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The Anti-Woke Right Can’t Figure Out How to Stop ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’
A subset of male gamers have spent years warning that the transgressive series has been neutered by progressive developers, but the backlash isn’t taking hold.
The week the AI freakout went mainstream
Warnings about AI killing many people, or everyone, are going viral. Here are 3 things the government could do.
Stock market crash: 70% decline could hit Nasdaq in 2027, economist warns
Henrik Zeberg, an economist who studies business cycles, laid out his timeline for how and when a downturn could hit markets and the economy.
The politics and possibilities of ‘AI could kill us all’
I found myself fielding a lot of questions from folks who don’t usually talk much about AI this week. They were mostly along the lines of “do you think AI is going to kill us all?” or “how worried should I be about this human extinction stuff?” Motivating this wave of existential anxiety was the highly dramatic resignation of now-former Anthropic employee Jacob Coxon, who quit his job while publicly sharing his concerns about safety practices at the leading AI companies. More specifically, he declared that almost everyone at OpenAI and Anthropic, the leading AI labs, believes that there’s a decent chance the AI systems they’re producing could “kill us all” by the end of the decade, and the companies aren’t “acting responsibly.” Other AI safety researchers, including those still employed at Anthropic and OpenAI, all confirmed that yes, Coxon is correct, they’re all worried that their company’s products might prove fatal for the entire human race as well. Two more AI employees quit and joined the chorus. Now, the warning shot has been covered everywhere from the Wall Street Journal to Fox News to WIRED to the Guardian. I understand why all this sounds scary, but my response to those who have asked, has generally been: No, you don’t need to worry that AI will kill go rogue and kill us all. But that does not mean we shouldn’t worry, period. Far from it. The companies building AI products are now among the wealthiest and most powerful entities in the world. And they very much are building enormous engines of mass surveillance, extraction, and automation. They can and have allowed their AI systems to carry out felony hacks of other companies, provided the government with autonomously generated kill lists, and sold enterprise technology to firms around the world that is explicitly intended to replace jobs. But “AI” has done these things not because they have all-powerful minds of their own but, ultimately, because people have programmed, calibrated, and directed them to. In other words, it’s not AI we need to worry the most about. It’s the people and corporations working to profit from and gain power by deploying it. The technology is sophisticated, sure, and, especially in cybersecurity contexts, potentially disruptive to plenty of existing systems. But if we want to stop this predatory, profiteering, and extractive form of AI—and it’s worth noting that at this point, most people do—we absolutely can. A quick note/plea: I can only do all of this with the support of readers like you, so if you find value in independent, critical tech journalism and analysis, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. I want to keep as much of this un-paywalled as absolutely possible, and I need your support to do so. Many thanks to all who continue to chip in, it’s very much appreciated. Onward. Subscribe First, some context: AI industry folks like Coxon have been discussing the prospect that AI will destroy humanity for years. Even before the beginning of the AI boom, many working in the industry, from the executive staff to the rank and file researchers, have obsessed over ‘x-risk’, or the possibility that AI will become sentient or semi-sentient and move one way or another to exterminate humanity. This is ostensibly why Elon Musk bankrolled OpenAI in the first place, and is the grounds for his lawsuit alleging OpenAI betrayed its charter by abandoning its nonprofit status to become a commercial enterprise. Many AI engineers and startup founders have calculated their own personal p(doom), or the probability that the tech product they are working on will initiate an actual humanity-extinguishing apocalypse. 10-25% p(doom)s are pretty common. (I wrote about a long weekend I spent among these folks at one of their top conferences here, to give you an idea of their ideas and belief systems.) Sam Altman himself drove the narrative of the imminent rise of a super-powerful AI, or artificial general intelligence, to prominence by declaring that the technology he was building posed an existential risk to humanity. This idea is in other words baked into the DNA of modern AI companies and into the products they engineer. It’s also why the industry is routinely accused, by myself and others, of “doom marketing,” ie, using such proclamations and framings to impart the sheer power of the technology behind your product onto investors, partners, consumers, and the state. Some ambient understanding of this tendency may have helped prevent the press from repeating the claim every time one of the x-risk folks made it over the years, including when they quit their jobs at AI companies while doing so. Yet Coxon’s AI x-risk alarm has broken containment, as they say, and has exposed the idea to the mainstream media once again. This has happened, I think, for a number of reasons. First, when AI CEOs were going around saying AI might kill everyone in 2023, their companies were well-capitalized, but not nearly to the extent they are today. They were more easily dismissed as eccentric geeks of the sort that Silicon Valley is supposed to produce. Now, not only do their products have much greater market saturation, but people are more aware of a) the often unethical ways the executives and companies comport themselves b) the other adverse impacts of AI that have already arrived, and c) the physical cost of building these systems, particularly when it comes to data centers. Finally, toss in the constant stream of headlines in 2026 about AI models going rogue or potentially upending the world’s infrastructure. [ ](https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/with-the-backlash-to-data-centers) [ With the backlash to data centers, Flock and AI glasses, a mass opposition to big tech is underway. Silicon Valley is in denial. ](https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/with-the-backlash-to-data-centers) Brian Merchant · Aug 27 [ Read full story ](https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/with-the-backlash-to-data-centers) As a result, general sentiment was already overwhelmingly skeptical of AI and its overlords, so the table was pretty well set for someone to come along and say ‘just a reminder, the companies that are building the product that promises to take your job and leave a data center in your neighborhood also think that it might exterminate the human race’ and get a strong reaction from the media and the public. The question is: Should we understand this stuff as hype, strategically fanned to feed already swelling valuations? Is it doom marketing? Genuine cause for alarm that the infrastructure that undergirds modern life is facing a novel threat vector? Or reason to be sincerely worried that AI companies are amassing too much power, and that their products are genuinely dangerous? The answer, I’m afraid, is “yes.” Let me try to untangle all of this a bit, because arguments over how to navigate this moment are extremely