“Next year, an estimated 5 million people will be priced out of health insurance in the United States. I am one of them. When I went to renew my family’s policy, I was shocked to discover my premium had gone up to $2,600 per month, a price my household of four simply cannot afford. For the first time in my adult life, I will be uninsured, joining the millions who have navigated this risky reality for years. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, especially when health insurance already makes access to healthcare costly with extremely unrealistic deductibles and high out-of-pocket costs. Yet, as a woman in my 40s with a family history of breast cancer, going without coverage is a gamble with my life. After some number-crunching, we concluded that we could afford to carry insurance for only 2 of the 4 of us.” (11/25/25)
“The world appears to have dodged a bullet. Donald Trump and team are walking back from their latest and most outlandish proposal for peace in Ukraine. American and Ukrainian negotiators meeting in Geneva are working to revise the plan, and U.S. and European officials have agreed to meet separately to discuss its implications for NATO and the European Union. The outcome of these talks is unknown, and it’s hard to imagine a deal that will satisfy all parties — the Russian, Ukrainian, and European positions remain starkly at odds. But whatever the result, some things are already clear — including three lessons for the U.S. and Europe.” (11/25/25)
“What do the highest echelons of government, media, corporations, entertainment, and academia all have in common? Many of them may signify the systematic total moral degradation of our society. Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Ehud Barak, Prince Andrew, Ghislaine Maxwell, Bill Gates, Alexander Acosta, Noam Chomsky, Steve Bannon, Les Wexner, Bill Richardson, Alan Dershowitz, Laurence Kraus, and many more may represent an oligarchy of evil. I speak of course of course of these leaders’ various degrees of connection to notorious pedophile and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Notions that would have been dismissed as the ravings of a conspiracy addled mind wrapped in tinfoil a decade ago now appear considerably more plausible after recent revelations. Best case scenario, many incredibly influential individuals making decisions that impact hundreds of millions of people are ineffectual idiots who failed to see what was happening right under their noses: the horrific and disgusting trafficking over 1,000 women and girls.” (11/25/25)
“The United States remains the big kid on the block. Everyone else is either too weak or cowardly to challenge them. For a while, statements like that were uncontroversial. America was the lone superpower — its power, beyond debate. Lately, however, a chorus of voices has assembled to challenge that notion. Commentators, typically of the political Left, are increasingly using the word ‘multipolarity’ to describe a supposedly emerging world order. … the events of this past week tell a different tale. On November 17th, Donald Trump’s ‘peace plan’ for Gaza came before the United Nations Security Council. With the prospect of the most naked imperialism of this century becoming international law, ‘anti-imperialists’ Russia and China did nothing. Such blatant American criminality going unchallenged like that contradicts the idea we are headed for a multipolar globe.” (11/25/25)
“Among certain foreign policy mavens, the year is always 1938, and the location is always Munich. Thomas Friedman gives the latest example. This weekend, he awarded Trump the ‘Neville Chamberlain Prize’ for proposing the parameters of a negotiated settlement to the bloody and seemingly endless Russia-Ukraine war. Not only would the execution of Trump’s plan, he claims, lead to the modern equivalent of World War II and put all of Europe ‘under Putin’s thumb,’ it would mean that ‘Thanksgiving will no longer be an American holiday.’ It would ‘become a Russian holiday,’ a day of thanks for Trump’s delivery of a Russian victory in Putin’s misbegotten war. Losing all of Europe and having to refight WWII is bad enough, but losing Thanksgiving? The perfidy of Putin and Trump knows no bounds!” (11/24/25)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by David Cardaronella
“On October 1, the federal government shut down—halting non-essential services after the failure of Republicans and Democrats to pass an appropriations bill. Even after becoming the longest government shutdown in American history, the end was nowhere in sight. It may seem that both parties would want to avoid shutdowns, especially ones lasting that long, to accomplish at least some elements of their agendas rather than waste weeks of a legislative session. However, this is not the case when certain incentives are at play, including the incentives to pressure, misrepresent, and engage in costly signaling of resolve.” (11/24/25)
“It was, by any measure, a lot of red ink. When Volkswagen announced its third-quarter profits at the end of October, the German auto giant said it anticipated heavy losses for this year. The reason? It is taking a 5 billion-euro hit from tariffs imposed in the American market. Likewise, the German sportswear manufacturer Adidas warned of a 120 million-euro hit to its earnings, in part because the levies its sneakers now face in the United States, while Toyota warned of a $9 billion hit from tariffs. For anyone following the corporate earnings season over the last month, a clear theme has emerged from the giants of European and Asian industry: President Trump’s tariff regime is starting to significantly reduce their profits. But hold on. Weren’t we told that tariffs would simply be passed straight on to American consumers in the form of higher prices? That they were a tax on ordinary working people?” [editor’s: Yes, that’s what we were told — and we were told correctly – TLK] (11/24/25)
Source: Washington Post
by Sean Rad & Zach Schapira
“X’s recent bold decision, led by Head of Product Nikita Bier, to add country labels to accounts reflects an important shift: a recognition that geographic transparency is crucial context to help users understand whether a post is a firsthand account or distant commentary, whether it reflects genuine local sentiment or coordinated foreign messaging. After all, posts from the ‘Ivanka Trump News’ account with 1 million followers feel very different once you learn the account is posting from Nigeria. Lifting the veil on these accounts is a promising start. But the platforms have a long road ahead to construct true digital borders. Here are some ideas for platforms to consider if they want to join this effort.” (11/25/25)
“The 20th century encompassed the era of social democracy followed by an attempt to resurrect the left through the Third Way after that era’s ignominious end. In the 21st century, the left embarked on a new project they hoped would remedy 20th century weaknesses and inaugurate a new era of political and governance success. We are now a quarter of the way through the 21st century, which has witnessed both a genuine ‘crisis of capitalism’ (the Great Recession of 2007-09) and the systemic breakdown of the COVID era (2020-22). Enough time has gone by to render a judgement: despite ample opportunity to advance their cause, the left’s 21st century project has failed and failed badly.” (11/24/25)
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Ari Cohn
“The debate over algorithmic content recommendation has been going on for years. Lower courts have almost universally held that Section 230 immunizes social media platforms from lawsuits claiming that algorithmic recommendation of harmful content contributed to terrorist attacks, mass shootings, and racist attacks. When faced with the question in 2023, the Supreme Court declined to rule on the scope of Section 230 — opting instead to hold the claims of algorithmic aiding and abetting at issue would not survive either way. But there’s an important question that usually gets lost in the heated debate over Section 230: Would such lawsuits be viable even if they could be brought?” (11/24/25)
