Month: October 2025

• The US government shut down 11 days ago. It’s not clear when it will reopen.
• Federal workers have begun missing pay, and the Trump administration has begun laying workers off.
• At the center of it all is healthcare. Here’s what to know about the ongoing shutdown.

The US government shut down 11 days ago, and there’s little indication that it’s going to reopen anytime soon.

Much of the federal government continues to operate, though some services have been impacted. Hundreds of thousands of employees are working without pay, and on Friday, the Trump administration began laying some of those workers off.

And while a 2019 law guarantees federal workers back pay after the end of a shutdown, the Trump administration has raised the possibility that those who have been furloughed will not receive it, at least without an act of Congress.

Despite all of this, lawmakers have not gotten any closer to an agreement. Democrats continue to insist that Republicans work with them to address a looming healthcare crisis in order to secure their votes to reopen the government.

Here’s what to know about the ongoing shutdown.

The impact of the ongoing shutdown

As of now, the impact of the shutdown on the general public has been relatively light.

Social security checks are still going out, student loan borrowers are still required to make payments, post offices remain operational, and national parks have mostly remained open. However, Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo in Washington, DC, are set to shutter on Sunday for the remainder of the shutdown.

While hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been sent home, Capitol Hill staffers have largely remained on the job, with each member of Congress having broad discretion to declare their employees “essential” and exempt them from furloughs.

“For us, it’s going to be business as usual,” Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri told BI last week. “Everybody else in the country is working. So we’ve got to be here and be working.”

On Friday, the Trump administration began making good on the mass firings that they said could come as a result of the shutdown. But Democrats seemed largely unfazed by that, arguing that the administration wasn’t doing so out of necessity.

“They don’t have to do it; they want to,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “They’re callously choosing to hurt people—the workers who protect our country, inspect our food, respond when disasters strike. This is deliberate chaos.”

The Trump administration has also moved to pause billions of dollars in federal funding for infrastructure projects in New York and Illinois, a move widely seen as an attempt to place pressure on Democratic leaders.

Some airports across the country are beginning to experience significant delays due to shutdown-caused staffing shortages among air traffic controllers.

A stalemate on Capitol Hill

Three weeks ago, House Republicans passed a party-line bill to fund the government through November 21. Senators have voted on that bill seven times since then — and it’s failed every time.

That’s because it takes 60 votes to pass the bill in the Senate, and not enough Democrats are joining with Republicans to pass it.

On Capitol Hill, there’s been little movement. Leaders in both parties have held daily press conferences, the same votes have been taken, and Speaker Mike Johnson has kept the House out of session in an effort to pressure Democratic senators to accept the GOP bill.

All the while, President Donald Trump has remained relatively unengaged with the crisis, deferring instead to his GOP allies in Congress.

Democrats have held firm in insisting that Republicans work with them to address the looming expiration of Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are set to cause massive premium spikes for millions of Americans.

Republican leaders have said that they’re willing to address the issue, but only once the government is reopened. Democrats, unwilling to give up their leverage, have refused.

So how does this all end?

The longest shutdown in American history spanned from the end of 2018 through the beginning of 2019. It lasted 35 days before ending in part due to issues with the country’s air travel, as a growing number of air traffic controllers called in sick.

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia speculated that if that happens again, it could pressure President Trump to try to cut a deal.

“The success of commercial aviation is so key to the American economy, the way things work, that was sort of a motivator,” Kaine said of the 2019 shutdown. “You’re starting to see that issue come up, and I think that could be the positive pressure point that will get him engaged and help us find a resolution.”

Fitness legend Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken on bodybuilding, Hollywood, even politics. Now he’s facing a bigger battle than “The Terminator” or “Predator” — how to age gracefully.

At 78, his days of death-defying stunts might be over. Schwarzenegger told Business Insider that he has accumulated more than his share of aches and injuries over time, due to skiing accidents, long hours in the gym, and intense action films.

“That’s a lot of stress on a body and clearly the body was not meant to do all that,” he said.

But the star is no less active in the gym and in the public eye, in part because he’s kept his diet and exercise on point over the years. His recent projects incuded the release of his book “Be Useful,” a hit Netflix docuseries, and the launch of his own fitness app “The Pump.”

He shares life advice, answers fan questions, and offers exercise tips to more than 30 million followers across social media, as well as through his newsletter and podcast. His message is often one of encouragement, urging people to stay motivated and celebrate small wins, particularly when it comes to their health and fitness.

His latest campaign, “You’ll Be Back,” is a partnership with Zimmer Biomet, a medical device company where he acts as Chief Movement Officer. It aims to raise awareness about treatment options for joint pain.

He has also been candid about the challenge of aging gracefully over the years, from the changes he sees in the mirror to a hip replacement and multiple heart surgeries.

Still, most of us would be lucky to have Schwarzenegger’s energy and resilient athleticism by the time we’re near our 80s.

Case in point: Six years ago, a man attacked Schwarzenegger with a flying kick at a PR event. The result was exactly what you might expect from a tussle with the Terminator: the assailant fell to the floor, and Schwarzenegger barely noticed the blow.

“I thought I was just jostled by the crowd, which happens a lot. I only realised I was kicked when I saw the video like all of you,” he tweeted about the incident.

