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KABUL — When Zainab Ferozi saw Afghan women struggling to feed their families after Taliban authorities took power, she took matters into her own hands and poured her savings into starting a business. Two-and-a-half years after putting 20,000 Afghanis ($300) earned from teaching sewing classes into a carpet weaving enterprise, she now employs around a dozen women who lost their jobs or who had to abandon their education due to Taliban government rules. Register to read this story and more for free . Signing up for an account helps us improve your browsing experience. OR See our subscription options.
Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Under Trump
Unfortunately, airlines continue to struggle to locate misplaced suitcases despite the overabundance of tracking devices. When it happens, it’s often to the chagrin of the person losing their luggage and having to deal with the airline gaslighting them out of its existence. Apple added a new feature to Find My last month to help with these it-sucks-when-it-happens situations. Share Item Location allows you to share the location of an AirTag with a third party, which will be immensely helpful when trying to prove that an airline lost your bag. United Airlines is the first major airline conglomerate to implement Apple’s Share Item Location feature for the AirTag in its mobile app. To use it, you’ll need the latest iOS 18.2 update, available for the iPhone Xs and above. The feature lets you generate a shareable link through the Find My app and add it to a delayed baggage report. You can also cease sharing that data before your item is found. The Share Item Location link automatically expires after seven days. Apple has said the location sharing is end-to-end encrypted, so only you, the user, and the third party can access the link. If you’re flying United, once your bag doesn’t show up on the conveyor belt, you can file a delayed baggage report and link the Share Item Location. The link can be generated via iPhone, iPad, or a Mac. After you submit the report, United will use that link to see where your bag is and, hopefully, pluck it out of whatever vortex it is whirling in. United promises to disable the shared location when you’re reunited with your bag. I’m curious what the airlines are thinking as they laud the support of a new feature that effectively snitches if they don’t follow protocol to return a bag. United’s press release hones in on the idea that they’re one of the first major airlines to log on to this newfangled way of tracking bags, but not without cheekily mentioning that Apple’s new Share Item Location will “drive a much-improved customer service experience for the fewer than 1% of customers whose bags arrive on a later flight.” That’s from a statistic last year that claimed only a tiny percentage of people ever have to deal with lost bags. Anyway, that number is still too much. Airlines make keeping your bag on you challenging and charge for the privilege of keeping it near. How dare they pass it off as a minuscule thing that only affects a sprinkling of people here and there. On most of my flights this year, I’ve seen folks who get on the airplane last be forced to check their bags because of a lack of overhead bin space. The bins would probably be sufficient were it not for how much it costs to check the bag from the get-go. It’s a constant lose-lose situation for the customer, so Apple is proud to let its users know it’s introduced a way to help get around the politics of checking a bag. Over a dozen airlines will start implementing this tracking feature, including most of United Airlines’ partners, such as Air Canada, Lufthansa, and Turkish Airlines. Apple says more airlines will be added over time. Android users who are wondering how to play this game will have to choose a player. All Android users have access to Find My Device . If you’re using a Samsung device, the company has its own tracking network for the ecosystem. Third-party companies like Tile also let you share a device’s location with another party.UCF, LSU face off with improved focus in mind
Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live raises ad prices, charging as much as $480K in 2025
