Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger
“When someone becomes an employee of the U.S. government, and especially the all-powerful national-security state branch of the government, he is expected to leave his conscience and sense of right and wrong behind. While he ostensibly takes an oath to support and defend the Constitution, that’s actually a sham. As a practical matter, every federal official is expected to loyally and patriotically support the actions of the U.S. government, including the dark-side actions of the U.S. national-security establishment — i.e., the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA.” (10/29/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/10/29/dark-side-powers-versus-conscience-and-morality/
Source: New York Post
by Miad Maleki
“‘It’s getting to be decision time’ on Iran, President Donald Trump said Sunday. ‘Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal?’ he mused in a Fox News interview. On Tuesday, at a get-out-the-vote rally in Lubbock, Texas, he put the choice on a clock. ‘You’ll see Iran in a couple of weeks,’ he said — the window that opens after Election Day, Nov. 3. US and Israeli military planners have reportedly mapped out a short post-midterm campaign against Iran’s nuclear, missile and energy sites; some officials think three days of strikes could force concessions. I spent eight years at the Treasury Department tightening sanctions on this regime — and I want it gone. Which is why the next round of bombs should stay in the racks.” (10/28/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/10/28/opinion/the-islamic-republic-only-survives-on-war-dont-give-tehran-what-it-craves/
Source: Politico
“The European Commission is telling capitals across the bloc to pause any national laws that restrict social media access to minors, as Brussels seeks an EU-wide set of rules. But Austria, the first country told to halt its legislation Thursday, lashed out at the order. ‘It is unacceptable for Brussels to block member states from enacting national laws without presenting a completed European solution of its own,’ Austrian State Secretary Alexander Pröll told POLITICO. The Commission and national capitals have been seeking age restrictions for social media over the past year, citing risks to young people’s mental health. But even after the EU proposed a unified law, different countries have continued pursuing different approaches and age limits.” (10/29/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-tells-capitals-to-halt-their-national-social-media-bans-for-a-year
Source: The New Republic
“Trump-Vivek Ad Ploy Backfires as GOPers Leak Humiliating Private Poll.” (10/29/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/217313/trump-vivek-ad-ploy-backfires-gopers-leak-humiliating-private-poll
Source: Niskanen Center
by Caitlin Rowley Gallamore & Marko Gajic
“More than 92 millions Americans live in a federally designated primary care shortage area. That’s about 1 in 4 patients whose demand for primary care exceeds the supply of physicians that can provide it. And this shortage will only get worse without significant changes to how primary care providers (PCPs) are paid. Thankfully, Congress now has a chance to address the poor payment incentives at the root of the primary care shortage.” (10/29/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/paying-for-primary-care-how-congress-can-fix-a-national-shortage/
Source: Quillette
“The anonymous chronicler of the Islamic State’s occupation talks to Pamela Paresky about growing up under Saddam, the 1941 Farhud, and why he believes antisemitism unites every jihadist movement.” (10/29/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/10/28/how-one-historian-exposed-isis-from-inside-mosul-dr-omar-mohammed/
Source: Liberal Currents
by Adam Gurri
“It’s weeks like this where I can’t help but think of the overquoted H. L. Mencken line that ‘democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.’ In America, we are nearly two years into getting ‘good and hard’ what voters chose in 2024 and are quite sick of it. Israel’s version of this predicament is almost comical. You’ll find no stronger defender than me of party-list proproportional representation—the system wherein the percent of seats in the legislature that a party gets is, with some technical caveats, one-to-one with the percent of votes they receive in the public election—but in Israel that system does frequently result in a failure to form a governing majority.” (10/29/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/giving-voters-what-they-deserve/
Source: OtherWords
by Daniel Mcvey
“It’s really cold living in a home with no heat or running water in December. That was a hard lesson I had to learn as a kid when my family was struggling. Now, as a healthcare case manager, I’ve seen firsthand even more unnecessary human suffering caused by bad policy choices. We need change, and voting is part of how we make it. I grew up in a large family. My dad was a convoy driver during the Iraq War and was gone from us for nearly a decade. During that time, we struggled to afford the medication to manage my sister’s Type 1 diabetes. My mother stayed home so often to care for her that she lost her job. Even as prices rise, they’ve also chosen to take help away from those who need it the most—and give it to those who need it least.” (10/29/26)
https://otherwords.org/are-you-hurting-in-this-economy-you-need-to-vote/
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Days before the United States’ pivotal midterm elections, a Texas group affiliated with the Republican Party has asked a federal judge to stop certification of the state’s upcoming election results. In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the Potter County Republican Party and its chairman, Daniel Rogers, claim potential election interference by artificial intelligence (AI) or ‘malicious actors’ that could compromise the results of next Tuesday’s elections in Texas. The plaintiffs, who are asking for a hand count of every ballot from every precinct in the state before election certification happens, allege voting machines have components inside made by China that would allow them to be manipulated.” (10/29/26)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/29/texas-republican-group-seeks-to-block-certification-of-states-election
Source: New York Times
“At Least 68 Killed in Spain Train Crash, and Democrats’ Secret Effort to Stack Alaska’s Ballot.” (10/29/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN364RH_sN8