Individual Economists

It's Time To Talk About The Shitting...

Zero Hedge -

It's Time To Talk About The Shitting...

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

The "enrichment" we were sold was cuisine, music and vibrant street life. What arrived, in town after town, is a sanitation standard the UN still spends billions trying to wipe out of third world nations.

Open defecation is not a Western urban myth. WHO and UNICEF still count hundreds of millions of people doing it in fields, ditches and open ground. Nigeria sits near the top of the league table. India, despite a national toilet-building drive, still records tens of millions.

When you import the people at scale and refuse to enforce the most basic public standards, you import the habit. The footage is now so routine it has become a genre.

A children's park is next. Nothing says community cohesion like a man treating a playground as an outdoor latrine and finishing the job by hand.

Truly, the contribution to British civic life is immeasurable.

Notting Hill Carnival has been doing this for years. A resident's doorbell captured carnival-goers treating her property as a trench for shitting and pissing all day. Some even apologised to the camera. Sadiq Khan's London treats the event as a celebration.

Susan Watts, 69, recorded dozens of people using the space by her front door after earlier carnivals and told the Daily Mail the stench left it "like being in a filthy toilet." The council quoted her £75 to jet-wash a private area. Dignity, it turns out, has a surcharge.

Oxford Street is London's main retail drag. When you have to put up signs telling adults not to defecate on it, the experiment has already failed.

Birmingham now has the same notices.

The NHS gets it too. An intoxicated man who has already fouled himself refuses to leave A&E. Staff time, corridor space, and public patience all redirected to a problem that starts with the same refusal to use a toilet.

Spain and Italy get the same treatment.

A drinking fountain in Spain with the tap used as an anal bidet, on a fixture children drink from.

Rome, once the capital of a vast empire, now the toilet of the world.

Canada is not spared.

Vancouver's own figures are not a vibe. City data and CTV reporting put faeces removals in the first two months of 2025 at 1,870. 2023 saw 19,900 collections. 2024 still logged 17,670.

Business groups run "Poop Fairy" patrols because the municipal programme is too slow.

The Nigerian government has spent years running campaigns begging its own citizens to stop doing this in public. Billboards, World Toilet Day speeches, a "Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet" drive. Vice President Kashim Shettima said access to toilets is "about dignity, health, and safety."

UNICEF has repeatedly placed Nigeria among the world's worst for open defecation, with tens of millions still practising it.

India remains in the same conversation even after Swachh Bharat. The habit did not vanish because a plane ticket was purchased.

The historic town of Cambridge in the UK has already taken the next logical step: if the arrivals prefer squatting and shitting all over the floor, the host city will install facilities to enable just that. Labour-run Cambridge City Council spent nearly £1 million on a Silver Street toilet block that includes squat-style cubicles "preferred by some international visitors," then charges £1 to use them.

Resident Heather Boyd told the BBC: "I certainly think if I'm going to spend £1, I'm not going to squat as well. That is absolutely crazy." Britain spent centuries perfecting the flush toilet. Now taxpayers are paying in order for the third world to squat into a hole.

How culturally enriching. How much these individuals are contributing. The GDP of public health risk, the tourism brochure of a high street that needs pictograms of a squatting figure with a red line through it.

If Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth is meant to reflect London and the UK as it really is, Here's the next statue:

Still, it could be worse. And it is.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/15/2026 - 05:00

These Are The European Countries With The Newest Cars

Zero Hedge -

These Are The European Countries With The Newest Cars

Europe’s roads reveal a striking divide between countries where drivers regularly replace their vehicles and those where aging, secondhand cars remain the norm, according to a new report from ecarstrade.com. 

New research from B2B automotive company eCarsTrade compared vehicle fleets across more than 30 European countries and found Luxembourg sitting comfortably at the top of the rankings for the continent’s newest cars.

Nearly 43% of Luxembourg’s registered vehicles are less than five years old, the highest proportion in the study. At the other end of the age spectrum, only about 6% of its cars have been on the road for 20 years or longer. The country also replaces vehicles unusually quickly, with its annual fleet renewal rate topping 10%. Roughly 7% of Luxembourg’s cars are now fully electric.

Belgium ranked second. More than one-third of its cars are less than five years old, while the country added roughly 456,000 new vehicles in 2024. Its fleet renewal rate is about 7.5%, among the strongest in Europe. Electrification is also becoming more prominent: roughly 5% of Belgium’s total fleet is electric, while EVs account for around 28% of new registrations.

Denmark placed third, with approximately 28% of its cars less than five years old and only around 6% at least 20 years old. But Denmark stands out even more when it comes to the transition toward electric vehicles. More than half of new vehicles sold there are fully electric, and battery-powered cars already account for roughly 12% of the country's entire fleet.

The United Kingdom came in fourth. Britain has an especially small population of very old cars, with fewer than 5% of vehicles aged 20 years or more, the lowest share measured in the study. Nearly 2 million new cars were registered in 2024, helping keep the country's annual fleet renewal rate near 6%. EVs represented about 19% of new registrations, although they still make up a relatively small share of all vehicles currently on British roads.

Norway rounded out the top five and remains Europe's standout when it comes to electrification. More than 27% of all Norwegian cars are fully electric, by far the highest share among the countries examined. Even more striking, roughly 88% of new vehicles purchased in Norway are electric. That means the country's existing fleet is rapidly being transformed as older gasoline and diesel vehicles are gradually replaced.

Behind the top five were Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Germany, for example, has roughly 30% of its fleet under five years old, while Switzerland is closer to 25%. The Netherlands has a somewhat older fleet overall, despite having a relatively healthy market for newer vehicles and EVs.

The report says that the opposite extreme can be found in Albania. According to the research, roughly nine out of every 10 vehicles there are at least a decade old, giving Albania the oldest fleet among the countries examined. The disparity highlights a broader economic divide in European car ownership: wealthier Western and Northern European countries generally replace vehicles more frequently, while parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe rely much more heavily on older vehicles and secondhand imports.

That distinction can also make registration statistics somewhat misleading. A vehicle being registered in a country for the first time does not necessarily mean it is a new car. Used cars exported from countries such as Germany and France frequently enter fleets elsewhere in Europe as newly registered vehicles despite already having years of driving behind them.

“There’s a very clear split across Europe when it comes to car ages,” an eCarsTrade auto industry expert said. “Western countries keep replacing their fleets regularly, partly because incomes are high enough to realistically afford new vehicles.”

The researchers pointed specifically to Romania, Poland and Albania as markets where imported secondhand vehicles play a much larger role. As a result, the underlying age of some national fleets may be even greater than headline registration figures initially suggest.

The study, conducted in August 2026, compared more than 30 European countries using three primary measures: the percentage of cars at least 20 years old, the percentage at least 10 years old, and the percentage less than five years old. Those variables were combined into a Fleet Age Score ranging up to 100, with lower scores indicating newer national fleets.

Luxembourg recorded a score of just 1.6, well ahead of Belgium at 13.1 and Denmark at 17.1. The UK scored 18.8 and Norway 18.9, followed by Liechtenstein at 19.6, Austria at 20.8, Germany at 20.9, Switzerland at 23.7 and the Netherlands at 24.1.