This story is part of the November 24 edition of Sunday Life. See all 14 stories . Malabar Coast, Arabian Sea. There’s romance enough just in the names. I’m rattling along in a rickety local bus (no windows, driver perched on the springs of a seat that long ago lost its padding) towards Kochi in Kerala state, south-west India. The city, once known as Cochin, was a relatively sleepy place in the 1960s. Since then, the population has exploded from a manageable 250,000 to more than 31⁄2 million. What you’ll see today is a colonial-era district, Fort Kochi, surrounded by a vast Indian city of shopping malls, high-rise apartment blocks and motorways – pumping with life and energy 24/7. Traditional Kathakali dance on New Year carnival in Fort Kochi, Kerala, India. Credit: Getty Images Fort Kochi was a significant trading port long before the local raja (king) negotiated a deal with the Portuguese in 1500. He got the worst of the arrangement, slowly losing power to his erstwhile ally. The Portuguese built a fort, hence the name, and held on to the territory for the next 163 years before losing it in turn to the Dutch. The British wrested it away in 1795, holding on to the growing town until India gained its hard-won independence in 1947. It’s no surprise Kochi is a major tourist attraction. It’s small enough to navigate around easily and is packed with the magnificent architecture of three successive colonial influences alongside Indian, with the whole lot surrounded by sea. With an international airport well serviced by flights from Australia, Kochi is a great place to begin your Indian adventure, especially if you’re a first-time visitor to India. Kerala is considered a politically and socially progressive state relative to the rest of India. It’s also one of the wealthiest and this is evident in Kochi. It’s a city of fine restaurants, hipster cafes, boutiques packed with original designs and a surprisingly large number of art galleries, many housed in exquisite, well-maintained colonial buildings. The city is home to the government-supported Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which has had quite an impact on the art world since its inception in 2012. The sixth edition gets underway in December this year. Wander in the narrow, winding lanes edged by buildings in the Dutch and Portuguese styles housing shops, cafes and private homes. Drop in for coffee at Kashi Art Cafe. Stroll with the locals at sunset on Kochi Beach, dine at a waterfront restaurant watching the boats coming and going across the harbour. There’s a wide range of accommodation here, from luxury hotels to modest guesthouses. Take a state-of-the-art electric ferry to the wharf near the iconic Chinese fishing nets and next door to the gorgeous Brunton Boatyard Hotel, which began life as a British colonial shipyard on the waterfront. Stay here, or pop in for a drink or a meal on the promenade. Loading Nearby, tucked down a quiet, flower-filled lane, you’ll find SeaCoast Inn. This newly built, mid-range guesthouse is owned by Kochi local Shaan. The former IT executive has drawn on his own international travel experience to organise this attractive residence in a way that works for foreign visitors while still being essentially Indian. It’s pristine, well designed and full of lovely artisanal furnishings and fittings that reflect the Portuguese heritage of the area. Fort Kochi is not nearly as busy as many Asian cities with similar attractions. There’s still a homely feel to it, easygoing and genuine. My first day in Kochi, I lunch at Qissa cafe and find myself gravitating back there often during my stay. On one visit, as I step out into the street to take a phone call, I notice I’ve left my bag at my table. I’m about to double back when the waiter, a young man with the delicate beauty typical of the people of this region, his abundant black hair hauled into a topknot, makes me a sign: “No worries, I’ve got my eye on it, go do what you need to do.” Kochi is still that sort of place.Microsoft is giving Copilot a new taskbar UI and keyboard shortcut on Windows
Investors looking to build their dream portfolio for retirement certainly have plenty of options to choose from. Of course, investors could go the growth route and look to create a portfolio that compounds on itself over time for big gains. Or investors could go the income route, looking to generate a portfolio of passive-income streams to live off of in retirement. I’d argue that an approach that spans both strategies isn’t only possible, but preferable. The two companies I’m going to highlight below provide the right mix of both yield and growth that I think can serve long-term investors well. Here’s why those looking to invest in their Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) may want to consider these two individual stock picks. Dream Industrial REIT ( ) is one of the biggest players in the industrial real estate sector. The company owns and manages a diversified portfolio of high-quality industrial properties across Canada, the United States, and Europe. As e-commerce grows rapidly and warehouse and logistics facilities are in greater demand by companies, Dream Industrial is poised to deliver sustained growth and stable income. In my view, industrial real estate really is the place for most investors to be right now. And with Dream Industrial’s platform consisting of more than 250 properties, many located in the most in-demand markets, there’s a lot to like about this REIT’s long-term growth prospects. Additionally, the