Bi-Partisan Seattle Citizens Group Launches Campaign To Ban Homeless Encampments

A new bipartisan group, the Quality of Life Coalition, is pushing a ballot initiative to address King County’s growing homeless encampment crisis — a problem they say local politicians have let spiral out of control, according to 770 KTTH. 

On Tuesday, the group filed the “Compassionate Public Safety Act,” which would ban unauthorized public camping and require that unhoused individuals be directed to available shelter.

Led by former KTTH host Saul Spady, the coalition describes itself as nonpartisan and community-driven, with backing from residents, artists, and business owners frustrated by the region’s inaction. “Whether we’re Republicans, Democrats, independents, artists or business owners, we all see the same thing,” Spady told “The Jason Rantz Show.”

Jason Rantz writes that the ordinance would make camping on public property — like sidewalks, parks, and streets — a misdemeanor, but only if shelter space is offered and declined. It also includes an immediate ban on camping that poses a danger to others, threatens public safety, or interferes with government services, regardless of shelter availability. The policy follows models used in cities like Burien and San Diego.

Spady emphasized urgency, citing the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup. “The entire world coming to Seattle looking for a great city... and instead, they’re going to find tents,” he said. “They’re going to find the world’s greatest graffiti collection. They’re going to find the ‘fenty bend’ being performed on the street. And what we need to do is we need to get those who are on the street into shelter.”

The coalition cites internal polling showing 77% of King County voters support a camping ban tied to shelter availability. If they collect 50,000 valid signatures, the measure will either be passed by the County Council or put to a public vote.

Supporters include Nirvana co-founder Krist Novoselic: “I support the Quality of Life Coalition because this is the first step toward making King County safe, livable, and worthy of our incredible cultural legacy I’m proud to be a part of.” Former Democratic Rep. Jesse Johnson added, “This initiative gives King County an on-ramp toward real solutions—housing, shelter, and ultimately healing.”

The coalition plans to launch a larger campaign in 2026 for mandatory rehab after repeated public safety offenses. “This ain’t rocket science. It’s civic science, and our politicians have failed,” said Spady.

Signature collection is expected to begin after Independence Day.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 23:00

CCP Leaders Propose Regulations To Rein In Xi's Superagencies

Authored by Dorothy Li via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

China’s top leaders are proposing new rules to regulate a set of powerful commissions and groups established nearly a decade ago by communist Party chief Xi Jinping to centralize his power.

A Chinese paramilitary policeman stands guard in Tiananmen Square before the introduction of the Communist Party of China's Politburo Standing Committee, the nation's top decision-making body, on a polluted day in Beijing on Oct. 25, 2017. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

The proposed regulation was reviewed on June 30 during a closed-door meeting of the Politburo, the Party’s second-highest decision-making body, Chinese state media reported.

Details of the new measures are scarce. A summary of the meeting published by state mouthpiece Xinhua News Agency stated that the aim is to regulate these commissions’ “establishment, responsibilities, and operations.”

The changes target agencies called “decision-making, deliberative and coordinating institutions,” the report read, referring to more than a dozen Party groups that steer policies across various sectors, including financial services, foreign affairs, technological development, and education.

Many of these Party committees were established or gained more power in 2018 when Xi introduced a series of directives aimed at consolidating the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) dominance over state agencies in decision-making.

Officials at the June 30 meeting ordered to limit the reach of these groups, stating that they “must avoid taking over others’ functions or overstepping boundaries,” according to Xinhua.

The directive has raised eyebrows among outside observers, who consider it a rare signal that Party elites speak up against the direction Xi has taken the CCP.

“The Politburo essentially delivered a fierce denunciation of these groups: they are prone to focus on trivial issues and overstep,” Li Linyi, a Chinese current affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times.

Since the agendas of these groups’ meetings are determined by the Party’s general secretary, according to the CCP’s regulations, “such criticisms can be seen as directed at Xi Jinping himself,” Li said.

He linked this development to the power struggles within the Party’s top brass.

“It is highly likely that Xi’s power could face further limitations in the future,” Li said.

Echoing his comments, Shen Ming-shih, a China expert at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a think tank funded by the Taiwanese government, told The Epoch Times that the new rules were likely intended to set the stage for Party elders to return to the inner circle.

Speculations have been growing in recent weeks that the 72-year-old Xi’s health, whether political or physical, has taken a turn for the worse, following a series of unexplained disappearances and the downfall of his protégé and old associate.

The latest figure to be ousted is Adm. Miao Hua, whose ties with Xi go back more than two decades to the coastal province of Fujian. Miao, who had overseen the military’s political loyalty since 2017, was abruptly suspended from office and placed under investigation for alleged graft in November 2024. On June 27, the CCP expelled the admiral from the military’s top leadership body without explanation.

The move comes as the CCP is dealing with questions about the fate of another Xi ally, Gen. He Weidong, who hasn’t been seen in public view since mid-March. The general has missed at least three major political events that he was expected to attend, but Beijing has remained tight-lipped about his whereabouts.

China’s defense ministry initially said that it was “not aware” of reports that He was under scrutiny. During a monthly news briefing on April 24, the ministry again dodged a question about the general’s status. He is one of the two vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission, which commands the country’s armed forces.

According to some well-connected analysts who previously spoke to The Epoch Times, Xi’s political control was significantly weakened due to the power struggle with Party elders.

Amid the uncertainty surrounding the Party’s leadership, the Politburo’s meetings have been closely watched for signals of power transfer.

The Politburo’s June 30 meeting didn’t provide any information about when they will convene senior party officials for a closed-door conclave called the fourth plenum, which is expected to decide personnel changes.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 22:25

"We've Become Serfs On Our Own Land": The USDA Trap, Foreign Land Sales, And The Collapse Of American Farming Source: Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, March: the Château de Lusignan

77 family farms vanish every day in the U.S. But what’s really killing them? A CHD.TV interview with rancher and Beef Initiative policy fellow Breeauna Sagdal reveals the trap: USDA regulations, monopolized meatpacking, foreign land grabs, and debt-servicing farmers who aren’t allowed to feed their neighbors.

In a wide-ranging Children’s Health Defense interview with Dr. Meryl Nass - a physician, biowarfare expert, and outspoken critic of pandemic-era overreach - Breeauna Sagdal of The Beef Initiative lays out how America's farmers are being regulated, indebted, and squeezed off the land. From USDA slaughter restrictions to foreign land sales and monopolized meatpacking, the system isn’t broken—it’s rigged. And Sagdal says the only way out starts with shaking your rancher’s hand.

Negative Income and the Two-Job Farmer

Source: USDA

"We are all working a second job," Sagdal tells Dr. Meryl Nass in a June 17 CHD.TV broadcast. "In many cases, it feels like we've become serfs on our own land."

Source: USDA

According to the USDA's Economic Research Service, median farm income from farming alone was negative $1,781 in 2023. Over 50% of livestock producers lost money. The only way they survived was off-farm jobs, personal debt, or liquidation of breeding stock.

Farmers Banned From Feeding Their Neighbors

"I can't even legally sell what I grow on my farm to any of my friends, family, or neighbors," Sagdal says. Why? Because of USDA slaughter rules. With few exceptions, unless meat is processed at a USDA-inspected facility, and labeled with a USDA stamp, it's illegal to sell. An issue compounded by the fact that just four companies have monopolized the few meatpacking plants that still exist. 

Sagdal: "We’ve got to stop criminalizing food production. I think it might be easier to sell heroin than raw milk."

