it and foreclose political domination, our modern societies obsess about and worship power. This bad habit puts our lives and those of our children and grandchildren at risk, and it makes movement in the direction of a free society almost impossible. This is among the many reasons we ought to be deeply disturbed by and uncomfortable with standard political taxonomies such as left vs. right, liberal vs. conservative, etc. These binaries lead to shallow and confused analysis because they do not even attempt to understand the structural realities driving today’s states. These frameworks don’t know how to talk about or understand the relationship between the state and capital or the development of authoritarian power during the modern era.” (11/23/25)
https://dsdamato.substack.com/p/why-dont-we-recognize-class-rule
-----
48) The signs of educational decline are now impossible to ignore
Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle
“[S]olving problems is hard, and in politics, it often involves taking on well-organized constituencies that will wave away the smoke and insist that everything is just fine. So institutions often choose to disregard the underlying issues and simply whack the alarm with a hammer until it stops beeping. There has been a lot of that going on recently, most notably in education. Instead of rectifying disparities in preparation and achievement, people decided it would be simpler to adjust the measurements.” (11/23/25)
https://archive.is/WvjRf
-----
49) It Is Up to Us to Defend Democracy [sic]
Source: Our Future
by Sulma Arias
“As many of you know, at People’s Action we have been thinking about and preparing for this moment for some time. Our 2023 report, The Antidote to Authoritarianism, issued a call to develop a shared playbook of the most effective tactics to stop the rise of an authoritarian regime. We have now done this, and are moving into action. Twenty national organizations endorsed our original call for an Organizing Revival. That number has since swelled to more than sixty, and more than four hundred state and local organizations, all across the country and in every state. Together with these partners and new friends, such as the May Day Strong alliance, we have trained more than 1,200 organizers across the country and are training more every day, so we can defend democracy while we still can. We welcome anyone who wants to join us.” (11/24/25)
https://ourfuture.org/20251124/it-is-up-to-us-to-defend-democracy
-----
50) Trump the peace candidate became another war president
Source: Orange County Register
by John Seiler
“A couple hours before I began writing this column, I drove from Irvine up the 405 to the VA Long Beach Healthcare System for a routine appointment. At the hospital I saw two veterans in their 40s in wheelchairs. Although it’s possible they suffered civilian accidents, more likely their legs were blown off by IEDs — improvised explosive devices — in the Iraq War two decades ago. I backed President Donald Trump in three elections because I hoped he would end such senseless ‘regime-change wars,’ as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called them. He promised to be a ‘peace president.’ Instead, recently he perpetrated the nonjudicial killings of 76 ‘narco-terrorists,’ who could just be fishermen given the lack of actual information, in violation of international law. … Worse is his inability to end the Ukraine War ‘in 24 hours,’ as he promised. … Then there’s the Middle East.” (11/23/25)
https://archive.is/Mphve
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 11/24/25
Source: Reason
Source: Reason
"Trump Embraces Mamdani Socialism as 'Practical.'" (11/24/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/11/24/trump-embraces-mamdani-socialism-as-practical/
-----
52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 855
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Will Trump Force Zelensky to Accept his Ukraine Peace Deal?” (11/24/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-855-will-trump-force-zelensky-to-accept-his-ukraine-peace-deal
-----
53) George Conway Explains It All, 11/24/25
Source: The Bulwark
“How Trump Plans to Bury the Epstein Files.” (11/24/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiOJhSOp0Ng
-----
54) Rising, 11/24/25
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers his radar on a new feature on X that allows users to see what country an account is based in, leading to the discovery that some ‘America First’ accounts are not from America.” (11/24/25)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5620165-rising-november-24-2025/
-----
55) History of Modern Politics, 11/24/25
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Chris Spangle and Matt Wittlief reunite to bring back History of Modern Politics after a long hiatus. In this episode, they explain why the show is returning, how seasons two and three are already underway, and what listeners can expect as they continue tracing political thought from the Roman Republic to the American founding.” (11/24/25)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/history-of-modern-politics-is-back
-----
56) Fountainhead Forum, episode 392
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Amanda Griffiths on Austin Petersen’s ‘libertarian nationalism.'” (11/24/25)
https://rumble.com/v72683a-ff-392-amanda-griffiths-on-austin-petersens-libertarian-nationalism.html
-----
57) TechTank, season 5, episode 31
Source: TechTank
“The Age of Extraction: A discussion on Tim Wu’s new book.” (11/24/25)
https://shows.acast.com/tech-tank/episodes/the-age-of-extraction-a-discussion-on-tim-wus-new-book
-----
58) EconTalk, 11/24/25
Source: EconTalk
“The Status Game (with Will Storr).” (11/24/25)
https://www.econtalk.org/the-status-game-with-will-storr/
-----
59) The Dispatch Podcast, 11/24/25
Source: The Dispatch
“Your Children Are Too Online | Interview: Dr. Jean Twenge” (11/24/25)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/your-children-are-too-online-interview-dr-jean-twenge/
-----
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 11/24/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Bombs Somalia for 100th Time This Year, Israel Launches Another Bombardment in Gaza, and More.” (11/24/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2JBxHyID7Y
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Today's Freedom News:
0) Year-End Fundraiser Update: Or, Kinda Depressing
1) Ukraine war: Deadly strikes as US, Moscow regimes hold talks
2) US judge throws out criminal cases against Comey, James
3) Sudan: RSF announces unilateral three-month “humanitarian truce”
4) Bitcoin tracks stocks higher with crypto traders staying on edge
5) Trump, China’s Xi speak; commit to 2026 state visits
6) Spain: Ortiz resigns following Supreme Court conviction
7) Australia: Senator condemned for burka stunt in parliament
8) Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, 1943-2025
9) FL: Fishback enters gubernatorial race, challenging Trump’s pick
10) Eli Lilly Becomes First Trillion-Dollar Health Company
11) Boeing’s troubled capsule won’t carry astronauts on next space station flight
12) Japan: Regime Reaffirms Plan to Deploy Missiles to Area Near Taiwan
13) Thomas rebukes SCOTUS for denying widow’s case, says it lets government dodge blame
14) Union asks judge to order Trump officials to fund CFPB racket
15) US labels Cartel de los Soles as a terror organization
16) Pope heads to Lebanon, Turkey in debut overseas trip amid heightened Mideast tensions
17) Pentagon threatens to court-martial Democratic senator for telling military personnel they shouldn’t commit crimes
18) WI: Slender Man stabber is found a day after walking away from group home
19) US-backed aid company in Gaza shutters operations as Israel’s military and defense minister clash
20) Pakistan: Three killed in attack on regime paramilitary HQ
Today's Freedom Commentary:
21) Inflation is Class Warfare Against the Poor
22) Trump’s Plan to Give Americans $2,000 Tariff Dividend Checks Is “Pure Fiscal Fantasy”
