Wednesday, September 30, 2026

PUBLIC SERVANT WANTED: MUST NOT OWN A BROKERAGE ACCOUNT WITH A DIRECT LINE TO THE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE

PUBLIC SERVANT WANTED: MUST NOT OWN A BROKERAGE ACCOUNT WITH A DIRECT LINE TO THE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE


I want a public servant like Dear Old Dad.

My father was a firefighter and a sheriff's deputy. He called it public service, and he meant it literally: you show up, you serve the public, and nobody slips you a tip sheet on which defense contractor is about to land a big contract. His only inside information was which house on the block had the space heater plugged into an extension cord.

When Dad voted for a congressman, he expected a public servant. He did not expect a day trader with a parking spot. The deal was simple. You send someone to Washington, they serve you, and the most exciting thing in their portfolio is a pension they earned honestly.

Somewhere along the way, the job description got edited. Today we're stuck with a Congress, a Senate, and a President who treat "public service" as another name for a stockbroker with insider information. Their idea of a portfolio review is a closed-door briefing on a pandemic, an embargo, or a merger, followed by a trade with suspiciously good timing. Funny how the people who write the rules always beat the market. Turns out it's easy to win when you're the one who printed the rulebook and the schedule.

Meet Your Real Public Servants

Here's the thing about the actual public servants in your community: you probably can't name most of them. You hear about them in exactly two situations. They screw up, or they're a hero. The rest of the time they're just doing the work that makes your community function.

That work includes:

  • The teacher who stays late so a kid can finish a project.
  • The bus driver who knows every stop and every kid's name.
  • The dispatcher at 3 a.m. talking a frightened stranger through the worst night of their life.
  • The water plant operator, whose entire job is making sure you never have to think about water.
  • The librarian, the building inspector, the park ranger, the social worker, the public defender, and the guy filling the pothole that would have eaten your axle.

None of these folks got a stock tip before the vote. Their inside information is what's actually broken in your neighborhood, and they fix it. Nobody sends them a thank-you note, and nobody has ever sent them an options chain.

The Ask

Washington needs to remember whom they work for. They go there to serve us, not to shop the market with a briefing binder in one hand and a brokerage app in the other.

The STOCK Act of 2012 was supposed to settle this. It requires members to disclose their trades and confirms that insider trading laws apply to them. Fourteen years later, the disclosures keep rolling in, and so do the well-timed trades. Disclosure turns out to be a smoke detector with no fire department.

Now, with Election Day around the corner, Congress is suddenly very interested in the problem. The House passed the Stop Insider Trading Act 232-198, and Senate Republicans are pushing for a vote in the last days before the election. Here's what the bill does: it bars members and their families from buying new individual stocks, and it requires public notice a week before a sale. Here's what it doesn't do: make anyone sell what they already own. Critics have called it a stock trading ban that still allows stock trading. That's like a diet where you can't buy new cake but you're welcome to finish the one in the fridge.

The bill also came with a voter ID provision stapled to it, because nothing says "clean and simple ethics reform" like a rider. And the President, whose portfolio also gets a vote in this, isn't covered. Senate Democrats have pointed that out too.

The alternative on the table is the bipartisan Restore Trust in Congress Act, which would require current members to divest within 180 days. That's the difference between "stop buying" and "start selling."

Here's the homework:

  1. Ask your candidates for Congress and Senate where they stand on stock trading by members of Congress. Not "do you believe in ethics," because everybody believes in ethics, the way everybody believes in flossing. Ask about the specific bills. Ask whether they'll support making members sell what they already own, or just promise to stop shopping.
  2. Ask whether the ban should cover the President. If the answer is "that's a different conversation," you've learned something.
  3. Listen for the dodge. If the answer includes "let's not rush to judgment," congratulations, you have your answer.
  4. Look up their trades. Members' financial disclosures are public. Reading them is free, and it's more entertaining than anything on TV.
  5. Vote in November accordingly.

Dad never asked for much. He wanted people who took the word "servant" seriously. That's not too much to ask from folks we pay to run the country.

So when you're in the booth this November, think of the public servants you never hear about, the ones who keep the lights on, the water clean, and the fire trucks rolling. Then vote for someone who understands what the job actually is.

Serve the public. Leave the stock picking to the rest of us. Better yet, leave us the tips.



Sources and Links for This Article

Current stock-trading legislation

The STOCK Act of 2012

Look up your candidates' trades

Public service background



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REVIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM: A TAXING SITUATION


REVIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM: A TAXING SITUATION 

The tax code has a favorite child, and it isn't the one who shows up for the 6 a.m. shift.

Remember when the American Dream meant working hard, saving up, and buying a house? Today it means working hard, saving up, and watching a private-equity fund buy the house first. The dream hasn't died of natural causes. It has been priced out of the market by a tax code that treats money that works (your paycheck) as a chump, and money that merely exists (a hedge fund's carried interest, a billionaire's stock portfolio) as royalty.

