This week, I speak with David Gardner, Co-Founder of The Motley Fool. We discuss his new book book “Rule Breaker Investing: How to Pick the Best Stocks of he Future and Build Lasting Wealth.”

We also discuss the the Rule Breaker framework — David’s checklist for spotting the kind of high-growth, category-defining companies (think early Amazon, Netflix, NVIDIA) that drive long-run portfolio returns — and the trade-offs versus more conservative approaches.  David’s podcast at the Fool, Rule Breaker Investing, has been going since 2015.

A list of his current reading/favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.

You can stream the full conversation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Bloomberg.The video version is on YouTube.  The full archive of MiB episodes can be found here.

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Joe McLean, Managing Partner at MAI Capital Management, where he leads firm’s Sports & Entertainment division, serving 100s of pro athletes/entertainers across NBA, NFL, MLB, PGA + NASCAR. His path to finance runs directly through the locker room as a 4-year NCAA Division 1 player at U of Arizona. Dubbed the athlete’s “Money Whisperer” by the New York Times, he is known for his non-negotiable 60% savings mandate for clients.

 

 

 

Recently Authored:

 

Favorite Books

 

 

 

 

Books Barry mentioned

 

 

 

The post MiB: David Gardner, Co-Founder, The Motley Fool appeared first on The Big Picture.

The post Trump’s Ignorance Could Kill Millions appeared first on CEPR.

The EU 'Democracy Shield' Is The End Of Freedom In Europe

Via Remix News,

The year 2026 will go down in the history of European integration as a special moment. The European Union, under the banner of protecting democracy, has begun systematically restricting freedom of speech and real political pluralism. Thus, it embarks on the well-trodden historical paths of every authoritarian regime, resorting to violence and censorship as public support wanes.

A report recently published by the Ordo Iuris Institute leaves no doubt: we are dealing with a project for a profound overhaul of the public sphere that will primarily target conservative communities, including Catholics.

Jerzy Kwasniewski, the head of the conservative institute Ordo Iuris. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

The new EU mechanisms, ironically referred to as the “Democracy Shield,” are not a single piece of legislation. This is a coordinated regulatory system—from the Digital Services Act (DSA), through codes of conduct on “hate speech” and “disinformation,” to the regulation on political advertising. Their common denominator is the now-official departure from the European cult of free speech and its replacement with a system of preventive restrictions, in the name of… true freedom and democracy.

The European Commission claims that its aim is to create a “safe” information space in which “reliable” messages are meant to dominate, that is, in practice, narratives aligned with the liberal consensus . The problem is that the criteria for the EU’s “credibility,” for what is considered prohibited “disinformation,” and—what is particularly harmful—”divisive speech” are extremely vague and prone to ideological interpretation. As a result, it will not even be independent courts, but online platforms cooperating with non-governmental organizations selected by Brussels that will decide what content may reach citizens of the European Union. Including Polish citizens.

This system is multi-stage. First—mechanisms for reporting and removing content that, in practice, incentivize rapid takedowns, even at the expense of freedom of expression. Secondly—a labeling system under which statements labeled as “unverified,” “misleading,” or “political” are subject to mandatory restrictions on platforms such as Facebook or X. Thirdly—there is to be algorithmic intervention that limits the reach of content deemed problematic.

It is worth emphasizing the role of so-called trusted flaggers and fact-checker networks. It is precisely these entities, often financed with public funds from the European Union or the Member States and ideologically uniform, that gain a privileged position in the content moderation process. In practice, this means cleverly delegating censorship to entities that are not subject to any democratic oversight.

Even more troubling are the regulations concerning political advertising. The definition of “political speech” has been framed so broadly that it encompasses not only the activities of political parties but also public awareness campaigns concerning the protection of life, the family, or national identity. This means that Catholic pro-life organizations or movements defending marriage as the union between a woman and a man may be subjected to restrictive requirements and even sanctions. Even now, our own Ordo Iuris Institute and Center for Life and Family, as well as our friends from Polonia Christiana’s PCH24 news portal and their editorial team should start preparing to implement a “replacement language.” The censorship game, well known here in Poland from the communist era, is making a comeback.

At the same time, restrictions on the targeting and funding of political messages make it much more difficult to reach voters. In practice, the largest platforms, such as Facebook, have already stopped running “political” ads to avoid legal risk. It is no longer possible to freely promote petitions opposing abortion or same-sex unions there.

The Polish political context cannot be ignored. The introduction of these instruments specifically in 2026, just before the crucial parliamentary campaign in Poland, is no coincidence. Restricting the reach of conservative speech, making it harder to organize public-interest campaigns, and selectively labeling content as “problematic” will have a real impact on election results.

From the perspective of socially engaged Catholics, this is particularly dangerous. Unequivocal assessments concerning the protection of life from conception, the indissolubility of marriage, the condemnation of the aberrations of gender ideology, and even clear support for national sovereignty within the European Union will increasingly be classified as “controversial” or “divisive.” In the new regulatory model, such content may be restricted not directly—through a ban—but through invisible mechanisms of reach reduction and stigmatization.

This does not, of course, mean that the state has no right to combat crimes online or to protect citizens from real threats. The problem is that the European Union has crossed the line between protection and control, between security and social engineering.

Therefore today, more than ever, courage is needed to defend freedom and the right to publicly proclaim one’s faith. Not as a privilege for the select few, but as the foundation of a healthy society. If we allow, under the pretext of combating “disinformation,” the voices of those who defend life, the family, and sovereignty to be curtailed, democracy will quickly become a grim dictatorship hidden behind a facade of apparent diversity and tolerance.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/25/2026 - 07:00

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of Danish Blend coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:

•  AI Chatbots Know More About You Than You Realise: A handful of casual questions is enough for a chatbot to assemble a strikingly detailed profile of the user. The language we use is full of signals we don’t know we’re sending; AI has learnt to read them. (Straits Times)

• ‘It Beats Pitchfork Rebellions and the Guillotine’: Why These Super-Rich Americans Are Asking For Higher Taxes: As far as political protest goes, this was among the most civilized I have ever witnessed. The organizers did not make any noise beyond the idling truck covered in changing digital billboards. There were no chants on the sidewalks, no signs to leave behind as litter. The workers at the estate of billionaire Jeff Bezos looked with curiosity that quickly gave way to indifference as the visitors’ vehicle flipped through a three-minute slide deck mocking the Amazon founder: “Congratulations! You won capitalism! Now pay your damn taxes. It beats pitchfork rebellions and the guillotine” — a very civilized class of protesters. (Time) see also What I Learned About Billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s Private Retreat: For the richest men on Earth, everything is free and nothing matters. (The Atlantic)

• The Man Who Invented the Future: The Widener family fortune was built on electricity — and on a founder who imagined the modern world before it arrived. Are we the conflicted heirs of the world according to Francis Bacon? (Hedgehog Review)

• The Great Ozempic Experiment: Online and in doctors’ offices, people are finding that GLP-1s may help with everything from arthritis to addiction to migraines.It’s a new era of D.I.Y. medicine. Now the health establishment needs to catch up. GLP-1s may help with everything from arthritis to addiction — and we’re all the test subjects. (New York Times)

