Domestic Military Manufacturing Is Essential For National Security

Authored by Scott Vadnais via RealClearDefense,

For nearly a century, America’s military strength has come largely through self-reliance. We not only made the ships, airplanes and tanks, our country supplied the parts and materials for these complex systems. But a lot has changed in recent times.

Unfortunately, our military has increasingly relied on sourcing parts globally -- including from possibly unreliable places like China. It’s a disastrous side effect of globalization.

For example, while modern jet engines may typically include between 30,000 and 50,000 parts, ensuring they are “China-free” has proven to be incredibly difficult. We’ve already seen deliveries of F-35s delayed over this issue, revealing that supply chain risk and delays remain in the post-COVID era. For instance, in 2022, a magnet in the turbomachine used in engine start-up was discovered to contain a China-produced alloy of cobalt and samarium – figuratively becoming a “non-starter” for using the jets.

Moreover, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this past July entitled, “Defense Industrial Base: Actions Needed to Address Risks Posed by Dependence on Foreign Suppliers” which pretty much summed it up.

While America has inadvertently offered an Achilles Heel to potential foes, the Chinese are using the global wealth transfer to invest in its defense manufacturing base. Largely relying on intellectual property theft, also known as stealing, China is focusing on stealth design, advanced jet engines, and artificial intelligence, thereby altering the playing field.

As China has risen, America’s manufacturing sector has steadily declined, losing millions of jobs and share of global output.

China has allocated vast resources towards subsidizing and onshoring manufacturing and development of “indigenous” advanced propulsion systems, and are catching up to our military engines – challenging air superiority.

This is why appropriate investment by Congress in the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) systems is essential to maintaining America’s technological and military lead.

While the U.S. Air Force has made significant investments in funding for NGAP development, it comes after stagnation in military propulsion.

In President Trump’s FY26 Budget proposal, NGAP was funded at roughly $330 million, representing a 23% decrease in funding from the previous year. Underfunding engine development puts the program at risk of significant schedule delays and cost increases. These facts lay the groundwork for a serious debate in both chambers of Congress as they look to fund our current and future military needs.

While U.S. companies are working on a prototype that will improve performance, increase range, and fuel efficiency of fighter jets, it can only grow at the pace of investment.

NGAP is designed to power the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) platform, America’s first sixth generation fighter, (now designated as the F-47). Its combination of stealth, speed and maneuverability would probably seem like science fiction to military pilots a century ago. NGAD is designed to work with unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for air dominance. Unmanned CCA’s, perhaps the world’s most advanced drones, will fly alongside manned NGAD as a so-called “loyal wingman” and can be configured for a wide variety of missions.

While the F-47 is not expected to enter service until the 2030s, unfortunately for America, China has already introduced not one, but two flying sixth generation fighters on the same day last year. Little is known about the capabilities of the two models, but the fact that China has developed and flown two advanced fighter designs before the F-47 even put a rivet to metal should be incredibly concerning for all Americans.

For the U.S. to counter this challenge, a robust, resilient domestic manufacturing base in high-tech industries is essential. This requires not only investing in advanced manufacturing facilities but also revitalizing workforce training programs, increasing R&D funding, and fostering innovation ecosystems in key technological areas.

Though China is among our top trading partners, it’s also paradoxically among our top threats. It strongly supports North Korea, an existential threat to our allies South Korea and Japan. Meanwhile, we generously support Taiwan, which it sees as a renegade province worthy of invasion at any time. Our heavy reliance on China trade, combined with adversarial alliances is not only unwise, but also a recipe for catastrophe. Therefore, we must divorce China from our military manufacturing and supply system entirely. Either that or simply abandon our Pacific allies and do a “180” in foreign policy – a major defeat of American power.

We can and should bring more domestic manufacturing back to the U.S. through smarter policies and programs. We must strengthen investment to ensure potential adversaries do not gain a military and technological edge. Congress and President Trump ought to insist upon it.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 21:35

Taiwan Boosts Defense Budget To $40BN As President Lai Lashes Out At Beijing

Taiwan on Wednesday announced a highly significant increase to a $40 billion defense budget, which it says is necessary in response to growing Chinese military pressure and harassment.

Significantly it comes as nearby US-ally Japan is locked in a diplomatic battle with Beijing over Tokyo's increasingly vocal pro-Taiwan independence stance. China has condemned the growing 'militarism' of Japan regarding Taiwan's status.

Anadolu/Getty Images

The historic increase in the 2026–2033 defense spending plan, projected to cover the next eight years, was framed by President Lai Ching-te said as necessary to defending the island's security as a "non-negotiable".

Lai directly addressed Beijing, emphasizing that the issue is not ideological but rooted in rejecting the characterization of Taiwan as "China’s Taiwan."

Lai further cited Chinese PLA military activities, intensified propaganda operations, and increased espionage and infiltration within and around Taiwan.

The statement reasserted that Beijing’s "one country, two systems" proposal is completely unacceptable to Taiwanese society.

As previously noted, the timing also overlapped with a dispute between China and Japan after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan would likely intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan.

Beijing responded with economic retaliation and expressed anger after Japan prepared to deploy a missile system on Yonaguni Island, some 70 miles from Taiwan.

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who visited the island, said the deployment preparations were moving ahead steadily. This was seen as an ultra-provocative move by Chinese officials.

China's foreign ministry has grown more and more vocal regarding Japan's staunch pro-independence stance...

This year marks the 80th anniversary of China’s recovery of Taiwan. Japan must never forget that Taiwan is China’s Taiwan.

Taiwan is none of Japan’s business. If Japan creates trouble on Taiwan, Japan will not get away with it. pic.twitter.com/3YZUeac5wg

— Mao Ning 毛宁 (@SpoxCHN_MaoNing) November 20, 2025

Likely China can't help but think that there is a US or Western hidden hand behind Japan's new boldness, especially given Tokyo has so far not backed down despite threatened measures by its top trading partner China, based on total trade value.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 21:00

"Access To Power" Has Become "Access To Energy"

By Ben Hertz-Shargel of Woods Mackenzie

As industry concerns over an AI bubble mount, the scale of data center ambitions continue to grow. As of mid-October, the US data center pipeline reached 245 GW of planned capacity, driven by a handful of enormous, speculative projects. These projects, and the renewable deals hyperscalers are signing, skew heavily toward Texas. More than a quarter of pipeline capacity targets the state, whose pipeline nearly doubled from 35 GW in Q1 to 67 GW in Q3. 

Data Center Alley gives way to Data Center Prairie  

It is conventional wisdom that for data center developers, ‘access to power’ has become the mantra. That is, the importance of fiber proximity to end customers and other data centers has been superseded by the imperative to secure power from utilities. The giga-scale campuses that have been announced this year, sited in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, and particularly West and North Texas, signal yet another pivot in strategy. Developers have increasingly given up confidence that utilities can meet their power and timeline demand and instead seek to build their own generation based on local natural resources. 

Most frequently this resource is natural gas, with a particular focus on the Permian in Texas. Pacifico Energy’s 5-GW GW Ranch, poolside’s 2-GW Project Horizon, and FO Permian’s 5-GW campus in Midland County are examples. The gas network in the US is at capacity, and building new gas generation far from supply means paying for and - perhaps more importantly for developers - waiting for new pipeline capacity. 

In some cases, it should be noted, campuses are being leveraged for their scale and solar or wind resource, such as Tract’s data center parks in Nevada and Utah, and Quantica’s Big Sky Digital Infrastructure campus in Montana. While more headlines have made about the potential for batteries to make data centers flexible assets, we’ve found that batteries are being planned much more commonly to balance renewables at large campuses and to add needed fast-ramping capacity to onsite gas. 

Distorting the capital landscape 

These mega campuses not only reflect a new siting strategy: they distort the capital landscape. The 2% of projects over US$17 billion represent 42% of overall capital deployment, with the 60% of projects below US$1 billion contributing only 8%. With questions already intensifying regarding froth in project investment and company valuations, these projects promise to drive even more froth. 

The two highest-cost projects, Project Jupiter in New Mexico (US$160 billion) and Project Kestrel in Missouri (US$100 billion), are an order of magnitude more expensive than the campuses being developed by companies like Meta and Microsoft, without appreciable increase in IT infrastructure. They are notably being funded through novel financial engineering: Their developers will be both the payers and payees of industrial revenue bonds (IRBs) issued by the local government, a contrivance that enables tax benefits. 

Betting big on onsite generation 

The new energy-chasing campuses are committing to onsite generation in a way that developers have been hesitant to in the past. Hyperscalers have been very clear that they prefer grid power, which requires less operating risk, shorter contract commitments, and no exposure to scope 1 emissions. Developer commitment to onsite generation reflects a bet either that hyperscalers urgency to deploy will overcome their concerns, or that the developer will be able to sell to a new generation of hyperscalers with greater risk tolerance and less concern for sustainability. 

