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"Sanctions, Asset Freezes, Visa Bans, Tariffs": GOP Senator Readies Bill Against Canada Over Toxic Wildfire Smoke

Summary:

• Questions Swirl Whether Ecoterrorism May Have Accelerated Wildfires 
• Economic Activity Impacted in Some States 
• WaPo Warns Smoke Plume To Worsen 
• GOP Members Blast Canada Over Toxic Smoke; Sanction Bill Against Canada Set To Be Introduced  
• Toxic Smoke Plume Over Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast 
• Canada's Wildfire Management Failures Choke Millions Of Americans With Toxic Smoke

GOP Sen. Prepares Sanctions Bill On Lefties in Canada  

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) appeared on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle, hosted by Laura Ingraham, on Friday and provided new color about his bill to sanction Canada over the toxic wildfire smoke that has created an environmental disaster across parts of the U.S.

Air-quality map as of Saturday morning:

"We're going to put sanctions on them, hold their assets, make sure they don't have visas, and impose tariffs because we have to ensure that the people suffering are compensated," Moreno told Ingraham.

Moreno continued, "This is an abject, avoidable disaster. And the left, who by the way, talks about climate change every single day, this is the worst environmental disaster you could ever imagine!"

"This is totally avoidable. And it's not due to climate change. It's due to leadership change in Canada that's caused this problem," he added. 

Senator Bernie Moreno tells Fox that the US will be sanctioning Canada due to the deteriorating air quality from the wildfires:

We're going to put sanctions on them, holding their assets, making sure they don't have visas, we'll put tariffs because we have to make sure the… pic.twitter.com/3YBnup29mj

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 17, 2026

Where are the Democrats demanding accountability from progressives in Canada for an environmental crisis that could have been mitigated through proper forest management?

Tens of millions of Americans across the Midwest and eastern U.S. are being exposed to toxic wildfire smoke, with a full day outdoors in metro areas resulting in pollution exposure comparable to smoking 10 cigarettes.

Yet the outrage from Democrats, who champion climate issues, is nowhere to be found because they are not allowed to criticize their own.

Trump:

pic.twitter.com/rbe5QvMOTG

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 17, 2026 Toxic Wildfire Smoke Begins To Disrupt Local Economic Activity As GOP Senator Readies Canada Sanctions Bill

The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang reports that deteriorating air quality across the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast could be "as bad as or worse than during the historic 2023 wildfire event."

"It could get worse before it gets better," Capital Weather warned.

VERY UNHEALTHY: DC among cities with worst air on earth this morning. 😖

Air quality as bad or worse than during historic 2023 wildfire event. Could get worse before it gets better.

We'll have updates through the day: https://t.co/IvQi50uJhU pic.twitter.com/k1bchBctgR

— Capital Weather (@capitalweather) July 17, 2026

Spending a full day outdoors in Washington, D.C., or New York City is equivalent to smoking roughly 10 cigarettes, according to health experts.

The economic toll is already mounting. For example, Six Flags Great America in Illinois closed on Friday because of "hazardous" air quality. 

NEW: Six Flags Great America is CLOSED today, Friday July 17, according to an update on the park website.

Air conditions are still in the “hazardous” category under EPA limits due to Canadian wildfire smoke in the @SFGreat_America area.

The Hurricane Harbor Chicago and… pic.twitter.com/jaPb22huQc

— Marcus Leshock (@marcusleshock) July 17, 2026

More disruptions.

JUST IN: Cedar Point has CLOSED EARLY due to the Canadian wildfire smoke that rolled into the Sandusky, Ohio area today.

The amusement park made the announcement and posted this statement:

“Due to the poor air quality caused by the Canadian wildfires, @CedarPoint will be… pic.twitter.com/PRnFbky980

— Marcus Leshock (@marcusleshock) July 16, 2026

Wildfire smoke in Pennsylvania: What’s closed in the Pittsburgh region? https://t.co/bot8BjCF4Y pic.twitter.com/t1ws1X9ldR

— WPXI (@WPXI) July 17, 2026

Dutch Wonderland amusement park announced it will be closed on Friday due to air quality concerns amid ongoing high Canadian wildfire smoke levels. pic.twitter.com/7xFeqQvka5

— CBS 21 News (@CBS21NEWS) July 17, 2026

"Canada is burning: 700+ active wildfires, 8.2 million acres already destroyed. Smoke choking North America again. This doesn't feel like normal wildfire season anymore. It feels like a war on our forests," Our Country Our Choice wrote on X. Notably, OCOC is run by retired US Army Col. Douglas Macgregor. 

Canada is burning: 700+ active wildfires, 8.2 million acres already destroyed.
Smoke choking North America again.
This doesn’t feel like normal wildfire season anymore.
It feels like a war on our forests. pic.twitter.com/BYq9iAVopw

— Our Country Our Choice (@OCOCReport) July 17, 2026

Could the toxic smoke plume derail World Cup games? 

Wildfire smoke could become one of the biggest weather stories surrounding Sunday’s World Cup Final.

Air quality is already Unhealthy (red) in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Think of it like spending hours downwind of a campfire.

You’re breathing in tiny smoke particles that… pic.twitter.com/fQCsGCKMUF

— MyRadar Weather (@MyRadarWX) July 17, 2026

Earlier, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said he will "introduce a bill next week to sanction Canada and the responsible Canadian government officials for this atrocity."

Ohio Sen. Moreno To Introduce Bill To Sanction Canada Over Wildfire Smoke 

Tens of millions of Americans are choking on toxic wildfire smoke drifting south from Canada. Years of inadequate forest management, often justified in the name of climate change, have intensified focus on the country's liberal government.

Across the Northeast on Friday morning, an eerie haze blanketed major cities. Even a brief step outside exposed people to air so toxic, it was like smoking multiple cigarettes.

Here's your Friday smoke forecast. Another rough day with poor air quality for millions. Even seeing some smoke sneak down into the Carolinas. pic.twitter.com/gJrHOyJVeL

— Jordan Steele (@JordanSteele) July 17, 2026

"The Canadian parliament & Mark Carney's decision not to do the most basic forest maintenance out of climate activism stupidity is now threatening hundreds of millions of Americans with carcinogens," Daily Signal's Tony Kinnett wrote on X.

On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said he will be "introducing a bill next week to sanction Canada and the responsible Canadian government officials for this atrocity."

I’ll be introducing a bill next week to sanction Canada and the responsible Canadian government officials for this atrocity. https://t.co/wFCVwrPdGr

— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) July 16, 2026

Additionally, four Republican members of the House blasted left-wing Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in a letter, criticizing his liberal government for not doing enough in terms of forest prevention management.

"This is the third consecutive year we have had to write to Canadian officials about a crisis that Canada has the tools to prevent and has chosen not to," wrote Republican Reps. John James (Mich.), Jack Bergman (Mich.), John Moolenaar (Mich.) and Lisa McClain (Mich.).

Time for accountability.

Canada's Wildfire Management Failures Choke Millions Of Americans With Toxic Smoke 

Canada's wildfire management policies are once again falling short, as toxic smoke plumes blanket much of the northeastern US and drive air pollution to dangerously high levels. 

Another wave of dense wildfire smoke is forecast to reach New York and New England on Thursday afternoon and evening before it surges into the Mid-Atlantic on Thursday night.

Thick, unhealthy smoke is expected in D.C. on Friday, with some reaching Virginia and North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/ZDqDEYAgQq

— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) July 16, 2026

Air quality readings in cities including Detroit, Milwaukee, and Toledo exceeded 500, well above the 300 threshold considered unsafe. Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Toronto also recorded unsafe levels, while conditions in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York deteriorated into unhealthy territory.

BREAKING: Due to Canadian wildfire smoke, Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis now represent 3 of the 4 worst major cities for air quality on the entire planet. pic.twitter.com/zxyqEV2J4w

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 16, 2026

WILDFIRE SMOKE has made its way to Chicago this morning.

The air condition is extremely poor, as seen in this shot near Grant Park. You can see how much smoke has made its way down from the Canadian wildfires.

It's going to be a tough day when it comes to doing anything… pic.twitter.com/vXByYP8QI8

— Marcus Leshock (@marcusleshock) July 16, 2026

Detroit, Michigan now has the worst air quality of any major city on Earth due to Canadian wildfire smoke.

If exposed to the current air quality in the city for 24 hours, it would be the equivalent to smoking about 21 cigarettes. pic.twitter.com/xijW3eDhf1

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 16, 2026

The haze and wildfire smoke made for some surreal shots this morning on the Bay @FOXBaltimore pic.twitter.com/O8qUyPvPDF

— Alex Parker (@ParkerSports) July 16, 2026

Smoke from the northern Minnesota / Canadian wildfires landing at MSP airport. #mnwx @spann pic.twitter.com/yQu7dtArS8

— Brett LaBare (@1labare) July 16, 2026

At this time of year, smoke from Canadian wildfires usually pours into the US, exposing tens of millions of Americans to dangerous air quality.

The recurring cross-border pollution is Canada's repeated failure to address wildfire prevention and mitigation adequately.

Blanket of smoke from the Canadian wildfire rolling into Chicago. pic.twitter.com/Ust87p47f8

— Richard Roeper (@RichardERoeper) July 16, 2026

"Canada continues to fail to manage its forests. Controlled burns, thinning and clearing debris would go a long way toward preventing this from happening every summer," the conservative environmental nonprofit American Conservation Coalition wrote on X. 

Canada continues to fail to manage their forests.

Controlled burns + thinning + clearing debris would go a long way in preventing this from happening every summer. https://t.co/inQwdcONQK

— American Conservation Coalition (@ACC_National) July 16, 2026

It should be investigated whether arson or inadequate forest management has contributed to the wildfire chaos in Canada, which is imposing major health risks on the US. Much of the left-wing media points to climate change, while rarely covering forest management failures.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/18/2026 - 09:25

Meanwhile In The English Countryside...

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

A British woman out for a long countryside hike with her daughters found herself being shadowed by a creepy migrant male for miles.

The footage is clinical, relentless, and deeply unsettling. No confrontation is shown. No words are exchanged on camera. Just the steady pursuit across English fields and paths that once felt like the safest places in the country.

This is the England being delivered by successive governments that treat rural communities as dumping grounds for unchecked military aged foreigners.

?? Meanwhile in the English Countryside

Imagine being followed like this on a 10 mile Hike. This is England now. pic.twitter.com/CNMytntV8U

— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) July 17, 2026

In an instagram post, the woman wrote "This is what it's come to. Yesterday, in broad day light; I was out with my 3 little girls and this guy appears from no where, we were literally in the middle of a field and he just popped up and followed us until I managed to get us on the road where he then just stood and watched us."

She added, "My heart was racing as he was pretty close until he saw I was filming. My girls were absolutely petrified, I kept telling them, don't be scared, don't look back, just keep going. No one should be made to feel like this and we should be able to walk around, where we live without having to look over our shoulders, especially in broad day light."

Here are the original clips with a further commentary on the incident from the woman who says the migrant was making sexual noises at them.

View this post on Instagram - A post shared by Alicia King (@aliciaking1985)

View this post on Instagram - A post shared by Alicia King (@aliciaking1985)

The clip, shared widely this week, lands at the exact moment other stories reveal the same pattern. At Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, male detainees were caught peering into women's bedrooms from outside.

A review by the Chief Inspector of Prisons found groups of men hanging outside the windows of female rooms. Forty-three per cent of the women, who need constant chaperones, said they felt unsafe going outside.

One woman told inspectors: "We cannot go outside because of the males and our time to do things are quick because of them."

The centre was also holding a man assessed as a risk of harm to women and another with impending prosecutions for sexual offences.

