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Last summer, the Dodgers nearly lost the NL West during a horrid 40-day stretch.

The 77-year-old struggled to sing "Dancing on the Ceiling" Wednesday night, sitting down on the stage multiple times while battling dizziness.

The 77-year-old struggled to sing "Dancing on the Ceiling" Wednesday night, sitting down on the stage multiple times while battling dizziness.

The USA will be comfortable favorites to win their first knockout stage game since 2002.

Daniel Riva, found murdered in a luxury Myanmar hotel, was allegedly stabbed in the head and neck by his ex-wife, who could now face the death penalty on murder charges.

Russia Says It Downed Almost 700 Ukrainian Drones In Massive Overnight Barrage As Fuel Shortages Worsen

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed Friday morning that the military intercepted at least 660 Ukrainian drones across the country and Crimea, in what shaped up to be one of the most massive overnight aerial assaults since the 2022 invasion began. Drones being sent across the border in the hundreds has become a nightly, highly escalatory affair of late.

Anti-air defenses in the capital region were busy, with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirming that at least 47 inbound drones on a were downed starting around 2:30am local time. Sobyanin reported no casualties or structural damage, stating only that emergency services were working at the sites of fallen debris. This month has already witnessed several instances of major airport closures among the capital's four commercial hubs.

If Russia did indeed down around 660 drones, this means there there was possibly over a thousand initially launched, given the intercept rate is typically less than the amount of UAV's which make it through. This has been the pattern from both sides of the border.

Illustrative: Low-flying suicide drones have defined much of this war, wreaking havoc on both sides.

Drone injures and strikes were reported outside the capital region though. For example in the Tula region, over 110 miles to the south of Moscow, Governor Dmitry Milyayev announced that a woman was wounded during the strike.

He also described that an "industrial facility" was struck in the town of Novomoskovsk. Some unverified reports quickly identified the target as the massive Azot chemical plant. Social media videos point to a drone strike.

Ukraine is intent on making life inside Russia as painful as possible, in order to put pressure on the Kremlin to end the war. According to fresh reporting:

A fast-growing number of regional officials and gas station chains across Russia are restricting gasoline and diesel sales as Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries and supply networks take a mounting toll on supplies. 

Fuel rationing measures were in place in at least 56 Russian regions as of Thursday, according to open-source data analyzed by The Moscow Times. 

In dozens more regions, residents are complaining about fast-rising gasoline prices, closed filling stations and miles-long lines, while some local authorities and major retailers remain hesitant to enact rationing. 

“In some districts of our republic, there is no fuel at gas stations right now, so people go to [the capital] Kyzyl to refuel,” said a resident of Tyva, a southern Siberian republic roughly the size of Tunisia. 

Ukraine's asymmetric warfare against Russia's much-larger and better armed military machine is in a significantly better position than the status of a year or so ago. Russian forces still have the upper-hand on the front line in the east, but the pain clearly being inflicted on Russia's economy can't be ignored at this point.

Smoke was rising from the Azot chemical plant in Novomoskovsk, Tula region, after a massive drone attack overnight and in the morning. Regional authorities confirmed damage to an industrial facility, power lines and a residential building. #Russia pic.twitter.com/ANkCXXyj7T

— NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) June 26, 2026

In the meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had announced Thursday a 40-day "influence operation" engineered by Ukraine's SBU security service designed to "compel" Russia to end the war.

The sheer volume of Friday's overnight attack underscores that Zelensky and Ukraine's military feel they have some rare momentum going and so must capitalize on it. Many regions of Russia seem powerless to stop the inbound drone waves, given conventional air defenses are set up to defend primarily against larger, faster-moving projectiles like missiles or jets.

Tyler Durden Fri, 06/26/2026 - 07:45

More than 700 rabbis from across the U.S. signed an open letter demanding Mayor Zohran Mamdani apologize for calling the American Israel Public Affairs Committee "monsters" who move "millions in dark money" to preserve their power.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for the military to bolster its “deadly and destructive offensive posture,” while South Korea plans to expand its drone warfare capabilities.

