Could you ever imagine Trump befriending a dog, cat or a bird, let alone caring for a mouse?

Of course not.

Although it might seem rather picayune to point it out amidst his regime’s rampant corruption and intolerable cruelty, it is indicative of his general attitude toward animals and the natural world. For Trump, ecosystems are merely resources that haven’t been converted to dollars, and animals are just waiting for Eric and Don Jr. to convert them into trophies.

Yes, he’s expressed faux concern for whales and birds, but that’s not because he likes whales and birds. He just hates windmills, and he thinks people will respond to dead birds and disturbed whales. Frankly, he’ll say anything in pursuit of his vendetta against windmills, including the gobsmacking claim they cause cancer.

Ironically, his vendetta is traceable back to his environmentally destructive golf course in Scotland, which was opposed by many Scots. Trump was livid when an offshore windfarm was built within eyeshot of the course. He sued to halt the project, but ultimately lost his case before the UK Supreme Court.

Now, however, he’s got a hand-picked US Supreme Court that’s as hostile to environmental protections as he is … and he’s using that fact to run roughshod on the perennially popular Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Under rules his regime recently rewrote, it is still illegal to kill or directly harm animals listed under the ESA, but the habitat they rely upon to survive is no longer fully protected. That’s the greenlight ranchers, drillers and developers have been dreaming of for decades. The only caveat to the rule is that you cannot harm a species’ “critical habitat” if it literally leads to the extinction of said species.

Here’s new rule as described by a Department of Interior press release:

Critical habitat exclusions (Section 4(b)(2)): Revises the “critical habitat” designation process to follow the law and consider the economic, national security and other relevant impacts following the designation of any particular area as “critical habitat.” The revision also allows an area to be excluded from a “critical habitat” designation if that exclusion will not cause the extinction of the species.

In other words, they draw the line at cutting down a tree that’s hosting the last nest of the last Spotted Owl. Short of that, everything is negotiable. Maybe it’s the economic impact of a proposed sprawling data center, or the national security impact of the AI it’s hosting. So long as the diesel-powered graders do not destroy the last remaining nests of the last Attwater’s Greater Prairie-Chicken, no worries.

But it’s not just the ESA that’s being rewritten to match the President’s priorities. Amazingly, the Federal Aviation Administration just gave itself the power to trump a host of environmental regulations. Per Tech Times:

The Federal Aviation Administration published a proposed rule on Tuesday that would give it the power to waive requirements under 13 federal environmental and natural resource laws for every commercial space license it issues — including the Endangered Species Act, portions of the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Communities living near launch sites, tribal nations with ancestral ties to those lands, and wildlife advocates have 30 days to submit public comment before the window closes — and environmental groups are already vowing legal challenges.

Not surprisingly, the regime is using the rule-making process to create expansive new powers. Also unsurprisingly, that’s what conservative critics accused the ESA’s rulemakers of doing when the law was first implemented. Don’t hold your breath waiting for them to apply the principle universally.

Once finalized, the rule—which does seem to solve a problem SpaceX has in both Texas and California—will likely be tied-up in the courts though the Midterms. Should the Democrats take the House, it’s possible, perhaps even likely they will take up a new bipartisan bill from Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Mike Quigley (D-IL) that “would reverse the federal government’s decision to roll back the definition of ‘harm’ under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to exclude habitat destruction.” As a recent write-up from the Sierra Club noted:

“Habitat destruction is the biggest driver of extinction, and it was squarely in Congress's sights when the Endangered Species Act was passed,” said Ben Levitan, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, who is representing nine conservation groups suing the Trump administration over the change. “Everybody knew, just like everybody still knows, that if you want to save a species, it has to have habitat.”

It’s not going to be an issue in the Midterms, but the Midterms will determine the fates of many species and their habitats. Alas, they don’t get a vote. - jp

Endangered Species Act changes will strip already weak protections for https://www.cfpublic.org/environment/2026-07-27/endangered-species-act-changes-strip-weak-protections-plants

Federal rule cuts Canada lynx critical habitat in Montana by 43%
https://www.livingstonenterprise.com/news/federal-rule-cuts-canada-lynx-critical-habitat-in-montana-by-43/article_f0ce80bb-0352-5058-8bc8-4cc6d50f42be.html

Florida manatees could face greater risk under ESA rollback
https://www.keybiscayneportal.com/news_in_english/florida-manatees-could-face-greater-risk-under-esa-rollback/article_28d12171-41b0-50b6-ac4b-9563eac6ac56.html

NOAA Fisheries denies ESA listing for smalltail sharks
https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/noaa-fisheries-denies-esa-listing-for-smalltail-sharks

Experts talk about gopher tortoise threats amid endangered status from wildlife group
https://www.gulfcoastnewsnow.com/article/florida-gopher-tortoise-endangered-status/73288676

Battle swirls around fate of Mexican Grey Wolves
https://www.paysonroundup.com/news/battle-swirls-around-fate-of-mexican-grey-wolves/article_0c79fded-d954-4842-a877-12dae640991d.html

Endangered red wolves rebound in NC with four litters of pups born this year
https://www.thecoastlandtimes.com/news/endangered-red-wolves-rebound-in-nc-with-four-litters-of-pups-born-this-year-de41db02

Formerly endangered ospreys bounce back in record numbers in Pennsylvania
https://www.thedailynewsonline.com/news/formerly-endangered-ospreys-bounce-back-in-record-numbers-in-pennsylvania/article_202dc39c-7286-4986-a14c-c56b069d26ec.html

This Hawaiian Waterbird Is Making A Comeback. Should It Still Be Endangered?
https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/07/this-hawaiian-waterbird-is-making-a-comeback-should-it-still-be-endangered/

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Celebrates Razorback Sucker Recovery Milestone
https://northfortynews.com/category/news/colorado-parks-and-wildlife-celebrates-razorback-sucker-recovery-milestone/

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A perennial winner of the award, the six oil majors faced stiff competition this year from the private prison industry, which is reaping a windfall from President Donald J. Trump’s mass deportation of immigrants living and working in the United States.

Private prison giants CoreCivic and GEO Group were joined by shadowy newcomers like Acquisition Logistics LLC in an impressive effort to wring every last drop of profit out of the suffering of anyone unfortunate enough to be warehoused in deadly hellholes like Camp East Montana in Texas.

But Big Oil’s unparalleled penchant for profiting off human suffering won the day with an impressive one-two punch of recurring war in the oil-rich Middle East and anthropogenic climate change. While profiteering off war has kept Big Oil near the top of the leaderboard for decades, the arrival of ever-deadlier heatwaves in Europe and South Asia is the ultimate realization of the industry’s long-term commitment to the profit motive in spite of knowing full-well what it would trigger. The move that truly set them apart was the pursuit of a new slate of environmentally destructive drilling projects in Africa and South America, thereby demonstrating a willingness or even an eagerness to add more gases to the hothouse currently cooking Europe for the fourth time this year.

It was a masterstroke of unrepentant greed that borders on the sadistic.

And they’ve been richly rewarded for it.

According to newly released numbers by the crunchers at Oxfam:

The projected full-year profits of BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies amount to $147 billion, more than their combined profits over the previous 21 months (Q2 2024 to Q4 2025). Among the biggest winners, Chevron is expected to report that it has quadrupled its profits to $1,200 a second in the last three months, while ExxonMobil’s profits are expected to have tripled to $1,800 a second.

Breaking down to profit per second (pps) illustrates the vast gulf between people struggling to afford fuel and unwillingness of the industry to absorb any of the additional cost of doing their business. In fact, they use crisis as a permission slip to go further. And the future of other people is a sacrifice they are willing to make:

New Oxfam analysis of academic data published in Nature finds that the emissions from BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies were sufficient to cause around 1 in 4 heatwaves reported globally between 2000 and 2023 – heatwaves that would have been virtually impossible without human-made climate change.

Oxfam also took note of the “masterstroke” move:

Yet rather than scaling back fossil fuel production and accelerating the transition to renewable energy, the six largest fossil fuel corporations plan to increase oil and gas production by 14 percent by 2030 compared to 2024 levels, equivalent to pumping an additional 2.5 million barrels of oil a day.

Oxfam’s inequality analysts posted their full analysis on the org’s Substack. Yes, it’s daunting stuff. But there’s also no shortage of news detailing a surge in clean energy projects since the Iran War disrupted planet petroleum. Ironically, the Iran War may be enriching the usual suspects now … but it might already be boomeranging on them. - jp

Latin America’s First Solar Train Launches: It Will Travel 26 miles With Zero Emissions
https://www.cronista.com/en/today/latin-americas-first-solar-train-launches-it-will-travel-26-miles-with-zero-emissions/

Pakistan’s 27 Gigawatts of Solar Boom Matches Its Entire Fossil-Fuel Power Legacy
https://www.gadgetreview.com/pakistans-27-gigawatts-of-solar-boom-matches-its-entire-fossil-fuel-power-legacy

Wind, solar and heat pumps offer EU escape from LNG dependence by 2030, study says

In Germany, Wind and Solar Overtake Fossil Fuels
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/germany-wind-solar-power-2025

Spain’s Solaria gets EIS approval for 600-MW Italian solar project
https://renewablesnow.com/news/spains-solaria-gets-eis-approval-for-600-mw-italian-solar-project-1298802/

Britain has approved a 700-acre solar farm in Cumbria, a project so vast it could take nearly two years to build
https://www.vozpopuli.com/indux/en/britain-has-approved-a-700-acre-solar-farm-in-cumbria-a-project-so-vast-it-could-take-nearly-two-years-to-build/7743/

EPC firm SunEarth Solar tapped for 30-MW project in Romania
https://renewablesnow.com/news/epc-firm-sunearth-solar-tapped-for-30-mw-project-in-romania-1298792/

Eureka Gold Mine inaugurates a 5.4 MW solar power plant in Zimbabwe
https://www.financialafrik.com/en/2026/07/28/eureka-gold-mine-inaugurates-a-5-4-mw-solar-power-plant-in-zimbabwe/

SolarAfrica, MPower to build 184 MW solar, 300 MWh storage plant in Mpumalanga
https://www.financialafrik.com/en/2026/07/28/eureka-gold-mine-inaugurates-a-5-4-mw-solar-power-plant-in-zimbabwe/

Algeria’s solar market moves beyond potential
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/07/28/algerias-solar-market-moves-beyond-potential/

As US Residential Solar Industry Craters, Florida Bucks Trend
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2026/07/28/879331.htm

Trinity Energy project takes Florida Costco distribution center off-grid
https://solarbuildermag.com/projects/trinity-energy-project-takes-florida-costco-distribution-center-off-grid/

Texas is Constructing the Largest Coal Plant Solar Project in North America
https://www.tomorrowsworldtoday.com/manufacturing/texas-is-constructing-the-largest-coal-plant-solar-project-in-north-america/

As central Minnesota coal plant edges toward closure, massive solar project keeps growing
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/07/28/xcel-energys-sherco-solar-project-near-becker-gets-bigger

Virginia clean energy firm plans 350-megawatt solar plant near Buckeye
https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2026/07/28/apex-energy-grande-verde-solar-buckeye-az.html

Indiana lands first US factory for high-efficiency bifacial solar cells, creating 1,200 jobs
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/indiana-solar-cell-factory-1200-jobs/

New Solar Cell Design Solves A Problem That’s Plagued Panels for Decades
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Solar-Energy/New-Solar-Cell-Design-Solves-A-Problem-Thats-Plagued-Panels-for-Decades.html

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RT’s India desk captured and reposted the segment on the platform formerly known as Twitter, no doubt because it’s a bald-faced admission that the US is plundering Venezuela.

Although Bessent claims the gold and the oil the US is taking out of the beleaguered nation is going back to help the people of Venezuela, his boss told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One (not the mothballed Qatari jet reporters have dubbed “Bribe Force One”) to a Michigan campaign rally that his regime had collected at least $13 billion from sales of the absconded oil. And it might “even more than that,” added the President in an apparent confirmation of the Financial Times’ tabulation in a story published on July 22.

Trump took it even further during the rally. He touted the competitive advantage his blatant act of imperial extraction gives the US over China:

“We have a thousand years, we have more gasoline, we have more oil … now, when you add Venezuela to it, we really have more oil.”

“We” have more oil?

As far as “we” know, their oil is being sold to benefit them. The problem is “we” have no idea where the money goes after the oil is sold, let alone how much oil has been taking and sold. The first half-billion was deposited into a special account in Qatar (the same people who gave Trump Bribe Force One,) but Energy Sec’y Chris Wright said that ended in February. The Financial Times noted that the Venezuelan government, such as it is, has a website up to “track the revenue from US-run oil sales, but it has only one entry — a transfer of $300mn in March.”

That’s chump change compared to the $13 billion total FT came up with and Trump confirmed on Air Force One. And it could be higher. We don’t know because the Trump Regime has (of course) felt no need to tell us. And that’s because Republicans in Congress don’t seem interested in finding out. That would change if the Democrats take the House and/or the Senate.

Until then, we have to rely on reporting. To wit, FT also asked economists for their analysis of the economic impact of the oil revenue supposedly making it back to the earthquake-ravaged nation:

Many economists had expected Venezuela to enjoy a strong economic recovery this year, given that until January the country was forced to sell oil at a significant discount in international markets to get around US sanctions. The government has introduced a new resources law to encourage investment in oil and gas, and production has ticked up this year.

However, Francisco Rodríguez, a Venezuelan economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said the official first-quarter growth rate of 2.5 per cent was the lowest in nearly five years.

“Venezuela likely did not grow more rapidly despite increased oil revenues in the first quarter because the US didn’t transfer to the Venezuelan government the totality of its increased oil revenues,” he said.

José Guerra, a Venezuelan economist and former opposition lawmaker, said oil revenues should be much higher than in recent years. “Where is the money? There is no transparency and the US government does not inform us.”

The same is true of the gold the US has been commandeering without any real oversight. We know that $100 million of gold was shipped to US refiners in March. And, thanks to FOX News’ lower third, we can assume it must still be coming at the same time the cash-starved nation is trying to regain control over $4 billion gold tied-up by British restrictions put in place after Venezuela’s disputed 2018 election.

In the meantime, the Venezuela government has been fighting criminal gangs for control of gold mining in the Orinoco Mining Arc with the intent of ejecting them and replacing them with corporate mining interests.

Hmmm … I wonder what country those mining interests hail from?

Perhaps it’s the country that doesn’t flinch when its President drops all pretense, says he’s going to take the oil … and he takes it, sells it and brags about it. I guess once you’ve crossed that bridge, nothing is too far … not gold, not fertilizer … nada.

Killing Spree: Extrajudicial executions in the U.S. boat strikes campaign
https://www.wola.org/analysis/killing-spree-extrajudicial-executions-in-the-u-s-boat-strikes-campaign/

67 boat strikes. 221 dead. The cocaine hasn’t slowed, officials report.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/07/27/operation-southern-spear-has-not-slowed-cocaine-entering-us/

US Southern Command Ends Earthquake Mission in Venezuela as Death Toll Tops 5,000 and Humanitarian Needs Persist
https://www.latintimes.com/us-southern-command-ends-earthquake-mission-venezuela-death-toll-tops-5000-humanitarian-needs-598324

Vultures Circling the Rubble: US Troops and Businesses Descend on Venezuela
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/vultures-circling-the-rubble-us-troops-and-businesses-descend-on-venezuela/

The mysterious "disappearance" of $10 billion worth of Venezuelan oil under US custody.
https://neofeed.com.br/economia/o-misterioso-sumico-de-us-10-bilhoes-do-petroleo-da-venezuela-sob-guarda-dos-eua/en/

‘Blood Gold’, Malaria Tarnish Venezuela’s Newly Liberalized Mines
https://www.theenergymix.com/blood-gold-malaria-tarnish-venezuelas-newly-liberalized-mines/

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The first sordid tale was told by New York Times finance reporter Maureen Farrell under this mind-numbing headline: Donald Trump Jr.’s Investment Firm Posts Staggering Returns of 200 Percent.

And how did 1789 Capital deliver those “staggering returns”?

According to Farrell’s reporting, Donald Trump Jr. and his partner Omeed Malik are “cashing in on the policies of the current administration openly and without apology”:

Many of the companies 1789 has invested in have large government contracts while others, like Polymarket, have benefited directly from new Trump policies or rollbacks of existing laws. The firm bought shares in some of the most coveted private companies before many went public, including SpaceX, Anduril, Cerebras and Reflection AI, often by leveraging their political and business connections to secure a stake or to help boost the companies’ sales.

“Boost” is an understatement:

Just two years ago, 1789 managed a few hundred million dollars. It now oversees more than $3 billion. Its main investment fund generated returns of roughly 200 percent as of June 30, according to a person familiar with the firm’s performance. While still early in its investment cycle, those returns eclipse the average returns of about 21 percent from venture capital firms started in 2023, according to PitchBook, a provider of financial data.

One of the more glaring and troubling “boosts” came from Don Jr.’s association with and the firm’s investment in Polymarket:

In the case of Polymarket, the government had banned it from taking monetary wagers from U.S. residents, but last year a federal regulator granted it an operating license in the United States. Worth $300 million when 1789 invested, the platform is now valued at $15 billion.

Just as amazing as 1789’s massive $14.7 billion gain is the fact that Don Jr. also holds a substantial stake in Polymarket’s main competitor. For some reason (wink-wink), Kalshi gave Trump’s namesake approximately $300,000 in equity back in 2025 when the company was valued at just under $2 billion. Now it’s worth $22 billion, meaning Don Jr. has realized a tenfold increase in his gifted investment as a “strategic advisor” to a company that Trump’s teleprompter operator was using to make “predictive bets” on the speeches the teleprompter operator scrolled for Don Jr’s dad.

The teleprompter operator has been put on leave during the investigation into the latest likely example of insider trading on Trump’s words and deeds as president.