• 10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now: MIT Tech Review’s take on the ten AI trends, tools, and debates that actually matter heading into the rest of 2026. (MIT Technology Review see also The Warehouse, in Plain Sight: How the American warehouse — now being repurposed by DHS — became invisible infrastructure hiding in plain sight. That concrete box off the freeway wasn’t designed for storage so much as capture — of markets, workers, and, now, people detained by immigration agents. It’s a disappearing machine. We need to see it clearly. (Places)

• AI, Iran and the Gulf 101: Deutsche Bank’s primer on how AI investment, Iran policy, and Gulf capital fit together. (Deutsche Bank)

• It’s Been Quite the Year for Victoria Beckham: The Spice Girl turned fashion designer clawed her way out of debt and posted record profits. Family troubles aren’t standing in the way of her success. (WSJ)

• OnlyFans Model, 20, Made $43 Million Last Year. To Her, It Doesn’t Conflict with Christian Values: ‘The Lord’s Very Forgiving’ (Exclusive) At just 20 years old, Sophie Rain is making a life-changing yearly income of over $43 million — and sees no contradiction with her faith. (People)

• The invention of the soul: Humans weren’t given souls by God or genes. We made them ourselves with language – turning sentience into something sacred (Aeon) see also You’ve lived this life before: The mystical insight came to Nietzsche like a lightning flash: time eternally recurs – and life must be lived accordingly (Aeon)

• Marilyn Monroe’s Nudes Made Her Notorious. “Surprisingly Good” Acting Made Her a Star. In an exclusive excerpt from their new book, The Marilyn Monroe Century: From Norma Jeane to Icon―A Story in Photographs, John Miller and Mark A. Fortin trace the icon’s meteoric rise from scandal to stardom. Plus, a selection of previously unpublished photographs by Bruno Bernard. (Vanuty Fair)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with David Gardner, cofounder of The Motley Fool in 1993 (with his brother Tom Gardner). Originally launched as a print investment newsletter based on the idea that ordinary investors could beat Wall St., it gained traction when promoted on America Online (AOL) in 1994; it soon became a major presence on AOL and then Fool.com. His latest book is “Rule Breaker Investing: How to Pick the Best Stocks of the Future and Build Lasting Wealth.”

 

There’s never been an investment like the investment in railroads

Source: @paulg

 

