“The New York Times tells us that tariffs on musical instruments are making prices so high that student musicians in many junior high school and high school bands and orchestras across the country can no longer afford instruments, nor can their budget-strapped schools afford to provide them. Tariffs on musical instruments are more than twice as high as they were in President Donald Trump’s first term, and some instruments now cost thousands of dollars. As a result, Times reporter Sydney Ember explains, ‘Proponents of musical education say the tariffs are endangering school music programs and threatening to push the extracurricular activity out of reach for many families.’ … How can we as a country possibly benefit from less music-making by young Americans?” (10/14/26)
“Police officers often violate constitutional rights without facing personal civil liability. A Louisiana traffic stop case signals that protection may be narrowing.” (10/14/260
“Wow: United Federation of Teachers chief Mike Mulgrew says the feds should have nothing to do with local schools — the same position as the most hidebound conservatives. At least, that’s what he says: ‘Giving up local control of public education to the federal government through the Trump administration’s private school-voucher scheme is a failure of leadership’, Mulgrew huffed after Gov. Kathy Hochul officially allowed New York families to benefit from federal Education Freedom scholarships. In fact, it’s the ‘education freedom’ part that Mike really hates, but telling the truth rarely serves his interests. The scholarships are not a ‘private school’ scheme; they can support a public education, too — if the family that receives one so chooses. But any parent power is a problem for the UFT, since the union depends on kids having no choice but to attend the schools that employ its members, no matter how rotten.” (10/14/26)
“There’s an easy way to know when people want various products and services: they pay for them using their money. It’s true! We have markets, and people buy and sell on these markets, even often risky investments as sellers and spending their own money as buyers.
Goods aren’t always procured this way. But market exchanges are common in any country containing even much-hampered markets. One feels a need to remind the world of such truths whenever one, for example, peruses The New York Times.” (10/14/26)
“Since the end of the fifteenth century, seafaring explorers have searched for a westward route around the North American continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. The Northwest Passage—and its promise of regular commercial ocean traffic that could ship the wealth of nations—was not crossed until the beginning of the twentieth century. Today, because of climate change, the often ice-choked passage some 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle is increasingly accessible. The opening of northern sea routes and the emerging reality of a future transpolar route will, however, create new challenges.” (10/14/26)
“When it comes to investment and growth in artificial intelligence, American firms are undisputed world leaders. But in overall innovation across the global economy, the United States is edged out by two much smaller nations. In the recently published Global Innovation Index 2026, the 1-2-3 ranking of Switzerland, Sweden, and the U.S. remains unchanged from that of the preceding three years. (Switzerland has occupied the No. 1 spot since 2011, with Sweden and the U.S. occasionally trading places, and with South Korea and Singapore completing the top five in recent years.) Counter to recent pessimistic assessments of the continent’s innovation and growth potential, European nations occupy 14 of the top 25 spots in this index. This positioning points to perhaps unheralded strengths in Europe’s slower but steadier path, when compared with the high-valuation, high-competition, AI-fueled trajectories of the U.S. and China.” (10/13/26)
“Sequencing the first genome cost billions. Now it costs less than a weekend in Paris. IVF went from miracle to mainstream in a generation. Pioneers pay, then prices plummet. The real threat to fairness is the ban, not the bill. Prohibit it in Britain and only those who can fly to Singapore will benefit. Prohibition creates precisely the privilege it pretends to prevent. … Better babies will mean a more worthwhile world. Since we can’t stop it, we might as well embrace it.” (10/14/26)
“Alfred Nobel intended the peace prize for those who had done the most to advance peace among nations. Instead, it is increasingly handed out to the international activist class: people who say the right things, back the right causes and appeal to the political instincts of a handful of parliamentarians in a rarefied progressive bubble. This year’s award to Navi Pillay is a case in point. Pillay is best known for chairing the U.N. commission of inquiry that accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. Her selection will inevitably be read as an endorsement of a U.N. culture in which hostility to Israel is not a liability but a badge of moral seriousness. But there is more to Pillay’s record than the commission’s fixation on Israel.” (10/14/26)
“For months, Ukraine has conducted an increasingly effective deep-strike campaign against Russian refineries and energy infrastructure. Russia’s energy industry helps fund Putin’s war, and its refineries supply fuel needed for military operations. Ukrainian strikes have imposed economic and logistical costs on Moscow, forcing Russia to divert resources to protecting facilities far from the front lines while also affecting Putin’s efforts in pursuing his war aims. Yet Washington is now planning to provide Moscow with additional revenue as the invasion approaches its fifth winter. American lawmakers understand the need to starve Russia’s military capabilities, as they have sought to increase economic pressure on Putin through additional sanctions legislation passed last month—yet President Trump is ignoring the very law that he signed.” (10/14/26)
“[Pete] Hegseth assumes the American public is the same as it was in the 19th century. Back then, hangings served as community entertainment. But we live in a different age now, and the people don’t want to have the government broadcast such acts of violence to households across the country. The purpose of such a move is ostensibly to sate the public’s appetite for justice. But all it will do is repel them.” (10/14/26)