Taken together, the numbers show that Europe is not moving toward a newer or more electric vehicle fleet at anything close to a uniform pace. In Luxembourg, frequent vehicle replacement keeps the average car relatively young. In Norway and Denmark, electrification is rapidly reshaping what people drive. Meanwhile, countries that depend heavily on imported used vehicles continue to operate fleets that can be dramatically older than those found just a few hundred miles away.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/15/2026 - 04:15

US Bombs Somalia For 81st Time This Year

Zero Hedge -

US Bombs Somalia For 81st Time This Year

Authored by Dave DeCamp via Antiwar.com,

US Africa Command announced on Friday that its forces launched another airstrike in Somalia as the Trump administration continues a record-breaking bombing campaign in the country, which receives virtually no coverage in US media.

AFRICOM said the strike was launched on September 8 and targeted al-Shabaab in the vicinity of Quumbi, a village about 50 miles northeast of the southern port city of Kismayo,

As usual, AFRICOM offered no other details about the strike, and there were no statements from US-backed forces about military operations in the area that day.

"Specific details about units and assets will not be released to ensure continued operations security," AFRICOM said.

According to AFRICOM's numbers, the attack brings the total number of US airstrikes in Somalia this year to 81, higher than any other year prior to 2025, when President Trump oversaw 124 AFRICOM airstrikes, breaking the previous annual record of 63 that he set in 2019.

The US has also been conducting an air war against an ISIS affiliate in Somalia's northeastern Puntland region, and Drop Site News recently reported that a US strike was carried out in the region on September 3, though it has not been claimed by AFRICOM, suggesting that not every US attack is being announced.

According to numbers from New America, an organization that tracks the air war and also counts airstrikes that are reported but not claimed by the US, the September 8 strike would bring the total number of US bombings in Somalia this year to 83.

The US has been involved in Somalia for decades and has been fighting al-Shabaab since the George W. Bush administration backed an Ethiopian invasion in 2006 that ousted the Islamic Courts Union, a Muslim coalition that briefly held power in Mogadishu after taking the city from CIA-backed warlords.

Al-Shabaab was the radical offshoot of the Islamic Courts Union, and its first recorded attack was a suicide bombing in 2007 that targeted Ethiopian troops occupying Mogadishu. It wasn't until 2012 that the group pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda. The ISIS affiliate in Puntland started as an offshoot of al-Shabaab and first emerged in 2015.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/15/2026 - 03:30

Older Britons Are Working Longer As Youth Unemployment Rises

Zero Hedge -

Older Britons Are Working Longer As Youth Unemployment Rises

Britain has a strange labor problem: the people who have spent decades working increasingly aren’t leaving, while the people trying to begin their careers increasingly can’t get in, according to Bloomberg.

More than 1.7 million people over 65 are now employed in the UK, the highest level on record. Meanwhile, youth unemployment is hovering near a decade-plus high, and nearly one million people between 16 and 24 are neither employed nor in school.

The demographic shift is dramatic. About two decades ago, there were roughly 10 working young people for every employed person over 65. Today there are only about two.

Some of this is simply good news: people are healthier, living longer and have more opportunities to work flexible schedules. But money is clearly part of the equation too. Rising living expenses have pushed some retirees back into the workforce and encouraged others to postpone retirement.

That becomes more consequential when companies aren’t creating many new positions. The Bank of England has described Britain as having a “low hire, low fire” labor market. Companies aren’t necessarily conducting massive layoffs, but they’re also reluctant to expand payrolls. When older employees remain in their jobs longer, fewer vacancies naturally work their way down the ladder.

Bloomberg writes that AI could amplify the problem. Graduate positions as a percentage of available jobs have reportedly been cut in half since 2022. Instead of building large teams of junior employees, companies can increasingly give experienced workers AI tools and ask them to produce more.

As one employment expert put it, some companies are effectively saying, “we just want to get rid of some junior staff and replace them with AIs.”

Working from home could be contributing as well. Junior employees require more training and supervision, something that becomes considerably more difficult when employees and managers aren’t regularly sitting together.

The end result is almost backwards from the traditional labor-market cycle. Britain has record numbers of retirement-age people still collecting paychecks at precisely the same time that an unusually large number of young people can’t find their first one.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/15/2026 - 02:45

ISIS Fanatic Set To Walk Free From UK Prison In Weeks

Zero Hedge -

ISIS Fanatic Set To Walk Free From UK Prison In Weeks

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

An ISIS fanatic who pledged allegiance to the caliphate, circulated execution videos, and blagged his way into an NHS heart unit with a fake degree is lining up for parole in November.

GB News host Patrick Christys broke the story this week and put it as plainly as it deserves: "What a country we are."

Full segment:

Ali Abdillahi, a Somali-born Dutch national who has lived in Britain since the age of seven, was jailed in March 2022 for eight years and ten months.

The Old Bailey heard he ran a private Telegram group called "Sons of Abdullah," pumped out recordings of preachers calling for armed jihad, and shared Islamic State films showing executions and graphic violence.

View counts on the material ran from 280 to 1,300. Officers found a pledge of allegiance to ISIS on his phone and notebooks that laid out the same mindset.

Mr Justice Sweeney called it one of the "more serious cases of its type." The judge told Abdillahi: "You had showed you committed these offences because of your support for Islamic extremism." Sweeney added that he supported the concept of "Armed Jihad" and viewed Islamic State as the "inheritor of Islam." No separate jail term was added for the fraud that got him through the hospital doors.

In July 2020, while he was spreading that material, Abdillahi forged a biomedical science degree from the University of Hertfordshire, stuffed the lie onto his CV, and applied through an agency.

Croydon University Hospital took him on as a cardiographer. He treated heart patients. The court was told no concerns were raised about his work before his arrest on 7 August 2020 at his home in Enfield.

He then tried to use the same fake qualifications to talk a court into granting him bail on the terrorism charges. That earned him the extra ten months for perverting the course of justice.

When police first asked about the degree, he offered this: "I believe I created a character for myself, and looking back, I do not know what is real and what is not... I was convinced I had a degree. My intention was not to lie or anything like that."

Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command's Commander Richard Smith said at the time: "Extremist propaganda online is extremely harmful and is a means by which terrorist groups seek to radicalise people all over the world. Abdillahi sent videos and recordings glorifying extremist violence to promote the hate-filled mindset he supported to others."

Christys noted the obvious: this was not a porter or a cleaner. "An ISIS fanatic managed to use a totally fake degree to get a real job in the NHS... he was examining people's hearts."

GB News has established he is listed for parole on 19 November. A three-year extended licence sits on top of the sentence. Whether the Home Office has even bothered to order his deportation is, according to the channel, still unclear.

This is not a one-off. In February, we reported the case of Zahid Iqbal, jailed in 2013 after plotting to bomb a Territorial Army centre in Luton with an IED strapped to a remote-controlled toy car, working from an al-Qaeda kitchen-bomb manual.

The parole board moved to free him years early despite warnings from prison and community offender managers, and despite a previous early release in 2021 that had to be revoked when he failed to comply.

Reform UK crime adviser Colin Sutton called that decision "baffling." "This wasn't a guy in his bedroom cooking something up. This was somebody who arranged training. He had links with al-Qaeda. He was a proper terrorist. And he was released early in 2021 and had to be called back in because he wasn't complying with the conditions."

Abdillahi's November date sits inside the same culture. Terrorists and fraudsters get calendars. Ordinary people who post the wrong opinion get cells.

Labour's answer to a prison system running at around 97 percent capacity has been to empty it. After public fury over plans that would have fast-tracked rapists, groomers and the killers of PC Andrew Harper, Prime Minister Andy Burnham narrowed the scheme. Rape, serious child sex offences, grooming and unlawful killing were carved out. The rest of the machine still runs.

