“Serbia’s populist president, Aleksandar Vučić, has resigned to pursue an attempt to become prime minister in an early parliamentary election that will test his firm rule in the Balkan country after nearly two years of protests. Vučić’s second presidential term would otherwise end in May next year. He is banned by the constitution from seeking a third term and said he was resigning to lead his rightwing Serbian Progressive party (SNS) in the 25 October ballot. The governing populists face a major challenge from a youth-backed movement that led protests triggered by a train station canopy collapse in November 2024 that killed 16 people in the northern city of Novi Sad.” (09/27/26)
“The warning signs have accumulated for years: Trump’s ‘fake news’ obsession, the Associated Press access dispute over ‘Gulf of America,’ new Pentagon restrictions on reporters and battles with media companies facing federal decisions. Seen separately, these episodes can look idiosyncratic, even absurd. Seen together, they raise a serious concern about using government power to shape who can cover the government and on what terms. That is why the response should extend beyond journalism. The proposed statement should be narrow enough to attract people who disagree about almost everything else. Its purpose would be to establish a rule for presidential power, not adjudicate the merits of CNN, Fox, Trump or or any particular story.” (09/27/26)
“The CEO of a mid-Michigan credit union is no longer employed by the financial institution after posting an AI-generated photo of herself and family members wearing Lake America sweatshirts. Saginaw-based Family First Credit Union said in a Sept. 23 statement that CEO Jane Smith is no longer an employee of the credit union, ‘effective immediately.’ It noted that Jason Acosta, its chief operations officer, is now serving as the institution’s interim CEO. ‘We sincerely apologize for the concern, disappointment and pain this situation has caused our members and community,’ Family First Credit Union said in a Facebook post on Sept. 24.” [editor’s note: Anyone feeling concern, disappointment, or pain over a social media post with an AI-generated “Lake America” t-shirt has big mental or emotional problems; those problems shouldn’t have been made into her employment problem – TLK] (09/26/26)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“There are two quite different models of why democracy works held by people who think it does. One is a model of incentives, one of selection. The incentive version relies on the fact that politicians want to get elected and reelected. To get elected they have to support the policies that a majority of the voters want; to get elected again, they have to actually work for those policies. … The selection model relies on the facts that people differ and that we have some ability to tell what other people are like.” (09/26/26)
“Hundreds of thousands of people packed Paris'[s] iconic Champs-Élysées Avenue for Pope Leo XIV’s big outdoor Mass on Saturday, a sign of the Catholic Church’s enduring appeal in the once staunchly Catholic but officially secular country. The Vatican estimated that 800,000 people came out for the Mass — more than the 600,000 who had registered in advance. The stunning turnout testified to the church’s enduring influence in France, despite sharp declines in churchgoing in recent decades and secularizing trends that have emptied churches around Europe.” (09/26/26)
“A year after launching his explosive antidrug campaign, President Donald Trump routinely rains death on alleged cocaine couriers.” (for publication 11/26)
