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Collin's mom, Kate, also starred on the reality competition series in its premiere season.

The story of the summer has been Lionel Messi.

Japan Trade Chief Says Hormuz Off-Limits As Hostilities Reignite

By Michael Kern of OilPrice.com

Commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is once again off-limits in the near term as the renewed hostilities and threats to vessels led to another spike in risks of transiting the key tanker and container shipping lane, according to Masahiro Okafuji, chair of the Japan Foreign Trade Council.

“No one would go there, because it’s dangerous,” Okafuji told a media conference on Wednesday, as carried by Bloomberg.

Renewed re-routing of the shipping lanes around the Cape of Good Hope on Africa’s southern tip would hike transportation costs by over 30%, according to Okafuji, who is also chief executive at major Japanese trading house Itochu Corporation.

Following the re-escalation in regional hostilities in recent days, the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) reaffirmed on Tuesday its regional threat level for the Strait of Hormuz at “severe”, which it had raised last week after the first signs emerged of the collapse of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

“The regional maritime security threat level remains SEVERE with further deliberate hostile activity likely under current conditions,” JMIC said.

“Mariners should expect sustained naval presence, increased IRGC hailing and monitoring along transit routes, and possible diversion of AIS-equipped vessels to the northern Iranian-controlled route. Enhanced force protection measures, increased VHF hailing, and congestion near anchorage areas should also be anticipated.”

Japan, meanwhile, has been scrambling for alternative oil supply in recent months as its key import route, the Strait of Hormuz, was blocked.

Before the Iran war, Japan and its refiners relied on the Middle East for a massive 95% of all crude imports. But the shock loss of supply forced refiners to seek alternatives and the government to release oil from strategic reserves to offset the lack of supply through the Strait of Hormuz.

Japan in April imported the lowest volume of crude oil from the Middle East on record dating back to 1979 as the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz choked supply from the region.

The oil stocks release, Japan’s biggest ever, has helped refiners increase throughput in recent weeks. So has alternative supply from producers outside the Middle East, including the United States, as well as rare cargoes from Azerbaijan and Latin America.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 19:15

While details of the piece are unknown, Ruby Rippey-Gibney's story could dredge up details of the embarrassing affair that Newsom admitted to in 2007.

They're flat-out fabulous.

They're flat-out fabulous.

The video shows Chan, a retired Marine and NYPD sergeant, getting in between a group of men, one bloodied, allegedly after a fight.

A SoCal gas station erected an anti-American symbol, sparking an uproar — but staff there claim it was a mistake.

Amy Coney Barrett Warns Of Escalating Death Threats Against Supreme Court

It's sad to say, but the truth must be acknowledged - Mob violence and threats of political assassination can often be effective in influencing the policy decisions of courts and governments.  It's the reason why the militant left has consistently used these methods over the course of generations.  It works, and they know it.

It's not that political violence and terrorism produce direct results.  Rather, these actions tent to produce indirect effects by sowing the seeds of fear in the minds of people in the middle - People who are not particularly dedicated to conservative or nationalist causes.  They just want to do their jobs and go home to their families; they have never before considered the possibility that doing their jobs could lead to horrific consequences.  

There have been numerous failed assassination attempts against Donald Trump.  An almost successful attempt on the life of Republican Rep. Steve Scalise by a Bernie Sanders supporter.  A foiled assassination plot against conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh by a leftist seeking to change the balance of the court.  And finally, the successful assassination of conservative speaker and head of TPUSA, Charlie Kirk.  All the evidence points to a radical leftist by the name of Tyler Robinson, who confessed to his own parents and his gay partner that he committed the crime. 

Beyond these cases, there has been a steady stream of threats made against conservative politicians and SCOTUS judges.  Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who used to vote predominantly conservative in her decisions, recently detailed the many threats made against her and her family since the Dobbs v Jackson case which ultimately overturned Roe v Wade and made abortion a states issue instead of a federal issue. 