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

~~~

To learn how these reads are assembled each day, please see this.

 

The post 10 Weekend Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

Where Homosexuality Is Still Punishable By Death

The latest data from ILGA - the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, a global federation that monitors laws and rights affecting LGBT people - show that consensual same‑sex relations remain criminalized in a significant number of countries, with a small but deadly minority still prescribing the death penalty.

You will find more infographics at Statista">As Statista's Tristan Gaudiat shows in the chart below, according to ILGA’s database, over 60 countries around the world still criminalize consensual same‑sex activity, mostly through prison sentences of varying lengths (from fines and short terms to long jail terms). A smaller group of roughly a dozen countries even retains the death penalty for such acts.

This includes national laws in countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as regional sharia provisions applied in parts of Nigeria and Somalia.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Enforcement varies widely: in some places, the statutes are rarely applied but create a pervasive climate of legal insecurity and social stigma, while in others, capital punishment is actively enforced.

Recent spikes in prosecutions have sharpened human‑rights concerns in certain regions.

Uganda significantly stepped up enforcement after a controversial law was introduced in 2023, and renewed legislative pressure in 2025 led to several high‑profile prosecutions.

In Southeast Asia, Brunei’s expanded sharia penalties - first announced in 2019 and subsequently rolled out in stages, including provisions allowing death by stoning - continue to provoke international condemnation.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 23:30

UAE To Move 50% Of Government Services To AI By 2028

Finally a practical use of AI.

In a world swimming in debt and overrun by government bloat and corruption, Dubai is taking a big step into the future. On Thursday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced that in two years, 50% of UAE's government sectors, services, and operations will run on Agentic AI, arguably the best use of the new technology yet. 

The new "government model" was launched under the directive of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It will make the UAE the first government globally to operate at this scale through autonomous systems. 

"AI is no longer a tool. It analyses, decides, executes, and improves in real time. It will become our executive partner to enhance services, accelerate decisions, and raise efficiency," the Dubai Ruler said in a post on X.

"This transformation has a clear timeline. Two years. Performance across government will be measured by speed of adoption, quality of implementation, and mastery of AI in redesigning government work," he continued.

"We are investing in our people. Every federal employee will be trained to master AI, building one of the world’s strongest capabilities in AI-driven government. Implementation will be overseen by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, with a dedicated taskforce chaired by Mohammad Al Gergawi driving execution.

"The world is changing. Technology is accelerating. Our principle remains constant. People come first. Our goal is a government that is faster, more responsive, and more impactful," Sheikh Mohammed added.

Under the directives of the President of the UAE, we launch a new government model. Within two years, 50% of government sectors, services, and operations will run on Agentic AI, making the UAE the first government globally to operate at this scale through autonomous systems.

AI… pic.twitter.com/53OQLe7RXl

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) April 23, 2026

The project includes a phased implementation across ministries and federal entities, based on continuous performance and impact assessment. This will pave the way for wider rollout, ensuring optimal results across the federal government.

Special attention is placed on developing national capabilities by training and empowering government employees to master generative artificial intelligence technologies and their applications. Which of course is reflexive, so in effect government employees are supposed to train their own replacements. 

Accroding to Khaleej Times, the move to adopt Agentic AI across government operations builds on 20 years of digital transformation in the UAE's government, from the early adoption of eGovernment and service digitalization to mobile government and integrated systems such as the UAE Pass identity verification system to full-service redesign and integration, supported by programs such as Government Services 2.0, which introduced proactive, data driven service delivery.

In 2017, the UAE became the first country in the world to appoint a Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and launched the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2031 under the UAE Centennial 2071 vision. The establishment of the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications in 2020 further strengthened this direction.

The UAE is especially well suited for agentic implementation: the Gulf state has spent more than a decade building digital infrastructure that connects government entities, making it one of the most advanced public service ecosystems globally. Platforms developed under entities such as UAE Government and Digital Dubai already allow residents to access hundreds of services online, from paying fines to registering businesses.

The latest plan shifts the focus from digitizing services to redesigning them, allowing AI systems to manage entire workflows rather than just assisting at specific stages. For residents, this changes the experience from navigating systems to simply requesting outcomes, with the complexity handled behind the scenes.

While the progression reflects a broader pattern seen across advanced economies, the UAE is moving faster than most.

The first phase involved putting services online, which reduced paperwork and eliminated many in-person visits.

The second phase introduced mobile apps, automation, and AI tools, improving speed and accessibility while still requiring users to manage processes themselves.

The next phase moves beyond interfaces, with systems designed to complete tasks independently, meaning the user defines the objective and the system handles execution.

Back in the US, a recent attempt through Elon Musk's DOGE to cut back on government inefficiency and corruption came to an abrupt halt last summer when it became obvious that the deep state would fight to the death (or at least hire assassins to effect the death of others) to prevent any change in the well-paid status quo. Perhaps AI will succeed where everyone else has failed. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 23:00

Muted Demand During India's Second-Biggest Gold-Buying Festival, After Prices Surge

Gold demand during one of India's key buying festivals stayed muted on Sunday as record prices curbed jewellery purchases, ​offsetting a modest uptick in investment demand, according to Reuters. 

Indians celebrated Akshaya Tritiya, the ‌second-biggest gold-buying festival after Dhanteras, when purchasing precious metals is considered auspicious. Only this time near record gold prices - the precious metal closed just over $4800 - kept buyer enthusiasm rather subdued. 

"The sharp rally in prices curbed jewellery demand. In volume terms, buying was lower as consumers ​held back, though in value terms spending was higher due to ​elevated prices," said Amit Modak, chief executive of PN Gadgil ⁠and Sons, a Pune-based jeweller.

Since consumers are, like everyone else, subject to the laws of supply and demand, it is natural that a higher price will lead to lower demand. Gold prices hit a record high of $5,594.82 ​per ounce on January 29 and are now trading just over $4,800.

Gold futures in ​India, the world's second-biggest gold consumer, closed at 154,609 rupees ($1,670) per 10 grams on Friday, nearly 63% higher than at the last Akshaya Tritiya festival. Except in a few ​southern Indian states, demand was lower than normal across the rest ​of the country, said Surendra Mehta, national secretary at the India Bullion and Jewellers Association. Meanwhile retail ‌buyers ⁠have been stacking shifting toward gold coins, which are easier to liquidate, even as jewellers offered discounts on fees for crafting jewellery to attract buyers, said a Mumbai-based jeweller.

The latest decline in demand is an extension of recent trends: India's jewellery demand in 2025 fell 24% from a year ​earlier, partially offset by a 17% rise in investment , the highest since 2013, according World Gold Council data.

Gold-buying patterns in India are ​changing, with purchases no longer concentrated only during festivals ​as price-sensitive ⁠buyers make purchases throughout the year whenever prices dip, said a Mumbai-based bullion dealer with a private bank.

India issued an order on Friday listing banks ⁠authorized to ​import gold and silver, providing relief for ​banks that were forced to halt imports because the list's publication was delayed.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 22:30

Google Deepens Anthropic Bet With Up To $40 Billion Investment

The AI funding frenzy continues, with Google planning to invest $10 billion in Anthropic at a $350 billion valuation, deepening its relationship with the San Francisco-based AI company best known for building Claude.

Bloomberg reports that Google's deal with Anthropic includes an initial $10 billion investment at a $350 billion valuation, with the potential for another $30 billion if certain performance milestones are achieved. That would bring the potential deal size to as much as $40 billion.

Part of the deal includes Google Cloud providing 5 gigawatts of computing capacity to the AI startup, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, including Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei, over the next five years. Additional capacity could follow.

Earlier this week, Amazon committed another $5 billion to Anthropic at the same valuation, with the option to invest an additional $20 billion over time.

Amazon's scramble for compute was detailed earlier in a deal with Meta:

• Scramble For AI Compute: Meta Inks Multibillion-Dollar Deal With Amazon For CPU Chips

Bloomberg pointed out that the Google-Anthropic deal is an "expansion of an agreement announced earlier this month between Anthropic, Google, and Broadcom."

