Weekend:
• Schedule for Week of July 20, 2025

Monday:
• No major economic releases scheduled.

From CNBC: Pre-Market Data and Bloomberg futures S&P 500 are down 2 and DOW futures are down 33 (fair value).

Oil prices were down over the last week with WTI futures at $67.34 per barrel and Brent at $69.28 per barrel. A year ago, WTI was at $81, and Brent was at $85 - so WTI oil prices are down about 17% year-over-year.

Here is a graph from Gasbuddy.com for nationwide gasoline prices. Nationally prices are at $3.09 per gallon. A year ago, prices were at $3.47 per gallon, so gasoline prices are down $0.38 year-over-year.

What this means: On a weekly basis, Realtor.com reports the year-over-year change in active inventory and new listings. On a monthly basis, they report total inventory. For June, Realtor.com reported inventory was up 28.9% YoY, but still down 12.9% compared to the 2017 to 2019 same month levels. 
Here is their weekly report: Weekly Housing Trends: Latest Data as of July 12

• Active inventory climbed 25.1% year over year

The number of homes active on the market climbed 25.1% year over year, slowing slightly from the previous week. This represents the 88th consecutive week of annual gains in inventory. There were more than 1 million homes for sale again last week, marking the 10th week in a row over the threshold and the highest inventory level since November 2019.

• New listings—a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale—rose 1.3% year over year

New listings rose again last week on an annual basis by just 1.3% compared with the same period last year.

• The median list price was up 0.2% year over year

The median list price climbed again this week, but is still down 0.3% year to date. The median list price per square foot—which adjusts for changes in home size—rose 0.5% year over year. With inventory on the rise and more than 1 in 5 sellers cutting prices, the market continues to soften and shift toward more buyer favorability.

With inventory climbing, and sales depressed, months-of-supply is at the highest level since 2016 putting downward pressure on house prices in an increasing number of areas.

Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures:

• Venture Capital Firms Bet Big on Gambling. Now They’re Banking on the Addictions. U.S. VC firms have invested $2 billion in gambling businesses in recent years. At least six of the firms are simultaneously betting on problem gambling treatments. (Barron’s)

• The Texas way: why the most disaster-prone US state is so allergic to preparing for disasters: It faces hurricanes, heat, drought, rising seas and – as last week showed – deadly floods. But despite the clear need for preventive action, that is not the political mood. (The Guardian) see also Texan Stoicism Provides Comfort, and Excuses, After the Flood: Texans often draw on the idea of their own self-reliance during times of adversity. Gov. Greg Abbott has used it to deflect tough questions. (New York Times)

• Hardly Workin’ The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on life support, and consumer scam complaints are surging as a result. The Trump administration wants to pull the plug. (American Prospect)

• The Death of the Middle-Class Musician: It’s easier than ever to make music, and harder than ever to make a living from it. (The Walrus)

• CVS was so worried about shoplifting that it stole its own soul: My local pharmacy’s products are now encased in glass, and the whole thing makes me very nervous. (Washington Post)

• 5 big questions about Trump’s ties to Epstein. But the new report – along with Trump’s demands that his supporters stop pursuing questions about Epstein in the wake of his administration’s botched handling of promised disclosures – has rekindled interest in the matter. (CNN) see also Jeffrey Epstein’s Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump. The leather-bound book was compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell. The president says the letter ‘is a fake thing.’ (Wall Street Journal)

• ICE Lawyers Are Hiding Their Names in Immigration Court: ICE attorneys fighting to deport immigrants are able to obscure their identities — no masks required. (The Intercept)

\• The Rapid Rise of Killings by Police in Rural America: A 17-year-old shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy on a New Mexico highway last summer was one in a growing number of cases. (Wall Street Journal)

• Why Texas’ floods are a warning for the rest of the country: The disaster that unfolded in Kerr County, Texas, shows how many communities will struggle to prepare for extreme weather as the federal government pulls back. (Politico) see also Trump Is Gutting Weather Science and Reducing Disaster Response: As a warming planet delivers more extreme weather, experts warn that the Trump administration is dismantling the government’s disaster capabilities. (New York Times)

• The world is choking on screens. Just as this book foretold. Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death” at 40 is truer than ever. (Washington Post)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Neil Dutta, head of the economic research team at Renaissance Macro Research. Previously, he was Senior Economist NA at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch under Ethan Harris and David Rosenberg. He has a history of making successful contrarian calls, including calling for no recession in 2022, and warning that the FOMC would raise rates aggressively in 2022. He is now expecting a mild recession late 2025/26.

 

Americans now spend more on health care than on housing or food…

Source: Peter Mallouk

 

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~~~

To learn how these reads are assembled each day, please see this.

 

The post 10 Sunday Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

America's Armchair Revolutionaries: How The Left Is Rediscovering Marxism As The Ultimate Virtue Signal

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

During the Cold War, Soviet communists reportedly referred to American liberals as “useful idiots.”

Although the origin of the quote has been challenged (and attributed to both Lenin and Stalin), it captured many of the adherents of communism after World War II. From higher education to Hollywood, dilettantes on the left embraced Marxism with little real understanding of the philosophy or its implications.

We are now seeing the rise of a new generation of armchair revolutionaries who are calling for everything from the overthrow of the U.S. government to the seizure of factories and homes.

Democratic New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani personifies this new movement of young people lacking any memory of the failure of socialist and communist systems in the 20th Century.

Mamdani is perfect for this rising movement of Latte Leninists and trust-fund baby Trotskyites. The privileged son of a radical Columbia professor and a Hollywood producer, Mamdani went to the elite Bowdoin College, which charges over $70,000 annually in tuition. He is part of the “radical chic” of American higher education, where extreme views are fully mainstream.

Mamdani shows the appeal of mouthing Marxist manifestos as manifest truths. It is Marxism-lite — promises of everything from rent control to making “Halal eight bucks again.”

In one speech before the Young Democratic Socialists of America conference, Mamdani even stated matter-of-factly how one of the goals is to “seize the means of production” in America.

“Right now, if we’re talking about the cancellation of student debt, if we’re talking about Medicare for all, you know, these are issues which have the groundswell of popular support across this country,” he said.

“But then there are also other issues that we firmly believe in, whether it’s [boycott-divestment-sanctions against Israel] or whether it is the end goal of seizing the means of production, where we do not have the same level of support at this very moment.”

Mamdani offers few details of what it would mean to seize all industry in this country or how such a system would work in the United States after failing in literally every nation where it has been attempted.

He has also called for the seizure of unoccupied luxury condos in New York to turn over to the homeless.

With pledges of state-run grocery stores and other proposals, many are thrilled by the prospect of Marxism coming to America.

Polls show increasing support among young people for socialism and even communism. That is reflected in the New York primary, where Mamdani received significant support from wealthy and young college-educated voters.

Like Mamdani, these young voters have no inkling of what life was like under socialist and communist governments. They were not alive when radical shifts to socialism in Great Britain and France destroyed their economies and had to be reversed. They did not see the collapse of the Soviet Union or the move toward capitalism by China to avoid economic meltdowns.

Yet, as Mamdani stated, the radical left has to wait to seize such powers until it has “the same level of support at this very moment.” Unfortunately, socialist programs can produce the very dire conditions that lead to even greater consolidation of state controls and power.

Notably, most of Mamdani’s proposals would violate the Constitution or bankrupt the city. For example, efforts to seize multimillion-dollar luxury condos would constitute unconstitutional takings unless he was prepared to buy the units at their market value — a virtually impossible proposition.

Such considerations are rarely raised, let alone resolved, in radical conferences.

Earlier this month, University of Minnesota liberal arts professor Melanie Yazzie joined others for a “teach-in” in which she delighted the audience with calls for the overthrow of the country by “people who come from nations who are under occupation by the United States government.”

She added, “it’s our responsibility as people who are within the United States to go as hard as possible to decolonize this place because that will reverberate all across the world. Because the U.S. is the greatest predator empire that has ever existed.”

That includes forcing “[the] U.S. out of everywhere,” including “Turtle Island” (the Native American name used to describe North America). Yazzie insisted that “the goal is to dismantle the settler project that is the United States for the freedom and the future of all life on this planet. It very much depends on that.”

Yazzie is an example of how most faculties in this country now run from the left to the far left. Applicants who espouse center-right viewpoints are often rejected as lacking “intellectual rigor” or depth. However, you cannot be too far left to secure a position in many departments that do not have a single Republican or conservative.