Vile illegal migrants caught on camera looking into women's bedroomshttps://t.co/ZnImlTXmaz

— GB News (@GBNEWS) July 14, 2026

The few female asylum seekers there were so distressed by the behaviour that staff escorts became standard. The men, according to the report, asked inspectors why they were not allowed to "mix with female detainees."

This is the same system now preparing to drop large numbers of single adult males into quiet English villages with almost no consultation.

In the tiny Oxfordshire village of Piddington, population around 370, residents recently voted 96 per cent in favour of a symbolic independence referendum. Nearly 180 adults cast ballots. One hundred and seventy-five said yes.

The trigger was the Home Office plan to house up to 1,250 single adult male asylum seekers at a former Ministry of Defence site sitting between Piddington and Upper Arncott.

Utility companies have already been instructed to prepare connections. Work is eyed for late summer. No detailed public proposal or full impact assessment has been published.

Parish Council Chairman Tim McNally described the result as "truly astonishing." He said: "Self-determination is what people want whilst they are being ignored and driven into a corner. This is a natural human instinct and reaction."

Local resident Graham Rixon put it more bluntly: "We're a village of 350 people - there's another village down the road of even less people, and they're going to dump 1,200 people here."

He added that most would probably not speak the language and that "inadequate provision has been made." Another resident, Gwen McEwan from nearby Arncott, called the prospect "frightening."

The site sits next to a children's play area. The nearest shop is more than two miles away with no pavement along the B-road. Residents note that people currently walk the village at night without consequence. That comfort is precisely what is being put at risk.

Similar plans have targeted other small communities. In one case a village of just 150 people faced 121 migrants placed in new-build houses next to a playground and primary school. Teenage girls began taking longer routes home.

In Barnham, Suffolk, a village of 600 faces over 1,000 asylum seekers at a disused RAF site two minutes from a primary school.

Residents have started teaching children to lock doors and stay quiet. Fencing already has holes.

In Crowborough, East Sussex, locals formed volunteer security patrols after hundreds of single male asylum seekers arrived at a former training camp. Women began carrying personal alarms and taking self-defence classes in daylight. One volunteer described the patrols as "a visible presence to provide safety and security. We are a deterrent."

The pattern is consistent. Single adult males, many arriving illegally by boat, are moved out of hotels and into rural sites with minimal infrastructure and even less local say.

Projections show migrants absorbing a large share of new housing while British households remain on long social housing waiting lists.

The policy is sold as ending the "hotel" image. In practice it simply relocates the same pressures onto communities that never asked for them and lack the policing or services to absorb sudden demographic change.

Rural England was once defined by the freedom to walk its paths without looking over your shoulder. That freedom is being eroded by design. The government treats small villages as surplus capacity.

The safety of women and children is treated as secondary to the political imperative of dispersing arrivals as quickly and quietly as possible.

Piddington's near-unanimous vote will not legally detach the village from the United Kingdom. It does something more important. It records, in public, the precise moment ordinary people decided they would no longer pretend this is sustainable.

The English countryside is not a warehouse. The people who live there are not collateral.

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 Sat, 07/18/2026 - 09:20

32 Jailed Over 2018 Italian Bridge Disaster That Killed 43

Authored by Guy Birchall via The Epoch Times,

An Italian court sentenced 32 people to a total of more than 170 years in prison on July 16, over their role in a 2018 bridge collapse that claimed the lives of 43 people.

The collapsed Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, on Aug 14, 2018. Reuters/Stefano Rellandini

The former head of Italian motorway operator Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), Giovanni Castellucci, received the longest sentence of 12 years in prison for his role in the disaster, which saw the Morandi motorway bridge near the city of Genoa fall apart during a rainstorm on the morning of Aug. 14, 2018.

Michele Donferri Mitelli, another former senior manager at the publicly traded motorway management company, was given an 11-year sentence, with a further 30 defendants receiving custodial sentences.

Others sentenced included managers and engineers from ASPI's engineering subsidiary SPEA, as well as former officials from Italy's Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.

Of the 57 people who stood trial, a further 25 were either acquitted or cleared due to the statute of limitations, Italian outlet La Repubblica reported.

The Genoa courtroom fell silent as presiding judge Paolo Lepri read the verdicts for around 45 minutes, with 400 relatives of the victims, lawyers, journalists, and members of the public listening, Reuters reported.

Egle Possetti, president of the Committee for the Remembrance of the Morandi Bridge Victims, called the verdicts "important" and "positive."

"We believe the judges have done a thorough job, examining each position in detail," she told Italian public broadcaster RAI.

"We are pleased that responsibility has been acknowledged in all three areas of prosecution, that is, by ASPI, by SPEA, and by the ministry," said Possetti, who lost her sister, brother-in-law, and her sister's two children in the collapse.

The verdicts, however, are subject to appeal, with Castellucci, who also served as CEO of Atlantia, the controlling shareholder in ASPI at the time, planning to do so.

He was convicted of complicity in multiple counts of manslaughter through negligence, with prosecutors asking for a sentence of more than 18 years, rather than the 12 years he was eventually given, RAI reported.

Castellucci is already in prison, serving a six-year sentence over another fatal incident in 2013 on a viaduct in southern Italy, and was not in court to hear the verdict, but his legal team said they would appeal and that he had been made a scapegoat.

His lawyers, Giovanni Paolo Accinni and Guido Carlo Alleva, said they are "ready to appeal" the sentence, saying they believe their client "could not and should not have been convicted."

"We will read the reasons. We are convinced of Castellucci's innocence, but the trial doesn't end here. Criminalizing company CEOs is unfair; Castellucci is already in prison for this. And so is another CEO who bears no guilt," they said, according to Genoese outlet Il Secolo XIX.

The other CEO they are referring to is the former CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato and RFI, Mauro Moretti, who is currently serving a five-year sentence relating to a 2009 rail disaster in Viareggio, Tuscany, which killed 32 people.

Under the Italian legal system, the ruling of the first instance can be appealed at least twice.

Following the sentencing, Possetti said that "the new battle begins to succeed in having this ruling confirmed on appeal and above all to delegitimize any attempt to provide additional protection to managers, who should be subject to the law like the rest of us," Il Secolo XIX reported.

The Collapse

The collapse of the Morandi bridge in August 2018 stunned Italy and sparked years of investigations into the management and maintenance of its aging infrastructure.

A 650-foot portion of the bridge collapsed, plunging 160 feet onto a riverbed, a railway, and two warehouses, while as many as 35 vehicles were driving across it.

The disaster sparked a dispute between Atlantia, controlled by the Benetton family, and the Italian government, which eventually culminated in the sale of Atlantia's controlling stake in ASPI.

Prosecutors argued that years of poor maintenance, ignored warning signs, and delayed improvement works contributed to the collapse, saying that vital repairs were postponed while profits continued to be pocketed.

The prosecutors' argument was backed up by a 2020 expert report into the disaster, which said the collapse was triggered by the rupture of corroded steel cables inside one of the stay cables on the southern side of pile 9, Italian outlet IVG reported that year.

A "pile," known as a "pier" in the United States, is a vertical concrete structure that supports the weight of the bridge deck above it.

The corrosion of the prestressing strands within pile 9 had progressed over decades due to the ingress of water and oxygen, according to the report, which concluded that the root cause was long-term inadequate maintenance and insufficient inspections by ASPI and its subsidiary Spea.

It found that proper controls and maintenance interventions, if properly implemented, would have had a high probability of preventing the collapse. The report also noted that warnings and recommendations made by the bridge's original designer, Riccardo Morandi, regarding corrosion risks had been progressively neglected over the years.

The defense teams rejected this theory, saying that the disaster was caused by an original design defect in the bridge's stay cable in pile 9, which failed, and that no maintenance program could have prevented the collapse.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/18/2026 - 08:10

Russia Pressing Ahead On Rail Link To Iran & Azerbaijan To Ease Strain On Maritime Routes

This week has brought new US attacks on Iranian infrastructure and logistics, including fresh overnight attacks on some half a dozen bridges, and even reports of strikes on rail hubs and airports.

The New York Times observes Friday that "Bridges, rail lines, power and water facilities, and other targets in Iran, Kuwait and elsewhere in the Middle East were attacked in airstrikes on Friday as the United States and Iran escalated their weeklong crisis over the Strait of Hormuz."

Russia has chimed in, reiterating that its close relations with Tehran offer the country which is now under American bombs and important economic lifeline.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in fresh remarks at a press conference following talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov reminded his audience that the backbone of Russia-Iran trade remains the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a network of shipping lanes, railways, and roads linking Russia with more southerly Asian continent allies.

This 'north-south corridor' as it is sometimes reference, will become all the more important as the US-Iran conflict drags on with no end in sight.

"The topic is indeed very important, especially in a situation where the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is dragging on, as it appears. The global economy and global transport routes are suffering from this," Lavrov stated.

According to more via Russian media:

Lavrov expressed optimism about the trilateral project involving Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, noting that Tehran has completed land allocation on the Rasht-Astara section, which had long prevented construction from starting. Railway chiefs from the three countries have discussed practical issues for beginning work, and progress is expected, he added.

The North-South transport corridor is a multimodal route of about 7,200 kilometers (4,473 miles) connecting St. Petersburg to India's Mumbai port. Russia and Iran signed an agreement in May 2023 to build the Rasht-Astara railway section, the last missing link of the corridor's western route, with the project estimated at 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), of which 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) is a Russian loan.

As for the current situation in Iran, while vital infrastructure and even energy sites have indeed in many cases been obliterated, the lights are still on across the country, but the energy grid is coming under strain in the south of late.

🇮🇷Jembatan kereta api "Aq-Teke-Khan" di Kabupaten Aq Qala adalah koridor perkeretaapian strategis yang menghubungkan Iran dengan China dan Rusia telah dibuka kembali hanya empat hari setelah bentang tengahnya rusak parah akibat serangan udara AS. pic.twitter.com/bqnRnGi2QV

— Z Operation (@yo2thok) July 14, 2026

The prior ceasefire which has this week clearly collapsed saw multiple damaged rail lines and bridges get restored in record time - sometimes within 40 to 96 hours - using domestic engineering teams. These efforts have showcased by pro-Iran and even sometimes official diplomatic accounts on X.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/18/2026 - 07:35

Finnish MEP Warns Britain Is 'Worst Example' Of Free Speech In Europe After Entry Ban

Via Remix News,

Finnish MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen has warned that Britain is fast becoming the worst example in Europe when it comes to defending free speech after he became the latest elected European politician to be banned from entering the country ahead of his appearance at the inaugural Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Great Britain.

In a video posted on social media, the conservative politician said, “I was just banned from entering the U.K. I am an elected member of the European Parliament and was invited to speak at the very first conservative CPAC conference in the U.K.

“We had the adverts out, flights and hotel booked, and I was supposed to head to the airport in just two hours.

“Then, only moments ago, I was informed that my presence wouldn’t be conducive to the public good.

“Throughout my political career, I have defended our girls and women from the threats posed by mass migration. For some, like U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, this is hate speech.

“For me, it is simply what all politicians should be doing: addressing the problem, changing the legislation and sending them home.”

Tynkkynen then warned the British people that something is “deeply wrong” with their country, and that it was “becoming the worst example in Europe of the death of freedom of speech.”

"Dear British People, something is deeply wrong with your country. You are becoming the worst example in Europe of the death of free speech."

Finnish conservative @SebastianMEP reveals he is the latest elected politician to be banned from entering Britain on the eve of #CPACUK,… pic.twitter.com/Q73a2dwtGQ

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) July 16, 2026

He urged them to change their leadership if they wanted to change their lives “for the better.”

Tynkkynen is a member of the co-governing Finns Party, a right-wing populist party that is currently the second-largest in the Finnish parliament. The party holds seven of the 19 ministerial positions in Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s coalition government.

He is also a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR), the European parliamentary faction originally founded by the U.K. Conservative Party when Britain was still a member of the European Union.

