Spain Sees 650% Surge In Residency Permits Through Family Ties Since 2020

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

The number of immigrants living in Spain under family reunification permits has surged by more than 650 percent in the past five years, according to data from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration, obtained by The Objective through Spain’s Transparency Portal.

The figures show that such permits rose from 43,848 in March 2020 to 328,841 by March this year.

The ministry clarified that the data refers solely to permits granted, not applications or rejections. These permits are granted to foreigners with close family ties to Spanish citizens or legal residents and typically allow for temporary residence that can be renewed.

The growth has been continuous over the period. In 2020, permits remained around 43,000 throughout the year. By December 2021, the figure had increased to 73,625. In 2022, the number rose sharply, ending the year at 148,938. The upward trend continued in 2023, with the total reaching 238,991 by December. In 2024, they reached 312,995 at the end of the year, and by March 2025, there were 328,841 such permits in effect.

The rapid growth of family-based permits comes as Spain’s left-wing government moves forward with even more liberal immigration reform.

In November 2024, the government approved a plan to regularize the status of 900,000 illegal immigrants over three years, with a target of 300,000 regularizations per year.

The reform aims to simplify immigration procedures and promote integration into Spanish society and the labor market. It was described by Migration Minister Elma Saiz Delgado as the most comprehensive revision of Spain’s immigration law since 2011.

This move comes despite growing anti-mass migration sentiment across the country. A poll conducted by the 40dB Institute for El País and Cadena SER last autumn found that 57 percent of Spaniards believe there are “too many immigrants” in the country.

The same survey showed that 75 percent of respondents now associate immigration with negative issues such as crime, insecurity, and pressure on public services. Public concern has risen by 16 percentage points over the past year and a half, coinciding with a surge in migrant arrivals.

With the recent corruption scandals at the highest echelons of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government, such practices have also been found within the immigration process. In February, police uncovered a criminal network arranging sham marriages between Spanish women and foreign men seeking residency.

Three people, including a lawyer, were arrested for their involvement in the scheme, and authorities seized documentation that prevented 13 fake marriages.

Investigators reported that the ringleader charged around €10,000 per client and registered the men at addresses in northern Spain.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/10/2025 - 02:00

Older Adults Outnumber Children In More US States, Median Age Hits New High

Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times,

A new report from the Census Bureau indicates older adults now outnumber children in 11 states and almost half of the counties in the United States.

The census data shows that the U.S. population continues to age, with the share of the 65-year-plus group steadily increasing from 12.4 percent in 2004 to 18 percent in 2024, while the share of the under-18 population has decreased from 25 percent to 21.5 percent during the same period.

In 2024, the population aged 65 and older increased by 3.1 percent, to 61.2 million, from 2023, while those under the age of 18 decreased by 0.2 percent, to 73.1 million, during the same time frame.

“Children still outnumber older adults in the United States, despite a decline in births this decade,” Lauren Bowers, chief of the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Branch, said in the report.

“However, the gap is narrowing as baby boomers continue to age into their retirement years. In fact, the number of states and counties where older adults outnumber children is on the rise, especially in sparsely populated areas.”

According to the report, from 2020 to 2024, the older population grew by 13 percent, significantly outpacing the 1.4 percent growth of working-age adults (18 to 64), while the number of children declined by 1.7 percent.

In 2020, the Census Bureau named just three states—Maine, Vermont, and Florida—where older adults outnumbered children. In 2024, the list was expanded to include eight more states with a majority of adults aged 65 and older: Delaware, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.

In addition, the number of U.S. metro areas with a majority of older adults increased from 58 to 112 from 2020 to 2024.

“This represents nearly 30 percent of the nation’s 387 metro areas,” the report states.

In 2024, three metropolitan areas with at least 1 million people—Cleveland, Ohio; Providence–Warwick, Rhode Island–Massachusetts; and Hartford, Connecticut—recorded more older adults than younger people for the first time ever.

On the county level, 31.3 percent of America’s 3,144 counties had more older adults than children in 2020. In 2024, that level rose to 45 percent.

Trend Expected to Continue

Glen Hedrick, financial advisor at Old North State Wealth Management in Wilmington, North Carolina, believes the aging population trend will continue into the 2030s.

“This will be a pivotal time for entitlement reform and healthcare infrastructure reform,” Hedrick told The Epoch Times.

“For Social Security, the trend is in the direction of more beneficiaries and fewer contributors.”

He mentioned disparities in states such as Maine and Florida, which he noted may feel even more of a strain.

“As an advisor, I would recommend, based on these findings, to not depend solely on entitlements,” he said.

“Build a diversified income stream, maybe even delaying Social Security as people live longer to maximize benefits.”

The U.S. Census Bureau

The Census Bureau also reported that the U.S. median age reached a new record high of 39.1 years in 2024, up from 38.5 in 2020. Regionally, the Northeast had the highest median age at 40.6, with Maine having the oldest median population in the nation at 44.8.

The Midwest was a close second with a 39.3 median age, while the West and South held the lowest median ages at 38.4 and 38.8, respectively.

Birth Rates Declining Since 1990

According to a recent Statista report, the U.S. birth rate has been declining steadily since 1990. In 2023, there were 10.7 births per 1,000 of the population, compared with 16.7 births per 1,000 in 1990.

The research also shows that the fertility rate among women of childbearing age dropped to 1.62 in 2023, the lowest rate ever recorded.

“The reasons behind the declining birth and fertility rates in the U.S. are complex but include personal factors such as changing priorities among women and the high cost of living, including student loan debt, housing costs, and the cost of child care,” the report states.

Aaron Cirksena, founder and CEO of MDRN Capital based in Annapolis, Maryland, told The Epoch Times that the rising age population is a concern for the entire nation.

“The country as a whole is getting older, while the younger population is decreasing. That’s going to put an extra strain not only on Social Security, but Medicare, and filling jobs for the future,” he said.

Cirksena noted that as this imbalance grows, there will be a lot less people in the workforce paying taxes.

“There’s only so many ways you can get tax revenues out of retirees on a fixed income, so this shrinking base of taxpayers means there are less people supporting the older population,” he said.

In the long term, he noted, the United States could experience slower economic growth.

“There could be a problem filling vacant jobs and then there’s the question of what will happen when the next generation begins to retire,” he said.

In 2024, the Internal Revenue Service allowed a tax credit of $2,000 per child under age 17 for individuals earning less than $200,000 or $400,000 per couple.  This year, the amount is expected to increase to $2,500 per child.

“Still, changing the country’s demographics is not something you can easily turn around in just a couple of years,” Cirksena noted.

He believes the full retirement age will be extended from the current 67 in the near future.

“People are living longer and in order to keep the system going, they’ll probably have to work longer as well,” Cirksena said.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 22:35

Half Of Americans Who Think They're "Middle Class" Really Aren't: Pew

The term “middle class” is widely used in American discourse, but few people can clearly define it or know if they truly belong to it, , according to Pew Research and Yahoo Finance.

According to the Pew Research Center, just over half of U.S. households—51% as of 2023—qualify as middle income, a noticeable drop from 61% in 1971. This decline suggests that nearly half of Americans no longer fit within what’s traditionally considered the middle class.

