In academic discourse, use of the correct name is an important means of establishing professional credibility. For example, if within the fields of computer science and information science, a specific term of art, such as artificial intelligence, has gained widespread acceptance, the use of an alternative term—a term, like superintelligence, not widely accepted within the discipline—would seriously undermine the credibility of academic work (and the author’s more general standing within the field).

Donald Trump has notoriously attempted to rechristen the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” So too has he attempted to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” and he is threatening to fashion new MAGA names for an ocean, a major river, and the state of New Mexico. Trump also recently signed an executive order requiring all federal government programs and communications to use the terms superintelligence and S.I. rather than the broadly accepted nomenclature artificial intelligence and A.I. One might shrug all of this off and say, “Well, so what? It’s a free country, and all of us can still use the generally accepted names of places (Gulf of Mexico) and things (A.I.).”

Unfortunately, after Oct. 1, 2026, this is no longer the case for academics at state-sponsored colleges and universities in Alabama. H.B. 2 officially bans the use of the phrase Gulf of Mexico by any and all state employees. As a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, I find this appalling.

To congressional Democrats, Trump’s decision to promote aide Stephen Miller to serve as his chief of staff meant two things: an elevation of the aide’s extremist views and a refusal to heed the will of voters who delivered the left a historic victory.

“Stephen Miller is the architect of Project 2025, which included the push for ‘unitary executive power’ that Trump used to enrich himself and his billionaire buddies, enable the failed efforts of Elon Musk and DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency], the stripping of healthcare from millions of people, and the mass deportation agenda that led to ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and CBP [Customs and Border Protection] killing people in the streets, separating families, locking up kids and gutting the legal immigration system,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the House Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, said in a statement.

Right-wing influencer Laura Loomer announced she is taking a “brief hiatus” from her Loomer Unleashed podcast just hours after a Trump administration adviser exposed her for being paid to post some of her manic, hateful content.

It all started on Thursday, when Alex Bruesewitz, who is behind much of Trump’s digital media strategy, took aim at conservative social media influencers following the GOP’s massive midterm election loss.

“Believe it or not attacking Democrats over their relationships with a streamer (Hasan Piker) wasn’t an effective hit,” Bruesewitz posted, not mentioning Loomer by name. “GOP candidates probably shouldn’t take messaging advice from fringe right-wing ‘influencers’ moving forward.”

Loomer took the bait.

“But they should take their advice and meetings with @TuckerCarlson instead?… It’s completely reasonable for people to be appalled with Democrat candidates campaigning with a guy who said America deserved 9/11. Hasan Piker regularly makes comments in support of jihadi groups,” she wrote. “What wasn’t helpful was your friend Tucker Carlson essentially endorsing Abdul El-Sayed over Mike Rogers and using his show to tell people to not support Rogers just a few weeks out from an election. But we all know you will never condemn your buddy Tucker.”

“Laura, you are basically the Republican version of Hasan Piker. Democrats over the years have attacked Republicans for affiliating with you. Those weren’t effective hits either,” Bruesewitz replied. “Voters simply don’t care enough about ‘influencers’ or streamers. lol”

Loomer took offense to that, claiming that she was not an influencer and criticizing Bruesewitz for his association with Omeed Malik, a conservative venture capitalist and major Republican donor.

“I’m a journalist and an opposition researcher Alex. What are you? What is it that you do for Omeed Malik exactly? He’s a Muslim right? Half Iranian and half Pakistani if I’m not mistaken,” Loomer fired back. “Is that why you have such an issue with the things I say about Islam?”

“Okay lol. But is it common for journalists to get paid for their opinions and tweets?”

“You say ‘Okay lol.’ Not sure why you are laughing. I recall last year your company X strategies reached out to me asking me for help. Do you deny that? What is so funny? I guess I don’t get the joke,” Loomer said, admitting that she was indeed paid to tweet. “You loved sharing my journalistic reports during the 2023/2024 DeSantis-Trump primary too. What changed?”