The net result is that while the number of projects in the pipeline with onsite generation has increased only to 10%, these projects represent a whopping 34% of pipeline capacity.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of sites are in Texas, and the technology is gas turbines. 

This trend could have significant implications for both energy affordability and reliability. Whether on- or off-grid, projects with utility-scale gas generation will increase gas burns, competing with LNG exports and raising the long-term price of natural gas. This will drive up both gas and electricity bills across the country. To the extent to which turbine-based projects are off-grid, utilities will have an even harder time obtaining turbines given production limitations. That could pose reliability challenges for on-grid load growth, including electrification. 

Whether or not a bubble bursts, these affordability and reliability challenges are likely to provoke state intervention to protect customers. As that begins happens, all bets are off. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 20:35

Thanksgiving Is Now One Of America's Most Dangerous Holidays, New Analysis Shows

Insuranceopedia reviewed national datasets from the NSC, FEMA, NFPA, NHTSA, and the CDC to analyze accident trends surrounding Thanksgiving. The results show that Thanksgiving surpasses Christmas, Memorial Day, and even the Fourth of July in several key danger categories.

• Thanksgiving is the most dangerous U.S. holiday for fires, with a 388% spike in home fires.

• Thanksgiving week car crashes killed 2,525 people from 2020–2024, more than any other major holiday.

• 40% of all injuries on Thanksgiving Day come from structural fires.

“Most people think of Thanksgiving as a low-risk holiday, but the data paints the opposite picture," Says Max Coupland, CEO of Insuranceopedia.

 "Between rushed travel, long cooking hours, and unfamiliar foods around curious pets, it’s a perfect storm for accidents. Our goal is to help families stay safe and avoid the kinds of claims we see spike every November.”

1. Thanksgiving Driving Is Deadlier Than Any Other Major Holiday

Thanksgiving travel may feel routine, but the numbers tell a different story:

• 2,525 people were killed in car crashes over Thanksgiving week from 2020–2024 — higher than Christmas, Labor Day, July 4th, and Memorial Day. (Source: National Safety Council)

• 36% of all Thanksgiving week traffic fatalities involve a drunk driver. (Source: NHTSA)

• 8% of all annual car accident injuries occur during Thanksgiving week alone. (Source: National Safety Council)

Experts say the deadly combination of alcohol, rushed travel, and congested roads makes Thanksgiving week uniquely hazardous.

Driving Safety Tips For Thanksgiving

• Give yourself extra time so you don’t feel pressured to speed.

• Stay overnight or limit alcohol consumption.

• Avoid distractions and focus fully on the road.

• When possible, avoid peak travel times during the most dangerous days of Thanksgiving week.

2. Thanksgiving Is the No. 1 Day of the Year for House Fires

Thanksgiving isn’t just the biggest cooking day of the year — it’s also the most dangerous.

• Thanksgiving Day sees an average of 1,500 reported fires — 388% higher than the daily average. (Source: NFPA)

• 1,446 home cooking fires were reported on Thanksgiving Day 2023 alone. (Source: NFPA)

• 40% of all Thanksgiving Day injuries come from structural fires. (Source: FEMA USFA)

• Residential fires on Thanksgiving cause five deaths each year on average. (Source: FEMA USFA)

• Most incidents happen between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., during meal prep. (Source: FEMA USFA)

The #1 cause of fires on Thanksgiving? Unattended cooking.

Fire Safety Tips For Thanksgiving

• Stay in the kitchen while cooking, especially when frying or simmering.

• Keep kids and pets away from hot surfaces and kitchen tools.

• Test smoke alarms before starting holiday meal prep.

• Keep floors clear to avoid dangerous slips while handling hot items.

• Ensure cords from appliances aren’t dangling or accessible to children or pets.

3. A Hidden Danger: Food Poisoning from Mishandled Turkey

Foodborne illness spikes every Thanksgiving, and improper turkey preparation is a major culprit.

• 78% of people rinse their raw turkey, spreading bacteria around their sink and countertops. (Source: CDC)

• Even after cleaning, 14% still have lingering contamination in or around the sink. (Source: CDC)

Food Safety Tips For Thanksgiving

• Thaw the turkey far enough in advance and cook thoroughly.

• Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.

• Cut large portions into smaller pieces so they cool safely.

• Eat leftovers within 3–4 days, or freeze them.

• Always reheat leftovers to 165°F (74°C).

"Thanksgiving should be a time for connection, not catastrophe." Says Max Coupland.

 "A few simple precautions can prevent the kinds of accidents that turn a celebration into an insurance claim. The goal isn’t to scare people, it’s to help families enjoy the holiday safely and avoid unnecessary risks.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 20:10

Did Rubio 'Neo-Con' Trump's Ukraine Peace Plan?

Authored by Daniel McAdams, Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute,

Lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas; lie down with neocons, you wake up with wars.
–Me

So goes President Trump’s 28 point peace plan to end the Russia/Ukraine war. Revealed at the end of last week, the plan initially received a cautious but cautiously optimistic reception in Moscow.

It was hardly a dramatic tilt toward the Russian position. Many of the plan’s points ranged from the implausible to the bizarre. For example the idea that President Trump would be crowned some sort of “peace czar” overseeing the deal, and that Russia would agree to use its seized assets to rebuild Ukraine. Then there is the one that Russia should accept a demilitarized “buffer” zone taking up a good chunk of Donetsk (which itself would be “de facto” part of Russia but not de jure – and thereby subject to the vicissitudes of Western electoral politics). And of course there was the part where the US would share the “profits” from Russia’s paid reconstruction of Ukraine.

Very Trumpian, very weird.

Nevertheless the flawed plan (in terms of Russian acceptance) dropped like an atom bomb on the US neocons and their European counterparts. Trump’s peace plan was “entirely dictated by Putin,” the UK Independent breathlessly tells us. Yes, that is how propagandistic the western mainstream media really is. And suddenly we are back to Russiagate and accusations the Trump is acting as Putin’s puppet – or at least stenographer.

At the political level, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas pretty well summed up the level of delusion among the European elite: “We have not heard of any concessions from Russia. If Russia really wanted peace, it could have agreed to an unconditional ceasefire a long time ago.’”

Yes, Kaja “Sun Tzu” Kallas. Military history teaches us that every army making rapid gains on the battlefield periodically pauses to make concessions to the losing side. Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair and not everyone would get a trophy.

President Trump’s demand that Ukraine’s acting president, Zelensky, accept the terms by Thanksgiving or face a cut-off in US military and intelligence assistance put the Europeans and US hawks in panic mode. It appeared Trump was finally tired of playing Hamlet after the framework he presented in Alaska in August was agreed upon by Russia and then abandoned by Trump himself after receiving an earful from said Europeans and US neocons.

This time, by golly, Trump was finally going to step up and end a conflict nearly a year after he promised to end it 24 hours.

And then Rubio walked in.

The one lesson Trump 2.0 did not learn from Trump 1.0 is that the personnel is the policy, particularly with a president who appears uninterested in details and disengaged from complex processes. Trump 1.0 was dragged down by neocon albatrosses John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, among others.

Even a Col. Douglas Macgregor brought in in the 4th quarter at the two minute warning to throw a “Hail Mary” pass to get us out of Afghanistan was tackled behind the line of scrimmage by Robert O’Brien, Trump’s final National Security Advisor and neocon dead-ender.

Neocons are wreckers. That’s the one thing they are good at.

The inclusion of new blood in the person of Vice President Vance ally, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll – who supplanted terminally clueless Trump envoy Keith Kellogg – offered the promise that finally the realist faction in the shadows of the Trump Administration would have their shot.

Then the rug was pulled. Again.

Rubio jetted off to Geneva to help lick the wounds of the European “leaders” who are dedicated to fighting the Russians down to the last Ukrainian.

Politico lets us in on what happened next, in a piece titled, “Rubio changes the tack of Trump’s Ukraine negotiations after week of chaos.”

Before Rubio showed up in Switzerland, it largely felt like Vice President JD Vance, via his close friend Driscoll, was leading the process. By the end of the weekend, Rubio had taken the reins because the conversations became more flexible, the official said.

“Flexibility” means that we are back to square one, with a reversion to the Kellogg/Euro view that the side winning a war should unilaterally freeze military operations in favor of the losing side.

Politico continued:

Rubio’s participation in the talks produced much more American flexibility, the four people familiar with the discussions said. Rubio told reporters on Sunday night that the aim is simply to finalize discussions ‘as soon as possible,’ rather than by Thanksgiving.

That loss of momentum and destruction of the sense of urgency means we have returned to the endless bickering of the eternally deluded voices who even in the face of rapid recent Russian advances believe that Ukraine is winning – or could win with a few hundred billion more dollars – the war against Russia.

