“President Donald Trump disclosed more than 500 securities transactions in August, including a purchase of up to $25 million in Meta stock and an investment of as much as $5 million in SpaceX debt two days before he signed a sweeping policy aimed at expanding U.S. commercial space transportation, according to a newly released financial disclosure. The 517 purchases and sales totaled roughly $74.3 million to $273.3 million, according to a CNBC analysis of Trump’s August financial disclosure, which reports each item in a range of value. Purchases accounted for at least $44.2 million and sales at least $30.1 million, CNBC calculated. The 18-page filing shows Trump’s portfolio remained highly active, even as trading slowed from June and July, when he disclosed more than 1,000 transactions in each month.” (10/08/26)
“Robby Soave gives his radar on a survey showing that nearly 90% of American senior citizens support higher taxes on younger workers to protect social security benefits.” (10/08/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by John Chisholm
“[W]e don’t have to anticipate every AI harm. AI is already regulated. Generally applicable law regulates conduct and harm, not the technology used to produce them. There is no AI exemption. Fraud is fraud, with or without AI. Negligence law applies to both AI developers and deployers. In 2024, for example, a British Columbia tribunal held Air Canada negligent over a refund policy its chatbot invented, rejecting the airline’s argument that the chatbot was responsible for its own words. Courts are also weighing product-liability claims—design defect, failure to warn—against AI makers. … These bodies of law hold those responsible liable for harms, which gives developers strong reason to prevent them.” (10/08/26)
“To free the working class from MAGA’s Trumpian grasp, is a new political organization needed to topple the corporate interests that dominate both major political parties?” (10/08/26)
“South Korea flight-tested on Thursday its first domestically developed hypersonic weapon, designed to fly at least five times the speed of sound and evade missile defense systems, bringing Seoul closer to what it says could be game-changing weapons capabilities. There was no immediate response from North Korea, which last week tested its own hypersonic missile that landed in the waters near Japan. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung attended the test, saying it’s a major step in strengthening the country’s conventional defense capabilities, according to a statement. It did not elaborate where the test took place.” (10/08/26)
“As Republicans start fearing they’re heading into George W. Bush 2006 territory, a leading forecaster explains how Trump’s low approval is expanding the map for Democrats in hidden ways.” (10/08/26)
“The World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID-19 public-health emergency more than three years ago. Its deaths, infections, hospitalizations, and other damage still leave us with a litany of questions about what could have been done better, sooner, or differently. It’s a long list: mask mandates, lockdowns, school closures, stay-at-home orders, curfews, delayed surgeries, etc. Operation Warp Speed, the public-and-private partnership with billions of dollars to bring us a COVID-19 vaccine quickly, never seems to be on it. Rather, the partnership remains hailed as ‘a triumph of public health policy,’ ‘miraculous,’ and ‘a new model for industrial policy.’ … For all the accomplishments of Operation Warp Speed, it was not the first of its kind. In fact, it has an overlooked and largely forgotten predecessor that didn’t require any government partnership at all.” (10/08/26)