heated right now, as they are essentially arguments over how to approach the politics of AI at a moment where there may be a unique opening for action. Those sympathetic to AI alignment concerns and x risk arguments—which increasingly includes a faction on the left who want to shut down AI over safety concerns—argue that people who dismiss AI as all hype have their heads in the sand. Meanwhile, critics of the x-risk narrative—which I might note includes a cadre of investors and tech folks on the right, too—argue that it is hype and can be used to further inflate valuations or for pursuing regulatory capture. The challenge is that many feel that dismissing AI as just hype or purely marketing also diminishes the urgency of taking on the AI industry as the novel and threat to labor, civil society, and the public sphere it is; others that by accepting the industry’s own terms, we imbue it with undue power and enable it. But let’s be clear: Declarations that AI is so powerful it might end the world are a kind of marketing, and anyone who says otherwise is just as off base as those who say that’s all that it is. If you don’t think that these sub-trillion dollar companies have higher-ups who noticed that when their founders talked about super-powerful dangerous AI they got spikes in media interest and phone calls from investors, or that those founders didn’t notice that themselves, and lean into certain narratives to advantage their products, then I don’t know what to tell you. Not all marketing is a Pepsi ad campaign with a celebrity spokesperson. Yet confronting the AI industry should certainly be considered an urgent project. Do I share the x-riskers’ fear that out-of-control, super-intelligent AI agents might end the world? I do not. I’ve read a good deal of AI extinction literature over the last couple of years and I have not come across a credible, step-by-step documentation of how exactly AI might move from self-recursively improving AI to killing every single human on the planet. Most of what I’ve read seems predicated on a sort of reverse Ian Malcolmian logic: Eventually, it becomes smart enough and AI, uh, finds a way (to exterminate humanity). Are the AI companies also overstating and dramatizing what their products can do? Yes, pretty much all the time. They’re in a knife fight for market share and are trying to win customers and government contracts before their investors come knocking. And yet. They have concentrated enormous amounts of compute, have extensive data collection and surveillance capacities, have inserted themselves into the state in numerous capacities, including military kill chains, and they are being run by egomaniacal billionaires who are rushing to monopolize an entire new market. The way I think about their most recent frightening-seeming exploits is not as a “swarm of rogue AI agents building a new civilization” or whatever, but as corporations with a hitherto-unimaginable amount of compute at their disposal recklessly experimenting with automation programs, completely unafraid of any repercussions because we have been unwilling or unable to impose any on them. So I think we should welcome any newfound imperative to hold them accountable. I also think that ultimately, the AI critics, Pause AI folks, leftists, doomers, effective altruists, and, honestly, most of the public, want a lot of the same things: legitimate checks and limits on AI companies’ power, actual transparency into what the companies are doing, and for more of AI to be under public control. (Ultimately, a lot of what animates the x-risk fears are rooted in just that: a fear of losing control.) How we move towards all this, exactly, is the question of the day, and while there’s much to be argued over in terms of building a viable political platform to challenge the AI industry’s power, I do want to cast a vote against one particular approach. Not to pick on Chris here, as there are a lot of folks out there proposing stuff like this, and the policy ideas actually stem from AI safety groups. But not only would this be challenging to land politically (I can already hear the ‘China will beat us to AGI’ calls) and all but unworkable in practice, this approach is a) far too limiting, b) fails to address the current harms caused by AI and c) would likely only wind up serving Anthropic and OpenAI; it’s what regulatory capture looks like in action. Full model transparency is the floor for what should be on offer here. If these companies believe their products will kill us, the very least we deserve is to know how. It’s in the public interest. I would also argue we might get a lot of the way to stopping any currently envisioned robot apocalypse simply by forcing AI companies to assume liability, and to submit to the full brunt of the law. If Sam Altman were liable to be charged with a felony for approving the hack on Hugging Face1, if Google was forced to pay defamation fines each time it published a false and injurious AI Overviews, these companies might suddenly find cause to restrain their models’ output, and we might hear less about rogue AI. We would need to introduce new frameworks and available tools for tracking automated lawbreaking, to be sure, but I’d wager that little would frighten the AI companies more than actually being held accountable for what their products enable. To that end, Illinois has passed an AI liability law, which the industry fought tooth and nail, and Florida is considering one. The next steps would be towards moving AI under public control; again, it’s only reasonable, since everyone, not just AI insiders, should get a say over how a technology whose developers say might kill us is developed and deployed. Dismantling the whole industrial project as currently structured should be on the table, too, pending democratic input. But that’s for another post. For now, suffice to say that while I won’t be losing any sleep about an AI-enabled extinction event, Mr. Coxon and co. have given us an opportunity to underscore the urgency of the clear and present damage AI companies are doing, the extreme power they wield and the extent to which they hold themselves unaccountable, and the abundance of political capital there is out there for taking them on. Subscribe 1 Purely speculative! I do not know if he did or not.
Putin warns European troops in Ukraine would mean war with Russia
The Russian president issued the warning ahead of the BRICS summit in New Delhi.
Bat at Providence zoo prompts rabies warning from RI health officials
A bat showed signs of having rabies at a Providence, Rhode Island, zoo last month, health officials said Friday.
Microsoft admits Windows 11's biggest September update is breaking multiple features, days after it warned users not to delay updates
Windows 11 KB5124008 was supposed to be one of the year’s best updates, at least on paper. It restored Windows 10-era features, including a movable taskbar and a resizable Start menu, but unfortunately, it’s causing issues on some PCs. Microsoft has confirmed two known bugs, is investigating a third issue, and reports point to two […]
LA Rams’ Offensive Split Exposes Clear Problem After 49ers Loss
The Los Angeles Rams assembled one of the NFL’s deepest-looking skill groups around Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, but their season opener sent an early warning about what happens when Sean McVay turns to a third wide receiver.Sports Illustrated‘s Blaine Grisak highlighted a striking personnel split from Los Angeles’ 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers […] The post LA Rams’ Offensive Split Exposes Clear Problem After 49ers Loss appeared first on HEAVY.
