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Looking to add a little color to your summer wardrobe? This vacation-ready collaboration is just the ticket.

Looking to add a little color to your summer wardrobe? This vacation-ready collaboration is just the ticket.

Hegseth Hails First Test Of America's 'Golden Dome' Missile Defense Shield

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

The Pentagon has carried out the first milestone test of the Golden Dome for America missile defense program, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced on June 23 that an autonomous targeting system and directed-energy technology successfully intercepted a series of simulated incoming threats.

Declaring the test a “full mission success,” Hegseth said in a statement on social media that the system detected, tracked, targeted, and destroyed multiple drone and cruise missile threats, marking a watershed moment for President Donald Trump’s signature homeland missile defense shield.

“President Trump is making President [Ronald] Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) vision a reality,” Hegseth said. “With Golden Dome, the War Department will defend our homeland more powerfully than ever before. Golden Dome is real, powerful, and on track.”

Hegseth said the demonstration showcased next-generation military technologies and represented a major step toward building what the administration has described as a multilayered shield against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons, and drones.

“Golden Dome is the decisive response to a new era of threats,” Gen. Mike Guetlein, director of the Golden Dome for America program, said in an April update on the system.

“We are moving with purpose and urgency to forge a shield that is layered, integrated, and automated.”

The test comes about a month after Trump announced that the Department of War had selected a final architecture for the Golden Dome.

“It should be fully operational before the end of my term,” Trump said on May 20 at the White House, describing the $175 billion program as a “state-of-the-art” system that includes space-based sensors and interceptors.

“Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they’re launched from space. And we will have the best system ever built.”

Speaking alongside Trump during the Oval Office announcement in May, Hegseth said that there were a number of parallels between the Golden Dome system and the Strategic Defense Initiative put forward by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, sometimes referred to as “Star Wars.”

“President Reagan, 40 years ago, cast the vision for it. The technology wasn’t there. Now it is, and you’re following through,” Hegseth told Trump.

During his first week back in office for a second term, Trump signed an executive order directing the Pentagon to develop a comprehensive missile defense plan, initially under the moniker “Iron Dome for America.”

Trump’s order called for expanded use of space-based sensors and interceptors while also directing the Pentagon to develop and deploy nonkinetic technologies such as directed-energy systems, including lasers.

“The threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States,” Trump wrote in the order, lauding the Reagan-era vision for a nationwide missile defense shield and the technological advances it brought about—while noting that Reagan’s program “was canceled before its goal could be realized.”

The June 23 test appeared to demonstrate some of the capabilities outlined in Trump’s order. Hegseth highlighted the use of directed-energy technology and an autonomous targeting system known as the dynamic defense autonomous defeat system to eliminate “a multitude of incoming threats.”

“This test was executed on schedule—and dynamically defeated every threat,” he said.

Trump has said Canada is interested in taking part in the Golden Dome initiative as part of broader efforts to bolster North American missile defenses.

“Canada wants to be a part of it,” Trump said during the May announcement. “We'll work with them on pricing.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 17:00

"The Bear" is serving up one last family meal.

"The Bear" is serving up one last family meal.

How to handicap a dead-rubber match between the USA and Turkey.

Kawhi Leonard spent only one season of his 14-year NBA career with the Toronto Raptors and he made it count.

The country singer recently canceled her Las Vegas residency due to her ongoing health struggles.

The country singer recently canceled her Las Vegas residency due to her ongoing health struggles.

Sabally was previously diagnosed with a concussion eight months ago.

Stars also swear by the French skin care brand's sunscreens — and they're also on sale for Prime Day.

Stars also swear by the French skin care brand's sunscreens — and they're also on sale for Prime Day.

Stunned neighbors say the bizarre encounter is just the latest chapter in a years-long battle over the multimillion-dollar property.

Kylie Jenner has been hit with yet another employee lawsuit after her former private chef claimed she miscarried following months of grueling work during a high-risk pregnancy.

The "Vanderpump Rules" star now has a restraining order against his girlfriend after she allegedly brutally attacked him.

The "Vanderpump Rules" star now has a restraining order against his girlfriend after she allegedly brutally attacked him.

In April 2025, 19-year-old Karmelo Anthony fatally stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas. During a tense trial, Anthony claimed self-defense, but a jury rejected that. After three hours, the jury in McKinney, Texas convicted Anthony of murder. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison. But it looks...

Mayor Blames "Slavery" As Chicago Wrestles With Deadly Crime Spree

The city of Chicago, long run by Democrats, has an infamous black crime problem.  Over the course of Father's Day weekend around 47 people were shot and 8 people killed, with a 105% increase in violent crime compared to 2025.  On "Juneteenth", a drive-by mass shooting in Princeton Park injured at least 12–14 people with over 100 shell casings recovered. 

