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Police Flee During Riots In The Hague After Morocco Knocks Netherlands Out Of World Cup

Via Remix News,

After Morocco knocked the Dutch national football team out of the World Cup, rioting broke out this morning in The Hague, with dramatic footage showing Dutch motorcycle police fleeing from Moroccan supporters. Police also deployed water cannons to control the crowd and at least a dozen people were reportedly arrested.

The video of the Dutch police fleeing prompted a sharp reaction from anti-immigration political leader Geert Wilders, who wrote: "Sweep those streets clean and ship the riffraff with their families off to Morocco. This is our country. Get lost!"

Veeg die straten schoon en zet het reltuig met familie uit naar Marokko. Dit is ons land. Wegwezen! #NEDMAR #Schilderswijk https://t.co/IR8pLKIcnO

— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) June 30, 2026

Moroccans gathered in the streets, blocking traffic, and chanting with Moroccan flags. Some supporters danced on car roofs. Many of them are Dutch citizens and second- and even third-generation citizens.

Police regrouped and conducted baton charges, deployed water cannons, and made targeted arrests. A spokesperson said that water cannons were deployed after police were targeted with stones and fireworks.

JUST IN: Dutch police use batons on migrants celebrating Morocco's win over the Dutch national team in the World Cup

Dozens of arrests reported in The Hague after rioting broke out. Water cannons have also been deployed.

Follow: @RMXnews pic.twitter.com/LYVeC5Ua79

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) June 30, 2026

JUST IN: Bottles fly at police and water cannons are deployed in The Hague after Morocco defeats the Netherlands in the World Cup.

Apparently, these 2nd- and 3rd-generation migrants are not big fans of the Dutch national team. Dozens have been arrested.pic.twitter.com/5i5qskRr6W

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) June 30, 2026

With the Moroccan football team advancing in the World Cup, police across Europe are likely to be nervous about upcoming football games involving the North African team.

In previous years, Moroccan victories at football sporting events have led to mayhem and mass riots. In fact, it was already in 2022 that Wilders was urging mass deportations in reactions to major riots following victories of the Moroccan national team.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/01/2026 - 05:00

Heat Mortality Surges In Europe

Heat-related mortality in Europe has surged over the last couple of decades.

As Statista's Katharina Buchholz reports, according to the latest available data published by the Lancet Countdown 2025 Report, between 2012 and 2021, 5.5 people per 100,000 population died of heat-related causes per year on the continent.

This is almost double the annual rate observed between 1992 and 2021.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Similarly rapid surges were observed over the same time period in Asia-Pacific as well as in the Americas.

However, heat deaths stayed on a lower level in these regions and reached only an annual 3.4 and 2.1 in 100,000, respectively, during the last decade.

All three continents in question have an aging population, making heatwaves more deadly as it is older people who predominantly succumb to heat-related causes.

But Europe is also less prepared than other continents for a changing climate as its many temperate regions have not built for the heat and have traditionally neither been equipped for it, may that be in terms of air conditioner ownership or knowledge of ways to stay cool.

Hotter (and younger) regions of the globe have not seen the same developments in heat-related mortality, even though they do experience consistently higher levels of it.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East as well as South and Southeast Asia, brutal heatwaves claim the lives between nine and 14 people per 100,000 every year.

In all three regions, this figure has changed by at most 10 percent since the 1990s.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/01/2026 - 04:15

Ukraine's Desperate Propaganda Campaign While Russia Advances Along The Entire Front

Authored by Larry Johnson via Sonar21.com

Volodymyr Zelensky and his Western backers have launched a desperate 40-day "campaign of terrors" — which includes a mix of military escalations and a massive information/psyops operation designed to portray Russia as collapsing and Putin as facing an imminent uprising or coup. The goal is to force Russia into a ceasefire. Western audiences are being flooded with social media and regular media articles that paint a dire picture of Russia’s military campaign, while touting Ukraine’s incredible accomplishments. It is all a load of crap, but that is all the West has left in its quiver as Russia’s campaign of attrition continues to pulverize Ukraine.

The Western-led propaganda campaign consists of the following elements:

• Information Warfare — Heavy push of 24/7 propaganda about Putin’s “imminent downfall,” including staged videos of supposed Russian soldiers announcing a mutiny.
• Fake Psyops — Coordinated attempts to stoke panic in Russia (e.g., false claims of fuel/gas shortages, which were partly caused by panic buying triggered by the rumors).
• Symbolic Actions — Staged drone flag-drops (e.g., on the Kinburn Spit near Crimea) meant to symbolize Russian retreat and collapse — quickly debunked and mocked.
• Broader Objective — Combine these narratives with actual strikes on Russian infrastructure to create the impression of regime instability, pressuring Putin politically.

Now for the reality. Yes, Ukraine has hit some Russian refineries and created some spectacular visuals of billowing smoke and fire. However, this is nothing more than military political theater that is intended to distract from Ukraine's setbacks all along the front. As a side note, Russian oil exports have increased during this same period, putting to bed the narrative that Russia’s oil industry in suffering catastrophic losses.

via Reuters

Here is a summary of Russian activity, starting in the Northern section of the front:

Sumy Direction

In the Sumy direction, the “North” assault groups advanced on 19 sectors, and some units of Ukraine’s 104th Territorial Defense Brigade abandoned their positions in Bachevsk. Russian forces continued active operations along the border, conducting strikes on Ukrainian positions and logistics. They reported repelling multiple Ukrainian attempts to cross into Russian territory and inflicting significant losses on enemy manpower and equipment. Russian soldiers are now only a few kilometers from Sumy itself.

Kharkiv Direction

Russian troops advanced in several sectors north and northeast of Kharkiv. The MOD reported the liberation of additional border settlements and improvement of tactical positions. Russian Geran drones conduct a series of high-precision strikes on gas infrastructure in Kharkiv region overnight. A gas distribution station near Panyutino was struck — disabling gas storage tanks, gas pumping plants, and a gas treatment facility. The Skvortsovskaya gas treatment system near Kosogorovka was also hit.​​ Ukrainian counterattacks were repelled, with Russian artillery and aviation playing a key role in degrading enemy capabilities.

Donetsk Direction (Primary Focus)

Donetsk remains the main direction of Russian offensive operations. Russian troops are steadily advancing on the Pokrovsk axis, with Russian forces capturing multiple settlements and pushing toward key logistical nodes. The most notable achievement is in Konstantinovka, where Russian units have taken control of most of the city and disrupted Ukrainian supply lines. With both Pokrovsk and Konstantinovka gone, Russia controls the two southern and eastern approaches that previously buffered the Kramatorsk-Sloviansk agglomeration. The H-32 Pokrovsk-Konstantinovka highway and the T-0504 Bakhmut-Pokrovsk highway — both of which Russian forces had been fighting to seize specifically to link these two axes — now forms a contiguous corridor under Russian control, allowing logistics and force concentration to flow directly toward Druzhkivka and Kramatorsk without contesting two separate urban battles.The Russians also are advancing around Chasiv Yar and Toretsk, including gains in urban fighting and elevated positions.

Overall, the Russian MOD described consistent liberation of territory, high daily Ukrainian losses, and effective use of glide bombs, drones, and artillery to support ground advances.

Dnipropetrovsk Oblast (Dnipro region)

In the Dnipropetrovsk direction, the 36th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade captured Bogodarivka, the third settlement in three days since crossing the Dnieper River. Russian forces continue conducting regular long-range strikes (missiles and drones) on military-industrial targets, energy infrastructure, and logistical hubs in the oblast. Key targets included defense factories, repair facilities, and rail nodes supporting the Ukrainian front.

Zaporizhzhia Direction

In the Zaporozhye area, Russian forces have blocked a Ukrainian bridgehead in Aleksandrovka and have reached the southern outskirts of Pokrovskoye. After Russian forces took control of Novy Donbass, they advanced towards Shevchenko and Svetloye, isolating Ukrainian forward positions with drones. Russian forces maintain pressure through artillery, drone strikes, and localized assaults, destroying Ukrainian strongholds and equipment while holding defensive lines.

Kherson Direction

Operations remained largely positional along the Dnipro River. The Russian MOD highlighted successful strikes on Ukrainian crossings, logistics, and manpower concentrations on the right bank. Russian units conducted raids and maintained control over left-bank positions.

In other words, the Russian summer offensive is underway and Ukraine, despite its propaganda offensive, is retreating to the west.

*  *  *

Disclaimer: Contributor posts published on Zero Hedge do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Zero Hedge.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/01/2026 - 03:30

These Countries Are Building The Most Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

The U.S. is leading the world in small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) development with 28 siting announcements, as of 2026.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Cody Good, in partnership with the National Public Utilities Council, shows which countries are building the most SMRs.

The U.S. Leads Global SMR Development

With 28 siting announcements, the U.S. has more SMR projects in development than the next four countries combined.

 

Source: The Nuclear Energy Agency

Only 78 of 129 SMR designs being tracked by the NEA are publicly reported in the digital dashboard. The rest have either requested not to be included or are not under active development.

Across the U.S., national laboratories lead in siting announcements (7), followed by a three-way tie among utilities, universities, and SMR developers (5 each).

Why Small Modular Reactors Matter

SMRs are a critical clean-energy technology that are cheaper and more flexible than traditional nuclear power generation.

• Small: SMRs can produce up to 300 MWe, far less than traditional reactors, which typically produce around 1,000–1,400 MWe. 
• Modular: SMRs are designed for mass factory manufacturing to reduce cost and build time.
• Reactor: The four main reactor types are light water reactors, fast neutron reactors, graphite-moderated high temperature reactors, and molten salt reactors.

Their compact, modular design enables easier transport and deployment ideal for data centers or remote sites where grid connection is costly or unnecessary.

The Role of SMRs in the Future of Power

As electricity demand accelerates, SMRs are becoming an increasingly important part of conversations around grid reliability, energy security, and clean firm power. 

For utilities and policymakers, tracking where these projects are emerging can help inform planning, policy, and long-term strategy.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/01/2026 - 02:45

Will Denmark Really Ban The Islamic Call To Prayer?

Via Remix News,

Denmark’s government, led by the center-left Social Democrats, has once again announced plans to pursue a nationwide ban on the public broadcast of the Islamic call to prayer via loudspeakers. This now amounts to the third time the center-left government is trying to ban the call to prayer.

Immigration and Integration Minister Morten Bødskov stated that the government is investigating a legal framework to prohibit amplified calls to prayer from mosques.

“The call to prayer should not ring out above the Danish rooftops. It has no place in Denmark; one should not wonder if one is in a suburb of Islamabad when walking around the country,” he told the press.

However, this is the third attempt by the ruling party, with previous efforts in 2020 and 2025 failing to pass. Will the third time be a charm?

One of the major hurdles is that Danish law protects religious freedom, and any blanket national ban on amplified calls to prayer has raised concerns about violating the rights of Muslims. The government needed to investigate whether such a prohibition could withstand legal scrutiny when balanced against residents’ rights to a quiet environment. Past efforts stalled during this review process without advancing to enforceable legislation.

