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A Brain That Can Swap Bodies: Google DeepMind Aims To Be The 'Android' Of Robotics

Google DeepMind unveiled Gemini Robotics 2 on Wednesday, a suite of three AI models that gives humanoid and other robots whole-body control, sharper manipulation, and the ability to work together. The system can run locally on the robot itself and adapt to an entirely new machine body with a few hours of training data. DeepMind is pitching it as the "intelligence layer" for robots - the foundational operating system that every hardware maker builds on.

Rather than a single monolithic system, the company released three models across three access tiers:

• Gemini Robotics 2: A vision-language-action model that turns what a robot sees and is told into motor commands. It can drive a full humanoid from feet to fingertips, as well as standard two-armed systems.
• Gemini Robotics ER 2: An embodied-reasoning model that plans multi-step jobs over several minutes, recovers from failures, and lets multiple robots split a workflow between them.
• Gemini Robotics On-Device 2: A lightweight version that runs directly on the hardware, for industrial settings where cloud connectivity is unreliable or unavailable.

DeepMind demonstrated a single model checkpoint controlling three physically distinct robots: an Apptronik Apollo 2 fitted with two different sets of hands, and a separate two-armed rig with a gripper. One model ran hardware it was never designed for.

Unlike its 2025 system, which handled only a robot's upper body, this version controls movement from the torso down through the legs, letting a humanoid walk, crouch, bend, and reach at once. In one demonstration, an Apollo 2 walked to a watering can and placed it on a lower shelf.

Success has been hit-or-miss, wit robots hitting roughly 68% accuracy picking objects from a table and 76% from a shelf, but only 46% from the floor. Multi-finger dexterity is still an unsolved problem, and simple grippers continue to outperform elaborate robotic hands. Movement needs to be faster and more reliable. This is a research release with a waitlist; nobody is putting it to work on a warehouse floor next quarter.

DeepMind says Gemini ER 2 its safest robotics model yet, based on benchmarks for adhering to safety constraints and avoiding humans, and it included an evaluation of whether a robot will refuse an unsafe instruction and defer to a human for help. The vision-language-action and on-device models are gated to more than 100 trusted testers and a handful of early partners; the reasoning model is in a more open preview.

The Bigger Bet

Alphabet, Nvidia, and a wave of Chinese tech firms are all racing to own the "physical AI" stack rather than any single robot - the same bet that made mobile operating systems so valuable. If humanoid machines ever become as common as laptops, whoever supplies the universal brain that transfers cleanly from one body to the next will own a toll booth on the entire industry.

As for DeepMind - so far it hasn't kicked any Chinese kids in the head, so that's a start. 

A Unitree G1 humanoid robot just roundhouse kicked a child in China’s Xinjiang region, sparking urgent conversations about public safety.

The robot, which was executing a pre-programmed, 360-degree spinning roundhouse kick, delivered enough force to double the child over.

While…

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 9, 2026

 

Tyler Durden Sun, 08/02/2026 - 07:35

McGlinchey: Trump's Damage To US Diplomacy Could Last A Generation

By Brian McGlinchey via Stark Realities

As the US-Israel war on Iran grinds into its sixth month, it’s clear to all but the most intellectually-dishonest Trump loyalists and war-bent Israel-sympathizers that it’s been a spectacular failure.

A war of aggression that was supposed to precipitate a revolution has instead galvanized popular support of the Iranian government in defiance of the country’s tormentors, who’ve killed thousands of their fellow citizens and destroyed civilian infrastructure. A war that was launched to neutralize Israel’s principal rival seems certain to leave that rival far more geopolitically powerful than before, while driving Americans’ support for Israel to record lows.

Beyond unforgivably throwing away the lives of 18 American service members in an unconstitutional war launched on false pretenses, Trump’s blunder has depleted America’s arsenal and pushed the country more than $100 billion deeper into debt. Meanwhile, the longer Trump delays the inevitable consummation of his defeat, the greater the risk of an economic calamity that engulfs not only the United States but the entire world.

If that latter nightmare can be sidestepped, we’ll likely find that Trump has inflicted his most enduring damage on an intangible yet critical national asset: the ability of American diplomats to productively engage counterparts all over the world. From using negotiations as a ploy for surprise attacks to murdering heads of state and casually reneging on American commitments — including his own — Trump’s damage to US diplomacy will be evident for years. Of course, that’s not to suggest America’s foreign policy reputation was sparkling before Trump’s ascension to power — only that he and his team have managed to drag it down to new depths.

Trump’s collaboration with Israel to launch an unprovoked war on Iran is manifestly among the worst foreign policy decisions in the history of the American republic. However, it’s important to appreciate that Trump first set this 2026 disaster in motion eight years ago: In May 2018, — spurred on by then-National Security Advisor John Bolton and Trump’s Israel-first donors — Trump withdrew the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action, or JCPOA.

Also called the “Iran nuclear deal,” the July 2015 JCPOA was the culmination of nearly two years of painstaking negotiations over highly technical provisions, conducted by representatives of not only the United States and Iran but also China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to major restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for relief from brutal economic sanctions. Among other things, the JCPOA required Iran to eliminate its medium-enriched uranium, slash its cache of low-enriched uranium by 98%, limit future enrichment to 3.67%, agree to even more external monitoring than it was already submitting to, and render its heavy-water reactor worthless by filling it with concrete.

Trump presents a memorandum reimposing sanctions on Iran after he withdrew from the nuclear deal at John Bolton's urging (Evan Vucci/AP)

Catering both to devoted Israel supporters and to Republicans who were eager to assume that a deal negotiated during the Obama administration must have been treasonous, Trump had repeatedly railed against the JCPOA throughout his 2016 campaign, declaring that his “number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran.” After being named national security advisor in April 2018, Bolton — who had long been pushing for war on Iran — quickly prodded Trump into making good on his promises to tear up the JCPOA, despite the fact that Iran was fully complying with the agreement.

“Trump’s move demonstrates that the United States cannot be trusted to keep its promises,” the Belfer Center’s Martin Malin said at the time. “It will heighten tensions in an already smoldering Middle East while giving fodder to hardliners and nuclear bomb advocates in Iran.”

After Trump’s withdrawal and the reinstatement of waived sanctions, Iran waited a year, but then began straying from its own commitments -- using elevated uranium enrichment as a lever to push for a new agreement and relief from suffocating sanctions.

Having long denied it was developing a nuclear weapon -- a claim repeatedly deemed truthful by the US intelligence community -- Iran returned to the negotiating table during Trump’s second term, once again ready to part with the uranium it had enriched to higher levels. Indeed, less than 48 hours before the United States and Israel attacked on Feb. 28, Iran offered concessions that included dilution of its 60%-enriched uranium, a multi-year pause on new enrichment, subsequent enrichment capped at 20%, and expanded IAEA oversight. UK national security advisor Jonathan Powell was reportedly surprised by the strength of the Iranian offer, seeing it as reason to hope war would be averted. His and others’ hopes were about to be dashed.

There are many facets of the Trump administration’s assault on diplomacy, but none more vulgar than using ongoing negotiations as a means of unleashing a surprise attack on a negotiating partner — an attack that includes the killing of that partner’s head of state.

That’s exactly what the Trump administration did to Iran in February. Having held a third round of talks in Geneva on Feb. 26, the two countries were set for what was described as technical-level discussions the following week. Instead, teaming up with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump launched a massive war on Iran. In addition to killing more than 100 elementary-age schoolgirls and many other civilians and military conscripts, the opening attack killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his daughter, son-in-law and 14-month-old granddaughter.

Rubio further diminished US credibility by attempting to characterize the surprise attack as somehow defensive. “We knew there was going to be Israeli action” which would “precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio said. Observers were quick to note that, regardless of Israel’s status as a sovereign state, its dependency on Washington means Trump held de facto veto power over an Israeli strike, which makes the rest of Rubio’s rationale hollow.

Marco Rubio: "We went proactively in a defensive way" pic.twitter.com/i3XMjV0C9e

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 2, 2026

February wasn’t the first time that insincere Trump administration diplomacy set up Iran for a surprise attack. In June 2025, the administration had completed five rounds of negotiations with Iran and scheduled a sixth for June 15. On June 13, Israel attacked Iran. It was no surprise to Trump, who boasted that Israel informed him in advance. On June 22, Trump joined the 12-Day war via Operation Midnight Hammer, bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.

Beyond their fundamental immorality, these surprise attacks amid negotiations undermine long-term US interests by fostering distrust in everyone who witnessed such blatant American treachery. Following the start of all-out war on Feb 28, Washburn University law professor Ali Khan wrote about the consequences of turning negotiations into a “calculated ruse”:

“The breach of good faith signals worldwide that it is pointless to make any deal with someone who would do the opposite after creating an expectation or reliance for the other party. Iran or any other state would be highly reluctant to trust the Trump administration again in future negotiations.”

Note, one shouldn’t assume the world’s distrust will be so tightly associated with Trump that it will vanish when he leaves office. In Marco Rubio and JD Vance, his administration holds at least two potential successors to the Oval Office, to say nothing of senators, representatives and governors who’ve cheered on Trump’s misconduct and would be prone to emulating it. And don’t think for a moment that Democrats are immune to following unhealthy presidential precedents, whatever their commentary may be when those precedents are set by a Republican.

With his 2018 withdrawal from the JCPOA, Trump reneged on a deal made by another president, but Trump has repeatedly reneged on his own commitments too.

That’s the case with the June 17, 2026 Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran, which Trump signed at the Palace of Versailles. Primarily brokered by Pakistan with help from several Middle Eastern states, the MOU has been described as an agreement to make an agreement. It comprises 14 points setting conditions for an immediate ceasefire and 60 days of negotiations for a lasting peace.

Trump quickly fell short of full compliance. “When you look at what’s happening from the Iranian point of view…the Iranians believe that the United States has not lived up to its part of the bargain,” University of Chicago international relations scholar John Mearsheimer said in July.

There are several elements where Iran reasonably accused Trump of noncompliance, but we’ll examine three, starting with the most significant one of all. Point 5 covers what has replaced uranium as the core focus of the conflict — Iran’s selective blocking of traffic through the economically vital Strait of Hormuz:

5: “Upon the signing of this MOU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge, for 60 days only, from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.….[and] conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz...”

This point was widely understood to mean Iran would lift its blockade but still oversee and direct all traffic. When it exerted control of shipping traffic in March, Iran replaced the pre-war route that went down the center of the strait with one that guides traffic along Iran’s coast. However, after the MOU was signed, the Trump administration started instructing ships to use a different route, which passes through the territorial waters of Oman.

“We violated [the MOU] by setting up a southern corridor,” retired US Army Colonel Daniel Davis declared on his Deep Dive geopolitics podcast. “There’s nothing in the MOU that we signed that authorizes a southern corridor or America to enter into it and decide on our own how that’s going to be done. It’s just not there.” Davis, who returned from Afghanistan and blew the whistle in 2012 on civilian and military officials’ misleading of the public on how that war was progressing, suggested the US move in the strait was a deliberate provocation.

Deliberate or not, it was provocative indeed. After issuing radio warnings to ships attempting to use the southern route, Iran fired disabling shots at them. Trump then restarted his bombing of Iran, which prompted Iranian retaliation against American forces and the countries that host them. The two countries then began a long series of “tit for tat” strikes that continued into this week.

