Germany’s Debt Spiral: Bundesbank Chief Breaks Silence Submitted by Thomas Kolbe It’s not every day that top officials of the German Bundesbank take an explicit stance on daily politics. Nagel’s stark warnings about Germany’s debt and the government’s creative accounting were surely met with grim recognition in Berlin’s corridors of power. Open criticism is rare there, and when it comes from credible insiders, it stings […]

Death Of Hollywood In Two Charts The nightmare story for Hollywood is playing out in real time for the world to see, as a century-old entertainment economy implodes and bears all the hallmarks of what happened to Detroit after the auto industry went bust. A new Wall Street Journal report describes the Hollywood job market as being in “collapse” mode, with employment in the industry down 30% from its late-2022 peak, while […]

Iranian Kurdish Groups Deny Receiving US Arms After Trump’s ‘Guns For Protesters’ Remark Via The Cradle Several Iranian Kurdish opposition groups on Monday denied reports that the US had armed them during anti-government protests and riots that erupted in January, leaving over 3,000 Iranians dead. Mohammed Nazif Qaderi, a senior official from the opposition Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), called the reports […]

RQ-180 Spy Drone Reappears Again In Greece As Larissa Air Base Backs U.S. Recon Ops New footage of what appears to be the highly secretive Northrop Grumman RQ-180 stealth surveillance drone has surfaced near Larisa, Greece, according to the aviation outlet The Aviationist. The RQ-180 apparently appeared in daylight hours on approach to landing at Larisa Air Base, home to the Hellenic Air Force’s 110 Combat Wing. The footage […]

Europe’s Climate Policy Forces Industry Into Retreat; Even Its Critics Are Folding Submitted by Thomas Kolbe In the media business, five months is an eternity. And it does indeed seem like an eternity has passed since Christian Kullmann, CEO of the German chemical giant Evonik, sharply criticized European climate policy at the end of October. At the time, Kullmann gave an interview to Süddeutsche Zeitung, in which he called—if […]

British Official Admits UK Not Capable Of Rescuing Their Own Lost Airmen Europe has been dancing on the edge of a knife, flirting with notions of war with a battle hardened Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.  As these tensions escalate, questions are being raised about the actual combat readiness and capabilities of countries that have relied on the US for their security for so long. The primary division between the Trump […]

France’s Debt Spiral: Tax Hikes Mask A Looming Crisis Submitted by Thomas Kolbe On both sides of the Franco-German border, the same problem persists: overburdened and reform-averse politicians struggle against a rapidly accelerating debt spiral. Their preferred tool: higher levies. Last week, France’s Finance Minister Roland Lescure reported a revision of the projected budget deficit for the current year. Initial estimates for […]

How Modern Influence Operations Work, Part 1: The New Influence Stack Authored by Charles Davis via The Epoch Times, On a Tuesday night in a dorm room, a student opens TikTok for a “five-minute break.” The first clip is a montage of rubble and sirens. The second is a professor-style explainer, neatly captioned, delivering a single moral conclusion. The third is a shaky phone video of a confrontation on another […]

China Introduces Pistol-Like Coil-Gun Based On Electromagnetic-Launch Systems Authored by Bojan Stojovski via Interesting Engineering, A new handheld coil gun developed in China is designed for discreet, non-lethal use, including law enforcement operations, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Capable of firing between 1,000 and 2,000 rounds per minute, the weapon can penetrate wooden boards from distances of several dozen yards. Its […]

US Oil Premiums Hit Record High As World Scrambles For Crude By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com The premiums for U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude have soared in the spot market to a record high of between $30 and $40 per barrel above key regional benchmarks as Asia and Europe scramble for supply amid the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz. WTI Midland is being offered for July delivery in north Asia at premiums of between […]

Murder And Mayhem: A Look At ICE’s ‘Worst Of The Worst’ Arrests Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez and Savannah Hulsey Pointer via The Epoch Times, The Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts this term have focused on illegal immigrants with criminal histories. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made about 379,000 arrests from Jan. 20, 2025, through Jan. 20, 2026, and the administration has maintained […]

North Korea Keeping Iran At Arm’s Length, Hoping To Improve Ties With Trump When the Ukraine war began over four years ago, North Korea only deepened its relations and defense cooperation with Moscow. Later into the conflict, it even sent thousands of troops to assist Russian military and security forces – and an undisclosed number of DPRK troops died or suffered wounds while fighting Ukraine. When it comes to Iran, many pundits […]

