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With bombing campaign unlikely to change Iran’s posture according to US intel, Trump faces limited options
Two weeks into a renewed bombing campaign against Iran, with US forces taking casualties and allies wary of the conflict escalating further, President Donald Trump insists that Iran is “desperate” to find an end to wave after wave of US attacks.
How a refinery fire ended a 25-year-old national mental health rule
A federal court said the demise of Chevron deference may have sealed the rule’s fate.
Police identify O.C. man fatally shot amid mental health crisis
A 20-year-old man fatally shot by Irvine police during a mental health crisis has been identified as Daniel Alfons Meltvedt of Irvine, authorities announced Wednesday. Meltvedt called the Irvine Po…
Angry Mobs Are Attacking Health Workers in Congo. It Will Only Make the Ebola Outbreak Worse
There have been dozens of attacks of health care providers amid an ongoing Ebola crisis in Congo. It’s expected to increase the death rate in what’s already one of the fastest-growing outbreaks.
US science funding barred for Chinese partnerships
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) will prohibit funding for US institutions collaborating with Chinese universities and other entities on the government’s restricted parties list.
The biggest barrier to teen mental health isn’t treatment.
Treatment is critically important, but experience has taught us that another challenge often comes first: ensuring young people are identified, supported and connected to care before a situation becomes a crisis.
Pakistan Unveils Rs 18.8 Trillion Budget 2026-27: Tax Relief for Salaried Class, Landmark Exemption for Women's Health Amid Regional Crisis
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presents federal budget for fiscal year 2026-27 during a National Assembly sessionISLAMABAD, July 22, 2026 (...
O.C. man shot dead after calling to report mental health crisis
A 20-year-old Irvine man was fatally shot after police said he charged at officers with a knife following more than an hour of crisis negotiations Tuesday. According to an Irvine Police Department …
Armed man shot by Irvine police called 911, reported mental health crisis, police say
A police shooting unfolded in Irvine after police say a man armed with a knife, who was experiencing a mental health crisis, called 911.
WATCH LIVE: Hegseth, Caine testify on Trump's funding request before Senate as Iran war reignites
Tech innovator and old guard general are focus of Ukraine's political crisis
When their personalities and policies clashed, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to fire popular young Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and keep Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi.
Pressley, Warren, Booker, Moore, Dingell, Adams, Underwood, Colleagues Renew Push to Combat Maternal Health Crisis
Mamas First Act would expand Medicaid coverage to include prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care provided by doulas, midwives, tribal midwives,...
Former Ohio governor, mayor urge local leaders to team up with experts on public health
Republican former governor John Kasich and Democratic former Cincinnati mayor John Cranley are urging local officials and experts to get prepared for a public health crisis.
Lilly’s $2.8 Billion Bet on Psychedelics Buys Science That Conventional Trial Infrastructure May Not Be Able to Run
Eli Lilly acquires AtaiBeckley for $2.8B, but the FDA's final psychedelic trial guidance reveals an operational crisis Big Pharma hasn't priced in.
Thanks to BookTok, business is booming for some North Texas independent bookstores
Some fear America is experiencing a literacy crisis, but business has been so good at Talking Animals Books in Grapevine that they opened a second location.
Farage, Reform in ‘trouble’, as UK braces for crypto influence in politics
Farage's crisis after revelations of substantial crypto donations prompts broader political questions over donor clout.
In Gaza, a mother's hunt for water lays bare a worsening health crisis
In pre-dawn darkness, Ibtisam Al-Helou leaves her tent on Gaza's seafront on a daily search for fresh water. The Mediterranean lies only a few steps away, but the water she needs to cook, drink and wash will mean a trek across Gaza City.
Valve suggests memory crisis is "still getting worse," admitting, "we're limited by memory capacity, for sure"
Steam Machine developer and gaming giant Valve has admitted that sourcing memory and storage supply for the Steam Machi…
How the Iran war’s unpopularity compares to Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam
An increasing volume of data suggests the Iran war has become about as unpopular as Iraq and Vietnam ever were — and it became so much more quickly.
Suicide by Police: Shootings raise questions about mental health crisis
Officers faced with split-second decisions as deadly confrontations involving mental health crises rise
Rethinking the campus mental health “crisis”
A developmental psychologist who studies college student mental health explains why it's time to retire the "kids these days" narrative.
Sausalito City Manager, Former SF Port Director, Arrested During ‘Mental Health Crisis’
Elaine Forbes was the director of the Port of San Francisco for nearly a decade before starting the new role in Marin County three weeks ago.
"Honestly, it’s still getting worse" - Valve Steam Machine engineer says component prices are still rising, potentially paving the way for a price increase
The memory crisis is not showing signs of abating, according to people whose job it is to price-out every component that goes into Valve's hardware.
