Source: Show-Me Institute
by David Stokes
“Everyone wants to help kids and senior citizens, right? Who could oppose a new sales tax in the City of St. Louis to fund early childhood education and daycare? And who could be against a new property tax in St. Louis County for services designed to help seniors stay in their homes? Well, I could. Politicizing charity and mandating it through law is dangerous. St. Louisans would be wise to think twice before going down this road.” (10/15/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/taxes/st-louis-residents-should-think-twice-before-supporting-new-charitable-taxes/
Source: Grist
by Matt Simon
“You may have heard by now that heat pumps — which transfer warmth from outdoor air to an indoor space, instead of generating it like a furnace — don’t work when it gets really cold out. That’s incorrect, as models designed for frigid climes can keep you toasty even in the dead of winter. Don’t believe me? Look no further than the Nordic countries, which have fully committed to them despite the region’s not-exactly-balmy winters. OK, so heat pumps are more efficient than ever, which is why Americans seem to be warming up to the appliances. But surely, since they’re electric, switching to them en masse will push the grid to collapse? That’s also false.” (10/15/26)
https://grist.org/solutions/a-new-report-just-busted-another-myth-about-heat-pumps/
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A man who was attacked by a tiger after climbing two fences to enter its enclosure at a wildlife park died of ‘multiple traumatic injuries’, an inquest has heard. William Chapman visited Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster on Saturday and entered the animal’s pen. The 24-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene and died of ‘multiple traumatic injuries and animal interaction’, the opening of his inquest at Doncaster Coroner’s Court heard. Senior coroner Nicola Mundy said he had a history of mental illness, a diagnosis of schizophrenia and had suffered previous bouts of psychosis. His family had raised concerns about his contact with Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Trust, the hearing was told. Chapman was under adult mental health services in Doncaster but was ‘highly functioning and independent with no care requirements’, the inquest heard.” (10/15/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cxr5y83v1eldo
Source: Liberal Currents
“Was it inevitable that bigotry would become so dominant within libertarianism, or could it all have gone differently?” (10/15/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/liberal-currents-live-libertarianism-captured-by-racism/
Source: Unpopular Front
by John Ganz
“One’s personal opinion of Omar’s character or her politics is immaterial. This is a serious assault on the constitutional order being carried out through the executive branch’s legal and bureaucratic machinery. Perhaps the reason that the public response is so tepid is that we have so long taken for granted—or simply no longer understand—just how fundamental the questions involved really are. This move strikes at some of the most elementary assumptions of a free and republican government, principles so basic that we scarcely imagined they would need defending: that political opposition is legitimate, that the executive cannot determine the composition of the legislature, and that citizenship is not a privilege held at the pleasure of those in power.” (10/15/26)
https://www.unpopularfront.news/p/whats-at-stake-in-the-omar-case
Source: Noahpinion
by Noah Smith
“A year and a half ago, the AI boom was still significantly smaller than the railroad boom of the late 1800s, as a percent of GDP. Now, there’s an active argument as to which one is bigger. This debate doesn’t really matter, because the basic message is just ‘Wow, it’s a lot of money.’ But it’s fun to look at the numbers people are throwing around.” (10/15/26)
https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/ai-vs-the-railroads
Source: Associated Press
“British booksellers are caught up in a battle over terrorism and free speech after Irish novelist Sally Rooney said her books can no longer be sold in the U.K. because she financially supports the banned group Palestine Action. … The [regime’s] ban makes membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. … After the U.K. banned Palestine Action in July 2025, Rooney said she would use proceeds from her books and their TV adaptations to support the group. On Wednesday her U.K. publisher, Faber, said that paying her royalties could violate the terror ban and it had ‘taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the U.K. in any format.’ It said the decision had been made with Rooney’s agreement.” (10/15/26)
https://apnews.com/article/sally-rooney-palestine-action-what-to-know-caaf01b4b1968df5abee3c51832f3d31
Source: Freedom’s Phoenix
“Shari Brown (Harvard-Educated Mathematician; Religious Scholar) on her book Seven Commandments for Happiness and Prosperity: Where Spirituality and Science Merge.” (10/15/26)
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/402575-2026-10-14-2026-10-15-ernest-hancock-and-shari-sharifi-brown.htm
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“To get a government-issued license to practice law, one generally has to pass a state bar examination. The California bar exam is one of the hardest in the country to pass. That ensures that fewer people are able to secure law licenses. The notion is that a state-issued law license protects the public from incompetent and unethical lawyers. How’s that working out? It seems to me that there are lots of incompetent and unethical lawyers in every state of the United States. Why did the state issued licenses to them to practice law? In actuality, difficult bar exams and licensure requirements are nothing more than a protection racket.” (10/15/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/10/15/licensure-is-a-protection-racket-for-lawyers/
Source: Fox News
by JP Pichardo
“‘What if we tweaked the Constitution, amended the Second Amendment, and instead of the right to bear arms, we change it to the right to have healthcare?’ That is not a college activist. That is Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for United States Senate in Michigan, talking into his own camera, on his own channel. And it is one of many videos that he quietly made private from his channel once he decided he wanted a seat in the world’s most powerful legislative body. A U.S. Senate nominee from one of the two major national parties, who has a legitimate chance to win, actively floated the idea of replacing the Second Amendment — not merely regulating it, which would be bad enough. This is not your typical anti-gun Democrat rhetoric. This is a dangerous and new precedent coming from far-left Democrats.” (10/15/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/el-sayed-words-reveal-radical-plan-dismantle-second-amendment