A nurse pays tax on every dollar of pay, withheld before she ever sees it. A billionaire's fortune can grow by tens of millions in a year without a single taxable event, because the law doesn't count gains until you "realize" them, and the wealthy have developed a remarkable talent for never doing so. The code values capital over labor, and it's time for Congress to fix it.

Here is your homework for your Congressman and Senators. It's a short list, and it comes with a deadline: the first Tuesday in November.

1. Stop Letting the Grim Reaper Wash the Tax Bill

Nothing in the tax code is more magical than death. Under the "step-up in basis," when someone inherits an asset, its value for tax purposes resets to today's market price. Decades of appreciation, on which nobody ever paid a dime, simply vanish. The heirs can sell the next morning, owing nothing on the gain. The rest of us can only dream of a tax bill that dies before we do.

  • End the step-up. Either tax unrealized gains at death or require heirs to carry over the original cost basis. Growth that accumulates for sixty years should be taxed at least once before the family yacht christening.
  • Lower the estate tax exemption. The federal exemption is now $15 million per person, which means $30 million for a couple before the government asks for a penny. The vast majority of American families will never meet the estate tax, and that is exactly why it should apply to the ones who do.
  • Close the GRAT loophole. Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts let wealthy families shift fast-growing assets out of their estates tax-free, using "zeroed-out" trusts engineered so the gift has a taxable value of roughly nothing. Set minimum terms for GRATs and the trick stops working.

2. Tax Wealth, Not Just Wages

Income tax only catches what flows: salary, dividends, stock you actually sold. It never touches the great reservoirs of wealth sitting quietly behind the dam. So we tax the flow, and the reservoir keeps getting deeper.

  • An annual wealth tax. A 1% to 3% levy on net worth above a very high threshold, say $50 million, would leave 99.9% of Americans untouched. If you'd have to check your net worth against a $50 million line, this doesn't apply to you. Congratulations, and please call your representative anyway.
  • A billionaire minimum tax on unrealized gains. If your paper gains in liquid assets run into the billions, you can pay an annual tax on them, the way homeowners pay property tax on a house they haven't sold.

3. Buy, Borrow, Die

This is the most elegant three-step in American finance:

  1. Buy assets that appreciate.
  2. Borrow against them at low interest to fund a magnificent lifestyle. Loan proceeds aren't income, so the tax bill is $0.
  3. Die, at which point the step-up in basis erases the gain, the heirs repay the loan, and the tax collector goes home empty-handed.

Meanwhile, the teacher who takes out a loan to cover a car repair is just a person with a loan. The fix is simple:

  • Deemed realization on big loans. Treat loans secured by massive stock holdings above a threshold (say $10 million) as "constructive sales," triggering capital gains tax on the borrowed value.
  • A withholding tax on collateralized borrowing. Apply a flat prepayment tax on personal credit lines backed by private assets. Your paycheck already gets withholding, so this only extends the courtesy.

4. Charity Should Mean Charity

Giving to good causes is admirable, and the tax code rightly encourages it. But private foundations and Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) have become a bit like a gym membership: the donor gets the credit for signing up and the funds never seem to show up at the actual work. A DAF gives the donor an immediate deduction, and then the money can sit for decades, growing, while the food banks and classrooms wait.

  • Set a payout deadline for DAFs. Require the money to reach working charities within 5 to 10 years. If the cause is urgent enough to deduct today, it's urgent enough to fund today.
  • Raise the private foundation payout requirement above 5%. More of the money should reach actual charitable operations.
  • Crack down on family-office behavior. Tax-exempt foundations shouldn't function as a salary-and-perks program for the founder's relatives on the board.

5. Close the Back Door to the Cayman Islands

The offshore lifestyle is legal, which is exactly the problem. Corporations book profits in jurisdictions where they have a mailbox and a filing cabinet but no employees. Wealthy individuals park yachts, real estate, and accounts inside opaque entities. And in 2025-26, Washington spent its energy making that easier.

Consider the last twelve months. In March 2025, FinCEN exempted every U.S.-formed company from the Corporate Transparency Act, which shrank the pool of companies required to name their real owners from roughly 32 million to under 12,000. Then in January 2026, the OECD agreed to a "side-by-side" deal exempting U.S.-headquartered multinationals from most of the global 15% minimum tax. That tax was designed so profits would have no tax-free island left to hide on. The rest of the world is going to tax its multinationals. Ours got a hall pass.

So the ask to your Congressman and Senators is no longer "join the world." It is "build our own."