Science can serve dark as well as light
I’m not sure how many of you are watching “Star City,” Apple TV’s spin-off of its “For All Mankind” program (2019-present), but it’s one of the better sci-fi series I’ve seen in a while, with an impressively dark political message. (Some light spoilers below.) For the uninitiated, “For All Mankind” presented a slightly tweaked history of the U.S. space program in which it was the USSR that landed on the Moon first in 1969, and shortly thereafter put a woman cosmonaut on the lunar surface. This sparks an ongoing space race that, in the original series, yields a lot of benefits for humanity. President Nixon’s insistence on a female astronaut corps to compete with the Soviets boosts the feminist movement of the 1970s and the ERA passes. New fuels generated for the space program create clean and cheap energy around Earth. There are also some darker changes — the USSR is thriving well into the 2000s, there are terrorist counter-technology movements around the globe, laborers on Mars work in nightmarish conditions and organize strikes and riots, etc. the @smotus report is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please become a paid subscriber. Subscribe That show offers glimpses into the subtle ways this Earth is different. Teddy Kennedy never went to Chappaquidick because he was racing back to Washington to deal with the space program crisis; he gets elected President in 1972. John Lennon survives his early 1980s shooting but Pope John Paul II does not. The Apple Newton succeeded. Pretty much the whole of season 4 is a setup for an Al Gore joke. Again, mostly, the vision that “For All Mankind” presents is a positive one, with technology advancing many human interests. “Star City” goes in a very different direction. This spin-off show is about the same set of events but from the Soviet perspective. As we meet them, the team of scientists and cosmonauts responsible for the lunar landing are still basking in their hero status, but their program is embedded deep in the Soviet security state of the late 1960s. Everyone’s apartment is bugged. Whole teams of clerical staff spend their days transcribing recordings of people’s lives. People in the program, including respected cosmonauts, are regularly arrested. An incredibly menacing Colonel Lyudmilla Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin) forces confessions and tortures and kills, expressing little more than annoyance in the process. Meanwhile, the space program’s highly respected Chief Designer (Rhys Ifans) has a vision for the program that he knows the government will not approve. He insists that they need to think past the Moon to focus on colonizing the solar system, starting with Venus. (This is a rough parallel to the Americans’ pivot to Mars in the original show.) He essentially builds a secret space program within the space program, calculating that the government will embrace the mission after it has succeeded. (As an aside, I’m not sure why the Venus obsession, as a successful mission can’t produce the biggest public relations payoff: a cosmonaut standing on the surface holding the Soviet flag. Anyone standing on Venus would be immediately crushed by the 92-bar atmosphere and then cremated in the 900°F temperatures. But in a country with no free press perhaps the visual payoff was less valued.) But the overall vision is that the technological advances have only amplified the most fearsome aspects of the Soviet system. The state is paranoid (but not incorrect) about American spies and does monstrous things to protect its secrets. People are terrified to trust each other. Classic banality-of-evil figures order people to harm those they care about; those people comply rather than get shot. Others are forced into criminal behavior to protect loved ones. We’re reminded all the time these days of what happens when a government despises science. It manifests in the defunding of schools, the elevation of fossil fuels as the rest of the world pivots to solar, outbreaks of measles and diarrhea, etc. But “Star City” offers a vision of a bad government that likes science. It’s not encouraging. It’s not yet clear if there will be a season two of this show. But I strongly recommend season one. It’s both thoughtful and gripping. Share
Russian anti-war politician ends run for parliament, citing legal setbacks
July 20 (Reuters) - Boris Nadezhdin, a Russian anti-war politician who had hoped to stand in parliamentary elections later this year, has announced he is ending his role in opposition politics for now, blaming what he said were politically-motivated ...
The War, the Oil Crisis and American Politics
According to people who follow the oil trade closely, we are entering the point at which the oil buffer of global reserves is reaching its limits. In
Why AI and TikTok could make the youth mental health crisis even worse
With expert mental health help too often out of reach, teens are turning to TikTok in search of answers.
Virtual town hall confronts high healthcare costs in SB
In response to the affordable health care crisis, Health Access, along with a coalition of health, consumer, patient, labor, and small business partners,
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline marks 4 years as NC expands mental health crisis services
As the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline marks its fourth anniversary, North Carolina is rolling out new crisis response tools to meet growing demand for mental health support.
This wild Microsoft tech may solve data storage and backup crisis forever
Future data storage backup crises may become a thing of the past, thanks to Microsoft's groundbreaking technology innovation.
Steam Machine Engineers at Valve Signal Grim Future as Memory Crisis Is 'Still Getting Worse'
Steam Machine engineers at Valve have warned the ongoing memory crisis in tech is "still getting worse" as buyers face already exorbitant prices.
Valve warns memory crisis is getting worse, retail prices lag bulk supply by up to six months
Valve says manufacturers are seeing component conditions that have not yet reached store shelves. The retail impact may arrive within three to six months.
I Wrote That Healthcare's Problem Is Us. The Objections Proved My Point.
Do we have a leadership crisis in US? Or a crisis of incentives. No one seems to agree.
Doing More With Less: How Counties Can Successfully Address Behavioral Health Crisis Response Needs
Join Bamboo Health for a practical discussion on strategies county health departments can use to maximize resources and improve care outcomes.
Near-Earth asteroid not an asteroid at all
1998 SH2's story is a 30-year-long cosmic identity crisis.
'These are striking forecasts': Super El Niño keeps getting even more likely, and it could bring a humanitarian crisis
Forecasts point to the ongoing El Niño rapidly strengthening to a likely all-time record in the coming months, fueling temperature rises and extreme weather.
Ukraine's Zelenskyy faces political crisis amid Russian attacks
Russian attacks overnight on Ukraine killed at least four civilians and wounded 20, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Lawsuit filed in cop's fatal shooting of woman in mental health crisis
Family members insist that 25-year-old Victoria Lee was no threat, and officers knew it
Political crisis and protests in Ukraine as Zelenskyy defends sacking defence minister
President says he had to choose ‘one side or the other’ after breakdown of relations between ministry and military leaders
'Crisis' in youth sports comes into focus after early US World Cup exit
Another early World Cup exit underscores a fractured youth sports culture in the United States, as the nation hopes to catch up with footballing powerhouses that have no clogs in their talent pipeline.
Trump weighing options for expanding military operations in Iran
President Donald Trump has been receiving options for expanding the military operation in Iran, according to people familiar with the matter, including during a Situation Room meeting on Tuesday.
The crisis continues: Nearly 90% of deaths from ischemic heart disease could have been prevented
There has been progress over the years, researchers noted, but there is still a lot of work to do.