USDA inspectors have helped shut down local and regional slaughterhouses for decades, while court documents and video footage show an inspector giving a free pass to a Tyson-owned pork facility—fueling criticisms of USDA selectionism.

Between 1990 and 2016, federally inspected plants fell 36% and non-federally inspected facilities dropped 42%. As a consequence, many small farms lack access to USDA‑inspected custom or state processing facilities—locking them out of grocery chains and school lunch contracts, even when their meat is superior.

Source: USDA

USDA Owns the Debt, Foreign Buyers Get the Land

The Farm Credit System now holds 46% of U.S. agricultural debt, and tens-of-millions of acres in collateral. At a time when conventional lenders consider agricultural loans “bad hygiene,” Sagdal points out that liquidity deficits have added to the plight farmers face today. 

Without access to capital, farmers stagnate or default. That - Nass explains - is when the land goes to the government’s lending arms—then quietly into foreign hands.

 Sagdal: "Farm Credit owns 46% of ag debt... and that land is being sold to foreign entities. The number one foreign buyer isn’t even China. It’s Canada."

According to the USDA's 2023 AFIDA report, Canada remains the top foreign landholder in the U.S., with over 12.8 million acres. China ranks 5th, but public focus on CCP ties often obscures the broader pattern: distressed land transfers out of American hands.

Nass gives an example of reasons why a farmer might take a loss, such as the recent H5N1 culling event; “the federal government pays $16 per bird, but the farmer doesn't get that. Cal-Maine gets the $16, and the farmer may get nothing, or $2… then,  because he had chickens with bird flu on his property, he's not allowed to grow any more chickens for six months.” 

Nass explains that these losses equate to property liens, and foreclosures. “This is how farmers become serfs on their own land.“

The Monopoly Machine: Seizing Control Through the Means of Production 

Sagdal points to JBS, the Brazilian meat giant, to illustrate how the means of production have been consolidated in the U.S. In 2020, JBS was fined for price fixing, but deemed too big to fail, by then Secretary Tom Vilsack after members of Congress asked why the company was still allowed to offer tournament contracts. 

The tournament system, detailed in a 2020 Government Affairs Office (GAO) report, is a corporate herd-share agreement in which “subsidiaries” of the USDA contract out the raising of livestock to farmers. 

Supplying the proprietary genetics, feed, and veterinarian medicine, Sagdal argues that just four main corporations - who own the USDA certified production plants - have been allowed to corner the only means of market access.

As Sagdal explains, she can grow meat for her own family to consume, but she's unable to legally sell it unless it goes through a USDA certified production facility. 

JBS - one of the “Big 4” corporations that have seized the means of meat production - now controls over 120 U.S. meat labels. 

“So you think you're buying a product from one company,  and then a product from another company,” Nass says.  “But no, allot of it is JBS. They're the number one seller of beef and chickens in the world.” 

With the “Big 4” owning 85% of the livestock market, and 95% of the United State’s domestic meat supply processed through just five main facilities, farmers have few options outside of tournament contracts—consumers have even less options. 

The USDA’s Double Standard: Burden Americans, Reward Imports

From APHIS rules to EPA wastewater standards, U.S. producers face a thicket of regulations that imported beef, lamb, and pork do not. Meanwhile, WTO agreements block honest country-of-origin labeling.

 Sagdal: "I would love to raise clean, grass-fed beef for my kids' school. But I can’t. The system won’t allow it."

As of 2024, the U.S. has become a net-importer of meat, importing roughly 26% of its ground beef supply alone. WTO rules still block mandatory country-of-origin labeling, allowing multinational packers to repackage foreign meat as "Product of USA."

77 Family Farms Lost Per Day

 "We have lost 77 family farms per day... This is a national security crisis."

From 2017 to 2024, Sagdal notes the U.S. lost over 160,000 farms. According to USDA census data, average herd sizes are shrinking, and cattle inventory is now near 1951 levels — when America had half the population that it does today.

Source: USDA

"We are solely dependent on imports for our food security," Sagdal warns. "Two of the Big 4 processors are foreign-owned."

Shake Your Rancher’s Hand

The solution isn’t lobbying your senator. It’s feeding your own community. Sagdal wants to supply beef to her kids’ school—but the system blocks her.

Until that changes, every transaction with a local rancher is an act of resistance.

"I want to keep producing quality food for my family and neighbors. But our farm,  like most family farms today, stands at a critical tipping point. We're not asking for handouts. We simply want the opportunity to access the marketplace, and give the American people a choice.”
— Breeauna Sagdal

Read that again. Because when the land is gone, the labels will lie, and the beef will come from Brazil.

Watch the full interview here.

Support your local rancher. Ask about slaughter. Ask about feed. Ask about country of origin. And for God’s sake, shake your rancher’s hand.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 21:50

Why US Banned Transfer Of Genetic Samples To China

Authored by Leo Timm via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Food and Drug Administration has halted a program that allowed the transfer of U.S. citizens’ biological samples to China and other “hostile countries.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration building in White Oak, Md., on June 5, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The FDA’s ban and review are a necessary move to bolster U.S. biosecurity against the potential threat of biological warfare and bioterror by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said experts who spoke with the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times.

In recent decades, China has developed a broad array of specialized medical research capabilities, including genetic engineering. Due to their low handling costs, Chinese facilities have become popular destinations for biological samples.

“This [genetic] data is the key to understanding how different population groups respond biologically,” said Sean Lin, a former U.S. Army microbiologist.

He warned that sensitive genetic information in the hands of capable, malicious actors such as the Chinese regime could be used to further research on biological weapons targeting people of specific races or ethnicities.

What was once regarded as implausible or belonging to the realm of science fiction, Lin said, is now “a real threat made possible by current biotechnology.”

Lin said the cell samples being sent to China, rather than being static DNA sequences, “contain dynamic data about gene regulation and expression under different stimuli.”

The FDA said on June 18 that its immediate review of the program will scrutinize a variety of new clinical trials that sent the participants’ living cells abroad “for genetic engineering and subsequent infusion back into U.S. patients—sometimes without their knowledge or consent.”

Biological samples from the clinical trials were exported to “countries of concern” due to loopholes in a data security rule drafted at the end of 2024 and implemented in April by the Justice Department, according to the FDA.

Last December, the Biden administration had “specifically requested and approved a sweeping exemption that allowed U.S. companies to send trial participants’ biological samples” overseas, the agency said.

The Trump administration’s move to halt exports of American genetic samples overseas will likely impact a number of U.S.–China biomedical collaborations in the short term, Lin said, but the action is necessary to protect U.S. national security and Americans’ data privacy.

Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology as members of the World Health Organization team investigate the origins of COVID-19, in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on Feb. 3, 2021. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images Asymmetric Biowarfare Threat

Shen Ming-shih, a researcher at Taiwan’s government-run Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that China’s collection of foreigners’ DNA samples likely plays into the CCP’s asymmetric approaches for challenging the United States and its allies.

Asymmetric warfare refers to the tactics and strategies adopted in conflicts where there is a vast gap in the military capabilities of both sides.

“Variations in how different ethnic groups respond to specific pathogens could become decisive strategic variables” in biological warfare scenarios, he said.

While China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is regarded by some experts as being qualitatively inferior to the militaries of the United States and its allies, the CCP could employ asymmetric means—including biological attacks—to its advantage, even without direct conflict.

The 1999 book “Unrestricted Warfare,” by PLA colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, details how Beijing could wage an indirect war against the United States by undermining it in the economic, informational, technological, legal, and biological domains.

