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The best Rhode Island town to visit in the fall, from local: Day trip
As a lifelong local, my favorite Rhode Island town to visit in the fall is Middletown. There's a local farm for apple picking, a vineyard, and more.
McCrabb: Middletown health commissioner embraced career as ‘a calling’
Some people know their future career plans before they’re old enough to drive.
MCC receives funding to support life sciences education, workforce development
In July, the Healey-Driscoll administration and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center announced $12.3 million in funding through four tracks of the MLSC’s Education and Workforce Development Grant Program. Middlesex Community College r…
Scientists discover how narwhals grow nature's only straight tusk
Narwhals have nature's only straight tusk, a single tooth up to three meters (10 feet) long, so strange they were sold as magical unicorn horns during the Middle Ages.
Multipolarity gives middle powers more choices, but fewer guarantees
BRICS, SCO and other organisations can offer relief from great power pressure but do not provide collective defence.
Americans hit with record-high Labor Day Weekend gasoline prices
With the war in the Middle East still raising energy costs, Americans face record-high gasoline prices for Labor Day weekend, just as political campaigns kick off for midterm Congressional elections.
Mental health counselor offers support for families during extended deployments
A veteran counselor is encouraging military families to seek support and communicate openly as some U.S. troops face extended deployments in the Middle East.
Politics Unusual: NYC Council Education Chair Eric Dinowitz, NY State Courts Officer Bobby Keane
In this episode of Politics Unusual, Eric Dinowitz, Chair of the New York City Council's Education Committee, breaks down the city's new moratorium on AI in elementary and middle schools. Plus, State Court Officer Bobby Kane discusses his fight to close a legal gap preventing some 9/11 recovery worker from receiving enhanced disability benefits.
15 discouraging hours with Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and 10 brilliant ones with He Who Watches
In the last few weeks, while playing some video games that I might review, I emailed two cries for help. I sent the first to a rep for Capcom, confessing that the company’s samurai game Onimusha Way of the Sword (out today for PC and console) was crushing me. “Feels like I’m playing ‘hard’ mode, not ‘normal,’” I wrote. “And I don’t want to have to knock it down to “story”. I’m exploring, trying to level my gear, but these two-phase boss fights with no mid-fight checkpoints are brutal.” I wagered I was only about halfway through the game, if that. I wasn’t sure I could keep up with the steepening difficulty curve. Was I missing something? Then, on Monday, I took some photos of some puzzles that were baffling me in the mind-bending He Who Watches (out now on PC), wrote out lengthy descriptions of how I’d been trying to solve them and asked Bobby Vanden, the game’s solo developer, for a nudge in the right direction. I told Vanden I’d spent hours on these puzzles. “I’m stuck in triplicate,” I told him. Could he tell me if the solutions I was attempting were even on the right track? I didn’t mention that the puzzles—coupled with major time pressures from other work—were stressing me out so much that playing the game was giving me headaches. This double dose of panic was unusual. I’m used to managing a workload full of reporting and reviewing, used to a crowded schedule and the need to stay calm amid the bustle. But I was stressed about these games. No one was forcing me to review them, nor even play them. I’d simply found them interesting enough to start, hoped they’d be interesting enough to write about and I’d sunk hours into them assuming I’d made the right call. Suddenly, however, I felt trapped. I was emailing for a way out. Above: This guy took me about an hour to beat. The feedback I got from Capcom confirmed my fears. They didn’t say it, but I will: Onimusha Way of the Sword is not for me. It’s a brutally hard game in need of a normal difficulty level. It’s a game that spikes so severely during its abundant boss fights—yet offers such flawed ways to improve when outside of them—that it feels like a bait-and-switch. In the new Onimusha, you play as famed samurai Musashi Miyamoto, aided by a magical soul-absorbing gauntlet that is possessed by a lady who offers advice. (Way of the Sword is a continuation of Capcom’s long-dormant Onimusha series, but that set-up had me wondering if the company was cribbing from their ill-fated Bionic Commando reboot; read about “wife-arm” when you get a chance). Way of the Sword is partially set in 17th century Kyoto, an explorable city where Miyamoto can fight demons, help civilians and eventually rescue ghostly dogs. The city evolves over time, with new mini adventures and obtainable loot on offer, all feeding into systems that promise to upgrade your gear and sword-fighting skills. Upgrades, however, are so incremental as to be imperceptible, causing the exploration of Kyoto to feel like inconsequential busywork. From that hub, players can go on linear missions into forests and old temples, where they will encounter many of the game’s tough bosses. Combat in Way of the Sword is akin to many modern melee games. Players are asked to mix attacks with dodges and parries. They’re encouraged to deplete an enemy’s stamina bar in order to do greater damage to its health bar. The old Onimusha games’ signature move was the issen, a counter-attack so sudden it’s all but pre-emptive. You strike just as they begin to strike toward you, beating them to the cut. By definition, the issen is a high risk move, leaving you wide open to pain. It feels risky in the game, especially against bosses, who can maul you in just a few blows. A game might train you to perform an issen well by offering a variety of lesser enemies who are not as tough as the boss but get close. Or it might offer a toehold against bosses by saving or checkpointing the player’s progress when a boss’ first health bar has been destroyed and before the second health bar appears. It might offer the less skilled player a chance to over-level their character, should the player simply commit to playing through its optional sidequests. Way of the Sword does none of this. Fighting its trivially easy grunt enemies and then its ferociously adept bosses is like playing a game of chess where I’ve got a rook, while the opposing side is all pawns and five queens. Bosses simply don’t checkpoint. You may be able to clear a boss’ first phase without taking much damage. Good for you. Do it again, every time you fail the second phase. As for the the central Kyoto hub, I kept pace with all of its added side activities and never felt like I was overpowered. Bosses could still easily buckle me. The new Onimusha, I concluded, is just too discouraging to keep playing. The advice I got from Capcom had been well-intentioned. They reminded me of the game’s various systems. They alerted me to an optional assist that flashes recommended button inputs (basically: counter this move; dodge that move). It was a little helpful. So was dropping down to “story mode,” which I tried last night. Story mode turns on those button prompts by default. It makes countering and dodging way too easy, nearly automatic. I don’t consider myself a master of action games like these, but I’ve cleared the likes of God of War, Stellar Blade, Star Wars Jedi and others of sub-Sekiro difficulty and had a fun time doing so. Not here. Not yet. Unless they patch Onimusha: Way of the Sword and add a middle difficulty or just checkpoint the damn bosses when they’re between health bars, my streak of loving Capcom games released in 2026 will likely end at two. It’s a shame, because I was having a good time finding those ghostly dogs. And then there’s He Who Watches, a phenomenal first person puzzle game with Portal vibes, except instead of a portal gun you’ve got a magical bow that shoots one arrow that can activate switches or be used to drag blocks. The twist is an actual twist: you can also walk on walls and the ceiling, reorienting gravity as you do, thereby placing blocks onto those other surfaces. Walking on walls and ceilings to solve problems is really the best thing. Would that I could in reality. He Who Watches consists of locked-room challenges, each brief enough to only require about a minute to actually solving, though it will take five, 10, eventually 30 minutes to figure out said solutions. They are not obvious! It’s a game of layered mechanics and shocking solutions. For example, see if you can follow this: You can drag a block to a wall. Then you can walk on the wall, which now feels like the floor, and drag that block across the wall. Later, back on the floor, you might realize you can look up. The block is still on the wall, stuck to it. You can shoot your magic arrow to its underside. Doing so creates a tether, so that you can yank the block off the wall and carry it, as if it were a balloon, into the spot where you need it to be to solve the puzzle. Here, watch Vanden explain some of the game’s basics in this launch trailer: As with any great puzzle game, the solutions to He Who Watches’ puzzles elicit relief and amazement. Oh my god, that worked! I didn’t even think that could be possible! Learning to solve the game’s puzzles feels like learning magic. But, oh, does the game get hard. Its Steam reviews, mostly glowing, are full of players remarking how quickly He Who Watches made them sweat. Wrote one: “loving this one already although my brain is hurting!” Wrote another: “As you get further in the game it feels like you