Schwarzenegger attributes his lasting vigor to consistency and moderation in his habits, from refining his gym routine to support longevity to adopting a relaxed approach to his diet.

Don’t ignore the basics of working out

He rose to fame as a bodybuilder, exercising for five hours a day to target every muscle group. Since then, Schwarzenegger’s daily workouts have changed in intensity.

He works out for about 90 minutes a day, favoring resistance machines and biking over heavy barbells to protect his shoulders and knees.

Whether you’re a beginner to strength training or a seasoned pro, Schwarzenegger said you should keep your workouts simple. “The basic exercises are the most underrated exercises,” he said.

He’s a fan of free weights, which allow for more dynamic movements, like his all-time favorite exercise, the clean and press.

A heart-healthy diet is crucial

Protein shakes played a significant role in Schwarzenegger’s diet throughout his life, from the homemade yeast-and-milk ones he prepared as a teenager to his more refined cocktails, which included schnapps and protein powder.

Now, he said he’s cut back on them. “I used to drink protein drinks, but I don’t do that that much,” he explained. “I just think that I eat really well and I stay healthy this way.”

As he got older, Schwarzenegger said he also reduced his meat intake in favor of a “70%” plant-based diet to lower his cholesterol. But that doesn’t mean he’s strict by any means. He eats what he wants when he travels, whether it’s a plate of pasta in Rome or Wiener Schnitzel in Germany.

His rules are simple: focus on light, nutritious, and heart-healthy options in your day-to-day routine. The rest of the time, work out extra hard to compensate for that steak.

To stay fit beyond your 70s, always keep moving

Even a lifetime of fitness didn’t stop Schwarzenegger from experiencing pain as he got older.

“It just eventually never stops,” he said. “Now, I’m 78, and I have become an expert in all that stuff.”

And after 60 years of working out in public gyms, Schwarzenegger said he has heard of every injury. His message to everyone: “No matter what the problem is, get it fixed. Don’t wait.”

He stressed that ignoring or trying to push through pain, whether it’s related to the joints or back, inevitably ripples into larger problems. “When people start having pain, then they start limiting the amount of things that they do,” he said.

It’s tied to his biggest piece of longevity advice, relevant to both his continually evolving career and his day-to-day life: never stop moving.

“The danger is it’s the beginning of death,” he said, “because movement is life.”

• Apple offers teachers and students in grades K-12 discounted pricing on many of its products.
• Apple’s support of students and teachers dates back decades to shortly after its founding.
• The Apple Education Community offers educators access to online forums and tutorials at no charge.

From the early days of its founding, Apple has been devoted to helping students and educators by offering. Founded in 1976, by the end of that decade, the company was already donating hundreds of computers to schools, with donation numbers well into the thousands by the early 1980s.

In 1983, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs launched the company’s Kids Can’t Wait program that aimed to donate an Apple II computer, a monitor, a disk drive, and Apple software to every public elementary and high school in California that had at least 100 students.

The program was a short-lived, but it created lasting relationships between Apple and many schools — and entire school districts — and cemented the company’s commitment to supporting students and educators alike, a commitment that continues today.

Who qualifies for Apple’s education discount?

Students from kindergarten through 12th grade, and any teacher at a K-12 school, are eligible for Apple discounts under the Apple Education Pricing program.

Today, decades after Apple first lent support to teachers and students, that help continues, and largely in the form of reduced pricing.

Students can prove their eligibility for savings online at checkout by uploading scans of documents like a student ID or tuition bill. These items can also be shown in person at an Apple Store.

Teachers can prove their eligibility for Apple discounts with a school ID as well, or with a recent pay stub or letter of employment from a school. Homeschool teachers who have completed certification programs are also eligible for savings.

Products available to educators, students

Apple offers its discounts for teachers and students on a wide range of products. These include iPads, MacBooks, iMacs, and accessories, such as Apple pencils, keyboards, mice, and more.

Apple Watches and iPhones are usually not subject to educator or student discounts, nor are Apple TVs.

Along with discounted physical Apple products for teachers and students, some Apple services are also available at reduced prices. These include Apple Music, which is also available at a discount to students in colleges or universities.

Likely to prevent people from “straw buying” discounted computers or other expensive products for other people, Apple limits the number of products a student or teacher can buy at a discounted rate per year.

The limit is one discounted computer — a desktop or laptop both count — and two iPads. Two discounted accessories can also be purchased per year, and these limits apply whether a person is shopping online or at an Apple Store.

The Apple Education Community’s learning hub

The Apple Education Community is a completely free online platform that consists of a professional learning hub and a forum, both of which are designed for educators.

The learning hub includes myriad tutorials covering topics such as using Apple hardware (like MacBooks and iPads), classroom lesson ideas, and how-to programs that teach educators how to use Apple programs like Pages, iMovie, and GarageBand.

The Apple Education Community Forum is a collaborative space where teachers can connect with one another as well as with experts from Apple, getting help with anything from lesson planning ideas to Apple support with hardware they don’t know how to use sufficiently well.

The Forum allows educators to post questions, share ideas, seek or swap resources, and generally discuss teaching and learning with Apple products and platforms, all in the name of improving education, on Apple user, product, or platform at a time.