“Patients diagnosed with progressive dementia may know exactly how much deterioration they are willing to endure. They can articulate their wishes, discuss alternatives, and put their instructions in writing. Should losing the ability to repeat those instructions invalidate them? Canada is preparing to address that question. On October 23, its Justice Department announced planned rules that would allow adults diagnosed with an incurable illness expected to destroy their decision-making capacity to consent in advance to assisted suicide (or, as Canada calls it, medical assistance in dying (MAID)). … Competent adults should be free to choose clinician-assisted suicide or clinician-administered euthanasia, provided they give fully informed, voluntary consent and those assisting them do so willingly. That freedom should include planning for the loss of decision-making capacity.” (10/27/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“That story about Google killing hundreds of thousands of trees in Finland for its data center project is such a perfect microcosm of what capitalism is doing to our world. Recent mass media headlines are saying the tech giant ‘illegally’ cut down ‘250,000 trees’, but both claims paint an inaccurate picture of what actually happened. Google killed 400,000 trees (250,000 near a town called Muhos and another 150,000 near the village of Otanmäki), and unless the company’s executives actually wind up going to prison for this, their actions cannot properly be described as ‘illegal’. I don’t know who first coined the saying ‘If the penalty is a fine, then it’s legal for rich people’, but it certainly applies here.” (10/27/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Scott Gilmer
“This November, voters in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, will decide whether to raise their city’s sales tax by half a cent. … Whatever you think of the proposal, don’t miss what is happening. Goodlettsville wants more of its taxpayers’ money, so it has to ask them first. That is how it should work anytime your local government needs more from you. Now ask yourself a simple question: when a local government wants to raise your property taxes, who does it have to ask? The answer is no one but itself. Not you, not your neighbors, not a single voter.” (10/27/26)
“Supporters say Prop 40 would raise $100 billion over five years, the period during which billionaires could pay it off in annual installments. Backers are selling Prop 40 as a lifeline for Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, and 90% of the revenue would go to health care. With federal cuts phasing in, Medi-Cal could need tens of billions of dollars over the next decade to stay afloat. But Prop 40 would do California far more harm than good. … unish business owners, investors and other wealthy people, and they leave for greener pastures. That’s common sense, and California has been living it for years.” (10/27/26)
Source: Foreign Policy
by Jonathan Monten, Jordan Tama, & Josh Buby
“Many of Trump’s foreign-policy views are unpopular with U.S. foreign-policy leaders and the public. Trump has failed to sell fellow Republican foreign-policy leaders or voters on key parts of his vision. Rather than mark a turning point in America’s approach to the world, Trump’s foreign policy may not outlast Trump himself.” (10/27/26)
“The recent scandal at Cambridge revealed how invested the academy is in pushing an ideology — even punishing dissenters who insist on telling the truth.” (10/27/26)
“In March of last year, my daughter Margot was born, and like any new father, I found myself thinking about the opportunities that would shape her future. I recently enrolled her in a Trump Account, President Donald Trump’s initiative to help American children begin building wealth from an early age. With a $1,000 federal contribution for eligible children born between 2025 and 2028, the program gives the next generation an opportunity to benefit from decades of investment growth. As President Trump’s former Federal Housing Administration commissioner, I also believe Trump Accounts should be just the beginning for how we can help young Americans build lasting wealth. In particular, I think we are at a pivotal point in American history to enact new policies to help generations of families achieve financial independence through owning their first home.” [editor’s note: Surprised this socialist drivel got on the Fox op-ed page; no wait, I’m really not – SAT] (10/27/26)
“The 1951 San Francisco peace treaty formally ending the war between the Allies and Japan attempted to resolve postwar territorial disputes. In that treaty, Tokyo renounced its claim to the Kurils but also contended that the four southernmost islands were distinct from the Kuril chain and, therefore, were still part of Japan’s territory. Since the Soviet Union never signed the treaty at all, the Kuril issue remained unresolved. The dispute has continued to be a volatile, emotional topic with populations in both countries. … There is a significant risk that the United States could become entangled in the disputes involving either the Kurils or the Senkakus. That is especially true since there is a mutual defense treaty with Japan.” (10/27/26)
“Before 1986, a city named Reykjavík was best remembered for the ‘Match of the Century.’ International eyes fixated on Iceland’s capital for the World Chess Championship of 1972. The American prodigy Bobby Fischer dethroned the USSR’s defending champ Boris Spassky, ending a quarter-century of Soviet chess domination. Meanwhile on the global chessboard, the Cold War, with its mind-boggling defense budgets and ICBM stockpiles, continued. Fourteen years later, Reykjavík became synonymous with a different kind of U.S.-Soviet meeting with far greater stakes for humankind. The story of how President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev wound up there for two days of meetings 40 Octobers ago — and the progress they made toward a shared goal of eliminating nuclear bombs — should resonate in our dangerous age of nuclear tension and profligate weapons modernization.” (10/27/26)
“Over at The 74, John Arnold penned an op-ed reminding us that getting more students to graduate from high school is not necessarily a good thing. It depends on how we do it. He writes: ‘If boosting graduation is the goal, one way to get there is to lower standards.’ High school graduation rates are up across the United States, but there is mounting evidence that we are achieving these gains by lowering standards. Arnold points to international assessment data showing that U.S. students are performing worse academically, even as more of them graduate.” (10/27/26)
