Source: Libertarian Institute
by Brad Pearce

“To the tech accelerationists, a human is little more than a particularly inefficient machine. The drive towards infinite automated customization demonstrates a lack of understanding about the extent to which humans are shaped by shared experience as well as being interested in the views of other humans. Art is valued because it is human expression. However, with their shallow understanding of humanity, they do not see the inherent uniqueness of humans compared to the robots they are trying to give ‘consciousness.’ … Currently, it is Pope Leo who seems to be taking the lead against recognizing AI as some sort of artificial humanity, and he may be the only person with the gravitas and imperviousness to being bought off to lead this fight for humanity.” (10/28/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/ai-can-never-have-rights

Source: The American Prospect
by Whitney Curry Wimbish

“The reason Tucson resident Garrett Newell can walk is because of Medicaid. Speaking before reporters last week, he described how the program has allowed him to manage his cerebral palsy and lead a dignified life, one with more independence than would otherwise be possible. He is among the millions of Americans living with disabilities or chronic illness whose lives have been transformed by the program, and he wants to ensure everyone has access to it. When Republican lawmakers were threatening to severely slash Medicaid last year as part of the $1 trillion in health care cuts in their One Big Beautiful Bill law, Newell traveled to D.C. to advocate for the program. But Republicans passed the bill with cuts intact, then used the money they saved to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and yet another illegal forever war.” (10/28/26)

https://prospect.org/2026/10/28/new-medicaid-requirements-galvanizing-dems-in-battleground-states/

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott

“For most economies, especially those in the West, a growth of 9.95% would be celebrated—but in Vietnam, it has caused legislators to go into a panic. Despite achieving the fastest economic growth since 2022, it has fallen short of a target set by Vietnam’s National Assembly in April 2026, of an average annual growth of at least 10% over the next five years. It is for this reason that Vietnam is banking on the new free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) to provide the final boost.” (10/28/26)

https://fee.org/articles/vietnam-banks-on-europe/

Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Corynne McSherry

“Everyone knows, or should, that perfect (balanced, targeted, transparent, swift and swiftly appealable) content moderation at scale is impossible. That doesn’t mean powerful social platforms don’t have to try to get at least reasonably close, especially when access to good information can have a profound effect on political participation and speech. That’s why so many people, including the Meta Oversight Board, criticized Meta for suspending a major political Instagram account for hours during a huge early voting push on October 17; and for allegedly boosting one candidate in Brazil’s recent presidential election.” (10/28/26)

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/10/social-media-when-elections-are-close-doing-impossible-better

Source: The Atlantic
by Quinta Jurecic

“If, once most of the results are in, Democrats seem set to eke out a House majority by just a few seats, perhaps committed Trump allies in positions of power could make trouble in a handful of the closest districts. … This could create chaos on January 3, when the new House gathers for the first time: What happens if the contested seats are enough to deny the should-be-majority party the votes it needs to select a new speaker and take control of the chamber? Although this isn’t a foolproof trick for stealing control of the House, such a play could make things very precarious very quickly. But the bigger the majority secured by Democrats, the more difficult it would be for Trump to shave that majority down—the more clerks to convince, warrants to secure, and court rulings to dodge, all over the country.” (10/28/26)

https://archive.is/SlYYS