Tynkkynen is the latest in a growing list of European and US politicians and political commentators to be banned from Britain after the Home Office deemed their conservative views not to be “conducive to the public good.”

This is the phrase used by the U.K. government in notices handed to individuals when they are informed that their Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) has been revoked.

In May, Polish MEP Dominik Tarczyński vowed to sue U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer personally after the Home Office cancelled his permission to travel to Britain ahead of a major patriotic rally in London.

“This is what communism looks like in the 21st century,” Tarczyński said.

“Starmer will be sued by me. Not the government, not the Home Office, but Starmer personally. Once you lose the next election, communist, we’ll meet in court!” the conservative politician added.

Other figures banned ahead of speaking at the London rally back in May included Dutch conservative activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek, US commentator Joey Mannarino, MAGA influencer Valentina Gomez and Spanish political commentator Ada Lluch.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/18/2026 - 07:00

The Great Normalization (Nobody Declared Martial Law... Yet America Began Looking Like It Anyway)

Authored by Madge Waggy,

There are stories that announce themselves with explosions, riots, or breaking-news headlines, and then there are stories so subtle that they quietly rewrite an entire society before anyone realizes what has happened. This is one of those stories. During the preparation of this investigation, several retired police officers, private security professionals, emergency responders, and ordinary citizens described nearly identical experiences despite living hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. None believed they were witnessing anything extraordinary at first. It was only when they looked backward—sometimes over a decade—that a disturbing pattern became impossible to ignore. Streets had not become military checkpoints overnight. Neighborhoods had not suddenly filled with surveillance towers. Instead, the changes arrived one camera, one drone, one security contract, and one "temporary" emergency measure at a time until extraordinary security became indistinguishable from ordinary life. What follows is not an argument against public safety, nor an attempt to romanticize a past that was hardly free from crime or violence. It is an examination of a transformation that has occurred quietly enough for most people to stop seeing it altogether.

There is an old saying among investigators that people rarely notice change while it is happening. They notice it only when they compare today's reality with memories that have remained frozen in time. Memory preserves snapshots, while history moves continuously. That disconnect explains why so many citizens insist that nothing fundamental has changed even as the physical landscape around them becomes increasingly populated by surveillance cameras, armed guards, automated license plate readers, biometric scanners, drones, and predictive security technologies. No single installation appears revolutionary. No single policy seems capable of altering the character of a society. Yet history rarely advances through dramatic leaps. More often, it advances through thousands of small decisions that seem perfectly reasonable when viewed independently but become historically significant when examined collectively.

The quiet militarization of civilian spaces represents precisely this kind of transformation. Unlike traditional militarization, which is associated with soldiers, armored vehicles, and visible state authority, the contemporary version is largely administrative, technological, and commercial. It emerges through contracts signed by private security companies, insurance requirements imposed upon businesses, municipal investments in surveillance infrastructure, advances in artificial intelligence, and a public increasingly willing to exchange greater visibility for greater security. The result is not a police state in the conventional sense, nor is it a society living under constant emergency. Instead, it is something considerably more complex: an environment in which observation has become routine, data has become a form of infrastructure, and security has evolved into a permanent layer of everyday life.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this evolution is not the technology itself but the speed with which human beings adapt to its presence. Psychological research has repeatedly demonstrated that people rapidly normalize environmental changes once those changes become familiar. The camera that initially attracted attention soon becomes part of the background. The security guard stationed near the supermarket entrance eventually disappears into peripheral vision. The drone hovering above a community festival is no longer perceived as unusual after it has appeared several times. Familiarity breeds acceptance far more effectively than persuasion ever could. This gradual normalization explains why discussions surrounding surveillance often occur only after new technologies have already become deeply embedded within public life.

I remember a conversation several years ago with a retired emergency management coordinator who had spent more than three decades working alongside law enforcement agencies during natural disasters and large public events. He was not particularly interested in politics, nor did he express hostility toward modern security practices. What struck me instead was the simplicity of his observation. "When I started," he said while looking across an ordinary shopping center parking lot, "the only people carrying radios and wearing body armor were police officers responding to emergencies. Now look around." At first, I assumed he was exaggerating. Then I began counting. Private security personnel equipped with ballistic vests. Cameras mounted on nearly every light pole. Delivery vehicles fitted with multiple recording systems. Police drones deployed during missing-person searches. Automatic barriers controlling access to residential developments. It was difficult to identify the precise moment when these features had become ordinary because none of them had arrived simultaneously.

That conversation stayed with me, not because it revealed a hidden conspiracy but because it exposed something much more subtle. Societies rarely recognize structural change while they are living through it. They recognize it only after the new normal has replaced the old one so completely that remembering life before the transition begins to feel almost nostalgic. Consider the average suburban neighborhood in the United States twenty-five years ago. Most homes lacked internet-connected cameras. Private security patrols were relatively uncommon outside affluent gated communities. Drones existed primarily as military technologies unfamiliar to the general public. License plate recognition systems were largely confined to specialized law enforcement operations. Today, many of those same neighborhoods contain dozens of privately owned surveillance devices, neighborhood watch applications, cloud-connected doorbell cameras, automated traffic monitoring systems, and security contractors who operate with increasing sophistication. None of these developments occurred through a single national directive. They accumulated gradually until they became invisible.

The numbers alone tell only part of the story. What matters far more is the psychological environment these technologies create. Human behavior changes when observation becomes continuous, even when the observers remain anonymous or the collected data is never actively reviewed. Sociologists have long argued that visibility influences conduct because people instinctively modify their actions when they believe they are being watched. The effect is often subtle rather than dramatic. Individuals spend less time lingering in certain locations, become more cautious about spontaneous interactions, and unconsciously adapt their routines to environments where cameras, sensors, and digital records are omnipresent. Most of these behavioral adjustments occur without deliberate reflection, making them difficult to recognize despite their cumulative significance.

The transformation is particularly striking because it extends well beyond government institutions. Much of today's surveillance infrastructure belongs to private corporations, residential associations, logistics companies, retailers, hospitals, universities, and homeowners. This decentralized architecture creates an ecosystem in which observation is distributed rather than centralized. A person traveling only a few miles through an ordinary town may appear on hundreds of independently operated cameras before reaching their destination. None of those systems alone possesses complete knowledge of that individual's activities. Collectively, however, they generate an extraordinarily detailed record of movement, timing, and behavior that would have been almost unimaginable only a generation ago.

For most people, this reality inspires little concern because everyday life continues to function normally. Children still attend school, families still gather in parks, commuters still stop for coffee on the way to work, and neighbors still walk their dogs after sunset. The absence of visible crisis creates the impression that surveillance is merely another technological convenience, comparable to smartphones or GPS navigation. Yet history suggests that infrastructure built for one purpose frequently acquires additional functions over time. Roads designed for commerce become strategic military assets during war. Communication networks developed for business become indispensable during emergencies. Surveillance systems installed to discourage theft gradually become valuable tools for investigations, crowd management, disaster response, insurance litigation, and behavioral analysis. Technology rarely remains confined to its original purpose once society discovers broader applications.

That observation is neither cynical nor alarmist. It is simply a recurring pattern throughout modern history. Every generation inherits technologies whose long-term consequences become fully apparent only decades after their introduction. The internet began as a communication platform before becoming the foundation of global commerce and social interaction. Smartphones evolved from portable telephones into devices capable of documenting nearly every aspect of human behavior. Artificial intelligence, once limited to research laboratories, now assists financial institutions, healthcare providers, military planners, and security agencies alike. Surveillance technologies are following a remarkably similar trajectory. What initially appeared to be isolated security improvements increasingly resembles an interconnected ecosystem whose influence extends far beyond crime prevention alone.

1. Everyday Spaces Are No Longer What They Used to Be

The easiest way to understand how profoundly everyday life has changed is not by reading crime statistics or studying government reports, but by remembering what an ordinary afternoon looked like twenty or thirty years ago. You could stop at a neighborhood gas station, pay in cash, exchange a few words with the cashier, and continue your day without leaving much behind except a receipt that would probably disappear into a drawer. Today that same five-minute stop may generate dozens of digital records. Your vehicle is captured entering the parking lot, your license plate may be scanned automatically, your payment creates a financial record, your smartphone silently exchanges location data with multiple applications, and security cameras document your movements from several angles. None of these actions feels extraordinary because each one has become part of the invisible architecture of modern life.

What fascinates me most is not the technology itself but how effortlessly people have adapted to it. Years ago, a newly installed camera outside a small grocery store would become a topic of conversation. Customers would ask why it had been installed or whether crime in the area had increased. Today another camera appears, then another, followed by upgraded lighting, automated doors, and perhaps a security guard standing quietly near the entrance. Few people ask questions anymore. The additions blend into the background until they become as ordinary as shopping carts or parking spaces. That silent acceptance may be one of the defining characteristics of our era.

I was reminded of this during a conversation with the owner of a family-run hardware store in the Midwest. His business had operated for decades without armed security, and for years he resisted installing additional surveillance because he believed it sent the wrong message to customers. Eventually, repeated thefts forced his hand. First came two cameras. Then eight. A year later he hired an evening security officer. "Nothing happened overnight," he told me. "Every decision made sense at the time. But when I look around now, this doesn't feel like the same store my father built." His words were less a complaint than a quiet acknowledgment that necessity often changes institutions long before anyone notices their identity has changed.

That story reflects something larger than one business owner's experience. The quiet militarization of civilian spaces has rarely been driven by dramatic political declarations. Instead, it has emerged through countless practical decisions made by people trying to solve immediate problems. Retail theft rises, so cameras multiply. Violent incidents receive national attention, so schools expand security protocols. Residential burglaries increase, so neighborhoods invest in automated gates and patrol vehicles. Each decision appears rational in isolation. Yet viewed together, they reveal a society steadily constructing an infrastructure of permanent vigilance.

2. The Surveillance Economy Nobody Really Noticed

Most public conversations focus on government surveillance, but that discussion often overlooks where the largest expansion has actually occurred. Today, private companies collect extraordinary amounts of information simply because data has become one of the world's most valuable economic resources. Shopping habits, travel routines, online purchases, vehicle movements, loyalty programs, smart home devices, delivery services, and mobile applications all contribute pieces to an increasingly detailed picture of everyday life. Much of this information is gathered not because someone is personally interested in any individual, but because aggregated behavioral data has become commercially valuable.

That distinction matters. Modern surveillance is rarely the product of a single centralized observer watching everyone simultaneously. Instead, it resembles thousands of overlapping mirrors, each reflecting a small portion of reality. A retailer wants to understand customer behavior. A navigation app wants traffic information. An insurance company wants to assess risk. A logistics company wants to optimize deliveries. A homeowner wants to know who approached the front door. Individually, these objectives appear reasonable. Collectively, however, they create a remarkably detailed digital ecosystem capable of reconstructing daily routines with surprising accuracy.

Several cybersecurity analysts have described this phenomenon using an analogy that stayed with me long after I first heard it. Imagine dropping a handful of puzzle pieces onto a table. One piece tells almost nothing. Ten pieces reveal very little. But eventually enough fragments accumulate for the entire picture to emerge without anyone intentionally assembling it from the beginning. Modern surveillance works much the same way. Rarely does one camera or one database reveal everything. The picture becomes visible only after countless independent systems begin recording the same individual from different perspectives.

Perhaps the most unsettling consequence is that many people continue believing privacy disappears only when someone actively watches them. In reality, observation is increasingly passive. Information is collected first because storage is inexpensive, processing power is abundant, and future usefulness cannot always be predicted. Only later, if circumstances require it, does someone search the archive. This subtle reversal—from collecting information because it might become useful rather than because it already is—represents one of the most significant yet least discussed shifts in modern security philosophy.