Official figures published this month show about 700 eligible offenders due out on 1 October, with some 2,550 released by the end of the year and around 4,500 over the following months.

Prisoners who would once have served 40 percent of a standard sentence can now walk after a third. Others who would have served two-thirds can leave at halfway. Police chiefs have already said forces will need nearly £500 million extra just to chase licence breaches and fresh offending from the wave.

The exemptions do not rescue the principle. A man who pledged himself to ISIS, tried to radicalise others, and was allowed to put electrodes on British patients with a printed-off degree is still being processed toward the street. The Home Office cannot even say, on the record, whether it intends to put him on a plane.

Britain imported the ideology, waved the fake certificate through an agency, parked him in a heart department, and is now preparing the paperwork for his return to the community.

That is not a glitch. It is the system working as built: weak borders, weaker vetting, and a justice machine that treats jihadist propaganda as a manageable risk while it panics over tweets posted by those concerned about it.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/15/2026 - 02:00

China's Biotech Stocks Emerging As Latest Ai Trade

Zero Hedge -

China's Biotech Stocks Emerging As Latest Ai Trade

By Charlie Zhu, Bloomberg Markets live reporter and strategist

China’s biotech stocks are emerging as the latest AI trade, fueled by expectations the technology will accelerate drug development and boost returns.

The Hang Seng Biotech Index has risen nearly 22% this quarter, set to outperform the Hang Seng Tech gauge by the most on record in Bloomberg data going back to 2015, as investors bet artificial intelligence will reduce timelines and cost in pharmaceutical research and development. The prospect of AI-originated drugs generating licensing and royalty income in the longer run may give the rally staying power.

“AI-driven drug discovery (AIDD) is taking off in China and generating a lot of investor interest, owing to the speed and cost benefits that AI brings,” Citigroup Inc. analysts including John Yung wrote in a note this month. The sector’s low penetration of the projected $313 billion global pharmaceutical R&D market implies “significant room for growth.” 

Shares of Insilico Medicine Cayman TopCo have more than doubled since their debut in Hong Kong in end-December, while those of Shanghai-listed HitGen Inc. have gained nearly 40% this year following a 90% rally in 2025. Both companies have buy ratings from every analyst tracked by Bloomberg.

Unlike many US companies that remain loss-making, several Chinese leaders are already profitable and should see earnings accelerate as robust demand translates into stronger utilization and operating leverage, according to Citigroup. Strong growth in AI-related revenue from leading wet lab vendors — which test AI-designed drugs — in the first half and advances of drug candidates at companies such as Insilico have bolstered sentiment toward the sector.

Leading Chinese AIDD companies are also trading at steep discounts to their US peers despite broader exposure across the value chain, analysts said. Meanwhile, continued progress in clinical milestones and new partnerships offer catalysts for local players, Linda Shu, head of China healthcare research at HSBC Qianhai Securities, said in a note.

To be sure, competition remains a concern as contract research organizations, drugmakers and private platforms may expand into AIDD, while disruptive technologies could erode the advantages of existing platforms. Broader doubts about the sustainability of AI investment may also weigh on shares.

Still, “China has a strong combination of scientific talent, a large innovative-drug pipeline and extensive drug contract manufacturing infrastructure for synthesizing and testing AI-generated molecules,” said Victoria Mio, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Group Plc. Investors will be focused on “proprietary data, internal pipeline progress, pharmaceutical partnerships, licensing economics and cash runway,” she said.

Tyler Durden Tue, 09/15/2026 - 01:10

When War Comes Home: A Constitutional Warning

Zero Hedge -

When War Comes Home: A Constitutional Warning

Authored by Andrew P. Napolitano via Ron Paul Institute,

A failed war does not end when the drones stop flying. It creates a new danger: A government that refuses to admit defeat and a president who, having failed abroad, seeks muscular victories elsewhere.

The war against Iran is a case study in the limits of military power, the dangers of presidential overreach and the enduring wisdom of the Constitution's separation of powers. It was unauthorized, unconstitutional, illegal, strategically incoherent and - by the standards by which wars must be judged - a geopolitical failure.

The American people were told that force would achieve clear objectives. Iran would be compelled to surrender. Somehow, American security would be enhanced. The region would become more stable.

Instead, the United States expended enormous resources, consumed scarce munitions, deepened regional instability and failed to produce the political outcome President Donald Trump promised. Senior military officials just last week warned him that extending large-scale operations risked exhausting critical military capabilities and weakening America's ability to respond elsewhere.

The United States can destroy buildings, eliminate targets, deploy aircraft, ships, missiles, drones and troops anywhere on the planet. But war is not a video game in which the destruction of enemy assets automatically produces political surrender. War is a contest of wills, societies, culture and endurance.

And here is the constitutional question that should have been asked before the first bomb was dropped: Who gave the president the authority to begin this war? The Constitution did not.

Article I, Section 8 gives Congress - not the president - the power to declare war. The framers deliberately rejected the British model in which kings could drag nations into conflicts based upon personal judgment, ambition or political convenience. James Madison warned that the executive branch was "the branch of power most interested in war," and therefore the Constitution placed the decision to enter war outside the president's constitutional reach.

The president is commander in chief. He commands forces after lawful congressional decisions have been made. He does not possess the power to transform his title into a personal authority to begin wars.

That principle has been repeatedly recognized by the Supreme Court. In cases such as Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, the Court rejected the idea that President Harry Truman had unlimited power simply because he claimed national security. Justice Robert Jackson's famous concurrence warned that executive power is most dangerous when it operates in a "zone of twilight" where presidents attempt to expand authority beyond constitutional boundaries and without congressional concurrence.

The Iran war belongs precisely in that twilight - where executive ambition collides with constitutional restraint.

The administration may argue that modern threats require flexibility. That argument has been made by presidents of both parties for decades. But flexibility is not the same as unlimited authority. The Constitution was written for difficult moments, not easy ones. It was designed to restrain presidents even when they believe they have compelling reasons to act.

The military failure abroad has created a political dilemma at home. A president who promised victory must now confront the reality that victory was never achieved.

The danger is what happens next.

History teaches that political leaders who suffer public humiliation abroad often seek demonstrations of strength elsewhere. Foreign-policy failure can produce domestic overreach. Leaders who cannot achieve the desired result overseas may attempt to prove their power through actions at home.

That is where the war comes home.

The president, frustrated by military limitations, may turn toward radical immigration enforcement, Supreme Court-prohibited tariffs, statutorily prohibited domestic deployments of military forces, stealing foreign-owned oil, and assertions of executive authority that collide with free speech and free association.

But the Constitution does not permit a president to substitute disappointment for law.

The Fifth Amendment guarantees that no person - not just Americans - shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. The Sixth Amendment guarantees all persons - not just Americans - from whom the government seeks life, liberty or property the right to a public trial before an impartial jury, and other constitutional protections. These protections apply not because accused persons are necessarily innocent but because government power is too dangerous to operate without restraints.

Evidence is not conviction. Accusation is not guilt. Presidential assertion is not judicial judgment.

The executive branch cannot simply identify alleged criminals in speedboats or elsewhere, declare them enemies and impose punishment without trial. That is a system the American Revolution rejected.

The same principle applies to the use of military force inside the United States. The founders were deeply suspicious of standing armies being used for law enforcement. That suspicion produced constitutional protections and later statutes prohibiting the military's role in civilian law enforcement.

The military exists to defend the nation from foreign threats. It is not a presidential police force.

