Interpreting The Taliban’s Invitation For American Investments Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack, This was arguably a preemptive de-escalation move that would also gauge the US’ intentions… The New York Times (NYT) interviewed Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul as part of their coverage of the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power. Muttaqi invited the US to reopen its embassy and invest in […]

IAEA ‘Unclear’ On Iran’s Nuclear Program As US, Europe Escalate At UN Security Council Western allies are pressing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ‌board to bring a formal complaint and resolution before the UN Security Council and the General Assembly. Reuters reports Saturday that the US, UK, France, and Germany are behind the new pressure campaign, which hinges on a request that the nuclear watchdog’s director […]

Is This Peak ‘Clown World’? Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, Transport for London has dropped a dog house-shaped “calm space” onto the concourse at Ealing Broadway station and called it progress. The tiny pod features a bench, noise-dampening acoustics and a “soothing” forest mural. They claim that it is part of an effort to “boost accessibility for neurodivergent travellers under TfL’s Equity in Motion strategy,” […]

The Real Elites Vs. The Ruling Elites Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute, Always and everywhere, political institutions are controlled by elites. It doesn’t matter if the regime type is democratic or monarchical. It doesn’t matter if there is a written constitution or not. All political institutions – and certainly every sovereign state – are run by a group of elites who control the means of coercion.The myth of “rule […]

Hegseth’s Polygraphs Return To Pentagon In ‘Major Leak Hunt’ Over Iran War The polygraphs have returned to the Pentagon, after the Trump administration has been furious over what the president calls ‘leaks’ by US officials to the press, particularly regarding alleged diminished munitions stocks and missile shortages. The New York Times reports Saturday that Pentagon investigators have questioned roughly 50 personnel on the Joint […]

China Expands Online Content Controls, Putting More Pressure On Creators Authored by Michael Zhuang via The Epoch Times, China’s new rules governing companies that produce and distribute content for social media took effect on Sept. 1, potentially exposing both independent content creators and the accounts they manage to penalties for violations. Men play games on computers in an internet bar in Beijing on Dec. 16, 2015. Greg […]

New Images Reveal China’s Stealth Drone At Secretive “Area 51” Base Aviation researcher Andreas Rupprecht posted footage on LinkedIn that appears to show China’s next-generation high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance drone, an aircraft he estimates is “comparable in size to the US Air Force’s B-21 Raider.” Rupprecht wrote on LinkedIn that the WZ-X drone was spotted at a secretive air base in China’s […]

US Sanctions Turkish Bank Over Alleged IRGC Transfers In Latest Action Via The Cradle The US Treasury announced sanctions on Friday on a Turkey-based bank and two of its subsidiaries, accusing them of moving tens of millions of dollars on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and facilitating Tehran’s movement of funds across the international banking system.  “”Financial institutions continue to […]

Meanwhile In Ceuta… Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, Viral footage out of the invaded Spanish enclave of Ceuta shows a bottlenose dolphin calf came in close to the sand at Playa del Trampolín in Ceuta this week, disoriented and still alive. A group of men who entered illegally in the July surge pulled it from the water, hoisted it like a prize, and – according to local reporting, a conservation complaint, and […]

DHS Seeks Faster Dismissal Of Some Asylum Claims Authored by Timothy Frudd via The Epoch Times, The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking to move quickly to dismiss more asylum cases found legally insufficient. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Feb. 17, 2026.(Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times) (The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department […]

Iran: Several Ballistic Missiles Fired At US Aircraft Carrier, Navy Destroyer Summary: Iran says it has attacked 3 ‘US-linked’ along with 3 American ships in the Hormuz Strait State media released footage of foreign vessels under attack in “response” to US aggression CENTCOM Confirms Iranian Tankers Hit Near Kharg Island Iranian Tanker Reportedly Hit By Missiles Near Kharg Island *  *  * Iran Unleashes Large Drone Swarm […]

COSCO Denies US Claims Its Container Ships Serve As Beijing’s Global Spy Network China’s state-owned shipping giant COSCO rejected a report published last week alleging that the company had concealed advanced surveillance equipment aboard its cargo ships to monitor US military communications near the coastlines of target nations, including the US. Reuters quoted COSCO on Friday as calling the allegations “totally unfounded” and […]

“Experiencing A Psychotic Episode…”: First ‘Clancy Copycat?’ Mom Hangs 2-Year-Old Son Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News, A horrific copycat Lindsay Clancy murder of a child has been committed by a woman in Frankfort, Illinois. Prosecutors say Corie Walsh hanged her 2-year-old son, Barrett, from a basement rafter on Tuesday, then tried to kill herself with a knife. She told police she did it because the boy was the […]

