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Mon, Oct 26, 2026

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The good and the bad of the ‘Common Good’


Joe Biden and Jill Biden deliver remarks at the White House Easter Egg Roll from the Blue Room Balcony, Monday, April 18, 2022. (Official White House photo by Yash Mori)

For the second time in the Trump presidency, the Right is debating the concept of the common good and how that concept fits within the American political tradition.

During Donald Trump's first term, the "common good" debate raged because the unorthodox president's nationalist instincts and policy prescriptions on issues such as trade and immigration clashed with the more globalist preferences of the Republican Party establishment. The debate is now raging once again, it seems, because JD Vance, the odds-on favorite to become the 2028 GOP presidential nominee, is seen as sympathetic to what might be called "common good conservatism" or "post-liberalism."

And that impression of Vance is correct. I would know, because I have long traveled in many of these same circles. I weighed in heavily during these debates the first time around, even proposing a novel theory of constitutional interpretation called "common good originalism."

But this second round of the "common good"

Should I stay or should I go? Elderly high-court justice clarifies his plans


Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito

The retirement rumor mill has crashed into reality. Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is not planning to retire this year.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Friday, Justice Alito put an end to the feverish speculation from the left and even some nervous conservatives: He is not retiring this year.

"Obviously I'm here for another term," the 76-year-old justice told WSJ's James Taranto in his chambers.

Alito, the author of the landmark 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion policy to the states and the people, dismissed the constant calls for him to step aside so President Donald Trump could appoint a younger replacement while Republicans still control the Senate.

"It's not pleasant, in

Should I stay or should I go? Elderly high-court justice clarifies his plans

Senate holdouts on Todd Blanche nomination deliver decisions during overnighter


Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche (Video screenshot)
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche

The U.S. Senate, during a rare overnighter, confirmed Todd Blanche as President Donald Trump’s attorney general, one of a handful of votes taken as the senators prepared to leave for an August recess.

The 50-49 vote mostly was along party lines, with only two Republicans, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, joining the Democrat party, which routinely opposes anything proposed by Trump.

The result came after Blanche negotiated language for senators who demanded confirmation that a proposed “anti-weaponization” fund proposal would not be pursued.

According to a report at the Washington Examiner, that had been expected to provide compensation for those injured by the Joe Biden administration following the Jan. 6, protest-turned-riot at the Capitol.

Some of those individuals, accused of

Senate holdouts on Todd Blanche nomination deliver decisions during overnighter

Judge renders verdict on demand by leftist SPLC that criminal indictment dismissed


The far-left Southern Poverty Law Center, which routinely labels American organizations that disagree with its pro-abortion, pro-LGBT ideologies as “hate” groups, has been unable to provide evidence that charges against it were part of a “vindictive prosecution.”

So a federal judge in Alabama has declined to dismiss the charges.

It was Judge Emily Marks who said the SPLC, indicted for allegedly boasting to donors about battling radical elements of the anti-government movement while secretly using those donors’ money to fund them, failed to provide evidence of wrongdoing in an indictment.

She found the SPLC failed to show evidence that there should be further discovery on its claim of vindictiveness by the prosecutor, much less a reason to dismiss the entire case, according to a report from the Hill.

“Federal courts are not the proper forum for airing political grievances. For

Judge renders verdict on demand by leftist SPLC that criminal indictment dismissed

Democrat calls wave of socialist election wins a ‘cancer’ on party


Melat Kiros (Video screenshot)
Democratic socialist Melat Kiros

A prominent Democratic voice in Democrat-dominated Colorado who once served in the state’s legislature representing Denver, then as Denver city attorney, then chief of staff for Democrat former Gov. John Hickenlooper, has delivered to his own party a warning about the wave of “socialist” primary election winners.

His own city experienced just that recently, with the victory in the party’s primary for Congress by Melat Kiros, a dedicated Democratic socialist whose extremism has pushed the limits of tolerance even for the leftist party.

She booted from office 15-term Democrat Dianna DeGette, who already was on the far left of the party.

“It was one thing watching this happen in New York … But when it happens in a state like Colorado, which is really the gateway to the West, it tells me that this issue is going to spread and may be a cancer to the Democratic Party if they don’t figure out what our values are,” charged veteran political strategist Doug Friednash, in an interview with Fox.

Democrat calls wave of socialist election wins a ‘cancer’ on party

How AI drones have transformed disaster response in Venezuela


June 23, 2026, became one of the deadliest days in Venezuela's recent history. A pair of powerful earthquakes, measuring magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, struck the capital region of northern Venezuela, devastating the coastal communities near Catia La Mar and Caracas.

The devastation continued long after the initial shaking stopped. More than 1,400 aftershocks rattled the region in the weeks that followed, complicating rescue efforts and forcing thousands from their homes. The earthquakes killed more than 5,500 people, injured tens of thousands more, and overwhelmed Venezuelan emergency response teams across the region.

Beyond the immediate humanitarian response, the disaster demonstrated how artificial intelligence is reshaping disaster relief. As emergency crews raced against time, AI-powered drones provided critical aerial intelligence, helping responders assess damage, locate survivors, and direct rescue operations when every minute was crucial to saving lives.

How AI drones have transformed disaster response in Venezuela

SNAP help for lottery winners


Topline: Maryland gave at least $319,000 in food stamps and other federally-funded benefits to prisoners, dead people, and a $2 million lottery winner.