Shen noted the possible artificial origins of COVID-19, the outbreak of which various authorities, including the Trump administration, have linked to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology.

In January, the CIA released a report concluding that the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen was “more likely” to have leaked from the Wuhan Institute’s P4-level laboratory, rather than from a source in the natural environment.

On June 3, Chinese researcher Jian Yunqing was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle into the country Fusarium graminearum, a fungus classified as a restricted pathogen by the U.S. government.

According to the criminal complaint, Jian was found to be a loyal member of the CCP. She worked at the University of Michigan and had received Chinese state funding to research Fusarium graminearum.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Michigan’s Eastern District described Fusarium graminearum as a “noxious fungus” that blights wheat, barley, corn, and rice, and “is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year.”

Fusarium graminearum infection on wheat heads. d.asta.p/Shutterstock

Jian’s boyfriend, Liu Zunyong, was also arrested and denied entry to the United States. He was sent back to China, where he works at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou city, studying the same pathogen as his girlfriend.

Another Chinese researcher, Han Chengxuan, was arrested on June 8 at the airport in Detroit. She had arrived on an exchange visitor visa and was planning to spend a year in the United States researching roundworms at the University of Michigan.

According to the complaint, Han initially lied to customs officials about packages she had sent to individuals at a university laboratory, and later admitted that they contained biological materials related to roundworms.

Tightening Restrictions

Lin noted the national security risks and ethical concerns of working with the Chinese regime on biotechnology research.

“Under the CCP, biotechnological development is subject to a high degree of civil-military fusion,” he said, referring to how, in China, even companies and institutions without explicit ties to the Communist Party can be enlisted at will to serve the regime’s needs.

“Once American samples enter this research ecosystem, the U.S. loses all control over their final usage or research direction,” Lin said.

Lin added that China very likely engages in secret genetic research at the CCP’s behest, something he believes should raise alarm bells among U.S. national security agencies.

He pointed out that the FDA’s review may only serve as a starting point in countering the Chinese regime’s harvesting of American biological information. Lin recommended that the U.S. government impose a stricter, more comprehensive review system to ensure that participants in clinical trials do not have their cellular samples sent abroad without their consent or knowledge, and that no such samples are delivered to China or other countries of concern.

Last September, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a revised version of the BIOSECURE Act (H.R.8333), which explicitly prohibits the federal government from signing any new cooperation agreements with five key Chinese biotech companies—including BGI Genomics and WuXi AppTec—and their associated service providers.

The law’s core objective is to block the CCP’s access to sensitive U.S. biological data via corporate channels. A Senate version of the bill (S.3558) also passed its initial committee review.

Shen said that in policies concerning the CCP, it is necessary to adopt strict strategic precautions and prepare for worst-case scenarios.

“The CCP is a malicious communist regime,” he said. “Its policy decisions are primarily geared toward maintaining the stability of its rule and expanding its global influence, not promoting international cooperation or universal human welfare.”

Li Jing and Luo Ya contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 21:15

North Korea Sending Up To 30,000 Troops To Bolster Russia's Forces: Reports

North Korea is reportedly preparing to triple the number of its troops fighting for Russia along the front lines with Ukraine, sending an additional 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers to assist Russian forces. This is based on an intelligence assessment from Ukrainian officials.

According to CNN, "The troops may arrive in Russia in the coming months, according to the assessment seen by CNN, adding to the 11,000 sent in November who helped repel Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region." The report adds: "Around 4,000 of those North Korean soldiers were killed or injured in the deployment, according to Western officials, yet Pyongyang’s cooperation with Moscow has since bloomed."

But there's reason to be suspicious and skeptical of the report sourced to Ukrainian intelligence as well as Western intelligence officials, which are cited, given the crucial timing.

The claims of this drastic escalation in North Korea's support come within 24 hours after the White House revealed it would be halting key weapons transfers to Kiev, on concerns that Pentagon stockpiles are growing thin.

And so it seems the Ukrainian government wants to desperately get the West's attention, at a moment it is losing a key vital weapons and ammo pipeline.

It was just last month that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his urgent call for joint international action against Russia, Iran and North Korea - or a new 'axis' conspiring against Ukraine.

"Russia is now trying to save Iran's nuclear program – there is no other way to interpret the public signals and non-public activities," Zelensky had said two weeks ago.

"When Iranian Shahed drones – now significantly upgraded – and ballistic missiles from North Korea – also upgraded – kill our people in Ukraine, it is a clear sign that global solidarity and global pressure are not enough," Zelensky said. "We must significantly tighten sanctions."

As for the new intel assessment on the alleged North Korea troop surge, CNN continues:

The Ukrainian assessment seen by CNN says the Russian ministry of defense is capable of providing “needed equipment, weapons and ammunition” with the aim of “further integration to Russian combat units.” The document adds “there is a great possibility” the North Korean troops will be engaged in combat in parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine “to strengthen the Russian contingent, including during the large-scale offensive operations.”

The assessment, from Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency, also says there are signs that Russian military aircraft are being refitted to carry personnel, reflecting the vast undertaking of moving tens of thousands of foreign troops across Russian Siberia, which shares a border with North Korea in its far southwest.

Earlier this week North Korea's state-run media aired footage showing leader Kim Jong-un mourning the deaths of North Korean soldiers, said to be killed while fighting in Russia's war in Ukraine as part of allied forces. The occasion for the memorial footage was the return of the soldiers' remains from Russia, though no details were given as to the number of the deceased being remembered.

This past weekend also marked the first anniversary of the signing of the two countries' "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty. This served as the 'legal basis' on which the North Korean troop deployment to Russia happened.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 20:40

Choice Tax Breaks: The GOP's Federal Plan To Transform Education

Authored by Vince Bielski via RealClearEducation,

Buried in the 940-page “big, beautiful” budget blueprint is an unprecedented tax credit that, if approved, will be a long-sought victory for the private school choice movement in its drive to expand and break into Democratic states that for decades have blocked its path.

The tax credit program, which would provide scholarships to K-12 students to pay for private schooling, would mark a significant shift in federal education policy. The scholarships would be the first major federal initiative designed to propel the nationwide growth of private school choice, a largely conservative and Christian movement championed by President Trump and suburban Republicans alike. It comes just as the Trump administration dismantles large parts of the U.S. Department of Education that support public schools attended by the vast majority of 50 million students.

The private school choice movement, which started in 1990 to give families more options aligned with their values and children’s learning needs, remains a small piece of the education landscape. It supports about 1.2 million students in private and home schools in 35 states, primarily in the South and West. Advocates expect that the proposed federal program would jump-start a new round of expansion by providing scholarships to families to make private school more affordable.

Beyond boosting participation, the program is also a wedge to crack into states controlled by Democrats. These blue-state lawmakers, backed by teachers’ unions, have long resisted private school choice as a threat to public school enrollment. The granting of scholarships, advocates say, would plant a seed of interest among families in Democratic enclaves at a time when enrollment and academic performance have been steadily declining at public schools.

“In terms of the number of students served and the geographic scope, it would be the most important piece of school choice legislation ever,” said Patrick Wolf, a prominent scholar of the movement at the University of Arkansas. “Advocates hope it will provide a proof of concept in blue states and show that if a few thousand kids get scholarships the public school system won’t crater.”

But the potential of the scholarship program to meet the advocates’ goals has been weakened this week in the Senate. The program was included in the massive budget bill because, as a standalone measure, it wouldn’t survive a filibuster by Senate Democrats. The budget bill can be passed by a simple Senate majority, provided it only addresses fiscal matters.

