THANK YOU to long-time subscribing contributor JR! His $25 in monthly contributions yesterday brings our annual fundraiser total to (as of 5am) $1,287!
Our goal is $5,503. Half of that is covered by a “matching funds” pledge from supporter GL — but we have to raise the first half from everyone else first, and we’re $1,464.50 short at the moment.
“Mini-goal” — I turn 60 today, and hope to raise AT LEAST $60. Your donation, in ANY amount you deem commensurate with the value you get from our work, helps.
Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous day!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
Source: The American Conservative
by Luke Nicastro
“Over at the New York Times last week, the conservative commentator and editor of Compact Matthew Schmitz pronounced Vice President J.D. Vance the ‘biggest loser’ of the midterm elections. Despite the popular endorsement of Vance’s own view of the war—viz., that it was an egregious mistake that should be corrected posthaste—Schmitz found in the blue tsunami only downside for the vice president. ‘J.D. Vance Is Probably Toast,’ ran the headline. … reports of Vance’s political demise are greatly exaggerated. In fact, the further we get from the initial shock and hysteria of the midterm massacre, the better his prospects look.” (11/10/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/no-j-d-vance-is-not-toast/
Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“While proponents of a wealth tax proved unsuccessful at the polls in their efforts to downsize the billionaires, it seems the financial markets are doing the job for them. The S&P 500 index fell 4.4 percent on Thursday, more than reversing its post-election rally on Wednesday. The NASDAQ dropped 5.5 percent, losing more in one day than what the wealth tax would have taken from the billionaires over 5 years.” (11/10/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/11/10/the-market-route-for-a-wealth-tax/
Source: SFGate
“Gadi Eisenkot, the politician tasked with forming a new Israeli government, pledged on Tuesday to reverse many of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies as the new parliament was sworn in. The pledge sets the stage for a consequential month of legislative action and coalition negotiations. Eisenkot, a former military chief, has up to six weeks to form a government that would end the tenure of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. While it remains unclear whether Eisenkot will be able to forge a coalition government, the new Knesset can enact legislation in the meantime. Netanyahu’s opponents now control a solid majority in parliament. Eisenkot’s bloc introduced a series of bills at the start of the legislative session that target Netanyahu and his policies.” (11/10/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/eisenkot-unveils-agenda-to-reverse-netanyahu-s-22523463.php
Source: Noahpinion
“Noah Smith and Azeem Azhar discuss the AI boom.” (11/09/26)
https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/noah-smith-and-azeem-azhar-discuss
Source: Law & Liberty
by Alex MacDonald
“Labor law was always in tension with classical liberalism. It doesn’t have to be.” (11/10/26)
https://lawliberty.org/labor-laws-illiberal-trajectory/
Source: The Bulwark
by Will Saletan
“Donald Trump has long aspired to build an impregnable edifice. Now, finally, he has done it: He has constructed a narrative of election fraud that’s completely impervious to evidence. On Monday, nearly a week after his party was trounced in the midterms, Trump wrote on Truth Social …. ‘It’s all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter!’ Like all of Trump’s allegations about massive voter fraud, this one is baseless. But as a denialist innovation, it’s marvelous. It covers all the scenarios he failed to cover in his previous tales of rigging and cheating. Anytime he loses, no matter the facts or circumstances, he can say the election was stolen.” (11/10/26)
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/donald-trump-electoral-fraud-claims-after-2026-midterms-are-evidence-proof
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Israeli forces have shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy and wounded two other teens during a raid on the village of Burqa in the occupied West Bank, according to officials. The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the victim on Tuesday as Moataz Iyad Daghlas and said Israeli authorities were withholding his body. … The Israeli military confirmed the shooting in Burqa, which is located near the city of Nablus. In a statement, the military said soldiers opened fire to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at Israeli vehicles.” (11/10/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/10/israeli-forces-kill-14-year-old-palestinian-boy-in-occupied-west-bank
Source: The Corbett Report
“How to Create A GOOD Think Tank.” (11/10/26)
https://corbettreport.com/how-to-create-a-good-think-tank/
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“Outrageous benefits have always been a feature, not a bug, of the Section 8 rental subsidy program created in 1974. In 1980, the US General Accounting Office concluded: ‘The high rents and quality of [Section 8] housing invite resentment on the part of the taxpaying public who see their subsidized neighbors living in better accommodations than they themselves can afford.’ GAO also observed that Section 8’s goal of mixing the poor and the middle class is often not achieved because Section 8 ‘housing is often so costly that … even middle-income unassisted households cannot afford to live in it.’ Federal rental handouts reward irresponsibility and perennially bring out the worst in many recipients.” (11/09/26)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2026/11/09/section-8-is-still-a-wrecking-ball/
Source: New York Post
by staff
“If its other failings weren’t maddening enough, now the $45 billion city Department of Education is hiring obvious psychos to work with kids and paying ‘principals’ $200,000 to run nonexistent schools. Sayed Mohassib allegedly slaughtered jogger Katie Suarez near the Belt Parkway in Bath Beach Oct. 30; he claims he found himself sitting on a nearby bench, drenched in blood but with no knowledge of why. Scariest of all, he was then working as a substitute paraprofessional at PS 200, a position of trust and responsibility helping young children. Did anyone check his background? After a red-flag few weeks with the NYPD, he joined the Marines only to get discharged on psychiatric grounds, then be rejected for reinstatement as a cop — and that very same day win transport to Bellevue because of his erratic behavior.” (11/10/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/11/10/opinion/nycs-public-schools-system-is-now-officially-a-45-billion-scandal-factory/