Then there’s Point 10 of the MOU, in which the Trump administration promised to issue sanctions waivers that would allow for unfettered Iranian exports of oil and petroleum. Trump revoked the waivers on July 7, pointing to Iran’s attacks on ships that didn’t submit to Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz… control that, again, the United States seemingly agreed to under Point 5.

Numerically reflecting its high importance to Iran, Point 1 of the MOU required the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts in Lebanon.” It focused not so much on Iran and the United States but more so “their allies” — the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militia and the US-allied State of Israel. However, Israel continued its operations, including a level of comprehensive destruction of civilian infrastructure in Southern Lebanon that mirrors what the Israeli Defense Forces did to Gaza. One can make the argument that the United States wasn’t in a position to impose MOU terms on Israel, but if that’s truly the case, Trump shouldn’t have signed an MOU by which he essentially certified that he would.

Doubling down, the Trump administration even took action to legitimize the IDF’s presence in Lebanon. “[The MOU] said we had to get the Israelis out of Lebanon. We made no effort to do that,” said former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman. “In fact, we turned around and Marco Rubio went and…brokered an agreement between the Lebanese government and Israel that they will jointly go after Hezbollah. So what is this? At a minimum, it’s not very smart.”

Critically, Trump’s behavior bolsters the credibility of hardliners in the Iranian government who’ve repeatedly argued that the United States cannot be trusted and shouldn’t be negotiated with. Moderates prevailed over skeptical hardliners when Iran opted to sign the JCPOA, again when it twice attempted to seek sanctions relief and avert war via negotiations only to be subjected to surprise attacks, and again with the June 17 signing of the MOU.

Trump's actions have undercut the credibility of moderate Iranian leaders like President Pezeshkian, who ran on a platform favoring engagement with the West

“The hardliners said ‘don’t sign it, you can’t trust the Americans’,” Mearsheimer recently told Chris Hedges. “But the moderates prevailed, and then the hardliners proved to be correct, so they’re now in the driver’s seat, as best we can tell…and those hardliners will push forward a tougher deal for Trump to swallow” whenever the next version of an MOU is pursued.

It’s not only adversaries of the US government that have been subjected to Trump’s sudden reversals on terms he himself agreed to. Just ask Saudi Arabia.

On July 22, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz ​bin Salman signed an agreement by which the kingdom would be able to build nuclear reactors and enrich uranium with US technology. Both governments published official announcements, and it was seen as a triumph for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The very next morning, Trump blindsided the Saudis and his own subordinates, using a social media post to retroactively add a huge requirement — there would be no nuclear deal unless Saudi Arabia joined the Abraham Accords, which entails recognition of Israel as a legitimate state, and the establishment of official diplomatic relations.

Such a move would run counter to Saudi Arabia’s long-running insistence that recognition of Israel is unthinkable without a firm plan for Palestinian statehood. Further, Trump’s demand for a Saudi embrace of Israel comes at a time when Muslims within the kingdom and throughout the region are outraged by Israel’s destruction of Gaza and southern Lebanon, making such a move perilous for the Saudi royals. Contrary to the agreement his energy secretary had signed, Trump also suddenly declared there would be no enrichment of nuclear material inside Saudi Arabia.

“You strike a deal, you sign it, you announce it, you brag about it, and within 24 hours you’re changing the terms in a fundamental way,” observed the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi on Deep Dive. “If that’s what you do to Saudi Arabia — a country that the United States has a very close relationship with…on top of that, the Trump family has very close business ties with — then what are you going to do with Iran? What is the shelf life of any American commitment under Trump to the Iranians in any agreement?”

Or to anyone else, for that matter. “We’ve convinced the entire world that we don’t know what we’re doing, and we can’t be trusted, and we don’t keep our word, and we don’t even stay consistent from one day to the next,” former ambassador Freeman recently told Davis. “So how can you deal with us? That’s the question everybody has out there.”

As Alastair Crooke sees it, US diplomacy may never be the same. Summing up the effects of Trump’s multi-front assault on trust in America, the former British intelligence agent, diplomat and founder of the Beirut-based Conflicts Forum told Glenn Diesen, “The American ability to negotiate in the old-fashioned diplomatic idea, I think, is gone. I mean, we’re in a new era.”

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Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 23:20

New Jersey Offers Taxpayer-Funded Legal Services To Noncitizens Improperly Registered To Vote

This week, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill revealed that more than 6,600 noncitizens ended up on its voter rolls, with nearly 400 of them casting ballots between June 2023 and June 2024.

Despite saying the situation is unacceptable and claiming that she is being proactive to fix it, her administration has also begun steering the same noncitizens toward taxpayer-funded legal help.

Sherrill promptly blamed the software vendor, IDEMIA, for the problem.

"Let me be clear: this entire situation is unacceptable," Sherrill said Tuesday. "It's unacceptable that the vendor released software with such a glaring error, it's unacceptable that the MVC took a year to get this issue fixed and it's unacceptable that no one in the previous administration brought this to light, demanded accountability or took action when it happened years ago."

However, they dispute her characterization and have offered a different characterization of who was responsible.

"IDEMIA works with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and has for more than 40 years, to support the process through which eligible individuals may indicate their interest in registering to vote when applying for or renewing a driver's license or state-issued identification card," the company said in a statement. According to IDEMIA, New Jersey's own Division of Elections, the body charged with validating and adjudicating every registration IDEMIA passed along, is ultimately responsible.

MVC is even switching to a new vendor. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security reported that roughly 250,000 noncitizens were registered to vote across four states - California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada. New Jersey accounted for 35,152 of those registrations, more than five times the 6,600 figure Sherrill's administration has acknowledged. The gap suggests the state has disclosed only a portion of the problem, and it raises the question of how the smaller number became the official one. Note that DHS has not publicly detailed its methodology for the higher figure, and fact-checkers have treated the larger claims with caution.

New Jersey's website now tells noncitizens who were improperly registered to vote to contact the Division of Elections or their county's Commissioner of Registration to have their names removed.

"A recently discovered error in a vendor's software revealed that approximately 6,600 people were improperly registered to vote between June 2023 and June 2024 after completing a transaction at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission," the page states. "These individuals indicated they were not United States citizens, and they did not attest to being eligible to vote during this transaction. But the software erroneously transmitted these individuals for voter registration processing regardless."

The same page points them, along with other affected residents, to legal resources through the Office of New Americans. Among those resources is pro bono legal representation through New Jersey's Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative, a state-funded program that provides defense against deportation proceedings.

That means New Jersey taxpayers are funding legal defense, through a deportation-focused program, for noncitizens who were registered to vote and, in hundreds of cases, actually voted. Federal law prohibits all noncitizens - whether unauthorized or lawfully present (such as green-card holders or temporary visa holders) - from voting in federal elections. The available public information confirms these individuals indicated they were noncitizens; it does not break down how many of the 6,600 (or of those who voted) lacked legal authorization to reside in the United States.

The Sherrill administration also indicated this week that it will not turn over the names of the noncitizens who were registered to vote to the Trump administration, citing privacy concerns.

Sherrill's account leaves the state with a tidy narrative: a defective vendor, a fix already underway, and a governor who inherited the mess. The DHS figures complicate that narrative considerably, and the state's own disclosures have not yet accounted for the difference between 6,600 and 35,152. Until they do, the full scope of noncitizen registration in New Jersey remains an open question.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 22:45

CCP Bans Sale Of Retired Military Equipment, Citing Security Risks

Authored by Alex Wu via The Epoch Times,

The Chinese regime's military and public security authorities have jointly issued an order banning the sale, assembly, and marketing of retired military equipment, citing "security risks to military secrets."

Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers take part in military training at Pamir Mountains in Kashgar, northwestern China's Xinjiang region, on Jan. 4, 2021. STR/AFP via Getty Images

The Notice on Prohibiting Sales Activities Involving Retired or Scrapped Military Equipment was issued on July 28 by the Chinese regime's six central governmental departments, including the top defense command and decision-making body of the Chinese military - Central Military Commission's Logistics Support Department, Equipment Development Department, and Political and Legal Affairs Commission, along with the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

The notice acknowledges that, in recent years, some vendors have openly sold - both online and offline - retired or scrapped military equipment containing sensitive information, resulting in "adverse effects" and creating "security risks." It also said one of the purposes of the ban is "to uphold the positive image of the people's military."

The notice stipulates that no entity or individual may sell retired or scrapped military equipment. Such equipment - as defined by the military - encompasses various types of hardware, ammunition, devices, related components, and materials that have been officially retired from service and designated for disposal as scrap.

The notice also prohibits any unit or individual from using dismantled parts of decommissioned equipment to produce, modify, and re-assemble them, and then sell them as imitations of military equipment that the public might believe was real. Commercial marketing and promotion of decommissioned and scrapped equipment and related imitations are also prohibited.

The official notice did not disclose the types, quantities, or sources of decommissioned equipment currently on the market, nor did it state whether any military information had been leaked.

Li Yuansong, a Chinese military equipment and memorabilia collector, told The Epoch Times that Chinese military-issued gear has long been collected by enthusiasts.

"Much of the Chinese weaponry is derived from technology dating back to the former Soviet era [1922-91]. While a small number of firearms produced after the 'Reform and Opening-up' incorporated Western technology, the majority remain updated versions of Soviet-based hardware," he said. "The craftsmanship is crude and hardly advanced. If Western weapons experts were to dismantle and analyze them, they would likely laugh about them.

"The real fear isn't so much about leaking secrets, but rather that foreigners might discover just how backward China's conventional weaponry actually is," Li said of the new ban.

Li Xiangyang, a Chinese military scholar who used a pseudonym out of fear of reprisal, told The Epoch Times that in recent years, individuals have been reselling military equipment online.

"Some components bear serial numbers, model designations, and signs of use. In the eyes of the authorities, these could reveal information regarding production batches, maintenance standards, and quality," Li said.

"Regulations dictate that many decommissioned items must be destroyed, with metal materials collected and melted down. This notice is primarily aimed at enforcing the Anti-Espionage Law, as the authorities do not want foreign entities to gain insight into the Chinese regime's military-industrial technology."

Su Pei, a China-based military scholar who used a pseudonym out of fear of reprisal, told The Epoch Times that the mention of upholding "the positive image of the people's military" in the ban notice shows that the Chinese regime is concerned about more than just so-called secret leaks, but also about hiding the backwardness of the Chinese weaponry.

"It also worries that individuals within the military might sell used military equipment through underground channels - goods that could ultimately be resold to foreign adversaries. Such incidents have already occurred in coastal regions," he said.

The notice does not prohibit the trading of all decommissioned and scrapped equipment. Exceptions are made for dual-use dismantled parts included in the public sales catalog of the China Rongtong Asset Management Group, as well as other equipment authorized for sale by the military. The China Rongtong Group is a ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) centrally managed commercial state-owned sole proprietorship company, according to public information.

Su noted that the Chinese military has long operated in a "black box" environment, lacking external oversight regarding equipment procurement, decommissioning, and asset disposal, which leads to corruption.