The second sordid story comes from Sam Fortier at NOTUS and in some ways it’s far more demoralizing than yet another Trump grift: Suspicion and Doubt at the National Civics Contest.

At issue is the outcome of the Presidential 1776 Award, which the Department of Education describes as “a national student competition recognizing excellence in American founding history.” It was a spelling bee for civics that culminated in a televised final phase hosted by professional wrestling magnate Linda McMahon.

One of the finalists was a 15 year-old son of Indian immigrants who excelled in the grand finale, but somehow finished out of the top three. His name is Aangad Singh and he got the ultimate lesson in the current state of his parents beloved adopted nation when it dawned on him and his parents that he’d been screwed out of his rightful place alongside the other winners:

Although Aangad nailed most, if not all of his answers, his parents were crestfallen by the inexplicable result. The problem was the lack of any official scoreboard. It was impossible to know who scored what. To make matters worse, numerous other contestants and their families were “shocked” by Aangad’s absence from the top three. The final straw came when one of the youngsters approached Aangad’s mother and said a group of contestants had kept score themselves:

“We thought he won,” the boy said.

When Aangad’s mother approached an official from the Department of Education seeking access to the final scores, the official told her the scores are “proprietary.”

Proprietary?

Or inconvenient?

Still, they thought they’d be able to get their answer when the competition eventually and fittingly aired on CBS.

Nope.

They watched in vain as each round passed by without a scoreboard. And as they tried to keep track themselves, Aangad realized that he’d been dinged on answers that were correct, but may have been misunderstood or misheard by the judges. The other possibility is that Linda McMahon’s “competition” had a preordained outcome in mind, and the judges made sure that the picture in the Oval Office would not have this face in the frame:

Now, Aangad and his family have split into “two factions” over the incident: Aangad and his father thought the judges must just be incompetent or mistaken; Aangad’s mother and uncle suspected a conspiracy. Either way, Aangad and his family may never know what happened or why their son’s stellar performance was not enough.

But they did learn a valuable civics lesson about Trump’s America.

Judge Williams Trump Settlement Ruling: A 56-Page Demolition of Presidential Self-Dealing
https://www.lawnews.co.uk/featured-2/judge-williams-trump-settlement-ruling-a-56-page-demolition-of-presidential-self-dealing/

In New Corruption Report, Senate Democrats Shine Light on ‘Eye-Popping’ Trump Profiteering
https://www.causes.com/post/corruption-report-senate-democrats-shine-light-eye-popping-trump-profiteering

Senators Question ‘Insider’ Access to Trump Truth Social Posts
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-21/senators-question-insider-access-to-trump-truth-social-posts

SEC Asked to Probe Trump’s $100K ‘Truth API’ Over Insider Trading
https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/07/22/sec-asked-to-probe-trumps-100k-truth-api-over-insider-trading/

Sources: Aide Trump called ‘excellent’ now facing insider trading probe
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/17/us/video/ebof-tom-foreman-trump-teleprompter

How Tether Benefited as Trump Insiders Shaped First US Crypto Law
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2026-07-22/how-tether-benefited-as-trump-insiders-shaped-first-us-crypto-law

Clarity Act Language Would Immunize Trump Digital Asset Ventures from Oversight
https://www.democracydefendersaction.org/news/clarity-act-language-would-immunize-trump-digital-asset-ventures-from-oversight/

Trump Reportedly Made $2.4B in 2025—Equal to 6,000 Years of Presidential Salary—as Family Crypto Ventures Boomed
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/donald-trump-2025-income-crypto-ventures-1810058

Trump threatens to destroy Iranian infrastructure over Strait of Hormuz attacks, rattling oil and crypto markets
https://cryptobriefing.com/trump-iran-strait-hormuz-infrastructure-threat/

Trump’s escalating trade fights create a strange safe harbor for crypto
https://cryptobriefing.com/trump-trade-fights-crypto-safe-harbor/

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Instead, fraud is primarily perpetrated by unscrupulous Medicaid providers, by opportunistic individuals inside the organizations that administer Medicaid programs and by professional scammers. Despite that fact, enrollees are about to be forced to navigate a Congressionally mandated obstacle course they designed with the expressed intent of pushing people out of the program.

That’s happening right now with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). So far, nearly 5 million people have been booted from SNAP, and it will accelerate in the coming months. It will also become a perfect storm when people lose SNAP and Medicaid after the new laws fully kick-in after the midterms.

Cuts and work requirements were sold as cracking down on lazy dudes who are supposedly milking the system while they hang out in their parents’ basement playing Call Of Duty, among other Welfare Queen-style tropes they trotted-out before bill passed. That was the all the justification they needed to carve out enough to “pay for” the tax cuts they lavished on their donors. But there is an additional motivation that traces back to the Calvinist roots of the earliest colonists. Here’s Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Kevin Stitt in a recent interview with Stateline:

“Maybe it’s going back to the day where there was a little stigma attached and you had to actually go to a food bank and pick up commodity cheese and commodity groceries, and it had a little stigma so you were a little bit embarrassed,” he told Stateline. “Maybe we should go back to a little bit of that instead of just making it so easy…”

It’s not that Stitt doesn’t realize SNAP helps keep working Americans, military families and the elderly afloat … particularly in this K-shaped economy. Stitt simply wants people who use SNAP and, it stands to reason, Medicaid to feel worse than they probably already do if they have to rely on a foodbank to feed their kids or themselves.

‘Fraud industrial complex:’ Inside Maryland’s homecare Medicaid money trail
https://foxbaltimore.com/spotlight-on-maryland/fraud-industrial-complex-inside-marylands-homecare-medicaid-money-trail

EXCERPT: A months-long Spotlight on Maryland investigation identified roughly a dozen Maryland-based homecare providers billing Washington, D.C.’s Medicaid program that collectively received hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars while carrying significant tax liens, facing labor and malpractice lawsuits, operating from seemingly vacant offices or being cited in serious allegations involving patient care.

Thousands of fraudulent Medicaid registrations by foreign crime ring, says OHCA
https://www.news9.com/oklahoma-city-news/thousands-fraudulent-medicaid-registrations-foreign-crime-ring-says-ohca

EXCERPT: The Oklahoma Health Care Authority has identified and acted on a foreign crime syndicate’s fraudulent Medicaid enrollment, according to a statement released Thursday.

OHCA did not specify the exact number of fraudulent enrollments, but referred to the claim that the crime ring “fraudulently registered thousands of Oklahomans for Medicaid.”

CT lab and owner to pay $145K to settle allegations of Medicaid enrollment fraud
https://www.fox61.com/article/news/local/new-haven-county/ct-lab-owner-to-pay-145k-to-settle-allegations-of-medicaid-enrollment-fraud/520-54c7b84a-3e2b-4450-8090-5281667997e1

EXCERPT: A Branford lab and its owner have agreed a payout to resolve allegations with the federal government about falsifications on the company’s application to participate in the Connecticut Medicaid program.

Coastal Diagnostics, LLC, a reference laboratory in Branford, and its owner, Tricia Conroy, have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal and state governments and have paid $145,720 to resolve the allegations.

Up to 2,000 Native Americans dead or missing in Medicaid fraud scheme: Attorneys
https://www.newsnationnow.com/missing/medicaid-fraud-arizona-sober-living-facilities/

EXCERPT: Under Arizona’s American Indian Health Program, registered providers can bill Medicaid directly for addiction and behavioral health services delivered to eligible Native American patients.

Attorneys John Brewer and Dane Wood told NewsNation’s “Jesse Weber Live” that fraudsters exploited that system by recruiting people from tribal communities in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Montana and the Dakotas, funneling them into fake “sober living” homes that billed Medicaid for treatment rarely, if ever, given.

“It clearly is a human trafficking [scheme] and not just a Medicaid fraud scheme,” Brewer said. “They were held against their will, they were given drugs, they were given alcohol … their phones were taken away.”

Two Philadelphia women admit they traveled to MN to cash-in on Medicaid fraud
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/two-philadelphia-women-admit-they-traveled-to-mn-to-cash-in-on-medicaid-fraud/89-77507d1c-b291-4616-a022-a3f8bfd2724b

EXCERPT: Federal prosecutors say Langley, an Essence magazine curvy model, and Allen, a missionary and former Netflix actress, opened [Medicaid-funded Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) ] companies in Minneapolis after learning the program was “easy money”. According to court documents, the pair fabricated client records and inflated billing, ultimately pocketing approximately $3.4 million.

Terrance Darby told KARE 11 he was living in a homeless shelter while Langley’s company billed Medicaid for Housing Stabilization Services in his name.

When KARE 11 Investigates asked Darby about records showing at least $1,600 in claims, he said he received virtually nothing in return.

“What do you think the help they gave you was actually worth?” KARE 11 Investigates asked.

“Zero,” Darby responded. “I didn’t get anything.”

AG: 4 from Greater Cincinnati accused of stealing from Medicaid program
https://www.wlwt.com/article/medicaid-fraud-ohio-cincinnati-indictments/72198887

EXCERPT: The Ohio Attorney General’s Office said 10 Medicaid providers were indicted this week in Franklin County, accused of stealing a combined $563,860 from the program.

Ohio Bhutanese community says broad blame for Medicaid fraud ‘very inhuman’
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2026/07/17/columbus-bhutanese-nepali-community-responds-ohio-medicaid-suspensions/90509110007/

Doctors fear Medicaid changes will force them to decide who’s too sick to work
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/07/17/doctors-fear-medicaid-changes-will-force-them-decide-whos-too-sick-work/

Fraud investigations are crumbling this state’s Medicaid system
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/15/medicaid-fraud-minnesota-oz-trump-autism-00993313

NC Medicaid spending nears $42B after 93% growth in 4 years
https://www.carolinajournal.com/nc-medicaid-spending-nears-42b-after-93-growth-in-4-years/

Oregon behavioral health service providers sound the alarm about state’s $421M Medicaid shortfall
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/health/oregon-medicaid-healthcare-funding-gap-shortfall-421m-addiction-mental/283-25f31baa-1c90-4e06-959e-16ebc402cd46

Report: New York Medicaid Spending Surpasses K-12 Education, Raising Long-Term Budget Concerns
https://5townscentral.com/2026/07/17/report-new-york-medicaid-spending-surpasses-k-12-education-raising-long-term-budget-concerns/

Medicaid and SNAP cuts are exacerbating the intertwined problems of hunger and mental illness
https://www.statnews.com/2026/07/16/snap-cuts-mental-illness-hunger-psychiatric-emergency/

9 Leading Civil Rights Groups Predict the Largest Coverage Decline in Modern History—And Black Americans Will Suffer Most
https://www.theroot.com/9-leading-civil-rights-groups-predict-the-largest-cover-2000116695

‘I’m not giving up’: Florida mom battles Medicaid denials for special needs son
https://www.tampabay28.com/news/local-news/im-not-giving-up-florida-mom-battles-medicaid-denials-for-special-needs-son

Military families still struggle with food insecurity, housing, and dwindling savings
https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-milspouse/food-insecurity-military-families-housing-savings/

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Over the last year, ultra-wealthy buyers flexed the arm of the K-shaped economy, lifting the median price of a home to an all-time high of $440,600 in June. But June also saw sales of previously owned homes drop 2.4% from May.

This dichotomy is not inexplicable, though, in the K-shaped real estate market.

The Robb Report explained it:

Market activity has picked up, but much of that fast-paced buying is happening at the high end of the market, skewing the average higher, while first-time buyers are largely being left behind. That momentum is heavily concentrated in major coastal hotspots. San Francisco led the country with a 9.2 percent jump in home prices over the past year, closely followed by West Palm Beach at 8.6 percent. Both cities saw the total number of homes sold surge by roughly 23 percent, making them the hottest real estate markets in the country.

San Francisco is experiencing yet another Big Tech-fueled spike, this time from the massive investment pouring into all things artificial intelligence. West Palm Beach’s boom is due to a migration of Big Finance to a town that just slapped Trump’s name on its airport. The arrival of Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan has led to the one-time hometown of Jeffrey Epstein now being referred to as “Wall Street South.” That sparked a 187% increase in the price of luxury homes over the last decade.

Meanwhile…

Monthly payments are too expensive for both first-time buyers and families looking to move up to a larger home, but wealthier buyers are in a much different position, with many being able to make large down payments or pay cash, making borrowing costs less of an issue.

Essentially, Americans clinging to the K’s leg are getting kicked to the curb by ultra-wealthy buyers who “can and are willing to spend more” … and that concentration of wealth led to “over one in five homes sold above the asking price in June.”

Lending Tree research released in June found that “fewer than 4 in 10 nonhomeowner households nationwide can afford a starter home.” And a Zillow analysis released in June found that a “record 242 U.S. cities now have entry-level homes priced at $1 million or more, nearly triple the count before the pandemic.”

That’s up from 80 cities in February 2020.

But that’s not all.

Coldwell Banker just released its “Global Luxury 2026 Mid-Year Report,” which found that the “widening liquidity line is splitting the luxury market.” And that means:

Ultra-high-net-worth buyers, insulated by cash and liquidity, are accelerating their real estate activity, particularly for single-family homes and unique properties, while buyers just below that threshold are pulling back, perhaps waiting for rate or economic clarity before committing.

Many of the ultra-wealthy buyers are pouring money into real estate as a “safe haven asset.” The ability to use real estate as a safe haven where the can park their wealth is itself a luxury most American cannot afford.

It’s hard to compete in a market with so much wealth, capital and liquidity in the hands of a small cadre of economic elites, as these datapoints from the Coldwell Banker report illustrate:

• Almost two-thirds (63%) of Luxury Property Specialists say there is an increase in all-cash purchases among their luxury clients, up from 51% who said the same thing a year ago.

• More than a quarter (25.5%) of Luxury Property Specialists identified the wealth divide as an active trend in their markets, up from 20.4% who said the same one year ago.

• In May 2026, the top 5% of all luxury transactions accounted for nearly two-thirds (65.6%) of total dollar volume of homes sold in the single-family sector.

• The top 1–5% bracket alone captured 42.8% of single-family dollar volume and 42.7% of attached properties, with both segments securing larger market shares than in 2025. This lopsided spending power is evident in the median sold price: the top 5% rose 8%, and the top 1% climbed 6.5%, while the top 10% trailed at 4.7% YOY.

The ultra-wealthy’s willingness to pay more for homes, for food, clothing and transportation is not only a hallmark of the K-shaped economy, it’s probably why inflation is so “sticky.” And it likely accounts for another K-shaped survey released this week by Lending Tree detailing Americans growing reliance on “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) lenders to buy daily necessities:

• More than half of BNPL users say they wouldn’t be able to make ends meet without these loans. Among users, 54% agree that they need BNPL loans to make ends meet. Just 25% disagree. Among users most likely to say they need the loans to make ends meet: 62% of parents with kids younger than 18 and 59% of millennials.

• Twice the rate of users have bought groceries with BNPL than two years ago. 29% of BNPL users say they’ve used the loans for groceries, up from 25% a year ago and 14% two years ago. 38% of Gen Z users have bought groceries with BNPL, as have 34% of users with kids younger than 18 and 33% of users who earn $100,000 or more. Only clothing, shoes and accessories (39%) and tech devices (34%) are more commonly bought via BNPL.

• 1 in 4 BNPL users have had three or more active BNPL loans at one time. That’s up slightly from 23% last year. Gen Zers (29%) and millennials (28%) are among the most likely users to say so. In addition, 68% of BNPL users agree that the loans cause them to overspend, and 54% of BNPL users say they’ve regretted buying with BNPL, including 18% who’ve regretted it multiple times.

• Nearly half of buy now, pay later users say they’ve paid late on a BNPL loan in the past year. 47% of users say they’ve paid late in the past year, up from 41% in 2025 and 34% in 2024. (Another 15% say they’ve paid late before, but not in the past year.) However, 72% of late payers say their most recent late payment was no more than a week or so late.

Not coincidentally, another report—this time from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia—was touted by MarketWatch as a “glimmer of good news in the story of Americans’ whopping credit-card bill”:

A record percentage of credit-card accounts were fully paying off their balances each month during the first quarter of 2026, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s latest look at how households are using their credit cards.

Almost 37% of accounts (36.93%) were fully paying balances month to month, Philadelphia Fed researchers said Monday.

That sounds great … until you get into the details. One issue is the scope of the survey, which only included “credit-card data from big banks with at least $100 billion in total assets.” That excludes smaller banks, payday lenders and the “But Now, Pay Later” lenders who’ve seen their market grow from $116 billion in 2025 to $157 billion in 2025. No doubt, that number is only getting bigger in 2026.

Another key factor is, according to the Philadelphia Fed, wealth cardholders’ ability to accelerate their repayments to avoid the cost of higher interests rates. Basically, the people who can afford to pay more than the monthly minimum are doing just that … and, as MarketWatch also reported, that is likely distorting the picture of consumer debt repayments:

The Philadelphia Fed’s data appear to fit the theme of U.S. consumers splitting between those who are thriving and those are struggling, [said Grace Zwemmer, U.S. economist at Oxford Economics]. In recent years, fully paid balances have increased, as well as those only paying the minimum.

“That leaves the accounts in between — paying more than the minimum but not the full balance — as a shrinking share of the total, which could suggest the middle is thinning out rather than the typical cardholder simply doing better,” Zwemmer said.

Additionally, banks are likely “tightening their standards, which means more creditworthy accounts are getting counted while nonpaying accounts are charged off or slip into delinquency.” And that, in turn, could be adding to the reliance on BNPL loans for groceries.

It all adds-up to a K-shaped recovery that’s not only become a K-shaped economy, but is now hardening into a K-shaped society.