23) Don’t Call This a “Peace Plan”
24) Thanks to the Supreme Court, presidential immunity is now a license to kill
25) Jack Mallers vs. Chase: Why Debanking is a Badge of Honor
26) Grocery Bills and Corporate Taxes Dominate Upset Bid in Tennessee
27) The case for treating adults as adults when it comes to AI chatbots
28) A Henry Ford for Housing
29) Extracting minerals in Africa – for Africa
30) The Fed Doesn’t Determine the Price of Credit. Markets Do
31) The Hot Tub of Death?: Bill Gates, Hurricane Melissa, and a Civilization Under Threat
32) Weaponised Lawfare as Domestic and International Threat to Western Democracies
33) It Should Be Illegal To Use AI To Deceive People
34) Enchanted by Socialism
35) Democracy at Risk
36) Most Americans Think Free Speech Is on the Decline, Survey Finds
37) High time liberal judges are held accountable for failing to lock up violent career criminals
38) Universal pre-K is an expensive experiment
39) Back From the Dead: Resurrecting the Ukraine Peace Plan
40) What does US “national interest” really mean?
41) NSPM-7: A Blueprint for Silencing Progressive Movements
42) We’re Led by an Administration of Liars
43) Foreign Policy, Justin Raimondo Style
44) It’s Time To Privatize Air Travel
45) Five reasons Trump’s Ukraine plan is deal Putin can’t afford to refuse
46) Palestine Doesn’t Need Another Oslo: Could Hamas Become the New Fatah?
47) Why don’t we recognize class rule?
48) The signs of educational decline are now impossible to ignore
49) It Is Up to Us to Defend Democracy [sic]
50) Trump the peace candidate became another war president
Today's Freedom Podcast and Video:
51) Reason Roundtable, 11/24/25
52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 855
53) George Conway Explains It All, 11/24/25
54) Rising, 11/24/25
55) History of Modern Politics, 11/24/25
56) Fountainhead Forum, episode 392
57) TechTank, season 5, episode 31
58) EconTalk, 11/24/25
59) The Dispatch Podcast, 11/24/25
60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 11/24/25
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_____ Today's Freedom News _____
0) Year-End Fundraiser Update: Or, Kinda Depressing
Hey, everyone ...
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-----
1) Ukraine war: Deadly strikes as US, Moscow regimes hold talks
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Russia and Ukraine launched overnight drone strikes against each other as the US confirmed American officials were set to meet Russian representatives in Abu Dhabi as part of efforts to end the war. Officials in Kyiv said at least six people had been killed in Russian strikes on the city, while Russian officials said at least three had been killed in a Ukrainian strike in the Rostov region.” (11/25/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy95jvw57v2o
-----
2) US judge throws out criminal cases against Comey, James
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“A federal judge threw out the criminal cases against James Comey and Letitia James on Monday, concluding that the prosecutor handling the case was unlawfully appointed. Lindsey Halligan, who Trump named the interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia in September, had ‘no lawful authority to present the indictment’ against the former FBI director and New York attorney general, Judge Cameron McGowan Currie, wrote in her opinion. … Currie dismissed both cases ‘without prejudice,’ which means the government could theoretically try and bring the charges again under a properly appointed US attorney. But it is unclear if they could even do that in Comey’s case because the statute of limitations for the crime he is charged with passed on 30 September 2025.” (11/24/25)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/24/james-comey-letitia-james-charges-case-dismissed
-----
3) Sudan: RSF announces unilateral three-month “humanitarian truce”
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have announced an apparently unilateral three-month humanitarian truce in the country’s civil war. RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, made the announcement on Monday in a recorded address. The warring Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan did not immediately confirm that any agreement had been reached. Al-Burhan late on Sunday had rejected a ceasefire proposal put forward by the so-called Quad – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.” (11/24/25)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/24/rsf-announces-unilateral-three-month-humanitarian-truce-in-sudan
-----
4) Bitcoin tracks stocks higher with crypto traders staying on edge
Source: Los Angeles Times
“Bitcoin edged above $88,000 on Monday but lagged the broader rebound in U.S. equities, with the cryptocurrency still nursing losses from last week’s selloff. The modest move higher underscores the market’s cautious mood, as bullish conviction remains muted. The original cryptocurrency began to recover over the weekend after slumping to a seven-month low of $80,554 on Friday. Bitcoin, which had tumbled more than 20% in the last four weeks, was up less than 1% to about $88,400 on Monday. Other smaller, more volatile tokens increased more, with XRP jumping about 7% and Solana about 3% higher.” (11/24/25)
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-11-24/bitcoin-tracks-stocks-higher-with-crypto-traders-staying-on-edge
-----
5) Trump, China’s Xi speak; commit to 2026 state visits
Source: United Press International
“U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone Monday to discuss, among a number of topics, the Russia-Ukraine war, farming, the status of Taiwan and committing to future state visits. China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry stated that the two leaders, who also met last month in South Korea, ‘reached many important common understandings.’ The two reportedly agreed to reciprocal in-person meetings, lower U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and export measures for rare-Earth minerals. … Trump confirmed an invite from Xi to visit Beijing next year in April. In addition, Xi is expected to come to the United States later next year for an official occasion.” (11/24/25)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/11/24/China-Ukraine-Russia-Taiwan-Trump-Xi-call-state-visit/9021764006550/
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6) Spain: Ortiz resigns following Supreme Court conviction
Source: Politico
“Spanish Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz resigned Monday, stepping down before a judicial ruling banning him from holding public office for two years went into effect. Spain’s Supreme Court last week convicted García Ortiz of leaking details of a tax probe involving the partner of Madrid’s regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a rising star among the country’s conservative voters. The outgoing attorney general denies leaking the information, and several journalists who published articles about the probe testified he was not their source. Although the court announced García Ortiz’s guilty verdict within days of his trial’s conclusion, the panel of judges who tried him has yet to publish the legal reasoning behind the ruling.” (11/24/25)
https://www.politico.eu/article/spain-attorney-general-resigns-following-supreme-court-conviction-alvaro-garcia-ortiz/
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7) Australia: Senator condemned for burka stunt in parliament
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“An Australian senator has provoked anger for wearing a burka in parliament, after pushing for a ban on the Muslim garment. Pauline Hanson was condemned by fellow senators, with one accusing her of “blatant racism”. Proceedings in the senate were halted as she refused to remove the item. The Queensland senator, of the anti-immigration One Nation party, was seeking to introduce a bill that would ban full face coverings in public – a policy she has long campaigned for. It is the second time she has worn the garment – which covers the face and body – in parliament, and said her actions were in protest at the senate rejecting her bill.” (11/24/25)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz94pdkzqvwo
