SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " ford " 4,081 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
Nessel sues Oakland County nonprofit for ‘deceptive’ business practices
A lawsuit filed Tuesday by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel seeks to dissolve a Waterford-based nonprofit for misrepresenting its housing assistance services to consumers.
Professor's work to improve science communication earns him national fellowship
Even as a child, Gilberto Lopez could sense there was something about the labor his farmworker parents did and the lifestyle it afforded them that didn’t add up.Lopez, a Charter Professor in Arizona State University’s School of Transborder Studies, said his parents were Mexican immigrant farmworkers in California’s Central Valley who “worked the land but never owned it."
Rashford, Mainoo & transfers - Carrick calls for more signings
Before his first full season as Manchester United head coach, Michael Carrick explains why the club need more players, discusses why he is in a privileged position and talks Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo.
Out for Business at the Heritage Hotel presented by the Southbury Chamber
The Southbury Chamber, an affiliate of the Waterbury Regional Chamber, will host its next Out for Business networking event on Thursday, August 20, 2026, from 5 to 7 p.m. at […]
AI needs science’s search history
“Actually, that’s where the gold is,” said Alasdair Russell, my graduate school friend who leads a pre-clinical genome editing group at Cambridge. He was talking about the winding road of science that is omitted from published papers. “When you’re discussing how to do the experiment, and why this way is better than another way, and what does the data really mean? I know what it shows, but what does it mean?” At RAAIS 2026, he described how his group has begun logging the twisting path of discovery as it happens, recording the verbal and written exchanges that normally disappear. Ideas become nodes in a living graph: they branch when a meeting produces two plausible experiments, merge when separate lines of evidence converge, and go dark when someone quietly stops pursuing them. In his implementation, one agent scores novelty, while another tries to learn “how scientists think and how they navigate through a complex world of data,” so that high-potential nodes can trigger deeper investigation. As frontier AI labs deploy agents toward scientific discovery, giving AI authentic scientific taste remains a trillion-dollar dilemma. The bottleneck is that the record we have kept for centuries of science might be insufficient to get us there. The experiments that never make the paper Peter Medawar, 1960 Nobel laureate and “father of transplantation,” asked in 1963 whether the scientific paper was a fraud, and answered yes: the form of the paper misrepresents the thinking that produced it. Sixty years on, the diagnosis is unchanged. A paper presents a clean progression from hypothesis to result to conclusion. Lost along the way are the unconventional theories, the abandoned or unaffordable methods, and the underwhelming and inconclusive data. It reads like a browser history with every dead end deleted: the ten open tabs, the four rephrased queries, the wrong turn down a subforum. All scrubbed, leaving one clean path from question to answer as the canonical path. What has changed since then is that the discarded material is now worth something. No high-impact journal wants these artifacts, but raw trial and error is the most likely source of the training data required to develop scientific intuition, or what researchers call taste. Earlier attempts to capture the discards were motivated by scientific integrity. The Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine launched in 2002 to publish rigorous studies that disputed established models or exposed ineffective treatments. Its archive preserved negative conclusions after they had become papers, rather than the live alternatives and arguments that produced them. BioMed Central closed it in 2017, saying the mission had been served now that other journals publish null results. A less generous reading is that in fifteen years it published around 200 papers because almost nobody wants to read a negative result, let alone write one up when it will not count toward academic tenure. AI models are different. Even an uninteresting negative result can be useful, provided it is labeled. Earlier this year, Anthropic put a version of this to the test. The company pulled 129 decision points from real Claude Code sessions between January and March 2026, showed models the work up to a human detour, and asked what should happen next. Claude Mythos Preview beat the human choice 64% of the time, while Opus 4.5 managed 51%. The comparison was tilted toward the models because Anthropic deliberately chose moments where the human decision had room for improvement. On 127 further scenarios where the human action was already strong, the models improved on it only about 20% of the time. The study was possible because Anthropic’s researchers work inside a tool that logs by default. The reasoning, detours and outcome are produced in the same working environment. Biology has no equivalent. Its reasoning happens in hallways, at benches, in Slack threads and on whiteboards, while the outcome arrives weeks later somewhere else. The record has to emerge from the work itself. Ask scientists to reconstruct it afterwards and we’ll create another polished account. Subscribe A log is not a label Before any of this becomes training data, a negative result has to say what failed. The first paper published in the Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine examined 234 negative studies across five leading medical journals. Only 30% discussed statistical power, and half clearly defined a primary outcome. Tell a model an experiment failed, without telling it whether the assay was underpowered, a reagent had degraded, or the hypothesis was simply wrong, and it will learn noise with confidence. Decision histories have a second missing label too. When a lab considers five experiments and runs one, only the chosen branch returns an outcome. The other four are experimental counterfactuals. Researchers call this the selective labels problem: the data reveal results only for the actions someone chose to take. Such a record can teach a model to imitate a lab’s taste, but it cannot establish that the taste was good. It also smuggles local constraints into general lessons. A lab that never ran cryo-EM because it did not own a microscope teaches a model that cryo-EM is rarely the right call. Alasdair’s nodes preserve the candidate set, which is the necessary first step. To be useful, each decision record needs six fields: The evidence available at that moment, and nothing that arrived later. The candidates considered, including the ones dismissed in a sentence. For each candidate: the expected result, the confidence attached to it, and the cost in time and money. The route chosen, and the reason. What happened next. How the evidence changed the scientist’s view. These must be timestamped before the outcome, because hindsight turns uncertainty into inevitability. Disagreement also has to survive. Averaging three scientists into one clean rationale reproduces exactly the information loss we are trying to fix. But there is an obvious failure mode here. Once decisions are logged and scored, people log for the record post-facto. Anyone who has watched an electronic lab notebook fill up with retrospective tidying knows how quickly a research tool becomes a compliance exercise. A