“The map below shows the state of the U.S. Senate after the 2012 election: a blue state indicates both of the state’s senators are Democrats, a red state indicates both are Republicans, and a purple state means there’s one senator from each party. Notice anything interesting about this map? As a result of the 2012 election, a whopping 16 states had both a Democratic and a Republican U.S. senator. As of 2025, only two states have representation from both parties. … Meanwhile, in 2025, pundits warn of a permanent Republican majority in the Senate. Yes, the Democrats had a strong night last night with wins in Virginia’s and New Jersey’s gubernatorial races and in down-ballot races across the country, but those are a handful of elections in an off-cycle year and do not dent the Republicans’ dominance in the middle of the country and particularly in the Senate.” (11/05/25)
“When I taught at the University of Rochester from 1975 to 1979 and Santa Clara University from 1980 to 1981, I didn’t tell students my political beliefs. Here was the problem: I don’t have a poker face. So, for example, when I taught about the effects of rent controls on the quantity and quality of housing, I was probably showing with facial expressions that I thought rent controls were a bad idea. In a way, it seemed phony. Don’t tell your students your views explicitly. But tell them with your facial expressions and body language. I remember struggling with this very early in my teaching career at Rochester and discussing it with seasoned history professor Ralph Raico at Buffalo State. He pointed out that it would be strange to study a discipline carefully for years and not reach conclusions and so, according to him, there was nothing wrong with stating my views explicitly.” (11/05/25)
Source: Niskanen Center
by Niskanen Immigration Team
“Much of the current support for hard-line immigration policies reflects legitimate frustration with a chronically dysfunctional system, heightened by the stark divergence from the prior administration’s policies. Yet both approaches have failed to deliver the durable solutions that the United States needs to grow and thrive and to restore Americans’ confidence in our government’s ability to get things done. This paper proposes a new approach: a blueprint on which to build an effective, high-performing immigration system.” (11/06/25)
“Switzerland’s top court has rejected an appeal by four protesters who were convicted of public incitement to a crime over a banner that called for the killing of Turkey’s president at a demonstration more than 8 years ago. In a statement Wednesday, the Federal Tribunal said it upheld a lower court’s decision over the banner that read ‘Kill Erdogan with his own weapons’ — a reference to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — at a March 2017 protest in the Swiss capital, Bern. The banner featured an image of the Turkish leader with a gun pointed at his temple. A regional court convicted the defendants in 2020, handing down fines and suspended prison sentences.” (11/05/25)
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Charlotte Kuperwasser
“I’m going to touch on a highly controversial subject, one that has become the third rail among cancer biologists and the broader medical community: the possible link between Covid-19 vaccination and cancer. Because my laboratory’s mission is centered on cancer prevention, I cannot in good conscience ignore the elephant in the room. As my colleague, internationally renowned cancer biologist Dr. Wafik El-Deiry, and I articulated in the September ACIP meeting on Covid vaccines, nearly 50 publications have reported a temporal association between Covid-19 mRNA vaccination and the onset of cancer.” (11/05/25)
“The Federal Aviation Administration will begin cutting the number of flights in the ‘high traffic’ parts of the country as the government shutdown grinds on and local airports have reported staffing shortages, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday. ‘There is going to be a 10% reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations,’ Duffy said. ‘This is about where’s the pressure and how do we alleviate the pressure.’ FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said the reduction in capacity, spurred by ‘fatigue’ plaguing air traffic controllers, would start Friday.” (11/05/25)
“More or less open corruption in the White House. Pardons for sale. Wanton murder on the high seas. Using the Justice Department as a political hit squad. Chief Justice John Roberts’[s] creation, ex nihilo, of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution looks dumber every day. … While the DOJ has long held a prudential policy of not indicting presidents, there is no legitimate constitutional principle holding that the president or any other elected official is constitutionally immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office and under color of official deeds. The separation of powers does not require one: We do not, for example, insist that corrupt senators cannot be arrested by the FBI or prosecuted by the DOJ because FBI agents and DOJ lawyers are part of the executive branch.” (11/05/25)