Ad Spend Data Reveals K-Shape To U.S. Ad Economy
https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/416263/ad-spend-data-reveals-k-shape-to-us-ad-economy.html

Selling in a Bisected Economy
https://www.floorcoveringweekly.com/tise2026/topnews/selling-in-a-bisected-economy-46855

How to strategize with private label in a K-shaped economy
https://www.supermarketperimeter.com/articles/14341-how-to-strategize-with-private-label-in-a-k-shaped-economy

CoBank Quarterly Report: Inflation and High Costs Tighten Margins Across U.S. Agriculture and Food Sectors
https://www.oklahomafarmreport.com/2026/07/09/cobank-quarterly-report-inflation-and-high-costs-tighten-margins-across-u-s-agriculture-and-food-sectors/

Food inflation reshapes animal protein demand across markets
https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/33772-food-inflation-reshapes-animal-protein-demand-across-markets

‘Biggest hunger crisis in a long time’: NC Food Bank triple match donations
https://abc11.com/post/food-bank-holds-triple-match-day-biggest-hunger-crisis-long-time/19476187/

Help Needed for 100,000 Ohioans Who Lost SNAP after Trump Cuts
https://columbusunderground.com/help-needed-for-100000-ohioans-who-lost-snap-after-trump-cuts-ocj1/

Thousands of Iowans lose food support under One Big Beautiful Bill
https://www.kcrg.com/2026/07/10/thousands-iowans-lose-food-support-under-one-big-beautiful-bill/

14K West Virginians have lost food assistance because of Big Beautiful Bill changes
https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/07/06/15k-west-virginians-have-lost-food-assistance-benefits-because-of-big-beautiful-bill-changes/

Federal cuts to SNAP benefits causes uptick in food bank usage across central IL
https://www.wandtv.com/news/illinois/federal-cuts-to-snap-benefits-causes-uptick-in-food-bank-usage-across-central-il/article_215e3790-6c2a-4ff5-9457-b626cf723b32.html

Waiting for SNAP benefits, disabled 60-year old VB woman faces hunger
https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/virginia-beach/waiting-for-snap-benefits-disabled-60-year-old-vb-woman-faces-hunger/

Military families still struggle with food insecurity, housing, and dwindling savings
https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-milspouse/food-insecurity-military-families-housing-savings/

1 in 5 moms are going hungry so their kids don’t have to
https://mother.ly/parenting/moms-food-insecurity-snap-no-kid-hungry/

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So, they did not bring back the dire wolf. Nor did they make much of a case for doing so even if they could. Science noted that “dire wolves were once an important species in ancient ecosystems, the habitats they lived in—and many of the animals on which they preyed—no longer exist.”

What they did do was generate a ton of media coverage and investor buzz for their multi-billion dollar company, which is no doubt why the Trump Regime enlisted them into an effort “to store samples from every animal and plant protected under the Endangered Species Act, which includes more than 2,300 listings worldwide.”

But, as Carl Zimmer and Catrin Einhorn also reported in the New York Times:

As more species face the risk of extinction, scientists see such biobanks as a critical backup. But concerns are also growing that the rise of genetic engineering and efforts to revive extinct species will erode support for on-the-ground conservation, which often requires protecting habitat from drilling, mining and other development.

Of course, that’s the whole point of the “partnership,” as evidenced by a new report by the same duo on Trump’s evisceration of the popular and successful Endangered Species Act:

The Trump administration on Friday moved to open the habitats of imperiled animals to farming, drilling, mining, real estate development and other activities in what environmentalists characterized as the most severe erosion of protections for wildlife in half a century.

It didn’t take much to upend the 53 year-old law. They just redefined the definition of “harm” to exclude anything that doesn’t directly injure or harm an animal. Up to today, the law forbade “any significant ‘modification or degradation’ of habitat that kills or injures animals by impairing their ability to eat, shelter or breed.”

Now, “harm” has been pared down to direct physical injury of a protected species. It’s still illegal to purposefully injure or kill an individual animal, but it’s no longer illegal to destroy their habitat, their nests or the ecosystems that support them. Zimmer and Einhorn gave three good examples of what the change means going forward:

Piping plovers, for instance, need undisturbed beaches to nest and raise their young. They return to the same sites year after year, but only occupy them in the spring and summer. During winter, when the birds have migrated south, a property owner could develop a beach without immediately hurting any individual piping plovers. But come spring, the returning plovers would find themselves without a place to feed, nest and raise their chicks.

Or take red-cockaded woodpeckers, which are not migratory but require mature pine trees to hollow out the cavities where extended families roost. Even if a timber company or developer cut down those trees without causing direct injury to any birds, they could not survive without other unoccupied old trees.

Amphibians like California tiger salamanders begin their lives in seasonal ponds but move into upland burrows after metamorphosis. If a pond were drained during the summer, the salamanders that returned to the spot would not have the water they need to produce the next generation.

And, apparently, that’s where Colossal Biosciences comes in. They will collect the genetic material from piping plovers, red-cockaded woodpeckers and California tiger salamanders just in case some future iteration of our species decides they’d like to revive the species we saw fit to wipe out in exchange for a couple cents knocked-off the price of a gallon of gas. By the way, Colossal Biosciences is not altruistically trying to save species from humanity’s greed and narcissism:

The company will have the right to access the biobanked material for research, including “biotechnology development,” according to the memorandum. The agreement will remain in effect for five years, but can be unilaterally terminated by either party. If the memorandum is terminated, Colossal will retain all the samples it collected with its own funding, equipment, or personnel.

Frankly, that’s exactly what we should expect from this regime. The natural world and its plants, animals, minerals and soil have no intrinsic value to Trump. He’s the first president in some time who doesn’t live with dogs or cats. He never expresses any fondness for animals or the natural world or its awe-inspiring web of life. He doesn’t care about the environment at all … and no, pesticide-soaked golf courses don’t count.

For him and the largely Evangelical base that has long hated the Endangered Species Act, the natural world is nothing more than resources that have yet to be converted into dollars. Well, now they can get busy converting piping plovers into luxury beach homes. If nothing else, Mother Nature will have the final say when the rising seas come to collect on an account that’s badly in arrears. - jp

Trump admin scraps ‘weaponized’ wildlife rule that became ‘burden’ on American families and businesses: Burgum
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-admin-scraps-weaponized-wildlife-rule-became-burden-american-families-businesses-burgum

Nature’s Ingenious Survival Strategies Are No Match for Human Destruction
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/07/nature-survival-human-destruction-mining-red-list-threatened-endangered-species/

Lax oversight of hog CAFOs harms endangered species, study finds
https://www.thenewlede.org/2026/07/hog-cafos-endangered-species/

Pacific gray whales facing ‘catastrophic’ die-off as climate crisis hits food supply
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/10/pacific-gray-whales-population-climate-change

Environmentalists Demand Endangered Species Act Protections for Pacific Gray Whales
https://www.asatunews.co.id/en/gray-whale-endangered-species-petition

Nonprofit sues Trump administration to learn why it’s modifying right whale speed rule
https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/nonprofit-sues-trump-administration-to-learn-why-it-s-modifying-right-whale-speed-rule

Center for Biological Diversity sues over protections for queen conch
https://www.wmnf.org/queen-conch-lawsuit/

Local Conservation Groups are Set to Sue the Trump Administration Over Its Redefinition of ‘Harm’ in the Endangered Species Act
https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2026/jul/10/local-conservation-groups-are-set-sue-trump-admini/

‘Many species will go extinct’: Feds’ ESA rule threatens habitat
https://www.times-standard.com/2026/07/10/many-species-will-go-extinct-feds-esa-rule-threatens-habitat/

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From what I’ve seen, he and a cadre of industry shills and pre-vetted ideologues are using the absence of Congressional oversight and minimal public scrutiny to do anything and everything they can—from big things like dismantling the Endangered Species Act, shutting down the collection of climate data and attempting to kill off renewable energy … to smaller, obscure things like opening fishing in newly protected waters and this new recission first reported by E&E News:

EPA plans to remove a regulation that accelerated Freedom of Information Act requests for underserved communities encumbered with pollution.

The agency is slated to issue a final rule this month to eliminate expedited processing criteria for environmental justice-related requests under its revised FOIA regulations, according to the governmentwide regulatory agenda released last week. The move will end another part of the Biden administration’s work at EPA, which strived to promote relief for areas where low-income populations and people of color live adjacent to industrial sites.

Asked about the coming final rule, EPA spokesperson Brigit Hirsch said the agency “is committed to enhancing its implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) consistent with applicable law to better serve the American public.”

Hirsch added, “If finalized, the proposed rulemaking could save the agency time and money and is intended to align EPA’s FOIA regulations with government-wide policy consistent with” President Donald Trump’s executive order to rid the federal government of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs.

This isn’t about DEI. This is about letting the petrochemical industry get away with murder. Just ask the perennially poisoned people living in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley.

For decades, major technological advances in processing hydrocarbons transformed an 85-mile stretch of the Mississippi River into an engine of economic growth for the purveyors and purchasers of toxic petrochemicals. It’s also an engine of growth for the tumors afflicting those who live and work there, many of whom are poor and struggling with negative trade-offs they had no role in making. They get the asthma and cancer and crippling neurological maladies. Investors get wealthier.

Indeed, the externalities they endure are so negative, Cancer Alley has been characterized as a “sacrifice zone.” The concept was first adapted in the 1970s from an agricultural term for “natural spaces ‘sacrificed’ to the irreparable consequences of heavy grazing by hoofed animals.” By “sacrificing” the topsoil in one area, the rancher preserves the surrounding pastures. It’s since become an all-too apt analogy for the lives and landscapes trampled by the march of so-called progress:

From coal and uranium mining on Native reservations in the ‘80s, to toxic industrial pollution in predominantly Black neighborhoods in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the concept of a “sacrifice area” or “zone” readily explained the brutal logic of sacrificing the health, welfare and the lives of those living on lands that, essentially, were written off to protect and/or enrich others living on the equivalent of protected pastures.

Not coincidentally, the people of Cancer Alley spent years trying to get someone at the state or federal level to do something about their poisoned air, water, soil and bodies. Finally, in 2023, their government brought a case against one of the polluters. But their struggle for equal justice under the law was trumped in 2025 by a President who prioritized the petrochemical industry over the lives of human beings. And it’s a precedent that will no doubt apply to a whole new crop of sacrifice zones being created around data centers. - jp

EPA’s Pesticide Approvals Prompt Fears of PFAS on Farms
https://civileats.com/2026/07/08/epas-pesticide-approvals-prompt-fears-of-pfas-contamination-on-farms/

Trump administration erodes marine protections, invites more fishing
https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2026-07-09/trump-administration-erodes-marine-protections-in-warming-ocean

Trump administration approves California company’s plan to pipe water out of the Mojave Desert
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2026-07-09/cadiz-water-pipeline

Trump’s push to revive coal forces Arizona power plants to remain open
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2026/07/06/arizona-coal-power-plants-are-remaining-open-to-meet-trump-demands/90770653007/

EPA proposes to loosen requirements for truck pollution controls
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5961282-epa-truck-pollution-regs/

Trump’s Latest Pardons Include Diesel Tuners Who Violated Clean Air Act
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a71858929/trump-diesel-tuners-presidential-pardons/

‘Can you help us?’: US oil execs turn to Trump to topple Europe’s climate rules
https://www.eenews.net/articles/can-you-help-us-us-oil-execs-turn-to-trump-to-topple-europes-climate-rules/

Big Oil Takeover ‘Now Complete,’ Watchdog Warns as Exxon Lawyer Joins Trump DOJ
https://www.commondreams.org/news/big-oil-takeover-now-complete-watchdog-warns-as-exxon-lawyer-joins-trump-doj

Trump White House Environmental Council Chair Exits for K Street
https://news.bgov.com/bloomberg-government-news/trump-white-house-environmental-council-chair-exits-for-k-street

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...

We changed Israel's security doctrine.
We initiate.
We attack.
We surprise.
And we attack those enemies that seek our destruction, that seek to kill us. We attack them before they have a chance to do so. If you know Hebrew, הקם להורגך, השכם להורגו. Kill them first.

If you don’t know Hebrew, here’s the widely accepted translation: “If someone comes to kill you, rise early to kill him first.” That phrase comes from the Talmud and it is explained thusly by the Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center:

These mysterious creations, human men and women, are important. Every single one of them. Their lives are precious and cannot be thrown away. Murder is forbidden for both Jew and non-Jew. However, if a person tragically is trying to destroy others, and if despotic leaders persuade their people to engage in and to support acts of destruction, one must defend oneself, even preemptively. “If someone comes to kill you, rise early to kill him first,” says the Talmud (Sanhedrin 72a). The Lubavitcher Rebbe adds that your clear readiness to defend yourself could save your enemy’s life as well as your own.

“However” is the operative word. Along with the Torah’s call to commit genocide against the ancient Amalekites, it’s an invitation to preemptive war Netanyahu has used and expanded to justify the brutal rules of engagement that wiped out entire families in Gaza and left thousands of children dead, maimed or orphaned … despite the fact that they were not combatants.

That’s the perilously thin line that exists between preemptively killing someone who is setting up a rocket launcher and someone who happens to live in an apartment building where someone sent a text message to another someone about his or her desire to launch a rocket. Maybe it was sent in anger after an Israeli strike killed their entire extended family. If so, is that person fair game? Is there a set of benchmarks that have to be met? When does one’s opposition to the Israeli government become a threat to Israel? Where is the line?

These questions are both trenchant and ominous in light of the pager attack on Hezbollah. As far as Israel was concerned, it didn’t matter if you were a school teacher or a medic or an armed fighter … any link to Hezbollah was enough. The same has been true about Hamas in Gaza. Frankly, proximity was all they needed to “rise and kill” in Gaza, and it has been since Israel pulled out and gave it to Hamas, along with giving it money to survive as a rationale for not negotiating a final settlement.

In fact, the “Rise and Kill First” doctrine has been around for years and it spawned a covert assassination program that killed dozens of Iranian scientists and researchers. It obviously informed Netanyahu’s 20 year-long campaign to convince the US to attack Iran. And it explains his exhortations to attack Iraq. And his current campaign in Lebanon.

Now, Netanyahu—who enjoyed a long relationship with the Lubavitcher movement left behind by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a controversial, messianic religious leader based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn until his death in 1994—is expanding the doctrine again.

The next preemptive war?

Türkiye.

While it will probably come as a surprise to most Americans, the campaign to target Türkiye has been in motion for a while. But the Iran War emboldened its advocates to speak publicly of a strategy that’s been largely obscured. One such advocate is former PM Naftali Bennett. A political foe of Netanyahu, they are (of course) on the same page about Türkiye. In February, Bennett gave a speech in which he proclaimed: “Türkiye is the new Iran.”

Now, Netanyahu is rolling out the same laundry list he used to exhort the US to attack Iraq and Iran. It was probably as simple as using “find and replace” to insert “Türkiye” where Iraq and Iran appeared on the list. The unoriginality of the argument is evident in a Times of Israel summary of Netanyahu’s appearance today on CNN:

Netanyahu on CNN accuses Turkey of being “infected” with the Muslim Brotherhood, threatening EU states, occupying Cyprus, harboring Hamas, and throwing political opponents and journalists in jail.

…and…

“He’s not exactly a model ally of the United States,” says Netanyahu, adding that Erdogan threatens to destroy Israel.

Turkey has “aggressive aspirations,” he says.

“This is not a force for peace and stability,” Netanyahu continues, arguing that giving Turkey F-35s will bring “aggression in its wake.”

Türkiye’s purchase of F-35s has been blocked by Congress since Türkiye purchased a Russian S-400 air defense system in 2019. Blocking the sale has been one of Israel’s priorities. But now Trump is threatening to bypass Congress and bring Türkiye back into the F-35 program. The issue for Netanyahu is not one of military capabilities per se. Rather, he knows full-well that it would cement Türkiye’s relationship with Washington.

That’s what the purchase of advance weapons systems does for nations like Saudi Arabia and Poland … become a customer in Uncle Sam’s Military Hardware store and you enter into a special club with exclusive privileges … like those enjoyed by the Saudis … and the by the Israelis, for that matter. A nation with a long-term deal with Lockheed Martin for upgrades and repairs and maintenance can get away with a lot … like the Israelis do and have for decades.