Never mind the golden toilets. Suddenly that’s out of the news.

At the end of the day, all the drama changes little. As President Putin himself said while meeting with his own national security council (h/t MoA):

Either Kiev’s leadership lacks objective reporting about the developments on the front, or, even if they receive such information, they are unable to assess it objectively. If Kiev refuses to discuss President Trump’s proposals and declines to engage in dialogue, then both they and their European instigators must understand that what happened in Kupyansk will inevitably occur in other key areas of the front. Perhaps not as quickly as we would prefer, but inevitably.

And overall, this development suits us, as it leads to achieving the goals of the special military operation by force, through armed confrontation.

In other words, Russia is happy to achieve its objectives through negotiation, which would save lives and infrastructure especially in Ukraine. But it is also willing to continue its accelerating push to achieve those objectives militarily. And no fever dreams of war with Russia from the likes of former NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen is going to change that.

Marco Rubio is a pretty bad Kissinger, and Kissinger was bad enough. At some point – and that point may have now passed – the Russians are going to rightly conclude that they have no negotiating partner in a US still dominated by people like the former Senator from Florida whose first love is regime change in Venezuela and Cuba.

Whatever the case, Trump should be pretty miffed that Marco threw a spanner in what would have been a world record, unprecedented, universally-praised, like-nothing-the-world-has-ever-seen, solving of NINE wars in just his first year in office!

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 19:45

Public Schools Are Failing And Parents Are Bailing

Authored by Larry Sand via American Greatness,

Students attending American public schools are struggling. Test scores from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), released this year, indicate that 33% of 8th graders—a greater percentage than ever before—are reading at the “below basic” level.

Additionally, only 22% of high school seniors are proficient or above in math, down from 24% in 2019, and only 35% are proficient in reading—the lowest score since NAEP began in 1969—down from 37% in 2019. Also, a record-high percentage scored at “below basic” levels in both math and reading compared to all previous assessments.

Parents across the country, especially in big cities, have become aware of the problem and are removing their children.

In Chicago, public school enrollment has decreased significantly over the past 15 years, from nearly 403,000 students in 2010-11 to just over 316,000 in 2025-26, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. Most recently, the district reported a decline of 9,081 students between 2024-25 and 2025-26. IPI states that more than one in three desks in the district are empty.

For the 2025–26 school year, the New York City Department of Education discloses that 793,300 students are enrolled in K-12 grades. That’s a 2.3% decrease from the previous year and a nearly 10% drop since 2020. The data also show that 112 of the city’s public schools have fewer than 150 students, up from 80 schools just two years ago.

Twenty years ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District had 737,000 students, but that number has now fallen to approximately 408,000, reflecting a decline of over 40%.

Among students who haven’t withdrawn, many are chronically absent. Using data from 44 states and Washington, DC, Nat Malkus, the director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, writes that the alarming rate of chronic absenteeism—students missing more than 10% of school days annually—was 23.5% in 2024.

This problem, too, is especially serious in our large urban areas. In Los Angeles, over 32% of students were chronically absent in the 2023-2024 school year, 34 elementary schools have fewer than 200 students, and 29 use less than half of the building. Even worse, Chicago’s chronic absentee rate is 41%.

As government-run schools are shrinking, private schools are expanding substantially.

Participation in private school choice—when students use public funds for private school tuition—has risen 25%, from just over one million students in 2024 to 1.3 million this year, according to a new analysis by EdChoice, a school choice advocacy group.

This has been the largest year-to-year increase since EdChoice started tracking the data in 2000, said Robert Enlow, president and CEO of EdChoice. He noted that it took about 24 years for private school choice participation to reach one million students, and this year it hit 1.3 million.

Florida educates over 500,000 students through its universal voucher and scholarship programs. Utah’s Fits All Scholarship launched in 2024 with about 10,000 seats and was immediately oversubscribed. Iowa’s Students First Educational Savings Account program enrolled nearly 28,000 students in its second year, surpassing projections.

Additionally, many parents have chosen to homeschool. In fact, homeschooling has reached an all-time high.

Angela Watson of the Johns Hopkins University School of Education’s Homeschool Hub wrote earlier this month, “In the 2024-2025 school year, homeschooling continued to grow across the United States, increasing at an average rate of 5.4%. This is nearly three times the pre-pandemic homeschooling growth rate of around 2%. Notably, 36% of reporting states recorded their highest homeschool enrollment numbers ever—exceeding even the peaks reached during the pandemic.”

It’s not just parents who are dissatisfied with public schools; only 26% of teachers believe K-12 education is heading in the right direction nationwide, a 5-point drop from the spring, when 31% felt optimistic.

Of course, the public school monopolists, especially the teachers’ unions, are upset about the advancement of school choice, but their reasons are baseless. One argument they use is that choice increases segregation. American Federation of Teachers’ president Randi Weingarten nonsensically claims school choice was designed to keep schools segregated.

Wrong.

Researcher Greg Forster states that ten empirical studies have examined private school choice programs and their effect on segregation. Nine of these studies found that the programs reduced segregation, while one found no noticeable impact. None of the studies indicated that choice encourages racial discrimination.

No matter. The teachers’ unions, realizing they are losing in the court of public opinion, have resorted to litigation in various state courts. Wyoming, Missouri, Utah, South Carolina, and Montana have faced legal action from the unions, which are desperately afraid that parental choice will severely impact their bottom line.

So far, the unions’ efforts have been successful in two states.

In Wyoming, lawmakers launched the state’s first K-12 education savings account (ESA) program last year, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. The $7,000 accounts can be used for private school tuition, tutors, homeschooling, or other education-related expenses. Nearly 4,000 students applied for them this fall.

However, the Wyoming Education Association, representing about 6,000 public school teachers, opposes using taxpayer dollars for a private option. In a lawsuit filed in June, the union and nine parents sued the state, arguing that the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act is unconstitutional because it violates a state regulation requiring a “complete and uniform system of public instruction.” The union was successful when a District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction against the voucher program in July.

In Utah, the state affiliate of the National Education Association successfully sued the state last year, arguing that the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program violates the state constitution by diverting tax revenue to private schools that aren’t free, accessible to all students, and supervised by the state board of education. The Utah Supreme Court is scheduled to review an appeal later this year.

In summary, we are engaged in a turf war. Parents, whose primary concern is their children’s education, are battling the establishment, particularly the teachers’ unions, whose aim is to protect their profits and maintain their toxic influence over K-12 education.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 18:55

Public Schools Are Failing And Parents Are Bailing

Authored by Larry Sand via American Greatness,

Students attending American public schools are struggling. Test scores from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), released this year, indicate that 33% of 8th graders—a greater percentage than ever before—are reading at the “below basic” level.

Additionally, only 22% of high school seniors are proficient or above in math, down from 24% in 2019, and only 35% are proficient in reading—the lowest score since NAEP began in 1969—down from 37% in 2019. Also, a record-high percentage scored at “below basic” levels in both math and reading compared to all previous assessments.

Parents across the country, especially in big cities, have become aware of the problem and are removing their children.

In Chicago, public school enrollment has decreased significantly over the past 15 years, from nearly 403,000 students in 2010-11 to just over 316,000 in 2025-26, according to the Illinois Policy Institute. Most recently, the district reported a decline of 9,081 students between 2024-25 and 2025-26. IPI states that more than one in three desks in the district are empty.

For the 2025–26 school year, the New York City Department of Education discloses that 793,300 students are enrolled in K-12 grades. That’s a 2.3% decrease from the previous year and a nearly 10% drop since 2020. The data also show that 112 of the city’s public schools have fewer than 150 students, up from 80 schools just two years ago.

Twenty years ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District had 737,000 students, but that number has now fallen to approximately 408,000, reflecting a decline of over 40%.

Among students who haven’t withdrawn, many are chronically absent. Using data from 44 states and Washington, DC, Nat Malkus, the director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, writes that the alarming rate of chronic absenteeism—students missing more than 10% of school days annually—was 23.5% in 2024.

This problem, too, is especially serious in our large urban areas. In Los Angeles, over 32% of students were chronically absent in the 2023-2024 school year, 34 elementary schools have fewer than 200 students, and 29 use less than half of the building. Even worse, Chicago’s chronic absentee rate is 41%.

As government-run schools are shrinking, private schools are expanding substantially.

Participation in private school choice—when students use public funds for private school tuition—has risen 25%, from just over one million students in 2024 to 1.3 million this year, according to a new analysis by EdChoice, a school choice advocacy group.

This has been the largest year-to-year increase since EdChoice started tracking the data in 2000, said Robert Enlow, president and CEO of EdChoice. He noted that it took about 24 years for private school choice participation to reach one million students, and this year it hit 1.3 million.

