At the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter this week:

Click on graph for larger image.

• Case-Shiller: National House Price Index Up 1.3% year-over-year in September

• FHFA Announces Baseline Conforming Loan Limit Will Increase to $832,750 in 2026

• Fannie Mae Multi-Family Delinquency Rate Highest Since Housing Bust (ex-pandemic)

• Freddie Mac House Price Index Up 1.0% Year-over-Year in October

• Every Housing Down Cycle is "unhappy in its own way"

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

Special Note: There is still uncertainty on when some economic reports will be released. The employment report for November will NOT be released this week.  Items listed in RED have not been announced and will likely not be released this week.
The key reports this week are the November ISM manufacturing index and November vehicle sales.

----- Monday, December 1st -----
10:00 AM: ISM Manufacturing Index for November.  The consensus is for 48.6%, down from 48.7%.

10:00 AM: Construction Spending for October. 

8:00 PM: Speech, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Brief Remarks and Panel Discussion with Michael Boskin and Condoleezza Rice on George Shultz and his Economic Policy Contributions At the Hoover Institution’s George P. Shultz Memorial Lecture Series: George Shultz and Economic Policy, Stanford, Calif.

----- Tuesday, December 2nd -----
TAll day: Light vehicle sales for November.

The consensus is for 15.4 million SAAR in November, up from 15.3 million SAAR in October (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate).

This graph shows light vehicle sales since the BEA started keeping data in 1967. 
The dashed line is the current sales rate.

----- Wednesday, December 3rd -----
7:00 AM ET: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

8:15 AM: The ADP Employment Report for November. This report is for private payrolls only (no government).  The consensus is for 20,000 jobs added, down from 42,000 in October.

9:15 AM: The Fed will release Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for October.

This graph shows industrial production since 1967.

The consensus is for no change in Industrial Production, and for Capacity Utilization to decrease to 77.3%.

10:00 AM: the ISM Services Index for November.  The consensus is for 52.1, down from 52.4.

----- Thursday, December 4th -----
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for 218,000, up from 216,000 last week.

----- Friday, December 5th -----
10:00 AM: Personal Income and Outlays for September. The consensus is for a 0.4% increase in personal income, and for a 0.4% increase in personal spending. And for the Core PCE price index to increase 0.2% (up 2.9% YoY).

10:00 AM: University of Michigan's Consumer sentiment index (Preliminary for December).

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of Danish Blend coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:

• The 25 most powerful ideas of the 21st century (so far), picked by the world’s top thinkers: We asked the world’s foremost minds to highlight some of the game-changing scientific breakthroughs shaping our world since the year 2000. (BBC Science Focus Magazine)

• Breaking Burry: Totally perverse unnatural massive market distortions: 1, Michael Burry: 0. One major headline today is that Michael Burry, of The Big Short fame, is shuttering his fund, Scion Capital. In his letter calling it quits, he wrote: “Sometimes, we see bubbles. Sometimes, there is something to do about it. Sometimes, the only winning move is not to play.” I’ve been around markets long enough to believe that short sellers are generally more objectively right than most investors. (QRT’s Fringe Finance)

• Kicking Robots: Humanoids and the tech-­industry hype machine: Kicking robots is something of a pastime among roboticists. Although the activity generates anxiety for lay observers prone to worrying about the prospect of future retribution, it also happens to be an efficient method of testing a machine’s balance. (Harper’s Magazine)

• How to Sound Like an Expert in Any AI Bubble Debate: There are 12 statistics, factoids, and studies that dominate every discussion about whether artificial intelligence is a bubble. Here’s a deep-dive into all 12 arguments. (Derek Thompson) see also Large Language Mistake: Cutting-edge research shows language is not the same as intelligence. The entire AI bubble is built on ignoring it. (The Verge)

• The new politics of autism: Autism — a neurodevelopmental disability — has become a political issue. How did this happen?  As contentious claims over rising diagnoses get a presidential platform, Simon Baron-Cohen explains where talk of an ‘epidemic’ goes wrong — and why we need more recognition that autism comes in different forms. (Financial Times)

• How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life. “It’s like Zen,” Lundy says about those hours at the bench. “There are times when it is just very relaxing to be standing in front of the machine and slowly cleaning it, tweaking the adjustment so visually things start to really line up.” (New York Times)

• America’s Polarization Has Become the World’s Side Hustle: The ‘psyops’ revealed by X are entirely the fault of the perverse incentives created by social media monetization programs. (404) see also Elon Musk’s Worthless, Poisoned Hall of Mirrors: How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature. (The Atlantic)

• The Strange and Totally Real Plan to Blot Out the Sun and Reverse Global Warming: A 25-person startup is developing technology to block the sun and turn down the planet’s thermostat. The stakes are huge — and the company and its critics say regulations need to catch up. (Politico)

• The realities of being a pop star, according to charli xcx. One of the main realities of being a pop star is that at a certain level, it’s really f*cking fun. You will also end up spending a lot of time inhabiting strange and soulless liminal spaces. (charli’s substack)

• Stephen Colbert on the End of The Late Show: In an exclusive exit interview, the late-night host reflects on how he learned about the cancellation of The Late Show, how he plans to make the most of the rest of his time in the seat, and what he’ll do next. (GQ)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of famed watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne, the Glashütte, German watchmaker, recorded live at the Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance.

