NPR Politics, 10/12/26
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“What does the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq mean for the region?” (10/12/26)
Proposing a Constitutional Amendment
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“For fun, here’s a proposal: a constitutional amendment requiring that the federal and all state governments must refrain from any actions in markets except those necessary to (a) protect individuals from harm, including theft and fraud, (b) enforce contractual agreements (as this is needed to prevent harm), or (c) rectify harms it failed to prevent through (a) and (b). This proposed limitation on government interference serves at least three purposes.” (10/12/26)
https://prosociallibertarians.substack.com/p/proposing-a-constitutional-amendment
New York ICE Shooting Illustrates Deliberate Policy of Harm and Medical Neglect
Source: Common Dreams
by Chuck Idelson
“President Donald Trump’s ICE terror campaign against US cities reached a new height October 8 with the dangerous shooting of an unarmed Dominican man, with his 5-year-old child in the car, in a densely populated Manhattan neighborhood. The incident adds to a growing scandal over inhumane ICE treatment of victims they harm. ICE agents have repeatedly interfered with or denied medical care for the victims they shoot. Patients have also been pulled out of hospitals prematurely against medical advice and without authorization of their doctors and other medical professionals.” (10/12/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/new-york-ice-shooting-medical-treatment
Economy Nobel prize in economics awarded to Robert E Hall and Michael Woodford
Source: CNBC
“Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford were on Monday awarded the Nobel memorial prize in economics for work that underpins the models used by central banks and governments to ‘smooth out’ periods of boom and bust. The U.S.-born pair were jointly awarded for their contribution to the ‘microeconomic foundations’ that contribute to macroeconomic stability. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was established by Sweden’s central bank in 1968. The winners will split a 12 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million) prize.” (10/12/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/12/nobel-economics-prize-winner-woodford-hall.html
Make It Make Sense, 10/12/26
Source: Washington Post
“Kat Timpf: The right has an affordability problem.” (10/12/26)
Will the West Awaken?
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob
“Of course, one of our central tenets is the right, even duty, to criticize our government. But only a woeful lack of historical perspective or a perverse ideological malice (or both) allows some to pretend that ripping apart our society is a thoughtful critique.” (10/12/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/10/12/will-the-west-awaken
Why Private Rockets Outperform Government Programs at Cape Canaveral
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey
“Why is a government agency using a private company like SpaceX to take cargo up to its space station? Economics, plain and simple; SpaceX can do it for far less money than it can itself. For example, the government-run Space Shuttle cost taxpayers around $54,000 per kilogram to reach low orbit. SpaceX can do the same for $2,600 per kilogram on its Falcon 9 rocket. NASA used to just dump or burn up its rocket boosters, using them one time; SpaceX reuses its rockets many times, dramatically reducing the cost of each mission, and SpaceX continually reduces the cost per kilogram to get cargo to low orbit and space. … Removing bureaucratic friction caused by government produces local job growth in Florida, lowers costs for essential services, and improves the lives and freedom of millions.” (10/12/260
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/why-private-rockets-outperform-government
The British Radical Who Used the American Revolution to Curb the Crown
Source: The UnPopulist
by Andy Craig
“In the spring of 1778, with the war in America going badly, a member of the House of Lords proposed that Britain withdraw its forces and recognize American independence. Charles Lennox, the third Duke of Richmond, was a great-grandson of King Charles II, one of the wealthiest men in the country, and about as well-placed in the British establishment as anyone could be. He was also, for 15 years, its most persistent critic. Richmond is not a name most Americans would recognize. Danielle Allen’s Radical Duke makes a good case that he ought to be.” (10/12/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-british-radical-who-used-the
UK: Documents falsified to evade extortion of Abramovich’s wealth, BBC finds
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The world’s biggest accountancy firm helped in falsifying documents to hide Roman Abramovich’s wealth and evade tax, BBC Panorama has found. Accounts signed off by Deloitte in Cyprus meant assets such as superyachts, mansions and private jets worth $672m (£508m) vanished from Abramovich’s company accounts. Deloitte also appears to have advised on a scheme to evade a huge tax bill on the oligarch’s wealth through the falsification of documents. … Abramovich’s lawyers said he denies that he evaded tax or concealed his fortune. … For nearly two decades, Roman Abramovich was the most famous Russian oligarch in the UK, welcomed in London where he bought Chelsea Football Club in 2003 and bankrolled the club’s most successful period. But after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he was sanctioned by the UK government as an associate of President Vladimir Putin and forced to sell the club.” (10/12/26)
The Headlines, 10/12/26
Source: New York Times
“Growing Threats Against Public Officials, and Trump’s Diesel Deal With Putin.” (10/12/26)