.jpg "Mexico City Street Food")
A vendor's table next to a street in Mexico City's Centro neighborhood. Photos of and by Sterling Minor 2026
Sterling Minor
MY Social Experiences and thoughts
[Former President John F.] Kennedy, when praised for his heroic leadership of his crew adrift in South Pacific waters after combat, was laconic: “It was involuntary. They sank my boat.”
If Republicans lose [the] Senate seats they currently hold in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Texas, they might begin to wonder: Could we be doing something wrong? Such a resort to thinking is necessary to begin restoring legislative checks on the executive. And it is necessary if America is ever again going to have a conservative political party.
George F. Will, (born 1941) a political conservative icon since shortly after the time of Kennedy, in his October 2, 2026 column in The Washington Post.
News
Get These Vaccines Now
Now is the time to get your flu vaccine. Usually, [the advice given is to receive the vaccine] in October but for maximum protection, I think that advice will [prove to] be late this year. Schedule your flu vaccine appointment this week. I am. The population-level impact of Covid-19 continues to decline this season and overall, which is fantastic news. However, the vaccine is still important, especially for high-risk folks. After some bumps in the road the vaccine should now be widely available. Katelyn Jetelina, Your Local Epidemiologist, September 29, 2026
Texas Restaurants Need and Cannot Obtain Workers For more on this topic, Click Here
“Texas restaurants are in [financial] trouble. Farmers struggle to find enough laborers to harvest crops. Food processing facilities don’t have enough workers to run at full capacity. Trucking companies can’t find enough drivers to transport food to restaurants and grocery stores. And our restaurants themselves struggle to fully staff their kitchens and dining rooms.”
Houston Chronicle Opinion, August 4, 2026, Emily Williams Knight, CEO of Texas Restaurant Association
Another Successful Democratic nominee endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America, Michigan US Senate
Abdul El-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?" From the speech after his primary victory, August 5, 2026 Haley Stevens: “I love Michigan and am so proud to have put up my hand to serve. I spoke with Abdul [El-Sayed] moments ago to offer him my full support as we work to defeat Mike Rogers (R) this November.” After concession in speech on August 5, 2026
"More than 1.5 million people voted in the Democratic primary [in Michigan]. That’s close to the number that turned out in the sharply contested 2020 Democratic presidential primary. That’s a telling takeaway: Highly ideological candidates in both parties tend to do best in low-turnout races, not record ones. Yet time and again in recent cycles, progressive leftists have shown they can compete in sharply contested, high-turnout primaries, even when they are massively outspent. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani did it, and now El-Sayed has matched him. No serious Democratic strategist can say that there’s some slumbering Democratic majority that just needs to be awakened to hold back the insurgency at the gate." Henry Olsen, senior fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center, in the Washington Post
Now is the time to get your flu vaccine. Usually, [the advice given is to receive the vaccine] in October but for maximum protection, I think that advice will [prove to] be late this year. Schedule your flu vaccine appointment this week. I am. The population-level impact of Covid-19 continues to decline this season and overall, which is fantastic news. However, the vaccine is still important, especially for high-risk folks. After some bumps in the road the vaccine should now be widely available. Katelyn Jetelina, Your Local Epidemiologist, September 29, 2026
Texas Restaurants Need and Cannot Obtain Workers For more on this topic, Click Here
“Texas restaurants are in [financial] trouble. Farmers struggle to find enough laborers to harvest crops. Food processing facilities don’t have enough workers to run at full capacity. Trucking companies can’t find enough drivers to transport food to restaurants and grocery stores. And our restaurants themselves struggle to fully staff their kitchens and dining rooms.”