Streamflation intensifies as Netflix, Disney+, et. al. continue raising prices

Source: Techspot

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

~~~

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

 

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

Israeli Forces Accused Of Executing Unarmed Palestinians After They Surrendered

Members of the Israeli border police have been accused of executing two unarmed Palestinian men after they surrendered in the West Bank town of Jenin.

In the incident from Thursday caught on camera, two men can be seen emerging from a doorway of what appears to be a warehouse, lifting their shirts, before they were shot dead by the Israelis. 

Two Palestinians were executed in Jenin after surrendering. None of the other soldiers flinched. Business as usual. The IDF rushed to announce an investigation, of course, it was caught on camera. pic.twitter.com/TrvaOfJQqV

— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) November 27, 2025

The IDF says that the incident is under "review" - but claims that the two men were terrorists who had attacked them earlier. After gathering their bodies, the IDF says that the men were identified as Mahmoud Qassem Abdallah, 26, and Youssef Asasa, 37, and were "wanted individuals who had carried out terror activities, including hurling explosives and firing at security forces." 

Mohamad Torokman/Reuters

"The forces entered the area, enclosed the structure in which the suspects were located and initiated a surrender procedure that lasted several hours," an IDF spokesman told the Telegraph. "Following the use of engineering tools on the structure, the two suspects exited.

"Following their exit, fire was directed toward the suspects. The incident is under review by the commanders on the ground and will be transferred to the relevant professional bodies."

Mohamad Torokman/Reuters

IDF chief of staff Gen Eyal Zamier has ordered an investigation into the incident, while a joint IDF and police statement claims that the pair were holed up in the building in an hours-long "surrender procedure." 

Meanwhile, IDF-operated Israeli Army Radio reported that the men were shot dead after disobeying instructions.

"When the terrorists came out, we began to carry out security checks on them," the officers allegedly said. "We did not know if they were carrying weapons or explosives.

"We began instructing them what to do for their own safety but the terrorists acted contrary to the instructions they received. At a certain point, one of the terrorists decided to enter the building contrary to the instructions, and the second terrorist followed him, so both were shot."

The Palestinian Authority has described the killings as a "deliberate Israeli war crime."

"Israeli occupation forces executed two young Palestinians in Jenin in cold blood, even after they had turned themselves in," a spokesman said. "An outright extrajudicial killing in blatant violation of international humanitarian law."

Israel soldiers at the scene after the shooting. Credit...Mohamad Torokman/Reuters

Members of Israel's own media have criticized the incident - with Haaretz correspondent Nir Hasson saying "There is no universe in which this is not murder."

Haaretz itself cited an insider who said the officers opened fire after one of the Palestinians made an unexpected movement, which is clearly bullshit.

"One of them, while on the ground, tried to get up and made a suspicious movement and therefore the fighters decided to fire at him," the source said. 

Israeli security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir supported the police, saying "Lending full backing to the border police and IDF troops who shot at wanted terrorists who were coming out of a building in Jenin," adding "The troops acted precisely as is expected of them – terrorists have to die."

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 20:20

Starbucks Workers' Strike Expands To 83 Cities On Black Friday

Authored by Mary Prenon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Black Friday shoppers looking forward to a pumpkin spice latte or caramel frappuccino break may be out of luck depending on where they live. A Nov. 28 Starbucks Workers United statement revealed that 2,500 Starbucks union baristas at 120 Starbucks in 85 U.S. cities joined the picket lines against the coffee superstar.

Starbucks workers walk a picket line as they go on strike outside a Starbucks store in the Brooklyn borough in New York City on Nov. 13, 2025. According to the Starbucks Workers United (SWU), the union representing the workers, more than 1,000 Starbucks workers have gone on strike at about 65 stores across the country. Union members state that Starbucks failed to make new proposals on issues like staffing and pay since the labor group rejected a company offer in April. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Known as the Red Cup Rebellion, the strike began on Nov. 13 and expanded on Nov. 20 to 65 cities.

Baristas are protesting more than 700 unresolved “unfair labor practice” (ULP) charges and are demanding a “fair first union contract.” This includes more than 200 ULP charges protesting the retaliatory firing of union baristas. In addition, the group claims Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is involved in “pervasive union busting.”

“It’s time for Brian Niccol and Starbucks executives to stop stalling and cut the excuses,” Michelle Eisen, Starbucks Workers United spokesperson and barista of 15 years, said in the statement. “We need real solutions that address our basic demands and the hundreds of labor law violations that remain outstanding. The ball is in their court.”

Cities where union stores have joined the ongoing and open-ended ULP strike include Los Angeles; New York City; Seattle; Memphis, Tennessee; Ann Arbor, Michigan; St. Louis; South Salt Lake, Utah; Richmond, Virginia; Dallas; Madison, Wisconsin; and many others.

The union’s three top demands are higher take-home pay, better hours, and a resolution of hundreds of outstanding ULP charges for alleged union busting, as stated in the union’s interested parties memo earlier this month.

The memo reports that the starting wage for an average barista is $15.25 in 33 states and that many are not receiving the full hours they request.

“The average barista doesn’t make a livable wage,” the memo states. “Between low wages and insufficient hours, too many baristas are barely getting by.”

The memo also notes that many Starbucks employees are forced to rely on the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid to make ends meet.

In addition, the memo claims that the average barista works less than 20 hours per week, which is below the cut-off for health benefits. As a result, the union contends, stores are often understaffed, leading to longer customer wait times.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Starbucks for comment.

Meanwhile, Eisen shared that the 11,000 Starbucks Workers United baristas across the country are prepared to continue to push for a contract and that they are backed by thousands of allies and supporters.

As of Nov. 28, the union reported that more than 125,000 people have signed the “No Contract, No Coffee” pledge to avoid buying Starbucks while baristas strike.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 19:45

"We Are Everywhere" - Fort Bragg Psychological Warfare Group Posts Chilling Video

Authored by Mark Price via Military.com,

A secretive Fort Bragg operation that specializes in influencing people’s thoughts has released a hypnotic recruitment video that is laced with hidden meanings and strange images.

Known as the 4th Psychological Operations-Airborne, or 4th PSYOP, the group specializes in “using the power of the mind to persuade opinion and discourse” among the nation’s enemies.

The 1:17-second clip, posted Nov. 19 on social media, is a string of baffling clips, including old cartoons, masked figures hiding in plain sight and a group of people staring blankly at the viewer over the phrase: “We are everywhere.”

