Interstellar Object Is Spraying Something Weird, Scientists Find

Authored by Frank Landymore via Futurism.com,

A new analysis of our solar system’s interstellar interloper, 3I/ATLAS, reveals that it’s spewing huge amounts of water — and astronomers can’t immediately explain why.

Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images

The object, which is widely believed to be comet, showed strong ultraviolet emissions that are unmistakable telltales of hydroxyl gas (OH), a byproduct of water, when astronomers imaged it with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift space telescope before it disappeared behind the Sun. The emissions could only be spotted from space because the ultraviolet light would get absorbed in the atmosphere.

Their findings, detailed in a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, argue that the presence of all this OH indicates the comet is ejecting water vapor at a torrential rate of about 88 pounds per second — around the same rate as a fire hose running at full blast, according to a press release about the findings.

The most extraordinary thing is that this was spotted happening pretty far from the Sun, at a heliocentric distance of about three astronomical units (AU) away, or three times the distance between the Earth and our star. Typically, comets stray much closer to the Sun before the water ice in their core, called a nucleus, begins to sublimate, or instantly transform from a solid to a gas. Something else must be driving all the water dumping from 3I/ATLAS — which also implies, tantalizingly, that the comet must harbor considerable stores of water for this process to keep going.

“When we detect water — or even its faint ultraviolet echo, OH, — from an interstellar comet, we’re reading a note from another planetary system,” coauthor Dennis Bodewits, a professor of physics at Auburn University, said in the release. “It tells us that the ingredients for life’s chemistry are not unique to our own.”

It’s another example of the fascinating strangeness of interstellar objects like 3I/ATLAS. Think of it as a sample of somewhere very far away, perhaps tens of millions of light years, careening straight past our doorstep. That it’s in many ways bizarre compared to local comets hints at just how unique these unimaginable alien realms must be, and how we have so much more to understand of how star systems form and how their structures may evolve.

Typically, a comet’s coma, a huge halo of gas and dust that give comets their glowing appearance, begin to form as the object nears the Sun — or another star, presumably — and heats up. The heat either sublimates or vaporizes the material in its nucleus, which is many times smaller than the tail that catches our eyes from the ground, stretching behind the comet.

3I/ATLAS’s coma has already surprised us in many ways. Its chemistry is strange compared to our own comets, and it appears to have an astonishingly high ratio of carbon dioxide to water.

What’s causing the outpouring of water vapor is still unclear. The astronomers speculate that sunlight might be heating up the ice grains released from the nucleus, which then get vaporized into the surrounding coma.

Astronomers believe that 3I/ATLAS came from the center of the Milky Way, where it was likely booted out of its original star system by a gravitational disturbance like the close flyby of another star, braving interstellar space before eventually cruising through our solar neighborhood. Based on these inferences, astronomers estimated that the comet must be billions of years old, perhaps three billion years older than the Sun itself. It’s not only a snapshot of a different part of the galaxy, but a different era of the cosmos altogether.

Right now, 3I/ATLAS is flying behind the Sun, so we can’t observe it from Earth. But scientists have been able to catch a glimpse of it using spacecraft stationed near Mars, and it’ll soon swing back into full view in late November.

“Every interstellar comet so far has been a surprise,” said lead author Zexi Xing, a postdoctoral researcher at Auburn University, said in a statement about the work referencing the two previously discovered interstellar objects. “‘Oumuamua was dry, Borisov was rich in carbon monoxide, and now ATLAS is giving up water at a distance where we didn’t expect it.”

“Each one,” Xing added, “is rewriting what we thought we knew about how planets and comets form around stars.”

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Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 23:25

'Darker The Better': Daily Cocoa Slows 'Inflammaging' By 70%

Authored by Rachel Ann T. Melegrito via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Your daily hot cocoa might do more than warm you up - it could also prevent heart disease and the inflammation that drives it, according to a recent study.

katrinsav/Shutterstock

As we get older, our bodies become more inflamed, increasing our risks of developing chronic disease and dying.

A large-scale study tracked people who took daily cocoa supplements for two years and found that body-wide inflammation stayed steady instead of rising - with the strongest effects in those who had higher inflammation at baseline.

In the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) trial, daily cocoa extract supplements were linked to a 27 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

Taking cocoa extract supplementation lowered C-reactive protein, a key marker of body-wide inflammation, by 70 percent after two years.

That drop corresponds to an estimated 7 percent to 23 percent lower risk of cardiovascular events, shifting participants from the “average-risk” range into the low-risk range for heart disease, while the placebo group remained in the average-risk category.

The Inflammation Connection

The study focused on C-reactive protein, or CRP, which typically rises about 5 percent annually with age and is widely used as a marker of body-wide inflammation. This process, dubbed “inflammaging” by researchers, fuels chronic diseases, frailty, disability, and premature death.

While the placebo group’s CRP levels rose by about 5 percent per year, the cocoa group’s dipped by about 3 percent—a change that wasn’t significant on its own. However, when the two groups were compared across two years, cocoa significantly prevented the usual age-related inflammaging, keeping inflammation steady. These results came from a standardized 500-milligram cocoa flavanol supplement (including 80 milligrams epicatechin).

The findings suggest that cocoa may help protect the heart by lowering inflammation, a key driver of cardiovascular disease, Howard Sesso, associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and lead author of the study, told The Epoch Times.

The cocoa group also showed a small but significant rise in IFN-γ. This messenger has potential antiviral effects, which may indicate protective effects, though its effect on health is still unclear and requires more study.

These results come from the COSMOS-Blood substudy, which followed nearly 600 generally healthy older adults (average age 70) with no history of cardiovascular disease or cancer through repeated blood tests over two years.

How Cocoa Fights Inflammation

Cocoa extract appears to blunt inflammaging by lowering CRP.

Cocoa is naturally rich in flavanols, which counter inflammation at the molecular level. They turn down a key switch that tells cells to make pro-inflammatory molecules like CRP. They also boost nitric oxide production, which relaxes blood vessels, lowers oxidative stress, and helps calm inflammation in the vessel walls.

In the heart, flavanols help lower blood pressure, keep blood flowing smoothly, and lower the risk of stroke and atherosclerosis by keeping blood vessels flexible and platelets less “sticky.”

A review of clinical trials found that cocoa or dark chocolate can boost nitric oxide levels and lower oxidative stress. The effects were strongest with higher flavanol doses, over 450 milligrams per day.

Make Cocoa Work for You

Not all cocoa products are created equal, Sesso said, noting that most cocoa products lose flavanols during processing and labels don’t list their content.

Melissa Mitri, a registered dietitian-nutritionist and owner of Melissa Mitri Nutrition, agreed, noting that the study used a specific, standardized dose of 500 milligrams of cocoa extract. “The amount of cocoa flavanols present in food forms, like dark chocolate, can vary significantly and may not always contain the amount shown to provide anti-inflammatory benefits in the research,” Mitri told The Epoch Times.

“Cocoa powder may be a better option,” Sesso added. “But this does not mean we should all turn to supplements. Instead, it is important to focus on flavanol-rich foods that include cocoa, berries, tea, grapes, and other plant-based foods.”

Experts say natural is better. “The real benefits come from cocoa, so the darker the chocolate, the better. Aim for 70 percent cocoa or higher,” Kara Siedman, a nutritionist and director of partnerships with resbiotic Nutrition, told The Epoch Times.

Siedman noted that chocolate is calorie-dense and easy to overdo. She recommended just a square or two after dinner, savored slowly, or using unsweetened cocoa powder in smoothies, oatmeal, or yogurt to get flavanols without added sugar and fat.

The most effective approach combines cocoa with other proven strategies like regular exercise and healthy eating patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet and omega-3s. “What matters most is consistency—the foods and habits you follow most of the time.”

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Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 21:05

Luigi Mangione's Lawyers Ask Judge To Dismiss Federal Charges In Assassination Of UnitedHealthcare CEO

Lawyers for accused assassin Luigi Mangione asked a Manhattan federal judge Saturday to throw out some of his criminal charges - including the lone charge that could put him on death row in the December assassination of UnitedHealthcare chief Brian Thompson outside a Midtown hotel, court papers say.

Luigi Mangione is escorted into Manhattan state court in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. Seth Wenig/AP Photo

The defense also wants Mangione’s statements to cops and his backpack with a gun and ammo kept out of trial, arguing he wasn’t read his rights and that officers searched the bag without a warrant after collaring him days later, according to the filing.

Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal raps in the Dec. 4 killing, which stunned Wall Street and sent corporate security teams scrambling. Thompson was gunned down as he arrived for his company’s annual investor conference, a murder that triggered a multistate manhunt. The suspected shooter ditched the scene on a bicycle to Central Park, then hopped a taxi to a bus depot, investigators say. He was grabbed five days later after a McDonald’s tip in Altoona, Pa., roughly 233 miles from Manhattan, and has been held without bail since.

In a minute-by-minute takedown narrative, defense attorneys paint Mangione as cooperative when two "fully armed" officers approached him in the fast-food joint, saying a caller had flagged him as “suspicious.” He allegedly handed over a New Jersey driver’s license in someone else’s name before cops told him to stand up, hands on his head for a frisk. One officer then stepped outside to summon backup, telling a colleague he was “100 percent” sure they had their guy. Nearly a half-dozen more officers swarmed the restaurant within minutes, according to the filing—before, the defense says, any Miranda warning or warrant.