need an IQ level of at least 120+.” Vanden has shown some mercy. Each locked room puzzle includes an optional junior version of the puzzle, meant to teach you. Difficulty nevertheless ramps severely. By the time I was emailing Vanden for help, I was struggling to even clear one of the hint puzzles. When I messaged him, my stress was exacerbated by strange things I’d found in the game’s various hubs: suspicious passageways, odd blocks and some intriguing locked doors. These were hints of secrets, I realized, yet I sensed I needed to play further into the game to understand them. I was stuck, but I wanted to see the rest. Vanden offered to give me the exact solutions, to solve those three puzzles for me, but first he gave four nudges. Three were for the specific puzzles, but his best hint was for all and ultimately proved to be a terrific life lesson: go back a bit, he suggested. Do the puzzles right before those. They were teaching you something. Focus on what their lesson was. Don’t rush, in other words. Recognize what you’ve accomplished. Build off of that. I did so. I absorbed the lessons. I saw those three tough puzzles in a new light. I solved one the night after he wrote back, another the morning after. I left a third for another time. I didn’t need it and I wanted to plunge deeper into the game, closer to the moment when I was sure I could start unlocking those secret doors. My head stopped hurting, too. He Who Watches feels special. It’s got more challenges, and I’m undeterred. It’s also nice that its puzzles don’t have a surprise second health bar. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: In brief… 🎮 Ilari Kuittinen, co-founder of Helsinki-based Housemarque (Super Stardust HD, Resogun, Returnal) has stepped down from his studio, after a 31-year run, saying he’s “ taking a rare and well-deserved breather.” Sony purchased Housemarque in 2021, and the studio released its newest game, Saros, earlier this year. Trend-watch: Sony-owned Insomniac saw its founder Ted Price retire in early 2025, after a 30-year run. Sony-owned Sucker Punch saw its co-founder Brian Fleming step down in late 2025, after a 28-year run. 👀 Savvy Games Group chief Brian Ward is stepping down from the Saudi-government-backed games conglomerate, Bloomberg reports. No word on a long-term successor yet, nor if this augurs any closer integration between Savvy and Electronic Arts. EA was purchased by a consortium led by Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund, in early August. 💿 Square Enix has denied a Japanese media report that the company was planning to go private. In very different Square Enix news, the company revealed that the physical version of Final Fantasy VII: Revelation, the April 2027 finale of its radical remakes of FFVII, will include just one disc in its case, requiring a download for the rest. The first two FFVII remakes in the trilogy shipped on two discs apiece. While Square hasn’t commented on the reason why, a feature here in Game File last month broke down the processes and costs for physical games. The expense of a second disc comes out of the game publisher’s cut of each copy. Square could be saving in excess of a dollar a copy with this move. 🟥 Grand Theft Auto IV’s 26-minute ’‘extended look” gameplay showcase that premiered on Netflix last week—and was exclusive to the platform for six hours—drew 31.1 million views in its first four days, the streamer announced. (Netflix calculates views as total viewed hours divided by runtime; excludes replays). Compared to YouTube: The version that later premiered on Rockstar Games’ YouTube channel is sitting at 22.6 million views after seven days (YouTube’s more liberal counting system tallies anyone who viewed even just the first few second.) Compared to other Netflix mega-events: Last year, Stranger Things season 5’s first four episodes, which debuted together, drew a record 59.6 million views in their first few days on Netflix. For more of a live event type of comparison, in 2024, the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match drew 65 million concurrent streams as it happened; Netflix didn’t release live numbers for the GTA premiere. ☁️ Microsoft is changing the way it charges for cloud gaming, from an all-you-can-play offer for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, to caps for the subscription’s tiers (15 hours per month at the Ultimate tier), with the option to buy more hours in bulk beyond that. The company also said it will sell batches of cloud gaming time to non-Game Pass subscribers, details TBA. Microsoft does not release figures for cloud game usage, but said its changes would impact 4% of Game Pass subscribers. That implies a small portion of its subscribers exceed the 15-hour monthly mark. Cloud gaming offers the promise of playing games without the need for console or PC hardware, as the graphics, sound and controls are all transmitted via a streaming connection. Microsoft notes that its cloud gaming service can be used for a range of things, including Xbox One players using it to play newer-gen Xbox Series games via streaming; and people playing games via streaming, sans any console, “in markets where consoles are less available or affordable.” (That latter use case could even be relevant in Xbox’s home market soon, as console prices keep rising.) Take Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick recently told investors he expects game-streaming tech, which has been only lightly adopted by gamers for over a decade, to be widely used within three years. 🇺🇸 The Trump administration has published multiple agenda-driven web video games to the White House’s website. One called Build The Wall partially clones Tetris as it asks players to build a wall to stop a “zombie border siege.” While actual Tetris involves clearing lines and basically not building a wall, the Trump-backed game omits the line-clearing aspect (and omits the fun as well). On Instagram, Tetris’ official license holders reacted by stating: “At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them. To our fans everywhere: we love you, we see you, and we’re grateful to have you in our community. P.S. The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of ‘Build the Wall.’ P.P.S.: We take copyright infringement very seriously.” Item 3: The week ahead: Tuesday, September 8 Game releases: Mewgenics (consoles; already out on PC) is an engrossing tactical combat game (with cats). It is getting its console port right after the release of a Star Wars tactics game and ahead of the late September launch of a Fire Emblem–a bumper crop for the genre. Wanderburg (PC) is an auto-shooting game like Vampire Survivors, but you’re a castle on wheels Event: Nintendo airs a 30-minute Nintendo Direct (10am ET) focused on The Legend of Zelda’s 40th Anniversary. A full unveiling of the upcoming remake of The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time is expected. Will they also show footage from next year’s live action movie? Tease the next big 3D Zelda? Add Link to Mario Kart World? Shadow-drop a new Tingle game? Wednesday, September 9 Event: Nintendo again! On this day, they’re planning to air a 45-minute Nintendo Direct (10am ET) focused on games heading to Switch 2 this winter. Followed by about an hour of gameplay demoed by the company’s Treehouse team. The September Nintendo Directs are always some of the year’s biggest. The 2025 edition included announcements of several major 2026 Switch/Switch 2 games: Pokémon Pokopia, Mario Tennis Fever, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave. Plus the return of the Virtual Boy. Friday, September 11 Game release: EA Sports NHL 27 (PlayStation, Xbox) is a hockey game. There are so few that an indie studio that had been making wacky sci-fi first-person shooters just announced that, hey, we’re going to fill a void and make a hockey game for PC.
Malanda's best position is centre-back
Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg says Adilson Malanda's strongest position is centre-back.
Critical Public Health: Fiscal Reform Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and It’s Public Health Implications
The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ is framed by its proponents as the largest middle-class tax cut in U.S. history and a catalyst for economic growth. Yet, beneath the marketing of ‘jobs, tax cuts, and American prosperity’, the legislation conceals sweeping rollbacks of Medicaid, food assistance, education, reproductive care, and expanded immigration enforcement, alongside tax windfalls for venture capital and immigration enforcement.
Pick of the stats: Queens Park Rangers v Middlesbrough
Here are the key stats for Queens Park Rangers v Middlesbrough.
‘The Cardinal Countdown: 2 Days Until Kickoff’
DEMECO KENNEDY #2 Height: 6’3” Weight: 305lb Position: DL Class: Junior Hometown: Lexington, KY Summary: The Cards needed some beef in the middle of the defensive line, but instead of calling Kroger’s Alex The Butcher, they rang ‘Kennedy, the Boilermaker’. Hailing from Lexington, Kennedy correctly averted the mess in the army of Stoops Troops and […]
PCHC announces layoffs, Bangor office closure amid financial struggles
Penobscot Community Health Care is in the middle of what officials describe as "ongoing financial challenges."
2026 NH Democratic CD1 Debate: Health care plan
Carleigh Beriont, Sarah Chadzynski, Stefany Shaheen, Maura Sullivan and Christian Urrutia, the Democratic candidates to represent New Hampshire's 1st District in Congress, share the plan they would implement to tackle high health care costs, and whether that would mean higher taxes for the middle class.
Burnley 1-1 Middlesbrough
Burnley and Middlesbrough fans have their say after Wednesday night's draw at Turf Moor in the Championship.
