Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Israeli kibbutzim range in size up to a thousand inhabitants. The oldest is more than a century old and monasteries, an earlier version of the same model, have lasted much longer. Why do such institutions exist, what problems do they encounter and how do they solve them? There are at least three reasons. The first is ideology, religion for the monasteries, socialism for the kibbutzim.” (10/27/26)
“Ripple has struck a deal with Robinhood to expand the reach of its digital dollar, RLUSD, strengthening trading and financing links between their institutional businesses and improving Robinhood’s internal money management. The partnership involves using RLUSD to settle institutional trades, automate Robinhood’s treasury operations and expand access to digital asset trading and financing through Ripple Prime and Bitstamp, the global crypto exchange acquired by Robinhood last year. It also helps meet Robinhood’s ambition of becoming a global financial superapp, centralizing its customers’ financial lives while expanding the underlying infrastructure that can serve both retail and institutional clients.” (10/27/26)
“There’s a raging debate within the Democratic Party, mostly beneath the surface, about whether President Trump should be impeached for a third time. It’s relevant because the Democrats are almost guaranteed to win back the House, and therefore the power to impeach. But the debate isn’t over whether Trump has done anything impeachable. That question is settled: Of course he has. Democrats are debating whether it would be politically wise to stir up all the drama only to inevitably fail at securing the two-thirds vote requirement for conviction in the Senate. Spending the next two years on a failed impeachment wouldn’t fulfill their promises to deal with ‘affordability’ and the like. I don’t really care about the politics one way or another. But if Democrats decide to go down that path, Trump’s abuse of the pardon power would be a good place to start.” (10/27/26)
“Americans have come to expect hateful campaign rhetoric from Republican candidates and their proxies. Comments that once were off-limits to politicians are now standard fare. Donald Trump did more than anyone to normalize such vicious attacks, and his example continues to inspire imitation. The 2026 midterm elections have spawned a hurricane of extremist vitriol. Republicans used to rhapsodize about curbing federal deficits, minimizing government intervention in the economy, and standing for democracy around the world. But those themes are obsolete under Trump. Today, the GOP takes a distinctly different approach: vilifying one marginal and vulnerable group after another in an effort to provoke fear and anger among voters.” (10/27/26)
“Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos drops by for our weekly visit. We talk about political theatre, fast cars and what voters should be considering before they vote.” (10/27/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“The upside to a Democratic victory in the midterm elections is that a Congress that is controlled in one or both chambers by Democrats will likely be able to limit or impede at least some of President Trump’s authoritarian proclivities. Even just hitting Trump with investigations and possibly impeachment proceedings (e.g., for his drug-war assassinations and undeclared war of aggression against Iran) would inevitably distract him so that he would not be able to devote his entire time and efforts to doing bad things to people, including Americans. Coming to mind, of course, are his tariff (i.e., tax) spree and his initiation of deadly and destructive foreign interventions and wars, such as in Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran. It is worth noting, however, that while a Democratic victory might restrain Trump, it would not restore a free and prosperous society to our land.” (10/27/26)
“New orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods increased in September and shipments of these products surged, suggesting business spending on equipment maintained a robust growth pace in the third quarter, though doubts are mounting over the huge cost of building out AI infrastructure. Non-defence capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending, rose 0.5 per cent last month after an unrevised 1.6-per-cent jump in August, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast these so-called core capital goods orders would advance by 0.7 per cent.” (10/27/26)
“Patients diagnosed with progressive dementia may know exactly how much deterioration they are willing to endure. They can articulate their wishes, discuss alternatives, and put their instructions in writing. Should losing the ability to repeat those instructions invalidate them? Canada is preparing to address that question. On October 23, its Justice Department announced planned rules that would allow adults diagnosed with an incurable illness expected to destroy their decision-making capacity to consent in advance to assisted suicide (or, as Canada calls it, medical assistance in dying (MAID)). … Competent adults should be free to choose clinician-assisted suicide or clinician-administered euthanasia, provided they give fully informed, voluntary consent and those assisting them do so willingly. That freedom should include planning for the loss of decision-making capacity.” (10/27/26)
