Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

“There are Polymarket ads in fortune cookies. / And pop-ups in our prayers. / There are paywalls on the monasteries, / and the monks are millionaires. / Well little Johnny’s gone to war. / He joined the McMarines. / The Iranians must be liberated / and blown to smithereens. / Light a candle in the chapel, John, / and pray to Western God, / and listen to the homily / the preacher wrote with Claude: / ‘Oh Western God, please guide our drones,’ the pious Johnny prayed. / ‘That we may safely bomb their schools / and turn their children gray.’ / The candle disappeared from sight / a minute into Johnny’s prayer, / and was replaced with hologram ads / for DraftKings and Wayfair.” (10/25/26)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/10/25/there-are-polymarket-ads-in-fortune-cookies/

Source: USA Today
by Daniel R DePetris

“Serving as the world’s policeman in a highly contested environment like the strait is a resource-intensive mission even for the U.S. Navy – one that involves deploying significant air platforms, air defense systems and ships on a continuous basis to perform a variety of tasks, from coordinating sea lanes and protecting vessels from Iranian attacks to ensuring search-and-rescue assets are available if ships are disabled. The U.S. military is fully capable of doing this work, but stretched out over an indefinite period of time, the mission will exacerbate the depletion of precision-guided munitions the Pentagon needs for other potential conflicts.” (10/23/26)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2026/10/23/trump-win-iran-war-oil-persian-gulf-midterms/92384243007/

Source: Fox News
by Dr. Kent Ingle

“The current narrative would have you believe that higher education is a dying institution. Experts consistently claim that a four-year degree is no longer worth the investment, warning that artificial intelligence (AI) is on the verge of rendering human labor obsolete. The prevailing message dictates that machines will soon dominate the workforce, leaving the next generation with no viable career paths. But a recent Gallup poll reveals a contrasting reality. While public anxiety is high, the job market tells a different story. According to a recent Gallup study, a staggering 80% of employers prefer to hire candidates with a college degree, even for roles that do not explicitly require one. Furthermore, six in 10 employers express a high level of confidence in higher education. While public trust in institutions has undeniably plummeted, the people actually handing out paychecks still find immense value in the university system.” (10/24/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/ai-replaced-humans-employers-college-degrees

Source: Independent Institute
by Phillip W Magness & David J Hebert

“Of all the arguments for protectionism, the infant industry argument probably has the strongest theoretical appeal. By protecting a new industry from its more developed foreign competition, the story goes, tariffs give domestic producers the time to grow, learn, and become efficient enough to stand on their own. Domestic consumers feel the short-term pains of higher prices, but they enjoy the long-term gains of job growth and lower prices as the new industry blossoms. … When Hamilton made this claim in 1791, his argument may have seemed suitable for a new nation seeking to firm up its economy and security against established European powers. … Nearly 250 years later, those same infants apparently have yet to advance into adulthood.” (10/23/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/10/23/peter-pan-tariffs-for-companies-that-never-grow-up/

Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff

“Multiple annual measures of political openness and the rule of law have found both in global decline in recent years. The latest Rule of Law Index, released by the World Justice Project (WJP) Wednesday, underscores this democratic recession. As checks and balances on governments have weakened, authoritarianism has ‘become entrenched’, the nonprofit noted. This, in turn, has constricted freedom of expression, association, and civic participation in about two-thirds of the 143 countries assessed. But there are also positive glimmers: The share of countries registering decline dropped from 68% in 2025 to 62% this year. And access to and affordability of civil justice have improved. Perhaps more significant, the WJP’s findings reaffirm the robust link between transparent, consistent rule of law and a key dimension of citizen well-being – economic prosperity.” (10/23/26)

https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/1023/Elections-in-four-nations-highlight-the-role-of-rule-of-law