“There is another force applied in combat that we generally don’t think of as a weapon of war. That weapon is words,” the video says.

“Words are weapons... This is psychological warfare.”

The video then beckons: “Join PSYOP.”

As of Nov. 26, the video has racked up more than 15,000 views on Facebook and hundreds of comments and reactions, many noting it “goes hard” with subliminal messages.

Among the surprises found, references to conspiracy theories, the “Ghost Army” that deceived the Nazi generals in WWII and the popular Pepe the Frog GIF shows up in a clown suit. At one point, the phrase “anything we touch is a weapon” flashes and fades.

“Watch it over and over again. Great little nuggets of information for us,” Nidia Law posted on Facebook.

“A lot of crumb drops in this one,” TheJason wrote on Instagram.

“I think y’all have so much fun at work! Would love to be on the other side of this ‘fog show’,” Leigh Eschew said on Instagram.

The U.S. Army noted in a 2024 article that the ideal candidate for psychological operations is “very cerebral and analytical,” which means different types of recruitment methods are required. The group’s recruitment videos are infrequent and tend to cause a stir due to the unusual content.

“The art of PSYOP relies on persuasion rather than physical force. The tools of the trade are logic, fear, desire and other mental factors used to evoke specific emotions, attitudes and behaviors,” according to a U.S. Army report. “The ultimate objective is to persuade enemy, neutral and friendly nations and forces to take favorable actions toward the U.S. and its allies.”

The 4th PSYOP is often referred to as “the ghost in the machine,” because its operations are seldom publicized.

It is based out of Fort Bragg – one of the largest military complexes in the world – and home of the 82nd Airborne and U.S. Army Special Operations Command. The fort covers about 251-square miles is about a 65-mile drive south from downtown Raleigh.

“PSYOP soldiers help ensure decision-makers, partners, and populations receive the right message at the right time. Quiet professionals. Global impact,” the 1st Special Forces Command-Airborne wrote in a post that shared the recruitment video.

*  *  * BLACK FRIDAY SALE AT ZeroHedge Store!

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 18:35

 

This week, I speak with A. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid at the Audrain Newport Concours & Motor Week for a special edition of Masters in Business. Barry and Wilhelm compare watch and car design. They also discuss A. Lange & Söhne’s philosophy on watchmaking. In addition, they cover innovations in watch mechanics and watch collecting.

A. Lange & Sohne makes watches by hand, and Wilhelm discusses the production process. We also discuss the release of the new Saxonia Thin Onyx.

You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

 

 

 

The post MiB: A. Lange & Söhne CEO Wilhelm Schmid appeared first on The Big Picture.

Trump Moves To "Terminate" All Of Biden's Autopen'd Orders

Discussions about the topic of former President Biden's increasing use of autopen during his demantia-ridden term have grown louder in recent months amid whistleblowers, reports, and legal challenges.

May - Biden Autopen Use Increased As Cognitive Decline Deepened, Analysis Finds

Sep - Top Biden Aide Releases Kraken On Autopen, Hunter's Role In Pardongate, And Joe's Malfunctioning Brain

Oct - House Oversight Committee Says Biden Autopen Pardons Are Null And Void

and most recently:

Nov - Timeline: The Autopen Debate

And it appears that all of this has finally triggered President Trump into action, writing on TruthSocial that:

"Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect."

Trump went on to explain his reasoning:

"The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States.

The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him.

I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally.

Trump had one more threat:

"Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

Finally, of course, we have absolutely no idea how any of what President Trump just wrote is legal (or constitutional), or will we just be stuck circling seven levels of appeal court hell in the American 'so-called' justice system? ...until it's all moot anyway (and Fauci is long gone).

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 15:30

Wall Street Warns Of A Deepening Oil Glut In 2026

Authored by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com,

• Reuters’ monthly poll shows analysts expect WTI to average $59 in 2026 and Brent $62.23 amid persistent oversupply.

• Executives warn U.S. shale will stagnate or decline if WTI stays in the $50–$60 range.

• Goldman Sachs forecasts even lower prices and says the oil market won’t rebalance until 2027 after a final major supply wave.

Oversupplied markets will keep oil prices under pressure next year, and the U.S. benchmark will average below $60 per barrel, the monthly Reuters poll of analysts and economists showed on Friday.

The U.S. benchmark, WTI Crude, is expected to average $59 per barrel in 2026, according to the poll of 35 analysts and economists. That’s lower compared to the $60.23 per barrel forecast in last month’s survey.

The analysts expect Brent Crude, the international benchmark, to average $62.23 per barrel next year, down from $63.15 forecast in the Reuters poll in October.

Most experts cited rising supply from both OPEC+ and non-OPEC+ as the key bearish factor for oil prices next year. But lingering geopolitical risks could put a floor under prices, the analysts reckon. 

At the current price of WTI oil, shale will stagnate or start to decline, industry executives say, while shale producers look to do more with less by raising efficiency in production and capital allocation.

Ryan Lance, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips, said that “At $60-$65 a barrel WTI oil prices, the US is probably plateau-ish.”

“But if prices stay at $60 or go into the $50s, you probably are plateauing or slightly declining,” the executive added.  

Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs said that oil prices are set to further drop into next year from current levels amid a large surplus on the market, with WTI Crude expected to average $53 per barrel in 2026.  

The oil market is set to rebalance in 2027 as 2026 will see “the last big oil supply wave the market has to work through,” Daan Struyven, co-head of global commodities research at Goldman Sachs, told CNBC last week. 

In the long term, supply growth will mostly come from OPEC, which has spare capacity and is investing in capacity expansion, according to Struyven.

Some modest growth could come from the U.S. shale patch, but this would require Brent at around $80 per barrel or so toward the end of the decade, according to Goldman Sachs.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 14:30

From J.D. Power: November New-Vehicle Retail Sales Decline 4.8% as Effects of EV Pull-Ahead Persist Brief excerpt:

Total new-vehicle sales for November 2025, including retail and non-retail transactions, are projected to reach 1,255,900, a 5.2% decrease year over year, according to a joint forecast from J.D. Power and GlobalData. November 2025 has 25 selling days, one fewer than November 2024.

The seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) for total new-vehicle sales is expected to be 15.4 million units, down 1.2 million units from November 2024.
...
Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power:

"November’s results reflect another notable—yet anticipated—decline in the new-vehicle sales pace, driven largely by the pull-ahead of electric vehicle (EV) purchases prior to the expiration of federal EV tax credits on Sept. 30. That expiration prompted many shoppers to accelerate buying decisions, resulting in a surge in EV sales that temporarily inflated the overall industry sales pace. Now, two months after the credit expired, the industry continues to feel the effect of those accelerated purchases. In November, EVs are expected to account for just 6.0% of new-vehicle retail sales, consistent with October but well below the 12.9% recorded in September.
