Source: Bitcoin.com
by Frederick Munawa
“The cryptocurrency tumbled 7% in less than 24 hours. Explanations for the drop remain murky, leading many to speculate that something fishy is going on..” (12/01/25)
https://news.bitcoin.com/is-bitcoins-price-being-manipulated/
Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann
“Between August 8 and October 21, 2025, the U.S. government’s total public debt outstanding increased by more than $1 trillion, reaching a total of $38 trillion. One month later, the national debt had risen to $38.3 trillion. … Divided equally, that works out to be $284,125 for each of the country’s 134,800,000 households. That amount is about what the typical house for sale costs in Kentucky, which the government is borrowing to pay for the equivalent of over 47,500 such houses per day. If you’re like most American households, you probably can’t afford the cost of borrowing to own an extra home in Kentucky. In truth, neither can Uncle Sam. And yet, the national debt continues to grow as if the U.S. government can afford to buy a town’s worth of houses every day. Elected officials and bureaucrats need to do more to get the government’s fiscal house in order.” (12/01/25)
https://www.independent.org/article/2025/12/01/government-pay-national-debt/
Source: In These Times
by Alex Han
“We have a storytelling problem on the Left, and right now there is an easy story to parrot about the Democratic Party leadership’s profound failure to meet the moment. It’s an old and familiar story that has been written again and again throughout my life. It’s a story where the only updates are changes to names and dates. The MAGA Right has shown its inability to cohere its vision of American authoritarianism and win majorities to it. At the same time, Democratic leaders have shown their inability to lead a political coalition that can defeat the Right. There is no tactical maneuver that will change these fundamental truths. So we should be wary of easy stories that misdirect us, no matter how satisfying it might be to dunk on Chuck Schumer, no matter how crass the Democrats’ latest capitulations feel.” (12/02/25)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/first-trump-era-opportunity-left-no-kings-mamdani
Source: The Atlantic
by Jonathan Lemire
“Although Trump hated being on the road, the travel took him out of the Manhattan skyscraper emblazoned with his name in gold and into many struggling, disgruntled communities. … The people Trump met clued him in to the issues his supporters cared about …. But it has been many months since Trump hosted a full-on campaign-style rally. He has opted instead to travel abroad, golf at his private clubs, and dine with wealthy friends, business leaders, and major donors. Beyond the rallies, Trump has dramatically scaled back speeches, public events, and domestic travel compared with the first year of his initial term. And that lack of regular voter contact has contributed to a growing fear among Republicans and White House allies: that Trump is too isolated, and has become out of touch with what the public wants from its president.” (12/01/25)
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“As I write, European Union (E.U.) officials are debating the details of a proposal to either require or pressure tech companies to scan all private messages for child sexual abuse material. Dubbed ‘chat control,’ the scheme inevitably entails mass surveillance of private communications — targeting one sort of content for the moment, though it’s difficult to see how that would long remain limited in any way. It’s an illustration of the continuing decline in online liberty documented in a new report from Freedom House. … It’s unsurprising that countries already recognized as authoritarian are continuing repressive practices. Nobody expects China or Iran to suddenly develop a taste for protecting online dissent and respecting privacy of communications. More disturbingly though, as seen in the European debate over chat control, nominally free countries are becoming increasingly intrusive when it comes to the digital world.” (12/01/25)
https://reason.com/2025/12/01/the-free-world-is-coming-for-your-private-messages/
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Samuel J Abrams
“The recent controversies surrounding Charlie Kirk — and the extraordinary reaction that followed his campus appearances and commentary — offer a revealing window into the fragile state of free expression in contemporary America. Two recent New York Times opinion pieces examining the backlash were right to highlight how quickly public discourse has hardened into a zero-sum contest in which speech itself becomes grounds for professional punishment, social ostracism, and institutional retaliation. But the deeper lesson is even more unsettling: Free speech is increasingly treated not as a constitutional principle, but as a conditional privilege — one that applies only when speech is politically comfortable.” (12/01/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/if-free-speech-only-matters-when-convenient-it-isnt-free-all
Source: Washington Post
by Max Boot
“There is a good reason Mark Kelly and the other lawmakers felt compelled to warn service members not to carry out illegal orders. That seems to be precisely what the military is now doing at the behest of an administration that disdains any limits on the president’s imperial authority and treats war crimes as a joke.” (12/01/25)
Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders
“A quiet transformation is underway. Where hierarchies once dominated, many founding teams have learned that people can be more effective when they organize without formal command-and-control structures. One would think that this recommends an egalitarian or democratic form of organization. Not exactly.” (12/01/25)
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan
“I know this is a quixotic essay. Almost everyone has long since made up their minds, and I’ll probably anger both sides. So why write it? My stock answer: Because I have something original, important, and true to say. Hysterically aborting your baby because you falsely believe the baby will ruin your life isn’t merely morally wrong; it is tragic.” (12/01/25)
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson
“Why did the war in Ukraine start in 2021? As in 2008 and 2012, but unlike 2017 to 2021, Vladimir Putin sensed an American president would not or could not deter him, so he invaded a former Soviet republic. Under past presidents, Putin saw no downside to grabbing Ossetia, the Donbas, and Crimea. Putin was also led to believe the West or Joe Biden would not challenge him following the recent humiliating U.S. withdrawal from Kabul. Biden’s unfortunate remark that a ‘minor’ Russian invasion might not invoke a U.S. response did not help. Based on past experience, Putin saw no real obstacle to a quick victory. ” (12/01/25)
https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/01/the-war-in-ukraine-lots-of-questions-and-a-few-answers/