Likewise, Congress - not the president - defines crimes and establishes punishments. A president cannot create new categories of enemies and decide their fate by executive command. The Constitution does not authorize a monarchy with aircraft carriers.

Every generation faces a temptation to exchange freedom for security. Every generation is told that normal rules cannot apply because a crisis is too serious, an enemy too dangerous and a moment too urgent.

The founders knew that argument well and they rejected it.

The Constitution was written precisely because government officials would sometimes believe that their objectives justified employing extraordinary power. The separation of powers, congressional war authority, judicial review and due process protections are not obstacles to effective government. They are safeguards against government becoming the threat it was created to prevent.

The ultimate question is not whether a president is strong enough to exercise power. The question is whether the president is restrained enough to obey the laws he has sworn to uphold.

That is the fear of a republic when the war comes home. To paraphrase the author Herman Melville, beware the president weeping when he bares an iron hand.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 23:25

The Deep State's Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card

Zero Hedge -

The Deep State's Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card

Authored by Jay Rogers via American Greatness,

Last Wednesday, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan sent FBI Director Kash Patel a letter demanding every document connected to an operation codenamed Round River.

If you haven't heard of it, that's understandable; it's the sequel nobody promoted, and I'll get to it. I've spent part of my career testifying as an expert witness on fiduciary duty, the branch of law that punishes people for betraying the trust placed in them.

Measured by that standard, Round River isn't merely disinformation; it's a breach of duty so complete that in my industry it would end a career and trigger a bar complaint.

In Washington, it's earned a strongly worded letter.

That's the whole scandal in one sentence: the deep state keeps getting caught, and nobody ever pays for it.

Start with what most people half remember. In October 2020, less than three weeks before the election, the New York Post published emails from a laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware repair shop. Within 48 hours, 51 former intelligence officials, including two former CIA directors, signed an open letter declaring the story had "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation." Twitter locked the Post out of its own account. Facebook throttled the link. The letter did exactly what it was built to do. By 2022, the Washington Post's own hired cryptography experts had authenticated thousands of the laptop's emails using the same digital signatures banks use to verify a wire transfer. Real disinformation, corrected two years too late to matter.

Here's the detail that should bother you more than the letter itself: the man who organized it told Congress, under oath, exactly why he did it. Michael Morell, former acting CIA director, testified that a call from Antony Blinken, then a senior Biden campaign adviser, "triggered" his decision to draft the statement. Asked why he wanted to help the vice president win, Morell didn't dress it up: "Because I wanted him to win the election," he said. He had no evidence of Russian involvement, he testified. Four of the 51 signers, including Morell, were active CIA contractors at the time, with badges granting access most Americans never get. They used their old authority to help a friend's campaign and called it a national security judgment. My brother spent his career in Army Special Forces guarding secrets that get people killed and signed papers promising decades of silence. These 51 men signed a letter to swing a presidential election and called it patriotism.

The paper trail keeps growing. In February, former senior intelligence officer Thomas Kuhns, who spent his career on the intelligence community's analytic standards committee under Obama, filed a formal complaint with the intelligence community's inspector general. His conclusion, built on line-by-line tradecraft analysis rather than partisan grievance, was that the letter's "planning, drafting, and dissemination" showed characteristics consistent with coordinated intelligence deception operations. Kuhns noted that none of the 51 signers, despite decades of FBI contacts, ever asked whether the laptop was real before declaring it Russian bait. In May, the inspector general referred his complaint to the Justice Department, and nobody there has said a word about it publicly since. A career analyst accusing his own former colleagues of running a deception operation against the electorate should be front-page news. It barely registered.

The FBI, we now know, was running a parallel operation of its own. Documents declassified this August show analysts on the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force launched it around December 2019, sorting more than 70 Americans and organizations by political utility. Democrats, including Joe and Hunter Biden, were filed as "targets" of Russian disinformation; Republicans, including Bill Barr and Mike Pompeo, were filed as "conduits" spreading it. Of 53 confidential sources touching the case, at least 14 fed the bureau derogatory information on the Bidens dating to 2015. The FBI never investigated a single tip; it labeled them as disinformation anyway, then warned Congress that asking about Burisma made members unwitting tools of Moscow. Patel says he's disbanded the unit and opened a review, and that the bureau has identified "tens of thousands of responsive pages" and is "preparing... for disclosure." Six years later, we're still waiting on someone to flip the switch.

None of this worked without help. Newsrooms that spent 2020 calling the laptop Russian disinformation spent the next three years waving off Joe Biden's visible decline the same way, right up until special counsel Robert Hur described the sitting president as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," too frail to stand trial for mishandling documents. Then came the June 2024 debate, and the collective editorial memory of the press corps improved overnight. Convenient. The pattern repeats because it works: dismiss the inconvenient fact, discredit whoever raises it, and admit the truth once it's too late to change the outcome.

Defenders of the letter's signers claim these were private citizens exercising their First Amendment rights, not the CIA acting as an institution. But Morell asked the agency's own Publication Review Board to clear his draft the same week he recruited signatories, which means he leaned on his active clearance and his institutional relationship to lend the letter a credibility no private citizen carries on their own. You don't get to borrow the flag when it helps and hand it back once the subpoenas start.

None of this happens in a vacuum. The public reads Round River against a backdrop it already distrusts. A federal special counsel indicted Trump on 37 felony counts for retaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago; a different special counsel investigated Biden's parallel documents problem and charged him with nothing because prosecutors doubted a jury would convict a man they called too forgetful to be culpable. Hunter Biden was convicted on gun and tax charges, then pardoned by his father before sentencing. The Durham report found the FBI opened a full investigation into the Trump campaign on raw, uncorroborated intelligence and never opened so much as an inquiry into similar intelligence about a Clinton campaign scheme to do the same in reverse. None of that proves coordination. It's enough to explain why voters call the asymmetry two-tiered before Round River even enters the conversation.

Here's the accountability scoreboard six years in: 51 security clearances revoked by executive order, a couple of internal reviews, one inspector general referral sitting at Justice since May, and not one indictment, deposition, or dollar of restitution from anyone who ran either operation. Compare that to a broker who mismarks risk tolerance: license gone, career over. The deep state gets a strongly worded congressional letter and a press release about an "ongoing review." Small wonder trust in the federal government sits near a five-decade low, with barely one in five Americans saying Washington does the right thing most of the time. That's not apathy. It's a verdict.

Congress can fix this without rewriting the Constitution: criminal exposure for clearance holders who abuse them and inspectors general free to act on their own timeline.

Until one of those 51 names sees the inside of a courtroom, the lesson every future intelligence officer will draw is the only one that matters: lie for the right team, and the worst that happens is you lose a parking pass at Langley.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 22:35

Teen Rescued From Frigid Alaskan Waters After Drifting For Days

Zero Hedge -

Teen Rescued From Frigid Alaskan Waters After Drifting For Days

A 15-year-old boy from St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, was rescued after spending two days on a capsized boat in the frigid Bering Sea.   The teen, identified by family as Derek Parker Aghnaanga, left Savoonga on Friday, September 4th, with his older brother and cousin in an 18-foot fishing skiff. They were expected back Sunday afternoon but the boat did not return.

Unfortunately, Derek's brother and his cousin died from drowning during the ordeal, leaving him to float alone on the vast Alaskan waters.  The U.S. Coast Guard began a search, though the chances of finding survivors was considered slim. On Monday morning, a Coast Guard aircrew spotted Derek sitting on top of the overturned boat 4 miles from St. Lawrence Island and 164 miles from the mainland coast.    