UN warns political division in addressing climate change threatens economic stability
The Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Simon Stiell, warned on Thursday that political divisions and treating climate change as a partisan issue risks worse...
Will Stark Warnings About AI Shape the Midterm Elections?
Stark warnings from A.I. researchers have reverberated across the country.
A federal health program for 9/11 responders is still short-staffed
Doctors working with the government program to help survivors with 9/11-related illnesses warn about staffing shortages and slow approvals.
Browns’ Jared Verse Sends Direct Warning to Team on Tanking
The Cleveland Browns could benefit from tanking for a high draft pick this season. Jared Verse has a different view. The post Browns’ Jared Verse Sends Direct Warning to Team on Tanking appeared first on HEAVY.
Health advisory issued for popular Sarasota County beach
Health officials warn visitors to avoid the water at a popular Sarasota County beach after tests found elevated bacteria levels.
Central New York health officials warn as measles cases confirmed in 3 counties
Measles cases are rising across the country, and public health officials in Central New York are warning the highly contagious virus could soon spread into more
CIA declassifies intel warnings to White House prior to 9/11 attack
The now-infamous warning to then-President Bill Clinton was tucked at the bottom of a presidential intelligence brief delivered on September 10, 1998: A group associated with al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden “may fly an explosive-packed airplane into a US city.”
Hugging Face CEO dismisses ex-Anthropic researcher's AI warnings
"Sorry, but asking Jacob about AI extinction risk is like asking your AC guy about climate change," Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue wrote on X.
Data Center Boom Brings Health Hazards, Former EPA Officials Warn
Experts warn of dangers from fossil fuel expansion and federal carveouts for the AI industry.
His Retiree Health Plan Kept Paying After 65. It Paid Only What Medicare Would Have Left Over, and He Had Never Enrolled
His former employer's retiree plan kept paying claims for three years, and every explanation of benefits looked fine until a hospital stay produced a bill worth thousands of dollars that no one had warned him was coming.
UK Business Calls For Scrapping Taxes on Electricity Bills
UK business groups urge Chancellor John Healey to scrap electricity levies, warning high energy costs threaten industry competitiveness.
What makes young people reduce their social media use
Parents concerned about their kids’ use of social media should consider the findings of a new study on the effectiveness of warnings about these online platforms.
Chicago health officials warn of possible measles exposure at Union Station
Health officials are warning of a possible measles exposure at Chicago's Union Station after an out-of-state traveler with a confirmed case passed through the station late last month.
Fact check: Trump, RFK Jr. and others make false claims on night 2 of GOP convention
(CNN) — President Donald Trump delivered another rapid-fire series of false claims on the second night of Republicans’ midterm convention on Thursday. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did his own barrage of wrongness. And various other speakers uttered statements that were untrue, misleading or missing critical context.Here is a fact check of some of the assertions from the final day of the convention. This is not intended as a comprehensive list of Thursday’s falsehoods.Trump’s many false claimsTrump made numerous false claims, some of which he also made in his longer speech Wednesday.Trump claimed that there were “no empty seats” in the Dallas arena as he spoke Thursday, which was visibly untrue. CNN White House correspondent Alayna Treene, who was there, wrote in a live chat right after Trump made the claim that “I’m looking at rows of empty seats” and that “the idea that there are ‘no empty seats’ is just laughably untrue,” though she also said the room was mostly full. Trump has for years made false claims about supposedly never having had an empty seat.Trump further inflated one of his favorite fictional figures, claiming Thursday that “$22 trillion” in investment has come into the US; on Wednesday, he had put it at “over $20 trillion,” and even that lower figure has no apparent basis in reality. As of the time he spoke Thursday, the White House’s own website claimed there had been “$11.2 trillion” in “major investment announcements” this term, not “over $20 trillion,” and the White House figure was itself a major exaggeration of actual investment.Trump, talking about elections, lied that “there’s never been bigger cheaters” than Democrats; there is no basis for broadly describing Democrats as election cheaters. For the second straight night, Trump falsely claimed that the Biden administration allowed “25 million people” to pour into the country, though that number is nowhere close to correct. Trump again falsely claimed that former President Joe Biden and other Democrats “created the worst inflation in American history,” though even peak Biden-era inflation, 9.1% in June 2022, was far from the all-time record of 23.7%; it was a 40-year high, but the rate then fell sharply before Trump returned to office.Trump also baselessly claimed that Democrats would “defund the police” and give “voting rights and welfare to 25 million illegal aliens” if they won the midterms. Republicans will still control the White House in 2027 and 2028 and the president would be in position to veto any such changes if a Democratic-controlled Congress sought to make them, but there is no indication that Democrats want to do so. Also, even groups favoring strict immigration policies estimate that the total undocumented population is far less than “25 million” or even 20 million.As he did Wednesday, Trump claimed the US now has the world’s lowest prescription drug prices. The assertion is so broad that it is unclear what exactly Trump is referencing. But experts told CNN they highly doubt that the prices for brand-name drugs in the US are generally less than they are in other countries, and the Trump administration has not provided details to prove the claim.“It’s tough to claim that you’re getting the lowest prices anywhere in the world and then also not have any evidence to support that,” said Andrew Mulcahy, a senior health economist at RAND, while Diederik Stadig, senior healthcare economist at financial institution ING, said, “To say that the US now has the lowest drug prices in the world is at this moment not true.”And as he did Wednesday, Trump said “more Americans are working today than ever before” – which is true but nearly meaningless, since the number of people working in the US generally rises over time simply because the population rises over time.