People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers take meteorological observation training in Jinan, Shandong Province of China, on May 29, 2016. Getty Images Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 22:10

Collision Next Week: Spent SpaceX Rocket Set To Slam Into Moon

A spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage is forecast to slam into the moon near Einstein Crater early Wednesday morning, potentially producing the first impact plume observed from Earth against the lunar surface's sunlit side.

William Jo, a doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at Austin's Cockrell School of Engineering, and five co-authors posted a preprint to arXiv detailing the expected lunar impact of the spent upper stage rocket.

Using a high-resolution physics simulation, the researchers modeled what could happen when roughly 3,900 kilograms of hollow rocket hardware slams into the lunar surface:

On Aug. 5 at 06:34 UTC, a Falcon 9 upper stage (~3,900 kg) will strike the lunar surface at 2.43 km/s, yielding a potentially visible debris plume.

We present a study of the expected impact dynamics and resulting possibly observable debris field. The debris plume should reach roughly 15 to 20 km in altitude for the ejecta curtain and 75 to 100 km for the central ejecta spike, extend 183 km laterally from the impact point near the sunlit limb, and yield a peak dust column density above 10 km altitude of 6.08*10^7 m^-2.

Simulated I/F exceeds dark-sky background brightness by several orders of magnitude for the first few minutes after impact, reaching I/F = 1.27*10^-3 at the earliest resolved time (t = 5 s). Above 10 km, peak I/F reaches 1.33*10^-5, still several orders of magnitude brighter than the dark sky.

NEWS 🚨: A Falcon 9 upper stage abandoned in orbit since Jan. 2025 will hit the Moon on August 5 at ~5,437 mph (8,750 km/h)

It's projected to carve out a 100-foot crater pic.twitter.com/20hOVAhsVv

— Latest in space (@latestinspace) July 29, 2026

Jo and the other researchers hope the unplanned collision next week will provide insight into lunar geology and the risks posed by discarded rockets as the US, China, and private companies plan future moon bases.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 21:35

Disease Caused By Cyclospora Parasite Now In 45 States: CDC

A disease caused by a parasite called Cyclospora has been recorded in 45 states this summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an update.

Delaware, Oregon, South Dakota, and Vermont have now logged cases of cyclosporiasis, the disease, the CDC said on July 28.

The CDC in its previous update had said 41 states had reported cases.

The number of confirmed cases across the 45 states since May 1 is up to 6,707, according to the CDC.

More than 11,500 other cases have been reported but are pending laboratory confirmation or “further investigation and analysis, such as ruling out international travel,” the CDC said.

The agency is not counting cases involving international travel or probable cases.

Patients have ranged in age from 1 to 98, with a median age of 44.

“We estimate a 6-week reporting lag between illness onset and case reporting to CDC, so we anticipate that case counts will continue to rise as data are received,” the CDC said.

As Zachary Steieber reports for The Epoch Times, cyclosporiasis typically appears in the summer, but the number of cases this year is much higher than normal. The main symptom of the disease is diarrhea.

Cyclospora is present in produce contaminated with feces.

Federal officials have said that the cases in nine states are linked to contaminated lettuce from Taylor Farms that was served at Taco Bell, while officials in North Carolina suspect parsley and cilantro as causes in addition to lettuce.

More than 400 of the people whose cases have been confirmed have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

A sign at a Taylor Farms facility in Salinas, Calif., on July 17, 2026. Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images

The Oregon Health Authority said in a statement that two Oregon residents recently developed cyclosporiasis cases after traveling to other states “involved in the recent nationwide recall of pre-shredded iceberg lettuce associated with the outbreak.” So far, authorities there said, the number of cases in the state is up to 23 this year, which is lower than the numbers reported in 2025 and 2024.

Officials in Delaware, South Dakota, and Vermont have not provided information on the cases in those states.

Diners Avoid Restaurants

Traffic is down at Taco Bell and other restaurants in recent weeks.

Foot traffic at Taco Bell dropped by 20.8 percent on Thursday, July 23, from the Thursday average between January 1 and July 6, according to data from Placer.ai.

Foot traffic was also down by 12.2 percent at salad chain Chopt; 1.4 percent at Chipotle Mexican Grill; and 3.1 percent at Panera Bread on July 23, compared to the prior six-month average for Thursdays, the analytics company said.

A Taco Bell fast food restaurant in Taylor, Mich., on July 14, 2026, Paul Sancya/AP Photo

Chipotle declined to comment on the decline, while Taco Bell, Chopt, and Panera Bread did not respond to requests for comment. Taco Bell has said it removed lettuce from Taylor Farms, which recalled the lettuce under direction from the Food and Drug Administration, from its restaurants as of July 17.

Paul Sellew, CEO and founder of Little Leaf Farms, which grows lettuce in the eastern United States, said worries about infections have driven down sales by double digits.

“The entire fresh produce category at retail is down,” Sellew said. “The consumer has been motivated by fear.”

According to market research firm NielsenIQ’s data, U.S. unit sales for fresh lettuce in the week ending July 18 were down 9 percent from a week earlier and 19 percent from two weeks before.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 21:00

Kamala Harris Moves To $8.5M Mansion In 94% White Neighborhood

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has long spoken about the importance of being surrounded by other black or minority Americans. But her new $8.5 million home is located in an exclusive Malibu neighborhood where the population is overwhelmingly white.

Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, purchased a 4,000-square-foot mansion in Point Dume, one of Malibu’s most exclusive coastal enclaves. Point Dume’s population is approximately 94% white and just 0.2% black, according to a Fox News report citing the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey.

Kamala Harris just dropped $8.15 million on a mansion in one of California's Whitest neighborhoods — a census tract that is 94% White and just 0.2% Black.

The Point Dume property includes ocean views, multiple wine fridges, private golf greens, and parking for five vehicles.… pic.twitter.com/IXlqvsi5EK

— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) July 30, 2026

As Fox News noted, Harris’ choice of neighborhood contrasts with remarks she made during her 2019 presidential campaign about attending a Historically Black College or University.

The twice-failed presidential candidate said in an interview with the Washington Post that attending Howard University “becomes about you understanding that there is a whole world of people who are like you.”

Harris added, “It was more, for me, about the numerosity than it was the diversity, I grew up in a community where there were many representations of diversity. Going to Howard, there were so many (Black people)! And they’re all in your age group, in your phase of life.”

Point Dume has long been known as one of Southern California’s most exclusive communities.

Politico described the neighborhood earlier this year as “a secluded idyll,” noting its surveillance cameras and that “the quiet feels carefully curated.”

The New York Post likewise described Point Dume as “one of Malibu’s most exclusive coastal enclaves.”

She will enjoy a “cliff-side retreat with sweeping ocean views,” the outlet noted.

Harris and Emhoff reportedly purchased the property in January 2026.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 20:25

Michigan Waves The White Flag On Child 'Conversion Therapy' Ban

Democrat-run Michigan just backed down after threatening therapists who use talk therapy to help children with 'gender dysphoria' accept their biology. 

Alex Brandon / AP

On Thursday, the state agreed to a permanent federal court order barring it from ever enforcing House Bill 4616 - the 2023 law, signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, that threatened licensed counselors with discipline for engaging in ordinary talk therapy with minors experiencing gender dysphoria. U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering signed off on the stipulated judgment, and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented the counselors who sued, wasted no time declaring victory according to the Daily Caller.

Interestingly, a year and a half earlier the same judge sided with the state.

Backstory

Whitmer signed HB 4616 and its companion bill in July 2023, making Michigan the 22nd state to bar mental health professionals from what the statute broadly defined as "conversion therapy" for minors - not just efforts to change sexual orientation, but any "efforts to change behavior or gender expression." At the time, Whitmer said Michigan was "banning the horrific practice of conversion therapy" and pitched the law as making the state more welcoming for LGBTQ kids.

Then the law met the constitution... Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties, joined by Lansing therapist Emily McJones of Little Flower Counseling, sued in 2024, arguing the ban was viewpoint discrimination dressed up as medical regulation. Judge Beckering initially sided with the state, denying a preliminary injunction in February 2025. The counselors appealed - and won.

Late last year, the Sixth Circuit reversed her, becoming the first federal appeals court in the country to block a statewide "conversion therapy" ban of this kind. Judge Raymond Kethledge wrote for the majority that the state's theory "faces strong headwinds as applied to counseling that consists solely of spoken words." Judge Rachel Bloomekatz, a Biden appointee, dissented, arguing the ban was likely constitutional because every major medical association treats "conversion therapy" as illegitimate care.

Then SCOTUS Weighed In

On March 31, the Court ruled 8-1 in Chiles v. Salazar that Colorado's nearly identical "conversion therapy" ban had to survive strict First Amendment scrutiny - a standard laws like it almost never clear. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion; Justice Elena Kagan concurred, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor; only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. Buried in Gorsuch's opinion was a citation to the Sixth Circuit's Michigan ruling - the same case now forcing Whitmer's hand. The Trevor Project called the ruling a disappointing setback for LGBTQ+ youth mental health protections.

Michigan didn't fold right away. After Chiles came down, Attorney General Dana Nessel - the state's first openly gay AG - argued free speech doesn't give medical professionals license to harm their patients, and said her office would review the ruling before deciding on next steps. Whitmer vowed to keep protecting LGBTQ youth "as long as I'm governor." Four months and one dead legal theory later, the state signed the permanent order instead.

"Common Sense," Says Becket

Becket's Luke Goodrich, the counselors' lead attorney, called the outcome "a major victory for children, counselors, and common sense." He also argued - pointing to the roughly two dozen U.S. states and several European countries that have moved to restrict youth gender-transition medicine in recent years - that Michigan's ban was pushing kids toward medical intervention rather than away from it, and that the new order protects every licensed talk therapist in the state, not just his own clients.

It's Becket's second major win on this exact front this year. In February, its Mahmoud v. Taylor case - over Maryland parents' right to pull kids from classroom readings on gender transition and same-sex romance - ended in a $1.5 million settlement, as ZeroHedge reported at the time. The nonprofit hasn't lost a case at the Supreme Court since 2012.

As we noted back in April, Colorado didn't take its own 8-1 loss quietly - state lawmakers hit back with a bill making it easier to sue "conversion therapy" counselors and stripping away the usual time limit for filing those suits. Whether Michigan tries the same counterpunch, or just lets its ban die quietly, is still an open question. Either way, every other state running a similar law is standing on considerably thinner ice than it was four months ago.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 19:50

North Carolina Police Officer Arrested For Alleged Illegal Use Of Flock Cameras

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

A North Carolina officer was arrested by state authorities July 29 after allegedly accessing license plate registration information from Flock Safety cameras and other technology, authorities announced.

Flock Safety, based in Georgia, estimates more than 6,000 communities in 49 states have partnered with the company to install surveillance systems. Flock Safety

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Seth Elliot, 25, is facing a misdemeanor charge of illegally accessing a government computer, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

Elliot, who started working at the department in 2024, allegedly accessed the Flock system and CJ Leads, a criminal justice database used by law enforcement in North Carolina, one time for non-law enforcement purposes, according to the police department.

The officer was placed on unpaid leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.

A previous unrelated investigation had initially found the evidence that on June 16, Elliot had allegedly improperly accessed the license plate reader systems.