trust’s leverage it provides to investors seeking exposure to companies operating in the e-commerce, manufacturing, and logistics sectors is world-class. Recent acquisitions in Europe and the U.S. have broadened its geographic footprint and enhanced its exposure to high-growth markets. In my view, this real estate investment trust (REIT), which yields around 5.8% at the time of writing, is an excellent option on the dividend front. And as investors will note from the stock chart above, there’s plenty of capital appreciation upside ahead, particularly if interest rates do head lower in the years to come. Restaurant Brands ( ) remains among my top picks for long-term investors seeking strong total returns over the long term. Now, the stock’s chart below does show a picture of stability — and that’s something I think those investing for retirement want to see. But with meaningful capital appreciation and dividend growth over time, this is a top-quality TSX stock I think is worth holding particularly on dips like the one we’ve seen this year. Restaurant Brands’s yield happens to be much lower than that of Dream Industrial REIT, largely due to the fact that this company isn’t forced to pay out 90% of its cash flows to investors in the form of dividends. However, the company has generated positive earnings growth over the past decade and is well positioned to do so moving forward. I think more dividends and share buybacks are likely, so long as this trend continues. The fast-food sector is one that’s been hit relatively hard of late, and for good reason. The rise of GLP-1 drugs has shifted demand for unhealthier options away from home toward other offerings. However, the company’s key brand positioning within the quick service restaurant space and its ability to pivot toward trends in a way many of its peers haven’t do position Restaurant Brands well to take advantage of a wave of growth, particularly in international markets. The company is a global giant and could continue to take share in exciting new markets in Europe and Asia. Additionally, the quick-service restaurant industry is considered to be highly resilient, particularly even during any economic downturns. Consumers rely on cheap and affordable dining options during difficult times, thus ensuring cash flows for the brand. Thus, for investors seeking defensive total returns over the long-term, this is a top name I think is worth keeping in the portfolio right now.All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. French Montana ’s new documentary is dedicated to his mom, Khadija, and other immigrant moms who have “sacrificed for their kids in this country,” the rapper shared in a TMZ Live interview on Wednesday (Nov. 20). Montana, whose birth name is Karim Kharbouch, immigrated to America from Morocco when he was 13 years old. His mom worked three jobs to support the family after his father moved back to the North African country. “We overstayed [our] visas,” Montana recalled. “My father was trying to create an opportunity for us to live the American dream, but he didn’t succeed at that. He got tired of it. He wanted to go back to Africa and live like a king. He told my mom ‘We can take all the kids and leave French here.’ My mother said ‘I’m not going to leave my son here,’ so he said ‘You can stay with him.’ He felt like she betrayed him.” “He left me, my mother, my two little brothers. None of us spoke English. I couldn’t get a job, couldn’t go to school. I didn’t have paperwork. The only thing to do was to hustle and hit the streets. It was something that happened by mistake and turned into a miracle.” The French Montana Story: For Khadija , premiered at the Tribeca Film festival last year. The documentary has been eight years in the making, partially because the process of getting his mother a green card and reuniting her with family in Morocco for the first time in 25 years. “She’s the real French Montana,” he said. “She’s the one that sacrificed.” “It shining a light on a mother’s love,” he added of the film. “A light on all mothers, especially immigrant mothers that sacrificed for their kids in this country.” Later in the interview, Montana talks U.S. immigration laws and collaborating with Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of president-elect Donald Trump. “I’m not too involved in politics, Laura Trump was somebody I knew on a personal level but honestly, I don’ t like the immigration laws. Hopefully we can do something about that,” he added. “That’s all a conversation, something I would have to speak to [Laura about] to try and talk some sense into him [Trump].” The French Montana Story premiered on Paramount+ on Tuesday (Nov. 21). If you’re not subscribed, you can join for free for the first week to stream The French Montana Story and other Paramount+ exclusive such as Ink Master , Landman , Lioness , Frasier , Seal Team and Mayor of Kingstown . The Paramount+ Essentials plan renews at $7.99/month after the free trial and Paramount+ with Showtime is $12.99/month but the first week is free. Subscribe to an annual plan to save up to 23% off. Amazon Prime members can enjoy two months of Paramount+ for just $2.99/month. The Black Friday deal saves you 77% off Prime Video channels and including Paramount+, AMC+, STARZ, Crunchyroll , MGM+ and Hallmark+. Amazon’s Black Friday 2024 runs from Nov. 21-29. Want a free subscription? Walmart+ members get free Paramount+ and other membership benefits. Click here to subscribe. Watch French Montana’s TMZ Live interview below.Winless in rivalry, Dan Lanning, No. 1 Oregon determined to tame Huskies