The Senate parliamentarian, however, objected to the scholarship program, ruling, to the dismay of Republicans, that it seeks to impose a policy on the states. In response, Republicans had to amend the initiative to allow states to decide whether to participate, a change that could hamper the movement’s efforts to breach liberal jurisdictions.

Unprecedented Tax Credit

Teachers’ unions, Democrats, and rural Republicans have their own reasons for criticizing one of the most ambitious efforts by conservatives to change how American students are educated. The tax credit will incentivize individuals to make donations, capped at $1,700 a year, for scholarships by giving them a generous tax credit equal to the size of the contribution, a one-to-one payback that is unprecedented federal policy, according to an analysis from the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). While a $1,700 contribution to a hospital or veterans’ group will result in a $600 tax break at best, according to the budget bill, the same sized donation to support private school choice produces a $1,700 tax cut, says Carl Davis, ITEP research director.

“This is also unprecedented in how Congress is choosing to cherry pick one cause and privilege it over all others,” Davis said.

Making the scholarships available to almost everyone, including most well-off families, is also spurring criticism. At a time of heightened concern over the $36 trillion national debt, the tax credits would reduce federal revenue while giving some scholarships to students who don’t need help with private school tuition. In Washington D.C., for example, a family earning up to $464,000 would qualify, according to an Urban Institute report.

The private school choice movement originally targeted low-income urban kids stuck in bad public schools – Milwaukee was the first – drawing some liberal support. But advocates recently embraced universal programs for all, now operating in a dozen states, partly for strategic reasons. By bringing higher-income families into the fold, Professor Wolf says, the movement gains a more powerful constituency to fend off attempts to slash choice programs. What’s more, high-quality private schools that have shunned choice scholarship students might begin to admit them, including those from low-income families.

The program originated as a $10 billion annual tax credit to be shared among states in the standalone Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), a significant sum considering that the biggest Department of Education K-12 program, Title I for disadvantaged students, costs $18 billion. A House committee reduced the cap to $5 billion before the Senate eliminated the cap altogether while also significantly lowering the maximum size of individual annual contributions to $1,700. The program would begin in 2027.

“We’re all disappointed that the bill is not as good as it was when it went into the committee,” said Jim Blew, co-founder of the conservative Defense of Freedom Institute and former assistant secretary in the Department of Education under Betsy DeVos. “If the Senate version is the final, it’s a big win for families that want to choose a better school for their children.”

A Blue State Workaround 

The tax credit is partly a workaround of the blue wall of opposition to private school choice. Some 15 mostly Democratic states have never passed or have overturned measures that use public funds to pay for students’ private education. The battles have been heated, with state teachers’ unions typically leading the resistance to protect public school funding. In Colorado, the state education association helped defeat a ballot measure last year that it feared would lead to the establishment of a voucher program. Voters in Nebraska shot down an existing voucher program in 2024. Illinois is the only state in which the legislature ended a private school choice program. In the big blue states of California and New York, choice advocates have made little headway.

If the federal program becomes law, however, some Democratic states may come under pressure to opt in, partly because it doesn’t draw on local tax dollars. It’s free money.

“Leaders of blue states would have to explain to their citizens why they rejected free federal education dollars, instead leaving all that money for red states,” said Wolf. “That’s a tough sell.”

Scholarship granting organizations (SGOs), which will collect donations and turn them into scholarships, are the lynchpin of the program. They will be given an extraordinary amount of freedom in how they operate. A Catholic, Evangelical Christian, Jewish or Muslim based organization can give awards only to Catholics, Evangelical Christians, Jews or Muslims, respectively. They can prefer richer families, or poorer families. Or conservative or progressive families, or urban or rural. They can also be neutral, handing out scholarships through a lottery.

The only significant rules governing scholarship granting organizations require them to verify that families receiving scholarships earn no more than 300% of the median income in their area, a relatively high limit that includes 90% of all U.S. households, according to the Urban Institute. The organizations also must ensure the scholarships are used only for qualified expenses, including tuition, curricular and instructional materials, tutoring, testing fees, and educational therapy.

Blew, the former DOE official who helped draft the original version of ECCA, says giving districts such leeway would empower the reformers to respond to local needs. “The freedom is a good thing. It allows them to design programs that make sense in their communities, rather than imposing a model on SGOs that won’t meet everyone’s needs,” Blew said.

The Senate, however, added a key restriction on the organizations that could affect who gets scholarships. The earlier House version allowed almost any group to create an SGO, an approach supported by advocates. But the Senate gave states the authority to approve of the entities that will hand out scholarships, opening the door to influential interest groups of all political stripes.

In anticipation of the proposal’s passage, religious groups are leading the charge to take advantage of the scholarships, which makes sense since they run three-quarters of the 30,000 private schools in the U.S. About half of the religious schools are Catholic, a denomination that has seen a sharp 13% enrollment decline in its schools in the last decade. This helps explain why Catholics are mobilizing to capture the scholarship money to benefit their students and schools.

In California, the Conference of Catholic Bishops, the church’s public policy voice, is laying the groundwork to start one or more scholarship granting organization. The bishop’s top priority is to ensure they are “authentically” Catholic and carry out the church’s mission, which means scholarships will only go to Catholic students – with disadvantaged kids first in line – who attend a Catholic school, says Samara Palko, director of education at the conference. The scholarships could attract new students at a time of declining enrollment and closures in California, she says, and help Catholic schools bolster their tradition of high academic performance.

“What’s going to sustain our schools is our success in advancing educational excellence and this proposal could help with that,” said Palko, a former Catholic school principal.

As other religious groups follow suit, some leaders in the movement are raising concerns. By allowing SGOs to dictate where students go to school, the program could become little more than a private school subsidy that undermines the fundamental premise of school choice – namely that families should have flexibility in determining which schools their kids attend – according to a movement leader who asked not to be named in talking about this sensitive topic.

By comparison, in states with existing private school choice scholarships, families are in the driver’s seat, and this won’t change if the federal program becomes law. Students on state scholarships are free to attend any type of private school, and using the same funding, switch to an entirely different kind of school if things don’t work out. The funding travels with the student. Under the federal program, however, such freedom may not exist. If there isn’t a Jewish or neutral SGO in a state, for instance, then a Jewish student looking for a scholarship to go to a Jewish school may be out of luck.

“Many people in the movement think the tax credit is a really important piece of school choice legislation,” said the anonymous source. “Others fear it will become just a private school subsidy program.”

Read the rest here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 20:05

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios.

There will be additional trade related distortions in Q2 boosting GDP.

From Goldman:

Following this morning’s data, we have lowered our Q2 GDP tracking estimate by 0.6pp to +3.0% (quarter-over-quarter annualized). Our Q2 domestic final sales estimate stands at +0.7%. [July 3rd estimate]
emphasis added

And from the Atlanta Fed: GDPNow

The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the second quarter of 2025 is 2.6 percent on July 3, up from 2.5 percent on July 1. After recent releases from the US Census Bureau, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Institute for Supply Management, the nowcasts of second-quarter real personal consumption expenditures growth and real gross private domestic investment growth increased from 1.5 percent and -11.9 percent, respectively, to 1.6 percent and -11.7 percent, while the nowcast of second-quarter real government expenditures growth increased from 2.0 percent to 2.3 percent. [July 3rd estimate]

Social Media Especially Harms Girls' Sleep & Mental Health

June 30 was World Social Media Day.