Take University of Chicago Assistant Professor Eman Abdelhadi, who used her recent appearance at the Socialism 2025 conference to denounce the University of Chicago as an “evil” and “colonialist” institution. Nevertheless, she insisted that she wanted to remain at the evil institution — not for its intellectual community, but to “organize” and “leverage” to build a political coalition.

Keep in mind that the faculty not only decided that Abdelhadi was worthy of a faculty position in the university’s Department of Comparative Human Development, but then also made her the Director of Graduate Studies.

For some, the calls of professors like Yazzie to “dismantle” the U.S. constitute the ultimate virtue signal. Like demands to seize factories and homes, the willingness to burn down the system is a cheap and easy way to establish your bona fides as one of the enlightened — something to brag about with your other 20-something fellow travelers as you order your $7 latte on the way to your Hyrox workout.

Lenin once mocked many in the West as idiots who would “transform themselves into men who are deaf, dumb and blind [and] toil to prepare their own suicide.”  What he never imagined was how some would still be transforming themselves decades after the revolution failed.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University and the best-selling author of “The Indispensable Right.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 23:20

US Revokes Visas For Brazilian Judge, His Allies Over Bolsonaro Prosecution

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced late Friday that he has revoked the visas of Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, his “allies on the court,” and their close relatives, citing an ongoing “political witch hunt” targeting former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and “censorship of protected expression in the United States.”

The decision came hours after Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered police to search Bolsonaro’s home and attach an electronic monitor to the former leader’s ankle. Bolsonaro, who has already had his passport confiscated, is now also subject to a nightly and weekend curfew.

Under the same order signed by de Moraes, Bolsonaro is barred from using social media, communicating with foreign diplomats, or getting close to foreign embassies. Earlier this year, he was denied a request to temporarily get his passport back so he could attend President Donald Trump’s second inauguration ceremony.

Separately, de Moraes is leading an aggressive investigation into so-called “digital militias” accused of spreading disinformation and hate speech during the Bolsonaro administration.

Last year, he temporarily banned X across the country after the Elon Musk-owned social media platform refused to remove certain accounts—many linked to Bolsonaro supporters—that de Moraes said had violated Brazilian law.

As Bill Pan reports for The Epoch Times, Rubio condemned the court’s actions as politically motivated repression.

“President Trump made clear that his administration will hold accountable foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States,” Rubio said in a statement.

“Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes’s political witch hunt against Jair Bolsonaro created a persecution and censorship complex so sweeping that it not only violates basic rights of Brazilians, but also extends beyond Brazil’s shores to target Americans,” he continued.

“I have therefore ordered visa revocations for Moraes and his allies on the court, as well as their immediate family members, effective immediately.”

De Moraes is presiding over Bolsonaro’s trial, in which the former president faces charges of an attempted coup related to the Jan. 8, 2023, protests at Brazil’s federal government buildings.

Authorities allege the protests were part of a broader conspiracy to overturn the 2022 election results that brought Bolsonaro’s left-wing rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to power.

Bolsonaro has consistently denied wrongdoing or any involvement in the alleged coup plot. He has not been convicted, but is nonetheless barred from running for public office until 2030.

His treatment has become a flashpoint in the escalating standoff between the Trump and Lula administrations. Last week, the U.S. president threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods unless Bolsonaro’s prosecution was dropped.

Trump also cited Brazil’s non-tariff trade barriers in his decision to impose the new tariff rate. Meanwhile, Brazil is one of the roughly two dozen countries that run a trade deficit with the United States, while almost all other countries targeted by Trump’s tariff measures post large surpluses.

“There will be no Tariff if Brazil, or companies within your Country, decide to build or manufacture product within the United States and, in fact, we will do everything possible to get approvals quickly, professionally, and routinely—in other words, in a matter of weeks,” Trump wrote.

Following Friday’s police raid, Bolsonaro’s son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, took to social media to urge Trump to “suspend the 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports and impose individual sanctions instead.”

The post was later deleted.

Lula has dismissed Trump’s accusations of unfair trade practices as false and denounced Rubio’s visa revocations as improper interference in Brazil’s judiciary.

“The interference of one country in another’s justice system is unacceptable and violates the basic principles of respect and sovereignty among nations,” Lula wrote on X.

“I am certain that no form of intimidation or threat, from anyone, will compromise the most important mission of national powers and institutions, which is to act permanently in defense and preservation of the Democratic Rule of Law.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 22:45

What Is Your Marginal Tax Rate?

Authored by Anne Johnson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The highest tax rate you'll pay on your income is called the marginal tax rate. The United States has a progressive tax system, which means that different tiers of income are taxed at varying rates.

Rrraum/Shutterstock

You should know how the marginal rate works when planning your tax filings. This can be especially important if you receive bonuses from work or have other streams of income.

Marginal Tax Rate Depends on Last Dollar of Income

When people discuss what tax bracket they are in, they usually give a flat number. They may say they’re in the 22 percent tax bracket. But that isn’t entirely true. You may fall into the 22 percent tax bracket, but your total income isn’t taxed at 22 percent.

When people state this, they are usually talking about their marginal tax rate. Your marginal tax rate is the percentage of tax you pay on your last dollar of income. This means it’s the last tax bracket into which your income falls.

Keep in mind that with a progressive tax, you’re taxed at different rates according to how your income is tiered.

Using a single filer as an example, the IRS tax brackets for tax year 2025 are:

• 10 percent: for income $11,925 or less
• 12 percent: for income over $11,925
• 22 percent: for income over $48,475
• 24 percent: for income over $103,350
• 32 percent: for income over $197,300
• 35 percent: for income over $250,525
• 37 percent: for income over $626,350

An example of the marginal tax would be using single filer Frank with a taxable income of $50,000 (deductions have already been applied in this example).

Frank would be taxed:

• 10 percent on the first $11,925, which equals $1,192.50
• 12 percent on the next $36,550, which equals $4,386
• 22 percent on the remaining $1,525, which equals $335.50

Frank’s marginal tax rate is 22 percent because it’s the rate applied to his last dollar of income. That 22 percent doesn’t apply to all his income.

It’s important to know your marginal tax rate. It can help you make decisions concerning bonuses, investments, or other earnings. The marginal rate will inform you of the top tier of your tax rate.

What Is the Effective Tax Rate?

The effective tax rate is the average rate you’ll pay on all your income. It gives you a more accurate picture of your tax burden.

To find your effective rate, divide your total tax liability by your total taxable income and multiply by 100.

So, Frank, with $50,000 in income and a $5,914 tax liability, would have an effective tax rate of 11.83 percent. In other words, 11.83 percent of Frank’s income would go toward paying federal taxes.

Can Tax Credits Lower Your Marginal Tax Rate?

Tax credits like the Child Tax Credit will not lower your marginal tax rate. The Child Tax Credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for 2025 is $2,200—with adjustments for inflation—according to the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means.This tax credit isn’t used to lower your income; it reduces your tax liability. So, using Frank’s tax liability amount of $5,914, he could apply the tax credit and now owe $3,714.

How to Lower Your Marginal Tax Rate

There are several ways to lower your marginal tax rate. Start with maximizing your retirement contributions. You can lower your taxable income dollar-for-dollar with yearly contributions to a 401(k), a traditional IRA, or other retirement accounts.

For example, the maximum 401(k) limit in 2025, according to the IRS, is $23,500, and the traditional IRA limit is $7,000.

Health savings accounts (HSAs) can also help lower your taxable income. According to the IRS, an individual with self-only coverage under a high deductible health plan can contribute a maximum of $4,300 to an HSA.

If you expect a large bonus at the end of the year, you may want to consider deferring it to next year. This especially works if you anticipate an income reduction in the future. You may want to ask to defer a severance if you are laid off. In fact, any payments that you could defer may help reduce your marginal tax rate.

If you must take a required minimum distribution (RMD), which could affect your marginal tax rate, consider donating to charity. Eligible IRA owners can make a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) up to $108,000 per individual for tax year 2025, according to the IRS. Payments must be made directly from the IRA to the qualified charity in order to avoid the amount being applied to your income.

Marginal Tax Rate Determines Additional Amount Paid

The marginal tax rate helps you think about future earnings. For example, if you are considering taking a new job with a large pay raise, it may push you into a higher marginal tax rate. You should know what that will be so you can understand the tax implications.

