Crooked Bough News Round-up

— London Mayor Sadiq Khan Calls For A Government Social Media 'Disinformation' Unit

 

at 4/12/26 5:00am

London Mayor Sadiq Khan Calls For A Government Social Media 'Disinformation' Unit Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Sadiq Khan is pushing hard for a new state-backed disinformation unit to silence online criticism of London. The Mayor claims a “dark blizzard of disinformation” is undermining the city, linking it directly to offline harm, and wants government tools to force Big Tech to act – or else. In a post on X (replies closed of course), Khan declared: “We can’t ignore the link between online disinformation and offline harm. At the Cambridge Disinformation Summit, I spoke about how the ‘outrage economy’ is eating away at the basic bonds of trust that hold our societies together – and why we need urgent action.” We can't ignore the link between online disinformation and offline harm. At the Cambridge Disinformation Summit, I spoke about how the "outrage economy" is eating away at the basic bonds of trust that hold our societies together – and why we need urgent action. pic.twitter.com/sEHU2GwVQF — Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) April 10, 2026 He doubled down in remarks to the media, insisting: “We’re right to expect big tech to do better, but we should not rely on it. If platforms fail to act, the state must have the tools to make them. That’s why I’ll continue lobbying the government publicly and privately to take a much tougher approach.” Disinformation about London has become a global industry. The new “outrage economy” is growing – and it’s eating away at the bonds that hold our society together. That's why I'm calling for urgent action from social media companies and government.https://t.co/moPcAqSWdK pic.twitter.com/olXHoAftTe — Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) April 10, 2026 Khan called for “a new central body with the agility and authority to protect our democracy from disinformation, and deal with the scale and speed of this crisis. And we need more aggressive enforcement of the rules we already have. Because unless regulators like Ofcom have the power to hit companies where it hurts, they’ll keep on getting away with it.” He added: “The outrage economy is eating away at the basic bonds of trust that hold our societies together. It isn’t just a challenge for progressives like me. It’s a challenge for anyone who believes in democracy – wherever they are.” Khan further suggested that “The same people attacking the capital have already started targeting other cities around the world. And, in a few years’ time, I think we’ll look back on London as the canary in the coal mine. But I hope we’ll also see it as the place where the fightback began.” Civil liberties group Big Brother Watch sounded the alarm on X: ?NEWS: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan wants to CRACKDOWN on social media posts criticising the capital, calling for a state-backed disinformation unit. Disinformation is a real problem – but it's also a term at risk of political exploitation by governments. We exposed how counter… pic.twitter.com/OtQuZtOqWu — Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) April 10, 2026 As we recently highlighted, Khan is running a campaign to dismiss the chaotic reality on London’s streets as foreign propaganda or American disinformation: While Khan obsesses over online narratives, the actual data from his own city tells a different story. ?REMINDER TO EVERYONE: This is Sadiq Khan’s London in 2025? ?The official Metropolitan Police figures since he became Mayor in 2016: ? Knife crime: +27% ? Robbery: +57% ? Theft from the person: +37% ? Shoplifting: +109% ?? Sexual offences: +64% ?? Violence against the… pic.twitter.com/jFg2DQUBjo — Gauci Reports (@GauciReports) December 9, 2025 Every hour in London a rape is reported, and every half hour or thereabouts knife crime is reported. Yet Sadiq khan claims it is the safest city in the world and everything negative you hear is “disinformation.” Stop gaslighting Londoners. The anger is about real crime on your watch – not “disinformation.” London Crime Stats Under Sadiq: – Knife crime: 16,147 offences in 2024/25 – highest of your time as Mayor (up from 9,721 in Boris’s last year) – Knife robberies: Doubled to over… https://t.co/6Wk5G8GazX — Gauci Reports (@GauciReports) April 10, 2026 Britains capital run by Sadiq Khan: ??Every 4.5 mins a phone is stolen. ??Every 1.8 mins a theft reported. ??Every 1 hour a rape is reported. ??Every 34 mins knife crime is reported Yet for Sadiq khan, disinformation is the problem. What’s your message to this vile man? pic.twitter.com/0ZCpWTaOs9 — The British Patriot (@TheBritLad) April 10, 2026 Big Brother Watch’s warning is spot on. When officials label uncomfortable truths about crime, migration and failing multiculturalism as “disinformation,” the real agenda becomes clear: protect the narrative, not the public. Read our report, 'Ministry of Truth: the secretive government units spying on your speech'??https://t.co/7SNlG7oiB5 — Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) April 10, 2026 This is classic surveillance-state creep dressed up as protecting democracy. Instead of fixing the streets, Khan wants to police the tweets. Free speech isn’t the problem – unchecked crime and open-borders policies that imported it are. The fightback isn’t a new government censorship body. It’s citizens refusing to be gaslit while their city crumbles. Londoners deserve safe streets, not speech police. 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. Tyler Durden Sun, 04/12/2026 - 07:00

— 'I Have A Dream'...