Florida educates over 500,000 students through its universal voucher and scholarship programs. Utah’s Fits All Scholarship launched in 2024 with about 10,000 seats and was immediately oversubscribed. Iowa’s Students First Educational Savings Account program enrolled nearly 28,000 students in its second year, surpassing projections.

Additionally, many parents have chosen to homeschool. In fact, homeschooling has reached an all-time high.

Angela Watson of the Johns Hopkins University School of Education’s Homeschool Hub wrote earlier this month, “In the 2024-2025 school year, homeschooling continued to grow across the United States, increasing at an average rate of 5.4%. This is nearly three times the pre-pandemic homeschooling growth rate of around 2%. Notably, 36% of reporting states recorded their highest homeschool enrollment numbers ever—exceeding even the peaks reached during the pandemic.”

It’s not just parents who are dissatisfied with public schools; only 26% of teachers believe K-12 education is heading in the right direction nationwide, a 5-point drop from the spring, when 31% felt optimistic.

Of course, the public school monopolists, especially the teachers’ unions, are upset about the advancement of school choice, but their reasons are baseless. One argument they use is that choice increases segregation. American Federation of Teachers’ president Randi Weingarten nonsensically claims school choice was designed to keep schools segregated.

Wrong.

Researcher Greg Forster states that ten empirical studies have examined private school choice programs and their effect on segregation. Nine of these studies found that the programs reduced segregation, while one found no noticeable impact. None of the studies indicated that choice encourages racial discrimination.

No matter. The teachers’ unions, realizing they are losing in the court of public opinion, have resorted to litigation in various state courts. Wyoming, Missouri, Utah, South Carolina, and Montana have faced legal action from the unions, which are desperately afraid that parental choice will severely impact their bottom line.

So far, the unions’ efforts have been successful in two states.

In Wyoming, lawmakers launched the state’s first K-12 education savings account (ESA) program last year, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. The $7,000 accounts can be used for private school tuition, tutors, homeschooling, or other education-related expenses. Nearly 4,000 students applied for them this fall.

However, the Wyoming Education Association, representing about 6,000 public school teachers, opposes using taxpayer dollars for a private option. In a lawsuit filed in June, the union and nine parents sued the state, arguing that the Steamboat Legacy Scholarship Act is unconstitutional because it violates a state regulation requiring a “complete and uniform system of public instruction.” The union was successful when a District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction against the voucher program in July.

In Utah, the state affiliate of the National Education Association successfully sued the state last year, arguing that the Utah Fits All Scholarship Program violates the state constitution by diverting tax revenue to private schools that aren’t free, accessible to all students, and supervised by the state board of education. The Utah Supreme Court is scheduled to review an appeal later this year.

In summary, we are engaged in a turf war. Parents, whose primary concern is their children’s education, are battling the establishment, particularly the teachers’ unions, whose aim is to protect their profits and maintain their toxic influence over K-12 education.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 18:55

Trump-MbS Meeting Was Strained Behind Closed Doors: 'Disappointment & Irritation'

Axios reported some new details this week related to the recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House.

There were more tensions in the private dialogue between the two leaders than previously known, and some significant disagreements centered on policy toward Israel.

While the two leaders exchanged compliments in front of the cameras, aspects of the private discussion were strained, Axios noted. Officials described Trump as being frustrated by the resistance he encountered from the crown prince on joining the Abraham Accords.

Bin Salman presented his stance that a firm commitment toward a two-state solution involving the Palestinians must be made for Saudi Arabia to join the accords.

Behind closed doors the crown prince reportedly pushed back when Trump pressed him to formally join the Abraham Accords which establishes normalization with Israel.

via Al Jazeera

MbS reportedly argued that he has to represent his people at a moment Saudi public sentiment has turned sharply against Israel in the aftermath the Gaza war.

But Trump had "pressed hard" on the issue in the November 18 meeting, Axios underscored. One unnamed admin official explained in the meeting's aftermath, "The best way to say it is disappointment and irritation. The president really wants them to join the Abraham Accord. He tried very hard to talk him. It was an honest discussion. But MBS is a strong man. He stood his ground."

The Saudis are insisting that Israel must agree to "an irreversible, credible and time-bound path" for a Palestinian state, but the Netanyahu government has firmly rejected this possibility, especially in the wake of the Oct.7, 2023 terror attack.

Another US official said, "MBS never said no to normalization. The door is open for doing it later. But the two-state solution is an issue."

In relation to the Hamas Oct.7 attack, there's long been speculation that the terror raids on southern Israel were launched precisely because the militant group was worried that as more and more regional countries join the Abraham Accords, the question of Palestinian statehood would be permanently abandoned.

According to this theory, the brazen and history-altering attack was meant once again to sow deep division among the 'Arab world' and Israel. To some degree, this may have succeeded as a broader geopolitical goal, given the Abraham Accords have indeed been stalled. But it also backfired, given Iran and Hezbollah are more weakened than ever, and the Syrian government was overthrown a year ago. These were all key, well-armed and historic resisters of Israeli expansion and Zionist hegemony. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 18:30

Why No COVID Commission In The US?

Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

They were the hardest years of our lives, marked by the dissolution of rights, liberties, and hope. Sadness swept the land, as forced physical isolation and shattered civic life mutated toward mandates to wear masks and eventually to accept a new injection product.

The liturgy of life fundamentally disrupted, we lost track of the passage of time and saw our social and community networks decimated. Government spending and money printing exploded as never before. For many the whole period feels like a blur, one that resulted in a dramatic devaluation in the value of income and savings.

I speak of course of the COVID years, 2020–2023. Agencies at all levels cancelled religious holidays, closed small businesses and schools, imposed limits on house parties, and overturned traditional election protocols. It went on for three years. It was in the name of health but health collapsed during this period. It all feels like madness in retrospect.

People these days barely want to speak about the subject, because it is still somewhat divisive but mainly because it is deeply painful. It was this way following the Great War, a trauma on a similar scale. Most people just wanted it to go away, and to put it all in the rearview mirror.

That said, when people do open up about what happened, they share shocking stories of personal tragedy and loss. Only this past week, a man told me about his dream business he had started 10 years ago and then built into a growing wholesale machine with 200-plus employees and bright prospects ahead. With the lockdowns, all orders for his project stopped. The company collapsed in two weeks. All employees lost their jobs and he and his wife lost their dreams. They divorced soon after.

Today his idea and a version of his project is in most major stories, as manufactured by huge corporate enterprises. He changed professions and is still digging out from a financial hole.

It’s just one story but something replicated in some form millions of times over. Kids who experienced this will never forget it, and parents have few choices but to describe the whole thing as a time when adults lost their minds.

Remember that all of this happened not just in the United States but in 194 countries around the world. The policies were strikingly similar everywhere. It was a time in which human interaction was described as disease spreading and therefore to be avoided in the interest of “slowing the spread.”

Only a few nations resisted: Sweden, Tanzania, Nicaragua, and Belarus. Sweden in particular experienced far better outcomes even from the targeted pathogen, the best in Europe. The population in general avoided trauma.

After all this time, one might suppose that the world would be awash in apologies along with pledges never to do anything like this again. One possible path to making this happen might be a COVID Commission. The United States has never formed one. Early on, there was talk about such a thing but it never came to fruition. Even now, there are no plans for such a thing.

This is for a reason. An honest report, one informed and written by independent researchers, would implicate both political parties, most universities, many government agencies, the Big Tech and pharmaceutical sectors, churches and schools that went along, in addition to a massive swath of incumbent elites in foundations.

Sadly, that is just not going to happen. I wish it were otherwise. Any official commission report written as a coverup would be dead on arrival. Not even the establishment is that dumb.

I would like to live in a society in which mistakes are admitted, brutality is repudiated, institutions adapt in light of failure, and leadership is mature enough to seek forgiveness for wrongdoing. We hope for a narrative of history that is self-correcting in real time: error followed by pledges to improve and sin by repentance and propitiation.

Sadly none of that is to be.

Somehow it came to be that the United Kingdom did put together an official commission.

It has spent upwards of 500 million pounds and taken years in testimony. The second part of the report just appeared. It features a helpful summary of its conclusions for those who do not want to slog through the entire thing. It is one that could have been predicted from the start. It comes down to four words:

“Too little, too late.”

Translation: The commission has decided that the UK waited too long to issue stay-at-home orders and shut businesses, churches, and schools. If it had acted in February rather than March 2020 and with greater ferocity, they have declared, somehow the outcomes would have been better. In short, there is no regret at all except for one point: it should have been more and sooner.

They know this because computer models tell them so.