In cities across northern Venezuela, neighbors helped each other dig through rubble to search for loved ones, after back-to-back earthquakes that officials say killed more than 230 people and left thousands injured.

OpenAI Plans Delaying IPO Until 2027, Blames SpaceX

One month ago, during the height of the tokenmaxxing craze - when companies were spending ridiculous amounts of money, in many cases without knowing they were even doing so, just to test out the latest agentic craze - first OpenAI and then Anthropic rushed to announce they will follow in the footsteps of the SpaceX IPO, and were planning (or rather hoping) to go public in the next quarter or two. To validate its euphoric IPO dreams, Anthropic even trotted out a lafughable ARR of $47 billion, a number which besides being laughably incoherent and a non-GAAP mish-mash of adjustments and double counting, also took advantage of said tokenmaxxing frenzy.

Then following a furious blowback against said tokenmaxxing which has seen a collapse in agentic spending and an aggressive shift to much cheaper Chinese models, we said two weeks ago that we are eagerly awaiting Anthropic's new ARR, one which reflects the revulsion to Claude's stratospheric token costs.

Meanwhile, Anthropic quietly annualized the one-time bumper revenue from Feb-May on the agentic splurge when nobody had any idea what they were paying, to come up with the ludicrous $47BN ARR.

Let's see what ARR is next month after clients finally checked their token bills.

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 11, 2026

And while we wait, Anthropic's biggest competitor, OpenAI - which unlike its peer has been far less vocal about its latest annualized revenue numbers - appears to have realized that going public at a time when agentic spending is suddenly in freefall (Goldman's best "efforts" to predict 120 quadrillion monthly tokens by 2030 notwithstanding) may not be the best idea, and according to the NYT is now leaning toward punting its IPO until next year in hopes that the AI bubble will be even bigger next year.

OpenIA's odds of a 2026 IPO promptly tumbled on Polymarket, and were last below 30% from over 50% before the report.

So what is going on, and how did OpenAI - which earlier this month said it had filed confidential paperwork with securities regulators to kick off the process for going public, but it did not commit publicly to any time window - frame the delay so it doesn't sounds like it rushed out its plans to IPO on a one-time bumper revenue burst, only to reverse them as the overpaid agentic euphoria has fizzled? 

Why blame Elon of course.

The NYT reports that when the ChatGPT maker hired bankers and lawyers with an eye toward IPOing as soon as the third or fourth quarter of this year, Sam Altman pushed those advisers to find a way for the start-up to be valued at $1 trillion, up from the company’s last private valuation of $730 billion. 

OpenAI’s advisers presented company executives with the option of waiting until 2027 to go public with a $1 trillion valuation, or lower the targeted valuation for a quicker IPO, which would be a disaster as the IPO would effectively admit that OpenAI can't keep up with the growth rate of Anthropic which a month ago raised $65 billion in a $965 billion private funding round. Altman responded that any change to the trillion-dollar valuation was a nonstarter.

But, the report goes on, "a cascade of recent developments has caused OpenAI’s executives to shift away from their most aggressive aspirations" and the primary scapegoat is Elon Musk’s, and specifically the performance of SpaceX after its I.P.O. this month. "It was the largest ever, raising more than $85 billion and reaching a valuation of $1.77 trillion on its debut. Since then, SpaceX’s stock has been on a downward slide, as shares slumped to $153 at the end of the trading day on Thursday after reaching a high of $202 last week."

Realizing it would look very stupid if it just blamed the very same company that prompted it to rush its IPO in the first place, the NYT also blamed global markets which "have also been choppy in recent weeks, with tech stocks dragging down indexes as investors question whether AI companies will live up to their sky-high promises."