Furthermore, many areas of the country have already banned the call to prayer, such as the biggest city, Copenhagen. These areas have achieved this through existing local noise bylaws or municipal regulations, reducing the urgency for a sweeping national law. This has historically made a new nationwide framework harder to justify or pass.

One attempt to ban the call to prayer was also reportedly interrupted by parliamentary elections, which led to a shift in government priorities at the time.

Denmark is arguably the Scandinavian nation most hostile to mass immigration, with the left-wing parties there considered to have right-wing policies on the issue. However, parties to the right, which call for remigration and even stricter action, argue that legal migration, including from Third World and Muslim countries, has been steadily increasing under the left-wing Social Democrat government.

The current immigration minister, Bødskov, is actually considered “softer” on immigration than his predecessors, such as Rasmus Stoklund and Kaare Dybvad Bek, who were known for their harsher rhetoric against mass immigration. His tough public statements are often viewed as necessary political positioning to align with the party’s established tough stance towards immigration under Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, rather than his personal views on the subject.

Nevertheless, it remains unclear how far Bødskov is willing to go or if this announcement is more political posturing. The Danish government is reviewing legality, including compatibility with religious freedom protections in the constitution. The current effort would move beyond local noise regulations to a national prohibition, but no final bill has been introduced yet, and implementation details, such as the exact scope and potential penalties, are still at the discussion phase.

While this renewed push builds on Denmark’s stricter immigration and integration policies, including a recent ban on Islamic full-face veils like the niqab and burqa, it remains to be seen if the government can pull this new proposal off.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/01/2026 - 02:00

Empire At 250: Can The Principles Of 1776 Survive The American Police State?

Authored by John & Nisha Whitehead via The Rurtherford Institute,

“The people are the only legitimate fountain of power.”

- James Madison

This is a year of strange anniversaries.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a band of revolutionaries declared their independence from a king.

America’s founders rejected concentrated power. They denounced standing armies. They distrusted government secrecy. They risked their lives to escape a ruler who could tax without consent, wage war without accountability, and govern without meaningful restraint.

Twenty-five years ago, after the attacks of September 11, 2001, America embarked on a very different journey.

The federal government claimed extraordinary emergency powers. Surveillance expanded. Wars multiplied. Executive authority grew. Constitutional safeguards were weakened in the name of security.

One anniversary marked a revolt against empire. The other marked the normalization of it.

Now, as America prepares to celebrate 250 years of independence, we are confronted with a bitter irony: the republic born in rebellion against empire has become an empire in everything but name.

Worse, the U.S. government is violating the very principles that justified the American Revolution.

Graft, grift and corruption. Endless wars. Profiteering. Trillions squandered abroad while the nation sinks deeper into debt at home.

A government that governs increasingly by executive order and emergency decree. A government that wastes taxpayer money with impunity, rewards political loyalty over constitutional fidelity, installs loyalists in positions meant to serve the public, dismantles safeguards against corruption, shields insiders from scrutiny, and treats accountability as an inconvenience.

National states of emergency that never seem to end. Efforts to nullify constitutional guarantees such as birthright citizenship. Expanded death penalty powers. A growing willingness to bypass Congress, sidestep constitutional restraints and rule by fiat.

Surveillance programs that track where we go, what we buy, who we know, what we say and what we believe. Fusion centers, facial recognition, license plate readers, AI-assisted monitoring, financial tracking, intelligence-sharing agreements and a sprawling security apparatus that treats privacy as a loophole and dissent as a threat.

Military action undertaken without congressional authorization. National Guard deployments that blur the line between civilian government and military authority. The militarization of policing. Federal agents arresting people at courthouses. Protesters treated as security threats. Legal residents threatened with deportation because of their political speech and associations. Immigrants and asylum seekers swept up in raids, detained, deported or disappeared into a bureaucratic maze before courts can fully review the legality of what has been done.

Whistleblowers, journalists, activists and critics targeted for speaking truth to power. Expanding “extremist” classifications that increasingly encompass lawful speech, political dissent and ideological opposition rather than criminal conduct.

This is not freedom.

This is the architecture of a police state.

Nor is this merely the accumulated rot of past administrations.

Republican and Democratic presidents alike helped build the machinery of permanent emergency. They expanded the surveillance state, normalized undeclared wars, empowered the military-industrial complex, deferred to intelligence agencies, and taught Americans to accept secrecy, suspicion and fear as the price of safety.

Donald Trump inherited that machinery.

Then he weaponized it.

No modern president has done more to expose the danger of allowing so much power to accumulate in one office.

Trump did not invent the imperial presidency, but he has shown what happens when a president treats constitutional limits as obstacles, dissent as disloyalty, the courts as irritants, Congress as irrelevant and federal power as a personal weapon.

Nor has he hidden his intentions. From efforts to consolidate authority within the executive branch to the installation of loyalists whose allegiance appears directed more toward a president than the Constitution, the Trump Administration has tested the limits of executive power in ways that would have alarmed the generation that fought the Revolution.

We have also witnessed growing efforts to sideline due process protections, weaken the ancient safeguard of habeas corpus, expand detention powers, and normalize the notion that constitutional rights can be suspended whenever government officials invoke national security, immigration enforcement or emergency necessity.

This is what happens when a government built for emergencies never leaves emergency mode.

The danger is no longer hypothetical.

The tools of authoritarianism exist.

The police state machinery exists.

The surveillance apparatus exists.

The permanent war powers exist.

The question is who controls them—and what remains to stop them.

The American Revolution was not fought over minor policy disagreements. It was fought over the danger of unaccountable power. The colonists objected to a king who could deploy troops, impose taxes, conduct searches, punish dissent and wage war without meaningful consent of the governed.

The Declaration of Independence was not merely a list of grievances.

It was an indictment.

King George III had made the military superior to civilian authority. He had maintained standing armies without consent. He had cut off trade, imposed taxes, obstructed justice and transported colonists overseas for trial.

Time and again, the Declaration returned to the same central complaint: concentrated power had become a threat to liberty.

The Revolution was not fought over a tax on tea.

It was fought over the danger of a government that had placed itself above the people.

When the framers later gathered to draft the Constitution, they did so with those lessons fresh in mind.

The founders understood that power is inherently expansive. Given enough time, every government seeks more authority, more secrecy and more control.

That is why they created a constitutional system in which power was divided. The branches were intended to restrain one another. No person was to be trusted with too much authority.

Yet history shows how quickly constitutional restraints weaken in times of fear.

John Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts and criminalized political dissent.

Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus.

Woodrow Wilson prosecuted anti-war activists.

Franklin Roosevelt ordered the internment of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans.

Richard Nixon weaponized federal agencies against political opponents.

Each expansion of executive power was justified as necessary.

Each left constitutional scars.

Then came September 11, 2001.

In the months and years that followed, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, vastly expanding government surveillance powers. The Department of Homeland Security was created. Military tribunals were revived. Warrantless surveillance became commonplace. Watchlists multiplied. Fusion centers spread across the country. Indefinite detention became normalized.

War abroad justified surveillance at home.

Terror threats justified government secrecy.

National crises justified executive emergency powers.

What began as a response to a terrorist attack gradually became a governing philosophy.

Twenty-five years later, the emergency state has become embedded in the architecture of government.

Every crisis expands executive power.

Every war contracts liberty.

Every emergency leaves behind powers that rarely disappear.

This is how tyranny rises and freedom falls.

Presidents of both parties have inherited extraordinary powers and expanded them further. Congress has repeatedly surrendered responsibilities it was meant to exercise. Courts have increasingly deferred to executive claims involving national security, immigration and emergency authority.

The result is a government that often functions by executive decree rather than representative self-government.

Executive orders increasingly substitute for legislation. National emergencies become permanent governing authorities. Constitutional guarantees such as birthright citizenship are challenged by presidential decree rather than constitutional amendment. Congress is bypassed. Courts are treated as obstacles. Separation of powers becomes a formality rather than a safeguard.

The presidency has evolved into something the framers would scarcely recognize.

What Donald Trump has done is expose the fatal flaw in the system Americans allowed to be built after 9/11: once government is handed the machinery of permanent emergency, all that remains is for the wrong person to seize the controls.

For decades, Americans were told not to worry.

We were told surveillance powers would only be used against terrorists.

We were told emergency powers would only be invoked during genuine crises.

We were told national security authorities would remain subject to constitutional limits.

We were told the Constitution’s checks and balances would hold.

We were told no president would ever be allowed to exercise such powers without meaningful restraint.

They were wrong.

And we were wrong to trust power to restrain itself.

The lesson is the same one the founders learned from bitter experience: power granted in the name of necessity rarely remains confined to necessity.

Every emergency becomes a precedent.

Every precedent becomes a power.

Every power becomes permanent.

The founders also warned against standing armies and perpetual war.

Having lived under military occupation, they understood that governments organized around war inevitably become organized around power.

What they feared was not merely the presence of soldiers but the rise of a permanent warfare state—a government that uses conflict, fear and national security as justification for expanding its authority.

Today, those dangers extend beyond foreign battlefields. National Guard units are increasingly federalized and deployed domestically. Military tactics, equipment and personnel continue to flow into civilian law enforcement. The line separating the soldier from the police officer grows fainter with each passing crisis.

Look around.

The United States has spent much of the last quarter century engaged in military operations somewhere in the world. Wars are launched without formal declarations. Emergency powers become permanent. Defense budgets swell while domestic needs go unmet. Intelligence agencies operate with extraordinary secrecy. Technologies developed for foreign battlefields migrate into local police departments and domestic surveillance programs.

Today, even as the Trump Administration and its so-called War Department continue to pound the war drums, Americans are once again being told to trust government officials operating behind closed doors, often with little public debate and even less accountability.

The founders understood a simple truth: governments that prepare constantly for war eventually begin treating their own citizens as potential enemies.

That is the logic of empire.

Enemies abroad justify surveillance at home. War powers abroad justify police powers at home. National security becomes the excuse for secrecy, militarization, censorship, detention and control.

Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the rise of the surveillance state.

Long before shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, colonists were outraged by writs of assistance—general warrants that allowed British agents to search homes, businesses and personal property without meaningful justification.

Those abuses helped inspire the Fourth Amendment.

Today, government agents no longer need to kick down your door to invade your privacy.

Your cell phone tracks your movements. Your vehicle reports your location. Your purchases reveal your habits. Your social media activity exposes your associations. Your digital footprint creates a detailed record of your life.

Government agencies can access location data, financial records, license plate readers, facial recognition databases and vast stores of personal information, often with little transparency and even less oversight.

Meanwhile, Congress continues to renew and expand surveillance authorities while intelligence agencies deepen information-sharing arrangements with domestic and foreign partners. Americans are increasingly monitored not because they are suspected of wrongdoing, but because technology has made mass surveillance possible and government has found it useful.

The surveillance state has no borders. Nor does it have clear limits.

