“One answer to why Reinventing Government failed is that its authors misunderstood the problem, or preferred not to understand it. In this view, the problem is not that good civil servants are trapped in bad systems. It is that civil servants constitute a ‘deep state’ that undermines elected officials and does the bidding of an unaccountable elite. Whatever the merits of this position, the second Trump administration has advanced a breathtakingly extreme version of it.” (11/19/25)
“An Arlington homeowner shot an intruder who broke into his house Tuesday afternoon, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said. JSO said the armed intruder broke into a rear bedroom window at a home on Arlex Drive North around 12:45 p.m. Then, led the man to the back bedroom, where he demanded valuables and car keys. The man was able to retrieve his gun from the bedroom and shot the man in the shoulder, police said. … The intruder was taken to the hospital in police custody.” (11/18/25)
“Remind me again why any reasonable person expects the federal government to obey the law. The Trump administration this week gravely imperiled the nation’s water supply by curtailing federal regulations over dry land. Or at least that’s the story the media is hustling. A Washington Post headline epitomized the fretting: ‘Trump proposal would limit protections for U.S. waterways’ by narrowing the definition of wetlands. The Post did not mention that mere puddles or land that is dry 350 days a year have been categorized as ‘waters of the United States’ under the Clean Water Act.” (11/19/25)
“The FAA’s centralized monopoly makes American airspace hostage to congressional dysfunction. When budget negotiations collapse, so does air travel: controllers go unpaid, certifications halt, and the entire system seizes up. Regulatory capture turns these risks into body counts. During the 737 MAX disaster, the FAA delegated oversight to Boeing’s own engineers — 346 people died in two crashes over five months without independent review. Meanwhile, startups like Connect Airlines collapsed after months waiting for approvals that never came. The FAA is designed for stagnation, favoring industry giants with bailouts and expedited certifications while strangling startups with delays — protecting incumbents and gatekeeping competition. Canada once faced similar challenges. Then, in 1996, it privatized air traffic control. Nav Canada now operates on user fees, not tax revenue, and it delivers demonstrably superior performance.” (11/19/25)
“‘Military’ and ‘foreign policy’ are not magic words that automatically get the government out of court. However, similarly to what the Bush administration claimed during the War on Terror, the Trump administration is advancing that argument in various contexts, from deportations to sending the National Guard into cities that have not requested them. And some judges want to submit to this ‘magic.’ The Supreme Court should shut this hocus-pocus down before it unleashes unrestrained power in the name of ‘judicial restraint.'” (11/19/25)
“A schoolgirl who was abducted with 24 others from a dormitory in northwestern Nigeria has escaped and is safe, the school’s principal told The Associated Press on Tuesday, as hunters joined security forces in the search for the missing students in forests close to the school. The girls were kidnapped before dawn on Monday, when gunmen attacked the dorm at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi state’s Maga town. Local police said the gunmen scaled the fence to enter the school premises and exchanged gunfire with police officers before seizing the girls and killing a staff member. No group has claimed responsibility for taking the girls, but analysts and locals say gangs of bandits often target schools, travellers and remote villagers in kidnappings for ransom.” (11/18/25)
