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California governor rivals clash over Trump ties

Xavier Becerra, the Democratic nominee in California’s race for governor, sought to tie his Republican opponent Steve Hilton to the policies of President Donald Trump as the two debated Wednesday night on CNN.

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Sep 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
What Does Your Office Say About Your Business? by Jennifer Kraner

What does your space say about you and your business? More importantly, does it give you the best possible first impression? The minute a client, customer or patient walks through your door, they’re forming an opinion about your business – sometimes consciously, sometimes without even realizing it. Your space is communicating something about you, whether you intend it to or not. At Big Sky Design, we work with all kinds of commercial businesses, including many medical practices, law firms and other corporate offices, and I’ve seen first hand how much thoughtful design can influence that first impression. For businesses in medical, legal, and financial fields, three things are particularly important: trust, privacy and professionalism. Your space should communicate all three while also reflecting who you are as a business. That can be challenging, especially in a new construction project. Often, so much of the budget goes toward the actual construction that things like lighting, comfortable seating, artwork and finishing touches get pushed to the side. But those are often the elements that make a space feel complete – and memorable. Think about your waiting room. Is it comfortable? Is the lighting welcoming? Does the layout make sense? When someone walks through the door, do they immediately know where to go and whom to speak with? In a medical office, there’s another important consideration: privacy. Reception areas can become surprisingly noisy places, with phone calls, conversations between staff and patients, and people discussing personal information. Hard surfaces throughout a space allow sound to bounce around, making it difficult to maintain privacy. We recently worked with an eye doctor's office that had exactly this problem. The reception desk had a large opening, and staff were making and taking phone calls right next to patients who were waiting. We designed an acoustic treatment that acted as a divider between the staff and waiting areas. It absorbed sound, but it also became a branded design element. It was a visual reminder to everyone in the space to be mindful of their voices and what others might be able to hear. Those kinds of thoughtful details can make a tremendous difference. And good commercial design doesn't have to mean making your space flashy. Sometimes it’s as simple as a calming color palette, beautiful artwork, plants, carefully selected lighting or comfortable upholstered furniture. In a medical setting, those touches can help soften what might otherwise feel clinical and reduce anxiety for patients who are already nervous about an appointment. I’ve been in waiting rooms where everyone feels packed together, and you can hear every conversation – even what’s happening in the restroom next door. That’s not the experience you want to create. Your office should also feel like your business. Are you telling people that you’re clean and modern? Sophisticated and unique? Warm and welcoming? Or, unintentionally, are you telling them that your business is outdated? You don’t necessarily need a complete renovation to change that message. Fresh paint, updated lighting, new artwork, better seating or a few branded design elements can make a space feel current and intentional. At Big Sky Design, we’ve worked with radiology, dermatology, and dental practices, among many others. Every practice is different, but the goal is always the same: creating a space that reflects the business behind it and gives every person who walks through the door a positive first impression. Because your office is part of your brand. Make sure it’s telling the story you want people to hear. Read more at bigskydesignonline.com.

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Sep 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Business • wilmingtonbiz.com
Candidates trade barbs during CA gov debate

CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderated a debate between California gubernatorial candidates Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton.

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Sep 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Steve Hilton presses Xavier Becerra on AI regulation and legislation

During CNN’s debate, Hilton pressed Becerra on harsh criticism attributed to former Biden policy adviser Susan Rice in an Axios report from 2024. Rice denied those remarks.Becerra responded by pointing to his record, saying he “helped create millions of jobs” during his time in Congress, as California’s attorney general and as HHS secretary.

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Sep 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
The AI telling farmers when to harvest

Will farmers want AI tools to help judge when to pick fruit, or is their own intuition enough?

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Sep 30 • 7:02 PM EDT • Technology • bbc.com
Raptors’ RJ Barrett Gets Telling Contract Extension Update

The Toronto native is still waiting on a new contract that is offered by the Raptors with less than a month before the start of the 2026-27 season. The post Raptors’ RJ Barrett Gets Telling Contract Extension Update appeared first on HEAVY.

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Sep 30 • 6:53 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
CNN hosts California gubernatorial debate ahead of critical midterm contest

Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton will take the CNN debate stage as they argue to voters they are the best pick to lead the country’s most populous state. Follow for live news updates.

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Sep 30 • 4:58 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
AI Agents Are Moving into the Small Business Mainstream - Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

By Karen Kerrigan – Artificial intelligence is entering another important phase for small businesses. Over the past several years, entrepreneurs have rapidly embraced generative AI to write content, conduct research, create images, analyze data, improve customer service and perform dozens of other tasks. Now, AI is moving from simply helping business owners do the work […]

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Sep 30 • 4:51 PM EDT • Business • sbecouncil.org
GOP senator blocks resolution that criticized Trump’s taxpayer-funded ads

A GOP senator blocked a resolution on Tuesday that criticized the Trump administration’s recent taxpayer-funded ads promoting President Donald Trump.

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Sep 30 • 4:07 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Troy Jackson apologizes for remarks about Jewish Maine residents’ views of Gaza war

Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee in Maine’s battleground Senate race, apologized Wednesday for saying it is “unfortunate” that Jewish residents of the state do not like to label the war in Gaza a genocide.

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Sep 30 • 3:14 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Punish Man City this season, say other club chiefs

Manchester City's punishment for breaching Premier League rules should be handed down before the end of this season, senior football figures tell BBC Sport.

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Sep 30 • 3:10 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
A storied NASA observatory could be weeks away from falling to Earth after failed rescue attempt

A daring mission failed to rescue NASA’s Swift telescope, and the nearly 22-year-old observatory will soon burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

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Sep 30 • 3:04 PM EDT • Science • cnn.com
Trump administration misspells United States twice while promoting AI

The Trump administration misspelled the United States twice in images of the White House artificial intelligence memo it published following President Donald Trump‘s accord on Tuesday with the country’s biggest names in AI. On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, both Trump and the White House posted the “Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities,” which came from […]

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Sep 30 • 2:04 PM EDT • Politics • denvergazette.com
Trump administration misspells United States twice while promoting AI

The Trump administration misspelled the United States twice in images of the White House artificial intelligence memo it published following President Donald Trump‘s accord on Tuesday with the country’s biggest names in AI. On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, both Trump and the White House posted the “Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities,” which came from […]

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Sep 30 • 2:04 PM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand tells CNN she has ‘grave concerns’ about Defense Secretary Hegseth’s leadership
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Sep 30 • 1:47 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma insists "Xbox is not for sale"

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has pushed back on speculation that Microsoft could spin off its games division, telling the New Y…

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Sep 30 • 1:43 PM EDT • Technology • gamesindustry.biz
Democrats block data centers bill, derailing Senate GOP bid to act on affordability ahead of midterms

Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a GOP-led bill to combat rising energy costs driven by the data center boom, thwarting a last-ditch effort by Republicans to show they are taking voter concerns about affordability seriously.