emphasis added

From Haig Stoddard at Omdia (pay site): US Light Vehicle Sales Declining Again in November; Falling Inventory Lowers Chance for a December Rebound

Tighter inventory, tanking deliveries of battery-electric vehicles, and an overall rise in prices for what is available are capping demand, with expectations the October-November slowdown continues in December.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows actual sales from the BEA (Blue), and J.D. Power's forecast for November(Red).

On a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis, the J.D. Power forecast of 154 million SAAR would be up slightly from last month, and down 7.6% from a year ago.
All of Q4 will likely be difficult for vehicle sales.

Coup-Coup Birds: The DC Blob Is Cornered

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

“Literally everything the left did, every line they crossed and rule they broke, all came back to slap them in the face.”

- Insurrection Barbie on “X”

Indeed, you have a lot to be thankful for this week of humble national gratitude — for instance, the explosive new revelations as to just exactly how US elections have been rigged, and how, it now appears, Mr. Trump and his people, are prepared to go mad-dog on the sinister forces behind it.

It all unspooled this Thanksgiving week, which is always a kind of a time-out from the urgent realities of the moment. And yet, while you basted your turkey (not a good practice by the way, but that’s another matter), rumors of a mysterious coup (as in coup d’é·tat) were flying all over alt media and social media.

Something or someone (a bunch of someones) have got a very dark op underway, the rumor goes. . . fault lines are opening in the US government. . . we’re in a danger zone.

This supposedly was behind last week’s “Seditionist Six” prank, the slickly produced video arranged by Senator (former CIA official) Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and sidekick Sen. Mark (“the Astronaut”) Kelly (D-AZ) advising US military personnel about the option to disobey “illegal orders” from the command structure (that is, from President Trump on down). What illegal orders? They did not specify. . . suggesting, perhaps, orders that had not yet been issued, for an emergency as yet also unspecified.

Accept, for now, the uncomfortable fact that our country has entered a miasma of uncertainty.

That is, you don’t know what’s going on. . . but something surely is going on, and it seems sort of, I dunno, momentous. . . something with the odor and flavor of a. . .“color revolution.”

By the way, everybody’s attention got focused instantly the night before Thanksgiving when one Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan brought to to the US with the 2021 Afghanistan evacuation under Operation Allies Welcome, ambushed two National Guard troops a few blocks from the White House. Specialist Sarah M. Beckstrom, age 24, died from a head wound and Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Wolfe, age 31, remains hospitalized. There was nothing else on the TV news that night except the shooting.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, turns out, had worked for nine years as a GPS tracker specialist in Unit 03 of the Kandahar Strike Force (aka “Scorpion Forces”), initially under CIA oversight via its Special Activities Division, with some JSOC training, before transitioning to Afghan intelligence. In other words, he was not just some mook with a donkey. He had lately been taken in by a sympathetic American family in Bellingham, WA — a roughly three-thousand-mile journey to Washington DC — where he did his deed. If he flew on an airplane to get there, just how did he manage to smuggle a handgun through airport security? Or did someone, maybe, give him one on arrival in DC? Was he still, one way or another, in the employ of the CIA? I guess we’ll find out.

Now, with the nation’s attention split this week between the DC ambush story and the culinary difficulties of Thanksgiving, the election fraud story unspooled in alt media.

Surprise, surprise! Turns out to be our auld acquaintance, the Kraken? Remember that monster? Eminent DC attorney Sidney Powell, had conniptions over the Kraken in the months after the 2020 election that ushered senile (let’s just say it) “Joe Biden” into the Oval Office for four disastrous years. (After which, Sidney Powell was methodically defamed and prosecuted by mysterious forces.)

Ms. Powell threatened to “release the Kraken,” meaning: a malign combine out of Venezuela had managed to foist Dominion vote tabulation machines all over the USA, but especially in swing vote states, along with Smartmatic software. And all this janky machinery was connected by the Internet through Serbia to the CCP, or something like that. And that this machinery, plus massive voter fraud operations run by Lawfare ninjas Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, and Mary McCord, with help from Mark Zuckerberg’s $400-million Center for Tech and Civic Life org, prestidigitated millions of extra votes needed to push “Joe Biden” into the winner’s circle.

Those of you who stayed up late the November night in 2020 also probably witnessed some impressive magic tricks in the election returns — for instance, the mom-and-daughter team of Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss pulling a switcheroo in the Fulton County (Atlanta) election HQ, captured on closed-circuit TV, while vote-counting was shut down for several hours due to a “broken toilet”...

Fulton County, GA, Election HQ, Nov 3, 2020 — the Night of the Broken Toilet.

...and the wondrous vote flipperooski in Michigan...

Michigan Vote Flipperooski, Election Night, 2020

...and the panel trucks delivering bales of extra ballots in the wee hours of morning to the main Philadelphia election HQ...

...and presto-change-o, you got a senile president.

This voter fraud business is evidently a global operation, involving elections in many other countries over several election cycles, carried out by a broad network of NGOs and government agencies, such as the now dismantled USAID, which acted as a money-laundering service for all these ops. A good place to start your own research is independent reporter Emerald Robinson’s “X” account.

Mr. Trump, for one, has always been adamant that the 2020 election was a fraud, but it has taken all year, apparently, to convince White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles that this is so, and now, we’re told, Mr. Trump is about to go after the perps. The hard evidence is there, rumor has it, the receipts, and that is why the Democratic Party is freaking out...

...including that “Seditionist Six” message about refusing orders from the Commander-in-Chief.

The kernel of all this (maybe paranoid, maybe not) is that the DC blob is cornered and that its only hope to escape prosecution, punishment, loss of power and perqs, and possible extinction, is to pull off a coup to bum-rush Mr. Trump out of office by main force.

Meaning, our country might be at war with itself right now. Are perp walks in the offing?

*  *  * BLACK FRIDAY IS HERE

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 13:30

The advance release of Q3 GDP has been cancelled, and the 2nd release has not been scheduled.

From BofA:

On net, given the higher weighting of the months of Jul and Aug in quarterly consumer spending as compared to Sep, our 3Q PCE tracking is down a tenth to 3.1% q/q saar. This along with higher-than-expected Aug business inventories left our 3Q GDP tracking at 2.8% q/q saar. [November 26th estimate]
emphasis added

From Goldman:

We boosted our Q3 GDP tracking estimate by 0.1pp to +3.8% (quarter-over-quarter annualized). Our Q3 domestic final sales estimate stands at +2.7%. [November 19th estimate]

And from the Atlanta Fed: GDPNow

The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the third quarter of 2025 is 3.9 percent on November 26, down from 4.0 percent on November 25. After this morning’s advance durable manufacturing report from the US Census Bureau, the nowcast of third-quarter real gross private domestic investment growth decreased from 4.4 percent to 3.5 percent. [November 26th estimate]