The States Try to Topple WarnerMount…Thus Begins the Local Antitrust Era
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Well, it looks like it’s time for another strategy column. Can I finally avoid writing about M&A? No, it seems I cannot. Admittedly, I’m a week early with this column, since I usually put it out every other week. But this news couldn’t wait. This will make three “Most Important Stories” in a row with a merger or acquisition as its centerpiece. First, Roku-Fox (an acquisition), then Comcast-NBCUniversal (a divestment!), and now the State AGs and the WGA’s lawsuits against Paramount’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery (antitrust). M&A is usually the “most important” topic any given week, simply because a giant company merging or breaking up (or preventing those outcomes) can have the biggest impact on the streaming board. If you think about these companies as players in a game, changing the number of players is one of the biggest changes you can make. I shouldn’t really complain, either, since this lawsuit is very good news for customers and suppliers (econ speak for talent, workers and indie studios in Hollywood). So let me answer some questions about this potential trial, along with (shudder) making some heavily caveated predictions. I’ll also look at whether Hollywood must consolidate, whether or not the states can win, trouble at X-Box, Netflix’s YouTube binge, and more. Plus, I have five images that visualize this merger and the harm, including three brand new data looks you’ve never seen before. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Can The States and the WGA Stop Hollywood’s Consolidation (Crisis)? If every other newsletter and news outlet is writing about the same story, I try to avoid writing about it as well, but I can’t ignore a story this consequential. The story of the last year was the fate of Warner Bros. Discovery, and this development potentially extends that saga into 2027. As I tried to figure out my angle, I realized, like my last column, I’m again faced with a series of questions. These questions, though, are much more forward-looking. Will the states win? Will the WGA win? If so, what happens to Warner Bros. Discovery? Either way, will this chill the market for future mergers? So you know what that means: predictions. About the future, no less, the hardest thing to predict.1 Just remember: nothing here comes with a guarantee. And the more confident someone is in their predictions, the less you should trust them. This situation is incredibly fluid, nuanced, uncertain and tenuous. So let’s try to explain what may happen. Question: Why File this Lawsuit? I’ll admit, a few months back, I was fairly pessimistic about the fate of this lawsuit. Rumors had started bubbling up that the state Attorneys General (in particular California) wanted to settle with either some minor divestments (usually CNN) or behavioral remedies. And that tracked for me: the states usually settle lawsuits, like the recent John Deere right-to-repair suit. Yet, they plan to fight this. (As they did the LiveNation-Ticketmaster monopolization trial and the Nexstar-Tegna merger.) Honestly, that also makes a ton of sense. Frankly, this move is just good politics for these State AGs. Most are still running for higher and higher office in blue states—some folks have emphasized that only Democratic AGs joined this suit, but given the Ellison/Trump ties, and fears of retribution, that tracks—and a high profile case like this will help them move up the electoral ladder, especially since Paramount and its leadership (the Ellisons, father and heir) have sided with the other side of the political aisle. That makes them unsympathetic to Democratic voters and Hollywood workers in particular. Why did this lawsuit happen? In addition to the very real concerns about industry consolidation, this is why. That said, I don’t think we would have seen this lawsuit for Netflix and Warner Bros., simply because they’re more sympathetic and aligned with Democrats. But those consolidation concerns are real. The “town”—meaning Hollywood and such—really is seeing the damage of mergers on this industry. That’s why the WGA also filed its own lawsuit in defense of workers as well. (Wildcard: What about Europe? Will they try to stop the deal, too? There have been some rumors out of the UK they may try to fight the deal, and UK enforcers just stopped a Getty Images-Shutterstock tie up, so there is precedence. This argument could go either way, though. On one hand, the EU doesn’t need to step in, cause they states are handling it. On the other hand, this could make the EU’s case easier. Just imagine if both sides coordinated. I’ll simply say, “We’ll see!”) Question: Will The State AGs or the WGA Win? Can the state AGs play David to Paramount-Skydance’s Goliath here? That’s really the whole thing, isn’t it? If you know this result, you could make a lot of money. When things are uncertain, it’s tempting to shrug and say, “Eh” meaning it’s a 50/50 proposition. I wouldn’t, though. When in doubt, you should expect that the merging parties succeed. AT&T did successfully buy Warner Bros., after all, and Disney bought Fox without any challenges. Many judges are extremely sympathetic to mergers, and I’d bet the state AGs get a judge who will allow the merger. (Even Obama-appointed judges often allow mergers.) As I understand it, we’ll see two main attacks. First, theatrical films. The AGs are arguing that, when it comes to share of box office and the number of both “wide releases” and blockbuster (or “tentpole”) films, the merging parties will have over 27% market share. Now, the Supreme Court once ruled from on high that any merger that exceeds 30% is presumptively illegal, but that’s guidance, not an ironclad bar. Still, the states will have to argue that this is close to having too much power, and with that power, this will likely further worsen the theater/studio splits in particular. Indeed, as Matthew Stoller pointed out, “just five studios are responsible for 95% of all blockbusters; if this merger goes through, then Paramount and Disney will control 60% of that.” So yes, movie studios will be very concentrated after this merger. Want me to visualize some of that? Well, here’s the share of films that grossed over $200 million at the domestic box office since 2022. (Note: this isn’t all films released in over 3,000 screens, but it is a good look at market power.) First, here are the 43 films by studio: Notice all the blue (Disney), orange (Universal), and purple (Warner Bros)? Yeah, those studios are powerful, and this combines Paramount with one of them. Here’s the look by studio and share of the films that grossed over $200 million: Now, if you look at that and also think, “Huh, should we break up Disney?” I’m with you. I’ve seen some folks poo-poo this idea that this is a real category, but it is! For an upcoming article, I’ve been pulling data on the share of top 100 films at the box