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Sep 30 • 1:41 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
A Democrat hasn’t won a South Carolina Senate seat since 1998. A pediatrician thinks she can change that.
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Sep 30 • 1:39 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
How accurate is Netflix's 'Unabomber' movie?

Retired FBI profiler James R. Fitzgerald tells Business Insider what's fact and fiction in the Netflix movie.

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Sep 30 • 1:38 PM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
Powell did not break the law with expensive Fed renovations that incensed Trump, report finds

An inspector general review of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters renovation found no sign that then-Chair Jerome Powell broke the law or committed misconduct in his management of the costly project, even as it sharply criticized him and the bank’s board for allowing the price tag to balloon beyond $2 billion.

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Sep 30 • 1:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Senate Democrats block bill to restrict lawmaker stock trading

Senate Democrats on Wednesday blocked a bill to restrict lawmaker stock trading over objections to new voter ID requirements that Republicans added to the legislation.

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Sep 30 • 12:53 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Journalists to discuss AI, technology at Drake’s Bucksbaum Business Lecture

Drake University will host journalists Karen Hao and Nicholas Thompson for its fourth annual Bucksbaum Lectureship in Business at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Knapp Center. The lecture, titled “Decoding America’s Tech Moment,” will explore the evolving technology industry and the implications of artificial intelligence. Hao is a bestselling author and award-winning AI reporter…

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Sep 30 • 12:46 PM EDT • Business • businessrecord.com
Federal regulator probing Trump critic Adam Kinzinger for betting on his own pardon

Federal regulators are investigating former Rep. Adam Kinzinger for trading on the prediction platform Kalshi about a pardon he received from former President Joe Biden, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

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Sep 30 • 12:25 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
DOJ ramps up fight against federal judges after some in Minnesota speak to media about immigration surge cases

The Justice Department is filing a judicial misconduct complaint against nearly all the federal judges in Minnesota, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Wednesday, in an escalation in tensions between the Trump administration and the judicial branch, which came to a head during the winter surge of immigration enforcement.

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Sep 30 • 12:09 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Campus Scout | Your ‘business professor’ is actually AI slop

Zǎoshang hǎo, it’s your friendly Campus Scout here! Sorry about the Mandarin, folks. Scout’s artificial intelligence assistant, his new, improved and too-dangerous-to-be-publicly-released Brain-Blaster 2.0 must’ve had some Mandarin in its training data. Scout is not sure how it got there, but he knows Brain-Blaster 2.0 has super intelligence, so there must be a reason it...

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Sep 30 • 12:00 PM EDT • Business • dailyillini.com
Connor Wood thinks ‘it’s an act of God’ that he and Rylee Arnold were paired together on “DWTS”

The comedian tells “Entertainment Weekly” that they’ve managed to avoid any crash outs thus far.

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Sep 30 • 11:47 AM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com
Ex-Genentech, Meta, AWS AI leaders launch health AI lab with $500M backing

A new frontier artificial intelligence lab for healthcare launched with a $500 million commitment from Thoreau. | The AI startup, Ortet plans to build a full-stack platform for health, spanning compute and data infrastructure, frontier research and model development and deployment.

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Sep 30 • 11:30 AM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com
Drones, satellites and AI help scientists watch over Antarctica's smallest lifeforms

Monitoring Antarctica's tiny, scattered ecosystems is a challenge that has long plagued researchers. But a new study led by the University of Wollongong (UOW) offers a new approach to tracking life in ...

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Sep 30 • 11:20 AM EDT • Science • phys.org
Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn unpack the band’s ‘bold’ doc ‘Unshatter’

Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda and Joe Hahn tell Entertainment Weekly about the process of creating their new documentary ‘Unshatter,’ which details the band’s reunion after Chester Bennington’s death.

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Sep 30 • 11:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
Stellar Science with Mineral & Gem Museum

NORWAY — Deborah Johnson, Education Outreach Coordinator at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum, will present a series of science programs for grades 1-6. They are scheduled for early release

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Sep 30 • 10:09 AM EDT • Science • conwaydailysun.com
The Odds: The Midwest Polling Gap
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Sep 30 • 10:02 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Jack Smith Senate testimony: Key moments and CNN’s first reactions
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Sep 30 • 9:57 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
US economy grew 2.2% this spring, more than initially estimated

Despite skyrocketing gas prices, the US economy was remarkably resilient this spring.

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Sep 30 • 9:01 AM EDT • Business • cnn.com
Young adults using AI for health questions may screen positive for anxiety and depression

Young adults who use generative artificial intelligence to ask health-related questions are more likely to screen positive for clinically significant anxiety and depression than those not using the AI tool for health issues, according to a new study led by University of Florida researcher Yusen Zhai.

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Sep 30 • 8:52 AM EDT • Health • news-medical.net
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Pocket Entertainment: Interview With Co-Founder And CEO Rohan Nayak About AI-Powered Storytelling And The Single-Person Studio

Pocket Entertainment is building an entertainment ecosystem that connects storytelling, creation, production, distribution, localization, and audience engagement. The company operates Pocket FM, its flagship serialized audio drama platform, and has expanded into short-form visual entertainment through Pocket Saga while developing AI tools such as Sherpa that helps creators develop ideas and build characters, worlds, story arcs and episodes. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Pocket Entertainment Co-Founder and CEO Rohan Nayak to learn more about the company’s origins, its evolution beyond audio entertainment, and how AI could enable individual creators to build global entertainment franchises.

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Sep 30 • 8:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • pulse2.com
FAU’s MBA in Sport Management Ranks No. 7 Globally

Florida Atlantic University’s MBA in Sport Management program rose three spots to No. 7 worldwide for 2026, according to SportBusiness, a London-based sports intelligence and analysis firm.