Zelensky's Closest, Most-Powerful Aide Resigns After Office Raided By Anti-Corruption Agents

Zelensky's chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, has submitted his resignation - the highest level official to fall amid the massive graft probe which has brought rare international embarrassment on the Zelensky government.

As a reminder, Andrew Korybko recently opined that Yermak's removal could prompt some progress in peace talks:

He’s Zelensky’s powerbroker so his downfall could undo the already shaky alliance between the armed forces, the oligarchs, the secret police, and parliament that keeps Zelensky in power, thus pressuring him into peace, especially if his warmongering grey cardinal is no longer pushing him to keep fighting.

Earlier The Associated Post reported Friday: "Anti-corruption units have raided the home, and reportedly also the office, of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak." Zelensky now says he will hold consultations on replacing Yermak.

This is a huge and very high level development in the country's ongoing graft investigation scandal as Yermak is essentially the closest one can get to Zelensky, given the top presidential aide was made by Zelensky chief negotiator in talks with the United States. Some speculate this appointment was made precisely to protect Yermak from criminal charges.

AFP/Getty Images

Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies, NABU and SAP, confirmed they had officially sanctioned searches at the office of President Zelensky's top aide, again emphasizing the probe has extended all the way to the top. Could this be the beginning of the end for Zelensky himself?

The $100 million energy sector corruption scandal has already embroiled and resulted in the dismissals of several top ministers and officials.

Soros and the 2nd most corrupt man in Ukraine pic.twitter.com/UIupC9lPk2

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 28, 2025

Yermak had earlier deneid wrongdoing, and is vowing personal transparency as the investigation unfolds. "The investigators are facing no obstacles," Yermak wrote on Telegram. He said his lawyers were present for the searches, and that he's cooperating fully.

Zelensky makes the televised, 'shocking' announcement of Yermak being ousted dismissed:

Breaking news: Andriy Yermak has resigned from his longtime post of head of the Ukrainian presidential office, President Zelenskyy says in a statement. pic.twitter.com/seGDBbWJbh

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) November 28, 2025

It's as yet unknown and unclear precisely what Yermak is being accused of in terms a potential role in the energy kickback and graft scandal, but the growing pressure which has entered the heart of the presidential office has huge political repercussions:

Although Yermak has not been accused of any wrongdoing, several senior lawmakers in Zelenskyy's party said Yermak should take responsibility for the energy sector scandal in order to restore public trust. Some said that if Zelenskyy didn't fire him, the party could split, threatening the president's parliamentary majority. But Zelenskyy defied them.

Interesting timing, Yermak swears “no concessions” while NABU is raiding his office.
Nothing sounds tougher than a man negotiating peace with handcuffs warming in the background

— Irony Man (@IronyManHQ) November 28, 2025

But local critics of the anti-corruption action say this is an attempt to bring unprecedented pressure on Zelensky. Reports say that 10 NABU and SAPO officers were on premise to search Yermak's office, which is just a few dozen meters from the president’s office.

One Ukrainian lawmaker, Yaroslav Zheleznyak of the Holos party, wrote that segments of parliament stand ready to defend the anti-corruption agencies should they find anything at this highest level of government. "NABU and SAPO are conducting searches at [the home of] Andriy Yermak this morning. If anything, get ready to defend NABU/SAPO if necessary," Zheleznyak wrote.

What hard evidence involves Yermak? If there's not enough, political retaliation could follow...

Yermak so far denying any wrongdoing. Key question: will his voice appear on compromising tapes. If the "rebels" fail a second time, retaliation will likely follow https://t.co/jFslHZDVjN

— Jakub Parusinski (@j_parus) November 28, 2025

As chief negotiator, Yermak has presented Zelensky's hard line on the Trump-proposed peace plan to end the war. Yermak was for example just cited in The Atlantic as saying, "No sane person would sign away territory." He has argued that the national constitution forbids it and thus Zelensky "will not" agree to territorial concessions.

And, if the Zelensky administration keeps losing public and international trust amid the massive corruption probe, which has already proven highly embarrassing, Kiev's 'firm line' on the negotiations could indeed quickly soften.

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Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 12:45

What Is Going On With The Economy?

Authored by Ben Shapiro via The Epoch Times,

The fate of the Trump administration - and perhaps Republicans in Congress - is tethered to how Americans feel about the economy.

And right now, it’s hard to find anyone who can say with confidence what the hell is going on.

Nov. 20 offered a fresh reminder of the chaos. As The Wall Street Journal noted, “Stocks surrendered gains and closed sharply lower after a whirlwind day of trading that began after Nvidia posted strong results. The Nasdaq composite led indexes lower after being up on the day more than 2 percent. It closed 2.2 percent lower. Nvidia gave up an even bigger gain and finished the day down 3.2 percent.”

Why the reversal? Because investors suspect there is, in fact, an artificial intelligence bubble.

It’s not an unreasonable fear.

History shows that every transformative technology—from automobiles to the internet—inspires waves of speculation. The presence of a bubble doesn’t mean the technology isn’t revolutionary; it simply means that early hype tends to sweep up both the winners and the doomed. For every Henry Ford, there were dozens of forgotten carmakers. The same was true of the dot-com era: Pets.com vanished, but the internet went on to reorganize modern life.

Artificial intelligence is inspiring the same mix of excitement and dread.

Some companies may never produce the margins to justify today’s investment frenzy. OpenAI, though not publicly traded, sits at the center of countless partnerships with massive firms like Oracle and Nvidia. If it stumbles, the shock could reverberate across the market.

The numbers fueling today’s optimism are staggering. As The New York Times reported, “It would not be a stretch to describe this period of hyperactive growth in the tech industry as a historic moment. Nvidia, which makes computer chips that are essential to building artificial intelligence, said on Wednesday that its quarterly profit had jumped to nearly $32 billion, up 65 percent from a year earlier and 245 percent from the year before that. Just three weeks ago, Nvidia became the first publicly traded company to be worth $5 trillion.” That’s more than Germany’s entire economy.

But even this explosion of wealth comes with a caveat. Much of the demand for Nvidia’s chips doesn’t mean consumers want AI right now—it means companies are racing to build massive AI systems in the hope that demand will materialize later. To some insiders, it looks less like a revolution and more like a house of cards.

This is the central question: At what point will AI’s promised productivity gains begin to match the scale of the investment poured into it? Until there’s clarity, markets will continue to swing wildly—and so will public confidence.

Workers, meanwhile, face their own concerns. Even if AI succeeds, technological progress has always brought job dislocation. Old roles disappear, new industries emerge, and the economy ultimately becomes more productive. People enjoy better goods at lower costs and work fewer hours than their grandparents did. But the transition is rarely painless.

