Canada

NPR - The European Union has proposed making Canada its first-ever "associate member." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the proposal for the new model of membership during her annual speech to the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, France. In his own address to the EU Parliament this morning, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney emphasized how much the EU and Canada have in common and said that “Europe and Canada are stronger together.”

History worth forgetting

American Facts - In 1959, American college students embraced a wonderfully pointless challenge: stuffing as many people as possible into a telephone booth. The fad had already appeared overseas, including a 25-student attempt in Durban, South Africa, before spreading rapidly across U.S. campuses. At Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California, 22 students squeezed into one upright booth, producing one of the craze’s most famous photos. Arguments soon broke out over rules: Did feet have to fit? Could the booth lie sideways? By the end of 1959, the fad was already giving way to the next campus novelty.

Health benefits of reading a book

Time - Over the past couple of decades, the share of Americans reading for pleasure has been steadily dropping, with one large study finding that only 16% of people read for pleasure. 

But a new review published in Psychological Medicine suggests that reading for pleasure—sitting down and focusing on a book you actually look forward to cracking open—can have significant impacts on your brain and wellbeing. 

Reading has an effect from a very young age, says Barbara Sahakian, an emeritus professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. and an author of the new paper. In one study of about 10,000 children in the U.S., she and her colleagues found that kids who started to read for pleasure early in life were better adjusted later, regardless of their socioeconomic background. “They had better cognition, they had reduced symptoms of mental-health problems, they had better attention,” she says. They also spent less time on screens and slept longer.

Artificial intelligence

NBC News - Concerns about artificial intelligence and the pace of its development have exploded in recent days. Now, tech executives — including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Open AI CEO Sam Altman, Elon Musk and Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis — are coalescing around the idea that their industry needs to come up with its own rules and standards.

Tech companies have shown some willingness to make changes — but without regulation, they’re also able to undo those changes whenever they want. Litigation has also moved companies to change, like Meta’s recent $18 billion settlement, which included an agreement to place limits on how teens use Instagram. 

The House yesterday overwhelmingly passed a bill that would shield consumers from higher energy costs from new data centers in their communities. But the bill doesn’t address recent safety concerns, and it’s uncertain what will happen to the bill in the Senate. 

Meanwhile, people across the political spectrum, from Steve Bannon to Sen. Bernie Sanders, have called for a “pro-human” future for AI (more on that in today’s Staff Pick, below). Where things stand with AI self-regulation.

Jared Perlo, NBC News - For years, I’ve chatted and met with people skeptical of the speed of AI development — some of them award-winning physicists who worry that a super intelligence could supplant human ingenuity, others activists who have railed against the growing concentration of wealth and power for a select few tech oligarchs.

 Those factions, and more, convened for the first Pro-Human Assembly in Washington, D.C., this week. Faith leaders, A(ish)- list actors, computer scientists, nonprofit activists and more advocated for a more human approach to AI development. The conference had an incredible buzz, especially coming off the heels of last week’s firestorm of headlines about how AI researchers think the technology is moving too fast. There was also a table of free merchandise — I don’t know the next time I’ll be able to nab a free baseball hat that proclaims the benefits of being “pro-human.”

 Despite the camaraderie, attendees seemed to disagree on what “pro-human” actually meant. Steve Bannon railed against China, while Sen. Bernie Sanders advocated for people to have a democratic say in the technology’s direction. The event’s organizers called for the tech to “amplify rather than diminish human potential.” What exactly that means, I have no idea — and I think the 500-plus attendees might have 500-plus different ideas.

NY Times’ favorite 50 restaurants

Are you cleaning your cat litter box correctly?

Soap recall

NOTE

Sam Smith - The end of November  will mark my 89th years on this planet, most of which had me involved as a journalist. A recent incident, that included temporary suspension of service, made me realize  that it was time for me to retire from controversial news coverage. So, for the indefinite future, Undernews will still be operating but covering non-controversial matters.