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Sep 30 • 8:00 AM EDT • Sports • fau.edu
Astro Digital plans SPAC listing to expand satellite production and defense business

Astro Digital plans SPAC listing to expand satellite production and defense business Astro Digital plans SPAC listing to expand satellite production and defense business

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Sep 30 • 7:16 AM EDT • Business • spacenews.com
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Universe Entertainment And Culture Group (SEHK:1046) Stock Confronts Revenue Collapse And Rich P S Multiple

The market has been treating Universe Entertainment and Culture Group like a high‑beta punt, with the stock almost doubling over the past month. However, today’s full year release tells a tougher story. The business delivered only HK$120.096 million in trailing twelve month revenue while still posting a loss of HK$10.938 million from ongoing operations. Set that against a P/S ratio of 10.1x, well above the Hong Kong entertainment pack, and the headline is clear: rich sales multiples now meet...

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Sep 30 • 6:26 AM EDT • Entertainment • simplywall.st
Debt service and the Pentagon. Private equity and the politics of the US housing market. The return of black lung disease & the Franco-Prussian War in color.

Thank you for opening your Chartbook email. RALPH BALSON. 1890—1964. Oil and enamel, signed. Source: Gavekal This going to hurt - the two 7s in the US: diesel and mortgage rates Source: Gavekal In the US housing market, costs are soaring and the role of corporate, private equity-backed buyers is high on the mid-term election agenda. HEY READERS, THANK YOU for opening the Chartbook email. I hope it brightens your day. I enjoy putting out the newsletter, but tbh, what keeps this flow going is the generosity of those readers who clicked the subscription button. If you are persuaded to click, please consider the annual subscription of $60. It is both better value for you and a much better deal for me, as it involves only one credit card charge. Why feed the payments companies if we don’t have to. Subscribe It is striking how, since 2020, big banks have dropped out of the political spotlight in the US. For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Rates of the lung disease pneumoconiosis among working US coal miners have risen to levels not seen in nearly 40 years Source: Bloomberg Chinese Clean Technology Exports For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Ralph Balson (1939) Portrait of Grace Crowley Cole, G. O. & Haseman, S. M., (2023) “‘The Substance of Paint’: Class and Materiality in the Work of Ralph Balson”, Open Library of Humanities 9(2). Ralph Balson (1890–1964) was an English plumber and house painter who emigrated to Australia in 1913 and subsequently became a key member of Sydney’s artistic avant-garde. He is credited with having the first solo exhibition of purely abstract painting in Australia in 1941. Despite his role in developing Australian non-objective painting, Balson remained principally a house painter, working on his art practice at weekends. In 1955 he retired on a state pension and became a full-time artist. Balson’s artistic education and methods were critically shaped by his working-class background. He did not travel abroad until 1960 and was an avid auto-didact. His materials, palette, techniques and compositional strategies were likewise informed by his trade. Balson’s profession as a painter-decorator made him conspicuous within the predominantly middle-class Sydney art scene, though his painting partner Grace Crowley considered it an advantage in their pursuit of constructive painting. This paper explores the impact of Balson’s trade on his trajectory towards pure abstraction. While his art was at odds with the predominantly figurative mode of class-conscious art in Australian Modernism, we argue that it is embedded in the experience of class through its creative adaptation of labour into aesthetics. Source: OLH Svetlana Alexievich, The Art of Oral History No. 1 Paris Review Issue 257, Fall 2026 Interviewed by Elena Kostyuchenko INTERVIEWER How were you able to go to Chernobyl? Did you need special papers? ALEXIEVICH It was a time of chaos. They let me right into the zone. … More than anything, there was confusion. Adamovich [Ales Adamovich, the Soviet Belarusian writer], I remember, persuaded Gorbachev to send in the scientists, who showed up without even bringing their shaving kits. They were told that there had been an explosion at a nuclear power plant, but for some reason they thought that they’d be there for only a day or two. The first time I went was several months later, and people kept telling me about things they didn’t understand—how the fishermen couldn’t find worms, because they’d burrowed deep into the earth, how the milk wouldn’t curdle at the cheese factories. The honeybees wouldn’t come out of their hives. The evacuations started, I think, in the first month. The old women hid, they wouldn’t leave. I mentioned radiation to one of them and she said, “I’ve seen that radiation, all right! It’s yellow with green in it. I saw puddles of it in my garden, and I told the other women, and we ran and looked, and she had it in her garden, and the other one, too!” God, it was wild, the way the mind made sense of it. There was a story going around about Gorbachev telling the scientists to show him the radiation. “We can’t, it’s invisible.” “But I want to see it!” I also ran into the soldiers who’d been flown in on helicopters from Afghanistan. I asked them, “What are you doing here with your machine guns?” They said, “We’re collecting the radiation, that’s what.” So you had some of them running around with their guns, others out in the village washing off firewood or burying soil in the soil. These were the kinds of things that exploded our worldview. They made you realize that culture was just a chest filled with old manuscripts. There were no books in there that could help me. Our philosophers turned out to be useless when faced with the unprecedented. Derrida, Baudrillard—philosophy fell silent. What was happening? How would we live with it? That’s when I decided it simply needed to be witnessed. Which is what I did. INTERVIEWER I wanted to ask about how you talk to people. … ALEXIEVICH Yes, we sit and we talk—about what interests me and about life in general. About love, about everything in the world. That way, what comes out is three-dimensional. If you cut straight to the part you need, which is what journalists do, it won’t be interesting, and it won’t be the truth, either. Not the whole truth. INTERVIEWER Do people always open up when you ask questions, or can questions get in the way? ALEXIEVICH You have to ask questions, of course. Your job is to scour away the banality and return people to their true selves, to make them face what they rarely tap into. With every new person, you have to find a new way to do it. When you ask an interesting question or you share what happened to you, you help people really think about what they’re saying and not just repeat whatever they’ve picked up from the newspaper. But not everybody is capable of it, not everyone wants to put themselves through that. Either the chemistry starts to kick in or it doesn’t. A person might be wonderful, but you can tell that the conversation just isn’t going to happen. You can try to push it, but it will be a product of your own intellect, rather than of that mysterious connection. Life doesn’t come from the mind. Some people I can call two years after our last conversation, and they’ll say, “Oh, Svetochka! I think of you all the time,” and we’ll start talking again. With others, that won’t happen. That doesn’t mean they’re not extraordinary people, just that you can’t connect with them. They might have some insight, but you don’t have the right antenna to pick up their signal. Source: The Paris Review Colorized Franco-Prussian war … the ruins of Strasbourg with a French photographer and his mobile dark room. Ralph Balson (1961) Matter Painting If you’ve scrolled this far, you know you want to click: Subscribe

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Sep 30 • 6:25 AM EDT • Politics • adamtooze.substack.com
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Jimmy Kimmel roasts Trump over his meeting with AI executives

He's determined to make "Super Intelligence" happen.