Colorado’s education paradigm déja-vu
Déja-vu for 10 years. In 2015-2016, state standardized testing was fully integrated into teacher performance evaluation. The tests comprised 50% of teacher “performance.” The idea was to follow the General Electric “rank-and-yank” human resources model. At GE, the model went like this: top 20% of employees got raises and bonuses; the middle 70% got to […]
Sony and Microsoft say they’re not obligated to pass U.S. tariff refunds to consumers, echoing Nintendo
Back in July, Sony executives told investors that the company expected to receive $508 million in refunds from the U.S. government, after tariffs that the PlayStation-maker paid were ruled mostly in 2025 were found to be illegal. “Most” of the refund would by recouped by Sony’s gaming division, its chief financial officer said. This week, Sony’s lawyers are arguing that the company is not legally obligated to pass those proceeds on to consumers who paid for recently price-hiked PlayStation consoles. That’s in the face of a lawsuit from gamers calling on them to do exactly that. “Paying fair market price for voluntarily purchased consumer goods is not a legally cognizable injury in fact,” the lawyers wrote in a legal motion filed on Monday, as they asked a judge in California’s Northern District to dismiss a potential class action lawsuit over the tariff refunds. Microsoft made a similar argument two weeks ahead of Sony’s lawyers, in a similar lawsuit brought by a gamer in federal court in Washington State. As Microsoft’s legal team put it on August 21, in their request for a dismissal of that lawsuit: “There is nothing unjust about Plaintiff purchasing an Xbox at an advertised price and getting exactly what he paid for—regardless of whatever theory he devised months later about Microsoft’s cost structure.” Both legal fights are set to go on for some time. How things got to this point U.S. tariffs impacting a wide range of imported goods, including game consoles, had kicked off in early 2025. In May 2025, Microsoft raised the price of its Xbox consoles, citing “market conditions and the rising cost of development.” They raised them again that September. In August of that year, Sony raised the price of PlayStation 5 consoles, citing “a challenging economic environment.” Sony later told investors that its tariff fees for the fall quarter were nearly $200 million. in February of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the 2025 tariffs illegal, prompting impacted companies to begin to request refunds. In turn, consumers began suing the likes of Sony and Microsoft to get what they said was their share. The gamers in the Microsoft and Sony lawsuits argue that the 2025 price hikes of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, which added $50 or more to their sticker price, were due to illegal tariffs and should now be returned to consumers. The Sony suit started in May, when a group of gamers sued in federal court in California, saying Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation) would be unjustly enriching itself if it did not pass tariff refunds to its PS5 buyers. “Sony is poised to be paid twice for the same unlawful tariff burden: once by its customers (through elevated prices) and once by the U.S. government (through tariff refunds),” the gamers’ lawyers wrote at the time. They called for Sony to partially reimburse anyone who bought a PlayStation in the U.S. since August 1, 2025. The Microsoft suit, filed by gamer Trevor Hastings against the Xbox giant in July, made similar claims. The console makers push back In late July, Nintendo’s lawyers, facing a similar suit accusing them of double-dipping on tariffs and refunds, replied with arguments that previewed Microsoft’s and Sony’s: “Nintendo or one of its retailers set a price for each product, and consumers decided whether that price was worth paying,” they wrote. Sony has buttressed that Nintendo-style argument this week by saying that the gamers have failed to prove that tariffs were the reason for its August 2025 PS5 price hike. They call thatclaim “speculative and illogical.” Other factors, including “inflation, currency fluctuations, component costs, logistics, competitive dynamics, or demand,” could have played a role. (No, the Sony lawyers do not break down the costs and factors that officially triggered the price increases). Microsoft has also argued that there’s no proof in these lawsuits that tariffs drove all or some of the price increase, as it seeks to dismiss the tariff refund suit it’s facing: “Plaintiff provides no specific allegations that would establish any pricing differential attributable to tariffs or suggest any possibility that Microsoft applied then or could recreate now any dollar-for-dollar calculation of tariff-related pricing—any more than it could any other market factor that affects pricing.” To further skewer the gamer side’s argument in its case, Sony’s lawyers have pointed to what might be a surprising defense: yet another PlayStation 5 price hike from this past spring, after the tariffs were ruled illegal. “If the original price increase were attributable to tariffs, SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment, aka PlayStation] would have had no reason to raise prices again after the Supreme Court invalidated the IEEPA tariffs.” … “If tariffs were the cause of the price increases, one would expect SIE to lower prices once the tariffs were eliminated—not raise them again. Instead, the timeline confirms that the pricing of PlayStation consoles includes a diverse and dynamic set of input costs.” Judges have not yet ruled on the arguments made by Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. Last week, Panic, the company behind the small, yellow Playdate handheld said it would be passing its tariff refunds on to consumers. It is the only gaming hardware maker to have made such a pledge. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my reporting, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: A reporter’s second Second Life Wagner James Au, who from 2003-2006 was paid by San Francisco-based tech company Linden Lab to be a full-time journalist embedded in their virtual world Second Life, is returning to the company. This time, he’ll be an editorial advisor and business development specialist, he tells Game File. The new role will involve trying to share the stories of people inhabiting Second Life’s ongoing online world with reporters and by extension the public. Au plans to continue to also chronicle some of that through his long-running blog New World Notes. I’ve known Au since the mid-2000s and featured him in a 2007 article for the Columbia Journalism Review about reporters like him opening up virtual news outlets within Second Life. As I wrote at the time: On April 22, 2003, writing as Hamlet Linden for the New World Notes blog on Second Life’s Web site, Au introduced himself. “For the next few months, Linden Lab has invited me to set aside my journalist cap, and instead, don the digital beanie of their in-house virtual correspondent.” He wasn’t paid to keep it positive. He wrote about builders and eccentrics, but then in August of that year, he reported on a tax revolt against Linden Lab (a complaint about the fees it charges users who build stuff) led by a resident whose avatar was a big cat. Second Life has always been less of a video game and more of a virtual world where people can live, hang out, make art, sell virtual items and flirt. Back in 2007, Au described touring it as “sort of like underwater lucid dreaming.” For the past two decades, Au has maintained New World Notes as an independent publication. But he said he’s been drawn back to Second Life and Linden Lab as a place to directly work. The virtual world has around 650,000 monthly active users, he said, “which is actually about what it was during the hype wave.” Au says he’s still finding rich stories in Second Life, the kind that keep him interested 20 years into the beat: “Over the last few months for instance, I wrote about an SL creator in Venezuela whose apartment was destroyed by the earthquakes, so the global SL community rallied to get him back on his feet,” he told me. “Then there’s the woman from a Middle Eastern country who explored her lesbian sexuality in SL, then earned enough from her virtual jewelry to escape her abusive family situation and country.” Au wants to beckon more reporters to give Second Life another look. He argues that it is often ahead of internet trends, noting, for example, an early backlash in the community against AI-made art. Now the platform is drawing curiosity from more of the user-generated content community who’ve grown up with the likes of Roblox, according to Au. “Second Life was too early during its hype wave in 2005-2010, but it now feels right for a new wave of interest,” he told me.
Teacher Research Academy connects educators to LLNL science
For nearly 30 years, LLNL has offered Teacher Research Academy (TRA) to middle school, high school and community college teachers looking for unique professional development experiences. At no cost to educators, TRA workshops offer classroom-focused applications of LLNL's groundbreaking science and technology. Over two weeks this summer, four different TRAs were offered as two-day workshops: Understanding Energy Technology, Drone Design & Application, Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Classroom and Data Analytics for STEM Labs using AI. Understanding energy technology This session
Middleton leads Johnson in race for Texas attorney general, but the contest is unusually close
State Sen. Mayes Middleton spent lavishly to capture the Republican nomination and build statewide name recognition. But the most recent polling shows him just five percentage points ahead of Democratic state Sen. Nathan Johnson -- with more than a fifth of voters still undecided.
Applications open for three-county downtown business pitch competition
Middle Michigan Development Corporation is hosting businesses and entrepreneurs from across the region for the 2026 Middle Michigan Downtown Pitch.
Money problems may age your brain faster
Persistent financial hardship in early and middle adulthood was linked to poorer thinking skills by the 50s and more signs of brain aging later in life. Researchers say years of chronic stress and financial worry may gradually take a toll on the brain.
Former student Delgado-Pedraza returns to Calcutt as 8th-grade science teacher
CENTRAL FALLS – Calcutt Middle School’s newest 8th-grade science teacher, Desireee Delgado-Pedraza, recently expressed her joy about being back home in her community.
