Did you know… lions can eat up to 20% of their body weight in one sitting—and sometimes they eat so much they literally can’t get up?
Big deal. I can do that too.
Photo Credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
In Case You Missed It.
đź’» Microsoft is laying off over 1,000 U.S. employees across multiple divisions in what insiders are calling a “bloodbath,” as the tech giant shifts focus toward AI.
🎓 The Trump administration will force student visa applicants to undergo expanded social media screening, prompting concerns that political views and online speech could be used to deny entry to the U.S.
🌍 Scientists now say the world has just two years left in its carbon budget to avoid climate catastrophe — which is wild, considering how many deadlines we've already blown past without spontaneously combusting.
🇺🇸 U.S. senators are urging NATO allies to ramp up military spending to over 3.5% of GDP — because apparently peace is just one more defense budget increase away.
🇪🇺 The EU is threatening to suspend visa-free travel for Israelis over human rights abuses — though critics say it’s more about optics than actual accountability. And clearly the students are not to blame!
đź’¸ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he’s “counting” on another $40 billion from the U.S., because apparently being the world’s most expensive proxy war is a full-time lifestyle brand now.
*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00 AM ET.
Lead: From Peace Talk to Battle Cry in 24 Hours
Photo Credit: WhiteHouse.gov
President Trump said that Iran wants to re-open peace negotiations with the United States but the Iranian envoy to the United Nations says that is a lie.
"No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House," a statement from Iran said on X. "The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to 'take out' Iran’s Supreme Leader. Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance. Iran shall respond to any threat with a counter-threat, and to any action with reciprocal measures."
Okay so much for diplomacy.
The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump has already given a greenlight to attack Iran but he is still "holding off to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program."
The White House sure does seem to be prepping our psyche for war. This video, posted on the White House X account, says that the U.S. will "affirm with unwavering certainty that in the years ahead, and in every generation hence, whenever duty calls and whatever danger comes, the American soldier will be there. No matter the risk… they will seize the crown of victory."
That sure does sound like a battle cry, doesn't it?
IDF Orders Press Silence as Criticism Grows
Photo Credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
Israel doesn't want you to know the extent of its damage or any of the damage it is inflicting. The government has issued an unprecedented order restricting Israeli media from publishing details about the war.
The IDF military censor applies to Israeli media and any foreign media operating in Israel. The censorship rules extend beyond Gaza, banning Israeli press from publishing stories that could “damage national morale” or “aid the enemy.” That includes civilian casualties, military mishaps, footage of protests, and even some international reports that contradict the official line.
And it is retroactive? 1984-style!
Media watchdogs and human rights groups have condemned these censorship demands as deeply authoritarian—especially given the global implications. When a military demands pre-approval of news coverage, that’s not just “national security,” that’s information control.
What is it that they don't want us to see? Perhaps that the Iron Dome has been failing at an embarrassing rate. Al Jazeera reports that they "do not know exactly how some Iranian missiles made it past Israeli air defense systems."
If the Iron Dome is struggling to intercept missiles, Israel’s censors are working overtime to intercept the truth.
Gold Is Surging—Protect Your Savings Before the Next Record
Gold just clocked its tenth all-time high this year, racing past $3,200 /oz while stocks wobble and the dollar slides. Goldman Sachs now pegs the next stop at $4,500 + in 12 months—driven by central-bank buying, BRICS de-dollarization, and trillion-dollar U.S. debt.
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Fed Holds Rates — To Prep For War?
Photo Credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
President Trump said he would do a better job as Fed Chief than Jerome Powell because Powell pissed him off by keeping interest rates steady instead of cutting them, as the President wanted.
President Trump called Powell “a stupid person” who was “costing the country a fortune,” citing high interest payments for the federal government.
I mean…we could also lower the federal debt to lower interest payments. That's a thought.
The Fed also may have a new war to fund.
With a $37 trillion national debt, it is clear that the U.S. can't afford a new war but it can if the Fed acts as a War Venture Capitalist like always.
Former Congressman Ron Paul points out in his fantastic book End The Fed, World War I was funded by:
21%: taxation
56%: Fed-backed borrowing
23%: outright money creation
That trend hasn’t stopped. It’s only intensified through every war since.
If we had no Fed, we couldn’t go to war. End the Fed indeed!
News By The Numbers
Photo Credit: Gilead Sciences
2 times per year. That is how often patients are recommended to take the new HIV vaccine, lenacapavir. It is preventative, not a cure for HIV. You could also, you know… reduce risky behavior. But sure, let’s stick with biannual injections.
18%. That is how much one restaurant added to a customer's bill for "Living Wage Fee." The Internet has not taken kindly to this.
$2,500. That’s how much a Virginia man was fined for painting a crosswalk at a busy intersection after the city refused repeated requests to install one. Residents had asked for the safety measure, but the city said no — and then penalized the man who took action himself.
What's Trending?
Photo Credit: AP
Caitlin Clark is trending after taking some hard hits in a recent WNBA game. Fans are calling for the league to discipline the players involved — but Clark got the last word by doing what she does best: putting up at extra 20 points to win the game.
Bruce Springsteen is trending because of this new trailer for a movie about his life starring Jeremy Allen White as The Boss.
Hulk Hogan is trending because rumors of his death are false. He is reportedly being treated in the hospital for neck and back issues but not dying.
Supreme Court: States Can Ban Gender Transitions for Children
Photo Credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
The Supreme Court ruled that states can ban sex change procedures for minors, and — crucially — that transgender identity is not a protected class under the Constitution.
In its landmark decision in United States v. Skrmetti, the Court upheld Tennessee’s SB1 law, which prohibits doctors from performing sex change operations as well as prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy to children for the purpose of gender transition.
The Court rejected claims that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause, applying only rational basis review — the most deferential standard — and finding Tennessee’s interest in protecting minors from irreversible, experimental treatments to be plainly legitimate. As the Court noted, "many of these procedures, when performed on a minor for such purposes, are experimental in nature and not supported by high-quality, long-term medical studies."
But the bigger headline is this: the Court declined to invent a new “suspect class” for transgender individuals, resisting activist pressure to elevate gender identity to the same legal status as race or sex. That move was always unlikely, given the Court’s long-standing refusal to create suspect classes for other groups — including homeless people, people with disabilities, the poor, and the elderly.
The decision sends a powerful message to lower courts: the Constitution does not require states to affirm gender ideology — and courts are not in the business of creating new protected classes on demand.
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