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Sep 30 • 6:06 AM EDT • Entertainment • mashable.com
How the bad science of AI doomerism is good for big business

There is no clear path showing that today’s AI systems will lead to superintelligence, much less a basis for calculating the probability of doom.

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Sep 30 • 6:00 AM EDT • Science • thebulletin.org
How the bad science of AI doomerism is good for big business

There is no clear path showing that today’s AI systems will lead to superintelligence, much less a basis for calculating the probability of doom.

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Sep 30 • 6:00 AM EDT • Business • thebulletin.org
When “DEI” research is cut, what happens to community health?

“I’m just going to run to the grocery store!” How many times have we said this without thinking about it? For most of us, it's usually an easy walk or a short drive to get the cheese we forgot. In reality, though, 13% of the U.S. population (about 39 million people) live in “food deserts,” which means living more than a mile from a grocery store in urban areas and more than 10 miles in rural areas. This was the case for people in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, where a quick run to buy food wasn’t an option. In the 1930s, federal maps marked the Hill as "hazardous" for lending, a practice known as redlining that steered investment away from Black neighborhoods. Decades of disinvestment followed, and residents went about 30 years without a nearby grocery store. This made it hard to keep healthy eating habits and contributed to chronic disease. When a grocery store finally opened in the area in 2013, researchers saw the opportunity and launched the PHRESH study, which initially compared the health of participants from the Hill district to those in the Homewood district. Over time, the study expanded to other factors such as brain health and Alzheimer's risk. Residents like Roderick Blair overcame initial hesitation to share their health data, trusting it would benefit their neighborhood. Then, in August 2026, the NIH abruptly canceled the study’s grant, citing that it was “subjective” and fell outside their scientific scope—an effect of the administration’s interpretation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Research like PHRESH can help determine what changes in a neighborhood actually improve health, so cutting it has left that question unanswered. Other canceled studies have examined health issues like maternal health, preterm birth rates, or sickle cell disease. Courts have reversed some of these grant cancellations, but not all of them. If we really want America to be healthier, research into why some communities get sicker than others is absolutely critical. The law that created the federal minority health research institute passed with bipartisan support in 2000. But these days, as evidenced by grant cancellations, the political shift in attitudes toward DEI means we often lose access to the health information we need to help all communities thrive. DEI vs. health equity vs. equality and the overlap (or lack thereof) The letters “DEI” evoke very different reactions depending on who you are in the U.S. DEI programs can address gender, disability, age, and other factors, but the fiercest debate centers on race. For some people, hearing DEI brings to mind policies that may have cost them a job or a college seat because they are white. Others see DEI as a matter of justice: a way to expand representation and opportunity for groups that have been historically marginalized. Both perspectives are rooted in lived experience, and both center on the same question: whether hiring and admissions practices are fair. Hiring and admission practices, though related, are not the same as health equity. Health equity is “the attainment of the highest level of health for all people.” It’s the recognition that some groups of people consistently experience worse health outcomes than others. For instance, black mothers die from pregnancy-related complications at three times the rate of white mothers, and rural Americans are more likely to die from issues such as heart disease and cancer. Equity is also often conflated with “equality,” which leads to misunderstanding of how to actually best support communities. Equality ignores the fact that we aren’t all starting life with the same resources or circumstances, whereas equity is about helping people get what they specifically need based on their situation so they have the chance to achieve the same outcome as anyone else. For example, if every household in Pittsburgh got a $30 grocery gift card, that would be equal. But during the decades the Hill District went without a grocery store, that card wouldn’t have helped much. Equity means making sure everyone can actually access a store in the first place. DEI policies can overlap with health equity in many ways. For example, they may help expand access to quality education and stable, well-paying jobs, which in turn can provide health insurance, safer housing, and improved finances—all of which can reduce health disparities. But to make that happen, we first need data to identify disparities in communities and to develop solutions that effectively address them. What we lose when the research stops Community data is important to health equity because: You can’t fix what you don’t see: Data show which communities are most affected by health factors such as infection, heart disease, and cancer. If we don’t know what is happening and where, then we can’t develop interventions to help. Poor health costs everyone: Chronic disease is expensive—both to the individual person and to the overall economy. Understanding what groups of people are most at risk allows us to develop interventions that can save everyone money. Disparities exist for many communities: Health equity includes disparities that exist due to a whole host of factors, such as family background, race and ethnicity, rural vs. suburban residence, gender and sexual orientation, veteran status, disability, and lower income. This means many Americans can benefit from research into differences in health outcomes and how to improve them. Trust is easy to lose: Some participants in the PHRESH study were initially vocal about their concerns about participating. But that trust was earned because the researchers kept their promises and centered their work on the community. When projects are canceled mid-cycle, researchers have no choice but to leave behind communities they had promised to help. This hurts trust in the long run. It’s also a very inefficient use of resources, and it will take significant time and effort to redo the work when the government realizes this work is important again. How should we talk about health equity? This is hard because the words “equity” and “DEI” are currently very politically charged. So whether you’re a public health professional, teacher, or friend, how we talk about this topic matters. The right framing can help people who might otherwise be skeptical see why health equity research is important and deserves funding. Here are some suggestions to help your conversations: Choose your words strategically: Who are you trying to reach with your message? Are they likely to be resistant to terms like “diversity” and “equity”? If so, find alternative words to use to still get the message across. It is frustrating to be in that position, but the goal of improving health is too important not to try to make inroads. Sometimes simply reframing can help the message reach those who need to hear it. Focus on the problem: The terms “health equity” and “DEI” are abstract. Make it more specific. For example, discuss differences in maternal death or ways to improve health outcomes in rural communities. These still have equity at their core but will likely be better understood by those you’re talking with. Focus on systems: Disparities exist, but if they are communicated poorly, people can mistakenly think the issue is the individual’s fault. Disparities are largely driven by failures of the system—such as lack of access to health care and a long legacy of racism. When discussing the disparities, frame them around these systemic issues to ensure blame isn’t placed on the individuals impacted. Tell stories: Personalize these policies by using stories from those impacted that connect to the data you’re trying to convey. This helps make the policies and outcomes more concrete and meaningful. Bottom line Some communities end up sicker than others. That’s just the facts. We can argue about the best way to do that research, but canceling it simply because it may be linked to DEI doesn’t make anyone healthier. It just leaves communities like the Hill district behind. And in the end, it causes us all to move backward in our efforts to improve health in this country. Love, EM Big thanks to MacKenzie Isaac & Legairre Radden, who reviewed this piece and generously shared their expertise and lived experience to help improve it. Dr. Liz Marnik, PhD, is Executive Director of The Evidence Collective and a science communicator and immunologist working at the intersection of public trust, science, and public health. To discuss communication training on topics like health equity and storytelling, email Liz at liz@yle.health or learn more on our website. Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) comprises a team of experts, ranging from physicians to immunologists to epidemiologists to nutritionists, working together with one goal: to “translate” ever-evolving public health science so that people are well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. The YLE suite of newsletters reaches over 475,000 people across more than 132 countries. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Your Local Epidemiologist is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