It’s almost that time! The annual is creeping up slowly, and with just seven days until the big show on Thursday, Dec. 5, is getting you hip to all of your favorite celebrities who are set to attend the one-of-a-kind event. From actors and comedians to business owners and politicians, you can expect to show love to all of the stunning personalities who had an amazing 2024. Take a look at some of the many stars scheduled to make their appearance... And before you do, make sure to 2 / 24 will be this year’s Root 100 show host! The comedian and actor is back again as the host for the star-studded event. Woods Jr. is an Emmy-nominated documentary producer who is not only hilarious but also down to educate the public on the issues that really matter. Forbes once called him “One of comedy’s best journalists,” Entertainment Weekly has described his thought-provoking comedy as “. . . charismatic crankiness. . .” and Variety Magazine named him “One of 10 Comics to Watch in 2016.” 3 / 24 Don Lemon Don Lemon remains one of the biggest voices in television and journalism. Since leaving CNN, Lemon was able to carve out his own space on the internet for himself, launching his own series and podcast “The Don Lemon Show.” Still at the forefront of the conversation in the middle of one of the biggest election years in recent memory, Lemon has found a way to relaunch himself and continue to provide impressive and necessary journalistic work into the fold. 4 / 24 Trell Thomas Trell Thomas Media expert and activist has always believed in the importance of representation and sharing stories of success — particularly within communities of color. He is the creator and host of The Black Excellence Brunch, a celebration of Black history and culture that pays tribute to the Sunday dinners he grew up having with loved ones after church. This year’s brunch was held at one of the most sought-after locations in the country – the White House South Lawn. 5 / 24 Ledisi Ledisi Singer and New Orleans native is set to perform at this year’s Root 100 Award Show! The singer is determined to live her good life. And if you needed some convincing, look no further than her latest album “Good Life,” released in March 2024. Ledisi’s 13-track album also received positive reviews from music critics who praised her jazzy, smooth vocals as “a throwback to the classic-sounding contemporary R&B and soul.” Shortly after the album’s release, Ledisi embarked on her “Good Life Tour,” which saw her sharing her sweet sounds across 33 cities all over the country. 6 / 24 DeWanda Wise DeWanda Wise With memorable roles in films like “The Harder They Fall” and “Jurassic World: Dominion,” has already begun to make a name for herself in Hollywood. The 40-year-old rode into 2024 on a wave of acclaim for her work in the Starz series “Three Women,” and then terrified audiences in 2024 with the horror thriller “Imaginary,” which she both starred in and executive produced. From action, to drama, to horror, Wise’s range is amazing: she feels completely at home in every genre. 7 / 24 Tracy Morgan Tracy Morgan Tracy Morgan is one of the funniest men alive! The comedic legend has an impressive discography with films like “Little Man” and “Rio” under his belt. 2024 marks the ten year anniversary of the nearly fatal accident which sent Morgan into a coma. Despite the setback, the 56-year-old is still living his best life! He’s also set to star in a new Paramount+ comedy series which is a spinoff of the CBS show “The Neighborhood.” 8 / 24 Wendell Pierce Wendell Pierce Known for his roles in the CBS hit detective drama “Elsbeth” and known for his roles in “Suits,” and “The Wire,” Tony Award-winning actor is stamped as one of Hollywood’s greats. This year, he stirred up a bit of drama with former President Barack Obama after calling him out for “scapegoating Black men,” Pierce tweeted. “We spoke and realized we’re on the same page,” Pierce told CNN’s Abby Phillips. “It’s just a matter of messaging.” 