Keeping Türkiye and the United States apart is crucial to the “Kill Firsters” who plan on turning Türkiye into “the new Iran.” But preemption is a tricky thing. Just ask the architects of the Iraq War. Or anyone who got stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. Now imagine how tricky it will get if the NATO alliance doesn’t break-up and Türkiye is a loyal customer. - jp

Turkey and future threats
https://www.jns.org/opinion/shmuel-katz/turkey-and-future-threats

Turkey Is a Bigger Threat to Israel Than Iran
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/turkey-is-a-bigger-threat-to-israel-than-iran/

Israel-Greece Air Force drill sends message in Turkey’s backyard
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/07/06/israeli-air-force-drill-with-greece-sends-signal-in-turkeys-backyard/

Israel Must Start Arming the PKK
https://www.meforum.org/mef-observer/israel-must-start-arming-the-pkk

Israel’s ‘kill first’ strategy is now aimed at Turkey. Will the region respond?
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israels-kill-first-strategy-now-aimed-turkey-will-region-respond

Why renewed Egypt-Turkey military cooperation concerns Israel
https://www.newarab.com/analysis/why-renewed-egypt-turkey-military-cooperation-concerns-israel

Saudi-Turkish Rail Corridor Raises Concerns in Israel
https://alhurra.com/en/25651

The Syrian Radar Threat: Jerusalem Fears Turkish Advanced Tracking Systems Will Block Air Force Flights to Iran
https://www.jfeed.com/middleeast/turkish-radar-syria-israel-iran

Sa’ar: I hope F-35 sale to Turkey won’t happen, US supports ‘critical’ need to preserve Israel’s military edge
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/saar-i-hope-f-35-sale-to-turkey-wont-happen-us-supports-critical-need-to-preserve-israels-military-edge/

Netanyahu Warns U.S. Sale of F-35 Jets to Turkey Would ‘Upset Balance of Power’
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-security/2026-07-06/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-warns-u-s-sale-of-f-35-jets-to-turkey-would-upset-balance-of-power/0000019f-380a-d269-af9f-3edf1d630000

WATCH: Netanyahu slams Turkey as ‘Hamas harborers,’ opposes F-35 sale
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-netanyahu-slams-turkey-as-hamas-harborers-opposes-f-35-sale/

Israel’s diaspora minister calls Erdogan a ‘grotesque hybrid of Hitler and Sinwar’
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-901665

Netanyahu warns Turkey should not get F-35s, citing Erdoğan’s hostility toward NATO allies
https://www.foxnews.com/media/netanyahu-warns-turkey-should-not-get-f-35s-citing-erdogan-hostility-toward-nato-allies

Erdogan hopes for positive outcome on Turkey’s F-35 bid after Trump meeting
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2616972/trump-says-he-will-lift-turkiye-sanctions-decide-on-f-35-fighter-jet-sale

Trump signals support for F-35s to Turkey despite Israeli objections
https://worldisraelnews.com/trump-expected-to-back-f-35-sale-to-turkey-despite-israeli-concerns/

Trump says US will lift sanctions on Türkiye during Erdogan meeting
https://en.yenisafak.com/world/trump-announces-us-will-lift-sanctions-on-turkiye-3720535

Trump Spurs Europe and Israel to Embrace A Rising NATO Ally in Middle East
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-spurs-europe-israel-embrace-turkey-12167671

Türkiye says Ankara NATO summit opens ‘new chapter’ for alliance’s defense industry
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkiye/turkiye-says-ankara-nato-summit-opens-new-chapter-for-alliances-defense-industry/3989538

Turkish defense firm Baykar’s CEO urges stronger NATO cooperation on drone capabilities
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/turkish-defense-firm-baykar-s-ceo-urges-stronger-nato-cooperation-on-drone-capabilities/3989580

NATO militaries aim to have 5 times as many drone operators ready for a new kind of war by the end of next year
https://www.businessinsider.com/nato-increasing-trained-drone-operators-ready-ukraine-lessons-2026-7

NATO Seeks To Strengthen Strike, Space, Missile Defense Capabilities
https://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-policy-operations/nato-seeks-strengthen-strike-space-missile-defense-capabilities

Israel wants to build space attack lasers now
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/laser-israel-space/

Israel’s Powerful ‘Iron Beam’ Laser Is Going Airborne - Here’s How
https://www.bgr.com/2204101/israel-iron-beam-laser-technology-going-airborne/

Israel’s defense boom pushes high-tech employment to record high
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/sjhkvv5qme

Washington is subsidizing Israel’s booming global arms trade
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-arms-exports/

How Congress manipulates its own rules to make sure Israel still gets its weapons
https://mondoweiss.net/2026/07/how-congress-manipulates-its-own-rules-to-make-sure-israel-still-gets-its-weapons/

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BlackRock’s AUM is roughly $14 trillion. The US’s GDP is approximately $30 trillion and China’s is just north of $20 trillion. The next on the list is Germany’s $5.45 trillion. It’s an impressive number for a nation of 83 million people, but BlackRock’s $5.72 trillion investment in just the stock market is larger than Germany’s GDP … and it’s doing it with just 29k employees.

It’s current stock portfolio is also a bit less than the $6.3 trillion in total AUM BlackRock controlled when Bloomberg profiled its post-Crash rise in 2018. It’s AUM has more than doubled in size in just eight years. It should come as no surprise … private equity’s roll-up of small business exemplifies the transition of the K-shaped recovery to a K-shaped economy and, now, a K-shaped society of owners and rent-paying serfs.

The Buyback Divide: How Stock Buybacks Distort Markets and Deepen Wealth Inequality
https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/research-publications/the-buyback-divide/

BUYOUTS: Private Equity Reshaping the Economy
https://cepr.net/publications/buyouts-private-equity-reshaping-the-economy-july-2026/

Private Equity Industrial Sector Investment Pacing For New High In 2026
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4919052-private-equity-industrial-sector-investment-pacing-for-new-high-in-2026

How Some Private-Equity Managers Collect Big Fees on Paper Gains
https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/how-some-private-equity-managers-collect-big-fees-on-paper-gains-2f449976

Private equity fund investors turn to debt-like deals in downturn
https://www.ft.com/content/4675b8bb-4047-458a-be01-90c2aff29219?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Global Private Equity deals slow down, but assets are more expensive – Bain&Co Midyear Report 2026
https://bebeez.eu/2026/07/03/global-private-equity-deals-slow-down-but-assets-are-more-expensive-bainco-midyear-report-2026/

Private markets are not in retreat — they are resetting
https://www.pwmnet.com/content/efea459f-2c93-4ffd-abb6-3514828f3d17

Private equity is struggling with exits, even as the AI deal boom takes over Wall Street
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/private-equity-is-struggling-with-exits-even-as-the-ai-deal-boom-takes-over-wall-street-133536900.html

Concentration risk rises as private equity pours billions into AI
https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/articles/2026/6/concentration-risk-rises-as-private-equity-pours-billions-into-ai-103088317

CPP Investments spends $2.4B with EQT to build AI infrastructure
https://www.wsj.com/pro/private-equity/peak-rock-capital-bets-on-specialty-drug-boom-with-asembia-acquisition-038b353c

Magnify Ventures closes $46.6m Fund II to back AI infrastructure for care economy
https://www.altassets.net/private-equity-news/by-news-type/fund-news/funds-closed/magnify-ventures-closes-46-6m-fund-ii-to-back-ai-infrastructure-for-care-economy.html

Blackstone’s BXPE Posts Record 4.3% Monthly Return on AI Bets
https://www.tradingview.com/news/gurufocus:1acaf6fe0094b:0-blackstone-s-bxpe-posts-record-4-3-monthly-return-on-ai-bets/

Exclusive | Peak Rock Capital Bets on Specialty Drug Boom With Asembia Acquisition
https://www.wsj.com/pro/private-equity/peak-rock-capital-bets-on-specialty-drug-boom-with-asembia-acquisition-038b353c

Private Equity Targets Healthcare and AI Infrastructure as Core Growth Engines
https://www.benzinga.com/markets/private-markets/26/07/60232708/private-equity-targets-healthcare-and-ai-infrastructure-as-core-growth-engines

How private equity is squeezing more profit out of hospital patients
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/personal-finance/hospital-run-private-equity-expect-bigger-bill-rcna350755

Congress looks to drag healthcare private equity into the light
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-regulation/mh-private-equity-healthcare-congress-transparency/

Private equity in youth sports draws bipartisan scrutiny in Congress
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/30/private-equity-youth-sports-congress-scrutiny.html

Congress weighs role of private equity in soaring youth sports costs in US
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2026/07/03/congress-weighs-role-of-private-equity-in-soaring-youth-sports-costs-in-us/

As veterinary costs climb, private equity ownership of clinics draws scrutiny
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/as-veterinary-costs-climb-private-equity-ownership-of-clinics-draws-scrutiny

Private Equity Firms Taking Over Local Veterinary Practices
https://blogforiowa.com/2026/07/02/private-equity-firms-taking-over-local-veterinary-practices/

Nurseries, vets and shops: the sectors where private equity plays a big role
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/28/nurseries-vets-and-shops-the-sectors-where-private-equity-plays-a-big-role

Private equity firm buys Italian ingredients business
https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2026/06/30/a-private-equity-firm-has-bought-out-an-italian-ingredients-producer/

Sandwich chain Jersey Mike’s files for IPO as Blackstone eyes windfall
https://www.ft.com/content/e6a97eaf-b19f-4016-827b-ae069f0ce08a

How a greeting card company produced a 200x return in just 18 months
https://www.ft.com/video/7b64e684-0032-4d8b-8212-9a3aaff6fabd

Largest golf management companies grow 54% since 2019
https://golfincmagazine.com/largest-golf-management-companies-grow-54-since-2019/

How private equity destroyed an American pastime
https://www.salon.com/2026/07/03/how-private-equity-destroyed-an-american-pastime/

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One of the more egregious examples of this pattern happened in February when, as the OHCHR detailed in a June 12th report:

Israeli forces opened fire on an encampment for displaced people in Al Tuffah, Gaza City, killing five Palestinians, including two women and two baby girls: 5-month-old Mira Al Khabbaz and Watein Al Khabbaz, born less than a week before.

That’s one of the many Israeli attacks that have killed children in Gaza in spite of a ceasefire the Israelis are loathe to honor. To wit, in the handful of days since the OHCHR released its latest update, the IDF has pushed the overall number killed during the so-called ceasefire closer to 1,000. In one incident, the IDF killed an emergency room nurse at al-Shifa Hospital and his six year-old son while his was filling water tanks on the roof of their home.

In another incident, Israeli soldiers shot a three year-old boy and his father while they were walking outside of the IDF’s no-go zone. The boy’s grandfather described the kill shot to Aljazeera:

“My grandson, Rayan, was killed by a gunshot to the head; the bullet entered his head and exited through his eye,” Jaber [Abu al-Ajeen] told Al Jazeera. “His mother is devastated by what happened.”

Jaber’s son was carrying his grandson when the boy was shot. He took a bullet in the leg. But, accord to Jaber, his wounded son was picked up by Israeli soldiers and, Haaretz reported, he was “held for several hours before being released overnight near a concrete barrier at Kissufim, still handcuffed and bleeding.” He finally made it to a hospital, but, as of June 15th, he had not been stabilized.

Those killings were part of deadly 24 hours that pushed the total to 992 killed during the so-called ceasefire. Antiwar.com reported 3,144 Gazans have also been injured by Israel’s ceaseless military campaign, and it’s not going to stop anytime soon. Just two weeks ago, Bibi Netanyahu confirmed that he ordered the IDF to expand its operation to control 70% of the Strip.

Prior to that, the IDF controlled 60% of the territory behind its “Yellow Line.” The area behind that line is largely depopulated, which means an area that had long been one of the world’s most densely populated areas is becoming ever-more concentrated as internally displaced Gazans are forced into camps crammed along a tiny strip of the Strip. That concentration of camps lacks the water and sanitation necessary to sustain the refugees created by Israel’s widespread demolition of apartment blocks, water and sewage systems, and power plants.

On June 10th, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) described the disease-harboring conditions:

Health partners report widespread proliferation of rats, cockroaches, flies, lice and bedbugs, further increasing the risks of communicable disease transmission. A growing outbreak of skin diseases is surging across the camps, including scabies, chickenpox and dermatitis. More recently, cases of rodent bites have also risen sharply — more than 70,000 cases of rodent and ectoparasitic infestations have been reported in 2026 alone.

Of course, Israel has made sure that “limited access to essential medications” also makes it “difficult to respond to all cases.” Water is similarly limited:

Drinking water distributions are reaching up to 1.5 million people, often through water trucking. Despite these efforts, most families (82 percent) remain water insecure and up to 70 percent are unable to collect the minimum six liters per day for drinking and cooking.

The struggle for food, water and medicine. An absence of basic sanitation. And near daily drone and missile attacks. It all adds up to the phoniest ceasefire in recent memory.

Even more telling, though, is Israel’s creeping Yellow Line. Like the Death Star’s trash compactor, it’s obviously designed to squeeze Gazans until they die or find a way to escape. If their lives are behind the line, it is likely they’ll never see it again if Israel has its way. One family’s experience portends the kind of perpetual displacement that has incubated desperation and militancy for nearly eight decades:

Like almost everyone else in Gaza, we have been permanently homeless now for many months. During the previous ceasefire – from mid-January to mid-March 2025 – we returned to our home in Khan Younis, which was still partially habitable. We spent more than $7,000 on repairs. It was far from adequate. We told ourselves it would be enough. But in May 2025 – only five months after we had returned – the Israeli military ordered us to leave again.

Following the ceasefire agreement signed last October, we were finally able to return to check on our house again. It was completely demolished. Not partially damaged as before. Gone.

Now, my family of seven – myself, my wife, and our five children: Dana; 15-year-old Liyan; 13-year-old Raza; eight-year-old Lama; and Imran, who has not yet turned four – have moved from our two-storey, 200-square-metre home into a tent for the foreseeable future.

Despite the US-brokered ceasefire agreement, Israel is barring cement and all construction materials and heavy machinery from entering Gaza. There is no reconstruction. There are only tents, some sturdier than others. The sturdier version is what I am now trying to build for my family, and it comes at a steep cost.

Given Trump’s split with Netanyahu over Iran and Lebanon, and the predictable disappearing act by Trump’s Board of Peace, it is likely that Netanyahu will continue enjoy Washington’s tacit approval of its ethnic cleansing, its continued killing and of the collective traumas being inflicted on a generation of children. It is Israel’s criminally inhumane treatment of children that gives away its game.

For every “four year-old girl with a head wound from Israeli gunfire,” there are dozens more who’ve lost their limbs, their families and their futures. They will carry these traumas with them for the rest of their lives. But that hasn’t stopped them from trying to have a future … and, because they are children, that means trying to get an education when 97% of the schools are damaged or destroyed. As Ali Rogin observed in a heartbreaking report for PBS’s NewsHour:

The United Nations says, with high demand and limited space, most children in Gaza are only able to attend a few hours of classes three days of the week. But so many children in Gaza will never return to a classroom.

Put more bluntly:

For many of Gaza's youngest residents, attending funerals is now more common than attending class.

The one lesson they all have learned or will learn soon enough is that the word ceasefire doesn’t mean a damn thing.

Violence and killings at Gaza’s food distribution points leave survivors suffering one year on
https://www.msf.org/horrors-ghf-sites-gaza-leave-survivors-suffering-one-year

7-year-old mourns father and brother killed in Israeli strike on Gaza
https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/6/15/7-year-old-mourns-father-and-brother-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-gaza

Israeli military takes more territory, kills two people in Gaza, medics and witnesses say
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-takes-more-territory-kills-two-people-gaza-medics-witnesses-say-2026-06-16/

As a father in Gaza, the new home I am building for my children is a nylon tent
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/first-person/2026/06/16/father-gaza-new-home-i-am-building-my-children-nylon-tent

Why Are Children Still Suffering in Gaza?
https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/why-are-children-still-suffering-gaza

‘Wall of Tears’ mural in Dearborn lists Palestinian children killed in Gaza
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2026/06/15/names-palestinian-children-killed-gaza-dearborn-park/90521915007/

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For the casual observer in the United States, ”finishing the job” probably sounds like military defeat on the battlefield and an official act of surrender. It’s General Robert E. Lee at the Appomattox Court house or Japan’s Foreign Minister and a General officially capitulating aboard the USS Missouri.

Typically, the defeated army drops its guns and heads home to a nation suddenly under occupation by the winning army. After a ceremony on USS Missouri, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan drafted a constitution and oversaw the reconstruction of a country it had just destroyed with gravity, incendiary and nuclear bombs. In that case, finishing the job ultimately meant transforming an enemy into a staunch ally.

But that’s not what Israel seeks. Not by a longshot.

Benjamin Netanyahu set the tone early by immediately and repeatedly invoking the Biblical story of Amalek in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack. Here’s the New King James version of First Samuel 15:3:

Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

That repeated call to eliminate Amalek in its current form—a.k.a. the people of Gaza—was echoed by Israeli politicians, by Israeli television, and by popular podcasters. For these Israelis—some of whom are in Netanyahu’s cabinet—when will the job be officially finished?

What does “victory” look like?

Gaza is the obvious answer. It is an unlivable, depopulated hellscape in which Israel incrementally takes more land and, in the meantime, it reserves the right to kill anyone still living there … all they need to say is “Hamas.” Because Hamas also functioned as a government that ran schools and hospitals and ambulances … it touched the lives of many Gazans. A touched or “Hamas-linked” life all the IDF needs to kill. It’s why the so-called “ceasefire” in Gaza has been violated on a nearly daily basis since it was declared.

There is no ceasefire, in fact. Israel reserves the right to kill anybody and their entire family if they are suspected or linked to Hamas. That means every Gazan is a viable target. It’s how they killed 19k Gazans under the age of 18 without a hint of remorse or shame. They were killing future Hamas-linked Gazans. As many Israeli politicians and citizens have said, there are no innocent Gazans. That’s why there isn’t a viable scenario for Hamas’ surrender. They know they’ll end up dead or consigned to a torturous prison system. And there is no home to go back to, anyway.

The same goes for Hezbollah.

It is a government and schools and healthcare and religious instruction. It, like Hamas, touches many lives that have nothing to do with rockets. In the past, Gazans and Lebanese were “mowed” like grass, just to maintain fear and control and to appease Israeli hawks.

Now mowing the grass is not enough.

Netanyahu set a new bar when he promised to “finish the job,” like he did during his infamous speech before a joint session of Congress on July 24, 2024. It was a seminal moment in the history of US-Israeli relations and, in retrospect, for Netanyahu.

Instead of acknowledging the political price his benefactor was paying for his support of Bibi’s brutality, he defied him, did an end-run and spoke to Congress. He basically said to Biden, “I can do whatever I want and you cannot stop me, or the aid my country depends upon.” Any concerns about the massive number of children being killed or orphaned fell by the wayside after Bibi soaked-in one standing ovation after another. He pulled the strings AIPAC attached to members of Congress and, in so doing, he spoke with an air of invincibility. He dismissed mounting concerns about Israel’s brutal campaign by framing the fight as Western Civilization against barbarians.

It was quite a ballsy display by a client state, particularly one that depends so heavily upon its benefactor. But Bibi probably felt fairly certain that Jared’s father-in-law would soon be President and then he could go even further in Gaza. That’s exactly what happened, too.