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Sep 30 • 5:05 AM EDT • Health • yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com
Trump’s tariffs are back in court

Here we go again: President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs are back under the legal microscope.

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Sep 30 • 5:00 AM EDT • Business • cnn.com
Exclusive: Barack Obama’s hidden hand shaping Democrats’ AI debate

The former president is pushing 2028 Democratic hopefuls to develop specific plans for how to tackle AI — but some of them are wary of antagonizing the industry.

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Sep 30 • 5:00 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Padres rout Cubs 8-0 in emphatic Wild Card opener with Tatis’ leadoff homer, King’s no-hit bid

San Diego provided more than enough support for King, who struck out eight over seven stellar innings.

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Sep 30 • 2:08 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
iOS 27 has a hidden anti-scam setting — here’s why every iPhone user should turn it on

Thanks to iOS 27, your iPhone can now tell if you're being scammed. Here's where to find the setting Apple leaves off by default

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Sep 30 • 2:00 AM EDT • Technology • tomsguide.com
Move to rejoin EU among options for UK, says Andy Burnham

The prime minister tells the BBC the current Brexit settlement has caused "more harm than good".

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Sep 30 • 1:00 AM EDT • Politics • bbc.com
SpaceX (SPCX): Can Its Business Justify Its Ludicrous Valuation?

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) is not an easy company to value. It started as a rocket company, built a satellite-internet business that now reaches millions of customers, and is increasingly moving into artificial intelligence. Investors are now being asked to put a value on all three. That value is enormous. SpaceX is worth roughly […]

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Sep 30 • 12:47 AM EDT • Business • finance.yahoo.com
Over 90% of common household items contain hazardous plastic chemicals

Plastics riddled with high-risk chemicals are in clothes, food, toys and common household items, a new investigation revealed.

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Sep 30 • 12:00 AM EDT • Health • cnn.com
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Politics of the Day
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Sep 29 • 11:07 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Trump signs executive order rebranding AI as 'Super Intelligence' as tech titans ink separate SI accord

The order follows a White House summit with top tech executives and directs federal agencies to use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in official communications.

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Sep 29 • 9:52 PM EDT • Business • foxbusiness.com
ChatGPT maker wants to be the App Store for AI as safety concerns grow

OpenAI on Tuesday launched a less expensive artificial intelligence (AI) model and tools that run continuously, as it aims to reposition ChatGPT as an app store for AI. Other companies, such as Adobe, will be able to offer their software directly within ChatGPT, which is now used weekly by 1.2 billion people.– “Disappoint Wall Street” – As speculation swirls around when OpenAI might go public, Altman told reporters on Tuesday that the company was "investing more in safety, security, alignment,

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Sep 29 • 9:38 PM EDT • Technology • finance.yahoo.com
Senator Klobuchar: ‘Don’t call someone a dirtbag when you don’t have your own facts right’
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Sep 29 • 9:17 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Trump’s made his big call on AI. Humanity’s fate may ride on him being right

President Donald Trump held court on the White House drive Tuesday, surrounded by the tech moguls who, in their own estimation, hold the planet’s fate in their hands.

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Sep 29 • 8:35 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
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Who Attended Trump’s AI Luncheon, and Who Sat Where

A seating chart of the meeting illustrated growing divisions within the artificial intelligence industry and how it is viewed by the White House.

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Sep 29 • 8:30 PM EDT • Politics • nytimes.com
A.I. Is ‘Better Informed’ Than Doctors, Kennedy Tells Industry-Backed MAHA Summit

The health secretary, Vice President JD Vance and other top officials addressed a conference sponsored by corporations, including A.I. companies and others with business before the government.

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Sep 29 • 7:41 PM EDT • Health • nytimes.com
GOP senator appears to confuse Atlanta Hawks & Iowa Hawkeyes in trying to tie Jack Smith to Fani Willis
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Sep 29 • 6:32 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Universal health care a 'moral imperative,' Vatican's top diplomat tells UN

The meeting's theme focused on developing a

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Sep 29 • 6:16 PM EDT • Health • osvnews.com
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Mission Success! Celebrating Landsat 9’s Five-Year Design Life Milestone

On September 27, 2026, Landsat 9 achieved its Five-Year Design Life Milestone. The benefits of this satellite and its data to scientific discovery and human health are immeasurable.

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Sep 29 • 4:33 PM EDT • Science • science.nasa.gov
Catching the Light: Taking the Pulse of Puerto Rico’s Forests

Our team from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Biospheric Sciences Laboratory is working to improve how satellites monitor plant health.

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Sep 29 • 4:15 PM EDT • Science • science.nasa.gov
From Windmills To Ballrooms: Trump’s ‘National Security’ Playbook

Banning journalists from the White House, justifying a triumphal arch, rejecting restrictions on artificial intelligence technology – the positions may be far afield of each other, but they have some commonalities. In addition to being publicly unpopular and legally uncertain, President Donald ...

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Sep 29 • 4:13 PM EDT • Politics • usnews.com
Board of Health wields unusual power, expert tells members

Marblehead’s Board of Health has powers unlike virtually any other local board or commission in Massachusetts, a public health attorney told members Monday night — including the authority to adopt regulations that carry the force of state law. Michael Hugo of the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards spent more than two hours walking the board

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Sep 29 • 3:50 PM EDT • Health • marbleheadcurrent.org
Pompeii Is Helping Scientists Sharpen the Clocks Used to Date Earth’s History

An ancient catastrophe is helping geologists tell time across billions of years.

