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A North Carolina school counselor and wife of a wealthy banker has had her charmed life turned upside down after she allegedly sexted two teenage students, according to cops.

History has come down to a life-and-death struggle between Americanism, which embraces human nature, and communism, which fights it at every turn.

Catastrophe struck the Royals on Tuesday night at Citi Field — and it led to a Little League home run for the Mets.

The Push For A Robotic Workforce: Chris Murphy Introduces Bill For Massive Minimum Wage Hike

Authored by Jonathan Turley via jonathanturley.org,

Sen. Chris Murphy has finally found a constituency that truly gets him. Robots and automated systems around the country likely whirled and beeped with approval as he introduced the Senate version of the Living Wage for All Act. At a time when workers are being replaced at record numbers due to the cheaper labor of automated systems and AI programs, Murphy moved to price out millions of more workers by increasing their costs.

The bill would increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $25 per hour - a 245 percent increase - over 12 years. The far-left senator is following the lead of states like California, where Democrats dramatically cut jobs through such wage increases.

Murphy went on NBC to insist that he is "not a democratic socialist" but then attacked capitalism:

"[T]he Democratic Party has been historically way too timid in taking on corporate power. I think we have to understand that people do not believe that this version of capitalism has worked. And frankly, it hasn't worked. ... This version of capitalism isn't working. Now, I make the argument in the book that we should embrace, you know, what I call a common good capitalism."

He then added:

"And by the way, we can afford it. It's not like we can't pay a $25 minimum wage; we just choose not to because we've become okay with dozens and dozens of people in this country making hundreds of billions of dollars."

It is not clear who the "we" is. While securing a law degree, Murphy has never run a business and has spent his life as a politician, spending other people's money.

I previously wrote about wage hikes and the predictable loss of jobs that followed.

Democratic politicians from New York to California are pushing for a $30 minimum hourly wage for workers. Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and Democratic legislators in California herald their mandatory increases as providing a "living wage" for workers. In Los Angeles, a law requires hourly wages in the hotel and airport industries to rise by $2.50 each year until they reach $30 in 2028.

There is no question that workers are struggling with the high cost of living in California. But blindly raising taxes and minimum wages will exacerbate these problems, not eliminate them.

A recent report by researchers at the University of California-Santa Cruz found evidence of precisely what many economists had warned about in the state's mandatory wage floors. Stephen Owen, an economics lecturer, explained that they found "a plethora of negative outcomes, such as higher menu prices for consumers, reductions in employee working hours, widespread elimination of overtime, and loss of benefits for employees."

In other words, faced with mandated higher labor costs, businesses shrank their labor forces and raised their prices.

None of this is a surprise. Yet even amid such findings, Democrats are doubling down. They believe that because they claim to be the champions of the working class, it does not matter how many people they put out of work.

It is not just workers feeling the brunt of such economically ill-considered measures. In California, a two-person meal can run about $30 due to higher labor costs being passed on to consumers. It is only a matter of time before robots replace these workers.

What is ironic is that the Democrats are hitting the most vulnerable members of the labor force with these minimum wage increases. In my book, "Rage and the Republic," I discussed not only the economic changes unfolding due to AI and robotics but also the expected political miscalculations that are most likely to fuel job losses and wasteful spending. This is one of them.

As discussed in the book, certain industries are already likely to convert to automation due to increasing labor costs:

"For any wealth-maximizing, rational actor in the marketplace, the choice is obvious and inescapable. There is little reason for a restaurant to employ workers to make Happy Meals when they can be done by robotics without healthcare, wage issues, or scheduling conflicts. The very premise of McDonald's is to produce the same meals in the exactly the same way from restaurant to restaurant. That is precisely what robotics do. They will make fries in exactly the same fashion over and over again without variation."

Faced with this threat to the labor force, Murphy and others are moving to do the one thing to accelerate and expand the job losses by increasing the cost of human labor.

Ironically, giving the advantage to the robotic workforce could still work in favor of the growing socialist movement in the party. With more workers out of jobs, more will look to the government for support and a guaranteed income. That will further increase the role of the state. Of course, to expand what Zohran Mamdani called "the warmth of collectivism," millions of human workers will have to be put out in the cold as an overpriced labor force. Citizens will then become what I have called a "kept population," which could have a disastrous impact on the role of citizens in our unique Republic.

What is clear is that Murphy will prove to be the greatest friend a robot has ever had in Congress.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/07/2026 - 20:05

“Your kids, your family, everyone. It doesn’t matter to me if I kill someone. That’s what I do.”