The situation is so bad that many black commentators are starting to speak out, demanding to know why black Americans can't seem to stop killing each other.

Stephen A. Smith: "Every time we turn around, there's something going on in Chicago. And the vast majority of victims happen to be black. When we gon' speak about that? Same energy, y'all."pic.twitter.com/oeb0mKDLmN

Honestly I kinda like that common sense is making a comeback.…

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) June 24, 2026

All the evidence, all the data, suggests that Father's Day weekend violence in the black community is so egregious exactly because there are almost no fathers.  In Chicago, 80% of all black births are to single mothers and 72% of black children live in single parent households, compared to a national average of 25% across all ethnic groups.  Approximately 70% of all juveniles facing incarceration come from single parent households.  

Coupled with an overall culture that idolizes violence and lacks basic impulse control learned from proper parenting, the source of the problem is clear.  Democrats, however, have a different theory. 

In a press conference addressing Chicago's national embarrassment, Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson diverted the discussion into his own personal pet project on reparations.  He argues that the "history of slavery" in the US is the source of income inequality; insinuating that income inequality is the root cause of violent crime in the black community.  In other words, black-on-black crime is somehow all white people's fault.

40+ shot over the weekend in Chicago and Mayor Johnson is talking about … "slavery continuing to harm Chicago" pic.twitter.com/0qEQ2qyRGy

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 23, 2026

🚨 Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is easily the dumbest mayor in America — and he still got elected by people even dumber than him.

Good grief. 🤦‍♀️

This clown isn’t even a basic history buff: praising Johnson while bashing Nixon?

Meanwhile, 40 shot and 8 killed in Chicago over… pic.twitter.com/xmPy2l3cro

— GRANDPA’s FREE ADVICE (@GOP_is_Gutless) June 23, 2026

The running theme among minority groups (and liberals in general) in the US is a complete lack of accountability for their own actions.  Because slavery or segregation existed in the past, people who have never experienced either of these things believe they have a scapegoat for all the problems within their culture.  It doesn't work that way.

The Chicago Mayor asserts that government handouts or reparations will solve the black crime issue, but the black community had much lower crime rates in the 1940s-1950s before welfare became ubiquitous and during segregation.  In the 1960s when segregation was ended and President Johnson introduced his "Great Society" programs, crime among blacks skyrocketed.  Clearly, something happened and it wasn't slavery or segregation. 

Mayor Johnson has refused to counter criminal activity, blocking motions to enforce curfews for minors who now engage in "teen takeovers" or flash mobs that hijack city streets and consistently end in looting, property damage and shootings.  City officials are asking the teens what they think should be done, and of course, they think less restrictions are the answer.

Chicago City Council just hosted "teens" for advice about "teen takeovers" and crime.

Their solution? Less restrictions. pic.twitter.com/o3zOUx7rC1

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) June 24, 2026

It is typical of progressive leaders and fatherless cultures to suggest more unfettered freedom is the magic salve to end crime among young people, when the opposite is what's called for.  Clearly black households in Chicago lack basic parenting restrictions that usually keep underdeveloped teen brains in check.  The only answer, then, is for the city to act as the parent, enforcing curfews and other measures until the deeper problem can be fixed.

🚨WHAT ON EARTH?!!!!

Hundreds of cars were vandalized in Chicago after police broke up a "teen takeover" and kids began fleeing by JUMPING ON CARS AND SMASHING WINDSHIELDS!!!

WHERE ARE THE PARENTS OF THESE KIDS???!!!!!!!

THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/n59199CtGL

— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) May 25, 2026

Instead, progressive officials turn to irrational teens for advice on what to do while blaming "white supremacy" as the culprit behind everything wrong in their lives.  There is no fixing Chicago - Not without a radical change in leadership and some tough love for black communities.   

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 16:40

Generational Crisis! Nearly A Third Of US Adults Under 35 Are Still Living With Their Parents

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

Americans that are over the age of 55 control approximately 73 percent of all wealth in the United States.

Americans that are age 55 or younger control just 27 percent of all wealth in the United States.

Never before in history has there been a generational divide of this magnitude.

One of the reasons why there is such a generational divide is because housing has become so insanely unaffordable. If you purchased a home 20 or 30 years ago, it has appreciated in value a great deal and you are sitting pretty. But many young adults today look at current housing prices and wonder how they will ever be able to buy a home.

During the pandemic, we witnessed a surge of young adults moving back in with their parents.

But once the pandemic was over, things were supposed to go back to normal.