“There are more Americans working because there are more Americans. That’s the entire analysis,” Justin Wolfers, a University of Michigan professor of public policy and economics, wrote in his newsletter in August.RFK Jr.’s false claims on the pandemic, Trump’s record and moreFalse claim about Democrats and the 2024 electionKennedy unsuccessfully ran for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination before withdrawing to run as an independent and then eventually endorsing Republican candidate Donald Trump. In Kennedy’s Thursday convention speech, he complained of how the Democrats handled the nomination race.At one point, he said, “For the first time in history, they cancelled their own convention. No voter ever cast a primary ballot for Kamala Harris, no elected delegate was ever consulted; the party of ‘No Kings’ simply anointed a queen.”Kennedy is entitled to express unhappiness about how quickly Democratic leaders coalesced around then-Vice President Harris after Biden unexpectedly dropped out of the race in July 2024, after the primaries were over and less than four months from Election Day. But it’s not true that the party canceled its convention or that delegates didn’t get any say.The convention was held; it was a four-day event in Chicago in August 2024. Democratic convention delegates officially nominated Harris in a virtual roll call vote in advance of the convention. It’s true that Harris was the only candidate on the roll call ballot, but that’s because she was the only candidate who gathered enough delegate signatures to appear on the ballot.It’s clear that party elites’ backing of Harris played a key role in the unusual nomination process. But Kennedy’s specific allegations that the convention was abandoned and delegates were cut out of the process are not true.False claim that Democrats closed ‘every church’ during the Covid-19 pandemicWhile attacking Democrats, Kennedy claimed that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, “They closed every church in our country for a year.”It’s not true that every church in the country was closed for a year, nor even that every church in a Democratic state was closed for a year.Every state issued some type of guidance or order about social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic, but many states – including some led by Democrats and some led by Republicans – incorporated religious exemptions into those limitations on social interactions.According to a Pew Research Center analysis from April 2020, 15 states allowed religious gatherings to continue without a limit on their size. That set of states included Colorado, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which all had Democratic governors. And at least two states with Republican governors, Alaska and Idaho, were among the states that prohibited religious gatherings at least briefly.False claim that Trump ‘ended nine wars’Trump has repeatedly claimed that he has ended “eight wars.” Kennedy went one higher on Thursday, declaring, “President Trump has ended nine wars.”That’s false. Trump hasn’t even ended eight wars.Trump’s list of eight includes two situations that were never actually wars during his tenure: a diplomatic dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia and a mysterious supposed situation between Serbia and Kosovo. The list also includes a war, involving Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, that hasn’t actually ended despite a peace agreement brokered by the Trump administration.In addition, the list includes the war between Israel and Hamas, but Israel continues to conduct frequent attacks in Gaza despite a US-brokered ceasefire agreement. And it includes the brief 2025 conflict between Israel and Iran, though Israel proceeded to join the US in starting another war against Iran in 2026.Claim about reversing a decline in longevityKennedy speaking of the Trump administration, claimed Thursday: “We have now reversed a 30-year decline in longevity. “Kennedy referenced preliminary data that he said he had received from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week, but it’s unclear what metric of longevity he’s referring to.CDC data shows that US life expectancy had been steadily increasing for decades before a sharp drop during the Covid-19 pandemic. Life expectancy had already started to rebound in 2022, under the Biden administration, and reached a new record high in 2024 before Trump’s second term began.Preliminary data shared by the CDC in July suggests that life expectancy probably hit another record high in 2025.CNN has reached out to HHS for clarification on Kennedy’s comments.Claim that Democrats ‘lost 360,000 children’Speaking about Democrats, Kennedy said: “They somehow lost 360,000 children and they turned our federal government into the biggest child trafficking operation in world history.”Trump and other Republicans have made similar claims. But there’s no basis for the assertion that Democrats “lost” so many children or that the federal government was engaged in human trafficking.A 2024 report from the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security said Immigration and Customs Enforcement had reported that more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children failed to appear as scheduled for immigration court hearings after being released or transferred out of custody between fiscal years 2019 and 2023 – a period that, notably, includes two years and four months under the first Trump administration. The report also said that 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children during this period were not given notices to appear in court.The report said that ICE had “no assurances” these children “are safe from trafficking, exploitation, or forced labor.” But it did not say all the children were actually “lost” and did not definitively assert that any of them were trafficked – let alone that the government was somehow involved in a trafficking operation. And, again, the report spanned parts of both a Republican administration and a Democratic administration.Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, told CNN in 2024: “Long story short, no, there are not 320,000 kids missing. 32,000 kids missed court. That doesn’t mean they’re missing, it means they missed court (either because their sponsor didn’t bring them or they are teenagers who didn’t want to show up). The remaining 291,000 cases mentioned by the (Office of the Inspector General) are cases where ICE hasn’t filed the paperwork to start their immigration court cases.”Vance on inflation, crime and taxes on Social SecurityA false claim about the media and Biden-era inflationVice President JD Vance mocked the media during part of his speech on Thursday. But he made a false claim about Biden-era inflation while lampooning how the media supposedly challenged him over another false claim on that subject.Vance said: “The president and I would go during a campaign, we’d say, ‘You know, inflation is as high as it’s been in 100 years,’ and the fake news would say, ‘No, no, no, it’s as high as it’s been in 68 years.’ That ain’t good, ladies and gentlemen.”Mainstream journalists, at least, wouldn’t say that inflation under Biden was as high as it had been “in 68 years.” Rather, CNN and others noted that peak inflation under the Biden administration, 9.1% in June 2022, was the highest in about 40 years.Vance is entitled to make his general point that this correction still doesn’t make Biden-era inflation sound good, but his specific number was, again, wrong. And he didn’t acknowledge that inflation fell sharply under Biden after hitting the 40-year high, declining to 2.9% in Biden’s last full month in office, December 2024, and 3.0% in January 2025, when Trump and Vance were inaugurated.The rate was 3.4% in July 2026, the most recent month for which data is available.Trump didn’t end taxes on Social SecurityVance claimed, “We’ve ended taxes on Social Security.” Several other convention speakers, including Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan, Rep. Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania and Ohio House candidate Derek Merrin, similarly said the administration has achieved “no tax on Social Security.”It hasn’t. The big domestic policy bill Trump signed in 2025 did create an additional, temporary $6,000-per-year tax deduction for individuals age 65 and older (which phases out for individuals earning $75,000 per year or more), but as the White House has implicitly acknowledged, millions of Social Security recipients will continue to pay taxes on their benefits even before the temporary new deduction expires after 2028.The Social Security Administration said in 2025 that “the bill ensures that nearly 90% of Social Security beneficiaries will no longer pay federal income taxes on their benefits.Claim about violent crime rate under BidenWhile criticizing the Biden administration, Vice President JD Vance claimed Thursday that the US “became a country where violent crime exploded, unless, of course, you could afford private security.”But violent crime did not explode under Biden. In fact, as FactCheck.org reported last month, data collected and published by the FBI shows that the national violent crime rate was at a lower level in 2023 and 2024, the last two full calendar years of Biden’s term, than it was in 2020, the last full calendar year of Trump’s first term. The year 2020 was highly unusual in many ways – violent crime jumped amid the Covid-19 pandemic – but Biden nonetheless left office with violent crime lower than it was when he took over. In fact, the 2024 violent crime rate was even lower than the 2019 rate under Trump before the pandemic.There was an increase in violent crime during the earlier part of Biden’s term. But given the subsequent decline, it’s misleading at best to claim violent crime “exploded” with no further context.Asked earlier this month about Trump’s similar previous claims to have reversed a Biden-era upswing in violence, crime data expert Jeff Asher said in an email: “No, crime began dropping significantly in 2023 during the Biden administration. Murder fell at record rates in 2023, 2024 and 2025 and, while 2026 may not feature a record decline nationally, it is still on track to see a sizable double-digit decline this year. Violent crime similarly fell nationally in 2023 and 2024, though the drops were more muted than the decline that was recorded by the FBI in 2025.”Other GOP speakersMike Johnson’s false claim about the inflation Republicans inherited from BidenSome other speakers at the convention took aim at inflation under Biden. House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed that “Republicans inherited from the Biden administration record-high inflation.”That’s not true. The inflation rate was 2.9% in Biden’s last full month in office, December 2024, and 3.0% in January 2025, when Trump took over. That’s lower than the most recent rate, 3.4% in July 2026, and nowhere close to the all-time record of 23.7%, which was reached in 1920, or the highest point of Jimmy Carter’s presidency, 14.8%, which was reached in 1980.Johnson correctly said moments later that inflation reached “a 40-year high of 9.1% inflation” under Biden. But a 40-year high is not an all-time record. More importantly, Johnson didn’t explain that 9.1% was much higher than the rate Trump inherited or that the 9.1% rate occurred in June 2022, with roughly two-and-a-half years left in Biden’s term.The cumulative increase in prices from the beginning of the Biden administration to the end was also not the highest in US history. Federal figures show that beginning-to-end inflation under Biden was less than half of that during Carter’s term.What Johnson left out of his claim about a congressional resolutionWhile attacking Democrats as extreme, Johnson said: “Just last week, nearly every Democrat in the House of Representatives voted against condemning socialism and Marxism. They voted against it.”But the resolution didn’t use the word “Marxism.” And Johnson didn’t mention that the resolution wasn’t only about condemning socialism. Rather, it contained other language that Democratic leadership said was the focus of the party’s opposition to the resolution.The resolution’s first provision said it “condemns and denounces socialism in all its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America, and opposes the implementation of socialist policies in the United States.” But its fifth provision said it “calls for enactment of the SAVE America Act,” Trump’s favored elections bill, which contains various provisions opposed by many Democrats.So while it’s very possible many Democrats would have opposed the resolution even without its expression of support for the SAVE America Act, the call to pass this elections bill served as a poison pill that ensured most Democrats wouldn’t support it.“House Resolution 1490 explicitly calls for enactment of the so-called SAVE America Act, which is the top legislative priority of far-right extremists,” Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement last week.A New Mexico candidate left out key context in an attack on his opponentGreg Cunningham, a Republican House candidate in New Mexico, used some of his Thursday speech to criticize his Democratic opponent, Rep. Gabe Vasquez. Cunningham said of Vasquez: “He even voted against a resolution honoring the sacrifices and service of the brave men and women in law enforcement who protect, every day, our communities.”But Cunningham left out important context about the resolution. While its focus was expressing support for law enforcement, its preamble contained statements praising the Trump administration and criticizing “leftist activists,” “progressive politicians” and “sanctuary city policies” for allegedly making law enforcement less safe.In other words, a House member might vote against such a resolution, as the vast majority of Democrats did, because they disagreed with conservative components of it, not the general expressions of support for law enforcement. (CNN has reached out to Vasquez’s campaign and House office for comment on his vote.) It’s common for parties to write resolutions in a way that would make it difficult for opponents to support but would open those opponents to campaign attacks if they voted “no.”An Ohio candidate’s misleading attack about Democrats and votingMerrin, the Republican candidate running against Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur for a House seat in Ohio, claimed in his speech, “While Democrats talk about letting illegal immigrants vote in our election, Republicans fight for proof of citizenship, photo ID and fair elections.”It’s a big country, so it’s possible some Democrat somewhere is talking about letting undocumented people vote in some election. But Merrin’s claim is misleading at best. There is no proposal from Democrats in Congress to let undocumented people vote in the 2026 midterms – the election Merrin appeared to be referring to when he said “our election” – or vote in future federal elections.CNN has reached out to Merrin’s campaign for an explanation of his claim.House Majority Leader Steve Scalise invoked a similar theme in his speech Wednesday, claiming that Democrats had voted last week “to allow illegals to vote in our federal elections.” But there was no congressional vote on letting undocumented immigrants vote in any elections.Rather, there was a vote on the non-binding Republican resolution that included multiple provisions, including one that “reiterates the notion that American elections are for American citizens only,” one supporting Trump’s favored elections bill and one denouncing socialism.Opposing that multi-clause resolution doesn’t necessarily mean someone supports voting by any non-citizens, let alone non-citizens in the country illegally.This article has been updated with additional items.CNN’s Deja Oliver contributed to this report.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
America, GOP at political ‘inflection point,’ top Trump running in crucial Senate race warns.mp4
Former RNC Chair Michael Whatley told Fox News Digital that the Republican's tough Senate map was indicative of an "inflection" for the GOP, and that elections "have consequences" as he tries to keep North Carolina red.
