News of the Week for October 19th, 2025
- Abortion
- Gun Rights
- Hide the Decline
- Socialized Medicine
- War & Terror
- National News
- Economy & Taxes
- International News
- Opinion
Abortion
Court Cases & Legislation
Illinois ranks third nationally in teen abortions: study
Illinois has the third-highest rate of teen abortions in the United States, according to a new study analyzing federal data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fairfax County Public Schools lawyers’ internal probe refutes school-assisted abortion allegations
Allegations that Centreville High School staff coerced minors into getting abortions and assisted them in undergoing the procedure without their parents’ knowledge are “likely untrue,” Oct. 16 findings from Fairfax County Public School’s legal probe surmised.
Dave McCormick joins fellow Senate Republicans urging RFK Jr. to rescind approval for an abortion pill
Sen. Dave McCormick and other Senate Republicans penned the letter earlier this month to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.
Gun Rights
Gun Rights Group Calls on Trump to Fire Bondi, Assistant AG Responds
The National Association for Gun Rights is calling on President Donald Trump to fire Attorney General Pam Bondi, declaring her a “failure” when it comes to supporting the Second Amendment.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Wisconsin Democrats Push ‘Rights of Nature’ Resolution
A few months ago, I posted about a Republican proposal in Wisconsin to have the state legally preempt local ordinances that grant “rights” to nature. I predicted that, if the bill passed, the Democratic governor would veto it because the nature rights movement is quickly entering the progressive mainstream.
Socialized Medicine
Government in Healthcare
139 unvaccinated students quarantining after measles exposure at South Carolina schools
139 unvaccinated students exposed to measles in South Carolina schools are quarantining, according to local health officials.
War & Terror
Hamas frees living hostages and Israel releases prisoners as Trump visits the region
Hamas released all 20 of the last living hostages on Monday, the Israeli military said. It is part of a breakthrough ceasefire after two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the devastated Gaza Strip.
Who’s Recruiting Cubans To Fight In Ukraine? A Travel Agent In Provincial Russia For One.
The Cubans – two 19-year-olds identified as Alex Vega and Andorf Velasquez – recounted how they ended up wounded in battle alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.
Public executions after Trump leaves Hamas in control of Gaza
Rivals and suspected collaborators are targeted as regional powers warn disarming the Palestinian terror group will be difficult
Israel, Hamas Trade Accusations of Cease-Fire Violations
Families of deceased hostages express anger that only four of 28 bodies have been returned to Israel
Trump Sure Looks to Be Pursuing Regime Change in Venezuela
On the menu today: I’m all for making the lives of drug smugglers and brutal dictators like Nicolás Maduro miserable. But history since the 9/11 attacks has taught America the tough lesson that toppling a dictator is the easy part; what comes after is much tougher. You could argue that newfound wariness about the long-term consequences of regime change was a significant part of Donald Trump’s rise to power within the Republican Party. And yet . . . it sure looks like Trump is pursuing a policy of regime change in Venezuela. Maduro deserves every bit of grief the U.S. government can send his way, but it feels more than fair to ask if the Trump administration is prepared for what would come next if Maduro fell — or whether they’d be a bit like the dog that finally caught the car.
Seventh Circuit Blocks Trump National Guard Deployment in Chicago
The administration has appealed to the Supreme Court as challenges in other states mount.
National
He Was Charged With a Federal Offense for Running Up a Mountain
Michelino Sunseri broke the trail running record on Grand Teton but was prosecuted for “shortcutting” on a commonly used trail.
Newsom Signs Law Authorizing “Reparations” for Black People
The “descendants of slavery” designation operating as a legal proxy for race is the entire point of the legislation.
This Indiana City Doesn’t Have To Pay an Innocent Mom $16,000 After Police Wrecked Her Home, Court Rules
Law enforcement launched 30 tear gas canisters into Amy Hadley’s home, smashed windows, ransacked furniture, destroyed security cameras, and more. The government gave her nothing.
U.S. Says It Revoked Visas of Some People Who Criticized Charlie Kirk
The State Department’s X account listed six examples of people who it said had made comments about the assassination of Mr. Kirk, a right-wing activist, and said it was withdrawing their visas.