“No I don’t deny that. I’ve paid you for tweets before. I haven’t for at least a year though,” Bruesewitz wrote back. “I also know you still get paid by others for tweets so I do think it’s fair to refer to you as an ‘influencer.’ What percentage of your tweets are paid for?”

....

Hours later, Loomer announced a “one to two month show hiatus.”

Since her shock primary win in August, Nixon has complained about Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee recalcitrance to anyone who will listen. In September, she told MS NOW hosts Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was less than thrilled about her race.

“When I did speak with Sen. Schumer on the phone, it was basically a ‘we will see,’” she said. “He’s going to look into it. That’s what was said, that he’s going to look into it.”

Nixon went on to say that Democrats were wary of throwing in behind a Black woman in the South following Kamala Harris’ 2024 loss: “Folks are a little gun-shy because, unfortunately, Vice President Harris lost as a Black woman, and so people are being very hesitant in terms of funding Black women, especially in the South.”

Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert’s campaign said that it was “investigating some very unusual voting patterns,” as the MAGA congresswoman was on the brink of losing her reelection bid.

As Democrat Eileen Laubacher’s lead over Boebert grew slightly Thursday in the race to represent Colorado’s 4th District, Boebert’s campaign released a statement suggesting foul play. Scott Gessler, the attorney for the campaign, claimed that the votes had been “trending” in Boebert’s favor since election night, “consistently lowering the margin under one percentage point.”

“We are investigating some very unusual voting patterns and expect this election to head to a recount, one way or another,” Gessler continued.

As of Friday morning, Laubacher was still leading Boebert 48.75 percent to 47.94 percent, with 97 percent reporting. The two candidates had a margin of 3,069 votes, more than three times the automatic recount threshold of 921 votes. Boebert’s campaign could still choose to pay for a recount.

Days after winning majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats are setting sharp priorities. They are zeroing in on Apple, Meta and the companies led by Elon Musk as early targets for congressional investigations, according to two people familiar with the plans.

https://archive.ph/20261106195249/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/11/06/after-courting-trump-corporate-america-faces-democratic-reckoning/

Without control of the White House, there is of course only so much Democrats can do with their newfound power. And in the context of the myriad horrors of the first half of President Donald Trump’s second term, talking about what the party “should” do next is roughly analogous to deciding which out-of-control forest fire to fight first: There is not enough water, there are lots of worthy candidates, and all of them are getting worse. 

One thing must be true, though: Whatever issues Democratic lawmakers choose to focus on—and, as the 2028 ideas primary gets underway, whatever ambitious ideas Democratic presidential hopefuls choose to support—the party must also have a plan for taking on the Supreme Court, which remains an existential threat to anything Democrats might hope to accomplish. Even if the party is fortunate enough to win a trifecta—the House, the Senate, and the White House—in 2028, things like a Green New Deal and Medicare for All and a new Voting Rights Act do not stand a chance before this six-justice conservative supermajority. Regrettably, what I wrote in 2020 is just as true today: If Congress passes any one of these proposals into law, the only real question is which justice ends up writing the opinion that kills it.

Mississippi Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom has flipped Forrest County, a once reliably Republican County named for Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest.

With 97% of votes counted in Forrest County, Colom led Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 54%-44% as of Thursday, Nov. 5. That represents a 29-point swing toward Democrats in a county that Donald Trump carried in 2024 by a 58%-40% margin.

Colom, who currently has a narrow lead among votes counted, would be the first Black U.S. senator from Mississippi since 1881 during the Reconstruction era.

Nov. 5, 2026

The poll says 66 percent of Jewish voters in the US believe that Aipac’s campaign spending against candidates who criticise Israel actually increases antisemitism in the country.

In addition, 60 percent believe that Jewish organisations that label harsh criticism of Israel as antisemitic are exploiting concerns about antisemitism to defend unpopular Israeli government policies.