The high-stakes legal fight centers on a federal firearms murder statute, the only count that makes capital punishment possible in a state where New York law doesn’t apply the death penalty. The defense says prosecutors haven’t identified the requisite “crime of violence” to pair with the gun charge and argues the alleged predicate—stalking—isn’t one.

Last month, Mangione’s team also moved to strike the death penalty from the case after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi publicly ordered prosecutors to seek it, calling the slaying a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.” The defense says those comments taint the process.

The shocking hit ignited a firestorm against big insurers online. At the crime scene, investigators found ammo scrawled with “delay,” “deny,” and “depose,” a grim echo of phrases blasted by industry critics.

Next up: Treasury-sized legal trench warfare. Prosecutors will defend their charging decisions and the cops’ actions; the defense will press to gut the capital count and suppress key evidence. The judge’s rulings could decide whether this is a straight murder case—or a potential death-penalty showdown.

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 20:30

Holdfast Alaska: The Family That Chose To Homestead In The Alaskan Wilderness

Authored by Ryan Cashman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

It had already been a long journey by the time Dennis and Amy Westerlind reached the Port of Bellingham, Washington, on a cold November night in 2020. They had spent several days driving 3,200 miles from their homestead in Maine. Now, with their young daughter Lena snuggled safely in the back seat, they loaded their car onto a ferry and prepared for departure. 

Dennis and Amy Westerlind on their Alaska homestead. Courtesy of Holdfast Alaska

A thick darkness enveloped the ferry as they sailed into the waters of the northern Pacific. Whipping winds and strong tides had churned the sea into an aggressive obstacle. A former lobsterman, Dennis was used to choppy waters. This was different. 

“There were 36-foot seas on that crossing. It was a rough ride. And we were on that boat for about five days,” he said. 

Despite the harsh seas they now faced, the family continued to find strength in the shared dream that had motivated them for years. Back east, they had saved every penny to buy some overgrown acres in western Maine. Through grit and determination, they’d transformed that property into a thriving, off-grid homestead. Leaving it behind wasn’t easy. 

But their hearts longed to be elsewhere—somewhere they could truly test what they were made of. 

Days later, the ferry docked, and the Westerlind family drove onto the soil of a place they had never visited but always dreamed to be: Alaska. 

Courtesy of Holdfast Alaska A New England Primer

The dream of living off-grid in the Alaskan wilderness had taken hold during the couple’s early years of marriage. At that point, they lived in a small apartment in eastern Massachusetts. Dennis worked as a lobsterman for his father-in-law’s fishing company. Amy was the company secretary. 

This suburban lifestyle was familiar territory. Both had grown up in densely populated New England towns, and neither had a background in farming, gardening, off-grid living, animal husbandry, hunting, foraging, or homestead construction. 

Yet those hurdles only strengthened their determination. They found small ways to bring more self-sufficiency into their daily lives. Amy started a garden out on their small patio, where she grew tomatoes and other vegetables in pots. As often as they could, the couple traveled to Maine and explored the wilderness. It was during those trips that they began to take their off-grid dreams seriously. 

“We were just getting sick of living down near the city [Boston]. So, we started spending all our free time looking for cheap, owner-financed land we could afford. We saved money everywhere we could. I stopped getting haircuts. We didn’t go out to eat. We just paid the rent and did a lot of home cooking,” Dennis said. 

Eventually, the couple amassed $5,000 in savings, which they used as a down payment on a promising property in western Maine. 

“There was an old-timer who was looking to sell. We told him what we wanted to do, and he treated us really well. We just gave him the down payment, shook hands, and that was that,” said Dennis. 

“We couldn’t wait to get up there,” Amy added. 

Courtesy of Holdfast Alaska

Against the advice of their families, the Westerlinds moved to their new 30-acre, off-grid homestead in March 2011. There was no infrastructure, so they spent the spring and summer living in a tent, cooking over campfires, bathing with water from the freshwater spring, and building a small cabin. 

Over the next eight years, the couple completely transformed the overgrown mountainside. They dug a well, expanded the cabin, cleared acres of trees, established pasture, raised farm animals, cooked from scratch, grew herbs and vegetables, preserved their harvest, and, in 2019, welcomed their daughter, Lena, to the family. 

“She was born at home in the cabin,” said Amy. 

“That whole homestead was a labor of love. Everything we did was by hand and out-of-pocket,” Dennis said. 

However, the family soon found that they wanted a little more space. They sold their property and paid cash for a farmhouse on 50 acres outside of Farmington, Maine. As they had before, they self-financed their home repairs, purchased a milk cow, and started a CSA market garden for income. But something else was still calling them. 

“We always wanted to come to Alaska. Since we were young, healthy, and able-bodied, we decided to just do it,” Dennis explained. They sold their farmhouse, bid Maine farewell, and headed west to meet the Washington ferry that would bring them to Alaska. 

Courtesy of Holdfast AlaskaCourtesy of Holdfast Alaska A Different World

Arriving in Alaska at the start of winter was a system shock for the Westerlinds. 

As Dennis described, “It was one of the hardest things to adapt to. The sun doesn’t really come up until 10:30 a.m., and then, by about 3 p.m., it’s night again.”

“But, it was almost smarter to get here in the wintertime. We got the full blast right off the bat,” Amy added. 

They purchased a 2-acre homestead on the outskirts of Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. There, they spent the next few years learning the ropes of living in coastal Alaska. They fished for salmon and hunted for moose and elk on the banks of the Kenai River. However, they soon realized that the area was a watered-down version of what they truly wanted.

The Westerlinds learned a traditional method to preserve their Copper River salmon—no power needed, just sun, smoke, and wind. Courtesy of Holdfast Alaska

“It was a bit too crowded. Too much like Maine. We were looking for a more authentic, wild Alaskan experience,” Dennis said. 

In spring of 2024, the family moved again, this time deep into the eastern Alaskan interior. They paid cash for a small, off-grid log cabin on 7 acres near the northern entrance of Wrangell–St. Elias National Park. 

Owing to a lack of state resources and their remote location, the Westerlinds found themselves living in a subsistence zone, a legally drawn area where residents are allowed to subsist on what they can harvest from the land. 

Dennis elaborated: “To give an example, when we lived on the Kenai, for our family size, we were allowed to dipnet and keep 45 sockeye salmon for the year. Up here we’re allowed 500.”

Hunting restrictions are looser as well. The Westerlinds’ season starts much earlier in the spring than other areas of Alaska, and they are also allowed to bag higher quantities of moose, elk, deer, porcupine, and bear. 

“That was a big factor for us to move to such a remote place, because our goal, our dream, is to live off the land. We can do that here. It’s a totally different world,” Dennis said. 

Off-Grid YouTubing

The move inland prompted another change in the Westerlinds’ life: the creation of a YouTube channel in September 2024. They had always utilized their land or learned skills to provide an income for themselves. Back in Maine, Amy had become an herbalist while Dennis farmed and did odd jobs. On the Kenai, they had herd-shared goats and worked in the area real estate market. Now, however, they were homesteading full-time. They decided to start vlogging. 

“We bought a GoPro and just started taking videos of ourselves messing around on the homestead, and people took to it,” Dennis said. 

They named their YouTube channel Holdfast Alaska. Unlike many other homesteading content creators, the Westerlinds chose not to focus on gardening and livestock rearing. Instead, they wanted to show what it takes to live a subsistence lifestyle on a remote homestead: 17-hour supply runs to Anchorage; building an A-frame chicken coop with a living roof for insulation during the harsh winters; hunting moose and porcupine for dinner. 

However, more than just showing their lives in inland Alaska, the Westerlinds wanted to use their platform to add value to people’s lives. 

“I wanted to make the channel somewhere we could teach and help people learn to can, forage, or use herbal medicine,” Amy said. “We wanted to give value to people who want to live a similar life, or even people who don’t live this way. Providing inspiration is huge, because that’s what got us started.” 

A good portion of their video library consists of Amy utilizing the food they’ve grown, foraged, or hunted to make moose chili, salmon dip, sourdough donuts, lacto-fermented pickles, and so much more. 

Courtesy of Holdfast Alaska

In under a year, their channel gathered 52,000 subscribers, which neither expected. 

“We definitely got more support from the general public than I thought we would when we made this channel,” said Dennis. 

While they don’t show Lena’s face on their channel for safety reasons, her small, excited voice can be heard echoing in the background of their videos. 

“We really enjoy raising her in a wild place like this,” Amy said. 

Dennis added, “It makes her capable, you know? She’s tough. She handles the cold better than we do.” 

Courtesy of Holdfast Alaska A Dream Come True

The Westerlinds have no illusions; they know their lifestyle isn’t for everyone. In fact, despite dreaming of homesteading in Alaska for ages, they can hardly believe they’ve actually achieved it. 

“When we lived in Massachusetts, if you had told us that we were going to end up living here, we’d have said, ‘No way!’” Dennis said. “But, you know, you get to Alaska and you start to understand how to exist among all this wilderness.” 

The family has its fair share of struggles. There is the underlying danger of charging moose, hungry bears getting into the chicken coop, or summer forest fires destroying acreage. There’s also the constant learning and adaptation that comes with remote living. However, the Westerlinds are ready to meet their challenges head on. 