Sure, the report admits, there were all sorts of mistakes in coordination, communication, and costing. This is bureaucratic speak for: we need more money next time. The report takes no issue with the disease modeling that gave rise to the lockdowns in the first place. The ineffective shot is not addressed in this particular report but we can anticipate what later reports will say: its only failure traces to slow uptake and vaccine resistance.

The huge lesson: “Governments must act swiftly and decisively to stand any chance of stopping the spread of a virus.”

In other words, they are going to do it again, more quickly and harder.

There is a feature of this report that simply breaks my heart. This is because I seriously doubt that anyone really believes in the truth of it. The claim is utterly unsustainable in light of any and all evidence. The Swedish experience is not discussed in any depth. It cannot because the Swedish experience disproves everything in this report.

I’ve been writing about this topic for five going on six years. My first piece was from January 2020, and it warned that if governments try to take on the microbial kingdom it will lose and utterly discredit themselves. I said this before we even knew of the thousand-fold differential in medically significant impact between the young and elderly and infirm. Even if the virus had been more serious, the result would have been the same.

Another reason that this report is demoralizing: tens and hundreds of thousands of actual experts the world over have debunked the pandemic response in countless numbers of papers, articles, and books. Have these protests made no difference at all? Are officials at all levels going to pretend forever as if these do not exist?

I don’t know the answer but this much I know: We cannot look to official statements of these sorts to codify truth. Instead, we can only count on them to be self-serving, a means of protecting the reputations and jobs of the very people who made such dreadful errors.

Just as no one should look to government to stop a fast-spreading and fast-mutating respiratory virus, we should not be looking to government commissions to admit error and pledge to do better next time. Just as the pandemic response discredited so many institutions, kicking off a new age of widespread distrust of everything and everyone, so too will more such reports entrench our culture of incredulity.

Given these conditions, the United States is better off with no commission at all. That said, it would be good for at least one legislative body to speak clearly and plainly about all that went wrong. My choice would be the U.S. Senate.

Maybe there is some chance of that with enough push from the grassroots. So long as there are no admissions of wrongdoing, there will be no healing from the anger and distrust that characterizes our times. This problem is not going away. As time has rolled on, the reality of what happened is ever more present in our lives.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 18:05

Is A Trump UFO Bombshell Incoming?

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Documentary filmmaker Dan Farah has boldly predicted that President Trump could be the first world leader to spill the beans on UFOs, dropping a “major announcement” about non-human tech and extraterrestrial intel—sparking feverish speculation: Is this engineered hype to divert from global flashpoints, or a seismic shift toward transparency? 

Farah made the claim on Joe Rogan’s podcast while promoting a new documentary titled The Age of Disclosure. As Farah teases amnesty for black-budget insiders, is Trump poised to unmask aliens, or is this another misdirect?

Farah asserted: “I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens soon after the film comes out — the sitting president has to step to the microphone and say: humanity is not alone in the universe. We have recovered technology of non-human origin. So have other nations. There is a high-stakes, secret cold war race to reverse engineer this technology. We need to win this race.” 

UFO expert Dan Farah just told Joe Rogan he believes a sitting president will finally come clean about the UAP phenomenon…and he thinks that president will be Donald Trump.

Then he dropped a bombshell about what Trump has already tasked Tulsi Gabbard with investigating.… pic.twitter.com/TsMb2WRm2q

— Overton (@overton_news) November 21, 2025

Rogan quipped, “I think Trump might be the only guy that’s willing to do something that crazy.” 

Farah replied: “I know he is aware of what people in his administration say in the film… And I know that they are discussing internally how they’re going to react to the film publicly.”

The filmmaker also claimed that Trump was contemplating basic disclosure during his first tenure as President and has now tasked United States Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard with getting to the bottom of what is gong on with the UFO/UAP phenomenon.

Throughout the podcast he detailed how insiders have revealed to him that there have been multiple UFO contact events with the U.S. military, including multiple face to face encounters with non-human entities.

Dan Farah tells Joe Rogan there have been multiple UFO contact events with our military and even describes the types of beings involved. ? pic.twitter.com/weBCa1fbIz

— Astral? (@The_Astral_) November 21, 2025

The Age of Disclosure director/producer Dan Farah tells Joe Rogan the U.S. conducted nuclear weapon tests with the specific intent to recover crashed UFOs.

Farah: “One of the realizations early on was that atomic weapon testing has a ripple effect that can down these things. So… pic.twitter.com/6TVlvi9tGo

— UAP James (@UAPJames) November 21, 2025

Full interview here:

Farah’s call for “amnesty” for UFO cover-up insiders mirrors Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s previous on-camera plea: “I’m not trying to punish anyone. I need to know what they learned, because taxpayers paid for this and it’s in our interest to know what’s going on.” 

But is this real reckoning or red herring? Intelligence Whistleblower Edward Snowden’s warned in 2023 that such flaps are “engineered” to bury scandals like Nord Stream.

“I wish it were aliens,” but it’s bait to “wipe the infinitely more awkward Seymour Hersh story from the headlines,” he noted at the time.

Farah also claimed that according to insiders, over a trillion dollars has been poured into “reverse-engineering” recovered craft.

Ex-intel officer Luis Elizondo’s 2024 drone-UFO intercept revelations—“true UAP events followed by a Department of Defense response”—have hinted at a hidden arms race.

In 2023 the NSC claimed that UAPs are having a “real impact” on pilots—claiming “there’s something our pilots are seeing.”

White House National Security Council Coordinator, Admiral John Kirby was asked about Senator Schumer’s UAP legislation. ?

-White House takes it seriously

“Some of these phenomena we know have already had an impact on our training ranges.” pic.twitter.com/CNeJ8Efj6z

— UAP News (@HighPeaks77) July 17, 2023

Under Trump, could this be significant truth-telling, unearthing black-budget secrets? Or, as Snowden posited, another “distraction” from wars or woes? 

Farah’s hope—Trump as the “only guy” wild enough—clashes with skeptics seeing psyop. 

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 15:45

'Seditious Six' Democrats Freak Out Over FBI Investigation

Democrats are losing it after the Trump administration opened an investigation into six Democratic lawmakers following the posting of a Nov. 18 social-media video in which they advised U.S. service members that they are obligated to follow lawful, not illegal, orders under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The video - featuring lawmakers with national security backgrounds - reflected a familiar line of Democratic criticism of President Donald Trump during his term: questioning the president’s adherence to constitutional constraints and norms of military authority.

We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.

The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.

Don’t give up the ship. pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r

— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025

On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he may take disciplinary action against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who participated in the video and served as a U.S. Navy captain and astronaut before entering public office. Hegseth directed Navy Secretary John Phelan to review Kelly’s remarks and provide guidance by Dec. 10.

The video made by the “Seditious Six” was despicable, reckless, and false. Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their Commanders undermines every aspect of “good order and discipline.” Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion — which only puts our warriors in danger.

Five of the six individuals in that video do not fall under @DeptofWar jurisdiction (one is CIA and four are former military but not “retired”, so they are no longer subject to UCMJ). However, Mark Kelly (retired Navy Commander) is still subject to UCMJ—and he knows that. -Pete Hegseth

The following day, all six lawmakers said the FBI had asked to interview them. In addition to Kelly, the Democrats are: Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, a former Army officer; Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, a former Air Force captain; Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, a former Navy lieutenant who served in Iraq; Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, a Navy reserve veteran; and Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who previously worked at the CIA. Slotkin said the outreach came from the FBI’s counterterrorism division, Punchbowl News reports.

“No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution,” the four House members said in a joint statement. The FBI declined to comment on the agency’s inquiry.

While Kelly remains subject to court-martial as a retired naval officer, pursuing charges against a sitting senator for public remarks would have little historical precedent. The matter could ultimately require judicial interpretation.

The case raises constitutional questions, particularly under Article I, which affords lawmakers certain protections for statements made in the course of legislative - or in some interpretations, public - duties. Legal scholars note that this dynamic may force the courts to balance military conduct statutes with congressional speech protections.

GOP Reaction and Divisions

With Congress out of session for Thanksgiving, Republican lawmakers have been slow to offer comment, though two GOP senators voiced immediate concern about the inquiry.

Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) said he respects Kelly personally, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said that “to accuse him and other lawmakers of treason and sedition for rightfully pointing out that servicemembers can refuse illegal orders is reckless and flat-out wrong.”

On Truth Social, Mr. Trump reacted sharply to the video, accusing the Democratic lawmakers of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” He also amplified a user repost calling for their hanging.

The controversy emerges at a time when both Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel face heightened internal scrutiny. Hegseth’s authority has been unusually overshadowed by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a Yale Law acquaintance of Vice President JD Vance. Driscoll has been tasked with exploring diplomatic channels in Ukraine amid ongoing hostilities with Russia.