Likewise, if you are anticipating selling something for a profit, knowing your marginal tax rate can help you determine when to sell.

The Epoch Times copyright © 2025. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 22:10

Trump Strikes Back: Libel Lawsuit Filed Over Bogus Epstein Smear

Authored by Matt Margolis via PJMedia.com,

This week, the legacy media’s obsession with dragging President Donald Trump into the orbit of Jeffrey Epstein stooped to a shameful new low.

The Wall Street Journal embarrassed itself with a hyped-up Trump-Epstein “bombshell” that amounted to nothing more than a birthday card that Trump supposedly sent to Epstein in 2003.

Curiously, the evidence in this bombshell is under wraps, but Trump denies writing and threatened to sue over the bogus report.

Attorneys have now filed that lawsuit.

This latest smear attempt is just another chapter in the media’s ongoing effort to tie Trump to Epstein, despite the lack of evidence and Trump’s documented decision to ban Epstein from Mar-a-Lago. Meanwhile, Epstein’s deep ties to Democrats, especially Bill Clinton, who flew on Epstein’s jet multiple times and visited his island, consistently get downplayed or ignored. The double standard is as blatant as it is dishonest.

One might think, after years of “Russian collusion” hoaxes, the “very fine people” lie, and endless misquotations — debunked every time — these outlets would be wary of another wild goose chase.

But no.

When it comes to Trump, the normal rules of evidence or integrity are suspended.

Opponents and their media mouthpieces were so eager to make hay over any Epstein association — even an obviously fake note — that they abandoned the last shred of credibility their institutions had left.

Now, Trump has filed a $10 billion libel lawsuit in federal court in Florida against the Wall Street Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones, the reporters who wrote the story, News Corp, and Rupert Murdoch himself. 

One of the co-authors of the WSJ report, Joe Palazzolo, previously wrote for a publication called Main Justice, which was founded by Mary Jacoby, who happens to be the wife of Glenn Simpson, the Fusion GPS founder behind the debunked Steele Dossier and the Russia hoax.

Both Simpson and Jacoby previously worked at the Wall Street Journal themselves, which tells you everything you need to know about the political rot festering in that newsroom.

Trump summed it up best on Truth Social:

“It has truly turned out to be a ‘Disgusting and Filthy Rag’ and, writing defamatory lies like this, shows their desperation to remain relevant.

If there were any truth at all on the Epstein Hoax, as it pertains to President Trump, this information would have been revealed by Comey, Brennan, Crooked Hillary, and other Radical Left Lunatics years ago.

It certainly would not have sat in a file waiting for ‘TRUMP’ to have won three Elections. This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS!”

The Journal’s irresponsible coverage comes just as public interest surges over the Epstein saga.

Recent government conclusions, confirming Epstein’s death as suicide and, conveniently, denying that any “client list” exists, only stoke further doubts about media motives.

The American people see right through these coordinated smear attempts. Trump has made clear he will not back down, nor give the mainstream media an inch when it comes to outright lies.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 19:50

Nearly 1,000 Killed In Clashes In Syria's South, With 80,000 Displaced

The death toll from a past week of spiraling violence in Syria’s Sweida province, a stronghold of the Druze minority - which also has a presence of Christians - has climbed to 940 since last weekend, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, despite a recent declared ceasefire.

Among the dead are 326 Druze fighters and 262 Druze civilians, including 182 reportedly executed on the spot by forces from Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham government fighters.

Via Reuters

The Observatory also reported the deaths of 312 government security forces and 21 Sunni Bedouins—three of whom were civilians allegedly executed by Druze fighters. Additionally, some 15 Syrian government troops were killed in Israeli airstrikes amid the intermittent intervention by Israeli warplanes.

Damascus announced a ceasefire early on Saturday, saying in a statement the truce is badly needed in order "to spare Syrian blood, preserve the unity of Syrian territory, the safety of its people."

In a televised address, the country's self-appointed president Ahmed al-Sharaa stated that he "received international calls to intervene in what is happening in Suwayda and restore security to the country."

He described that Israeli military intervention has "reignited tensions" in the city of Sweida, with fighting there at "a dangerous turning point." Interestingly he also at one point thanked the United States for its support.

Al Jazeera has observed that tens of thousands have been fleeing the fighting:

According to Syria’s Health Ministry, the death toll from fighting in the Druze-majority city is now at least 260. An estimated 80,000 people have fled the area, according to the International Organization for Migration.

“A lot of extrajudicial killings [are] being reported,” said Vall. “People are suffering, even those who have been killed or forced to flee, they don’t have electricity, they don’t have water, because most of those services have been badly affected by the fighting.”

Government forces further say they want to defeat Druze leaders who have allied themselves with a foreign power - Israel.

Israel has of late made no secret that it is backing the Druze cause, but critics see Netanyahu expansionist 'divide and rule' policies at work.

Heartbreaking, Father Tony Boutros, representative of the Greek Catholic Church in Sweida, Syria, makes an appeal to the international community to save Christians and Druze from an Islamist genocide.

“We Christians and Druze are one. Look at the massacre they are committing… pic.twitter.com/DiBZLMBuze

— Dr. Maalouf ‏ (@realMaalouf) July 18, 2025

HTS has just taken off the US-designated terrorism list earlier this month, after Trump had posed with its leader Sharaa (Jolani, who had earlier been a member of ISIS) while visiting Riyadh, expressing hope that he'll make for a good post-Assad ruler. HTS fighters have lately been massacring Druze, Christians, and Alawites - waging war against non-Sunni minorities.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 19:15

Most Energy Predictions Are Wrong - Not This One

Authored by Gary Abernathy via The Empowerment Alliance,

ABC News, June 18, 2025: “U.S. oil prices hovered near a five-month high on Wednesday as President Donald Trump weighed direct involvement in support of Israeli strikes on Iran, making it all but certain that gasoline prices would rise for Americans within days, industry analysts told ABC News.”

CNN, June 24, 2025: “Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday, returning to levels last seen before the Iran-Israel conflict, as investors cheered news of a ceasefire, albeit fragile, between the two countries.”

Predictions of skyrocketing oil prices if President Trump decided to bomb Iranian nuclear sites permeated the media. The reality over the course of just six days from before and after the actual bombing was much different.

Forecasts about how world events will shape energy prices and the reality once such events unfold are rarely aligned. Most Americans have grown weary of “experts” foreseeing disaster, predictions which intensify when Donald Trump is sitting in the Oval Office. From energy prices to the overall economy to foreign affairs, “expert” predictions and analysis are routinely much more reflective of political bias than actual industry expertise.

The far-left (formerly mainstream) media revels in rolling out alarmist headlines based on the ruminations of analysts, forecasters and, these days, “influencers.” Scroll the websites of any of the leading mainstream publications and you’ll find the content littered with gloom-and-doom prophecies about Trump administration actions and policies that almost never prove accurate.

What they do achieve is providing fodder for a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week cable news cycle, as roundtables of analysts weigh in on the latest predictions. It’s a round-robin tournament of endless negative chatter based on dissecting the negative chatter that kicked off the latest 24-hour cycle.

As the hot summer months progress, warnings of potential blackouts and an overall strain on the electric grid are once again in the news. Some blackouts have already occurred, and a predictable blame game is well underway, with adherents of the climate cult blaming global warming and rising temperatures instead of identifying the true culprit – compromised power grids.

In reality, the climate doomsayers’ prescription of more solar and wind simply exacerbates the disease. The main reason for grid strain and power failures is an overreliance on “alternatives” that are not up to the task of supplying the demands of an energy-devouring nation – demands that are exponentially increasing with the proliferation of data centers needed to power emerging AI technologies.

One sure way to guarantee power shortages is to follow radical edicts to phase out oil and gas in favor of wind and solar. We started down that road during the Obama and Biden administrations, and the final destination is demonstrably disastrous (see Spain, Portugal and France). Fortunately, the Trump administration has mapped a new course and is attempting a rescue mission, just in the nick of time.

The federal level is not the only place where common sense is making a return. Louisiana recently became the first state in the nation to codify affordable, reliable and clean energy security into law. As Gov. Jeff Landry (R) said when signing House Bill 692, the legislation “sets the stage for an energy renaissance—not only here, but in America. … This bill positions Louisiana as an economic powerhouse, where we can not only join the industrial South that we’ve been missing out on, but we can lead in that industrial South.”

While supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and providing more transparency to ratepayers, the bill most importantly “ensures equal treatment for all energy sources, contributing to grid reliability and resiliency,” as the governor put it.

In other words, Louisiana has codified the inclusion of traditional energy sources as eligible – even preferred – choices when it comes to governmental decisions about energy projects and usage. No longer will Louisianans be pawns in the “green new deal” scam supported by “experts” whose main goals are more political than science-based.

The “alternatives” con is coming to an end. The government subsidies that supported the rip-off are being phased out. Energy freedom is returning for Americans who rely on affordable and trustworthy energy sources.

Hope is on the rise. Other states are considering legislation similar to the Louisiana model. Ideally, Congress will enact legislation that will make affordable, reliable and clean energy the law of the land and a cornerstone of national security.

There is one prediction that is solidly based in fact and reliably backed by previous experience: Energy prices will remain affordable, power failures will be rare, and freedom from being held hostage by foreign suppliers of energy will be assured if natural gas and other traditional energy sources are allowed to flourish. Let’s insist that our state and federal lawmakers make this prediction come true.

Gary Abernathy is a longtime newspaper editor, reporter and columnist. He was a contributing columnist for the Washington Post from 2017-2023 and a frequent guest analyst across numerous media platforms. He is a contributing columnist for The Empowerment Alliance, which advocates for realistic approaches to energy consumption and environmental conservation. Abernathy’s “TEA Takes” column will be published every Wednesday and delivered to your inbox!

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 18:40

DOJ Proposes Restoration Of 2nd Amendment Rights For Some Convicted Felons

Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Department of Justice has proposed a rule to restore the Second Amendment rights of people who have been convicted of certain crimes but who are not “likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety.”

The Department of Justice building in Washington on July 18, 2025. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The Department submitted the proposed rule “regarding the exercise of the Attorney General’s authority under 18 U.S.C. 925(c) to grant relief to individuals who are otherwise precluded from possessing firearms,” to the Federal Register on Friday.

Federal law rescinds the firearms rights of convicted felons regardless of whether or not they were convicted of a violent crime. The law also empowers the attorney general to restore Second Amendment rights to individuals who are not “likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety.”

No applications have been processed since 1992, when funding for that was blocked by House Democrats.

A July 18 press release from the Justice Department states that President Donald Trump directed the department to “address the ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights of our citizens—all of them.”

According to the press release, an official copy of the rule will be published on the Federal Register website the week of July 21.

“For too long, countless Americans with criminal histories have been permanently disenfranchised from exercising the right to keep and bear arms—a right every bit as constitutionally enshrined as the right to vote, the right to free speech, and the right to free exercise of religion—irrespective of whether they actually pose a threat,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.

A Second Amendment advocacy group praised the new rule.

“This proposed rule to grant relief to certain individuals convicted of non-violent crimes is long overdue,” Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, wrote in an email to The Epoch Times. “The Second Amendment Foundation has been fighting for decades in courts to restore rights to people that are no threat to society.”

Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America, echoed those sentiments. He said his organization will continue to support the expansion and preservation of gun rights in America.

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks to reporters in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on June 27, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

“GOA has long supported this effort, and we’re encouraged to see the Department of Justice continue to acknowledge that non-violent citizens should not be denied their constitutional rights,” Pratt wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.

Gun control organizations did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. Past moves to change the longstanding policy drew criticism on the groups’ webpages.

Last March, in a step toward overturning the policy, the DOJ took responsibility for processing the applications from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and gave it to the attorney general.

This changed a policy that had been in place for more than 30 years.

In a March 19 statement on the Everytown for Gun Safety website, the group’s president blasted that change.

“The Trump Administration is throwing out decades of bipartisan precedent and laying the groundwork to put guns back in the hands of domestic abusers and violent criminals,” wrote John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.

The rule proposed on Friday would provide citizens whose firearm rights have been rescinded a way to restore those rights.

The press release states that the attorney general would decide each application on a case-by-case basis. Violent felons, registered sex offenders, and illegal aliens will remain presumptively ineligible for relief, according to the Justice Department press release.

Part of Trump’s Plan

“General Bondi’s support of the rebooted 925(c) program is consistent with President Donald J. Trump’s promise to the American people to support the beautiful Second Amendment,” said U.S. Pardon Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr.

Once the proposed rule is published, the public comment period will begin. Communities that could be affected by a final rule, including law enforcement, victims’ advocates, elected officials, and individuals who would like to apply to have their gun rights restored, as well as the general public, can place comments here once the proposed rule is published.

Pratt said his organization will encourage its members to comment.

“We look forward to working with the grassroots and our members to submit comments to ensure the proposed rule benefits the Second Amendment community and the marginalized individuals who are working to reclaim their rights under the Constitution,” Pratt said.

The Justice Department recommends that individuals seeking the restoration of their firearm rights review and comment on the proposed process rather than submit applications at this time, according to the press release.

Interested parties may view the proposed rule here. An official copy is expected to be published next week, according to the Justice Department.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 17:30

Stuntman Felix Baumgartner Dies in Paragliding Crash At 56

Authored by Elma Aksalic via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Daredevil athlete Felix Baumgartner, best known for his record-breaking 2012 skydive from space, has died at 56 years old in a paragliding accident in Italy.

Felix Baumgartner poses for a photo as he arrives for a ceremony for his Walk of Fame star in Moscow, on Nov. 9, 2012. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images

According to officials in the coastal city of Porto Sant'Elpidio, Baumgartner died on July 17 after crashing into the side of a swimming pool.

“Our community is deeply affected by the tragic disappearance of Felix Baumgartner, a figure of global prominence, a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flight,” the town’s mayor, Massimiliano Ciarpella, said in a statement.

The exact cause of the incident remains unknown; however, Ciarpella noted that a “fatal illness” prior to the crash could have led to the accident.

“Porto Sant’Elpidio stands with his family and loved ones in this moment of grief,” the statement continued.

“On behalf of the Municipal Administration and all citizens, I express my sincerest condolences for this irreparable loss.”

The Austrian native made international headlines on Oct. 14, 2012, when he jumped out of a capsule in the stratosphere, free-falling for 24 miles towards Earth.

The jump was sponsored by Red Bull, an Austrian-owned energy drink company, with Baumgartner breaking the sound barrier during the feat.

He reached speeds of up to 843 miles per hour before opening his parachute and landing safely on the ground in New Mexico.

In a statement, Red Bull paid tribute to Baumgartner, thanking him for being “unyielding,” while remembering him as a colleague and friend.

“You always sought out the greatest challenges and mastered them with sharp thinking, relentless precision and a good dose of courage,” the statement read.

“You delved deep into every project. No detail was too small, no risk too great—as long as you could calculate it.”

“We grew with you and you with us. We wouldn’t trade a single day we had together. You will stay with us as a colleague, a loyal companion, but most of all as a friend.”

Baumgartner, a former military parachutist, teamed up with Red Bull in 1988 and over the course of his career made thousands of jumps from bridges, planes, skyscrapers, and famed global landmarks.

He broke 14 world records, including the highest parachute jump from the Petronas Towers in 1999, flying across the English Channel in a carbon fiber wing in 2003, and the world’s lowest BASE jump from the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro in 2011.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 16:55

Will Gavin Newsom Ditch Woke And Move To The Center?

Authored by Adair Teuton via RealClearPolitics,

In an age when political authenticity is currency, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is making a risky bet: that he can repackage his image from slick, left-coast progressive into pragmatic, media-savvy moderate.

Newsom’s strategy appears engineered to break out of the coastal liberal mold. His new iHeartRadio podcast, “This Is Gavin Newsom,” features guests from across the political spectrum. He’s launched a Substack, plastered Fox News with ads, and even taken his feuds with Donald Trump directly to national audiences. In one episode, he sounded more like a centrist mayor than a San Francisco progressive, defending the rule of law and even nodding to law enforcement concerns around crime and public safety.

But this isn’t just about booking podcast guests. In another instance, Newsom criticized the inclusion of biological males in women’s sports, conceding to Charlie Kirk that their inclusion was “deeply unfair.” The comment was a stark departure from his earlier record as a vocal supporter of expansive transgender rights. Progressive critics immediately pounced, accusing him of pandering to the right. The backlash highlighted the tightrope Newsom is now walking, trying to appeal to moderate voters without alienating his liberal base.