Pew defines middle-income households as those earning between two-thirds and double the national median income, which translates to a range of about $56,600 to $169,800, based on 2022 government data. Even among those within that range, many feel financially stretched.

A survey by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling revealed that more than half of U.S. adults say they are unable to make financial progress, while nearly half report that they are constantly just treading water.

Yahoo writes that for households trying to maintain their middle-class status or move up, one critical step is reducing consumer debt. High-interest obligations can quickly become unmanageable, and rising bankruptcy rates reflect that risk—there were over 494,000 personal bankruptcy filings in the U.S. in 2024, more than 60,000 higher than the year before.

Paying down debt can ease monthly financial burdens and provide more stability. Another key safeguard is having an emergency fund. Setting aside enough savings to cover at least six months of living expenses can protect a family from sudden income loss or job disruption, giving them time to adjust without sacrificing their standard of living.

Increasing income is also an important strategy. Picking up a side hustle or creating a passive income stream could help a household reach or exceed the upper threshold of the middle-income range. Earning more doesn’t just improve lifestyle—it also offers a financial buffer against downturns and rising costs.

At the same time, managing spending is essential, especially in a climate of economic uncertainty. Many Americans have turned to "doom spending," making impulsive purchases as a response to stress, which only deepens financial insecurity.

Careful budgeting and expense tracking can help people identify where their money is going and highlight areas where they might cut back. Insurance costs are a common area of overspending. The average American pays over $2,400 annually for full-coverage auto insurance and more than $2,300 for homeowners insurance, and both are projected to rise further in 2025.

Comparing rates and switching providers can lead to significant savings—some drivers have reported reducing their monthly premiums by doing just that.

Ultimately, whether or not you fall within the middle-class income range, financial stability depends on more than earnings. Controlling debt, building savings, growing income, and being intentional with spending are all crucial steps to maintaining or improving your economic position in today’s shifting landscape.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 22:10

Obama Wants The Power To Define 'Facts'

Authored by J.B. Shurk via AmericanThinker.com,

The Connecticut Forum hosted Barack Obama a few weeks ago to discuss current events, and the former president took the opportunity to support government regulatory constraints for online speech.  “We want diversity of opinion.  We don’t want diversity of facts,” Obama opined in his nonchalant way of attacking the First Amendment while pretending to support it.  “There is a difference between these platforms letting all voices be heard,” he continued, “versus a business model that elevates the most hateful voices, or the most polarizing voices, or the most dangerous in the sense of inciting violence.”  Obama has always been a tyrant wearing a smiling celebrity’s mask.

Just who shall be empowered to determine the “facts” that will constrain public speech? 

Barack Obama and his fellow Marxist travelers expect to have that job.  Did you know that men can have babies and that women are at risk for prostate cancer?  That’s right!  Those are “facts”!  Did you know that Hamas terrorists who chop off Jewish babies’ heads practice a “religion of peace”?  That’s a “fact,” too, and anybody who disagrees is spreading “hate”!  Did you know that the Clinton-Obama-Steele Dossier confirmed President Trump’s “collusion” with Russia and that Vladimir Putin now rules from the White House?  That’s a “fact”!  Disgraced CIA director John Brennan and disgraced FBI director Jim Comey both said so!  Did you know that we’re all going to die from global cooling…er, global warming…er, I mean, extreme weather, unless we pay more in taxes and allow powerful corporations and governments to monitor our economic transactions?  That’s a scientific “fact,” man!  Anybody who disagrees is a “dangerous” idiot!

The truth is that if we really followed Obama’s proposed regulatory rule in constraining online speech, most of the nonsense that Democrats and their leftist cohorts around the world believe would be banned as fake science and fake news!  It takes a tremendous amount of “diversity of facts” to conclude that strange men should be allowed to share restrooms with little girls and compete in women’s sports.  Yet, according to Obama, the delusional should be entitled to determine what is “true,” and the sane should be punished for objecting!

Consider delusional leftists’ unhealthy obsession with the weather.  “Global warming” is a pseudo-scientific cult religion used to concentrate economic and political power into the hands of a small number of global elites.  Earth is worshiped as a goddess.  Hydrocarbons are forbidden fruits.  And humans who choose natural energy sources, such as oil and gas, over Paleolithic standards of living are condemned as sinners who must repent by handing over their material possessions to the State.  

The “green energy” scam is bastardized Christianity dressed in Marxism and packaged to ignorant yet self-important lost souls who crave meaning in their lives.  It is both fake science and a fake religion for those who are desperate to feel that they are smarter and more virtuous than everyone else.  It is a dogma for bullies that provides those who idolize rocks an opportunity to inflict great human suffering while pretending to do the opposite.  It is a lie told by elites, swallowed whole by brainwashed minions who know nothing of real science, and used to transfer income and savings from the poorest to the wealthiest.  It is a boogeyman story that those with power tell to those without power.  It is pure evil.  And it is the settled “scientific” consensus of the Democrat Party, European Union bureaucrats, and their corporate allies throughout the West.

It makes perfect sense why Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg (now twenty-two years old) became the global face for fighting “climate change.”  Economic and political elites always prey on the young when they need to push fanciful and costly public policies.  (After all, there’s a reason why politicians send eighteen-year-old boys to cross barbed-wire battlefields saturated with mines and dead bodies: thirty-year-old soldiers have seen enough to know that their governments use them as cannon fodder.)  What makes someone as young as Greta an ideal mascot for elites’ shadowy agenda is not her incomplete education or scientific illiteracy; it is her youthful inexperience in recognizing how persistently governments lie.

As far as I can tell, Greta believes that man-made “climate change” and capitalism, more generally, are killing the planet.  Meanwhile, she doesn’t seem very curious as to why colossal multinational investment firms — including BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street — have heavily invested in the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset,” the U.S.-E.U.’s “Green New Deal,” and so-called “environmental, social, and governance” (ESG) standards of investing.  If the biggest players in capitalism and the wealthiest financial dynasties on the planet are all hyping the “climate change” apocalypse, a staunch critic of capitalism with a few functioning neural synapses might wonder why “save the planet” foot soldiers are working for the moneyed elite.  

Nine times out of ten, innocent useful idiots who do the bidding of Big Business and Big Government simply can’t fathom that powerful interests would advance outrageous lies as the “truth.”  Apocalyptic “global warming,” Greta surely tells herself, must be true because if it is not, then global leaders, “scientific” organizations, and countless “philanthropic” groups have conspired to pull the wool over the eyes of the world.  

The lies that powerful people and institutions spread are so brazen that sometimes painful experience is required to break the spell of popular consensus.  Whether that experience is the government’s official narrative regarding President Kennedy’s assassination, the government’s evidence for weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to the Iraq War, the government’s assertion that Russia stole the 2016 presidential election from Hillary Clinton, the government’s directed censorship of scientific corroboration that COVID was engineered in a Wuhan laboratory, or the government’s repeated promises that COVID “vaccines” are “safe and effective,” a large number of people require a Eureka! moment before they finally realize that governments and corporations specialize in Big Lies. 

Until that time, the same people who push endless wars, mass migration, and higher taxes that pay off Big Bank losses wave their rainbow flags and suck fifteen-dollar drinks from paper straws.  And too many young, useful idiots play “follow the leader” and believe that “transgenderism” and “global warming” are real.