Once the phony ceasefire was in place, Israel then exported their Gaza model to Lebanon. They’d signaled their intent via pager. It showed Lebanon and the world that Israel is not above indiscriminate killing or the killing of bystanders. It also showed the world it can kill anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Hezbollah, like Hamas, arose in response to Israeli military power. But Israel doesn’t want anyone to think of Palestinian or Lebanese fighters as soldiers. They never refer them as “soldiers,” perhaps hoping the world will give them a pass from the Geneva Conventions because they are fighting “terrorists” instead of soldiers. Soldiers are human beings with some basic rights. Terrorists cede their rights because they are terrorists.

That die was cast in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. The US and its hyperpatriotic media called the people shooting at American invaders “terrorists” or, maybe, “fighters.” Most avoided terms that imbued Iraqis or Afghans with humanity.

The same is true of Iranians. It’s a nation-state with a standing army, but you never hear about Iran’s Army or Iranian soldiers. You do hear about the Revolutionary Guard, which is couched in the language of terrorism and referred to as a terrorist organization.

It’s also why infotainers, influencers and politicians make a point of saying “Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.” No evidence is given, nor is the term defined. But it is repeated with a Pavlovian reliability because no one challenges the assertion. What is the metric for measuring “state sponsors of terrorism,” anyway? Is there a point system? And what is a terrorist act? Or is all of this just an effective way to dehumanize your enemy?

Now, though, Netanyahu is a bit trapped by his rhetoric and his maximalist demands. Jared’s father-in-law is desperate. He wants to get Iran off his plate and give gas prices a chance to leave a good taste in the mouths of voters before the Midterms. He doesn’t care about Lebanon. He does care about Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

And they want to get Hormuz open.

In the final analysis, Netanyahu hasn’t been motivated by Iran’s nuclear program. That’s the excuse, but Israel intelligence knows Iran was not making a bomb. It’s always been a bargaining chip. The Ayatollah Khamenei even issued a fatwa stating that nuclear weapons are haram. But Bibi knew that. He’s known that. The real reason to bomb Iran and Lebanon … is to cut Palestinians off from outside help and, in the process, stretch Israel’s functional hegemony to the borders of Türkiye, Afghanistan and Egypt.

They want Iran to be another regional failed state … a bombing range they can hit without consequence and in perpetuity. And that’s why hawkish Israelis should be grateful to Trump for giving them the weapons and the latitude to destroy Gaza and to destroy the lives of so many families. But they are not grateful. They are angry and confused by Trump’s desire to move on, his impending midterms catastrophe notwithstanding. Israel’s hawkish majority doesn’t want to move on. It seeks seek elimination.

Eliminate Hamas. Eliminate Hezbollah. Eliminate the Iranian regime. That’s what Bibi & Co. mean by “finish the job.”

And if they ever got close to doing so, they might realize they’ve become the monsters they claim to be fighting.

Trump’s Iran deal sidelines Israel as regional tensions shift into new phase
https://jewishinsider.com/2026/06/u-s-israel-iran-war-peace-deal-trump-netanyahu/

Humiliated by Trump on the Iran Front, Netanyahu May Set the Middle East Ablaze
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2026-06-14/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/humiliated-by-trump-on-the-iran-front-netanyahu-may-set-the-middle-east-ablaze/0000019e-c654-d7bd-addf-ee56f7c60000

Israel Counts the Ways That Netanyahu’s Iran Strategy Failed
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/world/middleeast/israel-netanyahus-iran-strategy.html

Ministers say Israel won’t be bound by Iran deal, as opposition castigates Netanyahu’s ‘absolute failure’
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-vows-to-stay-in-south-lebanon-if-iran-strikes-well-hit-it-with-full-force/

‘Don’t Bullshit Us, Trump’ Netanyahu Loyalists Rage at ‘Treacherous’ United States Over Iran Deal
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-politics/2026-06-15/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-loyalists-rage-at-treacherous-united-states-over-iran-deal/0000019e-cb57-d1bc-abbe-cf5fa9ac0000

‘This Is Precarious’: Fox’s Bill Hemmer Worries Trump Has Been ‘Suckered Into’ Iran Deal
https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/this-is-precarious-foxs-bill-hemmer-worries-trump-has-been-suckered-into-iran-deal/

Interview: ‘The Iranians took advantage of all of Trump’s weaknesses’
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/428667

The Iran deal is an American failure that endangers Israel
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/06/15/the-iran-deal-is-an-american-failure-that-endangers-israel/

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We were not alone.

A new analysis of a long-overlooked population strengthens the case that our ancestors were not only “not alone” … they often “didn’t want to be alone tonight” (if you know what I mean) … and we have the DNA to prove it. That’s the big takeaway from a just-released study of human geonomics around the South Pacific. It’s a population that’s been ignored by Euro-centric scientists, until now.

Here’s what they did:

By tracing the deep history of the Pacific's earliest pioneers, who migrated to the region at least 45,000 years ago, the researchers uncovered unprecedented insights into human evolutionary history and adaptation. For example, they discovered that ancestors of Near Oceanic populations mated with at least three distinct groups related to Denisovans—an enigmatic hominin group initially discovered from fossil fragments in Siberia.

Here’s how they did it:

For the new study, the researchers used an advanced functional genomic technique known as a massively parallel reporter assay to physically test the functional consequences of these genetic variants and identified more than 3,100 that alter gene expression. This analysis provided some of the largest-scale evidence for how specific, adaptive genetic variants inherited from Denisovans function inside humans today.

Here’s what they found:

The team found that a substantial proportion of these adaptive and functional variants affected the interferon-gamma signaling pathway, a vital component of the human immune system that defends against infectious pathogens.

And this:

The study also revealed that Denisovan DNA influences skeletal development. The researchers discovered adaptive variants inherited from Denisovans in a specific gene called TRPS1. This same gene has been under strong positive selection in central African rainforest hunter-gatherers and highland populations in Ecuador, showing how evolution can result in recurrent local adaptations in different regions of the world.

Our cousins’ DNA is not just a historical curiosity, it continues to be an evolutionary force:

The study shows that archaic DNA is still actively shaping human biology, noted Steven Reilly, assistant professor of genetics at Yale School of Medicine and co-author of the study.

“We found thousands of archaic variants that tune genes up or down, concentrated in immune and antiviral pathways,” he said. “Neanderthals and Denisovans had adapted to life outside Africa over hundreds of thousands of years, and we inherited some of those genetic programs and co-opted them. Tens of thousands of years later, this DNA may still shape how these populations fight viruses—or their risk for autoimmune disease.”

“Inherited” and “co-opted” are, of course, euphemisms.

Our direct ancestors left Africa and found hominins already living around Eurasia, and they were adapted to Eurasia in ways our ancestors were not. The math after that is quite simple.

How? and why? they mated are still unclear, but science is making a lot of headway.

We know for certain that we evolved alongside other species and populations we could and did interbreed with. It might’ve been violent, too. That’s the rub. Do we even want to know how we became the last hominin standing? Or is answering that question crucial to our evolution as a species?

The question is of particular importance now that we are on the verge of fully automating warfare.

That’s an invitation to humanity’s inhumanity if there ever was one. History shows we rarely turn down an invitation to be inhumane. And we do seem to be barreling toward a “Great Filter” moment when our technology so grotesquely outstrips our wisdom that it will inevitably snuff us out before we can explore space.

The irony is that these advances in understanding our species come at the same time the US government is being run by people who think Earth is less than 10k years old. Big decisions about war and peace and the fate of millions are being based upon ancient folklore about a tribal warlord-god, maybe we should begin to look at the nearly 300k years prior to that tribal warlord-god’s creation.

Even that is a geological blip compared to the fossil record and the geological record.

And no, Pete Hegseth, the fossils are not a trick to deceive mankind. Hopefully some time soon, humanity will stop deceiving itself.

A lack of sex held back life’s diversity for millions of years
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/a-lack-of-sex-held-back-lifes-diversity-for-millions-of-years

Scientists discover ancient single-celled ancestors still live on in your blood
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/05/260526022006.htm

Human evolution was messy and gradual, not an abrupt revolution, argues archaeologist
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-human-evolution-messy-gradual-abrupt.html

New fossils suggest human evolution was more crowded than scientists thought
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2026/06/09/human-evolution-crowded/

800,000 Years Ago, Ancient Humans Knew Which Stones Made the Best Tools
https://www.discovermagazine.com/800-000-years-ago-ancient-humans-knew-which-stones-made-the-best-tools-49223

Human Ancestors Were Using Fire Earlier Than Previously Thought
https://nautil.us/human-ancestors-were-using-fire-earlier-than-previously-thought-1281795

Wonderwerk Cave bones reveal possible fire use by human ancestors 1.79 million years ago
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-wonderwerk-cave-bones-reveal-human.html

Ancient DNA shared with Neanderthals may explain human language
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260611024612.htm

In 1926, Archaeologists Found The Skull Of The “Devil’s Tower Child” Neanderthal And Changed Everything We Knew About This Extinct Human Species
https://www.iflscience.com/in-1926-archaeologists-found-the-skull-of-the-devils-tower-child-neanderthal-and-changed-everything-we-knew-about-this-extinct-human-species-83797

Pangenomics transforms evolutionary biology
https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2026/06/pangenomics/

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That’s a question every American should be asking themselves after a pair of investigations revealed corruption that’s so comically blatant, it must be by design.

On Monday, Reuters took a deep dive into the Trump Family’s audacious use of these four business ventures…

• World Liberty Financial: A company controlled by Donald Trump’s revocable trust is entitled to 75% of net revenue from token sales by World Liberty Financial.

• $TRUMP meme coin: Donald Trump licensed his name and image to a company called Celebration Cards LLC, which raised enormous sums selling the digital token.

• American Bitcoin: The Nasdaq-listed company, recently renamed AI Financial Corp., raised money from investors to buy World Liberty Financial tokens.

• ALT5 Sigma: At the time of the deal that created this Nasdaq-listed joint venture, partner Hut 8 Inc. bought World Liberty tokens. Eric Trump also got a stake in American Bitcoin, at no cost.

…to extract wealth using with a ‘can’t lose’ formula that Reuters calls a “crypto playbook.” And by “playbook,” it sounds like they mean “con game”:

While they vary in size and structure, each of these ventures has followed the same playbook. The Trumps risked little up front. Trump family members – notably, the president’s oldest sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. – hyped the venture. The Trumps raked in money as investors piled in. And those buyers lost big when, for various reasons, the prices of their Trump-related crypto assets later tanked.

A Reuters examination shows that the Trump family has used this template to generate at least $2.3 billion in profit from investors since Trump retook the presidency. On the other side of that cash bonanza for America’s first family: the more than a million investors whose net losses totaled $2.3 billion at the end of April, according to a Reuters analysis. Those investors include retail buyers of crypto and crypto-linked equities, as well as those who invested indirectly through funds like ETFs with exposure to Trump crypto. The loss total includes paper losses on unsold investments.

It’s the symmetry of the Trump family’s gains and the losses that stands out. It reads like a punchline: $2.3B in gains for the Trumps and $2.3B losses for investors. It sure looks like a straight-up transfer of funds by way of the four scams in their crypto playbook. It’s highly likely some of the “more than a million” people who pumped money into the Trumps’ pockets were using the four scams to launder bribes. We certainly haven’t heard the Emiratis complain about the $500 million they lavished on World Liberty Financial. They’re using World Liberty Financial is a laundromat.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for the hundreds of thousands who will never get any access or influence from their “investments.” Their unbridled love and devotion made them the easiest marks in recorded history. Reuters talked to 27 of them:

All but three of the 27 individual investors interviewed for this article said they knew of Donald Trump’s history of bankruptcies, unpaid contractors and failed ventures. Still, most said they believed that his position at the apex of American political power and what they perceived as his business acumen ensured lucrative returns on their investments. Many acknowledged doing little or no due diligence. Some said they still hold on to the hope that Trump will make things right. Others expressed regret, anger and embarrassment.

The saddest stories come from true believers like Matt the machinist from Indiana. He lost $32,700 from his investment in ALT5 Sigma shares. Of course, he exonerates the Trump family and instead “believes Democrats and anti-Trump investors are taking short positions” to torpedo the family’s crypto projects. And there’s a 45 year-old Texas businessman who lost just $800, but is “investing” again because he “just feel[s] like Trump knows business.”

Financial losses can be really hard to swallow on a stomach full of lies. Trump served up a steady diet of slapdash products and sinister scams since he came down the escalator, and he knows true believers will pour money into whatever the Trumps are pushing. Noted empath and former Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reminded Reuters they have no one to blame but themselves:

“[I]f people are going to buy something that’s speculative, they ought to be aware there’s a risk,” said Ross, currently vice chairman of crypto company ReserveOne Inc. He added: “If they chose to continue on as a holder, hoping it would go up more, well, that’s their business.”

Here’s another punchline:

Ross said he has not invested in any Trump crypto ventures.

Instead, Ross, who Forbes once noted “has a knack for slipping out of scandals,” is cashing on on the special purpose acquisition company, or a SPAC, he set up in Cayman Islands right before he left the Commerce Department in 2021.

The “experts” Reuters also contacted had a slightly different take:

Eight government ethics experts interviewed by Reuters said that the Trump family’s enriching itself from an industry that the president’s administration regulates – and that the president himself has championed – represents a conflict of interest unlike anything seen in modern American history. They noted, though, that while this departure from established norms is unethical and unprecedented, it is legal, provided the family does not exchange access to the president or regulatory favors for financial gain.

”Regulatory favors? For financial gain?”

As if cue, Kaiser Health News dropped this doozy in the punchbowl:

Trump Bought Tobacco Stocks and Raked In Industry Donations as FDA Eased Standards

Right now you are probably thinking “of course he did.”

And that’s the crazy thing … these corruption stories are piling up on an almost daily basis. It’s so ubiquitous and relentless, it feels like this is the new normal and there’s nothing we can do about it. And we aren’t hearing much from the federal agencies now that Kristi Noem is gone. But Interior? Energy? Agriculture? Of course there are favors flying out those doors. Now imagine the deluge that awaits us if the Democrats gain control of the House? When they get subpoena power? And the whistleblowers start coming out?

It will take a special commission to unpack the impact of all the Executive Orders and how the agencies ran amok based on those orders while Speaker Johnson pretended to have ethics and a moral core.

As for the tobacco story … it’s pretty straight forward:

When he ran for his second term, Trump promoted himself as a pro-tobacco candidate, posting that he had “saved” flavored vaping and that President Joe Biden and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris “want everything banned.”

+

Since late 2023, MAGA Inc. has received over $20 million in funding from the industry, federal campaign records show. Trump’s inauguration garnered nearly $4 million more. His ballroom project has disclosed donations of an unknown amount from Altria and Reynolds American.

+

In 2025, tobacco interests donated $6 million to MAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports the president, and Trump’s inauguration. And, on April 30, a week before FDA guidance that provided a critical boost to the industry, Reynolds American dropped an additional $5 million into the super PAC’s coffers.

+

President Donald Trump…grew his stock holdings this year to as much as $1.64 million in tobacco giant Philip Morris. He also had holdings in Altria and a third leading tobacco company, though an apparent discrepancy in his disclosures clouds the extent of his investments.

+

The stock trades and political contributions occurred as the Trump administration pursued a broadly pro-tobacco agenda: Its FDA piloted a fast-track program to approve nicotine pouches. It unveiled a program to allow vapes on the market more rapidly, despite resistance from career civil servants and leadership, culminating this year in guidance waving through flavored electronic cigarettes. It cut public health employees focusing on anti-tobacco policy. And it broadened enforcement against illicit e-cigarettes, competitors to the big industry players with a financial relationship to Trump.

+

Trump’s tobacco policies have garnered favorable grades from investors. At Goldman Sachs, bankers described the May FDA guidance as “very positive” for Philip Morris and “a significant step in the FDA’s positioning toward enforcement and acceptance of nic pouch (as well as e-vapor) innovation generally.”

+

And Barclays analysts said the FDA’s guidance was good news for Juul, a leading vape producer. (In November, the company contributed $1 million to MAGA Inc.)

=

It amounts to the most pro-tobacco, pro-nicotine presidency in some time — a remarkable policy given the tens of millions of deaths cigarettes caused during the 20th century.

As Kaiser Health News pointed out, he also “often traded in companies manufacturing GLP-1 drugs before his administration steered policy in a favorable direction.”

It’s almost as if he wants us to know what he doing because the ultimate win is to cheat in broad daylight and still get away with it … like shooting someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue.

Maybe that was wishcasting?

And what if we think we’re watching a cruel, capricious and shortsighted Presidency, but we’re actually watching a well-run stock manipulation scheme?

Either way, you can rest assured that in the same circumstances, the people of Albania would be out in the streets, calling for Trump’s resignation. That’s because Albanians are serious about rooting out corruption that dates back to its time behind the Iron Curtain. And they are demonstrating it right now in the form mounting protests against Jared and Ivanka’s dream of transforming a dreamy Albanian island into the kind of dreamscape Ivanka’s always dreamt of (per Forbes):

Kushner and Ivanka Trump have said they were inspired to build in Albania after happening upon Sazan Island while aboard a friend’s yacht, with Trump saying on a recent podcast that she and Kushner were “captivated” by the island after first visiting it. She described the project to host David Senra as “the culmination of all of my experience in real estate, all of my travel, a lot of reflection on how I want to live, how I think people increasingly are wanting to live, and trying to really build something that’s a tangible manifestation of that”

A sweetheart deal with Albania’s now embattled president stinks of the kind of corruption that killed another recent Kushner project in the Balkans. And it threatens a beloved natural habitat … and, therefore, it has the potential to jeopardize Albania’s bid for European Union membership. But, as Reuters reported, the real story is the way Albanians have taken to the streets to protest what the see as threat to a brighter future:

“The project in Zvernec is a project ... with no transparency. And this ​is the apotheosis of what has been happening in Albania for the last 35 years. So today, enough is enough," said protester Leand Lakrori.

