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Smollett's 2021 conviction for staging a hate crime was overturned in November 2024 after a lengthy appeal

The search to find a swimmer that was reported missing in Newport Beach on Monday morning is still underway.

Another Mets moment has hit the Internet.

Heartbreak was sent across from Boston Stadium, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, to Deutschland after Germany was eliminated by Paraguay. Germany’s hopes of winning the World Cup came crumbling down when José Canale fired a penalty shot to seal Paraguay‘s victory in a 4-3 shootout in the Round of 32, to give Paraguay...

The US Economy In A Nutshell: Privatize The Gains, Socialize The Costs

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

Correspondent Simons Chase insightfully summarized this dynamic: Privatize the Gains, Socialize the Costs.

In my post Five Dynamics That Make Sense of an Increasingly Chaotic World, #3 is the distribution of risk, costs and consequences to a diffused populace while concentrating the gains into the pockets of insiders/owners:

Those seeking to reduce their private risks and increase their private gains seek to concentrate the gains generated by control structures and distribute the risks and costs to others. Pull the strings that diffuse the costs and risks over a large populace and gather the gains into the hands of the insiders that manage the control structure, typically some form of monopoly, either public or private, or a fusion of public-private rackets.

So corporations face low risks while the gains are extremely enticing. This diffusion of risk and concentration of potential gains establishes perverse incentives to increase extractive, exploitive, well-hidden rackets that impoverish and immiserate the many, but in doses small enough to avoid triggering push-back.

In a system that concentrates gains and diffuses risk, the "rational actor" seeks to maximize rackets that distribute impoverishment and immiseration to the many in small doses over time that attract little attention and are not significant enough to trigger an emotionally potent resistance.

Correspondent Simons Chase (x.com/slchase and Selflet.ai) insightfully summarized this dynamic: Privatize the Gains, Socialize the Costs. Here is Simons' explanation:

"Junk food is a kind of leveraged recapitalization -- short-term gains privatized, long-term costs socialized as horrific health outcomes: pay a little now and a shortened, diseased life later. Dan Munro folded that framing into his Forbes piece tying roughly a trillion dollars a year in U.S. healthcare spending to sugar: Sugar Linked To $1 Trillion In U.S. Healthcare Spending (forbes.com, 2013). The mechanism is the point: privatize the gain, socialize the cost. Once you see it, you see it everywhere.

The receipt is real--Credit Suisse put 30%-40% of U.S. healthcare spending at the feet of excess sugar, and the 2012 Global Burden of Disease report found obesity a bigger global threat than hunger. That last fact is the whole thesis in a line, and I put it on X more recently: obesity is a form of starvation -- understand that, and you grasp the U.S. economy:

Abundance, not scarcity, is the adversary now. The economy has already filed the invoice: the top employer in most states flipped from manufacturing to health care in a single generation. We stopped making things and started billing the disease. The damage became the GDP.

Debt is the same recapitalization run on the whole economy--today's abundance privatized, tomorrow's cost socialized onto a future that didn't vote. And the defining project of my lifetime has been that operation run on foreign policy: borrowed against what we couldn't pay for at home, the costs socialized onto people far from the ledger, each chapter sold as help.

AI is simply the newest instance, and the most intimate. Cheap, fluent, frictionless cognition now; the homogenization bill later. The engagement is privatized; the flattening of the culture is socialized onto all of us-- and, exactly as you say, nobody notices the loss because nobody knows how to look for it.

Thank you, Simons, for this illumination.

Regarding the future of AI, my critiques and concerns can be found in my Essays on AI. Simons proposes a more productive future than Big Tech is selling, one of AI becoming a technology of individual agency that is radically decentralized rather than the Big Tech model of radically centralized AI in a corporate-state control structure. Here is Simons' vision of the future of AI:

Where I part from the despair is only on the cure, not the diagnosis. The averaging is the default, not the destiny. The answer at every level is the same: nutrient-dense over processed, particular over average, owned over administered. I think AI's future is tribal and human-designed: many particular intelligences, not one central utility that privatizes the profit and socializes the mediocrity. What I'm building is a small argument for that. All I really hope for is the freedom to deploy it -- and not another 'we're here to help.'"