office as a share of total box office, and it’s massive. Here’s the chart: (This analysis looks at The-Number’s top 100 films and total domestic box office each year.) To be clear, tentpoles make up 80.7% of the box office each year, so I do think it’s a genuine market. (To be clear, films grossing over $50 million make up 80% of the domestic box office, and films grossing over $100 million make up 64.1%.) I mean, the top 100 films at the box office make up 95% of each year’s grosses. Worse, the combined studios will likely cut output to flex that market power. Everyone can just look at what happened to Disney and Fox to see the precedent. (With fewer films, the remaining theaters have to give more for those few films that remain.) Here’s an image I’ve used a lot, the share of wide-release films from Disney and Fox over time: The AGs will also argue that this consolidation will also impact the cable industry. In this case, the consolidation is actually worse, but that environment is…complicated. Paramount will argue that the cable industry is shrinking. That said, predictions that cable will “go to zero” also don’t look very well supported by the data, as the declines are shrinking, meaning “cable” or “vMVPDs” will likely stabilize at some point. Can the state Attorneys General win on those two main arguments? I honestly don’t know. Again, I’d bet no, since history in general supports that, but it depends on the judge/jury and how they interpret the arguments. Notably, Paramount won’t face accusations about monopoly power in other areas, like streaming, news, sports rights, or vertical integration. I tend to disagree with leaving out sports rights, but I also see the appeal for a simpler case. The states also aren’t really pushing novel theories about labor harm either, which should help. (By the way, Sean McNulty at The Ankler wrote a great run through of potential options, and Capitol Forum also wrote a great paper on theatrical consolidation. Both these pieces predated the lawsuit. Matthew Stoller is also out with his analysis of the pros and cons of the case too.) In some ways, the WGA’s case is even stronger. Quoting Sean McNulty’s summary: “The WGA is citing WARNAMOUNT as crossing a 30% market share in multiple sectors, a number that the Supreme Court has precedent for deeming “presumptively anticompetitive” in a market. According to the WGA numbers, WARNAMOUNT would have represented: - 35% of film writing jobs between 2021 and 2024 - 36% of TV writing projects between 2022 and 2025 - 38% of overall deals between 2021 and 2024” Notably, antitrust enforcers did win recently in the Penguin-Simon & Schuster merger by focusing on labor impact, so don’t count this thinking out. (Wildcard: Will the states try to get a jury trial? Most likely no, they’ll let a judge handle it. If I’m them, though, I’d try to put this in front of a jury. Juries tend to understand monopoly power in a more realistic way than judges faced with legions of economists.) Question: What if They Win? What if They Lose?
How will the bipartisan housing bill affect the affordability crisis?
The bill became law even though President Donald Trump didn’t sign it
Video: Woman, still wearing psychiatric bracelet, jailed by OKC officer during mental health crisis
An interaction between an Oklahoma City police officer and a woman in a mental health crisis is now under investigation after body camera video showed
Mobile council weighs business license revocation amid $910,000 fraud investigation: ‘Community crisis’
Mobile police are investigating 108 incidences of potential fraud totaling over $910,000 related to unfulfilled window and roofing projects.
Trump revives his decades-old Iran warning as US ramps up military pressure: 'remarkably consistent'
A 1980 video clip shows Trump urging the U.S. to send troops into Iran during the hostage crisis, resurfacing as CENTCOM resumes a naval blockade.
47 revelatory hours with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
To review this month’s supposed remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, I must first correct the record. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced isn’t a game about pirates (and assassins) in the 18th century Caribbean. Sure, sure, that’s what the trailers would have you believe. They’ve go their clips of Edward Kenway swinging his swords and steering his pirate ship into cannon-blasting combat against British frigates. Is Resynced truly a pirate game? Of the 47 hours I spent playing Resynced over the past few weeks, I will admit I spent maybe 44 (?) of them collecting plunder with Blackbeard, drinking rum with Anne Bonny and debating the pros and cons of the lawless pirate-run settlement Nassau with Benjamin Hornigold. I may in fact have spent dozens of hours sailing to remote islands, reading treasure maps, opening messages left in bottles, sinking the odd Man o’ War with a well-timed broadside, collecting sea shanties for my crew, befriending a pet monkey, and hunting whales. I am nevertheless neither so Gullible nor so Narrow-Minded as to call the magnificent Resynced a “pirate remake.” Oh no. Forget any reviews of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced you may have read. Forget what you yourself may have played, if you’ve spent any time with the game since its launch. What Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is really about I’m here to give you the scoop (spoilers for Resynced’s Animus menu lore, which many players are probably not going to see): Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, the new game whose development was led by Ubisoft Singapore, is set in the year 2096. It’s about a societal split, about revolution, about an old Assassin’s Creed adventure repurposed in the series’ distant future as propaganda or samizdat. It’s about the overheated future of 2096, essentially conquered by the series’ well-established nefarious Templar-run company Abstergo. (In this future, Abstergo is, among other things, remaking a 2013 pirate movie called Devils of the Caribbean, but this time in VR. The VR version will be backed by a marketing plan that involves AI influencers, a 10,000-avatar “metaverse premiere event” and that manufacturing of memes aimed at “50 million VR nodes.” See what I mean about Abstergo being evil?) Resynced is about a late 21st-century population mollified by the widespread use of Abstergo’s Animus devices which let people experience the lives of historical figures culled from “genetic memories.” It’s about an insurgent faction of Assassins. And it’s about a plan to wake the population into revolutionary fervor by showing them the memories of 18th century pirate Edward Kenway, who—as depicted in the original Black Flag and again in Resynced—gradually comes to an understanding about the Assassins of his day and their centuries old fight for freedom. Resynced is also about an AI developed within the late 21st-century Animus, called Ego. It has found a way to alter genetic