September 10, 2026
Artificial intelligence
New York City Public Schools is
banning more than half a million students from using artificial intelligence
for the 2026-2027 academic year, the school district confirmed to ABC News. The
nation’s largest school district said it will begin the school year next week
with a sweeping ban on AI for students in in 2-K through eighth grade.
In a statement to ABC News, New
York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that the city is implementing a moratorium
on generative AI for students in pre-school or 2-K through eighth grade and
will spend the next year “studying the impacts of this technology.”
Mamdani wrote in part, “the tech industry wants us to believe that A.I.-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary.” “We do not see it that way,” he added.
Deep State Tribunal - Criminal gangs are using artificial intelligence to turn regular school photos into fake child abuse images and then extort schools for cash, experts warn.
Donald Trump
CNBC - President Trump has made millions on his oil and gas investments thanks to the Iran war. CNBC reports that the president’s investment holdings continued to trade energy stocks during the first six months of the war. Between February 27 and August 31, his nine largest fuel assets grew between $1.5 million and $4.4 million, the network estimates, referring to his annual financial disclosure.
New Republic - President Trump said Wednesday he believes the U.S. war with Iran will end “immediately” after November’s midterm elections….“They can’t hold out any longer,” he continued. “They’re desperate to try and affect the election so that we can get a nice, weak group of people in there, and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon.” Trump made the prediction when asked at Joint Base Andrews whether he expects negotiations with Iran to resume.
Elections
NBC
News - Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee has lost his Democratic primary to
former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, NBC News projects, after facing a
significant spending disadvantage and voter discontent with his tenure. In an election season that has seen a wave of
anti-incumbent energy, McKee becomes the first governor to fall in a primary
this year — and the first in eight years.
NY Times - The Supreme Court on Thursday once again prevented Missouri from using a congressional map in November that was redrawn to give Republicans an advantage in the midterm elections. It was the second time this week that the Supreme Court waded into a dizzying legal fight over Missouri’s congressional map, and it came just two months before a general election that could determine control of the House. The court’s brief order did not include any reasoning, as is often the case when the justices respond to emergency requests. There were no noted dissents.
Stupid Trump stuff
Adam Schiff - Investigators in my
office uncovered the contracts behind the banners of Donald Trump’s face now
hanging on federal buildings across Washington — the largest of them eight
stories tall at the Department of Health and Human Services, with “America
First” printed beside it: Here’s what we uncovered:
The American people paid for
every inch of it, and we have the receipts. $114,000 from the FAA. $39,000 from
Interior. A third check from the Labor Department. The list goes on
and on.
Congress long ago outlawed
spending taxpayer dollars on propaganda and self‑aggrandizement, and an eight‑story‑high
Donald Trump head certainly qualifies.
Because I spent years as a
federal prosecutor, and I know a pattern of intent when I see one. In every
country where democracy gave way to one man, the faces went up on the
government buildings first. Not as decoration, and not even as vanity — but to
teach the people who paid for those buildings a simple lesson: all of this
belongs to him now.
And yet not one of those
buildings belongs to Donald Trump. They belong to the American people, to the
taxpayers who funded them. We were never asked, and we do not have to
accept it.
Alternet
- US President Donald Trump pledged
on Wednesday to send every American adult a $5,000 check if Republicans keep
control of Congress in the upcoming midterm
elections, a promise that was widely seen as a desperate ploy to distract
from a flagging economy and the destructive impacts of the
Iran war.
“If the Republicans win, you win
with us and you get $5,000,” Trump declared in his address to the GOP’s midterm
convention in Dallas. The president, who recently railed against Medicare for
All as too costly, called his proposed payment “the Trump
Dividend,” but did not mention its potential price tag. Snap
estimates indicate the checks, which would require congressional
approval, would likely cost more than $1.3 trillion—close to the size of the
discretionary federal budget.‘
Warren Gunnels, staff director
for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—the leading Medicare for All champion in
Congress—derided Trump’s promise by comparing it to other campaign pledges that
have not materialized.
Recycling
Time
- Public confidence and trust in recycling systems is on the decline. While 87%
of Americans say recycling is important, only about 32% of household waste is
recycled or composted, according to 2025 data. More Americans believe that
recycling feels harder today than it did four years ago.