As is true of leftist political parties throughout the West, the Democrat Party in the United States is now just an assortment of foreigners who broke into the country and a menagerie of “woke,” America-hating communists obsessed with their genitals and skin color.  The tenets of its professed ideology are contradictory, stale, and stupid.  Democrat voters have become the programmable parrots for an elite aristocratic class.  They believe and do what they are told and repeat what they hear.  If they must support “transgenderism,” “global warming,” or Hamas terrorists to remain in good standing with Barack Obama’s “fact” checkers, they will.  To be a member of the modern Democrat Party is to hand your brain over to your master while putting on a cosplay uniform that allows naïve people to playact at being revolutionaries.

If Barack Obama and his Marxist legions are allowed to determine the “facts,” then the world will continue its descent toward a future where the delusional rule over the sane.  Lying politicians will continue to criminalize free speech.  Lying spies from the various large intestines of the Intelligence Community will continue to invent “narratives” that justify war.  Lying central bankers will continue to suck up wealth from the middle class while forcing everyone to use paper confetti as currency.  Lying “scientists” will continue to promote “climate change” or COVID fearmongering in return for government grant money.  Greta Thunberg might even win Nobel Prizes for both peace and chemistry. 

Only truth can beat back the foolish wickedness of this world.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 21:45

Is Gen Z The Useful Idiot Generation

A sizable proportion of young Americans lean heavily to the left, often with limited understanding of history, moral grounding, or the foundations of Western civilization. Whether it's the result of leftist indoctrination on college campuses or the intellectual decay sparked by endless hours on social media, the effect is apparent: radicalism is here to stay.

Mark Penn, a pollster and adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton in the 1990s, and Andrew Stein, who served as New York City Council President from 1986 to 1993, penned a Wall Street Journal opinion piece calling Gen Z "the Useful Idiot Generation."

Their concerns about youngsters stem from the Democratic mayoral nomination of Marxist Zohran Mamdani, who has proudly and explicitly stated he wants to seize "the means of production." It seems some New Yorkers have forgotten the history of communism—an economic system that has never worked and, in fact, has led to the deaths of tens of millions.

Yet Mamdani's promises of free bus rides and government-run grocery stores, among other initiatives, have been enough to attract some New Yorkers burdened with student loans and no savings.

Penn and Stein drilled into why a growing number of youngsters aren't outgrowing leftist radicalism, which usually occurs after marriage and having a family...

• 53% of 18- to 24-year-olds have attended at least some college, where left-wing ideology dominates.

• Colleges often portray socialism as "free stuff" and teach students to blame capitalism for racism, inequality, and climate change.

• Gen Z lacks historical memory of Cold War-era socialist atrocities (e.g., Soviet Union, Maoist China).

• Adulthood is delayed: median age of first marriage is now 30, nearly five years later than in 1985.

• Nearly half of Gen Z adults are not in committed relationships and often live communally or work from home.

• They spend over four hours daily on their phones, mostly consuming content from TikTok and Facebook, which reinforce existing beliefs.

• Religion has declined: over one-third report no affiliation, and 60% didn't grow up attending services—contributing to moral disconnection.

Penn and Stein noted:

Put all this together, and it's little wonder that about half of 18- to 24-year-olds tell pollsters they support Hamas over Israel. By and large these young adults aren't hard-core ideologues; they're merely ignorant. About half of young Hamas supporters say they don't want to wipe out Israel and prefer a two-state solution. Call them the Useful Idiot generation, mouthing slogans and causes they don't understand and from which they would recoil if they did.

The two said the older generations are to blame here:

We created the environment that produced this unmoored generation. Socialism and antisemitism will continue to fester and grow if we don't stand up and reform our universities, reinforce our basic values, and balance our social media.

Our take—one Penn and Stein didn't mention—is that leftist radicalism didn't begin with Gen Z. Gen X led the political correctness movement, while Millennials served as foot soldiers in the woke crusade. Blaming Gen Z alone for their views misses the broader picture. This has been a long socialist march through institutions—academia, corporations, and government—spreading progressive ideology at every level and shaping younger generations into radicals.

The good news? The Trump administration is now taking steps to roll back DEI and begin reversing the damage.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 21:20

Oregon Faces Title IX Lawsuit Over Males In Girls' High School Sports

Authored by Scottie Barnes via The Epoch Times,

A conservative nonprofit filed a federal lawsuit July 8 on behalf of three Oregon high school girls alleging that the state’s education and athletic authorities violated federal anti-discrimination protections by allowing biological males to compete in girls’ track and field events.

The America First Policy Institute’s (AFPI) suit follows a formal complaint that it filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) Office for Civil Rights earlier this year, alleging systemic violations of Title IX.

In a separate action, AFPI has also asked the office to expand the scope of an ongoing Title IX review to include alleged First Amendment rights violations of student athletes. 

‘That’s Not Equality’

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, details the challenges that the plaintiffs encountered when being forced to race against or give up their spot to male athletes identifying as female—including during high-profile events such as the Oregon state track and field championships.

Madelyn Eischen, a recent high school graduate, claims she withdrew from a major meet in protest after learning she would be competing against a male athlete in girls’ high jump. 

“We work too hard for our achievements to be erased like this,” she said through counsel.

Another plaintiff, whose name is being withheld as she is a minor, has competed in track and field since the fifth grade. As a sophomore, she broke the state record for the fastest 400-meter time ever run by a sophomore girl.

The lawsuit alleges that she went on to lose three times to the same male runner, including at the state championships. 

The girl also says she was harassed by supporters of the male athlete for declining to celebrate his victory over her in the girls’ 400-meter event at the 2024 state championships.

At one point, the athlete claims she was called into the principal’s office for a mental health checkup. 

The lawsuit also alleges that fights broke out among students, “placing the girl at the center of a volatile and harmful environment.”

“Title IX was passed to protect equal opportunity for females, not to take them away,” said Jessica Steinmann, executive general counsel at AFPI. “Girls in Oregon are being robbed of podium spots, scholarship chances, and the belief that their effort matters. That’s not equality—it’s discrimination.”

A Silent Statement

In a separate action, AFPI has asked the DOE to investigate whether the treatment of two female athletes during a May 31 track meet constitutes an additional violation of the rights guaranteed under Title IX and the First Amendment and to incorporate this incident into its ongoing investigation.

During the 2025 Oregon high school track and field state championships, high jumpers Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckard declined to stand on the podium alongside a male competitor. 

Instead, they stood in front of the podium, intending to make a silent statement about fairness in girls’ sports, wrote Steinmann and Leigh Ann O’Neill in a June 12 letter to DOE’s Office for Civil Rights. 

“Rather than respecting their constitutionally protected expression, an event official admonished the girls and instructed them to move off to the side and get out of the photos,” their letter says.

“This intervention was not prompted by any disruption, nor was there any violation of event rules. 

“The message was unmistakable: These young women were being punished for expressing dissent,” wrote Steinmann and O’Neill. 

Anderson said she was “confused” by the official’s actions and she didn’t understand “why we were being treated rudely since everything we did was peaceful.”

