News of the Week for November 30th, 2025
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Socialized Medicine
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Court Cases & Legislation
Exclusive: White House Asks Pro-Life Groups to Keep Quiet in Obamacare Subsidy Fight
White House officials have spent recent days asking some prominent pro-life groups to hold off on wading into the tense ongoing debate around Affordable Care Act subsidies, preferring instead that the groups keep their concerns about the subsidization of abortion coverage private as Republicans navigate a path forward on a particularly fractious issue.
Gun Rights
Fifth Circuit Tosses Man’s Conviction for Possessing Guns While Using Marijuana
Owning a gun while unlawfully using drugs remains a federal crime, but how that law is enforced in court depends on where you live, at least at the moment.
Washington Examiner Profiles Pro-2A Immigrants
It’s easy to take our freedoms for granted, especially if that’s all we’ve known. I don’t think that’s as much of an issue for Second Amendment advocates, given that we’re actively working to secure and strengthen those freedoms, but there are a lot of folks out there who don’t think much, if at all, about how unique the United States is when it comes to individual rights and liberties.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Now, It’s Wild Animals’ Rights
The push to grant rights to, well, everything continues apace. Now, a long piece in the progressive publication Current Affairs argues that “Wild Animals Deserve Rights, Too.”
Socialized Medicine
Government in Healthcare
Slovenian Voters Refuse to Legalize Assisted Suicide
The Slovenian National Assembly tried to legalize assisted suicide. But the country’s voters had a different idea.
Republicans, Cut Out of Drafting Obamacare, Fall Into the Trap of Trying To Save a Bad Law
It’s a time to remember what Abraham Lincoln advised in respect of failed legislation.
Third Kentucky infant dies from whooping cough as statewide cases surge
Another infant has died of whooping cough in Kentucky, becoming the third child to die of the illness in the last 12 months across the state.
CDC Ordered to Phase Out All Monkey Research Programs
PETA is now thanking…the administration of President Donald Trump.
More than 16,000 Canadians died by MAID in 2024 — 5% of all deaths in Canada: report
The vast majority of people receiving MAID last year had a “reasonably foreseeable” death, with cancer the most common underlying condition
War & Terror
Trump’s Inevitable Ukraine Fiasco
All hell broke loose last night when Marco Rubio, left to be the face of the Trump administration’s shameful policy of squeezing Ukraine on behalf of Vladimir Putin’s regime, was overcome by a fleeting fit of honesty: The secretary of state admitted to a bipartisan group of senators that the administration’s vaunted “28-point plan” was essentially a Russian wish list.
Ukraine “Peace Plan”
The Trump administration released, or seemed to release, a 28-point plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war. President Trump said that Ukraine had until Thursday to accept it. The plan was seen by everyone as highly favorable to Russia, and Europeans unanimously denounced it. Or, more diplomatically, said it needed some work.
Ukraine “Peace Plan”
The Trump administration released, or seemed to release, a 28-point plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war. President Trump said that Ukraine had until Thursday to accept it. The plan was seen by everyone as highly favorable to Russia, and Europeans unanimously denounced it. Or, more diplomatically, said it needed some work.
Remember, Vladimir Putin’s Promises Are Worthless
On the menu today: Why only a blithering moron would expect Vladimir Putin and the brutal regime in Moscow to honor any treaty it signed; Representative Majorie Taylor Greene calls it quits, and why you do not want to run into a Bengal tiger in India.
The Terms of Ukraine’s Defeat, and Ours
If adopted, the proposed peace plan would yield a victory to Moscow greater than the one it set out to achieve on the battlefield.
Lawsuit Contends Crypto Founder Trump Pardoned Was Up to His Eyeballs in October 7 Terrorist Financing
There are very few people who will make a loud or detailed defense of President Trump’s pardon of Changpeng Zhao, the convicted founder of the crypto exchange Binance, beyond “you just don’t understand crypto!” or “he pled guilty as part of Joe Biden’s war on crypto!”
Chinese researchers simulate large-scale electronic warfare against Elon Musk’s Starlink
Findings suggest jamming Starlink across area matching Taiwan is technically feasible, but only at huge scale needing 1,000 drones or more
Exclusive-US peace plan for Ukraine drew from Russian document, sources say
The U.S.-backed 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, which became public last week, drew from a Russian-authored paper submitted to the Trump administration in October, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
GPS Interference Snarls Venezuela as US Warns of Hazardous Skies
An invisible wall of electromagnetic noise has descended over the Caribbean, forcing commercial flights to divert and cancel routes over Venezuela since late last week. For a smartphone user on the ground in Caracas, this interference might just mean a slow map load or a jumping blue dot. For an aircraft cruising at 30,000 feet, the implications are far more severe.
