“Greta Thunberg recently traveled to France to applaud the protest movement. Wearing a black-and-white scarf associated with pro-Palestinian activism, she appeared outside a high school in a Paris suburb and lent her celebrity to demonstrations marred by rioting, arson and vandalism — with authorities already putting the damage at no less than $34 million. Thunberg brought the applause. Taxpayers were left to pay for the destruction. Her appearance fits a broader pattern of increasingly radical alliances and support for extremism. Before traveling to France, Thunberg had endorsed a motion declaring that ‘Zionism is racism’ adopted by Britain’s Green Party on Oct. 4. Her radical turn has been unfolding for years. Yet in progressive circles, she remains the Mother Teresa of the activist left — a secular saint whose moral authority is taken for granted and whose political judgment rarely faces scrutiny.” (10/28/26)
“Where, exactly, does the new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham stand on the political spectrum? President Donald Trump recently called him ‘extremely liberal’—indeed, he might even be called a ‘social democrat.’ Both Burnham’s ideological position and his background in local and, more importantly, urban politics influence his politics. But Burnham’s ‘Manchesterism’ is a far cry from the classically liberal Manchester School in economics of Richard Cobden and John Bright, the Ron Pauls of their day, who argued for laissez-faire economics and free trade. Indeed, the Labour leader’s ideology is not liberalism at all, but a repudiation of it.” (10/28/26)
“Thomas F. Madden’s latest work is a needed primer on republican history and theory and an antidote to the democratic malaise dominating current discourse.” (10/28/26)
“With soaring healthcare costs and a plunge in coverage rates, there is growing interest in Medicare for all. Polls show that a large majority of the public now favors a universal Medicare system, with even a substantial share of Republicans now backing it. A universal Medicare system has a huge amount to recommend it. Of course, the main point is to ensure that people can get the healthcare that they need, but it also eliminates a vast amount of waste in the national healthcare system.” (10/28/26)
“To the tech accelerationists, a human is little more than a particularly inefficient machine. The drive towards infinite automated customization demonstrates a lack of understanding about the extent to which humans are shaped by shared experience as well as being interested in the views of other humans. Art is valued because it is human expression. However, with their shallow understanding of humanity, they do not see the inherent uniqueness of humans compared to the robots they are trying to give ‘consciousness.’ … Currently, it is Pope Leo who seems to be taking the lead against recognizing AI as some sort of artificial humanity, and he may be the only person with the gravitas and imperviousness to being bought off to lead this fight for humanity.” (10/28/26)
Source: The American Prospect
by Whitney Curry Wimbish
“The reason Tucson resident Garrett Newell can walk is because of Medicaid. Speaking before reporters last week, he described how the program has allowed him to manage his cerebral palsy and lead a dignified life, one with more independence than would otherwise be possible. He is among the millions of Americans living with disabilities or chronic illness whose lives have been transformed by the program, and he wants to ensure everyone has access to it. When Republican lawmakers were threatening to severely slash Medicaid last year as part of the $1 trillion in health care cuts in their One Big Beautiful Bill law, Newell traveled to D.C. to advocate for the program. But Republicans passed the bill with cuts intact, then used the money they saved to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and yet another illegal forever war.” (10/28/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“For most economies, especially those in the West, a growth of 9.95% would be celebrated—but in Vietnam, it has caused legislators to go into a panic. Despite achieving the fastest economic growth since 2022, it has fallen short of a target set by Vietnam’s National Assembly in April 2026, of an average annual growth of at least 10% over the next five years. It is for this reason that Vietnam is banking on the new free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) to provide the final boost.” (10/28/26)
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Corynne McSherry
“Everyone knows, or should, that perfect (balanced, targeted, transparent, swift and swiftly appealable) content moderation at scale is impossible. That doesn’t mean powerful social platforms don’t have to try to get at least reasonably close, especially when access to good information can have a profound effect on political participation and speech. That’s why so many people, including the Meta Oversight Board, criticized Meta for suspending a major political Instagram account for hours during a huge early voting push on October 17; and for allegedly boosting one candidate in Brazil’s recent presidential election.” (10/28/26)
“If, once most of the results are in, Democrats seem set to eke out a House majority by just a few seats, perhaps committed Trump allies in positions of power could make trouble in a handful of the closest districts. … This could create chaos on January 3, when the new House gathers for the first time: What happens if the contested seats are enough to deny the should-be-majority party the votes it needs to select a new speaker and take control of the chamber? Although this isn’t a foolproof trick for stealing control of the House, such a play could make things very precarious very quickly. But the bigger the majority secured by Democrats, the more difficult it would be for Trump to shave that majority down—the more clerks to convince, warrants to secure, and court rulings to dodge, all over the country.” (10/28/26)