For Google, the agreement with Anthropic strengthens demand for its cloud services and in-house TPU chips, which have become viable alternatives to Nvidia's AI chip stack.

Earlier this week, Google unveiled two new chips for the agentic era, including the TPU 8t, designed for training AI models, and the TPU 8i, designed for inference, or running AI services once they are developed and deployed. Again, this is all positioned to take on Nvidia.

There has been increased scrutiny around "circular" AI financing since we broke down the math and called it an epic "circle jerk" last fall.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 22:00

Pentagon Email Seeks Ways To Suspend Spain From NATO, Brussels Says Not Possible

Washington is eyeing how to pressure Spain out of the NATO alliance, after the Spanish government has taken firm anti-Israel positions, as well as come out strongly against Trump's Iran war, even disallowing some base and logistics access to the US armed forces.

An internal Pentagon email lays out options for the United States to punish NATO allies it says failed to support US operations in the war with Iran, including suspending Spain from the alliance and reviewing the US stance on United Kingdom sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, a US official told has told Reuters in a report published Friday.

via NATO/The Dispatch

In the Trump administration's eyes, Spain has also been a non-contributing thorn in the side both both US and NATO policy. To a large degree it's also easier for the US to single out and punish a country like Spain, compared more powerful and economically stronger nations like Turkey or France.

The policy options appear in a note expressing frustration over allies' reluctance or refusal to grant access, basing, and overflight rights - known as ABO - for the Iran war, the US official explained.

The email specifies that ABO is "just the absolute baseline for NATO," according to the official, who indicated this is being considered in senior policy circles.

However, it remains a big unknown whether the alliance can actually suspend a longtime permanent member, and the reality is that many other European countries are sympathetic to Spain's stance.

A NATO official told Reuters, "NATO's Founding Treaty does not foresee any provision for suspension of NATO membership."

And the reality is that any kind of suspension process would probably take so long that it would outlast the current US administration. 

But Washington could take other steps, such as drawdown in large-scale fashion its long-running force presence in Europe. This is already on the table, to the point that some European allies are already anticipating it and making preparations. 

The Pentagon and Trump administration have said of Spain, "they are not there for us." But perhaps from Spain's point of view, (and its population), it is putting Spain's national interest first. - and doesn't want to get bogged down in yet more US-led adventurism in the Middle East.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 21:30

Trump Administration Seeks Pause Of Lawsuit Challenging Vaccine Recommendations

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Trump administration lawyers on April 23 said they are still considering whether to appeal a ruling that blocked the rollback of guidance on some vaccines.

Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 22, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The lawyers said in a filing that pausing the litigation over the guidance pending the resolution of any appeal that is filed would “promote judicial economy and avoid burdens on government agencies that may be rendered unnecessary by a decision on any appeal.”

For instance, if an appeal is filed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit may dismiss some or all of the claims by plaintiffs in the case, which would eliminate the need for the government to produce records sought by plaintiffs, the lawyers told U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in a motion to stay proceedings pending resolution of any appeal.

“At a minimum, a First Circuit decision on any appeal could narrow the issues in dispute and provide guidance on how to resolve any remaining issues,” the motion stated. “If Defendants continue producing administrative records and the parties start briefing cross-motions for summary judgment before Defendants’ time to appeal has run and before the First Circuit has an opportunity to weigh in on any appeal, there is a significant potential for wasted time and resources.”

Murphy in March stayed the updates made to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine guidance under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., resulting in the guidance reverting to what had been in place in mid-2025.

Murphy concluded that Kennedy and other officials did not follow proper procedure in updating the guidance and appointing new members to the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee.

That stay would remain in effect even if Murphy approves the requested motion, administration lawyers said.

The lawyers did not say why no appeal has been lodged against Murphy’s decision. They asked him to stay proceedings in the case until whichever comes later: May 15 or the resolution of any appeal the defendants may file.

The deadline to appeal Murphy’s preliminary injunction is May 15.

Shortly after the injunction was issued, the Department of Health and Human Services said it would prevail in an appeal. The department has declined to answer questions about why an appeal has not yet been lodged.

“Unless officially announced by us, any assertions about what we are doing next is baseless speculation,” a department spokesperson told The Epoch Times in March.

The litigation was brought by multiple health care groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Government lawyers conferred with plaintiffs, who opposed the motion to stay the proceedings.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 21:00

FDA Grants Quick Review Psychedelic Drugs, First Approvals Could Come As Soon As Summer

The FDA announced new steps to speed up research on psychedelic treatments for serious mental health conditions, following an executive order from President Donald Trump directing agencies to expand access to emerging therapies, CNBC and NBC reported this morning:

In a press release Friday, FDA commissioner Marty Makary said the medications “have the potential to address the nation’s mental health crisis, including conditions like treatment resistant depression, alcoholism and other serious mental health and substance abuse conditions.” On Monday, Makary told NBC News that with the accelerated application process, the FDA could potentially approve the first psychedelic drug by the end of summer.

The agency said this effort could support new treatments for conditions like treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, and substance use disorders. Measures include prioritizing drugs with early promising results and offering incentives to companies studying compounds such as psilocybin and methylone. It also approved an early clinical trial for noribogaine, marking the first time a drug of its kind will be studied in the U.S.

Officials emphasized that these actions do not mean the treatments are approved or proven safe. All research will be closely monitored to ensure it meets strict scientific and safety standards.

Popular psychedelic names like Compass Pathways and AtaiBeckley have turned positive YTD on on the news out the last few days.

"The executive order I'm signing, we're actually signing the executive order today, is really a moment," Trump said at the signing event days ago. "These treatments are currently in the advanced stages of clinical trials to ensure that they're both safe and effective for the American patients."

Trump's order, signed on Saturday, directs the FDA to prioritize review of certain breakthrough-designated psychedelic therapies, expands potential access under the Right to Try Act, commits at least $50 million in federal funding for state partnerships, and encourages closer coordination among HHS, the FDA, the VA, and private-sector researchers.

"In many cases, these experimental treatments have shown life-changing potential for those suffering from severe mental illness and depression, including our cherished veterans," Trump said, citing the veteran suicide rate.

The order also instructs the Justice Department to move quickly on rescheduling any psychedelic-based product that successfully completes Phase 3 trials and receives FDA approval.

Trump continued, "And the nice part is we're actually doing this early, but it has been going on. Research has been going on for quite some time. But, you know, usually with things like this, nothing ever happens, no matter how the research ends up, but we're changing that. This order will clear away unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, improve data sharing among the FDA and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and facilitate fast rescheduling of any psychedelic drugs that become FDA-approved." 

As we wrote days ago, these stocks are starting to go 'mainstream' after being ignored and out of the limelight for years. Zero Hedge contributor Quoth the Raven has named the sector his “best idea” sector for 2026.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 20:30

A Bottle Of Water Is $4.25: Walt Disney World Might Be The 'Most Expensive On Earth'

Authored by Stephen Silver via 19fortyfive.com,

“Water is $4.50 for a basic Desani. Smartwater is $6.25. Food is almost unaffordable, and people bring their own food now. Soon, we might as well call Walt Disney World here in Florida the Most Expensive Place on Earth.” 

That’s what the Editor-In-Chief, Harry J. Kazianis, an avid Disney fan, told me just recently when it came to the Most Magical Place on Earth.

Mickey Mouse Walt Disney World 19FortyFive.com Image

Clearly, he isn’t wrong: Disney has announced its ticket price calendar for 2027, and it is raising prices on some tickets, including peak days, according to the new ticket pricing calendar.

Pricing has been announced through October 2027, with pricing for November and December next year yet to be revealed. 

Disney World Prices Keep Going Up In Florida 

The ticket pricing scheme at Walt Disney World is dynamic and complex, but, as The Street reported, tickets on some dates will cost more than they did previously. 

