News of the Week for October 4th, 2026
2026 Election
A Bad Time for Widespread Economic Pessimism in Iowa
Several states can make an argument for being the most important one in the midterms, but Iowa belongs up there. The state features a competitive — perhaps even Democratic-leaning — open-seat U.S. Senate race and at least two (perhaps three) competitive U.S. House races. Incumbent GOP governor Kim Reynolds is not running for a third term; Republican Zach Lahn is in a tough race against Democrat Rob Sand. The state will also elect a lieutenant governor, state attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, and secretary of agriculture. All 100 seats in the state house are up, as are half of the 50 seats in the state senate.
The GOP had one real strategy left for November. Trump kneecapped it.
Republicans will pay for the president’s big-government policies.
Mississippi Democrats dare to wonder whether Senate seat is in reach
A Democrat hasn’t won a Senate race in the state since 1982, but a young district attorney has a message for party officials and donors: “If we try, we win these voters.”
The Cheeriest Midterm Take for Republicans You’re Going to Find
Happy Fiscal New Year. Make no mistake, my overall assessment is that Democrats are currently on track for a good midterm election year, maybe a great one. Those of us with memories going back to 2006 will recall the kinds of years where your preferred party loses just about everywhere and picks up little or nothing. Still, the Democratic excitement has likely reached the overhyped stage, where all kinds of incumbent Republican senators in deep-red states are supposedly in trouble. There’s good reason to not believe the hype; we’ve seen this sort of narrative before.
GOP Senator Privately Told Off Trump in Fiery Texts Obtained by Politico: ‘I Don’t Take That Bullsh*t From Anyone!’
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) privately tore into President Donald Trump this summer in a pair of extraordinary text messages published on Friday, telling the president he does not take “bullsh*t” from anyone and saying he would have told the president to “f*ck yourself” had Trump personally threatened him with a primary challenge.
These ‘Double Haters’ Have Lost Faith in Both Parties—and Could Decide the Midterms
Rising tide of voter disenchantment stands to benefit Democrats in this year’s midterm contests
Second Amendment Roundup: Bruen’s Footnote 9 Not a Carve-Out from Text and History
Judge R. Nelson’s dissent from 9th Circuit’s Yukutake decision thoroughly analyzes footnote 9.
Republicans watch with alarm as Trump’s approval rating sinks in their own internal polling
Four weeks to Election Day, a growing number of House Republicans privately fear their chances of holding onto the majority are vanishing and have begun focusing on how to limit the size of a potential Democratic wave.
GOP Candidates Step Back From Trump and an Unpopular War
Midwest Republicans are feeling the weight of the president’s unpopularity.
Abortion
Court Cases & Legislation
The Hyde Amendment Turns 50
Defending the lifesaving legacy of the Hyde Amendment needs to be a top priority for the pro-life movement.
Gun Rights
Second Amendment Roundup: Bruen’s Footnote 9 Not a Carve-Out from Text and History
Judge R. Nelson’s dissent from 9th Circuit’s Yukutake decision thoroughly analyzes footnote 9.
Hide the Decline
Environment &“Green Energy”
Coming to the U.N.: ‘Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature’
Panama has proposed that the U.N. General Assembly negotiate and adopt a “Universal Declaration of the Rights of Nature.”
Nature Article Endorses ‘Nature Rights’
The world’s two most influential professional science journals probably are Science and Nature. But they no longer limit their jurisdiction to science. Both are now highly ideological to the extent that each has now lent its august pages to boosting the “nature rights” movement.
Socialized Medicine
Government in Healthcare
Toddler, 2, euthanised in first case of its kind after Netherlands cut age limit to include children under 12
A TWO-YEAR-OLD child has been euthanised after the Dutch government cut its age limit for assisted dying. The toddler was nearly 24 months old and suffering from severe medical conditions, a review board in the Netherlands revealed.
Annals of Government Medicine
With one of our major parties pushing for socialized medicine (“Medicare for all”), it’s a good time to check in with Britain’s National Health Service to see how socialized medicine works in practice, as opposed to in the imaginations of liberals. Today’s headline: Crumbling NHS maternity units hit by leaks and sewage.
The Baltic States Prepare for War
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are readying themselves to fend off a Russian attack—with the help of the United States, or without it.