record that costs a scientist ten minutes of honest reflection per decision is worth far more than one that costs an hour of performance. A publication initiative called Registered Reports offers a useful starting point. Here, researchers submit their rationale, methods and analysis plan for peer review before the data exist, and the journal commits in principle to publish if they follow the approved plan. Nature has now expanded the format across every field it covers. This approach to paper writing timestamps intent before the outcome, but it freezes one plan. A useful search history must also preserve how the plan changed, which alternatives were rejected, when, and on what evidence. Subscribe Run the runner-up Autonomous labs show what happens when decisions and outcomes are connected in a loop. Liverpool’s mobile robotic chemist ran 688 experiments over eight days in a ten-variable formulation space. A batched Bayesian search used each result to choose the next experiments and found photocatalyst mixtures six times more active than the starting formulations. Every completed experiment changed what the system did next. The robot optimized within a goal and search space that humans had already chosen. It did not decide which scientific question mattered. So what this work demonstrates is narrower, but still useful: a search history pays off when the options return standardized outcomes quickly. Open-ended biology is harder because branches can take weeks and the discarded alternatives may never be run. Some exploration therefore has to be bought. Where two branches are plausible and the stakes justify the cost, a lab should sometimes run the runner-up. Otherwise the record captures what today’s scientists usually chose and stays silent on what they systematically overlooked. A funder could ring-fence a small fraction of a grant for the branch not taken, provided that the decision record and the outcome are both deposited. That costs money, but so does having every lab rediscover the same abandoned path. Test whether taste transfers When it comes time to evaluate if our new AI system exhibits taste, the comparison should run across laboratories and fields. At selected decision points in a live research campaign, we should freeze the six fields: the evidence, the candidates, expected results, confidence, costs and the choice made. Experts then rank the options before the outcomes are known, and those outcomes are checked independently later. We could give models one of two diets - papers alone, or papers plus decision histories - and ask them to rank the next experiment on unfamiliar projects. Then, we score information gained per dollar and week, calibration, and how quickly weak branches are abandoned. If histories improve choices only inside the lab that produced them, they amount to useful organizational memory. If they improve choices on unfamiliar problems elsewhere, Alasdair’s group will have captured something science has never managed to write down: a transferable record of taste. Until that happens, a scientific search history is a promising record, not yet a training set.
Two affordable iPhone 17 Pro accessories worth trying
While my preferred way to use an iPhone is with no case or screen protector, I’m actually enjoying both on...
How San Francisco's ridiculous housing prices are defining the race to replace Pelosi
As San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan and Sen. Scott Wiener fight to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, their track records on affordable housing could be decisive in the tight race for Congress.
Marcus Rashford transfer news: Tottenham should sign Man Utd forward, says ex-Spurs midfielder Jamie O'Hara
Jamie OHara was speaking on Sky Sports Tottenham summer special podcast; the show also features Sky Sports News Michael Bridge and Lyall Thomas, who analyse Spurs summer window so far, discuss the business still needed and answer your questions ahead of the new season
Chris Turner
If you’re not looking to the future, then the people on your team aren’t looking to the future either.
Asia-Pacific parliamentarians urge bolder action for universal health coverage, climate resilience and responsible AI
Parliamentarians representing 16 countries from across the Asia-Pacific region concluded the Ninth Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health (APPFGH) today, reaffirming their key role in advancing universal health coverage (UHC) amid the risks and opportunities posed by AI and climate change. In adopting the Phnom Penh Communiqué, parliamentarians urged fellow legislators regionwide to strengthen sustainable financing for UHC to widen access to health for all, including the most vulnerable populations; promote responsible governance of AI amid ethical concerns over this fast-evolving technology; and build climate-resilient health systems to anticipate and respond to mounting pressures ranging from rising sea levels in coastal areas to air pollution and other environmental degradation.The National Assembly of Cambodia, with support from Cambodia’s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), hosted the Forum in Phnom Penh from 11 to 13 August 2026 – the first time the Forum has convened in a Mekong country.Parliamentarians urge action to close gaps in accessIn the Communiqué, parliamentarians recognized that at-risk and marginalized groups are the ones most severely affected by gaps in access to health services. These groups include people living in poverty, women and children, persons with disabilities, older people, migrants, refugees, and those in rural, remote or island communities. The Communiqué urges fellow parliamentarians and policy-makers to advocate for laws and policies that support sustainable financing to protect people from financial hardship, with a focus on primary health care, prevention and equity. "The Communiqué is a call to action. It sets out ambitious, concrete measures that deliver meaningful impact on the ground. We are all accountable for advancing universal health coverage and translating our commitments into tangible results. Cambodia is fully committed to advancing UHC, including the promotion of ‘healthy people, prosperous country’ campaign,” said Samdech Maha Rathsapheathika Thipadei Khuon Sudary, President of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia.His Excellency Professor Chheang Ra, Minister of Health of the Kingdom of Cambodia, highlighted the need for collaboration beyond the health sector. “Universal health coverage cannot be achieved by the Ministry of Health alone. It requires support, particularly from parliamentarians, across political, legislative, financial, social protection, education, infrastructure, and environmental domains. While each country follows its own path, one factor is universally critical for success: strong governance and leadership. We all believe in this principle, and in our respective political roles, we remain committed to strengthening these key success factors to ensure that no one is left behind.”Promoting responsible AI adoption Parliamentarians acknowledged that, while AI has already demonstrated its ability to improve access to health services and support delivery, careful and ethical governance is necessary to safeguard quality, safety, privacy and public trust. This underscores the importance of parliamentarians in promoting legal and regulatory frameworks addressing liability, records ownership and data governance, while embracing innovation that protects ethical practice.