Patel, meanwhile, has drawn criticism for deploying local FBI tactical resources for personal security purposes involving his girlfriend. MSNOW reported that Patel’s tenure atop the FBI “may be numbered,” however the Trump administration pushed back, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posting on X: "This story is completely made up. In fact, when this Fake News published, I was in the Oval Office, where President Trump was meeting with his law enforcement team, including FBI Director Kash Patel."

Trump later said that Patel is "doing a great job." 

Politically, Hegseth’s posture may inadvertently bolster Kelly, who is considered by some Democrats as a potential 2028 presidential contender. But the public exposure has carried risk for the Democrats involved: several have reported an escalation in threats. Slotkin now receives security protection from Capitol Police.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 15:25

Forged Letters, Luxury Lifestyle: Takeaways So Far From Trial Of Accused Chinese Agent And Hochul, Cuomo Aide

Authored by Nichaolas Zifcak via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

In the trial of Linda Sun, the former aide to New York governors who is accused of acting as a Chinese agent, the court has heard evidence that Sun forged the signature of Gov. Kathy Hochul, had close contact with Chinese consular staff, and purchased luxury items with payouts from China.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's former aide, Linda Sun (R), and her husband, Christopher Hu, leave federal court after their arraignment in New York City on Sept. 3, 2024. Corey Sipkin/AP Photo

The former aide to Hochul and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was indicted in 2024 over allegedly using her position to push the agenda of the Chinese Communist Party in return for millions of dollars paid to her husband’s business. Sun has pleaded not guilty.

Sun is on trial in federal court in the Eastern District of New York in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, with former colleagues and coworkers taking the stand to testify.

After almost two weeks of a trial that is expected to run until mid-December, here are some key takeaways so far.

Delegation Invitation Letters Allegedly Forged

Federal prosecutors alleged that Sun put together an official invitation letter to help Chinese officials travel to New York state. Without approval, she allegedly signed then-Lt. Gov. Hochul’s signature on the letter, which was on official letterhead. According to the prosecution, officials from Henan Province, China, used that letter to apply for visas to travel to the United States.

Prosecutors showed the letter to Jeffrey Lewis, who worked for Hochul for 13 years, including as her chief of staff. Lewis was authorized to use her signature.

Lewis testified that the signature on the invitation for Henan officials was not Hochul’s. He explained that Hochul connects and merges the “h” and “y” in Kathy; that the “h” in Hochul is connected with the “o”; and that the “h,“ ”u,“ and ”l” run together.

Lewis also testified that the only Chinese delegation invitation letter he could recall that Gov. Cuomo requested Lt. Gov. Hochul write was one in 2017, for a delegation from Jiangxi Province.

Lewis also pointed out that the alleged forged letters were on a generic letterhead from the governor’s office, which is distinct from the letterhead of the lieutenant governor, which was used in the Jiangxi letter. In 2018 and 2019, the years in which the Henan letters were issued, Sun worked in the office of the governor.

Liaison With Chinese Consular Staff

Prosecutors presented evidence suggesting that Sun prioritized requests of the Chinese Consulate over her duty to the state of New York.

In 2019, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen traveled to New York City and held a banquet on July 12. Taiwan’s representatives there invited Cuomo to join the event.

Prosecutors presented emails at trial that showed that when Sun received the banquet invitation for the governor, her first action was not to forward it to the governor’s scheduler, but to immediately alert the Chinese Consulate.

The emails showed that Sun received the invitation on July 5 at 6:32 p.m. One minute later, at 6:33 p.m., she emailed her contact at the Chinese Consulate in New York City, Li Li Hu, with the text “FYI.”

The following day, Sun replied to the representative for Taiwan and declined the invitation on the governor’s behalf.

According to Jessica Pulver, who worked in the governor’s Invitations Office in 2019, the office never received the invitation for Cuomo to join the banquet with Tsai. In testimony at the trial, Pulver explained that the expectation was that all invitations for the governor would be forwarded.

The incident is one example of the close collaborative relationship Sun had with the Chinese Consulate, according to prosecutors. When Consul General Zhang Qiyue left her post in New York City in May 2018, she sent Sun a farewell letter that ended with, “Your personal friendship and kind support will always be cherished.”

Luxury Goods

During FBI searches of Sun’s and her parents’ homes, the FBI found luxury cars, watches, and designer handbags. These items, prosecutors said, suggest means beyond that of her state employee salary, which in 2021 was $144,000.

In addition, documents and gifts from Chinese officials show a pattern of close ties with Chinese officials, according to prosecutors.

In July 2024, the FBI searched Sun’s home in Manhasset, New York, and her parents’ apartment in the Flushing neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, as well as their TD Bank deposit box.

During those searches, the FBI found luxury goods including a Rolex Submariner, a Patek Philippe Aquanaut watch, and several Hermès Birkin handbags.

Authorities also found several high-end cars—a 2024 Ferrari Roma, a 2024 Range Rover, a 2022 Mercedes GLB SUV, and an Audi Q5—as well as a deposit box with $130,000 in cash.

FBI agents also testified to finding a number of documents in Chinese and objects associated with the Chinese regime, including a 1-kilogram friendship coin of solid silver, likely worth more than $1,600 today.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 15:05

Were The Brits Behind Bloomberg's Russian-US Leaks?

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service warned earlier the same day as Bloomberg’s report that the Brits are hellbent on discrediting Trump in order to undermine his latest peace efforts for resolving the conflict from which they profit.

Bloomberg shared what it claimed to be the transcripts of calls between Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov as well as between Ushakov and Putin’s other advisor Kirill Dmitriev about the Ukrainian peace process. The gist of the Witkoff-Ushakov call was Witkoff’s proposal to have Putin suggest a Gaza-like 20-point peace deal for Ukraine during an upcoming call with Trump while the Ushakov-Dmitriev one implied that the leaked draft was Russian-influenced.

Ushakov declined to comment on his talks with Witkoff but said that “Somebody tapped, somebody leaked, but not us” whereas Dmitriev flat-out described his purported call with Ushakov as “fake”. For his part, Trump defended Witkoff’s alleged “coaching” of Ushakov on how Putin should deal with him by reminding everyone “That’s what a dealmaker does. You got to say, ‘Look, they want this – you got to convince them with this.’ That’s a very standard form of negotiations.”

As regards the possibility that the draft framework was Russian-influenced, the notion of which has been pushed by the legacy media to discredit the proposed mutual compromises therein, that was already debunked. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who also serves as National Security Advisor, said that “The peace proposal was authored by the U.S. It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”

Therefore, neither transcript is scandalous even if their contents were accurately reported, yet the question arises of who might have tapped and leaked these calls. Intriguingly, earlier the same day that Bloomberg later published their report, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service warned that the UK “aims to undermine Trump’s efforts to resolve the conflict by discrediting him.” Readers will recall the UK’s role in Russiagate, which they conspired with the CIA, FBI, and the Clinton camp to cook up to against him.

Seeing as how they can no longer collude in this way with their three prior conspirators, the UK might therefore have resorted to leaking those two calls with Ushakov that they might have tapped (possibly among many others) as a last-ditch attempt to discredit the latest unprecedented progress towards peace. This provocation might also have been meant to make Trump panic and fire Witkoff out of fear of another Russiagate 2.0 investigation if this scandal helps the Democrats flip Congress next year.

Firing Witkoff, who’s been central to the recent progress towards peace, could ruin the process right at its most pivotal moment as Zelensky is reportedly considering meeting with Trump very soon to finalize the details of the US-mediated peace framework with Russia. By holding firm, Trump is therefore obstructing efforts to ruin everything that he’s achieved thus far on a Russian-Ukrainian peace deal and consequently revive the Russiagate hoax for helping the Democrats during next year’s midterms.

Accordingly, Bloomberg’ Russian-US leaks can be considered a British intelligence operation for derailing the peace process and perpetuating the conflict from which the UK profits, not to mention meddling in the midterms by giving a fake news-driven boost to the Democrats. Trump revealed that Witkoff will meet with Putin on Monday and might even be joined by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who helped negotiate the Gaza deal, so more British provocations are expected out of desperation to ruin their talks.

*  *  * BLACK FRIDAY STARTS NOW

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 14:45

Legal Cases Challenging Trump's Agenda - Key Issues To Watch

Authored by Stacy Robinson and Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A flood of litigation continues to hamper President Donald Trump’s agenda, with hundreds of lawsuits challenging his actions on gender issues, tariffs, immigration, National Guard deployment, and other matters.

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images, Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A common theme of many lawsuits is the claim that the president has overstepped his executive authority.

Some of the cases have already reached the Supreme Court, where Trump scored a major win in June and a series of wins on the emergency docket.

Eventual decisions on outstanding cases could have long-lasting effects. If Trump wins, he can press forward with his key policies and the court will have carved out a clearer scope of executive power.

Here are some of the key issues, the legal battlegrounds in which they will be fought, hints on how judges might rule, and their implications for the future.