“While base-level ticket prices remain unchanged, peak-day pricing has quietly climbed, with the most popular dates now reaching up to $219 per day,” The Street reported. “That represents a roughly 10% increase from the previous $199 peak seen in 2025, reinforcing Disney’s continued shift toward demand-based pricing.”

Each of the parks at Walt Disney World in Florida has a price range. Per The Street, The Animal Kingdom has a range of $119 – $189, while EPCOT’s range is $144 – $204. Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ cost ranges from $149 to $209, while the Magic Kingdom Park ranges from $159 to  $219. 

According to an analysis by MickeyVisit, “we are seeing large increases for single-day tickets, including new peak prices for three theme parks at Walt Disney World.” Disney World, the site says, “uses a dynamic pricing structure, which means single-day ticket costs vary depending on the date, taking into account guest demand, holidays, and other variable factors.”

Epcot in Florida. Image from 19FortyFive.com staff.

As that site said, it’s part of an upward trend in Disney pricing. 

“Walt Disney World’s prices are continuing to trend upward each time a new set of prices is released,” the MickeyVisit site said. “But if we look at the graph above, we can see that the largest shift is happening at the higher end of pricing. While the lowest 1-day ticket price has only moderately increased over the past decade, the highest-priced tickets have seen a dramatic surge, with prices more than doubling since 2015.”

“Even Disney is Worried” 

The high cost of the Disney park experience has been a topic of discussion for a long time. Indeed, the Wall Street Journal reported in February of 2025 that rising costs at the parks are a concern that the company itself is aware of. “Even Disney Is Worried About the High Cost of a Disney Vacation” was the Journal’s headline. 

It grew out of the pandemic, the Journal reported, when Disney’s parks were closed to the public for over a year, finally returning in April of 2021. 

“The Happiest Place on Earth has long felt like one of the most expensive spots on the planet for many Americans—but the allure of a magical family vacation kept visitors streaming in,” the Journal reported.

Walt Disney World Boardwalk Hotel. Image by 19FortyFive.com

“Then, as post-pandemic demand soared, Disney put price hikes into overdrive, putting vacations at its theme parks out of reach for many American families. Attendance growth has slowed over the past few years, and even some families that were once regulars are canceling their pilgrimages.”

One-day adult passes to Disneyland, in California, broke the $200 mark for the first time in 2024, the Journal story said. 

That story also noted that the rising cost has been questioned inside the company, with surveys of park-goers finding that some were concerned about pricing and considering not returning. 

“Some inside Disney worry that the company has become addicted to price hikes and has reached the limits of what middle-class Americans can afford, according to people who have worked on park pricing,” the Journal said. “Internal discussions over whether Disney parks may be losing their grip on the hearts and wallets of families with young kids have become more frequent, some of those people said.” 

Disney Annual Passholder August 10, 2023. 19FortyFive.com Image.

The Journal also estimated the average cost of a visit. 

“For a two-parent family with two young kids, a typical four-day visit to Walt Disney World, including a stay at a value-priced, Disney-owned hotel, costs $4,266 in 2024, according to Touring Plans, a data provider that helps vacationers plan theme park visits. That cost, before food and transportation costs, is up from $3,230 five years earlier, adjusted for inflation,” the newspaper reported. 

This happens as the Disney parks business has become a more important part of the Walt Disney Co.’s overall financial picture, which also owns everything from animation studios to Marvel to “Star Wars” to ABC and ESPN. And indeed, Josh D’Amaro, who formerly headed the parks business, earlier this year was named the company’s new CEO, replacing Robert Iger. 

What the New Boss Thinks 

D’Amaro has addressed the issue of rising costs at the Disney parks, including during a March shareholder call, his first as CEO. 

The new CEO was asked how the company, under his leadership, will balance shareholder growth with other metrics, such as audience satisfaction, as seen in park prices. 

“This is an important question,” the CEO said. 

“Our goal is for every single guest to feel that their experience is worth it,” D’Amaro said on that March earnings call. “Basically, we want this experience to be the best day of a guest’s life. And we’re always measuring our success here.”

He also said that guest satisfaction and other metrics are high across Disney’s parks. 

Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Image Credit: 19FortyFive.com

“When it comes to how we think about pricing,” the new CEO said. “We focus on offering a wide range of options at different price points so that families can visit in ways that work for them, whether that’s during a value season or taking advantage of multi-day ticket savings or even special offers.”

The previous head of the parks division, who is now taking over as CEO, suggests there’s no major change in pricing strategy for the parks. 

“We try to provide a fair amount of choice and flexibility for guests while at the same time making sure that we’re managing daily attendance and the overall guest experience,” D’Amaro said. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 20:00

Oklo, NVIDIA, And Los Alamos Working On Plutonium-Powered AI 

Oklo announced an agreement with NVIDIA and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to advance critical nuclear infrastructure, AI-enabled research, and nuclear fuel R&D at Los Alamos. 

The partnership aligns Oklo’s advanced reactor platform, NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure, and LANL’s deep expertise in materials science and nuclear fuels. Together, the trio aims to accelerate deployment of resilient, high-assurance energy while supporting the federal government’s Genesis Mission.

Initial projects focus on physics- and chemistry-based AI models for fuel validation, materials science and fabrication R&D on plutonium-bearing fuels, and grid reliability studies for nuclear-powered AI factories at LANL. 

“This agreement brings together reactor deployment, high-performance compute, and world-class fuel and materials science expertise” said Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte. “We believe this will advance our plutonium-bearing fuel work on Oklo’s Pluto reactor, which was selected under DOE’s Reactor Pilot Program, and help bring resilient power in support of the Genesis Mission.”

Oklo has been finding themselves at the center of attention for multiple different private and government ventures. Meta provided Oklo a prepayment for securing fuel at a 1.2 GW nuclear campus in Ohio, and Oklo’s subsidiary Atomic Alchemy recently completed the majority of the construction at the Groves site in Texas. 

Today Jake and I signed the Certificate of Substantial Completion for the Groves Test Facility building structure. In 229 days, we turned a green field into a beautiful building with all of the infrastructure needed to support long-term operations. Our operators and research…

— Thomas Eiden (@AtomicEiden) April 21, 2026

NVIDIA’s own CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly stressed that AI factories need round-the-clock firm power, a point we highlighted when nuclear stocks surged on his comments. 

With roughly $2.5 billion in cash, no debt, and customer prepayments offsetting first-of-a-kind costs, Oklo is positioning itself as a leader in the sector. HSBC initiated coverage the same day with a Buy rating and $96 price target, citing Oklo’s owner-operator model, DOE pilot momentum, and path to first revenue later this year from its Idaho radiochemistry lab. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 19:30

US Sanctions Cambodian Senator Linked To Crypto Romance Scam Centers

Authored by Chris Summers via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The United States on April 23 imposed sanctions on a wealthy Cambodian senator, Kok An, who allegedly ran crypto-romance scam centers that stole millions of dollars from U.S. citizens.

Thai soldiers stand outside an abandoned scam center in O'Smach town on the border between Thailand and Cambodia on March 12, 2026. Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images

Kok, 71, is a political ally of Hun Sen, who served as Cambodian prime minister for 25 years before stepping down in 2023 and handing power to his son, Hun Manet. The 73-year-old is now president of the Cambodian Senate.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also sanctioned 28 individuals and entities linked to the suspected scam centers.

“Eliminating fraud is a top priority for the Trump administration,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “Treasury will continue to target fraudsters and scam centers that steal billions of dollars from hardworking Americans, no matter where they operate or how well-connected they are.”

Industrial-scale cyberscamming, based in scam centers in Burma (also known as Myanmar) and Cambodia, has become a major money-maker for organized crime groups.

The Treasury said in a statement that operators within this network have “stolen millions of dollars from U.S. victims while operating under the protection of Kok An and his political connections.”

Tricked Using ‘Romantic Relationships’

The Treasury said fraudsters use “the lure of friendship or romantic relationships” to coax vulnerable Americans into transferring their savings in the form of digital assets by promising investment opportunities and high returns.

Matthew Hogan, a detective with the Connecticut State Police and an officer on the Secret Service’s Financial Crimes Task Forces, told The Epoch Times last year that the biggest growth has been in long-term scams known as “pig butchering,” which involves luring people into fake cryptocurrency investments. The phrase comes from the Chinese term “sha zhu pan.”

The Treasury said Kok owns numerous companies, including Crown Resorts, and has retrofitted casinos and office parks as scam centers where workers—who are often trafficked from China and other countries—target U.S. citizens and trick people out of cryptocurrency, which is then laundered by Kok’s associates.

“Nearly all major scam compounds in Cambodia are connected to casinos, which serve to launder the proceeds of scams,” the Treasury said.