Although what is recyclable
varies greatly depending on where you live, there’s typically a simple
rule you can follow, experts say. “Think about your bottles, cans, and
containers that are in your laundry, kitchen, and bathrooms… and paper and
cardboard,” says Cody Marshall, chief programs officer at The Recycling
Partnership, a nonprofit dedicated to creating a better recycling system.
“Those are things that are recyclable.”
Avoid recycling things like plastic bags, which
can jam machinery, and batteries, and refrain from bagging your recycling in
trash bags. Also refrain from what experts call “wish-cycling,” the practice of
putting something in the recycling bin and hoping it's recyclable.
Now Trump wants to rig the census
Free & Fair Democracy - Donald Trump’s Census Bureau just released a sinister new plan to RIG the 2030 Census and give MAGA Republicans a permanent advantage in Congress and the Electoral College.
In direct violation of the US Constitution’s clear mandate to count EVERY human being living in America, Trump wants to exclude millions of immigrants and eliminate counts of race and ethnicity.
Trump’s plan to rig the Census will mean FEWER Electoral College votes and House seats in diverse urban blue states like New York and California … and MORE Electoral College and House seats in whiter, red states.
Climate change
The
Guardian - Rising global temperatures caused by the burning of fossil fuels
are transforming the world’s forests, wetlands and tundra to the point they are
releasing emissions that could further worsen global heating by as much as 30%,
a new study has found.
As the world heats up, permafrost
in the high latitudes is thawing, fiercer wildfires are burning in drying
forests and wetlands and lakes are warming. All of these changes are themselves
causing the release of planet-heating methane and carbon dioxide locked in
trees and soils, therefore worsening the climate crisis, the paper states.
While scientists have long known
of these “feedback loops” that amplify the impact of direct pollution from
burning coal, oil and gas, the emissions from natural sources are largely
unaccounted for in climate projections.
This additional heating is
however significant, researchers found, with emissions from natural sources set
to amplify global heating by 20% to 30% by the end of this century. y countries to combat the climate crisis.
September 9, 2026
Joe Biden on prostate cancer
Newsweek
- Former President Joe Biden shared an update on his battle with
prostate cancer, saying radiation treatment has worked as intended while urging
Americans to speak to their doctors about early detection….
Biden revealed in May 2025 that
he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer after
experiencing urinary symptoms. Doctors determined that the cancer had already
metastasized to his bones by the time it was discovered.
In his latest message, Biden
stressed the importance of catching the disease early.
“When prostate cancer is caught
early, the five-year survival is close to 100%,” he wrote, urging people not to
delay speaking with their doctors.
Biden said men at average risk
should begin discussing screening around age 50, while Black men should begin
the conversation at 45 or earlier. He also highlighted family history as an
important risk factor, advising men whose father or brother had prostate cancer
to speak with their doctors beginning at age 45, or earlier if multiple close
relatives were affected.
Biden pointed to racial
disparities in prostate cancer outcomes, writing that Black men are “nearly 70%
more likely to get this disease and 2 to 4 times more likely to die from it.”
Departing Smithsonian Secretary
NY Times - By the time Lonnie G. Bunch III announced on Tuesday that he would be stepping down as the Smithsonian secretary, the White House had made it virtually impossible for him to stay, according to historians and colleagues.
Since the beginning of his second
term, President Trump has targeted the Smithsonian with executive orders that
accuse the institution of a liberal bias and of planning exhibitions with
anti-American viewpoints. The White House has characterized Bunch as “a
Democrat donor and rabid partisan.” It did not immediately respond to requests
for comment after Mr. Bunch said he would resign.
“He has experienced a mounting
pressure campaign as the Smithsonian became a battlefield in the culture wars,”
said Samuel J. Redman, a history professor at the University of Massachusetts
Amherst who has written extensively about the Smithsonian. “Lonnie Bunch led
the Smithsonian with candor, bravery and thoughtfulness that really suggested
something about his long experience with the institution, his adept diplomacy —
but clearly that could only go so far.