memories, to create and show Animus users false ones. The game is about Ego’s efforts to tell the people experiencing Edward Kenway’s memories that Kenway was wrong, that fighting against order is folly, that we should crave a world where “compliance is rewarded with power.” Who are we in this game? We’re an unnamed Animus user in 2096 who experiences Kenway’s journey virtually. At four moments during Kenway’s exploits in the Caribbean our virtual jaunt can be interrupted for 10-15 minutes, as we explore Animus “rifts” where Ego explicitly tries to tell us how wrong Kenway was. None of this is what 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was about, of course. That was a different game, even if you also spent dozens of hours pirating as Kenway in that game, across missions and a map that’s been faithfully reintroduced and rebuilt for Resynced. The 2013 Black Flag was about you playing as an unnamed researcher newly hired in 2013 by Abstergo Entertainment, the video game development wing of the Templars’ evil-corp. In that game, you were assigned to use the Animus to dive into the genetic memories of Desmond Miles, a man who died in Assassin’s Creed III and who was descended from a long line of Assassins (and at least one Templar) whose adventures were featured across the prior AC games. In 2013’s Black Flag, your mission was to plumb the Edward Kenway experience for material that Abstergo could use in productions such as the motion picture Devils of the Caribbean, though the Templars had some ulterior motives for the assignment. Resynced is therefore not a remake of 2013’s Black Flag. It’s a sequel. It is a new game about a new exploration of Edward Kenway’s pirate/assassin journey, set 83 years after the framing sequences of the original game. Resynced provides a new narrative framework that, thanks to the concept of an AI that wants to alter historical memories, arrives with creative justification to tweak a now-classic 13-year old game. That makes Resynced, already a hot seller, a tantalizing hint of where Ubisoft could go with a line of Assassin’s Creed remakes. They could remake the first game, the Ezio games, even the recent ones set in ancient Egypt and Greece. And for each, they could not just modernize the graphics and controls but expand and alter their sequences of events to use them as reference points for a conflict set in the late 21st century, as rival factions try to weaponize historical memories. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, even when that work consists of ravings about Assassin’s Creed’s modern day plot, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe A story most players will probably miss If you didn’t know any of this, I’m not surprised. If you played the game and still didn’t catch it, I’m not a bit shocked. If Ubisoft has no plans to do more of this, I won’t fall down. Almost all of what I’ve described is optional and missable in Black Flag Resynced. I nearly missed it myself, as I planned for a breezy playthrough of an old Assassin’s Creed favorite. Instead, I found myself in a 40+ hour hunt for the “real” story, buried deeper in Resynced than any gold-filled chest. The story of 2096 is Resynced’s meta-story, told in two remote pockets of the game: 1) four optional playable “rifts” that players may find as they proceed through Resynced’s pirate fantasy , 2) in dozens of text files tucked three menus deep in the game’s barely-interactive Animus hub. Assassin’s Creed games have almost always had a meta-story about people in the 21st century (usually matching the game’s release year) and their connections to the main history portions you play. Those meta-stories have always been squeezed into the margins, though seldom as severely and as, uh, graphiaclly simple, as in recent games. Back in 2013, the modern-day exploits of you as an Abstergo Entertainment employee were prominent. They were portrayed via first-person portions that occasionally interrupted the third-person Kenway experience and could be explored for hours, complete with their own missions, side quests and puzzles. Resynced’s 2096 story—of Assassin “Watchers” vs. Abstergo/Tempar goons, of rogue AIs, of panicking scientists, of a woman wondering why her Animus-addicted husband is muttering about Mary Read (“What does he mean by Assassins?”), of a fight for the population’s hearts and minds via varying interpretations of Edward Kenway’s life choices—is mostly told through unlockable text files. The files are interesting. Offered via diary entries, intercepted chats and news reports, they present varied perspectives of a world in crisis. One set works as a narrative puzzle as it reveals the Rashomonic interpretations of a massacre, or was that a successful Assassin hit? Another favorite reveals the rising bitterness of a person who, through Edward Kenway’s journey, now shakes at the ignored evil around him. One surmises that Ubisoft is averse to putting the Assassin’s Creed’s meta-story in the way of more marketable pirate playgrounds and ninja/samurai epics. Instead, we get a better-than-nothing text-in-menus approach introduced in 2025’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In Shadows, players unlocked the meta-story text files largely via time-gated missions that called on the user to kill X number of enemy type Y, clear three enemy castles, re-win a three-phase fighting tournament, and other grinds. Time restrictions on accessing these missions and unlocking the files meant it could take players months to access the full story in-game. But even in the most hardcore Assassin’s Creed hangouts, the fanbase instead seemed to throw up their hands rather than grind to keep up. In Resynced, Ubisoft has shown some mercy, diminishing the amount of new text files that are tied to timed grinds. Now, most of the text-based 2096 lore are associated with “data file” collectibles that players can find in the world. That includes a batch of written entries that explain a historical link between the feudal Japan era in Shadows and the piracy adventures in Black Flag. Players who explore a lot will find dozens of data files, though the game does not appear to offer any in-game tracker for finding each one. You just need to keep looking for them. As of this writing, I have most of them, but not all. I can’t find any full guide for them online. And even Ubisoft’s optional $5 microtransaction that reveals lots of items in-game does not appear to reveal the locations of the text files (at least the official description omits them from its collectibles list). That’s not a huge bother, because tracking the data files down compelled me to re-explore the waves and islands of Black Flag. That was a thoroughly pleasant task to do for the first time in a dozen years. I expect many players, though, will be content to wait for the files to be reproduced in an online AC wiki somewhere, the easier to read on a web page. It may not seem enticing to play a video game in order to gradually