Government agencies increasingly rely on broad and elastic “extremist” classifications that often extend beyond violence or criminal conduct to encompass lawful speech, political dissent and ideological opposition.

What begins as a tool to identify dangerous actors inevitably expands into a mechanism for monitoring unpopular viewpoints. Information collected for one purpose is shared for another. Data gathered abroad finds its way home. Intelligence systems built to monitor foreign threats are repurposed to watch domestic populations.

King George’s agents needed boots and battering rams to search your home.

Today’s government can search your life without ever leaving its desk.

And then there is the matter of accountability—or rather, the lack of it.

The Declaration of Independence repeatedly condemned a government that had placed itself above the law.

That grievance remains painfully relevant.

Government officials who violate constitutional rights are frequently shielded from accountability by doctrines such as qualified immunity. Secret courts authorize secret programs. Bureaucrats operate behind layers of classification and administrative complexity. Government agencies routinely fail audits, lose records, misuse surveillance powers and exceed their authority, yet meaningful consequences remain rare.

Meanwhile, ordinary Americans face an entirely different standard.

When government officials make costly mistakes, taxpayers foot the bill.

When unconstitutional policies trigger lawsuits, taxpayers foot the bill.

When unlawful detentions result in settlements, taxpayers foot the bill.

When militarized raids, wrongful arrests, surveillance abuses and civil-rights violations generate years of litigation, taxpayers foot the bill.

Even now, Americans are being asked to absorb the financial costs of government misconduct on a staggering scale—from unlawful enforcement actions and unconstitutional executive orders to politically motivated spending schemes and settlements designed to shield those in power from scrutiny.

The public pays for the government’s mistakes while those responsible often walk away untouched. In some cases, public office itself has become a vehicle for private gain, with self-enrichment schemes, conflicts of interest and insider favoritism blurring the line between public service and personal profit.

The pattern is impossible to ignore.

Profits are privatized. Power is centralized. Accountability is deferred.

The bill is sent to the American people.

Whether it involves unlawful surveillance, unconstitutional arrests, retaliatory investigations, speech-based censorship, ICE raids that terrorize communities, warrantless tracking, civil asset forfeiture, the targeting of whistleblowers, journalists and activists, endless wars or political corruption, the pattern is the same: power protects itself.

The founders did not risk their lives because taxes were too high.

They risked their lives because government had become detached from the people, insulated from accountability and convinced that power justified itself.

Sound familiar?

The uncomfortable truth is that many of the abuses that sparked the American Revolution have returned, only this time they arrive wrapped in the language of national security, public safety, emergency management and administrative necessity.

The faces have changed. The technology has changed. The rhetoric has changed.

The danger remains the same.

Which brings us back to this strange anniversary year.

The 250th anniversary of American independence should have been an opportunity to renew our commitment to limited government, constitutional accountability and the principle that no one is above the law.

Instead, the lesson of 9/11 is being repeated in a different form.

Twenty-five years ago, fear became the pretext for permanent emergency.

Today, patriotism is becoming the backdrop for presidential spectacle, military pageantry and the celebration of the very concentration of power the American Revolution was fought to resist.

Much of the celebration has been transformed into a spectacle of power: military displays, patriotic pageantry, strongman politics and the elevation of political leaders into larger-than-life figures whose authority is expected to be admired rather than questioned.

Yet the founders did not launch a revolution so Americans could celebrate authoritarian power.

They launched a revolution to remind future generations that power is dangerous, liberty is fragile and no ruler should ever be elevated above the Constitution.

For 250 years, Americans have treated the Declaration of Independence as the nation’s birth certificate.

What we have failed to recognize is that the Declaration of Independence was also a warning: freedom is fragile, power is relentless, and no generation remains free simply because a previous generation fought for liberty.

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the most important question is not whether the nation survived. Nations survive. Empires survive. Governments survive.

The real question, as I make clear in Battlefield America: The War on the American People and its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, is whether the principles that inspired the American Revolution survived as well.

Thus, the question is not whether America survived 250 years.

The question is whether the principles of 1776 can survive the American police state.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 23:25

Trump Reports Over $1.4 Billion In Income From 2025 Crypto Earnings

President Trump earned more than $1.4 billion from his family's crypto-related ventures alone last year, according to a financial disclosure released Tuesday, including from his meme coin business and his family's cryptocurrency firm.

The 927-page filing, his annual disclosure for 2025 with ‌the US Office of Government Ethics, disclosed that Trump made $636 million in royalties from CIC Digital, LLC, a company that issues $TRUMP, a crypto token that he launched three days before taking office for his second term. Almost all of the come came in the form of royalties from a license agreement with Celebration Coins. Trump's meme coin reached its peak value of $74.24 within a day of launching. On Tuesday evening, its price was $1.67, down 98% since inception.

The president also reported almost $600 million in income from token sales by World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company backed by the president and his family, and around $65 million from equity sales in the firm that controls World Liberty Financial. Another $196 million in equity sales of Stablecoin Holdco LLC are also listed. A crypto firm and issuer of tokens, World Liberty Financial was launched during the 2024 presidential campaign. It was co-founded by the president, his sons Eric and Donald Jr. and Zack and Alex Witkoff, the sons of U.S. special envoy and longtime Trump friend Steve Witkoff.

World Liberty Financial's ventures include USD1, a "stablecoin" pegged at $1 per coin that's designed to serve as a store of value. It also sells another crypto product, $WLF tokens, and takes 75% in net revenue from those token sales, according to the company's public reports.

The company drew scrutiny last year, after an Abu Dhabi government-owned wealth fund used the USD1 stablecoin to facilitate a multibillion-dollar investment in the massive crypto exchange Binance. The co-founder of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, received a pardon from Trump for financial crimes. The president has denied any connection between the pardon and the World Liberty Financial transaction, telling CBS News last year: "I don't know who he is."

In response to questions about the financial disclosure, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CBS News "there are no conflicts of interest."

I analysed the 900+ pages of the Trump financial disclosure report.

He extracted 1.1 BILLION from crypto, divided like this:

> $635.1M → TRUMP memecoin
> $236.3M → WLFI token sales
> $196.9M → Sale of ownership interests in the USD1 stablecoin venture
> $65.6M → Sale of… pic.twitter.com/F9Uaf1HbCV

— dethective (@dethective) June 30, 2026

"This is the same, tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family, and his administration for a decade," Kelly said. "President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public – which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media."

The 927-page filing, released Tuesday by the US Office of Government Ethics, provides a view into his sprawling empire, including income from his hotels, golf resorts and cryptocurrency ventures. 

Trump's crypto-related income vastly eclipsed his earnings from many of the real estate businesses that helped make him famous. Those included around $77 million in income from his Mar-a-Lago club, $122 million from his golf club in Doral, Florida, and upwards of $30 million apiece from golf clubs in Jupiter, Florida, Bedminster, New Jersey, and Turnberry, Scotland.

The filing offers a detailed accounting of the various other ways the president's name generates money. An ethics official noted that Mr. Trump received a 45-day extension to file the report and "paid late filing fees related to transactions not previously reported" on earlier disclosures.

Trump, who’s worth an estimated $7.6 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, valued more than two dozen assets at more than $50 million, including Mar-a-Lago; his Turnberry, Scotland, golf resort; and his stake in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., which owns his Truth Social platform.

The president reported $4.7 million in royalties from "Trump Watches," along with payments from Trump-branded sneakers, fragrances and guitars. Trump Restaurants LLC, a New York-based entity wholly owned by one of the president's holding companies, reported nearly $2.9 million in food and beverage sales, according to the filing.

And his books continued to pay out - including roughly $1.9 million from "Save America" and smaller sums from "The Art of the Deal," "Letters to Trump," "A MAGA Journey" and an edition of the Bible in collaboration with singer Lee Greenwood.

First lady Melania Trump's ventures also appear. The filing lists more than $10.7 million in net proceeds from a license agreement tied to the film "Melania," about $6 million from the sale of NFTs and other collectibles and additional proceeds from her memoir.

The president also listed several of his legal settlements with tech and media companies, including $16 million from a lawsuit against ABC, $16 million from CBS Broadcasting and CBS Interactive, $24.5 million from Meta, $22 million from YouTube and $8 million from X. Most of that money was paid to his future presidential library or the Trust for the National Mall, not to the president personally. 

As with last year's financial disclosure, Trump listed several court judgments against him as liabilities, including a penalty in a civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James and two multimillion-dollar judgements owed to E. Jean Carroll, who accused the president of sexual abuse and defamation. (Trump has denied those allegations.)

The civil fraud judgment was tossed out last year by a panel of appellate judges who found the requirement for him to pay nearly $527 million in fines plus interest was "excessive," though they left non-financial penalties intact. The Supreme Court this week declined to hear Trump's appeal of the jury verdict in the Carroll cases.

Officials disclose the values of their holdings in broad ranges with “over $50 million” the highest, which means that they can’t be used to calculate an individual’s net worth.

The Trump Organization has said that the president’s holdings are independently managed by third-party financial institutions who have control over all investment decisions, with trades executed through automated processes. Trump, his family members and his company play no role in making transactions, according to a spokeswoman.

Trump’s disclosure also showed that he has a new pledged-asset line with Charles Schwab Corp.’s banking business that totals more than $50 million. The line of credit has an interest rate of 3.9%, according to the filing. A spokesperson for the financial firm had no immediate comment.

Last but not least, the document also show Trump reported receiving 10 tickets to the soccer World Cup finals in July from FIFA head Gianni Infantino valued at $15,000, 10 tickets to the US Open tennis tournament from sponsor Rolex worth $25,000, as well as 10 tickets to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans estimated at $50,000.

Vice President JD Vance also disclosed assets for him and his wife, Usha Vance, worth more than $7 million.

The full filing is below (pdf link)

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 23:06

Israel Tests Upgraded Laser-Guided Iron Dome System After Harsh 'Lessons' Of Iran War

Israel's famed Iron Dome air defense system has undergone a significant upgrade, and the country's defense ministry is hailing new successful advanced tests, touting that it is now immensely better at countering aerial threats such as cruise missiles and drones.

Israeli officials are tacitly admitting that a major overhaul was needed based on lessons learned both in the June 2025 aerial war with Iran and the Iranian retaliatory attacks in the opening month of Operation Epic Fury.

By pretty much all accounts both within and outside Israel, Iran's missiles - some of them reportedly hypersonic - inflicted severe damage on Israeli cities, bases, and infrastructure. A key Tel Aviv military-intelligence headquarters in the heart of Tel Aviv was also struck, possibly on several occasions.

Getty Images

Israel's censorship regimen worked in overdrive both during the June war and Operation Epic Fury, with critics charging that the true extent of Iranian projectiles evading Israel's anti-missile defenses will never ultimately be known.

But open-source videos and live-action info alone confirmed the failures on many levels of the country's multi-layered defense, including of the Iron Dome.