“I'm here to protest, to finish ​this saga of the Albanian government. It's the same two parties ​always," said ⁠Fabio Bracaj. "We want a new era ... we want a better country."

Then again, Americans are so worn out after ten years of non-stop madness and corruption, a “new era” and a “better country” might be more than we’re hoping for.

It might be enough to just get him to go away long enough to forget him for a day, a week or, if we’re lucky, a whole month.

What Albania teaches us about Kushner’s real estate tactics – video explainer
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2026/jun/10/jared-kushner-albania-sazan-island-real-estate-deal

Albania’s Protests Against Jared And Ivanka’s Resort Plans Are Getting Bigger
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/06/11/albanias-protests-against-jared-and-ivankas-resort-plans-are-getting-bigger/

Thousands fill Tirana streets as Albania’s Kushner resort protests enter second week
https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/thousands-fill-tirana-streets-as-albanias-kushner-resort-protests-enter-second-week-3221763

Albania’s Flamingo Revolution Spreads From Kushner Resort to Political Elite
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-11/albania-s-flamingo-revolution-spreads-from-kushner-resort-to-political-elite

I saw Kushner’s Albania resort up close — it is an environmental disaster
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/6/11/i-saw-kushners-albania-resort-up-close-it-is-an-environmental

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We just got a pretty good idea from celebrity “Shark” Kevin O’Leary. He attempted to leapfrog over the objections of local Utahns who didn’t want to live with the consequences of his 40,000 acre mega-data center complex.

He didn’t stick the landing.

In fact, nearly a month after he announced his ambitious “Stratos Project” was headed to the northwestern corner of Utah, “Mr. Wonderful” agreed to a radically reduced version that cut the project’s size down to 20,000 acres. Of that, reported KSL TV, “around half would remain undeveloped and set aside as agricultural space or for wildlife, reducing the effective area facing development to 10,000 acres.”

Of course, the scaled-back version is not guaranteed to survive current or future court challenges. Regardless, O’Leary’s loss is likely to embolden what’s become a growing nationwide backlash against data centers. Per Fast Company:

In less than a year, opinions about data centers have quickly shifted. In a Heatmap survey last August, 24% of respondents said that they “strongly opposed” a data center being built near where they live. In Heatmap‘s latest survey in May of more than 4,000 voters, that number had jumped to 55%. In the last nine months, strong opposition more than doubled.

And:

In a Gallup poll in May, 71% of Americans said they would be opposed to a new AI data center being built in their area, with nearly half of them strongly opposed. (It’s worth noting that in a same survey, only 53% of respondents said that they would oppose a new nuclear power plant in their area.)

Eighteen percent of Americans would rather live near a nuclear plant?

Okay, then.

How about the reason why those datacenters are being built in the first place?

Only 26% of voters view AI positively and 46% view it negatively, according to a national survey of 1,000 voters in March by NBC. With a net favorability of minus 20, AI was less popular than US Immigration and Customs Enforcement or President Trump. (Since that survey, Trump’s low approval ratings have gotten even worse, so it’s possible AI may now have an edge.) Younger voters, age 18-34, gave AI a lower favorability rating of minus 44.

I suspect the almost messianic vision of AI being evangelized by investors and CEOs is exacerbating the cynicism and skepticism that’s taken root, particularly among young Americans. There is growing gap between the super-hyped sales pitch and the harsh reality of AI disrupting an already uncertain job market in a K-Shaped economy.

It was a gap O’Leary fell into during when Tucker Carlson invited him to come make his case during the height of his data center controversy. When O’Leary predicted AI would produce an endless cascade of jobs we can’t yet conceive of … Carlson pressed O’Leary for specifics. When Carlson rattled-off a list of jobs AI is already eliminating, O’Leary pivoted to the growth opportunities from AI’s military applications and the looming threat of losing Taiwan. Carlson called-out O’Leary’s pivot away from jobs in the US to AI’s role in defending Taiwan. He then tried to bring it back to the original question. Here’s a lightly-condensed transcript of what followed:

TUCKER CARLSON: [T]he promise of AI and robotics is that the robots will make the products of the future. So how exactly does that result in American jobs? What are you talking about? Every job is replaced by a machine.

KEVIN O’LEARY: I don’t buy that. I just don’t agree with you because it’s never happened this way.

TUCKER CARLSON: Okay, then please make me feel better. Where are these millions of new jobs? What specifically are you talking about?

KEVIN O’LEARY: Well, you know, every time technology advances it creates new opportunities that were not foreseen prior, because you don’t know the direction of new tech. Think about if you and I, because we were actually around in the late 80s, contemplating what new jobs would be created by the internet. And look at what’s happened. It’s created millions of jobs and advanced all kinds of technologies and changed the way we live to the better.

Despite his rosy prediction of an AI-stoked future of spontaneous job creation for humans … O’Leary knows full well AI’s primary appeal for businesses and corporations is as the ultimate source of cheap, highly-productive labor. It’s rarely said, but if jobs are not lost, AI will not be successful. It’s a truth O’Leary admitted on FOX Business the same day his debate with Carlson was released:

“People are not giving enough credit to what’s going on on balance sheets and income statements based on the enhancement of AI.”

When you hear investors mention “balance sheets,” the column they are usually talking about is the cost of labor:

“I know jobs are being lost, but at my companies, wow, we are saving a ton of dough. Our earnings are going up.”

And that’s why just seven AI-related stocks—the so-called “Mag(nificent) Seven” stocks—have accounted for much of the growth in the market. The promise of a “revolution in productivity,” meaning exponentially more output (production) for far less cost (wages), is the return many expect from their investment.

In a very real sense, it is analogous to the outsourcing of the 1990s, when Walmart led the way in maximizing productivity by minimizing labor with … cheap, lightly regulated Chinese workers. But O’Leary didn’t or wouldn’t make that connection when he was talking to Carlson. Obviously, he recalibrated his FOX Business message for Carlson’s audience in an attempt to assuage their trepidation:

KEVIN O’LEARY: And I would say to you the same angst we had, the same narrative that was going on in 1992 about how the internet is going to wipe out the economy and it’s a bad thing and it’s dangerous. Of course people loathe change. That’s the nature of how it is.

TUCKER CARLSON: Do you think that the United States is a happier country than it was in 1992?

KEVIN O’LEARY: What does happy mean? What does that mean?

TUCKER CARLSON: I don’t know. How about the suicide rate or the addiction rate or the life expectancy?

KEVIN O’LEARY: Those are all absurd. Yes, I mean, look, there’s lots of social issues and there always has been. I would remind you though—

TUCKER CARLSON: But they’ve gotten worse at exactly the period in history that the internet was formed and then seemed to infuse every part of our lives. So if you were worried about the effect of the internet in 1992 on America, looking back from the vantage of 2026, you could say, “Yeah, I had good reason to be worried,” couldn’t you? Or am I imagining that?

KEVIN O’LEARY: You could say that it would have some effect on society, but let me remind you something, and I’m probably the right guy to make this comment because I spend a lot of time all around the world investing all around the world. I don’t care where you go, and I feel this way, and I’ve really learned this over the last 20 years. What is the number one export of America? It’s not energy, and it’s not technology. It’s actually the American dream.

O’Leary’s struggle to respond directly was underscored by his reflexive invocation of “the American Dream.” As far as O’Leary’s concerned, Shark Tank is what the Dream looks like today. After all, he explained to Carlson, it does allow “a researcher” with an “idea” to “walk away with $105 million in cash 36 months” after appearing on his show. “That’s the American dream and I’m an ambassador for it,” he added.

And he’s right.

That is the current state of the American Dream.

It’s an electronically-transferred, addictively-gamified, jackpot-seeking world that looks and feels like his reality show. Entrepreneurs can hit the jackpot in an instant if they can convince a superrich celebrity investor to place a speculative bet on their idea of a better mousetrap. O’Leary, whose net worth has grown by 1,900% over the last five years, promises to “blow up” the mousetrap “on social” until it attracts a large competitor or private equity. Eventually they sell the entrepreneur’s brainchild for big bucks … a.k.a. “the exit.”

But only a small fraction of America’s Dreamers ever get a chance to make their pitch on Shark Tank. Of those that do get the opportunity to “trot out” in front of him, “80% fail, but 20% make it.”

That’s a K-Shaped success rate.

Not coincidentally, the widely-accepted definition of the K-Shaped economy puts the top 20% on the upper arm and the other 80% on the lower leg.

Is this the K-Shape of things to come?

Alberta First Nation in court over massive proposed ‘Wonder Valley’ AI data centre
https://globalnews.ca/news/11895544/wonder-valley-sturgeon-lake-cree-nation-court/

Kevin O’Leary’s Huge Data Center in Canada Faces a Skeptical Public
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-07/kevin-o-leary-s-huge-data-center-in-canada-faces-a-skeptical-public

Kevin O’Leary admits he ‘screwed up’ initial rollout of Box Elder County data center
https://www.abc4.com/news/northern-utah/kevin-oleary-screwed-up-box-elder-county-data-center/

East Texas data center gets pushback from community
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/09/east-texas-data-center-gets-community-pushback/

Northwest Georgia residents push back against data centers in local meetings
https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2026/jun/09/northwest-georgia-residents-push-back-against/

Data center proposal rejected in Edgerton, Kansas, following community pushback
https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/kansas/johnson-county/data-center-proposal-rejected-in-edgerton-kansas-following-community-pushback

Hundreds of Lowell Township residents pushback on Microsoft data center
https://wwmt.com/news/local/data-center-lowell-township-microsoft-opposition-i-96-cascade-road-proposal-rezoning-request-lowell-township-planning-commission-michigan

New Albany touts jobs, revenue as data center pushback grows
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2026/06/08/new-albany-ohio-data-center-construction-jobs-pushback-community/90423756007/

Data centers face pushback amid utility consumption in south metro Atlanta
https://www.wabe.org/data-centers-face-pushback-amid-utility-consumption-in-south-metro-atlanta/

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To add insult to his self-inflicted injuries, his “little excursion,” a.k.a. “little stopover,” a.k.a. “little journey,” a.k.a. “military operation,” a.k.a. “perfect, amazing thing” has supercharged the one thing he thought he’d put to bed before he stepped all over his promise to never do what he did: renewable energy.

To be fair, it sure looked and felt like he’d pulled the plug on wind, solar and electric vehicles. Projects were being scuttled, previously allocated funds were being stopped or redirected, and new roadblocks were being erected by the industry shills who populated the Departments of Energy and the Interior.

And climate change? Forgettabout it. Literally.

Don’s quixotic war on windmills and the “Green New Scam” pushed the issue of anthropogenic climate change completely out of the public eye and out of the national discussion.

Trump put an exclamation point at the end of green energy’s death sentence when his Saudi benefactor came to town last November. That visit coincided with the COP30 global climate conference in Brazil … a conference Trump boycotted. The timing was pointed and the juxtaposition was clear … Trump embraced a country synonymous with oil while giving a rapidly heating world the cold shoulder.

Then came the war on Iran.

Predictably, the price of oil spiked once the war began, but it appears Trump genuinely didn’t understand the global nature of the oil market or Iran’s unique ability to control access in and out of a body water that bears its name.

He does now.

The price of oil is still being set by globally, much to the chagrin of Congressional Republicans who have to run against the high price of gasoline. And Iran’s Persian Gulf gatekeeping already set in motion a rolling shock that will reverberate well beyond the perpetually pending deal to end the war.

That’s why the world is moving on. Trump’s “deal or no deal” reality game show machine may be good for insiders trading on Wall Street or Polymarket, but, according to a new report in the New York Times, it’s driving the world into the outstretched arms of an industry he’d crippled and a country he fears:

In the Philippines, which in 2024 relied on Persian Gulf countries for about a quarter of its imported oil and natural gas, the closure of Hormuz appeared to be accelerating the transition toward renewable energy.

The value of solar equipment that China exported to the Philippines hit a record of almost $300 million in March — more than double the previous monthly record — before a Chinese tax rebate expired on April 1, Ember data show.

The Times found a similar dynamic playing-out in oil-rich Indonesia, where solar is seen as a much-needed shield against future disruptions:

“God willing, we will eliminate our dependence on imported fuel and save valuable foreign exchange reserves,” the country’s president, Prabowo Subianto, said in May.

But nowhere has it had more impact than on the technologically advanced electric vehicles China is shipping around the world, save the United States:

Soaring electric car sales in much of the world have been among the clearest signs that the war may hasten a shift away from oil. China, the world’s leading manufacturer of such models, exported a record $9.1 billion worth of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in April, up more than 50 percent year over year, according to Ember. Exports to countries hit hard by the loss of Persian Gulf oil supplies, including Japan, Pakistan and India, were especially strong.

In Europe, sales of battery-powered cars climbed 38 percent in April from a year earlier, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

And if that’s not enough to convince us that Trump is King Midas in reverse, take a look at what’s happening with domestic solar power, per OilPrice.com:

Newly released data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shows that at the close of last year, solar energy additions were the single largest form of new energy capacity installations for the 28th straight month, starting in September of 2023. In fact, in spite of a broad rollback of Biden-era clean energy incentives since Trump resumed office in January of last year, renewables represented a whopping 88 percent of energy additions in 2025, with utility-scale solar alone counting for 72.6 percent of U.S. electricity additions.

This massive growth trend has caused solar power’s share of the United States energy mix to surpass that of wind power, nuclear power, and hydropower. And while many if not most of these renewable projects were greenlit and funded before Trump took office and rolled back tax cuts and subsidies for solar and wind projects, experts say not to expect a major cooldown any time soon.

As for those “rolled back tax cuts,” Bloomberg Law reported today that Trump’s losing there, too:

A federal judge threw out an IRS notice that imposed stricter guidelines on how wind and solar projects could qualify for energy tax credits, less than two months before the deadline.

US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the US District Court for the District of Columbia vacatedIRS Notice 2025-42 in a Saturday order because it was “arbitrary and capricious,” and violated the Administrative Procedures Act.

The decision is the latest court win for the wind and solar industries, which the Trump administration has attacked in favor of oil and gas.

His one consolation prize is coal.

Although no one expects coal to make a miraculous comeback, he’s lavished the fading industry with government largess … the latest of which was a specious use of the Defense Production Act to pour $700 million dollars into “grants to more than a dozen existing coal plants across the US, including facilities capable of exporting coal.”

It will also subsidize plants in “West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Wisconsin.” And The Guardian also noted:

In the past year, the Trump administration has doled out hundreds of millions of dollars to the coal industry, signed orders forcing ratepayers to pay extra for ageing plants to stay open, and dismantled environmental rules that limit toxins from coal leaching into Americans’ shared air and water.

Although the Iran War is having a slightly similar effect on coal, it’s quite a stretch to believe it will compete with continual technological advances in renewable capture, storage and distribution. Let’s face it … humans can transform sunlight and wind into energy. And not only is the technology moving apace, it’s also widening a gap between China and the United States … and between the United States and the future.

Wildlife thrives in solar farm built on restored peatland
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2529590-wildlife-thrives-in-solar-farm-built-on-restored-peatland/

Solar farm could turn polluted land to boon for East St. Louis residents’ electric bills
https://www.stlpr.org/health-science-environment/2026-06-08/solar-farm-polluted-land-east-st-louis-electric-bills

Toyo Solar plans $357 million expansion at Houston-area manufacturing facility
https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2026/06/08/toyo-expansion-humble-solar-cells.html

$23 million solar manufacturing facility to create 150 new jobs in Mount Jackson
https://www.whsv.com/2026/06/08/23-million-solar-manufacturing-facility-create-150-new-jobs-mount-jackson/

Egypt readies initiative to incentivise solar panel installations in factories and homes
https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2026/06/08/egypt-readies-initiative-to-incentivise-solar-panel-installations-in-factories-and-homes/

Australian homes lead the world in solar. But businesses are falling behind
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/09/australia-rooftop-solar-panels-households-business

Solar Energy Saves Europeans $135 Million A Day
https://cleantechnica.com/2026/06/08/solar-energy-saves-europeans-135-million-a-day/

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Now, imagine you are that parent and your hockey stick-wielding kiddo is starting for the first time at right winger. Of course, you’ve made sure your phone is fully charged for the big debut …not only for yourself, but also for grandma and grandpa. They’ll be watching the livestream of their beloved grandkid’s first start of the season. And just when the puck is about to drop and your smartphone is ready to record, you get a tap on the shoulder from another parent. She leans forward and says in a hushed tone that you probably should put the phone down because she “heard we could be docked points in the standings if parents are caught filming their kids.”

That sounds ridiculous, right?

Well, that’s exactly what hockey dad Chris Murphy heard when he approached a fellow hockey dad “sheepishly recording his son from a dark corner of the rink” during their sons’ youth league game. Murphy, who happens to be Connecticut’s junior Senator, writes in The Atlantic that he was “shocked” to learn the reason why the league—which is run by Black Bear Sports Group—proscribed parental shutterbugging:

Black Bear had installed cameras in each rink that feed video footage into a subscription service—Black Bear TV—that charges parents as much as $37 a month. Subscribers can watch games remotely and must pay for the “premium” tier to share highlights, such as their daughter’s game-winning goal, with relatives. Of course, Black Bear could have allowed parents to livestream games to family members and still made money off the low-cost, AI-operated camera system. But that, apparently, wasn’t enough for the executives, so the company banned parents from streaming games for grandparents or the mother or father who didn’t drive two hours to the rink.

And why wasn’t it “enough for the executives”?

Two words: Private equity.

[F]or the owners of the Atlantic Hockey Federation—the youth-hockey association that pulls together elite teams from Connecticut and many other states, as far west as Arizona—kids’ sports is a cutthroat business, a way to make a handful of people very rich. Black Bear Sports Group owns the AHF, several other youth hockey leagues, and many of the rinks where the teams practice and play. Methodically and quietly, Black Bear—backed by the private-equity firm Blackstreet Capital Holdings—is tightening its stranglehold over the youth-hockey infrastructure along the Eastern Seaboard. Whereas [Murphy’s son] Rider sees hockey as character-building fun, Black Bear’s objective is far simpler: to make a grotesque amount of money.

