Not a One-Time Thing

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“Proposition 40, in California, calls itself — in the title — a one-time tax. But does anyone truly believe that? … The Democratic Socialists of America have endorsed it, not just because it’s a tax targeted against the rich — but because they want it to be much more than a one-time thing. Those who love total government are insatiable in their lust for other people’s money.” (10/27/260

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/10/27/not-a1time-thing/

In the Balkans, a victory for political humility

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“Just three decades ago, Serbia was the most warmongering place in Europe. On Sunday night, its capital, Belgrade, was the scene of a celebration of peace and joy after parliamentary elections turned out an autocratic ruling party, in a win for a student movement that has no leader and largely put up nonstudent candidates. Most of the student movement’s winning candidates hold doctorate degrees, of whom 44% are women. The Student List, as it’s called, now faces the task of bringing transparency and accountability to a government soaked in crony corruption. Its success in better governance could ricochet across the Balkan states after centuries of violent ethnic rivalries. ‘Serbia is a normal country again,’ Andjela Markovic, a nurse from Belgrade, told the London-based Financial Times. ‘We proved that we can be just like any other nation, where people love their country and love each other even when they disagree.'” (10/27/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/1027/In-the-Balkans-a-victory-for-political-humility

CBP Really Doesn’t Want To Reveal What It Does to Americans’ Phones

Source: Reason
by Matthew Petti

“Customs and Border Protection (CBP) insists that it has the right to search Americans’ private data without a warrant when entering the country. But ordered to explain one of these searches by a judge, the agency is now trying to wiggle out from under the microscope, invoking its own data privacy. On Friday, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia ordered CBP to explain the seizure of a local psychiatric nurse’s phone and laptop at Washington Dulles International Airport. CBP argued that the court should seal this information from both the public and the nurse himself in order to protect ‘privileged law enforcement information.’ Brinkema initially agreed …. After reading the filings, the judge declared on Tuesday afternoon ‘that most of the redacted information is not privileged law enforcement information and should not be sealed.'” (10/27/26)

https://reason.com/2026/10/27/cbp-really-doesnt-want-to-reveal-what-it-does-to-americans-phones/

Who is Making Billions from the Iran War?

Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
by Ron Paul

“At a campaign rally over the weekend, President Trump dismissed Americans’ concerns over high oil and gas prices, claiming that it’s a small price to pay for the hundreds of billions of dollars ‘we’ are making from these higher prices. ‘We’re making a fortune,’ he said. ‘Hundreds of billions of dollars. Trillions of dollars.’ People are paying a little bit more for gas, he explained, but it doesn’t matter because ‘we’ are making so much money. The question is, ‘Who is ‘we’?’ We know it is not the American people.” (10/27/26)

https://www.ronpaullibertyreport.com/archives/who-is-making-billions-from-the-iran-war

After Midterms, Let’s Make Politics Boring Again

Source: Racket News
by Matt Taibbi

“For the last twenty years, politics was our most fascinating news story and the most interesting thing on the Internet. Now, one senses huge portions of the electorate would rather take baths in battery acid than listen to even one more word from a politician. Americans have by now been screwed over so many times that the problem may no longer be that the government doesn’t work. It’s that government doesn’t work, and we can’t shut up about it. Other countries manage to deliver lousy economies and naked corruption without so much talking. Can’t we just be Mexico or Paraguay and have peace and quiet while things mostly go to hell?” (10/27/26)

https://www.racket.news/p/after-midterms-lets-make-politics

The Crest of a New Wave

Source: In These Times
by Miles Kampf-Lassin

“In mid-September, the next generation of movement [sic] candidates assembled in Washington, D.C. (where they’re on track to be sworn into Congress next year) to scheme how to most effectively bring working-class politics into the halls of power. The group includes Chris Rabb from Pennsylvania, Melat Kiros from Colorado, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier from New York, Adam Hamawy from New Jersey and Donavan McKinney from Michigan. All were endorsed by local chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) except for Hamawy, who had the backing of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders [I-VT] and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [D-NY]. Each of them won their Democratic primaries this year in heavily blue districts with essential locks to win the general in the November 3 elections.” (10/27/26)

https://inthesetimes.com/article/midterm-elections-left-wave-chris-rabb-melat-kiros-claire-valdez-darializa-avila-chevalier-adam-hamawy-donavan-mckinney

Will the Feds Kill Your Bank Account?

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Jim Bovard

“This month, a Trump administration report confirmed Joe Biden’s White House secretly connived to destroy Americans’ financial freedom. Those bureaucrats were upholding hallowed precedents stretching back to the Nixon era, when Congress passed the Bank Secrecy Act. That law made it a crime for banks to keep secrets from the government. … This is like a bad horror show that gets repeated at least once a decade. During the Barack Obama administration, the FDIC and the Justice Department launched the original Operation Choke Point, supposedly to ‘choke’ illegal businesses’ access to financial services. But the target list was stretched to include attempts to destroy financial access for porn stars, coin dealers, online tobacco companies, and other targets.” (10/27/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/will-the-feds-kill-your-bank-account/

Frivolous Litigation Watch: Alaska Already Solved This “Problem”

Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp

“In a rather strange lawsuit — United States v. State of Alaska, filed on October 23 — the US Department of Justice asked a court to block that state’s election authority from certifying an election result that isn’t even known yet and won’t be known until, at the earliest, November 3. Weird enough, but it gets even weirder: DOJ wants certification of the result blocked if, and only if, incumbent US Senator Dan Sullivan loses the election. If he wins? Move along, nothing to see here. The ‘problem,’ DOJ claims, is that voters may be ‘confused’ by the presence of two Dan Sullivans on the ballot — the aforementioned Daniel S. Sullivan, a Republican, and ‘independent’ Daniel J. Sullivan — in addition to Democrat Mary Peltola and a second Republican, Gerald L. Heikes. In other words, DOJ wants the court to rule that Alaska’s voters are really, really stupid.” (10/27/26)

https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20958

The Doomsday Government: Preparing for the End of the World, Not the End of Power

Source: Rutherford Institute
by John & Nisha Whitehead

“This time of year, there is no shortage of monsters to frighten us. Hollywood has given us vampires, zombies, mad scientists, masked killers and creatures that emerge from the darkness to prey upon the unsuspecting. But perhaps the most frightening monster of all is the government that has become so accustomed to wielding extraordinary power that it cannot imagine a future in which that power is diminished. Enter the Doomsday Plan. Imagine it: The power grid goes down. Supply chains collapse. Communications fail. Cities are plunged into darkness. Ordinary Americans are left scrambling for food, water, medicine and shelter. Not to worry, though. The government has a plan for the coming apocalypse.” (10/27/26)

https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/the_doomsday_government