Source: Reason
by Fiona Harrigan
“Tariffs prevent all sorts of voluntary transactions that shape lives and culture in big — and often inconspicuous — ways. That means shops that won’t be started, gifts that won’t be made by hand, and hobbies that won’t be taken up. And more immediately, tariffs are punishing business owners who want to help Americans fill their lives with more creativity.” (12/25)
Source: Fox News
by Jonathan Turley
“Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., has long performed a key role for many on the left [sic]. When there is an argument barred by decency or decorum, Wasserman Schultz is happy to make it, from attacking journalists in her defense of censorship to attempting to rig an election and bar Republicans from ballots as part of her defense of democracy. However, on Friday, the Florida representative set a new low in American politics: attempting to assign some of the blame for the shooting of two National Guardsmen on President Donald Trump. On CNN’s ‘News Central,’ Wasserman Schultz declared: ‘This is a deeply concerning situation, but, you know, it’s one that I think we have to — it begs the question, would an individual have flown across the country to target law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C.? And, I mean, the answer is likely no.” (11/29/25)
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Russian authorities have outlawed Human Rights Watch as an ‘undesirable organisation,’ a label that, under a 2015 law, makes involvement with it a criminal offence. Friday’s designation means the international human rights group must stop all work in Russia, and opens those who cooperate with or support the organisation to prosecution. HRW has repeatedly accused Russia of suppressing dissenters and committing war crimes during its ongoing war against Ukraine. … The decision by the Russian prosecutor general’s office is the latest move in a crackdown on Kremlin critics, journalists and activists, which has intensified since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.” (11/29/25)
Source: The Hill
by Jaehun Lee
“Our system of government already empowers voters to remove ineffective, corrupt or otherwise problematic representatives and senators. All members of Congress must run for reelection if they wish to continue serving. If constituents are displeased with the body of work that their elected representatives have put in during a given term, they can simply decline to reelect them.” (11/29/25)
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5623607-congress-term-limits-debate/
Source: Informed Comment
by Juan Cole
“Amnesty International concludes that, over a month after a ceasefire was agreed upon in Gaza and all living Israeli hostages were returned, the Israeli authorities continue to pursue the textbook definition of genocide ‘by continuing to deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.’ Moreover, Israeli leaders continue openly to affirm that this course of action is intentional on their parts. … The Secretary General of Amnesty International, Agnes Callamard, observed that ‘Palestinians remain held within less than half of the territory of Gaza, in the areas least capable of supporting life, with humanitarian aid still severely restricted.’ Amnesty says that the Israeli military continues to occupy on the order of 55% of the Gaza Strip. There has been no move to rehabilitate the farmland that has been deliberately destroyed by the Israelis over two years or rebuild livestock.” (11/30/25)
https://www.juancole.com/2025/11/ceasefire-smokescreen-continued.html
Source: NBC News
“The director of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division told agency staff in a memo that an internal review found that at least 10 children died ‘after and because of receiving’ the Covid vaccine. The 3,000-word memo, obtained by NBC News, was written by Dr. Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. In it, Prasad claims that agency staff determined that ‘no fewer than 10’ of 96 child deaths reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, between 2021 and 2024 were ‘related’ to Covid vaccination. He said the true numbers could be higher, accusing the agency of ignoring the safety concerns for years.” (11/29/25)
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-covid-vaccines-children-deaths-rcna246437
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Sven Beckert on How Capitalism Made the Modern World.” (11/29/25)
Source: Brownstone Institute
by staff
“Over the last November weekend of 2025, a memo circulated throughout the Federal Food and Drug Administration that might well trigger the entire unraveling of the US vaccine program with a focus on the mandated Covid shot in particular. The author is Dr. Vinay Prasad, who was a moderate critic during the Covid but has become ferocious since his appointment as the head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research of the FDA. … It is reprinted in full below.” (11/29/25)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-fda-memo-that-shakes-the-world/
Source: New York Post
“Governments at a wildlife trade conference have adopted greater protections for over 70 species of sharks and rays amid concerns that overfishing is driving some to the brink of extinction. The measures, approved Friday at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in Uzbekistan, bans the trade in oceanic whitetip sharks, manta and devil rays as well as whale sharks. It would strengthen regulations for gulper sharks, smoothhound sharks and the tope shark, which means they can be traded, but there must be proof the sources are legal, sustainable and traceable. Governments also agreed to enact zero-annual export quotas for several species of guitarfishes and wedgefishes, meaning the legal international trade will mostly be halted.” (11/29/25)
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein
“As more Americans make politics central to their identity, civil society erodes. Is authoritarianism the inevitable result of a quest to find meaning through politics?” (11/28/25)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/politics-is-destroying-civil-societybut