August Monthly Review: ChatGPT In Epic
Death, taxes, another frontier lab healthcare launch inspiring truly insane LinkedIn takes. As much as I want to stay away, I repeatedly am the crewman unplugging his ears whenever we pass these sirens. So it’s not the first and probably not the last time we dial up the typewriter rather than tie ourselves to the mast. The full blow-by-blow timeline: Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe The End of the Standalone PHR (Jan 8): ChatGPT Health arrives for consumers, at the time powered by b.well. I was bullish on the approach in that the best way for the PHR to finally solve distribution was to meet consumers were they already are (i.e. When Horizontal Meets Healthcare (Jan 9): OpenAI for Healthcare puts out the shingle for enterprises, with SharePoint ingestion standing in for the EHR integration the product actually needed. Another One: Anthropic’s Healthcare Debut (Jan 16): Claude's version, on HealthEx rails instead of b.well, with Agent Skills for FHIR development as the one true vertical-specific investment. ChatGPT for Clinicians: The Trap Sprung (Apr 24): OpenAI filled in the missing GTM middle with a free product for verified clinicians, effectively peeling the enterprise wrapper off ChatGPT for Healthcare and taking the PLG fight directly to OpenEvidence. OpenAI’s Second Attempt at Health (Jul 31): a relaunch of their patient specific app, now branded Health in ChatGPT, where the privacy partition came out, the connectors thinned, and b.well disappeared in favor of first-party FHIR work against a smaller network Beyond a Shingle So what was announced now? Today, we’re introducing a new electronic health record integration that brings authorized patient context from Epic into ChatGPT for Healthcare, along with the Healthcare Public Data plugin for direct, structured access to official healthcare datasets like PubMed, DailyMed, and CMS Coverage. Together, these capabilities bring ChatGPT closer to the systems and sources healthcare teams trust, while supporting the controls and compliance healthcare work requires. The core portfolio is unchanged from prior announcements we delineated and discussed (aside from the relaunch of patient-facing). Since trade publications still seem to be confusing them by using the wrong names: Enterprise sales motion: ChatGPT for Healthcare Protecting their core product / PLG: ChatGPT for Clinicians Consumer/patient-facing product: Health in ChatGPT So really, this is a feature release (specifically for ChatGPT for Healthcare when it comes to EHR integration). What’s cool about it, though, is that we are moving beyond just putting out a shingle. Everything in the January enterprise launch was horizontalizable: Horizontal tech companies thus generally start verticalization with their “putting out a shingle phase”. Telling the world you’re open for business as a horizontal tech company reliably attracts early inbound interest from buyers who are already trying to force-fit horizontal tools into domain-specific workflows and are eager for any signal that the vendor intends to support their use case more directly. Nothing was really vertical specific, which is exactly what you'd expect from the ultimate hypergrowth horizontal company dipping their toes into specific industries. But eventually you have to stop changing the sign on the door and start changing the product. Can you guess where the horizontal product was going to run out of road? This is the core dilemma writ large: verticalization requires differentiation, while scale economics of consumer and horizontal push toward unification. I’ve buried the lede so deep here it will be painful to some readers, but what should be shocking to no one is that my perspective is that EHR integration is the only path that meaningfully resolves this tension for ChatGPT for Healthcare. Integration with Microsoft Sharepoint is fine, but it is categorically insufficient for any product that hopes to influence clinical decision-making. SMART Money Well here we are, eight months later! Real vertical investment has begun, which surprised a few people. One friend in the industry messaged me: “Absolutely no way Epic gave ChatGPT API access.” Looking forensically at the announcements, the integration is notably read-only across appointment notes, laboratory results, medications, and specialist documentation. So while I’m not a betting man, I'd wager the house this is a SMART on FHIR launch: That sounds a lot like USCDI! The recommended path for the workflow they outline would be SMART on FHIR Their Health AI lead’s post is evocative of both standalone and EHR launch SMART, which another termed “ChartGPT” and “EHR Plugin” The implementation burden for SMART on FHIR is the lowest of the available integrative paths This is the team who literally did patient-facing SMART on FHIR with Epic last month Most importantly, if you’re a horizontal company, you generally still haven’t taken the full plunge and thus (overly) value reusability. SMART on FHIR is the logical compromise: healthcare-specific enough to matter, but standardized enough to reuse. Nobody Asked Judy Another friend asked “I thought they had to go to each health system, or did they go direct to Epic and now health systems opt in?” Given the trust paradigms in healthcare, this functionally cannot be Epic hoovering up all the data for OpenAI and shoving ChatGPT in their customers’ faces (or they would revolt). However, I do believe the aforementioned terrible coverage by TechCrunch and other outlets is probably responsible for that question, given the 325 million reference. When using FHIR as a business associate to an Epic customer, there is no EHR gatekeeping to speak of, as that isn’t how fhir.epic.com works: You register an app You pick your APIs You test against the sandbox APIs You list as “Ready for Production” Hospitals pick your app You test and go live with them Bluntly, nobody had to say yes or no in Verona (nor were they given the chance). Vendor Services (their next developer tier up that I doubt OpenAI is using quite yet in this initial release) certainly has contractual paperwork that some resent, but even there, the twin pressures of mounting antitrust and information blocking make outright gatekeeping increasingly fraught. My friend’s sentiment is, to me, representative of a broader industry neurosis, perhaps a sort of scar tissue of prior eras: people assume the gate is still there and never actually try the door. There are certainly other ways Epic (and any EHR) can put its thumb on the scale, but they are not so dumb as to stand in front of a federally mandated API and play bouncer at this exact moment in time. So I think they can and probably should go deeper, as this release is at best parity and at worst behind vertical-specific competition. OpenEvidence did a basic SMART launch with Sutter Health in February, allowing for more convenient evidence search by providers. They then add patient-context (the equivalent SMART on FHIR flow to what we see here) when Cedars-Sinai went enterprise-wide in May. UpToDate has four distinct applications across deeper workflows like patient engagement listed in Epic Showroom and announced a partnership with Epic to power Art at UGM Abridge and other ambient scribes have invested deeply into the deepest bidirectional clinical copilot workflow with integrations well beyond SMART on FHIR. In that light, the “Who is OpenAI primarily targeting here?” is clear. This release brings them into striking distance of OpenEvidence, but not the others quite yet. They are the only one of the three you can reach without building something truly Epic-specific. When will they go further? Competition is a great motivator to overcome the horizontal demons and start building things that can’t be reused: not across industries, not across EHRs, maybe not past the customer you built them for. That’s the price of actually verticalizing. The question is if and when OpenAI will be willing to pay it. Month in Review Here is the monthly review. As a reminder, this is a regular round-up of the month’s posts and other content to surface things you may have missed across regulation, litigation, interoperability, and beyond. AI assistance is used in these bullet summaries so I can focus on articles. Articles Published: None this month Video Content: The Information Exchange: Standards-based Thruple Edition (Aug 14): Back to school for us too, with Brad reporting in from the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem’s one year anniversary in DC. We get into the January CMS-0057 deadline, the fall rulemaking reading list, and why enrollment still keeps most apps off FHIR. The Information Exchange: Epic Dúnadan Edition (Aug 25): A UGM roundup with Ryan Brickner joining for the first time to check our takes against what the building actually thinks. Rangers, Ergo sitting on top of EHI, and a down-market lineup that needs some cuts. Regulatory: Stacked Deck, Bad Hand (Aug 05): ONC’s website refresh took the entire HIT Policy Committee record with it, so I rebuilt the archive and went looking for the regulatory capture story everyone assumes is buried in there. Stacking the deck and winning the hand turn out to be very different things. The Sixth Generation of Patient Access (Aug 19): A quick catalog of the five generations of patient access we’ve layered on since HIPAA, and the two candidates now competing to be the sixth. One is planned. The other is the market routing around the plan entirely. Court cases: Three Cases Walk Into a Docket (Aug 06): Two surprise settlements cleared the board in a single week, and then Judge Maddox dropped ninety-four pages on Vyne v. Henry Schein. The sleeper is a DMCA holding that makes direct-to-database a considerably riskier business model. Epic v. Health Gorilla: Into the MDL (Aug 10): Nine class actions are headed to Miami, and the Panel signaled it wants to bring the case that spawned them along too. That would leave Epic arguing the requests were obviously fraudulent in one courtroom and unknowable in the other. Amazon v. Perplexity: Agents Are Legalized! (Aug 