THANK YOU to subscribing contributors ACS and ERW, and to long-time supporter KL — the $110.50 they sent us over the weekend brings our annual fundraiser total (as of 5am) to $1,262!
As a fundraiser goes on, it sometimes feels like every day is “find a new hook to reel them in” day. Which can be annoying, I know, but until we hit $5,503 ($2,751.50 from all but one of our readers, and “matching funds” from supporter GL), I have to keep it up. Today’s hook:
Tomorrow is my 60th birthday (or would be if I still admitted to HAVING birthdays). In “celebration,” I hope to raise at least $60 more for RRND/FND by then. If the occasion moves you to donate $60, or any part thereof, to our fundraiser, I’ll be duly grateful.
Have a splendiferous day!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
Source: Law & Liberty
by Max Skjönsberg
“Nineteenth-century Ireland blended sectarian strife with sophisticated debate about representative government.” (11/09/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-irish-question-after-burke/
Source: Seattle Times
‘Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co. must add warning labels to their weight-loss and diabetes drugs about a potential rare side effect that could permanently damage patients’ vision. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will now require GLP-1 drugs including Novo’s Wegovy and Ozempic and Lilly’s Mounjaro, Zepbound and Foundayo to carry warnings that they may increase the risk of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION. The rare condition can cause decreased vision and potentially permanent vision loss.” (11/09/26)
https://archive.is/TWCWU
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Trita Parsi returns to the show to discuss what will likely happen next after voters made their opposition to Trump’s war clear in the midterm elections. Scott and Parsi dig into the dynamics within the Trump administration and talk about how Israel’s election also affects things.” (11/09/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/11-5-26-trita-parsi-on-what-happens-to-the-iran-war-after-voters-rejected-it/
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Hope Schumaker
“For all its novelty, the technology industry is not immune to the laws of economics. The principles of competition and the rules of supply and demand still apply, even to the most cutting-edge devices. Efforts to manipulate the market through bureaucratic regulation threaten to stifle both innovation from businesses and the consumer experience. Recent developments in the world of broadband internet offer a case study in the power of competition. Internet access is becoming more affordable because competition between different methods of home internet services are driving down prices.” (11/09/26)
https://fee.org/articles/a-case-study-in-competition/
Source: Fox News Forum
by Howard Kurtz
“When Donald Trump made the stunning announcement that Stephen Miller is his new chief of staff–preempting the New York Times by a few minutes–I literally said: ‘”Watch for a barrage of negative Miller stories in the next couple of days.’ I was wrong. It was the next couple of hours. MS NOW anchor Katy Tur said: ‘Donald Trump’s whole immigration agenda is Stephen Miller, and for Stephen Miller, it has always been absolutist: do whatever is necessary, as much as we can possibly do, be as cruel as possible as a warning sign for anybody who might want to come over.’ ‘Stephen Miller, one of his most notorious staffers, will instead be taking over as chief of staff,’ CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins … called him a domestic terrorist.'” [editor’s note: “Domestic terrorist” is about the gentlest accurate descriptor I’ve heard – TLK] (11/09/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/stoning-stephen-miller-now-running-trump-white-house
Source: SFGate
“A huge explosion and fire at an iron and steelworks in western Turkey left 16 people dead Monday, officials said. The fire at the HABAS plant in Aliaga, Izmir province, also injured 13 people, two of them critically, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised address following a scheduled Cabinet meeting. ‘Judicial and administrative investigations have been launched into the explosion,’ Erdogan said. ‘The reasons and circumstances of this tragic event, which has deeply saddened our nation, as well as whose negligence was involved and who is responsible, will be revealed.’ Provincial Gov. Suleyman Elban said that a crane fell into a furnace as it was replacing a boiler, causing an explosion in a nearby steel mill. There were 200 workers in the vicinity instead of the usual 300 because production had been halted for the boiler switch, he said.” (11/09/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/explosion-at-steel-plant-in-western-turkey-leaves-22520456.php
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jack Hunter
“Ten weeks ago, Donald Trump called Marjorie Taylor Greene, his former ally and a former Georgia Republican congresswoman, a ‘LOSER.’ Greene shot back that Trump was a ‘neocon puppet for Israel.’ Both of them do this a lot these days. Last week, it was Republicans who were big losers in the midterm elections. The president might have been the biggest loser of them all. Greene knew why.” (11/09/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/majorie-taylor-greene-trump-elections/
Source: American Greatness
by Stephen Soukup
“The 2014 Australian psychological horror movie ‘The Babadook’ is generally well known for a handful of things. … Mostly, however, it is known as the source of a once-ubiquitous internet meme. Long story short: ‘The main character of the film is a mother of a young boy with social difficulties who believes The Babadook, a character from a terrifying children’s book they read together, is real.’ In one particularly distressing scene, the mother (Amelia) is exasperated, driving her son (Samuel), who is screaming and generally freaking out in the back seat. Amelia, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, turns to Samuel and yells, ‘Why can’t you just be normal?!’ at which point he starts to scream louder and more violently.” (11/09/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/11/09/the-babadook-electorate/
Source: The New Republic
“Angry Trump Unravels as GOPers Openly Admit He Wrecked Their 2028 Map.” (11/09/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/217735/angry-trump-unravels-gopers-openly-admit-wrecked-2028-map
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Karat
“Sometime this weekend, perhaps late at night, you may have typed a question into the assistant that now lives inside Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It might have been about a loan you cannot cover, or a parent whose health is slipping. Since December 16, 2025, Meta has used those exchanges to choose the posts and ads you see. The company’s own example was gentle: chat with its assistant about hiking, and offers for hiking boots may follow. Reporting at the time found no opt-out short of staying away from the assistant altogether.” (11/09/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/your-data-your-money-and-you
