“Ever since England’s first written quasi-constitution—the 1653 Instrument of Government which created Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate but lasted only four years before being superseded—there have been documents that might have evolved into genuine constitutional frameworks. Yet even those that have acquired permanent symbolic status, such as the 1689 Bill of Rights, are still subject to the interpretative vagaries of the zeitgeist. This is, of course, true of the US Constitution, too, as the Supreme Court’s decisions in recent years have cast a new light on doctrines such as the separation of powers or the efficacy of checks and balances. A written constitution does not necessarily guarantee stability, let alone certainty. But in the British case, the absence of definitive rules is integral to the character, even the existence, of the state, which has always prided itself on its flexibility.” (11/04/26)
“Several regional blood banks were hit by a cyberattack on November 2, the French health ministry said on Wednesday, but there was no damage to blood products stored in the centres. The incident follows attacks that forced stores in eight European countries to throw away vast quantities of food after hackers tampered with their fridges on Monday, mirroring hacks that swept dozens of supermarkets in France three weeks ago.” (11/04/26)
“Those who are confident about the safety of vaccines have before them an easy route to shore up public confidence and completely shut down the anti-vaxx movement. They could open the data to what’s called the Vaccine Safety Datalink or VSD. Right now and for the past quarter century, access is severely restricted to only a handful of people at the CDC and the employees of the National Center for Health Statistics Research Data Center, which has the impossible acronym NCHSRDC, in Hyattsville, Maryland. No one can buy the database or access, not the public, not researchers at NIH, not statisticians at universities nor medical doctors at hospitals. … In effect, the VSD is among the most secretive services in the entire government, comparable to Fort Knox, the Federal Reserve, and the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency. It’s the real Puzzle Palace” (11/04/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Prior to the midterms, there were indications that President Trump might initiate another intense bombing campaign in Iran after the elections. I’ve got a better idea for the president. In light of the tsunami-like rejection of his presidency at the hands of American voters — owing partly to his illegal and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran — this would be a great time for him to do a complete reset with respect to not only Iran but also Cuba and Venezuela. Rather than bomb Iran again, Trump should order an immediate exit of all U.S. troops from the Middle East. … Lift the brutal decades-old U.S. economic embargo and the U.S. oil blockade. Leave the Cuban people alone …. It’s the same with Venezuela. Leave that country to the Venezuelan people. Stop cooperating with and making deals with Venezuela’s socialist-communist regime and Marxist ruler.” (11/04/26)
“New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani scored a legal victory Wednesday after a state appeals court cleared the way for his administration to move forward with a controversial tax on high-end second homes, according to The New York Times. The Brooklyn-based appellate court reversed a September ruling by a Staten Island judge, who found that the city mishandled the tax’s rollout and ordered officials to start over. The city appealed the decision while continuing to implement the tax, also called a pied-à-terre tax.” (11/04/26)
“The MAGA people appear to have been laboring under a number of delusions. First, they seem to be genuinely surprised by the fact that they suffered a crushing defeat in the midterm elections. In fact, polls, forecasts, and prediction markets had all been calling a Democratic victory for months now. But a lot of MAGA types appear to have believed that America always has some big hidden reservoir of shy Trump supporters out there that everyone always misses, and that this silent majority would ride to the GOP’s rescue and prove all the pollsters and forecasters wrong, as they did in 2016. To put it mildly, that did not happen.” (11/04/26)
“Bitcoin slid to about $75,740 overnight before recovering to $77,000 as U.S. midterm returns showed Democrats taking the House and closing in on the Senate, dragging stock futures and crypto lower together. … Bitcoin was not alone in witnessing a slump as CNBC reported that S&P 500 futures traded 1.1% lower, Nasdaq 100 futures shed 2% and Dow futures fell 367 points, or 0.7%. The Kobeissi Letter noted the S&P 500 was on track to open below 7,500 for the first time since July 31 as markets priced in a Democratic victory in both chambers.” (11/04/26)