In a survey conducted between September and October 2025, 50 percent of 13- to 17-year-old girls said that social media has hurt their sleep, versus 40 percent of boys the same age.

As Statista' Anna Fleck reports, teenage girls are more likely than boys to report negative impacts from social media on their sleep, self confidence, levels of productivity and mental health, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center.

You will find more infographics at Statista

A similar gap occurs for the issue of mental health (25 percent of girls, 14 percent of boys).

However, the biggest share of respondents said social media sites neither helped nor hurt their mental health.

Around one in five of both sexes said that social media had negative impacts on school grades.

Teens were more positive when it came to the question of friendships.

Altogether, 30 percent of teenagers said that social media has helped their friendships either a little or a lot.

Girls were slightly more likely to say that social media harmed friendships, at 9 percent versus 5 percent.

According to Pew, there were no meaningful gender differences among teens who say social media helped any of the aspects mentioned on this chart.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 19:30

Huawei To Stand Trial In US On Charges Of Bank Fraud, Sanctions Violations, Theft

Authored by Austin Alonzo via The Epoch Times,

Chinese company Huawei Technologies will stand trial on multiple charges after a federal judge denied its bid to dismiss a long-running case against it.

On July 1, District Judge Ann Donnelly of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that there was sufficient evidence to proceed with a 16-count indictment against Huawei and its subsidiaries.

Huawei, which is closely tied to the Chinese communist regime, stands accused of racketeering, stealing trade secrets from six U.S. companies, and committing bank fraud.

With Donnelly’s ruling, the case will move forward toward trial. Currently, the proceedings are scheduled to begin on May 4, 2026.

Huawei stands charged with using a Hong Kong-based front company, Skycom, to conduct business in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions and with misleading banks in order to facilitate more than $100 million in illegal money transfers.

Additionally, the indictment alleges that Huawei engaged in racketeering to expand its global brand.

Representatives of Huawei did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times by publication time.

In November 2024, Huawei pleaded not guilty and called itself “a prosecutorial target in search of a crime.”

The upcoming trial is expected to last several months and could have significant implications for the ongoing tensions between the United States and China over technology, trade, and national security.

As part of the long-running federal investigation into Huawei’s business dealings, Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, also the daughter of the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, was previously charged and detained in Canada for nearly three years before the charges against her were dismissed in 2022 as part of a deferred prosecution agreement.

Huawei, based in Shenzhen, China, operates in more than 170 countries and employs approximately 208,000 people worldwide. The U.S. government has imposed restrictions on Huawei’s access to U.S. technology since 2019, citing national security concerns; Huawei has denied those accusations.

Along with manufacturing smartphones and consumer technology, Huawei is emerging as a manufacturer of advanced processing chips essential to the development of artificial intelligence.

The Epoch Times reported in June that the race to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence and the hardware that powers it is tantamount to an arms race between the United States and the Chinese regime.

In June, Taiwan, a leader in the world of semiconductor manufacturing, imposed new export restrictions on Huawei, citing “national security concerns.” The move brings Taiwan’s priorities more in line with the U.S. policy aimed at denying communist China access to cutting-edge technology that could be used to further its military ambitions.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 18:55

China's 'Fentanyl King' Plunges Into "Corruption Fueled Bankruptcy"

Ai Luming was once a symbol of China’s entrepreneurial rise -- its 'fentanyl king' and a philosophy graduate who turned a urine-based drug startup into a sprawling private empire spanning pharma, real estate, and finance, according to Caixin.

But by 2025, after nearly four decades, his business collapsed under mounting debt, defaulted investments, and a court-ordered restructuring that stripped him of everything.

In 1988, Ai declined a government post to start a biotech firm with classmates from Wuhan University. Their first product, urokinase extracted from urine, funded his deeper push into medicine. By the late 1990s, his company Humanwell Healthcare had gone public and eventually captured over 90% of China’s opioid painkiller market.

Dangdai Group, the holding company, expanded into multiple industries, acquiring six publicly traded firms and betting heavily on sectors with strong regulation where Ai believed private firms could thrive.

Caixin writes that ambition overtook caution. By 2017, Dangdai had racked up over 30 billion yuan in debt, relying on financial engineering and aggressive expansion. Real estate projects stalled, and fixed-income products issued by its subsidiaries began defaulting, affecting thousands of retail investors. “If there’s a chance, I’d like to start over,” Ai told old friends at a private dinner in early 2025.

A major misstep came from Dangdai’s move into finance. After acquiring Tianfeng Securities in 2002, Ai hoped it would fund his industrial growth. “I saw big international conglomerates tied closely to finance and thought owning financial institutions would help our industrial growth,” he later said. “I didn’t realize industry and finance should develop separately.”

Tianfeng expanded quickly under Ai’s protégé Yu Lei, but internal loans and circular funding created a dangerous debt loop between Tianfeng and Dangdai.

By 2019, Dangdai’s liabilities exceeded 60 billion yuan. In 2020, Yu was detained, and the crisis deepened. Regulators later uncovered more than 5 billion yuan in questionable transactions. As defaults spread, Ai returned from retirement, but by 2023, the group faced 800 billion yuan in claims with only 11 billion in assets.

“That year, Yu Lei told me things couldn’t go on, that the debt was too big — we might as well declare bankruptcy,” Ai recalled.

Only Humanwell remained salvageable. After failed attempts at private deals, Dangdai entered court restructuring. China Merchants Group acquired control with an 11.8-billion-yuan investment, a record in Chinese pharma bankruptcy cases. Creditors with claims under 3 million yuan were repaid in full; others would recover only if Humanwell’s stock rose by over 70%.

Despite the loss, Ai remains defiant, floating ideas for ventures in tourism and animal health. “He’s still the man who once howled through the mountains, chasing dreams,” said a former partner. “But this is no longer the 1990s — and Ai may be the only one who hasn’t realized it.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 18:20

Federal Officials Warn Of 'Lone Wolf' Terror Threats On July 4, NY Governor Says

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has confirmed that federal officials informed her about a possible terrorist threat ahead of the July 4 Independence Day holiday.

“Our federal partners reiterated yesterday that lone wolf actors remain the greatest potential threat including during the upcoming July 4th holiday,” Hochul said in a July 2 statement, without providing the names of the federal agencies or any specific details about potential plots.

The governor said state law enforcement officials are “in an increased alert posture following the recent conflict in the Middle East” and that under her direction, “State Police will have an increased presence at large events throughout the state” during the holiday.

“And we will be closely coordinating with local and federal law enforcement partners to ensure the safety of all involved,” she said.

“National Guard personnel also remain deployed at major transportation hubs, as well as at key bridges and tunnels within New York City.

“We are also actively monitoring social media activity and continue to be on high alert for any cyberthreats.”

While Hochul did not elaborate, ABC News and other outlets, citing an internal bulletin released by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), reported that those agencies believe there is an elevated threat in New York and California during Independence Day.

The Epoch Times contacted both DHS and the FBI for comment on Thursday but did not receive a response by publication time.

Earlier this week, the FBI and other agencies sent a warning that Iranian regime-linked groups could launch cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, although they did not issue any public warnings about terrorist attacks linked to Iran.

“Defense Industrial Base companies, particularly those possessing holdings or relationships with Israeli research and defense firms, are at increased risk,” the agencies stated in the warning, issued by the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

That comes roughly two weeks after the United States bombed multiple Iranian nuclear enrichment sites following days of back-and-forth strikes carried out by both Iran and Israel. Iran later confirmed that several of its top military officials and scientists were killed in the Israeli strikes.