He was then placed on administrative assignment on June 22, and his equipment and access to systems with criminal intelligence information was revoked pending the outcome of the internal investigation.

Police Chief Estella Patterson said the department doesn't operate any of the Flock cameras or devices but has an agreement with the company to allow officers access to them.

Misuse of the access is not tolerated, Patterson said.

"The public expects and deserves the highest level of integrity from every officer who wears the CMPD badge," Patterson said in a statement. "Misusing law enforcement technology or accessing confidential information for non-law enforcement purposes is a betrayal of the public's trust and a violation of everything this profession stands for."

The Epoch Times was not able to reach Elliott for comment, and it's unclear if he has an attorney.

The North Carolina case is the latest law enforcement-related allegation of Flock camera misuse.

Earlier this month, Sgt. Kabiru Salawu of the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office was arrested after an internal investigation found he allegedly misused the agency's Flock system. Salawu was fired by the department and charged with a felony violation of oath of office and misdemeanor misuse of license plate data, according to a sheriff's office statement.

Investigations in Georgia and several other states have also led to arrests over Flock camera access.

People have also destroyed the cameras in some cities, with some incidents occurring this week.

In Upstate New York, police arrested a 25-year-old man July 29 after he allegedly used a saw to cut down a Flock camera.

In Central California, a 40-year-old Pismo Beach man was arrested July 28 for allegedly intentionally tearing down and running over at least three Flock license plate readers, causing thousands of dollars in damage, Monterey County Sheriff's Office reported.

Flock Safety, based in Georgia, estimates more than 6,000 communities in 49 states have partnered with the company to install the surveillance systems.

The cameras are powered by artificial intelligence and capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, recording the location, date, and time. The cameras also capture the car's make, model, color, and other features, such as dents and bumper stickers, to use as data points, according to DeFlock, a community-driven, open-source project that maps the license plate readers.

DeFlock estimates Flock has installed nearly 123,400 cameras throughout the United States.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Seth Elliot, 25, is facing a misdemeanor charge of illegally accessing a government computer. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 19:15

Proof: TDS Is Anti-Christian

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

New data exposes the purest form of Trump Derangement Syndrome yet: young Americans so thoroughly programmed that they will abandon church itself rather than sit in a pew next to someone who supports the president.

A survey from the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center Research Institute found that nearly half of Gen Z adults - 48 percent - say Christians' support for Donald Trump has made them less likely to attend church.

Among strong Democrats the figure hits 76 percent. Atheists clock in at 72 percent. Even 30 to 44 percent of young people who still call themselves Christian claim the association turns them off.

New data shows Gen Z is not going to church because they link Christianity to Donald Trump

– 76% of Democrats say Trump keeps them out of church
– Nearly half of young adults do not attend church due to Christian support for President Trump

Influencers are even making videos... pic.twitter.com/ROxjfL1i4f

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) July 28, 2026

The numbers come from a 2024 survey of 2,365 Americans aged 18 to 28, released publicly this month. Lead researcher Rick Richardson noted that spiritual interest among Gen Z remains high, yet church engagement has fallen.

"We wanted to understand the spiritual motivators and demotivators of young adults ages 18 to 28, and among many other factors, we found response to Trump [has] been one," he said.

Richardson added that young adults "are not looking for churches to agree with them on every issue, but they are looking for churches and pastors to be deeply honest and direct about where they are at and why."

Honesty is the last thing these respondents appear to want. TikTok influencers have been filming themselves in visible distress at the mere thought of sharing a sanctuary with Trump voters.

The report notes how one young woman stares into the camera and frets that she is "about to dissociate for the next few hours" because she knows the room will contain people who cast a ballot for the president. Another treats Christian support for Trump as an automatic disqualifier for worship.

This is not theology. It is political allergy elevated to religious crisis.

The same cultural machinery that produces this reaction has been running full throttle on university campuses for years.

Those campuses function less as centers of learning and more as godless leftist indoctrination cults that systematically strip young people of any traditional moral or religious framework and replace it with partisan rage.

Arizona State University recently turned "influencing" into an official college major. The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication now offers a Bachelor of Arts in Content Creation complete with personal branding, audience analytics, and social-media strategy.

The degree trains students to manufacture online personas for pay while the deeper curriculum of elite higher education continues to treat faith, patriotism, and free markets as suspect.

Clay Travis cut through the economic self-pity that often follows. "These highly educated young far-left Democrats hate capitalism because they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on degrees the country DOES NOT value," he said.

He further urged, "They spent $200,000 on a women's studies degree [meanwhile] plumbers and electricians are driving better cars and making MORE money. They're furious the world is valuing other people's labor more than their own."

That resentment is cultivated deliberately. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a required first-year education course for future teachers pushed extreme ideology on immigration, race, and gender.

Leaked PowerPoint slides framed border enforcement as white supremacy, demanded "humanizing language," and trained students to resist ICE rather than master classroom fundamentals. A whistleblower reported that the class spent its time on activism while ignoring how to teach math or reading.

The same institutions tolerate open expressions of political hatred that would be unthinkable if directed the other way. Kent State University allowed a student to display "art" depicting President Trump's severed head on a pike with the caption "We only have to get lucky once." Administrators initially defended the piece as protected expression.

When the campus protest theater reaches its peak, the entitlement becomes surreal. Princeton "hunger strikers" camping for Gaza complained that the university was not monitoring their vital signs and accused officials of deliberately weakening them.

One insisted, "They are not keeping track of our vitals. They are not at all taking care of us," while another claimed the group was "literally shaking" and "immunocompromised."

Joe Rogan diagnosed the pattern without hesitation. "I think we are sending our kids to cult camps," he said, adding "Some of them get locked in and then it becomes their identity. It's dangerous."

He continued: "If I was going to try to destroy the country, that's how I would do it... I would radicalize the kids, give them the stupidest ideas... You guys are doing nonsense. You go to cult camp. You're indoctrinating people."

At Columbia, occupiers who had broken into campus buildings demanded food and water as "basic humanitarian aid," comparing themselves to refugees. PhD student Johannah King-Slutzky asked whether the university wanted students "to die of dehydration and starvation or get severely ill even if they disagree with you."

The performance collapsed under mockery once the NYPD cleared the building.

Even the language of national identity is treated as contamination. Stanford University placed the word "American" on a harmful-language list, as if the simple act of naming the country were an act of aggression.

Stanford University has deemed the word "American" to be harmful language.

pic.twitter.com/gclBOoE8Sn

— Ian Miles Cheong (@ianmiles) December 21, 2022

This is the pipeline. Universities that once transmitted Western civilization now transmit a secular political religion whose central sacrament is hatred of the American right and, by extension, of the Christians who still vote for it.

Young people emerge from these environments with high spiritual curiosity and zero tolerance for the actual historic faith that built the country. When they encounter a pastor who refuses to denounce Trump, the programmed response is flight. The church is not the problem. The prior four years of ideological conditioning are the problem.

The survey data is not evidence that Christianity has become too political. It is evidence that a generation has been taught to treat politics as the only remaining religion and Trump support as original sin. That is the textbook definition of cult thinking.

The institutions that produced it show no interest in reform. They keep expanding the curriculum of grievance, then act surprised when the graduates cannot sit through a Sunday service without experiencing dissociation.

America's churches face a straightforward choice. They can continue to apologize for the existence of conservative Christians, or they can recognize that the real barrier to young attendance is not the Gospel but the prior capture of the universities by a hostile, godless ideology.

The data is in. The mentalism is measurable. The cure begins with rejecting the cult camps that manufacture it.

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 Sat, 08/01/2026 - 18:05

Russia Confirms It Has Attacked Over 80 Vessels In The Black Sea In July Alone

We've been detailing the escalating 'southern front' war in the Black and Caspian Seas, as Russia and Ukraine take aim at each other's maritime and energy and cargo transit and trade.

Ukraine's Black Sea ports, such as at Odessa, had by and large not been focus of large-scale Russian strikes in the opening years of the war, but it seems this is fast changing.

Also, the cargo going in and out of places like Odessa is increasingly coming under fire, as Ukraine's navy has been in turn targeting Russian vessels in the region, especially in the Sea of Azov.

On Saturday Russia's defense ministry issued some new figures which confirm the greatly expanded scope of its maritime war on Ukrainian shipping.

Russian forces have hit more than 80 vessels believed involved in supplying the Ukrainian military in the month of July alone, state TASS writes based on official defense ministry data.

The report goes on to detail: "Among them were two dry cargo ships, a sea ferry transporting military cargo and a screening boat hit in overnight group strikes on July 12, according to the ministry."

"On the same day, the ministry released footage that showed Geran-4 Seeker drones destroying a seiner converted to launch unmanned boats, a patrol boat, a ferry and a dry cargo ship," the report adds.

"According to the ministry, Russian forces struck 24 seagoing vessels used by the Ukrainian military for supplies during the week of July 11-17, including 14 dry cargo ships and one tanker," TASS continnues.

Moscow seeks to sever military supply routes and disrupt arms shipments bound for Ukraine, but this has also obviously resulted in damaged and sunken tankers, auxiliary vessels, and even deaths of civilian bystanders among international shipping crew.

Russia's military has said that early last week it especially targeted key logistics hubs of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Port of Mykolaiv (Nikolayev) - with the latter site seeing a docked cargo vessel receiving a direct strike.

Ukraine's small but high-tech drone boats have gotten more advanced and difficult to defend against...

Footage shows the crude oil tanker BOURDA, IMO 9312846, being struck by a Ukrainian naval kamikaze drone while heading to Russia’s port of Taman. pic.twitter.com/t9TOHFfDSW

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) August 1, 2026

All of this comes after local authorities in Odessa had confirmed that a foreign-flagged cargo ship, which some reports have identified as the Guinea-Bissau-flagged Golden Leo, capsized and sank near the coast after taking heavy damage from a Russian attack in late July.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 17:30

New Report Ranks California 35th Best State And Least Affordable

Authored by Dylan Morgan via The Epoch Times,

California, the most populous U.S. state and the one with the largest economy, ranked as the 35th best state in a new ranking published by U.S. News on July 28.

South Orange County communities near Laguna Beach, Calif., on Oct. 15, 2020. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Utah ranked as the best state, followed by South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Nebraska.

The ranking was based on scores in eight categories such as education, healthcare, economy, and fiscal stability, and it was weighted by survey opinions.

Despite a median income of more than $100,000 compared to the national average of $81,600, California ranked last in the category of opportunity. This was partially because it ranked last in affordability, which was based on a cost-of-living index score and housing affordability index score.

The state's Department of Housing & Community Development considers a six-figure salary as low-income in many of its coastal hubs.

According to the income limits it set on June 23, $100,000 is classified as low in seven counties - San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and Orange.

Santa Cruz County has the highest cutoff for what's considered low-income at $122,200 for a single-person household.

California's Legislative Analyst's Office said a mid-tier house costs about $775,000 in the state, nearly double the national average of $398,771.

"California home prices continue to be much more expensive than the rest of the US," it said in its 2026 Housing Affordability Tracker.

Among all categories in U.S. News's ranking, the state's highest score was in healthcare at 7th place, including 6th in healthcare quality and 5th in public health.

Public health looked at infant mortality rate, mortality rate, obesity rate, smoking rate, suicide rate, and mental health.

