“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Monday it’s investigating a new sexual battery allegation against hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who is serving a four-year prison sentence on prostitution-related convictions. … A male music producer and publicist said he was asked to come to a photo shoot in 2020 at a Los Angeles warehouse, where Combs exposed himself while masturbating and told the accuser to assist, according to NBC News, citing a police report. Combs then tossed a dirty shirt at the man, the producer said. The accuser, whose name is redacted in the police report, said he did not tell anyone for several years because he felt embarrassed. He came forward to police in Largo, Florida, this September, shortly after Combs was convicted on other charges.” (11/18/25)
“As Donald Trump continues to ramp up his immigration raids and slash social programs, one theme is consistent through his press conferences and executive orders: class war. Not just the one enforced by ICE raids, mass kidnappings, and deportations, but one that he is aiming to invade and bomb Venezuela, Mexico, and now Colombia in the so-called ‘war on drugs.’ These attacks on the working class are part of the same imperial system, and they must be opposed with equal force, organization, and clear politics.” (11/18/25)
“Laura Loomer has never been subtle about her support for Israel. Just a few months ago, she described the diminutive state as a ‘wall protecting the U.S. from mass Islamic invasion.’ So it came as something of a surprise last week when, seemingly out of nowhere, Loomer called for the U.S. to end all aid to Israel. But her logic is fairly straightforward. … In Loomer’s view, the financial support amounts to ‘golden handcuffs’ — a needless restriction on Israeli actions that also acts as a ‘constant source of agitation’ in the U.S. … It’s probably safe to say that, these days, most advocates of cutting off aid to Israel are motivated by anger at Israeli policies in Gaza. But skepticism toward aid has never been limited to Israel’s critics.” (11/18/25)
“France Tuesday promoted Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army captain wrongly convicted of treason in 1894, to the rank of brigadier general as an act of reparation in a notorious case of anti-Semitism that has caused outrage for generations. … Dreyfus, a 36-year-old army captain from the Alsace region of eastern France, was accused in October 1894 of passing secret information on new artillery equipment to a German military attache. … Despite a lack of evidence, Dreyfus was convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Devil’s Island penal colony in French Guiana and publicly stripped of his rank. … Only in 1906, after many twists, did the high court of appeal overturn the original verdict, exonerating Dreyfus. He was reinstated with the rank of major and decorated with a Legion d’Honneur award. He served during World War I and died in 1935, aged 76.” (11/18/25)
“The 60-vote supermajority the United States Senate needs to end debate and vote on legislation is a small‑r republican measure, not a small‑d democratic one. Reasonable people can disagree over its merits, certainly, but I like the greater consensus it requires. What I don’t like is that the party in control of the Senate can at any time change the filibuster rule in any way it wishes, including ending it altogether. Rules shouldn’t be this easy to junk. Make the Senate filibuster not just a rule, but constitutional law.” (11/18/25)
Source: The American Conservative
by John J Mearscheimer
“Europe is in deep trouble today, mainly because of the Ukraine war, which has played a key role in undermining what had been a largely peaceful region. Unfortunately, the situation is not likely to improve in the years ahead. In fact, Europe is likely to be less stable moving forward than it is today.” (11/18/25)
“Cloudflare, a company that helps websites secure and manage their internet traffic, experienced issues with its global network, the company said early Tuesday, disrupting service for many websites and apps.
‘Cloudflare is aware of, and investigating an issue which potentially impacts multiple customers,’ the company posted in a status update shortly before 7 a.m. ‘We are working to understand the full impact and mitigate this problem.’ In an update about 20 minutes later, it said disruptions had begun to ease, but said it was continuing to investigate the issue. … The outage hit nearly a month after Amazon Web Services experienced problems with its service, disrupting a wide range of online services for hours.” [editor’s note: Rational Review News Digest was down for several hours due to the Cloudflare problems, but it remains the best CDN/caching solution I’ve found – TLK] (11/18/25)