Both truths can coexist: The United States may be on the cusp of a remarkable economic transformation, and the anxiety surrounding it may be entirely justified.

For now, Americans are left watching markets fluctuate, industries reorganize, and fortunes rise and fall... all while wondering what exactly the future will bring.

And no government policy can fully soothe that uncertainty.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 12:40

Holiday Spending To Hit Record High Despite Economic Doubts In The US

While the holiday season just started with Thanksgiving this Thursday, American consumer spending for the end of the year is set to reach a record high.

As Statista's Tristan Gaudiat reports, according to data from the National Retail Federation, the average per capita budget for the 2025 winter holidays (Nov. 1 - Dec. 31) is expected to exceed $1,000, a 4 percent increase from 2024 ($976).

As the infographic shows, consumer spending during other major seasonal events was also on the rise this year, from a 2 percent increase (Mother's Day, Valentine's Day) to a 10 percent increase (Halloween), according to estimates.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Yet, those eye-catching averages hide national disparities: while affluent households are expected to splurge even more than in previous years, many lower-income families face stagnant (or even shrinking) holiday budgets, amid economic uncertainty and persistent inflation.

In its outlook published last September, the Federal Reserve maintained its forecast of a 3 percent inflation rate in the United States in 2025, signaling "ongoing caution about price pressures and labor market stability".

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 12:20

AI Gospel Ghost Tops Charts: 'Solomon Ray' Unmasked As Another Fake

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A “Mississippi-made soul singer” named Solomon Ray has stormed to No. 1 on gospel charts—only to be quickly exposed as a fully AI-generated phantom, sparking outrage from Christian artists who decry the “spiritless” impostor as a crutch robbing music of divine inspiration. 

Ray’s ascent—hitting No. 1 on iTunes and Billboard gospel charts—prompted swift backlash from flesh-and-blood artists. 

Christian music artist Forrest Frank lamented, “At minimum, AI does not have the Holy Spirit inside of it. So I think that’s really weird to be opening up your spirit to something that has no spirit.” 

NEW: "Mississippi-made soul singer" Christian artist "Solomon Ray" hits the number one spot for gospel music, is not a real person.

Christian artists are speaking out after the AI singer hit the No. 1 spot on the iTunes and Billboard charts.

"At minimum, AI does not have the… pic.twitter.com/7weh7XgJFd

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 26, 2025

Singer-songwriter Phil Wickham echoed the peril, “It’s difficult to envision a future where we look back and think creating AI was a net positive for our world. At most it should be a tool for humans, not a replacement for them.” 

Singer Colton Dixon urged “I’m honestly still wrestling with the whole AI music thing. Can it be a tool to speed up a rather long tedious process – yes. But can it also be used as a crutch instead of finding inspiration and direction from Holy Spirit – also yes. I’m believing God will be magnified regardless.”

As we’ve previously detailed, this gospel ghost isn’t isolated, rather it is a symptom of AI’s broader sonic siege. 

Streaming service Deezer conducted a recent poll where respondents heard two AI tracks and one human made song, with a whopping 97% failing to spot the fakes.

The findings underscore how machine-made melodies are infiltrating genres like gospel, threatening to relegate authentic expression to an algorithmic afterthought.

The vast majority of respondents to the survey also said they want to see AI music clearly labelled or even prevented from appearing on streaming platforms.

CEO Alexis Lanternier noted “The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know if they’re listening to AI or human made tracks or not.” 

Deezer’s data reveals the AI creep. In January, one in ten daily streams was fully AI; by October, one in three—about 40,000 tracks daily. 

Ray’s phantom hit mirrors the AI country anthem “Walk My Walk” by fabricated Breaking Rust, topping Billboard’s Country Digital Sales, credited to enigmatic ‘artist’ Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor, amassing 1.6 million streams.

These incursions span genres, often cloaked in anonymity, their origins as opaque as the algorithms birthing them. If unchecked, we risk a future where most music isn’t human-made.

Music, once a direct expression of human experience and skill built over years of practice, risks relegation to a series of droll Clichéd prompts.

Veterans like Randy Travis and Martina McBride have decried unauthorized AI voices, and hundreds of musicians from Billie Eilish to Stevie Wonder have urged tech curbs on human-replacing tools.

Ray’s soulful facade, AI crooning gospel hymns, strikes at a sacred core. Creative work thrives on authenticity, emotion, the slow, often messy process, rather than AI’s speed and convenience.

Replacing years of practice honing a creative skill with AI doesn’t merely threaten livelihoods; it risks diminishing what makes art matter.

We’re outsourcing culture to machines and without transparency, we are surely soon to be trapped in a world where everything seems real, but very little actually is.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

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Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 12:00

Trump And House GOP Are Headed For A Clash Over Obamacare Subsidies

Obamacare subsidies expire at the end of December, and it now looks like the big battle over their future won’t be between Democrats and the GOP, but between the White House and House Republicans.

Trump has said that while he doesn’t want to make the subsidies permanent, that "some kind of an extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster. It's a disaster."

The White House proposal caps eligibility at 700% of the federal poverty line and kills off zero-premium plans that have become a magnet for fraud. But House Speaker Mike Johnson has made it clear this idea hits a wall with the GOP. Even with these anti-fraud provisions attached, Trump's plan still pours billions into the same broken system, and does nothing to address the key problem created by Obamacare: the skyrocketing costs of subsidies.

The obvious problem here going into midterms is optics... with millions of Americans - including a ton of lower income red state residents, forced to suddenly come up with potentially thousands of dollars more per month after already adjusting to the inflationary 'new normal' thanks to the egregious overreaction to the economy-killing pandemic shutdown that never should have happened in the first place.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Johnson “cautioned the White House that most House Republicans don’t have an appetite for extending enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, according to people familiar with the matter, showing how hard it will be politically to stave off sharp increases in healthcare costs next year for many Americans.”

The message from Johnson, in a phone call with administration officials, came as President Trump’s advisers were drafting a healthcare plan that extended the subsidies for two years.

The warning underscores the hurdles facing any deal in coming weeks. Lawmakers have a mid-December deadline for healthcare votes promised as a condition for Democrats voting to end the government shutdown earlier this month. The enhanced subsidies expire at the end of the year, affecting more than 20 million people who benefit from the tax credits. 

