Source: The Fifth Column
“[Y[our favorite podcast hosts plus special guests Peter Meijer, Jessica Tarlov, Jamie Kirchick, Mary Katharine Ham, Josh Barro, Megan McArdle, Ben Dreyfuss, Jonathan Martin and more!” (11/03/26)
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Four oil tankers caught fire after hitting mines while attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran said Wednesday, after it warned no one would benefit from a return to war. It came a day after US President Donald Trump said the United States had launched strikes on the Islamic republic, following reports of a raid on Qeshm, the largest island in the strait. … Indirect contact between the United States and Iran via mediators has continued with little sign of any diplomatic breakthrough, and Iran has said it is ready to reopen the strait but only if Washington agrees to a long-standing list of demands.” (11/04/26)
Source: Expression
by Cary Davis
“Think of a political or social issue you care about. Now imagine your local city council is considering taking some action related to that issue. You decide to show up to the public comment period and make your voice heard. Then you learn that local police will be monitoring the meeting, looking specifically for ‘unusual questions,’ ‘verbal conflict,’ ’emotional confrontations,’ ‘social media amplification,’ and more. Such conduct will be treated as ‘suspicious behavior’ posing ‘public safety risks.’ Would you think twice about freely sharing your opinion? Unfortunately, that thought experiment isn’t hypothetical.” (11/03/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/when-police-treat-free-speech-as
Source: Yahoo! News
“A federal judge in Oregon says he can no longer assume ICE agents are telling the truth in their arrest paperwork, declaring Monday that live testimony is now ‘necessary’ after finding that warrantless arrests are still being made and facts are being ‘fabricated in official records’ by immigration officers. In a 50-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai ruled that ICE repeatedly violated an existing court order governing warrantless immigration arrests in the Beaver State, with inaccurate reports, missing records and accounts that did not match what actually happened. The judge’s loss of confidence in the agency was so pronounced that he withdrew the usual presumption that government officials have properly performed their duties.” (11/03/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/federal-judge-strips-ice-presumption-192003753.html
Source: Cato Institute
by David Inserra
“On October 21, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay the state $25 billion for violating its Unfair Practices Act. That penalty is massive. But the bigger problem is how the judgment treats the gap between a platform’s moderation promises and its imperfect enforcement as deception, penalizing platforms for moderating protected speech and sidestepping Section 230 and the First Amendment. If nothing is done to stop these attacks on free expression, we will all lose access to online platforms, big and small, as we know them.” (11/03/26)
https://www.cato.org/blog/speech-will-pay-new-mexicos-25-billion-meta-penalty
Source: AOL
“Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure overnight left more than 180,000 customers in the Zhytomyr region without power and heavily damaged a facility belonging to private energy firm DTEK in the Odesa region, officials and the company said. Scheduled power outages were in place across the Odesa region. About 130 settlements in the Zhytomyr region were without electricity on Tuesday morning, according to its governor, Vitalii Bunechko. No deaths or injuries were reported.” (11/03/26)
https://www.aol.com/articles/russian-attacks-hit-energy-facilities-065508000.html
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“Notwithstanding the manifest failure of America’s welfare-warfare state and managed-society way of life, with its massive spending, taxation, inflation, and debt, Americans unfortunately remain wedded to this dysfunctional system. The midterm elections are simply a battle over who will exercise the power and dispense the largess that comes with the evil and immoral systems that have destroyed our liberty, privacy, and well-being. To get our nation back on the right track, Americans must move beyond trying to elect the ‘right’ people to public office through a political game of musical chairs.” (11/03/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/11/03/meaningless-midterms-in-terms-of-liberty/
Source: The Hill
“President Trump said on Tuesday that he has reached a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that will end U.S. aid to Israel this year. Trump said in an interview with ‘Fox and Friends’ that he and Netanyahu made a deal ‘months ago’ for Washington to end its aid to Israel. ‘They’re fine with it,’ the president said. ‘They’ve become a very successful country, They don’t need it, and we won’t be paying anymore.’ Trump noted that the U.S. would ‘help’ Israel if they need it, noting the Middle Eastern country has been ‘a great ally.'” (11/03/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6191387-trump-netanyahu-end-us-aid/
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul
“The Trump-era Republican record of debt and war makes Republicans, with few exceptions, unworthy of support. However, many Democrats offer an unacceptable alternative.” (11/03/26)
Source: CBS News
“Tennessee National Guard troops in Memphis last summer trained their handguns on a man as he lay dying on a sidewalk after a guard member shot him in the back, video released Monday by county prosecutors shows. A Memphis police officer can be heard in the footage from an officer’s body camera calling for an ambulance and then asking the troops, ‘Hey, you guys got a medical kit or anything?’ … [Tyrin] Johnson, 20, who had been armed, died at the scene from a single gunshot wound, according to investigators. An autopsy report shared by Johnson’s family found that he was shot in the back, contradicting police and National Guard accounts that said he was facing the guard members with a gun when they fired at him.” (11/03/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bodycam-video-moments-after-man-fatally-shot-national-guard-memphis/