The end of it

Sam Smith – On Wednesday, Microsoft suspended our service because of an improper intrusion into our programming. It was something I had worried about increasingly as I realized that that technology was a process that, besides organizing our lives better, also made it easier for others to interfere. l

And so the notice that my computer had been intruded and was about to be out of service confirmed my fears yet also made it clear that I was in no way prepared for this, a condition further emphasized when my wife came home and found to whom I was talking and why.  

I am now 88 years old, 69 years after my first radio news broadcast as a college student in Boston. it was time to close down, after all.  

There will be no more issues dealing with political matters.  Instead I will, on no set schedule, send stories about our being as humans and  our daily lives.

Donald Trump

Washington Post -   President Donald Trump handed Republicans what he said was a surefire formula for winning the midterm elections this fall: Act as if Trump is on the ballot and promise $5,000 payouts to every citizen. A week after the Republican midterm convention where Trump delivered his advice, most GOP congressional candidates are ignoring it, a Washington Post analysis of more than a million social media posts by politicians found.

Republican candidates are sticking to their own messages, not Trump’s, as they navigate an increasingly difficult political landscape marked by high consumer prices, a protracted war in Iran and a president whose own approval rating has stayed stubbornly low, the analysis shows.

Stupid Trump stuff

New Republic - The Trump administration has a lot of things “visitors should know” before entering the National Museum of American History. According to reporting by The Atlantic, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is mobilizing the National Park Service to display at least a dozen signs around the National Museum of American History warning visitors of “ideologies that distract from a coherent and accurate presentation of America’s story” before they step foot on the premises. The signs are projected to cost at least $84,000. This is the Trump administration’s latest attack on the Smithsonian, a cultural institution that has stood witness to the American story for 180 years.

Diesel Fuel

Drop Site  - U.S. diesel prices hit record high above $6.30 a gallon: Average U.S. diesel prices rose to a record $6.31 per gallon on Wednesday, according to the American Automobile Association, surpassing Tuesday’s record of $6.27 and the previous historic high of about $5.82 set in 2022. Diesel averaged below $3.50 a gallon at the start of last year but has surged alongside global oil prices.

Kennedy Center closing

1440 - The Kennedy Center’s board, led by President Donald Trump, voted yesterday to close the landmark DC venue, citing urgent financial and structural issues. The board’s decision came soon after a federal judge ruled Trump’s name could not be readded to the building.

The board cited a partial ceiling collapse in the venue’s main lobby on Sept. 4 after an evening of heavy rain in its decision (scroll for video). However, the board said it will not begin a planned two-year, $257M renovation project funded by Congress until Trump’s name can be inscribed, an effort to honor his plan to raise an additional $100M in funding.

A federal judge has ruled such inscriptions illegal, citing federal law that no memorials or plaques be added to the Kennedy Center without congressional approval.

Inflation

NBC News - A Congressional Budget Office report says the war with Iran is responsible for more than 40% of inflation in the second quarter of 2026 and that inflation will likely continue into 2027.

Canada and Europe

Bloomberg - The European Union floated Canada becoming its first associate member. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered the invitation during her state of the union address with Canada’s Mark Carney in attendance, saying the group needs to “re-imagine” its partnerships. The Canadian prime minister warned earlier this year that the “rules-based international order” was effectively dead and has repeatedly pushed for so-called middle powers to band together.

Artificial intelligence

NY Times - President Trump posted on Truth Social this week that artificial intelligence and the data centers that power it “will be the Greatest Economic Development Engine in History ­­— Bigger than Oil, Gold, Diamonds, or even the Internet.”

….In hundreds of replies to Mr. Trump’s Truth Social posts this week, commenters criticized his enthusiasm, offering a social media snapshot that mirrors recent polling, which shows that Republicans are increasingly concerned about the technology. The New York Times analyzed thousands of comments on Mr. Trump’s posts to create a snapshot of what his most loyal supporters are thinking about his pro-A.I. stance.