Here’s how Blackstreet describes itself:

Blackstreet Capital Holdings, LLC is a privately held diversified operating company that owns and manages lower middle market businesses. Blackstreet Capital Holdings, LLC is not a private equity fund. Instead it is a permanent holding company that seeks opportunistic investments in debt and equity of lower middle market ($25-$150 million in revenue) businesses that are typically underperforming, under financial distress and/or in out of favor industries. Blackstreet seeks opportunities in a range of industries including education, manufacturing, consumer products, sports and entertainment, distribution, retail, technology, consumer finance and franchising. Currently, Blackstreet has 8 subsidiaries.

Note their focus on “lower middle market ($25-$150 million in revenue) businesses that are typically underperforming, under financial distress and/or in out of favor industries.” The list of their targets includes: manufacturing, distribution, retail, education, consumer products, sports and entertainment, consumer finance, healthcare and technology. They are forever looking to find the weakest businesses in those herds. But the canary may well be the traditional model of youth sports which, as Murphy describes, was…

…managed primarily by local park departments, parent-led leagues, and nonprofit groups such as sPop Warner and the Catholic Youth Organization. Parents’ dues went to support their work, not to maximize outside investors’ returns. The extent of commercialization was limited to a handful of local businesses donating a few hundred dollars to sponsor teams (my very first Little League team was sponsored by Dillon-Baxter Funeral Home, and our main rival was the team sponsored by Dillon-Baxter’s main rival, D’Esopo Funeral Chapel). Youth sports were mostly treated as a public good.

But not anymore.

As Sen. Murphy, who just co-sponsored legislation to ban private equity in youth sports, also notes:

Billion-dollar private-equity groups are rapidly buying up leagues and affiliated services. For instance, Varsity Brands, a company owned by the private-equity firm KKR, has a dominant position in youth competitive cheerleading.

From the perspective of pure, Milton Friedman-style, supply-siders … profiteering, publicly-run, not-for-profit youth sports was and is ripe for the picking.

The Aspen Institute’s Project Play initiative keeps track of youth participation in organized sports and, as of their last tabulation in 2023, an estimated “27.3 million youth ages 6-17 participated on a sports team or took sports lessons afterschool or on weekends.” That translates to 55.4% of America’s kids playing organized sports, which has ballooned to a $40 billion per year industry.

Now in 2026, the overall number is likely closer to 30 million kids. Either way, that’s a lot of kids and a lot of money. And parents are usually highly-motivated to bend over backwards to get their kids into sports, particularly as one study after another shows youth participation in team sports leads to great outcomes. Parents want their kids to thrive and they don’t want their kids left out. In other words, they and their kids present something of a captive market, particularly as leagues running public interest-based models that rely on kids selling candy bars and coupon books … get crushed by slicker, well-financed alternatives by Blackstreet, KKR, and BPEA EQT, among others.

Amazingly enough, just one day after Sen. Murphy’s piece (which was excerpted from his presidential run-teasing book) fingered Blackstreet and its appetite for “lower middle market” opportunities … Mergers & Acquisitions published a “news analysis” piece titled ”The New Battle for the Lower Middle Market: How to Win Over Owners Who Don’t Want to Sell.”

The accompanying tease for the piece asks “What does it take to convince a hesitant potential target to sell?” and invites circling vultures “hunting for deals in today’s sluggish M&A market” to “read on to find out” how to convince reluctant, “founder-owned businesses that, in many cases, have never seriously considered a sale”

And the answer is … “psychology”:

In today’s environment where competition for quality assets is extremely intense, the firms winning mandates are often the ones that can convince hesitant owners they’re buying more than a company — they’re becoming stewards of a legacy.

Stewards of a legacy? Private equity? Is that how they’ve been able to gobble-up mom and pop HVAC shops in Idaho? And bowling alleys, car washes, dental practices, veterinary clinics, bakeries, ice cream shops, handyman business and mobile home parks?

Private equity’s track record of stewardship is at best lackluster. Even worse, the endgame for private equity is the opposite of legacy preservation … it’s all about the profitable exit. Every asset they buy has an exit in its future. Along the way, the asset made be bled and the carcass pieced out. Or it will be rationalized and overhead cut for a maximum return as they head out the door.

But there is a problem brewing.

Private Equity is buying up all sorts of assets because, like sharks, they have to keep on moving to live … in PE’s case, their lifeblood is attracting and retaining investors. But, as Forbes reported back in April, the exits are “clogged” and the assets are piling up:

Bain estimates that the industry is sitting on roughly 32,000 unsold companies worth $3.8 trillion. Average holding periods have stretched to around seven years, compared with the five-to-six-year pattern that defined much of the prior decade. McKinsey also estimates that assets held longer than four years now represent 52% of total buyout-backed inventory, the highest level on record.

Forbes observed that it “creates a strange but logical reality” wherein firms “may still need to buy” despite not being able to sell. They are squaring that circle by investing in “smaller, more controllable opportunities” … a.k.a. mom and pop shops they have to psychologically cajole into believing their legacy is safe with them when, in fact, it is just a matter of time until it is sold or parted-out like Buick with a blown head gasket.

Private Equity-Owned Retinal Practices Perform Fewer Retinal Detachment Procedures
https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterubel/2026/05/20/private-equity-owned-retinal-practices-perform-fewer-retinal-detachment-procedures/

Private Equity Hospitals Linked to Worse Outcomes for Patients With COPD
https://www.docwirenews.com/post/private-equity-hospitals-linked-to-worse-outcomes-for-patients-with-copd

New report raises questions about private equity Medicaid contractors
https://pestakeholder.org/news/new-report-raises-questions-about-private-equity-medicaid-contractors/

Private capital’s $1 trillion bet on the American retirement account
https://www.investmentnews.com/retirement-planning/private-capitals-1-trillion-bet-on-the-american-retirement-account/266697

North Carolina private equity firm acquires part of Jay Industrial Repair
https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2026/05/21/private-equity-buys-part-of-jay-industrial.html

Trinity Hunt Partners Forms Elevation Landscape Group With Investment in Landscape Endeavors
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260521677924/en/Trinity-Hunt-Partners-Forms-Elevation-Landscape-Group-With-Investment-in-Landscape-Endeavors

Private-equity firm buys apartments in Seattle as deal flow slows
https://www.costar.com/article/349190913/private-equity-firm-buys-apartments-in-seattle-as-deal-flow-slows

Private equity firms now own 1 in 8 American apartments
https://pestakeholder.org/news/private-equity-firms-now-own-1-in-8-american-apartments/

Private Equity Is Buying REITs Hand Over Fist
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4905911-private-equity-is-buying-reits-hand-over-fist

Private Equity’s NFL Buying Spree Continues With Browns Deal At $9 Billion Value
https://www.benzinga.com/markets/private-markets/26/05/52701116/private-equitys-nfl-buying-spree-continues-with-browns-deal-at-9-billion-value

The NFL’s private equity obsession threatens competition
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nfl-private-equity-obsession-threatens-175850720.html

Notable Utah Alum Says Private Equity Deal ‘Sold Off Their Future’
https://www.heartlandcollegesports.com/2026/05/20/notable-utah-alum-says-private-equity-deal-sold-off-their-future/

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Known colloquially as kayayei—which literally means “head porters”—the women are expected to navigate the narrow alleys of the tightly-packed market and deliver the bales to one of the market’s many retailers … all for less than $1 per day.

Atmos recently profiled a kayayo named Najiha Yahaya. She left her home in a rural farming community at age 15 in the hope she could “earn just enough money for books and a school uniform before returning home.” Soon after arriving in Accra, Yahaya joined the ranks of roughly a thousand women who toil in “one of the largest secondhand clothing markets in the world,” often at the expense of their physical health:

Carrying things on one’s head has been the norm in Ghana for millennia, but the routine expectation that kayayei should be able to haul dangerously heavy loads multiple times a day in the secondhand clothing market is something else entirely.

Beyond noticing pain, most kayayei aren’t aware of what head-carrying is doing to their bodies. So in 2021, The Or Foundation set out to try quantifying those health impacts. The organization brought 100 kayayei between the ages of 12 and 40 to see Dr. Naa Asheley Ashietey, a chiropractor who X-rayed all the participants and provided a basic health screening.

What Ashietey saw deeply alarmed her. The burden these girls and women had borne was etched into their bones. She saw teenagers and young women whose spines had degenerated so severely that they looked like they belonged to someone decades older. Some had developed bone spurs. Others had discs so worn down that their spinal bones were literally rubbing against one another, pinching nerves and causing intense pain. Others still had lost the natural curve in their neck and spine, or conversely, developed scoliosis. Many sustained foot injuries, too, from tripping while carrying heavy loads.

The physical toll is compounded by the psychological abuse they endure as internal migrants from Ghana’s rural north:

“People really abuse them in the market because they are a minority,” said Mambaru Mustapha, who works on a scholarship for kayayei created by the nonprofit The Or Foundation, an environmental justice organization that works extensively with kayayei. “People literally call them animals.”

Despite it all, women still go to the market in search of a subsistence living. Yahaya doesn’t think they have much of a choice:

“It’s something I don’t think anybody will wish to be doing,” Yahaya told Atmos, describing it as an option women take up when the only other alternatives they can see are stealing or sex work. “Head porting is a slavery.”

The profile’s author, Whitney Bauck, admitted that the comparison between slavery and head porting “can feel jarring, especially considering the long, grim shadow that chattel slavery still casts on both sides of the Atlantic.” But, with that said:

[T]he comparison to slavery is one that you hear over and over when you spend time talking to kayayei, former kayayei, and the people who advocate for them. Some girls are literally trafficked, lured to Accra by an agent who promises good jobs and then keeps all the money the girls earn, effectively entrapping them without resources hundreds of miles from their families.

And Bauck thinks it’s no coincidence that “a fashion system built on excess, in which companies and governments in the Global North export their waste to the Global South and pass it off as charity,” is replicating an “extractive dynamic” that “echoes throughout fashion’s history”:

In the 18th and 19th centuries, African labor was exploited at the beginning of the supply chain on cotton farms in the Americas; in the 21st, African labor is being exploited at the end of the supply chain to handle textile waste. The names have changed, but a business model built on human rights abuses remains.

…and…

This, perhaps, is where the troubling comparison to slavery that Yahaya and so many others make starts to feel most apt. Though the system harming kayayei is barbed by the disregard and discrimination of their fellow Ghanaians at home, it’s ultimately fed by a giant monster of capitalism designed to enrich wealthy people, mostly in the Global North, without whom the system wouldn’t exist in the first place. Whether it’s garment workers in Bangladesh dying in unsafe factories, forests in Brazil dying to clear space for leather-producing farms, or kayayei dying under the burden of textile waste, the modern fashion industry has built its record-breaking profits on treating some lives as disposable.

The standard-bearer of fashion’s disposability-driven business model is, of course, the aforementioned Shein. Long dogged by troubling labor practices that include child labor, it has seen meteoric growth over the last decade with its ultra-fast model that entices consumers with a non-stop barrage of new products. It’s basically planned obsolescence on two levels—both in terms of quality and style. The clothes are not meant to last on either count. Shein is not alone is profiting off fast fashion’s zone-flooding approach to selling garments. Temu, Zara, H&M and Forever 21 have also capitalized on the fast or, as it’s now called, the ultra-fast fashion phenomenon that, Sustainably Chic recently noted, has humans “consuming 400% more clothing compared to 20 years ago” and, therefore, generating “82 pounds of textile waste every single year.”

In total, humans discard more than 92 million tons of textiles annually, while only 0.3% are kept in circulation. That’s more than enough, though, to compress the spines of kayayei in Accra.

And it’s not likely to change for the foreseeable future.

In fact, the just-announced $100 million sale of “ethical,” direct-to-consumer fashion brand Everlane to ultra-fast fashion behemoth Shein is a seminal moment for the $1.84 trillion global apparel business. In the years since it launched in 2011, Everlane stood in direct opposition to the wasteful, abusive fast fashion business model that catapulted Shein to the top of the ultra-fast food chain. Here’s how Vogue described the “radically transparent” company:

Launched in 2011, Everlane came up in the age of “ethical capitalism” and millennial optimism, when the general consensus was that the most sustainable thing people could do was eat a vegan diet, boycott air travel, and put their dollars behind brands that bucked the status quo. With its promises of “radical transparency” on pricing and supply chains, Everlane was well-positioned to capitalize on this, and its elevated basics quickly gained a devoted following — not to mention a $600 million valuation at its 2020 peak.

But, as Vogue explains, it was downhill from there:

[T]he brand’s sustainability chops took a hit in 2020, when an investigation in The New York Times unraveled its promise off the back of accusations about union-busting and a tumultuous internal culture. (At the time, co-founder Michael Preysman issued a statement saying the company had “urgent work to do to rewrite Everlane’s code of ethics”.) Sales faltered, and the situation worsened when consumers started demanding more than basic designs.

New York Times fashion reporter Jacob Gallagher elaborated on that shift away from “basic designs” in a report on the acquisition that reads like an obituary for both Everlane and the era that fostered it:

Everlane’s generic staples looked right for the moment in which it thrived — one in which millennial “blanding” in advertising and fashion saw the rise of brands like Away Luggage, Warby Parker and Glossier. Everlane was more polished than normcore — more office appropriate with its roster of cashmeres and wool work trousers — but it still offered a palate of sanitized beiges, browns and grays. Covid hurt Everlane as its office-casual offering turned inessential.

Today, the “shopping sustainably” crowd congregates on Depop, where buying used clothes is considered more eco-conscious and they can find a variegated assortment of stuff. Gen Z-ers habits are driven more by finding their “personal style” than by adopting a virtue-signaling uniform.

In the end, people seem to care much less about where and how their clothes were made, or who was making them, than they did about getting a good deal.

That was echoed by MarketWatch:

Over the past decade, brands emphasizing quality, sustainability and ethical production were rewarded with legions of shoppers and sky-high valuations. Now, those same companies are struggling to survive in an era where consumers are becoming laser-focused on one shopping metric — price.

Sadly, though, the low price consumers pay in the United States is no bargain for the nearly invisible humans around the world who ultimately bear the real cost of fast and ultra-fast fashion’s planned obsolescence. That much is clear in a new report from Fashion For Good:

The human and environmental costs of today’s fashion system are well-known. The fast fashion model runs on an accelerated ‘take-make-waste’ cycle, which while highly profitable is deeply entwined with resource depletion and exploitation. Although data is scarce, some estimates suggest that less than 2% of garment workers make a living wage, with women and marginalised groups—58–80% of the workforce—the most affected. The textiles industry is responsible for 2–8% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, uses around 15,000 chemicals, consume 215 trillion litres of water annually, and contribute roughly 9% of global microplastic pollution. Despite brands’ sustainability pledges, just 0.3% of materials are kept in use or recovered through circular practices. Production is surging, with clothing consumption projected to rise 63% between 2015 and 2030. While exact outputs are rarely disclosed, estimates suggest 100–150 billion garments are produced each year, with up to 30% never being sold. This overproduction drives intensive waste generation: about 92 million tonnes of textiles are discarded annually, with 61.4% landfilled or incinerated, 6.3% recycled, and only 8% reused.

…and…

From an environmental perspective, textile waste disposal in export destinations is linked to significant environmental and health harms. The lack of waste management systems in place means that significant volumes of textiles are informally dumped or burned, with wide ranging impacts on surrounding ecosystems. Many of these adverse environmental impacts stem from the increasing prevalence of synthetic fibres in clothing. Fossil fuel-based synthetics have come to dominate global fibre production, with polyester alone now accounting for around 59% of total output, of which approximately 88% is fossil-based with polyester alone making up more than half. When discarded in unmanaged landfills or burned in the open, synthetic microfibres enter ecosystems, where they do not biodegrade and can persist in soil and marine environments for centuries Burning textiles releases heavy metals, acid gases, particulates, and dioxins into the air, contributing to a range of adverse health effects. The full range of risks posed by fibre fragment pollution remains poorly understood as they can disrupt natural systems even at trace levels. Microfibres are highly mobile, making it difficult to quantify their distribution and accumulation across air, soil, and water, with existing research focused predominantly on aquatic pathways. Natural fibres also shed significantly and can persist in the environment, and their biodegradability depends not only on material origin but on environmental conditions and the chemical and mechanical treatments applied during production. Adverse environmental impacts affect low-income and historically exploited countries where discarded textiles end up disproportionately, underscoring the relevance of a waste colonialism lens when examining the export of used textiles.

The acceleration of fast fashion to ultra-fast fashion likely sealed Everlane’s fate. While the post-covid impact of chronic inflation is clear, Shein’s business model also changed consumer expectations and desires. Consumers have been trained to expect much more for much less, thanks in no small part to Shein’s accelerated model:

Ultra-fast fashion represents a sharp escalation of the industry’s growth model, with business structures built on real-time trend responsiveness, ultra-low prices, and algorithm-driven marketing. The scale is unprecedented: in April 2022, H&M had added 4,414 new styles to its website (and Boohoo 18,343.) Meanwhile, Shein had already introduced 314,877. Shein has since become the world’s largest apparel retailer (2023–2024) and the most Googled brand globally, overtaking Nike and adidas. Such relentless product turnover undermines the potential impact of downstream circular strategies like Rewear. Without upstream measures to slow down production, Rewear becomes a parallel market that coexists with, rather than counters, the environmental damage of fast and ultra-fast fashion.

