“There are many bad arguments against capital punishment: that an innocent person might be wrongly convicted … that the willful taking of human life is categorically evil … that a death sentence cannot be reversed … etc. There are better arguments against capital punishment: One is that capital punishment is bad for the executioners (and, this being a republic, we are all executioners), which ought to be obvious to anybody who has been present at one of those festive ‘Burn, baby, burn!’ rallies death-penalty enthusiasts sometimes stage outside of an execution or to anyone who has heard Donald Trump hold forth on the subject. … Another argument against capital punishment is that we are not very good at it.” (10/02/26)
“Four and a half years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has conquered no more than a slice of Ukrainian territory. In return, half a million Russian soldiers are dead, the economy is running on fumes, Moscow’s relationship with the West is in tatters, and the country’s reliance on China grows ever stronger. Yet there is no sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin seeking peace. his army continues its bombardment of Ukraine. The frontline voraciously consumes more Russian troops than he can recruit. What is it that drives Russia to wage this hugely costly and apparently irrational war? Could it be the individualist greed, lawless capitalism, and corruption for which the Russian elite is infamous? Or is it a collective neo-imperialism expressed in Putin’s obsession with conquest and Russia’s world-historical mission?” (10/02/26)
“It is hard to read President Donald Trump’s mind—what with his chronic lies, delusions, and fake promises. His incentives to finish his term are numerous—pomp and ceremony, daily vengeance, judicial immunity, Democratic leaders, for now, opposing impeachment (see ‘Open Letter to Representative Hakeem Jeffries’, August 31, 2026), and immensely enriching himself using the punishing or rewarding powers of the presidency. The rewards are insatiable. This failed businessman, riven with debts and losses, revealed in his 2025 financial disclosures a profit of $1.1 MILLION AN HOUR on a 40-hour week! He probably will reap more dollars in 2026, which he has ensured would be non-taxable by his captured Internal Revenue Service (See: ‘DOJ Settlement ‘Forever’ Bars IRS Trump Audits, Sparks Backlash’).” (10/03/26)
Source: Niskanen Center
by Rachel Levine & Liza Reed
“Last October, we posited that Congress could reach a bipartisan deal on permitting reform to address project timelines and get more transmission and clean energy built. With the introduction of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) of 2026, lawmakers are close to doing just that. Here are four ways the transmission policies in the bill, sponsored by Senators Mike Lee, Shelley Moore Capito, Martin Heinrich, and Sheldon Whitehouse this week, can build the grid we need.” (10/02/26)
“Despite the continuous efforts of right-wing identitarians calling for more racial solidarity, feelings of white identity have not increased among most Republican voters. In fact, we see the opposite. Nor do we see meaningful growth in feelings of white racial grievance. Social media provides a skewed view of American life. The racial anger that seems so pervasive on X (formerly Twitter) is not reflected in these surveys. This means the politicians and media figures chasing accolades from the most bitter voices in the online right are misreading the nation’s political atmosphere.” (10/02/26)
“Peacemaking is often understood as a top-down phenomenon: Peace, defined as the absence of large-scale violence, results from state action. … A second view emphasizes peacemaking as a bottom-up process. This perspective recognizes that peace is not a one-size-fits-all policy or outcome, but rather an emergent result of exercising diverse micro-level skills.” (10/02/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Nayler
“If the EU Commission didn’t take itself so seriously, you might think that the so-called Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) had been given its name as a self-deprecating joke. Unveiled in March, the initiative aims to boost the bloc’s industrial capacity and decarbonization efforts, in order to compete with China and achieve Brussels’s stringent climate goals; but seven months on, its progress through the EU’s bureaucratic obstacle course is steadily decelerating. Like many EU initiatives before it, the IAA is causing internal division—in this case over the scope of the phrase ‘Made in Europe.’ The question at the center of the dispute is whether protectionist measures will help or harm flagging EU industries.” (10/02/26)
“Ideally, the screams of infancy and the insolence of toddlerhood fade as a person grows and the scalpel of life begins sculpting away. Yes, problems still persist, but part of maturing is understanding that ‘he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.’ As the Bible story goes, King Solomon asked God for wisdom, and that proverb was among the things he told him. Of course it’s not necessary to be a Bible follower to understand the drawbacks of hot-headedness as an adult. … President Trump’s tendency to erupt at journalists and others is more than embarrassing or unprofessional. It’s informative.” (10/02/26)
“On Monday, as the war with Iran crossed the seven-month mark, Governor Greg Abbott declared a statewide disaster in Texas as a result of a massive increase in diesel prices and a deepening fuel shortage. Texas is hardly alone. Diesel prices have climbed nationwide since the war began …. As the midterm elections near and the war’s costs hit voters’ wallets, Abbott’s declaration is a window into a larger problem for Republicans across the country, including some in deep red states. An increasing number of Republicans are being forced to spend money and political capital defending seats that they carried easily in recent elections.” (10/02/26)
“My book about my time inside DOGE launched last week, and I’ve watched friends who privately cheer me on go completely silent in public. That’s how toxic the stigma around DOGE has become. And that stigma is built on a version of events I barely recognize. My experience inside DOGE was almost nothing like what I read about in the mainstream news. The fairest and most balanced coverage I can remember was our interview on Fox News with Bret Baier in March 2025 — but let me tell you what it was actually like. As the DOGE lead and acting assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of the Interior, I saw the accusations that we cut everything indiscriminately. That could not be further from the truth.” (10/02/26)