LeBron James is showing serious interest in the Philadelphia 76ers after their trade for Jaylen Brown.

A few weeks ago, Hawks fans expressed their displeasure with Atlanta’s second first-round draft choice, Zuby Ejiofor. All it took was two summer league games for them to change their tune.3

The migrant rammed an ICE vehicle, ignoring commands from officers to pull over, and tried to use his vehicle to run over an ICE agent, the immigration officials alleged. 

Novak Djokovic was pushed to play more than five hours by Felix Auger-Aliassime.

A leftist Wisconsin assemblywoman running for governor in the state has expressed remorse for calling the police over a public art display protesting the war in Gaza and urging them to investigate it as a hate crime.

Caitlin Clark is a generational talent in women's professional basketball — but the WNBA has treated the Indiana Fever star like a virus that the league’s antibodies seek to reject. 

More than half of Americans fear that they, or someone in their household, could lose their job to AI. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll ‌showed that concern about AI-related job losses is widely shared across the population. (Other polls are more optimistic, suggesting a range of opinions.) While AI could create new challenges in the job...

Pacers rookie Kam Jones questioned his NBA future after he was ordered out of his car at gunpoint following a police chase last year, new body cam footage obtained by The California Post shows.

Byron Buxton’s latest injury is going to cost him extended time after all.

We just wanted to continue to feel the unity, momentum, awesome vibes and the belief, which Pochettino’s squad crop dusted into the ether.

All that's missing is the slogan: Tenants of New York unite! Dilapidated public housing for all!

These Are The Countries With Lower GDP Than Elon Musk's Net Worth

Elon Musk recently became the world’s first trillionaire following SpaceX’s IPO earlier this month. At roughly $1 trillion, his personal fortune now exceeds the annual economic output of most countries around the world.

This map, via Visual Capitalist's Jeffe Desjardins, highlights the countries with nominal GDP below Musk’s estimated net worth, using 2026 projections from the IMF World Economic Outlook (April 2026) and Forbes real-time estimates of Musk’s wealth.

Countries With Less Than $1 Trillion in GDP

Below is a list of countries with nominal GDP under $1 trillion, based on the IMF’s latest projections for 2026:

Country 2026 GDP ($B) 🇹🇼 Taiwan 977 🇮🇪 Ireland 779 🇧🇪 Belgium 777 🇸🇪 Sweden 760 🇮🇱 Israel 720 🇦🇷 Argentina 688 🇸🇬 Singapore 660 🇦🇹 Austria 624 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates 622 🇳🇴 Norway 599 🇹🇭 Thailand 580 🇨🇴 Colombia 540 🇻🇳 Vietnam 527 🇲🇾 Malaysia 516 🇵🇭 Philippines 512 🇧🇩 Bangladesh 511 🇩🇰 Denmark 504 🇷🇴 Romania 481 🇿🇦 South Africa 480 🇭🇰 Hong Kong 450 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 433 🇪🇬 Egypt 430 🇨🇱 Chile 408 🇵🇰 Pakistan 408 🇵🇪 Peru 381 🇵🇹 Portugal 381 🇳🇬 Nigeria 377 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan 360 🇫🇮 Finland 338 🇩🇿 Algeria 317 🇬🇷 Greece 308 🇮🇷 Iran 300 🇳🇿 New Zealand 279 🇭🇺 Hungary 271 🇮🇶 Iraq 265 🇺🇦 Ukraine 225 🇶🇦 Qatar 217 🇲🇦 Morocco 194 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan 182 🇰🇼 Kuwait 173 🇸🇰 Slovakia 169 🇦🇴 Angola 152 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 148 🇰🇪 Kenya 147 🇪🇨 Ecuador 138 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic 136 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico 129 🇬🇹 Guatemala 129 🇨🇩 Congo (DRC) 123 🇪🇹 Ethiopia 122 🇬🇭 Ghana 118 🇴🇲 Oman 117 🇭🇷 Croatia 117 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire 112 🇷🇸 Serbia 112 🇻🇪 Venezuela 111 🇱🇺 Luxembourg 110 🇨🇷 Costa Rica 110 🇱🇹 Lithuania 106 🇧🇾 Belarus 102 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 99 🇺🇾 Uruguay 96 🇵🇦 Panama 95 🇹🇿 Tanzania 95 🇸🇮 Slovenia 87 🇲🇲 Myanmar 84 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan 83 🇧🇴 Bolivia 81 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan 78 🇺🇬 Uganda 73 🇨🇲 Cameroon 65 🇯🇴 Jordan 65 🇹🇳 Tunisia 61 🇵🇾 Paraguay 61 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe 57 🇲🇴 Macao 54 🇱🇻 Latvia 54 🇱🇾 Libya 52 🇰🇭 Cambodia 52 🇪🇪 Estonia 52 🇧🇭 Bahrain 49 🇳🇵 Nepal 46 🇨🇾 Cyprus 45 🇸🇩 Sudan 45 🇮🇸 Iceland 44 🇬🇪 Georgia 43 🇭🇳 Honduras 42 🇿🇲 Zambia 41 🇸🇳 Senegal 40 🇸🇻 El Salvador 40 🇭🇹 Haiti 39 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 37 🇱🇧 Lebanon 34 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea 34 🇬🇾 Guyana 34 🇲🇱 Mali 34 🇦🇱 Albania 33 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso 33 🇦🇲 Armenia 32 🇲🇹 Malta 31 🇬🇳 Guinea 30 🇲🇳 Mongolia 28 🇧🇯 Benin 28 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago 27 🇹🇩 Chad 26 🇳🇪 Niger 25 🇳🇮 Nicaragua 24 🇰🇬 Kyrgyz Republic 24 🇬🇦 Gabon 23 🇲🇿 Mozambique 23 🇯🇲 Jamaica 23 🇧🇼 Botswana 22 🇲🇩 Moldova 22 🇲🇰 North Macedonia 22 🇲🇬 Madagascar 21 🇹🇯 Tajikistan 20 🇦🇫 Afghanistan 20 🇱🇦 Laos 19 🇲🇼 Malawi 18 🇷🇼 Rwanda 17 🇳🇦 Namibia 17 🇲🇺 Mauritius 17 🇧🇸 Bahamas, The 17 🇨🇬 Congo, Rep. of the 17 🇧🇳 Brunei 17 🇵🇸 West Bank and Gaza 16 🇲🇷 Mauritania 14 🇸🇴 Somalia 14 🇽🇰 Kosovo 14 🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea 14 🇹🇬 Togo 13 🇲🇪 Montenegro 10 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein 9.4 🇧🇧 Barbados 8.5 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone 8.3 🇧🇮 Burundi 8.1 🇲🇻 Maldives 8.1 🇾🇪 Yemen 7.4 🇫🇯 Fiji 6.4 🇸🇸 South Sudan 6.1 🇸🇷 Suriname 5.9 🇸🇿 Eswatini 5.8 🇱🇷 Liberia 5.6 🇦🇩 Andorra 4.9 🇩🇯 Djibouti 4.7 🇦🇼 Aruba 4.7 🇧🇹 Bhutan 3.9 🇨🇫 Central African Republic 3.5 🇧🇿 Belize 3.5 🇨🇻 Cabo Verde 3.4 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau 3.0 🇱🇸 Lesotho 3.0 🇬🇲 Gambia, The 2.8 🇱🇨 Saint Lucia 2.8 🇸🇲 San Marino 2.4 🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda 2.4 🇸🇨 Seychelles 2.3 🇹🇱 Timor-Leste 2.2 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands 1.8 🇰🇲 Comoros 1.8 🇬🇩 Grenada 1.5 🇻🇺 Vanuatu 1.4 🇼🇸 Samoa 1.4 🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1.2 🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe 1.2 🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis 1.1 🇩🇲 Dominica 0.8 🇹🇴 Tonga 0.7 🇫🇲 Micronesia 0.5 🇰🇮 Kiribati 0.4 🇵🇼 Palau 0.4 🇲🇭 Marshall Islands 0.3 🇳🇷 Nauru 0.2 🇹🇻 Tuvalu 0.1

Of the IMF’s 195 tracked economies, 174 are projected to produce less than $1 trillion in GDP during 2026.

Taiwan comes closest to the threshold at an estimated $977 billion, illustrating just how exclusive the trillion-dollar club has become.

The 21 Trillion-Dollar Economies

Just 21 countries are projected to generate more than $1 trillion in nominal GDP during 2026.