unlock pages of text to read. Why not, you may ask, just read a book, where they put the pages in order? For one, they’ve not tucked this latest installment of Assassin’s Creed’s meta saga in a book. I also enjoy the unordered delivery, the dawning comprehension of a story about 2096’s desperate people and questionable tech, which I glimpsed first at its middle, then the end, then the front, then other moments in between1. I am also enamored with the idea of the Assassin’s Creed games I’ve previously played, including Black Flag, being repurposed for an information war. The ideas in Resynced’s meta-story, which builds off characters and ideas in Shadows’ chunks of text, are strong. The potential of where they could go with it is exciting. As for the pirate stuff? Looks great, controls pretty well, is fun to play and oh so speedy in terms of how much of a good time you can have with each sit-down. It never gets old to chase a new shanty page across a rooftop, bombard a fort with upgraded mortars or use a diving bell to explore sunken wrecks (hats off to the team at Ubisoft Barcelona that worked on the underwater portions in Resynced; that team is now facing layoffs, such is the misery of modern gaming and oft-troubled Ubisoft). New pirate missions in Resynced involving new ally characters are brief, dramatic and add more to Edward’s story, even if the gameplay perks they provide barely enhance the gameplay. A new denouement for high-class pirate Stede Bonnet is affecting; a new hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure is a welcome extra moment. A new epilogue to hunt down a pirate killer, on the other hand, over-complicates Kenway’s character. The ending credits remain my favorite of any game I’ve ever played. Black Flag provides great source material. The revisit is well-made and a great sign of what could be. It is offered in a different wrapper that hints at an opportunity for more interesting remakes to come, should Ubisoft choose to pursue such treasures—and as we brace to resist or comply with an Abstergo future. 1 The messages that Edward Kenway finds in bottles tell another out-of-order story, one about a man reckoning with the strange memories and voices he’s heard in his head since he was a boy. That tale was also in the 2013 game and develops into one of Black Flag’s most compelling character arcs. In Resynced, it has lost its climax, because the bottle story previously paid off in the halls of the first-person Abstergo Entertainment, which is exclusive to the older game. An altered resolution, written by the 2013 game’s lead writer is fine, doesn’t invalidate the 2013 version, but makes for an inferior final note.
‘Mental health crisis’ at Burnsville home leads to large fire, 1 death
Authorities in Burnsville say a call about someone experiencing a mental health crisis led to a fire in a home where a man was later found dead.
Warsh: Fed Doesn’t Want to Be in Bailout Business
Asked about whether the Federal Reserve would step in with a bailout in the event of a financial crisis involving cryptocurrencies, Chairman Kevin Warsh says the central bank does “not want to be in the bailout business.” The Fed is going to “do everything we can to mitigate those sort of extra ris
The new trust crisis: What fraud means for media and entertainment
To fight media and entertainment fraud, CTAM's Vicki Lins and AARP's Kathy Stokes recommend making proactive consumer education, empathetic customer support, clear communication and industry collaboration a priority.
988 Enters Its Fourth Year as Demand Grows and the Mental Health and Substance Use Landscape Shifts
Data as of March 2026 show that demand for 988 continues to rise, with the volume of calls, texts, and chats 15% higher than a year earlier and nearly 50% higher than two years ago. States are also answering more calls in-state, where counselors are more likely to be familiar with local resources.
Jail should not be the only option for kids in mental-health crisis
States need to reverse the decline of residential psychiatric treatment options for youth, before juvenile detention becomes the default alternative.
Dallas County's largest mental health provider faces severe financial crisis
Dallas County officials are divided over how to rescue Metrocare, the county's largest behavioral health provider, as it faces a severe financial crisis requiring up to $15 million to avoid going broke
The policy gaps in behavioral health coverage — and what it’ll take to close them, per 1 exec
Nearly four years after the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline launched, states, payers and county systems still define behavioral health crisis care inconsistently, and Medicare offers limited coverage for community-based crisis stabilization services — leaving safety-net funding, Medicaid, federal block grants, and state and local dollars to carry the cost for nearly 200 million Americans. […]
Woodford Believes Sports Entertainment Gaming Global Corporation (Nasdaq:SEGG) 10-K Exposes Unexplained Borrowing, 1,145% Dilution and a Deep Corporate Crisis
SEGG acknowledges the Woodford agreements, security rights and LCIA arbitration, but does not explain how later borrowing, secured financing and share issuance complied with those protections
The Cutthroat Smartphone Industry And DRAM Crisis Force A Player Out Of The U.S. Market, Giving Apple & Samsung Additional Room To Reap Profits
The brutality of the smartphone industry coupled with rising DRAM costs have forced one manufacturer out of the U.S. market
Are 988 and other mental health crisis lines missing people over 50?
Many people over 50 aren't aware of the 988 mental health crisis line, though some are aware of other crisis lines, suggesting an opportunity to increase awareness and use.
He was having a mental health crisis. Memphis task force agents came and shot him
Jonah Neal, 25, was struck by a Homeland Security Investigations agent in May. There have been at least four deadly shootings related to the task force.
Mechanics say they're losing business as vehicles get more high tech
High-tech features are making vehicles more expensive and difficult to repair, putting pressure on already strained car owners and posing an existential crisis for mom-and-pop mechanics.
Local politicians secure $5m for youth mental health centers
Mental health funding Two local state Assembly members have secured $5 million in the 2026-27 budget for youth mental health centers. “Youth in California are facing a serious mental health crisis, and resources like the allcove youth m…
Ohio officials approve co-responder program for behavioral health calls
A MetroHealth social worker will respond with Parma and Parma Heights police and firefighters to mental health, substance use, homelessness and other crisis calls
'Popsicles for a Purpose' event highlights health care affordability crisis
MAGA Rep Cries ‘Cover-Up’ in McConnell Health Crisis
“This whole thing is a farce,” the Tennessee representative said.