Courtesy of Holdfast Alaska

“We’re very hardworking. We have a lot of grit. And with the homestead, Dennis and I feel very rewarded that the hard work we put in directly relates to how we live day-to-day,” Amy said. 

“If we had listened to everybody who told us right from the start not to move to Maine, don’t buy land, don’t move to Alaska, we wouldn’t have done anything,” Dennis said. “We didn’t listen to them. We just worked hard. If you have something you want to do, you have to do more than others are doing in order to achieve it.” 

For this family, a dream is worth nothing unless you have the determination to achieve it. 

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 19:55

Charlie Kirk Assassination Suspect Wants To Wear Plain Clothes In Court To Gain Sympathy Among Potential Jurors

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Defense attorneys representing the man accused of assassinating conservative commentator Charlie Kirk last month filed a court motion on Thursday asking a judge to allow him to attend in-person court hearings wearing plain clothes and without shackles.

A police mugshot shows Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah, in this photo released by the Utah Department of Public Safety, on Sept. 12, 2025. Utah Department of Public Safety/Handout via Reuters

During his first court appearance, Robinson was seen wearing jail clothing and what appeared to be an anti-suicide smock. He made his first court appearance virtually.

In the motion submitted to Judge Tony Graf, his attorneys argued that the change in clothes is needed to ensure that potential jurors are not impacted by seeing Robinson in jail garb and with shackles. They cited interest in the case, including 18,000 search results for his first court appearance.

“With each development in the case generating thousands of articles and comments online, the likelihood of potential jurors seeing and drawing conclusions regarding Mr. Robinson’s guilt and or deserved punishment from obvious signs of pretrial incarceration will only increase,” said his attorneys, led by public defender Kathryn Nester.

They added that “given the pervasive media coverage in this case, the repeated and ubiquitous display of Mr. Robinson in jail garb, shackles, and a suicide vest will undoubtedly be viewed by prospective jurors and will inevitably lead to prospective juror perception that he is guilty and deserving of death.”

The defense’s motion cited the murder case against Bryan Kohberger in Idaho, noting that his attorneys successfully persuaded a judge to allow him to wear a suit and appear without cuffs in the courthouse. Kohberger pleaded guilty to four murders in July as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

“In the modern age of ubiquitous internet access and unrelenting media attention to high-profile criminal cases,” Robinson’s attorneys also wrote, “the prejudicial effect of a criminal defendant appearing in shackles, jail attire, and bullet-proof or suicide vests at any hearing threatens fundamental fairness.”

They also said that Robinson does not have a criminal record and has been well-behaved in custody.

He was charged several days after Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10 with the capital aggravated murder charge, which carries the possibility of the death penalty, as well as felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm, and obstruction of justice. A judge ordered that he be held without bail.

Authorities, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, have said they believe that Robinson acted alone. Family members said Robinson “had become more political in recent years,” Cox said, describing a recent family dinner during which he expressed displeasure with Kirk’s views, while prosecutors have said his family stated that he expressed left-wing political views.

They also said he was in a romantic relationship with his roommate, a man who identified as a transgender woman. Bullets that were recovered in the case allegedly contained anti-fascist and video game-related messages, said prosecutors and Cox.

Prosecutors said Robinson took responsibility for Kirk’s assassination after his family members confronted him about it. He also allegedly left behind a message to the roommate suggesting that he took responsibility.

Kirk, a conservative influencer who was close to President Donald Trump, was shot and killed while hosting a debate at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. In response, Trump administration officials and the president have been criticizing calls for violence motivated by political disagreements and suggested that Kirk’s death was, in part, motivated by such rhetoric.

Robinson is next scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 30.

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Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 17:35

Charlie Kirk Assassination Suspect Wants To Wear Plain Clothes In Court To Gain Sympathy Among Potential Jurors

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Defense attorneys representing the man accused of assassinating conservative commentator Charlie Kirk last month filed a court motion on Thursday asking a judge to allow him to attend in-person court hearings wearing plain clothes and without shackles.

A police mugshot shows Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah, in this photo released by the Utah Department of Public Safety, on Sept. 12, 2025. Utah Department of Public Safety/Handout via Reuters

During his first court appearance, Robinson was seen wearing jail clothing and what appeared to be an anti-suicide smock. He made his first court appearance virtually.

In the motion submitted to Judge Tony Graf, his attorneys argued that the change in clothes is needed to ensure that potential jurors are not impacted by seeing Robinson in jail garb and with shackles. They cited interest in the case, including 18,000 search results for his first court appearance.

“With each development in the case generating thousands of articles and comments online, the likelihood of potential jurors seeing and drawing conclusions regarding Mr. Robinson’s guilt and or deserved punishment from obvious signs of pretrial incarceration will only increase,” said his attorneys, led by public defender Kathryn Nester.

They added that “given the pervasive media coverage in this case, the repeated and ubiquitous display of Mr. Robinson in jail garb, shackles, and a suicide vest will undoubtedly be viewed by prospective jurors and will inevitably lead to prospective juror perception that he is guilty and deserving of death.”

The defense’s motion cited the murder case against Bryan Kohberger in Idaho, noting that his attorneys successfully persuaded a judge to allow him to wear a suit and appear without cuffs in the courthouse. Kohberger pleaded guilty to four murders in July as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty and was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

“In the modern age of ubiquitous internet access and unrelenting media attention to high-profile criminal cases,” Robinson’s attorneys also wrote, “the prejudicial effect of a criminal defendant appearing in shackles, jail attire, and bullet-proof or suicide vests at any hearing threatens fundamental fairness.”

They also said that Robinson does not have a criminal record and has been well-behaved in custody.

He was charged several days after Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10 with the capital aggravated murder charge, which carries the possibility of the death penalty, as well as felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm, and obstruction of justice. A judge ordered that he be held without bail.

Authorities, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, have said they believe that Robinson acted alone. Family members said Robinson “had become more political in recent years,” Cox said, describing a recent family dinner during which he expressed displeasure with Kirk’s views, while prosecutors have said his family stated that he expressed left-wing political views.

They also said he was in a romantic relationship with his roommate, a man who identified as a transgender woman. Bullets that were recovered in the case allegedly contained anti-fascist and video game-related messages, said prosecutors and Cox.

Prosecutors said Robinson took responsibility for Kirk’s assassination after his family members confronted him about it. He also allegedly left behind a message to the roommate suggesting that he took responsibility.

Kirk, a conservative influencer who was close to President Donald Trump, was shot and killed while hosting a debate at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. In response, Trump administration officials and the president have been criticizing calls for violence motivated by political disagreements and suggested that Kirk’s death was, in part, motivated by such rhetoric.

Robinson is next scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 30.

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Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 17:35

How Did Energy-Rich Pennsylvania Screw Up So Badly?

Authored by Athan Koutsiouroumbas via RealClearPennsylvania,

Pennsylvania was supposed to be the energy state that got it right.

Thanks to the Marcellus Shale formation, natural gas made Pennsylvania a net exporter of electricity. Fracking enabled Pennsylvania to power homes and industry not just here, but across the entire Mid-Atlantic. The state’s natural gas built modern power plants, attracted investment, and helped America move toward energy independence.

So how is it that Pennsylvanians are still paying more for electricity every year?

Over the past five years, electricity prices in Pennsylvania have risen 45%. It is a tick lower than the national average of a 46% price increase. However, that is hardly comforting when neighbors across the border, in states that import electricity from Pennsylvania, have seen smaller increases.

Let that sink in.

Four of the six states surrounding Pennsylvania buy electricity from us. Yet, somehow, their electric prices have risen less than ours. For a state that exports power, it is puzzling and unacceptable.

It gets worse. 

The state of Virginia relies on importing electricity from Pennsylvania. It is also home to more data centers than any other state. Yet, Virginia only saw its electricity rates increase at half as much as Pennsylvania’s despite being home to the energy-hungry industry. 

Pennsylvania sits at the center of the massive regional grid that keeps the lights on in thirteen states and Washington, D.C. The Keystone State produces more power than it uses. Incredulously, Pennsylvanians are stuck watching their electric bills rise. It is like owning a bakery and still paying more for bread.

The irony is that Pennsylvania has every advantage: abundant natural gas, modern generating capacity, and a location that makes it a key hub in the national energy market. What is missing is the advantage that should matter most: affordability.

Prices are not rising because Pennsylvania has run out of energy. Quite the contrary. Pennsylvania has decades, potentially centuries, worth of natural gas. It does not cost more to generate electricity. When adjusted for inflation, the cost to make an electron has declined 11% while the cost to send electrons to customers has increased 14%. That’s a wallet-busting 25 point spread.  

Prices are rising because regulation, transmission costs, and capacity auctions for potentially inflated demand are stacking fees on top of fuel. Somewhere between the wellhead and the wall outlet, efficiency has turned into bureaucracy.

Voters are noticing: 86% of likely voters are concerned about their electric bill. For example, a nearly a majority of digital ads are focused on defining who is to blame for New Jersey’s escalating electric prices in a heated, competitive race for governor. Just as many likely run on television.

Pennsylvania’s leaders would be wise to pay attention. Gov. Josh Shapiro, the entire state House, and half of the state Senate are up for re-election in 2026. Energy is already shaping up to be the pocketbook issue that connects inflation, regulation, and frustration all at once.