‘Not Simple’: Witkoff, Kushner Meet Putin For High-Level Peace Talks Under 72-Hour Ukraine Air Truce Summary:  Putin Tells Witkoff and Kushner that Ukraine War “Not Simple”  Putin Meets Witkoff and Kushner for Peace Talks  US Envoys Witkoff, Kushner Land In Moscow For Peace Talks As Putin Halts Attacks On Kiev New details have emerged about the meeting between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Russian President […]

Citadel Eyes US Shale As Oil Trading Moves Closer To The Wellhead Authored by Julianne Geiger via OilPrice.com, Citadel is shopping for U.S. oil production assets, including a previous bid for WildFire Energy before Magnolia Oil & Gas agreed to buy the Eagle Ford producer for $4.06 billion. Reuters reported Friday that the hedge fund and commodities trader has held talks with several private-equity owners of oil-weighted […]

DeepSeek’s 160,000 Huawei Order Is A Real Threat To Nvidia In 2027 Roughly 350 kilometers northwest of Beijing, in the city of Ulanqab, DeepSeek is constructing a data center measured in gigawatts. Running at full capacity, the site would draw enough power to supply 750,000 homes. On Friday, Bloomberg reported that DeepSeek intends to fill a portion of this massive footprint with at least 160,000 of Huawei’s newest AI processors, […]

With Its War On Prediction Markets, The Gaming Lobby Plays A Bad Hand Authored by Dean Heller via RealClearMarkets, There’s a saying in Vegas, the house always wins. I represented Nevada in Congress for more than a decade and I can attest to the truth behind that phrase. But what I learned is that it’s rarely a fair fight. The gaming industry works to stack the odds against competition, whether it’s at the tables, in courtrooms, or […]

Under-The-Radar Oklahoma Bitcoin Mining Site Condemned After Leaking 3 Million Gallons Of Water A massive water leak in El Reno, Oklahoma has brought new scrutiny to a Bitcoin mining operation that city officials say had been operating without required approvals and in violation of multiple building and safety codes, according to KFOR 4. Three million gallons of water were leaked, according to KOCO ABC.  The facility, operated by […]

FICO Crashes As Trump Housing Chief Pulte Cracks Mortgage-Score Monopoly “Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion have been overcharging Americans for far too long,” Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte wrote on X late Thursday. The Trump administration’s campaign against the cost of credit scores and reports used in the mortgage industry sent shares of Fair Isaac, the company behind FICO scores, as well as Equifax and […]

The Soft Antichrist Of The AI Age: What Everyone Is Missing About The US-China Arms Race Authored by Patrick Feeley via Substack, I. The word Peter Thiel spent the back half of last year giving private lectures on the Antichrist, and the word has been loose in the discourse ever since. His political reading is the old one. The Antichrist is not a cartoon devil. He is the figure who arrives offering peace and safety, and who uses […]

Foldable iPhone Production Reportedly Limited Ahead Of Launch Apple is expected to unveil its first, long-awaited foldable iPhone next Wednesday at its product event in Cupertino, California. Rumored to be called the iPhone Ultra, the device could start at more than $2,000, with MacRumors estimating that the new iPhone could cost as much as $2,499. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects the company to introduce the foldable alongside […]

Thank You Rick Santelli, You Legend Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance It was announced this past week that Rick Santelli will be retiring next month. So today I offer a tribute to perhaps the last man standing on CNBC with a functioning economics textbook, and one of the few figures in financial media who could simply tell you that one plus one equaled two without disappearing into an academic sounding, postmodern, jargon filled […]

NANO Nuclear Advances KRONOS With Baker Hughes, Adds Enveniam To Fuel Efforts Three weeks after we noted that NANO Nuclear Energy’s vertical-integration strategy was beginning to look more like a physical fuel cycle than a corporate slide deck, the company has delivered a pair of updates spanning both ends of the nuclear value chain. NANO’s announcement from Thursday details ongoing progress for the design of a circulation pump […]

Biden-Appointed Judge Dismisses DOJ Lawsuit Against New Jersey Law Restricting ICE Operations Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times, A district judge ruled on Friday that New Jersey can continue restricting federal immigration officers from using state property for immigration enforcement-related purposes. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is shown in this file photo. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images The Department of Justice […]

AI Bears: Right About The Excess, May Be Wrong On The Trade Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, While the AI bears focus on concentration and circular financing, the last tech overbuild was financed with debt, and this one is being paid for in cash. Before I discuss why I disagree with the “AI bears,” I want to state that I respect their opinions, have evaluated their concerns, and have simply derived a […]