California Rethinks Software Tax Rules After Business Pushback
California tax officials are reconsidering parts of proposed rules for the state’s new software tax after businesses warned Thursday that the framework could conflict with existing tax systems, potentially exposing transactions to levies in multiple states.
Chicago health officials warn of possible measles exposure at Union Station
Chicago public health officials warn of possible measles exposure at Union Station
Chicago officials are warning of a possible measles exposure at Union Station after someone with the highly contagious illness passed through the West Loop hub late last month.
Millions Could Spend Half Their Income on Food by 2050, Scientists Warn
Welcome to the future.
The Not-So-Secret Winner in Netflix and YouTube’s Streaming Wars Battle
(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.) Here’s a good piece of advice: when someone tells you a company has “won” the streaming wars, just assume they haven’t. Remember the narratives about the streaming media over the last few years: 2024 - Netflix has won the streaming wars! 2025 - YouTube has won the streaming wars! Yet…in 2026, I’d categorize it as… 2026 - Netflix and YouTube are battling for talent! Netflix and YouTube are aggressively fighting for top creators, marking a fierce new battle in the streaming wars. For two companies that “won”, that certainly doesn’t seem like winning behavior. If you win, you don’t have to fight for talent, because talent has to come to you. This is a good reminder that, if the streaming wars are a war—and I think they are—we should know what type of war they are. So it’s worth revisiting one of my big theories of the streaming wars, that the war these battles most represent is… The Thirty Years’ War1 I prefer this war to other, simpler wars, because, while it featured two “sides”—based on religion—and the current war has two main sides—tech versus entertainment—it also featured a lot of smaller players battling it out, sometimes switching sides. And that’s still the case for entertainment and media, despite the above headlines. I’d recommend this truism: if someone has to tell you they won the streaming wars, they probably haven’t. To wit, if someone told you they were fighting in the Thirty Years’ War—and no, they didn’t call it that at the time—and in year five, they told you they won, well, obviously they had 25 more years to go. That’s a lot of preamble to say, the story of the week is the latest battles between YouTube and Netflix. Their battle for talent says a lot about how hard this war will be to win. All that, plus The Curse of the Mogul in action, Netflix providing more (theatrical) data, whether Apple TV is in trouble, AMC getting in on distribution, and a whole lot more. Subscribe Today’s article is sponsored by… Substack is hosting a live Emmys watch party, starting at 5PM on the East Coast (2PM on the West Coast) on Monday, 14-Sep. Check it out! Tune In Most Important Story of the Week - Who’s the Big Winner in the Netflix vs YouTube Showdown? Netflix spent a lot in 2025, and then even more in 2026 adding a host of “creators”—both podcasters and YouTube stars—to their TV lineup. Frankly, for years, I’ve thought that more major studios/streamers/channels should look to YouTube as the launching pad for future stars and IP. Either by poaching proven talent—albeit at good prices—or by treating YouTube as an arena for your “A&R” reps to scout new talent and emerging voices. Netflix started executing the former strategy—which I thought was smart—while Focus Features did the latter with Obsession. So what changed? YouTube finally responded! Yikes. That’s a strong response, and stronger than I’d argue most narratives about YouTube suggest. People often describe YouTube as a self-reinforcing flywheel of success. Get on YouTube or perish. So why did YouTube have to respond? Because other folks poaching their top talent could really damage their business, implying their flywheel is a pinch more rickety than most analysis suggests. Clearly, creators can envision a life off YouTube and potentially a much more lucrative one. The Curse of the Media Mogul is Playing Out In Real Time We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… Who is the big winner in the Netflix versus YouTube battle… The biggest question about YouTube… Plus why YouTube’s saber rattling should worry talent… Why I’m skeptical that a U.S. federal tax credit for film will happen… What key change could pull Apple from the streaming business. AMC getting in on distribution… Some great reads on the Warner Bros.-Paramount merger... And a whole lot more... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support.
Former EPA officials warn of health risks from data center pollution
Former federal environmental officials are sounding an alarm in a new report about potential health impacts from data center pollution amidst what they see as a breakdown in oversight.
Giants QB Jaxson Dart Hit With Another Serious Warning
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart has received another stern warning before the NFL season.
Former EPA officials warn of health risks from US data center surge
A group representing more than 800 former Environmental Protection Agency employees is warning that the rapid expansion of U.S. data centers could worsen air pollution and public health risks, particularly as the Trump administration rolls back environmental regulations and seeks to speed up facility approvals, The New York Times reports. A report from the Environmental […]
GOP secretaries of state ask Supreme Court to block Trump mail-in ballot rule
The proposed change would significantly increase the likelihood of midterm election issues, they warned.
Chicago health officials warn of possible measles exposure at Union Station
Health officials are warning of a possible measles exposure at Chicago's Union Station after an out-of-state traveler with a confirmed case passed through the station late last month.
Africa’s top health body warns Congo’s Ebola outbreak is rapidly spreading beyond epicenter
The World Health Organization says the situation remains out of control.
Africa's top health body warns Congo’s Ebola outbreak is rapidly spreading beyond epicenter
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record in eastern Congo is rapidly spreading beyond its epicenter, Africa’s top health body said Thursday.
Africa’s top health body warns Congo’s Ebola outbreak is rapidly spreading beyond epicenter
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is spreading rapidly beyond its epicenter, according to Africa's top health body.
Africa’s top health body warns Congo’s Ebola outbreak is rapidly spreading beyond epicenter
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record in eastern Congo is rapidly spreading beyond its epicenter, Africa’s top health body said Thursday. In recent weeks, new cases an…
Congo’s Ebola outbreak rapidly spreading beyond epicenter, health body warns
The Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is spreading rapidly beyond its epicenter, according to Africa's top health body
BBB warns of local shipping container purchase problems
The Better Business Bureau of the Mahoning Valley (BBB) is warning residents to use caution when buying shipping containers after customers of a business claiming to be located in Canfield have rep…
Skill games could be seized from Pa. businesses in October, state police warn
In June, the state Supreme Court ruled the gambling machines are unconstitutional. Lawmakers must regulate them by Oct. 13.