Nowhere in this above is there a mention of the only thing that actually does matter to investors: the financials, and one can only imagine what is going on there after the early Q2 "tokenmaxxing" agentic burst which has now fizzled. OpenAI said this year that it was generating $2 billion in revenue each month but we are patiently waiting for an update now that the latest series of open Chinese models offer 95% of the US frontier performance for 10% of the price (as discussed in "Answering The "Trillion Dollar Question": Are China's AI Models A Better Value Than US Models"). 

It's not just China: OpenAI faces acute pressures at home too. Anthropic, which offers a Claude Code tool for creating sophisticated software code, has been far more successful in selling its service to enterprises (at least until the tokenmaxxing fiasco). At the same time, Google’s Gemini, the tech giant’s flagship consumer AI product, has become popular with users.

The NYT however is correct that OpenAI’s postponing its IPO plans - for whatever reason - will disappoint Wall Street and Silicon Valley, especially not if but when its main rival Anthropic, which has been in very hot water with the Trump admin for months, does the same. 

There's more.

Besides creating SpaceX strawmen, OpenAI is also grappling with other issues. Late last year, CFO Sarah Friar said it was not pursuing an I.P.O. at the time and was focusing on shoring up its finances. However, since then the company has done just the opposite as it has continued to pour money into data centers and computing power, with no indications of slowing down. 

Some OpenAI executives appeared to have changed their minds about an IPO just a few months after Friar said the company was not looking to go public. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company planned to go public by the end of 2026. That surprised some employees because they thought the company was not on a strong enough financial footing.

The company has also been spending like a drunken sailor on marketing and recruiting high-profile engineering talent from companies like Meta and Google. Realizing that it is losing market share to both Anthropic and Chinese open-sourced models, ChatGPT is also searching for other lines of revenue, including dabbling with placing ads inside ChatGPT and striking e-commerce deals with companies like Shopify and Stripe that would allow people to buy things from online stores directly inside ChatGPT.

The biggest problem facing OpenAI, however, is that growth has plateaued: after years of surging downloads of ChatGPT’s consumer app, those numbers have slowed and continue to hover around 900 million users, surprising investors who believed the company would easily hit one billion.

And the wildcard is now that the US government is actively throttling the latest frontier models over concerns they may hack sensitive government agencies, today the Information reported that OpenAI is releasing its latest GPT-5.6 model only as a limited preview to a small group of partners. The reason, according to Sam Altman: the U.S. government asked it to. Altman reportedly told staff that the government will be "approving access customer by customer" during the preview period, with a broader release potentially following a couple of weeks later. This comes after Anthropic took a similar path with Mythos, and after the White House forced Anthropic to withdraw Fable and Mythos over national security concerns. 

And now that the "uncorruptible" Trump admin is actively involved in picking winners and losers in the frontier model race, both OpenAI and Anthropic will watch their ARR collapse as most enterprise clients realize they will have better productivity gains by going with the latest Chinese models which, paradoxcially, are now easier to access in the US than domestic made versions. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 06/26/2026 - 07:25

Boiling Frog Nation

Authored by Kevin Finn via AmericanThinker.com,

I almost feel sorry for leftists. Almost. But I don’t. The reason is simple: so much of what they say and do runs counter to the core principles on which this country was founded.

Over the years, I’ve challenged dozens of left-leaning friends and acquaintances to name the top ten things the political left has done in the last quarter-century to make America safer, stronger, more prosperous, or more united. I have yet to receive a substantive answer. One person offered a list that included ObamaCare and the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA). A quick review shows that, like many Democrat initiatives, these created more problems than they solved.

What makes me almost pity the left is that most leftists I know personally are decent, pleasant people -- so long as the conversation stays light: weather, movies, or sports. Venture into politics or culture, however, and the discussion turns surreal, like chatting with the Mad Hatter.

These individuals consider themselves well-informed.

They read the daily papers, watch network news, and never miss 60 Minutes. They speak of Rachel Maddow as if she were a close friend and dismiss Fox News out of hand. Yet they’ve never heard of journalists like John Solomon nor outlets like the Epoch Times. It rarely occurs to them to seek out differing perspectives. “Garbage in, garbage out,” as the old saying goes.

