“Uber Technologies Inc. is introducing a way for some people to use the ride-hailing service without the company’s signature app. The rideshare giant plans to install physical kiosks at places like airports, starting with LaGuardia in New York, it said in a statement on Tuesday. These outposts, which were designed with travelers in mind, include a large touch screen with a credit card reader and receipt printer. The booking experience mirrors what consumers might be used to on the mobile app.
The first kiosk will be at LaGuardia’s Terminal C, with installations at hotels, ports and other international airports to follow over the coming months, the company said. The experience was intended for ‘international visitors arriving without a local data plan or anyone who prefers an in-person experience,’ it added.” (12/09/25)
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by staff
“Starting January 1, 2026, overseas visitors who pull up to the gates of 11 of the most popular U.S. national parks (including destinations like Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon) will pay a $100 surcharge on top of the base entrance fee. The price of non-resident ‘America the Beautiful’ annual passes will also rise, to $250, while remaining $80 for Americans. The policy change is fantastic news for anyone who cares about national parks, including visitors from abroad. For years, PERC has argued that higher fees for non-resident visitors are one of the smartest, fairest ways to protect America’s best idea at a time when our most famous parks are straining under record crowds and aging infrastructure.” (12/08/25)
“Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Monday evening designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood as ‘foreign terrorist organizations.’ The order, which was posted on the governor’s social media accounts, stated that Florida would be designating the two organizations as terrorist groups due to alleged connections to anti-Israel groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Palestinian groups. … CAIR called the order ‘defamatory and unconstitutional’ and said it plans to file a lawsuit against DeSantis.” (12/08/25)
“It’s a great party. But as the music gets louder, the lights dimmer, and the drinks stronger, you already know how it ends: a miserable day in bed nursing an epic hangover. So why not one more margarita before calling that Uber? Welcome to the AI Bubble. All the warning signs are there, and the aftermath is equally predictable. But with your portfolio brushing the stratosphere, why not spike it with a little margin? You may think your ETF is diversified, but with more than half of the S&P 500’s gains for 2025 coming from the so-called ‘Magnificent Seven’ AI-exposed stocks, you’ve already doubled down on one massive bet—that the new wave of Generative AI will soon drive exponential earnings growth far into the future.” (12/08/25)
“The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy isn’t a strategy. Despite its pedantic condescension of explaining that ‘a ‘strategy’ is a concrete, realistic plan that explains the essential connection between ends and means,’ the document, released on Dec. 5, fails to meet that standard itself. This ‘strategy’ is instead a statement of values. And those values are vandalism against the very things that have made the United States of America strong, safe, and prosperous.” (12/08/25)
“The federal government spends $750 billion annually on contracts with private businesses. A lot of contracts start with a solicitation, which asks vendors to explain how they would complete the contract and why the government should hire them. Solicitations are a roadmap, so if too many billion-dollar contracts don’t get us where we want to go, part of the problem is solicitations that send us down the wrong path.” (12/08/25)