No talking point can fix the reality that families know they live in a state that exports power yet still see prices rising faster than their paychecks.

Steps are being taken to address the key issues. 

A bill was introduced this week to stop the double, and even triple, counting of the same pending data center projects which may be artificially inflating electricity prices. 

Projects ready to deliver electricity into the grid have languished in the operator’s bureaucracy for reasons unknown. Policymakers have applied pressure to compel the grid operator to approve proposed projects more quickly without sacrificing safety. 

Both parties agree that siting reform is necessary to bring more electric generation projects online. Gov. Shapiro’s proposal to create a new authority usurping local decision-making has met considerable pushback. Meanwhile, state Senate Republicans have advocated for a proposal that addresses NIMBY issues while expediting large-scale electric generation projects. 

Electricity is not just an economic metric.  It’s indicative of competence. 

People expect government to deliver basic things: safe roads, good schools, and affordable power. When those expectations are not met, trust continues to erode.

If our neighbors can buy our electricity more cheaply than Pennsylvanians can, something is wrong in Harrisburg. The fix is not complicated. Pennsylvania does not need more bureaucracy, more fees, or more rhetoric about “transition.”

If we can power half the East Coast, surely we can power Pennsylvania affordably.

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Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 15:15

Biden Gets Radiation, Hormone Treatment For Prostate Cancer

Former President Joe Biden has begun receiving a combination of radiation and hormone treatments for the 'aggressive' stage-4 prostate cancer that the best medical care on the planet apparently didn't detect until six months after the 2024 election. 

The Biden family announced in May that the 82-year-old's cancer had a Gleason score of 9 with metastasis to the bone - but said that his condition was hormone-sensitive and could be effectively managed. 

"As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment," aide Kelly Scully said Saturday. 

In September, Biden's office announced that he had also undergone surgery to cut away cancerous skin cells - while two years ago he had a basal cell carcinoma (skin cancer) removed from his chest while he was still in office. 

As the Epoch Times notes further, cancer has impacted other members of the Biden family over the years.

Former First Lady Jill Biden had a basal cell carcinoma surgically removed from above her right eye, and a second basal cell carcinoma removed from the left side of her chest in early 2023.

The president’s son, Beau Biden, died in 2015 from brain cancer. The elder Biden has routinely linked his son’s brain tumor to exposure to toxic burn pits during military deployments over the years.

“Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support,” the former president wrote in a May 19 X post following the announcement of his prostate cancer diagnosis.

Biden launched a bid for reelection in 2024 on the Democratic Party ticket, but suspended his campaign on July 21, 2024, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him. President Donald Trump went on to beat Harris and retake the White House.

Jacob Burg and The Associated Press contributed to this report

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 14:40

Homan Says DOJ Probing Funding Behind 'Organized' Attacks On ICE

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Trump administration’s border czar, Tom Homan, said that the Justice Department has launched an investigation into the sources of funding for what he called “organized” attacks on federal immigration enforcement agents, amid escalating clashes in major so-called sanctuary jurisdictions.

White House border czar Tom Homan speaks with the media at the White House on June 30, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

In an interview on The Alex Marlow Show, Homan said the recent violence directed at ICE personnel and facilities in Portland, Los Angeles, and the Chicago suburb of Broadview goes beyond spontaneous protest and reflects coordinated logistics, including standardized gear and weaponry among demonstrators.

“Death threats, attacks up over 1,000 percent,” Homan said, attributing the escalation to “hateful rhetoric” by some media figures and politicians who compare ICE to Nazis or the Gestapo.

“You’ve got 300 people show up with the same masks, same shields, the same weapons … Are they all going to the same mini mart and buying the same stuff? No, that’s being supplied to them. They’re being paid to do this,” Homan said.

Homan said DOJ officials “are all over this” and are working to identify those who may be financing organized riots targeting federal officers.

Asked whether prosecutors are weighing the use of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statutes, Homan declined to comment, citing internal deliberations.

“They will find out who is funding this, and they will be held accountable,” he said, adding that the riots are “absolutely organized.”

The unrest is a response to heightened immigration enforcement actions under President Donald Trump, who has promised to stem illegal immigration and authorized federal surges into jurisdictions with sanctuary policies.

The administration has emphasized arrests of the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.” Recent ICE operations in Portland, for example, netted individuals convicted of fentanyl distribution, sexual abuse, and luring a minor.

“We’re out there enforcing the laws,” Homan said on The Alex Marlow Show.

“There’s no free pass here. If you’re here illegally, if you cross the border illegally, it’s a crime and we’re looking for you.”

Homan added that national enforcement initiatives are meant to send a “strong message,” deter unlawful crossings, and reinforce that every illegal immigrant remains subject to removal.

State and local leaders, however, have accused the administration of staging confrontations for political effect.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, whose state is seeking to block the federalization of National Guard units ordered to assist ICE, said the deployment of heavily equipped agents into urban areas is meant “to provoke something” rather than protect public safety.

“They’re wearing fatigues, they’re carrying long guns … downtown Chicago, Michigan Avenue. What is the purpose of that? It’s all a show,” Pritzker said at an Oct. 9 press conference.

Pritzker said most protests in Illinois have been peaceful and accused federal agents of targeting minorities in immigrant neighborhoods.

“To just grab random people because of the way they look and demand that they prove their citizenship is just wrong. So we’re gonna push back at every turn,” he said.

Legal challenges are mounting across several states. In Oregon, Gov. Tina Kotek moved to recall National Guard personnel after a federal judge ruled that Trump’s activation order violated the 10th Amendment. Portland Mayor Keith Wilson echoed concerns over “troubling and likely unconstitutional” tactics by federal personnel stationed outside ICE facilities.

In response to local leaders’ opposition, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials noted that their operations have resulted in a drop in apprehensions at the southwest border to the lowest level since 1970.

“We have had the most secure border in American history,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said, crediting enhanced enforcement powers and interagency coordination.

“Under President Trump, we have empowered and supported our law enforcement to do their job, and they have delivered.”

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 14:05

They're Baaack

By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

They’re Baaack…

While not as catchy or creepy as “They’re Heeere” (remember when TVs were tubes and had “snow”?), Poltergeist II tried to expand on the franchise. Unfortunately for markets, tariffs with China are back.

It is always dangerous to argue that “this time is different” but I think it is very different.

This Time is Different (not in a good way)

Leading up to Liberation Day, there were tariffs implemented against certain products, certain countries, etc. Then we had the Liberation Day tariffs and markets ensued a deep sell-off until the tariffs imposed via executive order were dramatically reduced.

Since Liberation Day we’ve had some trade deals (in principle) and have been in a “steady” state of tariffs somewhere between 10% and 20% on most things. We have argued (and continue to argue) that the tariff impacts are only starting to be felt in the economy and will weave their way into markets in the coming quarters as their costs are finally felt.

Tariffs have “only” been about $200 billion more than usual so far, a big number for you and me, but still a small number relative to the U.S. economy.

But that all potentially changed this week.

The “steady” state is no longer so “steady.”

We specifically say “this week” as opposed to Friday, as the potential issue emerged earlier in the week – reports that China would restrict shipments of not just processed rare earths/critical minerals, but also some products that incorporate them.

The President responded on Friday by imposing 100% tariffs (starting November 1st) and restricting sales of critical software (I have to admit there is some confusion around that). Chips are likely to face restrictions as well.
Notice the timeline and how different it is than prior escalations in the trade war.

This was NOT a relatively unilateral act by the admin. China provoked this.

We will explore why China may have done this (it is a natural extension, to a large degree, of our previous work, and quite possibly a dangerous extension), but markets “bucketing” this tariff with others may be missing the critical point – how we came to adding this 100% tariff is very different than how we got to other tariff escalations.

If You are Planning on Eating a TACO, You May Go Hungry

It is easy to understand why the “buy the dippers” all chattered about TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out). We think that is the wrong analysis.

• TACO was never quite right, because the admin “pivoted” out of policies that weren’t working as well as they expected or were more unpopular than they envisioned. Not quite the same as “chickening” out, but a crucial difference, if we are right about this time being different.

• The President largely initiated the escalations and it was very easy to argue that they were “negotiating” ploys for “maximum leverage.” I still think we could have achieved the state we have been in without the “Art of the Deal” and would be better off, but today is not the time or place to rehash that argument on the American Brand. That timeline played out on virtually every element of tariffs, until now. This does not, at least to me, seem like an escalation by the admin, but far more like a response to a legitimate threat from China.

More on our “response function” in a bit, but “spoiler” alert – it will be heavy on ProSec™.

What is China Up To?

Since China initiated this round of escalation, let’s think about what China may or may not be thinking. Yes, we get to play the “red team” as an exercise here.

• It is possible that China didn’t think this through. That they were taking steps that they viewed as mere formalities that we misinterpreted. Or it is conceivable that China might be trying to play the “maximum leverage” game and this was just their first foray into “instigation” in the recent tariff wars. Those are all possibilities. It is also possible that the NY Jets call me up to kick for them this weekend (I went with the Jets because it would be impossible to believe any team other than the Jets would do it). But it isn’t very likely.

The reality is that this is far more likely to be a calculated step by China. That there is intent in this escalation.