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8) Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, 1943-2025
Source: New York Times
“Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, who as H. Rap Brown defined [b]lack militancy in the 1960s with a call to arms against white oppression, and who later lived quietly as a Muslim cleric and shopkeeper until his arrest in 2000 in the murder of a sheriff’s deputy, died on Sunday in a federal prison hospital in North Carolina. He was 82. … Before converting to Islam and changing his name in the 1970s, Mr. Al-Amin was one of the most incendiary orators among the Black Power activists who emerged in the late 1960s to challenge the leadership and nonviolent strategy of the civil rights movement.” (11/23/25)
https://archive.is/BHeBU
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9) FL: Fishback enters gubernatorial race, challenging Trump’s pick
Source: CNN
‘Another GOP contender has launched a bid to succeed Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, teeing up a broader challenge to President Donald Trump’s chosen candidate to lead his adopted home state. James Fishback, a 30-year-old investor who lives in Florida’s rural Panhandle region, formally announced his candidacy Monday, immediately taking shots at Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, who has Trump’s endorsement and the inside track on the race to replace DeSantis, who can’t run again in 2026. … Following the governor’s footsteps, Fishback has pledged to eliminate property taxes and is taking aim at H-1B visas, which are meant to allow American companies to bring in people with technical skills that are hard to find in the United States.” (11/24/25)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/politics/gop-florida-governor-race
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10) Eli Lilly Becomes First Trillion-Dollar Health Company
Source: US News & World Report
“Eli Lilly reached a major milestone Friday, becoming the first healthcare company in the world to hit a $1 trillion market value. The drug company briefly crossed the trillion-dollar mark during morning trading before its stock pulled back slightly. Shares were last trading at around $1,048 each. Eli Lilly is now just the second non-technology company in the U.S. to reach a $1 trillion value, after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Much of that growth comes from two blockbuster drugs: Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for weight loss. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker’s stock is up more than 36% this year, as demand for its weight loss and diabetes treatments continues to rise, CNBC reported.” (11/24/25)
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-11-24/eli-lilly-becomes-first-trillion-dollar-health-company
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11) Boeing’s troubled capsule won’t carry astronauts on next space station flight
Source: SFGate
“Boeing and NASA have agreed to keep astronauts off the company’s next Starliner flight and instead perform a trial run with cargo to prove its safety. Monday’s announcement comes eight months after the first and only Starliner crew returned to Earth aboard SpaceX after a prolonged mission. Although NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams managed to dock Starliner to the International Space Station in 2024, the capsule had so many problems that NASA ordered it to come back empty, leaving the astronauts stuck there for more than nine months. Engineers have since been poring over the thruster and other issues that plagued the Starliner capsule. Its next cargo run to the space station will occur no earlier than April, pending additional tests and certification. Boeing said in a statement that it remains committed to the Starliner program with safety the highest priority.” (11/24/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/boeing-s-troubled-capsule-won-t-carry-astronauts-21205640.php
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12) Japan: Regime Reaffirms Plan to Deploy Missiles to Area Near Taiwan
Source: Bloomberg
Japan’s defense minister, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing over the East Asian island. ‘The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,’ Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. ‘The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.’ … China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular briefing on Monday that the deployment of missiles would be ‘extremely dangerous’ and described it as a ‘deliberate move that breeds regional tensions and stokes military rivalry.'” (11/24/25)
https://archive.is/GeCUc
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13) Thomas rebukes SCOTUS for denying widow’s case, says it lets government dodge blame
Source: Fox News
“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas voiced disagreement Monday with his colleagues’ decision to reject a widow’s request that the high court consider whether the federal government owes her for her husband’s death. Thomas said that if the justices had taken up the case, it would have been an opportunity to rein in a decades-old precedent that says servicemembers’ families cannot file wrongful death lawsuits against the government if the victim was killed while performing his or her job duties. … The case centered on Air Force Staff Sergeant Cameron Beck, who was killed in 2021. Beck had been leaving a military base in Missouri on his motorcycle to meet his wife and then seven-year-old for lunch when a civilian government employee, distracted by her cell phone, struck Beck. He died on the scene, and the woman later admitted in a plea deal to causing the accident.” (11/24/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/justice-thomas-rebukes-scotus-denying-widows-case-says-lets-government-dodge-blame
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14) Union asks judge to order Trump officials to fund CFPB racket
Source: Reuters
“A federal employees’ union on Sunday asked a federal judge to order the Trump administration to fund the top U.S. consumer watchdog, weeks after the agency said its cash could run out by year’s end. In a court filing, lawyers for the National Treasury Employees Union and other plaintiffs disputed officials’ claim that they cannot legally fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. President Donald Trump has sought to dismantle the CFPB since he took office in January and installed Russell Vought, his budget director, as the acting head of the agency. While Vought’s effort to fire the vast majority of its employees is tied up in litigation, he has successfully shut down most of the CFPB’s activities.” (11/24/25)
https://archive.is/3hTtZ
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15) US labels Cartel de los Soles as a terror organization
Source: SFGate
“President Donald Trump’s administration has ramped up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by designating the Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. But the entity that the U.S. government alleges is led by Maduro is not a cartel per se. The designation, published Monday in the Federal Register, is the latest measure in the Trump administration’s escalating campaign to combat drug trafficking into the U.S. In previewing the step about a week ago, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Cartel de los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns, of ‘being responsible for terrorist violence’ in the Western Hemisphere. The move comes as Trump evaluates whether to take military action against Venezuela, which he has not ruled out despite bringing up the possibility of talks with Maduro.” (11/24/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/us-set-to-label-maduro-tied-cartel-de-los-soles-21204541.php