Such maneuvering makes sense. A June survey from the Public Policy Institute of California shows his approval hovering at just 47% among likely voters. More troubling for Newsom, a UC Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll finds that 54% of Californians believe he’s more focused on national ambitions than governing the state. His shift in tone and strategy doesn’t do much to counter that very perception, but his pivot does allow him to reintroduce himself to a broader electorate before 2028 speculation becomes a reality.

It’s a rebrand as ambitious as it is audacious, and it may be guided by one of the most unlikely figures imaginable: Kimberly Guilfoyle, Newsom’s former wife, Donald Trump Jr.’s former girlfriend – and current Trumpworld operative.

Guilfoyle, a key figure in Republican fundraising and messaging, was once the glamorous first lady of San Francisco. Although she and Don Jr. apparently have parted ways, she has been nominated by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. ambassador to Greece. And she remains  a seasoned political operative known for her bombastic speeches, relentless media presence, and deep ties to the MAGA establishment. She served as national finance chair for Trump’s 2020 campaign and has been one of the movement’s most aggressive defenders on cable news and social media. According to The Wall Street Journal, Guilfoyle helped broker introductions between Newsom and hard-right populists Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon, a move that raised eyebrows across the political spectrum.

While she obviously holds no official title in Newsom’s political operation, her behind-the-scenes facilitation marks a surreal twist in California’s ongoing political theater: the governor once hailed as the prince of progressivism now courting the architects of right-wing populism.

Critics on both sides aren’t buying it. Conservatives see a cynical ploy, a progressive in centrist clothing. Some Democrats are equally skeptical, worried that cozying up to MAGA voices lends legitimacy to extremism. And with homelessness, crime, and housing shortages still plaguing his home state, Newsom risks looking like a politician distracted by vanity projects while California struggles.

Still, his media makeover may be more than a branding exercise. By engaging with adversarial audiences, he’s signaling an understanding of political polarization and attempting to do something about it. Whether voters reward him for that courage or punish him for perceived opportunism remains to be seen.

If Newsom’s transformation succeeds, he won’t just have reinvented his image. He’ll have rewritten the playbook for what it means to be a post-woke Democrat in an era where ideological purity often takes a backseat to electability. If it fails, expect both the left and the right to say: We told you so.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 16:20

Seven Reasons Why PBS And NPR Deserve To Be Defunded

When was the last time you heard of federal dollars flowing into overtly conservative programming?  While there may be a tiny handful of outliers, generally speaking this does not happen.  For decades the majority of public funding subsidies for social programs inevitably goes to progressive run organizations.  For anyone who is right leaning in their politics, the idea of their hard earned money being handed over to people who hate them and everything they stand for is disconcerting. 

Why should conservatives support federal funding if that money is being used to propagandize them and indoctrinate their children?  Why isn't there any requirement for publicly funded programs to remain politically neutral? 

The U.S. Senate this week passed the Trump administration’s proposal to cancel $9 billion in federal funds previously allocated for foreign aid and public broadcasting, and the House of Representatives approved the package after midnight Friday, sending it to President Trump’s desk. 

The Corp. for Public Broadcasting, which administers the funds for NPR radio stations and PBS TV affiliates, is on track to lose $1.1 billion that had previously been budgeted for the next two years.

Both PBS and NPR executives warn they will have to make drastic cuts to media content and will resort to layoffs to stay afloat.  The organizations rely on a mixture of federal funds, public donations and corporate advertising.  Federal subsidies make up around 15% of PBS operating dollars and up to 10% of NPR affiliate dollars.  This might not seem like much, but the institutions function on razor thin margins.  Loss of public cash would immediately put them in the hole. 

But is this a bad thing?  Maybe PBS and NPR deserve to fail.  Both outlets have engaged in some of the most egregious woke propaganda and authoritarian pontificating among all media platforms in the US.  Let's look at seven reasons why PBS and NPR should be unplugged from taxpayer life support.

1)  Lil Miss Hot Mess

"The hips on the drag queen go swish swish swish..." sings drag performer Lil Miss Hot Mess in a PBS promoted program in New York.  Though PBS did not directly fund the show "Let's Learn" on WNET, it did provide the platform.  The drag queen episode aired in 2021 and featured a drag performer (male pretending to be female) reading a LGBT children's about "drag" and gay pride.

2) Sesame Street Stands With BLM

It's impossible to list the number of times PBS used kids show Sesame Street as a vehicle to indoctrinate children with DEI concepts.  However, in 2020 they truly stepped over the line when the organization partnered with CNN, using Sesame Street characters hosting a town hall to explain to children why America is racist and why the national BLM riots were justified. 

Keep in mind, there were over 600 riots during the BLM protests, with 25 fatalities, thousands of police injuries and billions in property damages, all triggered because of the death of one career criminal hopped up on fentanyl.

3)  Pride Month And Two Gay Dads

In 2021, Sesame Street also featured a Pride Month special called "Family Day" about LGBT inclusion.  The show's audience of toddlers got to explore the relationship between a girl and her two gay dads, along with concept of "love is love".  

The network's popular "Arthur" cartoon series also produced an episode with a same sex marriage and two gay dads.  Why they felt the need to explore the sexual orientation of "Mr. Ratburn" to a bunch of preschool viewers is a mystery, unless child indoctrination was the goal.

4)  Refusing To Watch Porn And Masturbate Might Be Linked To "Extremism"

NPR joined the endless leftist war on the "manosphere" in a 2024 podcast which linked the "NoFap" movement to extremism.  The degenerate Kinsey-esque dialogue admonishes the trend of young men refusing to watch porn and refraining from masturbation as medically and psychologically concerning.  The movement was started due to the near-infinite access young people have to pornography in the digital age, leading to porn addiction and an inability to socialize in healthy ways.  

NPR characterizes the NoFap movement as misleading American youth into a life of misery while they ignore the rising evidence of the negative effects of the porn industry. 

5)  Suspended For Pointing Out Leftist Bias

NPR suspended a 25 year veteran editor Uri Berliner after he criticized the network for leftist bias.  The editor discovered that the NPR newsroom was stacked with 87 registered Democrats and zero Republicans.  He pointed out that NPR prolifically reported on the Russian collusion hoax, and that “[Adam] Schiff talking points” were “the drumbeat of NPR news reports.”  

After exposing NPR staff as utterly partisan, Berliner was removed. 

6)  NPR Helps To Undermine The Covid Lab Leak Theory

The Wuhan leab leak theory, which is now widely regarded as the most logical explanation for the spread of the covid virus from Wuhan, China to the rest of the world, was throttled in the news cycle and banned on social media platforms for years due to the efforts of US and Chinese government officials (and corrupt medical representatives) working to suppress the story.

Why?  To this day it's not clear but the Wuhan lab's long running gain-of-function research projects which essentially weaponize viruses were funded by US government interests, the same interests who ended being in charge of the draconian response to the covid outbreak.

NPR repeatedly dismissed the theory that COVID-19 originated in a lab - a conclusion now deemed likely by the FBI, CIA, and Department of Energy.    They published propaganda pieces including:  "Scientists Debunk Lab Accident Theory Of Pandemic Emergence", and “As Trump Pushes Theory Of Virus Origins, Some See Parallels In Lead-Up To Iraq War".

7)  Absolute Bias In Election Coverage

A 2024 Media Research Center study found that PBS’s coverage of the Republican National Convention was 72% negative, while coverage of the Democratic National Convention was 88% positive.  

In 2023, a study found that congressional Republicans saw 85% negative coverage while congressional Democrats saw 54% positive coverage on PBS’s flagship news program   

According to a 2024 study, PBS news staff used 162 variations of the term “far-right,” but only six variations of “far-left.”

This all might sound like common sense to most conservatives - Of course NPR and PBS are politically biased, but it's not supposed to be this way.  The public has been conditioned to accept such bias over time and conservatives have been told to shut up when complaining about their money being used to feed far-left content. 

The above list could go on for dozens of pages; it's only a taste of NPR and PBS' trespasses in the past five years. Trump's defunding of these platforms is long overdue and if they implode in the process, so be it.  They are nothing more than brainwashing campaigns disguised as humanitarian projects.    

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 15:45

Red, White, And Bitcoin

Authored by Logan Beirne via RealClearPolitics,

Bitcoin may feel futuristic, but when you peel away its digital veneer, it is just the latest chapter in a 2,600-year story of value, trust, and human ingenuity. Having reached record highs, Bitcoin has been making headlines as nations declare strategic stockpiles and corporate America embraces the new asset class. Why now? 