“Most of the other girls on the podium agreed with us and had planned to step down in protest,” she told The Epoch Times. But when the time came “and all eyes were on us, their plans changed.”

Turning the Tide

The Title IX lawsuit names the Oregon Department of Education, Gov. Tina Kotek (in her capacity as superintendent of public instruction), the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA), and three school districts as defendants.

The defendants have yet to respond to the lawsuit, however, OSAA defended its policies in 2024 when Executive Director Peter Weber explained to state lawmakers that OSAA’s policies follow federal and state laws, including those against discrimination. Weber wrote in a letter that Oregon law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and that the state legislature included gender identity as part of the definition of sexual orientation.

The Oregon case was filed just after the U.S. Supreme Court announced July 3 that it will hear two landmark challenges to state laws in West Virginia and Idaho that restrict male athletes from competing on teams that do not align with their biological sex. Those laws were previously struck down by the Fourth and Ninth Circuits, respectively, with rulings that extended the logic of Bostock v. Clayton County to Title IX. In that 2020 case, justices ruled that firing someone for being gay or identifying as transgender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

It also follows a historic settlement between the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and the University of Pennsylvania in the case of swimmer Lia Thomas, who identifies as transgender and was stripped of all program records.

These actions are in the context of President Donald Trump’s executive order to prohibit transgender-identifying males from participating in girls’ and women’s sports or using female locker rooms.

Schools allowing males to participate in girls’ sports risk losing their federal funding under the order.

Earlier this year, Republican members of Congress tried and failed to pass a national ban on transgender participation in girls sports. 

Currently, 27 states have such a prohibition.

“At the heart of these cases is a simple question,” Steinmann said in a press release.

“Does Title IX mean what Congress intended—equal opportunity based on biological sex—or does it mean something else entirely? The court’s answer will shape the future of girls’ sports in America.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 20:55

Chelsea Clinton Mocked After Using Texas Flood Disaster To Promote Clinton Global Initiative

X users were very skeptical Wednesday afternoon after Chelsea Clinton—currently a board member of the controversial Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)—announced that CGI members had been mobilized to flood-ravaged Kerr County, Texas.

"Members of the @ClintonGlobal community are on the ground in Texas, supporting families, communities and ongoing search and rescue efforts," Clinton wrote in a post on X. The post was heavily ratioed.

Members of the @ClintonGlobal community are on the ground in Texas, supporting families, communities and ongoing search and rescue efforts.

Thread:

— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) July 9, 2025

"Avoid anything promoted by the Clinton family," one X user said, referring back to a 2016 BBC article titled "What really happened with the Clintons in Haiti?" 

Avoid anything promoted by the Clinton family.https://t.co/cZpamJXmC8

— No News is Good News (@KevinEAbner) July 9, 2025

The BBC article cited Haitian activist Dahoud Andre, who had some nasty words to say about the Clintons: "The Clinton family, they are crooks, they are thieves, they are liars." 

CGI has had its fair share of controversies—from cash-for-access and State Department overlap to the Uranium One deal and Haiti earthquake funding. The nonprofit has been under scrutiny for years.

Natural disasters are prime opportunities for nonprofits to market themselves to new donors—in fact, it's big business. And with recent USAID funding cuts, one has to wonder how many of these organizations are now struggling.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 20:30

'American Hero': Coast Guard Swimmer Praised For Saving 165 From Flood At Camp Mystic

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

A Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Scott Ruskan, is being hailed as a hero for helping to rescue more than 160 people at Camp Mystic during flash floods that ravaged central Texas over the weekend.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Ruskan directly saved 165 people from the floodwaters that inundated Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ camp near the Guadalupe River. He was the only triage coordinator at the scene.

“Scott Ruskan is an American hero. His selfless courage embodies the spirit and mission of the [U.S. Coast Guard],” Noem stated on social media platform X, noting that it was Ruskan’s first rescue mission as a Coast Guard rescue swimmer.

The rescue team was dispatched from the Coast Guard Air Station in Corpus Christi after receiving a report at 5:57 a.m. on July 4 about rising floodwaters near Kerrville, Texas, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

In an interview with Good Morning America, Ruskan recalled that nearly 200 people, mostly children, were later found in need of rescue as floodwaters surged through the area.

“I got on scene, boots on the ground at Camp Mystic. I kind of discovered I was the only person there as far as first responders go. So I had about 200, kids mostly, all scared, terrified, cold, having probably the worst day of their life,” he said.

“I just kind of needed to triage them, get them to a higher level of care and get them off the flood zone.”

U.S. Army National Guard helicopters used the camp’s archery and soccer fields as landing zones during the rescue. Ruskan said he “was kind of the main guy as far as grabbing people,” taking groups of 10 to 15 people, including some adults, at a time to the aircraft, which then airlifted them to the landing zones for safety.

The U.S. Coast Guard stated that Ruskan helped to evacuate a total of 230 victims at the scene. He also provided them with medical assistance during the rescue mission, according to a July 5 statement.

“The real heroes, I think, were the kids on the ground; those guys are heroic,” Ruskan said.

“They were dealing with some of the worst times of their lives, and they were staying strong, and that helped inspire me to get in there and help them.”

A sheriff's deputy pauses while combing through the banks of the Guadalupe River near Camp Mystic after a flash flood swept through the area in Hunt, Texas, on July 5, 2025. Julio Cortez/AP Photo

Camp Mystic said that 27 campers and counselors lost their lives in the floods and that it had been in contact with local and state authorities in the search for missing campers and counselors.

“Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly,” the camp said in a statement posted to its website.

The flash floods that swept through central Texas have left more than 100 people dead and at least 161 missing. Gov. Greg Abbott said during a July 8 press briefing that those figures are likely to rise, due in part to the area’s popularity with campers.

Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said that hundreds of first responders are on the scene in flooded areas around the Guadalupe River, with local, federal, and state personnel working to recover bodies or locate missing people.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 20:05

NASA Eyes Deep Staff Cuts In Major Agency Overhaul

Less than 24 hours after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to slash the bloated federal bureaucracy and gut agencies, Politico reports that thousands of senior-ranking NASA employees are set to exit in a massive restructuring.

Politico cited internal documents showing that NASA plans to cut 2,694 staff members through a combination of early retirement offers, buyouts, and deferred resignations.

Key details from the report include:

• 875 GS-15 employees, the agency's most senior civil servants, are among those leaving.

• 1,818 of the departing staff work in core mission roles; the remainder are in support functions, such as IT and finance.

• Departures are widespread, with Goddard Space Flight Center losing the most (607), followed by Johnson (366), Kennedy (311), and HQ (307).

"The departures follow a proposed White House budget for 2026 that would slash NASA's funding by 25 percent and cut over 5,000 staff," the report said, adding, "The cuts, if enacted by Congress, would force the agency to operate with the smallest budget and staff since the early 1960s."

Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, told the left-leaning outlet, "You're losing the managerial and core technical expertise of the agency." He asked: "What's the strategy and what do we hope to achieve here?"

The proposed large-scale reorganization and reduction comes a day after the Supreme Court announced President Trump can move ahead with plans to slash the federal workforce and dismantle federal agencies. 