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16) Pope heads to Lebanon, Turkey in debut overseas trip amid heightened Mideast tensions
Source: France 24 [French state media]
Pope Leo XIV embarks on his debut overseas trip Thursday, travelling to Turkey and Lebanon to promote Christian unity and urge peace efforts amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. The six-day trip is the first major international test for the US pope, who was elected head of the Catholic Church in May and whose understated style contrasts with that of his charismatic and impulsive predecessor, Francis. In Turkey, Leo will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, where the Creed – a foundational declaration of the Christian faith – was written.” (11/24/25)
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20251124-pope-heads-to-turkey-lebanon-in-first-overseas-trip
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17) Pentagon threatens to court-martial Democratic senator for telling military personnel they shouldn’t commit crimes
Source: Fox News
“The Department of War announced Monday that it has opened a formal review into allegations of misconduct against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over a video calling on service members to ‘refuse illegal orders.’ The Pentagon said it may even call Kelly, a retired Navy captain, back to active duty to face court-martial proceedings or other administrative actions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. ‘This matter will be handled in compliance with military law, ensuring due process and impartiality,’ the department said, adding that further comments will be limited to protect the integrity of the proceedings. The statement also underscored that military retirees remain subject to the UCMJ and reminded [sic] servicemembers that ‘orders are presumed to be lawful’ and must be obeyed.” (11/24/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon-threatens-court-martial-democratic-senator-over-refuse-illegal-orders-video
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18) WI: Slender Man stabber is found a day after walking away from group home
Source: Seattle Times
“A Wisconsin woman who admitted to nearly stabbing a classmate to death at age 12 to please the online horror character Slender Man has been found in Illinois after she cut off an electronic monitoring device and left a group home, authorities said. Madison police issued an alert Sunday for Morgan Geyser, now 23, saying she was last seen around 8 p.m. Saturday with an adult acquaintance. The department issued an update late Sunday that Geyser was taken into custody in Illinois. … Geyser was placed in a group home this year after being granted conditional release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. She was sent to the psychiatric institute in 2018 after pleading guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison. The stabbing happened in 2014.” (11/24/25)
https://archive.is/oOt4r
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19) US-backed aid company in Gaza shutters operations as Israel’s military and defense minister clash
Source: SFGate
“The U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, set up to distribute aid to Gaza as an alternative to the United Nations but which Palestinians said endangered the lives of civilians as they tried to get food, said Monday it would shutter operations. The company had already closed distribution sites after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect six weeks ago in Gaza. It announced Monday that it was permanently shutting down, claiming it had fulfilled its mission. ‘We have succeeded in our mission of showing there’s a better way to deliver aid to Gazans,’ GHF director John Acree said in a statement. Also Monday, Israel’s defense minister clashed publicly with the military’s chief of staff over the army’s latest probes of its failures in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian militants that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. The operations of the GHF were shrouded in secrecy during its short time in operation.” (11/24/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/us-backed-aid-company-in-gaza-shutters-operations-21205101.php
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20) Pakistan: Three killed in attack on regime paramilitary HQ
Source: Firstpost [India]
“Suicide bombers on Monday attacked the Federal Constabulary’s (FC) headquarters in Pakistan’s Peshawar city in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The bombing killed at least three FC soldiers and injured 11 others, according to Dawn. A bomber blew himself up on the gate and two others tried to enter the FC’s premises but were gunned down by FC personnel, Mian Saeed Ahmad, a Peshawar police officer, told the newspaper.” (11/24/25)
https://www.firstpost.com/world/pakistan-paramilitary-federal-constabulary-headquarters-peshawar-suicide-bombing-13953477.html
_____ Today's Freedom Commentary _____
21) Inflation is Class Warfare Against the Poor
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Eddlem
“[I]nflation is the most effective instrument in making the rich richer, and the poor poorer. But what would happen in an alternative scenario where the money supply doesn’t increase much over a long period of time? As it happens, we have a historical case of this happening in nineteenth century America.” (11/24/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/inflation-is-class-warfare-against-the-poor
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22) Trump’s Plan to Give Americans $2,000 Tariff Dividend Checks Is “Pure Fiscal Fantasy”
Source: Cato Institute
by Colin Grabow & Clark Packard
“This is not a dividend at all. It’s a deficit-financed giveaway, arriving at a moment when the federal government is already projected to run a $1.8 trillion deficit. Worse still, the money is already spoken for. Congress counted tariff revenue as an offset when passing the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill tax reform package earlier this year. Revenue cannot fund both tax cuts and rebate checks. The administration is trying to spend the same dollar twice. But suppose, for the sake of argument, the money actually existed and the deficit didn’t matter. The proposal would still be misguided. For one thing, it’s economically pointless. Tariffs are taxes paid by Americans, not foreigners, and the government’s plan amounts to collecting that money in Washington, skimming off administrative costs, and then mailing a smaller amount back to the public.” (11/24/25)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/trumps-plan-give-americans-2000-tariff-dividend-checks-pure-fiscal-fantasy
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23) Don’t Call This a “Peace Plan”
Source: Foreign Policy
by Christian Caryl
“Today’s Ukraine is not 1938 Czechoslovakia. Yet the 28-point ‘peace plan’ negotiated between the United States and Russia and leaked to the media late last week suggests that U.S. President Donald Trump considers the Munich deal a precedent. Like Chamberlain, he seems to believe that he can make a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine’s land and future over the latter’s head. But this calculation is flawed. It betrays Trump’s fundamental misunderstanding of European geopolitics — both Russia’s unbroken designs to control Ukraine and the Ukrainians’ continued willingness to fight for their land and independence.” (11/24/25)
https://archive.is/Jdecc
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24) Thanks to the Supreme Court, presidential immunity is now a license to kill
Source: The Hill
by Steven Lubet