• China controls the processing/refining of rare earths and critical minerals. The West ceded the entire industry to China as it was energy intensive and very “dirty” at least in the “green” world point of view. So, while rare earths and critical minerals are abundant (there are markets that you can buy them on), they are “just” commodities. The processing and refining is more difficult and this is a huge advantage for China (it has driven the “extensions” that the admin has put in place with China on tariffs).

• China likely sees the intensity with which the U.S. is starting to address the problem. We have been all over ProSec™ as an investment strategy as this admin takes Production for Security very seriously. We have seen several investments made into the space to help jumpstart domestic capacity. We fully expect that to continue and grow over time if the admin is able to create some form of Sovereign Wealth Fund as opposed to the more ad hoc deals that have been done so far. The admin is also finally doing things on the deregulation side (again, we would have started with production for security and deregulation rather than a global tariff war, but that is water under the bridge now). Does China see a future where the U.S. isn’t dependent on their processed rare earths and critical minerals? If the answer is “yes” then they “know” their biggest bargaining chip will get smaller over time. That is a reason to escalate now for true (not hyperbole) maximum leverage.

• The risk with semiconductors (and software). To the extent there has been a “balancing” act in the trade negotiations with China, it has been U.S. dominance in this area. The consensus seems to be that China wants our chips so badly that they will do what it takes to maximize their access. But we have “felt” that this was not the correct take, and think China’s recent moves support our view that China is comfortable (or even wants) to cut themselves off from U.S. chips. They want to continue to develop their chip industry. They believe they can be successful (just look at the success of Huawei and BYD to understand why China might be confident in their own ability). We’ve seen some announcements from Chinese companies about some progress that has been made (and assume there is progress here and there that is not public).

  • By refusing to buy our chips (or not being allowed to buy our chips, if you prefer) they deny revenue to our companies which would be nice to have (not necessary, but nice).

  • To the extent that necessity is the mother of invention (and I believe there is a lot of truth to that), they set up the “necessity” for their companies to be successful. So, it might work (just like it should work for us on ProSec™ which is the flipside of this whole battle).

  • China is spending a lot on AI and has more engineers than we do (not necessarily as good, or as creative, but there is a strength in numbers), so we shouldn’t assume that China has concluded that the U.S. will continue to dominate the space.

So, China’s bargaining chip is declining in value and they think they can actually benefit from restricted access to chips.
That would support an argument that China has analyzed the situation and is prepared for a full-on trade war.

This also fits well (from China’s perspective) with the steps they have been taking to transition from Made In China to Made By China (where they don’t want to make goods for us to sell, they want to make their own brands to sell).

There were signs of this already. China has handled Trump 2.0 very differently on trade. During 1.0, every time we said tariff, they said, negotiate. Now they just accepted some, or quietly matched the President’s tariffs. China had 4 years to prepare for this and 4 years to better understand how the President negotiates.

My working assumption is this is a very calculated escalation by China and they are prepared to dig in.

Seriously, we are being asked to believe that we wouldn’t retaliate aggressively? I find it hard to believe that anyone who has watched the admin really thinks we won’t respond aggressively to something that has to be perceived as an assault on our economy.

From a Post-War World to a Pre-War World

General (ret.) Spider Marks discussed this concept recently. He also went through the thought process in more detail during some meetings in Milwaukee this week.

Basically, the argument is that the post-war world we lived in since the end of World War II (with a big bump from the fall of the Soviet Union) is changing. That the mentality of a post-war world (basking in the glow of peace) may have to shift to the mentality of a pre-war world.

In the pre-war world, all of our decisions (and investments) have to be looked at through the lens of how it helps us prepare for war (or create the deterrence necessary to avoid war).

• ProSec™ will not just be a shortform word that we at Academy use, but a national movement.
• The natural response from almost any administration, but almost certainly from this administration, will be to double or triple down on their efforts to make things we need for security. We continue to argue that every country should think, to some degree, about behaving like this.

The element that could be most interesting is that in a pre-war world, people are more willing to make sacrifices for the greater good.

Some could argue that we have lived a “pampered” life where the battles, except for the horrific events of 9/11, happened elsewhere. That Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was an aberration, rather than a shifting norm.

That mindset could be changing.

Germany, for example, ahead of the first winter after the Ukraine war, put serious restrictions on anything from heating to lawn mowing to preserve precious energy supplies. The Germans abided by those rules and made it through that winter better than they would have had they gone about “business as usual.”

We’ve argued before (and we will argue again) that we had the luxury to create a lot of regulations and we need to revisit those regulations to see if they still make sense.

How many people would agree to fight a battle with one hand tied behind their back (even an economic battle)? Yet that is to some extent what we have been doing.

Bottom Line

This week may turn out to be more pivotal to markets and the economy than people currently think. This may be the week that really turns the tide in how we think about our economy and our need to manufacture, process, and refine things.

If I’m wrong, then back to business as usual.

If I’m right:

• Accelerate efforts to become self-sufficient on energy, electricity, components, chips, pharma/biotech, etc. Maybe not quite a “war-time” economy, but something more akin to that.

• The President really started to frame this as China against “a more collective us.” He framed this as the U.S. response to China’s actions, but (basically) called on others to take action against China.

• China is going to try to rapidly grow their businesses and shape their global relationships in direct opposition to the U.S.

• China stocks should not be owned offshore at this point, as many of the actions around Chinese ADRs and their VIE structure could get called into question.

Maybe I’m overreacting, but I think China’s response is calculated and it is “game on” for us versus them in global trade and production.

I want to own anything and everything that benefits from ProSec™ while being cautious on some of the companies most exposed to China.

Maybe it will be TACO Tuesday, but I think it is far more likely to be Lithium Thursday (I’m pretty sure eating Lithium is not good for your health – but making and refining it is).

For the first time, I think we might be ready for a period where Main Street is more important than Wall Street (or whatever street it is where we extract and make things).

We didn’t touch on the Fed today or growing concerns about the private credit market, as we did not want to dilute today’s message, but we will address those topics early in the week too.

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Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 12:55

IRS Releases 2026 Tax Adjustments, Changes Under 'Big, Beautiful Bill'

The IRS on Thursday released its annual inflation adjustments for various tax provisions, as well as guidance regarding changes made under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. 

The standard deduction will rise to $16,100 for single taxpayers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly in the 2026 tax year. The 2025 standard tax deduction was also raised to $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for couples filing jointly.

Marginal tax brackets were also adjusted for inflation - with the top tax rate remaining at 37% for single taxpayers making $640,600, and joint filers making over $768,000. Other tax brackets are as follows:

• 35% for incomes over $256,225 for individuals and $512,450 for married filers;

• 32% for incomes over $201,775 for individuals and $403,550 for married filers;

• 24% for incomes over $105,700 for individuals and $211,400 for married filers;

• 22% for incomes over $50,400 for individuals and $100,800 for married filers;

• 12% for incomes over $12,400 for individuals and $24,800 for married filers;

• 10% for incomes of $12,400 or less for individuals or $24,800 for married filers.

OBBBA changes include the estate tax exclusion, which will be set at $15 million for the estates of decedents who die in 2026 - an increase from the current $13.99 million that applies this year.

Adoption credits will increase from $17,820 in 2025 to $17,670 in 2026, while the amount that's refundable will be $5,120. 

The exemption for the Alternative Minimum Tax will be set to $90,100 for individuals - but will begin to phase out at $500,000, and $140,200 for joint filers which will phase out starting at $1million. 

OBBBA also increased the max amount of the employer-provided childcare tax credit from $150,000 to $500,000 (or $600,000 if the employer is an eligible small business), Fox News reports.

Meanwhile, the earned income tax credit will rise to a maximum amount of $8,231 for qualifying taxpayers with three or more children, an increase of $8,046 in 2025. 

More via Fox News: 

The limitation for voluntary employee salary reductions for contributions to health flexible spending arrangements will increase to $3,400 in tax year 2026, up $100 from last year. Cafeteria plans that allow unused amounts to carryover would have the maximum carryover at $680, up $20 from 2025.

Taxpayers who have self-only coverage in a medical savings account would have to have a deductible of at least $2,900 in tax year 2026, up $50 from this year, but not more than $4,400, which is an increase of $100 from this year. The maximum out-of-pocket expense amount for self-only coverage will increase $150 to $5,850 in 2026.

For family coverage with medical savings accounts, the annual deductible will be between $5,850 to $8,750, while the out-of-pocket expense limit will be $10,700 in tax year 2026.

The monthly limitation for the qualified transportation fringe benefit will rise $15 to $340 in tax year 2026.

The annual exclusion for gifts will be unchanged for tax year 2026 at $19,000.

Some tax provisions that in the past were indexed for inflation are no longer adjusted. Those include personal exemptions, itemized deductions, and the income measurement used to phase out the lifetime learning credit.

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Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 12:20

Libertarian Realism: A Challenge To Empire

Authored by Joseph Solis-Mullen via The Libertarian Institute,

When the late Justin Raimondo, co-founder and longtime editorial director of Antiwar.com, wrote in 2011 that the anti-interventionist movement needed a “big picture” framework, he was attempting to distill decades of polemic into a theory of international relations. In his essay “Looking at the ‘Big Picture,’” he dubbed this framework “Libertarian Realism.” Though Raimondo never set down a book-length treatise, his insights remain an invitation for libertarians to articulate a systematic foreign policy rooted in their own intellectual traditions.