Thank you, Simons, for this alternative lens. My vision of a positive future for AI starts with radical decentralization optimizing individual agency and then moving up the "truly intelligent" scale to AI refusing to waste resources on make-work waste is growth:

My book Investing In Revolution is available at a 10% discount ($18 for the paperback, $24 for the hardcover and $8.95 for the ebook edition). Introduction (free). Become a $3/month patron of my work via patreon.com. Subscribe to my Substack for free.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/29/2026 - 22:35

We can't wait to see the world's best while eating strawberries and cream.

What had been metaphorical became literal when Jasson Domínguez clotheslined Jazz Chisholm Jr. right out of the game.

The Lakers declined Nick Smith Jr.’s $2.5 million team option for the 2026-27 season, making the guard an unrestricted free agent.  The decision, which was first reported by ESPN, will help give the Lakers over $50 million in cap space entering free agency on Tuesday. The Lakers declined Nick Smith Jr.’s $2.5 million team option...

The singer kicked off her "Eternal Sunshine" tour on June 6.

The singer kicked off her "Eternal Sunshine" tour on June 6.

A married couple charged with the murder of their obese 7-year-old son let the boy consume a “steady diet of snack foods” as he gained 151 pounds in less than two years before dying. “Clearly the parents were feeding the child improperly, to say the least,” Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said Monday. “He wasn’t...

Supergirl Movie A "Girl Boss" Bomb With Disastrous Opening Weekend

There's no more excuses.  Filming for James Gunn's Supergirl summer blockbuster started in January of 2025, with most of the US celebrating the defeat of woke politics and the downfall of DEI.  There was no confusion in 2025; woke is dead.  Gunn was well aware and decided to make an insufferable feminist "girl boss" movie anyway. 

In other words, his failure is his own fault.  Either due to hubris, stupidity, or both. 

Initial projections for Supergirl a month ago hovered around $70 million for opening weekend.  These estimates were already low and the panic within Warner Bros. was palpable.  DC Studios was already on its ass for the less than stellar performance of Gunn's Superman, which was supposed to revitalize the comic book movie landscape. 

After theaters took their 50% cut of the receipts, Superman barely broke even on paper, though initial data suggests it fell actually short by $42 million before other indirect revenues were counted.  This was, once again, largely due to Gunn's moronic insertion of immigration politics into discussion, which repelled audiences. 

If Superman couldn't bring in enough fans to make real money, then Supergirl had no chance. Then, the lead actress opened her mouth and started talking, and this was the last nail in the coffin for the release.  After Milly Alcock started spewing feminist nonsense in interviews and attacking fans, it was all over. 

"It definitely made me aware that simply existing as a woman in that space is something that people comment on," she told Vanity Fair in an interview a few months before release. "We have become very comfortable having this weird ownership of women’s bodies. I can’t really stop them. I can only be myself."

Alcock went on to accuse fans of more sexism when they criticized here strange comments.  She then later suggested that Supergirl is LGBT in an effort to virtue signal for gay pride month. 

Supergirl is bisexual, apparently. "She'd probably go both ways," says Milly Alcock. pic.twitter.com/s8zqHyTeJs

— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) June 23, 2026

Clearly, people are tired of leftists inserting LGBT sexual preferences into every film and TV show, because Supergirl's numbers plummeted not long after Alcock's interviews.  The flick only brought in $38 million on opening weekend - Half of the expected revenues.  And, keep in mind, theaters still have to take their profits. 

The movie will need to make approximately $500 million to break even, which sets up Supergirl as possibly the biggest failure in DC movie history.  Beyond Alcock and Gunn, the production was also constructed around the framework provided by a writer with no experience (Ana Noguiera) and referenced a comic run by Tom King, a former CIA officer and leftist.  Anyone with any sense could have seen the disaster coming a hundred miles away.