While the White House and GOP leadership circle each other, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has worked out a separate solution. However, their proposal still relies on extending the subsidies.

The Bipartisan Healthcare Optimization Protection Extension (HOPE) Act extends the enhanced premium tax credit for two years. It includes a lower income cap for enrollees, about $200,000 for a family of four, and phases out for those making above that (currently the subsidy is capped based on what percent of a family’s income it spends on health care). The bill would also try to crack down on fraud.

“We don't want to see premiums skyrocket, but we probably need a deeper plan for the longer term to deal with the high cost of healthcare,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebr.). “What we're proposing is a bridge. Let's help keep people's premiums down — that's important — and it’ll give us time to work on it, maybe something better over the next year or two.”

“People are freaking out. I mean, I get phone calls from people about seeing their premiums go up by a thousand dollars a month,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, a New York Democrat, said. “That's why we felt it was very important for us to get together as a bipartisan team to say, let's work together and let's force something to happen here that we can try and build consensus on.”

These solutions don’t solve the problem for millions who never qualified for subsidies, who will see their premiums soar regardless. Extending subsidies deepens the distortion and accelerates the problem. 

The subsidy fight puts Republicans in a tough spot. Johnson has already shown he will not bless another round of Obamacare cash, and most of the conference stands with him. Trump’s team is floating the idea of a temporary extension, and that puts the party on a collision course as January approaches. The CR runs out at the end of January, and nothing suggests the White House and House Republicans will bridge this gap before then.

Meanwhile, Democrats see an easy opening. They are unified, they want this fight, and they know the GOP’s internal split hands them the leverage they lacked during the last shutdown. Washington is drifting toward another stalemate, and the setup looks far worse for Republicans this time around. The stage is set for a January showdown that could break wide open once the subsidies expire.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 11:45

"Oh!...K"

By Michael Every of Rabobank

As Bloomberg puts it, the latest Fed Beige Book underlined a ‘deepening K-shaped split’. The very wealthy are still spending; everyone else is struggling. That split is now evident all over. AI firms are booming; most aren’t. Moreover, a day after the Financial Times spoke of people looking for “crumbs” in parts of the US, it happily reports ‘Megadeals hit new record as Wall Street’s animal spirits roar back.’ That will please the crumb-seekers.

It’s there in budgets too. Brussels just rebuked Finland for breaching EU budget rules: if even the Scandies are naughty, as they rearm aggressively, then who isn’t? The UK saw what the Telegraph calls ‘A Budget of chaos, contradiction and falsehoods’, as the Guardian noted “Rachel Reeves targets UK’s wealthiest in £26bn tax-raising budget”, and the FT said it ”raises the UK tax take to an all-time high.” Our Stefan Koopman argues it has little aimed at boosting growth, encouraging investment, restoring confidence, or reforming the tax system, and is instead “a Survival Budget instead of a Growth Budget, crafted to appease both backbench MPs and financial markets.” Yet fiddling with CPI may be enough for a divided BOE to cut a little more.

A K-shape is evident in the Fed as well. Miran makes clear he wants to do things very differently. So does Bessent. Cook’s fate is in the balance. Powell’s Miran-esque replacement may be named in weeks. This goes beyond Fed Funds. Potentially, it’s also about US (geo)political economy.

Even the FT just had to admit global trade is also now a ‘K’. Its op-ed , ‘China is making trade impossible’, argues, “There is nothing that China wants to import, nothing it does not believe it can make better and cheaper, nothing for which it wants to rely on foreigners a single day longer than it has to.” It adds what China imports, because it must, it also intends to make soon and dominate global supply of. In short, Ricardian comparative advantage is gone; China makes ‘port’ and ‘cloth’, and China will eventually dominate all key global industries. Those who read Ricardo, Chinese history, Marxism-Leninism, and neomercantilism warned about this years ago, and how it would lead to the collapse of the (neo)liberal world order - as a US commission warns China seeks an "alternative world order.” Yet ‘because markets’ types were all ‘O’-shaped: mouths agape, intellectually in a closed loop. So, here we are.

The FT op-ed concludes the EU must embrace protectionism if it wants to retain any industry as, “Europe has nothing to offer and difficult decisions to make”. It’s already heading in that direction slowly, grudgingly, blaming Trump, and still thinking it will be able to remain a net exporter as it happens, which it likely won’t. It goes without saying that Europe is K-shaped on that key front, within lobby groups in each member state, and between them - and Brussels.

In other geoeconomics, Nikkei Asia reports ‘Japan Inc.’ is trying to reduce reliance on China; the US is negotiating a trade deal with Taiwan that could help train US workers; pro-‘free-trade’ Canada announced further limits on steel imports and promised more money for its lumber mills; the Israeli army is moving away from Chinese cars to avoid tech spying; and Trump won’t invite South Africa to the Miami G-20 - maybe that global institution is at a fork in the road too.

The ECB also has a plan ‘to boost Europe’s global influence’ - making the Euro available for those worried about access to dollars. Yet the Euro’s global role is small, commodities are priced in dollars, Russia’s pushing for barter, China for CNY-invoicing, and US stablecoins about to be unleashed: so, some worry about the ECB’s access to dollars more than others’ access to Euros.

In the political realm things are always K-shaped – but now it’s a huge capital letter. The Georgia election interference case against Trump was just dropped, as was the court case against its instigator, Letitia James, on a legal technicality; but Axios notes, ‘Supreme Court poised to reshape next 3 election cycles.’ That may matter more than what it says on tariffs ahead.

It’s not just courts: every US institution is K-shaped, even the army. The White House is floating sedition charges against six Democratic politicians, including Senator Kelly, for calling for the armed forces not to obey illegal orders --without stating which ones are-- as social media shows billboards encouraging troops to do so. It’s also floated on MSNBC that anyone helping that legal process would face Nuremberg-style charges if Republicans lose the 2028 election. That’s the backdrop to two US national guard soldiers being shot near the White House, following two assassination attempts against President Trump and the murder of Charlie Kirk.

Naturally, international relations are not OK, just ‘K’. China is demanding clarity from Japan on its one-China principle as the Wall Street Journal’s Ling Ling Wei reports following the Trump-Xi call, the White House told Japan to “lower the volume” on Taiwan, which Tokyo “found worrying.” Yet media are always K-shaped, so in no (Ling Ling) way does that mean this is gospel, just a view. Meanwhile, Taiwan pledged to boost defence spending by $40bn to “defend democracy” – and whom will it buying those arms from?

Regarding Russia-Ukraine, on one hand Moscow is pursuing a deal on its terms and called the leak of a Witkoff call with its team “hybrid warfare”: true, but it takes one to know one. Moreover, the US is reportedly demanding Kyiv signs a peace deal before it underlines the details of its security guarantees for it – talk about caveat emptor! On the other hand, Europe is trying to find a plan B for Kyiv if they can’t agree on using Moscow’s frozen state assets - which could blow up any peace deal; France and the UK are LARPing the 1950s, forgetting in 1956 the US was already showing them who did and didn’t have ‘strategic autonomy’ in the Suez Crisis; and the EU’s top diplomat, Kallas, is saying a peace deal should insist the Russian military’s size is capped – worryingly, there seems a K-shaped divergence between that idea and a nuclear-armed reality.