Justice Amy Coney Barrett details threats she and her family have faced: “I didn't expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one.” pic.twitter.com/aph9X4mfEm

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) July 14, 2026

Barrett mentions the growing number of threats made against her in the wake of the Dobbs leak, as well as being required to wear a bulletproof vest and having her family home swatted.  These kinds of intimidation tactics are grotesque, yes, but if we examine Barrett's voting record after Dobbs it becomes increasingly clear that the threats are working.

This revelation helps to explain why Barrett has recently turned against obvious decisions on such issues as birthright citizenship and mail-in ballots.  She is most likely afraid and trying to mitigate the rage of activist freaks.

Barrett told a House subcommittee on Tuesday that “the threat level” against her and other federal judges “is really high” as she testified about the high court’s 2027 budget request. 

“Those statistics sound abstract, but being on the receiving end of them is not,” Barrett told the House Appropriations subcommittee on financial services and general government, before she shared several anecdotes about threats affecting her and her family. 

The Supreme Court is asking Congress to appropriate $228.4 million for fiscal 2027, a nearly 10% rise since the $207.8 million appropriated for 2026. The increase reflects higher spending on security-related measures, both for the protection of justices and for cybersecurity    

Perhaps more disconcerting than the constant threats is the fact that leftist movements largely dodge the blame for these events when they do happen, which makes it more difficult for exposed figures to do their jobs.  If leftist movements are not called out for their involvement, then the problem will never go away.  Activists are free to continue their campaign of terror. 

Until recently, groups like Antifa were not even treated as real by the government or the media.  If a terrorist organization is not technically "real", then they can't be investigated or prosecuted.   

After nearly every assassination attempt, whether the attackers succeed or not, the propaganda machine floods social media with conspiracy theories scapegoating anyone other than radical progressives.  This is a highly organized psy-op designed to disable conservative anger by sowing seeds of doubt.  Leftist ideology and the groups that promote it always seem to escape culpability. 

Right leaning judges facing potential assassination see this trend; they know that if they are attacked or killed, the spin agents will slither out from under their rocks and turn them into the bad guys.  Even if they survive, they will be accused of "staging" the incident.  The incentive to stand by their convictions diminishes. 

Furthermore, less and less people near the center will feel compelled to seek offices of authority, because they know they will be immediately added to the hit list if they deviate at all from woke demands.  At bottom, if Amy Coney Barrett is compromised by fear, then she should step down from her position.  Even though the viciousness of the discourse is not her fault, she needs to be replaced by someone who can handle the heat. 

It should be noted that the aggressive and unhinged nature of the left-wing will, in the end, result in the most hardcore right-wingers moving to the top.  This is the last thing the progressives should want.  With the center-right, they still might find an empathetic ear; but with hardened conservatives in power - men who are fed up with compromise - leftists are unlikely to find fairness or compassion for their causes.

The more violent the political left becomes, the more callous conservatives will become.  Until, one day, progressives will be hit with a freight train of retribution, and no one will care.    

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 18:50

The Saints' all-time leading rusher is finalizing a reworked deal.

Jalen Brunson played through pain during the final two rounds of the Knicks run to their first championship in 53 years.

It’s the paths we take that end up defining us. Sometimes unwittingly. Nicholas is a living, breathing example of that.

Joe Flacco learned the hard way that being family will only carry you so far when it comes to fantasy football.

It’s easy to form a mob —  and far more difficult to control it. Zohran Mamdani and other tax-the-rich Democrats are finding that out the hard way.

What Does Socialism Actually Deliver?

Authored by Christian Milord via The Epoch Times,

If we examine the history of alleged “democratic” socialism around the globe, it’s not difficult to flesh out the contradictions within its entire framework.

However, for someone who hasn’t studied history or been grounded in the timeless principles of hard work and individual responsibility, socialism might tug at their heartstrings with its utopian claims. They fail to realize that the words “democratic” and “socialism” don’t mix well.

Buzzwords such as affordability, equality, and social justice sound appealing to almost anyone, especially those facing life challenges. However, if you dig deeper, the path toward those ideals involves seizing from those who pull their own weight and handing it over to those who want the easy way out in life. This forced collectivism lies at the root of socialism’s dysfunction, as it generates resentment.