I'm saving hundreds on new phones while everyone else panics about the RAM crisis
I found the one trick that keeps me ahead
UN aid groups say quake-hit areas on verge of health crisis
CATIA LA MAR, Venezuela -- Victims of the powerful twin earthquakes that jolted Venezuela last month and those spared by the destruction flooded relief services offered by nongovernmental organizations in the hardest-hit areas on Thursday.
‘Spermageddon’: is the world facing a male reproductive crisis?
Reports of falling sperm counts and testosterone levels have fuelled fears over chemicals, pollution and modern lifestyles. But how much do scientists agree on what is affecting male fertility?
Joe Klein: At 80, Here’s What I’ve Learned About Politics—and Life
I am 80 years old, this year of our 250th anniversary, and I find myself a cliché. My life has been a common political journey, from left to center. I recently took the Pew Research Center’s “political typology” test and found that I was a “pragmatic and polite conservative,” which seemed a rather abstruse basket: A politically mixed (though Republican-tilting) group, they lean conservative on economics and the role of government, while tilting more liberal on issues related to race and foreign policy. They prize civility and cooperation in politics. Well, that sounds pretty mushy—and I find it hard to square with the strong opinions I have on many issues. I’ve voted for Democrats in federal elections, but I grow more Republican the closer I get to local politics. Democrats, I’ve found, simply aren’t very good at running things, especially school systems, where they are in the thrall of the teachers unions. My friends joke about my obsession with the unions. They know all my lines. If industrial unions are organized against the power of capital, who are the public employees organized against? But enough of that. I’ve ranted that rant too often, and my political journey has been more complicated than that one issue. It has been empirical, based on actual experience—on a lifetime of reporting and a lot of reading. An early example: I was a journalist with the underground press in Boston at the turn of the 1970s and considered myself a member of the antiwar and civil rights movements. The first big issue I covered was busing to achieve school integration. Yes, the white bigots were disgusting. But I couldn’t find any black parents who favored the plan to bus their children to schools outside their neighborhoods either. Black activists and politicians—and white liberals—were gung ho, but not actual parents of black kids in school. Busing was a form of social engineering imposed from on high, by a judge—W. Arthur Garrity—who lived in a wealthy liberal suburb. Wealthy liberal suburbs were not affected by his plan, of course. I began to see that there were limits to what government could do, especially when it came to changing a society’s culture.
Register for the Michigan Mental Health Diversion Council 2026 Summit
The Michigan Mental Health Diversion Council (MMHDC) and the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice are hosting “A Decade of Progress: Advancing Diversion and Crisis Response in Michigan Counties” on Thursday, Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. to noon.
MAGA's attack on science is even worse than it looks
In my post on America’s 250-year anniversary, I argued that respect for the individual was the “secret sauce” in the U.S.’ long-lasting preeminence among nations. But it was certainly not the only factor. There were plenty of institutional innovations that helped the U.S. stay on top — economically, militarily, and in terms of the attractiveness of its society. One of these was American science. Today we take things like the modern research university, government grants for science, public-to-private research spinoffs, etc. for granted, but a lot of that infrastructure wasn’t there before World War 2. It was either invented or scaled up massively by the U.S. government in the postwar period, led by far-sighted scientist-bureaucrats like Vannevar Bush (pictured above). If you want to read about this history, a good place to start would be Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson’s excellent book Jump-Starting America. Those scientific institutions didn’t exist in a vacuum, however. They were backed by the U.S. government’s abiding faith in the power of science — and, even more fundamentally, by deep popular trust in the scientific enterprise. Science gave us radar and the atom bomb in wartime, and in peacetime it gave us plastics, vaccines, cheap food, and a thousand other things that made our lives easier. Science was also the driver behind American industry — chemicals, aerospace, telecommunications, computers, electronics, and so on. We owed science our jobs, our livelihoods, our comfortable living standards, and our greatness and power as a nation. It’s little wonder that both political parties, even as they fought viciously over other issues, were steadfast in their support of science. For a long time, the only people who distrusted science were a hippie fringe on the left who disliked modernity (or thought they did, anyway), who also disliked American industry and American power, and who subscribed to an early version of degrowth environmentalism. America’s scientific enterprise is still strong, especially compared to the systems in Europe, Japan, Korea, and other developed countries. It has lost a lot of ground to China in a relative sense, but a lot of that is because of China’s incredible growth; as China has poured untold amounts of money and talent into its research labs, spending and output have overtaken the U.S. by some measures. There are a few ways in which China’s rise creates problems for American science — for example, top scientists can choose to work in China instead of in the U.S. — and of course there’s the concern that China’s technological strength will help its military to reign supreme. But overall, China’s rise in science should be good for American science, since American scientists can use Chinese discoveries for free and build on them. The much bigger problem is that the scientific enterprise America built during and after World War 2 is now being threatened with absolute decline. The biggest problem, of course, is that much of the country — the Republican half — has basically lost faith in the scientific enterprise. To what degree this loss of faith is justified is an open question, and deserves to be discussed openly. But the larger point — that the system that powered American dominance is under threat — is true either way. Most Americans still trust science, but MAGA Republicans don’t There’s a myth, popular in right-wing circles, that scientists have lost the trust of regular Americans — either due to the increasingly left-wing composition of academic departments, or to misbehavior during Covid, or to DEI-related research taking over science, etc. This also fits with a wider narrative that Americans are losing trust in all of our institutions. But it just isn’t true. Poll after poll shows that on the whole, Americans still trust scientists and want to spend more on science. For example, here’s a Pew poll from late 2025 showing that although about a fifth of Republicans did lose confidence in science in 2020, two thirds still have at least “a fair amount” of confidence: That same poll found that scientists are among America’s most trusted groups — even better trusted than the military! In fact, Americans trust scientists more than people in most other countries do. Other polls show that although Republican trust in science has dropped somewhat, Republican support for spending more on science remains very strong: A Pew poll in 2023 found the exact same thing: So when MAGA types tell you about scientists losing their credibility, or a drop in trust in science, they’re only talking about themselves. Whatever left-wing politicization of science happened during the Biden administration — and there was definitely some of that — it was not enough to make most Republicans lose faith in the scientific enterprise, or favor research cuts in order to purge unwanted ideology from the system. That doesn’t mean I think progressives should continue down the path of politicizing scientific research. They should not, and Biden made real missteps in this area. Objectivity clearly matters for public trust of science in the long term. But as of right now, there’s no crisis of trust in science, except among the smallish minority of people who are running around screaming that there’s a crisis of trust in science. But despite science’s overwhelming popularity and public trust, Trump and his administration are launching an unprecedented and devastating attack on American science — cutting funding, and forcing science projects to undergo ideological review by government commissars. Trump’s comprehensive attack on science
Hospitals Help: Grand Traverse Mental Health Crisis and Access Center Advances Behavioral Healthcare in Northern Michigan - MHA | Michigan Health & Hospital Association
Michigan hospitals are working alongside community partners to remove barriers and ensure residents across the state have access to timely, lifesaving behavioral healthcare services. Located on the Munson Medical Center campus, the Grand Traverse Mental Health Crisis and Access Center is transforming care delivery across Northern Michigan by providing around-the-clock…
Politics Puts a Spotlight on TV, Film Production Exodus From L.A.
