Source: NBC News
“China and the United States have agreed to cut tariffs imposed on [buyers of] $60 billion worth of goods imported from each other, on an array of products ranging from U.S. corn to cosmetics, and from Chinese household appliances to toys. Under the U.S.-China Board of Trade, both countries have each recommended $30 billion of trade in non-sensitive goods for more favourable tariff treatment, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement on Sunday. … The reciprocal tariff reduction as well as an extension of a trade truce were among the key takeaways from the second summit this year between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump, hosted in Washington last week.” (09/28/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/china-us-tariff-cuts-60-billion-trump-xi-rcna600214
Source: Underthrow
“[A] short animated parable on force, freedom, and the power of human respect.” (09/28/26)
https://underthrow.substack.com/p/the-spell-that-made-everyone-good
Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“Amidst all the talk of the need for government regulation of AI, there has been too little discussion of the simplest route: criminal liability. The basic story is that the AI companies are being irresponsible in dealing with a product they know to be dangerous. The companies and the people who run them need to know that they face serious monetary risk from letting their little models run wild, and possibly criminal prosecution and jail time.” (09/28/26)
https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/09/28/sam-altman-is-driving-drunk-let-him-face-the-consequences/
Source: Niskanen Center
by Rachel Levine
“The U.S. electric grid is fragmented, with limited to no power exchange between regions and interconnections. This fragmentation increases costs to consumers and risks blackouts from power shortages during winter storms and heatwaves. One solution is the development of a ‘macrogrid’— a network of high-voltage transmission lines that can span the country and move power between regions, with relatively little loss of power over long distances. Building a macrogrid may seem daunting because of the sheer scale of such an effort, but it does not have to be built all at once. With modern technology, high-voltage direct current (HVDC) lines can be built one at a time and linked later to form a macrogrid.” [editor’s note: The larger the grid, the more people can lose power from a single failure, as we’ve seen in the past. We need more localized/decentralized power generation and delivery, not more failed century-old tech – TLK] (09/28/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/building-an-hvdc-macrogrid-one-line-at-a-time
Source: SFGate
“A maritime expert planned to visit a Nantucket beach Monday to inspect weathered wooden beams exposed by the weekend’s powerful nor’easter, possibly the remnants of a 19th-century shipwreck buried beneath the island’s southern shore. The Egan Maritime Institute said its exhibits and collections manager would survey the site and send a report to state underwater archaeologists, who then will work with the institute to determine which vessel the wreckage came from. The splintered timbers, fastened together by rusted iron, emerged near an area where remains believed to be from the Warren Sawyer, a wooden schooner lost in 1884, have been found before. Officials from Egan, a nonprofit that operates the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum, cautioned Monday that the newly exposed wreckage has not been identified with certainty.” (09/28/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/maritime-experts-travel-to-nantucket-to-22452945.php
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Rage Over Failing Press Ban Goes Off Rails in Epic Self-Own.” (09/28/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/215898/trump-rage-failing-press-ban-goes-off-rails-epic-self-own
Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille
“The Washington, D.C. area has long had a reputation for being both wealthy and recession-proof, based on money forcibly extracted in the form of taxes from people living productive lives elsewhere in the United States. That may no longer be the case. Downsizing of the federal workforce concentrated in the DMV area—the District of Columbia and parts of Maryland and Virginia—has hit many residents hard, and some are considering leaving or have already done so. While it’s not nice to wish troubles on anybody, there’s nothing wrong with introducing government employees to the same risks and uncertainty that participants in the private sector face every day.” (09/28/26)
https://reason.com/2026/09/28/once-recession-proof-d-c-area-feels-pain-from-federal-workforce-reductions/
Source: Common Dreams
by Thom Hartmann
“Two years ago, Michigan Republican Mike Rogers stood in a grocery store for an advertisement blaming Joe Biden for the price of eggs (without mentioning the bird flu that was jacking prices). This week he’s back in nearly the same folksy jacket telling voters that it’s time for Trump to end his illegal war against Iran so gas prices can come down. Rogers new ad leaves out, of course, the fact that he’d cheered for the war on the day it began in February, claiming Iran was an imminent threat to the United States (it wasn’t and isn’t), and hit multiple rightwing podcasts and media opportunities to demand Americans unite behind Trump in prosecuting the war.” (09/28/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/the-gop-s-3-step-scam
Source: US News & World Report
“Attempts to form a new government in Sweden hit the buffers on Monday after Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson said she was unable to secure enough support, despite the centre-left bloc winning a narrow majority in this month’s election. … The speaker of Sweden’s parliament is now likely to turn to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to see if he can form a government. Kristersson’s Moderates are the next biggest party after the Social Democrats. … Andersson would likely get another shot at trying to form a government if any centre-right attempt fails. The speaker can put four candidates forward to parliament for approval, but if each is rejected, Sweden will hold a new election.” (09/28/26)
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-09-28/swedish-opposition-leader-andersson-says-she-cannot-form-government-in-current-situation
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Scott interviews Rich Baris about his new book and the broader political trends he’s uncovered through his work as a pollster. Baris shares some unique insights into the dramatic shifts happening on both the left and right—especially with younger Americans—that are going mostly unnoticed thanks to antiquated polling conventions.” (09/27/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/9-25-26-rich-baris-on-the-most-under-appreciated-trends-in-american-politics/
