Intro Fourteen years ago, Greece was the country investors would not lend to. In March 2012, Greek 10-year bonds yielded close to 40%, and the country was effectively shut out of normal market borrowing. France, in the same month, raised 10-year money at under 3%. Today the order is reversed. In mid-September, Greece’s 10-year government bond closed at about 4.29%,...
October 23, 2026
100 Shots in Bloomington: Somali Gangs, Midterm Politics and What the Data Shows
Introduction The short answer: both. The violence is real and documented by police chiefs and sheriffs across the political spectrum. The midterm calendar is shaping how loudly, and how broadly, it is being talked about. The flashpoint is surveillance video played at a news conference in Bloomington, Minn., on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Police were called to the 10000 block of...
Are Junk Food Stocks Ready to Collapse or Has the Market Already Priced In the Risk?
Four forces are pressing on the companies that make America’s chips, candy, soda and boxed meals at the same time. Weight-loss drugs are cutting appetites. Federal changes have removed millions of people from food stamps. States are banning soda and candy purchases with the benefits that remain. And manufacturers are cutting prices to win back shoppers. The question for investors...
The Unrealized Gains Tax Americans Already Pay
A homeowner who bought a house 15 years ago and never sold it has realized no gain. No cash has changed hands. Yet every year, the local tax bill is calculated against what the house would sell for today. In Washington, taxing gains before an asset is sold is one of the most contested ideas in tax policy. When a...
The Algorithm Behind the Menu: How AI Pricing Engines Set What You Pay for Lunch
Two Miles, Two Prices In Fresno, California, a company-run McDonald’s sold a Big Mac for $5.69 in September. Another company-run store two miles away charged $6.89 for the same sandwich, a 21% premium, according to a Reuters price check of the McDonald’s app. Reuters could not confirm that software caused the gap. But its Sept. 29 investigation found McDonald’s runs...
Opinion: Execute Him if the Law Allows. Don’t Turn It Into a Broadcast.
I Have No Sympathy for Nidal Hasan Let me be clear about where I stand before I say anything else. Nidal Hasan walked into a medical processing center at Fort Hood on Nov. 5, 2009, and murdered 12 soldiers and a civilian. He wounded 32 more. He shot people in the back as they ran for the parking lot. He...
Reversed on Appeal: Politics, Strategy and the Limits of Judicial Accountability
A federal district judge blocks a presidential policy. An appeals court or the Supreme Court sets the order aside. Critics call the judge an “activist” and ask why the case was allowed to tie up the courts at all. The White House has embraced the label. After a misconduct complaint against Chief Judge James Boasberg was dismissed in early 2026,...
Who Consented? How Alexa, Samsung TVs and Flock Fit Into America’s Recording Laws
Intro An Amazon Echo on a kitchen counter, a Samsung television in a living room and a Flock Safety camera on a neighborhood pole all collect information about people who never signed anything. That raises a fair question: how is any of it legal in states that require everyone in a conversation to consent before it is recorded? The short...
Three Years After October 7, Gaza Is on the Midterm Ballot
Introduction Three years ago today, Hamas-led gunmen crossed from Gaza into southern Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. In the days that followed, the U.S. House voted overwhelmingly to stand with Israel, and support for Israel’s right to respond was close to a bipartisan given in American politics. Few would have predicted that, by the 2026 midterms,...
One Movement, Two Rulebooks: Feminism’s Consistency Problem in 2026
Introduction In the span of four weeks, five stories tested what the American feminist movement actually stands for. The answers did not line up. On Sept. 4, a Massachusetts jury deadlocked in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Duxbury mother who strangled her three children. Hundreds of women had rallied outside the courthouse on her behalf. On Sept. 30,...