For the past year and a half, the FBI has issued warnings about terrorist attacks inside the United States inspired by the Israel–Hamas conflict, which was sparked by a Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that left more than 1,200 civilians dead.

About a month ago, the FBI warned that there is an elevated terrorism threat to the Jewish community in the United States in light of a shooting that left two Israeli Embassy staffers dead in Washington and an arson attack in Boulder, Colorado, in recent months. An 82-year-old woman who was injured during the Boulder firebombing incident, which occurred in June, died on Monday, prosecutors said.

Mohamed Soliman, the suspect in the Boulder attack, allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” during the incident, federal officials said.

In the Washington attack, suspect Elias Rodriguez yelled, “Free, free Palestine,” which was captured on video, authorities also said.

“We are investigating this incident as an act of terror, and targeted violence. All of the necessary assets will be dedicated to this investigation,” FBI Director Dan Bongino said in a June statement on social media platform X, referring to the Boulder attack.

In May, Bongino said the Israeli Embassy shooting was being investigated under similar pretexts.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 17:45

DOJ Arrests Two Chinese Nationals For Spying, Trying To Recruit U.S. Military Members To Work For PRC

Two Chinese nationals, Yuance Chen of Happy Valley, Oregon, and Liren Lai, who entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in April 2025, have been charged with acting as agents for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).

According to a Monday report, the Department of Justice alleges the men gathered intelligence on U.S. Navy personnel and military bases and attempted to recruit other military members to spy for the MSS, according to The Conservative Brief. 

They also allegedly facilitated a “dead drop” cash payment on behalf of the MSS.

The Conservative Brief article writes that the FBI arrested Chen in Happy Valley and Lai in Houston on Friday, with help from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).

“Today’s arrests reflect the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protecting our national security and safeguarding the integrity of our military,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. He added, “The individuals charged were acting on behalf of a hostile foreign intelligence service — part of the Chinese Communist Party’s broader effort to infiltrate and undermine our institutions.”

“The FBI arrested two Chinese nationals who were allegedly attempting to recruit U.S. military service members on behalf of the PRC,” he said.

A DOJ press release read: "The defendants...were arrested Friday on a criminal complaint charging them with overseeing and carrying out various clandestine intelligence taskings in the United States on behalf of the PRC Government’s principal foreign intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security (MSS)."

"These activities included facilitating a “dead drop” payment of cash for information relating to the national security of the United States previously provided to the MSS, gathering intelligence about U.S. Navy service members and bases, and assisting with efforts to recruit other individuals from within the U.S. military as potential MSS assets."

Attorney Craig H. Missakian for the Northern District of California added: “These charges reflect the breadth of the efforts by our foreign adversaries to target the United States — this time by conducting illegal intelligence-gathering operations aimed at our national security information and military service members.”

“My office and the FBI remain ever vigilant in guarding against these threats to the United States. We will continue to undertake counterespionage investigations and prosecutions, no matter how complex and sensitive, to disrupt attempts to weaken our national security.”

Attorney General Pamela Bondi concluded: “This case underscores the Chinese government’s sustained and aggressive effort to infiltrate our military and undermine our national security from within. The Justice Department will not stand by while hostile nations embed spies in our country – we will expose foreign operatives, hold their agents to account, and protect the American people from covert threats to our national security.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 17:10

Trump Says June 2025 Border Statistics Are Lowest In US History

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump said on July 2 that the previous month’s border statistics were the lowest in the nation’s history, with Border Patrol reporting zero releases of illegal immigrants into the United States and just over 6,000 arrests at the Southwest border.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Customs and Border Patrol reported only 25,243 nationwide encounters for all of June, with zero releases of illegal immigrants into the United States.

“America’s Borders are Safe and Secure, and the entire World knows it,” Trump wrote.

The president’s border czar, Tom Homan, said the total number of Southwest Border Patrol encounters for June was 6,070.

“That is less than a single day under Biden. As a matter of fact, the total number of encounters is less than half of a single day under Biden on many days,” Homan wrote in a post on social media platform X.

On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security issued a news release saying it had seen the lowest nationwide encounters and apprehensions in history.

Nationwide encounters were 12 percent lower than the previous record set in February, and 89 percent lower than the monthly average for the years 2021–24, the agency said.

June’s Southwest Border Patrol encounters, slightly more than 6,000, were a 15 percent decline from March.

On June 28, Homeland Security recorded only 137 apprehensions across the entire Southwest Border, which it noted was the lowest single-day total in 25 years.

The number of gotaways—or those who cross the border illegally and are not apprehended by Border Patrol—dropped by 90 percent compared to June 2024.

For the second month in a row, Border Patrol reported zero releases of illegal immigrants into the United States, “reinforcing the administration’s commitment to ending catch-and-release policies,” the department said.

The new numbers underscore Trump’s efforts to curb illegal immigration, which was one of the core messages of his 2024 presidential campaign.

Since his January inauguration, Trump has signed multiple executive orders curbing illegal immigration, limiting or otherwise restricting asylum, and removing temporary protected status from thousands of refugees from several countries. Some of these efforts have been challenged in court.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on X on July 2 that Trump has delivered the “most secure border in American history.”

“The world is hearing our message: the border is closed to lawbreakers. Under President Trump, our Border Patrol agents are empowered to do their job once again, secure our border, and protect the American people.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 16:35

Planetary Defenders Track Fast-Moving "Interstellar Object" Through Solar System

On Wednesday, the European Space Agency revealed that its Planetary Defenders are tracking a fast-moving "interstellar object" zipping through the solar system. While some might hope it's an alien spacecraft—finally giving Paul Krugman a win—chances are it's just another space rock. 

"Astronomers may have just discovered the third interstellar object passing through the Solar System!" ESA said, adding, "ESA's Planetary Defenders are observing the object, provisionally known as A11pl3Z, right now using telescopes around the world." 

Astronomers may have just discovered the third interstellar object passing through the Solar System!

ESA’s Planetary Defenders are observing the object, provisionally known as #A11pl3Z, right now using telescopes around the world.

— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) July 2, 2025v

It's still unclear whether A11pl3Z is a rocky asteroid, an icy comet, or something else entirely. Its size and shape also remain unknown. NASA has confirmed it is actively tracking the object, while astronomers say more observations are needed to determine its origin. 

Interstellar visitor confirmed. #A11pl3Z is now known as 3I/ATLAS. It is only the third confirmed object from beyond our solar system. pic.twitter.com/jLsRRXUZPG

— Tony Dunn (@tony873004) July 2, 2025

Astrophysicist Josep Trigo-Rodriguez of the Institute of Space Sciences near Barcelona, Spain, told AP News A11pl3Z is on an "odd path" and traveling at "extreme speed, cutting through the solar system." He estimates the size of the object to be roughly 25 miles. 

Sorry, Krugman—looks like your 2011 pitch for a fake alien invasion to jumpstart the economy is still on hold. But hey, there's always a chance this mystery object turns out to be a 100-mile-wide Death Star.

Fingers crossed, right?

Related from August 2020: 

• Another "Oumuamua" Plot Twist: Leading Explanation For Interstellar Object Is Aliens Again

. . . 

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 16:00

From the Association of American Railroads (AAR) AAR Data Center. Graph and excerpts reprinted with permission.

