Gallup released new data today showing only 31% of Americans say a college education is "very important" — down from 70% in 2013, and the lowest reading since the question was first asked in 1978. Only 12% say college is affordable. Also: a Reuters investigation finds McDonald's has been using an AI pricing engine since at least 2019 to calculate the "optimal price" for every menu item at every restaurant based on what customers in that area are willing to pay — the same Big Mac costs $5.69 at one Fresno store and $6.89 two miles away — and the company once recommended an $18 Big Mac meal at a highway rest stop. And the International Agency for Research on Cancer published a Lancet Oncology analysis finding that 2.3 million cancer cases worldwide in 2024 — one in eight — were caused by infections including H. pylori, HPV, hepatitis B, and Epstein-Barr virus, most of which are preventable with vaccines or treatment. Plus the TSA peanut butter reminder, the escaped auction cow, the dog finding lost children, and a sausage recall.
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