9 / 24 Kecia Lewis Kecia Lewis Kecia Lewis is set to perform at this year’s Root 100 Award Show! After four decades on the stage, 2024 was a banner year for The 59-year-old singer and actress who made her Broadway debut at age 18 in the 1981 musical “Dreamgirls,” found her way back to the stage this year, playing music teacher Miss Liza Jane in the acclaimed musical “Hell’s Kitchen,” inspired by Alicia Keys’ life growing up in New York City. Her performance won Lewis her first Tony for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role at the 2024 awards, making her the first Black actress to win in the category since Renée Elise Goldsberry’s performance in “Hamilton” in 2016. Lewis is also preparing to star alongside Tracy Morgan in “The Neighborhood” spinoff, “Crutch” on CBS. 10 / 24 Bakari Sellers Bakari Sellers is an American attorney, political commentator, and politician known for speaking his mind and advocating for the Black community. In April of this year, Sellers released his new book called “The Moment: Thoughts on the Race Reckoning That Wasn’t and How We All Can Move Forward Now.” But that wasn’t all Sellers was up to this year. His podcast, “The Bakari Sellers Podcast,” was also nominated for a NAACP Award for Outstanding Podcast: Society and Culture. Sellers continues to rise in the political world, and now he’s getting his well-earned props. 11 / 24 Harriette Cole Harriette Cole Harriette Cole went from recovering from hamstring surgery to lighting the world on fire with her two Dreamleapers podcasts and the talk show she launched during the pandemic, “Real Conversations With AARP.” Just this year, she has interviewed firebrands including Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., Don Lemon, Anthony Hamilton, and Kecia Lewis, inspiring others to leap into their dreams. The Baltimore native started her career at Essence where she ran the lifestyle and fashion departments. She writes the syndicated advice column “Sense & Sensitivity” and has been media trainer to Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Andra Day, PartyNextDoor, Shyne, and Anderson .Paak. 12 / 24 Marcus Samuelsson Marcus Samuelsson If you’re looking for amazing food, eight-time James Beard award-winning chef specializes in it. Samuelsson is the chef behind restaurants like Red Rooster in Harlem, Vibe BBQ in Newark and several other restaurants globally. The author of several cookbooks, he is the youngest person to nab a three-star review from The New York Times. This year, he was named as an Official Chef Ambassador for All-Clad, a cookware brand. He also collaborated with West Elm on a collection that reflects the places he’s called home in Ethiopia, Harlem and Sweden. Samuelsson serves on the board of the New York City Harvest, a nonprofit group that focuses on feeding the hungry. 13 / 24 Jasmine Crockett Jasmine Crockett U.S. Rep. , D-Texas, has represented the state’s 30th Congressional District in Congress since 2023. However, 2024 turned out to be the year that made the outspoken politician a household name. In May, Crockett put far-right conspiracy theorist and congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in her place during an Oversight Committee hearing after Greene went after her “fake eyelashes.” Crockett fired back at Greene’s “bleach-blonde, bad-built butch body,” which immediately went viral prompting Crockett to trademark the phrase. From being quoted on “Saturday Night Live” to appearing on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Crockett permeated culture in 2024 in a truly unexpected way. 14 / 24 Laura Coates Laura Coates is a dynamic voice for justice who breaks down complexities of the law in a way that’s resonant for her audience. She’s an attorney and SiriusXM host by day, as well as anchor of “Laura Coates Live” and chief legal analyst on CNN by night. After practicing privately in Minnesota and New York, she became a federal prosecutor for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice during the Bush and Obama administrations. Additionally, beyond the courtroom and newsroom, she’s a bestselling author. In “Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor’s Fight for Fairness,” Coates shines a light on issues impacting the Black communities and reminds others to fight for justice in the courts. 15 / 24 Aldis Hodge Aldis Hodge , who won a SAG Award for “Hidden Figures, isn’t just known for film and television. He’s also a scriptwriter and producer. This year he starred in the sci-fi thriller “Parallel,” a remake of a 2020 film, which he co-wrote and stars alongside with his older brother, Edwin. Most recently, he appeared in “Marmalade.” The “Straight Outta Compton” actor was also nominated for two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Supporting actor in the motion pictures “Black Adam,” and “One Night in Miami.” 