  • Write a real U.S. minimum tax. The U.S. now relies on its own minimum tax rules (the successor to GILTI) to justify the exemption, so make them do the job. Close the gaps and raise the rate so U.S. multinationals pay at least what their European competitors do. If we want to be exempt from the global minimum, ours had better be a minimum.
  • Restore beneficial ownership reporting. The person who actually owns the penthouse, the LLC, and the shell company should have to be named to the government. FinCEN's own estimate shows the 2025 rule left almost none of the original filers. Ask Congress to write the requirement into statute, so a rule change can't wipe it out overnight.
  • Strengthen economic substance rules. Deny deductions for royalties and "management fees" paid to offshore subsidiaries that exist only on paper. If the subsidiary has no staff and no office, it has no business taking a deduction.

The pitch fits on a bumper sticker: If a company can't find a tax-free island, it shouldn't be able to build one.

The Bottom Line

None of this is radical. Every proposal above simply asks that wealth be treated like work. A tax code that values capital over labor produces an economy where inheriting a fortune beats earning one, and where a fifty-hour week can't buy a starter home. Fix the incentives, and the dream comes back into reach.

So call your Congressman. Call both Senators. Bring a list, and bring a friend. And in November, remember who answered.




Sources and Links: "Revive the American Dream: A Taxing Situation"

1. Estate tax and step-up in basis

2. Wealth tax and unrealized gains

3. Buy, borrow, die

4. Donor-advised funds and private foundations

5. Offshore profits and shell companies


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WHO KILLED THE AMERICAN DREAM (AND HOW WE MIGHT START DREAMING AGAIN)

 

WHO KILLED THE AMERICAN DREAM (AND HOW WE MIGHT START DREAMING AGAIN)

The death of the American Dream wasn't an accident. It was a murder, or more precisely a murder conspiracy, executed with patience, paperwork, and a truly impressive number of lobbyists.

There was no masked stranger and no single smoking gun. This is an Agatha Christie situation: everybody on the train had a motive, and everybody's alibi is "I was just following the incentives." Over roughly 50 years, an alignment of institutional players, political coalitions, and policy strategists moved power, capital, and leverage away from working- and middle-class households. It was gradual, calculated, and mostly legal, which is the most Washington thing about it.

So let's walk through the crime scene.

The Victim

In 1950, a single median wage could carry a household through the whole middle-class package: a house, a car, a doctor, a college fund, and a retirement that involved something other than a greeter's vest at a big-box store.

Then the numbers started moving in opposite directions:

  • Housing: A median home cost roughly 2 to 3.5 times median household income in the mid-century and 1980 baselines. Nationally it now runs about 5 times, and 10 to 12 times in high-demand coastal metros. My hometown is not "up and coming." It is "up and gone."
  • Healthcare: Roughly 5% of GDP in the early 1960s, about 18% today. Americans don't use dramatically more care than peers in other rich countries. We just pay dramatically more for the same knee.
  • College: Public four-year costs have grown far faster than inflation since 1980, and federal student debt is north of $1.6 trillion. Summer-job money once covered tuition. Now it covers the parking pass.
  • Wages: From 1948 to 1979, productivity and typical worker pay rose more or less together. Since then, productivity has grown far faster than the typical worker's paycheck. The gap is the sound of a middle class getting pickpocketed by a spreadsheet.

The dream didn't die of natural causes. It was priced out.

The Suspects

1. The Lobbyists, Armed with a Memo. In 1971, the Powell Memorandum urged the business community to organize politically. It did, with a zeal normally reserved for fantasy football. The Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and an army of K Street firms wrote bills, funded campaigns, and leaned on regulators. Deregulation, lower top tax rates, and trade deals with the labor protections left out all followed.

2. Wall Street and Private Equity. Corporate strategy pivoted from "invest in the workforce" to "shareholder primacy," which is Latin for "the buyback will continue until morale improves." Wages became a cost to minimize rather than a value to share.

3. The Courts. A patient legal movement, including judicial-pipeline outfits like the Federalist Society, helped seat judges who favored deregulation and expanded corporate rights. The greatest hits:

  • Buckley v. Valeo (1976): Spending money to influence elections is protected speech.
  • Citizens United v. FEC (2010): Corporations can spend independently in elections. Super PACs and dark money followed.
  • McCutcheon v. FEC (2014): Aggregate donor limits struck down.
  • Janus v. AFSCME (2018): Public-sector unions can't collect fair-share fees from non-members.
  • Epic Systems v. Lewis (2018): Forced arbitration and class-action waivers in employment contracts upheld, so workers can't band together in court over wage theft.

4. Both Parties (Yes, Both). The conservative supply-side crowd cut taxes and rolled back labor standards. The 1981 tax act took the top individual rate from 70% to 50%, and the 2017 law cut the corporate rate from 35% to 21%. Meanwhile, centrist Democrats embraced NAFTA and permanent normal trade relations with China without serious retraining or safety nets, and cheered on financial deregulation like the 1999 repeal of Glass-Steagall's wall between commercial and investment banking and the 2000 deregulation of derivatives. Bipartisanship is alive and well. It just turned out to be a group project in dismantling the middle class.