That marriage of ultra-fast fashion and resale apps like Vinted—”an online second-hand marketplace that just last week boasted of its $8bn value”—is, according to The Independent’s Esme Gordon Craig, driving more consumption:

Vinted can encourage overconsumption; its business model is fuelled, if not dependent, upon our love for impulse buying and the ease with which we discard items. The doomscrolling element of the app only amplifies this. Presenting itself in the same way as social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok enables it to wield a similarly addictive quality. I have friends who spend hours – and I mean hours – scrolling on Vinted, something I’d argue is largely driven by the app’s design.

…and…

One friend described purchases on Vinted as an “addictive dopamine hit” which “cannot be matched by normal shopping”. It can lead to the purchase of countless products we neither want nor need – too many times has a Vinted package arrived at my door that I had all but forgotten about. Even worse, when we don’t return them, these unwanted items of clothing, shoes or accessories can end up going in – you’ve guessed it – the bin.

Unfortunately, burying it in a local landfill is probably preferable to shipping it out to places like Ghana, where could end up in a 120 pound bale or as refuse despoiling Ghana’s wetlands. Frankly, there is only one real answer to this problem:

I’ve come to realise that Vinted works hand in hand with the throwaway culture that characterises many affordable retail brands. When shopping in the likes of H&M and Zara with friends, we’ll often purchase a top with the comfort of knowing that, if we decide we don’t like it, we can always sell it on Vinted.

The one true solution is to buy less.

Could we get by on 200 pounds of new clothing per year? Or 100 pounds?

Perhaps even buy well-made items sewn to last?

If not, you can pull up the Shein app and wait for the packages to roll in. If you do, keep in mind that the less your pay, the more it costs somebody else.

Reconomy Report Finds Circularity Solutions Not Meeting the Scale of Textile Waste
https://wwd.com/sourcing-journal/sustainability/report-finds-solutions-not-meeting-scale-of-waste-1238973596/

Clothes are flowing to landfills. University of Dayton students are trying to decrease the waste stream
https://www.statenews.org/section/the-ohio-newsroom/2026-05-18/clothes-are-flowing-to-landfills-university-of-dayton-students-are-trying-to-decrease-the-waste-stream

The world sends its fast fashion to this Indian city. Its residents pay a price
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/09/india/india-panipat-textile-recycling-intl-hnk-dst

Centre rejects portrayal of India as ‘dumping ground’ for fast-fashion waste from Western countries
https://www.deccanherald.com/india/centre-rejects-portrayal-of-india-as-dumping-ground-for-fast-fashion-waste-from-western-countries-4002866

Textile waste emerges as Kenya’s new ocean crisis
https://nation.africa/kenya/climate/textile-waste-emerges-as-kenya-s-new-ocean-crisis-5457726

Fashion’s resale boom risks a new era of ‘waste colonialism’
https://www.just-style.com/features/fashions-resale-boom-risks-a-new-era-of-waste-colonialism

Everlane, Shein, and the Limits of the Ethical Consumer
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/05/everlane-shein-sale-sustainable-fashion/687218/

EPA Advances Comprehensive PFAS Strategy with Legally Defensible, Practical, Scientifically Sound Drinking Water Protections

And this is how The New York Times headlined today’s announcement by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and HHS Secretary RFK Jr.:

E.P.A. to End Some Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water

…and The Washington Post:

EPA wants to repeal limits on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

…and The Hill:

Trump proposes partial rollback of ‘forever chemical’ drinking water protections

…and NOTUS:

The EPA Wants to Rescind Four Forever Chemical Limits in Drinking Water

…and, just for good measure, the conservative Washington Examiner:

EPA and HHS propose rescinding parts of Biden’s PFAS limits in drinking water

Here’s a key excerpt from the Examiner’s report:

The proposals come as the EPA and HHS have faced backlash from MAHA advocates to urgently address environmental health issues. For instance, in early December, more than 2,800 people signed a petition urging the White House to fire Lee Zeldin, head of the EPA.

MAHA’s festering anger is why Zeldin had RFK Jr. by his side for today’s feeble, Jedi Mind Trick-like attempt to convince MAHA that “these are not the droids you are looking for.”

Apparently, they believe catch phrases like “holistic approach” and “gold-standard science” will somehow obscure the plainly obvious fact that they are delaying the implementation of already-finalized restrictions on demonstrably toxic “forever chemicals” in drinking water. Here’s how The Washington Post described a move RFK Jr. comically characterized as advancing “the Make America Healthy Again agenda”:

[T]he EPA’s proposal would end the Biden-era drinking water limits for four toxic PFAS compounds: GenX, PFHxS, PFNA and PFBS. The agency said in a statement that it would evaluate those PFAS and issue new regulations, while stating it “cannot predetermine the outcome” of that process.

It will also allow utilities to opt in to extensions of up to two additional years to comply with limits on the amounts of two other prevalent compounds, known as PFOS and PFOA. The EPA had started the process earlier for regulating those chemicals, which are among the most studied PFAS.

Now, despite what we already know about the impact and ubiquity of forever chemicals …. and despite restrictions already in place … Zeldin and Kennedy are resetting the process back to square one. Zeldin claims the Biden Administration “cut corners and failed to follow the law” and, once they “fix that error,” the EPA will produce “standards water systems can actually implement” and “hold up to scrutiny.”

What that really means is Zeldin seeks weaker standards that are cheaper to implement and easier to defend when a purveyor of PFAS inevitably challenges the restrictions in court. It also means at least two more years of forever chemicals in drinking water (from 2029 to 2031) and it opens the door to more delay tactics and revisions as the EPA does more research to confirm what we already know.

None of that is lost on the MAHA movement RFK Jr. used as a bargaining chip with then-candidate Trump. In the end, RFK Jr. got the power he craved, Trump got the votes he needed … and it appears that MAHA is getting the shaft:

Many activists in the MAHA base have already expressed disillusionment with the Trump administration over its backing of a controversial weed killer and previous plans to delay deadlines for water utilities to limit two types of PFAS in drinking water. Some on Monday described the E.P.A.’s effort to describe their plan as positive for public health as misleading.

“We have more than enough evidence to show that forever chemicals are harmful to human health,” said Kelly Ryerson, who is known as the Glyphosate Girl on social media, “I would strongly advise the E.P.A. not to move forward on deregulating PFAS if they want to win the November midterms.”

Unfortunately for the Glyphosate Girl and the rest of the MAHA Moms who banked on RFK Jr.’s promises, the mounting headwinds Republicans face this November may not be enough to trump the power and influence of the industries they thought they were fighting when they followed RFK Jr. into Trump’s fold.

An unnamed Trump official confirmed as much when RFK Jr.’s controversial choice for Surgeon General was retracted by the White House. Per CNN:

“I hate to say it, but I think they’re a little bit overrated,” said one Trump adviser. “To some extent, MAHA has always been a paper tiger.”

Perhaps.

Then again, that was about ten days before Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy lost his primary race against a Trump-endorsed, MAHA-embraced alternative, Cassidy’s vote to confirm RFK Jr. notwithstanding.

Ultimately, Cassidy’s discomfort with RFK Jr.’s pick for Surgeon General was a key motivator for MAHA.

As NBC News noted last week during the final stretch of the campaign, MAHA was “working hard to take Cassidy down and install Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow as the Republican nominee” after Trump and Kennedy both blamed Cassidy for stalling Dr. Casey Means’ nomination to be surgeon general.

Whether or not MAHA tipped the scales in Louisiana or tips the scales in November, we can all be certain that Trump’s EPA will continue to keep its thumb on the scales whenever it benefits polluters. - jp

EPA moves to fast-track air permitting for data centers, power plants, other industry
https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/energy_and_environment/epa-moves-to-fast-track-air-permitting-for-data-centers-power-plants-other-industry/article_33ac2d25-dff2-4e0f-a539-dff051df4597.html

EPA Proposing To Delay Tier 4 Emissions Standards By Two Years, Then Review It
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2026/05/epa-proposing-to-delay-tier-4-emissions-standards-by-two-years-then-review-it/amp/

Ford Backed Group Supports EPA Emissions Rollback Proposal
https://fordauthority.com/2026/05/ford-backed-group-supports-epa-emissions-rollback-proposal/

EPA rejects Hawaii plan to shutter oil-fired power plants
https://www.eenews.net/articles/epa-rejects-hawaii-plan-to-shutter-oil-fired-power-plants/

Iowa Waterways at Risk as EPA Allows More Toxic Waste from Coal Plants
https://cleantechnica.com/2026/05/15/iowa-waterways-at-risk-as-epa-allows-more-toxic-waste-from-coal-plants/

Groups Sue Trump EPA Over Iowa Waters Impaired by Cancer-Linked Nitrates
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2026/05/14/groups-sue-trump-epa-over-iowa-waters-impaired-by-cancer-linked-nitrates/

Critics warn EPA plan would let developers start building before air permits are approved
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2026/05/14/groups-sue-trump-epa-over-iowa-waters-impaired-by-cancer-linked-nitrates/

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President Xi said as much in his opening statement’s reference to the “Thucydides Trap” :

“Can China and the United States overcome the ‘Thucydides Trap’ and create a new paradigm for major-country relations? Can they work together to address global challenges and inject more stability into the world?”

It was a rather pointed use of an analysis first made in 1980 by American historical novelist Herman Wouk. Wouk compared the conditions that led to the Peloponnesian War between Greece and Sparta to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Over time, it became shorthand for the apparent inevitability of war between a ruling and a rising power. And it has since been repurposed by academics and pundits to describe this century’s competition between the US and China. But now we have the President of China using it to characterize his nation’s relationship with the ruling power he was hosting for bilateral meetings during a state visit.

It was a bold statement of a new reality reflected by the fact Trump not only came back empty-handed, he also assumed a conciliatory posture on Taiwan, student visas and Chinese ownership of US farmland. That’s because America has already fallen into the Trap. In many ways, it’s been there since 9/11.

The United States’ power has increasingly come to rest solely on military force in the In the twenty-five years since the towers fell. It is, to use Trump’s favorite phrase, the only real card the US has to play after nearly a century of non-stop wars, interventions, incursions, bombings and drone strikes involving at least two dozen countries.

Contrarily, it’s been nearly four decades since China attacked another country. Instead of pouring trillions into wars and weapons it sells to and rains on other countries, it builds infrastructure and soccer stadiums around the developing world. It also issues loans without the “do as I say, not as I do” provisions the United States applies to nearly every relationship. And it’s now filling the voids America is leaving behind as it exits the world stage, like it did on the issue of climate.

Now, ironically, the world is turning to the rising power’s vast lead on renewable energy and electric vehicles to mitigate the fallout of the ruling power’s latest illicit war of choice. Trump has doubled-down on the same old cocktail of oil and war at the very time the world increasingly seeks alternatives to both.

China is offering the world the future. The US is clinging to its past.

That difference was on full display during Trump’s visit. Xi projected an image of China as an educated, cosmopolitan, outwardly-looking “rising power,” while Trump was perfectly cast as the embodiment of a willfully ignorant, parochial, inwardly-looking “ruling power” that risks ensnaring the whole world in the “trap.”

The divergence runs deep, too … and in surprising ways.

While the United States is descending into a demon-haunted world of religious zealotry, tribal conflict and chest-thumping benightedness, its main geopolitical adversary is rewriting the story of human evolution.

Paleoanthropologist Xiaobo Feng of Shanxi University led a team of scientists who reconstructed three “crushed” skulls. For years the skulls were identified as examples of Homo erectus, a widespread ancestor of the last common ancestor (Homo heidelbergensis) of Neanderthals, Denisovans and, possibly, modern humans.

Because the skulls (a.k.a. Yunxian 1, 2 and 3) had been crushed and distorted during fossilization, some scientists remained unconvinced they were examples of Homo erectus. So, they “corrected” the distorted skulls with new 3-D models that made it clear previous analyses had been wrong. The skulls found along the banks of the Yan River were not Homo erectus. Instead, they appear closely related to “Dragon Man,” a hominin suspected to be a “Denisovan.” Like Neanderthals, Denisovans were contemporaries of our direct ancestors (Homo sapiens) … and some contemporary humans carry the Denisovan DNA to prove it.

What this means, according to a British scientist who worked on the team and co-authored the paper, is that our species may have appeared far earlier than 300,000 years ago. Said Professor Chris Stringer to the British Natural History Museum:

“Our analysis suggests that all large-brained humans from the last 800,000 years or so can probably be put into one of five groups. These are the groups of Asian Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neanderthalensis, the Homo longi group which likely contains the Denisovans, and of our own species Homo sapiens.

“What’s revolutionary about our analysis is that it suggests all these five lineages trace their ancestry back more than a million years, which is much older than almost everyone has said, including me. And there are a couple of aspects that suggest that it could be an even more ancient divergence.”

In addition to altering the timeline of our evolution, it may also change the roadmap:

It also opens the door for the potential that our own lineage first emerged somewhere in Eurasia, before populations migrated into Africa where Homo sapiens then evolved.

That hypothesis has yet to be tested against the African fossil record. But when it does, don’t be surprised if a Chinese paleoanthropologist is the lead scientist. In fact, you shouldn’t be surprised that 11 of the 12 scientists who co-authored this reconsideration of the “crushed skulls” were Chinese scientists.

In China, paleo is more than diet. It’s a great career.

Back in 2018, the Smithsonian Magazine dubbed China “the new epicenter of paleontology.” The government met a perceived “need for popular science education” by building “many new museums of natural history or geology” around the country. Seven years later, an academic survey of a century of Chinese paleontology details a thriving, well-funded scientific community that attracts some young paleontologists because they see it as “an advantageous career rather than out of their personal interest.”

Yeah, let’s repeat that … in China, young people go into paleontology because they see it as “an advantageous career rather than out of their personal interest.”

In the US, young people only go into paleontology or paleoanthropology out of personal interest. It is not an “advantageous career.”

Quite to the contrary.

Speaker Of The House Mike Johnson built his advantageous career on the belief that the Earth is around 10k years old and that humans were manifested by a supernatural being. He even helped Creationist Ken Ham build the Ark Encounter amusement park in Kentucky, where kids can learn that dinosaurs and humans were contemporaries and evolution is a hoax.

The Ark Encounter is a massive “replica” of Noah’s Ark that serves as a unnatural museum … or, if you prefer, a supernatural museum. Back in 2015, Ham’s organization hired Johnson as legal counsel and Johnson eventually secured millions of dollars in tax incentives for the bogus barge. Johnson was serving in Louisiana’s state legislature at the time … and occasionally hosting a religious radio show for the Family Research Council.

Not coincidentally, the war that led Trump to ask China for help opening the Strait of Hormuz is being managed by a former FOX News infotainer who belongs to an ultra-jingoistic Predestinationist Christian sect. Among other things, his fellow believers seek the establishment of a “Christian Nation” with its laws and culture based on Christian values (hello Sharia Law!). They also advocate repealing the 19th Amendment (only male heads of household get to vote) and the sect teaches that the Earth is around 6,000 years old. As for those pesky fossils? Well, the sect’s leader loves to say evolution is “stupid” and he speculates that fossils were likely planted sometime “after the fall of man” in Genesis.

Meanwhile, the day before Trump landed in China, yet another team of Chinese paleologists published their latest advancement of the understanding of hominin evolution. El Pais explained their findings:

Researchers in China have analysed proteins from the tooth enamel of six fossils dating back around 400,000 years — five men and one woman — found at sites across much of the country from north to south. They were able to recover two proteins, and one of them — the M273V variant of the enamel protein ameloblastin — is key. The results show that this protein is present in all the fossils analyzed, which belonged to our ancestor Homo erectus. The same compound had previously been identified in the teeth of another human group, the Denisovans — close relatives of Neanderthals, themselves the species most closely related to our own.

Like the research cited above, this continues the lengthening of the human evolutionary timeline well-beyond the six to ten thousand years American political leaders defiantly cling to like a life preserver … although their version preserves delusions about the origins of life:

The finding implies that, at some point around 400,000 years ago, Homo erectus, which originated in Africa, and the Denisovans, a human population adapted to Eurasia, encountered one another, had sex, and produced fertile offspring. It is the oldest known episode of interbreeding between human groups, and the first to feature Homo erectus, a species that until recently had been largely overlooked.

It’s all part of a ever-more complex picture of the world our ancestors shared with up to five other hominin species:

Although we already knew that modern humans descend from Homo erectus, and that this species was the leading candidate behind the so-called “super-archaic introgressions” in our genome, this is the first conclusive proof. The new evidence adds to what was already known: that Homo sapiens interbred with Neanderthals, who left up to 4% of their DNA in us; and that Neanderthals interbred with Denisovans. Homo sapiens did the same, leaving Denisovan DNA in some present-day populations, with invaluable genetic legacies — such as the traits that allow humans to live at extreme altitudes, including the Himalayas.

This is the kind of research that happens when a rising power becomes a great power and it has the will and the money to invest in science that does not promise profits or lead to some military application. A nation that can afford to make paleontology an “advantageous career” is demonstrating its distinct advantage over nations that cannot afford it. The advantage is even greater over nations that simply refuse to do it out of a desperate need to preserve an ancient myth.

Interestingly enough, it’s not uncommon for an American Christian—particularly an Evangelical—to believe evolution is a hoax perpetrated by Satan himself. “Satan’s Lie.” as it’s sometimes called, is rooted in “worldliness” and a “man-centered deception” that seeks to usurp God’s sovereignty and replace it with the idolatrous worship of the natural world, much like paganism. Often referred to as “pagan science,” the epithet reflects an ignorance that is willful and perhaps even necessary to maintain the myths people have about themselves and the nature of their country.

Preserving myths well past their expiration date may be the last redoubt of a ruling power on the wane. That the age of the Earth or the widely-evident process of evolution are still bones of contention in “the world’s leading superpower” may be another sign that it is not equipped for the days ahead … that it is mired in denial about both the past and the future. Certainly, the rejection of the increasingly obvious is this ruling power’s defining feature at the quarter-way mark of the 21st Century.

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