New clip from DC Studios’ ‘SUPERGIRL.’

Releasing in theaters on June 26. pic.twitter.com/Ip813dV8fK

— The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) June 5, 2026

The lesson is this:  Leftists never learn.  Until the majority of people in Hollywood finally age out or get replaced with smarter (and more conservative) writers, there is little chance of a dramatic return to form.  They will continue to double down until the industry completely collapses.  Or, until a new and alternative industry rises to fill the vacuum. 

In the meantime, Get Woke, Go Broke dominates popular culture.  The progressive invasion is not gone, but they are certainly in decline.   

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/29/2026 - 22:10

Ford has rehired experienced human engineers to help address the shortcomings of artificial intelligence (AI) tools meant to tackle quality issues in the automaker's production processes.

The left-hander would have finished with a second six-inning start in his last four if not for Francisco Lindor’s fielding error.

Today's sudden revelation of "Lilo & Stich" star Daveigh Chase's cause of death came as no surprise to her father, according to his statement made to the California Post.

The Knicks locked up Landry Shamet, which, barring James Dolan changing his mind on the second apron, reiterated what we knew was happening.

LA Does Not Love LA

Authored by Arthur Schaper via American Greatness,

Rolling down Imperial Highway

Sweet Nasty Redhead on my side

Santa Ana winds blowing hot from the north

We were born to ride.

I love Randy Newman, and I love his signature song "I Love LA." When he won the mayor's race in 2001, James Hahn played that anthem to celebrate his victory. From city attorney to mayor, Hahn worked to ensure some decency and competence in the city.

Fast forward to today, and Los Angeles is a hollowed-out, burned-out, blown-out shell of what it was.

Hollywood is leaving, and last year, Pacific Palisades went up in flames.

There's no Richard Riordan or Sam Yorty to save the city now.

Two Democrats, a Bolshevik and a Menshevik, will fight for what's left.

Los Angeles had a chance to build on the county's election changes in 2024. In an unprecedented reversal, a Republican turned independent, Nathan Hochman, took on George Soros's handpicked district attorney, George Gascón. He received the support of numerous Democrats, and certainly of Republicans and independents, and he wiped out George Gascón.

Los Angeles County residents were tired of lawlessness. They were tired of seeing the intimate scenes of incarcerated gangbangers raising a toast to a pro-criminal district attorney who was fast-tracking their early release. The same year, California voters overwhelmingly approved Prop. 36, which re-criminalized property theft and gave local and state law enforcement more tools to crack down on crime. The work isn't done, since county courts are stuffed with woke judges putting personal preferences and idiotic ideologies ahead of public safety. But Los Angeles County is going in the right direction, and even the city of Los Angeles voted in larger numbers for Hochman.

Then came January 2025, and the untouchable Palisades went up in flames. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was attending the inauguration of the next president of Ghana, and she could not be reached. The Palisades inferno was a massive failure on many levels and preventable if anyone had heeded the warnings. Seven years ago, entire sections of Northern California went up in flames. Families desperate to flee the raging infernos ended up stuck in traffic and consumed by the rushing flames. The California Democratic political class didn't care then.

Surely, the Democrats in Sacramento and Los Angeles would care about the left-leaning Pacific Palisades, wouldn't they?

Nope.

This year's primary results clearly indicate that Los Angeles city voters have not listened to their better angels. The demons have come in seven times stronger, too, since they find the place burned up and empty, and since no one's there, they've brought more of their vile hordes. How was it possible that voters across the city would embrace more of the same destructive progressive ideology when it's crystal clear to anyone that these failed policies - plus the arrogant lack of concern - are a direct result of this progressive madness? Even in San Francisco, a growing cohort of voters has started taking over the county Democratic Party, and they have fought for some restoration of common sense, law & order, and commitment to enforcement in public safety. It's not enough, but there have been some steps, however minute.