11): The Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction against Comet, holding that the user is the one accessing the servers rather than the company that built the agent. A real win for agentic access, and a much narrower one than the headline suggests. Veeva v. Epic: Come At Me, Bro (Aug 26): Epic’s response brief wants the dismissal affirmed and, unusually, wants the opinion published as precedent. Buried in it is Epic’s own description of what its non-competes actually prohibit, which current and former employees should read closely. EHRs: The Contract Epic Would Never Sign Today (Aug 04): A 1999 SEC exhibit catches Epic licensing nearly its entire product line, Tapestry included, to the company that became TriZetto. The marketing services menu attached to it is the part that will make you blink. Forecast from Verona (Aug 07): The Epic Almanac makes one argument six different ways: the AI is only as good as the networks behind it. Emmie headlines, Art’s context stack is the most ambitious part, and Penny finally gets an autonomous coding date on the calendar. Works With Epic MyChart (Aug 17): Epic’s first new Showroom category since the death of Workshop certifies hardware instead of software, badge on the box and all. Made for iPhone, but for blood pressure cuffs, and rough news for anyone selling the RPM stack sitting in between. UGM Hot Takes 2026 (Aug 20): Everyone else covered the AI announcements, so I went after Savvy deleting the payment gateway, Rangers as Boost with the timer removed, and a down-market lineup with too many entries. Plus the Health Grid tidbits I cannot help myself on. MyChart Central Grows Up (Aug 24): Device data and Emmie turn Epic’s identity hub into a full consumer platform, which is both a logical answer to ChatGPT and a bit of a mistake. It also happens to be the best scraping target Epic has ever shipped. Industry Analysis: The Wrong Yardstick (Aug 12): Vertical software keeps getting judged against Superhuman and Notion, which is the wrong bar entirely. Your user is comparing your product to a whiteboard and forty phone calls before lunch. Primitives vs. Abstractions (Aug 27): Developers want building blocks, systems of record prefer to hand out business logic, and both sides have a real case. There’s no test from the outside that separates the engineering reason from the competitive one, which is why this keeps ending up in court. Cross-industry Comparisons: The Two Kinds of Platform Power (Aug 18): Attention power and record power are different problems that keep getting handed the same regulatory toolkit. Congress’s latest swing at Big Tech shows both what’s possible and where it falls apart. The Dogs of (Platform) War (Aug 21): A CourtListener alert turned up a property management fight with healthcare’s exact shape and none of the Cures Act. Shell prospects, ghost accounts, a notetaker bot that came back to haunt someone, and a lawyer arguing both sides of the same theory in two states. Fractals All the Way Down (Aug 31): Yardi dominates property management right up until you zoom into one segment, where AppFolio owns it outright and Yardi doesn’t appear at all. Where you draw the line around a B2B software market is about to decide an awful lot of cases. Other News: If Judy Had the Courage (Aug 13): A short eulogy for the era when software was allowed to look insane: WinAMP, bold colors, and everything the grey chatbot era has taken from us. External Media: Portland Monthly Health Tech Meetup: Erin O’Brien channeled my own feelings - maybe it’s just because it’s August and beautiful, but the monthly edition of the PDX Health community meetup was a ripper. Make sure to reach out if interested to join for the next one. STAT’s Coverage of Epic This Month: Brittany Trang of STAT did a fantastic job of breaking the FTC investigation that’s been lurking, as well as UGM related coverage, so I had to give her her wish of a meme. Fall Conferences: I’m pumped to be kicking off my fall conference season in NYC at Nabla Accelerate next month, which Chrissy provided the link to apply for. Here’s the rest of my schedule in case you want to meet up: Commonwell (Redwood Shores, CA): Oct 13-14 Open@Epic (Madison, WI): Oct 21-22 eHealthExchange (Austin, TX): Oct 27 Sequoia Project (Austin, TX): Oct 28-29 HLTH (Vegas): Nov 15-18 RSNA (Chicago): Nov 29-Dec 3 Posts I Liked: HTI-6 Should Unbundle API Certification: Josh Mandel makes the case that HTI-6 should split (g)(10) into separate authorization and data certifications, so a PACS or a genomics platform can certify only the role it actually performs. Imaging is the urgent example, but the structure solves a much bigger problem. On implementing ePrior Auth with Epic: Scott Rossignol’s field notes from a live ePrior Auth build on Epic, including the two app registrations nobody warns you about and the CPT mapping problem waiting at the end. CMS-0057 implementations are going to be such a beast. Healthcare point solutions are starting to look a lot like streaming services: Spencer Dorn runs the cable-to-streaming arc against health IT and lands squarely on the bundling half of the cycle. Bundling can be good! It can also be bad! Life is nuanced. Health API Guy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
Oil up nearly 1% as US and Iran trade fresh strikes
Oil prices rose nearly 1% in early trade on Wednesday, extending the previous session's surge, as concerns over supply disruption intensified after the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes overnight, dimming hopes for a quick easing of tensions in the Middle East.
MNPD: Mental health team not on scene before North Nashville officer-involved shooting
Fox 17 provides local news, weather, sports, traffic and entertainment for Nashville and nearby towns and communities in Middle Tennessee, including Forest Hills, Brentwood, Franklin, Fairview, Dickson, Clarksville, White House, Greenbrier, Springfield, Gallatin, Hartsville, Lebanon, Mt Juliet, Smyrna, College Grove, Thompson’s Station, Centerville, Murfreesboro, Columbia, Lewisburg, Shelbyville, Manchester, McMinnville, Smithville, Sparta, Cookeville, Hohenwald, Waverly, Camden, Paris, Lafayette, Portland, and in Kentucky, Russelville, Bowling Green, Franklin, Alvaton, Scottsville, Hopkinsville, Glasgow.
What Box Office Bomb Crushed Obsession on Streaming?
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Before we get into this week’s issue, let me ask you for some suggestions. At the risk of coining too many names for too many things (hence my dictionary of terms...), I need a name for straight-to-streaming films that are too expensive to justify a straight-to-streaming release, but not big enough to justify a theatrical release. Like some of the films I highlighted in last week’s tally of the biggest film flops of 2026 so far: Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Pizza Movie or Never Change! They don’t feel like “made for TV movies” (think Hallmark and Lifetime movies, cheap Netflix romcoms, or Disney Channel Original movies, for example) but they don’t feel big enough for the big screen. They’re not “cinematic” enough, so to speak. As I wrote... “I still need a name for this middle zone of film that’s too expensive to go straight-to-streaming but too small to justify a theatrical release (with all the PR, distribution, marketing and whatnot costs that go along with it), the Goldilocks zone of streaming film death.” Friend of the newsletter Brandon Katz has suggested the “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”. I love that first one. I’d offer up the much wordier “The Streaming Budget Dead Zone” or “the Goldilocks Zone of streaming film death” but that last one isn’t accurate since, unlike Goldilocks’ porridge, these films are the opposite of “just right”. That’s the problem! Anyway, if you have any suggestions, let me know! On to today’s Streaming Ratings Report. As you can tell by today’s headline, things are going to be spicy! I’m looking at a box office bomb that did really, really well on streaming, somewhat challenging a few different narratives. And another Netflix series declined in its second season. All that, plus Wicked: For Good switching streamers, The Hawk continuing its strong run, _The Bear’_s finale season finally dropping off the charts, the WNBA posting a big viewership number, “shallow libraries”, a sitcom spinoff failing to launch, more big budget IP flopping on Paramount+, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of July 20th to July 26th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - The Latest Theatrical Success Story on Streaming In the latest edition of “Flops, Bombs and Misses of the First Half of 2026”, I made a crucial change: I started including theatrical films with the streaming misses. The streamers have collectively—including Netflix, but not to as big of an extent—stopped making a lot of straight-to-streaming films, and the ones they do make aren’t as expensive as in the heyday of the streaming bubble. After the following two films bombed in theaters, you’d guess that they’ll be included in my next collection of flops, bombs and misses six months from now: Masters of the Universe on Prime Video (only $64 million domestic box office) Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max ($79 million domestic) But you’d be wrong! Masters of the Universe, a reboot of the He-Man franchise, a toy from the 1980s, came to streaming on 22-July and did great! This long-gestating project—it’s been at every studio for years, and came close to getting a greenlight at Netflix—then finally came to theaters in June, and showed up on streaming less than two months later. (I don’t love this short theatrical window.) It surprisingly grabbed nearly 20 million hours on its debut: That means, wait for it, Masters of the Universe is currently the eighth biggest film on streaming through two weeks. My rough bar for “hit” is shows or films in the top 15%. Ergo…Masters of the Universe is a legit, streaming hit! (One quick caveat: if it falls out of the top ten next week, it will move to 13th overall, just on the edge of the top 15.) Of course, that’s the data for just 2026. Here’s how it