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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING |
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🗳️ Spencer Pratt goes down after mail-in ballot flood. The political independent challenging Democratic mayoral dominance in Los Angeles was leading socialist Nithya Raman after last week’s primary election, but his lead vanished as LA continues to count mail-in ballots nearly a week after Election Day. |
→ Raman's sudden surge has raised eyebrows, including President Trump's. "They're dropping fast because it's a rigged election," Trump said of Republicans' performance. "They're cheating on the election. All I have to do is look." |
🇺🇸 DOJ seeks to strip citizenship from 17 criminals. The Department of Justice announced it has asked federal courts to revoke the naturalization of 17 individuals who pleaded guilty or were convicted of crimes after becoming US citizens. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche emphasized that exploiting the naturalization process comes with consequences. |
🇺🇳 US probe finds 101 UNRWA staff tied to Hamas. A USAID inspector general investigation identified 101 additional UNRWA employees as affiliated with Hamas, including school principals and teachers allegedly involved in the October 7 attacks. The findings are sure to increase pressure for the Trump administration to formally designate UNRWA as a terrorist organization. |
🔫 Virginia bans self-defense in hospitals. Governor Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) signed legislation prohibiting law-abiding Virginians from carrying firearms for self-defense in hospitals providing mental health, developmental, and emergency medical services. Critics of the bill compared it to the Gun-Free School Zones Act, which preceded decades of school attacks. |
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Spencer Pratt’s loss brings to mind a quote from President Franklin Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson after LBJ lost his first Senate campaign due to a late flood of (fraudulent) votes for his opponent: "When the election is over, you have to sit on the ballot boxes.” — Brandon |
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WORLD NEWS |
Israeli forces uncovered a large Hezbollah tunnel network under the newly captured Beaufort Ridge in Southern Lebanon, capable of accommodating hundreds of terrorists. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would halt attacks on Iran “for now,” but warned that Israel would strike Iran and Hezbollah if it is attacked again. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern Philippines, killing at least 32 people and triggering tsunami warnings across the region.
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MEDIA BIAS SPOTTER |
The biggest underreported stories on the left and right |
_WHAT THE LEFT MISSED_ |
House report alleges MN Democrats ignored fraud warnings: “A House panel is asking the vice president’s anti-fraud task force to investigate alleged retaliation against whistleblowers by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration in the state’s massive welfare fraud scandal.” (Daily Signal) |
Three Americans arrested in ISIS support plot: “The FBI arrested three men Friday in Kansas and California after they allegedly conspired to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.” (Fox News) |
_WHAT THE RIGHT MISSED_ |
Republican senators warn surveillance program may lapse: “Republicans are warning the White House that a critical surveillance authority is likely to lapse this week amid bipartisan backlash over President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s intelligence community.” (The AP) |
Fewer Americans say democracy is central to country’s identity: “As the United States gears up for its 250th anniversary celebrations, a new poll reveals a stark decline in Americans' belief that their nation stands above all others.” (The Independent) |
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QUICK AND IMPORTANT |
Actor Idris Elba warned Amazon MGM not to make the next James Bond “woke.” Researchers successfully triggered the restorative effects of sleep in mice while they remained wide awake. Apple officially announced its revamped “Siri” personal assistant, now powered by AI. The most clicked link in our last newsletter was our main story, “California’s Ballot Counting Disaster.”
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THE MAIN STORY |
Mamdani’s plan for property seizures |
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_WHAT’S HAPPENING_ |
Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently released his "Block by Block" housing plan, a $22 billion proposal to build 200,000 affordable, rent-stabilized units and preserve another 200,000 over the next decade. |
The plan includes a provision allowing the city to take "aggressive legal action" against landlords deemed “negligent,” seize their property, and transfer it to nonprofits, community land trusts, or even to tenants themselves. |
This approach relies on programs that have repeatedly failed, while such harsh and arbitrary regulations threaten to drive developers and capital out of the city. |
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_THE FACTS_ |
While the plan is meant to combat “negligent landlords,” it does not specify what negligent actually means. Rent-stabilization regulations often prevent landlords from performing regular maintenance and renovations. Zoning laws and NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) voters often block new housing from being constructed, straining supply and raising prices. The city would use its existing 7A program to drag landlords to court and appoint nonprofits to take over building management. Five decades ago, New York City tried a similar approach, taking over abandoned properties and turning them into nonprofits; the city became the state's largest slumlord. A state AG investigation found nearly all of the city's 1,100 affordable co-ops were "high risk," requiring a $750,000 bailout last year. A February report found 290,000 subsidized, nonprofit-run buildings in the city were financially underwater. One NYC business leader warned that developers "are better off in other cities than the ones with huge amounts of regulation." The plan requires wages of at least $40 per hour on affordable housing projects. New York City's median asking rent now exceeds $3,600 per month.
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_OUR TAKE _ |
Mamdani's plan is not some novel creation of Democratic Socialism. It actually has a long track record of failure. The 7A program and affordable co-op model have existed for decades and have required repeated government bailouts. |
The Washington Post editorial board captured pretty well the contradiction at the heart of the plan: "If a policy has such negative effects that it requires a special fund for relief and temporary exemptions to enforcement, why not make the exemptions permanent — or abandon the policy altogether?" |
Mamdani's team quietly acknowledged this problem by carving out rent-freeze exemptions for 300,000 vacant units, a tacit admission that market forces remain necessary. Perhaps if Mr. Mamdani tried expanding the use of market forces, property seizures and multi-billion dollar funds would not be necessary in the first place. |
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Can Mamdani’s plan help bring down housing prices? |
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INSIDER EXCLUSIVE: AMERICA 250 |
George Washington: America’s Great Man |
There's a theory in historical thought called the Great Man theory — the idea that history is shaped not by broad, indiscriminate forces, but by rare and exceptional individuals who rise to meet the moment… |
Read Now → |
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TODAY’S DEBATE |
📊 Do you support the DOJ denaturalizing criminal Americans?Want your comment to be featured? Be sure to include your name. |
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POLL RESULTS FROM YESTERDAY |
Does the federal government need to get involved in CA’s voting process? |
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👍 Yes (1,584)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 👎 No (90)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤔 Unsure (69) |
👍 Yes: “The federal government should help ensure that each voter in California is given equal voice and that everyone who votes is qualified to vote.” — Liz 👍 Yes: “Although the Constitution assigns responsibility for elections to the states, implicit with this is a presumption that the state will honor the execute this responsibility fairly and honestly.” — Fred 👎 No: “If this government could win one case on voter fraud maybe we would take them seriously.” — Ryan |
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| 1,743 votes |
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POP QUIZ |
What did Israeli forces discover beneath Beaufort Ridge in Lebanon? |
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Thanks for joining us today. We scoured 100s of sources to bring you stories and insights you won’t find in the mainstream media—Ariel David and Brandon Goldman. |
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