Rank City Family Income Needed to Live Comfortably (2026) 1 San Francisco, CA $407,597 2 San Jose, CA $402,771 3 Oakland, CA $371,488 4 Boston, MA $368,742 5 Arlington, VA $368,326 6 New York, NY $337,875 7 Seattle, WA $334,131 8 Irvine, CA $327,226 9 Honolulu, HI $321,069 10 Washington, DC $319,405 11 Portland, OR $313,747 12 San Diego, CA $312,915 13 Denver, CO $303,514 14 Jersey City, NJ $297,606 15 Minneapolis, MN $288,787 16 Anchorage, AK $285,210 17 Los Angeles, CA $281,466 18 Sacramento, CA $279,802 19 Newark, NJ $278,221 20 St. Paul, MN $278,221 21 Riverside, CA $270,566 22 Colorado Springs, CO $270,566 23 Tacoma, WA $264,742 24 Madison, WI $263,245 25 Philadelphia, PA $252,845 26 Reno, NV $251,264 27 Boise, ID $251,181 28 Raleigh, NC $249,434 29 Buffalo, NY $247,853 30 Indianapolis, IN $247,021 31 Phoenix, AZ $245,523 32 Chicago, IL $242,278 33 Charlotte, NC $241,446 34 Pittsburgh, PA $238,534 35 Columbus, OH $238,534 36 Durham, NC $237,619 37 Virginia Beach, VA $237,702 38 Atlanta, GA $232,378 39 Omaha, NE $232,294 40 Miami, FL $231,130 41 Kansas City, MO $230,131 42 Plano, TX $230,464 43 Austin, TX $229,050 44 Tampa, FL $226,720 45 Baltimore, MD $224,224 46 Richmond, VA $223,974 47 Fort Worth, TX $217,235 48 Tulsa, OK $215,238 49 Dallas, TX $214,490 50 Orlando, FL $214,157 51 Nashville, TN $213,408 52 Jacksonville, FL $211,578 53 Houston, TX $204,672 54 New Orleans, LA $197,766 55 Memphis, TN $193,939 56 San Antonio, TX $192,608

Switzerland and Poland round out the list at roughly $1.1 trillion, making them the smallest trillion-dollar economies Musk could pass next.

GDP vs. Wealth

Comparing GDP with personal wealth isn’t an apples-to-apples exercise. GDP measures the total value of goods and services produced within a country over a single year, while net worth reflects the accumulated value of assets after liabilities.

Even so, the comparison offers a striking sense of scale. Rather than suggesting Musk is “worth more than” a country, it shows that his estimated fortune now exceeds the value of everything many nations are expected to produce over the course of one year.

What is Elon Musk’s Fortune?

Elon Musk became a trillionaire with the SpaceX IPO earlier this month.

However, since the IPO, SpaceX’s stock price has been volatile. This means Musk’s net worth also fluctuates considerably, roughly within the range of $950 billion to $1.4 trillion. For this visualization, we used $1 trillion as the threshold for comparison purposes.

Learn about the biggest IPOs in history and where SpaceX fits in, in this infographic on Voronoi.

Tyler Durden Tue, 07/07/2026 - 19:40

Super El Niño Could Trigger Major Coal Boom In India

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

The super El Niño weather phenomenon this year will significantly boost India's demand for coal-fired power generation over the next 12 months, as a generation gap could occur with higher temperatures, the Finland-based think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report on Monday.

The El Niño, the recurrent weather pattern driving global temperatures higher, would affect most energy systems globally, but none would be as affected as India's, according to CREA.

The El Niño, typically associated with lower wind speeds and less rainfall, could reduce India's power generation from wind and hydropower. This will open a gap in generation, CREA warns, adding that the gap will be mostly bridged by a surge in coal power generation.

"Combine the lost output from renewables and the increased demand for power, and India could face a generation gap of nearly 18 TWh," CREA's analysts said in the report.

"Super El Niño Could Trigger Major Coal Boom In India, which would release an estimated 17 million tonnes of CO2."

India, the world's second-biggest coal importer and user after China, continues to rely on coal despite a booming renewable energy sector. The Super El Niño could vindicate India's approach not to give up on coal.

Overall, coal-fired power generation and capacity installations in India continue to rise, and coal remains a key pillar of India's electricity mix, with about a 60% share of total power output.

Despite booming renewable capacity additions, India continues to rely on coal to meet most of its power demand as authorities also look to avoid blackouts in cases of severe heat waves.

Coal will still be a key part of India's power system for the next two decades, Rajnath Ram, adviser for energy at the government policy think tank, NITI Aayog, said at the end of last year.

"We cannot be subjective about coal. The question is how sustainably we can use it," the official noted.

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

The John Jay College of Criminal Justice employed a criminal right under its own nose — a bookkeeper who stole more than $700,000 meant for students, according to a bombshell indictment Tuesday.

Pay yourself first — over and over again! Shameless city lawmakers are pushing to give themselves eye-watering 18.2% raises — in a scheme that will also give them automatic pay hikes of at least 2% every year in the future. City Council Member Nantasha Williams (D-27) introduced a bill that would inflate her and her...