5. Healthcare Consolidators and University Boards. Hospital systems bought up physician practices and became local monopolies. Pharmacy benefit managers and drug makers guarded their pricing power. Universities, cushioned by federally backed loans, built climbing walls and expanded administrative payrolls. Nobody said "no" to the tuition increase, because the student would just borrow more.

6. The Neighbors. The call was coming from inside the cul-de-sac. Local zoning boards and homeowner alliances made apartments, duplexes, and townhomes illegal across huge swaths of job-rich land. Starter homes vanished, and the people already inside watched their equity glow like a nuclear reactor. Some of the accomplices in this story have lovely yards and "Hate Has No Home Here" signs. They also have a strong opinion about the four-story building proposed near the transit stop.

Who Got the Inheritance?

Follow the money, as every good detective says before billing hourly:

  • The top 10% own roughly 88 to 90% of individually held stocks, so the productivity gains showed up as profits, dividends, and buybacks rather than raises.
  • Consolidated healthcare grew its share of GDP from about 5% to about 18%.
  • Incumbent property owners and institutional landlords enjoyed rising asset values and rental yields from scarcity that policy helped create.
  • Executives and "superstar firms" got stock-based pay that tracked the market rather than the median worker.
  • Everyone else got a second earner, a credit card, and a student loan servicer with a chirpy hold message.

The SWOT Autopsy

StrengthsDeep capital markets, entrepreneurial culture and legal protections, a global magnet for talent, relatively flexible labor markets

WeaknessesCost disease in housing, health, and education; the productivity-pay gap; weakened upward mobility; brutal entry costs (down payments, tuition debt) that delay milestones by years

OpportunitiesYIMBY and zoning reform with bipartisan momentum; skills-based hiring and apprenticeships; healthcare price transparency; AI-driven cost deflation in construction, admin, and learning

ThreatsK-shaped polarization between asset owners and wage earners; AI eating the entry-level white-collar rung; institutional buyouts of starter homes; demographic and fiscal drag

The dream has real strengths. The patient isn't a poor country. It's a rich one whose winnings are badly distributed.

The AI Wildcard

Artificial intelligence could be the best thing to happen to affordability or the final nail in the coffin, depending on who owns it and who writes the rules. Modular construction, automated permitting, cheaper diagnostics, and personalized tutoring could deflate the costs that crushed the dream. But if consolidated hospitals pocket the savings, private equity uses algorithms to scoop up starter homes, and the entry-level office job disappears, we get the K-shaped future: wealth flowing to whoever owns the machines. Technology doesn't decide that. Policy does, which brings us to the sequel.

Resurrection: Four Pillars

The good news is that this murder mystery has a fix-it epilogue. Restoring the middle-class baseline (a home, healthcare, higher education, and a secure retirement on one paycheck or a manageable two) means going after the actual cost drivers:

1. Fix the housing shortage.

  • Legalize "missing middle" housing (duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, ADUs) near transit and jobs.
  • Streamline permitting so approvals take months, not geological epochs.
  • Reward builders of modest starter homes.
  • Limit bulk purchases of single-family neighborhoods by institutional investors.

2. Rein in healthcare prices.

  • Site-neutral payments, so a routine procedure costs the same in a clinic or a hospital.
  • Binding price transparency for non-emergency care.
  • Real antitrust scrutiny of hospital mergers and PBM margins.
  • Expanded negotiation on high-cost, sole-source drugs.

3. Reform higher-ed incentives.

  • Make colleges share the risk on the loans their graduates default on.
  • Fund apprenticeships, community colleges, and technical pathways.
  • Tie grant money to instructional versus administrative spending.

4. Reconnect productivity and pay.

  • Protect and modernize collective bargaining.
  • Index minimum wage protections to regional costs.
  • Ban non-competes for non-executives.
  • Expand the EITC.
PillarThe BarrierThe LeverThe Payoff
HousingZoning and a multi-million-unit deficitUpzoning, permitting, starter-home incentivesPrice-to-income ratios drift back toward sanity
HealthcareConsolidation and opaque pricingSite-neutral pay, PBM reform, transparencyLower premiums and out-of-pocket costs
Higher EdEasy credit with no institutional riskRisk-sharing, vocational pathwaysSlower tuition growth, less debt
WagesWeakened bargaining powerBargaining protections, non-compete bansPaychecks track productivity again

Remember in November

Here is the punchline: every one of those weapons was a policy choice, which means every one of them can be reversed by policy choices. Zoning boards, state legislatures, Congress, and the courts (via who gets appointed and confirmed) all answer, eventually, to voters. Voters who bother to show up, that is.

So this November, don't ask which candidate has the best slogan or the most aggressive yard signs. Ask what each will do about housing supply, healthcare prices, college costs, and worker bargaining power. Ask who takes money from the industries that benefit from scarcity. Ask what their plan is for making AI a public windfall rather than a private one. Then vote for the ones with answers.