16 / 24 Antjuan Seawright Antjuan Seawright It’s a testament to Seawright’s skills as a much-sought-after democratic political strategist and consultant that he’s carved out a national reputation as CEO of Blueprint Strategy LLC, a firm based in his Columbia, S.C., home. A former advisor on Hilliary Clinton’s 2008 and 2016 presidential campaigns, he’s worked with Democratic campaign committees in S.C., Georgia, and New York and advises the Democratic National Committee. He hosts the “Insight with Antjuan Seawright,” a weekly public affairs radio show based in South Carolina, and co-host of “Hot Button Monday’s” segment on Reverend Al Sharpton’s national radio show. This year, he won numerous awards for his community work, including traveling all over the country, stopping in barbershops and churches to talk to Black men in order to understand what they were feeling prior to the election. 17 / 24 Nicholas Ryan Gant Nicholas Ryan Gant Nicholas Ryan Gant is set to perform at this year’s Root 100 Award Show! He is a singer and songwriter based in New York City. The Howard University graduate has been classically training for most of his life, and in 2024, he continues to use his voice and his talents to bring joy to all and educate the youth. Grant has sung with Mariah Carey and currently is a vocal coach for aspiring youth performers. 18 / 24 Duchesne Drew Duchesne Drew Duchesne Drew has shown exemplary leadership and excellence in the media and journalism industry for over 20 years. Previously, he merged innovation and communications as the Community Network Vice President of the Bush Foundation. Now, the Columbia University alumnus works as the Senior Vice President of the American Public Media Group and the President of Minnesota Public Radio where he leads the teams that produce MPR News, APM Reports, and the Marketplace. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the McKnight Foundation and the Board of Trustees for Columbia University. 19 / 24 Jotaka Eaddy Jotaka Eaddy founder and CEO of Full Circle Strategies, is a leader in social impact and political advocacy. Leading the movement #WinWithBlackWomen, she organized a total of over 44,000 Black women for a Zoom call about championing political causes and supporting Kamala Harrs as the democratic presidential candidate. Notably, she was instrumental in a national and international lobbying campaign that led to the abolition of the juvenile death penalty with the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling on Roper v. Simmons. 20 / 24 Sabrina Greenlee Sabrina Greenlee is a survivor in every sense of the word. In 2002, the South Carolina native was the victim of an attack with a mixture of bleach and lye that left her blind and fighting for her life. But with faith and the support of her family, she fought her way through the emotional and physical pain to raise four successful children –– including her son, NFL star DeAndre Hopkins. Today, Greenlee shares her message of strength and overcoming adversity with others through S.M.O.O.O.T.H., her non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women impacted by domestic violence. In July 2024, she released an inspiring memoir about her journey, “Grant Me Vision.” 21 / 24 Tamron Hall Tamron Hall Daytime television host and author has graced screens for over 30 years on NBC News, MSNBC, and the “Today” show. Her work is critically acclaimed, and her poised energy keeps viewers coming back for more. The Texas native has received two Emmy awards, an NAACP Image Award, and other accolades. She recently released “A Confident Cook: Recipes for Joyous, No-Pressure Fun in the Kitchen” with Lish Steiling. “The Tamron Hall Show” is currently the second-longest-running Disney-produced syndicated talk show and is one of the highest-rated daytime television shows. 22 / 24 Alvin Bragg Alvin Bragg ’s place in history was secured in 2021 when he became the first African American to be elected Manhattan District Attorney. In May of this year, Bragg eclipsed that distinction when his office prosecuted former President Donald Trump and secured his conviction on 34 of a 34-count indictment. It made Trump the first United States president to be convicted of a crime, prompting unprecedented debate on the powers of the president and presidential office that continue to reverberate through the 2024 election campaign. 23 / 24 Keia Clarke Keia Clarke serves as the CEO of the 2024 WNBA Champion New York Liberty. In this role, she leads and manages all business initiatives of the franchise. Her four-year tenure has seen the team become one of the most prominent franchises in the league: the Liberty are loaded with all-star talent on the court, boast the WNBA’s most beloved mascot in Ellie the Elephant, and have turned their home games at Barclays Center into one of the hottest tickets in New York City. 24 / 24
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Winless in rivalry, Dan Lanning, No. 1 Oregon determined to tame Huskies