“President Trump often portrays himself as a mythical, hyper-masculine character. On his digital trading cards, for example, he is depicted as an astronaut, a cowboy, a race-driver, a boxer and of course, a costumed superhero. Although he hasn’t yet appeared as a secret agent, Trump does have one thing in common with the fictional James Bond: They have both been licensed to kill. … In Trump’s case, the authorization is all too real, backed up by exponentially more firepower than Bond’s tricked-out Aston Martin. Enabled by a Supreme Court decision granting presidents immunity for official acts, Trump has deployed planes, missiles and drones to sink 21 small, unarmed boats suspected of drug smuggling in international waters in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. As of last week, at least 83 crew members or passengers had been killed. Neither the evidence nor the purported legal basis for the strikes has been made public.” (11/24/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/supreme-court/5617710-supreme-court-trump-immunity/
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25) Jack Mallers vs. Chase: Why Debanking is a Badge of Honor
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Do you know Jack Mallers? Have you heard of the company Strike that he runs? Perhaps you’ve heard of JP Morgan Chase? Well, let me tell a quick story of how the world is a-changin’. Yesterday, on X, Mallers posted the September 2, 2025, letter he framed from Chase, noting the closure of all his accounts. … The letter informed Mallers that Chase had flagged ‘concerning activity’ during routine monitoring. The result? His accounts were being closed immediately, and he was permanently barred from opening new ones. No specifics were offered. No recourse was suggested. He was simply ejected from the financial system by one of its most powerful gatekeepers. Of note, Strike is somewhat of a competitor to JP Morgan Chase, and if not a direct threat today, certainly is for the future. For many, this would be a crisis. For Mallers, it was a milestone.” (11/24/25)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/jack-mallers-vs-chase-why-debanking
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26) Grocery Bills and Corporate Taxes Dominate Upset Bid in Tennessee
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen
“In Tennessee, another test of the ongoing fragmentation of the Trump coalition is playing out in a December 2 special election for the U.S. House. After bad losses for Republicans across the country over the last month, a seat that Donald Trump won last year by 22 points is at enough risk that conservative groups have thrown $3.3 million at the race in the final stretch. The seat was vacated in July by Rep. Mark Green, who opted to take a private-sector job. Republican Mark Van Epps, a member of Gov. Bill Lee’s administration, is facing Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn. It was designed as a gerrymandered red seat …. But the possibility of a monumental upset has brought DNC chair Ken Martin and 2024 presidential nominee Kamala Harris to the district, earned Behn cable news appearances, and raised a ton of anticipation.” [editor’s note: This is my district. I am choosing neither the Trumper nor the Mamdani in a dress – SAT] (11/24/25)
https://prospect.org/2025/11/24/tennessee-aftyn-behn-congress-house-race-nashville/
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27) The case for treating adults as adults when it comes to AI chatbots
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by John Coleman
“Recent news reports describe a wave of lawsuits alleging that OpenAI’s generative AI chatbot, ChatGPT, caused adult users psychological distress. The filings reportedly seek monetary damages for people who conversed at length with a chatbot’s simulated persona and reported experiencing delusions and emotional trauma. In one reported case, a man became convinced that ChatGPT was sentient and later took his own life. These situations are tragic and call for genuine compassion. Unfortunately, if these lawsuits succeed, they’ll effectively impose an unworkable expectation on anyone creating a chatbot to scrub anything that could trigger its most vulnerable users. Everyone, even fully capable adults, would be effectively treated as if they are on suicide watch. That’s a standard that would chill open discourse.” (11/24/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/case-treating-adults-adults-when-it-comes-ai-chatbots
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28) A Henry Ford for Housing
Source: Law & Liberty
by Nathan Smith
“To house people more affordably, we need to make homebuilding more efficient. But a deeply entrenched overregulation of land use and the building trades keeps homebuilding firms small and backward. Other industries — aviation, computing, agriculture, containerized shipping, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications, and so on — have raised productivity through deregulation, big business, innovation, automation, standardization, and scalability. Homebuilding needs to follow suit.” (11/24/25)
https://lawliberty.org/a-henry-ford-for-housing/
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29) Extracting minerals in Africa – for Africa
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“This week, top leaders of Africa and Europe gathered in Angola in an attempt to answer this question: Can ethical business practices win out in the global race to extract Africa’s vast mineral resources? The moral tone for the summit was set last month by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In a speech, she said Europe seeks critical materials for its China-challenged industries but ‘not just for Europe’s needs – but with local processing and added value [in Africa].’ In other words, can European mining companies help Africa process its raw minerals into consumer and industrial goods while also boosting local jobs and local skills? For some countries in Europe, that would mean a shift away from how it often treats former colonies. As President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic put it in September, ‘The era of Africa’s dependence is over.'” (11/24/25)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2025/1124/Extracting-minerals-in-Africa-for-Africa
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30) The Fed Doesn’t Determine the Price of Credit. Markets Do
Source: The Daily Economy
by Alexander W Salter
“Recent movements in short-term loan markets are a timely reminder of a forgotten truth: The Federal Reserve is not the master of credit conditions. It can influence interest rates, but it cannot dictate them. Interest rates ultimately reflect supply and demand conditions in the broader financial system. When those conditions shift, the Fed’s administered rates give way to market realities. That’s precisely what we’re seeing in the repo market now.” (11/24/25)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-fed-doesnt-determine-the-price-of-credit-markets-do/
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31) The Hot Tub of Death?: Bill Gates, Hurricane Melissa, and a Civilization Under Threat
Source: TomDispatch
by Juan Cole
“In late October, Hurricane Melissa (that should have been called ‘Godzilla’) battered western Jamaica with 185-mile-an-hour winds. It tossed the roofs of buildings about like splintering javelins, demolished municipal buildings and hospitals, snapped telephone poles like matchsticks, flattened crops, and dumped torrential floodwaters everywhere, leaving $8 billion in damage. That Category 5 storm’s unprecedented ferocity was driven by an overheated Caribbean Sea, produced by 275 years of industrial civilization that has spewed obscene amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually. The same week that U.N. officials spoke of an ‘apocalypse’ in Jamaica, American billionaire Bill Gates expressed a certain unease about officials and scientists concerned with climate change who, he thought, were being hysterical.” (11/24/25)
https://tomdispatch.com/the-hot-tub-of-death/
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32) Weaponised Lawfare as Domestic and International Threat to Western Democracies