The American Dream isn't dead the way a dinosaur is dead. It's dead the way a bill is dead: it can be reintroduced. If we remember in November, we can turn the American Nightmare back into the American Dream.





Sources and Links for “Who Killed the American Dream…”

Here is a curated list of primary data sources, official records, court opinions, and reputable analyses supporting the major claims in the article. Sources are grouped by topic for easy reference.

Housing Affordability & Supply Shortage

Healthcare Costs

Productivity–Pay Gap

Higher Education Costs & Student Debt

Labor Unions & Bargaining Power

Key Court Decisions & Legal Precedents

Foundational Policy Documents & Legislation

Book Reference

Additional Context Sources

These sources are drawn from official government statistical agencies (CMS, BLS, Federal Reserve, Census/NAR via secondary compilations), peer institutions (Brookings, EPI, KFF), primary legal texts, and the cited book. They provide the quantitative backbone and institutional record for the historical cost shifts, productivity-pay divergence, housing deficit, healthcare share of GDP, student debt growth, union density decline, and key policy/judicial turning points discussed in the article.



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TODAY'S TOP NEWS - YESTERDAY'S BEST BLOG POSTS SEPTEMBER 30 2026

TODAY’S TOP NEWS - YESTERDAY’S BEST BLOG POSTS
 SEPTEMBER 30, 2026
REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER
 USA.gov Voting and Elections 

State-by-state lookup for registration verification, local election offices, and polling guidelines

 

U.S. News

  • Severe Nor’easter Strikes the East Coast: A powerful storm has brought heavy flooding, high winds, and major power outages to over 90,000 residents across six states, resulting in at least one fatality.

  • Texas ICE Shooting Legal Developments: Federal prosecutors charged a Venezuelan man who was shot by an ICE agent in Texas with assaulting an officer.

  • Rescues Off Puerto Rico: Search-and-rescue teams continue operations following the capsizing of a vessel carrying 62 people near Puerto Rico.

  • Disappearance Investigation Updates: Authorities investigating the high-profile disappearance of Nancy Guthrie dismissed a recent ransom note, determining it lacked credibility.

Politics

  • Senate Passes Protect College Sports Act: The Senate approved bipartisan legislation aimed at establishing federal guidelines for NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) and standardizing college athletics regulations.

  • Judicial Action on Third-Country Deportations: The U.S. Supreme Court allowed rapid deportations to third countries to proceed temporarily while justices hear legal challenges to the policy.

  • Controversy Over Federal Property Decisions: A debate emerged in the Senate as a bill was blocked that would have prevented the demolition or alteration of parts of the Kennedy Center without prior congressional approval.

  • Federal Ethics & Advisory Realignments: The administration continues its pivot away from international oversight by withdrawing participation from a key European anti-corruption panel.

World Affairs

  • U.S.–Iran Diplomatic Tensions & Maritime Security: Negotiations remain ongoing over reopening the Strait of Hormuz, while U.S. officials maintain military posture in the region.

  • Russian Strikes and Military Operations in Ukraine: Drones and long-range bombardments struck several Ukrainian regions, as Russia announced plans to raise military personnel levels to 2.44 million.

  • Looming Crisis in Myanmar: A deadly military airstrike near a market in Rakhine State resulted in dozens of casualties, coinciding with regional concerns over Malaysia resuming forced repatriations.

  • Falkland Islands Offshore Drilling Renewal: Argentina issued diplomatic warnings to Great Britain over renewed plans for oil development surrounding the disputed Falkland Islands.

US Education

  • Court Blocks Teacher-Training Grant Cuts: A federal judge struck down the Education Department's policy that rescinded roughly $600 million in federal teacher-training funds intended to address educator shortages.

  • Scrutiny of Federal Classroom Internet Subsidies: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a broad evaluation of federal ed-tech and internet subsidies following growing parent concerns over excessive screen time.

  • Federal Advisory Vote on Psychology Accreditation: An Education Department advisory committee voted to recommend suspending recognition for the American Psychological Association's accrediting commission.

  • Districts Pause Generative AI Tools: Major urban school districts implemented temporary moratoriums on generative AI tools in classrooms while establishing updated privacy guidelines.

Economy

  • Tech-Led Market Movements & Public Offerings: Wall Street saw steady trading driven by major technology filings, including prospectus releases detailing infrastructure spending in the AI ecosystem.

  • Corporate Restructuring & Workforce Adjustments: Major media and entertainment brands initiated targeted layoffs, reflecting broader cost-management shifts across corporate sectors.

  • Housing and Mortgage Rate Headwinds: Industry surveys signal that sustained high mortgage interest rates continue to place affordability pressures on real estate markets nationwide.

  • U.S.–Canada Trade Pressures: Industrial sectors across North America face friction as steelmakers and manufacturers adjust operations following recent cross-border tariff adjustments.