Kok is a senator from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party. It was founded during the Cold War, and was close to the Soviet Union and later communist Vietnam. It dropped its Marxist-Leninist ideology in the early 1990s.

Andy Jenkinson, a fellow of the Cyber Theory Institute and author of the book “Stuxnet to Sunburst: 20 Years of Digital Exploitation and Cyber Warfare,” told The Epoch Times in April 2025 that the annual losses to cybercrime globally are “over $10 trillion, or put it another way, $32 billion a day.”

Tether Freezes $344 Million USDT

The move was announced hours after stablecoin issuer Tether froze $344 million in its USDT stablecoin, allegedly linked to “sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illicit activity.”

“When wallets are identified as connected to sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illicit activity, Tether can move to restrict those assets,” Tether said.

The company also said it maintained a zero-tolerance policy toward the criminal use of USDT, and has long followed OFAC guidelines on sanctioned individuals and entities.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 19:00

The Pope's True Loyalty Is To Globalism, Not Christianity

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us

They used to call it the “new world order” – A partially public and partially covert agenda to dismantle western civilization. Its purpose is to upend the global financial system, destroy liberty minded movements and eventually erase nations and borders to produce a single communist-like central government ruled by the elitist class.

Today, there are many names for this “beast system”. Some call it the “multipolar world order” even though it would not actually be multipolar. Others call it the “Great Reset”. But the NWO concept that has been promoted most in our post-pandemic discourse is the idea of “Multiculturalism”.

Multiculturalism has always been in the background, at least since the Obama years. It was right under the surface, waiting to be used as a vehicle to move the globalist vision forward. The American people have been prepped for it for generations. The Europeans are currently suffocating in it and it might be too late for them.

The strategy seems rather simple but it is actually a complex effort relying on numerous moving parts synchronized to maximum effect. The most important mechanism is narrative and social influence; the public has to be taught to accept multiculturalism as an inevitability. This brings us to the modern church and its abandonment of western values.

The Vatican’s Shift Into Multiculturalism

In recent news, Pope Leo XIV triggered widespread debate among conservatives when he offered up a thinly veiled attack on the Trump Administration, calling US strikes on Iran’s infrastructure akin to “war crimes”. Interestingly, Leo refused to condemn the wholesale slaughter of protesters by the Iranian regime until this week, likely due to pressure from conservative critics calling out the hypocrisy.

The Pope has been an avid critic not just of Trump, but conservative anti-immigration movements in general. In December of 2025 he argued:

“I know that in Europe there are, many times, fears that are present, but oftentimes generated by people who are against immigration and trying to keep out people who may be from another country, another religion, another race. And in that sense, I would say we all need to work together…”

This runs parallel to Leo’s statements in July of 2025, when he asserted that:

“The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges… She knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.”

The treatment of immigrants as almost “divine” is a bizarre byproduct of the multicultural religion. This idea has been presented by several popes in recent decades, comparing refugees and illegal immigrants to the Holy Family traveling to Egypt to escape King Herod. In reality, Mary and Joseph were Roman subjects and merely traveled from one part of the Roman Empire to another. They were not “immigrants”, illegal or otherwise.

Keep in mind, the Pope lives within a secure compound protected by two miles of walls standing 40 feet high. The Vatican is one of the most restricted pieces of ground on the planet. Like most globalist elites, he never has to deal with the consequences of the mass immigration policies he supports.

For instance, the Vatican has refused to comment on the rising tide of crime and violence (including rape gangs) caused by mass immigration, specifically from Muslim countries. Nor has he commented on Islamic communities enforcing Sharia Law in Europe in defiance of integration.

In fact, Pope Leo pretends as if these problems simply don’t exist and that the millions of people opposed to third world migration are acting out of bigotry rather than a rational concern for the safety of their families and their culture.

And make no mistake, the Catholic Church has played an integral role in the spread of mass immigration. Under Joe Biden, the Catholic Church enjoyed over $200 million in direct grants for helping bring hundreds of thousands of migrants to the US. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was responsible for settling around 18% of all “refugees” and asylum seekers entering the US from 2021 to 2024.

The EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) has budgeted over $10 billion from 2021 to 2027 for organizations helping to settle millions of migrants in Europe, and a large portion of that budget goes to Catholic-based NGOs.

To many Christians the Pope still represents a central figure of influence despite the Vatican’s clear shift to the political left over the past several decades and its increasing abandonment of traditionalism. To non-Catholics (and wise Catholics), the office of the Pope is viewed as a Trojan Horse designed to destroy Christianity and the west from within.

The Vatican has grown into a purveyor of the progressive movement since the Vatican II reforms in the 1960s. These reforms including a focus on “interfaith relations” (universal religion) and a policy of detaching the church from its role as a pillar of western civilization. Today, 47% of Catholics vote Democrat despite the fact that woke ideology directly violates many of the most sacred Christian principles.

The Church’s interest in Muslim immigration spiked in 2010 under Pope Benedict XVI and they have been deeply involved with mass migration programs ever since, often in coordination with leftist politicians.

The Alliance Between The Vatican And The Luciferian Elites

Nothing woke up the masses more, in my opinion, than the nightmare of the Covid pandemic. During this crisis the globalists proudly proclaimed their intentions to lock down the world, enforce perpetual vaccine mandates, establish a medical tyranny and fast-track every NWO program imaginable.

One such program was the “Council For Inclusive Capitalism”, which I believe was the intended foundation for a global government; the top of the pyramid. The project was announced as a partnership between globalist controlled corporations, leftist NGOs, climate organizations, the Rothschild Family and, of course, the Vatican.

The Vatican’s mission within the council seemed to revolve around promoting socialism as “Christian adjacent” (This is a lie – Christianity encourages independent and voluntary charity, not forced charity through government taxation or atheistic collectivism). They were also tasked with forming a platform for a “universal religion”, or a union of religions.

The CIC took advantage of the hysteria surrounding the pandemic to advance the multicultural agenda as well as ESG (a program meant to use corporations to enforce woke ideology through social and financial influence). The project ultimately failed when the covid narrative fell apart.

The Council has since gone underground.  However, in 2026 the Vatican Bank approved the appointment of François Pauly, a former Rothschild director, to lead its Board of Superintendence.  The CIC is undeniable proof that the Vatican and associated leaders are intertwined with the luciferian elites. It is no longer a conspiracy “theory”, but a confirmed fact.

The Crusaders Were Right, The Globalist Pope Is Wrong

In 1095 AD at the Council of Clermont in France, Pope Urban II gave a speech on the relentless invasion of the Ottoman Turks which was threatening to destroy Europe and the last vestiges of western civilization. He appealed to Christian men to stand and fight, to stop the erasure of Christendom. For 300 years the Muslims had cut into the heart of the Holy Roman Empire, migrating and conquering as they went.

By the time of Urban’s call to arms, the Islamic caliphates had taken over 60% of all Christian lands and were on the doorstep of Western Europe.

Before this speech it was widely believed that Christians would not organize or fight. The success of Urban’s plea for action shocked the Pope himself. Thus began the First Crusade to save the west. In the end, the Muslims were pushed out of Europe, back to the Arab lands. Without the crusades we would still be living in the dark ages of a Muslim theocracy.

Nothing has changed since then in terms of the conflict. The western world is still completely incompatible with Islam. What has changed, rather, is the circumstances and the players. Today, the Vatican is a multicultural monstrosity working with people who, more than anything, want open borders, the dismantling of the west and the elimination of Christianity.

They clearly see Islamic immigration (and third world immigration from socialist nations) as a valuable weapon for cleaving the US and Europe. As I noted in my recent article “The US Separation From And NATO Is Long Overdue”, European globalists have used mass immigration to implant a foreign army to subdue and control the native population. It is a tactic as old as time – Political leadership using subsidized foreign hordes as a way to control their own rebellious citizens.

This is why they have ignored every reasonable call by the populace for reforms and deportations. This is why they ignore the rape gangs, the murders, the terrorism. They WANT these things to happen. That’s why they let the barbarians inside the gates in the first place. The Vatican and the Pope are a part of this agenda. As an institution, the Papacy was tasked with protecting the western world. If the Vatican is casting aside this sacred duty, then it no longer represents Christianity.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 17:15

Why Did China Reserve A Vast Offshore Airspace For 40 Days Without Explanation?

Authored by via The Epoch Times,