…. Overall, the number of comments disparaging A.I. and data centers outnumbered those supporting the technology by nearly four to one, the analysis showed. Many of the comments criticizing the president came from users whose profiles suggested they were otherwise staunch Trump supporters and members of his MAGA movement. Hundreds of other comments included only images or memes, which were not analyzed, or did not directly address data centers or A.I.

More Americans are eating fruit—but fewer are eating vegetables

Time - In. a new federal report, researchers say most U.S. adults are eating at least some fruits and vegetables every day, but plenty aren't. During 2021 to 2023, the most recent available data, about 70% of adults age 20 and older said that they ate any fruit or drank 100% fruit juice on a given day—leaving roughly 30% of American adults who reported not eating a single piece of fruit or drinking any fruit juice. 93% said they ate a vegetable. The data are collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) as part of an annual health and nutrition survey that includes 5,000 adults and children.

.....In the latest survey, more women than men consumed fruit on a given day (74% vs. 66%). About the same proportion of women and men ate vegetables, but the type differed; while 42% of women reported eating a dark-green vegetable, only 34% of men did. —Alice Park

Physical violence in America

The Guardian  - In their lifetime, more than half of US adults have experienced physical violence – and nearly half have experienced sexual violence, according to a new national study. The study, led by researchers from Tulane University’s Newcomb Institute and the University of California, San Diego, examined experiences of physical, sexual and intimate partner violence.

The study found that 52% of US adults have experienced physical violence during their lifetime, including cases involving a gun or knife. The rate was the same among women and men: 52% for each.

Voting

Newsworthy - The Supreme Court’s emergency order let parts of a federal mail-ballot screening plan move ahead, then lower courts pulled it back, leaving voters and states in limbo before the midterms. Lower courts say the Postal Service likely lacks power to refuse lawful ballots.  Experts say fraud rates in mail voting are extremely low nationwide

Texas universities dropping courses gender, race and other issues

The Hill - Public universities in Texas have dropped hundreds of courses from their core curricula — or altogether — amid rising political pressure over the last two years. Texas A&M University has removed 350 core listings across its system, many dealing with gender, race and other popular GOP targets. The University of Houston has nixed 133 classes from its core curricula, and the University of Texas at Austin has dropped 113.

Professors say students are missing out on subjects relevant to their future careers, and some educators are moving on to private schools, where political winds are less fierce.

Students are required to take a select number of core classes in college in order to graduate. They typically choose from an array of courses to satisfy this requirement, but public universities are increasingly making optional selections that focus on women’s studies, LGBTQ issues, climate change and other left-leaning concepts, leading to the possibility of less student interest in the topics.

Texas A&M announced early this year it was eliminating its entire women’s and gender studies degree program. Texas State University completely removed a course called LGBTQ+ Communication Studies after backlash.

Cheese recalled

Health - A gourmet cheese from Whole Foods is being recalled in seven states over a potentially dangerous allergen risk, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Friday. The grocer’s Cabricharme cheese contains egg lysozyme, an egg white protein, that is not declared on the product label, posing a serious or life-threatening health risk for people with an egg allergy.

The recalled cheese was sold by the pound at the Specialty cheese department with the following information:

• Type of label: Whole Foods Market Scale Label
• Product description: Formagerie Coop de Mean Cabricharme Raw Milk – Aged 60 days
• PLU: 57953
• Affected states: California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island
• Product description: Belgian Cabricharme

Fatigue

Independent -  A new study, conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics, found that approximately 71.5 percent of adults in the U.S. say they experience fatigue on multiple days over the past three months.

The report's author, Natalie A.E. Young, said that fatigue is “one of the most frequently reported health concerns in primary care visits in the U.S.” The study surveyed approximately 27,000 adults ages 18 and older in 2024, NBC News reports.

According to the report, women and younger adults are more likely to report that they're experiencing frequent fatigue than men.