Søren Kierkegaard observed that there are two ways to err: to believe what is not true, and to refuse to believe what is true. Leftists frequently demonstrate both. They linger on stories long after those stories have been debunked, while major developments that threaten our country and culture receive little or no attention.

Consider a recent example. Legacy media devoted intense coverage to algae growing in the reflecting pool on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

One might think it was a national emergency. The reporting largely blamed the new blue liner and warm, shallow water. What it downplayed were the reports of vandalism that damaged the recently restored pool in the first place.

Meanwhile, far more consequential stories are ignored.

Tulsi Gabbard’s declassification of documents credibly alleging that Anthony Fauci’s agency helped fund the Wuhan lab, misled Congress about COVID-19’s origins, and overstated the effectiveness of vaccines, masks, lockdowns, and social distancing drew almost no mainstream coverage.

Conservatives have repeatedly labeled certain events “the scandal of our time,” only to watch legacy media minimize, distort, or bury them. The list is long: Benghazi, the Skolkovo technology transfer, Hillary Clinton’s emails, ObamaCare’s structural failures, the Russia collusion narrative, the surge of illegal immigration under Biden-Harris-Mayorkas policies, the murders of American citizens by illegal immigrants, the trafficking of hundreds of thousands of children, the rise of Islamism and socialism in American institutions, routine urban violence, questionable election irregularities, politically motivated prosecutions, and repeated calls for violence that have contributed to an emerging assassination culture.

These stories surface in conservative outlets, receive brief attention, then fade as the next crisis erupts. The public’s attention is constantly reset.

The kettle is simmering. The frog is growing restless.

In much of Western Europe and the United Kingdom, citizens have watched their cultural foundations erode with little effective resistance. America still has time to choose a different path.

True justice demands accountability. When the guilty face no consequences and the innocent continue to suffer, trust in institutions collapses. A nation cannot endure indefinitely if a large portion of its citizens -- perhaps a third to half -- work actively against its founding ideals.

The solution is not despair, but renewed commitment: to demand transparency, support independent journalism, engage in civil debate, and vote for leaders who uphold the Constitution and the rule of law.

Only by insisting on truth over narrative can we repair what has been damaged and secure a stronger future for the next generation.

Tyler Durden Fri, 06/26/2026 - 07:20

The podcaster has taken to wasting his talents on an eccentric, toxic agenda: Mysteriously pro-Vladimir Putin, obsessively anti-Israel, weirdly ashamed of America.

"On the face of it, this is cruel and extreme suffering from this child caused by the neglect of the parents."

"The Sussexes’ ongoing tensions with the royals actually stem from Harry and his own family," royal insider Amanda Matta told Page Six.

"The Sussexes’ ongoing tensions with the royals actually stem from Harry and his own family," royal insider Amanda Matta told Page Six.

In this episode of American Icons, presented by Fox Nation, comedian and actor Sebastian Conelli takes viewers inside one of downtown Manhattan’s most legendary landmarks: Fraunces Tavern. What looks like a classic old New York tavern turns out to be a front-row seat to some of the earliest power moves in American history. Conelli digs...

The Post’s Mollie Walker and Ethan Sears predict who the Rangers and Islanders will select Friday in the first round of the NHL draft:

New Jersey’s flagship public university is bleeding red ink because of the insane money grab that has engulfed the business of college sports – yet the state’s senior senator in Washington is strangely at odds with legislation to reform the system, On The Money has learned. US Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) should have unique insight...

"Unlike Anything I've Seen In 40 Years": Explosion In Data-Centers And Memory Costs Fueling Third Inflation Wave

We're finally starting to see hints of relief when it comes to inflation. Prices at the pump are starting to come down, monthly core CPI momentum has slowed, used cars were down around 2% YoY, and food inflation is starting to moderate. On the other hand, there's America's massive explosion in artificial-intelligence infrastructure - which is beginning to push prices up on everything from electricity to smartphones.