Authored by Roger Kimball via American Greatness, Last week in this virtual space, I wrote that Donald Trump would make a renewed effort during his second term to dismantle “the administrative state.” As in his first term, he would employ various strategies to blunt the effects of the administrative apparatus that governs us. He would, for example, disperse some parts of the government outside the overwhelmingly left-progressive swamp of Washington, D.C. As an aside, I should note that I regard the persistence of Washington as the seat of our government as a serious impediment to the goal of “ deconstructing ” the administrative state. “It has,” I wrote back in 2022, “long been obvious to candid observers that there is something deeply dysfunctional about that overwhelmingly Democratic, welfare-addicted city.” It is a partisan sinkhole. Jefferson wanted the capital moved from New York to Washington in part to bring it closer to the South, but also to place it in a locality that was officially neutral. There is nothing neutral about Washington today. The city has some impressive architecture and urban vistas. They should be preserved and staffed as tourist attractions. But the reins of power should be relocated. I doubt that will happen. Which means that the eternal vigilance that MAGA must maintain around its enemies will have to be redoubled. Trump attempting to govern from Washington will be like Ike trying to undertake the Normandy invasion with half his planners on loan from the German general staff. Still, there are some symbolic gestures that he and his aides might consider. I have long suggested that the inauguration be held somewhere other than Washington, D.C. There is nothing in the Constitution that requires the inauguration be in Washington. LBJ, remember, was sworn in on Air Force One just a couple of hours after Kennedy was assassinated. When Warren Harding died, Calvin Coolidge was visiting the family homestead in Vermont. His father, a justice of the peace, administered the oath of office in the parlor. I think the next inauguration should be well away from the swamp of Washington. Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach is one venue that springs to mind, but I am sure there are other attractive spots. At a minimum, I hope the inauguration committee will consider having some of the parties elsewhere. A ball in Butler, PA, for example, would not only be celebratory but also serve as a useful reminder of how close Trump came to a fatal encounter with an assassin’s bullet. But the trouble with “Washington”—I use scare quotes to indicate that we are dealing with spiritual as well as geographical dispensation—is not only its partisan nature. There is also its apparently unstoppably expansionist character. No matter which party is in power, the business of Washington is to make government bigger—forever. Republicans talk about “limited government.” They then sign on to nearly every scheme to make government bigger and more intrusive. Democrats do the same, of course, but they generally skip the rhetorical foreplay about making government smaller. One huge difference this time around will be the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE for short, an ad hoc executive initiative that will be overseen by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. They outlined their bold plan in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal last week. “Unlike government commissions or advisory committees,” they noted, “we won’t just write reports or cut ribbons. We’ll cut costs.” Will they? It would be pretty to think so. Musk has said that he wants to cut government expenditures by $2 trillion. If he could manage even a quarter of that amount, it would be something to write home about. It may seem utopian. But remember, Musk bought Twitter and instantly cut the workforce by 80 percent. He vastly improved the platform, salvaged free speech, and transformed a dying company into a dynamic one. As usual, the devil will be in the details. Musk and Ramaswamy may identify the ideal candidates for downsizing or elimination. Exactly how will they move from pen to scissors is the $64,000—or rather, the $2 trillion—question. I take solace from the thought that if anyone can do it, the triumvirate of Trump, Musk, and Ramaswamy can. Naturally, opposition will be ferocious. Will it also be effective? Time will tell. I have not yet answered the question posed in my title: “What is the administrative state?” A friend asked me that in the course of our conversation about my column last week. Isn’t it possible, he asked, that “administrative state,” like its scarier sounding cousin, “deep state” is just a polysyllabic synonym for “state,” for the complex activities of government in a complex, technologically advanced polity? Maybe “administrative state” is just an invention of right-wing “conspiracy theorists” who find goblins where there are only harmless bureaucrats? I nattered on about the growth of the