Politics

The Express - President Donald Trump refused on Saturday evening to endorse Vice President JD Vance for the 2028 presidential election.  In a stunning blow to Trump's 42-year-old running mate, the president declined to "throw his weight" behind Vance this early.

When asked by a reporter on the tarmac if he was "ready to throw his weight" behind Vance for 2028, Trump gave an immediate, blunt response….

"It's too early," Trump replied. "I mean, it's too early. I think he's terrific. There's so many terrific people."

The Guardian -  Gavin Newsom, the California governor, will not run for president if former vice-president Kamala Harris does, he said in a forthcoming interview with CNN.

Newsom and Harris, both from California, are widely viewed as two of the top establishment frontrunners in the coming Democratic presidential primary. Newsom, who terms out this year as governor, has increasingly portrayed himself as a foil to Trump and is widely viewed as positioning himself for a 2028 presidential bid.

But Newsom said running against Harris would waste voters’ time and act as a “gift from God” to their political opponents, he said.

Stupid Trump stuff

Alternet - President Donald Trump on Monday slapped down the idea of putting guardrails on artificial intelligence, despite increased warnings from industry insiders and outside experts about the technology’s potential dangers to humanity.

In a Truth Social post, Trump suggested that his own intellect was singlehandedly capable of regulating AI, a technology so complicated that even its own creators have acknowledged difficulties in understanding it.  “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT,” Trump wrote, “and the USA has that, in spades!”

The Guardian   - Donald Trump is facing a rare backlash from the US Congress as Democrats and some Republicans push for guardrails on the world’s most powerful AI companies.   Concerns over the dangerous potential of AI reached fever pitch this week after tech leaders sounded the alarm over the rapid advancement of the technology and its potential threat to humanity.

Trump dismissed the anxieties on Monday, describing them as a “HOAX” and “conspiracy” and insisting on social media: “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”

But the 80-year-old president, who has sidelined Congress on numerous issues during his second term, looks increasingly isolated as members of both major parties acknowledged the risks and expressed a desire to act before it was too late.

…Recent surveys by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation found 85% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans want a new federal agency to monitor and regulate AI; and 82% of Democrats and 78% of Republicans favour government safety tests for AI making critical decisions.

NY Times - President Trump on Tuesday assailed the Supreme Court’s decision to block his administration’s efforts to change mail voting and issued a blistering criticism of the three justices he appointed during his first term. “These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court,” he wrote on social media, referring to Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Neil M. Gorsuch. “They are merely a shell of their original selves, a Court that is costing the United States Trillions of Dollars with shockingly bad rulings that are of such magnitude that it won’t be easily possible for our Country to recover or heal.”

Why you should vote for Troy Jackson anyway

Sam Smith – I learned 74 years ago, as a 12 year old stuffing envelopes  in a Philadelphia campaign that ended nearly  seven decades of Republican  rule, that politics isn’t about perfection. It’s about the best you can get when you go the polls.

Subsequent reporting on, and taking part in, elections in places like Cambridge Massachusetts and Washington DC taught me not to expect role models but to seek the best politics we could find each time. Sometimes that even included a campaign you know you’re not going to win but will end in increased knowledge and support for your causes.

 Now we have Troy Jackson and Susan Collins to choose between in Maine. Jackson has been accused  of anger and mistreatment of women. He also had a bitter rivalry with former Republican Governor Paul LePage. And as one website reported, “He had intense public shouting matches and arguments in the Maine State House.”

Meanwhile Susan Collins voted for justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. She was the deciding vote in favor of Trump’s Medicare cuts, and helped Trump double health insurance fees. She also wrote the bill to increase ICE funding.

When we go to the polls we are not choosing between personal moral models or choosing a minister. We are having an effect on the political future of our state and nation. We need to stop wondering who is a more decent human and pick the one who will most help the political causes we support. And Troy Jackson is clearly one of them. 

Legislation for 32 hour work week reintroduced

NY Times - A proposal to make the 32-hour workweek the new federal standard is back before Congress, renewing debate over whether Americans could work fewer hours without taking a pay cut.