Stupid Trump stuff
Independent
- President Donald Trump has
launched another personal attack on Kaitlan Collins, calling CNN’s chief White
House correspondent “very dumb and unhappy.” Trump, who has repeatedly targeted
Collins for “not smiling,” unleashed on the White House reporter late Tuesday
and ahead of his speech Wednesday night at the Republican National Committee’s
midterm convention in Dallas.
“Very dumb and unhappy Fake News
CNN “reporter,” Kaitlan Collins (really low ratings, also!), had a panel where
discussions were all FICTION AND LIES,” Trump fumed in his Truth Social post.
“You would think that CNN, which is suffering terribly in the TV Ratings, would
get rid of their 3rd rate “anchors,” and try to bring credibility back to their
once storied network. It is fading FAST!”
Meanwhile. . .
Washington
Post - The Associated Press is
advising its reporters and others who follow AP style to continue referring to
Lake Ontario by its original name, despite President Donald Trump’s order to
rename it Lake America last month as the administration’s trade war with Canada
escalated. The AP’s guidance says Trump’s executive order affects only how the
U.S. government refers to the lake, and Canada and other countries are not
required to recognize the name change.
New
Republic - The Trump administration is moving to strip a rule barring
private equity officials from engaging in “pay-to-play” schemes with government
officials.
The Securities and Exchange
Commission is planning to revoke Rule 206(4)-5 under the Investment Advisers
Act, arguing that it chills employees’ political speech. The regulation, known
as the “Pay-to-Play” Rule, bars investment advisers from getting paid to advise
government clients for two years after making a political contribution to
certain officials and candidates.
In the 16 years since the rule
was implemented, it has only resulted in a handful of penalties. The proposed
change comes after private equity spending increased in 2024, and flipped
toward Republicans.
Immigration
Newsbreak
- (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals
court on Tuesday upheld an injunction blocking an Internal Revenue Service
policy that allowed it to share thousands of taxpayers' addresses with
immigration authorities, saying the Trump administration's practice violated
federal law. A three-judge panel of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the IRS
last year disclosed roughly 47,000 taxpayer addresses to U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement under a procedure adopted as part of the administration’s
efforts to expand immigration enforcement. The IRS did not respond to a request
for comment.
National parks bring in money
USA Facts - While a camping trip can be an opportunity to unplug,
national park visitors don’t just take in the scenery — they spend money, and
that spending flows into the towns and counties near each park. In 2024, 332
million visitors spent a record high in those nearby communities, supporting
jobs and local businesses beyond the park gates.
Visitors spent the most at/around Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2024: $2.0 billion. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area garnered the second-most spending, $1.7 billion, and Blue Ridge Parkway garnered $1.5 billion. Spending at the rest of the top 10 ranged from $612.0 million to $905.3 million.
Lodging was the largest visitor
expense, accounting for 38.3% ($11.1 billion) of 2024 spending. Restaurants
were next, at an estimated $5.7 billion. Spending on gas, recreation,
transportation, and retail each drew $2.2 billion to $2.6 billion. Groceries
generated $1.9 billion and camping generated $610 million.
National park visitor spending helped sustain 340,100 jobs and $18.8 billion in wages, with California accounting for the most jobs (35,683) and North Carolina second (25,824). About 60% of those jobs were for businesses that serve visitors directly. The remaining 40% were secondary effect jobs created by the local economy. For example, a local tour guide (a direct job) spends money at a nearby restaurant, helping sustain a waitstaff position (a secondary effect job
Middle East
The U.S.' strategy in the region is unclear, as
there's little discussion around the future of U.S. military presence there,
NPR's Aya Batrawy tells Up First. Reducing troop levels could signal weakness to
Iran and adversaries like Russia and China. Gulf states initially
established U.S. bases as a deterrent, but they have instead been targeted by
Iran, prompting Arab allies to seek stronger defense ties with other countries.
The Pentagon has not disclosed the extent of damage to U.S. bases, and the
Trump administration urged satellite companies to censor images over the Gulf,
according to Batrawy.
The United Kingdom announced a ban on imports from Jewish
settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, accusing Israeli settlers of
being "terrorists" who engage in "ethnic
cleansing" against Palestinians. The move aims to pressure Israel over
settlement expansion, which the U.K. argues undermines the two-state solution.
Canada and France have also imposed sanctions, intensifying international
pressure on Israel. Israel retaliated quickly with the announcement of the
closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem.
