Source: Foreign Policy
by Anjali Dayal

“U.S. President Donald Trump stood in front of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22 and made two explicit threats. He threatened to use military force in Latin America in service of U.S. interests, and he threatened annihilation for both the Iranian government and the Iranian people. The actions he proposed contravene both the international laws prohibiting war and the international humanitarian law that protects civilians in conflict. … the laws of war, themselves part of U.S. law, prohibit indiscriminate threats against a civilian population. Accordingly, Trump’s public deliberations about who to invade and who to annihilate were themselves crimes, committed in full view of thousands of diplomats and heads of state. … Many in the United States and around the world are desperate to see Trump and his top advisors held accountable for all this lawlessness but are at a loss for how to do so.” (10/07/26)

https://archive.is/omjwb

Source: Semafor
by David Weigel

“Democrats are feeling very good about next month’s elections, and the jockeying is already underway about which faction made it happen. Progressives hope to power a Democratic victory in the House that sees them pick up more seats — and influence — in the next Congress. When ‘abundance’ critics went after the movement, they were trying to win the argument then as well as the argument of the future. They saw a coalition of techies and liberals who were trying to prevent what they wanted: A move to the left and away from deep-pocketed donors. They view ‘abundists’ taking credit for Mamdani’s victory as opportunists trying to deny democratic socialists a major governing success. But the non-socialists have made a modicum of impact, even if ‘abundance’ has faded from Democrats’ lexicon.” (10/07/26)

https://www.semafor.com/article/10/07/2026/is-abundance-really-dead

Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp

“I guess it’s the principle of the thing. If the feds let even one of their hirelings get away with stealing from the gang itself, even just a measly 14.6 minutes’ worth of the annual loot, more of those hirelings might decide they’d like a taste too, and next thing you know the gang’s leaders migh have to give up the thug life and get real jobs serving caffeinated beverages or pumping out septic tanks. Can’t have that! But it’s also the principle of the thing working from the other direction: If it’s not theft for the feds to steal the money from you, how is it theft for [David J.] Rush to steal the money from them? And Rush’s form of theft was arguably less violent than his bosses’ preferred way of doing things.” (10/07/26)

https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20938

Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley

“French President Emmanuel Macron went full Orwell this week. While long the darling of Western media, Macron has been one of the most anti-free-speech leaders in the world. This week, he declared that ‘The so-called American ‘free speech’ today, which some people have promoted, is the opposite of free speech.’ Having Emmanuel Macron holding forth on free speech is akin to Joey Chestnut proselytizing on veganism. France has been in a headlong plunge into censorship and speech criminalization. These laws criminalize speech under vague standards referring to ‘inciting’ or ‘intimidating’ others based on race or religion. For example, fashion designer John Galliano has been found guilty in a French court on charges of making anti-Semitic comments in a Paris bar. In another case, the father of French conservative presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was fined because he had called people from the Roma minority ‘smelly’.” (10/07/26)

https://jonathanturley.org/2026/10/07/marcon-goes-full-orwell/

Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joseph Varon

“Faced with one of the biggest and fastest changes in human health, we’re treating the results as a condition that needs lifelong medication. The newest drugs are very effective, and that’s important to recognize. Semaglutide and tirzepatide have led to weight loss that older nonsurgical treatments rarely matched. Semaglutide has also reduced the risk of major heart problems in people with overweight or obesity and heart disease who didn’t have diabetes. Tirzepatide has greatly improved sleep apnea in people with obesity. These results are significant, and these drugs are much more than cosmetic weight-loss aids. That’s why we need to look closely at what’s happening now. The problem isn’t that these drugs don’t work; they clearly do. The real concern is that they might work so well that we stop asking why so many people need them in the first place.” (10/07/26)

https://brownstone.org/articles/when-did-obesity-become-a-drug-deficiency/