Source: Common Dreams
“US President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on his threat to cut off federal funding from New York City if its voters elect Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani as mayor. In a post on his Truth Social page, Trump falsely labeled Mamdani ‘a communist’ and predicted that ‘he is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great City.’ Trump then elaborated on the ‘problems’ Mamdani would face: ‘Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his FAKE Communist promises. He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him? This ideology has failed, always, for thousands of years. It will fail again, and that’s guaranteed!'” (09/29/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-mamdani-new-york
Source: The Atlantic
by Idrees Kahloon
“Extreme partisanship disables principled thinking in almost every arena of American life, but this cycle of tit-for-tat illiberalism is especially dangerous. Liberal democracy depends on a shared belief in individual rights, equality of all citizens, and the rule of law. The major political factions must not behave as if they have a monopoly on the truth or a right to power. Illiberal actors think they have both.” (09/29/25)
https://archive.is/RQxJW
Source: CBS News
“The White House is weighing Ukraine’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles to defend the country against Russian forces, Vice President JD Vance said Sunday. ‘We’re certainly looking at a number of requests from the Europeans. And one of the things, again, that I think has really worked about the president’s policy in Ukraine and Russia is that it’s forced the Europeans to step up in a big way. … It’s something the president’s going to make the final determination on,’ Vance said on ‘Fox News Sunday.’ … The U.S.-made Tomahawk missile has a range of about 1,500 miles, which would place Moscow well within the range of Kyiv should the Ukrainian government obtain them. On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov implied that the U.S. was directly interfering in the war between Russian and Ukraine.” (09/29/25)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jdvance-trump-zelenskyy-ukraine-russia-us/
Source: EconTalk
“Eating with Intelligence (with Julia Belluz).” (09/29/25)
https://www.econtalk.org/eating-with-intelligence-with-julia-belluz/
Source: Eunomia
by Daniel Larison
“The return of U.N. sanctions will achieve nothing except to inflict more misery on the people of Iran. The U.K., France, and Germany were wrong in pushing for the reimposition of sanctions. If the goal was to revive nuclear negotiations, threatening Iran with more punishment shortly after Israel and the U.S. attacked their country was the worst way to go about it. The three European governments acted as accomplices to the Trump and Netanyahu’s aggression after the fact, and they shredded what little credibility with Iran they had left. The U.S. and Israel did most of the work to kill diplomacy with Iran, but Britain, France, and Germany went out of their way to finish the job.” (09/29/25)
https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/killing-iran-diplomacy-with-sanctions
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Connor Echols
“A human rights organization is demanding answers about why the Center for American Progress — an influential center left think tank — awarded a board seat to former Secretary of State Antony Blinken despite his alleged complicity in war crimes in Gaza, according to an open letter shared exclusively with Responsible Statecraft. The letter, drafted by DAWN, accuses Blinken of providing Israel with ‘essential military, political and public support to ensure it could continue its atrocities’ in Gaza. ‘We believe that Mr. Blinken is not an appropriate choice to serve as a board member of an organization that aims to ‘promote peace and shared global prosperity’ in light of his well-documented role in aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes,’ the letter says. Raed Jarrar, DAWN’s advocacy director, said Blinken’s appointment ‘damages the reputation’ of the Center for American Progress (CAP).” (09/29/25)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/blinken-war-crimes/
Source: SFGate
“Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina fired the prime minister and the rest of his government Monday in response to days of deadly protests in the Indian Ocean island over the failure of the electricity and water supplies. Rajoelina said in a speech on national television that Prime Minister Christian Ntsay and other government officials would stay on an interim basis until a new government is formed. He invited applications for government positions. Youth-led protests against chronic electricity and water cuts began on Thursday, prompting the government to order nighttime curfews in the capital, Antananarivo, and other major cities. The protesters had called for the resignation of both Ntsay and Rajoelina. The United Nations human rights office said earlier Monday that 22 people had been killed in clashes surrounding the protests.” (09/29/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/youth-led-unrest-in-madagascar-has-left-at-least-21073601.php
Source: Washington Post
by Peter Mehlman
“Every American must take a side on everything. A dispute so trivial as to have zero impact on your life? Sorry, personal relevance is irrelevant. You feel unqualified to offer an opinion? Weigh in anyway. Sorry, I can’t go for that. No can do. In matters that don’t matter, I’m taking the side of not taking a side. When everyone becomes part of everyone else’s focus group, it’s time to step out. If you find yourself preparing for arguments you’ll never have with people you’ll never meet, whose minds you could never change, it’s muzzle time. My opinions barely matter to me anymore, but in the last month alone, I’ve been asked for opinions on so many issues, I have attention-surplus disorder. Well, there’s a fence in my backyard. I’m sitting on it.” (09/29/25)
https://archive.is/Un80H
Source: New York Times
“Denmark has closed its airspace to all civilian drone flights ahead of a major European Union defense summit in Copenhagen this week, after a spate of recent drone sightings near airports amplified security concerns. Denmark was one of several European countries that reported unidentified drone sightings over the past week, which prompted airport closures and widespread travel disruption. The sightings — which officials have attributed to unnamed foreign actors — rattled Europe, already on high alert because of recent incursions by Russian aircraft in the airspace of Poland, Estonia and Romania. Denmark’s transport minister, Thomas Danielson, cited the sightings in announcing that his country’s airspace would be closed to civilian drones from Monday to Friday to ensure ‘extra focus on safety’ around the summit.” (09/29/25)
https://archive.is/q898t
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Considers Arming Ukraine With Tomahawks, IDF Kills 198 in Gaza in 3 Days, and More.” (09/29/25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq0HMs4bZ2c