Russian General In Venezuela Leading Advisory Mission: Ukraine’s Intel Chief
The long-standing Russian mission in Venezuela is not directly related to the ongoing U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean.
Taiwan’s president: I will boost defense spending to protect our democracy
An unprecedented military buildup by Beijing threatens peace and stability in the region.
The Countdown to Conflict with Venezuela Looks Nothing Like the Run-Up to the Iran Strikes
The Trump administration hasn’t been straight with the public in this case, and voters have noticed.
Trump hands Putin Ukraine’s occupied territories
US president sends envoys to Moscow with peace plan that recognises Russia’s war gains
Navy Cancels Constellation-class Frigate Program, Considering New Small Surface Combatants
The Navy is walking away from the Constellation-class frigate program to focus on new classes of warships the service can build faster, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan announced Tuesday on social media.
Trump envoy relied on Kremlin interpreter in meetings with Putin to end war in Ukraine
Using the Kremlin’s interpreter was “a very bad idea” that put Witkoff “at a real disadvantage,” Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, told NBC News.
Military Lawfare Is a Red Line
Incorporating the Pentagon into the campaign against political enemies — even those who make a craven video — raises the abuse of executive power to a new level.
Venezuela hits back at Trump’s ‘colonialist threat’ as Maduro’s jet flies to Brazil
The country’s foreign ministry lashed out at Trump’s airspace closure, calling it a ‘colonialist threat’ and rallying global support against the move.
‘We Intended the Strike to Be Lethal’ Is Not a Defense
An explosive Washington Post report, the subject of so much discussion the past two days, says that, in the first missile strike the Trump Defense Department carried out against operatives of a boat suspected of transporting narcotics on the high seas off Venezuela, two survivors were rendered shipwrecked. As they clung to the wreckage, the U.S. commander ordered a second strike, which killed them.
Japan Presses Ahead with Missile Deployment to Island Near Taiwan
As regional tensions continue, President Donald Trump made surprise calls this Monday with both Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Japan’s New Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Europe Has Made Itself an Afterthought
The once-great European powers can’t even dictate the end of a war involving a European country whose fate they deem crucial to their own future.
National
High school senior, a U.S. citizen, detained by ICE in Oregon
Immigration officers detained a McMinnville High School student Friday off school grounds, the student’s family said.
Furious House Republican Warns More ‘Explosive’ Resignations Are Coming After Marjorie Taylor Greene
A senior House Republican is warning that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s sudden decision to walk away from Congress is only the start of a deeper implosion inside the House GOP.
Democrats Consider Using Ranked Choice Voting in 2028 Presidential Primaries
If you’re a milquetoast personality, you probably shouldn’t run for president. Charisma and persuasion are requirements for the job. And as I’ve pointed out many times, it’s not enough for presidential primary voters to think you’re a good candidate; because they only get one vote, voters need to believe you’re the best candidate in the field.
District Court Rules Halligan Appointment Invalid, Dismisses Comey Indictment
As I anticipated from the outset, in an order today federal district judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled that Attorney General Pam Bondi’s purported appointment of Lindsey Halligan as U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid and that Halligan therefore had no lawful authority to present the indictment of former FBI director (and Trump nemesis) James Comey to the grand jury.
Founder of ‘America First’ AIPAC Tracker Is Self-Proclaimed Marxist Who Lives in Germany
The group has often accused pro-Israel politicians of bowing to foreign influence
Two National Guardsmen shot in ‘targeted attack’ two blocks from White House as Trump slams ‘animal’ & FBI probes terror
The two guardsmen were part of the contingent of troops deployed to Washington over the summer
Man Loses Password to Chip Embedded Inside His Body
“I’m living my own cyberpunk dystopia life right now, locked out of technology inside my body, and it’s my own damn fault.”
Eleventh Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Trump v. Clinton and Affirms Sanctions Against Trump (Updated)
A rare instance in which courts were willing to impose sanctions upon sanctionable conduct.
Trump Media Group’s Libel Lawsuit Over Guardian’s Allegations of Federal Criminal Investigation Dismissed
From yesterday’s decision by Florida trial court judge Hunter Carroll in Trump Media & Tech. Group Corp. v. Guardian News & Media Ltd.