stacks up to Prime Video’s theatrical films: That drop into its second week is typical for Amazon films, but also a worrying sign. I have a feeling interest in this film is front-loaded and we’ll see it drop off after this. As for Mortal Kombat II, in this case, the viewership numbers roughly match the theatrical outing, with only 4.1 million hours in its first week. Here’s how it stacks up to other HBO Max films: The best defense of this number is that, as a relatively violent rated-R film, Mortal Kombat II never had a good chance at breaking out. So now it’s time for a little big of “Entertainment Nuance Guy”: First, yeah, my headline is obviously facetious, since Masters of the Universe besting Obsession says more about horror as a genre than it does that film. Second, I read and listened to quite a few “nobody wanted this IP” takes about Masters of the Universe, and that’s not really true. At least enough people wanted it to power a 20 million+ hour debut! Third, both this film and Mortal Kombat II were considered “average” by viewers, but not great films, with a 6.4 and 6.3 respectively on IMDb. That’s just shy of the level needed to be a word-of-mouth hit. Fourth, in the olden days, strong word of mouth could transform a box office miss into a cable/DVD hit, like Austin Powers or The Shawshank Redemption. We haven’t seen a lot of examples of that on streaming, though. And there are far fewer ways to monetize the post-theatrical life of a film these days. Fifth, Prime Video has shown an ability to push their own titles well, likely because they control the Amazon Fire TV ecosystem. Add it all up, and here’s my nuanced take on Masters of the Universe: it was a box office bomb, but, shockingly, a streaming hit. Unfortunately, while being a theatrical hit saves your film financially, being a streaming hit does not. Both Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat II had big budgets and needed to make more money in theaters to justify them. So…Straight-to-Streaming or Theaters? We’ve hit a really fun point in the streaming calendar, since the films that came out in theaters in April, May, and June are now arriving on streaming. So the “Do theatrical releases help streaming performances?” question is gonna get a fresh round of updates nearly every week. No single week will answer the question, but we may get some insights. For example, so far in 2026, it looks like theatrical films are lasting longer on the weekly Nielsen film charts. Here’s a list of films that have made the charts in their fourth or fifth week of release, separated by “for kids” and “general entertainment”: It certainly seems like theatrical films are lasting just a pinch longer on the charts, with Project Hail Mary being the current five-week champion. One Battle After Another did well for HBO Max too, and even The Sheep Detectives made it four weeks. The only exception to this trend? Obsession, which only lasted two weeks on the charts. You might tempted to overreact to this news. Don’t. Obsession is a huge horror hit, but horror just doesn’t do as well on streaming. By the way, here’s the Google Trends for various theatrical and stremaing films: Plus, when it comes to Netflix in four months, Obsession may have another big boost. Quick Notes on Film Note that when I write, “the streamers have pulled back on straight-to-streaming films” that doesn’t mean “abandoned” because Netflix is gonna Netflix. On 24-July, they released 72 Hours, a Kevin Hart comedy. Along with Eddie Murphy, Mark Wahlberg, John Cena and Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart is a streaming film star now. Did this latest one work? Not really. It only garnered two weeks of 13.2 and 12.2 million hours on its debut, well below the 20-million-hour hit threshold. It also was poorly received critically—a 44 on Metacritic—and by customers—a 5.4 on IMDb on 21K IMDb reviews. 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… The latest Netflix true crime doc to pop on the charts… How The Bear finished its run… Netflix’s latest Western to return to streaming… What Paramount+ animated film flopped… And what sitcom also missed… All the flops, bombs and misses… And a whole lot more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! I’m behind by a week, so we’ve got two issues coming your way this week, including one in a couple of days or so, then we’ll be all caught up**.** Next issue, inspired by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming to Peacock, I’m going to take a look at the workhouse of streaming TV: kids films. Plus The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues theatrical films’ big run on streaming. All that, plus another surprise hit on Hulu, Lioness on CBS, and a whole lot more. Long term, LeBron James is filming his own “Last Dance”-style docu-series, surprising no one. But as I’ve been writing about a lot this summer, this genre is really overrated, so whoever ends up buying it (reportedly ESPN) really shouldn’t pay too much for it.
Bessent downplays bond market concerns amid global sell-off
Bond market investors are growing increasingly nervous as fighting resumes in the Middle East.
Ocean heatwaves linked with poorer health among children in coastal communities
Marine heatwaves — periods of abnormally warm ocean temperatures — may have negative health effects on children who live in coastal communities in low- or middle-income countries, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Scottsdale investment firm acquires Shasta Pools, plans nationwide growth
It was more than a year ago when Jeff Thiessen, president of Scottsdale-based Dansons Capital Group, was in the middle of having a pool built in his backyard when the builder couldn't finish the job.
Times Square stabber had mental health history with police before deadly attack
Jarring video circulating social media shows the woman swinging two large knives before police shot and killed her in the middle of Times Square.
Purdue Science Olympiad inspires future scientists through annual invitational
Purdue Science Olympiad spends all year planning one of the state’s largest invitationals for middle and high school students. Members of the club help inspire future generations of scientists.
Dozens of Nashville businesses appeal property value as state leaders prioritize tax cap
Fox 17 provides local news, weather, sports, traffic and entertainment for Nashville and nearby towns and communities in Middle Tennessee, including Forest Hills, Brentwood, Franklin, Fairview, Dickson, Clarksville, White House, Greenbrier, Springfield, Gallatin, Hartsville, Lebanon, Mt Juliet, Smyrna, College Grove, Thompson’s Station, Centerville, Murfreesboro, Columbia, Lewisburg, Shelbyville, Manchester, McMinnville, Smithville, Sparta, Cookeville, Hohenwald, Waverly, Camden, Paris, Lafayette, Portland, and in Kentucky, Russelville, Bowling Green, Franklin, Alvaton, Scottsville, Hopkinsville, Glasgow.
Bond sell-off intensifies around the world as oil prices rise above $91 a barrel, stoking inflation fears
Renewed fighting in Middle East weighs on financial markets
Caio Borralho Calls for Fight at UFC 334
UFC middleweight contender Caio Borralho called for a fight at the upcoming UFC 334 card in his return to the Octagon.Borralho, the No. 6-ranked middleweight in the Meta UFC Rankings, was supposed to fight Joe Pyfer at UFC 330 but was forced to pull out due to injury.He is now getting back to full health […] The post Caio Borralho Calls for Fight at UFC 334 appeared first on HEAVY.
The IDA Health Window Is Gaining Traction: Four Responses to the Proposal
I recently proposed an IDA Health Window as the future of multilateral global health financing. The proposal is beginning to gain traction. It has received interest (mostly positive, but always with good, constructive challenges) from colleagues associated with the Accra Reset; Africa CDC and the African High-Level Ministerial Committee on Global Health Architecture Reform; low- and middle-income country health and finance officials; key high-income donors including the UK, France, Germany, and Norway; the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank; the World Health Organization, Wellcome Trust, and civil society.
Vanderbilt Health brings expertise – and caring
Being part of the Vanderbilt Health network has reinvigorated care available to Clarksville patients while advancing world-class care to people throughout Middle Tennessee
Steve Jobs' 8th grade science project sells for $34,375 as rare Apple memorabilia fetches millions at auction
Even in middle school, Jobs was fascinated with the tech world.
Hanover volleyball looks to build defense after losing key seniors
Hanover Coach: Avery Kretschmar (1) League: NHIAA Division II Last Year: 12-5; loss in the quarterfinals Top Returners: Seniors — Sage Fargher (Setter), Bella Poisson (Outside), Casey Wilkinson (Libero), Esther Skogerboe (Middle) Newcomers: Juniors — Nour Tannous (Outside), Laila Sundred (Defensive Specialist), Amelia McGinnis (Right Side) Coach’s Analysis: “With the matriculation of seasoned front row […]
Politics, Pubs, Parades, + the Parish: Jim McGreevey, Part 2
McGreevey traces his path from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office to the New Jersey Assembly, Woodbridge mayor’s office.
U.S. Bank expands business banking roster
The super-regional lender is adding bankers to serve business clients in Florida and Georgia, where it already has wealth and middle market bankers, an executive said.
Why was this previously healthy 14-year-old so sick?
What started as a suspected middle ear infection was quickly found to be a much more serious issue related to COVID-19. Quick response is key.
Jelly Roll explains political beliefs after Trump roasts: I’m ‘down the middle’
Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, made jokes throughout the week about President Trump, causing many of his supporters to label the artist a “traitor.”
Lake Ontario Didn’t Ask for Trump to Rename It
There is a U.S.-led war in the Middle East and the midterm elections on the horizon, but President Trump’s latest priority seems to be “Making The Great Lakes Even Greater.”