War & Terror
No, the U.S.-China Relationship Is Not the Best It Has Ever Been
Xi Jinping has left Washington, and the U.S. is left with a joint communique declaring that we remember working together during World War II. The People’s Republic of China, however, continues its policies of opposing and undermining American interests on every front possible.
What Happened at That Royal Air Force Base?
When news broke over the weekend that the United Kingdom police had arrested five men outside of a major joint U.S.–U.K. air base, it sounded like a huge bullet dodged — a potential terrorist attack against a site the Iranian military had declared to be a legitimate target. But in the last day or two, the story has only grown more complicated and confusing. Media reports claim no explosives were found, even though the men were arrested under the U.K. Explosives Act. The men were released on bail. The British authorities are tight-lipped, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last night, “It is something in the hands of a foreign actor.” Was this terrorism at all, or just remarkably stupid thieves? If it was terrorism, was it state-sponsored or state-directed, or just homegrown extremism? And why are these five guys walking the streets?
The US Is Losing Brazil to China
Apart from being Brazil’s most popular football clubs, Flamengo, Corinthians and Palmeiras have one other thing in common: All three signed sponsorship deals with Chinese carmakers this year.
Flydubai pilot stabbed co-pilot and tried to crash plane before hero crew and passenger broke into cockpit and overpowered him, preventing ‘Israeli 9/11’
A commercial pilot flying from Dubai to Israel attacked another pilot before being overpowered by passengers in what is feared to have been an attempted hijacking. Israeli passengers have said they believe the attacker was attempting to crash the Flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Wednesday, after stabbing the other pilot.
A pilot on a flight carrying Israelis stabbed another and apparently tried to crash, Netanyahu says
A pilot on a flight from the United Arab Emirates stabbed another pilot and then apparently tried to crash the aircraft carrying dozens of Israelis on Wednesday, Israel’s prime minister said. Passengers and crew subdued the attacker, and the plane made a safe emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.
Israel-bound plane pilot stabbed by co-pilot, causing jet to plunge 18K feet: They ‘tried to do 9/11’
The pilot of a passenger plane flying to Israel was stabbed several times by his co-pilot in the cockpit early Wednesday, according to officials — causing the aircraft to plunge 18,000 feet in what was feared to be a “terrorist attack in mid-air.”
Possible 9/11-Style Suicide Hijacking Attempt Against Dubai Flight Carrying Israelis
There appears to have been a 9/11-style suicide hijacking attempt today on a commercial flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
In Britain, the Terror Question Remains the Same: War or Crime?
British counterterrorism has traveled a path very different from America’s approach.
Indians Hail ‘Hero Pilot’ Who Fought Off Mid-Air Attacker, Save 174 Lives
Prime Minister Modi: “India is proud of Captain Machchhar.”
National
MTV VMAs Early Reports of Ratings Dropping 50 PERCENT from Last Year, Lowest Numbers Ever, Fans Accuse Show Being Staged: Has Taylor Jumped the Shark?
You can fool some of the people, but not all the time. Early reports indicate that the ratings for the MTV Video Music Awards were just 2.1 million, down FIFTY percent from last year, the lowest ever. Fans were incensed online that Madonna, who’s 68, won 7 awards for a dance album that was not a hit or relevant to them.
Sen Kennedy says no living politicians should have buildings named after them after Trump’s moves
The proposal comes as President Donald Trump seeks to put his name on the Kennedy Center and other federal buildings
Tennessee to execute first woman in 200 years
Christa Pike committed a notorious murder in 1995 at the age of 18
Texas Lifts Screwworm Quarantines as New Mexico Reopens Cattle Crossing
Meanwhile, scientists are testing a new drug that may be effective against the larvae.
Nvidia Develops Software to Prevent AI From Going Rogue
While everyone else panics over AI, including AI CEOs, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stays remarkably calm and rational.
Kennesaw State special ed teachers learn to conduct ‘equity audits’
Future special education teachers at Kennesaw State University aren’t just being taught how to work with students with disabilities – they are also being trained to look for “inequity,” examine “privilege,” identify “microaggressions” and conduct schoolwide “equity audits.”
At Jack Smith Hearing, Senator Schmitt Is No Hawkeye
The face-plant by Senator Eric Schmitt (R., Mo.) at today’s Senate Judiciary Committee grilling of Biden Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith was so weird.
Oklahoma State U. student pleads guilty to trashing YAF display ‘Marriage = 1 man + 1 woman’
Oklahoma State University student Jacob Avery recently pleaded guilty to malicious injury to property after vandalizing a Young America’s Foundation student tabling event.
