“Donald Trump’s grandiosely announced Middle East peace plan might have been a smashing success, except that it is missing two elements: 1) peace; 2) a plan. Like the so-called Abraham Accords, the Israel-Hamas peace plan is a triumph of marketing over substance, packaging over product. Neither of the two central parties to the dispute have, in fact, agreed to any binding terms, and, in fact, neither has signed the 20-point plan. A separate ‘implementation’ document, even more vague than the 20-point plan, was signed by the parties and by their mediators, and that signature commits them to very little beyond a non-enforceable promise ‘to implement the necessary steps’ to end the conflict. … Hamas immediately violated the terms of the supposed agreement by failing to return all of the remains of the hostages; the Israelis, to the surprise of no one, immediately resumed airstrikes in Gaza. No peace. Also, no plan.” (10/22/25)
“Author Michael Wolff is suing First Lady Melania Trump in a Manhattan court over her effort to block publication of his planned tell-all book that could include details about her ties to notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the Daily News has learned. Wolff, who has penned four bestselling books about President Trump, accuses Melania Trump of launching a campaign of threats to intimidate him from digging deeper into the first couple’s friendship with Epstein, according to legal papers obtained by the News. ‘These threatened legal actions are designed to create a climate of fear in the nation so that people cannot freely or confidently exercise their First Amendment rights,’ Wolff’s 17-page claim reads. ‘The threats are also intended to shut down legitimate inquiry into the Epstein matter.’ Wolff filed his complaint against Melania Trump on Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.” (10/22/25)
“Antichrist lectures are the hot new thing in Silicon Valley, but so far they’ve honestly been kind of disappointing. Some people are giving entire lecture series without even revealing who the Antichrist is! You’d expect that to be the bare minimum! We can do better. Earlier this year, at the Manifest forecasting conference in Berkeley, I gave a presentation titled ‘Forecasting Transformative AI Using The Book Of Revelation.’ Given the renewed interest in this topic, I repost it below, in written form, with slight edits. The first two-thirds, including the section on the Antichrist, is free. In deference to the injunction by prior researchers on this topic not to ‘cast one’s pearls before swine,’ the last third (including the Whore of Babylon, the Battle of Armageddon, and the New Jerusalem) will be paywalled.” (10/22/25)
“Kentucky’s labor market continues to struggle compared to neighboring states and the national average with an unemployment rate of 4.7% – significantly higher than the national average of 4.3%. In contrast, states like Indiana and Virginia boast unemployment rates of 3.6%; Arkansas and West Virginia stand at 3.8%. A significant factor holding Kentucky back is its occupational licensing system – one of the nation’s most restrictive – which creates unnecessary barriers to employment. Occupational licensing requires individuals to meet state-mandated requirements, including education, training, exams and fees, before they can legally work in certain professions. While licensing is universal for some occupations like physicians and lawyers, Kentucky goes further, licensing 177 of the 254 occupations studied in a national report I coauthored for the Archbridge Institute.” (10/22/25)
“An appeals court on Tuesday overturned the conviction of former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe for bribery and witness tampering for which he had been sentenced to 12 years of house arrest. Uribe, 73, has denied any wrongdoing. He was sentenced in August following a nearly six-month trial in which prosecutors presented evidence that he attempted to influence witnesses who accused the law-and-order leader of having links to a paramilitary group in the 1990s. The court on Tuesday said the conviction had ‘structural deficiencies,’ used vague premises and lacked comprehensive analysis. Two of the three judges on the panel voted to overturn the conviction; the third thought it should be upheld.” (10/22/25)
“The ICBA wants people to believe that the nation’s small banks are the backbone of America. At the same time, though, they’re telling everyone that it’s critical to supply these banks with more federal backing.” (10/22/25)
“The U.S. government shutdown on Wednesday entered its 22nd day, becoming the second-longest federal funding lapse ever, with no end in sight. The milestone means that the two longest shutdowns have both occurred while President Donald Trump was in office. The longest shutdown began in December 2018, in Trump’s first term, and dragged on for nearly five weeks. That shutdown stemmed from a dispute about funding Trump’s contentious immigration policy.” (10/22/25)
It’s a “Hybrid Thursday” at the freedom movement’s daily newspaper. We’ve got a full email edition (65 items) going out this morning AND another 30-35 news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links lined up for you here at our web edition.
While you’re here …
Yesterday was, thankfully, NOT a “zero-dollar day” in our year-end fundraiser. Steve tells me that an unnamed supporter donated $10 in cash, in person, at a Nashville-area libertarian event. THANK YOU, unnamed supporter! That brings our total to $685.50 (as of 5:30am on Thursday).
Our goal is $5,501. Thanks to supporter GL’s generous “matching funds” pledge, we only have to raise $2,750.50 from our other readers … so we’re only $2,065 short of wrapping this thing up.
$65 seems like a reasonable “mini-goal” for the day. Please help us get down to the $2,000 mark before tomorrow morning at:
The sooner we wrap this fundraiser up, the sooner I stop talking about money entirely for the rest of the year and mostly until NEXT October. THANK YOU in advance for help making that happen!
