“We are at that strange stage in the adoption curve of a revolutionary technology at which two seemingly contradictory things are true at the same time: It has become clear that artificial intelligence will transform the world. And the technology’s immediate impact is still sufficiently small that it just about remains possible to pretend that this won’t be the case. Nowhere is that more clear than on college campuses. The vast majority of assignments that were traditionally used to assess—and, more importantly, challenge — students can now easily be outsourced to ChatGPT. … For the most part, professors have responded to this problem by ignoring it.” (11/14/25)
“Self-love, that is, concern with one’s interests, is part of our humanity. No conflict exists between making the most of the one life one lives and goodwill toward others. We are engaged in a common challenge — living — and empathy naturally flows from that fact. It is a pernicious doctrine, indeed, that holds otherwise. Clearly, a merchant or manufacturer prospers by attending to his customers’ preferences. Real liberals have always emphasized the fundamental harmony of interests in the market.” (11/14/25)
“The ICC has challenged Israel’s prime minister and his former defense minister for the Gaza atrocities. Several other cabinet members have contributed to these crimes. But none have been charged for these crimes. Should they be charged? Could they be charged?” (11/14/25)
“The debate over affordability is now truly and fully joined. Ahead of next year’s midterms, Democrats are coalescing around a cost-of living message that makes more sense than their anti-Trump obsessions (not that we aren’t going to hear a lot about those). For its part, the White House has concluded that the affordability issue is a vulnerability, and President Trump has thrown out a raft of proposals to address it — from $2,000 tariff rebates to 50-year mortgages. Health care will be a major front in this fight, a traditional Democratic policy strength that the party emphasized during the just-concluded government shutdown. In isolation, the Democratic demand to extend Obamacare subsides in perpetuity shouldn’t be sustainable.” (11/14/25)
“You’d have gone broke betting against the resilience of the Trump phenomenon this past decade. He has survived two impeachments, one insurrection, one plague, one lost election, one incredibly close assassination attempt, several major lawsuits, and the passionate, undying hatred of 40 percent of the country. None of it counted. He’s had, of course, some very lucky breaks: the mass migration and cultural extremism under Biden, along with the epic fuck-up of Joe’s attempt to stay in power as a near-corpse. But there are some signs that the entire MAGA operation is beginning to fray — as its manic transgressions, dumb overreach, and intensifying contradictions become harder to ignore.” (11/14/25)
“Understandably, the Baltic states were at the vanguard of a resolute response to the 2022 Russian invasion — lobbying for international sanctions, shunning diplomacy with Moscow, and even advocating for measures implying a collective responsibility of Russian citizens for the crimes committed by the country’s leadership. For example, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, the former prime minister of Estonia, pushed for blanket visa restrictions on all Russians. While Baltic state officials cite security concerns as their justification, Russian dissidents criticized the measure as counterproductive and playing right into the hands of the Kremlin. Yet, when it comes to Israel, these same principles evaporated.” (11/14/25)
“Butter is made from cream, which is derived from milk. Not a new truth; it’s never been anything but. B‑but — some people are allergic! And we must protect them. Under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) of 2004, milk is one of nine major allergens that must be explicitly declared — either in parentheses after the ingredient (e.g., ‘cream (milk)’) or in a separate ‘Contains: Milk’ statement. Which is why Costco had to recall 79,200 pounds of butter. A labeling oversight meant that perfectly good and safe butter was placed on the big box store’s shelves without the explicit warning that butter contains milk.” (11/14/25)
“Last Saturday, Bob Kuttner wrote a scoop for the Prospect that Chuck Schumer was much more involved with the allegedly rearguard action by wayward Senate Democrats to end the government shutdown. A day later, that deal was consummated. There’s been uproar about Schumer’s leadership of the Democrats in the Senate, but also a sense that Democrats might be in a decent position politically, raising the salience of health care and affordability at a time when President Trump is essentially unable to do much about it without abandoning his economic program.” (11/14/25)
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“The Jeffrey Epstein story is not going away, no matter how much Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, or Donald Trump try to discount it. Strangely, the Democrats had four years to disclose the ‘Epstein Files’ yet failed to do so, and now that they are no longer in power, they want the files released to the public. Weird, right? Even weirder is how hard-core Trump, Bondi, and Patel lobbied the Biden administration for the release of the files, and right after they got in power, chose to poo-poo the whole notion with a ‘nothing to see here’ attitude. WTF is going on with the Epstein Files?” (11/14/25)
“In a graphic posted to Truth Social on November 8, Donald Trump lists himself next to Franklin Delano Roosevelt as one of two ‘great presidents,’ because FDR’s ‘New Deal’ introduced the 30-year home mortgage and Trump, apparently, wants to ‘go large’ on the idea. Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte confirmed on X that ‘we are indeed working on The 50 year Mortgage — a complete game changer.’ The Trump/Pulte proposal brings up two questions: First, is a 50-year mortgage a good idea? Second, why on earth does the federal government set mortgage terms?” (11/13/25)
