Source: United Press International
“Authorities have arrested the mayor of Kissimmee, Fla., on allegations that she abused her office and stole tens of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds intended to help local businesses recover from the pandemic. Eva Jacquelyn Espinosa was arrested Wednesday on one count each of grand theft and organized scheme to defraud, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced in a press conference. … The charges stem from the City of Kissimmee’s Business Boost 2.0 Grant Program, a federally funded program launched in September 2025 to aid small businesses in overcoming lingering economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.” (10/22/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/10/22/Kissimee-mayor-arrested/3021792640608/
Source: The Dispatch
“Who’s the Loneliest Supreme Court Justice?” (10/22/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/whos-the-loneliest-supreme-court-justice/
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen
“One of the most persistent myths about war is that it is sometimes inevitable. States are carried along by the impersonal forces of history: the balance of power, alliance commitments, ideological antagonisms, the rise and decline of great powers, et cetera. Leaders may make mistakes along the way, but these are trivia, for the ultimate outcome was determined by circumstances beyond their control. And while it is true the international environment constrains the choices available to statesmen, sometimes severely, constraints are not immutable laws, and circumstances do not make decisions. But the false and persistent narratives are politically useful to the powerful, for the invocation of historical necessity serves to excuse the decisions of those who possess the power to make war and obfuscate their ultimate responsibility for having failed to do otherwise.” (10/22/260
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/war-is-a-policy-not-an-inevitability/
Source: CounterPunch
by Peter Rodgers
“On September 28, Brent crude climbed more than 2 percent after President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Six days earlier, speaking before the United Nations, Trump had presented two possibilities: a deal with Tehran or the ‘annihilation of the Islamic Republic’. Even after rejecting the proposal, he said negotiations could continue. One president retained the power to bargain, refuse or escalate; millions of people were left to live with the consequences. That gap between who decides and who pays is the subject of the Iran war. It has a name: war livestock.” (10/22/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/10/22/war-livestock-when-power-treats-people-as-expendable/
Source: Fox News
“Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) is facing an ethics complaint filed to the United States Senate over comments she made earlier this month that many characterized as a ‘threat’ to conservatives who are thinking about working for the Trump administration. During an Oct. 13 University of Chicago event, Slotkin drew criticism after a clip went viral showing her saying she wants to pursue ‘signature cases’ against people who ‘enabled’ President Donald Trump and push a ‘deterrence message’ for young people. ‘I want young people coming out of school to say, ‘Should I go work for the Trump administration?’ … Slotkin is now facing an ethics complaint filed Thursday by Michael Bicksel, a University of Chicago student who first reported her remarks.” (10/22/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/slotkins-viral-threat-conservatives-takes-new-twist-student-moves-hold-her-accountable-shocking
Source: The Hill
“Top Trump administration officials are starting to point fingers squarely at Elon Musk for the decision to slow down his company’s Starlink satellite internet services and its military counterpart Starshield for Ukraine. Looking to deflect the controversial move — which was swiftly admonished by powerful congressional Republicans and Democrats — Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said Ukraine’s access to Starlink was up to Musk and not the White House. ‘The bottom line is that that is governed by a private commercial contract as to how their stuff can be used and what speeds they’ll allow it to be used at,’ Rubio told reporters while traveling to India. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, suggested Starlink’s slowdown was a commercial matter and not a result of any orders from the White House.” (10/22/260
https://thehill.com/newsletters/technology/6166712-trump-admin-points-finger-at-musk-in-starlink-confusion/
Source: The Briefing Podcast with Michael Waldman
“Why vote? (with Saad Amer and Alma Couverthie).” (10/22/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN85IRAfT-k
Source: Noahpinion
by Noah Smith
“Immigration, the welfare state, and Keynesian economics are all showing signs of strain.” (10/22/26)
https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/france-and-the-limits-of-liberalism
Source: The Atlantic
by Nancy A Youssef & Jonathan Lemire
“President Trump has been hearing lately from two trusted confidants, each promising a quick path to ending the war in Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued that Iran is on the brink of economic collapse and that a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, combined with sanctions, will force Tehran to capitulate at the negotiation table. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a series of calls with Trump, has offered a different route: one more round of devastating U.S. and Israeli strikes to topple the regime. Now the Trump administration appears to be considering combining the two approaches, betting that Iran is already on the verge of economic ruin and that a few more major strikes will be enough to trigger regime change.” (10/22/26)
https://archive.is/IyH1i
Source: Common Dreams
by Orion Hall
“MAGA is an insidious political ‘movement’ that is the inevitable conclusion of the project started with the infamous Powell Memorandum in 1972. Formally titled ‘Attack on American Free Enterprise System’, the Powell Memo is a call to arms for the oligarchy in the US to push for a set of policies that benefit the wealthy while waging a narrative battle designed to get the working class to support these policies to their own detriment. The Powell Memo is not hypothetical: it is the blueprint that the modern conservative movement has followed, and the result some 50 years later is MAGA. The central narrative of MAGA is essentially this: Some other group of people is preventing you (typically white, Christian, straight, cisgender men) from having the basic things in life that you deserve.” (10/22/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dems-must-win-on-immigration