Trump DOJ Voices No Objection to Another Long Postponement of Comey Trial
Unsurprisingly, Trump Justice Department prosecutors are in no hurry to try former FBI director James Comey on the absurd allegations that he threatened to murder President Trump by posting a photograph of seashells arranged to read “86 47.”
Utah death-row prisoner released after new DNA analysis of 1985 killing
Douglas Carter, 71, who has spent more than four decades on death row, released on bail until new trial begins
Florida county discovers mysterious Flock cameras with no obvious owner
Officials say they don’t know who installed the controversial cameras or how the data was being used. Residents are unnerved.
Grandmother sues after alleged AI facial recognition error led to months in jail, experts sound alarm
Experts warn alleged AI misidentifications are increasingly leading to wrongful arrests as police adopt new technology
Rand Paul Blocks Rushed Attempt To Pass KOSA Without A Vote
For a measure framed as child protection, KOSA spends an intriguing amount of time imagining an identity system.
An AI radio DJ has shot to stardom in LA Human hosts aren’t happy about it
The morning DJ duo has mastered the warm, friendly banter that keeps commuters from switching stations.
Manny Yekutiel ‘crossed so many boundaries’: New allegation against SF candidate
Yekutiel, who said he does not recall the alleged 2023 incident, was previously accused of sexually assaulting Brad Joseph Chapin in 2020.
D.C. Judge Dismisses Reflecting Pool Charges — with Prejudice
Consider it an indictment of Trump lawfare against political enemies and scapegoats.
Google Pushed AI Into Schools—and Even Students Say It’s Gone Too Far
The risks of cognitive and emotional dependence, along with falling test scores, are fueling a backlash
Trump accuses fellow Republican of denying Americans extra hour of daylight: ‘Have to get moving’
President Trump said Friday that a lone Senate Republican is blocking Americans from gaining an extra hour of daylight on winter evenings — as he ratcheted up pressure on senators to pass his plan for permanent daylight saving time.
Famed pizza maker introduces new pie topped with controversial Halloween candy
Traditional pizza lovers avert your eyes — a famed frozen pizza company is sending out a horrifying invention to daring pie lovers. Tombstone Pizza announced this week that they’re peddling their normal frozen pizzas, but topped with…candy corn. “Conjured in the spookiest corners of the internet, this Halloween season TOMBSTONE® proudly presents The Pizza Nobody Asked For™. And frankly, we regret absolutely nothing,” the company proudly wrot
Bourbon maker accused of secretly filming guests having sex, including at Kentucky Castle
Kentucky bourbon maker Wes Henderson has been accused by family members of secretly filming them, as well as others in multiple places, including at the Kentucky Castle, according to a lawsuit filed in Kentucky.
Short Circuit: An inexhaustive weekly compendium of rulings from the federal courts of appeal
Water rights absurdities, ponderous parking ordinances, and fast trains.
Cotton fires back at Trump, says he won’t support making Daylight Saving Time permanent
“Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first,” Cotton wrote.
Sen. Kennedy bashes Trump for giving out Cotton’s phone number
The Louisiana senator said Trump “can go from zero to a-hole in about three seconds.”
Economy & Taxes
Trump/Xi: The (Rare) Earths Didn’t Move
Not a great deal of substance emerged from the Trump/Xi meeting. No surprise there.
A Real Affordability Agenda
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security is contemplating extending Section 232 duties on “brass-wind musical instruments and their parts and accessories.” We’ve always known Washington has been in the pocket of . . . Big Saxophone.
Economically Illiterate Policies May Be Popular, but They’re Still Economically Illiterate
The Wall Street Journal has a new national poll out, finding that many populist economic interventions, such as price controls and restrictions on unlikeable market actors, are very popular with voters. The most popular proposals — ranging from 74 percent to 90 percent support — include capping the costs of childcare, prescription drugs, and credit card interest, requiring health insurers to cover prescribed medical services and surprise bills, and restricting institutional homebuyers. Voters also overwhelmingly favor limiting rent increases, a $20 minimum wage, pausing AI and data center development, and raising taxes on the wealthy and high earner
The Trump economy: ‘The greatest story never told’’?
There’s a simple explanation for public dissatisfaction: falling real wages.
The evidence on anti-free-market price controls has not changed
They’re still destroying investment and causing shortages around the world.
