“In the same way that medieval kings seized any excuse to invade neighboring countries, today’s politicians perennially seek pretexts to further invade citizens’ lives. And there is never a shortage of intellectuals who, like the courtiers long ago, assure their masters that God — or at least social science — blesses their aggression. … Washington experts constitute a Greek chorus that bestows accolades on the Powers That Be. There are now more than 400 think tanks in the Washington area, some of which offer little more than an intellectual version of ‘rent-a-mobs’ of political protestors.” (10/14/26)
“Most people have been trained to automatically ask what government allows; what the rules say. They assume they don’t have liberty; otherwise they wouldn’t wait to see what someone says they are allowed to do. They assume someone else owns them and controls their choices. This isn’t healthy and is exactly backward. Everyone should assume their liberty is sacred and will be respected by all decent people everywhere. Assume everyone is decent unless they show you they aren’t by seeking to violate your liberty in some way. Break the mold and assume liberty. Assume you have rights and the freedom to exercise them fully, as America’s founders intended. Assume no one will stand in your way while you are doing what you have a right to do. If they do, it’s how you will recognize them as criminals.” (10/14/26)
“If a treatment can improve your health, does that give the government the right to force it onto you? Should the state compel people with diabetes to take insulin, patients with hypertension to take their medications, or people with obesity to lose weight? Most Americans would recoil at such proposals. Yet when it comes to people diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, many people seem willing to make an exception. A physician who administers treatment to a competent adult against the patient’s will violates one of medicine’s most fundamental ethical principles: informed consent. Why should that principle carry less weight when the doctor is a psychiatrist? … A psychiatric diagnosis does not extinguish your right to control your body.” (10/14/26)
“The New York Times tells us that tariffs on musical instruments are making prices so high that student musicians in many junior high school and high school bands and orchestras across the country can no longer afford instruments, nor can their budget-strapped schools afford to provide them. Tariffs on musical instruments are more than twice as high as they were in President Donald Trump’s first term, and some instruments now cost thousands of dollars. As a result, Times reporter Sydney Ember explains, ‘Proponents of musical education say the tariffs are endangering school music programs and threatening to push the extracurricular activity out of reach for many families.’ … How can we as a country possibly benefit from less music-making by young Americans?” (10/14/26)
“Police officers often violate constitutional rights without facing personal civil liability. A Louisiana traffic stop case signals that protection may be narrowing.” (10/14/260
“Wow: United Federation of Teachers chief Mike Mulgrew says the feds should have nothing to do with local schools — the same position as the most hidebound conservatives. At least, that’s what he says: ‘Giving up local control of public education to the federal government through the Trump administration’s private school-voucher scheme is a failure of leadership’, Mulgrew huffed after Gov. Kathy Hochul officially allowed New York families to benefit from federal Education Freedom scholarships. In fact, it’s the ‘education freedom’ part that Mike really hates, but telling the truth rarely serves his interests. The scholarships are not a ‘private school’ scheme; they can support a public education, too — if the family that receives one so chooses. But any parent power is a problem for the UFT, since the union depends on kids having no choice but to attend the schools that employ its members, no matter how rotten.” (10/14/26)
“There’s an easy way to know when people want various products and services: they pay for them using their money. It’s true! We have markets, and people buy and sell on these markets, even often risky investments as sellers and spending their own money as buyers.
Goods aren’t always procured this way. But market exchanges are common in any country containing even much-hampered markets. One feels a need to remind the world of such truths whenever one, for example, peruses The New York Times.” (10/14/26)
“Since the end of the fifteenth century, seafaring explorers have searched for a westward route around the North American continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The Northwest Passage—and its promise of regular commercial ocean traffic that could ship the wealth of nations—was not crossed until the beginning of the twentieth century. Today, because of climate change, the often ice-choked passage some 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle is increasingly accessible. The opening of northern sea routes and the emerging reality of a future transpolar route will, however, create new challenges.” (10/14/26)
“When it comes to investment and growth in artificial intelligence, American firms are undisputed world leaders. But in overall innovation across the global economy, the United States is edged out by two much smaller nations. In the recently published Global Innovation Index 2026, the 1-2-3 ranking of Switzerland, Sweden, and the U.S. remains unchanged from that of the preceding three years. (Switzerland has occupied the No. 1 spot since 2011, with Sweden and the U.S. occasionally trading places, and with South Korea and Singapore completing the top five in recent years.) Counter to recent pessimistic assessments of the continent’s innovation and growth potential, European nations occupy 14 of the top 25 spots in this index. This positioning points to perhaps unheralded strengths in Europe’s slower but steadier path, when compared with the high-valuation, high-competition, AI-fueled trajectories of the U.S. and China.” (10/13/26)
“Sequencing the first genome cost billions. Now it costs less than a weekend in Paris. IVF went from miracle to mainstream in a generation. Pioneers pay, then prices plummet. The real threat to fairness is the ban, not the bill. Prohibit it in Britain and only those who can fly to Singapore will benefit. Prohibition creates precisely the privilege it pretends to prevent. … Better babies will mean a more worthwhile world. Since we can’t stop it, we might as well embrace it.” (10/14/26)