In recent months the U.S. economy has defied easy characterization, caught between signals of underlying strength and uncertainty regarding the road ahead. Rail freight volumes have followed that lead, reflecting a mix of cautious optimism and lingering hesitation across key sectors. The uncertainty characterizing both the economy and freight markets is likely to continue because key drivers of economic momentum— including the labor market, consumer spending, inflation levels, interest rates, and economic policies across the globe—remain fluid.
emphasis added

On intermodal:

U.S. rail intermodal originations fell 2.9% (31,000 containers and trailers) in June 2025 from June 2024, their first year-over-year decline in 22 months. June’s decline comes amid broader uncertainties impacting global supply chains that have tempered international shipments. In June 2025, U.S. rail intermodal volume averaged 260,834 units per week, below the 2016-2005 average for June of 263,991.

Meanwhile, total U.S. rail carloads (excluding intermodal) rose 2.1% (nearly 19,000 carloads) in June 2025 over June 2024, their fourth straight year-over-year increase— the first time that’s happened since late 2021. In June, 10 of the 20 carload categories tracked by the AAR had year over-year gains. Total U.S. rail carloads averaged 226,259 per week in June 2025, the most for June since 2021. In the 66 months since January 2020, only 14 months had a higher weekly average than June 2025 did.

Antifa Rioters Charged With Arson And Assault In Portland

Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

The Trump-led DOJ has charged four individuals in connection with the violent anti-ICE riots that broke out in June in Oregon. 

The defendants, some allegedly caught on video, spent several weeks targeting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and assaulting federal officers, prosecutors said in a press statement on Tuesday. 

One of the individuals, 31‑year‑old August Dean Gordon, pulled a proximity card reader from its stanchion on the facility’s driveway. He kicked, grabbed and injured five officers during his arrest, the DOJ said.  

That same evening, 33‑year‑old Nadya Malinowska refused orders to leave the site. Meanwhile, 35‑year‑old David Pearl attempted to interfere with officers’ arrest of another rioter. 

On June 11, prosecutors said 34-year-old Trenten Edward Barker retrieved a lit flare from his backpack and tossed it into a barricade of debris near the ICE facility. 

Malinowska and Pearl each face misdemeanor charges for failing to obey a lawful order; Pearl also face a count of creating a disturbance. 

Gordon and Barker are charged with willful depredation of government property and assaulting a federal officer. Barker additionally faces an arson charge. 

According to journalist Andy Ngo, the rioters are affiliated with Antifa.

Four more Portland Antifa riot suspects have been federally charged over the ongoing insurrection against the ICE facility. This brings the total federally charged so far to 17, devastating the numbers Antifa need to attack the building night after night. The cases are not being… pic.twitter.com/jsZxOKagyb

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) July 1, 2025

They all made their first appearance on Monday and face hefty penalties if found guilty.  

“Felony arson of federal property is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years,” the DOJ said.

“Misdemeanor assault of a federal officer and misdemeanor willful depredation of government property are punishable by up to one year in federal prison.” 

Additionally, the DOJ said failure to obey a lawful order and creating a disturbance are misdemeanors punishable by up to 30 days in prison. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 15:30

Leftist Activist Calls For Sanctions On America, Has Deep Ties To Democrat NGO Network

Far-left and unhinged social justice warrior Elie Mystal has sparked controversy with remarks suggesting that America "needs to be sanctioned," and calling the country "a menace to peaceful people" and "the bad guys." His comments reflect an alarming trend on the left toward anti-American rhetoric—resembling propaganda straight out of the playbook of foreign adversaries. 

Two crazed leftists, two cameras, nothing is shocking. Mystal told Joy Reid:

 "Our country needs to be sanctioned. We are the bad guys on the world stage. We are a menace everywhere at this point. When does the international community decide that enough is enough?"

Elie Mystal: "Our country is THE bad guy on the world stage. The world needs to stand against America. Sanction us." pic.twitter.com/3OjPx52Ryn

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 2, 2025

While Mystal is not a Democratic Party official, he maintains deep ties to the Democratic Party's NGO machine. Public records show he serves as an officer at "Demand Justice," a far-left judicial advocacy group. Closely connected to it are "Demand Justice PAC" and a related entity just one degree removed, known as the "Demand Justice Initiative."

Most intriguing within this Demand Justice activist network—just one spoke of the Democratic Party's broader, dark-money-funded propaganda machine that wages an informational war on the American people—is its founder, Ezra Reese.

According to Elias Law Group, Ezra Reese is the "Political Law Chair." 

Recall that the White House recently published a press release titled "Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Courts," in which the Trump administration cited the Elias Law Group as an example of "grossly unethical misconduct."

Recent examples of grossly unethical misconduct are far too common.  For instance, in 2016, Marc Elias, founder and chair of Elias Law Group LLP, was deeply involved in the creation of a false "dossier" by a foreign national designed to provide a fraudulent basis for Federal law enforcement to investigate a Presidential candidate in order to alter the outcome of the Presidential election.  Elias also intentionally sought to conceal the role of his client — failed Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton — in the dossier. -WH

Returning to Mystal, his affiliations with these far-left nonprofits closely tied to Deep State Democrats raise legitimate questions about the independence of his commentary. It increasingly appears that some Democratic operatives are using high-profile activists as little more than amplifiers of anti-American propaganda ... One has to wonder if this alarming propaganda is being faciliated by foreign adversaries... 

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 15:00

Fracking Is America's (Not So) Secret Weapon

Authored by Jim Welty, Rob Burndrett & Charlie Burd via RealClearEnergy,

America’s shale revolution and ascension to the world’s largest oil and natural gas producer has made one fact abundantly clear: energy security is national security. No longer are geopolitical and national security decisions held hostage to the threat of energy price spikes. Because of oil from Texas and natural gas from Appalachia, Americans aren’t facing the energy supply shocks that were once guaranteed to follow rising Middle East tensions.

Home to the nation’s largest natural gas field with the Marcellus and Utica shales, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia produce a third of America’s natural gas. That’s energy that keeps the lights on in our homes, the heat flowing in the winter, and power steady and reliable for factories, hospitals, military bases, and critical infrastructure across America. But it does much more. Appalachian natural gas is a big part of what makes America strong, self-reliant, and free.

Throughout history, energy security has meant physical security. When we have the energy we need, produced right here at home, we reduce our dependence on unstable or hostile nations. We insulate ourselves from supply disruptions and price shocks triggered by global conflicts. And we make sure that in times of crisis, from natural disasters to national emergencies, we have the fuel to respond, rebuild, and defend.

Our abundant, reliable natural gas underpins the strength of our Armed Forces and the resilience of our economy. Employing millions of our own people, energy powers the manufacturing of steel, ammunition, vehicles, and the technologies that support our troops. It safeguards critical operations from cyber and physical threats by ensuring reliable, secure power supplies.

And as artificial intelligence rapidly transforms industries, it’s natural gas that remains the only fuel fully capable of meeting the intense, always-on energy requirements these technologies depend on.

In short, energy security protects American lives and the American way of life.

But here’s the challenge: While we produce more than enough clean-burning, affordable natural gas to meet our needs and support allies overseas, we can’t move enough of it to where it’s needed most. And electrical grid operators face mounting strain as power-hungry technologies accelerate demand.

The missing links? Pipelines and new gas-fired generation. Without more infrastructure to safely and efficiently transport and use domestic energy, we leave ourselves exposed to higher costs, supply vulnerabilities, and reliance on foreign adversaries.

New England is perhaps the most staggering example of energy insecurity here at home, sitting just a few hours drive from the largest gas producing region in the country, yet forced to rely on expensive, unreliable foreign fuel because politics have clouded smart energy policies for decades. Now, those same political leaders are quietly backing down and conceding what we’ve known all along: pipelines from Appalachia are key to their energy security.

