Source: Siasat Daily [India]
“Fewer people applied for US unemployment benefits last week, as US jobless claims remain at historically low levels as most Americans enjoy job security. The Labour Department said Thursday, September 24, that 197,000 applied for unemployment checks last week, the fewest since mid-July and down from a revised 198,000 the week before. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, fell to 202,250 last week from 204,000. Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch them because they can be a sign of where the job market is headed. So far this year, claims have mostly stayed below 220,000 — historically low.” (09/24/26)
https://www.siasat.com/us-jobless-claims-fall-to-197000-lowest-since-july-3547690/
Source: Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin
“What, exactly, counts as an insult? For Montrealers, this is not just a hypothetical question about the limits of civility and good taste. In Canada’s second-most populous metropolis, the city council just banned insults to municipal employees — police officers included — and offending parties could now pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for saying the wrong thing to the wrong city worker. If that wasn’t bad enough, the new rules don’t even bother to define what is an ‘insult’ or what speech is ‘offensive.'” (09/24/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/insult-a-cop-or-city-employee-in
Source: Yahoo! News
“The governor of Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, a major agricultural producer, has declared a state of emergency over Ukrainian drone attacks that have inhibited the export of grain, a move which allows those affected to receive compensation. Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on the other side’s grain vessels in the Black Sea in recent months, sending global prices higher. Regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev, announcing the state of emergency on Wednesday, said that ‘massive attacks’ on logistics infrastructure had caused the suspension of port operations and disruptions to shipping in the Black Sea, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday. Agricultural producers, he said, were unable to sell much of their yields, leading to an oversupply on the domestic grain market.” (09/24/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/russias-krasnodar-region-declares-state-121937462.html
Source: The UnPopulist
by Matt Johnson
“Democrats often complain about infighting on the left and argue the party must widen its tent, but figures like Chevalier and organizations like the DSA actually shrink it: they turn off mainstream voters, undermine the anti-Trump coalition’s claim to uphold liberal values, and shift the conversation away from Trump’s disastrous approval ratings toward a movement that legitimately strikes many Americans as weird and menacing. The Democratic Party is the anti-Trump coalition’s single largest vehicle for beating Trump, and handing MAGA ammunition against it is a huge mistake.” (09/24/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-dsas-extreme-platform-is-bad
Source: Fox News
by Stephen Moore
“The IRS recently did something federal agencies almost never do: admit their approach wasn’t working. They conceded that the approach to the Conservation Easement program tax assessments is flawed and often unfair. In a press release last month, the IRS rightly stopped its assault — at least for now — on more than a thousand separate groups nationwide, comprised of about 250,000 individuals, who have participated in land conservation easements. The agency decided to withdraw its own arbitrary deadlines under its punitive settlement initiative for these donations that taxpayers, relying on qualified appraisals and professional advice, believed complied with federal law. This longstanding program provides tax incentives for people who have put hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine forest, ranch, and farmland into a ‘conservation easement’ — preventing it from ever being developed.” (09/23/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/steve-moore-irs-honest-landowners-time-end-tax-nightmare
Source: The Chris Hedges Report
“The Iran War and the Looming Economic Collapse (w/ John Mearsheimer.” (09/24/26)
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-iran-war-and-the-looming-economic
Source: United Press International
“Starbucks announced it will close about 250 underperforming stores in North America, about 1% of its 18,000 locations. The announcement, revealed in a letter to employees from chief operating officer Mike Grams, heralds the second major wave of Starbucks closures since Brian Niccol became CEO two years ago. … The locations to be closed have not yet been specified by the company, but a regulatory filing from the company indicates most of the stores will be shuttered before the end of fiscal 2026.” (09/24/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/09/24/starbucks-to-close-250-stores-North-America/1941790263577/
Source: Underthrow
“Killer Charts.” (09/24/26)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/red-lines?
Source: Reason
by Reem Ibrahim
“When Altman and other AI leaders ask for government intervention, the possibility of regulatory capture cannot be dismissed. The companies calling most loudly for AI regulation are also among those best equipped to comply with it. Licensing regimes, mandatory audits, reporting requirements, and expensive safety standards impose fixed costs that established firms such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google can absorb more easily than smaller competitors. Altman has urged Congress to consider licensing or registration requirements. That does not mean industry warnings about AI risk are disingenuous, but advocating for regulation does allow these executives to present themselves as responsible stewards of a dangerous technology while also supporting rules that could simultaneously raise barriers to entry and entrench their position in the market.” (09/24/26)
https://reason.com/2026/09/24/half-the-public-wants-to-pause-ai-would-regulation-actually-make-it-safer/
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Mary Peltola’s Real-Life Veep Moment! Examining the Modern Cultural Moment (with Kevin Ryan).” (09/24/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/mary-peltolas-real-life-veep-moment