U.K. Business Confidence Jumps Despite Lingering Energy Shock
Oil and gas prices remained elevated amid uncertainty over the Middle East conflict, but firms appear increasingly confident that strong consumer demand and a resilient economy can offset the pressure.
Progressives Condemn Pick of Pro-Israel Democrat Atop House Panel
Outrage over making Representative Jared Moskowitz, who is vocally pro-Israel, the top Democrat on a Middle East policy subcommittee reflected the party’s rift over Israel.
As Oceans Warm, Children Face Growing Malnutrition Risk
In low- and middle-income countries, marine heat waves threaten children’s growth rates and lives, new research shows.
Vikings’ Carson Wentz Doesn’t Hold Back on J.J. McCarthy
The Minnesota Vikings are in the middle of another QB battle to determine who is their backup behind Kyler Murray. After losing the battle to Murray, J.J. McCarthy was given the QB2 status, but after two preseason games and training camp practices, that might be at risk.Veteran QB Carson Wentz could be looking to take […] The post Vikings’ Carson Wentz Doesn’t Hold Back on J.J. McCarthy appeared first on HEAVY.
Idaho high schoolers learn to lead campus mental health efforts at Boise State summit
KBOI-TV CBS 2 covers news, sports, traffic, and weather in the Treasure Valley and Boise, Idaho and nearby communities, including Meridian, Nampa, Garden City, Caldwell, Kuna, Middleton, Eagle, Mountain Home, Star, Melba, Payette, Weiser, Horseshoe Bend, Idaho City, Marsing, Homedale, Parma, New Plymouth, Murphy, Fruitland, Emmett, Wilder, Notus, McCall, Cascade, Donnelly, Council, and Vale, Oregon, and Nyssa, Oregon, Ontario, Oregon.
Feel-good factor important for impressive Sarmiento
Jeremy Sarmiento's goal and assist for Middlesbrough in their win over Doncaster, has brought praise from former Boro midfielder Neil Maddison.
Six Humboldt Middle Schoolers Get a Week of Hands-On Science at Tech Trek Camp
Local students dusted for fingerprints, built circuits, and studied exoplanets during a STEM camp sponsored by the Humboldt branch of AAUW, with a couple of them already eyeing future careers in…
Column: Why I loved Dolly Parton and her Dollywood
CHICAGO — In the middle of Dollywood — a theme park in the Smoky Mountains that I have visited 50 times or more — there’s a replica of the one-bedroom
MTSU actuarial science program earns international attention while expanding student opportunities
Middle Tennessee State University’s Actuarial Science Program is strengthening its national reputation while expanding opportunities for students to prepare for careers in one of the nation’s most specialized and in-demand professions.
‘This is obviously a very, very lucrative business for them’: Somali pirates are back—the Iran war is keeping the US too busy to stop them
Brett Erickson, a managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors, says Somali pirates have a lower risk of American retaliation because of resources in the Middle East.
Florida, hard-hit by Obamacare drop-off, feels the squeeze of rising healthcare costs
ST. CLOUD, Fla. (AP) — Florida chef Elijah Button was chopping onions in June when his knife slipped and sliced his middle finger to the bone.
Salute Our Heroes: Topeka teacher brings ocean science lessons back from NOAA program
Jardine Middle School educator Amelia Black spent 12 days aboard a ship in the Gulf as part of a NOAA Teacher at Sea program
Why politicians are punchlines at the Edinburgh Fringe
There was a time when satire had an easier gig. Politicians said something ridiculous, comedians made fun of them, audiences laughed, and everyone went home. Subscribe Now the joke is often the headline. In a world where the unbelievable regularly makes the news, where politics can veer into parody before the comedians have had time to write the punchline, you might reasonably wonder: is satire running out of material? Not in Edinburgh. At the Fringe, I can confirm satire has a pulse, even in a relentless and rapid news cycle. Politicians as punchlines Take NewsRevue, the world’s longest-running live sketch show, where politicians are turned into punchlines at industrial speed. Its latest target? Andy Burnham - or, more accurately, his doppelganger, pictured below in the middle. The joke, he tells us, is that there have been so many politicians coming and going that even satire risks suffering from political fatigue. But perhaps that revolving door is precisely why comedy matters. When the news cycle moves faster than our ability to process it, comedians can hold up a mirror - and make us think twice. Small talk Take Ayoade Bamgboye, the Saturday Night Live UK star who won the Best Newcomer prize at last year’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Her Fringe debut was critically acclaimed; this year she is turning her attention to one of Britain’s most baffling social rituals: small talk. Share It’s a reminder that satire doesn’t always need a politician in its sights. Sometimes the target is simply us civilians - the strange little rules and rituals we have collectively agreed to pretend are normal. Politics and Palestinian identity For British-Palestinian comedian Sami Abu Wardeh, pictured below, comedy has a more urgent job. His new show, Sami Abu Wardeh Hates You, asks who gets to hate, and whether anger belongs to everyone, not just the far right. His comedy confronts politics and Palestinian identity while refusing to surrender the simple business of making people laugh. Shakespeare meets climate crisis And then there is HAM: an “eco-hijacking” of Hamlet, which its creators describe as “a sordid wrestle between a vegan and a sausage-lover”. Shakespeare meets the climate crisis. Meat meets moral panic. The end result? You’ll leave promising to become vegan and swiftly bulk buying Linda McCartney sausages. HAM was created by theatre company Hotter Project, aka Ell Potter and Mary Higgins, pictured below. They say comedy helped them avoid the preachiness sometimes associated with climate activism - using Shakespeare as a vessel for uncomfortable questions about the planet, politics and the way we live. Perhaps that is satire’s secret weapon. It doesn’t necessarily make the world less absurd. It makes the absurdity crystal clear. And at a moment when reality increasingly feels like it has been written by a sketch writer, the Fringe is proving there is still plenty to laugh and cry at. Satire isn’t dead. It’s alive, subletting and having the time of its life at the Fringe. Subscribe Share Channel 4 News Leave a comment
Minister tells social media firms to take down dangerous driving content in wake of fatal A66 crash in Middlesborough
Defence minister says police ‘need time’ but ‘in the meantime’ the government has told platforms to take down content glorifying dangerous driving
Minister tells social media firms to take down dangerous driving content in wake of fatal A66 crash in Middlesborough
Defence minister says police ‘need time’ but ‘in the meantime’ the government has told platforms to take down content glorifying dangerous driving
Swiss forward Embolo joins Atlanta United
Swiss striker Breel Embolo has signed for Atlanta United, the Major League Soccer club announced Sunday, in a deal reportedly worth $18 million.Last year the club splashed $22 million on Ivory Coast striker Emmanuel Latte Lath from English Championship side Middlesbrough.
Carney warned about economic coercion. Now Trump is testing the Canadian prime minister
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney drew international attention earlier this year by warning that middle powers such as Canada must resist economic coercion
Men face new pressure to stay ‘hot’ as they age — and it’s not just about living longer
Plastic surgeon Dr. Krishna Vyas reveals why men no longer feel stigma around cosmetic procedures and shares the foundational steps for extending 'hotspan'.
Analysis: Tigers show tenacity and talent
Since Hull were relegated from the Premier League in 2017, they have been down to League One and back before beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in the Championship play-off final to seal promotion last season. Slater, who joined the club initially on loan from Sheffield United in League One - and only cost £50,000 when he signed permanently - swung in a ball for Mendy - a £20m-plus purchase from Rayo Vallecano - to power in a header past Lammens. Sergej Jakirovic, the first manager in the Premier League from Bosnia-Herzegovina, will not let his Tigers get too carried away after being written off as relegation candidates by many on the eve of the campaign.
'The greatest unknown was how much energy would be released by the weapon': How scientists prepared for the Trinity nuclear test
In this excerpt from "Trinity: An Illustrated History of the World’s First Atomic Test," author Emily Seyl looks at the buildup to the 1945 test that changed history. She explores the huge effort to design experiments that would ultimately establish whether the gargantuan explosion in the middle of the desert was a success.
iPhone Ultra lands September 18 at $2,000 and kills the visible crease
Every foldable phone you have ever held has a crease in the middle of the display, and that crease has been the category's most embarrassing open secret since 2019. Samsung has refined it, minimized it, and shot their devices in lighting specifically designed to hide it. Google's Pixel Fold was a little better. The Honor
UCO FSI Celebrates a Decade of Training Forensic Science Educators Across the Nation
The University of Central Oklahoma’s W. Roger Webb Forensic Science Institute (FSI) recently welcomed 30 middle and high school science teachers from across the country for its 10th annual High School Teachers Forensic Science Curriculum Training.