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Ramesh Thakur
“Lawfare, when weaponised, can pose a double threat to democracies. Domestically, the rule of law is an integral component of the theory of liberal democracy, and it underpins the institutions and practices of democratic governance. The expansion of the role of the state in regulating an increasing range of individuals’ and private entities’ behaviour has led to a proliferation of lawfare that can frustrate the ability of governments to govern and, in turn, lessen their legitimacy. In its international dimension, the rule of law should tame the exercise of power by states and mediate relations between the strong and the weak and the rich and the poor. However, illiberal states have no scope for activists using law to rein in their excesses, and no effective checks can be exercised on the strong behaving badly.” (11/24/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/weaponised-lawfare-as-domestic-and-international-threat-to-western-democracies/
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33) It Should Be Illegal To Use AI To Deceive People
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“It should be against the law to use generative AI to deceive the public. I’ve got absolutely no problem with outright government censorship in this case, and I say this as an aggressive and outspoken proponent of free speech. AI products which deceive people should be illegal in the same way fraud is illegal. I want it to be illegal to knowingly circulate AI video footage and pass it off as real. I want AI companies to be severely penalized if they don’t prevent people from using their products to generate fake videos that get passed off as real.” [editor’s note: When you say you have “no problem with government censorship” in ANY case, you are by definition not “an aggressive and outspoken proponent of free speech” – TLK (11/24/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/11/24/it-should-be-illegal-to-use-ai-to-deceive-people/
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34) Enchanted by Socialism
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“The Fabian Society was founded in 1884 in London as a socialist organization committed to gradual change rather than violent revolution. It has served as the primary think tank of Britain’s Labour Party, which means it’s steeped in so-called democratic socialism. Their original logo is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The Fabian Society took its name from Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus, known for wearing down enemies through patient, deliberate tactics rather than direct attacks. The name is meant to reflect the society’s commitment to gradualism. No violence. No gulags. No famines. Just slow ‘permeation.’ But a wolf is still a wolf. And socialism is still a predatory project.” (11/24/25)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/enchanted-by-socialism
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35) Democracy at Risk
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“The European Union has just unveiled the so-called European Democracy Shield. The name, while promising, claims to ‘protect’ democracy on the basis of two pillars which, on principle, should raise concerns: combating ‘disinformation’ and ‘foreign interference.’ To that end, the EU will create a new European Centre for Democratic Resilience, intended to collect data from Member States on information manipulation; foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI); and phenomena classified as disinformation. The same package also includes a European network of independent fact-checkers and a European Digital Media Observatory, which will be endowed with monitoring and analytical capacities during elections or moments of crisis. Regarding free elections and the risk of foreign interference, the Commission additionally proposes to finance ‘independent journalism.’ The irony that journalism financed by political institutions can never be genuinely independent seems lost on the Commission.” (11/24/25)
https://fee.org/articles/democracy-at-risk/
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36) Most Americans Think Free Speech Is on the Decline, Survey Finds
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“Cancellations, sometimes violent protests, behind-the-scenes censorship, and overt government threats to muzzle the media. Free speech is doing better in the U.S. than elsewhere in the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s doing well. It’s besieged by hostile politician and a shifting culture that is eroding the foundations of tolerance for dissent and an open marketplace of ideas. That has Americans worried, though even as they fret over the future of free speech a significant minority contribute to the problem.” (11/24/25)
https://reason.com/2025/11/24/most-americans-think-free-speech-is-on-the-decline-survey-finds/
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37) High time liberal judges are held accountable for failing to lock up violent career criminals
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine
“Liberal judges who decide not to jail violent career criminals and sadistic psychopaths ought to be held liable when the felons attack innocent citizens. Two horrendous, unprovoked attacks on helpless young women on public transit in recent weeks would never have happened if the legal system had done what it’s designed to do. Instead, BLM-inspired reparatory justice has endangered the most vulnerable among us — women, children, the elderly and disabled. We pay police and judges to keep evil and dangerous predators away from weak and defenseless innocents. Yet radical Democrats who have taken over blue cities are hellbent on a destructive ideological crusade to defund the police, close the jails and install obedient judges who side with the perpetrator over the victim.” (11/23/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/11/23/opinion/its-high-time-liberal-judges-are-held-accountable-for-failing-to-lock-up-violent-career-criminals/
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38) Universal pre-K is an expensive experiment
Source: Bluegrass Institute
by Caleb O Brown & Colleen Hroncich
“Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman’s passionate case for guaranteeing preschool access for every 4-year-old in the state deserves scrutiny. The evidence for universal pre-K as an economic development strategy is far weaker than she suggests. Kentucky families deserve honesty about what this expensive and expansive program can – and cannot – deliver. Coleman omits the most rigorous recent research on the subject. Researchers from Vanderbilt University followed nearly 3,000 low-income children through sixth grade with alarming results: Children who attended Tennessee’s Voluntary Pre‑K (TN-VPK) program fared worse on a range of metrics compared with children who didn’t attend.” (11/24/25)
https://www.bluegrassinstitute.org/universal-pre-k-is-an-expensive-experiment/
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39) Back From the Dead: Resurrecting the Ukraine Peace Plan
Source: Antiwar.com
by Ted Snider
“Between the Trump-Putin meeting in Anchorage Alaska and the proposed Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest, the diplomatic track that the U.S. and Russia were on seemed to die. In October, Trump and Putin had a ‘very productive’ two hour phone call that led to a phone call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov that was to lay the groundwork for a meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest. But, by the time Rubio had hung up the phone, the Budapest meeting was off. … But then hints emerged that restarting talks may not be impossible.” (11/24/25)
https://original.antiwar.com/ted_snider/2025/11/23/back-from-the-dead-resurrecting-the-ukraine-peace-plan
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40) What does US “national interest” really mean?