“Without strong governance, safeguards for privacy and data security, sustainable financing, and attention to those most at risk of exclusion, new technologies may widen existing gaps instead of closing them. This is why parliamentarians matter. We pass laws. We approve budgets. We scrutinize government action. We represent communities. We can ask whether health services are reaching rural, remote, ageing, poor, and marginalized populations. We can ask whether innovation is being guided by equity, evidence, and ethics,” said Hon. Man Hee Lee, President of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health.Building climate-resilient health systemsParliamentarians also reiterated that the climate crisis is a direct threat to people’s health and to achieving UHC more broadly, deepening the same gaps in access already faced by at-risk and marginalized communities. They recognized the need for WHO Member States to ensure sufficient national appropriations and oversight, and for parliamentarians to raise awareness in their constituencies and mobilize local action in building climate-resilient and sustainable health systems.“Universal health coverage, climate change and AI cannot be addressed in isolation. The same communities struggling to access health services today are often the ones most exposed to climate shocks, and most in need of the opportunities AI can offer if this technology is governed responsibly,” said Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. “Having served previously in this Forum myself as a parliamentarian from Tonga, I recognize how the Phnom Penh Communiqué reflects the shared resolve of legislators across the Asia-Pacific region: the laws parliamentarians pass and the budgets they approve help ensure this progress reaches the people who need it most.”As the Forum drew to a close, delegates reflected on what they would carry back to their own parliaments and constituencies.“I wish to share three points here worth carrying home from Phnom Penh: we need to invest in primary health care as the foundation of coverage; we need to remove the barriers that keep people from care, whether financial, geographic or social; and we need to build systems that are inclusive by design, protecting those most at risk of being left behind,” added Hon. Ouch Borith, First Vice-President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia.###Notes for editors:The Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health (APPFGH) is a platform for parliamentarians to exchange ideas, build political will, strengthen capacity and foster collaboration towards sustainable health action. This was the ninth meeting of the APPFGH, with the theme “Universal Health Coverage in the era of Climate Change and Artificial Intelligence”. Target 3.8 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls on countries to achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health services, and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all. In the Western Pacific, UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1) rose from 63 in 2000 to 81 in 2023 (figures include Indonesia), and roughly one in four people in the Western Pacific have experienced financial hardship (SDG 3.8.2). Progress towards UHC in the Asia-Pacific region remains uneven, with hundreds of millions of people still lacking access to essential health services or facing financial hardship due to health-related expenses. Strengthening the role of parliaments – through legislation, financing and oversight – is central to closing this gap and accelerating progress towards UHC across the region.Parliamentarians participating in APPFGH in Cambodia this week include: Hon. Pehin Dato Adanan YUSOF, Brunei Darussalam; Hon. Rosmawatty ABDUL MUMIN, Brunei Darussalam; Hon. LORK Kheng, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. YOS Phanita, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. KHOUN Khundy, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. HENG Halim, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. KHOENG Noupheap, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. SENG Nhak, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. LY Sukry, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. NHOEURN Raden, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. Dr Ratu Atonio LALABALAVU, Republic of Fiji; Hon. Vijay NATH, Republic of Fiji; Hon. Man Hee LEE, Republic of Korea; Hon. Dr Jiho CHA, Republic of Korea; Hon. Jonghun BAEK, Republic of Korea; Hon. Youngsuk SEO, Republic of Korea; Hon. Dr Phayvanh KEOPASEUTH, Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Hon. Suhaizan Bin KAIAT, Malaysia; Hon. Dr Perpetua KONMAN, Federated States of Micronesia; Hon. Ganmaa DAVAASAMBUU, Mongolia; Hon. Charmaine SCOTTY, Republic of Naoero; Hon. Vincent Ambance KUMURA, Papua New Guinea; Hon. Dr Edwin CRUZADO, Republic of the Philippines; Hon. AUUAPAAU Mulipola Aloitafua Mulipola, Samoa; Hon. ASIATA TAVUI Tafu Salevao, Samoa; Hon. Dr Alani Petelo TANGITAU, Tonga; Hon. Paul PAOLO, Republic of Vanuatu; Hon. Franklyn Ezra WILLIAM, Republic of Vanuatu.For more information, contact: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific: wprocom@who.int National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia (International Relations Department): ir.nacambodia@gmail.com
Stanford GSB Tops New AI Readiness Index; 42% of Business Schools Require No AI Coursework
A PR firm's new index scores 60 global B-schools on AI readiness and finds none teaches generative engine optimization.
John Harbaugh Explains Giants' Decision to Try Out Terrion Arnold
The New York Giants broke from their traditional caution by inviting Terrion Arnold to East Rutherford for a tryout Wednesday. First-year head coach John Harbaugh explained what went into that decision and how Arnold performed while working out at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center. Arnold has now tried out for at least four teams, most recently the Giants on Wednesday, a day after working out for the New Orleans Saints.
Pirate Problems: Bucs Facing old Friend Sean McVay
New coordinator Zac Robinson faces his mentor in a high-stakes showdown, leveraging intimate knowledge of Sean McVay’s system to neutralize Matthew Stafford’s explosive Rams offense.
Matthew Stafford facing major off-field issue before Rams season
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife reportedly face an active California tax lien worth more than $534,000 just weeks before Los Angeles opens its 2026 season.
Matthew Stafford expresses confidence in Rams 3rd-round rookie
Matthew Stafford expressed confidence in Keagen Trost after he got a chance to play with the first-team offense on Tuesday.
Hendersonville hospital celebrates opening of Adolescent Behavioral Health Center
WLOS News 13 provides local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of events and items of interest in the community, sports and entertainment programming for Asheville, NC and nearby towns and communities in Western North Carolina and the Upstate of South Carolina, including the counties of Buncombe, Henderson, Rutherford, Haywood, Polk, Transylvania, McDowell, Mitchell, Madison, Yancey, Jackson, Swain, Macon, Graham, Spartanburg, Greenville, Anderson, Union, Pickens, Oconee, Laurens, Greenwood, Abbeville and also Biltmore Forest, Woodfin, Leicester, Black Mountain, Montreat, Arden, Weaverville, Hendersonville, Etowah, Flat Rock, Mills River, Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Canton, Clyde, Franklin, Cullowhee, Sylva, Cherokee, Marion, Old Fort, Forest City, Lake Lure, Bat Cave, Spindale, Spruce Pine, Bakersville, Burnsville, Tryon, Columbus, Marshall, Mars Hill, Brevard, Bryson City, Cashiers, Greer, Landrum, Clemson, Gaffney, and Easley.