In the Middle East, ‘Scions of Iran’s revolution call for reset with the world’, claims the FT, as a “New generation of political elites seek overhaul of ties with west and Arab states.” Then again, there also intel reports that Iran is considering a major strike against Israel, which runs the other way.

And in Africa, Nigeria’s President has declared a security emergency and ordered the mass recruitment of police and army, having been warned by Trump about the need to protect the country’s Christian communities. So, over to a US military focus on Venezuela then? Newsweek has it that ‘Defiant Maduro rallies Venezuela for US war.’

The important point here is that the average of any K-shape looks like Ͱ rather than a letter of the alphabet: it has no meaning. In the same way, there is no useful mean to the conflating developments above, just uncomfortable up- or -down-legs. Nor is there a comfortable median to assume some kind of return to.

"Oh!...K" indeed.

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Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 11:20

Fentanyl Trafficking Rings Run By Illegal Immigrants Dismantled Across Washington

In his Nov. 24 op-ed, Seattle conservative commentator Jason Rantz puts a sharp spotlight on what he frames as the overlooked reality of Washington’s fentanyl pipeline: that major trafficking networks are increasingly being run or staffed by illegal immigrants.

Rantz reports that federal agents dismantled two international drug rings in October—one tied to Ecuador, the other to Mexico—resulting in more than 18 arrests and the seizure of millions of lethal fentanyl doses, narcotics, illegal firearms, and even an improvised explosive device.

Rantz writes that the central revelation is that “many of the suspects… are in this country illegally,” a detail he says federal officials had not previously made public. U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd confirmed to The Jason Rantz Show that not all suspects are U.S. citizens and that investigators routinely discover unlawful status during arrests.

Floyd argued that the public deserves clarity about who is behind these crimes, even as investigations themselves are not driven by immigration status. As he told Rantz, “It’s fair for the public to know… the Trump administration is not wrong about the fact that many of the people that are here illegally are committing crimes, and very serious crimes.”

The Ecuador-linked Gutama Escandon network pushing fentanyl and meth across the Puget Sound region, and the Mexico-connected ring in rural Lewis County tied to 105,000 fentanyl pills and 34 kilograms of powder—amounts the DEA equates to more than 3 million potentially deadly doses, according to 770AM.

For Rantz, the takeaway is blunt. These cases show that Washington’s fentanyl crisis cannot be separated from immigration realities, despite political narratives that portray illegal immigrants as uniformly harmless.

By surfacing details federal authorities acknowledge but often do not publicize, Rantz argues the public can better understand the forces driving the drug epidemic devastating communities across the state.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 11:00

Harvard Report Warns Of 'Damaging' Grade Inflation, 60% Of Grades Are A's

Authored by Cecilia Jones via TheCollegeFix.com,

Harvard University’s Office of Undergraduate Education is raising concerns about mounting grade inflation, reporting that the school’s grading system is “damaging the academic culture of the College.”

The office sent a 25-page report to faculty and students, stating that 60 percent of all undergraduate grades are now A’s. This is a 35 percent increase compared to 20 years ago, according to The Harvard Crimson.

Veronica Bryant, academic affairs fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, told The Fix that if Harvard allows grade inflation to skyrocket, the problem will worsen at other schools.

“‘As goes Harvard, so goes the nation’ is a phrase for a reason. If other schools see America’s oldest and most prestigious university as weakening standards, why should they keep high standards, especially as they compete for fewer and fewer students?” she said.

Bryant told The Fix that Harvard’s reputation has taken a hit in recent years with stories such as the resignation of President Claudine Gay and a 2023 New Yorker article in which a Harvard administrator stated that Harvard students struggled to identify the subjects and verbs within The Scarlet Letter. 

Furthermore, the question of academic rigor extends beyond grade inflation, with many voicing concerns about a general lowering of expectations, she said.

“Harvard students receive only the smallest educational foundation. It only requires one subject of all students: a writing course, according to ACTA’s What Will They Learn?(R) project,” Bryant told The Fix.

However, she also said it is a good sign that Harvard appears to be taking the issue seriously.

“Gen Z values authenticity. We hope they will take steps to ensure grades actually reflect student performance, not just reduce the number of A’s,” she said.

“If Harvard makes this bold move, others may follow their lead,” Bryant said.

The report itself underscores the severity of the problem.

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Amanda Claybaugh wrote in the report that “Nearly all faculty expressed serious concern.”

They believe the grades students receive no longer reflect the actual quality of their work, she wrote.

Further, the dean stated that “grading is … also too inconsistent, as students have observed. More importantly, our grading no longer performs its primary functions and is undermining our academic mission.”

Claybaugh’s report also recommends several steps to curb this issue.

It urges instructors to clearly define what level of work merits each grade and to reintroduce in-person, sit-down exams, arguing they are vital in the age of AI.

It also calls for more consistent grading across different sections of the same course, noting that students are often frustrated by disparities among teaching fellows.

Moreover, the report notes that a faculty committee is considering allowing instructors to award a small number of A+ grades to distinguish exceptional work. The committee is additionally weighing whether to list each course’s median grade on student transcripts as another way to reduce grade inflation.

Harvey Mansfield, a retired Harvard professor, wrote in The Crimson, “The principle of merit used to get into Harvard is abandoned once there.”

He wrote that students seek to distinguish themselves through extracurriculars, creating an environment where academics are put on the back burner.

Mansfield added that a measure implemented in 2008, which required faculty to participate in course evaluations, led professors to inflate students’ grades.

The Crimson published a series of student editorials that present a wide range of responses. Some students praised the report for encouraging higher standards, while others suggested eliminating general education requirements.

Harvard students Jack Flanigan, Edward Hall, and Ari Kohn, who lead the university’s Intellectual Vitality Initiative, stated that the academic culture has eroded, as “faculty maintain low expectations for students’ effort, while students expect little of their professors in return.”

Though many students criticized the proposed solutions within the report, all acknowledged that grade inflation was negatively impacting the student experience.

The Fix reached out to Harvard media relations and Amanda Claybaugh for comments, but did not receive a response.

Tyler Durden Fri, 11/28/2025 - 10:20