NASA's role in America's space program has taken a back seat as private companies—most notably Elon Musk's SpaceX—have taken over the agency's launch capabilities. With private-sector innovation and cost-efficiency leading the way, rocket launches and the broader space industry have become a new frontier for capitalism.

"NASA remains committed to our mission as we work within a more prioritized budget," said NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens. "We are working closely with the Administration to ensure that America continues to lead the way in space exploration, advancing progress on key goals, including the Moon and Mars."

The large-scale reorganization is fantastic news for America's commercial space industry, aiming to drive innovation and ensure U.S. leadership in the space race through the 2030s.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 19:40

Patriot Missile Stockpile A Fraction Of What Pentagon Needs As Trump Arms Ukraine

Via The Libertarian Institute

The ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine have depleted US stockpiles of missile interceptors. The Pentagon has just a quarter of the Patriot missiles it needs.

According to the Guardian, "The United States only has about 25% of the Patriot missile interceptors it needs for all of the Pentagon’s military plans after burning through stockpiles in the Middle East in recent months, an alarming depletion that led to the Trump administration freezing the latest transfer of munitions to Ukraine."

Via AFP

US weapons manufacturers can only produce approximately 500 Patriot missiles per year. The US used dozens of interceptors to defend Israel from Iranian retaliatory attacks last month.

Additionally, the Pentagon engaged in its largest Patriot battle in history to repel a symbolic Iranian missile attack on the US airbase in Qatar.

The US stockpile of air and missile defenses has been drained to aid Ukraine during the war with Russia. Missile interceptors are in short supply in the West.

In May, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio told Congress that “The Ukrainians asked for air defense systems – Patriot systems, which, frankly, we don’t have.”

"In fact, if the Ukrainians asked for anything additional, they asked for air defense systems, Patriot systems, which, frankly, we do not have. But we cannot produce them fast enough. And one of the problems we face in Ukraine is that ammunition is being used up much faster than we can produce it," Rubio emphasized.

It is unclear if Trump reversed the Pentagon order to halt some arms transfers to Ukraine, including Patriot Missiles. During Monday’s dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump told reporters that he would “send some more weapons” to Ukraine.

❗️US and allies working to transfer Patriot systems to Ukraine, but lacking even for their own needs — Rubio

"In fact, if the Ukrainians asked for anything additional, they asked for air defense systems, Patriot systems, which, frankly, we do not have. But we cannot produce them… pic.twitter.com/WGtaU84SNB

— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) May 20, 2025

Patriot systems have been a crucial part of Ukraine’s air defenses. However, Russia has developed missiles to counter Patriot interceptors with increasing effectiveness.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 19:15

Philly Trash Standoff Ends As City's Largest Municipal Union Reaches Tentative Agreement, Ending Strike

After more than a week of stalled trash collection, closed libraries, and disrupted city services, the City of Philadelphia and its largest municipal union have reached a tentative agreement, bringing an end to a major strike that began July 1, according to NBC News.

For an idea of exactly how many DC 33 workers are integral to Philadelphia, try walking more than 10 blocks on either Broad or Market Street, from City Hall in any direction, and count how many of these DC33 jackets you see. Philadelphians will tell you - they're everywhere, all the time. 

Nearly 10,000 members of District Council 33 (DC 33)—representing sanitation workers, 911 dispatchers, water department employees, and others—walked off the job after contract talks broke down. The union initially sought 8% annual raises over four years, totaling a 32% increase. The city had countered with a 7% total increase over three years.

Mayor Cherelle Parker announced the agreement early Wednesday morning, hours after both sides resumed negotiations Tuesday afternoon at the Community College of Philadelphia and worked through the night. “The work stoppage involving the District Council 33 and the City of Philadelphia is OVER,” Parker posted on social media. “We’re valuing our workforce and we’re safeguarding our city’s hard-earned fiscal stability at the same time. The strike is over!”

According to Parker, the deal—pending ratification by union members—combined with a one-year extension agreed to last fall, will raise DC 33 wages by 14% over her four-year term. “We’ll have much more to say about this historic deal tomorrow at City Hall,” she added.

While it is tough to distinguish trash piling up from the strike from the trash that's normally sitting on the street in Philadelphia, the lack of sanitation workers was starting to become a serious issue for the city.

NBC News writes that union officials told workers to return to their jobs Wednesday or “as soon as they can get to work,” according to DC 33 Executive Director Ernest Garrett and city Labor Relations Director Harold Boulware. DC 33 confirmed the strike’s end on Facebook: “The strike is over! Details forthcoming.”

While some city services were restored during the strike via court orders—including police dispatch and parts of the water department—others remained disrupted. Overflowing trash drop-off sites and library closures became visual reminders of the walkout. Public support for the union grew after headliners LL Cool J and Jazmine Sullivan both pulled out of the city’s July 4th Wawa Welcome America concert, refusing to cross picket lines.

Mayor Parker had previously emphasized her commitment to boosting city worker pay, noting that she had already secured a 5% increase for fiscal year 2025. “We need you, we need you, members of District Council 33,” she said in a news conference before the strike.

Although this deal marks a significant breakthrough, the agreement still requires a formal vote from DC 33 members before it is finalized.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 18:50

America Must Lead On Seafloor Mineral Development

Authored by Alina Voss via RealClearEnergy,

An untapped energy savior might just be sitting on the ocean floor. From AI to defense to clean energy, critical minerals remain pivotal to securing the United States’ competitive edge. Unfortunately, supply chains remain precariously dependent on foreign control, often from adversarial nations like China, leaving the country vulnerable to price shocks, trade restrictions, and supply disruption. While bipartisan efforts are gathering momentum around ideas to strengthen U.S. mineral security through efforts like reviving domestic mining, strategic alliances, and even recycling programs, land-based deposits alone may not be enough to meet the explosive growth in demand anticipated over the coming decades. We may need to look deeper for solutions, specifically to the ocean floor.

Polymetallic nodules, potato-sized rocks found scattered across the seafloor, particularly in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), between Hawaii and Mexico. These nodules are rich in four of the same minerals needed to fuel clean energy supply chains: nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese. Unlike terrestrial sources, which often contain only one or two of these metals and require energy-intensive processing, seafloor nodules contain all four in high purity and are loosely embedded in sediment, meaning they can be collected with minimal crushing or waste rock removal. The CCZ alone is estimated to hold more nickel and cobalt than all known land-based reserves combined. They represent a rare convergence between vast untapped mineral resources and emerging technology in deep sea robotics and AI-powered collection technologies. If harnessed responsibly, it could prove determinative for the future of American clean energy security.

To catalyze the emergence of a domestic seafloor minerals industry, federal support should mirror successful precedents in space and semiconductor policy (like the COTS program or CHIPS act) by leveraging targeted public-private partnerships, milestone-based R&D funding, and interagency coordination. These mechanisms align well with President Trump’s broader industrial strategy, especially his second-term push to reassert American leadership in critical technologies. The development of deep-sea collection systems requires the same precision robotics, long-duration autonomy, and AI-driven sensor fusion technologies now prioritized in Trump’s Executive Orders on domestic energy dominance, which already task agencies like DOE, DARPA, and NSF with advancing advanced manufacturing and next-gen energy. The seafloor minerals sector presents an ideal testbed to apply those mandates, driving innovation while securing access to four of the most strategically important metals for both defense and clean tech. As the administration reforms permitting timelines, retools the Department of Energy’s innovation programs, and expands national security-driven procurement, now is the moment to integrate seafloor minerals into America’s critical mineral toolkit.