Beyond the Business Card: Networking to Drive Growth
J. Michael Fischer Jr. discusses networking strategies to grow your career and achieve dealmaking success
Most Americans aren't anti-vaccine. They're uncertain — and that's a growing public health challenge
The bigger issue at hand may be that many Americans fall into a large, uncertain middle ground – neither firmly pro-vaccine nor staunchly opposed.
Experimenting with Science and Structure in Government
"What excites me is that it's very tempting to be very discouraged, and say, ‘Oh, we've got these archaic institutions that are calcified and you could never change them.’ But I think we're in the middle of a technological revolution that will upend lots of things, and does provide a window."
Registration open for Albemarle Park & Rec middle school sports
Albemarle County Parks and Recreation opened registration for fall middle school sports.
Mass. hopes to create an umbrella agency to regulate youth sports
Massachusetts lawmakers are aiming to be the first to create a statewide agency that would regulate sports for elementary and middle school-aged athletes.
Ex-counterterrorism chief advocates for Trump to 'walk away from' Iran war, yank troops out of Middle East
Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent is advocating for President Donald Trump to get the U.S. out of the Iran war and remove U.S. troops from the Middle East.
New medical office building at Three Rivers Health to replace 3 others damaged in tornado
WWMT-TV Newschannel 3 provides local news, weather forecasts, notices of events and entertainment programming for Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, South Haven, Paw Paw, Portage, Otsego, Texas Township, Oshtemo, Plainwell, Allegan, Holland, Saugatuck, Holland, Wayland, Kentwood, Middleville, Hastings, Marshall, Three Rivers, Sturgis, Constantine, Coldwater, Albion, Wyoming, Hudsonville, Allendale, Byron Center, Hudsonville, Grand Haven, Muskegon, Sparta, Rockford, Belding, Greenville, Ionia, Cedar Springs and their surrounding areas.
Vermont student survey shows improvements in mental health, declines in substance use
The latest survey of Vermont high school and middle schoolers shows improvements in mental health and declines in vaping, alcohol and marijuana use, according to the Vermont Department of Health
Oil climbs as fading US-Iran peace hopes raise supply risks
Oil prices rose on Tuesday as a deal to end the Middle East war seemed further out of sight with Iran saying it will adopt a more offensive stance and the U.S. ruling out extending a ceasefire agreement, heightening worries about energy supply.
Roane State inks articulation agreements with MTSU for aerospace and fire science pathways
HARRIMAN, Tenn. — Roane State and Middle Tennessee State University have signed articulation agreements partnering with Tennessee Flight Training and supporting streamlined transfer opportunities for students pursuing two of the community college’s newest offerings — aerospace and fire science. Presidents from both institutions, along with the president of Tennessee Flight Training, met at Roane State’s campus in Cumberland County on […]
The problem with Trump’s foreign policy by empty threat
Monday should be a very scary day for the small Middle Eastern country of Oman after a threat from President Donald Trump. But he’s done this before.
Will the AI bubble break American politics?
Is the massive investment in artificial intelligence creating a catastrophic economic bubble? In this episode of "Make It Make Sense," Damir Marusic sits down with Impact Theory co-founder Tom Bilyeu to break down the risks of AI-driven debt, shadow banking, and fast-depreciating GPU hardware. They examine how an AI market correction could ignite political extremism, critique US fiscal policy under Donald Trump, and discuss what it will take to rebuild the American middle class.
Middlesbrough 2-1 Lincoln
Middlesbrough and Lincoln City fans react to their Championship meeting on Saturday.
USS Washington to relieve USS Lincoln after concerns about the crew's mental health
The carrier USS Washington is on its way to the Middle East to relieve the USS Lincoln. The Lincoln has been at the center of concerns over crew mental health and a lack of fresh food and supplies.
Lankshear outlines Premier League dream with Boro
Middlesbrough's new goalscoring hero Will Lankshear says his dream is "to play in the Premier League" and that his team-mates share that ambition.
Tresean Gore Reacts to Career-Best UFC 330 Victory
UFC middleweight Tresean Gore shared his reaction to defeating Vicente Luque via unanimous decision at UFC 330.Gore picked apart Luque on the feet for the majority of the 15 minutes and was able to avoid his opponent’s submission attempts to win his second straight fights inside the Octagon after finishing Azamat Bekoev in his last […] The post Tresean Gore Reacts to Career-Best UFC 330 Victory appeared first on HEAVY.
Vicente Luque Releases Statement After UFC 330 Defeat
Longtime UFC fighter Vicente Luque released a statement following a unanimous decision defeat to Tresean Gore at UFC 330.Luque was outpointed by three rounds by the younger, faster, and more powerful Gore as he lost a unanimous decision in his second fight at middleweight, following a successful debut in the weight class earlier this year […] The post Vicente Luque Releases Statement After UFC 330 Defeat appeared first on HEAVY.
CNBC Daily Open: U.S. Navy faces mental health challenges as Mideast conflict drags on
Mental health challenges aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are raising concerns over the health of U.S. soldiers, as the Middle-East conflict drags on.
Oil treads water as US-Iran peace talks stall, Hormuz shipping slows
Oil prices barely moved in early trade on Monday as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend with no peace deal in sight between the United States and Iran to end the conflict in the Middle East.
Concerns over conditions aboard the USS Lincoln, mental health impacts
Congressional lawmakers are demanding more information about conditions aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, which is deployed in the Middle East. Democrats are raising questions about supply shortages, water contamination and deteriorating mental health.
Admiral Claims USS Abraham Lincoln’s Mental Health Cases Are Relatively Low—Despite Reported Crisis
The USS Abraham Lincoln has been supporting military operations in the Middle East against Iran for more than 260 days.
Former Joint Chiefs chair: Truth about issues on USS Abraham Lincoln ‘somewhere in the middle’
Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday the truth about the reported mental health concerns among service members on board the USS Abraham Lincoln is…
U.S. pulls last aircraft carrier in Asia as Trump focuses on other regions
The USS George Washington is departing the Pacific and expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East
Medieval times? You’re living in them
As they lose trust in public institutions and the health care system, people are increasingly turning to Middles Ages-style wisdom to cure what ails them.
Why the middle of the country is back in the center of American politics
The heartland Democrat is making a comeback.
Shields eyes Price after dominant middleweight return
Claressa Shields makes a powerful return to middleweight, stopping Kaye Scott in the sixth round to reclaim the WBA and WBC titles in Atlanta.
Russia’s role in Middle East politics endures, shifts to being ‘secondary power’
Two Russian military bases will remain in Syria as the region continues to recalibrate its relations with major powers amid the Iran war.
Middle School student agendas contain misspelled states and science errors, raising AI questions
A student agenda at Farnsley Middle School misspelled state names on a U.S. map and contained science errors. Jefferson County Public Schools says it is communicating with parents about the inaccuracies.
Middle School student agendas contain misspelled states and science errors, raising AI questions
A student agenda at Farnsley Middle School misspelled state names on a U.S. map and contained science errors. Jefferson County Public Schools says it is communicating with parents about the inaccuracies.
Trump says USS Lincoln’s deployment was ‘not nearly long enough’
President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed claims that families of service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have concerns about conditions aboard the aircraft carrier, which has been deployed for nearly nine months supporting operations in the Middle East.
APS science teacher selected as Albert Einstein fellow at Library of Congress
An Arlington educator was honored by county school leaders this week after being selected to participate in a prestigious federal fellowship program. Daniel Bernhardt, who teaches science at Swanson Middle School, has been selected as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow and appointed teacher in residence at the Library of Congress for the 2026-27 school
Growing Into the Middle Market: How Small Businesses Size Up
National Business Capital's Joe Camberato is back on the podcast to discuss scaling small businesses with a calibrated capital stack
Immune cells flood into the aging brain, Stanford scientists discover
Scientists have discovered that the aging human brain may be far less isolated from the rest of the body than once believed. Stanford researchers found that large numbers of immune cells from the blood begin entering the brain as early as middle age, where they can transform into microglia, the brain’s specialized immune cells. The finding overturns a long-standing assumption that these cells remain largely separate from the body’s immune system throughout life.
Liberty Bank sponsors new science class at Alton Middle School
As the new school year gets ready to begin, Alton Middle School students will have a brand new class to enjoy thanks to the generosity of Liberty Bank. The class,