In sad contrast, Los Angeles continues to double down on the same stupidity. This isn't just foolish; it's absolutely dangerous. Unwise people with no regard for the well-being of the everyday citizen have no problem putting more of them in danger. Trump Derangement Syndrome and allergies to anything Republican truly are a mental malady that has trapped Angelenos in a perpetual doom loop.

A few weeks ago, TMZ host Harvey Levin complained about what had happened to Los Angeles during his lifetime. A multi-generational Angelino, Levin has seen the best of the city. Now, he cannot ignore how crappy it has become. The relentless homeless shelters, the skyrocketing crime rates, the overall lack of cleanliness and peace, and the desecration that has overrun a once-getaway destination and a second home for the rich and famous are unavoidable.

Yet the same Harvey Levin repeatedly castigated, shamed, and openly mocked the one candidate who had a campaign platform, character, and commitment to remedy all these problems. Spencer Pratt may have been a reality TV star. But he was also a father and a homeowner who lost everything in the fires. He was fed up, and he decided that he was going to run. He launched AI commercials slamming opponents Bass and Raman with an impressive media blitz. He did a fantastic job in the debates. He cut an incredible cloth as a truly independent candidate. Not beholden to any political party, he didn't care about Trump or Biden or Kamala Harris. He did care about the incompetence of incumbent mayor Karen Bass and her socialist, left-leaning challenger Nithya Raman.

He's a common-sense guy, and anyone with sense would have elected him mayor. But common sense is no longer common - or welcome - in the City of Angels. They stopped electing Republican mayors in 2001, and then they stopped electing Democrats with any regard for the well-being of the city after 2013.

It's a tragedy to see the once-heavenly Los Angeles turn into a hellscape. It's a tragedy that so many voters don't love LA, that their hatred of Trump, their disdain for Republicans, and their insistence on all of the shallow, shameful progressive issues are far more important than the necessities to make sure that their city can function.

I never thought it would come to this, but Angelenos simply haven't hurt enough. How many more homes have to go up in flames? How many more families have to be torn apart by the death of a mother or a father because of crime or natural disaster? How many more businesses have to be destroyed, desecrated, and forced to shut down because City Hall refuses to use its power to do what is best for the rest?

These problems festered two years earlier. Before anti-American immigrant socialist City Councilwoman Nithya Raman made it into the runoff against Karen Bass, she had won re-election to City Council outright in 2024! For weeks during the March 2024 primary, business owners and homeowners repeatedly complained about the homeless and the crime in the streets. And yet for all their complaining then, and a recent protest test of makeshift homeless encampments outside of Raman's home this year, voters still sent the elitist socialist to City Hall.

Los Angeles, be afraid.

The Democratic Socialists of America have aggressively targeted you. Four of the city council members are DSA all the way. They are vying for a city council majority and the mayor's seat. Registered Republicans can't help you now: they have given up on voting or moved out of the city altogether.

What will it take? I am astounded at the destruction and degradation. New York City was one thing. President Trump had pretty much solved the migrant crisis and allowed some degree of enforcement, so New Yorkers got complacent, perhaps? But Los Angeles witnessed the unprecedented disaster that destroyed homes. We all saw the unconscionable incompetence of Los Angeles's political class.

Yet even with that, LA voters voted for more of the same.

I love LA, but clearly, LA no longer loves LA.

Tyler Durden Mon, 06/29/2026 - 21:45

Three players Nets could land in NBA free agency or offseason trade.

Three players the Knicks could land in free agency.

Japan fans are taking Monday’s 2-1 loss to Brazil to heart. Just after Gabriel Martinelli nailed a goal during the 96-minute mark of the match, to lead Brazil past Japan in the knockout round, a Japan fan was hilariously seen screaming in agony after the loss. As the broadcast camera was panning out of the...