Last week, independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Democratic Representative Mark Takano of California reintroduced legislation that would gradually reduce the federal standard workweek from 40 hours to 32 while protecting workers' existing pay and benefits. The bill would change federal overtime law, effectively making it more expensive for employers to routinely require covered workers to put in more than 32 hours.

"A 32-hour workweek is not a radical idea. What's radical is that, despite an explosion in technology and productivity over the last 50 years, millions of workers are working longer hours for lower wages while nearly $80 trillion in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90 percent to the top 1 percent," said Sanders, arguing that automation and the proliferation of artificial intelligence should give workers more of their time back.

Artificial intelligence

NY Times - The intensifying debate over artificial intelligence offers promise and peril for both parties, with voters skeptical about the technology but split on which party is better equipped to address it, according to a new poll from The New York Times and Siena University.

Less than two months before the midterm elections, neither party has claimed a clear advantage on A.I. Forty-two percent of voters said they trusted Republicans more, while 40 percent said they trusted Democrats more. Voters gave Democrats the edge on every other issue tested, including immigration, the economy and foreign wars.

The poll showed why midterm candidates in both parties have quickly turned against data centers. Sixty-one percent of voters said they opposed the construction of the enormous computing complexes that power A.I., including 75 percent of Democrats and 47 percent  of Republicans.

Ethnic issues

The Trump administration's Justice Department is investigating Evanston, Ill., accusing it of racial discrimination. Evanston is the first U.S. city to implement a reparations program to compensate Black residents for historical discrimination. The program has provided more than 300 individuals with $25,000 grants to compensate for past housing segregation. The Justice Department is joining a lawsuit filed by a conservative group that alleges the city's program is racially discriminatory, as it only qualifies Black people for assistance

Middle East

Newsbreak - Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures at U.S. bases across eight countries in the Middle East, according to a report on the Iran war from the Pentagon’s official watchdog.

The war has also resulted in a shortfall of strategic munitions and revealed “bottlenecks” in the defense industry as the U.S. military sought to resupply the depleted stock of munitions.

The report, produced by the Defense Department’s inspector general for Congress, was released on Sept. 14 and covers the start of the war on Feb. 28 through June 30. It offers the most comprehensive official account of the war’s cost and impact on U.S. military bases and equipment.

The war, which President Donald Trump initially estimated would last four to five weeks, is now in its seventh month and has cost the U.S. at least $33.4 billion as of June 29, according to the report. The figure does not account for repairs to damaged facilities and many experts believe the total cost of the war is significantly higher.

….Buildings and facilities at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan were damaged or destroyed by Iranian strikes during the war. The report confirmed that Iran targeted the U.S. Navy’s main logistics hub in Bahrain with drones and ballistic missiles.

The Hill -  Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Tuesday launched an effort to impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, citing the Pentagon’s military actions against Iran.

Massie, a frequent critic of President Trump, accused Hegseth of launching an illegal war that was not approved by Congress. He introduced articles of impeachment on the House floor against Hegseth for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Massie also took the remarkable step of making his resolution privileged, meaning he’s forcing it to the floor for a vote. By House rules, that vote must come within two days.

He argued that Hegseth violated “his oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States” and violated “his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, especially with regard to the commission of war.” He added that Hegseth has “abused the powers of the Department of Defense.”

Donald Trump

NY Times - A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts could not honor President Trump with an inscription on the institution’s exterior, blocking an effort by the center’s board to restore the president’s name to the building.

“Simply put, defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing,” Judge Christopher R. Cooper of Federal District Court in Washington wrote in the order. “The board resolution bucks a federal court order and a statute Congress enacted.”

Alternet - Brian Stetler, writing for CNN, explains, "There were two big events on television last Wednesday night: President Donald Trump's speech at the Republican Party's midterm convention, and the NFL's 2025-26 season kickoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. The NFL game drew more than 25 million viewers. Trump's speech reached about 3 million viewers."