This is why Israel has a deep political incentive to signal both its domestic population and the world that "all is well" and that the Iron Dome has been "upgraded". According to Israeli media:

The trials were led by the Ministry of Defense's "Wall" Directorate, part of the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), in partnership with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. The testing incorporated operational lessons learned during the ongoing war and recent operations against Iran.

According to the Ministry of Defense, the upgraded Iron Dome demonstrated enhanced capabilities against complex attack scenarios while introducing technological improvements aimed at handling higher volumes of incoming fire and longer-range threats.

This included the testing of the new high-power Or Eitan laser weapon system into system's command-and-control network. The laser is meant to assist as an additional layer of defense in pinpointing inbound threats.

WATCH: Israel touts successful tests of the upgraded Iron Dome, which integrates high-power laser in advanced air defense trials:

🔴 WATCH: Israel successfully tests upgraded Iron Dome, integrates high-power laser in advanced air defense trials pic.twitter.com/8d3AvFHRS4

— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) June 30, 2026

Moshe Fattal, head of the Ministry of Defense's "Wall" Directorate, stated "The Iron Dome remains a central pillar of Israel's multi-layered defense concept. During the test, we also practiced integrating the laser system into Iron Dome's command-and-control network, taking the system's defensive capabilities to new heights."

So far Iran's ballistic missile and drone arsenal has proven quite capable at evading Israeli defenses, but perhaps in a future round of fighting Israel's upgrade will prove its worth. In the meantime Iran has already reconstituted much of its missile production capability. The Trump administration seems to have dropped its demand that Iran drop its missile program, which was obviously a non-starter in negotiations, given no country would just willingly give up its main method of defense from external attack.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 23:00

Congress Confronts MKULTRA: Testimony Warns Of Ongoing CIA Mind Control Capabilities

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

The deep state's favorite tools of control just got dragged back into the light. Today, the House Oversight Committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets held the first congressional hearing on the CIA's MKULTRA program since 1977.

What could have been a dusty historical review turned into a direct warning that the same machinery of mind control, memory manipulation, and behavioral experimentation may never have shut down - and could now run on far more powerful modern engines.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and her colleagues are doing what previous Congresses largely refused to do: forcing sunlight on one of the intelligence community's darkest chapters.

A task force investigating long-classified federal secrets will hold a hearing Tuesday focused on the CIA's controversial MK-Ultra program, a Cold War-era project that explored mind control and behavior modification. @xmanwalton

More: https://t.co/YWKKPgxuoI pic.twitter.com/Bf6r546P3N

— NewsNation (@NewsNation) June 30, 2026

The testimony made one thing unmistakable. The CIA lied to lawmakers decades ago about the program's success. Advances in neuroscience, cyber tools, and artificial intelligence have handed covert operators capabilities Sidney Gottlieb could only dream of. And American citizens remain potential targets.

Watch the first Congressional hearing on MK Ultra since 1977 https://t.co/xYTdan4aL2

— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 30, 2026

MKULTRA ran from the early 1950s into the 1970s. The CIA conducted roughly 149 subprojects involving LSD, hypnosis, electroshock, sensory deprivation, and psychological torture on unwitting Americans - prisoners, mental patients, soldiers, and ordinary citizens.

Most records were deliberately destroyed in 1973. When the program finally surfaced through the Church Committee and Rockefeller Commission in 1975, the agency downplayed its scope and results.

The public was told it was a failure. New testimony says that was never true.

Investigative journalist Tom O'Neill, author of Chaos, told the committee the agency actively misled Congress in 1977. He submitted documents showing the CIA's own earlier claims about LSD experiments contradicted what it later told lawmakers. O'Neill stated flatly: "I believe the agency misled Congress in 1977 when it characterized MK-Ultra as a failure."

He connected dots to figures like psychiatrist Louis Jolyon West and his ties to Charles Manson and Jack Ruby, underscoring how deeply the program reached into real-world events. The message was clear: the full story was buried on purpose.

"Congress Was Never Told The Truth" About Results Of CIA Mind-Control Experiments.https://t.co/afxqoiA51x

"Chaos" Author Tom O'Neill told a House Oversight hearing on Tuesday: "I believe the agency misled Congress in 1977 when it characterized MK-Ultra as a failure." https://t.co/M6DaZHTiCt pic.twitter.com/cbKAKYgZq3

— RealClearPolitics (@RCPolitics) June 30, 2026

One of the most disturbing revelations came from historical documents referenced during the hearing. A participant in the original program documented the ability to replace true memories with false ones without the subject's knowledge.

The exact description: "It's feasible to take the memory of a definite event in the life of an individual, and through hypnotic suggestion, bring about the subsequent conscious recall to the effect that this event never actually took place. But that a different fictional event actually did occur."

If the U.S. government could do this in the 1950s, the question hanging over the room was obvious. What can they do now with AI, brain-computer interfaces, and directed energy tools?

? MK Ultra hearing:

Participant documented he was "able to replace true memories with false memories in people without their knowledge"

He clarified:
It's "feasible to take the memory of a definite event in the life of an individual, and through hypnotic suggestion, bring... pic.twitter.com/LXd3bQD27r

— ?? ?? RyanTiedgen (@RyanTiedgen) June 30, 2026

Author and journalist Stephen Kinzer, who has extensively studied the program and its leader Sidney Gottlieb, warned that Gottlieb effectively held "a license to kill" issued by the U.S. government. Kinzer described how the CIA used "cut-outs" - universities and institutions - to conduct research while keeping its own involvement hidden.

He then delivered the core warning for today: "There have been enormous advances in cyber technology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. Covert agencies may have access to tools for mind control that Sidney Gottlieb could not have imagined."

O'Neill agreed. The massive investment in time, money, and research made it unlikely the capabilities were simply abandoned. The technology they built was too valuable.

WATCH journalist and author Dr. @stephenkinzer's opening statement at today's explosive MK Ultra hearing regarding the over classification of secret government programs and the CIA's quest to weaponize mind control against Americans. pic.twitter.com/UwsSJXWBce

— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) June 30, 2026

Public suspicion about whether MKULTRA-style techniques ever truly ended is not abstract. In 2024, widespread speculation erupted around the Trump assassination attempt and whether the shooter could have been influenced or programmed through evolved versions of these programs.

The CIA issued a flat denial, calling the claims "utterly false, absurd, and damaging" and insisting MKULTRA ended decades ago.

That denial landed exactly as past CIA statements have landed - with heavy skepticism from those who remember the record destruction, the lies to Congress, and the pattern of "nothing to see here" followed by later revelations.

Rep. Luna has been clear: Americans have been misdirected repeatedly and deserve transparency and accountability from the CIA. Additional MKULTRA documents are being declassified. The task force is pushing for real answers, not another round of limited hangouts.

Critics on both sides have already begun dismissing the effort. Some call it performative. Others worry it will be used as a distraction. The record shows why skepticism exists. Previous investigations produced headlines, limited document releases, and then business as usual inside the intelligence community.

This time the stakes feel different. The technology has advanced. The surveillance state has grown. The same agencies that once ran MKULTRA still operate with massive secrecy and minimal real oversight.

The hearing was never just about history. It is about whether the American people will finally demand an end to secret programs that treat citizens as expendable test subjects or potential assets.

Memory manipulation, behavioral modification, and technological mind control are not science fiction. They were government policy for decades.

The question is no longer whether the CIA once crossed every ethical and constitutional line. The question is whether those lines were ever truly redrawn - or simply moved into newer, harder-to-detect territory.

Rep. Luna and the task force have opened the door. The only acceptable outcome is full declassification, genuine accountability, and a public reckoning that makes clear no agency of the United States government has the right to experiment on its own people in secret.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 22:35

AI Hallucinations Are Exploding In U.S. Courts, New Study Finds

A new analysis from Laine AI suggests that AI-related errors in U.S. court filings are no longer isolated incidents but a rapidly expanding trend. Drawing on hundreds of confirmed cases, the study finds that courts are seeing a growing number of filings containing fabricated citations, inaccurate legal authorities, and other AI-generated mistakes as lawyers and self-represented litigants increasingly incorporate generative AI into their work.

The increase has been dramatic. According to the report, documented AI-related filing errors climbed from just 25 cases in early 2025 to 249 by the fourth quarter of that year, with the pace continuing into 2026. First-quarter 2026 data nearly matched the entire final quarter of 2025 despite covering only part of the year, underscoring how quickly the problem is accelerating.

Geographically, a relatively small number of states account for a disproportionate share of the incidents. California leads the nation with 97 recorded cases, followed by New York, Texas, Florida, and Illinois. Together, those five states represent roughly 40% of all documented AI-related legal filing errors, suggesting that jurisdictions with higher AI adoption are also experiencing more frequent courtroom mistakes.

The study also identifies several fast-growing hotspots. Florida experienced one of the sharpest increases, jumping from just one recorded incident in 2024 to 28 during 2025. Meanwhile, states including Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Nevada, Indiana, Oregon, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Illinois all began reporting meaningful numbers of AI-related filing errors after previously recording none, indicating that the issue is spreading well beyond a handful of early adopters.

Courts have responded with a wide range of sanctions. California has imposed more than $256,000 in monetary penalties tied to AI-related filing errors, accounting for roughly one-third of all fines identified in the study. However, the likelihood of receiving severe sanctions varies considerably by jurisdiction. Louisiana, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Georgia imposed serious penalties in a much larger percentage of cases than states with higher overall incident counts, highlighting significant differences in judicial approaches.

Perhaps the study's most notable finding is that most AI-related filing mistakes do not originate with attorneys. More than 60% of the documented incidents involved pro se litigants representing themselves, while lawyers accounted for roughly 37% of the cases. The authors suggest that individuals without formal legal training may be relying more heavily on AI tools without adequate review, increasing the likelihood of errors reaching the courtroom.

When AI tools were identified, ChatGPT was the most frequently named platform, though the overwhelming majority of filings either failed to specify which AI system had been used or only implied AI assistance. ChatGPT appeared in 48 documented cases, while tools such as Microsoft Copilot, Claude, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Lexis AI, and Westlaw's AI products were mentioned only occasionally. Because nearly 90% of filings did not clearly identify the software involved, the report notes that assigning responsibility to any particular platform remains difficult.

The most common errors involved outright fabrication. More than half of all recorded AI-related mistakes consisted of nonexistent cases, citations, or legal authorities presented as genuine. Misrepresenting actual legal precedent accounted for another quarter of incidents, while fabricated quotations from real cases represented roughly one-fifth. California, New York, and Texas consistently ranked among the states with the highest numbers across each category.

The report also found that over 80% of AI-related hallucinations occurred in case-law citations rather than statutes, regulations, or supporting exhibits. Because legal arguments often depend on accurately citing precedent, fabricated or inaccurate case law can undermine the credibility of an entire filing and expose litigants to sanctions. The authors conclude that AI can remain a valuable legal research tool, but only if every citation, quotation, and legal authority is independently verified before being submitted to a court.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 22:10

RFK Jr. Announces He's Ending Emergency Liability Protection For COVID-19 Vaccine Makers

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is ending emergency declarations for COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and medical devices, after determining that the circumstances that resulted in the declarations are no longer in place.

