Source: Aaron Ross Powell
by Aaron Ross Powell
“My rereading of all of William Gibson’s novels has brought me to the end of the Bridge Trilogy. What struck me wasn’t (just) how much of its imagined future feels like today’s actual present. It was instead how much I felt nostalgic for the parts of its future that don’t.” (11/02/26)
Source: US News & World Report
“Sister June Carpenter, one of the last members of the only remaining community of the Shaker religious movement, died Tuesday. She was in her late 80s. Carpenter had been struggling with health problems and limited mobility, according to an announcement from the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine. The announcement said she was born in 1938 but did not give a date. Carpenter was one of two longtime members of the Sabbathday community of Shakers in New Gloucester, Maine, along with Brother Arnold Hadd. A third member joined the community last year. Sabbathday is the last active community in what was once a constellation of Shaker sites founded by the celibate religious movement in the 18th and 19th centuries. A trained librarian, Carpenter was credited with organizing and cataloging the village’s extensive collections of history, writings and other records, making them more accessible to researchers.” (11/03/26)
Source: ABC News
“Australia’s highest court on Tuesday began hearing constitutional challenges to the nation’s world-first legislation banning children younger than 16 from popular social media platforms. The seven High Court judges began hearing two challenges to the ban that took effect last year on young children holding accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Kick, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch. The first challenge was brought by Sydney-based rights group Digital Freedom Project. They claim the law improperly robs millions of young Australians of a right to freedom of political communication implied in Australia’s constitution. The second challenge comes from U.S. online forum Reddit, which argues the ban raised issues of privacy and political expression.” (11/03/26)
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Kevin DeAnna on capital punishment in history and live executions.” (11/02/26)
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin
“Many people, including some political theorists, believe we have a moral duty to vote. I disagree. Indeed, I think – in many cases – it’s better if you don’t vote, especially if ignorance and bias make it likely you will make a bad decision. Casting a ballot motivated by ignorance and bias is often worse than not voting at all.” (11/02/26)
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“Where things stand as voting winds down.” (11/02/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/11/02/nx-s1-6026403/where-things-stand-as-voting-winds-down
Source: Liberalism.org
by Keith Taylor
“I can assure you, speaking as a midwestern transplant to California, that Lake Tahoe is every bit as majestic as you’ve heard. The impossible Mediterranean blue clarity and its blinding reflection, the redwooded Sierra Nevadas rimming the basin, and not least the scrappy, outdoorsy, work-a-day people who are part of the Tahoe tapestry. Lake Tahoe’s people understand the treasure that is theirs to nurture—and for the world to experience. And we should reward them for stewarding one of the wonders of the world. Alas, American systems of rural community governance, contrary to popular belief, are not well structured for their tasks. They fail to reward either labor or entrepreneurship.” (11/02/26)
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard
“In an era of clueless voters and profoundly dishonest candidates, cynicism is one of the last best checks on political power run amok. Regardless of the final vote count in Tuesday’s mid-term congressional elections, both Republicans and Democrats have earned all the distrust they will reap.” (11/02/26)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2026/11/02/cynicism-should-win-the-mid-term-elections/
Source: Semafor
by David Weigel
“Four years ago, when longtime Pittsburgh Democrat Mike Doyle retired from Congress, a left-wing legislator named Summer Lee won the primary to replace him. Republicans nominated a local politician from the suburbs to face her who had a fortuitous name: Mike Doyle. … There was no federal investigation of the Doyle scheme; no demands not to seat Doyle if he won; no statement from the governor saying that he might not certify the election. All of that has unfolded in Alaska this cycle.” (11/02/26)
Source: Washington Post
“A district court judge on Monday dismissed a Trump administration case against Harvard University related to admissions data, saying the government had not satisfied the requirements for a court order for the records. The administration sued Harvard in February, claiming the university had failed to provide records to ensure it was complying with a Supreme Court ruling banning affirmative action in college admissions. Harvard was a defendant in the Supreme Court case. The Justice and Education departments have launched numerous investigations into whether universities continue to consider race in admissions despite the 2023 ruling. Harvard has said it followed civil rights laws and provided data.” (11/02/26)