Science funding and unnecessary fear
Letters: Prof Stephen Blundell on the plight of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and Peter Forbes on bacteriophages and AI
Washington County Fair kicks off with five days of agriculture, entertainment
NBC 10 WJAR is the news, sports and weather leader for Providence, Rhode Island and surrounding communities, including Cranston, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Warwick, Newport, Bristol and Narragansett, Rhode Island and Attleboro, North Attleborough, Swansea, Fall River, Taunton and New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Wednesday Morning Links
Morning, all! Monday marked the first game in a stretch against a couple of cellar dwellers, and the Rangers capitalized by winning 4-1 in extras against the Angels. Unfortunately, the offense was flacid last night despite ample opportunities, so the signs aren’t pointing to a momentum building road trip. Cody Bradford was a bright spot, […]
3 main takeaways from Cowboys’ joint practice with Rams
The Dallas Cowboys got their first opportunity to test themselves against team during Tuesday’s joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams, and there was plenty to like — especially on defense. Facing reigning MVP Matthew Stafford and a Rams team off a trip to the NFC Championship Game provided Dallas with a strong measuring stick before preseason action. The Cowboys defense answered the challenge, creating turnovers and consistently disrupting Los Angeles’ offense.
As Henry Ford Health searches for a new HQ office, here are the other buildings that could be in play
The health system wouldn’t specify what other properties were in the mix, but there are a few large buildings in the area that could be contenders — at least in theory.
How Bronin's 'political earthquake' defeated Larson in CT: Dan Haar
The former Hartford mayor is calling for a movement with fresh energy for Democrats to fight back against Trump.
Rep. John Larson, a Longtime Lawmaker, Loses a Primary in Connecticut
In an upset, Luke Bronin, the former mayor of Hartford, won the Democratic nomination, capitalizing on calls for generational change.
Henry Ford Health to close St. Clair emergency room
Henry Ford Health to close River District Hospital ER Sept. 1; inpatient services end, labs/pharmacy remain open.
North Dakota’s SBDC turns 40
Organization's work has created tens of thousands of jobs in North Dakota, says State Director Tiffany Ford
Anti-ICE protestors call out Susan Collins in Biddeford
Protestors took to the streets outside of the offices of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) statewide, demanding she take responsibility for what they said was support of ICE.
Henry Ford Health closing emergency room at St. Clair County hospital
Henry Ford Health will close its emergency department and end inpatient services at its River District Hospital in East China Township.
Hartford Athletic vs. Miami FC Live Stream of USL Championship
Watch Live: USL Championship match Hartford Athletic vs. Miami FC on August 15, 2026
Rossford business owners cheer roundabout project's completion
After two months of work, a new roundabout in downtown Rossford has officially opened. The $2.8 million roundabout at the State Rt. 65 (Dixie Highway), ...
SGMC Health Welcomes Internal Medicine Residency Faculty
SGMC Health welcomes Anna Ledford, MD, and Mariya Tom, MD, to SGMC Internal Medicine – Park Avenue, where they will serve as attending physicians and teaching faculty for the Internal Medicine Residency Program.
Curtain Call Cabaret & Lounge launches new pay model for entertainment, food
The Curtain Call Cabaret & Lounge in downtown Medford has introduced an innovative Pay-What-You-Want model that includes both admission and its food menu. For all Curtain Call-produced performances, guests may […]
Motorola Moto Watch (2026) review: Looks can be deceiving
Motorola’s Moto Watch looks like a capable and affordable timepiece, but looks are deceiving.
Supermassive Games announces layoffs, up to 75 workers may be affected
This marks the third round of job cuts at the Guildford-based studio in three years
Injuries can take a mental toll on athletes
How do athletes handle being on the injured list? Dr. Josefine Combs can help athletes cope and come back mentally stronger.
Injuries can take a mental toll on athletes
How do athletes handle being on the injured list? Dr. Josefine Combs can help athletes cope and come back mentally stronger.
The U.S. Healthcare System is Already Mostly Socialized
Now that Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat, the outcome of this crucial race will depend mainly on two things: Whether Republicans succeed in demonizing El-Sayed because he’s brown and a Muslim, and whether they succeed in demonizing him as a left-wing radical. I will defer for the now the question of whether bigotry will be effective this year, although I will address it another day. What I want to address instead is El-Sayed’s signature issue — healthcare. Yes, El-Sayed advocates Medicare for All, a position the usual suspects denounce as “socialism.” I will get to the politics of his stance soon. Today, however, I want to talk about the substance. We should be clear that El-Sayed doesn’t even call himself a socialist. On the contrary, he explicitly disavows the label, saying “I’m a capitalist who just knows about capitalism”. In fact, as I explained in a previous post, the policies that El-Sayed advocates qualify him as a social democrat, not a socialist. Still, El-Sayed advocates a system under which the government would pay almost all medical expenses. Isn’t that socialism? Well, if that is the criterion then much of U.S. healthcare is already socialist. In fact, the government’s role is so large that U.S. healthcare is better described as partially privatized socialism than as anything resembling a free market. Let’s start with the raw numbers on health insurance, which pays the bulk of Americans’ medical expenses. Americans receive health insurance either from private companies or from public programs, overwhelmingly Medicare and Medicaid. Here’s what the breakdown of coverage and spending between private and public looked like in 2024: While a majority of Americans with health insurance get it from private companies, well over 100 million of us are covered by government programs instead. And these government programs pay more total dollars for medical bills than the private insurers do. Why do government programs that cover a minority of the population account for a majority of health insurers’ outlays? Mainly because Medicare covers seniors, and we’re expensive. Also, while Medicaid covers many younger Americans, disabled and elderly beneficiaries account for most of its spending. Even by the raw numbers, then, U.S. health insurance looks as much public as private. But that understates the government’s role: Private health insurance in the U.S. is both highly regulated and heavily subsidized. This is obviously true for the insurance