Pink Flame of Liberty, 10/10/26
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“The Big Beautiful Lawsuit Against Angela McArdle and Austin Padgett.” (10/10/26)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
Bitcoin struggles back above $83k a year after $19 billion crypto crash
Source: Investing.com
“Bitcoin remained above $83,000 on Sunday, roughly 34% below its record high, as investors marked one year since a historic $19 billion cryptocurrency liquidation event. … The anniversary follows another volatile week in which Bitcoin fell to $80,308 before recovering towards $83,000, highlighting persistent concerns over leveraged trading. On October 10, 2025, Bitcoin plunged from approximately $122,000 to $105,000 after President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on [American buyers of] Chinese imports. The selloff triggered more than $19 billion in liquidations across cryptocurrency markets, affecting approximately 1.6 million trading accounts.” (10/11/26)
With nothing to lose, Republicans still put America last
Source: The Hill
by Elias Khoury
“Last week, the Senate voted on a resolution would force the State Department to produce a report on Israeli violence in the West Bank. The legislation would require the State Department to report on human rights in countries receiving American security funds within 30 days. If the department fails to produce a report in time, those funds halt automatically. … Since 2022, at least nine U.S. citizens have been killed in the West Bank. None of the perpetrators have faced accountability. It’s a striking trend: a foreign government, funded and armed by the United States, killing Americans without repercussion. You’d think lawmakers would unanimously be desperate for answers. But you would be wrong.” (10/09/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/6138235-gop-rejects-america-first-test/
Saudi Arabia: One dead in new attack on airport, a day after Houthi strike kills 13
Source: Yahoo! News
“One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a new attack Riyadh’s international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300. Saudi-led coalition forces in Yemen said an unidentified projectile had targeted Riyadh’s international airport Terminal 4 on Sunday, causing a fire. Eleven people were wounded in addition to the fatality, the Saudi civil aviation authority said.” (10/11/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/yemens-houthis-renew-warning-over-102315821.html
A French debt solution: Burn it. Freeze it. Anything but address it.
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“The sound and fury of this autumn’s politics signifies nothing but the bipartisan determination to talk about anything (data centers are the distraction-du-jour) other than the most important thing: the ruinous consensus beneath today’s performative rancor. Both parties are committed, behaviorally if not ideologically, to running huge deficits at every point in the business cycle. As a result, interest costs, which were $241 billion in fiscal 2016, have more than tripled in 10 years, to $1.1 trillion. As the cost of servicing the national debt will drive future annual budget deficits up from $2 trillion, something else will increase commensurately: the temptation of repudiation.” (10/09/26)
Judge halts Trump administration’s taxpayer-funded ads
Source: Axios
“A federal judge on Sunday ordered the Trump administration to immediately halt taxpayer-funded ads featuring President Trump. The ruling temporarily blocks the ads weeks before November’s midterm elections as multiple lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s use of taxpayer money play out in court. … The Trump administration maintains that the ads are public service announcements and that previous Republican and Democratic administrations have used taxpayer-funded advertising to promote government policies. Trump pledged to pay for the ads himself after both lawsuits were filed, though the White House told Axios there were no plans to reimburse the government for millions already spent on the ads.” (10/11/26)
https://www.axios.com/2026/10/12/trump-taxpayer-funded-ads-judge-order
Trump’s “Free Speech” Agenda: Siccing the FBI on Critics, Barring Reporters, and Threatening Broadcasters
Source: Reason
by Steven Greenhut
“During his family trip to England last year, Vice President J.D. Vance lectured the European Union on its approach to free speech. Lacking the equivalent of the United States'[s] First Amendment, European nations—and Great Britain in particular—have admittedly embraced speech policies that most Americans should find creepy. ‘Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There’s no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t,’ Vance said, as he blasted German political parties for refusing to work with the far-right AfD party. He also criticized British police for arresting anti-abortion protesters and for their nasty habit of monitoring internet speech. It’s hard to take issue with Vance’s point about Europe, although it’s always easiest to remove the speck from someone else’s eye than it is to remove the plank from one’s own.” (10/09/26)
https://reason.com/2026/10/09/remember-when-trump-was-the-free-speech-candidate/
Mexico: Hurricane Simon hits Pacific coast with damaging winds and rain
Sourc: PBS [US state media]
“Hurricane Simon pounded Mexico’s Pacific coast as a Category 4 storm on Sunday, its eye remaining just offshore as its most powerful winds and rain slammed people living between the Sierra Madre and the ocean. The hurricane’s center swirled parallel to the coast, closing in on the Puerto Vallarta area, where its most damaging winds and rain were expected to hit around midnight and continue through Monday morning.” (10/11/26)
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/hurricane-simon-hits-mexicos-pacific-coast
Manufacturing Surged When Tariffs Were Lifted
Source: The Daily Economy
by David Hebert
“Tariffs raised costs and manufacturing jobs disappeared. Now, the administration is declaring victory for partially filling the hole it dug.” (10/09/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/manufacturing-surged-when-tariffs-were-lifted/
Palestine: Abbas postpones legislative elections another year, marking 20 years without a vote
Source: CBS News
“President Mahmoud Abbas postponed what would have been the first Palestinian elections in nearly 20 years, issuing a decree on Friday to further delay voting for the Palestinian Legislative Council almost another year. Rather than take place as scheduled next month, the decree pushes the elections back to Sept. 11, 2027, according to WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency. Presidential elections, which have not taken place for more than two decades, are scheduled for the same day. The postponement leaves entrenched Palestinian leaders unchallenged and threatens to further erode the Palestinian Authority’s credibility among ordinary Palestinians and donor countries who fund it.” (10/10/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mahmoud-abbas-postpones-palestinian-legislative-elections/