Tariffs, Emergency Economic Powers

Trump’s broad tariff agenda sparked a legal battle that has been heard by the Supreme Court. Judgment is pending.

A group of states and businesses have challenged the tariffs the president imposed on Canada and Mexico over their failure to police drug trafficking and illegal immigration at their borders, as well as the reciprocal tariffs he imposed on scores of other countries.

Trump issued those tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which allows the president to take actions such as regulating imports during a national emergency. Before Trump, presidents had used the law only to impose sanctions.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in May that the IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.

In a separate case in May, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump’s tariffs did not address the issue of drug trafficking, and were therefore unjustified. It also ruled that the IEEPA does not give Trump power to impose “unlimited” tariffs because that power belongs to Congress and has not been delegated to the president.

Those cases eventually reached the Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on Nov. 5 and is yet to issue its decision.

During oral arguments, some justices expressed skepticism that Congress had authorized the type of tariffs Trump imposed.

The Supreme Court is also considering whether the law—if it does, in fact, authorize Trump’s tariffs—upsets the nation’s separation of powers and is therefore unconstitutional.

“Congress, as a practical matter, can’t get this power back once it’s handed it over to the President,” Justice Neil Gorsuch said. “It’s a one-way ratchet toward the gradual, but continual, accretion of power in the executive branch and away from the people’s elected representatives.”

At one point during the Nov. 5 hearing, Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh seemed more sympathetic to the administration’s position. They questioned how, as one attorney argued, the law could allow Trump to impose something as large as a complete embargo but not a small tariff.

The U.S. Court of International Trade in New York City on May 29, 2025. The court ruled that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not give President Donald Trump power to impose “unlimited” tariffs. Spencer Platt/Getty Images National Guard, Posse Comitatus

Citing high crime rates, Trump has attempted to federalize and deploy National Guard troops to major cities across the United States.

Officials in Memphis, Tennessee, welcomed the move, but state and local governments have sued to block the action in Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon.

The lawsuits challenge Trump’s invocation of Section 12406 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which allows presidents to federalize state National Guard troops under certain conditions.

The Trump administration has pointed to two of those conditions in particular: when the president is unable to execute the law using regular forces and when there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion.

Trump’s challengers have found limited success in courts, winning lower court blocks but facing hurdles in the appeals process.

Most recently, Judge Jia Cobb of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on Nov. 20 that the president must end troop deployment in Washington, saying that the president can deploy troops only to address a specific situation, not for “whatever reason” he chooses. She paused that order to give the government time to appeal.

Judges in Oregon and Illinois also blocked Trump’s deployments while expressing doubt that the National Guard was needed to address crime in those areas. And a California judge ruled in September that Trump had violated a law known as the Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents federal troops from engaging in civilian law enforcement.

The administration is appealing each of those cases, and the Illinois ruling has reached the Supreme Court. The court has requested a briefing, asking both sides to clarify their interpretation of the line in Section 12406 stating that the president may call up the National Guard if he is “unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”

National Guard members patrol the National Mall in Washington on Aug. 27, 2025. On Nov. 20, Judge Jia Cobb of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the president to end the troop deployment, ruling that he may deploy troops for only a specific situation, not “whatever reason” he chooses. She then stayed her order to give the government time to appeal. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times Illegal Immigrants

Trump has focused on enforcing immigration laws, including through a ramp-up of deportations.

Previously, expedited removals were reserved for illegal immigrants detained within 100 miles of the U.S. border and within 14 days of illegal entry.

When he took office, Trump expanded rapid deportations to include illegal immigrants nationwide who had been in the country longer than two weeks, but less than two years.

On Jan. 22, advocacy group Make the Road New York sued, arguing that illegal immigrants were being removed without due process. A federal judge blocked the government’s policy in August, and on Nov. 22, a court of appeals declined to put that ruling on hold pending appeal.

Trump’s executive order in January revoking birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants was challenged by numerous plaintiffs across the country. Those challenges were consolidated into Trump v. CASA.

When the case reached the Supreme Court, the justices did not rule on the legality of the executive order or the question of birthright citizenship, but instead ruled that such nationwide blocks—called universal or nationwide injunctions—are likely an abuse of lower courts’ power.

This ruling signaled to lower courts that they should issue such nationwide injunctions against a president’s policies sparingly.

President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the James S. Brady Briefing Room at the White House on June 27, 2025. Mehmet Eser/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images Alien Enemies Act

Part of Trump’s deportation plan involved using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which allows swift deportations during an invasion, to remove alleged criminals and transnational gang members from groups such as Tren de Aragua.

Trump invoked that law and used it against the Venezuelan gang in March, but lower courts temporarily blocked the plan in April when a group of deportees sued.

The Supreme Court at first upheld the block, but later ruled that the Venezuelan plaintiffs were each required to bring a habeas petition individually challenging his or her removal and must be given time to do so.

In one ongoing case, W.M.M. v. Trump, an appeals court ruled 2–1 that the mass illegal entry of Tren de Aragua gang members does not necessarily constitute an “invasion” as defined by the Alien Enemies Act.

Circuit Judge Andrew Oldham of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, dissenting from the majority, highlighted the current friction between Trump and the judiciary.

“The majority’s approach to this case is not only unprecedented—it is contrary to more than 200 years of precedent,” he wrote in his dissent.

“It reflects a view of the Judicial power that is not only muscular—it is herculean. And it reflects a view of the Executive power that is not only diminutive—it is made subservient to the foreign-policy and public-safety hunches of every federal district judge in the country.”

The Fifth Circuit vacated that ruling at the end of September and plans to hold an en banc hearing; the full slate of circuit judges may reach a different conclusion.

In another case, J.G.G. v. Trump, a federal judge ordered the government to halt deportation flights headed to El Salvador’s Terrorist Confinement Center.

The judge is pursuing a criminal contempt-of-court inquiry against the Trump administration, alleging that the order was ignored.

Read the rest here...

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 14:25

"It's Utilities Versus Rent" - Data Centers Send Energy Prices Soaring

The surge in data center construction to power today’s AI and cloud computing demands has sent electricity prices skyrocketing over the last few years. And, as Bloomberg reports, it is only getting worse.

With electricity costs now as much as 267% higher compared to five years ago in some parts of the US, fingers are being pointed directly at data center activity for blame. And while some - especially generously funded lobbies - are eager to dissemble and distort, claiming that on the contrary, electricity prices are barely keeping up with inflation and that data centers have little to no impact on electrical bills, the map below shows that more than 70% of the nodes that recorded pricing increases are located within 50 miles of significant data center activity.

Take Nicole Pasture: the Baltimore resident said her utility bills are up 50% over the past year. She is also a judge who rules on rental disputes in the city’s district court and sees people struggling with their power bills.

“It’s utilities versus rent,” she said. “They want to stay in their home, but they also want to keep their lights on.”

New data center construction projects are announced weekly, sometimes every day. Some of the construction timelines have upwards of 100 MW of new data center demand being built only two years from groundbreaking. This has to be contrasted against the rate of new energy generation construction, with the recent vite among PJM Interconnection stakeholders resulting in a failure to even select a plan for how to add data centers to the grid. 

“The voting reflects the nearly impossible challenge of trying to ensure resource adequacy and control ratepayer costs, while also allowing data center development in a market that is already short on generation supply and faces a 5-to-7 year timeline to bring on new large-scale generating resources,” Jon Gordon, a director at Advanced Energy United, a clean energy trade group, said in a bulletin on the meeting.

While some utilities have been able to pass the burden of higher electricity costs onto the owners of the large loads, most of the costs of expanding grid capacity inevitably find their way to consumers.

According to Bloomberg, in northern Virginia, Dominion Energy cited data center demand, inflation and higher fuel costs when asking regulators to raise its customer bills by about $20 a month for the average residential user over the next two years. Dominion also forecasts peak demand would rise by more than 75% by 2039 with data centers. It would be just 10% without.

And it's only getting worse: with hundreds of gigawatts of future power demand from data centers built by companies like Oracle and Microsoft, Goldman writes that "eight out of the 13 US regional power markets are already at or below critical spare capacity levels."

"eight out of the 13 US regional power markets are already at or below critical spare capacity levels." - Goldman https://t.co/YYAGUukfwR pic.twitter.com/eU4XPFAMrp

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 23, 2025

In other words, the electricity crisis is not around the corner: it's here already.

And since surging electricity costs are borne by everyone, the topic is rapidly becoming a political one...

In one year, this will be the most popular chart on this site pic.twitter.com/h93gWXMoNL

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 11, 2025

... and we previously highlighted that the blame game has already started between Republicans and Democrats. Yet some localities seem to be more focused on solving the problem than merely grandstanding: consider the case of Texas where most data centers already have their own "behind the meter" onsite power generation, a key step to keeping overall power costs contained.