According to a relative, Darren Toolie-Noongwook, a fishing line got tangled in the motor. The crew tried to free it but failed, leaving the boat to drift. Later that night the weather worsened and the 18-foot skiff overturned.

Family members have say that Sidney Kulowiyi, the older brother and boat captain, was moving to get Derek a life jacket when he became tangled in the lines as the boat flipped. He was pulled under and did not make it out. Derek and their cousin, Barton Rookok, climbed onto the overturned hull. 

They spent the first night together on top of the skiff, but the next night Rookok panicked (possibly due to hypothermia), left the boat, and drowned.

A nearby fishing vessel pulled Derek to safety after he was located by the Coast Guard they later recovered the bodies of his two relatives. The rescuing captain said the boy had clung to the skiff through cold water of about 50°F (10°C) and mentioned that his brother was still under the boat and that his cousin had slipped away the night before.  

Surprisingly, there are only around 12 such incidents of boats capsizing per year in the Bearing Sea and larger ships have a high rate of crew survival.  However, the sinking of small skiffs like Derek's usually lead to death for those involved.   

Family members say Derek told them he believed he was going to make it - that he would be found and be safe.  He sat on his knees and prayed until the Coast Guard located him.  

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 22:10

BRICS Urges 'Maximum Restraint' As US-Iran War Tests Unity At New Delhi Summit

Zero Hedge -

BRICS Urges 'Maximum Restraint' As US-Iran War Tests Unity At New Delhi Summit

Authored by News Desk via The Cradle,

The BRICS group of nations adopted a joint declaration on 12 September, expressing "deep concern" over the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran and urging "maximum restraint" as part of a "multilateral approach" that respects national viewpoints.

(Photo credit: BRICS)

The declaration was adopted on the first day of the BRICS leaders' annual summit in New Delhi.

"We express deep concern over the continued escalation of tensions in Middle East/West Asia and, recalling our respective national positions, call for exercising maximum restraint, as well as avoiding actions that could further aggravate the situation," the declaration said.

BRICS leaders gathered at the summit to develop the bloc's common positions on international conflicts, sanctions and trade, reform of global institutions, finance, energy, technology, health and development.

BRICS leaders failed to reach a consensus condemning the US aggression against Iran, as the bloc includes both Iran and the UAE, which are on opposing sides of the conflict.

The UAE joined the war against the Islamic Republic on the side of its allies, the US and Israel.

Summit host India is also a close ally of Israel and one of its main weapons suppliers.

Other BRICS members include Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Indonesia.

In response to the unprovoked US-Israeli attack in February, Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which Gulf energy exports to Asia flow.

The closure caused a surge in energy prices that has harmed the economies of BRICS nations, in particular in Asia.

The declaration affirmed the commitment of BRICS member states to a peaceful resolution of international disputes "through dialogue, consultation, and diplomacy."

It also expressed concern over "unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures" that distort trade, disrupt supply chains, and harm global economic development.

Since returning to office, US President Trump has used the threat of tariffs against China and India and imposed additional economic sanctions on Iran and Russia.

Trump has also issued secondary sanctions against nations and entities trading with Iran.

The joint statement expressed "serious concern" about deliberate attacks on civilian infrastructure and peaceful nuclear facilities under full International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, saying such attacks violate international law and relevant IAEA resolutions.

Though the US and Israel have carried out attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities and civilian infrastructure, the statement did not name either country specifically regarding such attacks.

Regarding Israeli actions in Gaza, the statement calls for maintaining the ceasefire and facilitating unhindered humanitarian assistance; opposes the forced displacement of Palestinians and territorial/demographic changes to Gaza; and supports Palestinian self-determination and the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Regarding Lebanon, the statement calls on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanese territory and adhere to the Lebanon ceasefire and UNSC Resolution 1701.

On Syria, it calls for respect for Syria's sovereignty and an inclusive Syrian-led political process, warns of the risk posed by "foreign terrorist fighters" to Syria's and regional stability and security,and calls for the withdrawal of foreign occupying forces, an apparent reference to Israel.

It also encourages continued work on interoperable cross-border payment systems and greater use of BRICS members' local currencies rather than US dollars for trade and investment settlements.

The BRICS statement also stresses the importance of reliable energy supplies and stable markets and explicitly says fossil fuels will continue to play an important role, especially for emerging and developing economies.

It simultaneously backs a "just, orderly, equitable and inclusive" transition to renewable energy and emissions reductions according to countries' different circumstances, as outlined in the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) framework.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 21:45

Texas Still Dominates America's Natural Gas Production

Zero Hedge -

Texas Still Dominates America's Natural Gas Production

U.S. gross natural gas withdrawals reached 47.7 trillion cubic feet in 2025, with a small group of states accounting for most of the total. Much of this output comes from prolific shale formations such as the Permian, Marcellus, Haynesville, and Eagle Ford.

This map, via Visual Capitalist's Niccolo Conte, shows 2025 gross natural gas withdrawals by state and producing area using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, with the latest available 2024 figures used for five states.

Gross withdrawals measure total well-stream production before processing, making them different from marketed or dry natural gas output.

Texas Produced Over a Quarter of U.S. Natural Gas

Texas led the country with 13,603 Bcf of gross withdrawals in 2025, equal to 28.5% of the national total. Pennsylvania followed at 7,676 Bcf, or 16.1%, meaning the two states together accounted for nearly 45% of U.S. withdrawals.

Their output is driven by some of North America’s most productive shale formations, including the Permian Basin in Texas and the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.

The table below ranks every state and producing area with at least 10 Bcf of gross withdrawals. States below that threshold, which together account for roughly 0.1% of the national total, are not shown:

Rank State or Producing Area Gross Natural Gas Withdrawals
(Billion Cubic Feet) Share U.S. Total
(%) 1 Texas 13603.5 28.5 2 Pennsylvania 7675.8 16.1 3 New Mexico 4150.5 8.7 4 Louisiana 3817.3 8.0 5 West Virginia 3600.0 7.5 6 Alaska 3546.1 7.4 7 Oklahoma 2877.7 6.0 8 Ohio 2100.7 4.4 9 Colorado 1869.8 3.9 10 North Dakota 1266.3 2.7 11 Wyoming 1197.5 2.5 12 Offshore Gulf of Mexico 721.5 1.5 13 Utah 338.7 0.7 14 Arkansas 323.3 0.7 15 Kansas 122.3 0.3 16 California 113.2 0.2 17 Virginia 80.9 0.2 18 Alabama 75.8 0.2 19 Michigan 64.1 0.1 20 Kentucky 58.8 0.1 21 Montana 50.5 0.1 22 Mississippi 25.8 0.1

New Mexico and Louisiana ranked third and fourth, producing 4,151 Bcf and 3,817 Bcf, respectively. Combined with Texas and Pennsylvania, the four states generated 61.3% of U.S. gross natural gas withdrawals in 2025.

Appalachia Forms America’s Second Major Gas Hub

Beyond Texas, the Appalachian Basin has become the country’s other major gas-producing hub.

Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio together produced 13,377 Bcf in 2025, equal to 28% of the U.S. total, largely from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

Alaska ranked just behind West Virginia despite having no pipeline connection to the Lower 48, underscoring the scale of its resource base.

This production base helps explain the country’s leading position in global gas markets. See how U.S. dry natural gas production ranks against other major producing countries.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Natural Gas Withdrawals Across U.S. States (2023) on Voronoi.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 21:20

Air Force Secretary Admits US Has Weapons Deployed In Space

Zero Hedge -

Air Force Secretary Admits US Has Weapons Deployed In Space

Authored by T.J. Muscaro via The Epoch Times,

The Secretary of the Air Force said on Sept. 14 that the United States has weapons deployed in space.

"Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist," Secretary Troy Meink said at the Air & Space Forces Association's annual conference in National Harbor, Maryland. "This is why the United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary actions."

Meink's comment came during his keynote address, titled "Advancing Combat Power in Air and Space." However, no further details on the state or nature of those weapons were discussed at that time.

This is the first time the United States Armed Forces have confirmed the presence of weapons in space, a global point of debate and concern since the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit in 1957.

Meink declined to elaborate further during a question-and-answer session immediately following his speech, stating "that phrase was very well thought out."

However, he did elaborate on what he saw as a necessity to maintain U.S. space capabilities and deter any threats to them from growing adversaries, who remained nameless.

"Our maintaining and being able to count on those space capabilities is important, and as everybody knows, there have been many who have developed capabilities to take those away from us, to threaten those things," he said. "So it is critically important that we maintain our dominance not only in the air but in space."

"So, we've had to take steps to make sure that when we're threatened, we can take care of that," he added.

The United States Space Force released a space warfighting framework in 2025. It defines "Space Control" as a core function to gain space superiority.

"Space control comprises the activities required to contest and control the space domain," the framework stated.

Those activities would include "counterspace operations," like offensive orbital strikes, terrestrial strikes, and Space Link Interdiction, which is defined as "actions taken to disrupt, deny, or degrade an enemy's critical space links," through non-kinetic action such as an electromagnetic attack or cyberattack.

Those operations would also include active and passive defensive actions like threat warning and counterattack.

Meink highlighted separately the Space-Based Interceptor Program, which is currently in development as part of President Donald Trump's Golden Dome missile defense system.

He said in his keynote address that he continued to stand by what he called the fundamental mission, which is to "Defend the homeland, deter all adversaries, and, if necessary, win in combat."

However, he also acknowledged the rapidly changing warfighting environment, from one-way attack drones to the deployment of artificial intelligence.

"Today we face a mix of rapidly changing technologies and adversaries moving aggressively to employ them," he said.

"If we expect to deter our adversaries, we must increase our combat power, innovate faster than anyone else, affordably. We need cost-effective combat power," he added.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 20:55

Supreme Court Block President Trump's Mail-In Ballot Order

Zero Hedge -

Supreme Court Block President Trump's Mail-In Ballot Order

The nationwide injunction stands; the suspended rule would have required unique barcodes and scanner-ready envelopes...

The Supreme Court late on Sept. 14 declined to lift a nationwide injunction blocking a United States Postal Service (USPS) rule on federal ballot mail, leaving it on hold for the 2026 midterms.

The ruling in USPS v. California took the form of an unsigned order.

"The Government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court's preliminary injunction," the order said.

"And the equitable factors applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this Court do not favor a stay."

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurring opinion with fellow Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson that "there is at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service's statutory authority" but that applying the proposed rules would be "arbitrary and capricious" for the midterm elections as state and local officials "do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule."

Justice Samuel Alito filed a dissenting opinion, which was joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.

The decision is likely the final say on the rule during this election cycle, with even Talwani saying from the bench earlier this month that it was unclear how the government would implement the plans with November just around the corner.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 20:35

Indian Refineries Run At Up To 108% Capacity On Soaring Diesel Demand

Zero Hedge -

Indian Refineries Run At Up To 108% Capacity On Soaring Diesel Demand

India’s refineries have been running at an unprecedented 105% to 108% capacity utilization in the past six months as demand for diesel soars and international fuel markets tighten amid the ongoing Middle East crisis, OilPrice reports citing Reuters.

Refinery capacity utilization in the world’s third-largest crude oil importer has been between 105% and 108% since the war began, a senior executive at Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) said at the APPEC petroleum conference in Singapore on Wednesday.  

“Most of our refiners are complex, ‌can take a wide ‌variety of crude from an API range of something like 16 to 45 or 48,” Nandakumar Pillai, a company director at MRPL, said at the event, as carried by Reuters.

MRPL operates a refinery with the capacity to process 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) on the coast of India’s southern state of Karnataka. The refinery has a versatile design with complex secondary processing units and high flexibility to process crudes of various API, delivering a variety of quality products, the refiner says.

MRPL will continue to run its refinery at above 100% until March 2027, Pillai told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference.

All Indian refiners are currently prioritizing diesel production at the expense of jet fuel amid soaring domestic diesel demand and a crunch in global middle distillate supply.

Diesel prices globally are soaring, and diesel cracks have hit all-time highs as supply remains constrained in the Middle East and Russia, while maximized refinery runs elsewhere cannot offset the supply lost to the U.S.-Iran war and Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian refineries.

The re-escalation in the Middle East and the Russian ban on diesel exports pushed middle distillate cracks to record highs last week.

Analysts have been warning for weeks that diesel and other fuels are the real stress test in the oil markets, not crude oil.  

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 20:30

Waste Of The Day: Alleged Data Center Fraud

Zero Hedge -

Waste Of The Day: Alleged Data Center Fraud

Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations,

The Securities and Exchange Commission paid $10.7 million to store its electronic data at a Maryland facility that was allegedly certified by a company that does not exist.

AiNET Corp. and its former CEO Deepak Jain recently agreed to pay $1.8 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly defrauding the government. The settlement does not contain an admission of guilt.

Key facts: When the SEC began looking for a new data center in 2012, it required applicants to have a Tier III certification. That means the data center is fully operational even when undergoing maintenance.

Jain submitted paperwork to the SEC showing that AiNET had been certified by the company Uptime Council. No such company exists.

The Department of Justice later alleged that Jain wrote the certification letters himself, and that nobody had ever inspected AiNET's data center. Jain allegedly purchased a web domain for Uptime Council to make it appear like a legitimate business.

The name also closely resembled the Uptime Institute, a legitimate company that certifies data center infrastructure.

When SEC employees toured the facility before signing the contract, an AiNET employee allegedly prevented them from viewing infrastructure that would have shown the center did not meet the claimed standards.

The SEC later experienced issues involving security, cooling and power and spent additional money and resources addressing them.

When the SEC requested a new certification in 2017, Jain allegedly drafted another Uptime Council letter stating that the center had been reinspected. Prosecutors claimed no inspection occurred.

The SEC stopped using the facility in 2018. Prosecutors allege that Jain was still advertising the data center's false certification to private customers as of 2024.

Jain's attorneys previously maintained that AiNET fulfilled the contract and that no SEC data was lost or compromised.

Summary: An independent certification is not much of a safeguard when the contractor allegedly creates the certifier himself.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 20:05

"I'd Be Okay With That": Trump Says He's Open To Chinese Automakers Building Cars In US

Zero Hedge -

"I'd Be Okay With That": Trump Says He's Open To Chinese Automakers Building Cars In US

In comments that most people missed on Friday, President Donald Trump suggested that he's open to letting Chinese automakers build cars on US soil. 

The new cars unloaded from the BYD Changzhou ship at the Zarate Port on the Parana River in Zarate, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina taken on Jan. 19, 2026. Tomas Cuesta / AFP via Getty Images

Speaking with Fox News, Trump said that while he wouldn't allow Chinese cars to operate in the United States because the US market would be overrun - he might be open to manufacturing them here. 

"We don't allow his cars into the United States, and I never did," he said, referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, noting that then-President Joe Biden had kept his policies on Chinese cars. 