A July report from the state's Office of Legislative Audits found Maryland has "no comprehensive process" to ensure only eligible recipients are approved for federal assistance. Even when computers flag questionable payments, the state takes months to investigate them.

Key facts: The audit found a person who won a $2 million lottery prize in July 2023 but was still receiving benefits as recently as this February.

Six others who had either won the lottery or died (the audit lumps them together) were still receiving benefits in February. Another seven people had their benefits cut off, but only three to six months after the state's automated computer system flagged an irregularity.

The state also gave benefits to 1,858

SNAP help for lottery winners

The world is writing the rules for digital assets


(Image by MichaelWuensch from Pixabay)

While Congress debates whether to regulate digital assets, the rest of the world has stopped debating and started building. In the last two years, nearly every major financial center has adopted, or is finalizing, a comprehensive framework for digital assets. The United States, which has long set the global standard in finance and innovation, is now the conspicuous holdout. Congress can close that gap by passing the CLARITY Act, and the time to do it is now.

The European Union's comprehensive crypto regime, called Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), is fully in force this summer, and firms must be licensed to serve European customers. The United Kingdom finalized its rules this year, with a mandatory authorization regime taking effect in 2027. Japan just moved to reclassify digital assets as financial instruments, bringing them into a defined regulatory perimeter. Singapore's licensing regime for digital token service providers is already in effect. The United Arab Emirates has established a comprehensive framework, and Hong Kong and Australia have each advanced regimes of their own. Every one of these jurisdictions has

The world is writing the rules for digital assets

Republicans won not just election, but GDP majority


(Image by Vachagan Malkhasyan from Pixabay)

In addition to winning the presidency in 2024, Republicans also won America's economic majority. Becoming the economic majority happened quickly for Republicans, and the conditions driving it appear to be increasing. If continued, this trend will have great implications for America's economic and political future.

In 2024, Donald Trump won not only the popular vote and 312 electoral votes; the states he won also comprised an economic majority of America's Gross Domestic Product.

Late last year, Visual Capitalist released a review of each state's 2023 contribution to America's GDP. Tallying up Trump's 2024 states shows these accounted for 51.5% of America's GDP. Using these same GDP percentages, 2024 was a dramatic jump from Trump 2020 states' 38.3% of GDP and an even larger leap from 2012, when Republicans won only 33.4% of the GDP.

Republicans won not just election, but GDP majority

Dawn over the Donbas: Ukraine’s aeromedical air bridge


Dawn over the Donbas steppes arrives not as a clean sunrise, but as a slow thinning of artillery-scented fog clinging tightly to the scarred earth below. Six kilometers behind the volatile “zero line,” inside a damp, reinforced-concrete basement illuminated only by battery-powered LEDs, a frontline stabilization point operates at full capacity.

For hours, medical teams have worked feverishly to stabilize a young soldier suffering from severe, complex blast injuries caused by an explosive First-Person View (FPV) drone strike: a shredded artery, compound fractures, and extensive chest shrapnel. The “Golden Hour," the critical window in which immediate medical intervention yields the highest survival rate expired long before. Dense artillery barrages, relentless loitering munitions, and cratered, unnavigable roads make conventional ground transport impossible. Only this hardened underground position, and its dedicated personnel have managed to keep him alive this long.

Deeper in the rear, hidden beneath the dense canopy of a tree line adjacent to an improvised dirt airstrip, a twin-turbine Mil Mi-8 "Hip" helicopter whines to life. This rugged, Soviet-era workhorse serves as the indispensable anchor of Ukraine's high-stakes aeromedical air bridge.

Dawn over the Donbas: Ukraine’s aeromedical air bridge

Customer service snub could turn out to be illegal discrimination


It seems that a customer service snub could end up actually being illegal discrimination.

Such is the claim being made in a legal action against Southwest Airlines in a case brought by Pacific Justice Institute.

The filing charges that one of PJI’s staff members “was subjected to religious discrimination after a ticket agent allegedly refused to provide a printed board pass following a respectful question about a Pride Month display at John Wayne Airport,” the legal team explains.

What happened, the complaint said, is that the staff member approached the Southwest Airlines ticket counter with a request to print a boarding pass before a flight.

“The counter featured LGBT Pride decorations, including a rainbow-decorated sign stating, ‘Everyone is Welcome Here,'” PJI confirmed.

But, the court papers reveal, “After the staff member politely asked what the airline meant by the word ‘Pride’ displayed

Customer service snub could turn out to be illegal discrimination

Cops raid wrong home, now have to face courtroom complaint


Police officers near Wilmington, North Carolina, raided the wrong house.

Avery Marshall and Alisa Carr are innocent residents who live in the targeted home, and suffered through the cop’s “heavily-armed midnight raid” with armed officers “terrorizing a sleeping family, smashing windows and doors, throwing a flashbang grenade into the home, reinjuring Avery's recently operated on back, causing Alisa heart palpitations, and holding the couple's 9-and-16-year-old children at gun point.”

Police didn’t find the suspect they were seeking since he hadn’t been at, and wasn’t at, the home. But they left behind “shambles.”

Now they’ll face accountability in court.

A decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina has denied qualified immunity for officers who inflicted the raid. They were sued by Marshall, Carr and the Institute for Justice.

"This decision is a massive first step toward

Cops raid wrong home, now have to face courtroom complaint
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