“A few years ago, I received a call I’ll never forget. Jeanette Epps, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, Zoomed into my living room from 250 miles above Earth. During our conversation, she told me that one of the reasons she chose her career was a television show my father created in 1966. She wasn’t alone. I’ve heard versions of that same story from countless people over the years. Engineers. Scientists. Astronauts. People who saw possibility on a television screen before they ever saw it in the real world. … I don’t think that was because of the ships, the gadgets or the aliens. It was because, underneath all of it, was a profoundly human belief that we are capable of becoming something better.” (09/22/26)
“On September 8, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK announced their intention to introduce national restrictions, support European restrictions, or actively consider measures against trade in goods with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Undeniably, the announcement represents a significant political and legal precedent. Dismissing it outright would be impulsive, particularly considering the participation of governments such as those of Canada and the UK, which have historically provided Israel with extensive political and diplomatic support. Yet celebrating the announcement as an earth-shattering event without examining its context, timing and potential effectiveness would be equally rash. Worse, it could contribute to weakening the public pressure that finally compelled Western governments to take even these limited steps.” (09/22/26)
“The war in Iran, a murky trade truce, and a hawkish foreign policy establishment that is just itching for a fight makes for uncertain dynamics at today’s summit.” (09/22/26)
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas JS Davies
“The Trump administration came perilously close to launching another bombing campaign against Yemen this weekend. According to a September 20 New York Times report, US commanders had approved their targets, American troops were loading bombs onto warplanes, and an attack on Yemen’s Ansar Allah forces was about to begin when President Donald Trump abruptly reversed course. For two weeks, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had been pleading with Trump to intervene as Ansar Allah (Houthi) forces swept through Saudi-backed forces’ positions along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Trump initially resisted, but after another urgent call from the Saudi crown prince, he instructed the Pentagon to prepare for airstrikes. By Sunday, he had changed his mind again, at least temporarily.” (09/22/26)
“The United Arab Emirates spent eight years and a fortune trying to own a stretch of water. It bought proxies, seized islands, built runways and naval bases along both banks of the Bab el-Mandeb, and sold the whole program to Washington as the wall that would keep Iran out of the Red Sea. In September the wall fell, and the water passed to Iran’s closest ally. The chokepoint that a decade of state planning was meant to secure is now held by the Houthis, allied with Tehran. There is no cleaner illustration of what happens when a government sets out to engineer a region from above.” (09/22/26)
Source: The American Conservative
by Eldar Mamedov
“The apparent hope is that Saudi Arabia will suffer enough to abandon its diversification strategy and join the Abraham Accords, bending the knee to the U.S. and Israel. But the neocons, whether they know it or not, face a big problem: Even before Trump rejected MbS’s request to bomb the Houthis, Washington had shown it can’t be trusted as a Saudi partner. Trump’s refusal to help MbS out of the Yemeni jam serves to further highlight that fact, making Riyadh less likely to tighten its security relations with the U.S. and its client Israel.” (09/22/26)
“Pity the poor medical provider who, barely out of the Silk Road camel transport or Bell-era telephone communications, has to deal with patients (more properly called ‘customers’ in economics) who would rather use time-saving and efficient electronic communications! This medical provider will often use government regulation as an excuse and claim that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) forbids email communications with patients, while establishing a patient portal is too expensive. In reality, HIPAA bans neither encrypted nor unencrypted email.” (09/21/26)