The report states that 8.4 percent of California's population is without health insurance, compared to the national average of 11.3 percent. It added that its obesity rate is 29.1 percent compared to 34.2 percent nationally.

The state also ranked 25th in education but 6th in higher education, which assessed graduation rates as well as low debt at graduation and low tuition fees.

However, California's K-12 education ranked 41st, which was based on high school graduation rates, preschool enrollment, and test scores.

A separate report last month listed six California cities - Visalia, Bakersfield, Modesto, Fresno, Stockton, and Salinas - among the 10 least educated metropolitan areas in the United States.

The list looked at the share of adults at least 25 years old who have a high school diploma or higher, who have at least some college experience, who have a bachelor's degree or higher, and who have a graduate or professional degree.

While many Central Valley areas scored low, Silicon Valley's San Jose metro ranked as the fourth most educated, while the San Francisco metro ranked eighth.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 16:55

The State Where DOGE Is Actually Working

Authored by Noah Wall via The American Mind,

On July 14, the State Leadership Initiative was honored to host the Florida DOGE team and their tech partners, Vulcan, Echelon, and DigiBuild, for the Florida DOGE Showcase in Washington, D.C. Spearheaded by Governor Ron DeSantis, the state has become the leader for providing accountable and efficient governance to its citizens.

Since its creation in 2025, the Florida DOGE team has identified nearly $1 billion in waste and abuse at the local government level and sent over $878 million back to the federal government. But the team's work extends beyond fiscal savings and budgetary cuts - it also includes auditing university curriculum and state union programs and reining in rogue municipalities that had adopted woke-left policies.

Take Florida's SB 1134, which banned counties and municipalities from using government funds for discriminatory DEI programs and activities. Florida DOGE found that local governments were forcing employees to undergo "Transgender Humility" training, which included the use of a "wheel of power/privilege" that singled out certain ethnic groups as being worse than others. In some extreme cases, the team found that local governments were directing taxpayer dollars to immigration lawyers who represented criminal illegal aliens. All of this was identified by Florida DOGE and prohibited by law.

This ideological audit was most prevalent in universities, where the team examined over 74,000 syllabi and 100,000 research articles for left-wing ideological content. Funding for these DEI-related activities was effectively halted through SB 266 and SB 7044. While the federal DOGE program failed to codify reform through legislation, Florida DOGE succeeded.

Florida DOGE has proven it is the model to emulate. The next step is to provide the blueprint for bringing it to other states.

Enter the State DOGE Playbook, a collaborative effort between the State Leadership Initiative and the Florida DOGE team. This is a step-by-step guide to ensure that these reforms are not merely a temporary win for a single executive's tenure, but a long-term fundamental shift in how red states govern.

Instead of Elon Musk drawing from his own stable of engineers, Florida hired volunteers and tech-minded interns to leverage new technologies to conduct investigations and root out waste and ideological indoctrination previously unheard of at the state level. Many of Florida DOGE's accomplishments were secured with a team of only three full-time employees, supplemented by a staff Florida put together. SLI is proud to be part of this effort; we even sent two of our own to act as special government employees, at no cost to the state, to help identify shadow government organizations funded by the state, local governments, and universities.

All that's needed are a few liaisons for law enforcement and legislators, and the rest is bulk data analysis. Add to this that Florida DOGE implemented these reforms on just a six-figure budget. Rarely have government initiatives accomplished so much in such a cost-effective manner.

None of these accomplishments would've been possible without the power of new AI tools and data-analysis technologies provided by three partners: Echelon, Vulcan Technologies, and DigiBuild. While varying in scope, each was instrumental in identifying waste and abuse during the audits, leading to the most significant reforms in Florida.

Echelon was used to analyze spending and waste in the Lee County school district. Florida DOGE identified up to $80 million in potential savings through contract reviews and more than $8 million in savings by eliminating 170 unnecessary positions spanning 30 departments. Programs like this can restore public schools to their proper mission rather than serving as a patronage scheme for overeducated administrative staff.

Vulcan Technologies was utilized to conduct top-to-bottom payment transaction audits across the state. It was so effective that local governments throughout Florida are implementing it to find opportunities for savings. In a time when property taxes are a dominant issue among voters, AI and DOGE principles are bridging the gap, fulfilling the public's demand for making cuts and providing the services local governments owe their citizens.

Many other states have similar programs. Texas's Office of Regulatory Efficiency has generated over 400 reductions in administrative code, and Oklahoma's DOGE office has produced over $19 million in cuts. But Florida's success remains unparalleled, and SLI's State DOGE Playbook explains how to emulate its success.

Blue states across the country continue to bankrupt themselves by allowing endless fraud and overfunded programs that never deliver on their promises. It's not enough for red states to avoid these pitfalls - red states need to match Florida's pace and provide the governance their citizens deserve. With this playbook, there are no more excuses, only the will to act.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 16:20

"Pure Case Of Vandalism": Trump Rages As DoJ Drops Reflecting Pool Case Against Former Olympian

Update (1245ET): President Trump has not taken kindly to the DoJ dropping their case against the former Olympian for vandalizing the Reflecting Pool, exclaiming his displeasure in a post on X:

I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM...

...that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area.

There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!"

*  *  *

As we detailed earlier, the Department of Justice dropped the case against a former Olympian accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in a court filing on July 31.

Former U.S. Olympic canoe racer David Hearn, 67, was accused of vandalizing the landmark this summer by allegedly pulling up and tearing the protective liner at the bottom of the Reflecting Pool after a $14.7 million renovation.

According to Jacki Thrapp, reporting for The Epoch Times, court documents reveal that after Hearn was indicted, the Department of the Interior provided additional documents to prosecutors which showed that damage in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings.

According to Friday’s filing, the flawed installation happened during “the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026.”

A defense expert inspected the pool when it was drained, to fix the damage, on July 17 with United States Attorney Jeanine Pirro and staffers and “immediately noted extensive damage.”

The discovery prompted them to dive deeper into installation documents, which showed there were “repeated failures of the lining during the installation process,” according to court docs.

“Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” the 20-page filing by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said.

Hearn’s lawyers said in a statement that the case should have never been brought.

“Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong,” the statement read. “The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington on June 26, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The athlete, who previously owned a company that manufactured materials for vessels and competed in the Summer Olympics in 1992, 1996, and 2000, denied allegations that he intentionally tried to damage the pool.

Hearn previously said that he only reached into the water to inspect a section after he saw that the coating was already peeling.

The patriotic pool is nearly 2,030 feet long, 167 feet wide, and can be as deep as 30 inches at its center.

The Maryland-born competitor’s trial was expected to start on Sept. 28 in D.C. Superior Court before the case was dropped on Friday.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 15:45

Man Kidnaps Former Investment Partner, Stuffs Him In Trunk, Shoots Him, Then Gets Shot By Cops

Authored by Arthur Zhang via The Epoch Times,

Two Chinese men have been identified as suspects in the shooting and kidnapping of a Chino Hills resident who was later found mortally wounded in the trunk of their vehicle after one suspect fired into it during a police stop, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a July 31 statement to The Epoch Times.

A home on the street in Chino Hills, Calif., where the shooting and kidnapping occurred. Zhao Ziting/The Epoch Times

The department identified the suspects as Bo Zhengfeng, 67, and Bo Jianquan, 66, both Irvine residents. The victim was identified as Shukur Aikebaer, 60, of Chino Hills.

The sheriff's department did not identify the suspects' citizenship.

Investigators said power to Aikebaer's home was interrupted on the night of July 29. When he went outside to inspect the electrical panel, the two men allegedly shot and kidnapped him.

Deputies later stopped the suspects' vehicle after a short pursuit. Bo Jianquan surrendered, but Bo Zhengfeng exited the vehicle, approached its open trunk, and fired into it, the department said.

Deputies then shot Bo Zhengfeng and discovered Aikebaer inside the trunk with a gunshot wound. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

Gunshots and Screams Reported

Deputies were dispatched to the 2100 block of Monteverde Drive at about 10:14 p.m. after a caller reported hearing gunshots and someone screaming.

While deputies were responding, they spotted the suspects' vehicle traveling at high speed and attempted to stop it. The driver refused to yield, leading deputies on a short pursuit that ended in the 2400 block of Wandering Ridge Drive.

Deputies ordered both occupants out of the vehicle.

Bo Jianquan, the passenger, complied and was taken into custody. Bo Zhengfeng, the driver, did not comply, according to the department.

Bo Zhengfeng then shot Aikebaer, and deputies opened fire, striking him. Deputies attempted lifesaving measures on both wounded men. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Bo Jianquan was not injured, and no deputies were injured.

Prior Business Relationship

The sheriff's department said Bo Zhengfeng and Aikebaer knew each other through a prior working relationship.

California corporate records show both men were connected to Panshi Inc., an investment company formed in 2018.

Bo Zhengfeng was listed as the company's chief executive and director. Aikebaer - under the name Aikebaer Abuduxukuer - was listed as secretary and registered agent.

Both were listed at the same Irvine address.

Public property records identify Aikebaer Abuduxukuer as the owner of the Chino Hills home where the kidnapping began. The age and address in those records match the victim identified by the sheriff's department.

Irvine Home Searched

Investigators later searched the Irvine home that Bo Zhengfeng shared with Bo Jianquan, according to the sheriff's department.

Public property records identify the address used by several of Bo Zhengfeng's companies as a home owned by Bo since 2018. Panshi Inc. records also listed the victim, under the name Aikebaer Abuduxukuer, at that address.

The search was carried out with assistance from the Irvine Police Department.

Bo Jianquan was booked at the West Valley Detention Center on suspicion of murder and kidnapping and was being held without bail.

The sheriff's inmate system listed his first court appearance for Aug. 3 at the Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse.

The sheriff's department said the investigation would be forwarded to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office for review and the filing of charges.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 15:10

Airspace Lockdown Looms: US Warns Americans Get Out Of Mideast As Iran Targets Kuwait Again

There were no Friday night into Saturday morning US attacks on Iran, after President Trump warned he has given an order to hit Iran 'hard' - though didn't disclose a timeline. Friday reports in The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Axios strongly suggested that large US strikes would commence at some point this weekend, as the region remains on edge.

The only new and recent attacks have been more apparent Iranian drone strikes on Kuwait. Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday has confirmed Iran’s "continued aggression" against it after a drone attack earlier targeted "vital installations".

Kuwait City file image

The ministry called out the attacks as a "flagrant violation" of Kuwait’s sovereignty which reveal a "determination to persist in a hostile approach." It said the country reserves the right to “take all necessary measures” to protect its security and resources.

According to some details in The Wall Street Journal:

Iran fired a drone barrage into Kuwait on Saturday, hitting a U.S. ally following President Trump’s vow to intensify military strikes in a rapidly expanding Middle East war.

Kuwait said it shot down the Iranian volley, but the renewed fire added more tension to a region bracing for more conflict. Trump ordered the military to launch a fresh attack on Iran to bring Tehran to the negotiating table, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

U.S. embassies in the Middle East told Americans to consider departing the region. Airlines are extending flight cancellations to Arab Gulf states, which have spent decades building themselves up as international airport hubs. The U.S. warned airspaces may soon be closed. 