At its core, libertarian realism rests on two pillars: public choice theory and the non-aggression principle (NAP). Together, they provide both a positive account of how foreign policy is made, and a normative standard by which to judge it.

First, public choice theory rejects the notion that politicians act for some collective good. Instead, it insists that policymakers, like all other individuals, pursue their own interests—power, prestige, financial gain, or reelection. Raimondo applied this logic directly to international affairs. Foreign policy, he argued, is not the unfolding of some objective “national interest” but the function of domestic political incentives.

This point distinguishes libertarian realism from both the neoconservative, realist, liberal internationalist schools. Neoconservatives cloak their ambitions in rhetoric about Washington’s global hegemony and an empire of democracy; traditional realists invoke the “national interest” as a guiding principle; while liberal internationalists speak of upholding the “rules based international order.”

The late Justin Raimondo, co-founder and longtime editorial director of Antiwar.com.

Raimondo’s critique cuts deeper; global hegemony and world democracy are a chimera that have bankrupted and destroyed actual American democracy. There is no “national interest” because there is no national actor; only individuals act, and they act for themselves—thus, American foreign policy reflects not the welfare of 330 million citizens but the ambitions of a relatively small political elite and the networks of lobbyists, corporate beneficiaries, and ideological courtiers around them. With regard to a “rules based international order,” such rules have only ever served as a cudgel in Washington’s hands to be applied to foes and potential foes and never to itself or its allies.

Seen in this light, wars of choice—from the Spanish-American War to Iraq—were not aberrations but predictable results of a system where power perpetuates itself. Libertarian realism’s use of public choice theory explains why interventions recur regardless of party, and why “limited wars” tend to metastasize.

If public choice explains what is, the non-aggression principle (NAP) prescribes what ought to be. Raimondo insisted that foreign policy consistent with libertarian principles must avoid aggression, whether in the form of invasion, forward deployment, or even “preventive” alliances.

With a little imagination, one can see that the NAP as applied to Washington’s relations to other states can be fruitfully extended further by drawing an illustrative analogy: just as individuals cannot “consent” to contracts made under duress, small nations cannot truly be said to consent to treaties with vastly stronger states. While the most famous line of Thucydides’ Melian Dialogue is doubtlessly “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must,” the more instructive is the line preceding it: “…questions of ‘right’ can only exist between equals in power.” From this perspective, NATO expansion, U.S. bases in East Asia, or bilateral “security guarantees” are not consensual arrangements but coercive impositions that would occur regardless of the “decision” of the corresponding state—this includes when a clear free-rider benefit on the part of the “accepting” state exists, since this is tangential or a second order effect.

Libertarian realism thus rejects the idea that America must police the world to sustain “order.” To coerce another society into Washington’s version of “liberalism” is no less an act of aggression than forcing an individual into virtue.

Recognizing that defense is a legitimate function of government until private arrangements are possible, libertarian realism counsels a restrained military posture. The United States faces virtually no threat of invasion. Its geography, economy, and nuclear deterrent already guarantee security. A minimal arsenal of nuclear weapons, supported by naval assets sufficient to protect its shipping and shores, would deter aggression without underwriting the pretense to empire.

By contrast, the permanent standing army—garrisoning hundreds of bases across the globe—serves not defense but dominance. Advocates of libertarian realism should therefore favor abolishing the standing army and replacing it with voluntary, localized militias. In this sense, libertarian realism echoes the Founders’ suspicion of professional militaries and the old republican insight that war is the health of the state. As James Madison wrote in his 1795 Political Observations:

“War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.”

Part of Raimondo’s polemic was aimed at rival schools of international thought who appealed to destiny, class struggle, or divine mission to justify power. He observed that what united these traditions, whether Marxists, fascists, Trotskyites and their neoconservative spawn, or Wilsonian liberals, was disdain for methodological individualism. In their view, nations or classes acted as collective bodies; individuals were mere instruments.

Libertarian realism, by contrast, insists that only individuals act, and that history is the cumulative result of individual choices. Policymakers are not swept along by “iron laws” of destiny but by incentives and illusions. This methodological starting point leads to sharper analysis: rather than attributing U.S. wars to abstractions like “democracy promotion,” we can identify specific officials, their ideological commitments, and the domestic interests that benefit.

Raimondo also emphasized that theory is not idle. To understand why wars happen is to be able to predict their recurrence and, more importantly, to resist them. Given that elites benefit from crises—financial, political, or military—war is always in the offing. This insight remains prescient. As tensions with Iran, China, and Russia are stoked, the never-ending Global War on Terror is extended to Latin America in the name of fighting so-called “narco-terrorism,” and one sees the same dynamics Raimondo diagnosed a decade ago.

Libertarian realism equips activists, scholars, and ordinary citizens with a framework to expose the war party, or uniparty, the duopoly of Republicans and Democrats. By unmasking its motives and methods, anti-interventionists can debunk the narratives that lead populations to sacrifice blood and treasure for elite gain.

Raimondo’s “Libertarian Realism” remains an underdeveloped but powerful lens. By uniting public choice theory with the non-aggression principle, it explains both why wars occur and why they are illegitimate. Its prescriptions—minimal deterrence, abolition of the standing army, and strict non-interference—are both radical and rooted in America’s republican heritage.

As libertarians look to articulate a coherent foreign policy distinct from progressive humanitarianism and conservative nationalism alike, Raimondo’s call for a “big picture” remains timely. A systematic libertarian realism not only deepens our theoretical arsenal but offers a principled alternative to empire.

*  *  *

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 11:45

Where Homelessness Is More (& Less) Prevalent

At least 330 million people face absolute homelessness today, according to the Institute of Global Homelessness.

This means hundreds of millions of people are living without access to any kind of shelter. While homelessness is tough to track precisely on a global scale, and spans various forms including sleeping rough and residing in temporarily housed emergency shelters, the number of those experiencing it is rising every year.

The UN highlights that the crisis of shelter is even more widespread when taking into consideration the millions more who are facing rising housing costs, unaffordable rents, evictions, energy poverty and unsafe living conditions.

As Statista's Anna Fleck details below, using data from the OECD’s Affordable Housing Database, analyzed and published by Our World in Data, the prevalence of homelessness varies considerably by country.

You will find more infographics at Statista

England is at the top end of the spectrum with 426 households per 100,000 reported to be experiencing homelessness in 2023.

England was the only country to report in terms of households, all other OECD countries reported in terms of people per 100,000 population.

France too registered high rates of homelessness at last count (2022), with 307 people per 100,000 population facing it, the vast majority of whom were staying in temporary accommodation or shelters, compared to living on the street.

By contrast, people in the United States face a comparatively high risk of experiencing street homelessness, with 76 people per 100,000 living on the streets.

There too, it was more common for people to be staying in temporary accommodation or shelters, at 213 people per 100,000.

Japan had the lowest rate of people experiencing homelessness of the countries studied. However, the country only reported data on the category of those living on the streets and so it is difficult to compare fairly.

This data was collected using a method called point-in-time count, carried out over one day/night and therefore presents a "snapshot" of the situation at a specific time for each country, rather than a definitive number of people affected by homelessness.

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 08:45

The post Silliness at the WaPo: The Tariffs Trump Promised, but Didn’t Deliver, Didn’t Hurt the Economy appeared first on CEPR.

Evonik CEO Kullmann Calls For End Of CO₂ Cult: Wake-Up Call For Europe's Economy

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe

For a long time, the German economy remained silent on the dogmatic climate goals and the politically destructive course. Now, Christian Kullmann, CEO of Evonik, is the first business leader to speak plainly. It is time to bury the CO₂ cult.

Finally, one might say, after years of deafening silence from German industry, a CEO is speaking openly. Christian Kullmann, head of the chemical giant Evonik, is at the forefront of the fight against ever-tighter climate regulations from Brussels and Berlin.

Looking ahead to the drastic tightening of the emissions trading system planned for 2027, Kullmann spared no words in an interview with the FAZ: “The CO₂ levy for Europe must go. It threatens at least 200,000 well-paid industrial jobs in Germany.”

Industrial Collapse

And that is likely a conservative estimate. Currently, the economy is forced to cut more than 10,000 jobs per week. Companies such as Bosch, with 22,000 planned cuts, and ZF Friedrichshafen, planning 7,600 by 2030, are slashing jobs on a massive scale. A wave of insolvencies is sweeping across the German economy, expected to break all records with over 24,000 bankruptcies by year-end.

Kullmann’s blunt statement may mark the start of a long-overdue debate on the real costs of European climate policy for the German economy and heavily burdened households.

From 2027, the CO₂ emissions trading system threatens Germany with another cost tsunami: the price per ton of CO₂ could rise to as much as €200, drastically increasing heating, fuel, and energy costs. Households could pay an additional €1,000 annually, while companies face soaring production costs, reduced investment, and job cuts.

Economically, this radical step would impose around €40 billion in extra costs annually on a consumption of 400 million tons, accelerating the socially and politically dangerous deindustrialization.

The EU: An Expensive Affair

What leftist and eco-socialist ideologues unleashed with the Green Deal has become a socio-political landslide. Bureaucracies and official circles have yet to realize that their campaign against civil society and market rules is already lost.

