It’s Free for ALL Friday! Each week I keep track of some of the off-the-path things I've found, and work extra-hard to make sure you never hit a paywall. (If you do find links that don’t work, let me know!)
‘I Have Seen the Enemy, and It Is Us’: Inside Team Trump’s Historic Collapse
How an unpopular president and an unpopular war provided an opening for Democrats to make sweeping gains in the midterms.
Six days before the election, more than two dozen of President Trump’s top strategists logged onto a private video call.
The mood was grim. The discussion began with talk of cyanide.
“Do you want the white pill first, or the black pill first?” asked Tony Fabrizio, the president’s chief pollster.
Tim Saler, one of the Republican Party’s top data consultants, laid out two scenarios. In the first, the $400 million MAGA Inc. super PAC was reaching the voters that it had wanted and expected to vote. “That’s the optimistic scenario,” he said.
The other was a wipeout.
“I’m getting my affairs in order,” James Blair, who left the White House to oversee the president’s midterm strategy, said to laughter, according to four people on the call. “I suggest everybody else do the same.”
For roughly 30 minutes, the call ran on gallows humor: funeral arrangements, prison food, presidential pardons, even a brief riff on fleeing the country.
“At least Bibi won. He’ll protect us,” Mr. Blair said sarcastically of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country had voted the day before. (Mr. Netanyahu’s bloc fell short of a majority, and his party soon claimed the election had been stolen.)
“Maybe we could get asylum in Israel,” Mr. Fabrizio said.
Link: New York Times
The Surf Communities Selling Man-Made Waves to Homeowners
Developers in states like Texas, Utah, and Arizona are betting that man-made surf lagoons will lure wealthy buyers, despite high construction costs and steep monthly fees
In search of a vacation spot for surfing with his family, Clint Tasset put down a $600,000 deposit last year on a $1.8 million lot in Los Cabos, Mexico, a place renowned for its coastline.
But Tasset doesn’t plan on surfing in the ocean there. Instead, the $3 million house he builds will be across the street from the beach at the Cabo Real Surf Club, a private residential club next to an artificial lagoon with a wave machine.
In the lagoon, he won’t have to wait for waves and battle other surfers. There will be no sharks, jellyfish, rocks or bad currents. He’s promised multiple good waves a session, as big or small as he wants. “It’s approachable,” said Tasset, 46, who lives just north of Denver and founded a digital marketing company. “If you can lie on a board and move your arms, you can get in.” He plans on surfing there with his wife and two kids, aged 13 and 15.
Thanks to advances in wave-pool technology, man-made surf lagoons are becoming the latest amenity high-end housing developers are using to lure buyers. Instead of golf courses, ski mountains or lakes, these developments—often with custom-built homes and members-only clubhouses—offer surfing as the main activity. Whether these capital-intensive projects can be financially successful, however, remains to be seen; at least one planned project has already faltered.
Link: Wall Street Journal
Americans Cut Back on Boats and RVs—but Can’t Stop Buying Harley-Davidsons
Motorcycle maker sees its first sales boost in years as riders respond to new models and cheap financing
Carl Sprinkle only went to a Harley-Davidson HOG 3.81%increase; up pointing triangle dealer to buy new foot pegs for his 16-year-old motorcycle. But then he saw it: a limited edition, three-wheeled Street Glide with a trio of ghostly eagles adorning its obsidian paint job.
Price tag: $46,000.
Sprinkle took it home after selling his camper and trading in another Harley.
“I spent an hour there arguing with myself, dropped a deposit and tried to figure out how to buy it,” said Sprinkle, a 68-year-old retired union pipe fitter who lives in Indiana. “There was no way I wasn’t going to have that motorcycle.”
His purchase helps explain why Harley is bucking a downturn in sales of leisure products: High interest rates, punishing gas prices and broad economic anxiety have dented sales of everything from RVs to boats.
But that downturn hasn’t come for Harley. In its primary market of North America, the bike maker has recorded year-over-year retail-sales growth in each of the last four quarters, and is on track for the first full-year increase since 2021. Globally, sales are up 4% so far this year.
Link: Wall Street Journal
Why Sports Bar Owners Are Hedging Against the Teams They Love
Andrew Rizzo’s family has owned the same piece of Chicago property next to Wrigley Field since 1946, when the family immigrated to the U.S. from Italy and opened Cubs Park Service Station. That business turned into parking for Bears and Chicago Cubs games until, in 2017, the family opened Rizzo’s Bar & Inn.
Like many bars in Wrigleyville, a significant portion of Rizzo’s revenue comes during baseball season, and a deep playoff run can seriously shift margins. Bars are packed, and because playoff tickets are more expensive, the bar often hosts wealthier clientele who spend more money. An early postseason exit, however, can mean unrealized revenue.
So as the Cubs squeaked their way into the postseason, Rizzo traded $7,500 on Kalshi that the Cubs would host two or fewer home playoff games. He hoped, both as a Chicagoan and businessowner, that he would be wrong. But when the Cubs never even made it to October, swept by the San Diego Padres in two away games during the Wild Card series, Rizzo’s bet paid out a few thousand dollars, softening the financial blow of a short postseason.
“Unfortunately in the past, like if the Cubs just had a short run or something and fell apart, you’re obviously really disappointed because you lost out on a ton of revenue,” Rizzo said.