 

at 4/11/26 9:20pm

'I Have A Dream'... Authored by 'no01' via Gold and Geopolitics substack, I have a dream where politicians live next door to you... Not metaphorically. Literally... The man who voted to rezone your street works three doors down. His kids go to the same school as yours. When he raises the local tax rate and the potholes don’t get fixed, he drives over those same potholes every morning. And when the community has had enough, they let him know. Loudly. Personally. The way humans have held each other accountable for most of history, before we invented the beautiful abstraction of “institutional distance”. I know. It sounds naive. Let me explain why I don’t think it is... We live in an era that treats political monopoly as completely normal while losing its mind over market monopolies. Regulators drag Google into congressional hearings for owning search. They fine Microsoft for bundling browsers. They write entire legislative frameworks to prevent one company from becoming too dominant in any given market because we all understand, instinctively, what monopoly does: it kills accountability, it kills innovation, it raises prices, and it entrenches mediocrity. The monopolist has no reason to improve because you have nowhere else to go. And then we hand the same monopoly structure to the people who control our laws, our taxes, our foreign policy, our money supply, and we call it “democracy”. The irony is immaculate. The European Union is the cleanest example of what happens when you take this logic to its conclusion. The European Commission - the body that actually initiates legislation - is not elected. The Parliament, which is elected, cannot propose laws. It can only approve or reject what the Commission puts in front of it. The commissioners are appointed by national governments, serve five-year terms, and answer to a structure so opaque that most Europeans couldn’t name a single one of them without Googling. This isn’t a flaw in the design. It IS the design. Unaccountable by architecture. And Brussels is just the most visible layer. NATO, the UN, the WEF, the IMF - the whole ecosystem of supranational governance operates on the same principle: decisions made by people you didn’t elect, cannot remove, and will never meet. Corruption doesn’t require evil people. It requires structures where there are no consequences for failure and no competition for alternatives. Give anyone a monopoly with no accountability and you don’t need to assume malice. Incentives do the rest. Though, to be fair, the incentives also attract a specific type of person. Friedrich Hayek made this point in “The Road to Serfdom”: in any large bureaucratic structure, it is not the best people who rise to the top. It is the people most willing to compromise, most comfortable with ambiguity about means versus ends, most talented at political manoeuvring. Power selects for a particular psychology. Always has. And once you centralise enough of it into structures that nobody can vote out, you’ve created the perfect habitat for exactly the people you least want running things. Hans-Hermann Hoppe pushed this further in “Democracy: The God That Failed”, making an argument that sounds monstrous until you actually think about it: monarchs, counterintuitively, have better incentives than democratic politicians. A king owns the country. He passes it to his heirs. His time horizon is generational - he has every reason to keep the thing functional long-term. A democratic politician has a four-year window. He doesn’t own anything. He’s a temporary caretaker with a short lease and no liability for what he leaves behind. So he extracts. He borrows against the future. He promises what cannot be delivered because he won’t be around when the bill arrives. You don’t have to agree with Hoppe’s conclusions to recognise that the time-horizon problem is real and unsolved. The answer though in my opinion isn’t ‘monarchy’. The answer is competition. Hayek had a second insight (this one from “The Use of Knowledge in Society”, his 1945 essay in the American Economic Review), and it’s the one that made him famous: “The Knowledge Problem”. Central planners fail not because they’re stupid, but because the knowledge they need is dispersed, local, contextual, and impossible to aggregate centrally. The price of tomatoes in a village market contains information no ministry of agriculture could replicate. When you centralise decisions, you lose the signal. The same is true in politics. A bureaucrat in Brussels setting housing policy for Tallinn, Seville, and Ghent simultaneously is not making informed decisions. He’s making averaged guesses applied uniformly to situations that are not uniform. The knowledge that actually matters - what this or that neighbourhood needs, what these people value, what tradeoffs they’re willing to make - exists locally. It always has. The economist Charles Tiebout formalised this in 1956, though the intuition is much older: municipalities that compete for residents are forced to govern well. If your city raises taxes and delivers nothing, people leave. The tax base shrinks. The city either improves or it hollows out. Residents “vote with their feet” - a form of continuous democratic feedback that no election cycle can match, because it happens in real time and has immediate financial consequences for the state. Tiebout called it “fiscal federalism”. I’d call it capitalism applied to governance. Same principle. You have options, so the provider has to perform. Liechtenstein wrote this into its constitution directly: any village has the right to secede from the principality by referendum. It has never happened. It doesn’t need to. The right to leave is enough to enforce good behaviour. Switzerland has 26 cantons, each with its own tax rate, its own laws, its own character. Zurich and Appenzell Innerrhoden are barely recognisable as the same country. And Switzerland, despite being landlocked, multilingual, and geographically inconvenient, consistently ranks among the most prosperous and stable places on earth. Coincidence is not the explanation. Now add the OTHER half of the dream. No professional politician class. This isn’t even a new idea. The Romans had the cursus honorum - a structured series of civic roles that citizens were expected to fill as a duty, not as a career. The Athenians used sortition, selecting officials by lottery from eligible citizens, on the logic that any competent adult could govern and that elections primarily select for rhetoric and ambition rather than competence. Switzerland still operates a militia democracy at the cantonal level - officials who hold day jobs and govern part-time. The professional politician is a modern aberration, roughly a century old, and the results speak for themselves. The requirement I’d add: you cannot spend more than 50% of your time on political duties. The other half you work. Not consulting, not board membership, not “advising” - you do something that produces a tangible output. You build something, fix something, teach something, grow something. You stay in contact with the reality that your decisions affect. A transport minister who commutes by train. A housing regulator who rents. A labour minister who has been hired and fired. The skin-in-the-game principle that Nassim Taleb has been banging on about for decades: those who make decisions must bear the consequences of those decisions. The current system is precisely inverted - politicians make decisions whose consequences fall entirely on others, often long after the politician in question has retired comfortably on a parliamentary pension. And pay them accordingly. Prestige, not salary. The Romans understood this. The Swiss still understand it. When you make politics lucrative, you attract people who are primarily motivated by the lucrative. When you make it a duty, you get different candidates. Not perfect candidates - nothing produces those - but structurally different ones. The accountability piece is the last thread, and maybe the most important. Human scale. That’s what’s missing from every layer of modern governance above the local. When the city councillor who approved the bad zoning decision is someone you recognise at the market, something changes. Not because everyone will tar and feather him (though the option is clarifying). But because social accountability is the oldest and most effective enforcement mechanism we have. It predates courts, predates elections, predates states. You live in a community. You face the people affected by your choices. That feedback loop, compressed into institutional distance, is exactly what supranational governance destroys. Nobody in Brussels faces any community. Nobody at the IMF shops at the same supermarket as the Greeks they were advising in 2010. The counterarguments are real and worth taking seriously for thirty seconds. Defence: small states are vulnerable. True - but there’s a difference between voluntary defensive alliances and permanent supranational governments. NATO started as one and became the other. You can coordinate on specific shared threats without surrendering legislative sovereignty. Switzerland manages it fine. Race to the bottom on standards: if states compete, won’t they all rush to the lowest tax, weakest regulation, most exploitable environment? Sometimes. Singapore didn’t. Switzerland didn’t. Liechtenstein didn’t. Competition also produces race to the top - the record is mixed, and the assumption that centralisation produces good standards is contradicted by every agricultural subsidy regime in EU history. Not everyone can move: valid, and the most serious objection. Foot-voting privileges the mobile. But the competitive pressure benefits even those who stay, because the government that loses mobile residents to better-governed neighbours has immediate incentive to improve. You don’t have to leave for the dynamic to work. You just have to be able to leave. Global problems need global solutions: pandemics, climate, nuclear proliferation. Coordination on specific, defined problems with voluntary treaty structures is not the same thing as permanent supranational government with legislative power and no democratic accountability. We managed to coordinate on nuclear non-proliferation without building a world government. The argument proves too much. My dream ain’t a utopia. My dream is incentives that work instead of incentives that reliably produce what we currently have. I have a dream where the man who raised your taxes has to look you in the eye at the weekend. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 23:20