3. Cameras Rarely Prevent History—They Record It

One misconception persists despite decades of technological progress: the belief that more cameras automatically produce greater safety. Experience suggests a far more complicated reality. Cameras excel at documenting events, reconstructing timelines, identifying suspects, and supporting investigations. They provide evidence. What they cannot consistently do is intervene during the critical first moments when violence, accidents, or panic unfold. History is filled with incidents that occurred under extensive surveillance, reminding us that observation and prevention are not interchangeable concepts.

A retired detective once explained this distinction in a way that has stayed with me ever since. "People think cameras stop crime," he said. "Most of the time, they help explain what happened after it's over." His comment was not intended as criticism of surveillance technology. On the contrary, he considered modern investigative tools indispensable. What concerned him was the growing tendency for communities to confuse documentation with security itself. Recording an emergency and preventing an emergency require fundamentally different capabilities.

That misunderstanding occasionally produces a false sense of confidence. A parking garage filled with cameras may appear secure while remaining poorly lit or inadequately staffed. A neighborhood equipped with sophisticated surveillance may still suffer from slow emergency response times or declining social cohesion. Visible technology often reassures the public because it symbolizes action, even when the underlying causes of insecurity remain unresolved. This is not an argument against surveillance but a reminder that technology cannot substitute for strong communities, effective policing, responsible urban planning, and individual awareness.

Perhaps that explains why experienced emergency responders rarely rely on any single protective measure. They lock doors despite alarm systems. They identify exits despite emergency lighting. They remain aware of their surroundings despite cameras covering the area. Experience teaches an uncomfortable lesson: technology performs best when it complements human judgment rather than replacing it.

4. The Sky Is No Longer Empty

For generations, privacy possessed a vertical dimension that few people consciously considered. Fences blocked the view from the street, trees created natural barriers, and distance itself provided a degree of practical anonymity. Unless someone climbed a hill or chartered an aircraft, many private activities remained largely invisible from above. Drones have fundamentally altered that assumption, not through dramatic military operations but through their quiet integration into civilian life.

Fire departments deploy them to monitor wildfires. Search-and-rescue teams use them to locate missing hikers before darkness falls. Utility companies inspect power lines. Farmers survey crops. Police departments reconstruct accident scenes within minutes instead of hours. Journalists capture footage of natural disasters impossible to obtain from the ground. These are legitimate and often life-saving applications that demonstrate why drone technology has spread so rapidly across both public and private sectors.

Yet every useful technology introduces questions extending beyond its original purpose. A device capable of finding a lost child is equally capable of observing neighborhoods from perspectives that previous generations rarely imagined. Again, the issue is not whether drones are inherently beneficial or harmful. Like most technologies, they are neither. The more interesting question concerns how quietly they have changed our expectations of what constitutes normal observation. Ten years ago, a drone hovering above a suburban neighborhood would have attracted curious neighbors. Today many people glance upward, recognize the familiar sound, and continue walking without another thought.

That normalization may ultimately prove more significant than the technology itself. Human beings adapt remarkably quickly to persistent environmental change. Once something becomes familiar, we stop asking why it appeared in the first place. History suggests that this tendency toward normalization often shapes societies far more profoundly than any single invention ever could.

5. Armed Security Is Becoming Part of the Civilian Landscape

Not long ago, seeing an armed security officer outside a neighborhood supermarket would have prompted questions. Had there been a robbery? Was someone important expected to visit? Had violence occurred nearby? Today, in many parts of the United States, that same sight barely interrupts a shopper's routine. People push their carts past ballistic vests, body cameras, portable radios, and duty belts with the same indifference they reserve for shopping baskets or self-checkout kiosks. The visual language of security has quietly changed, and with it, the psychological atmosphere of places that once felt entirely civilian.

Private security has grown into an industry that now performs functions once associated almost exclusively with public law enforcement. Hospitals maintain dedicated security divisions, universities employ sworn officers alongside private contractors, residential developments operate twenty-four-hour patrols, and retail chains increasingly invest in highly trained personnel capable of responding to violent incidents before police arrive. The reasons behind these decisions are rarely ideological. Rising theft, liability concerns, staffing shortages, and the unpredictable nature of modern emergencies have convinced many institutions that waiting for outside assistance is no longer sufficient. Preparedness has become a business requirement rather than an optional precaution.

One former security director explained the shift in remarkably practical terms. "People think we're preparing for the worst every day," he told me. "The reality is much simpler. We're preparing for the possibility that one day won't be ordinary." That distinction matters because it illustrates how security professionals themselves often view their role. They are not expecting society to collapse tomorrow. They are responding to a world in which low-probability, high-impact events have become difficult to ignore. Schools prepare for emergencies they hope never occur. Hospitals train for scenarios they may encounter only once in a decade. Shopping centers review active-threat procedures despite spending most days dealing with lost children and shoplifting.

Yet there is another side to this evolution that receives far less attention. Visible security changes how people interpret the spaces around them. Even when no danger exists, the presence of armed personnel subtly communicates that danger is possible. Over time, communities begin recalibrating their expectations. What once appeared extraordinary gradually becomes ordinary, and future generations inherit a definition of "normal" that differs significantly from the one their parents knew. Few people consciously recognize this adjustment while it is happening, but history suggests that changes in public psychology often outlast the circumstances that originally produced them.

6. The Most Valuable Information Is the Information People Volunteer

If surveillance cameras reveal where people go, digital technology increasingly reveals who they are. Modern life is built upon convenience, and convenience almost always leaves a trail. Smartphones document movement, online purchases reveal preferences, streaming services record interests, fitness watches monitor physical activity, connected vehicles collect operational data, and social media platforms encourage individuals to broadcast fragments of their daily lives voluntarily. Rarely is anyone forced to disclose this information. More often, people exchange it willingly for speed, personalization, entertainment, or efficiency.

The irony is difficult to ignore. Discussions about privacy frequently focus on sophisticated surveillance technologies while overlooking the extraordinary amount of personal information people publish themselves. A photograph celebrating a new generator may unintentionally reveal the layout of a garage. A vacation post announces an empty house to anyone paying attention. A casual video filmed in the backyard can expose security cameras, storage sheds, expensive tools, or routines repeated week after week. None of these details seems particularly significant on its own. Together, however, they create a remarkably complete portrait of a household.

Years ago, I met a cybersecurity consultant who specialized in corporate risk assessments. Instead of beginning his presentations with discussions of hacking software or encrypted networks, he projected publicly available social media posts collected from volunteers in the audience. Within minutes, he had identified home addresses, vehicle models, children's schools, frequent travel destinations, and daily routines using nothing more than information people had shared themselves. The room became noticeably quieter. "I didn't hack anyone," he said. "You introduced yourselves before I walked in."

That demonstration has remained with me because it illustrates a broader truth about the modern information environment. The greatest vulnerability is often not sophisticated technology but ordinary human behavior. Effective operational security rarely begins with encryption or expensive equipment. More often, it begins with asking a remarkably simple question before pressing "post": does the entire world really need to know this? The answer is frequently no, yet contemporary culture often rewards visibility far more enthusiastically than discretion.

7. The Low-Profile Advantage

Among experienced emergency planners, there is an old principle that receives surprisingly little attention outside professional circles: the individual who attracts the least unnecessary attention often preserves the greatest number of options. This concept has nothing to do with secrecy or distrust of society. Instead, it reflects a practical understanding that visibility creates expectations, while anonymity preserves flexibility. In stable times, that difference may appear insignificant. During periods of uncertainty, it can become remarkably important.

Popular culture has transformed preparedness into a highly visible identity. Social media platforms are filled with tactical equipment reviews, warehouse-sized food storage tours, customized vehicles covered in survival-themed decals, and endless discussions about worst-case scenarios. While much of this content is educational or entertaining, it also illustrates how preparedness has increasingly become something performed before an audience rather than practiced quietly at home. Ironically, the desire to demonstrate readiness sometimes undermines the very resilience individuals hope to achieve.

I once asked a man who had spent decades working in disaster logistics why his own preparations appeared so remarkably ordinary. His answer was immediate. "Because normal people are rarely remembered." He drove an unremarkable vehicle, maintained a conventional-looking property, and purchased supplies gradually over many years. Nothing about his appearance suggested that he had invested significant time thinking about resilience. That, he explained, was entirely intentional. "Looking ordinary isn't pretending. It is understanding that attention is a resource you shouldn't waste."

Perhaps that philosophy has become more relevant than ever before. In an age where digital records, surveillance systems, and online visibility intersect continuously, resilience depends not only on what individuals possess but also on how predictably they present themselves to the world. Quiet competence rarely generates headlines, but history repeatedly suggests it endures long after louder performances fade.

8. Teaching Awareness Without Creating Fear

Every generation inherits a different understanding of risk. Children growing up today will likely consider cameras in classrooms, facial recognition at airports, drone footage on local news broadcasts, and digital identity verification as ordinary features of life rather than technological milestones. Their perception of privacy will inevitably differ from that of previous generations, not because they value freedom less, but because they have never experienced a world where continuous connectivity did not exist.

The challenge for parents, educators, and communities is therefore remarkably delicate. Teaching awareness should never become synonymous with teaching fear. Children benefit from understanding why oversharing online carries consequences, why location data deserves careful management, and why respectful interactions with security personnel matter. They do not benefit from believing they live under constant threat or surveillance by unseen forces. Fear narrows judgment; awareness expands it.

A former school administrator offered an observation that deserves wider attention. "We spent years teaching children not to talk to strangers," she said. "Now we have to teach them not to introduce themselves to millions of strangers without realizing it." Her comment captured the extraordinary shift that has occurred within a single generation. The greatest changes in personal security are no longer confined to physical spaces. Increasingly, they unfold through screens small enough to fit into a pocket.

Families that cultivate calm observation rather than constant anxiety often develop stronger resilience as a result. They notice exits without becoming paranoid. They recognize unusual behavior without assuming everyone represents a threat. They value privacy without withdrawing from society. That balance may prove one of the most important skills the coming decades will demand. It is easy to become frightened by a changing world. It is considerably harder—and ultimately far more valuable—to understand it clearly without allowing fear to distort judgment.

9. Security Theater or a Necessary Evolution?

At some point, every serious discussion about surveillance reaches the same uncomfortable question: are we witnessing an unavoidable adaptation to a more complex world, or have we slowly accepted a level of monitoring that previous generations would have considered excessive? The answer is almost certainly more complicated than either side is willing to admit. Those who argue that expanded security is entirely justified can point to terrorism, organized retail crime, cyberattacks, mass shootings, and increasingly sophisticated criminal networks. Those who worry about surveillance can point to the steady erosion of anonymity, the commercialization of personal data, and the tendency of emergency measures to outlive the emergencies that inspired them. Both observations can be true simultaneously, which is precisely what makes the conversation so difficult.

History offers surprisingly few examples of societies voluntarily abandoning security technologies once they become normalized. Metal detectors introduced after periods of heightened threat rarely disappear. Temporary surveillance measures frequently become permanent infrastructure. Databases expand because additional information is almost always perceived as useful, even if its immediate purpose is unclear. Institutions, whether public or private, naturally prefer retaining capabilities rather than surrendering them. From an operational perspective, this makes perfect sense. From a civic perspective, however, it raises important questions about how societies define proportionality, accountability, and the limits of observation.

One constitutional scholar I interviewed years ago summarized the dilemma with remarkable simplicity. "The debate usually begins too late," he said. "By the time people start asking whether a technology should exist, it has already become indispensable." Looking back, his observation feels less like political commentary and more like a recurring lesson in technological history. Society rarely debates inventions before they arrive. Instead, it debates their consequences after they have become woven into daily life. Smartphones, social media, facial recognition, artificial intelligence, and drone technology all followed remarkably similar trajectories. Widespread adoption consistently outpaced public reflection.

