The Learning Curve, 11/25/25
Source: Pioneer Institute
“U-NM’s NYT Bestseller Paul Andrew Hutton on the American Old West.” (11/25/25)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
Ron Paul Liberty Report, 11/25/25
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Inside Bibi’s Diary.” (11/25/25)
Happy Thanksgiving (and for the love of everything good and right, PLEASE support the freedom movement’s daily newspaper)!
Hey, everyone …
Normally when we turn on the “firehose” at RRND/FND it’s a Friday. But this week Wednesday IS Friday in the US due to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. So instead of a regular 60-item email / social media edition we’ve got more than 100 news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links lined up for you here at the web edition.
We’re thankful for all 5,000 or so of our readers on the web, on social media, and via email. Especially those who’ve been with us for a long time (maybe even since the Freedom News Daily or even Libernet days going back to 1991). And MOST especially those who financially support our work at:
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
Speaking of which, our only annual fundraiser is stuck for the third day in a row at $1,285.84.
Our goal is $5,501. Thanks to supporter GL’s “matching funds” pledge, we only have to raise $2,750.50 of that from everyone else.
But we’re behind the curve. We’re nearly 2/3 of the way through the fundraising period, but less than halfway to our goal.
Please help us get back on track, and to the $2,000 mark, by Monday.
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
No, your $2.50, $5, or $10 donation isn’t “too small.” Nor would a $714.16 donation be “too big.” Whatever you 1) think we’re worth and 2) can afford is a Goldilocks donation — just right!
https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd
Thanks in advance (and yet another thanks to those who’ve already kicked in). Whether you celebrate the US Thanksgiving holiday or not, have a happy, healthy, and prosperous weekend!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
If you expect transparency on Epstein now, you don’t get the swamp
Source: USA Today
by Cameron Smith
“It’s hard to imagine a greater political opportunity than releasing the full, unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files. The late financier was an unscrupulous magnet for the world’s most powerful. The task from President Donald Trump’s base was simple: Release the names, prosecute the guilty and prove that the government, when properly led, won’t protect the rich and connected. Instead, we got months of resistance, bizarre denials and attempts to frame the issue as a ‘Democrat hoax’ …. After all the performative huffing and puffing, the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed the House with just one dissenting vote, flew through the Senate and was signed into law by Trump. That’s nearly unanimous consent from a Congress that can’t agree on lunch. … One would think that would be the end of the story and transparency would flow like waterfalls. Unfortunately, that’s not how swamp water works.” (11/25/25)
Flights cancelled after Ethiopia volcano erupts for first time in 12,000 years forming huge ash cloud
Source: Independent [UK]
“A volcano in Ethiopia has erupted for the first time in nearly 12,000 years, sending a vast ash cloud across major air corridors in the Red Sea and forcing airlines in India and the Middle East to cancel or divert flights. The Hayli Gubbi volcano, located in Ethiopia’s Afar region near the Eritrean border, erupted on Sunday for several hours, spewing ash up to 14km (nine miles) into the atmosphere. Thick plumes were tracked drifting over Yemen and Oman before spreading across Pakistan and into northern India on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre and the India Meteorological Department.” (11/25/25)
Capital Record, episode 270
Source: National Review
“The Next Fed Chair Should Be Kevin Warsh.” (11/25/25)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/the-next-fed-chair-should-be-kevin-warsh/
Jeffrey Epstein Aided Alan Dershowitz’s Attack on Mearsheimer and Walt’s “Israel Lobby”
Source: Drop Site
by Ryan Grim & Murtaza Hussain
“Epstein and Alan Dershowitz collaborated on smear campaigns against Mearsheimer, Walt, and an underage assault victim making allegations against Epstein — in the same week.” (11/25/25)
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-aided-alan-dershowitz-mearsheimer-walt-israel-lobby
The Wobbling of King Trump
Source: Foreign Policy
by Michael Hirsh
“[I]n the longer reach of Western history, Trump’s behavior is far more a rule than an exception. He is, really, just another giant ego out there smashing things and trying to rebuild them in his own image — perhaps even to the good on occasion. And there’s something strangely reassuring in that. Why? Because like the most extreme autocrats of the past, who almost invariably fell through arrogance and overreach, we’re already starting to see cracks in the reign of the would-be Emperor Donald the First.” (11/25/25)
So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 11/25/25
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“Donor disclosure and campaign finance at SCOTUS.” (11/25/25/)
The Nation’s Guest
Source: Law & Liberty
by Iris de Rode
“New York, August 16, 1824. The guns had scarcely fallen silent when the bells began. Bunting unfurled; apprentices scrambled onto rooftops; veterans pinned sun-faded cockades. A steamboat shrieked past Staten Island as ferries veered in for a glimpse of the man the papers called the Nation’s Guest. Then the figure who had once ridden beside Washington — older now but unmistakable — stepped ashore at Castle Garden: Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette. At the subsequent reception, ‘In they came, rich and poor, Black and white … old veterans, young soldiers.’ For thirteen months and more than six thousand miles, through all twenty-four states, variations of that scene replayed: processions, banquets, tears, toasts. Ryan L. Cole’s The Last Adieu invites us to follow Lafayette’s Farewell Tour — and asks why it mattered.” (11/25/25)