Meanwhile, our country’s global competitors and adversaries aren’t waiting. Russia and China – they understand the power of energy in projecting strength and influence. America must do the same, led by the innovators in Appalachia who drove the shale revolution just over 20 years ago.

Now is the time for action. Washington is working to cut the red tape that’s stalled progress, but it’s up to us in the states to unleash the full potential of Appalachian energy. Thank you to those elected leaders who are already leading the charge, but we need all of our policy officials to champion building the natural gas infrastructure that will secure affordable energy for families, strengthen our physical and economic security, and help ensure that America remains the most powerful, resilient, and free nation on the planet.

Let Appalachia’s natural gas power our future and protect the freedoms we hold dear.

Jim Welty, Rob Brundrett, and Charlie Burd lead Appalachia’s top natural gas trade associations, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, and the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia, respectively.

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 14:30

After '8 Hours Of Hogwash' From Rep. Jeffries, House Republicans Pass Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill'

Update (1430ET): The republican response to Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries' record-breaking address was brief and to the point, as Rep Jason Smith retorted:

"I come from the Show-Me State, and what we just heard can be defined in one word. A bunch of hogwash is what we've heard for eight hours on that side of the building."

.@RepJasonSmith: "I come from the Show-Me State, and what we just heard can be defined in one word. A bunch of hogwash is what we've heard for eight hours on that side of the building." pic.twitter.com/VdPfufshSF

— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) July 3, 2025

House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke next, noting that “we have a big job to finish."

 “With one big beautiful bill we are going to make this country stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever before.”

And then came the vote... and (218-214) Republican House members passed the bill with all Democrats voting 'nay'...

The bill will now go President Trump's desk for to signed tomorrow morning.

Happy 4th 'Murica!

*  *  *

Overnight, most of the Republican holdouts on the 'Big Beautiful Bill' relented, flipping their support to advance the legislation to a final vote on the House floor after several deals were cut with President Trump. Earlier in the morning, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) kept the procedural vote open for almost six hours - which once passed would kick off debate before final passage. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), however, decided to throw a massive tantrum that's been going on for more than five hours in what's known as the "magic minute," a privilege for party leaders in the chamber that allows them to speak for as long as they want. According to Fox News, Jeffries was seen arriving with multiple binders - one of which he read from for around three hours. If the rest of the binders also contain portions of his speech, we could be waiting for a while.

Tempt us with a good time?

Hakeem Jeffries is warning that a "deportation machine will be unleashed on steroids" if Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill passes. pic.twitter.com/MDqbCNg2xV

— Trending Politics (@tpbreaking) July 3, 2025

If Jeffries speaks until at least 1:26 p.m. he'll break the record for the longest floor speech held by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who spoke for 8 hours and 32 minutes, according to Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman.

The move comes after the House burned the midnight oil to advance the $3.3 trillion 'Big Beautiful Bill' to its final phase in Congress.

The GOP holdouts were convinced to flip after President Trump promised them that he would use his executive powers to vigorously enforce certain provisions for green energy tax credits.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was a one-man rollercoaster for the GOP leadership. Massie railed against the bill all week. He initially voted for the rule. But then at 11:30 p.m., Massie entered a mostly empty House chamber and switched his vote from yes to no.

However, Massie – who Trump has personally targeted for defeat in 2026 – switched again back to yes when all the hardliners flipped. The GOP leadership hopes that Massie will vote for final passage later this morning. And he has made clear that he would like Trump to stop attacking him. -Punchbowl

"He did a masterful job of laying out how we could improve it, how he could use his chief executive office, use things to make the bill better," Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina told CNBC. 

This comes after multiple Republicans were seen in the West Wing on Wednesday to cut deals as Trump pressed them into voting yes on the bill. 

Norman said he would be a 'nay' on the Senate-passed version of the bill, only to flip and support it after his meeting with Trump - who promised to use his office to stringently enforce energy tax credit phase-outs.

"President Trump is going to use his powers to — like on the subsidies, to make sure that it’s a lot of these subsidies won’t remain in effect, you know, from here on out," said Norman. 

Trump, meanwhile, says he plans to sign his signature tax and spending bill tomorrow morning at a White House ceremony, Punchbowl's Sherman posted on X.

NEW -- I am now told that this signing ceremony will be at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

Seems like it's a moving target https://t.co/JJu017sA6w

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 3, 2025

In response to the GOP's advancing the bill, Trump said on Truth Social that it was a "great night." 

"What a great night it was. One of the most consequential Bills ever," he wrote, adding "The USA is the ‘HOTTEST’ Country in the World, by far!!!"

The core of the BBB permanently extends and expands the 2017 Trump tax cuts, introducing new deductions for tip income and overtime pay, while providing significant tax relief for Social Security recipients.

It reinstates full and immediate expensing for business equipment and R&D, delivers new construction write-offs for manufacturers, and boosts incentives for domestic semiconductor production. High-income Americans and owners of pass-through entities also stand to benefit from expanded deductions, and the bill raises the state and local tax deduction cap for upper-middle-class households. But these tax changes are offset by historic spending cuts—chiefly, nearly $1 trillion in reductions to Medicaid and SNAP.

The legislation also scales back Affordable Care Act subsidies and imposes stricter eligibility checks, drawing ire from hospitals and health advocates. Meanwhile, clean energy and EV sectors face deep setbacks as tax credits are repealed and renewable subsidies curtailed. 

Stay tuned... and maybe buy a hat or our personal favorite Anza knife?

Tyler Durden Thu, 07/03/2025 - 14:30

(Posted with permission). The ISM® Services index was at 50.8%, up from 49.9% last month. The employment index decreased to 47.2%, from 50.7%. Note: Above 50 indicates expansion, below 50 in contraction.

From the Institute for Supply Management: Services PMI® at 50.8% June 2025 Services ISM® Report On Business®

Economic activity in the services sector grew in June after just one month of contraction, say the nation's purchasing and supply executives in the latest Services ISM® Report On Business®. The Services PMI® indicated expansion at 50.8 percent, above the 50-percent breakeven point for 11th time in the last 12 months.

The report was issued today by Steve Miller, CPSM, CSCP, Chair of the Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) Services Business Survey Committee: “In June, the Services PMI® registered 50.8 percent, 0.9 percentage point higher than the May figure of 49.9 percent. The Business Activity Index returned to expansion territory in June, registering 54.2 percent, 4.2 percentage points higher than the ‘unchanged’ reading of 50 percent recorded in May. This index has not been in contraction territory since May 2020. The New Orders Index returned to expansion territory in June, recording a reading of 51.3 percent, an increase of 4.9 percentage points from the May figure of 46.4 percent. The Employment Index returned to contraction territory for the third time in the last four months; the reading of 47.2 percent is 3.5 percentage points lower than the 50.7 percent recorded in May.

“The Supplier Deliveries Index registered 50.3 percent, 2.2 percentage points lower than the 52.5 percent recorded in May. This is the seventh consecutive month that the index has been in expansion territory, indicating slower supplier delivery performance. (Supplier Deliveries is the only ISM® Report On Business® index that is inversed; a reading of above 50 percent indicates slower deliveries, which is typical as the economy improves and customer demand increases.)

“The Prices Index registered 67.5 percent in June, a 1.2-percentage point decrease from May’s reading of 68.7 percent. The index has exceeded 60 percent for seven straight months, with the May and June readings the highest since November 2022 (69.4 percent).
emphasis added

This was at consensus expectations, but employment was weak and prices paid very high.