"If China wanted to come in and open a plant to build their cars here, I'd be okay with that. Japan does it, but they hire our people. The big thing is they hire our people," he continued, adding "What I don't want is them to build in Mexico and just ... build it inexpensively and ship it across the border."

As The Epoch Times notes further, a regulation imposed by the Biden administration in early 2025 effectively bans all Chinese automakers from selling or building passenger vehicles in the United States. Washington also maintains more than 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

Trump's remarks came ahead of Xi's planned visit to the United States later this month. The president said on July 23 that he would discuss artificial intelligence with the Chinese leader during the visit. The two leaders last met during Trump's visit to Beijing in May, where Trump formally invited Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to the White House.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a Washington-based group representing major U.S. automakers, on Sept. 3 urged Congress to permanently ban the sale, import, and manufacture of Chinese-connected vehicles, hardware, and software before the current congressional session ends.

"Right now, Chinese automakers are dumping subsidized vehicles with connected software and hardware around the world," John Bozzella, the group's president and CEO, said in a letter to the congressional leadership.

Bozzella warned that China is gaining market share in Europe, Australia, Southeast Asia, Mexico, and South America with vehicles that can collect, process, and transmit "sensitive vehicle and consumer data to the Chinese Communist Party."

It hasn't happened yet inside the United States, he said. He urged lawmakers to act quickly, given the scale and urgency of the threat.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 19:40

Minnesota's Open Senate Race Is Suddenly A Coin Flip, New Polls Show

Zero Hedge -

Minnesota's Open Senate Race Is Suddenly A Coin Flip, New Polls Show

The last time Minnesota voted Republican for president was Richard Nixon in 1972.

The state hasn’t voted for a Republican senator since 2002, when Norm Coleman won a seat he'd lose six years later to Al Franken. Republicans have talked themselves into believing the state might break their way every cycle since, and Minnesota voters have declined to cooperate every time. Barack Obama carried the state by double digits in 2008. Hillary Clinton won it by less than two points in 2016. In 2024, Kamala Harris only won the state by four points, even with home-state Gov. Tim Walz on the ticket.

Despite the those close races, Democrats expected Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D-Minn.) to cruise into the open seat. She had to fight for it first. Rep. Angie Craig, the more centrist option, lost the August primary to Flanagan's progressive coalition, built with help from Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). 

According to a fresh survey by Quantus Insights, Flanagan leads 48.2 percent, to Michele Tafoya’s 44.4 percent, a lead within the poll’s margin of error. In terms of public opinion, 50 percent rate Flanagan favorably while 46 percent rate her unfavorably, and 42.4 percent rate Tafoya favorably with 42 percent rating her unfavorably.

Other surveys confirm the race has tightened.

 A poll conducted by TIPP Insights for the League of American Workers, surveyed 1,201 likely voters and showed Flanagan leading by only two points, with the independents divided equally between the two candidates at 37% each. 

“Into the home stretch of campaign season, such a tight race in a normally safe Democrat bastion presents a big headache for national party operatives and donors,” writes Steve Cortes, president of the League of American Workers.

“Clearly, they will have to invest heavily to try to convince voters that radical Flanagan belongs in the U.S. Senate.”

According to Cortes, Tafoya is exactly the kind of candidate who can break the Democrats’ winning streak.

“Tafoya represents exactly the kind of candidate that works in this current political and media environment,” he explained.

“A longtime popular sideline football TV reporter, she is known to legions of fans as one of the best, most skilled broadcasters in sports. Tafoya’s superb media skills were honed over decades on camera before truly record-breaking TV audiences.”

 The tightness of these polls is quite remarkable considering the state became ground zero for the administration's expanded immigration enforcement this year. Federal immigration officers fatally shot two American citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, during Operation Metro Surge. The shootings turned the city into a flashpoint. However, a slew of state fraud investigations has embarrassed Democratic officials. Gov. Tim Walz’s approval ratings are also underwater, with 46% disapproving and 42% approving.

Despite the closeness of these polls, prediction markets haven't gotten the memo yet.

Polymarket shows Flanagan's odds of winning above 90%, with Tafoya at under 10%.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 19:20

John Brennan Subpoenaed As Part Of DOJ Investigation

Zero Hedge -

John Brennan Subpoenaed As Part Of DOJ Investigation

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

An attorney for John Brennan on Sept. 14 said the former CIA director was subpoenaed to testify next month before a grand jury as part of a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into whether former intelligence and law enforcement officials illegally conspired against President Donald Trump.

In a court filing submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein confirmed that Brennan was asked by a federal prosecutor this past week to testify before a federal grand jury in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Oct. 15.

Wainstein said in a declaration to the court that he and other Brennan attorneys participated in a conference call with several prosecutors to discuss the grand jury subpoena for Brennan. DOJ senior attorney Kurt Olsen indicated to the defense team that there are several "viable" investigations into Brennan, Wainstein said.

That includes the one in Fort Pierce that includes "issues at Mar-a-Lago and beyond" regarding whether Trump "had his civil rights violated," he wrote.

Paraphrasing Olsen, Wainstein added that he was told of an "additional investigation relating only to Director Brennan's statements before Congress in the District of Columbia" and that Brennan is being targeted in a narrower investigation that Olsen described as being "still viable."

"The issues in the narrower investigation might also be part of the larger investigation," Wainstein wrote, also referring to what Olsen said.

The subpoena was delivered on the same day that Joe diGenova, the prosecutor who had been leading the collusion investigation, resigned from the department.

"It was an honor and privilege to serve the president and the department," diGenova said, declining to give details on why he stepped down.

His inquiry investigated the 2017 U.S. intelligence finding that Russia sought to boost Trump's first presidential campaign in 2016. It also probed later inquiries by former special counsel Jack Smith, including Trump's retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and his challenge of the 2020 election results.

No criminal charges have emerged from the Florida investigation.

While speaking to Politico, diGenova suggested that he does not want to move quickly on any case he's involved in.

"I take my time when I bring cases," diGenova said. "Whatever the facts show, they show. However long that takes to do it properly, it takes. Sometimes it takes longer than some people want, and they want things done faster, and that's just not possible sometimes. So, as a result, there are disagreements about timing, and that happens all the time in the Department of Justice."

Brennan has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyers sued the DOJ in July, asking a court to force officials to preserve documents tied to the investigations.

His lawsuit said the department had undertaken grand jury work in recent months but had not formally indicted Brennan. His legal team alleged in a filing that "this Administration has adopted a policy of using criminal process and prosecution to punish the President's perceived adversaries."

In the Monday court filing, Wainstein indicated that he got a grand jury subpoena that was signed by diGenova and wrote emails to him before he resigned from the position.

Brennan served as President Barack Obama's CIA head from 2013 to 2017, and he is now a commentator for NBC News and MSNBC. Since Trump's rise to political prominence, Brennan has frequently used his commentary to criticize the president.

The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 19:15

US Data Centers To Burn More Natural Gas Than Most Nations

Zero Hedge -

US Data Centers To Burn More Natural Gas Than Most Nations

Several weeks ago, we explained why most data center developers favor on-site gas power: it boiled down to two main reasons - availability (especially since modular nuclear power for commercial 'behind the meter' use is still in the distant future) and price. Furthermore, a recent BloombergNEF analysis shows the marginal cost of operating an on-site gas plant may be below industrial electricity tariffs, making continued generation from on-site assets the cheaper option in many cases. 