Technology

  • AI Model Safety Pauses: Leading AI research labs postponed planned public rollouts of next-generation models to complete additional safety evaluations.

  • Commercial Space Orbital Flight: SpaceX achieved orbit with its next-generation Starship vehicle, completing key test objectives despite early shutoffs in a subset of its engines.

  • Major Industry AI Mergers & Acquisitions: Semiconductor and software firms expanded physical-AI capabilities through multi-billion-dollar acquisitions targeting robotics and spatial computing startups.

  • Unaccredited AI Training Academies: Venture firms unveiled novel alternative education programs offering high-level technical training outside traditional higher education models.

Health

  • FDA Approvals for Early Alzheimer's Diagnostics: Regulators cleared new blood tests designed to detect Alzheimer's biomarkers in adults as young as 40.

  • Shift in Cardiovascular Trends: Longitudinal health studies revealed that while overall stroke rates have declined, incidence rates among adults under age 55 have seen a noticeable increase.

  • Research on Exercise and Diabetes Prevention: New clinical data underscores that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity substantially lowers type 2 diabetes risk across adult age groups.

  • Analysis of Ultra-Processed Food Consumption: A comprehensive meta-analysis highlighted strong statistical links between high daily intake of ultra-processed foods and heightened cardiometabolic disease risks.

Sports

  • Senate Passage of College Sports Legislation: Lawmakers voted in favor of landmark college sports legislation establishing a unified legal framework for athlete NIL deals.

  • Major League Baseball Postseason Action: Major League Baseball began its postseason schedule with tight wild-card and division-series game matchups.

  • WNBA Postseason & Player Updates: WNBA playoff action continued with roster adjustments and team updates taking center stage across international friendlies.

  • European Football Roster Shifts & Results: European football leagues saw major movement in international transfers alongside ongoing manager contract negotiations.








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Big Education Ape: TODAY'S TOP NEWS - YESTERDAY'S BEST BLOG POSTS SEPTEMBER 29, 2026 https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2026/09/todays-top-news-yesterdays-best-blog_01216738340.html 





Big Education Ape: MORNING NEWS UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 29, 2026 https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2026/09/morning-news-update-september-29-2026.html 






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Sept. 30th Is International Translation Day – Here Are Related Resources   Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/ 





glen brown: "It’s time—past time, really—for courts to hold this administration in contempt when it is" https://teacherpoetmusicianglenbrown.blogspot.com/2026/09/its-timepast-time-reallyfor-courts-to.html 





Study finds online educational resources present imperialism in positive light Education Research Report https://educationresearchreport.blogspot.com/ 






CURMUDGUCATION: Thank You, Ed https://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2026/09/thank-you-ed.html 






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The “Kids Today Can’t Read” Problem: Reading Crisis or “Perennial Gripe”? “[R]ecent editorials...maintain that current deficiencies in reading are the product of ‘pseudo-scientific bungling’ and ... progressive methods of teaching.” William S. Gray  https://paulthomas701128.substack.com/p/the-kids-today-cant-read-problem 




Donalds Wants to “Repurpose” Florida’s Tax-Credit Scholarships? – Accountabaloney https://accountabaloney.com/donalds-wants-to-repurpose-floridas-tax-credit-scholarships/ 






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What's Up With This? https://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2026/09/whats-up-with-this.html






CURMUDGUCATION: Teachers Should Know Stuff https://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2026/09/teachers-should-know-stuff.html 






Seventeen Years of Roza-Tinted Glasses – School Finance 101 https://schoolfinance101.com/2026/09/29/seventeen-years-of-roza-tinted-glasses/ 






The NY Times Asked 30 Researchers (Two-Thirds Who Had Never Taught In A K-12 Classroom) How To Improve Schools. Here Are My 12 Different Low-Cost Suggestions    Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day.. | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 https://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/ 




Curmudgucation   In Oklahoma, Another Brick In The Wall Between Church And State Totters From Forbes.com https://curmudgucation.substack.com/p/in-oklahoma-another-brick-in-the 





Curmudgucation   Where Are Special Student Needs Growing? From Forbes.com PETER GREENE  https://curmudgucation.substack.com/p/where-are-special-student-needs-growing 





Choosing Democracy: Be prepared to vote. Each vote is vital. https://choosingdemocracy.blogspot.com/2026/09/be-prepared-to-vote-each-vote-is-vital.html 







Updates to Child Nutrition Program Standards

The California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division (NSD) has released the following Management Bulletins (MB): - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education) https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/mbsupdatestocnpstandards.asp



Fontanini Foods Recalls Pork Sausage Products - Nutrition (CA Dept of Education) https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/fontaninifoodsrecall.asp








TRUMP IN THE NEWS TODAY
REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER


Here are the top Trump-related news stories as of September 29–30, 2026 (based on reporting from that day):

1. Supreme Court Allows Third-Country Deportations to Resume

The Supreme Court lifted a lower-court block, permitting the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to third countries (countries that are not their own) while the full legal challenge proceeds. This is a significant win for the administration’s immigration enforcement approach.