Despite the opportunities for seafloor minerals to bolster American environmental impacts through advancing clean energy, a wave of critique has arisen, largely arguing that using seafloor minerals will have negative environmental impacts. Claims that seafloor nodule collection could impede the ocean’s ability to store carbon dioxide continue to circulate, despite little evidence. Not to mention, experts say that this alarmism neglects the counterfactual that the amount of carbon dioxide released by seafloor mineral collection is “negligibly tiny” when compared with emissions of on-land mining activities.

Letting geopolitical rivals lead on nodule development or critical minerals more broadly is a strategic mistake both for U.S. supply chain and environmental policy. The short window of opportunity, particularly for the Trump administration, to shape the critical mineral industry for the better is a make-or-break moment in gaining the technological edge for the coming decades of American industry. The U.S. should take swift, targeted action by forging strategic alliances with allies like Japan and Australia to coordinate exploration, recognizing nodules as “domestic content” when first landed in the U.S., unlocking manufacturing incentives, and finally by expanding federal R&D and streamlining permitting.

The United States has a rare opportunity to secure not only the security of its supply chains but also the future of its clean energy industry by responsibly advancing seafloor mineral development. With strategic investment, smart regulation, and proactive utilization of the resources available to us, America can shape the rules of the game while securing access to the critical materials that power 21st-century technologies. 

Alina Voss is a fellow with ConservAmerica.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 18:25

"Most Significant Seismicity Since 2009": Quake Swarm Detected At Washington's Mt. Rainier

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the Cascade Volcano Observatory reported Tuesday that an earthquake swarm has been detected beneath Mount Rainier in Washington State. While this marks the most significant seismic activity at the volcano since 2009, the USGS emphasized that there is no immediate cause for concern and the alert level remains at "Green/Normal." 

The quake swarm of hundreds of very small earthquakes was recorded beneath Mount Rainier around 0130 local time on Tuesday. The largest quake so far was magnitude 1.6, occurring at a depth of 1–4 miles (2–6 km) below the summit.

Mount Rainier typically experiences about nine quakes per month, with swarms like this happening 1–2 times per year, though usually with fewer events. However, the USGS stated that this earthquake swarm was "the most significant seismicity at the volcano since 2009." 

The alert level remains GREEN / NORMAL, and monitoring continues via the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network...

"Right now, this swarm is still within what we consider normal background levels of activity at Mount Rainier. Past swarms have been attributed to the circulation of fluids interacting with preexisting faults," USGS said. 

Here's more color on what quake swarms may indicate:

• Movement of magma or fluids: These swarms are often caused by magma rising, or hot fluids circulating underground, putting pressure on surrounding rocks and causing them to crack.
• Stress along faults: Sometimes swarms occur along faults or fractures, where stress builds up and is released in small bursts.
• Volcanic unrest (sometimes): While not always dangerous, swarms can be an early sign of volcanic unrest, especially if accompanied by other changes like ground deformation, gas emissions, or thermal anomalies.

All indications from the USGS suggest that this swarm event is "normal." Certainly something for residents in the Pacific Northwest to keep an eye on.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 18:00

"Vindicated": Man Charged By Biden's DOJ For Posting A Meme Has Conviction Overturned

Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,

An appeals court has overturned the conviction against Douglas Mackey, who was charged with election interference under the Biden administration for posting a meme in 2016 about voting for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton via text message.

The Hillary Clinton meme posted by Douglass Mackey (aka Ricky Vaughn)

Mackey had been operating the popular “Ricky Vaughn” Twitter account that had some 58,000 followers. He didn’t dispute that he posted memes, but has maintained that they were clearly satire. The U.S. government, for its part claimed that Mackey conspired with others to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote.

Vindicated pic.twitter.com/bnvYWK3Y4p

— Douglass Mackey (@DougMackeyCase) July 9, 2025

The charges appeared constitutionally dubious at first glance, but that’s not why the U.S. Second Circuit Appeals Court overturned the conviction on Wednesday. Rather, the conviction didn’t stand because the Justice Department never proved that Mackey was part of a larger conspiracy, the Second Circuit ruled.

“The mere fact that Mackey posted the memes, even assuming that he did so with the intent to injure other citizens in the exercise of their right to vote, is not enough, standing alone, to prove a violation of Section 241. The government was obligated to show that Mackey knowingly entered into an agreement with other people to pursue that objective. This the government failed to do,” the appeals court ruled.

One of the government’s testifying witnesses was an FBI informant who still actively operates anonymous right-wing Twitter accounts. According to prosecutors, the informant operates accounts similar to the Ricky Vaughn account. They claimed that the two worked in tandem to spread “misinformation.”

The informant pled guilty to the same charge that Mackey was convicted for. His identity has been suppressed because he is allegedly still working with the FBI in respect to other Twitter users.

In any event, the Second Circuit ruled that Mackey and Microchip never actually conspired with each other.

“While Microchip testified at length regarding the conspiracy’s formation and operation, moreover, his testimony was of little probative value with respect to Mackey’s role. Microchip had never met Mackey—nor, so far as the record discloses, had any other member of the War Room or the other message groups,” the appeals court ruled.

“Microchip’s relationship with Mackey, such as it was, was exclusively online. As a result, only online interactions could prove that Mackey participated with Microchip in planning the conspiracy. And the record contains no evidence of such interactions.”

Mackey said Wednesday that he’s planning to sue the DOJ over what prosecutors put him through.

Now we sue

— Douglass Mackey (@DougMackeyCase) July 9, 2025

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 16:20

Stellar 10Y Auction Stops Through Amid Surge In Direct Bidders

After yesterday's ugly, tailing 3Y auction, which saw record Directs as foreign buyers tumbled, moments ago the Treasury sold $39BN in 10Y notes in a closely watched auction. In the end, the auction went through without a glitch, with solid buyside demand which was foreshadowed by today's sharp bid across the curve.

The auction priced at a high yield of 4.362%, down from 4.421% last month and in a narrow range since February's outlier 4.623%. The auction also stopped through the 4.365% When Issued by 0.3bps, this was the 5th consecutive tail in a row, although the smallest of the bunch.

The bid to cover was 2.61, up from 2.52 in June and the highest since April; it was also above the six-auction average of 2.56

The internals were less impressive, with Indirects awarded 65.4%, down from 70.6% last month, and the lowest since January. And while they were far from a record, Directs rose to 23.7% (after plunging to just 1.4% during the April market mayhem), the highest going back all the way to March 2014.

That left Dealers with just 10.9%, up from 9.0% in June but one of the lowest on record.

Overall, this was a very solid auction, one that left yesterday's poor, tailing 3Y in the dust, and not a moment too soon: with long-end yields blowing out across the world the the 30Y about to break the 5% redline, buyers had to step in or the equity selloff would have come back with a vengeance. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 15:25

Amazon Prime Day Sales Plummet On First Day 

New data from Momentum Commerce shows that Amazon's decision to extend Prime Day from two to four days backfired—Day 1 sales plummeted, marking a grim start. Shoppers are filling their carts but holding off on purchases, hoping for deeper discounts. Meanwhile, spending trends are soft, reinforcing the cautious consumer outlook echoed by several research desks we track.