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Christopher Mott
“In foreign policy discourse, the phrase ‘the national interest’ gets used with an almost ubiquitous frequency, which could lead one to assume it is a strongly defined and absolute term. Most debates, particularly around changing course in diplomatic strategy or advocating for or against some kind of economic or military intervention, invoke the phrase as justification for their recommended path forward. But what is the national interest, really?” (11/24/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/national-interests/
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41) NSPM-7: A Blueprint for Silencing Progressive Movements
Source: Common Dreams
by Barry Trachtenberg
“In the past few months, the Trump administration has intensified its assault on political dissent. The September 25 release of National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, titled ‘Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,’ capitalized upon the shooting death of Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk and marked an alarming escalation in the regime’s suppression of political dissent in the name of national security. The NSPM-7 memorandum casts a wide net by identifying a wide swath of previously protected criticisms of American policy, capitalism, Christian nationalism, and fascism as potential threats to US security. This language reveals the government’s effort to construct a political category of terrorism so broad that it can encompass nearly any form of progressive or left-aligned civil society work.” (11/24/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/what-is-nspm-7-2674337917
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42) We’re Led by an Administration of Liars
Source: The Bulwark
by Jill Lawrence
“The Trump administration’s lying-to-Congress case against former FBI director James Comey is a comedy of legal errors that could move offstage soon. But it has highlighted the plain fact that American life and America itself are now being shaped — in terrible, even tragic ways — by people who really did mislead and outright lie to Congress under oath. Let’s start at the top. Not just once but twice, Donald Trump put his hand on a Bible and swore to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ He’s been violating that oath, and lying nonstop in all conceivable venues, ever since. Right below Trump on the organizational chart is the problem wreaking daily havoc on the country: that so many of these havoc perpetrators were less than forthright when they were trying to get their jobs.” (11/24/25)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-administration-of-liars
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43) Foreign Policy, Justin Raimondo Style
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by David Brady, Jr.
“Raimondo spent much of his time polemicizing on the latest intervention abroad, but, in 2011, he wrote two articles ‘Why Governments Make War’ and ‘Looking at the Big Picture’ wherein he articulates his theory of libertarian realism. He juxtaposes his theory with traditional realism, that emphasizes the supposed interests of broad states, liberalism, which promises perpetual peace in the tradition of Immanuel Kant, and Marxism, which sees all conflicts as products of the capitalist class structure. Libertarian realism looks to domestic political pressures and influences to inform it on the reason why a state’s foreign policy looks the way it does. If Nobel Prize winner James Buchanan characterized his public choice theory as ‘politics without romance,’ then Raimondo’s realism is international relations without romance.” (11/23/25)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/foreign-policy-justin-raimondo-style
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44) It’s Time To Privatize Air Travel
Source: Independent Institute
by Scott Beyer
“The idea that only government can keep air travel running makes no sense in an era of political dysfunction.” (11/23/25)
https://www.independent.org/article/2025/11/23/its-time-to-privatize-air-travel/
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45) Five reasons Trump’s Ukraine plan is deal Putin can’t afford to refuse
Source: Fox News
by Rebecca Grant
“Over the weekend, representatives of the United States and Ukraine met in Geneva for talks that were ‘highly productive,’ according to the White House. On the table now is a draft 28-point plan that represents a solid business deal for Ukraine. This plan is no victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He didn’t get Ukraine or eliminate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ‘Something good just may be happening,’ former President Donald Trump said Monday morning. The loss of territory in the Donbas region is painful and tragic. Unfortunately, Russia still has enough missiles to pummel Ukraine’s cities and energy infrastructure for years. It is a daily humanitarian disaster. This war must end — for America’s sake, too. Since 2022, it has unleashed global geopolitical chaos, with China bankrolling Russia’s invasion and Putin reportedly trading nuclear weapons design secrets for North Korean ammunition and soldiers.” (11/24/25)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/five-reasons-trumps-ukraine-plan-deal-putin-cant-afford-refuse
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46) Palestine Doesn’t Need Another Oslo: Could Hamas Become the New Fatah?