That delayed reflection explains why surveillance often generates polarized debates that produce little genuine understanding. Public conversations tend to frame the issue as a choice between complete security and complete privacy, despite the fact that neither condition has ever truly existed. Every functioning society requires some degree of security infrastructure, just as every free society depends upon meaningful limits governing how power is exercised. The challenge is not choosing one principle over the other but preserving both as technological capabilities continue expanding faster than legal, ethical, and cultural norms can adapt.

Perhaps the greatest danger lies not in surveillance itself but in intellectual complacency. When people stop asking why new systems are introduced, who controls them, how information is stored, or what safeguards exist against misuse, public oversight quietly weakens. Democracies depend upon informed citizens capable of distinguishing reasonable security measures from unnecessary excess. That responsibility cannot be delegated entirely to governments, corporations, or technology companies. It belongs, ultimately, to the society that accepts—or questions—them.

10. The Future Arrived Without Asking Permission

The most profound historical transformations rarely resemble the dramatic scenes portrayed in films. They unfold through ordinary mornings, routine errands, software updates, budget approvals, infrastructure projects, and countless administrative decisions that appear insignificant when viewed individually. Few people remember the day the first camera appeared in their neighborhood. Even fewer remember when the second, third, or twentieth was installed. Yet collectively those moments changed the environment in which millions now live.

Looking back across the past two decades, it becomes remarkably difficult to identify a single turning point because there wasn't one. There was no announcement declaring that civilian life had entered an era of persistent observation. No legislation instructed citizens to become comfortable with drones overhead or private security officers carrying patrol rifles in commercial districts. The transition occurred through accumulation rather than revolution. Every response addressed a genuine concern. Every improvement solved a practical problem. Together, they reshaped the expectations of an entire generation.

Perhaps that explains why older emergency managers, retired police officers, and longtime journalists often describe the same feeling despite coming from completely different professions. None of them argues that modern society should abandon technology or ignore legitimate threats. What they notice instead is something subtler: the pace at which exceptional security measures become ordinary social architecture. Once familiarity takes hold, memory begins to fade. Younger generations inherit systems that appear timeless despite being remarkably recent additions to everyday life.

For individuals committed to preparedness, this changing landscape demands neither paranoia nor political tribalism. It demands literacy—an ability to understand how security systems function, where technology genuinely improves public safety, where personal privacy deserves thoughtful protection, and how digital habits increasingly shape real-world resilience. Quiet preparedness has never been about hiding from society. It has always been about understanding reality before reality forces understanding upon you.

That may be the defining lesson of this century. Information has become infrastructure. Visibility has become currency. Observation has become routine. None of those developments automatically signal the decline of freedom, but neither should they pass without thoughtful examination. Free societies remain free not because they reject technology, but because they continue asking difficult questions long after the technology has become commonplace.

Conclusion

Several months after I finished interviewing people for this article, I found myself waiting in line outside a neighborhood pharmacy. It was an entirely forgettable afternoon. Parents hurried children toward parked cars. Delivery drivers loaded packages into vans. A security officer greeted customers with polite indifference. Overhead, a traffic camera monitored the intersection while a small drone circled in the distance, assisting firefighters responding to an accident several blocks away. Nobody looked surprised. Nobody stopped to watch. Life simply continued.

Standing there, I realized that nothing in front of me would have seemed ordinary to someone transported from the late 1990s. Not because the scene was dramatic, but because it wasn't. The extraordinary had quietly become routine. Cameras no longer represented special occasions. Digital records no longer required deliberate effort. Armed security no longer implied immediate danger. Technology had woven itself so thoroughly into the background of daily existence that noticing it required conscious effort. Perhaps that is how every major societal transformation ultimately succeeds—not by demanding attention, but by becoming too familiar to attract it.

The purpose of recognizing these changes is not to romanticize the past or predict an inevitable dystopian future. Modern surveillance has solved crimes, rescued missing children, coordinated disaster response, protected critical infrastructure, and improved countless aspects of public safety. Those achievements deserve acknowledgment. At the same time, every generation inherits the responsibility to ask whether the systems it builds continue serving the public interest as they expand. Security and liberty have never been opposing absolutes. They are living principles requiring constant adjustment as societies evolve.

Preparedness, in its deepest sense, has never been about stockpiling equipment or anticipating catastrophe. It begins with observation—the willingness to notice slow-moving changes before they become permanent realities. The families most likely to navigate uncertain times successfully are often not the loudest or the most heavily equipped. They are the ones who remain curious, who adapt without surrendering their judgment, and who understand that resilience depends as much upon awareness as it does upon resources.

History rarely announces that it has entered a new chapter. More often, it whispers through ordinary days until one morning people look around and struggle to remember when the world became different. By then, the cameras have already been mounted, the drones have become background noise, the security checkpoints feel routine, and the debate is no longer about what is changing—but about whether anyone still remembers that it changed at all.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 23:25

"Just The Beginning": Japan Buys Billions In Nvidia Rubin Chips To Power Humanoid Robots

Japan plans to acquire 27,500 Nvidia Rubin chips as part of a $2.4 billion, government-backed push to develop domestic humanoid robotics models and reduce its dependence on foreign AI. This major effort comes as physical AI comes after data center buildouts, with global shipments of humanoid robots expected to surge next year.

Bloomberg reports that the newly formed Noetra Corp. will oversee the project and build an estimated 140-megawatt data center, scheduled to begin operating in about two years.

Sony, SoftBank, NEC, Fujitsu, and Toyota-backed Preferred Networks are among the top companies supporting the domestic AI push, which seeks to consolidate Japan's fragmented AI programs under one roof.

Noetra plans to release the first AI model tailored for industrial robots in Q1 2027. Japan is positioning itself to capture 30% of the expected $370 billion global robotics market by 2040.

Bloomberg quoted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as saying that Japan will require significantly more data centers, power infrastructure, and computing capacity to compete with the US and China, calling the Noetra project "just the beginning."

"We're going to be building a lot more infrastructure here," Jensen said. "This is just the beginning." 

Physical AI is emerging rapidly across humanoid robotics, warehousing, autonomous trucking, construction, and even the home. These robots are being designed, tested, and, in some cases, deployed on factory floors.

via Goldman Sachs

A recent Deutsche Bank report shows that global shipments are poised to surge.

Related:

• Mitsubishi Motors Joins Physical AI Race With Humanoid Robot Production Deal

List of auto companies pursing humanoid robotics development:

We outlined what readers need to understand about this evolving space in a note titled "Current State Of Physical AI: Everything You Need To Know."

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 23:00

When Socialists Tell You Who They Are, Believe Them

Authored by Jim Davis via AmericanThinker.com,

In a Zoom video call in 2023, a leader of the Democratic Socialists of America said, “Our goal is communism.”  It was published as part of a compilation in April 2026.

None of the Democratic Socialists disavowed it.  Nobody posted a “clarifying statement” distancing the DSA from that statement.

So that’s who they are.  Their goal is communism.

The name of that leader is David Jenkins.  He’s a member of the DSA’s National Political Committee, so he ought to know.  

He told us who they are, so we should believe him.

Extreme leftist candidates (including DSA candidates) from past elections include

• AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Ro Khanna, Ilhan Omar, and Pramila Jayapal.

• Cory Booker, Ayanna Pressley, Bernie Sanders, and Cori Bush.

Extreme leftist DSA candidates who have popped up in the current cycle:

• James Talarico in the Senate, who has embraced every nutball LGBTQ/trans theory on the planet, wrapped up in a sugary faux Christian coating.

• Graham Platner was also running for Senate, after everyone knew about his Nazi tattoo, his active social media account at a site notorious for pedophiles chatting with little kids, and multiple credible allegations from conservative ex-girlfriends.  Platner was finally taken down by another credible allegation, this time from a liberal ex.

• In the House, a whole tribe of new candidates, including a sociology Ph.D. candidate who started a new “Death to America” campus club, a former associate of the “Blind Sheikh” who masterminded an early bombing attack on the World Trade Center (WTC), and people who think we deserved 9/11.

When people tell you who they are, believe them.

Their strategy is to primary more moderate Dems and take as many of the Democrats’ “safe seats” as possible.  In such races, any actual competition is purely intramural, between Democrat factions.  Republicans always lose these races in November, and sometimes they don’t even bother to run a candidate.  The real battle is the Democrats’ primary.

Cori Bush is the only one from the initial DSA wave of 2016–2022 who “washed out,” by winning primaries for a few years, then losing one to a mainstream Dem.  Clearly, she’s being candid about her DSA identity while she’s trying to get back into House of Representatives.

Recently, her campaign posted a group photo from a July 8 meeting of the St. Louis DSA chapter, showing her next to a communist “influencer” named Christopher Winston.  He calls himself “BlackRedGuard” online and identifies as a Maoist.

This guy thinks landlords should be shot.  He’s suggested he would “execute” a political rival.

From Daily Wire:

Winston can be seen standing next to Bush with a shirt reading “armed minorities.” ...

“I’m so proud to have DSA by my side, united in our fight against price gouging, big real estate, and billionaires influencing our politics,” [Bush] said. ...

During a stream in March 2024, Winston said that “we’re going to execute you after the revolution” in response to a video leftist activist Shaun King made discussing fraud accusations. Winston said that he hoped that cancer “eats” King’s “a**hole out” and called him an “albino snake.”

In other appearances, Winston argued that “burning a Waymo is not political violence” and argued that landlords should be greeted by “a strongly worded letter in the form of a very hot piece of metal.” ...

In other statements, Winston pledged to seize homes from landowners and argued that “the ultimate form of international solidarity is to make revolution in the United States.”

“Communists don’t want to take away your house. We’ll cancel your mortgage. You can have one house, not a dozen. Excess properties will be taken from landlords and distributed to actual families to live in,” he said in one recent post.

When they honestly tell you such things about themselves, believe them.

None of these people thinks America’s institutions have a right to exist in their present form.  America’s institutions, they say, must be torn down and rebuilt into a more diverse socialist/DIE paradise.  These are people who think the destruction of the WTC on 9/11 was not only well deserved, but necessary.  And they think borders shouldn’t exist.

To illustrate this glorious revolutionary mindset, they’re whining about Elon Musk being the world's first trillionaire.  But I don’t think they would have objected if Hunter Biden had been the world's first trillionaire.  They have zero interest in cleaning up any of the fraud, greed, waste, graft, and corruption among Democrats.

None of these people thinks Israel has a right to exist at all.  Every square inch of Israel, they say, belongs to the glorious and noble Palestinian people, represented by Hamas and Hezb’allah.  And we found out on October 7, 2023 how that would end.

Cori Bush and other DSA luminaries haven’t distanced themselves from any of Winston’s statements, or challenged the authenticity of that Jenkins video clip.  Their goal is communism.

We must be alert to the fact that political parties similar to the DSA have gained influence or taken control in such allied nations as the United Kingdom and Germany.  We must take note of the fact that these are becoming the new sexual assault capitals of the world due to Muslim immigration.

In Australia, a left-wing party has taken charge.  Law-abiding Australians are unarmed, which means the criminals are the only ones with guns, producing the Bondi Beach massacre.

We all need to recognize that the DSA and its overseas comrades are poisonous for America and our allies in the rest of the industrialized First World.  They are toxic.  And here in America, they must be limited to the tiny number of “safe Democrat” seats they’ll eventually have after November.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 22:35

Israel Advances Plan For Palestinian Prisons With Crocodile-Filled Moats

Via Middle East Eye

The Israeli government has stripped Nile crocodiles of their protected status, paving the way for a proposal to build a detention facility for Palestinians surrounded by the reptiles, Israeli media reported on Thursday.

