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─────── September 14, 2026 ───────

Happy Monday!
T-minus nine days until the most wonderful time of the year Fat Bear Week begins, and we can bear-ly contain our excitement.
Gear up here with some pre-voting polls and answers to life’s most important questions like “Who should I vote for?” “Why are fat bears so important?”, and “What even is Fat Bear Week?”

QUOTE OF THE DAY
“To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.”
G.K. Chesterton

ESPRESSO SHOTS

U.S. NEWS

Hold Yer Horses

AI leaders want to pump the brakes.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay Saturday arguing the industry must “slow the pace” of AI improvements, citing potentially “catastrophic damage.” He committed to giving auditors employee-like access to Anthropic and said “we owe it to humanity to try” bigger safeguards, like coordinating limits on AI with China (read the essay yourself).

OpenAI’s Sam Altman is among the thumbs-uppers. Altman also agreed to in-house auditors and announced OpenAI was delaying its IPO, citing safety concerns. To hammer home the potential risks, Anthropic and Google both reportedly blocked attempts to use AI to build biological weapons.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is skeptical of the recent skepticism, saying labs may be “ratcheting up” recent fears to sell a cybersecurity product.

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ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE
As tech leaders express fear of their own products, it can make the waters of life feel extra choppy. In the turmoil, hold onto the anchor that God is not worried. Nothing can disrupt His plans, or the secure promise of Heaven for followers of Christ.

“Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
Hebrews 6:17-19 (CSB) (read full passage)

WORLD NEWS

Shut Off

Saudi Arabia stoppered its East-West oil pipeline as a “precautionary measure” on Friday, following an Iraq-based drone attack.

The 745-mile pipeline spans nearly the width of Saudi Arabia and allows the country’s oil to bypass the Strait of Hormuz (see map). Its closure comes as Iran-backed Houthi rebels (currently feuding with Saudi-backed Yemen) have been seizing oil-shipping checkpoints along Yemen’s Red Sea coastline.

All this comes amid record-high oil prices: diesel topped $6/gallon for the first time ever in the U.S. last week.

Iraq confirmed the strike came from its territory but denied ordering the attack, saying it had fired a military commander and was investigating. President Trump said Iran was “probably” responsible for the strike, which Tehran denies, saying it’s “not at war” with Saudi Arabia.

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Verse to consider when a conflict escalates in your own home… “Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry for help.”
Psalm 34:14–15 (CSB) (read full passage)

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ECONOMY

Coming In Hot

August’s inflation report is feeling hot, hot, hot.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index (the cost of everyday goods) rose 0.4% month over month and 3.4% year over year. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose a higher-than-expected 0.3% in August. Economists expect the Fed to raise the A/C rates at its meeting this week in an effort to wrangle inflation down to its elusive 2% target.

Meanwhile, health insurance costs are expected to jump significantly next year, driven by pricier medical care and expensive prescription drugs (think: GLP-1s).

The ~19 million adults insured through the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) can expect premiums to rise 15% on average. However, the White House promised $500 refund checks to 1M Obamacare enrollees it says were overcharged in past years.

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CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Even if the economy collapses, God will remain in control. In the midst of uncertainty on earth, set your hope on the abundance we will enjoy with Christ when he comes.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”
1 Peter 1:3-4 (CSB) (read full passage)

IN OTHER BREWS…

Americans marked 25 years of “we will never forget” Friday. All four living former presidents attended New York’s 9/11 memorial, where a moment of silence was added for those killed due to the tragedy’s toxic dust. The CIA also declassified decades of presidential briefings, including a 1998 memo warning that bin Laden supporters might “fly an explosive-packed airplane” into an American city.

The Atlantic has enjoyed a silent hurricane season so far. Saturday set a record for the longest the basin has gone without a hurricane in recorded history, thanks to El Niño slicing storms up before they can strengthen. No storms are expected to swirl for at least a week, despite this normally being peak season, but meteorologists warn a quiet start doesn’t guarantee a quiet end.

Dolly Parton’s legacy is about to fly higher than ever. The Nashville airport board of commissioners voted 9-5 6-0 Friday to rename the Music City hub in honor of the Tennessee icon who died last month at age 80. The airport said “this vote represents the first step in a multifaceted process,” promising more details (like the official name) were coming.

The U.S. Open is U.S. closed. Top-seeded Alexander Zverev denied Ben Shelton’s American dream of becoming the first U.S. man to win a Grand Slam in 23 years, defeating the 8th seed at Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday. Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina claimed the women’s title Saturday, topping two-time defending champ Aryna Sabalenka (6-4, 5-7, 6-2) and becoming the world’s No. 1 in the process.

An Indonesian passenger ferry capsized in the Java Sea yesterday, killing at least six people, while 108 were rescued and 129 remain missing. The Virgo Transport 8 ship was traveling overnight from Surabaya to Banjarmasin (see map) when it encountered bad weather and issued a distress call, then lost contact. Authorities said search-and-rescue teams are combing the area “to the fullest extent” for survivors.

WHIPPED CREAM ON TOP

We're looking back at our all-time most popular Whipped Cream on Top posts. Here's #10

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What I Keep Stocked (And Hidden)
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