coverage purchased by tens of millions of Americans through the exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act. But employment-based health insurance, which covers 161 million Americans, is far more of a government creation than most people realize. For employment-based insurance exists largely because of huge implicit government subsidies that come with major strings attached. Here’s how that works. If your employer pays you $10,000, that’s taxable income. But if your employer pays $10,000 toward a company health insurance plan that meets certain criteria, it isn’t taxable. That’s a huge effective subsidy, running at more than $300 billion a year. Take that subsidy into account, along with the more than $100 billion per year spent subsidizing policies purchased under the ACA, as well as the outlays on Medicare and Medicaid, and net effect is that the government pays for more than two-thirds of Americans’ health insurance. Granted, there are strings attached. Roughly speaking, employment-based health plans can’t discriminate based on medical history — that is, they can’t deny coverage to employees with pre-existing conditions — and they also can’t offer the plans only to highly compensated employees — a health plan that is only for the C-suite is considered taxable income. So given the restrictions of the federal tax code, employer-based health insurance is a lot like Obamacare, which also prohibits discrimination based on medical history and provides subsidies to make insurance affordable to lower-paid workers. The fact is that virtually all of private healthcare insurance is already well under some form of government control through regulation and tax subsidies. How should we think about this system? First of all, is Medicare socialist? Don’t tell anyone, but the way Medicare operates — it covers every senior’s medical expenses, whatever they turn out to be, while being funded by taxes that depend on one’s income — could be summarized by the old Marxist slogan “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” And back in 1961, when Ronald Reagan was the face of a last-ditch effort by the American Medical Association to block the creation of Medicare, he denounced Medicare as “socialized medicine” and warned that it would destroy our freedom. In reality, American freedom survived until Jan. 20, 2025, while Medicare is immensely popular, with an 82 percent favorable rating in the most recent KFF survey. Medicaid, government health insurance for lower-income Americans, comes in at 73 percent. This is in sharp contrast to public views about private insurers, who are widely disliked if not hated and accused of denying essential care. Furthermore, if Medicare is socialism, then the whole U.S. health insurance system, with the government paying most of the bills and placing conditions on private insurers, is almost equally socialist. If you insist on calling any program the government pays for and regulates socialist, then U.S. healthcare would best be described as a partially privatized form of socialism. And one must ask, what is the point of the part that is privatized? Do private insurers add anything positive? Or are they simply parasites, skimming off money that could have been paying for care? The case for viewing insurers as parasites is strong. Many Medicare benefits are now delivered via Medicare Advantage, that is, plans paid for by the government but run through insurance companies. MedPAC, an independent advisory commission, estimates that last year Medicare Advantage plans were overpaid by $84 billion, thanks to practices such as “upcoding,” in which patients’ health problems are overstated to get larger sums from Medicare. Assessing the waste from employer-based insurance is harder, but most evidence suggests that private insurers have substantially higher administrative costs than Medicare does. Furthermore, the complexity of private insurance, with multiple payers all trying to deny care when they can, is a huge burden both on providers — doctors, nurses, and hospitals — and on patients. What do private insurers offer to compensate for these costs? One must go through intellectual contortions to avoid the conclusion that they are, in fact, parasites. Which brings me back to El-Sayed. In supporting Medicare for All, he’s basically calling for an end to the partial, parasitic privatization of a healthcare system that is already hugely dependent on public funding. When one looks at it that way, it’s not at all a radical proposal. Admittedly, the political lift requires overcoming the opposition to higher taxes to pay for Medicare for All. Political realism rather than economics was the reason I and many other progressives supported Obamacare, with all its complexities, rather than demanding an immediate move to Medicare for All. But the political calculus may very well have shifted since the 2000s, as Americans are fed up with a system of unaffordable premiums, rampant claim denials, and byzantine claim administration. Moreover, funding healthcare insurance through taxation would allow for a much more progressive distribution of the cost. That is, compared to the present system, middle-income households would pay less as high-income households would pay more. And the U.S. would stop wasting large sums on pointless administrative costs. So let’s be clear: El-Sayed’s healthcare platform is perfectly reasonable on the merits of cost, fairness and health efficacy. And with private insurers never more hated, while millions of Americans are losing their health insurance, 2026 may be its time. MUSICAL CODA
Democratic rebellion against older politicians reaches new battleground
Former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, 47, is challenging Rep. John Larson, who is 78 and running for his fifteenth term representing Connecticut's first district.
City Vault: The Keegan era begins in winning style
On this day 25 years ago, Kevin Keegan took charge of his first competitive game for Manchester City.Keegan was in the Maine Road dugout for a clash with Watford, managed by another new boss in Gianlu...
Reimagined night-call model boosts interventional radiologist well-being
Stanford University Medical Center has sought to alleviate burnout by rearranging its call model to minimize strain on physicians.
Radiologists criticize noted neuroscientist podcaster’s claims supporting whole-body MRI
Andrew D. Huberman, PhD, a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford Medicine, voiced support for these scans in a recent social media post.
Chicago Cubs Recently Cut Pitcher Lands New Deal with Rays
The Chicago Cubs are currently off on Monday, but they can’t escape being in the always revolving rounds of roster transactions across MLB. About a week ago, the Cubs designated pitcher Jake Woodford for assignment. Instead of opting to accept a minors assignmnet, Woodford decided to elect free agency. He didn’t last long on the […] The post Chicago Cubs Recently Cut Pitcher Lands New Deal with Rays appeared first on HEAVY.