The health secretary in office in early 2020 issued emergency declarations, providing liability protections for companies that made products for COVID-19 and enabling regulators to issue emergency authorizations, which have a lower evidentiary threshold than regular approval.

The declarations were extended multiple times, most recently in 2024 by then-Health Secretary Xavier Becerra through the end of 2029.

They provided broad immunity to manufacturers of the products, as well as people who administered them to others.

Becerra said in the latest extension that while the COVID-19 public health emergency expired in May 2023, COVID-19 “continues to present a credible risk of a future public health emergency” and that keeping the protections in place was necessary to keep the United States prepared for that threat.

Kennedy disagreed, writing in a notice of termination that “circumstances no longer exist to justify emergency use of drugs and biological products during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He cited how regulators in 2025 revoked emergency authorization for COVID-19 vaccines, transitioning to typical approval for all the shots across all available ages.

“Americans deserve a regulatory system that is transparent, accountable, and rooted in the rule of law,” Kennedy said in a statement.

“By ending these COVID-19 emergency use authorization declarations, we’re reinforcing public confidence that emergency authorities are temporary and targeted.”

To terminate emergency declarations, a health secretary has to provide advance notice that would give a reasonable amount of time to companies to withdraw the products that have been generated under the declarations.

The Food and Drug Administration determined that 12 months is a sufficient period of time, according to health officials. The declarations for vaccines and drugs will thus terminate effective June 29, 2027.

The declarations for medical devices such as COVID-19 tests will only stay in place for 180 days, or until Dec. 26, 2026.

The FDA has been working with manufacturers of all products still under emergency authorization about seeking approval for continued use, and it is reasonable to conclude that manufacturers will be able to generate data that would support fresh filings to regulators, the notice stated.

Officials plan to notify Congress of the development, the Department of Health and Human Services said.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 21:45

US Lifts Restrictions On Anthropic's Fable, Mythos AI Models

The US government removed foreign access restrictions on Anthropic’s Fable and Mythos AI models, clearing it for wider distribution after the AI company resolved the Trump administration’s safety controls, less than ‌three weeks after the company was ordered to suspend access to its most advanced AI models over national security risks.

On June 12, the Commerce Department imposed an export control rule via a private letter requiring the company to obtain US permission before allowing any foreign national, regardless of location, to access those two models and before it could be sent to any destination worldwide. In response, the AI company disabled its powerful Mythos 5 AI model and Fable 5, a similar model intended for wider release.

Then after several days of discussions between Anthropic and the Trump admin, late on Tuesday, Anthropic said in a post on X that it had received notice that Commerce was lifting the curbs on access to both models. Some of the restrictions on Mythos had been eased on June 26.

We’ve received notice that the Department of Commerce has lifted export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5.

We'll begin restoring access tomorrow, and will share an update soon.

We’re grateful to our users for their patience, and to everyone who worked with us on…

— Anthropic (@AnthropicAI) June 30, 2026

“We’re grateful to our users for their patience, and to everyone who worked with us on redeploying the models,” the company said in its post.
The key to reversing the export controls was assuaging White House officials’ concerns about limiting the ability of bad actors to circumvent the models’ guardrails.

Anthropic said it would restore access to users beginning Wednesday.

In a letter to Anthropic viewed by Bloomberg, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Anthropic had pledged to “proactively deter and address security risks associated with the models.” On Tuesday evening, Lutnick tweeted that "over the past two weeks, we have worked closely with Anthropic to analyze and approve Fable 5 to ensure alignment across the US Government and strengthen America’s leadership in AI."

Over the past two weeks, we have worked closely with Anthropic to analyze and approve Fable 5 to ensure alignment across the US Government and strengthen America’s leadership in AI. https://t.co/PtVJWyQ9kH

— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) June 30, 2026

The department’s export control directive marked the most significant intervention by the US government to date into an AI venture’s operations and sparked legal questions over whether export controls can be used to regulate AI model access. The consequences may still have last impact, as they spotlighted governance risks for Anthropic just as the company is charting its initial public offering.

As AI influencer Alex Finn pointed out, the crackdown on both Chinese models and frontier US models will likely prompt more consumers to roll out their own local models.

Everyone on planet Earth is talking about local AI right now

And for good reason

Governments are banning models. Hardware prices are 10xing

You NEED to be getting into local AI. The number 1 questions everyone has though is which computer to buy?

Here's your answer:

You… pic.twitter.com/w3pl6RTg6K

— Alex Finn (@AlexFinn) June 28, 2026

As Bloomberg notes, the move to relax the restrictions also relieves tension that was weighing on Anthropic’s already-tenuous relationship with the Trump administration. The company is suing the Pentagon after Secretary Pete Hegseth moved in March to designate it a supply-chain risk following a messy and unsuccessful contract renegotiation process.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 21:26

xAI Rolls Out Data Center Dividend For Residents Around Memphis Colossus

xAI Memphis, Elon Musk's supercomputing and data center complex in the Memphis metro area - better known as Colossus - appears to be testing a version of the "data center dividend" for residents in the surrounding community.

The offer of Starlink service with no upfront hardware costs and a substantial monthly discount appears to be an attempt by xAI to turn local goodwill into political insulation, as AI data centers face growing scrutiny over soaring power demand, grid strain, and other neighborhood-level impacts.

"As SpaceX continues to invest in the area, SpaceX is offering our neighbors in the Memphis area no upfront hardware costs on Residential @Starlink kits for new customers and a discount on home internet service plans for both new and existing customers," Starlink wrote on X.

Starlink wrote on its website, "The discount is half the standard monthly price and is applied automatically." 

Earlier this year, @SpaceX acquired @xAI (now SpaceXAI), which operates the Colossus datacenters in Memphis.

As SpaceX continues to invest in the area, SpaceX is offering our neighbors in the Memphis area no upfront hardware costs on Residential @Starlink kits for new customers… pic.twitter.com/BfnOHHPLOx

— xAI Memphis (@xAIMemphis) June 30, 2026

xAI describes Colossus as its AI training supercomputer, built in Memphis and pitched by Musk as one of the world's most powerful AI superclusters.

The project has become a major flashpoint because of its massive electricity demand. xAI has expanded from Colossus 1 in Memphis to Colossus 2 in Southaven, Mississippi, just across the state line, and has used natural gas turbines to supply power.

Left-wing environmental NGOs and the NAACP have sued xAI and its subsidiary, MZX Tech, alleging that some natural gas turbines were operated without proper air permits and could worsen pollution in nearby communities.

xAI's data center dividend to the local community around Colossus may only suggest that other forms of dividends offered to local communities could one day include monthly utility bill credits, grid upgrades, and infrastructure improvements.

Perhaps other data center operators should take note of what xAI is doing, given that half of U.S. data centers scheduled for construction this year could be canceled or delayed as local resistance mounts.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 21:20

San Francisco Archdiocese Agrees To $395 Million Abuse Settlement

Authored by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times,

The Archdiocese of San Francisco has agreed to pay $395 million to settle more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials, in what the plaintiffs’ lawyers described as the largest per-survivor settlement.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys said on June 29 that San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone will have to write an apology letter to each survivor as part of the settlement.

The settlement also requires the archdiocese to implement a series of child protection and transparency reforms.

The settlement comes three years after the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy and will cover approximately 530 survivors of child sexual abuse.

It is the latest agreement over clergy sexual abuse claims. In 2024, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to a record $880 million settlement.

This settlement follows years of back-and-forth mediation between the Archdiocese and the Survivors’ Creditors Committee.

The law firm representing the survivors said the $395 million “stands as the largest per survivor settlement in any clerical bankruptcy.”

“As a part of the settlement, the Archdiocese is turning over (assigning) its rights under the insurance policies for the survivors to recover additional damages against all the insurance companies who refused to abide by their contractual responsibilities to the Archdiocese and the survivors,” it said.

“I’ve been working with survivors for decades, and I’ve never heard of anything quite as significant, as rigorous, as robust as what is being required of the Archdiocese of San Francisco,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney representing dozens of child sexual abuse victims.

The proposed 14-point settlement plan calls for appointing an independent child protection consultant with full access to archdiocesan records, publishing findings and a more complete list of credibly accused offenders, creating a survivor-sensitive public archive, and strengthening protections for whistleblowers and reporters.

It also calls for banning mandatory nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in abuse settlements and prohibiting private digital communications between adults and children.

Margie O’Driscoll sued the archdiocese, alleging she was sexually abused almost 50 years ago by a priest while she was a student at Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield, a community north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

“I, like every survivor, have carried this pain and shame along like a ball and chain for a very, very long time,” O'Driscoll said during a news conference.

“Ashamed and confused about what happened, scorned by the archdiocese, and sometimes not even believed by family and friends, and I think today shame is gonna change sides.”

“We believe this proposal provides a path toward fair compensation for survivors who have borne the weight of this abuse for a lifetime,” Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone, archbishop of San Francisco, said in a June 29 statement.

The Archdiocese of San Francisco, led by Cordileone, serves more than 400,000 Catholics in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Marin Counties.

“The entire Catholic family is called to unite and share in the work of making amends through this proposed settlement. We have a moral obligation to bring some level of healing and reconciliation to those who deserve our unwavering respect, attention, and prayers,” he said.

“With stringent preventative measures and trainings now in place for decades, the hope is that this proposal will allow us collectively to move forward by continuing the important ministries to the faithful and community members that rely on our services and charity.

“While the vast majority of sexual abuse allegations associated with this bankruptcy were from many decades ago, we accept full responsibility for what happened, and I sincerely apologize to all those who have been harmed.”

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 20:55

El Nino Heat Wave Fuels HVAC Boom: Goldman Maps The Trade

We have already provided readers with plenty of color on El Niño (see here and here), a weather phenomenon that could pressure harvest yields and potentially reignite food inflation later this year. El Niño tends to raise temperatures and intensify weather extremes, worsening drought in some regions while amplifying heavy rainfall in others.

Now comes the question of how to profit beyond the agri markets. Goldman analysts led by Brian Singer penned a note for clients titled "Heat Waves Could Further Amplify HVAC Demand," in which they laid out dozens of stocks tied to HVAC and power-reliability verticals that stand to benefit as heat waves drive surging cooling demand worldwide.

"We highlight 42 global Buy-rated stocks exposed to HVAC and power reliability verticals that are positioned to benefit from rising cooling demand. We highlight analysis on El Niño and US drought conditions from our Commodities Research and Data Works/Retail teams," Singer said.

Singer noted that HVAC demand rose to 114 million units in 2024, up 7% from a year earlier, while global HVAC demand per capita increased by 6% to 13.9 units per 1,000 people.

Asia remains the largest residential HVAC market, accounting for about 60% of global demand, with Japan, Hong Kong/Macau, and Taiwan leading in market penetration.

Asia, Europe, India, and Bangladesh are set to be among the top markets driving global HVAC demand, given the hot, humid weather backdrop this year.

