The Longest Zero-Dollar Day

Well, the longest from here on out, anyway, unless this fundraiser lasts until after the winter solstice on December 21 (when the days stop shortening and start lengthening).

Our annual fundraiser total remains at $1,053.

Our goal is $5,503 — with supporter GL pledging to “match funds” for half of that once we’ve raised the first $2,751.50.

We’re a reader-supported publication.

You’re a reader. So …

PLEASE SUPPORT THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT’S DAILY NEWSPAPER!

https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd

… and have a great day!

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily

NY: Nanotyrannus skeleton sells for $47.3 million in NYC auction

Source: BBC News [UK state media]

“The mounted skeleton of a newly-identified dinosaur once mistaken for a young Tyrannosaurus rex has sold at auction for a colossal $47.3m (£35.5m). Nicknamed Jodi, the roughly 10-foot-tall (3m) skeleton was auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York. The sale comes a year after researchers confirmed that the skeleton belongs to a distinct genus. The Late Cretaceous carnivore was expected to fetch at least $9m when it went under the hammer on Tuesday. The auction comes after Sotheby’s sold a Tyrannosaurus rex, dubbed Gus, for a record $50.1m in July. The sale has reignited debate in the scientific community over whether dinosaur remains should be sold privately or displayed publicly. Sotheby’s described Jodi as an ‘excellent exhibition-ready’ skeleton with about 191 fossil-bone elements and ‘a beautifully preserved, virtually complete skull’.” (10/27/26)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmx28de233r2o

Upsides and Downsides to a Democratic Midterm Victory

Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger

“The upside to a Democratic victory in the midterm elections is that a Congress that is controlled in one or both chambers by Democrats will likely be able to limit or impede at least some of President Trump’s authoritarian proclivities. Even just hitting Trump with investigations and possibly impeachment proceedings (e.g., for his drug-war assassinations and undeclared war of aggression against Iran) would inevitably distract him so that he would not be able to devote his entire time and efforts to doing bad things to people, including Americans. Coming to mind, of course, are his tariff (i.e., tax) spree and his initiation of deadly and destructive foreign interventions and wars, such as in Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran. It is worth noting, however, that while a Democratic victory might restrain Trump, it would not restore a free and prosperous society to our land.” (10/27/26)

https://www.fff.org/2026/10/27/upsides-and-downsides-to-a-democratic-midterm-victory/

Steve Hilton has only good idea for California’s failed fake train dreams

Source: California Post
by staff

“Steve Hilton is right: California’s high-speed rail project belongs in a museum, not on a map — and certainly not on the state’s budget. The ‘bullet train to nowhere’ was supposed to link San Francisco to Los Angeles in under three hours at a cost of $33 billion by 2020. Instead, it will only link a couple of towns in the Central Valley, at a cost of over $200 billion, by 2032 at the earliest. The Republican candidate for governor says he will end the project and ‘turn it into the Government Failures National Monument’. That might actually be a profitable idea. One can imagine something like the statue parks that sprang up in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism.” (10/26/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/10/26/opinion/steve-hilton-has-only-good-idea-for-failed-high-speed-rail/

Sales of US core capital goods rise in September; shipments accelerate

Source: The Globe and Mail [Canada]

“New orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods increased in September and shipments of these products surged, suggesting business spending on equipment maintained a robust growth pace in the third quarter, though doubts are mounting over the huge cost of building out AI infrastructure. Non-defence capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending, rose 0.5 per cent last month after an unrevised 1.6-per-cent jump in August, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast these so-called core capital goods orders would advance by 0.7 per cent.” (10/27/26)

https://archive.is/tIowg

Canada Wants To Let Dementia Patients Consent to Euthanasia in Advance

Source: Reason
by Jeffrey A Singer

“Patients diagnosed with progressive dementia may know exactly how much deterioration they are willing to endure. They can articulate their wishes, discuss alternatives, and put their instructions in writing. Should losing the ability to repeat those instructions invalidate them? Canada is preparing to address that question. On October 23, its Justice Department announced planned rules that would allow adults diagnosed with an incurable illness expected to destroy their decision-making capacity to consent in advance to assisted suicide (or, as Canada calls it, medical assistance in dying (MAID)). … Competent adults should be free to choose clinician-assisted suicide or clinician-administered euthanasia, provided they give fully informed, voluntary consent and those assisting them do so willingly. That freedom should include planning for the loss of decision-making capacity.” (10/27/26)

https://reason.com/2026/10/26/canada-wants-to-let-dementia-patients-consent-to-euthanasia-in-advance/

On Google Killing 400,000 Trees To Build Data Centers In Finland

Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

“That story about Google killing hundreds of thousands of trees in Finland for its data center project is such a perfect microcosm of what capitalism is doing to our world. Recent mass media headlines are saying the tech giant ‘illegally’ cut down ‘250,000 trees’, but both claims paint an inaccurate picture of what actually happened. Google killed 400,000 trees (250,000 near a town called Muhos and another 150,000 near the village of Otanmäki), and unless the company’s executives actually wind up going to prison for this, their actions cannot properly be described as ‘illegal’. I don’t know who first coined the saying ‘If the penalty is a fine, then it’s legal for rich people’, but it certainly applies here.” (10/27/26)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/10/27/on-google-killing-400000-trees-to-build-data-centers-in-finland/

Shoppers Get a Vote—Homeowners Should, Too

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Scott Gilmer

“This November, voters in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, will decide whether to raise their city’s sales tax by half a cent. … Whatever you think of the proposal, don’t miss what is happening. Goodlettsville wants more of its taxpayers’ money, so it has to ask them first. That is how it should work anytime your local government needs more from you. Now ask yourself a simple question: when a local government wants to raise your property taxes, who does it have to ask? The answer is no one but itself. Not you, not your neighbors, not a single voter.” (10/27/26)

https://fee.org/articles/shoppers-get-a-vote-homeowners-should-too/

CA: Federal agents search Beverly Hills mansion in investigation of Swalwell

Source: SFGate

“Federal law enforcement agents searched a Beverly Hills home early Tuesday as part of an investigation into Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress amid a wave of sexual misconduct allegations, two people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press. Agents searched the home of wealthy developer and Swalwell donor Stephen Cloobeck, where the ex-Congressman spent time before resigning from office in April, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation. Swalwell [D-CA] has denied criminal wrongdoing. Messages seeking comment were left for Swalwell’s lawyer and for a lawyer who represented Cloobeck in another matter. Cloobeck, who founded the Diamond Resorts International timeshare company and ran last year for California governor, contributed more than $23,000 to Swalwell’s congressional campaigns since 2017, federal campaign finance records show. He told the New York Post in April that he cut ties with Swalwell as accusations against him mounted.” (10/27/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/ap-sources-federal-agents-search-beverly-hills-22496771.php