Bloomberg first cited new data from Momentum Commerce on Wednesday afternoon, which tracks 50 brands across various product categories and price points. The data showed that sales on the e-commerce platform plunged 41% on Tuesday compared to the first day of Prime Day 2024. The sluggish start raises concerns about Amazon's decision to extend the mega discount event.

Momentum CEO John Shea commented on Amazon's big gamble, noting that the extended sale has given consumers more opportunity to browse and "treasure hunt." He added that a shorter Prime Day typically drives higher sales due to a greater sense of urgency. 

Data from research firm Numerator reveals that the average household is spending less on Prime Day this year—$106 compared to $110 at the start of last year's event. The average item price is also down, at $25.46, compared to $28 a year ago.

Prime Day tends to be a high-frequency snapshot of midsummer consumer sentiment, and it may signal deeper caution for the economy. Momentum Commerce data for the first four hours of Prime Day also showed weak consumption trends.

• Amazon Prime Day Kicks Off With Disappointing Early Sales

Despite the gloom, research firm Adobe estimates shoppers across all retailers on Tuesday spent 9.9% more than on the same day one year ago. Prime Day also overlaps with sales from Walmart and Target. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 15:20

Surviving Crew Members Kidnapped By Houthis After Greek-Owned Cargo Ship Attacked

Update(1505ET): Things have gone from bad to worse regarding the situation of the Greek-owned cargo ship Eternity C, which was sunk in a deadly Houthi raid. The missing mariners aboard the ship are now confirmed kidnapped, after at least four were killed.

The US embassy accused Yemen's Iran-backed militants Wednesday of kidnapping crew members from the Eternity C in the Red Sea earlier this week - an attack which was carefully documented and filmed for the world to see by the attackers (see below).

"After killing their shipmates, sinking their ship and hampering rescue efforts, the Huthi terrorists have kidnapped many surviving crew members of the Eternity C. We call for their immediate and unconditional safe release," the embassy said in a statement on X.

Below is more from the Houthi statement, claiming the captive and surviving crew members are 'safe'... will President Trump get involved? It appears at least 15 have been taken.

The Houthis claim responsibility for the attack against the Eternity C. They appear to have taken some crew members to a "safe place" (hostages?) pic.twitter.com/FYlSg5nfTm

— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) July 9, 2025

* * *

Update (1252ET): One of the two commercial ships attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels—the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned cargo ship Eternity C—has sunk, resulting in the deaths of at least four crew members, with 15 still missing. The other ship, Magic Seas, was also attacked and sank earlier this week (crew rescued). 

Here's more from Reuters:

Rescuers pulled six crew members alive from the Red Sea on Wednesday and 15 were still missing from the second of two ships sunk in recent days in attacks claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia after months of calm.

Four of the 25 people aboard the Eternity C cargo ship were killed before the rest of the crew abandoned the vessel, which sank on Wednesday morning after being attacked on Monday and Tuesday, sources at security companies involved in a rescue operation said.

Since late 2023, more than 100 ships in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb/Southern Red Sea corridor have been targeted by Houthi rebels using drones and missiles.

These attacks are expected to continue until a ceasefire is reached in the Israel-Hamas war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been in Washington, D.C., meeting with President Trump to discuss a potential ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The deal would allow Netanyahu to secure the release of 50 Israeli hostages. The attacks on Eternity C and Magic Seas mark the first Houthi strikes in the critical maritime chokepoint since President Trump announced a truce with the rebels in May.

*     *     *

 

Iranian-backed Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb/Southern Red Sea corridor have intensified following U.S. airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, ordered by President Trump. This marks a significant escalation of asymmetric Iranian-proxy operations aimed at choking the critical maritime chokepoint. 

Last weekend, rebel forces attacked the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned cargo ship Eternity C, resulting in the deaths of at least three mariners and injuries to several others. The ship lost propulsion and is now adrift with the crew still on board.

Between Sunday and Monday, the Houthis launched another assault on the bulk carrier Magic Seas using small boats and bomb-laden drones.

Rebels later released video footage showing their fighters boarding the vessel, strategically placing explosives throughout the ship. The detonation ultimately led to the vessel's sinking, marking one of the most brazen and well-documented Houthi maritime attacks to date. 

pic.twitter.com/pRWMiOqnUq

— الإعلام الحربي اليمني (@MMY1444) July 8, 2025

The maritime attacks in the Southern Red Sea resulted in the "tragic loss of three mariners, with many others injured and the complete loss of the MV Magic Seas and its cargo," U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement, adding the Trump administration "will continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping." 

The release of high-impact footage on social media—such as shipboard assaults and vessel sinkings—indicates the Houthis are showcasing their operational capabilities across the Red Sea chokepoint. This video serves a dual purpose: reinforcing their psychological warfare campaign and delivering a clear propaganda message aimed at Western governments and global shipping interests.

Regional Maritime Chokepoints 

Further Houthi maritime activity is likely this week, particularly targeting Western-aligned vessels. We anticipate potential vessel diversions while also tracking ongoing risks in the Strait of Hormuz.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 15:05

Waste Of The Day: Puerto Rico, Guam, Others In Debt

Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearWire,

Topline: The five inhabited U.S. territories are collectively $57.8 billion in debt and have issues with their financial statements that “can lead to poor financial decisions and lost access to capital markets,” according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

Key facts: The GAO suggested that the territories may struggle to repay their debt even more than the 50 U.S. states. The territories have high energy and import costs, extreme weather, economies that rely on just a few industries, and had a population decrease from 2010 to 2020.

Puerto Rico holds the most debt by far with $52.8 billion as of 2022, which is 47% of its gross domestic product. Guam ($2.5 billion of debt as of 2023), the Virgin Islands ($2.2 billion as of 2021), the Northern Mariana Islands ($121 million as of 2021) and American Samoa ($145 million as of 2023) are also struggling to balance their budgets.

If some of those statistics seem outdated, it’s because they are. The territories are supposed to release financial statements nine months after each fiscal year ends, but American Samoa is the only one meeting that deadline.

While Guam includes 2023 figures, it issued them seven months late.

The delays could hurt the territories’ credit rating, making future borrowing more expensive, according to the GAO. The territories also can’t be audited if they don’t have financial statements, which the GAO says will make it more difficult to identify potential fraud.

American Samoa is also the only territory properly managing its federal funds. The other four territories all had “questioned costs” in the most recent audits of their financial statements, which could mean “there was a violation or possible violation of a statute, regulation, or the terms and conditions of a federal award.” 

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Background: The five U.S. territories are just one piece of the gigantic debt burden across America. The 50 states were collectively $811 billion in debt at the end of 2023, and the 75 largest cities were $300.7 billion in debt, according to estimates from the think tank Truth in Accounting. The federal debt is over $36.2 trillion.

Summary: Apparently, public officials’ penchant for spending more money than is available is not limited to the contiguous United States.