To prevent skyrocketing electric bills, every state has to follow the Texas example: each data center must have its own "behind the meter" onsite power generation.

“We believe data centers should pay for the full cost of their power,” Dominion Energy spokesperson Aaron Ruby… https://t.co/0u1owTeAs8 pic.twitter.com/8W421s3rzV

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 23, 2025

Luckily for US consumers, the race for data center developers to secure behind the meter power is already on, with demand for modular reactors ratcheting higher.

We recently we highlighted the $700 million capital raise for privately-held modular reactor developer X-energy, as Amazon backs their 12-reactor project in Washington State to meet data center demand. We also highlighted the recent announcement between Nano Nuclear and BaRupOn for potentially developing upwards of 1 GW worth of nuclear energy to power the LAMP and Innovation Hub in Texas. Fermi America’s Matador Project, also in Texas, will utilize nuclear energy among other power generation sources, including gas, wind, and solar, to power a massive data center campus using a behind the meter grid.

So while power bills are soaring due to the ongoing avalanche of data center deployment to power the chatbot revolution (because someone has to write junior's high school essay), there is some hope that recent developments will put a lid on just how high the prices rise.

Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 14:00

Why Are The Elites Moving Into High Security 'Fortress Communities'

Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

The elite aren’t stupid. They can see that our society is coming apart at the seams all around us, and so they want to live some place safe. In fact, for many among the elite security has become the number one priority when choosing a new home. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us do not have the resources to move into high security communities guarded by teams of armed professionals. When things really start hitting the fan, most Americans are just going to have to deal with the chaos that is suddenly erupting all around them.

But for the ultra-wealthy, one of the benefits of having so much money is being able to shut yourself off from the rest of the world.

In Delray Beach, Florida a community known as Stone Creek Ranch has become extremely trendy among the elite for one particular reason.

It has a heavily armed security unit that watches over it 24 hours a day…

On paper, Stone Creek Ranch—a “prestigious” enclave made up of less than 40 luxury homes—is a world away from Miami, Manalapan, and Palm Beach: It offers no beaches, no celebrity-approved nightlife, and no glitzy designer shopping.

Yet it offers one very particular luxury that is proving to be quite the draw among the one percent: total and absolute privacy that is safeguarded by a team of armed professionals who watch over the community 24/7—a majority of whom come from previous jobs in law enforcement or the military.

Prospective residents’ entry into the community is policed just as carefully: Any homebuyers seeking to purchase one of just 37 private residences within Stone Creek are required to go through rigorous criminal background checks before they can even attempt to secure a home there.

Considering how fast conditions in our society are deteriorating, it sounds like a wonderful place.

But you will never get to live there unless you have tens of millions of dollars…

Just last month, Hollywood A-lister Mark Wahlberg made headlines when he dropped $37 million on a newly constructed megamansion inside the enclave — only to be followed weeks later by Rockstar energy drink founder Russ Weiner, who is in contract on two properties in the community, worth a total of $43 million.

Indian Creek Village is another high security community in southern Florida.

The island boasts “a high-tech security system that’s straight out of a spy movie”, and the list of residents includes Tom Brady and Jeff Bezos…

Indian Creek Village, known as the “Billionaire Bunker,” isn’t just another gated community. It’s the ultimate fortress for the ultrarich. Nestled in South Florida’s Biscayne Bay, this private island is where some of the world’s wealthiest people, including Jeff Bezos and Tom Brady, have decided to stake their claim. But living here isn’t just about luxury. It’s about security and lots of it.

You can’t just stroll onto Indian Creek. Not a chance. The island is locked down with a high-tech security system that’s straight out of a spy movie. “The wealthier you become, the more you want perfect security,” Setha Low, director of the Public Space Research Group at CUNY, told Business Insider recently. And Indian Creek delivers. An Israeli-designed radar system rings the island. It’s a system that can detect anyone approaching half a mile away. Cameras are everywhere: hidden in hedges, mounted on poles and linked to a command center that monitors every move.

The police force here? They’re more like personal bodyguards for the residents. With 19 officers for just 89 residents, Indian Creek has a cop-to-citizen ratio that makes New York City look understaffed. And these aren’t your average officers. They’re trained in tactical operations and armed with fully automatic weapons. They also spend most of their time patrolling the island’s perimeter, ensuring no one gets too close.

Once upon a time, the ultra-wealthy preferred living in large cities such as Los Angeles or New York City.

But now everything has changed.

On Twitter, New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino shared a very disturbing incident that just occurred in her area…

Last night in Malba, a large group of individuals from outside my district conducted an illegal ‘takeover’ of a quiet residential street at approximately 12:30am. This is not the first time it’s happened.

A private security guard attempted to calm the situation — he was assaulted by the mob and his vehicle was set on fire. He suffered significant injuries. A local resident was also assaulted.

Response to this incident was less than ideal. Residents reporting the incident to 911 were told that ‘quality of life team’ and 311 should handle the situation. Unacceptable. In fact, these violent street takeovers should be met with maximum force by the police department.

We have NEVER had these problems before. Now it’s an epidemic. What changed? We stopped arresting criminals.

I am meeting this morning with the chief of department and the local precinct at the scene to discuss exactly what happened last night. I have already been assured that Malba will receive four dedicated patrol cars from this point forward, as well as additional security upgrades that we cannot disclose.

However, the city MUST do something to stop this lawlessness. All the speed cameras in the world do absolutely NOTHING to prevent these incidents — we need police response and the most severe consequences for these criminals, not to simply allow them to drive away after they’ve completed their mayhem.

These incidents are happening citywide, and they’re happening because there are no longer any real consequences to this kind of criminality. But let me make something very clear to the criminals — you are risking your lives bringing this chaos into our neighborhoods.

Why would the elite want to live in a place where this sort of thing is happening?

Why would anyone want to live in a place where this sort of thing is happening?

Of course conditions are not just deteriorating in our core urban areas.

In southeastern Wisconsin, thieves from South America are systematically looting home after home…

A wave of high-end residential burglaries across southeastern Wisconsin has prompted a coordinated law enforcement response and drawn political attention at both the local and national levels.

The Mequon Police Department (MPD) says the burglaries share striking similarities, suggesting a professional operation.

The suspects, dressed head to toe in black, with faces covered and gloves on, have entered homes through wooded backyards, often targeting cul-de-sacs or properties near golf courses.

Stolen items include jewelry, designer handbags, watches and cash, all consistent with organized theft groups that target affluent neighborhoods nationwide.

All over the nation, crime and violence are out of control.

If you have the resources to move somewhere more secure, that is probably a good idea.

But of course most of the population doesn’t have the resources to move somewhere more secure.

In fact, we have reached a point where millions upon millions of Americans are just trying to figure out a way to keep the lights on…

Misty Pellew’s family lived in the dark for several days this month.

Pellew’s power was shut off Nov. 13 because of $602 in unpaid bills, the latest in a string of financial humiliations that began six months ago after her husband lost his $20-an-hour excavation job in northeastern Pennsylvania. The recent government shutdown dealt another blow, delaying federal funding for programs that helped the family pay for food and utilities.

Although Pellew’s lights were temporarily turned back on last week, they were set to be disconnected again if she didn’t pay another $102. With an overdrawn bank account, she was bracing to be without power again. Last time, her family ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner and slept in hoodies and gloves to keep warm.

This is what life looks like for so many people out there right now.

In New York City, residential power shutoffs are up fivefold compared to one year ago…

In some areas, such as New York City, the surge has been dramatic — with residential shutoffs in August up fivefold from a year ago, utility filings show.

Needless to say, Americans aren’t just getting behind on their power bills.

As economic conditions have steadily gotten worse, delinquency rates have risen to historic levels…

Credit card balances alone jumped $24 billion, reaching an all-time high, while the share of balances in serious delinquency—90 days past due—climbed to a nearly financial-crash level of 7.1 percent.

Auto loans tell a similar story, with serious delinquency rates at 3 percent, the highest since 2010. And a spike in resulting defaults has triggered a wave of repossessions in 2025, with 2.2 million vehicles already repossessed, per figures from the Recovery Database Network (RDN), and forecasts of a record 3 million by year’s end.

“Delinquencies, defaults, and repossessions have shot up in recent years and look alarmingly similar to trends that were apparent before the Great Recession,” the Consumer Federation of America said in a recent report.

When you are drowning in debt, relocating to a better place that will be more secure for your family is nothing but a pipe dream.

Most Americans will have to deal with whatever is ahead wherever they are located right now.

But the ultra-wealthy have enough money to live wherever they want, and the fact that so many of them are choosing to live in “fortress communities” says a lot about where things are heading.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

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Tyler Durden Wed, 11/26/2025 - 13:40