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Sep 29 • 3:39 PM EDT • Science • zmescience.com
Trump bans Canadian booze. Will American shoppers notice?
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Sep 29 • 3:09 PM EDT • Business • cnn.com
Mamdani unveils strategy to combat antisemitism in New York City

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a strategy to combat antisemitism Tuesday, including tens of millions of dollars in funding for hate crime prevention and Jewish cultural centers.

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Sep 29 • 3:05 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Changes coming to Medicaid: what you need to know | Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services

Official website of the City of Philadelphia, includes information on municipal services, permits, licenses, and records for citizens and businesses.

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Sep 29 • 2:42 PM EDT • Health • phila.gov
Lone GOP senator blocks bipartisan effort to prevent Trump from demolishing Kennedy Center

A bipartisan effort aimed at protecting the Kennedy Center from demolition was blocked on the Senate floor Monday night by a lone Republican senator.

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Sep 29 • 2:37 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Where Academic Healthcare Meets AI

There is a version of the artificial intelligence story that everyone has heard by now: the billion-dollar campuses, the coastal cities competing for the next great tech company.

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Sep 29 • 2:32 PM EDT • Health • news.uthsc.edu
An embarrassing moment for the GOP, a defensive witness and other takeaways from Jack Smith’s hearing

Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two indictments against now-President Donald Trump in 2023, testified in front of Congress again on Tuesday — this time, to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Sep 29 • 2:28 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
‘It’s certainly a challenge for Nebraska families’: GOP senator who supports war in Iran on its economic impact
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Sep 29 • 2:12 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Meta and Intuit Team on Small Business Intelligence

Intuit says its small business-focused financial intelligence services are now part of Meta’s new AI assistant. The QuickBooks connector is now live in

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Sep 29 • 2:03 PM EDT • Business • pymnts.com
Prominent Journalists to Discuss Tech, AI Evolution at Bucksbaum Business Lecture

Drake University announced today the 4thAnnual Bucksbaum Lectureship in Business. Speakers Karen Hao and Nicholas Thompson will headline the lecture: “Decoding America’s Tech Moment.” Hao is a best-selling author and award-winning reporter covering artificial intelligence and Thompson is CEO of The Atlantic. The event will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at...

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Sep 29 • 1:35 PM EDT • Business • news.drake.edu
What to know about America.gov, the Trump administration’s new AI-driven services website

The Trump administration thinks the federal bureaucracy is way too complex for Americans to navigate — and it believes that artificial intelligence can help.

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Sep 29 • 1:29 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
ICE confusion ignites MAGA backlash: ‘I would have called for impeachment’

Verbal guidance telling some ICE offices to stop arresting illegal immigrants without criminal histories was rescinded within hours amid fierce backlash.

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Sep 29 • 1:05 PM EDT • Politics • foxnews.com
Is It Really Dandruff? The Science Behind Seborrheic Dermatitis

Dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis are closely related, but the actual flakes can tell you the difference — making all the difference in how you treat it.

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Sep 29 • 12:43 PM EDT • Science • inverse.com
Smith says non-disclosures put in place to protect against Trump’s obstruction efforts
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Sep 29 • 12:30 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
A Google co-founder is spending $100 million to defeat California’s wealth tax. It could become one of his best investments

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has funneled just over $100 million to a group trying to defeat a one-time state tax on California’s billionaires this November.

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Sep 29 • 12:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Health tech's dealmaking boom is back as firms chase scale and profitable growth

Health tech and digital health merger and acquisition activity remains a major force in 2026, driven by strategic expansion and the race for competitive artificial intelligence capabilities. | Health tech and digital health M&A activity remains a major force in 2026, driven by strategic expansion and the race for competitive artificial intelligence capabilities.

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Sep 29 • 12:00 PM EDT • Health • fiercehealthcare.com
Sen. Schmitt accuses Smith of meeting with Fani Willis. His narrative quickly fell apart.
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Sep 29 • 11:51 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Small window for Welsh additional learning needs funding deal, politicians told

But Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates tells Rhun ap Iorwerth the money on offer is "still not enough".

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Sep 29 • 11:30 AM EDT • Politics • yahoo.com
Scientists identify two of the world’s noisiest birds – and they’re as loud as a jackhammer

There are two new contenders for the world’s loudest bird – and scientists are not being quiet about it.

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Sep 29 • 11:19 AM EDT • Science • cnn.com
2. entertainment.jpeg

At right, a display tells the story of Club My-O-My on the lakefront. Buses would deliver tourists here during the 1940s and 1950s to partake in floor shows performed by

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Sep 29 • 10:46 AM EDT • Entertainment • nola.com
SUNY Poly and Whitesboro CSD Partner for AI and Computer Science Learning

A new project is bringing together SUNY Poly and Whitesboro Central School District educators to help high school students access artificial intelligence and computer science education.

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Sep 29 • 10:42 AM EDT • Science • wktv.com
What to watch in CNN’s California governor race debate

Democrat Xavier Becerra debates Republican Steve Hilton on CNN Wednesday night.

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Sep 29 • 10:30 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
Greenland Energy CEO says ‘The world needs oil’
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Sep 29 • 10:26 AM EDT • Business • cnn.com
Jack Smith clashes with senators over Trump probes, says ‘I will not be silenced’

Jack Smith returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to defend his derailed efforts to prosecute President Donald Trump, telling lawmakers he would not “be silenced by continued threats of prosecution” from the president.

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Sep 29 • 10:20 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Jack Smith tells senators he won't 'be silenced' by threats of prosecution

Smith also told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he stands behind the criminal cases he brought against Trump

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Sep 29 • 10:13 AM EDT • Politics • spectrumnews1.com
Jack Smith tells senators he won't 'be silenced' by threats of prosecution

Smith also told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he stands behind the criminal cases he brought against Trump

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Sep 29 • 10:13 AM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com
Simone Biles Addresses Recent Health Issues, Opens Up About Eczema Journey

At first she felt “embarrassed and ashamed,” Biles tells TODAY.com, but learning more about her skin health built back her confidence.

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Sep 29 • 9:15 AM EDT • Health • today.com
MBA Voices: Business Schools Don’t Just Tell You Who They Are

The questions asked -- and the red flags observed -- that helped one MBA identify the right business school for her.