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

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 15:00

Trump Says BRICS Members Will Get Additional 10% Tariffs Over De-Dollarization Attempt

Authored by Lily Zhou via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump on Tuesday reiterated a previous warning to BRICS nations that he would be imposing an additional 10 percent tariff on them, saying the bloc was created to replace the U.S. dollar as the dominant currency for international trade.

Speaking to journalists during a meeting with Cabinet officials at the White House, Trump said: “If they’re a member of BRICS, they’re going to have to pay 10 percent tariff just for that one thing. And they won’t be a member long.”

The president said that while he doesn’t see the bloc as “a serious threat,” it was set up to “destroy the dollar so that another country can take over and be the standard.”

“And we’re not going to lose the standard,” he said.

The comments came after some in the 11-member group denied comments by the U.S. president that the bloc supports “anti-American” policies.

BRICS, which was set up in 2009, initially included Brazil, Russia, India, and China before absorbing South Africa the next year and further expanding in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The group also involves partner countries Bolivia, Nigeria, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Uganda.

According to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who hosted the bloc’s 17th annual leaders summit this week, BRICS nations now represent more than half the world’s population and 40 percent of its economic output.

BRICS leaders have said they want payment alternatives to reduce dependency on U.S. dollars and the SWIFT system—a cross-border payment messaging mechanism that has been used to enforce U.S. and EU sanctions against Russian and Iranian entities.

In November 2024, Trump said he would hit BRICS members with 100 percent tariffs if they attempted to create an alternative trading currency to the U.S. dollar, a warning he repeated in January.

Writing on social media platform Truth Social on Monday, the U.S. president said, “Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff.”

The BRICS leaders’ Sunday statement condemned military actions on Gaza and Iran by Israel, a U.S. ally, and called for reforms to global institutions, saying that the rise in “unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures” threatened global trade.

Reacting to Trump’s tariff warning on Monday, Lula said, “We don’t want an emperor.”

The Brazilian president said BRICS wants “another way of organizing the world from the economic perspective.”

He reiterated his call for trade relations that “don’t have to pass through the dollar.”

South African trade ministry spokesman Kaamil Alli said the country is “not anti-American” and still wants to negotiate a trade deal with the United States.

He said South Africa has had “constructive and fruitful” trade talks with the United States and is waiting to continue those talks.

India did not immediately provide an official response to Trump.

Malaysia, which was attending as a partner country and was slapped with 24 percent tariffs that were later suspended, said that it maintains independent economic policies and is not focused on ideological alignment.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said BRICS members “share common approaches and a common world view on how to cooperate based on their own interest.”

He said the group’s cooperation “has never been and will never be directed against any third countries.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning denied that BRICS is “against any country.” He said the group is against the use of tariffs “as a tool for coercion and pressure.”

China Affairs commentator Wang He told The Epoch Times that it’s “very unfair” to the United States and others that China, the world’s second-largest economy, is still treated as a developing country.

Wang said that the U.S. trade deficit last year, which was around $1 trillion, is unsustainable for any country.

“The United States has its reasons [to impose tariffs], but it would clash with the interests of some other countries, in particular, BRICS members,” he said.

While the BRICS statement did not mention the United States, “the theme was not beneficial, but rather unfriendly to the United States,” Wang said.

Sun Kuo-hsiang, professor of international affairs and business at Nanhua University in Taiwan, said additional tariffs for BRICS members could increase global trade tensions and supply chain costs, and trigger complaints to the World Trade Organization.

However, some BRICS members, such as Brazil, India, and South Africa, have mostly taken a “pragmatic and cautious” approach instead of aligning with Washington, Beijing, or Moscow, he said.

New members, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates “joined BRICS based on considerations of economic interests and multilateralism, and will maintain room to cooperate with the United States instead of taking sides,” he added.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 14:20

FOMC Minutes Show 'Divided' Fed Fears Stagflation, Clueless On Actual Tariff Impact

Since the last FOMC meeting (June 18th), which saw a hawkish tilt to the dots (with Fed members notably divided - nearly as many participants anticipated no rate cuts this year as expected two), we have seen stronger-than-expected jobs data, constant diatribes from the president that 'too late' Powell should be cutting rates, and some tariff developments that supported Powell's pause.

Source: Bloomberg

Stocks have melted up since the FOMC meeting (even as macro has weakened - bad news is good news)...

Source: Bloomberg

...while crude was clubbed like a baby seal (Israel-Iran 'peace') as bonds have been very modestly bid against dollar and gold weakness...

Source: Bloomberg.

Rate-cut odds have risen modestly for 2025 since The FOMC meetings (two full cuts priced in, but July off the table) but are well down from pre-payrolls levels...

Source: Bloomberg

And both 'hard' and 'soft' data has weakened relative to expectations since the last FOMC...

Source: Bloomberg

So, what does The Fed want us to know they are thinking about?

Fed members are confused about tariff risks:

"In discussing their outlooks for inflation, participants noted that increased tariffs were likely to put upward pressure on prices.

There was considerable uncertainty, however, about the timing, size, and duration of these effects.

Many observed that it might take some time for the effect of higher tariffs to be reflected in the prices of final goods because firms might choose not to raise prices on affected goods and services until they had run down inventories of products imported before the increase in tariffs or because it would take some time for tariffs on intermediate goods to work through the supply chain."

But convinced growth will slow...

• *FED MINUTES: MAJORITY SAW SLOWER ECONOMIC GROWTH GOING FORWARD

While the market has priced-out cuts in July, the Minutes show: 

"Most participants assessed that some reduction in the target range for the federal funds rate this year would likely be appropriate, noting that upward pressure on inflation from tariffs may be temporary or modest, that medium- and longer-term inflation expectations had remained well anchored, or that some weakening of economic activity and labor market conditions could occur.

• A couple said they would be open to considering a cut as soon as July if data evolved as they expected

• Some saw the most likely appropriate path would involve no rate cuts in 2025. Those participants cited recent elevated inflation readings, elevated business and consumer inflation expectations and ongoing economic resilience.

• Several said current Fed funds rate may not be far above its neutral rate.

• All participants viewed it as appropriate to maintain Fed funds rate at the current target range.

Despite the market pricing out 'uncertainty' about tariffs, The Fed members are cluelessly guessing...

• Participants agreed risks of higher inflation and weaker labor market conditions had diminished but remain elevated.

• Participants observed uncertainty about economic outlook had diminished amid the reduction in announced and expected tarifffs, but overall uncertainty continued to be elevated.

Fed balance sheet size:

"Since balance sheet runoff commenced in June 2022, SOMA securities holdings had fallen almost $2¼ trillion. As a percentage of GDP, the portfolio had declined to close to where it had been at the start of the pandemic. The corresponding drain in Federal Reserve liabilities had largely come out of balances at the Reverse Repo facility, while reserve levels had been relatively little changed over that period. Respondents to the June Desk survey, on average, expected runoff to end in February of next year, a month later compared with the previous survey, with an expected size of the SOMA portfolio of $6.2 trillion, or about 20% of GDP. At that point, the respondents, on average, expected reserves to be at $2.9 trillion and the ON RRP balance to be low."

Read the full Minutes below:

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/09/2025 - 14:05