‘College Group Chat’: JD Vance Dismisses ‘Pearl Clutching’ Over Young Republicans Leak to Attack Jay Jones
Vice President JD Vance sparked backlash Tuesday after he dismissed “pearl clutching” over racist, antisemitic and misogynistic messages leaked from a Young Republicans group chat while arguing a Virginia Democrat Jay Jones’s violent texts were “far worse.”
Capitol Police called to investigate swastika in GOP congressional office
An American flag altered to include an image of a swastika was found in Rep. Dave Taylor’s office.
Supreme Manipulation
In two cases this term, Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., the Supreme Court will consider whether schools can offer separate boys’ and girls’ sports teams based on biological sex, or instead must let boys who identify as girls play with biological girls. In a late-breaking development, though, the plaintiff in Hecox (a biological male) has suddenly disclaimed any interest in playing collegiate sports and tried to dismiss the case as moot. This comes after years of litigation in which the plaintiff had repeatedly claimed enough of an ongoing interest in sports to avoid mootness — and prevailed on the merits. This apparent effort to escape Supreme Court review of critical constitutional questions deserves scrutiny.
Arrest Made In Drive-By Cheeseburgering
Ex-employee is busted for bizarre battery at Tampa-area strip club
New Poll: As Predicted, Americans Blame Both Parties for the Shutdown
Right before the ongoing government shutdown began, I wrote over in that other Washington publication, “Sure, the parties can point to polling indicating that the public blames the opposition more than themselves, but very few elected officials exit a government shutdown with their reputation enhanced, and there’s always a significant chunk of Americans who conclude, ‘a plague o’ both your houses.'”
Judge wants immigration agents in Chicago area to wear body cameras after clashes with public
Troubled by clashes between agents and the public, a judge on Thursday said she will require federal immigration officers in the Chicago area to wear body cameras, and she also summoned a senior official to court next week to discuss an enforcement operation that has resulted in more than 1,000 arrests.
Ace Frehley, founding guitarist for KISS, dead at 74
Frehley and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.
After Racist Texts, New York G.O.P. Is Set to Disband Young Republicans
State party leaders are expected to eliminate the charter of the Young Republicans group, allowing them to reconstitute the organization with new leaders.
We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
Americans Detained: The government doesn’t track how many citizens are held by immigration agents. We found more than 170 cases this year where citizens were detained at raids and protests. Held Incommunicado: More than 20 citizens have reported being held for over a day without being able to call their loved ones or a lawyer. In some cases their families couldn’t find them. Cases Wilted: Agents have arrested about 130 Americans, including a dozen elected officials, for allegedly interfering with or assaulting officers, yet those cases were often dropped.
Bolton Indictment: Lawfare and Real Misconduct Are Not Mutually Exclusive
The 18-count case may involve both.
Meet the Real Graham Platner
The defense from Platner is that, “I don’t think any of that is indicative of who I am today, really.” He insists that he is not a communist.
U.S. Is Repatriating Survivors of Its Strike on Suspected Drug Vessel
Two men rescued by the U.S. military after it attacked a boat in the Caribbean Sea were being sent to their home countries of Colombia and Ecuador, President Trump said.
Trump posts wild AI video showing him flying fighter jet, dropping sewage on No Kings protesters
The president posted a wild AI-generated video of himself late Saturday as a fighter pilot wearing a crown on his head, unloading sewage on “No Kings” protesters.
Rubio promised to betray U.S. informants to get Trump’s El Salvador prison deal
In the days before the Trump administration deported hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador, the president of that country demanded something for himself: the return of nine MS-13 gang leaders in U.S. custody.
Scientists Create Early Human Embryos From Skin Cells And Sperm
Researchers have created human embryos by taking nuclei from ordinary skin cells, placing them into donated eggs, and fertilizing them with sperm. The work is a laboratory demonstration that shows what might eventually be possible for people who cannot produce viable eggs, though substantial scientific hurdles remain.