Ahead of likely reviewed US attacks on Iran, which could possibly involve Israel too, the US Department of State has re-issued an urgent travel warning for the entire Middle East region, saying "Americans in the region should consider departing, or be prepared to depart should there be escalation."

"Americans outside the Middle East should seriously reconsider travel to and through the region," it said on X Saturday, adding that "Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other US interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world."

President Trump had made clear on Friday while at Camp David his view that the Iranians can't be trusted, are 'dishonorable' - and so he's not pursuing talks.

And then a late Friday CBS report sounded the alarm of more escalation, saying that "The United States and Israel are planning what would be one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date against energy infrastructure targets in Iran, multiple sources told CBS News, with strikes possible throughout the weekend."

The report added, "There was some discussion about trying to conclude by the time financial markets open Monday because of concern about how the bombings will affect the U.S. and global economy, but an end point wasn't locked in."

Earlier this week there were reports of Trump exploding at his own advisors amid ongoing debates about how the crisis should be handled, and finding an exit strategy. Likely the word 'quagmire' can increasingly be heard around Washington. Trump officials have sought to bat down criticisms of getting the US stuck in another forever war in the Middle East.

Middle East: Americans currently in the Middle East should exercise caution and heightened vigilance and should be prepared for flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions. Some airlines in the region have postponed resumption of earlier… pic.twitter.com/d1ZmzRBBHN

— TravelGov (@TravelGov) August 1, 2026

"Well, they always want to talk, but they break their words so often," Trump said Friday at Camp David of the Iranians, putting his frustration on display later adding: "All they do is make me angry."

Also, key line from a recent WSJ report points to where things are likely headed: "Some U.S. officials believe Iran will continue to drag out negotiations, banking that Trump will abandon his war efforts in the long term in the face of mounting domestic political opposition."

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 14:35

22 EU Leaders Demand "Immediate Action" As Migrant Invasion Raises Fear Of Hybrid Warfare

Summary:

• 22 EU Leaders Demand "Immediate Action"
• Italy Suspends Schengen Travel Agreement With Spain After Horrifying Ceuta Invasion
• Spain's Border Invasion Is An Optics Disaster For Open-Border Democrats
• Crazy Footage Shows Migrants Rampaging, Breaking Into Homes After Invading Spain

22 EU Leaders Demand "Immediate Action" To Spanish Enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla Invasion 

European leaders criticized Madrid's socialist government as its open-border policies unraveled for the world to see.

The invasion of the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla by 50,000 military-aged men from Morocco exposed the dire consequences of nation-killing mass-migration policies promoted by socialist regimes, which have long eroded national sovereignty across the entire continent. 

For Europe, the latest border breach represents one of the clearest warnings yet that uncontrolled mass migration has evolved from a political dispute into a full-blown national security crisis.

Hours after the invasion, Italy's Interior Ministry suspended Schengen free-movement rules with Spain and ordered the closure of air and maritime borders between the two countries, citing national security concerns.

The list of European leaders criticizing Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is growing on Saturday, as 22 EU leaders have now signed on to a demand for an "immediate and coordinated European response" to the invasion into Ceuta and Melilla.

BREAKING:

The prime ministers of 22 out of 27 EU member states have written a joint letter to the EU, demanding an emergency summit over the invasion of illegal migrants in Ceuta.

They are outraged by the recent ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court:

🇮🇹 Italy
🇩🇪 Germany
🇩🇰… pic.twitter.com/cCqEEcY45l

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) August 1, 2026

"We cannot allow uncontrolled mass crossings, the instrumentalization of migration or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible," EU leaders, including Denmark's Mette Frederiksen, Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Germany's Friedrich Merz, wrote in a letter published on X by Denmark's Ministry of State.

PM Frederiksen: "Together with @GiorgiaMeloni and 20 colleagues we demand immediate action from the EU to discuss further initiatives about the alarming situation in Ceuta. Control of our borders is paramount. All measures must be considered to ensure the safety of Europeans.”

— Statsministeriet (@Statsmin) August 1, 2026

Danmark og Italien kræver øjeblikkelig handling i forhold til EU’s ydre grænser pic.twitter.com/XWHC8WQYKd

— Statsministeriet (@Statsmin) August 1, 2026

Sánchez and Spain's socialists are already feeling the impact of a negative information campaign that has spread across the West. The Trump administration is using the crisis as a warning to American voters ahead of the midterms that socialists gaining power would risk reopening the US border crisis. Political pressure on Sánchez will intensify further if illegal crossings resume or illegals reach mainland Europe.

The most likely pathway is, therefore, containment followed by political blowback against socialist parties in Madrid and across the bloc, rather than an immediate collapse of Schengen. Any second mass surge, however, would only suggest the weaponization of migration against Europe; in other words, asymmetric warfare. 

The open-ended question is who, if anyone, on the Moroccan side financed, organized, and facilitated the invasion.

Crazy Footage Shows Migrants Rampaging, Breaking Into Homes After Invading Spain

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

Nearly 50,000 military-aged men stormed the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla from Morocco in a single day. What followed was not "asylum-seeking." It was open looting, home invasions, vehicle burnings, and street chaos while Spanish authorities largely stood aside.

Spain's socialist government under Pedro Sánchez had already rolled out mass regularisation schemes and refused to treat the border as a national emergency.

The result played out in real time across the North African territories that form the European Union's only land borders with Africa.

Estimates from Spain's Interior Ministry and local sources put the number who crossed into Ceuta alone at around 49,000 in 24 hours - roughly equivalent to the U.S. troop presence in the Middle East.

Ceuta's president Juan Jesús Vivas described the situation as "absolutely unsustainable" and a "total humanitarian and social emergency," noting reception centres were already saturated and more than 200 arrivals a day had become routine in the preceding period.

Reports have also suggested that the influx was so severe that at least 19 to 34 migrants died in the waters or in stampedes at the Tarajal breakwater.

???? Spain's ?Interior Ministry estimates ?that about 49,000 illegal migrants crossed ?into Ceuta ?in the last 24 ?hours ?from ?Morocco

The vast majority of them are military-aged men

To put that into context, the U.S has around 50,000 troops deployed to the Middle East, and...

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 31, 2026

Footage from the ground shows columns of young men pouring through streets, scaling fences, and swimming around coastal barriers.

In Melilla the scenes turned violent just as quickly. Migrants set vehicles ablaze after breaching the border fence.

Illegal immigrants set vehicles ablaze after breaching the border fence into Melilla, Spain. pic.twitter.com/gIwwxU1koq

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 31, 2026

?? CAYÓ MELILLA | Luego de la toma de Cauta, los invasores tomaron el control de Melilla y en estos momentos están usurpando casas, robando, apedreando a Españoles e incendiando autos.

Se ruega a la ciudadanía a que no salga de sus propiedades, que estén preparados por posibles... https://t.co/I7Nmf1gCn1 pic.twitter.com/2w6ulBUFTn

— CHAD (@ChadAbrazo) July 30, 2026

There is obviously no processing of these arrivals anywhere for them to go. Further videos captured groups breaking into residential buildings, looting stores, and occupying private property.

? BREAKING: African migrants who just stormed into Spain are now BREAKING INTO HOMES of Spanish residents in Ceuta

It's going to get REALLY bad, and even worse, until the weak leadership brings in mass remigration.

This is what barbarians do. ALWAYS.pic.twitter.com/o3dwEOTWcU

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 30, 2026

Some clips show African migrants forcing entry into Spanish homes in Ceuta while residents look on helplessly.

As everyone could have guessed, many of the 50 000 illegal migrants who crossed into Ceuta and Melilla yesterday spent the night by breaking into homes, looting stores and clashing with the Spanish police

?? pic.twitter.com/JlzZrFAtEo

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 31, 2026

Sigo informado de lo que está ocurriendo en Ceuta, ciudadanos me pasan vídeos de cómo algunos de los que han pasado la frontera están empezando a romper ventanas y ocupar casas.

No es ningún bulo, lo que está ocurriendo en Ceuta es MUY GRAVE.

Necesitamos el apoyo del pueblo. pic.twitter.com/Op4oBQs5fl

— Salva Ortega (@_SalvaOrtega) July 30, 2026

? OMG. The 3rd world African invaders who stormed into Ceuta, Spain are now RAIDING HOMES as it is 1AM and the city is asleep

Not the barbarians, they're RANSACKING and PILLAGING.

Do not ever let this come to America. Socialists cannot win!pic.twitter.com/RasCLUIz8l

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 30, 2026

News footage highlighted crowds ofmilitary-agedd migrant men surrounding a Spanish woman who was visibly distressed as the men laughed and closed in around her - an image that has circulated widely as a symbol of the total collapse of order.

Esta imagen es durísima. Una española llorando mientras esta rodeada de inmigrantes ilegales. Que vergüenza todo. Este país no merece a la basura de gobernantes que tenemos. pic.twitter.com/CnIOcsb1OT

— Alt Right España ? (@AltRightEspan) July 31, 2026

A ver en que andan los médicos marroquíes que llegaron a España pic.twitter.com/LV1xkUJhpy

— Gian del 56% ????? (@Gianferreyra_) July 30, 2026

Se los ve muy amigables a los nuevos españoles, les hace falta casa, comida y mujeres, a prepararse... pic.twitter.com/fSp8beiuiz

— Abogadodijo (@AbogadoDijo) July 31, 2026

Local residents did not simply accept the invasion. In Ceuta, Spanish patriots took to the streets themselves to protect their neighborhoods and homes when official forces proved insufficient.

Groups of men formed ad-hoc patrols, confronting the influx directly.

?? Ceuta residents are now patrolling the streets themselves.

Follow: @europa pic.twitter.com/CzObUJGHzd

— Europa.com (@europa) July 31, 2026

? ?? ALERTE INFO : Des patriotes espagnols à Ceuta ont pris la rue pour PROTÉGER leur VILLE des ENVAHISSEURS et sont prêts à en découdre !

Respect total à ces gars qui refusent de laisser tomber leur terre. ?? pic.twitter.com/aLKsrcsSSW

— Wolf ? (@PsyGuy007) July 30, 2026

?? Thousands of North African migrants have flooded the streets of Ceuta.

Local residents are taking to the streets to protect their homes. pic.twitter.com/Mqv3fFsJnr

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 30, 2026

The Spanish response was a deployment of roughly 100 to 150 military personnel and additional police.

Orders, according to on-the-ground reports, were to hold position rather than aggressively close the border or remove the entrants. Armored vehicles appeared, yet the fence remained open in places, and the flow continued through the night.

One reporter on the scene at 4:30 a.m. described 100 people crossing every minute while the military presence did little to stem it.

?Ya estoy en Ceuta

Cuando son las 04h30 de la mañana, ahora misma están entrando 100 personas cada minuto
¡ESTOY ALUCINANDO!@periodistadigit pic.twitter.com/bAeLTW0F4O

— Bertrand Ndongo (@bertrandmyd) July 31, 2026

Despliegue de 100-150 militares, con órdenes de no agredir, de no hacer daño, de solo mantener la posición en la frontera. Mientras tanto, la valla abierta por ambos lados, y nadie (Ni siquiera el ejercito) tapona dicha puerta ni valla. Libre entrada.pic.twitter.com/0GckUiZ6RP

— BenethorR (@BenethorR) July 30, 2026

? NOW: It's 4:20 am in Ceuta, Spain, and Moroccan streets leading to the border crossing are GRIDLOCKED as THOUSANDS of Africans rush to join the invasion

Socialist Spanish PM Sanchez told the military to STAND DOWN, ensuring the invasion continues.

