Politicks, 11/24/25
Source: Lions of Liberty
“Sedition or Speech? Trump Demands Trials for Six House Democrats.” (11/24/25)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
Mass Surveillance Is Powering a New Era of Pretextual Traffic Stops
Source: Reason
by Autumn Billings
“An extensive network of automatic license plate readers is being used to develop predictive intelligence to stop vehicles, violating Americans’ rights.” (11/24/25)
https://reason.com/2025/11/24/mass-surveillance-is-powering-a-new-era-of-pretextual-traffic-stops/
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)
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
Reason Roundtable, 11/24/25
Source: Reason
“Trump Embraces Mamdani Socialism as ‘Practical.'” (11/24/25)
https://reason.com/podcast/2025/11/24/trump-embraces-mamdani-socialism-as-practical/
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
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)
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)
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)
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)