The Free Birth Cult
In March, a 23-year-old pregnant member of the Free Birth Society’s MatriBirth Mentor Institute went into labor in her home country, Australia. She had decided, after finding the Free Birth Society, to undergo a “wild pregnancy” during which she would seek out no prenatal care or medical intervention during labor. It was day five of labor. She told other members of the Free Birth Society on an online forum that she was “exhausted and hitting a wall of confusion.” On the eighth day, she was “still going.” On the ninth, her “belly [was] taking on a strange shape as I contract, sort of like 2 bulges.”A sign of obstructed labor.
National Guard Soldier Dies a Day After D.C. Shooting
Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal likely to be charged with first-degree murder
Indigenous actor Elaine Miles says ICE called her tribal ID ‘fake’
Elaine Miles was walking to a bus stop in Redmond to go to Target, she said, when four men wearing masks and vests with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement label stepped out of two black SUVs with no front plates and pressed her for her ID.
Why Did a State Supreme Court Justice Put a Fake SCOTUS Quote in a Major Dissent?
On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court took a major step toward striking down the state’s congressional map, an extreme Republican gerrymander that blatantly discriminates against Democratic voters. The majority appointed a pair of three-judge panels to decide whether the map violates the state constitution and, if so, whether the judiciary must impose a fairer substitute. Its decision prompted dissents from the court’s conservative members—including Justice Annette Kingsland Ziegler, who suggested that the imposition of a more balanced map would violate the U.S. Constitution. To make that point, Ziegler quoted a recent Supreme Court decision, Moore v. Harper, for the proposition that state courts’ role in congressional redistricting is “exceedingly limited.” There is just one problem: Moore said no such thing. That quotation appears nowhere in the ruling. To the contrary, Moore held the opposite, concluding that state courts can play a legitimate, meaningful role in congressional redistricting.
Trump Threatens Biden with Perjury Charges Related to Autopen Signatures
President Trump is threatening to have perjury charges brought against Joe Biden if the former president says he played a role in the executive orders he signed with an autopen.
Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
Debtors’ prisons, evil schemes, and the Pottery Barn rule.
Massachusetts Bill to Establish Stacked-Deck Transgender Commission
If you thought that the transgenderism obsession was finally ebbing, you’d be wrong. A bill is moving in the Massachusetts legislature to establish a Commission on the Status of Transgender People intended to guide the state concerning, in the bill’s language, “all matters transgender.”
Embattled Rep. Cory Mills used campaign funds to party at beachfront resorts, charter private jets
The reelection campaign for Mills, who faces myriad allegations ranging from domestic abuse to soliciting prostitutes, spent nearly $80,000 on fine dining, luxury lodging, private jets, and limos between February 2023 and December 2024, a Washington Examiner review of campaign finance records found. In addition to his campaign spending, Mills, who has an estimated net worth of over $20 million, took advantage of an optional program intended to help less well-off members of Congress afford the high cost of maintaining a second residence in D.C., billing taxpayers for over $15,000 in lodging and meal expenses during the first half of 2025.
Trump’s pick to replace DeSantis faces a Republican pile-on in Florida
It now appears Byron Donalds will be forced to grind it out in a race that could turn bitter and nasty quickly.
Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence
David Gentile had been found guilty for his role in what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of investors.
Economy & Taxes
More Americans are getting their power shut off, as unpaid bills pile up
Misty Pellew’s family lived in the dark for several days this month. Pellew’s power was shut off Nov. 13 because of $602 in unpaid bills, the latest in a string of financial humiliations that began six months ago after her husband lost his $20-an-hour excavation job in northeastern Pennsylvania. The recent government shutdown dealt another blow, delaying federal funding for programs that helped the family pay for food and utilities.
Private payroll losses accelerated in the past four weeks, ADP reports
Private companies lost an average of 13,500 jobs a week over the past four weeks, ADP said as part of a running update it has been providing. With the government shutdown still impacting data releases, alternative data like ADP’s has been filling in the blanks on the economic picture.
US Retail Sales Miss Expectations As Consumers See Higher Costs
US retail sales grew at a slower pace than anticipated in September, government data showed Tuesday, as higher prices added to affordability concerns while firms grappled with an uptick in business costs.