As we discussed in late August, marginal generation costs depend on fuel prices and variable operating expenses. BloombergNEF modeled the marginal cost of operating engines, turbines and fuel cells at a mid-scenario gas price of $3.97 per million British thermal units. Gas engines, such as ones manufactured by Wartsila and INNIO, have the highest marginal cost, at $43.2 per megawatt-hour (MWh). Fuel cells, most prominently procured from Bloom Energy, are the cheapest to continue running, at $21.5/MWh, benefiting from high thermal efficiencies and the lowest variable operational cost.  

It appears that none of this was lost on US data centers, and the result has been an explosion of nat gas use to power the domestic data center industry which in turn is critical to keep the AI bubble afloat. 

Which brings us to another key data point: according to a new outlook from BloombergNEF, data centers in the United States will consume more natural gas than most countries within a decade.

Gas consumption to produce electricity for data centers is expected to grow by 15 billion cubic feet per day in the ten years to 2035, even accounting for many currently planned projects never being built, BloombergNEF said. That’s more gas than is currently consumed by all nations except China, Russia, Iran and the US itself, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. It’s also more than double BloombergNEF’s previous forecast in December of 6.9 billion cubic feet per day.

The report is the latest illustration of how the future of AI is intertwined with the burning of vast amounts of fossil fuels, tying Big Tech’s ambitions to those of the legacy oil and gas industry, and why - as we discussed over the weekend - a Democratic win in the midterm elections will make life for data center developers a socialist hell. 

The abundance and low cost of producing natural gas in the US, combined with gas power plants’ ability to quickly ramp up and down as needed by 24/7 data centers, are a key part of why the fuel is expected to supply 69% of the power needed by new grid-connected data centers in BloombergNEF’s forecast.

The wave of new projects powering the AI boom makes the power sector the second-largest driver of US gas demand in the decade through 2035, just behind the demand growth of new liquefied natural gas export terminals entering service on the US Gulf Coast, according to the outlook. Power-sector gas consumption is expected to increase to 54 billion cubic feet per day by 2035, up by 18 billion cubic feet per day in 2025, while gas demand from LNG exports rises by 21 billion cubic feet per day.

Of course, given the uncertainty of how the AI boom will play out over the next decade, the “error bars” undergirding BloombergNEF’s forecast for data center gas consumption are “fairly large — both to the upside and the downside, frankly,” said Henry Eaton, a gas market analyst at BloombergNEF and the lead author of the report. “Our power demand estimates are definitely not low, but they’re not the highest on the Street.”

That said, the soaring, simultaneous gas needs of AI data centers and LNG export plants pose “a complex challenge for domestic gas producers,” which are currently projected to raise gas output by 35 billion cubic feet per day between 2025 and 2035 but will need to produce an additional 11 billion cubic feet per day to meet forecasted demand, according to the outlook. Failing that, nat gas prices will be the next to surge.

BloombergNEF’s report adds to the growing bullish chorus around US natural gas because of the data center and LNG build-out, alongside fears that some of the highest-quality acreage in major US gas fields could become depleted as operators drill it more aggressively.

Citing those same factors, Wood Mackenzie in July declared “the decade of cheap Henry Hub gas is coming to an end,” referring to the pipeline trading hub in Louisiana that sets the US benchmark for natural gas. The analyst firm projected power-sector gas demand to rise by 17 billion cubic feet per day “by the mid-2030s,” nearly identical to BloombergNEF’s forecast of 18 billion cubic feet per day.

Wood Mackenzie’s outlook was followed by a viral interview with Chronometer Holdings LLC Founder Matthew Smith, who predicted that by the end of the decade, “you’re going to start to see a knife fight to secure natural gas.”

“The biggest losers of this will be US consumer,” Smith said in the video interview which was seen over 1.6 million times on X and was hotly contested by some in the industry.

“I couldn’t disagree more with Matt’s view,” Ben Dell, managing partner of co-founder of investment firm Kimmeridge Energy Management Co., wrote in response to Smith’s dire outlook. While the US gas market will see “considerable demand growth” from LNG and data centers, ample undeveloped acreage within US gas fields help to explain how the gas industry “has consistently met the demand while lowering costs on an inflation adjusted basis.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 18:50

Paramount Threatens California Exit That Could Cost State Billions

Zero Hedge -

Paramount Threatens California Exit That Could Cost State Billions

Paramount could pull nearly 58,000 jobs and $21 billion in annual economic activity out of California if the company follows through on a threat to relocate its headquarters and operations amid an antitrust fight over its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a preliminary economic analysis from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.'s (LAEDC) Institute for Applied Economics, which was obtained by Politico.

If no resolution is achieved, Paramount has threatened to begin moving its headquarters and thousands of jobs out of the state starting Oct. 1, 2026, with Georgia, Tennessee and Texas floated as possible destinations.

The threat traces back to a lawsuit that California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) and eleven other Democratic state attorneys general filed on July 13 to permanently block the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger under the Clayton Act. Their complaint argued the combined company would reduce competition in wide-release theatrical films, in the market for anticipated top-grossing pictures, and in the licensing of basic cable channels.

The lawsuit came after the Justice Department had reached the opposite conclusion in June, closing its own investigation without filing suit and finding the deal unlikely to harm competition in streaming, linear television, or theatrical film production and distribution.

The LAEDC report makes it clear that California's economy would suffer huge losses if Paramount decided to move out of state. Apart from the 28,990 and 57,980 potential full-time jobs that would disappear, California would also see annual economic output decline somewhere between $10.6 billion and $21.2 billion. Annual state and local tax revenue would also drop by about $585 million.

This is, however, a worst-case scenario based on LAEDC assumptions, not a definite forecast, since Paramount does not publicly break down its operating expenses or employment by state.

Even the more conservative scenario still involves a heavy loss. Even a slower, partial retreat tied to merger-related ticking fees and financing costs totaling roughly $1.88 billion, spread over five years, could still result in the state losing 550 to 1,110 job-years each year and between $202.7 million and $405.4 million in annual economic output.

The merger agreement requires Paramount to pay additional amounts to Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders, called ticking fees, if the transaction is not completed by September 30. From October 1 onwards, the LAEDC sets the fees at about $7 million per day, so each week of legal proceedings becomes a separate charge. As a partial gesture to resolve the issue, Paramount has promised to make 30 theatrical releases each year from the combined company. This pledge the LAEDC believes could result in between 1,020 and 2,760 job-years and between $377.7 million and $1.01 billion in economic output throughout the state over a five-year period.

It's unclear whether this proposal will persuade Bonta's office.

For now, Bonta isn't backing down on his public messaging. "California is the fourth largest economy in the world and the best place to do business," his office said, adding, "Strong antitrust enforcement is essential so everyone can benefit from a vibrant economy."

"When companies create a monopoly and illegally use that power to get out of negotiating, that hurts our economy, it hurts Californians, it makes things more expensive, and it makes things worse," Bonta's office said.

Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate for governor, has made this dispute a campaign talking point, calling the lawsuit "totally politically motivated" last month and saying he would "use whatever power I have to discourage any litigation that would be destructive to California, including this one."

Hilton has also framed Paramount as one data point in a broader exodus. "There's always something, because the people in charge of California are just running this state into the ground," he said on Real America's News last month, adding that business owners tell him on the trail they're "hanging on till November" and will leave if the state's political direction doesn't change. "I think that we are heading for economic collapse in California," he said. He also predicted the recent trickle of departures "is going to turn into a stampede" without a course correction.

Tyler Durden Mon, 09/14/2026 - 18:00

Pages