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Sep 29 • 9:08 AM EDT • Business • poetsandquants.com
Geotab receives Business Intelligence Group's 2026 Sustainable Transportation Award

/PRNewswire/ -- Geotab Inc. ("Geotab"), a global leader in connected operations, video telematics and AI-powered insights, today announced it has been named a...

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Sep 29 • 9:00 AM EDT • Business • prnewswire.com
Former special counsel Jack Smith testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee

Former special counsel Jack Smith will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 9 a.m. ET. Follow for live updates.

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Sep 29 • 8:01 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com
What’s In Anthropic’s I.P.O. Filing

The artificial intelligence giant reportedly believes that it’s on track for a record-breaking stock market listing, according to a prospectus seen by Reuters.

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Sep 29 • 7:58 AM EDT • Business • nytimes.com
The Beclowning of Scott Bessent

One iron law of current politics is that nobody who associates themselves with Donald Trump emerges with a shred of credibility. For some, that’s not a big loss — it’s not as if anyone respected Pete Hegseth even before he decided that the key to military success in an age of drones and AI was more testosterone. For others, however, the costs are real. I’m old enough to remember when Marco Rubio was widely considered a reasonable, thoughtful politician. Right now, however, my candidate for the biggest loser is Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury. Bessent started out with significant reputation to lose: When Trump selected him, this was the headline in the Financial Times: Jason Furman, Barack Obama’s chief economist, described him as a “credible Treasury secretary who has a real understanding of the global economy”. But Bessent has now transformed himself into the Baghdad Bob of bonds. Three weeks ago, after intervening (for reasons that remain somewhat unclear) to support the Japanese yen, Bessent boasted about his ability to move markets and dared investors to bet against his, declaring “I am the house now.” He then tried to push long-term interest rates down, buying 30-year U.S. Treasuries in a move some have compared to paying down part of your mortgage by running up your credit card balance. Here’s how that’s going so far: To get some perspective on how high interest rates have gone, here’s a longer-term perspective: We haven’t seen interest rates this high since the fading days of the dotcom bubble. Why are interest rates hitting new records? The backdrop, as I argued in last Sunday’s primer, is the huge AI-driven investment boom; more on that next week. But the immediate cause of the latest interest rate spike was Trump’s rejection of an Iranian proposal to end the war. This rejection sent crude oil prices, which for a while had fallen considerably, shooting back up: It’s notable, by the way, that oil prices remain high even though a significant amount of oil is now being shuttled through the Strait of Hormuz by night, on smaller vessels. That’s an interesting story, which has a lot to do with the fact that oil from the Hormuz shuttle runs must be transferred to larger vessels before being shipped to markets in Europe and Asia; around 15 percent of the world’s large crude carriers are now parked off the coast of Oman, waiting to be tanked up. This is creating a shipping crunch: But that’s a topic for another day. For now, the point is that with oil still high and refined products, especially diesel, still close to record levels, inflation will remain elevated. And this in turn means that the Federal Reserve will keep short-term interest rates high, an expectation that is feeding into longer-term rates. Hence Bessent’s bond-market humiliation. The truth is that Bessent might not have been able to get interest rates down even in the best of circumstances. But he certainly won’t get anywhere as long as Trump keeps believing that he can somehow convert his Iran debacle into a triumphant victory. And Trump will keep believing that as long as he is surrounded by sycophants who tell him what he wants to hear. Sycophants like, for example, Scott Bessent, who is predicting the imminent collapse of the Iranian economy, possibly within two weeks. Bessent is right to say that the embargo on Iranian oil exports is placing the country under great economic strain. But his implicit prediction that this will quickly produce a deal that Trump can call victory looks no more plausible than his boasts about the bond market. The big question now is, why would anyone with a reputation to lose work for Donald Trump? As the beclowning of Bessent shows, joining the Trump team won’t just damage your reputation; it will utterly destroy it.

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Sep 29 • 7:10 AM EDT • Politics • paulkrugman.substack.com
Lesbian Bar Project Co-Founder: Purity Politics Could Destroy Our Remaining Spaces

