Israeli airstrikes devastated crowded neighborhoods, displacement tents, and safe zones across Gaza, claiming 112 lives (35-42 children, 20+ women) and injuring at least 250 people. Israel launched the strike in retaliation for Hamas gunmen killing Master Sgt. Yona Efraim Feldbaum during a tunnel demolition in Israeli-controlled Rafah. These tactics were praised by President Trump as ‘hit back hard’ from Air Force One, while Qatar’s prime minister called it ‘disappointing’, yet mediators reaffirmed all parties’ commitment to restarting the ceasefire. Such volatile escalations underscore the razor’s-edge diplomacy holding Gaza’s fragile truce together. We again fail to understand how there are not adequate guardrails to constrain this type of abuse of power by a wealthy nuclear-armed state.

For the 33rd consecutive year, the UN General Assembly resoundingly adopted the resolution ‘Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Embargo Imposed by the United States against Cuba’ by 165 votes in favor, 7 against, and 12 abstentions. Despite widespread support for the bill, the numbers of those in favor have actually dropped due to intense U.S. lobbying which persuaded Argentina (under Milei), Hungary, Paraguay, North Macedonia, Ukraine, and 11 others to flip. Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez passionately dismantled U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz’s ‘ten lies,’ highlighting how the six-decade blockade has crippled the Cuban economy while Washington insists Havana’s ‘failed socialist policies’ and corruption are the true culprits behind the island’s deepening crisis. The embargo must cease and Cuba must be allowed to act as an autonomous nation.

In a pre-dawn raid, over 2,500 elite officers from 19 agencies, backed by helicopters, armored vehicles, and drones, stormed cartel bastions in labyrinthine favelas. During the raids, police killed 132 suspected traffickers, lost 4 police officers, arrested 22 leaders, and confiscated 93 rifles, 20+ pistols, grenades, and 500 kg of drugs amid ferocious clashes with gang-deployed explosive drones and burning bus barricades. Some residents called the operation a ‘slaughterhouse massacre,’ ‘state genocide,’ and an orgy of summary executions without warrants while Governor Cláudio Castro exulted in the ‘historic, unprecedented’ decapitation of narco-terrorism, and UN human rights experts voiced ‘deep concern’ over excessive force in Brazil’s endless favela war. It’s difficult to imagine such intense fighting between police and organized crime from the perspective of a U.S. citizen, but this appears to us to be a consequence of non-state actors truly having the capacity to go head-to-head with the state.

The Congressional Budget Office projects the ongoing government shutdown will inflict permanent GDP losses of $7 billion after four weeks, ballooning to $11 billion after six weeks and $14 billion after eight weeks. While 90%+ of the damage could reverse post-resolution, extended closure scars persist through canceled IRS audits (costing $10B+ revenue), halted FDA food inspections risking outbreaks, frozen Small Business Administration loans stifling 100K+ firms, and idled infrastructure bids. With midterms looming, the CBO’s stark warning intensifies pressure on Speaker Johnson and Senate Leader Schumer to bridge the divide between members of both parties.

A leaked Pentagon memo directs all 50 states to ensure 500 National Guard soldiers each is proficient in non-lethal crowd control by the beginning of next year. These soldiers should master shield phalanxes, baton charges, taser deployments, OC gas dispersal, less-lethal munitions, and verbal de-escalation. Stemming from President Trump’s August 12 executive order distilling January 6 Capitol riot lessons, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unequivocally confirmed the ‘QRF’ buildup in Fox and CNN interviews, dismissing ‘fearmongering’ over 2026 midterm voter suppression. Critics warn of Posse Comitatus erosion amid polarized forecasts of street protests given it increasingly feels as though the presence of federal troops will be a semi-permanent state of affairs for the coming years. There is a thin line between demonstrating preparedness for civil unrest and provoking fears that troops are being mobilized to usher in martial law.

The Federal Open Market Committee, in a 10-2 dissent, trimmed the federal funds rate target to 3.75% from 4.00%, which is the third cut of this cycle. Fed Chair Jerome Powell tempered expectations for December’s potential rate cut as ‘not a foregone conclusion,’ citing reversible shutdown drags, tariff threats and election volatility. The Fed is the worst institution in American political life and should be abolished immediately. All this serves as a further reminder that the Fed is trying to do an impossible job and leveraging magic intuition to steer the entirety of the American economy.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen and Sen. Donnie Chesteen introduced Senate Bill 412 to amend the state constitution, mandating natural-born U.S. citizenship for those running for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state auditor, treasurer, legislators, Supreme Court justices, and circuit judges, explicitly barring naturalized immigrants regardless of loyalty oaths or decades-long residency. Fueled by FBI intel on Chinese Communist Party influence ops targeting naturalized Asian-American officials and a 25% surge in naturalized voters since 2020, the GOP-backed measure seeks swift floor votes for November 2026 ballot placement, pitting nativist security hawks against immigrants with political ambitions. We believe that anyone who obtains U.S. citizenship has demonstrated they have the capacity to exercise public power in the U.S. and therefore should generally be eligible to hold office. While there is precedent for this type of prohibition in the presidency, such a rule ought to be reserved for the highest office in the land exclusively.

Governor Ron DeSantis issued an Executive Directive commanding the State University System’s 12-campus Board of Governors to immediately terminate H-1B visa sponsorships for approximately 400 foreign academics and staff. United Faculty of Florida warns of catastrophic brain drain, while DeSantis touts 20,000+ annual Florida STEM grads as an ‘America First’ talent surplus post-2024 visa amnesty. We’ll have to see if this order stands up to scrutiny in court, but there is something to be said about protecting American labor through ensuring American citizens with advanced degrees are competitive for these spots.

Governor Jeff Landry is attempting to fast-track a House Bill which would allow a state-appointed fiscal administrator to wield line-item veto over New Orleans’ $1.2 billion budget. Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s chief of staff slammed the ‘colonial power grab’ eroding 50-year home rule, as Landry vows veto-proof majorities post-redistricting. While New Orleans is rightly asserting frustration with the power grab by the state government, it is hard for a state government to tolerate what has been clear mismanagement of city resources for several years. This, in conjunction with the city literally not having enough money to pay city workers through the year, would seemingly provoke some type of oversight for an extended period of time.

In a 9-4 vote, Houston City Council greenlit the 90,000-square-foot Emancipation Avenue Navigation Center ‘superhub’, which is Phase 1 of Mayor John Whitmire’s $100 million blueprint to shelter 200+ chronic unsheltered individuals via private pods, 24/7 medical clinic, workforce training, addiction counseling, and rapid rehousing. Bolstered by a $1.7 million state grant, the facility aims to create a 60% reduction in over 4,200 citywide tents by 2027. We continue to highlight stories which reveal the various approaches to dealing with the problem of homelessness which is so pervasive throughout the country.