2. Trump Meets AI Executives and Pushes Self-Policing

President Trump hosted top tech and AI leaders at the White House. He said he will not stifle AI growth and urged the public to trust industry self-policing. Major tech firms reportedly signed an accord to “self-police” AI development. This comes amid growing concerns about AI safety and regulation.

3. Iran War Comments and Ongoing Conflict

Trump told reporters he does not know if Iran is going to “give up yet,” but said the country is “doing very poorly.” The U.S.-Iran conflict (which began in late February 2026) continues, with a U.S. blockade cutting Iran’s oil exports and economic pressure mounting. Mediators are still engaged, though a deal before the midterms appears unlikely. Oil prices and the Strait of Hormuz remain key flashpoints.

4. Jack Smith Testifies Before Senate

Former special counsel Jack Smith appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, forcefully defending his past investigations into Trump. He clashed with Republican senators and said he would not “be silenced by continued threats of prosecution” from the president.

5. Taxpayer-Funded Pro-Trump Ads Controversy

The Department of Homeland Security has spent roughly $20 million in taxpayer funds on campaign-style ads promoting Trump. Some Republicans (including Senate figures) have criticized the use of public money for these ads.

6. Other Notable Developments

  • Spending fights: The Government Accountability Office said Trump cannot cancel more than $800 million in already-approved congressional spending via “pocket rescissions.” Republicans are also working to limit some of the administration’s funding cancellations.
  • Trade: A ban on about $1 billion worth of Canadian goods took effect as part of ongoing trade tensions.
  • Midterms: Trump’s heavy travel schedule and campaign plans for the November midterms are drawing attention, with some Republican candidates showing caution about joint appearances.

These were the dominant Trump stories circulating on September 29, 2026. The Iran conflict, immigration enforcement, AI policy, and midterm-related political fights remain the biggest ongoing themes.


Trump administration again asks for emergency relief | SCOTUSblog https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/trump-administration-again-asks-for-emergency-relief/

The Supreme Court is building power no one gave it | SCOTUSblog https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/the-supreme-court-is-building-power-no-one-gave-it/ 

Fox News tries to cool conservative anger over AI - Salon.com https://www.salon.com/2026/09/29/fox-news-tries-to-cool-conservative-anger-over-ai/ 

My Absenteeism Study Failed. The Reasons Are More Interesting Than Any Data | LA School Report https://www.laschoolreport.com/my-absenteeism-study-failed-the-reasons-are-more-interesting-than-any-data/ 

The Supreme Court’s two decades of constitutional change | SCOTUSblog https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/the-supreme-courts-two-decades-of-constitutional-change/ 

Democrats are running pastors for office. Republicans are attacking their religious comments. - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/talarico-hamilton-christian-democrats-republican-attacks-01096657

How I Got Dragged Into a Putin Disinformation Op – Mother Jones https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/russian-disinformation-election-matryoshka-david-corn-mother-jones/ 

Who Else Is LARPing? - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/briefing/who-else-is-larping.html 

Australian agencies warned in May of incoming ‘vulnerability storm’ ahead of OpenAI breach - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/australian-agencies-warned-in-may-of-incoming-vulnerability-storm-ahead-of-openai-breach-01096645 

Cornell University Rape Investigation: What We Know - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/nyregion/cornell-university-rape-investigation-chi-phi-fraternity.html 

Who Else Is LARPing? - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/briefing/who-else-is-larping.html 

Colin Kaepernick knows what kneeling cost — and he'd do it again - Salon.com https://www.salon.com/2026/09/29/colin-kaepernick-knows-what-kneeling-cost-and-hed-do-it-again/

MacArthur Foundation Announces 2026 ‘Genius Grant’ Winners - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/arts/design/macarthur-foundation-announces-2026-genius-grant-winners.html 

Navarro warns Canada against election interference - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/navarro-canada-trade-election-interference-01096795 

Mamdani, accused of fueling antisemitism, rolls out plan to fight it - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/with-tensions-high-mamdani-releases-plan-to-combat-rising-antisemitism-in-nyc-01096696 

Newsom signs laws targeting ICE with shock glove ban, detention center tax - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/ca-shock-glove-ban-signed-01094029 

Ahead of meeting with AI executives, Trump says he won’t stifle AI growth - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/trump-ai-government-website-01096874 

Older teens can obtain library cards without parents present, new California law says | EdSource https://edsource.org/updates/older-teens-can-obtain-library-cards-without-parents-present-new-california-law-says 

UPDATED: White House looking to Europe to release diesel from strategic reserves - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/white-house-looking-to-europe-to-release-diesel-from-strategic-reserves-01096937 

Pharma's new top lobbyist is a former House majority leader - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/pharmas-new-top-lobbyist-is-a-former-house-majority-leader-01097057 