Saber's newest game trailer takes a shot at Gearbox's CEO, if you look closely
The first hint that something might be up with the recent debut trailer for Saber Interactive’s Rideshare Stimulator is an unusual choice of words—aside from that second one in the game’s title. “Don’t take your passengers too seriously,” the trailer’s narrator says, as he describes this upcoming game. It a car game about the gig work of driving eccentric people to their destinations, a riff on Crazy Taxi. And then, he says: “When I think I’ve met the randiest of passengers, someone even stranger gets in.” “Randiest”? That suggests “randy,” which usually means having strong sexual desire. Yet none of the oddball backseat occupants featured in the trailer seem particularly lustful. One is an old man who considers his grandson a failure, another shares the theory that birds might control traffic lights, another says he’s banned from an aquarium. A little later, there’s a license plate, shown 63 seconds into the trailer, on the front of an SUV: USB DRV It’s a Texas plate. The symbol between those letters is a cog wheel. If you know, you know. That’s a reference to Texas-based Borderlands game development studio Gearbox Software (their logo features a cog wheel). More specifically, it’s a reference to Gearbox’s CEO Randy Pitchford, who in 2018 found himself explaining the nature of video he’d saved on a USB drive that was found at a Medieval Times restaurant before being returned to the studio: “It was ‘barely legal’ porn. This girl’s handle was ‘Only 18.’” The “girl” in the video had committed a solo sex act that Pitchford, an avid practitioner of magic, found remarkable. “I realized, this is not a sex worker…This is a fucking magician.” Back then, the USB drive was central to competing lawsuits against Gearbox by the studio’s former lawyer and by Gearbox against him. A settlement in late 2019 “exonerated” Pitchford, per the Hollywood Reporter. The USB story has resurfaced at times, now in a trailer from a company that not long ago was corporate brethren with Gearbox. Saber vs. Gearbox The head of Saber told Game File that the reference is payback. “The dig is because Randy took shots at Embracer in Borderlands 4,” Saber CEO Matt Karch told me when I asked him about the license plate. “Without Embracer, Randy is performing magic tricks at birthday parties for a living.” Having interviewed Karch during a cross-country flight in late 2024, I can confirm that Karch was unimpressed with Pitchford during their time both working in the Embracer group. I’d approached him not out of surprise that there was animosity but that it was manifesting publicly now. Gearbox was founded in 1999, worked on a port of Halo early on, and developed hit series such as the loot-based sci-fi shooter Borderlands before it was purchased by The Embracer Group in early 2021 for $363 million (with a possible earn-out of over $1 billion, if certain targets were hit by 2027). Saber was founded in 2001, worked on a remaster of Halo early on, had a big hit with zombie shooter World War Z and was purchased by Embracer in early 2020 for $150 million, with a potential earn-out of up to $375 million. For a few years, the Embracer group was a voracious acquirer of game studios. Then, as investment dried up, it choked. In March 2024, Embracer sold Saber to an investment company controlled by Saber CEO Matt Karch, and it sold Gearbox in an all-stock deal to long-time Borderlands publisher Take Two Interactive. Other studios were shut down. Hundreds of developers were laid off. Gearbox didn’t say much about their Embracer experience, nothing too direct, at least. In the summer 2024, Pitchford told reporter and occasional Game File contributor Nicole Carpenter that Borderlands 4’s story was in some way thematically connected to Gearbox’s experience at Embracer: “There’s this cultural and emotional shift in me, personally, and at the studio. What does it mean to trade some autonomy for organization?” When Borderlands 4 came out, there was something stranger: the matter of “Embracer’s Bluff,” a location in the game featuring an AI-powered toilet and a large trash dump, according to a detailed Kotaku account of the place. Gearbox never commented on it; Take Two never got back to me about it when I asked them last year. By contrast, since Saber exited Embracer, Karch has been one of Embracer’s biggest defenders, casting their management as well-meaning and supportive despite the layoffs and studio closures that resulted from their excessive expansion. Like others, Saber’s Karch saw Embracer’s as a shot. With Rideshare Stimulator’s trailer, he’s returned fire. “It’s amazing to me how fast people forget those who went above and beyond for them,” Karch told Game File. A rep for Gearbox did not comment by press time. Game File is a reader-supported publication. Your backing makes my reporting—including any coverage of trailer-based beefs—possible. Good news! I’m currently running Game File’s first big sale of 2026. You can get a one-year subscription for 23% off. Click here to take advantage of the limited-time offer. And thank you for your support! Item 2: In brief… 🚫 Wal-Mart has laid off the staff of Restart, a games media outlet launched in 2024, Aftermath reports. 🟥 A GTA VI preview is on the way, at last, via an “extended look” that will premiere, unusually, on Netflix at 3pm ET on August 27, then officially go live elsewhere six hours later. Last week, Game File noted that Take Two label Rockstar Games is overdue for showing off GTA VI, based on the timing of the initial hands-off previews of GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. During a call with investors, Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said pre-orders for GTA VI were “unprecedented and astonishing,” but added the company can’t predict how many of those pre-orders represent bonus sales vs. sales that otherwise would have been made at launch. During the same call, Zelnick was noticeably bullish on the future of playing games over streaming cloud connections (predicting wider adoption in three or so years). He sounded unbothered by Sony’s plans to stop making discs for new games (he said the business is 90% digital already and predicted that there could still be limited edition physical editions of games “in the same way there’s still vinyl in the recorded music business.”) 👀 Take Two wrote off $43 million in their spring quarter after deciding “not to proceed with further development of an unannounced title in its pipeline from a third-party developer.” 🤔 Some rare age-demographics from a big publisher: Capcom recently told investors that “users in their 20s account for approximately half of the users of both Pragamata and Resident Evil Requiem.” Item 3: The week ahead Tuesday, August 11 Game releases: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (Switch 2; already out for PC, PS5, Xbox) continues the Bethesda strategy of putting Elder Scrolls games on everything; Royalty Free-For-All is a Smash Bros.-style fighting game featuring public domain characters such as Mother Goose brawling with Oliver Twist in a stage based on the original Little Shop of Horrors movie. Wednesday, August 12 Game release: Pro Jank Footy (PC, console) is an arcade-style Australian Rules Football game with increasingly ridiculous rules, the more you play (I enjoyed the Steam demo) Thursday, August 13 Game release: Super Mario Sunshine (Switch 2, originally released in 2002 on the GameCube) is released for Switch 2’s Nintendo Switch Online service. This game is the black sheep of 3D Mario games. It’s the successor to the breakthrough Super Mario 64 and the rare Mario game built around a single (vacation resort) theme. Mario’s got a water-spraying backpack, a Yoshi pal and a lot of blue coins to collect.
How You’ll Know What Business You’re in
When you can afford to say no to a client, you’ve solidified your identity.
CeeDee Lamb is practically begging Jerry Jones to pay George Pickens: Can Cowboys afford another $40M WR?