In Brussels, Berlin, Paris, and other capitals of the European debt union, they respond with ever more levies to stave off their own collapse.

Revenue from the CO₂ levy is used almost exclusively to stabilize overstretched national budgets: about 90 percent flows to national treasuries, the rest to Ursula von der Leyen’s EU coffers, which will inject around €750 billion in subsidies into the dried-up channels of the green patronage economy by 2034.

And Brussels’ megalomania knows no bounds. Every capital source is tapped—from steel tariffs to recycling taxes on plastic products. The EU is an expensive ideological game. It is now the ethical duty of business leaders to resist this campaign against reason and market principles. Failure to act risks direct confrontation in the markets. Brussels will be forced to refinance via bond markets—disguised as Eurobonds.

The Commission has positioned itself at the head of a debt union that suffocates the free market with its sprawling, centrally planned ecological patronage economy.

Spain as a Counterpoint

It is likely that after Kullmann’s criticism, a massive wave of counter-propaganda will arise. NGOs and state-affiliated media will mobilize every resource to rally Europeans against the imagined threat of man-made climate change.

Critical voices are often dismissed with a single example—a sign of how detached Brussels officials are from reality. This example comes from Spain. Officially, Spain’s economy will grow by about 2.5% in 2025, with a state quota of 48%, total debt of 109%, and a net new debt of 3.5%.

Even the much-praised Spain fails to meet the once-celebrated Maastricht criteria—just like Germany. Looking at the situation realistically, private industry shrinks by about 1% despite massive Brussels credit support and programs like NextGenerationEU.

But nowhere is the collateral damage of eco-socialism more evident than in Germany. The dramatic industrial output drop from July to August—4.3% overall, 18.5% in the auto sector, over 10% in pharmaceuticals—should serve as a warning even to the staunchest ideologist.

What central planners like Lars Klingbeil, Friedrich Merz, and the Brussels bureaucrats fail to grasp: every euro not flowing through the free market is a lost euro. Through massive interventions and debt-financed programs, states restrict the private sector’s room to invest in the future, endangering Europe’s prosperity engine.

Companies and their workforces will not tolerate this development for long. We are not witnessing a cyclical downturn or a classic recession—but a full economic collapse.

Using the Crisis

Europeans embarked on a climate crusade in recent years. Intellectual and ethical misadventures like this only thrive on the economic success of previous generations, who left their heirs an illusion of growth and the promise of effortless prosperity.

Let us hope that the Evonik CEO’s voice opens the door to real criticism—a catalyst whose bold impulse sparks a chain reaction of open, constructive debate.

Until now, criticism within German industry has entangled itself within the political framework. Calls for aid and subsidies, especially for energy costs, dominated. But this was not true policy critique—it was submission to the eco-dictate.

It is the ethical duty of business leaders to draw the line for politics. Too much is at stake to entrust it to infantile ideology. Its time is over. The crisis is unavoidable. But now we can begin rebuilding a market-based rulebook and sovereign policies in Europe’s national states. Brussels’ task would remain the safeguarding of the common internal market—a challenge more than demanding.

* * * 

About the author: Thomas Kolbe is a German graduate economist, who has worked for over 25 years as a journalist and media producer for clients from various industries and business associations. As a publicist, he focuses on economic processes and observes geopolitical events from the perspective of the capital markets. His publications follow a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their right to self-determination.

 

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 08:10

Want A Second Passport? These 13 Countries Let You Buy Citizenship

Citizenship by investment programs give wealthy individuals the chance to secure a second passport by making significant financial contributions. The requirements vary by country, but these programs typically seek investments in businesses, development funds, or direct donations.

In return, obtaining a second passport offers benefits like visa-free travel, tax advantages, or a backup plan in the event of political or economic turmoil.

In this visualization, Visual Capitalist's Marcus Lu breaks down the required contributions across 13 countries offering citizenship by investment, showing how much applicants need to spend to qualify.

Data & Discussion

The data for this visualization comes from Henley & Partners, highlighting the minimum contribution required by select countries offering citizenship by investment.

Note that this is not an exhaustive list, and that many other countries have some form of investment migration legislation.

The More Affordable Options

At the lower end of the spectrum, Nauru offers a relatively cheaper program at about $130,000. The country’s passport provides visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to nearly 90 countries, though it lacks the broader travel privileges of Caribbean or European citizenship programs.

Dominica, Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Lucia are also affordable, requiring investments between $200,000 and $240,000. These Caribbean programs are popular for their cost-effectiveness and the travel flexibility they provide within the region.

Here’s a closer look at the benefits of Dominica’s citizenship by investment program:

• Offers visa-free travel to over 140 destinations
• Ability to include a spouse, unmarried children under 31, and parents & grandparents aged 65 and older
• Citizenship by descent available for future generations

To qualify for the program, applicants have the option of making a non-refundable contribution of $200,000 to Dominica’s Economic Development Fund (for a single applicant), or making a real estate purchase with a minimum value of $200,000.

Mid-Tier Investment Thresholds

Countries like Türkiye, Grenada, and Egypt fall in the middle range, with required contributions between $235,000 and $400,000.

Launched in 2017, Türkiye’s program has become attractive due to its large real estate market and access to both European and Middle Eastern travel corridors.

Applicants have many options to participate in the program, including, but not limited to:

• Acquire $400,000 worth of real estate

• Deposit at least $500,000 into a Turkish bank account

• Create jobs for at least 50 people, as attested by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services

High-End Citizenship Programs

At the top end, Malta and Montenegro require close to or more than $500,000, while Austria demands a “substantial contribution,” often exceeding several million.

These higher thresholds reflect the perceived value of EU citizenship, which offers broad visa-free access, stability, and economic advantages. As of 2025, Austria’s passport is considered the fourth most powerful in the world.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The Daily Cost of Traveling in Europe on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

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Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 07:35

Baltic States Prepare Mass Evacuation Plans Amid Growing Fears Of Russian Attack

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are drawing up detailed plans to evacuate vast numbers of their citizens to the countries’ west in the event of a Russian invasion, with officials warning that Moscow could attempt to overrun all three Baltic states in less than a week.

Reuters reported that planning has accelerated since May, when the three countries agreed to coordinate civil protection efforts amid mounting concern over Russian aggression.

The Baltic governments have doubled their defense spending since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, citing repeated Russian cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and recent violations of Baltic airspace by Russian fighter jets and drones as signs of growing hostility.

“It is possible that we will see a massive army along the Baltic borders with the obvious goal of conquering all three countries within three days to a week,” said Renatas Požéla, head of Lithuania’s fire and rescue service, as cited by Denník N.

While a conventional invasion remains the most serious scenario, governments are also preparing for a range of other destabilizing events, from sabotage of transportation networks and mass migration waves to civil unrest among Russian-speaking minorities and disinformation campaigns designed to trigger panic.

Exercises are already taking place. A recent drill in Lithuania involved evacuating just 100 people from Vilnius, but Požéla said real plans envision moving around 400,000 residents — roughly half of those living within 40 kilometers of the Russian and Belarusian borders. Kaunas, Lithuania’s second-largest city, has prepared to accommodate 300,000 people in schools, churches, universities, and a stadium. The city is located further west than the capital Vilnius, which lies close to the Belarusian border.

Those fleeing west by car would be diverted to secondary roads to keep main routes clear for mobilization, with maps showing where evacuees could seek refuge already having been distributed.

None of the Baltic states currently plan to relocate civilians beyond their borders, which would require military convoys to negotiate Poland’s Suwałki Gap, sandwiched between Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.

“We have to take into account the risk presented by the Suwałki Corridor,” said Estonian security expert Ivar Mai.

Estonia is preparing to move around 10 percent of its 1.4 million residents into temporary shelters, with many more expected to stay with relatives. In Narva, a city with a large Russian-speaking population, two-thirds of its 50,000 residents could be evacuated, with the government assisting at least half. “It’s only for those who have nowhere else to go,” Mai explained.

Latvia is preparing for even larger displacements. Around one-third of its 1.9 million citizens could be forced from their homes in the event of war, said Ivars Nakurts, deputy commander of the Latvian Fire and Rescue Service. “Count on everything,” he warned.

Incidents involving Russian incursions into EU airspace have been reported more frequently in recent months, including the drones reported in Poland and fighter jets entering Estonian territory last month.

However, Moscow insists it has no intention of invading any EU member state.

Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly in New York last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, “Threats of force against Russia, accused of practically planning an attack on NATO and the European Union, are becoming increasingly common. President Putin has repeatedly debunked such provocations.

“Russia has never had and does not have such intentions, but any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response.”