DHS was set to end TPS for El Salvador. Then the White House stepped in. - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/dhs-was-set-to-end-tps-for-el-salvador-then-the-white-house-stepped-in-01097223 

Parent-teacher conferences in California will no longer have to be in person | EdSource https://edsource.org/updates/parent-teacher-conferences-in-california-will-no-longer-have-to-be-in-person 

English learners have easier path to being reclassified as fluent under new California law | EdSource https://edsource.org/updates/english-learners-have-easier-path-to-being-reclassified-as-fluent-under-new-california-law 

OpenAI Cancels Its Advanced Model Launch, Then Heads to Lunch With Trump – Mother Jones https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/openai-cancels-its-advanced-model-launch-then-heads-to-lunch-with-trump/ 

Judges Keep Striking Down Climate Laws. Some States Are Fighting Back. – Mother Jones https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2026/09/climate-superfund-new-york-supreme-court-suncor-boulder/ 

Trump Says the Polls Are “Fake.” Iowa Farmers Say They’re “Bleeding Money.” – Mother Jones https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2026/09/trump-says-the-polls-are-fake-iowa-farmers-say-theyre-bleeding-money/ 

'Recover every dollar possible': NextEra Energy found liable for Winter Storm Uri price gouging https://nondoc.com/2026/09/29/nextera-energy-found-liable-for-winter-storm-uri-price-gouging/ 

Advocates sue OpenAI over Hugging Face hack under California anti-hacking law - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/advocates-sue-openai-over-hugging-face-hack-with-california-anti-hacking-law-01097532 

Supreme Court lets Trump resume third-country deportations - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/third-country-deportations-supreme-court-ruling 

Trump says tech execs signed ‘morally binding’ constitution - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/ai-execs-morally-binding-constitution-01097855 

Supreme Court to hear argument on Trump administration’s deportation of immigrants to third-party countries | SCOTUSblog https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/supreme-court-to-hear-argument-on-trump-administrations-deportation-of-immigrants-to-third-party/ 

Judge orders Mamdani to redo pied-ร -terre tax rollout - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/mamdani-housing-tax-ruling-01097885 

Inside Mamdani’s fraught effort to rein in the NYPD unit he pledged to end - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/mamdani-requires-nypd-seek-his-offices-approval-before-deploying-unit-he-vowed-to-end-01097564 

As Mr. Belding on “Saved by the Bell,” Dennis Haskins Made Principals Your Pal - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/arts/television/mr-belding-dennis-haskins-saved-by-the-bell.html 

Why Aaron Sorkin left Trump out of ‘The Social Reckoning’ - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/why-sorkin-left-trump-out-of-the-social-reckoning-01097791 

New law could make more substitutes available for California classrooms | EdSource https://edsource.org/updates/new-law-could-make-more-substitutes-available-for-california-classrooms 

New California law gives youth football parents another safety option | EdSource https://edsource.org/updates/new-california-law-gives-youth-football-parents-another-safety-option 

Students at Cornell Daily Sun Pursued Sexual Assault Case for Two Years - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/nyregion/cornell-daily-sun-newspaper-rape.html 

Investigating sexual abuse on campus : NPR https://www.npr.org/2026/09/29/nx-s1-5983779/investigating-sexual-abuse-on-campus

Republicans wanted Jack Smith to give them a smoking gun. They got a gaffe instead. - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/jack-smith-hearing-senate-judiciary-01098107 

Democrats gear up to tank data center legislation - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/democrats-gear-up-to-oppose-data-center-legislation-01098045

University of Michigan Halts New Grading Plan After Backlash From Critics - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/us/university-michigan-grades-freshmen.html 

A Timeline of the Cornell University Rape Investigation - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/nyregion/cornell-rape-chi-phi-investigation.html 

Rural California community college students want bachelor’s degrees, but have few options, report says | EdSource https://edsource.org/2026/rural-community-college-degree-barriers/767116 

Cornell’s Chi Phi Chapter Faces Scrutiny Over Assault Accusations - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/us/chi-phi-fraternity-scrutiny-cornell-accusations.html 

California Bans ICE’s Favorite Shock Gloves – Mother Jones https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/ice-dhs-shock-gloves-newsom-california-ban/ 

Financial regulator investigates Adam Kinzinger over Kalshi trading - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/kinzinger-kalshi-prediction-markets-probe-01098633 

A cure for ‘medical tyranny’: RFK Jr. puts a positive spin on AI - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/rfk-maha-summit-artificial-intelligence-01098696

D.A. in Cornell Case Hopes to Speak to Accuser as He Weighs New Evidence - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/nyregion/van-houten-cornell-district-attorney.html 

Sanders ramps up his midterm play with cash boost for candidates - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/29/sanders-ramps-up-his-midterm-play-with-cash-boost-for-candidates-01098758 



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