Canada
The
Guardian - The US is banning dairy products, most alcoholic beverages
and motorcycles from Canada, the White House said on Tuesday, as the trade war
between the two neighbors and longtime allies escalates. The ban will take
effect in three weeks and comes after Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on
$20bn in US imports earlier on Tuesday.
Donald Trump also moved to shut Canadian products out of
large, long-term US government contracts as Canada’s retaliatory tariffs took
effect and the prime minister, Mark Carney, vowed to speed efforts to reduce
the country’s dependence on the United States. The US president directed the
General Services Administration to declare Canadian products ineligible for
those contracts until Canada allows “full and fair reciprocity" for
American products. Carney said on Tuesday that Canada’s strategy was about
becoming more independent. “It’s about ensuring that no country can hold us
hostage. And that we can live how we want to live.”
The
Hill - President Trump’s escalation of the trade war with Canada is
coming at a bad time for Senate Republican candidates, who are being put in the
awkward place of having to defend the administration’s economic record while
having to push back against Trump’s targeting of critical Canadian imports and
companies.
Word: Ukraine
Ukraine’s defenses are dwindling. Putin will make the most of it. “The aim is to leave Ukraine’s civilian population without heat and to break morale, in the hope that President Volodymyr Zelensky will sue for peace on Russia’s terms.”— Rajan Menon, professor emeritus of international relations at the City College of New York Read
Trump’s mental health
Alternet - On Tuesday, a widely cited psychologist took to YouTube to raise the alarm regarding “more highly concerning behavior” from President Donald Trump. According to Dr. John Garrison, Trump’s recent actions suggest “steep neurological decline” and a dangerously “manic-like state.”
In [an] interview, Trump begins
talking about the midterm elections, saying, “I'm going to campaign like I did
for myself and I'm going to hope that people think that I'm on. And if I'm not
on, if they don't go out and vote, if they go out and vote, we're going to win
easily.” As Garrison notes, “What he's saying makes absolutely no sense. He
cannot organize his thoughts. He gets confused and he believes what he's saying
is coherent. But it truly makes no sense.” According to Garrison, this struggle
with verbal planning can be evidence of underlying “neurological issues.”
Trump is president. . . and chief golfer
Alternet - American television host and conservative
political commentator S.E. Cupp had an unexpected response to news that
President Donald Trump spends an exorbitant amount of time on the golf course
rather than manning the White House.
Forbes reported this week that
Trump is spending nearly 30 percent of his second term chasing balls around on
the green, with Forbes Senior Editor Dan Alexander telling CNN anchor Erin
Burnett that these are “long days,” too.
“If you count the days, it's
about 165 of his first 600 days, in his second term, that he's visited one of
his golf courses. But what's more surprising is that these aren't short stays,”
said Alexander. “And so if you add up the hours, you get to more than 1,400
hours on the golf courses. And that doesn't even count the time that he's at
Mar-a-Lago. This is just the amount of time that he's at the golf courses where
he's often playing or sometimes doing other things like meetings [and] having
lunch.
Alexander also reported that
Trump had his chef serve hotdogs to his Secret Service team while killing time
at his national golf club outside Washington, DC. But then the Trump-owned club
billed the secret service, according to a club insider.
September 8, 2026
American workers are getting the smallest slice of the pie on record
NBC
News - It is now the least
rewarding time to be a worker in the U.S. economy since the government started
keeping track. The share of economic growth captured by labor in the form of
compensation like wages fell to a record low last quarter, hitting 52.8%,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which began recording the
statistic in 1947.
Trump’s Iran war has cost overr $100 billion
Axios
– The war with Iran has now cost U.S. consumers $100 billion in higher
energy prices, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes from a real-time Brown University
estimate. The bill is rising another $1 million about every two minutes.
The Iran War Energy Cost Tracker from Brown's Watson School
says higher gasoline and diesel prices have cost the average U.S. household
more than $760 since the war began Feb. 28. Most of that is gas, though the
diesel burden is rising faster lately.
Older Americans May Have Dementia Without Knowing
Newsweek
- A recent study indicated that
older Americans may either have dementia diagnoses without knowing or may not
self-report having a diagnosis, and experts have called for more work to be
done to improve early detection.