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid
“Israel has violated the shit out of this so-called peace deal. The only thing that’s really changed is that Hamas is no longer firing back and that was the real point behind that theatric signing ceremony on the Senai Peninsula. Neither Israel nor Hamas were even present for the shindig at Sharm El-Sheik. The papers were signed by Qatari Emir Sheik Tamin Bin Hamad al Thani and Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Hamas'[s] two largest foreign financiers, along with Pharoah Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, who polices Gaza’s western borders. The real deal was for those thugs to agree to pressure Hamas into giving up just so long as Israel allows them to share in the profits of the resort Donald Trump plans to build on the graves of 5% of the Strip’s Population.” (11/23/25)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2025/11/palestine-doesnt-need-another-oslo.html
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47) Why don’t we recognize class rule?
Source: The Peaceful Revolutionist
by David S D’Amato
“Where primitive societies understood power and thus sought to preempt it and foreclose political domination, our modern societies obsess about and worship power. This bad habit puts our lives and those of our children and grandchildren at risk, and it makes movement in the direction of a free society almost impossible. This is among the many reasons we ought to be deeply disturbed by and uncomfortable with standard political taxonomies such as left vs. right, liberal vs. conservative, etc. These binaries lead to shallow and confused analysis because they do not even attempt to understand the structural realities driving today’s states. These frameworks don’t know how to talk about or understand the relationship between the state and capital or the development of authoritarian power during the modern era.” (11/23/25)
https://dsdamato.substack.com/p/why-dont-we-recognize-class-rule
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48) The signs of educational decline are now impossible to ignore
Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle
“[S]olving problems is hard, and in politics, it often involves taking on well-organized constituencies that will wave away the smoke and insist that everything is just fine. So institutions often choose to disregard the underlying issues and simply whack the alarm with a hammer until it stops beeping. There has been a lot of that going on recently, most notably in education. Instead of rectifying disparities in preparation and achievement, people decided it would be simpler to adjust the measurements.” (11/23/25)
https://archive.is/WvjRf
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49) It Is Up to Us to Defend Democracy [sic]
Source: Our Future
by Sulma Arias
“As many of you know, at People’s Action we have been thinking about and preparing for this moment for some time. Our 2023 report, The Antidote to Authoritarianism, issued a call to develop a shared playbook of the most effective tactics to stop the rise of an authoritarian regime. We have now done this, and are moving into action. Twenty national organizations endorsed our original call for an Organizing Revival. That number has since swelled to more than sixty, and more than four hundred state and local organizations, all across the country and in every state. Together with these partners and new friends, such as the May Day Strong alliance, we have trained more than 1,200 organizers across the country and are training more every day, so we can defend democracy while we still can. We welcome anyone who wants to join us.” (11/24/25)
https://ourfuture.org/20251124/it-is-up-to-us-to-defend-democracy
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50) Trump the peace candidate became another war president
Source: Orange County Register
by John Seiler
“A couple hours before I began writing this column, I drove from Irvine up the 405 to the VA Long Beach Healthcare System for a routine appointment. At the hospital I saw two veterans in their 40s in wheelchairs. Although it’s possible they suffered civilian accidents, more likely their legs were blown off by IEDs — improvised explosive devices — in the Iraq War two decades ago. I backed President Donald Trump in three elections because I hoped he would end such senseless ‘regime-change wars,’ as Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called them. He promised to be a ‘peace president.’ Instead, recently he perpetrated the nonjudicial killings of 76 ‘narco-terrorists,’ who could just be fishermen given the lack of actual information, in violation of international law. … Worse is his inability to end the Ukraine War ‘in 24 hours,’ as he promised. … Then there’s the Middle East.” (11/23/25)
https://archive.is/Mphve
_____ Today's Freedom Podcast and Video _____
51) Reason Roundtable, 11/24/25
Source: Reason
Source: Reason
"Trump Embraces Mamdani Socialism as 'Practical.'" (11/24/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/11/24/trump-embraces-mamdani-socialism-as-practical/
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52) Conflicts of Interest, episode 855
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Will Trump Force Zelensky to Accept his Ukraine Peace Deal?” (11/24/25)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/kyle/coi-855-will-trump-force-zelensky-to-accept-his-ukraine-peace-deal
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53) George Conway Explains It All, 11/24/25
Source: The Bulwark
“How Trump Plans to Bury the Epstein Files.” (11/24/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiOJhSOp0Ng
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54) Rising, 11/24/25
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers his radar on a new feature on X that allows users to see what country an account is based in, leading to the discovery that some ‘America First’ accounts are not from America.” (11/24/25)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5620165-rising-november-24-2025/
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55) History of Modern Politics, 11/24/25
Source: We Are Libertarians
“Chris Spangle and Matt Wittlief reunite to bring back History of Modern Politics after a long hiatus. In this episode, they explain why the show is returning, how seasons two and three are already underway, and what listeners can expect as they continue tracing political thought from the Roman Republic to the American founding.” (11/24/25)
https://www.chrisspangle.com/p/history-of-modern-politics-is-back
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56) Fountainhead Forum, episode 392
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Amanda Griffiths on Austin Petersen’s ‘libertarian nationalism.'” (11/24/25)
https://rumble.com/v72683a-ff-392-amanda-griffiths-on-austin-petersens-libertarian-nationalism.html
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57) TechTank, season 5, episode 31
Source: TechTank
“The Age of Extraction: A discussion on Tim Wu’s new book.” (11/24/25)
https://shows.acast.com/tech-tank/episodes/the-age-of-extraction-a-discussion-on-tim-wus-new-book
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58) EconTalk, 11/24/25
Source: EconTalk
“The Status Game (with Will Storr).” (11/24/25)
https://www.econtalk.org/the-status-game-with-will-storr/
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59) The Dispatch Podcast, 11/24/25
Source: The Dispatch
“Your Children Are Too Online | Interview: Dr. Jean Twenge” (11/24/25)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/dispatch-podcast/your-children-are-too-online-interview-dr-jean-twenge/
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60) Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 11/24/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Bombs Somalia for 100th Time This Year, Israel Launches Another Bombardment in Gaza, and More.” (11/24/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2JBxHyID7Y
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