Singer explained that Europe has become a notable pool of HVAC demand because, even before the heat waves, Germany, the UK, and France were still well below the global average for AC adoption.

Power demand in Spain, France, Germany, and the UK set to rise if HVAC adoption increases. 

Last week, Rory Green, TS Lombard's chief China economist, briefed clients on a weather note titled "Super El Niño: Famine Follows War?"

Green wrote in the note, "In general, El Niño raises temperatures and significantly exacerbates both drought and heavy rainfall. For global macro, it is an inflationary shock via the food price channel – a shock that will likely be compounded by existing war-related high fertilizer costs."

He said within his coverage, "India is the most exposed to both growth and inflation risks, supporting our underweight Indian assets. Brazil and Mexico, too, will receive an inflation impulse."

El Niño Impact Watch:

Singer provided clients with 42 Buy-rated global stocks exposed to HVAC and power reliability, including Carrier, Johnson Controls, Lennox, GE Vernova, Vistra, Quanta Services, Prysmian, Siemens Energy, Midea, Hitachi and Power Grid.

Professional subscribers can read more on El Niño here at our new Marketdesk.ai portal. 

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 20:30

It’s Time To Stop Pretending That Migrants Are Entitled To Equal Citizenship

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us

Yet another civil conflict is brewing this week as the Supreme Court tackles a number of foreign citizenship debates, including Temporary Protection Status (TPS) and Birthright Citizenship. The court has ruled that hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants residing in the US under TPS are no longer safe from mass deportations (a win). But, they have also ruled in favor of migrant anchor babies (a big loss).

Both issues deal with changing American perceptions on what is “constitutional” when it comes to foreign access to citizenship. The Supreme Court’s decisions aside, I find it mind boggling that this debate has been ongoing for so many decades. Frankly, foreigners should not have any citizenship rights under the constitution until they have demonstrated assimilation. Until that time, there should be a separate set of rules handling newcomers (and invaders).

When it comes to TPS and the Haitians, the leftists are raging. Despite this status supposedly being “temporary” (the Obama Administration originally claimed these people would only be in the US for 18 months), many of these foreign transplants have been enjoying the benefits of unearned American citizenship for 16 years or more.  Yet, when Haitians protest the TPS decision, what flag do you see them flying?  That’s right – They fly the Haitian flag, not the American flag.  This tells us everything we need to know.

The liberal position on this issue is crystal clear: They believe that the constitution protects foreign migrants and their cultures from overt scrutiny. Meaning, foreigners don’t have to prove themselves worthy of citizenship, they get access regardless. Liberals also believe that it should be extremely difficult to remove migrants once they enter the country.

Keep in mind, this is the LIBERAL position. The woke position is much worse.

The radical left argues that western borders should not exist at all. For other countries, borders are fine. For the US and Europe, borders must be erased. Furthermore, they assert that the American economy must be treated as an open marketplace rather than a closed system. In other words, foreigners should be allowed to feed on the system whenever they please, transfer that wealth back to their third world hovels, and then come back for more.

The “empathetic” liberal position creates the foundation for the militant woke position. It’s rooted in a propaganda narrative created in the early 20th century: The claim that America’s entire identity is a “melting pot” of cultures and nationalities and that there is no original source identity. This false origin story was produced by New York socialists and it’s been spread by Hollywood for decades.

The famous poem called “The Colossus” imprinted on the Statue of Liberty is often used to elevate the melting pot myth. It was added in 1903, over 20 years after the statue was built. It’s author, Emma Lazarus, was a Zionist feminist with ties to numerous socialist movements. The fantasy of the melting pot of “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” was then popularized heavily in the 1960s and 1970s by far-left activist groups and the establishment media.

The melting pot is not our identity and never was. Historically speaking, America has always had a guarded relationship to immigration and we operated on “origin-based rules”. Meaning, Europeans from the north and west were welcomed, everyone else was limited. There was nothing wrong with this model.

America’s source identity is western civilization and European influence. There is no cultural melting pot.

The notion that the US is somehow legally required to accept everyone from everywhere regardless of their beliefs or background was not a thing until after the liberal era of the 1960s – 1990s. Until this time period, America had numerous regulations on who was allowed in. After the 1990s, the melting pot ideal became sacrosanct, as if it had always been a part of our constitutional legacy.

George Washington instituted the Naturalization Act of 1790 which restricted immigration to people mostly from European nations. John Adams instituted the Alien Friends Act 1798 which allowed the quick deportation of migrants found to be initiating civil disruption and sedition. He also enforced an extended probation period of 14 years before any migrant gained citizenship rights (instead of the original five year period).

Even Thomas Jefferson, who opposed the Alien Friends Act and had a highly liberal (and I would argue naive) ideal of America as an “open asylum for the oppressed”, supported some restrictions and regulations to immigration. It was a different time, but the rules still make sense today.

Teddy Roosevelt enforced the Immigrant Act of 1907, which banned the citizenship of any foreigners from cultures that practiced polygamy (which included Muslims) and focused on migration among groups that could easily assimilate into American society. Once again, this is perfectly acceptable and rational. There’s nothing wrong with enforcing logical standards.

Now, more than ever, we need such rules in place. Just because they were overturned once does not mean they can’t be brought back again as the conditions demand.

As far as the 1st Amendment is concerned, we’ve had exceptions to these protections when it comes to dangerous ideologies. For example, the US banned communist organization for decades, right up until the 1990s.

Why? Because the proliferation of communism will inevitably lead to the destruction of the same 1st Amendment rights that liberals claim to be protecting. Even in a republic, there are certain groups who cannot be allowed to exist because they represent a clear and present danger to the very framework that our country is built on. They are at war with our culture. To give citizenship to the barbarians at the gate is suicide.

By extension, one could argue that Muslim ideology is much like communism in that Muslims have a tendency to seek dominance and authoritarianism rather than integration. Their presence in the US is an obvious threat to the Bill of Rights. Therefore, we may have to make exceptions for them, just as we made exceptions for communism (globalism is also another important target for removal).

We can argue over the bureaucratic labyrinth that has been created to make expulsion of these groups difficult, but it doesn’t matter. Again, regardless of what the courts say, these people are not entitled to the same rights as natural born citizens, and we need to stop pretending as if they are owed something.

It is true that under current liberal precedents the constitution restricts the Federal Government from taking action to remove people based on identity, but this does not apply to the American public. If the government isn’t allowed to remove these threats, then make no mistake, the American people will eventually do it themselves. The film “Citizen Vigilante” is not fiction, it’s a warning. It’s wildly popular for a reason.

At the very least, the TPS decision shows that the Supreme Court is beginning to realize that it’s better to allow managed deportations than it is to drive the population to adopt vigilantism.

America has NEVER been a country of equal treatment for everyone all the time, and that’s because this is a foolish concept. The closer the Overton Window moves us towards multicultural equality the worse things get for everyone. As we’ve witnessed over the past decade, some groups tend to sabotage everything they touch. They don’t view American life as a privilege, they see it as something that can be pillaged, and liberal movements are enabling this behavior.

There are two key pillars to the liberal argument that need to be abandoned before it’s too late:

First, that immigration is some kind of sacred duty of the American people. It is our “historical identity” and a tradition that must not be forsaken. They suggest that migrants, as if by magic, become Americans as soon as they cross the border or drop a newborn child on the soil, and thus they must be given all the opportunities and legal protections afforded to true citizens.

Second, the constitutional laws in place are liberal in the application of rights, even for foreigners fresh off the boat. In other words, we’re violating the constitution by making exceptions.

This is simply not so. History shows us that logical exceptions have always been made. Why, for example, is a migrant allowed to slip across our border illegally, squeeze out a kid on this side of the line and by default that kid becomes a citizen? It makes no sense and almost no other country in the world allows it.

The absolutist vision of the constitutional shield might be sacred for people who are born and raised in America under American ideals and by American parents. This does not, however, apply to foreign invaders with intentions of exploiting loopholes and ransacking the nation while maintaining loyalties to their home countries.

Hell, I would even argue that exceptions can and should be made for radical communists. We had it right in the 1950s. And the answer is simple: Deport them all.

Is a group of people seeking to sabotage western civilization? Deport them. Are they acting like parasites feeding off subsidies while giving nothing in return? Deport them. Does a group have a religion or ideology that is clearly antithetical to western values? Deport them.

And what about the argument that we must accommodate refugees from war-torn regions; that we must provide safe haven? No, we don’t.

Since when are we not allowed to be selective in who we help? No other country in the world is treated with the same expectations as the US when it comes to immigration. When did it become our responsibility to fix every problem in the world? This is a role that was foisted on us by a century of progressive propaganda.

Maybe Haitian refugees need to be sent back home to fix their own problems in their own country? Maybe the only way these places will ever be reformed is if the US stops acting as a steam valve for the discontented? Maybe anchor babies need to be shipped off with their illegal migrant parents, instead of letting them all stay in the country on a technicality?

Is it a slippery slope? Could these same rules be turned back on American conservatives and patriots? No, because who would be left to use them against us? This is not a call for an end to constitutional rights. Nor is it a call for an end to all immigration. Rather, it is plea for nuance, sanity and selectivity.

We used to have more practical rules for these problems, and I guarantee, the Founding Fathers would be FAR more aggressive in enforcing those rules than we are today. Some people do not deserve the same rights as US citizens and some people do not deserve the same access as US citizens.

It’s okay to admit it. This is a fact that we need to accept as a society. We need to stop the benevolent liberal charade which is designed to make us feel obliged to the rest of the world.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 20:05

Democrat Politicians Are Being Attacked By The Woke Mob They Helped Create

If modern history has taught us anything, it's that one should never align one's self with zealots.  They might be useful for creating momentum and pushing your agenda forward at the time, but eventually they will deem you inadequate to their standards, because frankly, no one is actually capable of meeting their standards.   

The political left's shift into radical communism (and radical Islam) is accelerating rapidly, with a number of incumbent and "centrist" Democrat politicians being unseated by "Democratic Socialists" in the primaries in states like New York.  Meanwhile, the far-left is taking over management in deep blue cities across the US.   

Rumors suggest that the party is heavily divided and they are unsuccessfully trying to hide it.  Zohran Mamdani's ascension to mayor of NYC was the canary in the coal mine and a sign of things to come.  There is a rising tide of militant woke fanatics using the Democrat Party as a vehicle to gain access to positions of political power, and the Dems happily invited them in.    

And, with any socialist revolution, those who are viewed as moderates or "less revolutionary" are always targeted for expulsion (or extinction) once the zealots gain enough influence. 

Case-in-point, California State Senator Scott Wiener, perhaps one of the most radical (and some would argue one of the most detestable) Democrat politicians in office today, is not safe from the woke mob.  Wiener has operated as an agent for LGBT activism and it's the central pillar of his career.  Yet, during a trans pride march in San Francisco last week he was accosted by a gaggle of crazies demanding he leave because of his past support for Israel.  

