“Changing the direction of a dinosaur was, presumably, hard for any who tried. Especially when the direction of the dinosaur was highly profitable to its minders. While paleontology does not fully support the analogy, the picture describes the new Global Health Strategy just released by the US government. Someone is trying hard to return the dinosaur – the largest source of funding for international public health there is – back toward a path that addresses healthcare and real diseases. Someone else wants to keep it steered on the path preferred by the World Health Organization (WHO), Gavi, CEPI, and the corporate industrial complex that has co-opted public health. Both are trying to look like ‘America First.’” (09/30/25)
“[New Hampshire’s] highly regulated electricity industry is struggling to provide consumers with the power they need. To solve the problem, the legislature came up with a simple solution: Anyone who produces electricity in New Hampshire won’t be subject to public-utility regulation provided they don’t connect to the existing grid. The financial sector can learn from this example. It is also overregulated, and something akin to a light version of this New Hampshire solution has already been a success for a slice of the banking sector. … An expanded version is exactly what’s needed in financial markets.” (09/30/25)
Source: Niskanen Center
by Gabe Menchaca & Lawson Mansell
“State Medicaid administrators face major changes in the year ahead — and without clear CMS guidance, the result could be massive costs and the largest multi-state technology failure since the pandemic. Beginning in 2027, states will be required to verify whether certain Medicaid enrollees are participating in work, education, or community service as a condition for eligibility. CMS’s forthcoming guidance offers a critical opportunity to prevent wasteful spending on incomplete data and unreliable products.” (09/30/25)
“Unfortunately, the government never really shuts down, and the two parties always work out an agreement that involves spending a lot more money. The worst that happens is that some people are inconvenienced for a few days, as the only things that really cease to function are public-facing operations such as parks and offices — deliberately so, to maintain the illusion that something important is happening. What might be different this time, though, is that there’s a chance to use the impasse to reduce the federal work force.” (09/30/25)
“Since October 2023, every morning, when I wake up, I do something that is harmful to my mental health, but essential. I grab my phone and open social media groups I have from Gaza. I read the breaking news from the night before. The news is filled with horror: reports of families being killed in Gaza, tents being targeted, carpet bombardments, sometimes accompanied by graphic images and video. Often, I read the names of streets I’ve walked on and buildings I’ve passed by, and I see images of people who were once my neighbors or classmates. This has been my routine, every day, since October 7, 2023.” (10/01/25)
Source: The Peaceful Revolutionist
by David S D’Amato
“Within a broader and more historical context, Donald Trump’s public vulgarity and lack of basic decency ends up looking more like a trailing indicator of a much earlier, deeper erosion of political norms and institutional constraints that accelerated rapidly after September 11, 2001. The disgusting, irresponsible, racist language from Trump and the MAGA movement only follows the criminal actions of past rulers: once institutional constraints and elite norms have been weakened sufficiently, performative vulgarity by politicians becomes more likely to be tolerated and then amplified by the partisan media ecosystems. Vulgar, offensive rhetoric is just the visible symptom, with the more consequential, but less visible causes being the earlier transgressions that changed what the Washington ruling class and the people consider permissible.” (09/30/25)
“Maximally civilized societies don’t just scrupulously respect members’ rights to life and property; they afford exactly the same rights to all intelligent beings. Maximally barbaric societies, in contrast, see nothing wrong with murdering and robbing outsiders, even if they treat their own members well.” (09/30/25)
“One of the most valuable elements of the creation of the Constitution was the deliberation that took place in the Philadelphia Convention. The very act of discussing important matters of state over the course of time allows for compromise and clarity (and likely a good deal of frustration). The act of deliberation is an important safeguard in democracy. It is even more important in deciding about war and peace. I think most founders thought there should be some discussion about when to initiate hostilities, with a land invasion as an exception. Beyond that, I still think the founders and many who followed thought that it was important, arguably necessary for a president to ask for congressional permission, wait for their deliberation, and accept the result. … Presidents today have too many tools at their fingertips. They barely even ask forgiveness, let alone permission. Worse still, Congress doesn’t force presidents to do so.” (09/30/25)
“For more than two decades, I was associated with The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies (JARS). That journal’s debut issue was published in September 1999. … Not too long after the debut of that first issue, Bill [Bradford] received a threatening letter addressed to The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies Foundation, dated September 30, 1999 — twenty-six years ago today. It was from the New York offices of a prestigious law firm specializing in intellectual property rights. The lawyer wrote on behalf of their clients: Leonard Peikoff as the sole heir and executor of Rand’s estate, and the Ayn Rand Institute. We were informed that the Estate owned a valid federal trademark for the name ‘AYN RAND,’ which had been registered on February 10, 1998 (Registration No. 2,135,457).” (09/30/25)
“‘Military leaders have raised serious concerns about the Trump administration’s forthcoming defense strategy,’ the Washington Post reports. ‘The critiques from multiple top officers … come as [US defense secretary Pete] Hegseth reorders U.S. military priorities — centering the Pentagon on perceived threats to the homeland, narrowing U.S. competition with China, and downplaying America’s role in Europe and Africa.’ … we should welcome even the slightest reorientation of US military policy toward ‘national defense’ rather than foreign meddling.” (09/30/25)