Environment Minister Idit Silman signed a decree on Wednesday reclassifying Nile crocodiles as a "specially managed wild animal" - a new legal category that allows the state to keep the animals for security purposes, according to Israeli news site Ynet. In the decree, Silman said Israel's security forces could now keep crocodiles under specific conditions.

via Britannica

According to Ynet, the move went against the advice of the Environment Ministry's legal adviser and environmental groups. The decision follows months of pressure from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who in December proposed building a prison encircled by crocodiles.

Ben Gvir, who oversees the Israel Prison Service (IPS), said he was inspired by Florida's controversial immigration detention centre, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz".

Officials at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority had previously argued that crocodiles should only be kept for education and research. The Environment Ministry's legal adviser, Neta Drori, also opposed the plan, saying it lacked a sufficient legal and professional basis.

The IPS argued its staff could handle crocodiles because of their experience working with attack dogs, an argument Drori rejected. "The IPS does not appear to have expertise in raising dangerous wild animals such as crocodiles," she wrote, concluding that the legal requirements for the declaration had not been met.

Despite that opinion, Silman approved the measure this week.

Ben Gvir celebrated the decision on Facebook on Thursday, posting an AI-generated image of himself holding a crocodile on a lead. "Damn terrorist, thinking of trying to escape? Think again," the minister wrote.

Since what critics allege is genocide in Gaza began in October 2023, Ben Gvir has overseen a sharp deterioration in conditions for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, including torture, starvation and degradation. Human rights organizations have accused Israel of widespread abuses and have described some detention facilities as "torture camps".

'Significant risks'

Silman's decision drew opposition from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) and environmental groups, which argued the move is unlawful and puts both crocodiles and the public at risk.

The INPA said there was "no sufficient professional basis" to permit crocodiles to be kept at security facilities. The agency, which is responsible for protecting Israel's wildlife, warned that introducing crocodiles into IPS facilities would create "significant risks", adding that it doubted the prison service could provide appropriate care for the animals. 

In a joint statement, several environmental organizations said they "strongly object to the use of animals as a means of guarding and deterrence".

"Crocodiles are sentient beings, with complex needs for space, water, temperature and natural behavior," the groups said, arguing that prisons should rely on conventional security measures instead.

They also questioned the proposal's effectiveness, noting that crocodiles "slow down their metabolic rate, become very sluggish and stop eating" during winter.

Illustrative: would be something like this.

"Security should be achieved through real means, not through animals," the statement concluded.

Nile crocodiles have been a protected species in Israel since 2013. Before then, crocodile farms operated as tourist attractions, but many switched to breeding the animals for their skins as visitor numbers declined.

Last year, the Israeli military killed more than 250 Nile crocodiles at a farm in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, prompting condemnation from animal welfare groups, which accused it of slaughtering protected animals.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 21:45

Russia Expresses Alarm Over Deepening NATO-South Korea Ties

Moscow and Pyongyang have quite obviously deepened their relations in unprecedented ways over the past years since the Ukraine war began, and this has been most on display with the transfer of thousands of North Korean troops in support of Russian forces, and DPRK soldiers even losing their lives while fighting Ukraine.

So it's only to be expected that Russia side with North Korea in the long-running conflict and standoff with South Korea. But now the Kremlin senses Seoul is moving ever closer to NATO, to the point that it's calling out the deepened military relations.

Russia has newly made clear its position that it is unacceptable for South Korea to become a de facto participant in the alliance’s rearmament efforts.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a new statement issued following a meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko and South Korean Ambassador to Moscow Lee Seok Bae:

"The Russian side expressed serious concern over Seoul’s growing drift toward NATO, as demonstrated, among other things, by the Republic of Korea’s practical steps to deepen military and military-technical cooperation with the North Atlantic Alliance, the consequences of which pose a threat to Russia’s security," the statement said.

The ministry stated that "it is unacceptable for the Republic of Korea to become a de facto participant in NATO's qualitative and quantitative rearmament process, as the alliance has openly declared its preparations for war with Russia."

Of course, South Korea is not a NATO member and full membership remains unrealistic; however, it is seen by Brussels as a highly integrated "Indo-Pacific partner" - and of course the United States has a permanent large-scale troop presence there.

Major General Eray Üngüder, Director of NATO’s Cooperative Security Division, declared in June that "The Republic of Korea is a longstanding Partner of NATO and we are grateful to have this strongly committed partnership."

And NATO describes on its website of relations with Seoul that "This collaboration, initiated in 2005, involves joint efforts in several fields including cybersecurity, capability development, new technologies and countering hybrid threats. This year’s conversations primarily addressed topics like interoperability, standardization and cyber exercises."

But Moscow definitely sees thing differently. It agrees with Kim Jong Un that Washington is an 'imperialist' power and hegemon, and through constant military flexing, sows instability from Eastern Europe to the South Pacific.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 21:20

Fake Records May Have Put Untrained Drivers On America's Roads

Authored by David Manney via PJMedia.com,

Fake training records can move an unprepared driver one step closer to a commercial license.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin are now investigating about 75 entry-level driver training schools suspected of doing exactly that.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has identified approximately 75 entry-level driving training schools suspected of fraudulent activities, including using improper driver certifications, falsifying training records, and failing to properly train drivers applying for CDLs, among other violations. USDOT will engage DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in its investigations of these schools.

“USDOT has spent the last year rooting out bad actors from our trucking industry,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “We've knocked over 24,000 drivers off our roads for failing to speak English, forced states to cancel over 28,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers, and purged over 9,500 unqualified training schools from our FMCSA registry. DHS will be a force multiplier of our efforts to clean up America's roads. President Trump is using every lever at his disposal to ensure the safety of American families.”

“Too many American lives have been lost in completely avoidable accidents because illegal aliens have been granted commercial driver’s licenses to drive trucks and 18-wheelers on America’s roadways,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “DHS law enforcement is partnering with the Department of Transportation to eliminate CDL fraud, strengthen the integrity of the CDL system, and investigate commercial driver’s license schools throughout the country. This is a whole of government approach, to keep America’s roads safe.”

This is part of the administration's ongoing efforts to root out fraud from American trucking and restore integrity to the industry.

Federal officials say the schools may have used improper certifications, falsified training records, or failed to train CDL applicants properly. Homeland Security Investigations will work with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to determine whether poor instruction crossed into criminal fraud.

The licensing system gives training schools enormous power. Federal rules require many first-time applicants to complete approved instruction before taking a CDL skills test.

Registered schools then submit completion records electronically, and state licensing agencies use those records to decide whether an applicant may test.

Providers also self-certify that they meet federal standards when joining the registry. A dishonest school damages the first major checkpoint before an applicant ever sits for the road test. Fraud at that stage reaches far beyond paperwork.

Duffy's department had already found deep problems. In February, more than 300 investigators conducted 1,426 on-site inspections across all 50 states. They issued 448 proposed removal notices, while 109 providers removed themselves after learning investigators were coming. Another 97 remained under investigation.

The violations were not harmless technical errors. Investigators found instructors without the proper licenses, schools using the wrong vehicles, incomplete student assessments, and providers that failed to meet their state requirements. One school had even trained bus drivers.

Nearly 10,000 training locations have now been removed from the federal registry. The department also says more than 24,000 drivers were taken out of service for failing English proficiency requirements, while states canceled more than 28,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers.

Those numbers expose a system that went too long without firm inspection. The new joint probe adds criminal investigators who can follow records, payments, identities, and possible coordination between schools and applicants.

Legitimate driving schools and qualified immigrant drivers should welcome the cleanup. Fraudulent operators cheapen the work of every instructor who teaches the rules and every driver who earns a CDL lawfully. They also leave responsible trucking companies exposed when a bad credential slips through.

A commercial license is permission to operate some of the largest vehicles on American roads. Families traveling beside them can't inspect a driver's school records or verify who provided the training. The government carries that duty before the license is issued.

Duffy and Mullin are finally treating driver training as part of highway safety rather than an administrative formality. The 75 schools remain under investigation, and officials still must establish what each one did. Every false record should be traced to the driver, licensing office, and person who profited from it because a forged certificate should never become a license to endanger everyone else.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 20:55

$100 Billion & Climbing: Iran War Price Tag Believed Far Higher Than WH Estimates

While the Pentagon publicly clings to a $30 billion price tag for its war against Iran, internal Defense Department assessments (unsurprisingly) paint a far more staggering picture: the true cost is rapidly closing in on the $80 billion to $100 billion range, according to NBC News.

The Pentagon's Office of Management and Budget told Congress on June 30 that US military operations against Iran so far is $30 billion: "We’ve spent about $30 billion," OMB Director Russel Vought told the House Appropriations Committee. 

NBC's new assessment bluntly states the following, however: "The cost of the war with Iran could be more than triple the most recent estimate of roughly $30 billion, according to three U.S. officials and three people familiar with the internal cost estimates."

The lower figure was reportedly initially floated based a classic Washington accounting trick which only evaluates the cost of expended missiles and munitions while conveniently ignoring the charred remnants of American hardware and damaged bases littering the Gulf states after Iranian retaliatory attacks, the report explains.

The estimate featured in the NBC report accounts for actually rebuilding those installations previously attacked by Iran. Judging by how things are going this week - after five consecutive days of renewed fighting - the final bill from damage will only keep pushing up from here.

It has been well documented that while American troops at Gulf bases across the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf were by and large pulled back from near 'front lines' - large US military assets like refueling tankers were in some cases left behind, resulting in scenes like the following:

The Telegraph: In a picture verified by AFP, the mangled airframe of the US air force jet stands on the runway of Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia.

"Five U.S. Air Force refueling planes were struck and damaged on the ground at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia, according to two U.S. officials," The Wall Street Journal reported in mid-March. Each one costs hundreds of millions.

"The tankers were hit during an Iranian missile strike on the Saudi base in recent days, the officials said," WSJ detailed at the time. "U.S. Central Command declined to comment. The tankers were damaged but not fully destroyed and are being repaired, one of the officials said. No one was killed in the strikes."

And in Bahrain, home of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, damage to military facilities is already estimated at $1 billion. Heavily fortified installations in Kuwait have also taken a severe beating, with both these tiny Arab Gulf states being favored targets of IRGC projectiles of late.

In the meantime, with a $1.5 trillion budget battle looming this autumn, the Pentagon is currently urging Congress to approve $68 billion supplemental funding package just to keep the lights on, but as the Iran war drags on with few clear objectives outlining an endgame, defense officials are hitting a wall of bipartisan skepticism among lawmakers.

One D.C. watchdog group, Public Citizen, has stated this week: "The American people are fed up with spending more on bombs and less on basic needs. And they are furious with a pointless, deadly, illegal, unconstitutional and protracted war that is costing lives and driving up gas prices."

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 20:30

Why Washington Is Challenging The International Criminal Court

Authored by William Brooks via The Epoch Times,

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent announcement of a “whole-of-government” campaign to challenge the International Criminal Court (ICC) has generated predictable discourse worldwide.

The Trump administration is applying diplomatic pressure on allied governments to reconsider their support for the Court. Washington is calling for expanded sanctions against ICC officials, visa restrictions, and renewed insistence that the Court has no lawful authority over citizens of sovereign nations.

For the usual globalist critics, this is just another example of Trumpian unilateralism. But for sensible Americans, it reflects the president’s determination to place “America First” ahead of international institutions.

In fact, the issue deserves thoughtful examination that goes beyond ideological rhetoric. At its heart lies one of the oldest questions in constitutional government: Who has the ultimate authority to judge the citizens of a sovereign nation—its own national institutions, or an international tribunal whose judges are beyond the reach of that nation’s electorate?

The answer explains why every American administration since the ICC’s creation has refused to recognize the Court’s jurisdiction over American servicemen and government officials.

The International Criminal Court was established under the Rome Statute in 1998 and formally began operations in 2002. It was created with an admirable purpose: to prosecute individuals responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and, more recently, the crime of aggression when national courts either cannot or will not act.