On today's 'Strictly Business' podcast, Luminate analyst Tyler Aquilina details his report, 'Hollywood Exodus,' onthe production crisis in L.A.
VOTE: Should Facebook be financially liable for the youth social media health crisis?
Should Facebook be held financially responsible for the youth social media health crisis?
Opinion: Jacobs Entertainment's application for a massive sign along I-80 should be denied.
The proposed Reno's Neon Line District sign is argued to be an advertising display, not an area identification sign. Public comments can be submitted until July 24.
Hegseth pushes for action after sailors appear to flout his beard policy
As the US-Iran war risked reigniting in recent weeks, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded a Navy ship for what was supposed to be a routine visit with sailors.
New York boys club has a time-tested recipe to protect members’ mental health
At a time when attention is deservedly being turned to the mental health crisis in boys, the Boys' Club of New York is a shelter from the storm for many of its members.
The primary care crisis paradox
“Solving the health crisis in the United States will require confronting things far harder than readjusting a fee schedule.”
Groups warn of possible health crisis in Venezuela after deadly quakes
Major Sports Events Interrupted By Dangerous Weather
The World Cup has been interrupted by weather several times, most often due to heat. Mexico’s game against England...
Pelosi, Rowe-Finkbeiner: We can fix health care, but Trump chooses Iran
Republicans triggered this health care crisis by slashing $1 trillion from Medicaid and failing to extend the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.
We need to treat wildfire smoke like the public health crisis it is
A new reality that has emerged as wildfire seasons worsen, and it should demand more attention: wildfire smoke as the climate risk we breathe.
Indiana librarians to get mental health training
Mental Health America of Indiana will to train librarians in how to respond to mental health crises and direct patrons to resources due to influx of Hoosiers in crisis seeking help from library staff.
The Iran ceasefire was meant to pave the way for a grand nuclear deal. New strikes expose its flaws
The day after President Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran, opening a 60-day window to negotiate a deal over the country’s nuclear program, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff got on the phone to brief skeptical Republican leaders.
Another Final Fantasy 7 Mobile Game Bites The Dust
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis will shut down this October
The retreat from mobile games continues as Mario Kart Tour and Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis will be taken offline later this year
Two of Nintendo and Square Enix's biggest mobile games will go offline this year as gaming giants continue to rethink their overall strategies.
AI tools meant to vet science are surprisingly easy to fool
The gold standard of scientific review, peer review by researchers’ colleagues, is in crisis. AI might offer a solution but has problems of its own.
England's right-back crisis: Reece James, Djed Spence, Ezri Konsa - who starts in World Cup quarter-final against Norway?
Denmark says it will defend Greenland as Trump threatens to revive NATO crisis
Shortly after arriving at a NATO meeting in Turkey, Trump restarted the divisive fight, telling reporters that Greenland “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.”
Shooting during 'mental health crisis' call sends Osceola County man to hospital
Officials with the Osceola County Sheriff's Office say the deputy who responded to the 911 call was uninjured.
Forestry scientists stay upbeat in face of federal turmoil
The Chinese word for crisis isn’t a combination of the symbols for “danger” and “opportunity” as some business strategy books once claimed. But if it did, it could be the
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis to end service on October 7
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis will end service on October 6 at 11:00 p.m. PT / October 7 at 2:00 a.m. ET / 15:00 JST, Square Enix announced (2).
Ancient DNA reveals the mysterious collapse of Europe's megalith builders
DNA from a 5,000-year-old French megalithic tomb reveals that the people buried before and after a population collapse were genetically unrelated, pointing to a major migration after a devastating crisis. The shift coincided with new social traditions and the disappearance of the communities that built Europe's giant stone monuments.
Trump admin reimposes oil sanctions after Iran strikes ships near Strait of Hormuz
The Trump administration is reimposing sanctions on Iranian oil sales in retaliation for a series of attacks on commercial ships near the Strait of Hormuz.
Men’s average testosterone levels have halved in last 50 years, say scientists
Exclusive: Researchers warn of ‘major crisis in male reproductive health’ partly driven by obesity and diabetes
America’s employer health insurance is decaying
STAT's Bob Herman examines the under-the-radar crisis brewing in employer-based health insurance.