Subscribe As a professional lesbian and Massachusetts native, I’ve recently been asked by a lot of folks what I think about the saga unfolding at Last Ditch. The now-viral story, first reported by The Boston Globe, centers on a Western Massachusetts lesbian bar that lifted its mask requirement for one night a week to help drum up business. The decision ignited an intra-queer controversy that has been feasted on by media outlets across the political spectrum—from the New York Post to LGBTQ Nation—and is even reportedly being eyed for a Hollywood adaptation. Apparently nothing is more entertaining than a bunch of lesbians and queers fighting with each other over KN-95s. What has been lost in all of the chatter and media coverage is the very real possibility that Last Ditch, which just opened in April 2025, will have to close its doors. The venue’s one remaining founder, Jackie Matellian, revealed in a community Zoom meeting that she’s working four jobs, is now solely responsible for the bar’s $50,000 business loan and is struggling to keep up with the bills. So as we laugh about the controversy’s similarity to a “Portlandia” skit and how one of the bar’s founders left to enroll in clown school, we forget that yet another lesbian bar is facing an existential crisis—and this time the call is coming from inside the house. In 2020, my friend Elina Street and I created The Lesbian Bar Project, an Emmy-, Webby- and GLAAD Media Award-winning docuseries and initiative that tells the stories of lesbian queer bars around the world. We were moved to act because at the time there were only an estimated 16 lesbian bars in the United States, and the pandemic threatened to bring that number down even further. There are now more sapphic bars than there were just before the pandemic—about 36 of them in total—but this is down from approximately 200 in 1980. Maybe that doesn’t mean much to you, but for the millions of sapphics living in the U.S., this number is calamitous. As the world laughs at lesbians and sapphics, I want to take a second and tell you what I feel when I walk into one of these bars, which are all unique and irreplaceable in their own way: I feel seen. Sometimes I think Cubbyhole in New York City’s West Village neighborhood knew I was gay before I did. When I walked in there for the first time, before I was even out, I was transfixed by the colorful array of tchotchkes hanging from the ceiling and how the women standing next to me were completely unafraid to express their desire for one another. I knew the minute I was ready to come out, I had a home. I also felt the joy of a new couple falling in love at Seattle’s Wildrose, the quiet confidence of a short king lining up her shot at the pool table at Ginger’s in Brooklyn and the kick of cayenne pepper in Julie Mabry’s crawfish at Houston’s Pearl Bar. Subscribe Lesbian bars don’t just serve lesbians; they serve queer folks across the spectrum, including bisexual, pansexual and trans people. As Elina and I traveled across the U.S. and Europe and to parts of Latin America to document the bar owners, staff and patrons that make up the ecosystems of these spaces, we also became uniquely acquainted with the factors that threaten their existence: gentrification, wage gaps, sexism, environmental disasters, gun violence, rising insurance premiums and political administrations working to annihilate queer people and their families. Lesbian bar owners, like all leaders and entrepreneurs, are imperfect. There have been significant issues over the years at lesbian bars: employee harassment, racism, lack of accessibility, sexual assault and transphobia. All bar owners should be held accountable and should listen to their communities to evolve into safer and more equitable spaces. I also acknowledge my privilege: I am able-bodied, white, cis and from a family system that loves me for who I am. Not everyone has that. Queer people, especially trans and bisexual people, are suffering from disproportionately high levels of depression, and our mental health system isn’t equipped to support them. Immunocompromised people and long COVID are real, and many of my friends are suffering to this day. The people with the least safety net are often the ones for whom a bar closing costs the most. And yet, as we’re seeing with Last Ditch, the queer community often lashes out at each other. It’s also the mainstream media taking the internal conflict and making a mockery out of it, distracting from the real possibility that this bar could close due to financial pressures. A bar that many people loved and needed is facing extinction. Perhaps it’s safer to dissent with one another than with the larger forces trying to eradicate us, but in doing so, we risk destroying the few spaces we have left. Due to the constraints of purity politics—some in good faith, some not so much—lesbian bar owners, almost all of whom are queer women themselves, are forced to be everything for everyone, similarly to how women are forced to be everything for everyone. By asking these bars to uphold impossible standards—standards very few other third spaces are asked to consider—we all end up losing. I want to move as a community toward dialogue, compassionate dissent and collaboration to make our spaces better with the goal of keeping them OPEN and thriving, rather than destroying them from the inside with expectations that are arguably unattainable. Subscribe While I have your attention—for this fleeting second of the news cycle—may I urge us to spearhead a way to keep these small businesses afloat without attacking our own community along the way? Bar owners are left with an impasse: They want to be community-centered, but they also have to make money to keep their doors open. Sometimes they might make business decisions that don’t work for everyone—and that’s partly because different patrons have different priorities and want different things—but these owners deserve the opportunity for productive dialogue**.** We have to work with them and with each other to keep our spaces open, to keep them growing. Lesbian bars raised me into the queer woman I am today. One thing I think about as I reflect on the six years of work we’ve done to document these spaces is that shared, unspoken language I have with a stranger the moment we both walk into one of these bars: the nod, the ease, the not having to explain ourselves. I don’t want to lose that, and neither should you. If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button: Donate

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Sep 29 • 7:01 AM EDT • Politics • unclosetedmedia.com
Ex-Trump prosecutor Smith will tell senators he won't 'be silenced' by threats of prosecution

The former Justice Department special counsel who brought two federal indictments against President Donald Trump will tell lawmakers he “will not be silenced by continued threats of prosecution” from the Trump administration and believes the rule of law is being threatened like never before

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Sep 29 • 6:34 AM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com
Ex-Trump prosecutor Smith will tell senators he won't 'be silenced' by threats of prosecution

The former Justice Department special counsel who brought two federal indictments against President Donald Trump will tell lawmakers he “will not be silenced by continued threats of prosecution” from the Trump administration and believes the rule of law is being threatened like never before.

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Sep 29 • 6:28 AM EDT • Politics • wsls.com
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Sony to skip CES 2027 for first time since expo's inaugural event in 1967

Decision made as Sony shifts focus to "entertainment, intellectual property, and technology geared to support creators"

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Sep 29 • 6:15 AM EDT • Technology • gamesindustry.biz
Primetime Review: That’s Entertainment?

If you decide to see Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime, it’s important to remember the title as you watch. Yes, this is a biopic of sorts about Chris Hansen and his work on To Catch a Predator, but it is more accurately about the quest for fame and using people’s trauma to attract ratings. True crime entertainment continues to have a prominent place in many people’s television habits, and this film asks us to examine what that means both for those whose stories have become our viewing pleasure and those of us watching. Primetime starts as Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) is told that his show, To Catch a Predator, is moving to a 9 PM spot opposite LOST. Chris and his producer, Andie (Merritt Wever), see this as an opportunity to make the program even more sensational, looking for bigger, more horrific predators. As part of their plan, they hire a young actor, Dan Plum (Skyler Gisondo), to play “Decoy Dan,” the person who greets the would-be predators who were catfished by Xavier Von Erck (Matthew Maher). Oppenheim, along with writers Ajon Singh and Luke Dittrich, is less concerned with an accurate retelling of the show as much as they are interested in interrogating the why of it all. That decision sometimes leaves Primetime feeling less like a biopic and more like a satirical look at the nature of programming like this. Visually, the movie is impressive. Oppenheim uses light and color effectively to cast Hansen as both villain and savior. Pattinson plays Hansen in an almost comical manner, as we see him wake his two young sons to watch a clip of the show, just to brag that he was moving into a prime spot on television. Even Andie struggles to accept a “nice” job when there is so much more fame to be found producing salacious true-crime content. Wever does an excellent job showing how the hunger for fame is not just in front of the camera, but in every aspect of the production. The heart of the movie, and the standout performance, belongs to Gisondo as Dan Plum. He is someone who just wants to get enough hours to be admitted into the Screen Actors Guild, and stumbles into this job without really knowing what it is. Throughout the film, we watch him suffer one trauma after another, ending with him witnessing the suicide of a District Attorney who is about to become the next unwitting star of Hansen’s show. If there is a sympathetic character in Primetime, it is Decoy Dan, and Gisondo plays him brilliantly. If you’re a fan of programming like To Catch a Predator, then Primetime will probably make you feel uncomfortable, and I think it’s worth sitting with that feeling and examining why we turn on shows that display the worst of humanity while we judge from our couches. Yes, it is correct to want to see people who would hurt children brought to justice, but perhaps it shouldn’t be something that we watch as entertainment. Rating: 3.5/5 This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on September 25, 2026. MacGuffin or Meaning: Film & TV Reviews and Reflections is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

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Sep 29 • 5:37 AM EDT • Entertainment • alisechaffins.substack.com