Economy & Taxes
Recession warning signs to watch: Goodbye lipstick, hello Hamburger Helper
No, Coachella’s lineup dropping months earlier than its usual release isn’t actually an indicator of an impending recession. But in the absence of official government data, social media users are casting about for hints — even music festival-related ones — about the true state of the American economy.
The Drink That Americans Won’t Give Up Without a Fight
Coffee has almost no nutritional value and lots of substitutes. It’s also, apparently, too important to lose.
Rare Earths: About That Strategic Stockpile
Some time ago, I wrote (in the context of the market for office property) about the “gray rhino,” a concept defined by policy analyst Michele Wucker as follows
U.S. to Take Control of More Companies to Counter China
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China’s dominance of rare earths calls for a more assertive American industrial policy.
Trump administration will set price floors across range of industries to combat China, Bessent says
The U.S. has to use industrial policy to compete against nonmarket economies like China, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC. The Trump administration will set price floors across a range of strategic industries to combat Beijing, Bessent said. The administration could take equity stakes in more companies in the wake of China’s new restrictions on rare earth exports, he said.
Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton indicted
John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser-turned-adversary, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland, according to two sources.
International
Masked gang steal Napoleon’s jewellery from Louvre
Criminals escape on scooters after taking nine ‘priceless’ pieces in seven-minute heist
Opinion
Originalist ‘Bombshell’ Complicates Case on Trump’s Power to Fire Officials
As the Supreme Court seems poised to expand the president’s power, a leading scholar whose work the justices have often cited issued a provocative dissent.
Mad About Politics? Blame Congress.
The judiciary isn’t supposed to be the primary check on the executive, the legislative branch is.
The Candace Owens Problem
“There are three options” that might explain Owens’s actions, Charlie says. “The first option is that Candace Owens is stupid. . . . The second option is that Candace Owens is crazy. . . . The third option is that Candace Owens is evil.”
“Viewpoint Diversity” Requirements as a New Fairness Doctrine
The Trump Administration has been trying to attach “viewpoint diversity” mandates to federal funding, especially for universities. This Essay analyzes the parallels between these new proposals and a much older one: the Fairness Doctrine.
“Viewpoint Diversity” Requirements as a New Fairness Doctrine: Regulators’ Motivations
[It does not matter for purposes of my analysis] that modern viewpoint diversity mandates come out of a desire to promote certain viewpoints (today, conservative ones) that their backers think are unfairly discriminated against.
“Viewpoint Diversity” Requirements as a New Fairness Doctrine: Chilling Effect on Controversial Faculty Speech
Here is a section that explains how one of the problems with the Fairness Doctrine is likely to also arise with viewpoint diversity requirements.
“Viewpoint Diversity” Requirements as a New Fairness Doctrine: Why Countervailing Pressures to Protect Controversial Views Are Likely to Be Inadequate
University faculty may have their own reasons to speak out in controversial ways: perhaps personal ideological commitment, a felt obligation to express what they see as the truth even when it may draw ideological fire, a desire to win approval from people (inside and outside the academy) who share their ideological views, or a desire to make a name for themselves as interesting and important scholars. To the extent that universities maintain a strong system of tenure protection, even risk-averse administrators might not be able to constrain at least some such faculty members.
“Viewpoint Diversity” Requirements as a New Fairness Doctrine: Viewpoint Diversity Rules as to Students
The Administration’s letter to Harvard also calls on “audit[ing] the student body” and not just the faculty. But the problem of people being encouraged to misreport their political beliefs is likely to be even more severe with regard to the auditing of students. For college students, any such audit is likely to be based entirely on self-reporting, since most students will have little history of party registration, even less history of political donation, no formal publication record of the sort that academics have, and (again, for most students) little politically minded social media commentary.
“Viewpoint Diversity” Requirements as a New Fairness Doctrine: Viewpoint Discrimination in Application
Beyond the viewpoint-based chilling effects, viewpoint diversity mandates are also likely to be viewpoint-based in application: They are likely to be enforced in ways that require universities to add more representation of viewpoints that are seen as “mainstream” or “legitimate”—or that match the viewpoint of the funding presidential administration—rather than viewpoints that are controversial and unpopular.