Lamb is urging the team to "figure it out" to keep Pickens long term, and Jones seems open to the idea
Pirates' Wyatt Sanford: Back in action at Greensboro
Pirates' Wyatt Sanford: Back in action at Greensboro
2026 NFL Odds: Every QB's Over/Under Passing Yards Total
Following a 2025 MVP campaign, Matthew Stafford enters 2026 with an over/under pass yards total of 3,949.5. See the other top NFL QB betting lines.
I'm a former professional cleaner: Best supplies at Dollar Tree
As a former professional cleaner, I'm always looking for quality, affordable cleaning products and supplies. These are my favorite Dollar Tree finds.
Forty Under 40: Ray Z. Ford
When Ray Z. Ford thought about his future as a youth, he thought he would be an architect or veterinarian. After finding out what veterinarians actually do, he decided he...
Gen Z calls it ‘loud budgeting’ – small business owners have been doing it for decades
The practice of openly proclaiming to the world what you can’t afford can lead to lower fees, reduced prices and better deals
Commentary: Forfeited properties can and should be redeveloped
Properties lost through tax sales have potential to be put back on the tax rolls and become an opportunity for community revitalization and more affordable housing.
‘Don’t be afraid’: Alan Helgeson on knee replacement journey
Alan Helgeson lived with pain for decades before deciding to have total knee replacement surgery. Now he doesn't know why he waited so long.
Hands-On Learning, Mentorship Launch Science Grad’s Next Chapter
A chemistry grad’s next stop is Stanford University, but the path that led him there was shaped in the classrooms, labs and research groups at the University of Guelph. Peter Kim’s love for science…
Peptides talk is everywhere: But what does the science say?
Stanford Health Care delivers the highest levels of care and compassion. SHC treats cancer, heart disease, brain disorders, primary care issues, and many more.
Ford’s new AI assistant can check your fuel levels and tire pressure
Ford is adding Google’s Gemini as a stopgap measure.
New York Giants resume training camp in East Rutherford
The New York Giants are back home in East Rutherford, where training camp will resume ahead of Saturday's preseason opener.
Trinity Health hospitals face repeated patient safety violations in Connecticut
Trinity Health hospitals in Connecticut face repeated immediate jeopardy citations as state officials press for improvements at Saint Francis and Johnson Memorial.
450,000 NYers just lost their health insurance: How one Syracuse caregiver is coping
Tyler Lyons' no-cost health insurance was a casualty of cuts to the Affordable Care Act.
Ford's fastest ever Mustang is so wide it had to use legal loophole to avoid being treated the same way as a truck
The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD is so wide that Ford had to rely on a legal loophole to get around an unusual US vehicle regulation
Matt Maglodi Racing Announces New Small Business Motorsports Sponsorship Program Combining Grassroots Racing With Digital Marketing
Matt Maglodi Racing today announced plans to launch a new grassroots motorsports sponsorship program designed to provide small businesses with affordable digital marketing and promotional exposure while helping amateur and hobbyist racers offset the costs of competition.
Robert Redford’s Final Film, Which He Came Out of Retirement For, Has A Near-Perfect Score on Rotten Tomatoes
Robert Redford became one of Hollywood's top actors during the 1960s and 1970s, spending over six decades in the entertainment business. From his Broadway career in the late 1950s to his later years i...
Mourinho says he agreed to replace Ferguson at Man Utd
David Moyes succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford in 2013 but things could have been so different, Jose Mourinho reveals in a new documentary.
Ergin 'Batman' Tek calls for small business push to rebuild middle class, construction of Tampa Bay Flood Barrier
'While we have the best healthcare in the world, what good does it make if we can’t afford it?'
Your Back-to-School Health Checklist: Physicals, Vaccines and More | Hartford Hospital
Learn more about News Detail at hartfordhospital.org
Your Back-to-School Health Checklist: Physicals, Vaccines and More | Hartford HealthCare
Learn more about News Detail at hartfordhealthcare.org
How can a youth sports experience form a life? A US Senator explains
Cory Booker seeks to end "vulture practices" by private equity in youth sports. He shares his life-changing sports story that led him to Stanford.
David M. Shribman: The long road of a longshot in New Hampshire
GILFORD, N.H. — Taped on the refrigerator are four pictures of the bear that recently wandered behind Robby Cosgriff’s house. On the opposite...
Ashford embracing return to central Cardiff role
Cardiff City forward Cian Ashford is enjoying playing in a more central role following his eye-catching performance in the Bluebirds' Carabao Cup win over Swindon. The 21-year-old assisted Yousef Salech for the second goal in the 3-2 win and was also denied by the crossbar. Ashford spent many years playing in a central role with Cardiff's academy but his minutes for the first team have almost exclusively come on the wing.
Dorsey reunion highlights champions of past, players of the present
Former Dons, including longtime football coach Paul Knox and former major league Don Buford take part in the inaugural event.
Ford Frenzy brings Bronco showcase, food drive and entertainment to Charleston
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) – Automotive enthusiasts and families gathered at Capitol Ford in Charleston this weekend for Ford Frenzy, a two-day community event featuring Broncos, local vendors,…
49ers' Luke Gifford: Dealing with hamstring injury
49ers' Luke Gifford: Dealing with hamstring injury
Crews battle early morning fire at Cambria Co. business
WJAC provides news, weather and sports information for Johnstown, Altoona, State College and DuBois, Pennsylvania. Our coverage area includes Bedford, Everett, Somerset, Meyersdale, Ebensburg, Windber, Hollidaysburg, Huntingdon, Mount Union, Tyrone, Bellefonte, Philipsburg, Clearfield, Punxsutawney, St. Marys, Brookville, Emporium, Treasure Lake, Ridgway, Centre Hall, Reynoldsville and Curwensville.
These Arizona health insurance companies are seeking rate increases of more than 25%
Health insurance companies in the Affordable Care Act marketplace are seeking an average premium increase of 25% in Arizona for 2027.