You Can’t Spin People’s Perceptions of Their Own Finances
There are a bunch of people in the White House who are attempting to craft a solid, fact-based message about how the administration’s policies are trying to make basic staples of life like gasoline and groceries more affordable, and to help Americans keep up with the rising cost of living. Unfortunately, the president of the United States is not one of those people, because he prefers to insist that he has already solved the problems of affordability.
China’s (Latest) Rare Earth Move
China has by now all the proof it needs of the immense leverage it derives from its dominant position in the production and processing of rare earths, but it is well aware that the U.S. is doing what it can to reduce its own vulnerability in this area. That is a process that is going to take years, not months, and while Beijing will loosen its leash from time to time (as now), there is no chance that it will surrender its advantage without a struggle.
‘The New Price of Eggs.’ The Political Shocks of Data Centers and Electric Bills
Democrats zeroed in on utilities and affordability to win Republican support in upset elections in Georgia and Virginia. Can the same playbook work in 2026?
The Myth of 1929 Lives On
For the better part of a century, American economic policy has been influenced far more than it should be by a morality play constructed around the interwar years. The 1920s were, so the story goes, marked by capitalist “excess,” leading to an inevitable reckoning, only for FDR to bring in big government to save the day (eventually).
Swiss wealth tax wisdom
Voters overwhelmingly reject populism in defense of their country’s economic interests.
International
Son dresses as dead mother in ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ ruse to claim her pension
Italian pensioner had been deceased for three years when family member was caught impersonating her while trying to renew her ID card
Ministers plan to scrap jury trials in England and Wales except for most serious cases
Proposed changes unlikely to apply to trials for serious offences such as rape and murder
Japan’s same-sex marriage ban is constitutional, says Tokyo court
A Japanese court has ruled the country’s ban on same-sex marriage as constitutional – bucking a trend set by courts around the country that had raised hopes for marriage equality in Japan.
Opinion
Why Republicans Are Fighting About the Nazis
Tensions over right-wing antisemitism have burst to the forefront of Republican politics, and show signs of becoming a fierce point of contention in the midterms and beyond.
The Trump Administration Is Really Bad at Retribution
If you’ve been reading or watching Andy McCarthy’s coverage of the Trump administration’s efforts to secure criminal convictions against Trump critics James Comey and Letitia James, you’re probably not surprised by the dismissal (albeit “without prejudice”) of their respective cases.
Americans want order, not overreach
Approval for Trump’s immigration approach slipped following over-the-top raids in sanctuary cities.
To Be or Not to Be a Think Tank
What we stand to lose with the slow death of American policy institutes.
So Much for Turning Down the Temperature in American Politics
On the menu today: If you’re going to create a video accusing the president of the United States of making unlawful orders, you probably should have at least one or two solid and recent examples in mind before you do so, but apparently that’s just too much to ask from the likes of Colorado Democratic Representative Jason Crow. But that doesn’t get President Trump off the hook for his unhinged raging that Crow and other Democratic lawmakers ought to be tried and executed for sedition. Still, maybe every incumbent in Washington would prefer to be talking about treason and insurrections than the economy.
America Was Always Diverse
You can’t tell the story of the United States without recognizing the valor of its minorities.
Instead of Transcending Tyranny, the “New Right” Wants to Learn from It
Few things unite the political Right in America as strongly as concern over the malign activities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). From the elite capture of Washington politicians to depleted Rust Belt communities, conservatives of all stripes now recognize the threat the CCP poses to the American homeland. For some on the Right, however, that concern stops at the water’s edge.
You Can’t Dismantle the Administrative State If You Are Expanding It
For years, the New Right and America First conservatives have insisted that their mission is to “dismantle the administrative state,” to curb the power of unelected bureaucrats, and to restore control to the people. Yet when it comes to economic policy, they champion a vision that cannot function without an administrative state that’s larger and more powerful.
Thanksgiving: The Conservative’s Holiday
My case is simple: Thanksgiving is about gratitude, and gratitude is central to what it means to be a conservative. It is the profound appreciation for what has come before us, what millions of people who never knew us did to make our lives immeasurably better.
Thanksgiving: Another Collectivist Disaster Forgotten
This time last year, borrowing heavily from a post by Alex Tabarrok, I noted how the underlying story of Thanksgiving was one of a failed collectivist experiment (yes, collectivism has been tried).
A Misreading of the Puritans
Were the pilgrims really ‘ethno-nationalists’?
The Canary in the Tennessee Coal Mine
Indifference and lassitude can be the death of this country.
