Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Lipton Matthews
“Few ideas in modern historical writing have generated as much intrigue as the claim that slavery and capitalism shared a common managerial language. The suggestion that slaveholders employed accounting principles comparable to those used by modern firms implies that plantations functioned as early laboratories of capitalist rationality. This interpretation has captured scholarly attention because it seems to reveal a chilling continuity between bondage and modern business practice. Yet the plantation record books themselves tell a more restrained story.” (11/13/25)
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by John Coleman
“Imagine a fourth-grade classroom in which the teacher uses AI to generate a video of Ronald Reagan explaining his Cold War strategy. It’s history in living color, and the students lean in, captivated. Now imagine that same teacher facing thousands of dollars in damages under the proposed NO FAKES Act because the video looks too real. That’s not sci-fi. It’s a risk baked into this bill. The NO FAKES Act, introduced this year in both the House and Senate, would create a new federal ‘digital replication right’ letting people control the use of AI-generated versions of their voice or likeness. That means people can block others from sharing realistic, digitally created images of them. The right can extend for up to 70 years after the person’s death and is transferred to heirs.” (11/13/25)
“Could radical openness save civilization? Johan Norberg’s ‘Peak Human’ offers a humanist vision of progress grounded in freedom and exchange.” (11/13/25)
Source: Fox News
by US Representative Brian Mast [R=FL]
“Let me say this as plainly as I can: when the Democrats shut down our federal government, that wasn’t a strategy. That was their failure. For the last 40 days, the term ‘government shutdown’ became interchangeable for Democrats with words like ‘leverage’ or ‘to make a point.’ But for millions of Americans, this shutdown wasn’t political theater. It was a gut punch. It meant missed paychecks, putting unpaid bills on credit cards with mounting interest, delayed travel, national security risks, and uncertainty about whether the people who protect and serve this nation will get paid on time – if at all.” [editor’s note: The shutdown happened because Mast’s party wanted it to happen, and ended when Mast’s party chose to let it end – TLK] (11/13/25)
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“As a libertarian commentator who’s spent years dissecting the bloated machinery of the federal government, I’ve watched with a mix of fascination and fury as the executive branch assumes powers that the Constitution explicitly reserved for Congress. The recent Supreme Court arguments on President Donald Trump’s tariffs — heard just a week ago on November 5 — serve as a stark reminder of how far we’ve strayed from the Founders’ vision of limited government. Trump’s sweeping import duties, slapped on everything from Swiss watches to Mexican avocados under the banner of ‘national security,’ aren’t just bad economics but are a symptom of a deeper rot: the casual invocation of emergencies to justify executive fiat.” (11/13/25)
“Donald Trump’s mind is a scary place; no one really knows what goes on there. But it sometimes is interesting to speculate. Trump is now proposing to give us all tariff rebate checks of ‘at least’ $2,000 a piece and to use the rest of the tariff revenue to pay down the national debt. This arithmetic on this doesn’t work. We’re on a path to take in around $270 billion this year in extra revenue due to Trump’s tariffs. … Doing the simple arithmetic, the country has 340 million people. If 10 percent of these people fit Trump’s definition of high-income, and therefore don’t get the rebate, roughly 300 million people would get the checks. At $2,000 a piece, it would come to $600 billion, more than twice what Trump is collecting from us with his import taxes. Since he’s already $330 billion short, how can Trump think he has money to pay down the national debt?” (11/13/25)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Nick Cleveland-Stout
“In late September, RS reported that Israel is paying a cohort of 14-18 social media influencers an estimated $7,000 per post through a firm called Bridges Partners. The filing, disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, indicated that Israel began paying these influencers in June as part of a campaign called the ‘Esther Project.’ Yet, despite this cohort posting on social media for the past five months, not a single influencer working for Israel appears to have publicly acknowledged their work for Israel. Today, the Quincy Institute (the parent organization of RS) and Public Citizen sent a joint letter to the Department of Justice in an effort to change that.” (11/13/25)
“Troy Lake, the mechanic who helped truckers and bus drivers keep their vehicles going by removing crippling emissions systems, paid the price — jailed for this ‘crime,’ and also fined $52,000.
Prosecutors made an example out of the Wyoming fix-it man for following a practice that had become mandatory to keep rigs — in his case, at least 344 heavy-duty diesel trucks — on the road. I’ve discussed his case, saying that President Trump should pardon him for this non-crime. Though Troy Lake served about seven months in a federal prison, and he’s been out for a while, the conviction was still hanging over his head. Now President Trump has indeed pardoned Mr. Lake.” (11/13/25)
“Well, now we have it. On Wednesday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released another batch of documents related to notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Among them were several emails about Donald Trump. One was from Epstein to his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell back in 2011. He wrote: ‘i want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is trump.. [victim] spent hours at my house with him ,, he has never once been mentioned. police chief. etc. im 75 % there[.]’ (Excuse the spelling and grammar errors, that’s all Jeffrey.) By now, we’re all familiar with what ‘spent hours’ meant in the context of rich, powerful men and Epstein’s victims—particularly given the reference to ‘barking,’ which has to mean going to prosecutors or the media.” (11/13/25)