On Thursday Apple announced a 15-25% price hike on Mac computers and iPads, after CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that the jump in costs was "unlike anything he had seen in any area in over 40 years." An Apple spokesperson placed the blame on the "rapid expansion of AI data centers, which has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage," causing component prices to surge.

Elon Musk agrees...

Tim Cook, who told The Wall Street Journal that the jump in costs was unlike anything he had seen “in any area in over 40 years.”

Biggest price jump in anything I’ve ever seen too. https://t.co/aypJGgssnN

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2026

As the Wall Street Journal notes; 

The money pouring into the AI arms race is unprecedented. Analysts peg capital spending at five of the so-called hyperscalers—Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Oracle—at $741 billion this year, according to FactSet, up nearly 75% from last year.

Where is all that money going? While much of the conversation is focused on what AI can do, the build-out itself is strikingly physical, said Columbia University economist Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh. -WSJ

AI data centers require specific, sophisticated equipment to ensure cool, stable operation - as well as electric and fiber-optic cables and backup generators in order to keep them running 24-7. According to the report, Van Nieuwerburgh estimates that the AI buildout could cost somewhere in the range of $8 trillion over the next six years. As such, the demand for components shared throughout the economy (memory, for example), the effects are now trickling down to consumer electronics - like iPads. Other companies such as Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have all raised prices on devices. 

According to the Labor Department, consumer prices for computer software and accessories were up around 15% from a year earlier in May, while the Department's measure of wholesale electronic components and accessories shot up 27% from a year earlier last month. 

 When it comes to electricity - the price began to rapidly increase during covid - and it's now slingshotting even higher. Note the rate of change in the lower panel. 

According to Goldman, data centers will account for nearly half of US growth in power demand through 2030 - and see consumer electricity prices rising around 6% annually in 2026 and 2027. 

The Journal also notes that while tariffs and oil were one-time economic shocks, the AI shock to demand could persist for years. 

That dynamic is reflected in the rally in the shares of chip stocks, which have moved sharply higher on investor expectations of sharply higher demand. Even with a sharp selloff this week, the PHLX Semiconductor Index is up about 150% over the past year.

Of course, more than just chips go into data centers. And like chips, a lot of the other things that go into building and running a data center are used widely across the economy. That could raise costs for a variety of businesses, which may then try to recoup those costs by charging consumers higher prices.

In some instances, the AI build-out could also add to labor costs. Wages for workers who are in demand from data-center construction have been picking up: Average hourly earnings for electrical and wiring-installation contractors were up 6.5% in April from a year earlier, which compared with 3.6% for all private-sector workers. -WSJ

Still, economics aren't predicting an AI-fueled inflation surge like we saw during Covid. 

On The Other Side Of This - Disinflation?

In November, now-Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh wrote in a WSJ op-ed that "AI will be a significant disinflationary force, increasing productivity and bolstering American competitiveness," arguing "productivity improvements should drive significant increases in real take-home wages. A 1-percentage-point increase in annual productivity growth would double standards of living within a single generation." 

Yet, UBS economists think that the delta between the current building frenzy and AI lowering prices will be at least a couple of years. 

According to a Monday survey by the National Association for Business Economics, 81% of those polled said the AI build-out will add to inflation over the next year.

"In the first phase of any major technological revolution, you tend to have a strain on limited resources, and that tends to put upward pressure on prices," EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco - president of NABE - told The Journal. 

TL;DR - the AI build-out may keep inflation broadly elevated, and at some point it may all be worth it in the form of disinflationary productivity. Then again, who's going to buy anything when tens of millions are without jobs that are now done by AI?

Tyler Durden Fri, 06/26/2026 - 06:55

At 43, the Oscar winner is expecting her third child, and her announcement has reignited an age-old debate: When, exactly, is a woman supposedly "too old" to become a mother?