Researchers at Yale University
found that 67 percent of older Americans underreported having a dementia
diagnosis, which was more than double the rate for other conditions within the
same sample group, such as arthritis (17 percent underreported having the
condition), diabetes (39 percent) and depression (46 percent).
Other research has raised similar
concerns about dementia screening as well. Dr. Malaz Boustani, a professor of
aging at Indiana University, told Newsweek that his team's 2005 primary-care
study found "only 19 percent of patients whose dementia was confirmed
through formal assessment had dementia documented in their medical record.
Approximately 80 percent lacked a recorded diagnosis."
Cancer cases expected to soar
Newsweek
- Cancer cases are set to soar
globally over the coming decades as the world's population grows and people
live longer. A major new analysis led by
researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the International Agency
for Research on Cancer, the cancer agency of the World Health Organization,
estimates that annual global cancer cases could climb from almost 21 million in
2024 to about 34 million by 2050. That would represent a 67 percent increase.
Dozens of cream cheese varieties recalled
The
Sun - Cream cheese sold in dozens of varieties has been recalled over
fears it could be contaminated with a potentially deadly bacteria. Made Fresh
Salads and Northside branded spreads were ripped from shelves after testing
detected traces of Listeria.
Social Security running out of money
Washington
Post - For decades, Washington has replayed the same fight over taming
the soaring national debt: Democrats cite a need for more taxes. Republicans
refuse. And anyone who suggests cutting the biggest source of spending —
federal retirement benefits — gets attacked.
But a coming crisis in Social Security appears to be pushing
at least a few Republicans off the GOP’s long-standing pledge never to raise
taxes.
This summer, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) joined Sen.
Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) in proposing to raise the payroll tax cap so
people with higher incomes pay more into the program. Now the idea is emerging
as an acceptable fix among other GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Tom Cole
(Oklahoma), the influential chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
The rare GOP concessions on taxes come as lawmakers begin to
confront a Social Security shortfall so large and so imminent that the party’s
traditional demand for curtailing benefits is unlikely to suffice. In just six
years, millions of Social Security recipients will absorb a 22 percent cut in
benefits unless lawmakers provide an immediate infusion of nearly $500 billion.
Politics
Axios - House
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) faces mounting behind-the-scenes
frustration from progressive lawmakers and candidates that's likely to burst
into public view after the midterm elections, Axios' Andrew Solender writes.
An influx of Democratic
Socialists of America-aligned members in January will compound latent distrust
of Jeffries that's festering in some corners of the Congressional Progressive
Caucus.
Jeffries has made several recent
moves that left Progressive Caucus members fuming, according to multiple
lawmakers, candidates and aides.
Medicare for All: Jeffries said
on NBC's "Meet the Press" last month that Medicare for All is
"not legislation ... that I support." He said in a later radio
interview that he supports universal coverage, but there are "different paths"
to get there.
Kushner meeting: Jeffries'
sit-down with President Trump's son-in-law rankled progressive groups. Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told reporters: "I don't know what that
was about."
NPR - Republicans will hold an
unconventional midterm convention this week in Dallas. These types of
events are typically reserved for presidential election years. Although midterm
conventions are uncommon, one fact stands out: President Trump will be the
show's main attraction as Republicans grapple with whether to participate. With
polls indicating that Democrats are more energized for the midterms, the
president is urging his party's voters to act as if he is on the ballot to get
them to cast their votes.
Far right revival in Germany
The Guardian - Germany is still reeling from the
biggest far-right victory in a state election since the Nazi period. Voters in
Saxony-Anhalt, in the former communist east, gave the anti-immigration,
pro-Kremlin Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party a first-place finish of
44%, just short of an absolute majority. Deborah Cole in Berlin explains why it is so significant….
- A “shocked” and chastened chancellor, Friedrich Merz,
has vowed to stay in office. Appearing ashen-faced in
front of reporters in Berlin on Monday, he said: “We know that Germany
carries special responsibility because of its history.”
- What are the wider implications for Europe? In this analysis, Jon Henley says Europe’s centrist
politicians fear a continent-wide nationalist wave, fueled by the
persistent inability of mainstream governments to deliver for
disillusioned voters hit by a spiralling cost of living crisis
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