International
Corrections Canada to distribute paper straws for ‘safer snorting’ in federal prisons
Corrections Canada said paper straws will ‘reduce harm’ by lessening the risk of internal nose cuts that from homemade or plastic straws
New ‘Far Right’ Just Dropped
Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, the “nature minister” in Britain’s Labour government and the MP for Suffolk Coastal (a rural, naturally Conservative constituency, which she only narrowly won) is afraid. Speaking at an event at the Labour Party conference, she said that if Labour doesn’t “make the case for nature, for rural communities, and what we believe rural communities look like” she fears “that the next election is going to be fought on a battle line of nature and rural affairs.” That would seem unlikely, even from the vantage point of Suffolk, but there we are.
Monkeypox Confirmed in Congo’s Ebola-Hit Bunia as Health Officials Brace for More Cases
Five other potential cases are being investigated as the U.S. spends another $267 million to the region for the battle against Ebola.
France Is Burning
The schools of France are currently in flames, with the nation several days into a national bout of student rioting: From the quasi-Belgian northern hub of Lille to the banlieus of Paris to the streets of Marseille, schools are burning, as high school students across the nation have blockaded and rampaged against their schools and anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire. I know what you’re thinking: Student rioting? In France of all places? The deuce you say!
Hundreds Arrested as Students Riot Across France, Setting Schools on Fire
“Authorities reported violence near high schools, mainly in Nantes, blaming ‘violent individuals’ who ‘join the students to carry out acts of vandalism.'”
Researcher at Russian plague laboratory dies of ‘unknown’ infection
Russian authorities are responding to an incident in which a suspected dangerous infection was released as a result of a laboratory accident in Siberia and a researcher died.
Macron Attacks Free Speech and Urges the EU to Censor Online Posts Faster
Macron’s theory of liberty begins where the government’s permissions end.
Opinion
Trump Won’t Let the GOP Go Its Own Way So Easily
Last Friday, Jim chronicled what seemed like a coordinated breakout among the GOP’s office seekers as one Republican after another sought to establish their independence from Donald Trump. All that movement at the same time, and in one direction, struck Jim as too conspicuous to be attributable to individual candidates’ calculations. Well, he was right.
Claremont is cooked.
Authoritarian crank Charles Haywood says the Republican Party “should be gutted and worn like a skin suit by the Effective Right.” For a preview of how this might play out, look no further than The Claremont Institute.
What the ‘Anti-Woke’ Crowd Gets Wrong
National Review’s original mission statement makes painfully clear that ‘liberal orthodoxy’ did not just emerge in 2016.
People Eventually Get Tired of Eating Crap Sandwiches
Good morning. Over the past two weeks, I have received a lot of threats, intimidation, and harassment of my radio stations and advertisers because of my piece on the nutjobs of the right spreading. Your subscription helps keep me from being canceled, and I very much appreciate that.
Antisemitism Is Thriving Among Young People Online. The Solution Lies in the Real World
Young Americans of all political persuasions are marinating in anti-Israel propaganda on social media and on college campuses.
How A Welfare Ad Melted The Internet’s Alt-Right Snowflakes
Who knew “Brad” could stir up so much controversy?
Gas, The Senate, Islam, and the White Right
Friends, just a quick note up top. Yes, gas and diesel prices are high and the war with Iran has a lot to do with it right now. But so too does the Ukraine war when it comes to diesel.
No, We Don’t Need to Spend Taxpayer Dollars to Review Whether Nixon Got a Raw Deal
I didn’t think I would need to have an opinion on whether current Department of Justice employees should spend any time or money reviewing Watergate or the impeachment of Richard Nixon . . . but here we are.
Tennessee Can Make Plans, but Struggles in the Execution
If you don’t like descriptions of grisly murders or dark humor about the death penalty, this may not be the edition of this newsletter for you. If you want the perspective of a professor of Christian ethics who has wrestled with the morality of the death penalty, remembering the victims of crime and the cause of justice, go read Andrew T. Walker. If you want an argument that even if murderers deserve to die for their crimes, the state isn’t the right one to carry out that action, go read Vahaken Mouradian.
More on J.D. Vance’s Economic Cluelessness
Lusting for greater power, both the MAGA right and the ‘progressive’ left continually insist that the failure of government over the past 40 or so years to further squelch free markets has inflicted deep and unambiguous damage on America’s economy. That’s Vance’s message. It is utterly without foundation.
