“Fossil fuels are an economic liability, and not just because of the war in Iran. Rising energy costs were a major driver of the hotter-than-expected US inflation figures reported yesterday. This fact won’t surprise anyone reading this newsletter. Still, the numbers are pretty astonishing: Behind an overall gain of 3.7% across all goods and services in the past 12 months, gasoline prices are up 34.2%, and fuel oil prices (relevant mostly for home heating) are up 74.2%. The proximal cause is the war, of course, and the figures cement that US President Donald Trump has by now run out of time to change the picture ahead of the midterm election. But the broader takeaway here is that the inherent volatility of oil and gas prices is a persistent vulnerability in the US economy that can only be solved by limiting exposure to these energy sources.” (10/15/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“It says so much about how diseased our society has become that the most revered and respected among us are emotionally stunted man-babies who have used monopolistic thuggishness and trickery to become billionaires. Bezos. Musk. Thiel. Altman. Ellison. These neurotic freaks have no redeeming characteristics and nothing going for them as people beyond a knack for extracting wealth from the working class, and yet they’re the ones calling the shots for the trajectory our species is going to follow into the future. They’re the ones making headlines and receiving groveling softball interviews from sycophantic reporters and podcasters. They’re the ones our warped civilization points to as role models we should all strive to be like. These men are not wise. They don’t know how to live happy lives. They are ideologically opposed to providing for the common good of everyone.” (10/15/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Isabella Albano
“Home is where the heart is, and for many Louisianans, owning a house is an important part of the American dream. But as home prices have climbed to record heights, homeownership is becoming less attainable for many. Building codes are a significant contributor to this affordability problem.” (10/15/26)
“Everyone wants to help kids and senior citizens, right? Who could oppose a new sales tax in the City of St. Louis to fund early childhood education and daycare? And who could be against a new property tax in St. Louis County for services designed to help seniors stay in their homes? Well, I could. Politicizing charity and mandating it through law is dangerous. St. Louisans would be wise to think twice before going down this road.” (10/15/26)
“You may have heard by now that heat pumps — which transfer warmth from outdoor air to an indoor space, instead of generating it like a furnace — don’t work when it gets really cold out. That’s incorrect, as models designed for frigid climes can keep you toasty even in the dead of winter. Don’t believe me? Look no further than the Nordic countries, which have fully committed to them despite the region’s not-exactly-balmy winters. OK, so heat pumps are more efficient than ever, which is why Americans seem to be warming up to the appliances. But surely, since they’re electric, switching to them en masse will push the grid to collapse? That’s also false.” (10/15/26)
“One’s personal opinion of Omar’s character or her politics is immaterial. This is a serious assault on the constitutional order being carried out through the executive branch’s legal and bureaucratic machinery. Perhaps the reason that the public response is so tepid is that we have so long taken for granted—or simply no longer understand—just how fundamental the questions involved really are. This move strikes at some of the most elementary assumptions of a free and republican government, principles so basic that we scarcely imagined they would need defending: that political opposition is legitimate, that the executive cannot determine the composition of the legislature, and that citizenship is not a privilege held at the pleasure of those in power.” (10/15/26)
“A year and a half ago, the AI boom was still significantly smaller than the railroad boom of the late 1800s, as a percent of GDP. Now, there’s an active argument as to which one is bigger. This debate doesn’t really matter, because the basic message is just ‘Wow, it’s a lot of money.’ But it’s fun to look at the numbers people are throwing around.” (10/15/26)
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“To get a government-issued license to practice law, one generally has to pass a state bar examination. The California bar exam is one of the hardest in the country to pass. That ensures that fewer people are able to secure law licenses. The notion is that a state-issued law license protects the public from incompetent and unethical lawyers. How’s that working out? It seems to me that there are lots of incompetent and unethical lawyers in every state of the United States. Why did the state issued licenses to them to practice law? In actuality, difficult bar exams and licensure requirements are nothing more than a protection racket.” (10/15/26)
“‘What if we tweaked the Constitution, amended the Second Amendment, and instead of the right to bear arms, we change it to the right to have healthcare?’ That is not a college activist. That is Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for United States Senate in Michigan, talking into his own camera, on his own channel. And it is one of many videos that he quietly made private from his channel once he decided he wanted a seat in the world’s most powerful legislative body. A U.S. Senate nominee from one of the two major national parties, who has a legitimate chance to win, actively floated the idea of replacing the Second Amendment — not merely regulating it, which would be bad enough. This is not your typical anti-gun Democrat rhetoric. This is a dangerous and new precedent coming from far-left Democrats.” (10/15/26)
