Source: The American Conservative
by W James Antle III
“Republicans took a pounding on Tuesday that made past wave elections look like a mild drizzle by comparison. Just whatever you do, don’t blame the Iran war. … Even in 2006, Republicans had other problems besides the Iraq War. But this furious denial of the war’s impact is reminiscent of those who wanted to blame GOP congressional losses 20 years ago on earmarks.” (11/07/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/republicans-post-midterms-war-denialism-is-an-exercise-in-special-pleading/
Source: CoinDesk
“Bitcoin has seen sharp two-way moves in the last several hours, reminding traders why leverage can hurt. The volatility came as the market digested two uncomfortable headlines. First, Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia – AI bellwether and the largest stock by market cap – admitted to an affair with a woman U.S. officials believe was spying for China. Second, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said negotiations with Iran had stalled. … Bitcoin fell to about $73,761 late Sunday, its lowest point since August, before recovering to trade above $75,000, according to CoinDesk data.” (11/08/26)
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/11/09/bitcoin-drops-then-pops-as-nvidia-cheating-scandal-and-failed-iran-talks-trigger-volatility
Source: Racket News
by Matt Taibbi
“Free speech is in trouble, and problems are snowballing, with the First Amendment now squeezed between competing visions of unfreedom. The massacre of the Republican party at the polls last week was driven at least in part by the Trump administration’s cringeworthy failures on the issue. … Supporters of civil liberties are becoming a subculture. We’re aging out of the era when Americans reflexively understood why free speech is important.” (11/07/26)
https://www.racket.news/p/free-speech-will-survive
Source: Yahoo! News
“A data leak from Moscow’s statistics agency has revealed that more than 450,000 Russians have been killed in the war in Ukraine. Rosstat was hit by a cyber attack carried out by groups banned by Russia as ‘extremist organisations’, who stole data on the economy and wartime losses. The Belarusian Cyber Partisans and Silent Crow hacking groups obtained the records, which contained information from death certificates registered between February 2022 and August this year, from Rosstat’s internal demography database. …. Silent Crow, a pro-Ukrainian hacktivist group, published the data, which showed there had been an estimated 450,100 deaths. However, the Cyber Partisans, a group of anonymous hacktivists opposing the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, estimated the figure to be lower – at 393,881 – because of a more limited methodology that explicitly identified military operations as the cause.” (11/08/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/russian-data-leak-reveals-death-154116267.html
Source: The Daily Economy
by Christopher Freiman
“Money matters, but the data show that other things matter more. Minority interests routinely organize and win, even with comparatively little wealth.” (11/07/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/can-the-wealthy-buy-elections/
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“In at least one regard, California Gov. Gavin Newsom did not make history Thursday in seeking to commute the death sentences of 548 people to life without the possibility of parole. A few other U.S. governors have granted universal clemencies to those facing state execution. Yet his mass commutation, once fully enforced, would be the largest in American history. It would empty out the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere, reducing the U.S. death row population by nearly 30%. And by its moral force as an act of official mercy, it might add to the steady erosion of public support for capital punishment. While Governor Newsom cited his constitutional authority in granting clemency – with the state’s highest court still yet to review some cases – he also said he acted out of personal conscience.” (11/06/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/1106/California-gives-life-to-ending-the-death-penalty
Source: US News & World Report
“Sudan’s army has detained a former senior Islamist official from ousted strongman Omar al-Bashir’s era who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, officials from his party said. Ahmed Haroun, who chairs Sudan’s former ruling National Congress Party, has been hiding for years and is wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and genocide in the Darfur region in the early 2000s. He has dismissed the charges as political.” (11/08/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-11-08/sudan-detains-chairman-of-former-ruling-party-ahmed-haroun-two-party-officials-say
Source: Free Talk Live
“Sarah says New Mexico voted to way overpay their state reps :: Sarah said she paid into the system enough the one year in her life that she worked a job :: Tim from FL calls in with questions for Skeeter :: Dan O’Neil calls in from the Exit and Build conference in Texas to promote parallel systems :: Sterling Lujan tells us about living in a Pop Up City in Austria :: What made R’s turn their backs on MAGA? :: Are hackers attacking the US food supply like in Europe? :: 2026-11-07 :: Hosts: Bonnie, Colin, Angelo.” (11/07/26)
https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2026-11-07
Source: Washington Post
“Now look, guys, I know it doesn’t feel that way. You not only took an epic thumping; you’ve probably lost any hope of holding the presidency in 2028. That doesn’t feel great, especially because Democrats are already murmuring about retribution. So I don’t blame you for failing to look on the bright side. But there is a bright side. In fact, there are two. For one thing, you have a chance to rebuild your party around something other than Donald Trump. That needed to happen. At 80, Trump has neither the energy nor the actuarial lifespan to lead the party into the future. But Trump didn’t want that to happen, and until now, he has had the power to prevent it, by ruthlessly purging anyone who tried to build an independent Republican identity. After this midterm defeat, that power will wane.” (11/08/26)
https://archive.is/sIbhI
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie
“It shows good growth achieved by sensible policies and a willingness to work. It is rising faster than most competitors, and will likely soon overtake many of them, including ourselves, in living standards. Poland is a strong bet. Few countries have done so much, so fast, from such a low base. In 1994, Poland’s GDP per capita at purchasing power parity was $7,040, less than a third of Japan’s. By 2024 it stood at $51,263, just behind Japan’s $52,039. The IMF and World Bank expected Poland to pass Japan this year, and the IMF forecasts that by 2030 Poland will also surpass Israel, Spain and New Zealand on the same measure. Twenty years ago Poland stood at 48% of the EU average, but by 2024 it had reached 82%. It is not slowing much.” (11/06/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/im-betting-on-poland
