Shutdown Rite

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“It’s like a fight between siblings: ‘It’s his fault!’ ‘No, it’s her fault!’ But it is Congress and its two political parties squabbling, and it’s the American voter playing the part of parent. Whose fault is it? Both make plausible cases, sort of, but neither sounds believable. Why can’t these two get along? And where’s my coffee? Where’s my gin? The subject is the budget. Not the actual voted-on budget, which though prescribed by the U.S. Constitution hasn’t been seen in quite a while. Congress offers up these makeshifts instead.” (10/02/25)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/10/02/shutdown-rite/

Thomas L. Knapp

TX: TCU disputes claims it canceled Turning Point event with de-transitioner

Source: Fox News

“Texas Christian University (TCU) on Wednesday disputed claims it canceled a Turning Point USA event featuring de-transitioner Chloe Cole. TCU sent Fox News Digital a statement following reports and backlash that the university canceled the event, which prompted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Chip Roy [R-TX] to speak out. ‘On September 18, TCU successfully hosted a TPUSA event to honor the life of Charlie Kirk, who had previously spoken on TCU’s campus to students and the community. Separate from this event, an outside party, not affiliated with TCU, invited an external speaker to appear on our campus on Oct. 7,’ a spokesperson said. The spokesperson continued, ‘The student chapter of TPUSA then requested that TCU host the Oct. 7 event for 700 to 1,000 people. The requested space was already booked with another student event.” (10/02/25)

https://www.foxnews.com/media/tcu-disputes-claims-canceled-turning-point-event-de-transitioner

Steve Trinward

South Korea: Lee apologizes for “unjust” overseas adoptions

Source: United Press International

“South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday apologized for the country’s troubled history of overseas adoptions, acknowledging that ‘unjust human rights violations’ occurred and vowing stronger safeguards going forward. … In March, a long-awaited report by South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that the government violated adoptees’ rights as it sought to expedite overseas adoptions rather than strengthen domestic welfare programs. The report highlighted fraudulent practices such as document falsification, infant substitution and inadequate vetting of adoptive parents.” (10/02/25)

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/10/02/korea-Lee-Jae-Myung-overseas-adoptions-apology-truth-and-reconcilation-commission/5521759397193/

Thomas L. Knapp

Loyalty Over Law: Trump’s Ultimatum to the Military

Source: Common Dreams
by George Cassidy Payne

“At Quantico this week, US President Donald Trump addressed the nation’s top military leaders and delivered a statement that might have sounded like a joke: ‘If you do not like what I am saying, you can leave the room, of course there goes your rank and your future.’ Generals and admirals, mostly white men with a handful of women and people of color, laughed — some nervously. Yet beneath the levity lies a profound departure from established norms. Loyalty to the Constitution was implicitly optional; loyalty to him was emphasized as paramount. Obey, or be discarded. This was not overtly menacing, but the danger lay in the implications — a subtle drift toward personal allegiance rather than institutional fidelity.” (10/02/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-ultimatum-military

Steve Trinward

NYC: Regime housing tower partially collapses after explosion

Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]

“A massive brick chimney running 20 storeys up the side of a New York City apartment building collapsed after an explosion Wednesday, sending tons of debris plummeting to the ground. The falling bricks buried a sidewalk, landed on the public housing building’s playground and sent a cloud of dust billowing over the block in the Bronx. Amazingly, no one was injured. … Mayor Eric Adams confirmed no injuries or deaths were reported in the collapse of the chimney, which rose up from the building’s boiler room. Officials were notified of the explosion just after 8 a.m. and were trying to determine if there was a gas leak. … Around half a million New Yorkers live in aging buildings run by the city’s housing authority, known as NYCHA, which is the largest in the nation.” (10/01/25)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/new-york-building-collapse-1.7647937

Thomas L. Knapp