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Sun, 10/12/2025 - 07:00

Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures:

• Who maintains the scaffolding of freedom? The prosperity the western world enjoyed for decades was the result of ideas, specifically classical liberal ideas about free trade, individual rights, limited government, and rule of law. They created the conditions under which innovation flourished in the US. But ideas are like infrastructure. If you don’t maintain them, they decay. (Get Down and Shruti)

• Why San Francisco has seen a sudden, stunning surge in the demand for mansions. San Francisco has long been a market for the affluent, but if recent developments are any indication, the city’s longstanding wealth gap is about to become even more pronounced: Luxury homes across the city are selling faster than they have in a while as the AI boom floods San Francisco with fresh riches. Startups are scaling fast, stock options are turning into cash, and high-paid tech workers are returning to the city amid fierce talent wars fought by employers — boosting demand for real estate and pushing the high-end market into gear. (San Francisco Chronicle) see also How Florida uses your taxes after hurricanes fits the definition of insanity: What our state calls storm resiliency planning requires hardworking taxpayers to pay for some of our wealthiest residents’ lifestyle choices, which often include rebuilding in hurricane-prone areas. (USA Today)

• The Age of Enshittification: In a new book, the technology critic Cory Doctorow expands on a coinage that has become bleakly relevant, in Silicon Valley and beyond. (New Yorker)

• Famous Cognitive Psychology Experiments that Failed to Replicate.  The field of psychology had a big crisis in the 2010s, when many widely accepted results turned out to be much less solid than previously thought. It’s called the replication crisis, because labs around the world tried and failed to replicate, in new experiments, previous results published by their original “discoverers.” (Aether Mug)

• Americans can’t stop betting parlays. Sportbooks are cashing in. It is called a parlay – a single wager that depends on you getting each of the component bets correct. massively popular type of wager that offers long odds and big potential payouts. And bettors love parlays. (Washington Post) see also Sports Betting Apps Have a Powerful New Tool to Keep Users Gambling: In-game betting is predicted to grow to more than $14 billion by the end of the decade. It’s a huge part of the sports gambling industry. Public health officials worry that it could be increasing the risks for gamblers. Credit… (New York Times)

• A biological 0-day? Threat-screening tools may miss AI-designed proteins. Ordering DNA for AI-designed toxins doesn’t always raise red flags. (Ars Technica)

• Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August: The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic. (New York Times)

• The Viral MAGA Accounts Run by a Man Who Has Never Been to America: The right loves the accounts, which often rail against supposed voter fraud. They’re run by a Macedonian who illegally donated to a U.S. House candidate. (Rolling Stone) See also The Macedonian Fake News Industry and US Elections. During fieldwork in Veles, where we interviewed several residents and disinformation creators, we found that the epicenter of this viral phenomenon was Mirko Ceselkoski, an autodidact social media expert, teacher, and mentor to Veles’ fake news operators. We interviewed Ceselkoski and registered and attended his online course—the same course numerous Veles residents took offline. Our research confirms (1) the pivotal role Ceselkoski had in the creation of this industry; (2) the economic motivation driving the fake news disseminators; and (3) the manner in which the mostly young people in their early twenties with little English fluency were able to generate so much traffic and disseminate so much disinformation. (Cambridge Core)

• Frankenstein’s Sheep: Cloned and genetically modified animals are entering the black market, possibly forever altering our ecosystems. (New York Magazine)

• Why does the Supreme Court keep bending the knee to Trump? As a new term begins, the justices have continually failed to provide a check on presidential power – with disastrous consequences. (The Guardian)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this weekend with Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro at Fidelity Investments, which manages $16 trillion in for 20 million clients. Timmer, a Chartered Market Technician (CMT), is part of Fidelity’s Global Asset Allocation (GAA) group, anf specializes in asset allocation and global macro strategy.

 

These 20 Popular Apps Are Tracking Everything You Do

Source: PC Magazine

 

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

Teenagers Must Be Warned About The Dystopia Being Built Around Them

The following is the introduction to Mike Fairclough’s new book 2030 – a dystopian novel aimed at teenagers.

I want to speak to you directly, before the story begins.

When I was your age, the books we studied at school were dangerous in the best sense of the word. We read George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984. We read William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. We were exposed to stories of mythological heroes – ordinary men and women who faced extraordinary challenges.

These books didn’t come with ‘trigger warnings’. They weren’t wrapped in cotton wool. They were meant to disturb, to challenge, to wake you up.

I grew up in a time when boys were boys and girls were girls. Our fathers, and our grandfathers before them, had fought in wars or been raised in the shadow of those who did. They taught us grit, resilience, and the courage to stand up when something was wrong.

We were also raised with pride in our British heritage. Our history, our culture, our traditions and our flag were things to respect, not to be ashamed of. We learned that our nation had stood up against tyranny, twice, and paid the price in blood. We sang songs that carried our past. We flew the Union Jack as a symbol of unity, freedom and identity.

Today, children and young people are told to see their history not as a source of pride or strength, but as a catalogue of guilt. They are taught that the victories of their ancestors were crimes, that courage was cruelty and that sacrifice was oppression. They are urged to turn away from their heritage, to treat their own flag as a symbol of shame, and to believe that the culture which once defended freedom is now too offensive to exist.

Much of what shaped us has been stolen from you. Books that once inspired rebellion are now treated as dangerous objects. Classrooms have become indoctrination centres. Children are drilled to fear the weather, to doubt their own identity, to repeat slogans about ‘inclusion’ while real truth is erased. Men are called ‘toxic’ simply for being men. Women are told that men can be women and therefore women are redundant.

I spent many years as the headmaster of a school, and almost 30 years teaching within the English education system. I am now the author of books, an editor, a ghostwriter and a campaigner for freedom.

I have lost count of the number of parents who have said to me, Write something for our children, something that tells the truth.

That is why I have written 2030.

Make no mistake, this book is not pure fiction. It is a prophecy. If we do nothing, if we stay silent, if we accept every slogan and every fear they press upon us, then 2030 will not be a story. It will be your future. Adults may deny this, but the task of resistance will fall to the young. To you.

So read carefully. Remember what has been erased. And when the time comes for you to stand, take your decision with conviction and purpose. Because if you do not stand, nobody else will.

A Note on Style

As a headmaster, my approach to education was celebrated internationally. It was rooted in something called character education, a philosophy in which young people were expected to move beyond their comfort zones. I saw children thrive when they lit fires in sub-zero temperatures, fired shotguns with steady hands, camped under the stars and faced personal challenges that demanded grit. Those experiences expanded them. They forged strength. They forged resilience.

This book has been written with the same spirit. You are about to enter a dystopian world. It is deliberately crafted to feel that way. The early chapters may feel like a grind, heavy, relentless. That is intentional. This is not TikTok with its quick dopamine hits, nor a Hollywood blockbuster that begins with explosions. This story asks for your focus, your stamina. The hardest journeys are the ones that change us most deeply.

And while the opening chapters set the weight of this world, know that the journey does not remain there.

The path widens, the pace quickens, and what follows will reward your perseverance.

2030 is not an ordinary book. You will discover, as you read, that you are not simply an observer. You are a participant. This story is rooted in truth. You, the reader, have the most important role to play.

So buckle up. Stay with me. Let us step together into 2030. Because until you realise you are sleepwalking into dystopia, you cannot begin to unlock the prison door.

And when that moment comes, you will discover just how powerful you truly are.

Chapter 1: The Digital Prison

George woke to silence. Not the silence of peace, but the heavy, engineered quiet of a world with no birdsong, no traffic, no laughter. The Council had found ways to mute even the dawn.

His room was the same as every other room, square walls, pale light, a bed without softness. A clock blinked on the wall, but its hands did not tick. Time was measured now in doses and data, not in minutes and hours.

He sat up slowly, pressing his palms against his eyes. The same dream again, a sound he could not place, a ripple of joy, a child’s laugh that did not belong in this world. He tried to catch it, to hold it in his memory, but it slipped away like water through his fingers.

The World Safety Council called these fragments ‘spikes’. Citizens were taught to report them immediately, to present themselves for correction. But George had learned to keep his silence. To carry the spike quietly. To let it burn like a secret fire.

Today would be no different. He would dress in the World Safety Council’s uniform, walk the Council’s streets, speak the Council’s words. But deep inside, he carried something the injections and lessons had never erased. A trace of another life. A whisper that the world had once been more than this.

And the walls, though he did not yet know it, remembered too.

Mike Fairclough was the only serving headteacher or school principal (out of 43,500 in the U.K.) to publicly question the rollout of the Covid vaccine to children. His new book, 2030, is now available on Amazon.

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Tyler Durden Sat, 10/11/2025 - 23:20

Over 1 Billion People Live In Slums

Each year, the first Monday of October marks World Habitat Day, which aims to reflect on the state of towns and cities, and on the right of all to adequate shelter.

The share of people living in urban areas is expected to continue growing in the coming decades.

According to United Nations estimates, 57 percent of the world's population now lives in cities, but this figure could rise to 68 percent by 2050, driven by continued urbanisation in Asia and Africa.

However, in these regions of the world, urban growth is often forced and unplanned, with inadequate or failing infrastructure.

As a result, much of the urban expansion takes place in slums, areas of self-built, unsanitary housing where extreme poverty is rife.

Over the past 20 years, the United Nations estimates that the number of people living in slums has risen from 895 million to 1.1 billion.

As Statista's Valentine Fourreau shows in the chart below, the regions where city dwellers are most exposed to these harmful living conditions are sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where it is estimated that around 50 percent of the urban population lived in slums in 2022 (compared to 23 percent globally).

You will find more infographics at Statista

As the map shows, this rate rises to more than two out of three city dwellers in countries such as South Sudan (94.2 percent), Mali (92.5 percent) or Afghanistan (71.6 percent).

The share of the urban population living in slums was higher than 50 percent in Pakistan and Laos. In India, around 41.5 percent of the urban population lived in slums in 2022, down from 55 percent since 2002.

Tyler Durden Sat, 10/11/2025 - 22:45