This type of event-related risk has always existed in the hospitality industry, especially for sports bars and restaurants near stadiums. But as the use of prediction markets surges, especially in sports, some local businesses that rely on sports-related sales are using it as a form of insurance against potential lost revenue.
Link: New York Times
The Cursed Cruise: How the Dream of Never-Ending Luxury at Sea Became a Nightmare
The MV Odyssey was billed as the ultimate escape from Donald Trump. Instead, the oil shock caused by his war has left passengers unceremoniously dumped in Cambodia
Fri 30 Oct 2026 23.00 EDT
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The idea was a never-ending retirement at sea, a continuous voyage around the globe. The promise to the passengers of the MV Odyssey cruise ship – many approaching the autumn of their lives – was that on the open seas they could cut loose from the troubles of the world. But the world had other ideas.
The end came in an announcement as stark as it was brief: they had seven hours to get off. They were going no further than Cambodia.
The Odyssey, owned by Florida-based Villa Vie Residences, which had first set sail from Belfast, Northern Ireland, in October 2024, made an explicit offer: Donald Trump had been re-elected to the White House, and this was a way for those ill-disposed to the president to enjoy a four-year “skip forward”.
For $319,998, a couple seeking such an escape could head off to the high seas for the length of a presidential term and come back from their journey to nowhere when the danger had passed – or not.
At 642ft (196 metres) long, it was a relatively small ship, but at such prices, and with the world being held firmly at bay, what could go wrong? Neither the more than 200 passengers on the Odyssey nor its cruise operator foresaw the consequences of Trump’s war in Iran. The reality was, there was no escaping the US president.
Last week, Villa Vie Residences issued a statement. It had run out of money owing to the soaring price of oil. Monthly fuel costs per cabin in parts of Asia had risen to as much as $8,000 from $1,800, placing it “under unsustainable financial pressure”, it announced.
Link: Guardian (Oliver Holmes, Daniel Boffey, Adeshola Ore)
Obamacare Dealt Yet Another Blow as Premiums Jump Again
Premiums will increase an average 13 percent next year for millions of Americans, on top of an earlier steep increase. It adds to the problems facing the program, which the Trump administration has weakened.
Millions of Americans who depend on Obamacare for their health insurance face another double-digit price increase next year, adding to the financial toll that has already driven millions of others to drop coverage since last year.
The price increases largely reflect higher medical costs across the country. But they also are a signal of the latest blow to Obamacare under the Trump administration, which has overseen the expiration of tax credits that helped Americans pay for coverage and has erected new barriers to enrollment in an effort to root out what it describes as widespread fraud.
The average price of health insurance in the Obamacare marketplaces will rise by 13 percent next year, according to an analysis on Friday by KFF, the health research group.
The Trump administration on Friday published new prices for 2027 in 30 states with markets managed by the federal government. Using that data and state figures, KFF calculated the increase nationwide.
The large premium increases for Obamacare plans are similar to changes expected in other health insurance markets, though slightly higher. Reports by several consulting firms projected that premiums for employer plans, which cover around 150 million people, could go up by about 10 percent in 2027. Premiums for federal workers are increasing by more than 10 percent.
Link: New York Times
Lawmakers Call to Reform Louisiana’s ‘Blatantly Unconstitutional’ Justice of the Peace System
After Guardian investigation, both Republican and Democratic state lawmakers are considering legislation to address ‘flagrantly unethical’ court system.
A bipartisan group of senior Louisiana lawmakers have called for reform of the state’s justice of the peace courts after an investigation published by the Guardian revealed systemic due process issues that experts have labeled “blatantly unconstitutional”.
Louisiana’s justices of the peace courts, which oversee thousands of evictions annually, alongside other small claims and civil matters, are uniquely funded by the filing fees that each court generates. The Guardian revealed a system that brings in millions of dollars a year in filing fee revenue – leading to a handful of justices, who are compensated directly from this income, earning lucrative amounts.
One justice in the New Orleans metro area, Chuck Cusimano II, earned in excess of $400,000 in 2025, mostly from eviction filing fees – over $80,000 more than the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts, earns in salary. He is among five justices identified by the Guardian who made more than $220,000 in income from filing fees in at least one year from 2023 to 2025.
Kat and Lesley at home in New Iberia, Louisiana on August 15, 2026.
‘Sham tribunal’: one family’s battle with Louisiana’s ‘feudal’ eviction courts
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Experts say the system creates incentives for justices to rule in favor of landlords who bring in repeat cases to their courts and routinely denies tenants their due process rights in one of the poorest states in the US amid a nationwide affordable housing crisis.
All of that is “an obvious cause for concern, and it needs to be looked at – and addressed”, the Republican state house member Jerome Zeringue said after the Guardian began publishing its reporting on 20 October.
Link: Guardian
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend. See you in the comments!
Item #1 today says it all. What a relief!
Can we stop calling the ACA “Obamacare?” It is called the Affordable Care Act, and actually would be worth the name had Congress not altered the financial basis. From a personal perspective, the ACA allowed me to retire at 62 with affordable insurance. I was able to manage income from my IRAs and regular post-tax savings (plus no mortgage) to maximize subsidies for three years until Medicare kicked in.
Here’s to hoping Louisiana get’s it’s act together on the JOTP situation. Taking advantage of the disadvantaged through a lack of due process is reprehensible. And you can’t tell me the Louisiana legislature was unaware. It is ironic that a foreign newspaper was the catalyst of this new attention.