Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin
“Comedy’s greatest asset is its ability to use just laughter to take the powerful down a peg. But what took place in Saudi Arabia earlier this month wasn’t so funny. Over 50 well-known comedians including Bill Burr, Kevin Hart, and Dave Chappelle all performed in recent weeks at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, despite criticism from some fellow comics who were also invited — and offered large sums to perform — but said no. One of those comedians, Atsuko Okatsuka, shared a reason why she chose to reject the offer: It came with very restrictive strings attached. … Two comedians were dropped from the lineup after making comments about how they were still willing to accept the money despite the country’s extensive human rights violations, because in doing so they acknowledged said violations. That’s a no-no.” (10/22/25)
“For decades, policymakers, researchers, and the public have struggled to answer what seems a simple question: How many homes are cities permitting? In Los Angeles, for example, the federal building permit survey suggests that the state has issued around 15,000 housing permits annually in recent years. But California’s own Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) tells a different story: closer to 20,000. This 30 percent gap isn’t merely a statistical quirk; it represents thousands of permits that don’t appear in our national housing data.” (10/23/25)
“Desperate New York influencers try to shame the longtime local activist out of the mayoral race, so that a disgraced former governor can again lose to Zohran Mamdani.” (10/22/25)
“The Trump administration plans to propose opening federal waters in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to offshore drilling, two people familiar with the plan said Wednesday, a move that is likely to antagonize coastal states governors — and make a direct jab at California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Full details of the plan were not yet known, but a push to bring drilling rigs to untouched sections of the U.S. coastline brought bipartisan opposition when Trump tried to carry out a similar plan during his first administration. The proposal would be part of the Interior Department’s upcoming five-year plan on offshore oil lease sales, said the people who were granted anonymity because the plan wasn’t yet public.” (10/22/25)
“How extensive is the President’s power to deploy state units of the National Guard for federal law enforcement? On June 19, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Newsom v. Trump that the President could deploy the Guard to protect federal property in Los Angeles. On October 4, a federal district judge ruled in Oregon v. Trump that the President could not use the Oregon National Guard for the same purpose in Portland. … Both cases support the view that there is a judicial double standard — a forgiving one for other chief executives, and a much more demanding one for President Trump. Yet if we follow the Constitution, it may well be that the outcomes (although not all the reasoning) of both cases are correct.” (10/22/25)
“Tropical Storm Melissa is threatening the Caribbean Sea islands with dangerous landslides and life-threatening flooding, as officials urge residents of flood-prone areas to seek higher ground and shelter. … The slow-moving storm was centred about 335 miles (535km) south-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and some 295 miles (475km) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. The NHC said the storm could strengthen gradually in the coming days and grow into a hurricane by Friday and a major hurricane by the late weekend. Heavy rains in the Dominican Republic have already disrupted traffic and led to the cancellation of sports events. Melissa is the 13th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, and the first named storm to form in the Caribbean this year.” (10/23/25)
“The US childhood vaccination programme is huge, 68 vaccine doses targeting 18 different diseases versus only 17 vaccine doses for 10 diseases in Denmark. It is unknown if the net effect of so many vaccinations is beneficial, and in August 2025, two physicians launched a federal lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for failing to study the cumulative effects of its childhood vaccine schedule. They noted that ‘America administers more vaccines than any nation on earth while producing the sickest children in the developed world.'” (10/22/25)
“In the midst of a federal government shutdown, the U.S. government’s gross national debt surpassed $38 trillion Wednesday, a record number that highlights the accelerating accumulation of debt on America’s balance sheet. It’s also the fastest accumulation of a trillion dollars in debt outside of the COVID-19 pandemic — the U.S. hit $37 trillion in gross national debt in August this year. The $38 trillion update is found in the latest Treasury Department report, which logs the nation’s daily finances.