Chicago health department warning of potential measles exposure at Union Station
The Chicago Department of Public Health is warning commuters of a potential measures exposure at Union Station last month.
‘Politics of contempt’: Republican Utah governor joins Pa. Gov. Shapiro to push back against hateful rhetoric and partisanship
The governors said political disagreement is essential to democracy, but warned that dehumanizing rhetoric is contributing to violence and eroding trust.
Rensch: ‘Roma must be ready for Fenerbahce strong start’
Devyne Rensch warns Roma ‘must be ready’ for the atmosphere put on by Fenerbahce fans in tonight’s Champions League opener.It kicks off at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul at 17.45 UK tim...
A.I. Data Center Pollution Poses Health Threat, Former E.P.A. Officials Warn
Air pollution from gas-fired power plants to run data centers is expected to add at least $20 billion in annual health care costs by 2028, the group warns.
Suffolk Health Department warns of rabies after raccoon tests positive
SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The Suffolk Health Department announced that a raccoon recently tested positive for rabies within the city limits. According to officials, the raccoon was picked up by a…
Broken Bow Business Warns Public After Suspicious Activity Reported Overnight
BROKEN BOW, Neb. — A Broken Bow business is urging residents to secure their vehicles, homes and businesses after reporting suspicious activity overnight. Bonfire Grill & Pub said Thursday morning…
Powerful waves tear apart Long Beach coast as scientists warn of worse to come
Days of powerful waves have torn away sand, damaged a popular walkway and threatened homes along the Long Beach coast, and scientists warn the destructive conditions could be a preview of what’s to…
Recognizing suicide warning signs in children and teens
Suicide among teens has been on the rise for more than two decades. Learn what parents can do to support a young person's mental health.
Washtenaw County Health Department issues warning after two bats discovered with rabies
The Washtenaw County Health Department has issued an information warning after two bats with rabies were discovered locally. WEMU’s Ana Longoria has the details.
Patrick Mahomes given Josh Allen warning ahead of Chiefs return
What did Mahomes say?
Willy Street businesses warn recovery far from over after Madison council rejects relief
Williamson Street business leaders say reopening the street has not meant a return to normal, one day after the Madison Common Council rejected $75,000 in proposed relief for businesses impacted by this summer’s two-week encampment.
Labor premiers join business groups in warning Albanese government over immigration cuts
Federal Labor is poised to announce a migration crackdown despite fears slashing visa numbers could damage economy
Willy Street businesses warn recovery far from over after Madison council rejects relief
The proposed Williamson Street Business Stabilization Support Program would have made money available to as many as 30 businesses directly impacted by the encampment near Williamson and Baldwin streets.
Missouri health agency warns of possible measles exposure at Sedalia train station
A resident of Missouri, who is confirmed to have measles, reportedly boarded a Chicago-bound train last month at the station in Sedalia.
Florida Coach Disappointed With Defensive Performance in Week 1
Despite a blowout victory, Florida HC Jon Sumrall blasted his unit’s low football IQ and lack of pace, warning of total embarrassment unless the Gators sharpen their defensive standards.
New Mexico nursing homes lead nation in health citations as caregiver shortage raises concerns
New Mexico's nursing homes have the most health citations on average in the country, according to federal Medicare inspectors, as advocates and health experts warn of a growing caregiver workforce crisis.
MN rabies scare: Health department warns of possible false test results
The Minnesota Department of Health says ASAP Wildlife Services allegedly failed to consistently submit bats for proper rabies testing, leaving some customers in the dark about possible exposures. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard has the latest details.
Dengue outbreak in Hillsborough County: Health officials warn spread could take time to slow
Health and mosquito control officials are warning residents that Hillsborough County’s dengue outbreak could take time to wind down as crews continue working to find and treat mosquito breedi…
Anthropic researcher's resignation sends warning about the dangers of AI development
Jacob Coxon, who said he spent three years doing research at both Anthropic and OpenAI, said Tuesday on the social platform X that the two AI companies are more focused on beating each other and global competitors in developing the most advanced model possible than they are on safety.
California, other states warn Supreme Court of 'chaos' if it lets USPS mail ballot rules stand
A federal judge has already halted the plan nationwide, but the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to revive it, arguing the federal government would be seriously harmed by voter fraud if it does not.
Is it healthy for a child to play one sport all year? There’s a warning
Parents should take note of the medical concerns.
Federal health officials warn Nashville hospital risks losing Medicare deal
Federal health officials are warning Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital that it must quickly fix serious patient-safety problems or risk losing Medicare.
Will it kill off humanity? Computer scientists and politicians wrestle with risks of AI
Alarming warnings from industry insiders increase pressure for curbs on artificial superintelligence
Will it kill off humanity? Computer scientists and politicians wrestle with risks of AI
Alarming warnings from industry insiders increase pressure for curbs on artificial superintelligence
Ben Roethlisberger raises concern over Steelers thin running back room
Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger questioned team's roster construction, warning that depth behind the primary running backs is dangerously thin.
HOMETOWN HEALTH: The warning signs of suicide risk in men that often go unnoticed
CDC data shows the suicide rate among men is significantly higher than it is for women.
Health-ISAC warns ShinyHunters targets health sector with vishing, credential theft and MFA bypass tactics
Health-ISAC alert warns ShinyHunters targets health sector with vishing, credential theft and MFA bypass tactics.
Report that Netanyahu was warned before October 7 triggers political earthquake in Israel
An investigation published by 'Haaretz' claims the Israeli prime minister was informed by UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed, 10 days before the attack, that Hamas was planning a major operation against Israel.
Anthropic AI chief warns of a 'discernment tax' at work
Anthropic's AI fluency chief says knowing when not to use AI is a key skill that can help workers avoid a "discernment tax."
Google warns of new Chrome zero-day bug exploited in attacks
Google has patched 230 vulnerabilities on Tuesday, including another actively exploited Chrome zero-day bug, the seventh such vulnerability patched since the start of the year.