How much more will... pic.twitter.com/ZrOq7eliro

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 31, 2026

?? Spanish military and police are helping migrants illegally enter Spain

Today Ceuta woke up with thousands of migrants breaking into people's homes and occupying them, while those who failed to become squatters slept on the streets. pic.twitter.com/Q9iKTfWrLt

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 31, 2026

? JUST NOW: Spain has ARMORED VEHICLES and the military in Ceuta following the invasion of military-aged African migrants by the thousands

Spain needs MASS REMIGRATION NOW! ??pic.twitter.com/rkt2adi1D2

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 30, 2026

BREAKING:

In Ceuta, Spanish military vehicles have been spotted moving toward the border with Morocco.

?? pic.twitter.com/p2kmcYkrrb

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 30, 2026

? NOW: Absolute CHAOS in the streets of Ceuta, Spain as police become OVERWHELMED while trying to round up all the African invaders

NO SIGN of ANY real military pushback.

THIS is what happens when you put socialists into power. pic.twitter.com/EPYiHIEIvY

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) July 30, 2026

The situation at the border between Spain and Morocco is completely out of control. North African Muslim criminals attack civilians and police. Europe is under Islamic attack. pic.twitter.com/2NmRehlpax

— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) July 31, 2026

It's 2am in Melilla and there are screams of ALLAHU AKBAR on the beaches as hundreds of Moroccan men are still coming in from the sea.

They come with no clothes, no water, no food...

This is not going to be pretty. https://t.co/NY4kNVu7nZ pic.twitter.com/nyuhZ6Thhs

— Kiera Diss (@KieraDiss) July 31, 2026

The scale and coordination point beyond spontaneous movement. Moroccan authorities were filmed emptying trucks full of young men near the Ceuta border.

Separate videos show convoys of trucks and buses ferrying thousands toward the frontier from towns an hour away.

Moroccan traffic police keeps directing thousands of illegal migrants toward the Spanish border fence in Ceuta.

This is a state-orchestrated invasion of Spain.

???? pic.twitter.com/PNZyAHEMMn

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 31, 2026

Facebook groups with tens of thousands of members openly shared routes, maps, equipment lists, and contact numbers, framing the crossing as a "liberation."

One widely shared clip asks the obvious questions: who feeds them, who sets the date and route, and who benefits?

?? Thousands of migrants are being transported in the backs of trucks straight to the Spanish border.

The video is from Moroccan Ain Lahcen, about an hour's drive from Ceuta. pic.twitter.com/2DHkxsuyA7

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 31, 2026

ESTO ES MUY GRAVE. Me llegan estas imágenes de cómo las autoridades marroquíes vacían camiones llenos de jóvenes cerca de la frontera con Ceuta.

Quien no quiera ver que se trata de una operación perfectamente preparada por el régimen, es que es ciego. pic.twitter.com/YpxFAaF7Wb

— Taleb Alisalem (@TalebSahara) July 30, 2026

Miles de marroquíes llegaron en camiones y autobuses a la frontera de Ceuta.

No es una crisis migratoria, es una marcha verde orquestada por Mohamed VI. pic.twitter.com/s0jICYRyHe

— David Santos (@davidsantosvlog) July 31, 2026

???? The CEUTA INVASION is being openly ORGANIZED on FACEBOOK

Groups with tens of thousands of members are sharing routes, maps, equipment tips, and phone numbers to coordinate the mass crossing. They call it a "liberation."

Their plan is clear: reach Ceuta, get to the... pic.twitter.com/ILZLGvhsDS

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 30, 2026

Who feeds the thousands of men on their journey? Who dictates the route? The date?

This is not spontaneous. pic.twitter.com/C0w6hgZQdF

— Alex Armstrong (@Alexarmstrong) July 30, 2026

50,000 Men in one tiny corner of the World don't all just wake up simultaneously & decide to leave their family, home & country forever.

Nope – so the question is:-

Who organised it?
Who funded it?
Who instigated and directed it?
Who's managing it now?

Where are these 50,000...

— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) July 31, 2026

Moroccan border guards helping illegal migrants find the best way toward the Spanish border fence in Ceuta.

The Moroccan state is actively helping the invasion of Spanish territory. pic.twitter.com/W2hPX33JfK

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 31, 2026

Observers have noted the timing - coming after a Spanish Supreme Court ruling that limited immediate pushbacks for sea arrivals and against the backdrop of long-running territorial disputes over the enclaves.

Some speculate Morocco is testing Spain's resolve or seeking leverage. One analysis framed the surge as a potential path to forcing Spanish evacuation of the territories it has held for centuries.

I suspect Morocco will establish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla thru this "invasion".

Spain will be forced to evacuate their citizens from the African coast.

Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez will be humiliated to have lost territory Spain has held since the year 1580. https://t.co/orFO5vb1w4

— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) July 31, 2026

By Friday morning, a curious reverse movement also appeared. Hundreds of the same men began heading back toward Morocco on their own, citing hunger and the fact that the city was largely shut down.

???? Some Moroccan migrants who crossed into Ceuta are already returning home, describing conditions there as "only hunger and humiliation."

Follow: @europa pic.twitter.com/lVhoKoCHvW

— Europa.com (@europa) July 31, 2026

"We are hungry, we are going home," some said on camera.

?"Tenemos hambre, volvemos a casa"
¡Curiosa imagen, la que estamos viendo ahora mismo en Ceuta!

Cientos de inmigrantes están regresando a Marruecos por sus propios pies y sin ser coaccionados por nadie.
Cabe recordar que hoy es viernes y la ciudad está prácticamente cerrada. pic.twitter.com/BV3StU5vuZ

— Bertrand Ndongo (@bertrandmyd) July 31, 2026

The political fallout has already crossed the Mediterranean. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the images from Ceuta proof that uncontrolled illegal immigration poses a concrete threat to Europe's borders and said Italy was prepared to take extraordinary measures, including suspension of Schengen with Spain.

Matteo Salvini demanded the same.

In France, Marine Le Pen insisted on immediate reinforcement of border controls and, if she wins power, restriction of free movement to EU nationals only.

Marion Maréchal described the events as a genuine migrant invasion that requires ending the current Schengen framework.

Finland, Sweden and Denmark also announced Support for the move.

???? Finland has officially announced support for Italy's proposal to suspend Spain from the visa-free Schengen Area after the massive migration invasion in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta.

Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen backed the move, saying Spain... pic.twitter.com/DCin6AlPOF

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 31, 2026

?BREAKING: Denmark's Prime Minister has demanded the EU considers suspending Spain from Schengen over Cueta migrant invasion

All European nations are now turning on Pedro Sánchez's Spain. ???? pic.twitter.com/G1SxRnjcXq

— Inevitable West (@Inevitablewest) July 31, 2026

?BREAKING: Sweden has now joined threats to SUSPEND the Schengen Area agreement with Spain following the illegal migrant invasion of Ceuta

Sánchez's Spain is being boycotted. pic.twitter.com/ABvXFRQrsR

— Inevitable West (@Inevitablewest) July 31, 2026

Some think it's too little too late, however.

All of Europe's "center-right" politicians are suddenly posting about protecting the borders in reaction to Ceuta.

Infuriating. All of you are complicit in this. You never did anything to stop mass migration. You facilitated it.

Don't think you can jump ship now. We know who...

— Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) July 31, 2026

Sánchez's government has spoken of "solutions" and "cooperation" while deploying limited forces and rejecting a formal national emergency declaration.

The footage from Ceuta and Melilla shows what that approach produces: overwhelmed police, residents forced to defend their own streets, homes occupied, and a clear message to the next wave that the door remains open.

Europe's external border has been tested in the most public way possible. The question now is whether any government still willing to enforce it remains.

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 Sat, 08/01/2026 - 14:10

The Real Threat To Young Americans' Jobs Isn't AI. It's The National Debt...

Authored by Ken Buck via The Epoch Times,

The rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence and supercomputing technologies has many Americans worried about the future of their careers. In a survey last month, more than half of U.S. workers expressed concern that AI could take their job or the job of a family member. Another survey in December found that almost 60 percent of young people believe AI poses a threat to their job prospects.

Americans are not naive. They realize that fast-evolving technologies will disrupt how we do business, just like the Industrial Revolution replaced blacksmiths and the horse and buggy. Many young people, particularly, are already pivoting toward “AI-proof” career fields that promise long-term stability.

However, while concerns about AI automation have dominated headlines and sucked the oxygen out of the room, a bigger, more immediate threat to Americans’ job prospects and wages continues to go virtually ignored: That is the crowding-out effect of the rising federal debt on private investment.

Our national debt is not a theoretical boogeyman. It’s a bona fide job-killer that is impeding economic growth and driving up costs on everyday families. And it will only get worse the longer it is ignored.

An analysis by Ernst & Young projects that on the 2025 debt path, which has accelerated in the current fiscal year, the United States will lose over 1 million jobs by 2035, 2.7 million by 2055, and 3.6 million by 2075. These losses will disproportionately impact young people, who are more sensitive to labor market conditions.

At the same time, evidence indicates that the “crowding-out” effect of the national debt—whereby the high cost of servicing the debt pushes investment into Treasury bonds instead of private, job-creating capital—will reduce income growth by 16 percent between now and 2055.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office pegs that number even higher. A 2023 report estimates that the rising debt will cut income growth by a third, or more than $14,000, over the next three decades. It notes that every dollar of federal borrowing causes a 33-cent reduction in private investment.

In other words, our national debt and the interest costs that accompany it are stifling job creation and wage growth, and the situation will only get increasingly worse as our federal debt load continues to balloon.

What’s more, the interest on our national debt—which costs about $2.8 billion per day and is projected to grow to nearly $6 billion per day by 2036—is driving up borrowing costs for consumers, exacerbating the affordability crisis. A Yale Budget Lab report found that every 1-point increase in the permanent deficit relative to GDP adds between $600 and $1,240 per year in loan costs for the median U.S. home.

Sadly, young people bear the worst of these job losses, wage stagnation and borrowing cost increases. Last August unemployment among 20- to 24-year-olds peaked at over 9 percent, more than double the general rate of 4.3 percent. Since 2023, younger Americans’ job-market optimism has fallen 23 points, similar to the Great Recession—which caused millennials to earn about 20 percent less over their careers, with roughly half the wealth of their parents at the same age.

Coupled with Social Security’s 2032 depletion date, all these factors are squeezing young workers from every angle: disappearing jobs and lower wages today, and a shrinking safety net tomorrow.

Our massive national debt and the significant costs it imposes on ordinary Americans is a problem of Washington’s own making. It will take leaders with political courage to address it—leaders who are willing to say no to reckless spending our country can’t afford, even when it may cost them their job.

Government spending builds dependence on the welfare state and obstructs private-sector growth, consolidating power. A powerful government that “provides” for all, picks winners and losers, and usurps personal liberties.

