“Bitcoin rose above $86,000 on Monday as the cryptocurrency continued its sharp rally over the past few days. Bitcoin was trading at $85,863.40, up around 5.8%, according to CoinMetrics. Earlier in the day, the cryptocurrency rose as high as $86,349.90, its highest level since late Jan. 29. Investors are assessing whether the ‘crypto winter’ — a depressed period of digital asset prices — which began after bitcoin hit an all-time high of over $126,000 in October 2025, is over. … The rally comes even as the U.S. Senate last week blocked the Clarity Act from advancing. It would have set up a framework for crypto in the U.S. and divided industry oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).” (09/21/26)
“About 4,000 people in America die every year while waiting for kidney transplants. More than 95,000 currently need regular dialysis to stay alive while waiting for transplants. The average person who needs a kidney must endure the discomfort and restrictions of dialysis for three to five years during the wait. Most countries have organ-donation systems like America’s—and long waitlists. Iran, by contrast, legalized payment to kidney donors in 1988; within 11 years the country eliminated its waitlist. Payment compensates donors for their time, pain, and risk; it also increases the supply of willing donors.” (09/21/26)
“Russia hit Ukraine’s industrial heartland overnight, killing four, while an attack in the north cut power supply to thousands, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday. Moscow has escalated its air war, striking economic targets from businesses and ports to logistics hubs as frontline fighting has largely stalled more than 4-1/2 years into the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. … Moscow simultaneously hit industrial enterprises in the cities of Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Pavlohrad in the southeastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said on the Telegram messaging app.” (09/22/26)
“President Trump, speaking at the Republicans’ midterm convention, pledged that if Republicans maintained control of the Congress in the November election every adult American will receive 5,000 dollars from the government. … Some commentators have expressed outrage over President Trump’s attempt to bribe voters. These commentators have tended to ignore the fact that, since the rise of the welfare-warfare-regulatory state, most political campaigns are little more than legalized bribery.” (09/21/26)
“Hundreds of flights have been delayed at major airports in the US after construction workers accidentally cut a cable needed for air traffic control. Ground stops and delays were issued on Monday afternoon for airports in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Hours later, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the cable had been repaired and airports would resume normal operations, though delays were still expected. … The delays happened after the damaged cable impacted the Terminal Radar Approach Control system, which is used to guide planes during takeoff and landing, transport officials said.” [editor’s note: Sounds more like some kind of “security incident” they’d rather not admit happened – TLK] (09/21/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by George Ford Smith
“You might want to hire someone to paint your house, but the painters need your permission first. For most people, consent precedes action. In the world of ‘government as we know it,’ an invaluable Robert Higgs expression, the exact opposite is often the case, especially when the action desired implies a disastrous change to American life. Ever wonder why false flags are so dear to government’s heart?” (09/21/26)
“Houthi fighters are moving to seize strategic heights in Yemen that would cut the Red Sea coast off from areas held by Saudi-backed forces after Donald Trump called off US strikes on the group at the last minute, reportedly as bombs were being loaded on to aircraft. Amid increasingly heavy fighting in Yemen, which has displaced tens of thousands of people in recent weeks, the New York Times reported on Monday that the US president had flip-flopped wildly in recent days after a call from Saudi Arabia for US strikes on the Houthis. It comes amid the Houthis’ rapid advance on the ground with the group gaining control over much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast from Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and advancing to areas adjacent to the crucial Bab al-Mandab strait, which Saudi Arabia has used as an alternative route for oil exports bypassing disruption in the strait of Hormuz.” (09/21/26)
“In a necessary and unquestionably correct decision, the U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to let President Trump throw the midterm elections into chaos with his scheme to use the U.S. Postal Service to interfere with mail-in voting. The ruling should have been unanimous. … The court’s MAGA maximalists seem to be operating under the principle that anything that interferes with Trump’s authoritarian whims is a violation of the Constitution. Fortunately, in this case, even Trump justices who helped invent king-like immunity for the president recognized that the attempt to force new election rules on the states — especially this close to an election — was a recipe for disaster.” (09/21/26)
“A federal appeals court reinstated the Missouri GOP’s 7-1 House map to be used in time for the November elections, delivering a boost for several Republican candidates who wanted a more favorable map for the party to be used in the midterm elections. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that using an older set of maps that gives Republicans a 6-2 advantage in the House instead of newer ones the party passed last year and used in this year’s primaries was unconstitutional. … The issue is now likely headed back to the U.S. Supreme Court for a third time in as many weeks.” (09/21/26)