regulatory state, the battalions of unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats who govern us from their perches in the alphabet soup of modern, Kafkaesque governance, and put in a plug for Tocqueville’s analysis of “democratic despotism.” I also noted that the phrase “conspiracy theorist” is generally used in a prophylactic, not a descriptive sense. That is, it is a phrase that is wheeled out when the aim is to end, not further, the conversation. The problem is not conspiracy theories, but conspiracies in fact. One example. When revelation of the contents of Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” threatened to upend Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, Anthony Blinken asked acting CIA director Michael Morell to organize a letter signed by 51 former intelligence officers stating that the laptop bore all the signs of “Russian disinformation.” Morell did this, he said, in order to give Biden a “talking point” for his forthcoming debate with Donald Trump. The public did not know this at the time. When the truth leaked out, the establishment claimed it was only a “conspiracy theory” put about by Trump supporters. But it wasn’t a conspiracy theory . It was a conspiracy in fact. I stand by everything I said, but I did not say enough, and what I did say was not precise enough. Formulating definitions is often a mug’s game. This is because, for any important matter, a definition that is true will also have to be so general as to be vacuous or at least unilluminating. What is love? What is virtue? What is knowledge? In everyday life, these chestnuts from the philosophy seminar tend to get assimilated to the indefinite definition Justice Potter Stewart offered for “obscenity”: “I know it when I see it.” Still, there’s something to be said for making the effort. So here goes. “‘The administrative state’ is that quota of political power that covertly fills the vacuum left by the failure of the legislative branch to discharge its obligations.” Two things are critical. One is the displacement of sovereignty. No longer are the people sovereign. The bureaucracy is. The second critical thing is the covert nature of the enterprise. The question “What is the administrative state?” can seem difficult to answer because it is not supposed to exist in the first place. You know it only by its actions. You cannot look it up in the statute book, much less in the Constitution. Indeed, the very fact of the administrative state violates any number of Constitutional norms, not least its being a sort of “fourth branch” of government when the Constitution provides for only three. Edmund Burke touched on an essential aspect of this process in Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770). Criticizing the Court of George III for circumventing Parliament and establishing by stealth what amounted to a new regime of royal prerogative and influence-peddling, Burke saw how George and his courtiers maintained the appearance of parliamentary supremacy while simultaneously undermining it. “It was soon discovered,” Burke wrote with sly understatement, “that the forms of a free, and the ends of an arbitrary Government, were things not altogether incompatible.” That malign co-habitation stands behind the growth of the administrative state. We still vote. We still have a bicameral legislature. But behind these forms of a free government, the essentially undemocratic activities of an increasingly arbitrary and unaccountable regime pursue an expansionist agenda that threatens liberty in the most comprehensive way, by circumventing the law. The shadowy nature of the administrative state helps to explain why it is so hostile to free speech and, by the same token, why it tends to be receptive to the deployment of censorship and police power to achieve its ends and stymie the ends of its critics. That is why the rise of the administrative state goes hand in hand with the loss of public confidence in society’s guiding institutions. Talk of “democracy” and “our democracy” is ever on their lips. SWAT teams, prosecutorial abuse, and lawfare are out on the street for all to see. Bottom line: The age of the administrative state is at the same time an age of declining legitimacy in the foundational institutions of civil society. Officially, the administrative state is not supposed to exist. Having people talk about the fact that it does exist and that it often pursues ends that are contrary to the ends of the people outside its magic circle of custodians means that by definition free inquiry is a threat to its perpetuation. That is one reason that the administrative state is so hostile to democracy. It is also an important reason why it must be dismantled and returned to the graveyard of rebarbative systems of political obfuscation and bureaucratic tyranny.How Maharashtra election results may affect stock markets on Monday