China has imposed a 40-day offshore airspace restriction larger than Taiwan without explanation, signaling a potential shift toward sustained military readiness near Japan and U.S. allies.

China filed Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) reserving offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, a 40-day window, without announcing any military exercises or offering a public explanation. The reserved zones cover an area larger than Taiwan’s main island, spanning from the Yellow Sea facing South Korea to the East China Sea facing Japan, including airspace north and south of Shanghai.

The restrictions carry no vertical ceiling, designated SFC-UNL, meaning surface to unlimited altitude. Civil aviation remains unaffected. Commercial flights are still permitted to pass through these areas, but must coordinate carefully with Chinese air traffic control authorities.

NOTAMs of this type have previously been used to signal Chinese military exercises, which typically last a few days. China has issued comparable restrictions along the same coastline at least four times in the past 18 months, but those lasted only three days and were openly linked to announced exercises, missile launches, or live-fire training events.

This time, Beijing provided no warning, no declared exercise, and no explanation. China’s Ministry of Defense and civil aviation authorities issued no statements and did not respond to requests for comment.

The November and December 2024 precedent is directly relevant. In November 2024, Shanghai air traffic control issued a NOTAM restricting seven large sections of airspace off China’s coast for periods spanning three days. Those zones overlapped with airspace subsequently used during large-scale military exercises in December 2024.

China provided no reason for the November restrictions, and they passed relatively unnoticed by the international media. Analysts assessed that they may have served as a rehearsal for the more significant airspace reservations that accompanied the December exercises.

Ray Powell, director of Stanford University’s SeaLight project, which tracks Chinese maritime activity, told The Wall Street Journal that the combination of SFC-UNL designation and a 40-day duration with no announced exercise suggests “a sustained operational readiness posture—and one that China apparently doesn’t feel the need to explain.”

Christopher Sharman, director of the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute, said the zones could provide China an opportunity to practice air combat maneuvers relevant to a Taiwan contingency.

Ben Lewis of PLATracker, an organization that analyzes the Chinese military and regional security development, assessed that the longer window likely gives China’s military scheduling flexibility for spring training and said he does not anticipate major exercises given the Kuomintang chair’s visit to Beijing and the planned Trump–Xi summit in mid-May.

The restricted zones lie hundreds of miles north of Taiwan but sit directly along approaches facing Japan and South Korea. A senior Taiwanese security official told the Journal the reservation is “clearly aimed at Japan,” reflecting Chinese efforts to deter U.S. allies and erode American military influence in the Indo-Pacific while U.S. attention remains on the Middle East conflict.

Past Chinese drills have focused on controlling air routes the U.S. military would use in a Taiwan contingency, and the pause in daily PLA flights near Taiwan that preceded these NOTAMs also remains unexplained.

The restrictions carry implications for the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. The United States recently moved long-range missile assets from the Pacific to the Middle East, and the restricted zones cover approaches directly relevant to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command force projection. Japan faces the most direct exposure, as the East China Sea portion of the restricted airspace faces Japan’s southwestern island chain, where Japan has deployed long-range missiles capable of reaching parts of mainland China.

By using a routine aviation mechanism without stating a military purpose, China imposes costs, heightened readiness, intelligence resources, and diplomatic caution on all three parties simultaneously, without triggering the international backlash that an announced large-scale exercise would generate.

No public U.S. government response to the restrictions has been reported. The U.S. military nonetheless continues operations in the region. USS John Finn conducted a Taiwan Strait transit on March 10, with the U.S. 7th Fleet stating the mission “demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific” and that American forces “will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows.”

On March 28, one day after China’s airspace restrictions took effect, Japanese fighter jets scrambled to intercept a new variant of China’s Y-9FQ anti-submarine warfare aircraft over the East China Sea, approximately 160 miles northeast of Okinawa. Japan’s Ministry of Defense, in releasing details of the intercept, stated that it “will continue to collect information and conduct surveillance on military movements around Japan 24 hours a day and will take all necessary measures against airspace violations.”

Japan has also increased defense spending to 2 percent of GDP ahead of schedule and is working with the United States to expand the joint military presence in Japan’s southwestern region.

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, 04/24/2026 - 16:25

Fusion Energy: Why America Needs To Own Its Technology

Authored by Lawrence Kadish via The Gatestone Institute,

For decades, fusion energy has been the great scientific pursuit - clean, limitless power drawn from the same physics that powers the sun. Enormous progress has been made in the technology required to harness nuclear fusion and significant investment is now being made by private companies and President Donald J. Trump's White House.

As we advance on fusion success, however, there is a danger of progress being halted by an enormous challenge: the supply chain. Without an American-based industrial infrastructure to source, manufacture, and deliver the materials fusion energy requires, our nation's dominance in this crucial field is at risk.

Consider the "shopping list" needed to create a viable fusion reactor.

Start with its fuel, tritium, a rare hydrogen isotope. There are not a lot of tritium supplies anywhere in the world.

Accordingly, you need to manufacture them – an enormous challenge before you even get to sustaining the actual fusion reaction.

The same issue applies to magnets needed to keep the fusion reaction contained and running.

The list goes on.

It is not a secret for those advancing our nation's energy independence through fusion.

David Kirtley, CEO of Helion Energy, a major leader in the field, has stated that supply chain challenges could put fusion's future here in America at risk.

As a result, they have moved some key technology manufacturing in-house.

In testimony before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Jackie Siebens, Helion Energy's Director of Public Affairs, stated that building the supply chain and infrastructure necessary to scale fusion is "chief among" the company's challenges.

She warned that fusion power plants will rely on key components including semiconductors, capacitors, high-quality metals, and magnets —and that the manufacturing of those key items is currently concentrated in a few countries, chiefly China. Why are we not surprised?

The geopolitical stakes could not be higher. Helion Energy correctly argues that without a strong domestic supply chain, the U.S. risks losing its strategic energy dominance even as it advances on fusion energy success

Our nation's leaders must treat protecting the supply chain with the same urgency as research funding to achieve fusion energy breakthroughs.

Washington needs to recognize the challenge and encourage the creation of an "American made" network of fusion technology suppliers that will protect our future.

It is a race where second best will leave a nation in the dark.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 15:15

Ilhan Omar Accused Of Trying To Steer $1.4M To Nonprofit With Somali Restaurant For Address

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is facing fresh accusations after Republicans flagged her reported push to direct more than $1 million in federal taxpayer funds to a small Somali-led nonprofit whose listed project address matches a Minneapolis restaurant.

The nonprofit, Generation Hope MN, describes itself as providing addiction recovery services, peer support, job training, and mental health support for the East African community. The address tied to Omar’s earmark request - 326 Cedar Ave S / 411 Cedar Ave S - matches Sagal Restaurant and Coffee, a Somali eatery. Conservative investigator Angela Rose documented the site in a video, using Google Street View archives and on-site footage to show minimal or no clinic signage over years, with the building primarily operating as a restaurant. The owner has confirmed Generation Hope uses upstairs space in the multi-tenant property, but critics highlighted the optics amid Minnesota’s fraud history.

Minnesota Rep Ilhan Omar attempted to send $1.46 million dollars in funding to an address for a nonprofit called “Generation Hope”

The address to receive the money isn’t a treatment facility, it’s a restaurant

After this was discovered House Republicans stripped the earmarked… pic.twitter.com/iwwSZMi75H

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) April 24, 2026

Omar, joined by Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, had requested approximately $1.031 million (with some reports citing up to $1.46 million in initial figures) through the Department of Justice’s Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program for the group’s “Justice Empowerment Initiative.” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and other Republicans flagged multiple concerns: the restaurant address, three directors listing the same residential home address in filings, and the organization’s limited demonstrated capacity for large-scale treatment services. House Republicans stripped the earmark from a FY2026 spending package in January 2026. GOP senators later requested a formal DOJ fraud investigation into Generation Hope MN.