“Viewpoint Diversity” Requirements as a New Fairness Doctrine: Tool for Goverment Control, and Magnitude of Bias
So far, we have discussed the likely viewpoint-based chilling effect of viewpoint diversity rules and their likely viewpoint-based implementation by government officials—much as with the Fairness Doctrine—even when the officials are acting in perfect good faith. Even officials who are trying hard to be fair-minded and open-minded will have to choose between viewpoints that need to be represented and those that need to be omitted.
My New Paper on “How Speech-Based Immigration Restrictions Threaten Academic Freedom”
It is forthcoming in Academic Freedom in the Era of Trump, (Lee Bollinger and Geoffrey Stone, eds., Oxford University Press).
Not Sure About This
Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma is right. If Barack Obama sent the National Guard to Tulsa over the objections of the Governor and Mayor of Tulsa, conservatives would have a meltdown. And they’d be right.
Why the ‘America First’ Trump Administration Is Bailing Out Argentina
On the menu today: How the “America First” president is offering a $20 billion bailout to Argentina and insisting the United States will not benefit from the deal.
The Fragile Republic: Lessons on Political Violence from the Founding to Today
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, political violence once again tests the strength of our democratic institutions and civic culture. What can we learn from the early republic’s own battles with factionalism and unrest, and how can those lessons guide us today?
The Supreme Court Can Choose to Clarify Election Laws in Advance
Candidates for office should be able to sue in advance to find out when the election is.
Young Republican Messages Highlight a Disturbing Trend
Leaked private text messages sent by leaders of different chapters of Young Republicans have been generating an uproar since being published by Politico this week. Given some of what I’ve seen said publicly on social media over the past few years from a subset of the young right, I can’t say it was entirely shocking.
J.D. Vance’s Unusually Broad Definition of ‘Kid’ and ‘Young Boy’
Vice President J.D. Vance, weighing in on the racist, Hitler-praising and other appalling comments in a chat group of the Young Republicans: “The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys,” Vance said on “The Charlie Kirk Show.”
Faber College on Capitol Hill
Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to uphold the Constitution, son.
The Marxism Is Coming from Inside the House
When Donald Trump branded “Comrade Kamala” Harris a bona fide “communist” and “Marxist,” the skeptics at PolitiFact did not take the charge at face value. What was his proof, its reporters asked Trump campaign operatives? “Kamala Harris has literally suggested price controls as a matter of economic policy,” wrote campaign spokesperson Caroline Sunshine. “Would encourage you to inspect the well-documented list of Marxist [sic] and communists who’ve suggested the same.”
Welcome to the Two-Front War Against Woke
It is upon us: the fight against Woke is now a two-front war. On our Left, we have Woke Marxism that hasn’t gone away. Arising rapidly from our Right, we now also have a Woke Fascism that threatens to ruin everything we’ve accomplished. Those of us who love America now have to fight the battle against Woke on two fronts: Woke Left and Woke Right. In this free-ranging episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay discusses the current landscape in the civilizational fight against Woke in all its manifestations. Join him for an uncomfortable update on the state of the union.
Against Trump’s New Higher Education “Compact”
A joint statement and a solo analysis of the Compact’s problems
No Enemies to My Right?
Twice now, rightwing pundit Matt Walsh has suggested that on the right, we should consider there being no enemies to our right because the left believes there are no enemies to the left. More
How Not to Be Caught Saying Hideous Things: A Primer
CNN reports that Graham Platner, who hopes to be Maine’s next senator, has a record of declaring himself a “communist,” of describing “white rural America” as “racist and stupid,” and of calling all cops “bastards.” The comments were made on Reddit, going back to 2021.
Tyrant-Proofing the Executive Branch
As is his wont, Jonathan Chait has responded to one of my recent items in his newsletter. I had listed a number of ways that Democrats could work with Republicans to prevent the next presidential term from taking “dictatorial” steps, if they are sincerely worried that Trump may win the next election and act in dictatorial fashion