The horrors of Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia convinced many that the “international order” needed a permanent institution capable of bringing the world’s worst criminals to justice. Few people disputed that objective.

Since World War II, the United States has played a significant role in shaping modern international criminal law. From the Nuremberg trials to the creation of temporary tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, successive American governments have supported the prosecution of genuine war criminals.

What Washington has never accepted is the proposition that an international court may exercise criminal jurisdiction over American citizens without the United States’ consent.

Global Overreach

Bill Clinton authorized the signing of the Rome Statute during the final days of his administration, but he deliberately declined to submit it to the Senate for ratification, acknowledging significant constitutional concerns.

George W. Bush later informed the United Nations that the United States did not intend to become a party to the treaty. Congress reinforced that position through the American Service-Members’ Protection Act of 2002, declaring that American military personnel should never be surrendered to the ICC without U.S. consent.

Subsequent administrations differed in tone but not in principle. Barack Obama cooperated with the Court in certain cases involving foreign atrocities while continuing to reject its jurisdiction over Americans.

Joe Biden lifted some sanctions imposed during Donald Trump’s first term but tacitly maintained that the ICC possessed no lawful authority over U.S. personnel. The American constitutional objection has remained remarkably consistent across the partisan divide.

The present controversy over the court’s power arose from the ICC’s contention that if an alleged offense occurs within the territory of a country that has ratified the Rome Statute, the Court may prosecute even citizens of countries that have never accepted its jurisdiction.

The Court’s reasoning formed the basis for investigations involving American personnel in Afghanistan and has also underpinned recent proceedings involving Israeli leaders. Sovereign nations are right to see this as global overreach.

America in Opposition

History offers good reasons for American concern. International organizations, such as the United Nations, are not immune from politicization. Their legitimacy depends not only upon noble aspirations but also upon public confidence that they exercise their authority impartially and within clearly defined legal limits.

Whenever global institutions expand their jurisdiction beyond what states originally contemplated, they inevitably invite resistance.

This concern echoes an argument made 50 years ago by the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. In his influential 1975 book “A Dangerous Place” and in articles and speeches during his tenure as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Moynihan argued that the United States had entered an era of permanent “opposition” within international institutions.

He believed that organizations originally established to foster cooperation had increasingly become grievance forums for a multinational majority of former European colonies that were determined to disparage the United States and its longstanding allies.

Moynihan did not reject international cooperation; quite the opposite. He believed that international institutions were valuable—but only when they respected truth, legal restraint, and the sovereign equality of nations. When those institutions exceeded their proper authority or became instruments of political activism, he believed democratic governments had both the right and the obligation to resist.

Half a century later, Moynihan’s warning is remarkably relevant. The present dispute is not just about whether war crimes should be prosecuted. Every civilized nation supports bringing genuine perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity to justice.

The real question is whether or not an international court has an independent right to define the limits of its own authority.

Washington Rejects the ICC’s Jurisdiction

American constitutional tradition holds that treaties bind only those nations that freely consent to them. The Senate never ratified the Rome Statute. Consequently, successive administrations have maintained that no international body can acquire criminal jurisdiction over Americans through the unilateral decisions of other governments.

This is not merely a legal technicality. It goes to the heart of democratic accountability. American judges answer to constitutional procedures established by the American people. Congress writes the laws. Presidents appoint judges under constitutional safeguards. Elections provide ultimate political accountability.

The judges of the International Criminal Court answer to no American electorate. American citizens cannot vote them out of office, alter their mandate, or amend the Rome Statute under which they operate. This exempts the Court from democratic accountability and permits it to exercise extraordinary powers over individuals who never consented to its authority. Within this order of things, Americans are as inclined to trust the impartiality of international judges as they are to trust the neutrality of international soccer referees.

Washington’s position is not unique. Other major democracies, including India, have also declined to join the Court. The objections vary, but many share the concern that international institutions should not gradually acquire powers that sovereign governments never delegated. Dismissing concerns about sovereignty as ultra-America-first nationalism diminishes the importance of an issue that has occupied constitutional scholars for decades.

That is a profound constitutional issue. In spite of the usual virtue signaling and anti-American theater, there is a principle at stake that has united every U.S. administration for more than a quarter century. The United States never consented to place its citizens under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Whether one agrees with Rubio’s assertion or not, it is hardly an extremist position. It reflects a long-standing understanding of constitutional government—that the legitimacy of law rests ultimately upon the consent of the governed. This is not just another battle in the culture wars or more evidence of presidential brinkmanship—it’s an issue that deserves to be taken seriously.

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

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 20:05

Organized Insanity: Why ICE Shootings Are Usually Justified

It has been noted by many deportation advocates that the enforcement of basic immigration laws has always been a responsibility of government.  It's not a new, unique, bizarre or despotic policy - It's simply common sense.  However, in the past decade, the common sense enforcement of the law is being treated like a humanitarian crisis akin to slavery, ethnic cleansing and genocide.  Why?

It's not because the general public sees it that way.  The citizenry did not suddenly change their views on mass immigration overnight.  Most Americans are not particularly enthusiastic about "multiculturalism" or ethnic replacement and they never have been.  The big change was the focus of the progressive spin machine. 

The multiculturalists turned up the heat on their propaganda from moderate to full-blown "we are the world" cult insanity, and they did this in the span of a few years.  In other words, the pro-mass immigration movement is not a real movement; it's astroturf largely created by an army of non-profit organizations with wealthy globalist backers.

  

Without these NGOs, "anti-ICE" protests and disruption groups would not exist.  These people get compensated for the things they do.  That's how they're able to spend most of their day tracking ICE agents without losing their jobs - because provocation is their job.  

You may have heard of the recent ICE related shooting in Maine this past week, in which a confrontation between agents and an illegal migrant from Columbia led to a deadly outcome.  Maine activists took to the streets to protest the fatal shooting of the illegal by an ICE officer in Biddeford.  What they don't mention is that 26-year-old Joan Guerrero reportedly attempted to run the agent over with his van and that's why he was shot. 

DHS almost put a hold on traffic stops by ICE in response to the event, but Trump immediately brought the hammer down on that decision and traffic stops will continue unabated.  Any capitulation, any sign of weakness in the face of left-wing disruption, only emboldens them further.

\

There is no training that can be conducted that will make ICE agents safer from migrants and leftists trying to kill them.  Deadly force is the only response that makes a difference.  

The establishment media has tried desperately to make Guerrero into a martyr, much like they did with Renee Good and Alex Pretti, but with little success.  The reason should be obvious and predictable:  Americans are fed up with far-left activism and illegal immigration, and they're tired of the disinformation surrounding these incidents.

Almost no one talks about Renee Good or Alex Pretti because the narratives around their deaths were debunked.  When video footage was released showing Good attempting to run over an ICE agent and Pretti (armed with a pistol) attacking an ICE agent in the middle of an arrest, the outrage fizzled and the public realized they were being played. 

🚨 UPDATE: ICE has just announced that IN ONE OPERATION across one day, 238 illegal aliens have been arrested — a new record for the Rio Grande Valley

The illegals' crimes included s*xual battery, attempted kidnapping and more

KEEP PUSHING, ICE! Vehicle stops are back on! The… pic.twitter.com/ysPnrah0mW

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 16, 2026

At bottom, the NGO's want these shootings.  They want the chaos and they want to sacrifice low-IQ activists to create martyrdom scenarios.  Watch these groups in their post-killing demonstrations; they look almost happy or giddy.  They believe that with each tragic sacrifice they are getting closer to a popular consensus against deportations.  

Evidence suggests they are mistaken. 

The majority of Americans in polling still widely support deportations and strict controls on the southern border.  What the NGOs didn't take into consideration was the factor of fatigue.  The American populace is tired.  The public is growing increasingly acclimated to the idea that when activists and illegal migrants engage in violent encounters with ICE, those people are likely to be killed in the process.   

It seems like common sense, but the past decade of propaganda has conditioned many Americans to the idea that immigration enforcement is supposed to be soft and unseen.  This is naive.  The truth is, most incidents would not have occurred if it weren't for leftist disruption teams, and the public is starting to figure this out.  They are also starting to figure out that much of the hysteria around deportations has been conjured from thin air by left-wing news outlets. 

The goal is organized insanity - An engineered atmosphere of chaos.  It is the attempt to overwhelm the brains of the citizenry and train them to associate all immigration enforcement with constant tension and random violence. They hope that the public will eventually beg for it all to stop, even if it means keeping borders open.  

But, as noted, there's another potential outcome; the public stops caring completely.  When activists and migrants engage in organized insanity and get killed, no one flinches.  That's what is happening today.  Ultimately, the solution to ICE related deaths is simple:  Just don't interfere with or attack ICE agents.        

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 19:40

California Grocery Stores Use Facial Recognition Technology To Combat Theft

Via American Greatness,

Faced with a shoplifting epidemic that has battered California retailers for years, Grocery Outlet is fighting back with technology.

Customers are not thrilled about it.

The Emeryville-based discount grocery chain has begun installing facial recognition software called SAFR at a handful of Bay Area stores, including its Pleasant Hill “Bargain Market” location, CBS News San Francisco reported.

Customers walking through the doors will find signs warning them the system is in use, a disclosure the company says is meant to keep shoppers informed.

The rollout comes as California tries to combat a shoplifting problem that has spiraled out of control.

FBI data cited by CBS shows theft in the state has jumped 50 percent since the COVID-19 pandemic, a surge that has forced retailers from big-box chains to neighborhood grocers to spend millions on security measures, or in some cases, shutter stores altogether.

For June Guerrero, who spent years managing a retail store, the new technology is a welcome and overdue response to a problem she saw firsthand.

“I worked for years as a manager of a store and the theft was just unbelievable,” Guerrero told CBS News. “I agree with it.”

Not every customer sees it that way. Barbara Jackson told the outlet she’s uneasy about having her face scanned every time she shops for groceries.

“I do understand, but invading my privacy with my picture, I don’t agree on that,” Jackson said. “You gotta find a better way.”

Shopper Steve Burdette raised a different concern: the risk of the system misidentifying innocent customers as thieves.

“It could lead to a lot of problems, I think for companies and businesses and people,” he said.

SAFR president Charisse Jacques pushed back on the notion that the technology amounts to mass surveillance. She said the company does not maintain a database of every customer who walks through the door, retains information on suspected shoplifters only for a limited window, and does not share data with outside agencies — including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the New York Post.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 19:15

Hard Evidence: Prosecutor Accused Of Having Romantic Relationship With Illegal Immigrant

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

A prosecutor in Missouri had a romantic relationship with an illegal immigrant being prosecuted for sexual assault, Missouri's attorney general said on July 16.

A gavel in a file photograph. Demetrius Freeman/Pool/Getty Images

Ray County Prosecutor Camille Johnston at one point lived with the man, a citizen of Mexico who has been in the United States illegally since 2019, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in court filings.

Johnston allegedly declined to disclose the whereabouts of the man, described in court documents as J.G., when he was identified as a suspect in a sexual assault case; visited the illegal immigrant in Mississippi, where he had fled; went on vacation with the man to Florida; and provided her personal vehicle to him.

"This assistance in absconding included making a vehicle available to J.G. so that he could abscond and with knowledge that he would likely return to his native country of Mexico to avoid detection and apprehension," the court document reads.

The man was arrested in Ohio in 2024 and is awaiting trial for sexual offenses.

Johnston is also accused of having a romantic relationship with a prospective defendant who had been charged with carrying out domestic violence, as well as a romantic relationship with a defense attorney who was representing multiple people being prosecuted by Johnston.

When a staff member discovered the relationship with the prospective defendant, Johnston fired the employee, according to Hanaway.

That was one of the actions that created "an atmosphere of fear and tension" within the office of the Ray County Prosecuting Attorney, the filings state.

