Hey, everyone …
Our annual fundraiser had a “zero dollar day” yesterday.
We’re stuck (as of 5am Friday) at $245.50 versus our goal of $5,503 (with supporter GL’s “matching funds” offer, we only have to raise $2,751.50 from the rest of our readers).
It’s important. We only ask once a year, and we set a modest goal, but we ARE a reader-supported publication.
“Mini-goal”: Please help us reach the $500 mark by Monday. That’s only $254.50 away. YOUR contribution will shorten that distance. The URL once again:
Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous weekend!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
Source: CBS News
“The Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 was awarded Friday to Navanethem ‘Navi’ Pillay, a South African human rights champion and judge on the International Criminal Court. The Nobel Committee said awarding the prestigious prize to someone on the ICC, which has faced huge pressure from the Trump administration, was a message to those who seek to undermine international justice. The South African-born former United Nations human rights chief, who is 85 years old, was recognized for her efforts to promote peace and international law, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. ‘This is definitely a message to those who are undermining the international system and institutions,’ Frydnes said.” (10/09/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nobel-peace-prize-2026-navanethem-navi-pillay-south-africa/
Source: The Daily Economy
by Caleb S Fuller & Scott Burns
“Trump’s ‘Economic D-Day’ against Iran bears an uncanny resemblance to his ‘Liberation Day’ strategy for America. Both rely on the same basic mechanism: restricting trade. Yet Trump assures us they will produce opposite results. For Americans, trade restrictions will bring economic revival; for Iran, they will bring economic ruin. You don’t need a PhD in economics — or any degree at all — to spot the contradiction. The renowned American economist Henry George — a middle school dropout who taught himself economics — exposed the paradox of protectionism in 1886: ‘What protection teaches us is to do to ourselves in time of peace what enemies seek to do to us in time of war.'” (10/08/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/economic-blockades-protectionism-as-punishment/
Source: The Political Orphanage
“Europe is Freeloading on American Healthcare.” (10/08/26)
https://politicalorphanage.libsyn.com/europe-is-freeloading-on-american-healthcare
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“A Russian-guided bomb exploded next to public buses filled with passengers in eastern Ukraine, authorities said Thursday, killing 30 people as part of a wave of attacks that also worsened power outages in the capital. … Thursday’s attack followed a Russian missile strike a day earlier that killed 22, including five children, in the northern Ukrainian town of Pryluky. Rescuers were searching the rubble of a residential building. At least 54 people were wounded. Several survivors slept in heavily damaged apartments because they couldn’t find anywhere else to stay. … Ukraine’s energy company DTEK said national grid operator Ukrenergo had ordered emergency power outages in Kyiv. Regular, rolling outages that occur on a schedule across the country will be halted during these shutdowns.” (10/08/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/10/08/g-s1-147106/russia-ukraine-war
Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow
“No doubt, the military must be vigilant in protecting personnel and equipment from threats, especially those assessed as significant and imminent. Yet who imagined that the Pentagon would believe itself unable to protect aircraft based in the UK from Iran? What if America was battling Russia—would the administration also withdraw its bombers from the UK? Withdraw all planes from all Europe? Empty its bases in Asia and the Middle East as well? … The president, as well as other leading policymakers in Washington, should treat the threat to America’s overextended military as an opportunity. Time is long past for retrenchment, winding down a global presence that no longer serves serious, let alone vital, American interests.” (10/08/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/bring-u-s-forces-home-from-around-the-world/
Source: The Guardian
“A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) [gang member] shot and injured a man in New York City on Thursday afternoon during an [abduction] operation, federal officials said. The man was conscious and hospitalized, authorities said, and the shooting quickly sparked angry protests from local residents and elected officials in the neighborhood. Early reports indicated that [gang members] had surrounded the man and a five-year-old child in his car in a residential area before firing multiple rounds, the city’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said in a statement on Thursday evening. The child was physically unharmed, he said.” (10/08/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/08/nyc-shooting-federal-agent
Source: Bloomberg
by Scott Lincicome
“With great fanfare, President Donald Trump announced last week that ‘the largest steel plant ever built in the United States’ would be coming to Lee County, Iowa, adding that Mesabi Metallics’[s] $15 billion investment in a pivotal midterm swing state proved his ‘powerful 50% tariffs’ were working. He’s right: The announcement is a tangible result of American steel policy — but, contrary to what the president said, that’s not a good thing. Start with the project’s real price tag. Thanks to tariffs and other trade restrictions, US steel prices are among the highest in the world …. Because steel-consuming industries greatly outnumber steelmakers in the US, studies have repeatedly shown that steel tariffs, whether imposed by Trump in 2018 or George W. Bush in 2002, caused a net reduction in US manufacturing output and employment — effects that, in the latter case, persisted for years after the levies were lifted.” (10/08/26)
https://archive.is/DwrCw
Source: Investing.com
“The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits inched down last week, but remained within a recent range, suggesting ongoing resilience in the U.S. labor market despite employer caution around increasing hiring. Initial jobless claims stood at 197,000 in the week ending October 3, a decline of 2,000 from the prior week and lower than expectations of 200,000. Over a four-week average, which accounts for volatility in the weekly figure, jobless claims dipped to 198,000 from 200,500. Continuing claims, a hiring proxy that measures the amount of people receiving unemployment benefits after an initial week of aid, edged up to 1.716 million in the week ending on September 26. The previous week’s number was revised down to 1.699 million from 1.701 million.” (10/08/26)
https://www.investing.com/news/economic-indicators/us-weekly-initial-jobless-claims-edge-down-to-197000-4939074
Source: The Hill
by Maya Kornberg
“In one of his latest examples of executive overreach, President Trump cancelled $810 million in congressionally authorized spending, yet again undermining Congress’s power of the purse. From funding freezes to illegal wars, Trump has repeatedly tried to seize Congress’s constitutional powers throughout this term. The Government Accountability Office pushed back on the recent cancellation. And there are finally signs that Congress is starting to get fed up. Lawmakers from both parties are reportedly discussing how to adjust future spending bills to make sure this doesn’t happen again. But Congress must go much further in clawing its power back. Lawmakers must learn from congressional history and reassert their authority to check executive abuse, particularly on the power of the purse and war-making.” (10/08/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/the-administration/6133405-trump-cancels-congressional-spending/