Anthropic researcher quit, says AI labs are 'gambling with our lives'
An Anthropic researcher who once worked at OpenAI just quit. He's the latest insider warning that the AI race has become dangerously reckless.
More Than 5,000 Leaders Across Entertainment, Academia and Public Life Unite to Reject “Genocide” Accusation Against Israel
Boris Johnson, Deborah Lipstadt, Sir Niall Ferguson, Shari Redstone, Steven Pinker, Sherry Lansing, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Irwin Cotler, Debra Messing and thousands of others reject the genocide accusation against Israel and warn that it fuels antisemitism
Experts: Canadian tariffs could hit Kansas City businesses with trade conflict
Canadian counter-tariffs of up to 50% on U.S. goods are affecting Kansas City businesses, with experts warning of job vulnerabilities and economic uncertainty.
Jamison Battle’s Preparation Could Earn Him More Raptors Minutes
Toronto has a reserve shooter worth examining closely, especially when his limited opportunities arrive without much warning.
Severe Warning Issued Over Technique Putting Patrick Mahomes at Risk
The Kansas City Chiefs fans are still not completely certain whether Patrick Mahomes will be starting in the season’s opening Week 1 game. The team suffered heavily last season when the quarterback suffered an ACL injury that has kept him out for a long time. He has missed the entire offseason, including the preseason games. […] The post Severe Warning Issued Over Technique Putting Patrick Mahomes at Risk appeared first on Gridiron Heroics.
National Park Service’s WWII series highlights Washington State nature reserve
Olympic National Park had strategic 13 Aircraft Warning Service stations.
Hegseth claims another scalp in Pentagon purge
Dan Driscoll resigned and warned the resident that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is doing serious damage to the military
Joe Biden shares health update after prostate cancer diagnosis while issuing warning to others
Joe Biden revealed his radiation treatment from last fall "worked as intended" as he urged men to discuss prostate cancer screening with their doctors.
Years before Nepal floods, scientists pitched a seismic warning system
The scientists, who are based in Europe, say the system could have triggered lifesaving alerts before floodwaters hit in Nepal. But the concept is unproven in the field.
Funding cuts are forcing dozens of health clinics in Sudan to close, aid groups warn
CAIRO (AP) — An additional three dozen health facilities serving more than 400,000 people in Sudan are closing this year due to global aid cuts, worsening a dire humanitarian situation in a country torn by more than three years of war, aid groups said Tuesday.
Dallas mayor sounds alarm on the 'grave threat' facing America's cities
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson warns a socialist movement threatens U.S. cities and the economy, touting his city's financial services growth and free markets.
Doctors Without Borders warns that funding cuts are forcing health clinics to close
Aid groups say three dozen health facilities in Sudan are closing this year due to global aid cuts. This worsens an already dire humanitarian situation in a country torn by more than three years of war.
Funding cuts are forcing dozens of health clinics in Sudan to close, aid groups warn
Aid groups say three dozen health facilities in Sudan are closing this year due to global aid cuts
Parents of San Diego mosque gunman say a mental health facility failed to heed FBI warning
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The mother of Caleb Vazquez alleges in her lawsuit that Park Mental Health Treatment of San Diego failed to intervene despite signs that her 18-year-old son posed an imminent threat to himself and others.
Trade war shock: Tariffs push Canadian small businesses to the brink
The economic pain that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned would come from a trade war is now a harsh reality for some small businesses that export to the US.
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment Announces The End of Oak Street
The End of Oak Street, the wildest ride to hit theaters this summer, from writer/director/producer David Robert Mithcell (It Follows), debuts
'Turning blind eye' to AfD win further angers voters, analyst warns
Chancellor Merz's government must recognise the far-right AfD's victory in Saxony-Anhalt and voter discontent that led to the win, or further cement its downfall, an expert on East German politics warned.
Here’s Samsung’s Advice for Apple and Its Upcoming Folding iPhone
The competition is “absolutely welcome” by the pioneering Korean giant, but Samsung warns that the device’s “weight” is crucial.
Politics Threaten Medical Innovation at NIH
Santa Monica rheumatologist warns that political interference in NIH funding threatens scientific breakthroughs and patient care. Taxpayer dollars should support rigorous peer review, not politics.
Sudan's healthcare system on brink of collapse after cuts, medical charity warns
Médecins Sans Frontières is urging world leaders to increase funding to help the millions who need aid.
HOMETOWN HEALTH: Doctors warn of overlooked sports concussion risks as fall season begins
Some symptoms are harder to identify.
HOMETOWN HEALTH: Doctors warn of overlooked sports concussion risks as fall season begins
Some symptoms are harder to identify.
The final season of ‘Yellowjackets’ is not holding back: ‘We get a little crazy’ (exclusive)
They’re being rescued! An exclusive first look at the final season of ‘Yellowjackets’ digs into the aftermath of the wilderness (and Wilderness) as co-creator warns, ‘Buckle up.’
Williams warns WRU on 'almost non-existent' student support
Former Wales and Lions wing Shane Williams says pathways support for schools and colleges from the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) is 'almost non-existent'.
Hormuz disruptions hitting small businesses hardest, UN trade agency warns
GENEVA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz could push small and medium-sized businesses out of global supply chains, increasing economic concentration and weakening the resilience
Hormuz disruptions hitting small businesses hardest, UN trade agency warns
GENEVA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz could push small and medium-sized businesses out of global supply chains, increasing economic concentration and weakening the resilience
Heart Health: Silent symptoms of the biggest health threats
Some of the most dangerous heart conditions grow silently, without pain, without symptoms, and without warning.
Sudan’s healthcare system on brink of collapse, MSF warns
More than a third of Sudan's health facilities are nonoperational as aid cuts deepen crisis, medical charity says.
More Americans Are Losing Health Insurance—And Everyone Will Pay
As people lose health insurance coverage, experts warn of more crowded hospitals and higher costs for everyone.