"When an elected official treats public office like their personal playground, betraying the public trust, ignoring legal obligations, and putting self-interest first, removal isn't a suggestion, it's a necessity," Hanaway said in a statement.

"Johnston's record reflects a sustained pattern of misconduct and willful neglect that has undermined the integrity of the prosecutor's office and poses a serious threat to public safety. In Missouri, public office is public trust, not a personal entitlement, and no one is above accountability."

A receptionist at the Ray County Prosecutor's Office told The Epoch Times on Friday that no one was available to comment on the situation.

Missouri law authorizes the attorney general to lodge a petition to remove any official who is believed to have illegally held office or forfeited the ability to hold office through willful neglect, abuse of duty, or misconduct.

State law says that people hinder prosecution when they prevent the apprehension or prosecution of another person by providing that person with money, transportation, or other means to aid him in avoiding discovery or apprehension.

A judge overseeing the case on Thursday entered a preliminary order temporarily removing Johnston from office, pending further order from the court.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 18:25

Humanoid Loses Its Head In World's First Full-Size Robot Combat Tournament... And Keeps Fighting

A humanoid robot was knocked headless during the world's first free-combat tournament for full-sized machines, but that didn't stop it from swinging, Newsweek reports.

The bizarre scene unfolded at the Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend (URKL) competition, which kicked off Thursday in Shenzhen, China.

A white robot named White Eagle landed a high kick on its black opponent, "Matador," sending the loser's head rocking violently before it popped completely out of place.

china’s URKL robot fight is absolute cinema

a robot got its head kicked off.. and kept fighting like it was completely normal 🤣 pic.twitter.com/A6KSfC0CTc

— el.cine (@EHuanglu) July 17, 2026

Even with its head dangling, Matador kept throwing punches and kicks at its rival. The bot eventually toppled over, crushing its own head beneath its body. As it tried to get back up, the head flew off entirely and the machine collapsed.

Organized by Shenzhen robotics company EngineAI, the event featured 32 international teams battling with the company's T800 humanoid robots.

The spectacle is the latest and most extreme entry in a fast-growing genre of robot combat. In May 2025, rival Chinese firm Unitree staged what was billed as the first humanoid robot kickboxing match in Hangzhou, pitting four of its smaller, remote-operated G1 machines against one another on state broadcaster CCTV - an event we covered at the time. The format has since gone global: earlier this year, San Francisco venues began hosting VR-controlled bouts using Unitree's humanoid robots, matches one researcher dismissed to Rest of World as little more than "robot theater." EngineAI itself teased this moment in December, unveiling the full-size T800 in a viral clip that showed the machine throwing spinning kicks - and, in a follow-up, booting the company's own CEO across a room. URKL raises the stakes further: full-sized humanoids, a standardized platform, and 32 teams whose edge comes down to software and tuning rather than hardware.

Watch the entire event here:

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 18:00

"Glaring Subsidization": Virginia Questions Cost Allocation For Data Centers

By Diana DiGangi of UtilityDive

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office, Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and others weighed in on Dominion Energy’s proposal for allocating the cost of transmission projects driven by data center development at a hearing held by the Virginia State Corporation Commission on Tuesday.

Louise White, Spanberger’s deputy energy officer, said that the governor’s office wants the SCC to apply three solutions in the case: a “but for” cost causation standard; requiring transmission level-contributions in aid of construction, or CIAC, payments; and transitioning to the summer/winter peak and average cost allocation method.

Attorney and lobbyist Will Cleveland testified on behalf of Google that Dominion only recently completed its shift to a 12 coincident peak demands allocation factor, and its new GS-5 rate class for large loads hasn’t yet gone into full effect, saying it’s “simply too early in the process” to know whether these changes alone might fairly reallocate the data center cost burden.

The SCC’s hearing concerns Dominion’s proposed change to its Rider T-1, a line-item charge allocated to cost recovery for transmission investments, which the utility seeks to increase in order to recover around $1.5 billion in transmission costs. Dominion originally estimated that the average residential ratepayer’s bill would increase by around $2.90 a month as a result but lowered that estimate to $0.94 a month based on updated forecasting.

Cleveland said that SCC’s final order in Dominion’s 2025 rate case approved large load provisions like the creation of the GS-5 rate class, with cost shifting as the provisions’ “entire premise ... Why is that not sufficient?” He asked the SCC to direct Dominion to revise its line extension policy to allow for voluntary CIAC payments, which he called a “win-win.” 

Andrew Major, an SCC attorney testifying on behalf of commission staff, said that if the commission chooses to adopt a methodology other than 12CP, staff “recommends transitioning over a multi-year period in order to facilitate gradualism and cost responsibility.”

“However, regardless of the cost allocation methodology that is chosen, there remains a glaring cross-class subsidization occurring to the benefit of new GS-5 customers,” Major said. He noted that Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta signed a ratepayer protection pledge at the White House in March, adding, “Curiously, none of those companies mentioned this pledge in either pre-filed testimony or opening statements today.”

The SCC continued to hear arguments on Wednesday, and must issue a decision in the case by Aug. 1.

In testimony filed June 11, Amazon witness Cameron Brooks also requested the adoption of voluntary CIAC payments “as a way to reduce ratepayer burden,” saying this would make “the customer’s financial responsibility for the identified facilities … clear, enforceable, and integral to mitigating subsidization and stranded cost risks.”

Jonathan Zader, senior assistant county attorney for Loudoun County — where the bulk of Virginia’s data centers are being developed — testified that “the stakes are particularly high” for Loudoun County, which requests cost recovery under Rider T-1 include direct allocation and CIAC payments for upgrades that are “but for” caused by interconnecting large load customers.

Methodology arguments

Michael Goggin, of Grid Strategies, testified on behalf of Appalachian Voices that concerns about stranded asset risk — enabled by what Brooks called the “socialization of speculative investment” from data center developers — is driving advocacy for CIAC payments as well as direct assignment, which allocates the cost of upgrades directly to the customer or rate class they’re serving.

But Goggin argued that “direct assignment only helps address part of the problem here. Dominion is still far too reliant on supplemental projects and needs to be directed to utilize the PJM regional competitive transmission planning process for the bulk of its transmission investment, so that we can reduce costs for all ratepayers,” he said.

John Farmer, section chief of the insurance and utilities regulatory section within the office of consumer counsel at the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, said the consumer council office “generally supports direct assignment conceptually when it is possible to identify a cost causer,” and “believes that the situations in which we may be able to identify a specific cost causer are growing.”

“But unlike allocating costs among the different classes, something this commission has done with regularity for many many years, there are uncertainties when it comes to the direct assignment of transmission costs that may warrant additional analysis,” Farmer said. For instance, he said, additional analysis on the relative merits of direct assignment to specific customers versus direct assignment to the overall GS-5 rate class “could be helpful.”

Farmer also said that the summer and winter peak average methodology of calculating cost, or an average and excess methodology used alongside 12CP, could be “reasonable alternatives” to the current 12CP methodology.

“Consumer Council does not find [Dominion’s] counterarguments to testimony recommending the SWPA method, in particular, to be persuasive, and expects the evidence that will come before this commission will support a movement to that methodology,” he said.

Dominion uses SWPA for cost-of-service studies and rate structures in North Carolina, but Dominion regulatory analyst Robert Miller said the company “believes that 12CP is the more appropriate allocation methodology for the companies for the Virginia jurisdiction.”

Miller reasoned that Dominion has a much smaller service territory in North Carolina, and he is not aware of any new high load factor customers in that area. He said that 12CP is a preferable methodology for use in Virginia, but agreed with Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney Nate Benforado that SWPA “is in the zone of reasonableness.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 17:40

Trump Wants To Revoke Broadcast Licenses Of Networks That Didn't Air His Election Meddling Speech

President Donald Trump on Thursday said that US TV networks that refused to air his primetime address on election integrity should have their licenses revoked. 

President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White House on July 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. Saul Loeb/Pool - Getty Images

During the address, Trump said that both NBC and ABC News said they "would not cover the speech" - something he called a "rare move." 

"They knew what it was about because of the fact that they don’t like the topic, because they know how corrupt our system is, and they don’t want to reveal it," he said, adding "Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses. They use our public, multi-billion-dollar in value airwaves for absolutely no money. They pay nothing. All we want is honesty in our elections and honesty in reporting."

ABC News said on Thursday that they would run the speech - but only on their live streaming platform and ABC News Radio - but not on its broadcast channel. NBC News also aired the speech on its streaming platform. 

As the Epoch Times notes further, Trump announced the declassification of information that he said reveals large-scale Chinese hacking of American voter information, saying that China obtained 220 million voter records during the 2020 election.

The president also detailed the findings of a Homeland Security Department review that found 278,000 noncitizens were registered to vote in federal elections. Trump said he had ordered the agency to notify states and direct them to remove all ineligible voters from their voter rolls.

White House communications director Steven Cheung called out NBC and ABC News for not airing the president’s address and encouraged viewers to watch it on the White House’s platform instead.

“NBC and ABC don’t want you to hear the truth. All they want to do is hide the facts from YOU. Tune in @WhiteHouse at 9:00pm EDT, where we always get bigger ratings than any of the networks,” Cheung said in a post on X.

Trump had previously called for the broadcast licenses of ABC News and NBC to be revoked over what he described as “unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives.” He also accused the networks of being “an arm of the Democrat Party.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in April ordered an early review of license renewals for eight Disney-owned ABC television stations. The FCC was also looking into whether ABC’s daytime talk ​show “The View” violated federal rules requiring broadcast stations to provide equal airtime to all political party candidates.

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 17:20

US Embassy Offers Large Cash Sums For Groups In Lebanon To Promote America's Image

Via The Libertarian Institute

The US Embassy in Lebanon announced that the State Department is offering grants of up to $250,000 to groups that help promote American propaganda. 

"The US Embassy in Beirut is opening a new Notice of Funding Opportunity for 2026," a statement published this week explained. "We’re looking for partners to implement programs that strengthen ties between the US and Lebanon, with a focus on highlighting US-led peace and stabilization efforts, and advancing digital literacy to help people identify and push back on false, adversarial narratives."

American Embassy in Beirut.

The State Department website says the program is expected to award $500,000 to at least two groups to promote US propaganda in Lebanon.

It adds that the program’s goal is to “strengthen local public understanding of US-led peace and stabilization efforts, and its role as a partner committed to security, economic opportunity, and responsible regional leadership.”

Washington is attempting to broker a peace agreement between Tel Aviv and Beirut. However, Israel is at war with Hezbollah, a non-state military that operates outside of the control of the Lebanese government. 

While Beirut and Tel Aviv inked a deal last month, Hezbollah rejected the agreement because it allowed the IDF to occupy Lebanon until the militia is dismantled. 

According to some of the latest from The Associated Press:

After two days of U.S.-mediated talks in Rome, Lebanon and Israel took steps toward implementing “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon where Israeli forces would withdraw and turn over control to the Lebanese army, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began when the Lebanese militant group fired rockets into Israel days after Israel and the U.S. launched their war on Iran on Feb. 28. Israel invaded Lebanon and has since occupied a large swathe of the country’s south. Hezbollah has been vehemently opposed to the direct Lebanon-Israel talks.

The attempt to negotiate a peace agreement between Tel Aviv and Beirut is making it more difficult for President Donald Trump to end the war against Iran.

🇮🇱🇱🇧 Reports claim the Israeli army is actively paving roads and modifying routes inside the occupied town of Odeisseh, Lebanon

That's despite an agreement with the Lebanese Government where they promise to pull out of Lebanon, eventually...

Source: BintJbeilNews/Writer: Samuel pic.twitter.com/u6R8FgLk1e

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 17, 2026

Iran has linked any ceasefire and peace agreement with Israel ending its war against Lebanon - but Israel has rejected this effort to link the two conflict threatres. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 07/17/2026 - 17:00