There’s only one problem: This socialist vision doesn’t work. It never has. That’s because government doesn’t create wealth; private enterprise does. As Winston Churchill famously explained, “The inherent vice of Capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”

Young people are not wrong to worry about the economic disruptions AI could bring about, but our out-of-control national debt is the bigger, more pressing elephant in the room. And we cannot afford for lawmakers to kick the can down the road.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 13:25

Verizon Blames 'Human Error' For Burying A Jack Smith Subpoena From Congress

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and fifteen colleagues sent a letter to Verizon on Thursday demanding the telecom giant explain how a 2023 grand jury subpoena tied to Jack Smith's "Arctic Frost" investigation vanished from its own paperwork for more than two years - only to resurface after the company chalked the omission up to "human error."

The letter, addressed to Verizon CEO Dan Schulman, is the latest turn in Grassley's monthslong excavation of Arctic Frost - the Biden-era FBI/DOJ probe-turned-Trump-prosecution that has already produced a House criminal referral for Smith himself, revelations that his team accessed the actual text messages of 44 lawmakers, and now a fight over what one of the country's largest phone companies knew and sat on.

What Subpoena?

Back in October 2023, Grassley asked Verizon to search its files for every DOJ or federal law enforcement request touching Senate devices between January 2016 and October 2023, part of his long-running Crossfire Hurricane oversight. Verizon wrote back that it generally keeps legal process on file for four years and had no records predating October 2019.

What it didn't mention: a May 25, 2023 grand jury subpoena issued by Smith's Arctic Frost team for senators' phone toll records, including two numbers belonging to the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms.

Congress didn't learn the subpoena existed until 2025, when Verizon told Grassley's office the 2023 omission came down to "human error." Grassley isn't satisfied with that. His new letter wants to know whether Verizon actually found the subpoena during its 2023 search and stayed quiet, or genuinely missed a live federal legal demand sitting in its own compliance files for two years.

Two of the numbers swept up in that May 2023 subpoena weren't just any senators' lines - they belonged to the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms. Under a contract Verizon signed with the Senate in May 2022, that's supposed to trigger automatic notice to the SAA any time a Senate device or line gets subpoenaed. Grassley's letter effectively asks how a contractually mandated notification simply never happened.

There's also a significant timing gap to explain. The gag orders that typically accompany these subpoenas run about a year. If a standard gag applied here, it would have lifted by mid-2024 - well over a year before Verizon finally volunteered the "human error" explanation in 2025. Once free to speak, nothing stopped Verizon from coming forward. It didn't, until Grassley's office came asking.

What Grassley wants - and by when

The letter, co-signed by Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) and fourteen other senators, demands Verizon:

• Disclose the exact dates Schulman, Hans Vestberg, Craig Silliman, and Vandana Venkatesh were first told about the May 2023 subpoena
• Turn over internal records from May 2023 through October 2025 discussing whether Verizon believed it had a duty to notify Congress or the SAA
• Explain, in more than two words, what "human error" actually means

Verizon has until August 13 to respond. (Schulman only took over as CEO in October 2025, meaning he wasn't at the helm for either the original subpoena or Verizon's flawed 2023 response - which is exactly why senators want to know precisely when he was personally briefed.)

Twelve of the sixteen senators who signed the letter - Grassley included - had their own phone toll records or text messages swept up by Smith's investigators. For most of the people demanding answers here, this isn't abstract oversight.

Other Carriers In The Crosshairs

Verizon isn't the only carrier under scrutiny. Grassley and Johnson's joint oversight has identified more than 400 Republican individuals and organizations swept into the broader Arctic Frost dragnet - including, per Grassley's disclosures, Turning Point USA, founded by the late Charlie Kirk. Separately, the two chairmen have tallied 84 Arctic Frost-related subpoenas sent specifically to Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, ten of which sought toll records for 20 sitting or former GOP members of Congress.

Notably, Verizon complied with Smith's subpoenas while AT&T pushed back - a contrast Senate Judiciary Republicans have highlighted approvingly. The subpoenas were accompanied by gag orders signed by Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee who has repeatedly clashed with the Trump administration on unrelated matters. The House Judiciary Committee, under Chairman Jim Jordan, has opened its own parallel probe into the telecoms.

Smith, for his part, has called the entire controversy overblown, maintaining his office's collection was lawful and noting that special counsel Robert Hur similarly obtained President Biden's toll records, and that DOJ under Trump's first term seized phone records belonging to Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell.

Last month we reported on DOJ records showing Smith's team bypassed the department's own privilege-screening "filter team" and directly accessed text messages between 44 members of Congress - from both parties - and Trump White House officials including Mark Meadows and Kash Patel, in apparent tension with Smith's own sworn testimony that his office sought "just toll records." Weeks later, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan escalated matters further, referring Smith to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution over the same records dispute.

Verizon's August 13 deadline will determine whether this becomes another entry on Grassley's growing pile of unanswered questions, or the start of the same reckoning AT&T and T-Mobile executives already faced before the Judiciary Subcommittee earlier this year. Either way, sixteen senators - a dozen of whom found their own names in Jack Smith's files - aren't inclined to let it drop.

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 12:50

Leftists Now Claim US And Israel Behind The Migrant Invasion Of Spain

A clear pattern is emerging:  When the political left or their favorite pet migrants wreak havoc and commit heinous crimes, the immediate canned response from the activist fold is to blame the "right wing" or blame those devious Israelis.  Why do they do this?  Because it works. 

Progressive politicians and third world invaders always seem to dodge accountability while conservative movements in-fight over the source of the problem. 

There a people on both sides of the aisle that maintain a distaste for Israel, sometimes to the point that they attribute almost godlike abilities to the Israeli government.  They seem to be downright omnipresent; everywhere all at once and always ten steps ahead.  It's positively astounding.  

Strategists within leftist and elitist movements understand very well that many conservatives and independents are suspicious of Israeli influence and they use this built-in paranoia as a weapon to divert attention away from their own machinations.  While there are plenty of valid criticisms to be made against Israel, some claims dive deep into the absurd.

For example, the political left is spreading a new narrative across social media asserting that the migrant invasion of Spain's Ceuta enclave is part of a vast US/Israeli conspiracy to destroy the country.  In other words, they believe that tens-of-thousands of Muslim migrants are taking marching orders from a Jewish-run government. 

Truly, this is an unprecedented level of progress in Islamic/Israeli relations.

Spain's Transportation Minister supported the theory on social media while Gabriel Rufián, a spokesperson from the Spanish Congress, asserted that it was the US and Israel flooding Europe with migrants to "blackmail" the country.  Meanwhile, Hollywood actor Javier Barden took to Instagram to claim that the Israelis and the "far right" in the US were "turning migration into a weapon" to harm Spain and to make Muslim migrants look bad. 

Hollywood actor Javier Bardem shares Instagram post blaming ISRAEL for 50,000 Moroccan migrant men storming into Spanish territory.

“Spain has been Europe’s loudest voice against Israeli and US war crimes in Palestine, Lebanon and Iran.”

The actor reposted an Instagram post… pic.twitter.com/BYiYxYOehM

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 31, 2026

It should be noted that the level of projection here is off the charts, but we'll get to that in a moment.

The "evidence" used to support this theory is based on two incidents:  A speech by Benjamin Netenyahu from April in which he accused Spain of waging a “diplomatic war” against Israel. He concluded with words to the effect:

“I am not prepared to tolerate this hypocrisy and this hostility. I do not intend to allow any country to wage a diplomatic war against us without paying an immediate price.” 

The fact that Morocco is a member of the Abraham Accords is also used to play up the theory that Morocco is taking orders from the Israelis.  However, Netanyahu's statements were in direct reference to ambassador recalls and lawsuits waged by Spain.  The "immediate price" was the removal of Spanish representatives from the Civil-Military Coordination Center which is working to secure a ceasefire in Gaza. 

There is zero evidence that the US or Israel is working with Morocco to organize a Muslim invasion of Spain, though such a feat of cooperation with Islamic migrants would be quite impressive.  

Another piece of evidence used to support the idea of an Israeli engineered migration event is a post on Twitter from 2019 by Netenyahu's son (Yair Netanyahu) in which he specifically cites Ceuta as a place Muslims should invade.  Surely, this is damning evidence...

Dear Arabs and Muslims. Want to free occupied Arab Islamic lands? Here’s a good start! pic.twitter.com/Ci5R0dOXN7

— Yair Netanyahu🇮🇱 (@YairNetanyahu) May 25, 2019

Context matters, however, and correlation is not causation.  This post was made as a rhetorical jab in direct response to a debate with Spanish officials over the West Bank and the accusation that Israel is a "colonial power" that should leave the region.  Yair, in a bid to expose Spain's hypocrisy, pointed out that their definition of "colonialism" also applied to their lands held in Northern Africa, including Ceuta. 

In other words, he was arguing that if it's okay to demand that the Israelis give up lands in the West Bank to Muslims, then it's fair to demand that Spain give up their land holdings in Ceuta to Muslims.  One can disagree with the comparison made in the post, but it's not some genius attack plan laid out seven years in advance to destroy Spain.  

🇪🇸 A woman in Ceuta describes being surrounded and harassed by dozens of Moroccan migrants:

“I’m scared, I’m surrounded and trembling. We need help.”

“It’s catastrophic. Today it’s Ceuta, but tomorrow it’ll be the Canary Islands or Tarifa.”

Follow: @europa pic.twitter.com/D8tusyShgG

— Europa.com (@europa) July 31, 2026

It's important to set aside biases in geopolitics if one is to understand why things happen the way they do.  Understanding the truth requires evidence, not feelings and knee-jerk reactions.  

For anyone looking for the real culprits behind the mass third world invasion of Spain, they need look no further than Spain's own political leaders and their socialist policies.  It was the Spanish government that passed two separate amnesty measures that would give citizenship over half-a-million illegal migrants starting in 2026.  When you reward criminality en masse, more and more criminals are going to show up to abuse you.

Third world migrants will now pour into Spain under the assumption that the far-left government will simply pass another amnesty in the near future.

Another problem is a Spanish Supreme Court ruling from June which restricted "hot returns" (forced and immediate deportations) of migrants who arrive by sea.  If you're wondering why so many thousands of migrants were swimming to Ceuta instead of simply crossing the border, this is why.  Spanish courts created a loophole which migrants falsely assumed they could exploit by swimming to Spanish territory. 

To drive the point home, Spanish Primer Minister Pedro Sánchez condemned the migration event while at the same time calling for "coexistence" with the invaders.  He enthusiastically supported more open immigration standards only months ago.

    

The reason why Spanish leftists are taking opposition to the Ceuta incident is because it garnered far too much international attention and exposed the greater multiculturalist left as destructive.  Head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, was more concerned about how the event "looked" in the media than the dangers that naturally come with third world immigration.  

Again, the political left happily encourages open borders, they just don't want to take responsibility for what happens after the foreign invaders start pillaging and raping.  Hence, the blame game with the US and Israel.  By extension, no one forced these migrants to act the way they did in Ceuta.  No one made them attack locals, loot stores and homes, or burn down buildings.  They did all that on their own. 

Maybe it's time for socialists and third worlders to start taking the blame for a change.  No more excuses.  No more scapegoats.  

Tyler Durden Sat, 08/01/2026 - 12:15