Houston Chronicle Opinion, August 4, 2026, Emily Williams Knight, CEO of Texas Restaurant Association
Another Successful Democratic nominee endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America, Michigan US Senate
Abdul El-Sayed: "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of political philosophy that ought to animate us all, it's what would we do if we treated all our kids like they were all of our kids?" From the speech after his primary victory, August 5, 2026 Haley Stevens: “I love Michigan and am so proud to have put up my hand to serve. I spoke with Abdul [El-Sayed] moments ago to offer him my full support as we work to defeat Mike Rogers (R) this November.” After concession in speech on August 5, 2026
"More than 1.5 million people voted in the Democratic primary [in Michigan]. That’s close to the number that turned out in the sharply contested 2020 Democratic presidential primary. That’s a telling takeaway: Highly ideological candidates in both parties tend to do best in low-turnout races, not record ones. Yet time and again in recent cycles, progressive leftists have shown they can compete in sharply contested, high-turnout primaries, even when they are massively outspent. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani did it, and now El-Sayed has matched him. No serious Democratic strategist can say that there’s some slumbering Democratic majority that just needs to be awakened to hold back the insurgency at the gate." Henry Olsen, senior fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center, in the Washington Post
Minimum amount of debris, in metric tons, generated in Gaza since October 7, 2023: 68 millionFactor by which this exceeds the amount of debris generated in New York City by the 9/11 attacks: 42Chances that Israel attacked Gaza on a given day since the October, 2025 ceasefire agreement: 9 in 10
Estimated amount spent in the United States last year on Halloween costumes: For children: $1.4 billion For adults: $2.0 billion
Estimated amount spent in the United States last year on Halloween costumes: For children: $1.4 billion For adults: $2.0 billion
Harper's Index is a trademark owned by the Harper's Magazine Foundation. Harper's Magazine is published monthly by the foundation, 666 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, Jackson Lears, Chairman, John R MacArthur, President. The archive of its 176 years of issues is available at harpers.org/archive
Numbers from Harper's Index®, OCTOBER 2026
Commentary i have read that I want to share
When Ukraine destroys Russian data centers, hoards of aggressive right-wing bots disappear & the internet becomes friendlier. So much of politics is driven by the internet & so much of the internet is driven by Russians who want to hurt us. Shouldn’t we do something about that, given that we know it. [The appearance of right-wing slanted posts on social media did drop greatly the day(s) after Russian data centers were bombed out by Ukraine.]
Professor Timothy Snyder, post on October 12, 2026 at 10:07 am in Bluesky [Reich sets out evidence preceding the below conclusion.] Why do people who voted for Trump in 2024 and who consider themselves part of the MAGA movement believe the economy is better now than it was when Trump was elected to a second term — in sharp contrast to people who voted for Trump in 2024 and don’t consider themselves MAGA? The simplest explanation is that anyone who still identifies as being part of the MAGA movement remains in the Trump cult. Which means that — almost by definition — they accept Trump’s descriptions of reality, even if those descriptions don’t match these voters’ experiences. In other words, they fully accept Trump’s lies. So when Trump states that the economy is now far better than it was when he took over in January 2025 — a lie he tells repeatedly — they believe him, even though they’re struggling more now than they did then. Trump’s continuous lies trump certain people’s lived experiences — people who have surrendered to him their critical judgment.
Robert Reich, The MAGA Factor, Substack, September 28, 2026
Wyoming Freedom Caucus candidates lost every single statewide primary race. Thirteen incumbents were defeated in the House, as well as caucus-aligned candidates for another nine House seats being vacated by other caucus-aligned lawmakers. When small government conservatives get wiped out in the nation’s most conservative state, the writing is on the wall. That leaves Republicans with three choices. They can continue the course they’re on, hoping against hope that [Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent is right that the deficit could magically disappear. They can endorse tax hikes, largely on businesses and the upper middle class, as part of a bipartisan plan to take America’s fiscal challenges seriously. Or they can ignore their own voters’ preferences and push for their cuts-only fever dream. This means the long-held GOP dream — reducing the federal budget deficit through spending cuts alone — ought to die. Henry Olsen, Margin of Victory newsletter, August 26, 2026.Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
Professor Timothy Snyder, post on October 12, 2026 at 10:07 am in Bluesky [Reich sets out evidence preceding the below conclusion.] Why do people who voted for Trump in 2024 and who consider themselves part of the MAGA movement believe the economy is better now than it was when Trump was elected to a second term — in sharp contrast to people who voted for Trump in 2024 and don’t consider themselves MAGA? The simplest explanation is that anyone who still identifies as being part of the MAGA movement remains in the Trump cult. Which means that — almost by definition — they accept Trump’s descriptions of reality, even if those descriptions don’t match these voters’ experiences. In other words, they fully accept Trump’s lies. So when Trump states that the economy is now far better than it was when he took over in January 2025 — a lie he tells repeatedly — they believe him, even though they’re struggling more now than they did then. Trump’s continuous lies trump certain people’s lived experiences — people who have surrendered to him their critical judgment.
Robert Reich, The MAGA Factor, Substack, September 28, 2026
Wyoming Freedom Caucus candidates lost every single statewide primary race. Thirteen incumbents were defeated in the House, as well as caucus-aligned candidates for another nine House seats being vacated by other caucus-aligned lawmakers. When small government conservatives get wiped out in the nation’s most conservative state, the writing is on the wall. That leaves Republicans with three choices. They can continue the course they’re on, hoping against hope that [Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent is right that the deficit could magically disappear. They can endorse tax hikes, largely on businesses and the upper middle class, as part of a bipartisan plan to take America’s fiscal challenges seriously. Or they can ignore their own voters’ preferences and push for their cuts-only fever dream. This means the long-held GOP dream — reducing the federal budget deficit through spending cuts alone — ought to die. Henry Olsen, Margin of Victory newsletter, August 26, 2026.Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
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