“The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment slipped to a 57-year last week as layoffs remained low against the backdrop of a resilient labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 189,000 for the week ended October 31, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 196,000 claims for the latest week. Claims matched the 189,000 level touched in mid-July, which was the lowest reading since 1969. They have stayed mostly below 200,000 since mid-September.” (11/05/26)
“Senate Republicans are staring down their last chance to move key priorities during the end-of-year lame-duck session after suffering a beating in the midterm elections. With the hourglass dwindling, Republican leaders are faced with decisions in the final weeks of unified government as they attempt to balance bipartisan year-end priorities with advancing party goals before handing over control to Democrats.” (11/05/26)
‘One of the most important developments in American religion over the past several decades has been the rise of the ‘Nones’—people who tell pollsters they have no religious affiliation. According to the Pew Research Center, about 29% of American adults now fall into this category, compared with 16% in 2007. Among younger Americans, the figure is even higher. Many observers see these numbers as evidence of the continuing secularization of American society. A provocative new book challenges this conventional wisdom.” (11/05/26)
“Trump’s unconstitutional policies on tariffs, the Iran War, and immigration played a big role in his party’s enormous ‘Blue Tsunami’ election defeat.” (11/05/26)
“The Bank of England announced its first interest rate hike in over three years on Thursday, as it raised its key rate by 25 basis points to 4%. The widely anticipated move marked the bank’s first hike since Aug. 2023, and made it the last major central bank to embark on a tightening cycle since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran eight months ago. The majority of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted for the quarter-point hike, with the motion passing by 8 votes to 1. The dissenting member voted to raise the bank’s key interest rate by 50 basis points to 4.25%.” (11/05/26)
“One thing is for certain: the prospects for 2028 are better than ever, and I don’t just mean the electoral math. I mean the literal security of the elections themselves. One fear that was expressed to me consistently throughout the year was that the administration would use its election interference efforts as a testing ground for what it would do in 2028. Well, those efforts were entirely pathetic and now they will have far, far fewer options in 2028 than they did this year.” (11/05/26)
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Clayton J Baker, MD
“Having yellow-stained fingers is associated with lung cancer, but we know that the association does not reflect causality. Yellow-stained fingers do not cause lung cancer. Rather, the association is explained by smoking — a confounder — a cause of both yellow fingers and lung cancer. Suppose a group of researchers reported that the association in question was not removed after adjustment for smoking status. Obviously, something is wrong, either in the data or in the way it was analyzed. Regardless of the reason, we will not trust any inference from that study, including the estimated effect of smoking. It is equivalent to rejecting a witness’s entire testimony after detecting a single relevant lie. That’s an analogy, of course, not a claim about intentional lying by the researchers.” (11/05/26)