The answer lies in a pattern as old as civilization itself: When governments corrupt a currency, people innovate their way to something better.

As the saying goes, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” When the first coin clanked into existence in 600 B.C., it was not merely a gold and silver alloy stamped with the face of the Lydian king. It was a financial revolution. For the first time, people could move past the inefficiencies of barter and instead use a medium of exchange to trade. But this value was not in the sparkle; it was the individuals’ collective understanding that these coins have worth.

The integrity of that system has waxed and waned over the ensuing millennia, typically driven by governmental spending policies. The silver-backed Roman denarii enabled the empire to flourish, but as subsequent emperors diluted its value – reducing their silver content to fund wars and build grand palaces – citizens lost faith in their currency. When Emperor Nero reduced silver content from 98% to 83% in A.D. 64, Romans began hoarding old coins and rejecting new ones. By A.D. 260, the denarius contained just 5% silver. Inflation spiraled and commerce crumbled, contributing to the eventual fall of the empire. 

The United States has battled currency crises since our nation’s birth, but unlike Rome, America has consistently innovated solutions along the way. After we declared independence from Britain, the Continental Congress printed the nation’s first paper money. Called “Continentals,” it was backed by neither gold nor silver – simply by belief in its value. While gold and silver are at least relatively scarce metals that constrain supply, paper can be printed. And that is precisely what the first U.S. government did. 

Desperate to pay troops and buy supplies necessary to wage the Revolutionary War, Congress turned to making more Continentals. Bills flooded the market, driving down value as Americans questioned whether the new nation could honor its promises. In 1777, one patriot complained to his father as inflation spiked by an estimated 200%, writing, “America has much more to fear from the effects of large quantities of paper money than from the operations of British Generals.” 

Prices climbed so rapidly that George Washington himself came to refuse Continentals as payment. In fact, it became common to describe something of little value as “not worth a Continental.” The currency became such a laughingstock that sailors paid in the bills would sew them onto their clothes and parade through town to mock it. But rather than crumble like the Roman Empire, the U.S. innovated: This currency crisis was a driving force that led our Founding Fathers to scrap the American government under the Articles of Confederation and draft our current Constitution.

This change represented more than political reform – it was monetary advancement, shifting from discretionary to rule-based money. The new U.S. government adopted a bimetallic standard in 1792, which tied the value of dollars to both gold and silver. The country eventually simplified its approach by shifting to a de facto gold standard in 1834, which lasted until 1971 when President Nixon abandoned it in favor of fiat currency. Like the Continentals before it, the dollar has since been backed by belief in its value: full faith and credit of the U.S. government. 

And then came the 2008 financial crisis. Lehman Brothers fell, banks wobbled, and the public? They started asking: “What is money?” It was then, from the digital shadows, that an anonymous figure – Satoshi Nakamoto – dropped a whitepaper like a patriot dropping a leaflet on the eve of the Revolutionary War: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. No emperors. No banks. Just math, cryptography, and an unbreakable record called the blockchain. A new kind of trust was born – not in a ruler, but in code.

What was initially viewed as an interesting hypothetical idea was quickly put to real-world use. Users beget more users. Trust grows. Entrepreneurs dream. It’s a full-blown historical saga unfolding in real time.

Bitcoin has risen above the other cryptocurrencies it inspired, in large part due to its scarcity: no longer could an Emperor add bits of cheap copper to silver coins or Congress print more paper because it is hardcoded that only 21 million Bitcoin will ever exist. Further, all Bitcoin transactions are verified by a decentralized network of approximately 20,000 individuals’ computers across the world, all checking one another beyond politicians’ control. In an age of runaway government spending, investors have turned to those scarce Bitcoin that no government can dilute. A decentralized system that guards the people from government domination – how American is that! 

It is no coincidence that Bitcoin has skyrocketed to a $2 trillion valuation just as the U.S. national debt has reached record highs. Researchers debate how long fiat currencies last on average throughout history, with some placing time of death at between 27 and 35 years. Since the U.S. has been off the gold standard for over 50 years, history suggests the dollar is poised for decline. 

People are simply asking the age-old question: What is money, really? As trust is shaken in paper money due to inflation and ballooning federal spending, many are turning to innovation. Even nations themselves have begun to set up strategic reserves. In fact, the United States is the largest known state holder of Bitcoin – once again positioning America at the forefront of monetary evolution.

As John Adams advised in 1787, “All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise not from the defects of the Constitution, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.” It is incumbent upon Americans to arm themselves with knowledge and engage in the age-old American tradition of challenging broken systems with better ideas in the pursuit of liberty. 

Logan Beirne serves as the chief legal officer at Strive and is the bestselling author of “Blood of Tyrants.” He teaches corporate law at Yale Law School. 

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 15:10

Curiosity Mounts Over Bannon's 15 Hours Of Epstein Interviews

With the Trump administration under fire from angry conservatives demanding the release of the federal government's information about Jeffrey Epstein, increasing attention is turning to a trove that's in private hands: Steve Bannon's 15+ hours of videotaped interviews with Epstein.

The interviews took place between 2018 and 2019. That's prior to Epstein's July 6, 2019 arrest on sex-trafficking charges that eventually led to his death in a New York City jail, but after the Miami Herald put a new spotlight on Epstein's manipulation of the criminal justice system after he was first investigated for sex crimes with underage girls in 2005, with the Herald tracking down scores of his victims. 

In 2021, a trailer was released promoting an upcoming, Bannon-co-produced documentary called, "The Monsters: Epstein's Life Among the Global Elite." The trailer includes snippets from the interviews. However, nearly four years later, the documentary has yet to be released. Bannon says we can expect to see it early next year. 

Steve Bannon recorded 16 hours of interviews with Jeffrey Epstein for a film, “The Monsters,” which never went to production

This 2021 trailer is all the public has seen of Bannon’s project

Time to release the full Epstein tapes? pic.twitter.com/weXPgjpXcN

— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) July 10, 2025

According to Epstein's brother, Mark Epstein, the interviews were part of Bannon's effort to salvage Jeffrey Epstein's ruined public image. “[Bannon] told me he has like 15 or 16 hours of videotape of Jeff. He was trying to help Jeff rehabilitate his reputation,” Mark Epstein told NBC News. “They spent a lot of time together." 

According to Michael Tracey, who's been diving into this summer's eruption of Epstein controversy at his Substack newsletter, Bannon and Epstein are believed to have first met in December 2017, by which time Bannon was an alumnus of the first Trump administration and -- more significantly -- a renowned principal architect of Trump's stunning, establishment-defying 2016 triumph.

Citing Michael Wolff's book Fire and Fury, Tracey relates that Bannon participated in a media-strategy meeting with Epstein and others in late 2018 or early 2019. One of those others was former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. “[Epstein] probably can’t be hated any more,” Bannon is quoted as declaring at the planning session. “We’ve flatlined on this. He can’t get deader. While the chances of reviving him are remote, what’s the alternative?”

It remains unclear whether Bannon was helping Epstein as a favor, or as a paid consultant with a recent history of masterful molding of public opinion about a controversial character. At the time, Epstein was shelling out $3 million a month to a British PR firm. Offering another potential insight into the nature of their relationship, Epstein's Paris butler told Radio France that Bannon was among American guests Epstein hosted in France, with Epstein routinely accompanied by "juenes femmes."  

‘Epstein is the key that picks the lock' of WHO REALLY CONTROLS the US — Bannon

Adds that resignations at the Justice Dept shouldn't be the goal, that only brings turmoil

'We need to get to the bottom of Epstein' pic.twitter.com/0bBo7vEgfB

— RT (@RT_com) July 12, 2025

Bannon certainly hasn't been talking like a man caught in an Israeli-intelligence honeypot, starting with his own public accusations that Epstein was tied to Israeli intelligence: 

"[The Epstein story] goes right to the intelligence services of both this country and Israel. Let's be blunt about this. That's why all the Israel First guys -- the Tel Aviv [Mark] Levins and all these guys -- say 'nothing to see here'." 