What Would Robert Louis Stevenson Say About Ozempic? Authored by Ann Bauer via Brownstone Institute, I have loved many addicts in my life. I have been exasperated, impoverished, and terrified by them. But also amused, warmed, enraptured, elevated…That’s the thing about addicts. They contain multitudes, all drama and extremes. They’re charismatic until they’re repugnant, joyful until they’re suicidal. Everything is in […]

Tech Bros Sound Alarm As AI Data Centers Poll Worse Than ICE Agents The tech bros are only now waking up to what we pointed out 1 year and 8 months ago: the early stages of public backlash against AI data center expansion. Since then, this resistance has spread nationwide as working-class people grow increasingly angry about hyperscalers erecting massive AI data centers in their backyards, with one of the most immediate consequences […]

NHTSA Ends Probe Into Tesla’s Remote-Driving Feature, Citing Low Risk Authored by Rob Sabo via The Epoch Times, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on April 6 that it had closed its investigation into Tesla’s Actually Smart Summon feature, a remote driving function that allows low-speed vehicle movement over short distances in parking areas using a smartphone app. The NHTSA opened its probe into the […]

“You’re Not Really Blaming Islam On Whitey, Are You?” Bill Maher asks Ana Kasparian which Middle Eastern country she would feel comfortable wearing “that dress” and then this happened… Bill Maher asks Ana Kasparian which Middle Eastern country she would feel comfortable wearing “that dress” and then this happened. MAHER: “If you had to live in the Middle East. Any city. Where would you live where you’d be comfortable in […]

US Tests Mach-5 Hypersonic Missile In Joint Army-Navy Launch Authored by Georgina Jedikovska via Interesting Engineering, The U.S. has carried out a successful launch of a hypersonic missile made to travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5, meaning over five times the speed of sound, which allows it to cover vas distances in a matter of minutes. A common hypersonic missile launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on […]

US Secretly Repositions Bulk Of Stealth Cruise Missiles For Iran War President Trump has set a Tuesday evening deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran facing severe consequences if it refuses. Trump’s messaging suggests the next phase of the conflict could shift toward strikes on power plants, bridges, and other critical infrastructure nationwide. New reporting from Bloomberg suggests that the Department of […]

What The Hell Is Wrong With Modern Parents? Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, A 17-month-old toddler had his hand instinctively grabbed by a wolf at ZooAmerica inside Hersheypark, Pennsylvania, while his parents sat glued to their phones just 25 to 30 feet away on a bench. Reports note that the parents didn’t even notice until bystanders rushed in amid the commotion. Chaos at Hersheypark zoo when toddler is […]

Top University Dubbed ‘MIT Of Iran’ Bombed Along With Several Airports US-Israeli strikes have been on a noticeable uptick against Iranian institutions of higher learning over the last days. This has included a large-scale aerial assault on Tehran’s Sharif University, which is often dubbed the “MIT of Iran”. After this attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi threatened Iranian retaliation, warning “aggressors will see […]

Supreme Court Clears Way For Dismissal Of Contempt Case Against Steve Bannon Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The U.S. Supreme Court on April 6 cleared the way for the Trump administration to dismiss the criminal contempt case against Steve Bannon over his failure to honor congressional subpoenas. Steve Bannon attends a court hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on Nov. 12, 2024. Adam […]

Federal Appeals Court Reinstates $656 Million Judgment Against Palestinian Authorities Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times, A federal appellate court has agreed to reinstate a $656 million judgment against Palestinian authorities for Americans killed or wounded in attacks by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority while in Israel. The ruling from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals […]

Wyoming’s Helium Empire Ascends As Qatar Gas Goes Flat Readers have already been well briefed, see here and here, that roughly one-third of global helium supply has been disrupted, setting the perfect storm of chaos to spread across high-tech industries, particularly semiconductors. The shock is being driven by shipping restrictions through the Gulf and the shutdown of output from top producer Qatar, where damage to the Ras Laffan […]

Ex-CIA Analyst: What The Hell Happened With The Pilot Rescue Op In Iran? Authored by former CIA officer Larry Johnson Iran’s air defense system succeeded on Friday, April 3, in downing a US F-15E over Iran. There is some dispute and confusion about the exact location (more about that later). The pilot and the WSO (i.e., Weapons System Officer) both successfully ejected but were separated. The pilot was quickly rescued by the […]

UBS: Trump’s Historic Military Budget Request Could Boost Beaten-Down Defense Stocks U.S. defense stocks showed signs of stabilizing in April after tumbling since Operation Epic Fury began in late February and sustaining a Mach bloodbath. The improvement followed Friday’s White House proposal to lift military spending sharply, to roughly $1.5 trillion in 2027.  UBS analyst Allyson Gordon said Monday morning that the White House […]