Marxist socialism promises the moon and stars in the form of free this and free that. What the purveyors of this ideology don’t tell the masses is that nothing in life is free and someone has to fork over the money for all the “free” stuff. Folks in the middle- and upper-income strata are coerced into surrendering greater amounts of their hard-won earnings to a centralized government that, in turn, redistributes funds or services to the indigent.

Moreover, socialists demand that everyone practice a minimalist lifestyle while political ideologues enjoy the blessings of a free-market economy. There’s nothing wrong with embracing minimalism if it’s a voluntary decision, but that’s not how socialism operates.

Coercion is the key element in socialism’s playbook, and it tends to hurt the lower-income folks that it claims to fight for in society.

Instead of encouraging poor folks to utilize initiative to succeed, socialists encourage dependency on a bureaucratic state that plays favorites in the battle for resources. This often runs counter to the human drive to freely choose between competing goods, ideas, and services.

Socialism stifles intellectual diversity and is anti-spiritual, since it believes that humans possess all the answers and a divine presence doesn’t play a role in human affairs.

What many young folks fail to realize when they listen to socialist narratives is that socialism is based on emotions and class envy rather than well-reasoned arguments and solutions. The arbitrary nature of socialism can turn any human being into a target of scorn, depending on the mood of those who run the circus. In unfree societies, socialism is kept on life support despite its colossal failures and millions of victims since Russia’s 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

Socialist apologists often repeat the mantra that socialism hasn’t been applied the “correct” way and that is why it continues to fall short. So they triple down on their internal contradictions and hypocrisy, and are doomed to repeat the same dystopian slogans over and over again despite shortages in goods, opportunities, and services.

In a free society, socialists attempt to apply coercion with a gentler demeanor that hides a relentless ambition to dismantle democratic institutions.

In their zeal for permanent revolution, socialists don’t have time to take a breath and actually produce anything of substance. Indeed, they are great at lecturing us and taking from others, but very weak on producing quality products and services that consumers want.

Indeed, socialist leaders exacerbate the cycle of poverty by distorting the free market with price controls and a fixation with victimhood. Socialists ignore the reality that in a free society, victimhood is a choice, as there are countless opportunities to succeed.

Most socialist gatherings and protests involve educated middle- and upper-class folks who have time on their hands to clamor for Marxist ideas they don’t even practice in their daily lives. They benefit from the free market, yet they want the poor to be enslaved to ineffective government programs instead of pursuing the American Dream. Indeed, socialist rabblerousers aren’t fighting the oligarchy because they are the oligarchy.

Another fatal flaw in the socialist edifice is the opposition to charter schools. Why do they oppose alternatives to so many failing public schools? Charters more often than not outperform their public school counterparts in educational outcomes. This can help students succeed more in higher education and the workforce.

What does socialism deliver to society? It plays the zero-sum game by falsely believing that if one person succeeds, someone else fails. How about the possibility that if one person succeeds, it inspires others to work hard in attaining a worthy goal? The road to success can be uneven for anyone, but the persevering effort is what counts.

The primary objective of socialism is power over others by initiating anarchy and class warfare. It stifles natural competition, inherent liberty, and social relations. Socialist activists are adept at pulling the victim card in order to become victimizers of folks they envy, such as the wealthy who already create countless jobs and pay heavy taxes.

To sum up, socialism is a criminal enterprise that utilizes propaganda to convince us that it cares for the poor. In truth, socialists crave power, while their policies only serve to keep lower-income folks in misery. The antidote is equal human rights, free market exchanges, and limited government.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 18:25

Here's how the American dream plays into it.

The two each admitted to violently attacking an elderly, homeless man as he slept in a public park in Arroyo Grande.

Munoz, a native of Katy, Texas, died while in her home state. No cause of death has been provided.

UN insiders, global media, international-aid nonprofiteers and the whole sorry lot of them are too wedded to the Big Lies of Israeli "genocide" and Hamas "freedom fighting" to do a damn thing for the people of Gaza.

A madman was shot dead by a Border Patrol agent after the suspect stabbed an agent near the California-Arizona border last Friday.