He's also been a thorn in Israel's side regarding the top item on the Zionist state's agenda. After Israel launched its war on Iran last month and made every effort to maneuver the United States into a major, long-term commitment to conflict, Bannon was among the most outspoken voices on the right calling for Trump to steer clear -- for example, telling Newsweek: 

"What [Israel] did is they drew us into a war they knew they couldn't finish. They drew us into a war they knew they couldn't defend against. So, this is my problem. We need to reset. We don't have an alliance with them, just like Ukraine. We've got to stop saying they're allies, they're not allies."     

Amid this month's firestorm over the Epstein files, which includes widespread suspicions that Epstein was an asset of the Israeli Mossad, Bannon has been calling for Trump to appoint a special counsel to navigate the release of information. “Epstein is a key that picks the lock on so many things, not just individuals, but also institutions, intelligence institutions, foreign governments and who was working with him on our intelligence apparatus and in our government,” Bannon said at a Turning Points USA conference. 

Steve Bannon on a recent episode of his War Room podcast 

Meanwhile, a growing number of people would like Bannon to share his extraordinarily rare asset: More than 15 hours of interviews with a man who'd spent much of his adult life shying away from media inquiries. “Let me see the videotapes. He’s my brother," Mark Epstein asked, via NBC News.

“We’re going to release the film, the five-part series next year — early next year,” Bannon said last week when asked about the documentary's status. “You’re going to have to name names, and you’re going to have to understand how the elites of the world but also the intelligence services are inextricably linked in the Epstein story. That’s the key.”

Given the interviews were seemingly done as part of a PR effort on Epstein's behalf, it strikes us as highly unlikely that Bannon's videotapes captured anything explosive -- but they would certainly make for highly-interesting viewing nonetheless. 

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 14:35

At the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter this week:

Click on graph for larger image.

• Housing Starts Increased to 1.321 million Annual Rate in June

• Lawler: Early Read on Existing Home Sales in June

• 3rd Look at Local Housing Markets in June

• Will House Prices Decline Nationally in 2025?

This is usually published 4 to 6 times a week and provides more in-depth analysis of the housing market.

California Sues Trump Administration Over Termination Of High-Speed Rail Funding

Authored by Chase Smith via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

California sued the Trump administration on July 17 over its decision to revoke $4 billion in federal grants for the state’s high-speed rail project, calling the move politically motivated and illegal.

A drone view of a California High-Speed Rail bridge where it crosses through Fresno, Calif., on June 8, 2025. REUTERS/Fred Greaves/File Photo

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the lawsuit in a press release, accusing the administration of using the federal grant termination as retribution against California. The state claims the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) ended two grant agreements without cause, despite the project meeting its obligations under federal oversight.

“In reality, this is just a heartless attack on the Central Valley that will put real jobs and livelihoods on the line,” Newsom said in the release. “We’re suing to stop Trump from derailing America’s only high-speed rail actively under construction.”

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), which filed the suit, said in a post on X that “canceling these grants without cause isn’t just wrong, it’s illegal.”

CHSRA said it has met every requirement under its agreements, pointing to multiple federal reviews—including one as recent as February—that found the project to be in compliance.

The lawsuit argues that President Donald Trump’s actions are part of a long-running pattern of political retaliation, pointing to his first administration’s attempt to revoke high-speed rail funding the day after California sued to block his emergency declaration for a border wall.

In both instances, California claims, the timing and public remarks show the decisions were driven by personal animus, not project performance.

The state also claims that the FRA ignored its own oversight record. As recently as October 2024, the agency completed an annual monitoring review and “made no findings for which corrective measures were needed,” according to the suit.

The lawsuit says the abrupt reversal in Trump’s second term was unjustified and that CHSRA was given inadequate time to respond.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the termination on July 16, following what the FRA described as an exhaustive compliance review. He said CHSRA failed to meet critical benchmarks, citing a $7 billion funding gap, missed procurement deadlines, and a lack of capacity to deliver the project’s first operating segment by 2033.

“This is California’s fault,” Duffy said in a statement. “Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years. Federal dollars are not a blank check–they come with a promise to deliver results. After over a decade of failures, CHSRA’s mismanagement and incompetence have proven it cannot build its train to nowhere on time or on budget. It’s time for this boondoggle to die.”

The administration argues the funds would be better spent on projects with clearer timelines and viable completion plans. The FRA said CHSRA’s responses to its findings were inadequate and did not address concerns outlined in a 300-page review.

The lawsuit, however, says the FRA’s case rests on a mischaracterization of CHSRA’s own Inspector General (IG). After the agency cited the IG’s report to support its funding gap concerns, the Office of the Inspector General-California High Speed Rail (OIG-HSR) issued a letter disavowing that interpretation.

“We have identified no citations by the FRA supporting its assertion that the OIG-HSR ever made this conclusion,” the letter said.

CHSRA says it is nearing the track-laying phase, with 171 miles under active construction, more than 50 major structures completed, and more than 15,000 jobs created. Environmental reviews for 463 miles of the corridor are complete, and the agency expects passenger service to begin between 2030 and 2033.

The rail project, initially pitched in 2008 as an 800-mile line connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles by 2020, has since been scaled back to a 171-mile segment from Merced to Bakersfield. Projected costs have risen to an estimated $135 billion, according to the Department of Transportation.

Last month, the department warned that federal funding was at risk if California failed to resolve what it called a pattern of mismanagement and unrealistic projections. CHSRA rejected those claims, arguing the project remained on track with state support and that federal findings ignored recent progress.

In this week’s lawsuit, California asked the court to block the FRA’s termination decision and allow the state to retain the remaining federal grant funds.

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 14:00

National Anti-Trump "Good Trouble" Protests Fizzle With Little Fanfare

The establishment media has taken on a new role in recent months; rather than reporting on events that already happened progressive outlets are promoting events before they happen.  Specifically, the media has taken on the role of protest organizer in the Trump era in an attempt to rally the public to show up and fill out otherwise dwindling activist attendance. 

The slowdown in leftist protests has "coincidentally" occurred at the same time as the shut down of easy federal funds supplied by agencies like USAID.  The monetary incentives for professional provocateurs is drying up.

This means the political left is now forced to rely on actual grassroots participation, and it's not working out well for them.  Corporate news platforms have been pivoting into protest organizing as a stopgap, publishing maps and schedules for events with minimal success. 

A recent interview between NewsNation's Brian Entin and Adam Swart, CEO of an activist group called "Crowds on Demand" revealed that an unnamed organization offered Swart's company $20 million to recruit demonstrators for upcoming anti-Trump protests on July 18th.  Swart noted:

"We had to reject an offer worth around $20 million for nationwide, large-scale demonstrations across the country. Personally, I don't think it's effective. I'm rejecting the contract not because I don't want the business, but because, frankly, this is going to be ineffective and make us all look bad..."   

The CEO of “Crowds on Demand” tells me he was offered $20,000,000 to recruit demonstrators for the anti-Trump protests on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/2A6ezwo0cc

— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) July 15, 2025

The event he is referring to is the "Good Trouble" protest which took place this Thursday.  Similar to the less than successful "No Kings" protests, Good Trouble is funded by an army of NGOs. But without federal cash the reach of such organizations is greatly diminished.  Good Trouble partners include:

Activist rhetoric focused mainly on Trump's deportation policies, which they claim are a violation of "immigrant rights" (illegals do not have any right to stay in the US and can be removed for any reason).  Good Trouble rallies were primarily limited to a handful of deep blue cities and attendance was low.  Organizers in Denver, CO, for example, noted that they only brought in 2000 attendees - Far lower than the 10,000 protesters they were expecting. 

Around 300 protesters showed up in Madison, WI.  Organizers said they are protesting the “most brazen rollback of civil rights in generations", though they did not specify what rights Trump has take from American citizens. 

The Chicago event drew "hundreds" of protesters, though no concise numbers were provided and crowds on the scene were small.  Another trend which many have noticed with progressive events in 2025 is the presence of large numbers of aging activists.  The crowds are often rife with people of the "boomer" variety - A big change from 2020 and the BLM riots when younger protesters were the majority.

One theory asserts that retirees don't have to take off work to attend rallies and are willing to show up for less money.  Younger career activists demand larger payoffs and have stricter schedules.  

The Good Trouble protests hardly registered as a blip on the social media radar and one would barely know they happened except for the extensive coverage provided by legacy news networks.  The dwindling activity of the woke left raises questions on how much previous mass protests and riots were actually engineered using vast government funds and marketing influence.   

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 13:25

 

 

What a lovely surprise!