This development coincides with a separate but related state-level investigation. On April 22, 2026, Minnesota State Rep. Kristin Robbins (R), chair of the House Fraud Prevention & State Oversight Committee, publicly released a formal data request letter to Omar after the congresswoman reportedly declined multiple invitations to testify about her MEALS Act (H.R. 6187, 116th Congress). That 2020 legislation, incorporated into the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, expanded child nutrition programs and loosened some eligibility requirements during the pandemic—changes critics say contributed to conditions enabling the massive Feeding Our Future scandal, which allegedly defrauded taxpayers of more than $250 million. Court records and trials have implicated numerous individuals in Omar’s district, many from the Somali-American community, with some having ties to her orbit (including a former staffer who pled guilty and associates at sites like Safari Restaurant, where Omar appeared in a 2020 promotional video). Omar has distanced herself from the defend ants and called the fraud “reprehensible,” while urging the public not to broadly blame the Somali community.

Robbins’ letter demands detailed records of Omar’s communications with key players, her office staff, and the Minnesota Department of Education by May 5. Omar has not publicly responded to the latest demand.

Additional layer of recent scrutiny: Omar’s amended financial disclosures and dissolved winery Compounding questions about oversight of public funds, Omar is also facing intense Republican-led scrutiny over her personal finances. In her 2024 disclosure (filed in 2025), she and husband Tim Mynett reported combined assets valued between $6 million and $30 million - a dramatic increase from prior years - largely tied to two companies Mynett co-owns: eStCru LLC (a California winery) and Rose Lake Capital (a venture capital firm). After inquiries from the Office of Congressional Conduct and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), who requested records citing “serious public concerns,” Omar amended the filing in mid-April 2026. The new version lists joint assets at just $18,004 to $95,000, with the companies now valued at “none.” Her office blamed an “accounting error” in which liabilities were not properly subtracted and stated she is “not a millionaire.”

Notably, the eStCru winery LLC was officially terminated (dissolved) on April 4, 2026 - days before the amendment became public. Independent investigator Angela Rose (who also produced the Generation Hope video) previously visited the listed address and described the operation as a “phantom” or shell business: no active wine production, no tastings, no product available for purchase, and a facility sign confirming it had “ceased operation.” ZeroHedge and other outlets have reported on suspicions of inflated valuations and potential shell-company activity.

No criminal charges have been filed against Omar personally in any of these matters. Her office has defended the MEALS Act as emergency pandemic aid, distanced her from Feeding Our Future defendants, and called the disclosure revisions voluntary and accurate. Generation Hope’s supporters maintain it is a legitimate community organization operating within available space. Rose Lake Capital and eStCru have faced prior investor disputes, but Mynett has denied wrongdoing.

Still, the overlapping controversies - the earmark red flags, the state records demand, deep ties to individuals later implicated in fraud schemes, and the sudden financial disclosure swing followed by a business dissolution - have fueled outrage among critics who argue they reflect insufficient transparency around public funds and personal finances in Omar’s district. With the May 5 deadline approaching, lawmakers, watchdogs, and taxpayers are watching closely for any response.

We can't wait for absolutely nothing to happen to her. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 14:55

FDA Approves First Gene Therapy To Treat Deafness

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Federal regulators on Thursday approved the first gene therapy to restore hearing, just two months after the therapy’s maker formally requested a license.

Dr. Marty Makary, the Food and Drug Administration's commissioner, in an undated file photograph. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Food and Drug Administration approved the Regeneron therapy, Otarmeni, for children and adults with severe or profound hearing loss associated with OTOF gene variants.

The approval came 61 days after Regeneron filed for a biologics license, under a new effort known as the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher Program that emphasizes quickly reviewing applications for products that address unmet needs.

“Today’s approval is a significant milestone in the treatment of genetic hearing loss,” Dr. Marty Makary, the FDA’s commissioner, said in a statement.

“Through the national priority voucher pilot program, the agency is accelerating therapies for rare diseases with unmet medical needs while proving we can successfully review even the most complex submissions—such as novel dual vector gene therapies and combination products requiring coordination across multiple offices and centers—in significantly shortened timeframes.”

Genetic mutations account for about half of cases of inherited hearing loss. Variants in the OTOF gene account for 2 to 8 percent of those cases.

To treat deafness, Otarmeni is administered to each ear using a syringe and catheter provided in the accompanying kit.

Regulators approved Regeneron’s therapy after reviewing data from a clinical trial involving 24 patients aged 10 months to 16 years. Of the 20 patients included in the efficacy analysis, 80 percent experienced improvement in hearing after receiving Otarmeni.

Common side effects of the drug included ear infection, nausea, and dizziness.

Dr. A. Eliot Shearer, an otolaryngologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an investigator in the trial, said in a statement released by Regeneron that the one-time therapy provides “remarkable hearing improvements.”

“I’ve witnessed firsthand my trial participant responding to their mother’s voice, dancing to music and interacting with the world, and these moments are now possible for more children born with this specific form of hearing loss,” he said.

Dr. Marty Makary, the Food and Drug Administration's commissioner, in an undated file photograph. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Regeneron said it will provide the therapy free of charge to patients in the United States as part of a deal struck with President Donald Trump and announced on Thursday.

Dr. George D. Yancopoulos, president and chief scientific officer of Regeneron, said in a statement that Otarmeni was an “unprecedented breakthrough” in gene therapy.

“Otarmeni is a huge scientific leap and is representative of Regeneron’s approaches to continually push the boundaries of science to benefit humanity,” he said.

“This unprecedented breakthrough in gene therapy has already proven to be life-changing for many of the children in our clinical trial and their families. We are honored to be in the position to be the first company to ever offer such a gene therapy advance for free to those in the U.S. and serves to highlight our belief that the biopharmaceutical industry can be a genuine force for good in the world.”

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 14:35

Race To Refill U.S. Weapons Stockpiles Will Supercharge War Economy

The U.S. military's 55-day war with Iran has alarmingly drawn down several categories of high-end air-delivered munitions, forcing the Department of War to draw from critical stockpiles in Asia and Europe. The drawdown of these weapons only suggests a possible readiness problem and helps explain why President Trump's war economy is set to accelerate, with expected increases in munitions production. 

The New York Times has released a report that says since the US-Iran conflict began in late February, the US military has burned through roughly 1,100 JASSM-ER long-range stealth cruise missiles, more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, over 1,200 Patriot interceptors, and more than 1,000 Precision Strike and ATACMS missiles.

"The Iran war has significantly drained much of the U.S. military's global supply of munitions, and forced the Pentagon to rush bombs, missiles and other hardware to the Middle East from commands in Asia and Europe," the outlet said, citing internal Defense Department estimates and congressional officials.

The report continued, "The drawdowns have left these regional commands less ready to confront potential adversaries like Russia and China, and it has forced the United States to find ways to scale up production to address the depletions, Trump administration and congressional officials say." 

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, stated earlier this week, "At current production rates, reconstituting what we have expended could take years." 

One of the first major signals that the DoW was set to call on private industry to begin ramping up Trump's war economy was a report earlier this month that said the Trump administration was exploring whether U.S. manufacturers, including GM, Ford, GE Aerospace, and Oshkosh, could convert civilian industrial capacity into weapons production as multiple conflict areas across Eurasia drag on and deplete critical weapons stockpiles.

The historical precedent is that America converted its automotive base during World War II to produce record numbers of main battle tanks, bombers, and fighter planes to win the war.

"The United States has many munitions with adequate inventories, but some critical ground-attack and missile-defense munitions were short before the war and are even shorter now," Mark F. Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel and a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the outlet. He recently published a study estimating US weapons stockpiles.

Evidence of converting underused civilian industrial capacity has recently emerged, with the German automaker Volkswagen set to transform its Lower Saxony factory from producing T-Roc Cabriolets to manufacturing parts for the Iron Dome missile interceptor system.

The important signal we are gathering here is that the US may have to convert underutilized civilian industrial capacity, including truck and auto production lines, to weapons output.

To be frank, this is no longer peacetime procurement. It is wartime industrial mobilization, with Washington now being forced to confront the gap between the weapons it burns in the Middle East and the weapons its defense base can actually replace.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/24/2026 - 14:15