Notably, 80 percent of Jewish voters believe that Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are increasing antisemitism in the US.

Can someone explain to me how my state got everything else right for the most part but went stupid for this one?

Literally, let's inspect little girls privates, but not boys, because 10 trans students exist and MIGHT want to play sports with their friends? Jesus.

It was also kind of disgusting that literally all our state initiatives were funded by a 1%-er, Brian Heywood and his Let's Go Washingtion PAC.

“We are having active conversations with our partners and also evaluating what legal options are available to us. If there is an avenue, we will challenge this ballot measure in court on behalf of our members and our community and trans youth,” said Danni Askini, the group’s executive director.

She said Gender Justice League would challenge the measure, Initiative 638, based on a 2008 student privacy rights case that ruled that Washington schools requiring suspicionless urine testing of students was unconstitutional.

“We believe that the Washington constitution and the Supreme Court have been really clear that I-638 would go far beyond a random drug screening and invade all girls’ privacy,” Askini said, adding that the measure “sets a really chilling and disturbing precedent.”

The new White House chief of staff is responsible for some of the most provocative policies of President Trump’s second term, as well as an aggressive approach to executive power.

Archived copy of the article — missing photo of Miller

Three high-profile officials have resigned from the Justice Department in the days since the midterms, including Jason Reding Quiñones, the senior federal prosecutor who led a sprawling investigation into Donald Trump’s political foes.

Quiñones resigned from his position as the US Attorney in Southern Florida under pressure from department leadership, despite his willingness to pursue some of the most controversial investigations desired by the president, according to sources familiar with the matter.

John Eisenberg, who led the department’s National Security Division, also announced his resignation Friday, and Harmeet Dhillon left her post as the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on Thursday.

Democratic and Republican lawyers and groups trade sharp legal letters about procedures for counting ballots in tight race

Democrat Scott Colom is on the verge of winning a Senate seat in Mississippi in a stunning upset, but ballots are still being counted in a close race where Colom holds a lead of just under 2,000 votes over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. Losing ruby-red Mississippi would be the final straw for Republicans after a midterm sweep by Democrats that turned Texas and South Carolina blue.

A possible legal fight is also brewing, as both sides trade sharp legal letters about the procedures for counting remaining ballots. National voting groups and attorneys have descended upon the magnolia state, joining the local groups that worked to mobilize voters. Democratic and Republican groups, including Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and Democratic election attorneys from the Elias Law Group, have deployed hundreds of volunteers and lawyers to all the state’s 82 counties to oversee the final rounds of counting.

“There is one contingency in which I won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns,” wrote Republican Rep. Thomas Massie.

Republican US Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said Wednesday that Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth, the most prominent cheerleader and architect of the Trump administration’s illegal war on Iran, will face an impeachment vote in the House of Representatives—unless he submits his resignation first.

“There is one contingency in which I won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns,” Massie, who unveiled eight impeachment articles against the Pentagon secretary in September, wrote following Democrats’ rout of the GOP in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Massie is expected to force a vote on the articles—which accuse Hegseth of extrajudicial killings, waging wars without congressional authorization, and kidnapping a sovereign foreign leader—as soon as next week.

The Kentucky Republican’s ultimatum came as CNN reported that a “knives-out campaign” against Hegseth intensified following the midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of the House and Senate beginning in January.

Mississippi’s race for the U.S. Senate remains too close to call: Democrat Scott Colom is narrowly leading Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by nearly 2,000 votes with 96% of votes counted as of Friday morning. Donald Trump carried Mississippi by 23 points in 2024. If elected, Colom would be the first Democrat to win the state in 40 years and the first African American since 1875, during the Reconstruction era. Colom, the former district attorney for northeast Mississippi, made the issue of affordability central to his campaign. He has sharply criticized national Democrats for writing off Mississippi and failing to invest in his campaign early on.