Scott Wiener showed up to the trans march and for the first time we kicked his ass out. It's sad because while he's written some good legislation for queers, hes ultimately a genocidal-supporting center right shill. Trigger warning: broken man walking away defeated. Vote Connie! pic.twitter.com/TXIB7omxde

— Dimitry Yakoushkin (@decadimitry) June 27, 2026

After extensive pressure from pro-Islam activists, Wiener shifted his position on Gaza in January and explicitly labeled the situation a "genocide".  It didn't matter.  Because Wiener is Jewish he is considered guilty by default.  It's incredible how quickly the very people that accuse conservatives of being "Nazis" end up acting just like Nazis.

U.S. Congressional candidate Scott Wiener was harassed by a Free Palestine activist. 🇺🇸

Scott, who is Jewish, had changed his stance on Israel, parroting the typical Free Palestine rhetoric, in order to get easy votes.

It turns out, to nobody's surprise, that he still isn't… pic.twitter.com/ZDXdpiEqQd

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) June 25, 2026

Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer received similar treatment recently.  After he joined a pride march in NYC, the boos were hard to ignore and the cheers were thin. 

@NY1 @InsideCityHall @PodSaveAmerica Chuck Schumer getting booed at NYC Pride pic.twitter.com/bHV6XL7Um2

— ladybird (@LadybirdMV) June 28, 2026

This response from leftist crowds is becoming more frequent as they turn their sights on the Democrat establishment.  The party is changing from the inside and leaders like Schumer are no longer considered extreme enough.  The progressives want to burn the system (and their ideological opponents) to the ground, and Schumer is part of that system.

CNN: "It's no longer the overall electorate that doesn't like Chuck Schumer...he’s actually not popular with Democrats.” pic.twitter.com/gO05m4KY5n

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 29, 2026

Conservatives might view these divisions among Democrats as predictable, but also as a welcome advantage.  Seeing people like Scott Wiener and Chuck Schumer get browbeaten by a communist struggle session is indeed hilarious.  The cancel culture they avidly supported over the past decade smells their blood in the water this time, and the feeding frenzy is circling closer.      

There is, however, the long term problem of an increasingly militant leftist movement operating in the midst of an American society seeking order and sanity.  Once the Democrat Party officially becomes the Democratic Socialist Party, any chances a peaceful solution will disappear.  Some would argue that US politics already crossed that line a long time ago.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 19:40

Whistleblower Documents Highlight Serious Safety Concerns For NIH Virus Lab In Montana

Authored by Paul D. Thacker via The DisInformation Chronicle,

Internal documents from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spotlight growing public alarm about safety and the labs that perform dangerous virus studies. Last month, I broke a story that exposed NIH virologist Vincent Munster, who faced an FBI investigation after he was caught bringing back deadly viruses from Africa to his NIH lab in Montana, Rocky Mountain Laboratories. New documents show Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) continues to be plagued with safety problems, and NIH executives at the Montana site have yet to fix holes in their safety plan that had been revealed back in November when a monkey bit a worker.

I was given these new NIH documents by a whistleblower who said my May exclusive on Vincent Munster "blew up inside the NIH."

"They don't have a real protocol if you're exposed to something at BSL-4," the whistleblower told me about the safety practices at RML.

Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) is the highest safety protocol in virus research. Its precautions are used when studying the world's most lethal pathogens - such as Ebola and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. The NIH has been sent copies of the whistleblower documents for comment, and I will update you with any response.

"They want to do the work at level 4 no matter the cost," said the whistleblower. "Because they think it's the most important work on the planet - that must be done, no matter what it takes."

Earlier this month the Justice Department indicted Munster and one of his lab workers, charging both researchers with two felonies. Munster's actions exposed a distressing pattern of cowboy conduct by virologists working on deadly viruses. According to the FBI's criminal complaint Munster was caught at the airport smuggling in viruses. When law enforcement asked him if he had the required paperwork, he replied that he did.

"I do this all the time," Munster told federal law officials in January. In fact, Munster did not have the required paperwork and has been charged with lying to law enforcement. And Munster's statement - "I do this all the time" - raises questions of whether smuggling viruses is in fact something he does all the time.

Alarming practices at RML

Munster works at the NIH's RML in Hamilton, Montana, where he studies maximum containment pathogens, such as Ebola. RML is one of over a dozen labs in the United States that have a BSL-4 facility. The main virology lab has been operated for many decades by Heinz Feldmann, a leading expert on viruses studied under BSL-4 conditions.

Yet emails released by Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, raise concerns that practices at RML under Feldmann have long been sloppy. An email chain dating to 2011 finds several virologists - Munster, Feldmann and researchers with EcoHealth Alliance - discussing the logistics of shipping virus samples from Africa to the States. In the final email, EcoHealth Alliance's Jon Epstein suggests to Feldman and Munster that Munster can hand carry virus samples on a plane after they are put in a viral transport and recovery (VTR) buffer, which keeps them alive.

"I think you can take up to 2kg with you on commercial flights," emailed EcoHealth Alliance's Jon Epstein.

In the final week of the Biden Administration, EcoHealth Alliance was debarred from participating in federal programs due to their problematic safety practices. However, the emails released by Senator Paul do not show if these virologists followed through and did in fact transport live viruses on a commercial flight back in 2011.

One email provided by the NIH whistleblower shows that Heinz Feldmann was transferred in August 2025 to run the NIH's Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Maryland. A few months prior to transferring Feldmann, the NIH discovered safety violations at the IRF, which Feldmann was apparently sent in to clean up. This included a frightening instance - apparently a lover's spat - in which a contractor cut holes in an employee's biocontainment suit designed to protect against infection from viruses such as Ebola.

NIH leadership notified the FBI, which launched an investigation.

Since the NIH put Feldmann in charge of the IRF in Maryland last year to clean up problems at that research site, he has been splitting his schedule between Maryland and Montana. During that time, however, the Montana RML has been found to be plagued with its own safety snafus.

Whistleblower documents

Sometime in November 2025, an RML researcher was exposed to Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever "through an accidental breach of personal protective equipment." The safety incident was never made public, however, until a Montana newspaper reported on it months later in February 2026. "The individual remained well and showed no evidence of being infected," an NIH spokesperson told the paper in February. "They have been back at work for some time."

The NIH updated the Montana reporter with more information in May, detailing that the exposure incident was a monkey bite. The NIH also sent the reporter a statement that makes it appear the monkey bite accident was handled in an efficient, by-the-book process, without any hitches, or delays.

Furthermore, details about Providence Hospital in Spokane seem souped-up with government acronyms and biomedical jargon to make the monkey bite patient's treatment appear extra professional and super sciencey.

Here's that NIH statement reported in the Montana paper:

"A November 13, 2025 workplace exposure to Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV) occurred in the Biosafety Level 4 facility at NIH's Rocky Mountain Laboratories. The worker is highly experienced, wore all required protective gear, and followed all established procedures at the time of the exposure. The employee was immediately decontaminated, isolated and evaluated by experienced clinical experts in coordination with highly trained safety professionals.

"The patient was transferred to the nearest Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) located at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital in Spokane, Washington.

"Providence is one of 13 Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR)-supported Level 1 RESPTCs, part of the tiered National Special Pathogen System (NSPS) designed to protect patients, communities and the healthcare workforce.

"Established procedures for transport, patient care, waste handling, testing and safety were followed by all involved, from lab staff and agency safety and health support to hospital care team and medical specialists.

"At no time was there any evidence of disease transmission or infection, nor was there ever any risk to staff, caregivers, or the public."

However, NIH claims in May to the Montana newspaper about the "established procedures" in caring for the monkey bite patient are contradicted by documents provided by the whistleblower.

One document shows that Providence hospital in Spokane, which the NIH lauded in that May statement to the Montana reporter and a week later to reporters with Politico, was never part of the NIH's plan for patient treatment, which seems to have been managed through improvisation. And notes from a June NIH meeting show the monkey bite patient's transport - which involved approval from the governors of Montana, Idaho, and Washington - more closely resembled the 1987 road trip comedy film, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" than established procedures for a health emergency.

According to NIH documents, the RML staff evaluated and treated the employee on-site after the monkey bite, before sending the patient to St. Patrick's hospital, about an hour away in Missoula. However, that hospital had staffing problems and could only take the NIH patient for three days. NIH then transferred their employee to Providence hospital in Spokane, Washington. But transportation from Montana to Washington passes through the state of Idaho.

"Had to get the approval of all 3 governors for transport through states via Spokane hospital ambulance."

When the hospital in Spokane wanted to discharge the patient, who was found to not be sick, NIH disagreed with the hospital and felt the person needed more days of isolation. "What do you do if they become symptomatic, etc."

NIH then transferred their employee back to RML in Montana, to finish quarantine. "Had to coordinate transport again...with backup RML personnel and emergency personnel. Required intricate communication and used GPS tracking on cell phones for security/arrival time/etc."

However, isolating their employee at RML required modifyng a room to allow the patient to stay those three days "with bedding, towels, food, entertainment" because the room is evidently not actually designed for quarantine.

"It's better to call this a triage room, not a quarantine room," said the whistleblower. "People are not supposed to stay there for days. It's a triage room."

RML officials also discovered complications in testing the patient daily to see if they had been infected with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever and were producing viruses. The only lab apparently capable of testing blood samples for the virus is the CDC in Atlanta. This meant catching the only flight out of nearby Missoula to ensure the patient sample made it each day to the CDC.

"Only one FedEX plane leaves Missoula each day so that restricted testing at CDC."

The NIH's cheerful, jargon-filled statement to the Montana paper about the critical importance of the Providence hospital in Spokane is also contradicted by the RML's plan that was in place to handle exposures to dangerous pathogens.

That plan makes no apparent mention of the Providence hospital in Spokane which the NIH told the Montana paper last May "is one of 13 Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR)-supported Level 1 RESPTCs, part of the tiered National Special Pathogen System (NSPS) designed to protect patients, communities and the healthcare workforce."

But the only hospital that seems to be mentioned in RML's plan, in place at the time of the November monkey bite incident, is St. Patrick's in Missoula.

And notes from a June NIH meeting make clear that problems remain at RML, seven months after the November monkey bite incident. The June notes show that any potentially infected worker is now first transported to St. Patrick's in Missoula "then must figure out where to go from there."

And while the RML had to convert their triage room last year to allow a three-day quarantine for the monkey bite patient, RML is still trying to figure out how to "modify or build new isolation suite at RML for long term isolation."

During the November monkey bite accident, the RML realized they couldn't get daily testing done because there is only one FedEx flight each day from Missoula to the CDC in Atlanta. But to this day they have not figured out another lab that can provide these daily tests to see if an exposed worker has started to produce viruses.

"Also need testing contract for potential RML exposures."

Other RML problems include how the research facility handles viruses after they arrive, such as the viruses that Munster was caught smuggling into the U.S. According to RML's current SOP, field samples received at RML will be immediately taken to the restricted access Field Sample room (2B155B). "This lab is dedicated to handling field samples and all employees with access to this lab must be enrolled in the RML Biosafety Program," reads the SOP.