Unfortunately, that never happened.

In fact, the percentage of young adults that are living with their parents is now higher than it was at any point during the pandemic…

A record 25.2 million adults under 35 lived with their parents in 2025, according to new research from Realtor.com®. That’s nearly 1 in 3 young adults and higher than even the pandemic-era count—but the more surprising finding is just how many of them were working.

“Roughly 70% of 25- to 34-year-olds living with parents are employed,” says Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com and author of the report. “That share held steady even as the overall co-residence rate has climbed—meaning the growth is coming from working adults, not people waiting to find jobs.”

The finding challenges one of the most persistent narratives about adults living at home today: that they’re simply languishing in a tepid job market and failing to launch.

We have tens of millions of young adults that cannot form their own households.

That is a major national crisis.

A lot of those young adults would love to move out and live on their own, but home prices are simply way too high…

The report said that the median prices for new and existing homes are both over $400,000 and that existing home prices have risen 54% since 2020 and are about 5-times the median income – a level well above the ratio of 3-times that prevailed in the 1990s.

Mortgage rates are over 6%, which makes the payment on a median-priced home $3,100 in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from $1,700 in early 2020. That has pushed the income needed to afford that payment to more than $120,000 – a significant increase from $66,000 in 2020.

In 1975, the median home price in the United States was under $40,000.

But now it is over $400,000.

That is how much the purchasing power of our money has declined.

And we are being warned that housing affordability is “unlikely to return to more favorable levels of the past”…

The affordability of the U.S. housing market may not improve significantly over time for would-be homebuyers, with a new report suggesting that they shouldn’t wait in the hopes of affordability measures returning to their pre-2022 levels.

Sarah Wolfe, a senior economist and strategist at Morgan Stanley, said in a report that while housing affordability could improve modestly over time, it is “unlikely to return to more favorable levels of the past, as the market adjusts to a higher-cost, tighter-supply environment.”

That is quite sobering.

I guess our young adults are just out of luck.

At this stage, it is being projected that the median home price in this country will hit a million dollars by 2050…

According to new projections from National Association of Realtors (NAR) chief economist Lawrence Yun, the national median home price is on track to hit $1 million by 2050 — just as millennials reach the traditional retirement age.

“Essentially, in about 25 years the national median home price will be a million dollars,” Yun said at a conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. “It may be hard to envision that, but back in 1990, the national median price was $90,000.”

Many of those that are on the outside looking in may remain in that position permanently.

Meanwhile, the middle class continues to shrink as large employers eliminate good paying jobs all over the nation.

Today, we learned that U.S. factories are laying off workers at a frightening pace…

Job cuts at U.S. factories ran near their highest levels since the end of the global financial crisis in 2009 and the Covid-19 pandemic as worries grew over global demand and rising costs, S&P Global reported Tuesday.

Though the firm’s manufacturing index ran better than expected for June, it came largely from an inventory rebuild and despite sharp job cuts that were the most since 2009 — excluding the massive labor reductions at the onset of the Covid crisis in 2020.

And our most prominent tech companies continue to mercilessly slash payrolls.

For example, it is being reported that Oracle has given the axe to 21,000 highly paid workers over the past year…

Oracle shed 21,000 jobs, almost 13% of its workforce, in the past year, as tech giants carry out sweeping layoffs as a result of AI.

The company’s total workforce stands at 141,000 full-time employees as of May 2026, it said in its annual regulatory filing on Monday. That’s down from 162,000 employees at the same time the previous year. This represents an almost 13% cut in its total workforce.

Almost every big tech company that you can name has laid off workers within the past 12 months.

Once upon a time Electronic Arts was doing really well, but now they are conducting yet another round of job cuts…

Electronic Arts has undergone yet another round of layoffs, seemingly impacting its recruitment, customer support, trust and safety, and IT teams.

Kotaku has learned about these layoffs both from sources aware of the situation as well as 12 separate public postings from individuals impacted by the layoffs. The total number of impacted employees is unknown, but Kotaku has found online postings both from people formerly in several remote roles in the U.S. as well as a number of laid-off individuals from EA’s office in Hyderabad, India. Multiple individuals laid off from the Hyderabad office had been with the company for more than ten years.

We are witnessing a tsunami of tech layoffs that seems to have no end.

Those were supposed to be the “jobs of the future” for our young people.

But now many of our young people are being ruthlessly replaced by AI.

An entire generation of Americans is deeply struggling, and that isn’t going to change any time soon.

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

Tyler Durden Thu, 06/25/2026 - 16:20

Director Josh Fox travels to multiple countries to witness the aftermath of environmental devastation on individuals and communities.