5 dead, 4 hospitalized in Louisiana from flesh-eating bacteria outbreak: health officials
NBC 10 WJAR is the news, sports and weather leader for Providence, Rhode Island and surrounding communities, including Cranston, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Warwick, Newport, Bristol and Narragansett, Rhode Island and Attleboro, North Attleborough, Swansea, Fall River, Taunton and New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Dearborn Homecoming resumes with Martina McBride, fireworks Saturday
The 45th annual festival runs from noon to 10:30 p.m. at Ford Field Park, 22051 Cherry Hill Road. Admission is free, though carnival rides require tickets or wristbands.
Michigan company making robots now 1 of many landing defense contracts
Pratt Miller is just one company, in addition to Ford and General Motors, working to gain more business tied to the defense sector.
Can would-be buyer afford to take over more Chicago-area hospitals?
Insight Health Systems is in talks to take over West Suburban Medical Center and Weiss Memorial Hospital, which closed in the last year. But records show its Chicago hospital has money troubles.
Our kids can't afford for us to politicize vaccines
As measles outbreaks continue to emerge in the United States and throughout the world, it is essential that federal health officials rejoin the fight.
We unretired in our 60s to afford raising our teenage granddaughter
Michael and Connie Frost are raising their granddaughter Kinsley in Georgia, balancing their retirement and her education needs.
We unretired in our 60s to afford raising our teenage granddaughter
Michael and Connie Frost are raising their granddaughter Kinsley in Georgia, balancing their retirement and her education needs.
Workers are creating 'burnout funds' to afford career breaks
Workers are building burnout funds to prepare for career breaks as workplace pressure, job insecurity, and living costs increase.
A Caller Posed as Webster Bank’s Fraud Manager. One Business Lost $50,000
A West Hartford business received a phone call from someone claiming to be a fraud manager at Webster Bank. The caller was not working for ... Read More
These 'five pillars' for living healthier longer are easy and affordable
Longevity has become a bit of a buzz word, and has become increasingly aligned with the tech industry. But while it remains unclear whether the billions of US dollars being invested in life-extending bioscience is something any of us can access, a timely report from Harvard Medical School reminds us what we can do on our own – and it's backed by a huge body of evidence.
Commentary: AI Could Help to Implement Health Policy
Artificial intelligence may enhance implementation of a new federal rule requiring aduts enrolled under the Affordable Care Act expansion of Medicaid eligibility to complete qualifying work hours or community engagement activities or meet exemption criteria to maintain coverage, according to a new commentary.
Scientists unveil first AI-designed virus
The Stanford scientists were able to create 16 new viruses
MetroPlusHealth Achieves 4-Star Medicare Advantage Rating
MetroPlusHealth, New York City’s high quality, affordable health plan, announced today that its Medicare Advantage plans have been awarded a 4-Star rating
Murkowski Will Oppose Blanche as Attorney General, Putting His Confirmation at Risk
The Alaska senator is the second Republican to announce plans to vote against Todd Blanche. He likely cannot afford any other G.O.P. defections and still win approval.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed on Historic Michigan Win: “People Are Sick and Tired of This Politics of Hatred”
We speak with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed after his victory in Michigan’s primary race for U.S. Senate sent shockwaves through the Democratic Party. El-Sayed, a former public health official, ran a progressive campaign focused on affordability, Medicare for All, getting money out of politics, and opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza. He defeated Congressmember Haley Stevens, who was backed by tens of millions in outside spending including by AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobby group. “In an era where many of us can’t afford basic things like groceries or rent or healthcare, the idea that your government is sending your tax dollars to buy bombs and tanks for foreign governments seems anathema,” El-Sayed says. “That money could be spent to fix your potholes, rebuild your kid’s school.” El-Sayed says his focus now is on beating Republican nominee Mike Rogers, whom he calls a “bootlicker for Trumpism,” and to present a positive vision for his party that can lead into the next Democratic presidential administration.
The Next Generation: Jak Crawford
Throughout 2026, Motorsport is introducing you to the most promising youngsters on the single-seater scene. Meet Jak Crawford, Formula 2’s 2025 runner-up and Aston Martin’s reserve driver
Delaware allocates funding to bring new health centers to 4 middle schools in rural Sussex County
The effort expands health care access for schools located in provider deserts and brings the model directly to middle schools, which have historically been ignored statewide.
Seiko's $750 Speedtimer Chronograph Gets a New "Edo Purple" Dial
The affordable Prospex Speedtimer, equipped with a solar quartz movement, receives a "purple panda" dial revamp.
Stanford researchers land NIH grant to advance intraoperative molecular imaging technique
The team is looking to advance the development of a molecular imaging agent that can guide lung cancer surgery in real time.
Costa Welcomes House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar to Central Valley Health Care Roundtable
FRESNO, Calif. - This week, during Affordable Healthcare for Every American Week of Action, Congressman Jim Costa (CA-21) welcomed Congressman Pete Aguilar (CA-33), Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, to the Central Valley for a roundtable hosted by Community Health System to hear directly from local hospitals and health care leaders focused on the federal funding reductions under H.R.1, including changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, as well as the Administration's decision to withhold approximately $867.5 million in federal Medicaid funding from Califor
Rapid City, Sanford Health unveil sports complex partnership
Rapid City, SD, the Rapid City Sports Commission and Sanford Health are partnering on naming rights for the new community sports complex.
Talarico gains GOP support while unveiling affordability plan
Democratic Senate candidate proposed debt relief, housing aid and tax credits. Paxton’s campaign dismissed the agenda as “half-baked.”
BBC Radio 4’s acclaimed science and comedy podcast The Infinite Monkey Cage returns with guest presenters Adam Rutherford and Jessica Fostekew
Broadcaster, author and science journalist Adam Rutherford and award-winning comedian Jessica Fostekew are stepping in as guest presenters
AI designs a novel E. coli killer
Using an AI model of their own creation that writes whole genomes, a team of Stanford scientists has engineered a novel bacteria-fighting phage. A new age of antibiotics could be on the horizon.
How much and why premiums are going up for small businesses in 2027 - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker
Each year, health insurers submit rate filings to state regulators outlining their expectations for the coming year and proposing premium changes for Affordable Care Act (ACA)-compliant plans. This analysis examines filings in the small group market, which covers plans offered to small businesses (generally with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees). Some of this coverage is […]