Once the collected viruses enter the Field Sample room, each sample is then divided into smaller fractions called "aliquots". An aliquot from each sample is then sent to the Maximum Containment Lab to see if the sample might contain dangerous viruses that should only be handled at BSL-4. Other aliquots from each sample are then inactivated to kill any potentially live viruses, so they can be further analyzed.

However, the whistleblower says this protocol has a gaping hole: the Field Sample room is not secure. "There is no lock on the door, no prox access card," said the whistleblower. "It's shared space, and the freezers in there also don't have locks."

Finally, an email from Marshall Bloom, a senior RML researcher, discusses a public meeting in June he attended in Hamilton, where he was asked by local officials and members of the public about recent accidents at the RML and the Vincent Munster matter.

RML employees first learned that Munster and his lab researcher had done something wrong earlier this year, said the whistleblower, when NIH police showed up at RML and escorted them both off the RML campus, taking away all their access privileges. They were also required to surrender any government devices.

However, federal employees are prohibited from speaking about ongoing federal investigations, and even the Justice Department generally will not confirm the very existence of an investigation before charges are filed. It was only when my story broke in May that RML researchers learned Munster was being investigated by the FBI after he was caught trying to smuggle in viruses. More details did not become public until June 2, when the Justice Department announced that both Munster and his lab researcher were being charged with felonies.

Yet Marshall told the audience in Hamilton that day that this issue "was now well publicized and working its way through the criminal justice system." He added, "We demurred providing additional information and repeatedly stressed the presumption of innocence."

"I don't know why the presumption of innocence," the whistleblower said. "Don't weigh in; don't say anything. First, we weren't really told anything about what happened with Munster when it all started, but he set it up like scientists are now trying to circle the wagons."

Marshall added that, in the public discussion, the audience brought up "biological weapons, Kris Newby's book Bitten and some more general questions about safety."

"There's lots of good science at RML," said the whistleblower. "But this is a shocking example where they have found problems, and they just kept going on, without any real plan. Hoping no one would get infected. It's just ridiculous."

The person added one final note: "A lot of people at RML are really frustrated."

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 19:15

Today's Colorado Primaries Could Impact The Midterm Elections Nationwide

Colorado Democrats vote Tuesday in primaries that could hand Republicans their most useful campaign weapon of the 2026 midterms: proof that the socialist wave crashing through New York City was never just a New York problem.

An election worker sorts ballots for the US midterm election in Grand Junction, Colorado, on November 8, 2022. [File: Jason Connolly/AFP]

Three weeks ago, the Democratic Socialists of America notched a trio of wins in New York City that sent establishment Democrats into a panic. Darializa Avila Chevalier knocked off Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in the 13th District on a platform that included shutting down prisons, eliminating ICE, erasing the southern border, and opposing the deportation of illegal immigrants regardless of criminal record. Claire Valdez took the 7th District running on citizenship and voting rights for people who entered the country illegally, taxpayer-funded transgender medical treatment, and the elimination of private health insurance. Brad Lander won in the 10th District by nearly 30 points, defeating Rep. Dan Goldman, one of the most prominent anti-Trump voices in the caucus and the man who led the push to impeach the president.

Colorado now gets to answer the question everyone in Washington has been asking since New York's results came in: was that a fluke confined to one deep-blue city, or the opening act of something bigger? Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Diana DeGette, two of the biggest names in Colorado Democratic politics, both face primary challenges that party insiders are taking far more seriously than they expected to a month ago.

CNN's Harry Enten warned Democrats about the implications last week after the New York primaries. "What is true in New York City in a Democratic primary ain't necessarily true nationwide with the general electorate," Enten said last week. The Democratic Socialists of America have a net favorable rating of +17 among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, according to Enten's data, but are 27 points underwater with the electorate as a whole. That 44-point canyon between the party's base and everyone else is precisely the gap Republicans intend to exploit. "Socialism has become increasingly popular among Democrats, but it is a much tougher sell in the rest of the electorate," Enten said. Favorable views of socialism among Democrats climbed from 50% in 2010 to 66% today. Among everyone else, the number has barely moved, sitting at 30% now versus 29% sixteen years ago.

Polls show socialism is on the rise in the Democrat party but still highly unpopular amongst the overwhelmingly majority of Americans.

CNN: “Socialism has become increasingly popular among Democrats, but it is a much tougher sell in the rest of the electorate." pic.twitter.com/2vysympwRW

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 25, 2026

Bennet abandoned his Senate seat to run for governor and now finds himself locked in a tighter-than-expected race against Attorney General Phil Weiser. A poll from the left-leaning firm PPP also showed Bennet trailing Weiser outside the margin of error, and two Democratic strategists familiar with the campaign said internal numbers track the same direction. "There may be only a slight Bennet advantage at this point," said a Democratic strategist close to the race, granted anonymity to speak candidly, who described private polling as "all over the place." Weiser, despite having eight years' experience running the attorney general's office, has somehow managed to cast himself as the outsider, branding Bennet a creature of Washington. Strategists say the message is sticking with primary voters who want nothing to do with anyone who smells like the establishment this cycle.

DeGette's situation looks worse. After serving three decades in the House, she faces democratic socialist Melat Kiros. Internal polling has tightened to within the margin of error, and donors who dismissed the threat for weeks are suddenly paying attention. "It's not looking great," said one Colorado Democratic strategist familiar with DeGette's numbers. "It's very tough when you're fighting against a wave." DeGette rolled out a last-minute endorsement video from Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. This move backfired with some progressives, given that Kiros already has Sen. Bernie Sanders in her corner.

Sen. John Hickenlooper is fending off his own challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales, with a private survey showing a dead heat in Denver even as a late-May public poll had Hickenlooper ahead 41% to 34% amid heavy undecideds. National DSA chapters have run phone banks for Kiros nearly daily, and Denver organizers expect close to 100,000 doors knocked by the time polls close.

"There's a lot of anti-establishment momentum because voters are so angry," Doug Friednash, a longtime Colorado Democratic strategist, said. "They want to take it out on someone. They want fighters." Denver isn't New York, and Democrats note that the city's DSA infrastructure remains smaller, and that DeGette's name recognition runs deeper than Espaillat's ever did. But Denver has also grown younger and more restless, and that combination worries establishment Democrats.

Republicans are watching with open delight. "That's what the left is putting out. It's these radical leftists that are being elected. They're being inspired by Mamdani, AOC, Bernie Sanders," RNC Chairman Joe Gruters told Newsmax, adding that the trend hands the GOP favorable matchups in competitive districts nationwide. "The people are going to reject this at the polls," Gruters said, betting that a party drifting this far left has wandered clean off the map most American voters still occupy.

If Colorado follows New York's lead, Democrats won't just be arguing about ideology inside their own party, they'll be handing Republicans a ready-made message for the 2026 midterms that the Democratic Party as a whole has become too radical for mainstream America.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 18:50

The Next Oil Rally Could Be Driven By Stockpile Refilling

Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

• The Middle East conflict has disrupted more than 1 billion barrels of oil supply, but China's massive strategic crude stockpile helped offset the shock by sharply reducing imports, preventing oil prices from surging even higher.

• Countries are now racing to build or replenish strategic petroleum reserves, with the IEA planning to refill the 400 million barrels it released during the crisis and major importers like India looking to expand their emergency stockpiles.

• This wave of reserve rebuilding could create a major new source of oil demand, supporting crude prices once the Middle East crisis fully subsides as governments prioritize energy security alongside the energy transition.

The war in the Middle East has cost the world over a billion barrels in cumulative supply losses. Yet luckily, China had built a reserve of about the same size before the closure of Hormuz, so it stopped buying so much oil, arresting the inevitable price jump. Now, everyone wants to build an oil reserve—or needs to replenish the ones they already have.

Back in March, soon after the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran began, prompting the latter to retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the International Energy Agency said it would release 400 million barrels of crude from its joint emergency reserve. The reserve was set up, along with the IEA, as a response to the Arab oil embargo and other supply disruptions from the 70s, when the world was even more dependent on Middle Eastern crude than it is today.

The release announced in March worried oil market observers because it was set to be the largest ever made, much larger than what the IEA member states released in 2022 when Western sanctions on Russia following its incursion into Ukraine prompted a price spike. Back then, the IEA only released 182 million barrels. Now, member states stood ready to release 400 million barrels, plus millions of barrels from the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve.

All these millions of barrels would need to be replenished once the crisis is over, or even before it is over if it drags on. Analysts have been warning about it and about the potential of this replenishment drive to lift international prices, which have remained stubbornly depressed, even amid fresh reports of new strikes between Iran and the United States. Yet on top of the replenishment drive, there are nations seeking to build their own strategic reserves to insulate themselves from future shocks.

Reuters noted in a recent report that nations that had limited oil reserves at home had felt the pain from the closure of Hormuz more sharply than those with ample reserves. Such a conclusion is, of course, a no-brainer, but it is indicative of something besides the obvious, namely, that crude oil remains the ultimate fuel of the global economy, regardless of the acceleration of transition efforts in the past decade.

Multiple reports following the outbreak of war in the Middle East said it would prompt energy importers to switch to things like wind and solar in order to reduce their dependence on those imports of crude from the Middle East. Indeed, many governments across Asia—the most vulnerable region—did double and triple down on wind and solar, but at the same time signaled they are aware these cannot replace hydrocarbons to any meaningful degree. So they also started thinking about building an oil reserve. China was the inspiration.

There seems to be a pretty comprehensive agreement among energy analysts that China played an instrumental role in keeping the world from drowning in three-digit oil prices. It did this thanks to its tendency to plan well ahead and prepare for adverse events, such as a war in the Middle East. China had been buying oil on the cheap from Iran, Russia, and Venezuela for years, building the most massive oil reserve in the world. Funnily enough, reports about the gap between Chinese crude imports and refinery run rates served to keep a lid on prices, keeping oil cheaper for longer, helping China build its reserve. And when the war came, China slashed imports and dug into its oil inventories.

Following China’s example may be quite a challenge, though it seems simple on the face of it. The challenge, of course, is financial. India, for instance, wants to boost its own oil reserve, which is currently unacceptably low, covering just eight days of imports. The government has already instructed state major ONGC to add 13 million barrels to its crude reserve, but those 13 million barrels will not go a long way in case of shortages—and buying enough oil to help in case of shortages would cost tens of billions of dollars. India, by the way, is not the only large oil importer thinking of boosting its oil reserves. And China will need to refill its reserve, as will IEA members.

What this means is that demand for crude oil is about to rise the moment there is an indication that the crisis in the Middle East is over, for real this time. Even the International Energy Agency—of peak oil demand fame—said in its latest monthly oil report that it expected global oil demand to rebound to 2 million barrels daily in 2027, after dipping by 1.1 million barrels daily this year due to the crisis and its effect on supply and prices. In good news for buyers, the news of stronger demand would probably push oil prices lower.

Tyler Durden Tue, 06/30/2026 - 18:25