I learned that my work was recognized as one of the first objective sources providing market/economic commentary and analysis to the public outside of the usual Sell-Side channels or media outlets.

This blog and podcast were cited, along with Michelle Leder, Michael Kitces, Jim Wiandt, Aaron Klein, and Nate Geraci, to say nothing of legends like Michael Lipper and Michael Bloomberg. (full list at right). What a privilege to be in such august company!

Finfluential observes that “the institutional and financial intermediary space, in particular, has benefited from the continuous spark of bright ideas that challenge convention, modify behavior, better inform decision making.”

I was pleased to see they cited this blog and podcast as part od this:

“Introduced advisor-authored daily, unfiltered, opinionated macroeconomic and market commentary, legitimizing blogging as an expert platform for wealth managers.”

Sounds about right.

It’s always nice to see the work getting recognized…

 

 

 

Source:
Who’s working on today’s breakout ideas?
Pat Allen
Finfluential, Jul 16, 2025

The post Finfluential appeared first on The Big Picture.

Virtual Power Plants Helped Save The Grid During Heat Dome

By Brian Martucci of UtilityDive

As the eastern half of the United States baked under record heat late last month and electricity demand reached multi-year peaks, it looked like the grid might succumb. 

Grid operators and public officials scrambled to avoid a disaster, ordering generators to defer maintenance and customers to conserve energy. The PJM Interconnection served about 161 GW of load on June 24, its highest demand since 2011 and not far off its all-time high of 165.6 GW.

But aside from scattered outages caused by heat-damaged electrical delivery equipment in parts of the New York City area, Eastern U.S. grids largely weathered the heatwave. 

Grid experts — and at least one grid operator — say at least some of the credit goes to distributed energy resource aggregations and flexible loads dispatching at higher rates than ever before. Those “virtual” or distributed power plants helped keep the lights on as generator reserve margins plummeted.

“PJM said that demand response was essential,” Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Mark Christie said in a June 30 press conference focused on the need for resource adequacy amid rising load forecasts. “That 161-GW peak would have been higher without DR, so DR is an important part of the mix too.”

Major virtual power plant operators matched near-record peak loads with unprecedented dispatch activity. Sunrun dispatched more than 340 MW from customer-sited batteries on the evening of June 24. The same day, EnergyHub shed 900 MW of peak load and shifted 3.5 GWh of energy away from the highest-demand periods. Uplight managed about 350 MW of flexible load in 45 dispatch events across 16 utility programs over the course of the heat dome week. 

Supportive state policy, expectations for rising power demand and simple economics are pushing once-skeptical utilities to embrace VPPs, said Hannah Bascom, chief growth officer at Uplight.

“You’re seeing [utility] folks on the supply side saying, ‘Wait, how many megawatts do we have lying around?’ And the light bulbs are starting to go off,” Bascom said in an interview.

Quicker and cheaper than traditional generation

It helps that it costs far less — and takes less time — to aggregate existing customer-sited resources than it does to build new dispatchable generation or storage, Bascom added. 

A new, 400-MW VPP has a net cost of $43/kW-year, compared with $69/kW-year for a utility-scale battery and $99/kW-year for a gas-fired peaker plant, the U.S. Department of Energy said in a January update to its virtual power plant liftoff report. An RMI report released last July said VPPs could be deployed in six to 12 months, quicker than any form of utility-scale generation. 

RMI’s report made a point of saying utilities eyeing VPPs in mid-2024 could have them ready in time for this summer’s heat. 

It’s clear many utilities and other load-serving entities have launched or expanded VPP offerings recently, said Kevin Brehm, a manager in RMI’s carbon-free electricity practice. 

“We’re definitely seeing progress in terms of the number of utility [VPP] programs, and in regulation and policy being implemented to advance VPPs,” he said in an interview.

Last year, RMI and the VPP Partnership published a flipbook featuring 75 U.S. VPPs with 3.9 million enrolled customers and 1.5 GW of capacity. That’s a small fraction of DOE’s 30 GW estimate of total U.S. VPP capacity in 2024.

Brehm cautioned that because VPPs can be deployed so quickly, published figures may underestimate capacity and thus the potential for utilities and aggregators to dispatch it during extreme weather events.

“Actual VPP capacity is what ultimately determines the level of response,” he said. “And [public reports] don’t tell the whole story because there’s a lag.”

Residential smart thermostats are already central to hot-climate VPP programs like Arizona Public Service Cool Rewards, whose 140 MW of thermostat capacity accounted for most of the utility’s 190-MW VPP as of last September. They’ll become even more important as smart thermostat adoption increases from today’s relatively low levels, Brehm said.

Commercial and industrial participation has room to grow

But much of the country’s VPP capacity still comes from manual commercial and industrial demand response programs, where power-hungry facilities agree to curtail load during peak periods, Wood Mackenzie said last year in a report. Another report by Energy Systems Integration Group showed C&I enrollments in wholesale demand response programs ranging from 4% to 10% of total potential capacity in most grid operator territories.

“Given how much capacity prices have risen recently, we’re going to see a lot more [C&I] demand response, and the potential is on the [multi] gigawatt scale,” Brehm said.

With the notable exception of the California Independent System Operator’s territory, C&I demand response enrollment has recently flatlined or declined in most regions due to limited customer awareness, weak financial incentives and barriers to wholesale market participation, according to ESIG. 

Brehm is hopeful that better technology and program design will turn the tide. Some VPP operators, like Voltus and CPower, coordinate multiple customer-sited resources, rather than interrupting power at a facility’s meter and shutting down production lines, he said. During the June heatwave, CPower says it dispatched 18.5 GWh across 120 events in PJM, ISO-New England and the New York Independent System Operator’s territory.

Small and midsize commercial facilities can also provide meaningful support during extreme weather events, said Thomas Flynn, chief administrative officer and general counsel at Budderfly, a commercial energy management provider serving more than 7,000 restaurants, medical clinics, convenience stores, hotels, gyms and other commercial sites nationwide.

Budderfly activated its first VPP on June 1, just in time for the heatwave. Flynn said the initial deployment included capacity in PJM, ISO-New England and the Southwest Power Pool — all hit hard last month — as well as CAISO. Enrollment could expand to NYISO and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas soon.

“We ran events across all of our programs during the week of the heat dome, activating programs from coast to coast,” Flynn said. “The events went well.”

For now, Budderfly’s VPP mainly dispatches HVAC systems via smart thermostats, but Flynn said it will soon expand to include onsite refrigeration systems, lighting, rooftop solar, electric vehicle chargers and onsite battery storage.

Because Budderfly owns those resources, dispatch is simpler than for customer-owned equipment, Flynn said. For local utilities, that simplicity — and the fact that commercial sites generally have larger and more consistent power loads — means more reliable and predictable VPP capacity.  

“Utilities see this model as a more reliable and scalable solution for flexible load capacity, particularly in regions where traditional demand response has been underutilized,” Flynn said. Budderfly can target dispatch in grid nodes without big industrial customers to provide load flexibility on a larger scale, he added.

Like Budderfly, Sunrun generally owns customer-sited resources. Its rapidly growing arsenal of batteries allows it to play a meaningful role in responding to extreme weather events, said Chris Rauscher, its head of grid services.

“We’ve fully embraced a storage-first strategy over the last few years,” Rauscher said. “Nearly 70% of our new installations include battery storage, up from just 10% a few years ago.”

Republican attack on renewables could help VPPs

Despite the recent U-turn in federal policy around renewables, the Trump administration’s preference for dispatchable power and declaration of an energy emergency create an opening for distributed asset owners like Sunrun, Rauscher said.

“Dispatchable energy is a top priority for this administration, and critical for grid stability,” he said. 

At the same time, Rauscher added, utilities are waking up to the fact that they need more electrons as fast as possible. Sunrun operates 17 VPP programs across the U.S., including utility-run programs like ConnectedSolutions in the Northeast and state programs like Demand Side Grid Support in California.

“The narrative is shifting [and] utilities are starting to see VPPs not just as pilots, but as core infrastructure,” Rauscher said.

Uplight’s Bascom agreed. While the rollback of clean energy tax credits will likely slow the deployment of distributed energy resources, that will also make it more expensive to build utility-scale generation, likely netting out to a boost for VPPs, she said.

“We still haven’t hit mass-market penetration,” she said. “We think there’s a lot of opportunity to leverage these resources for way, way cheaper than any type of new generation.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/19/2025 - 12:50