— 'No Deal': Vance Leaves Islamabad As Iran Talks Stall Over Nukes; US Starts Mine-Clearing Hormuz

 

at 4/11/26 9:00pm

'No Deal': Vance Leaves Islamabad As Iran Talks Stall Over Nukes; US Starts Mine-Clearing Hormuz Summary:  US-Iran peace talks have broken down over Iran's commitment to no nuclear weapons, Vance said "it's bad news for Iran, much more than for the US." CENTCOM confirms two mine-sweepers are clearing the Strait, Iran claims it turned the warships back. President Trump announces start of "clearing out the Strait" as a favor to the rest of the world. Peace talks in Pakistan begin in indirect format, led by Vance and on Iran side - Ghalibaf, Arachchi - expected to continue tomorrow Saturday sees more Israeli strikes on Lebanon, with Hezbollah supporting Pakistan talks but rejecting 'separate deal' directly with Israel. Trump on talks and potential bigger future attacks on Iran: "You don’t need a backup plan" as Iran's "military is defeated". //-- //-- Will the U.S. invade Iran before 2027? Yes 31% · No 70%View full market & trade on Polymarket *  *  * VP Vance Departs Pakistan After Failing To Read Deal With Iran Talks between the United States and Iran ended early Sunday without a peace agreement after Tehran refused to accept key US demands, including commitments on its nuclear program, US officials said. US Vice President JD Vance said the 21-hour negotiations concluded without a breakthrough, despite good-faith efforts by Washington.  “We have not reached an agreement, and I think it's bad news for Iran, much more than for the US," Vance said ??❌?? Vance: “We have not reached an agreement, and I think it's bad news for Iran, much more than for the US” This appears to be the predictable result of dispatching a negotiating team composed primarily of two pro-Israel assets (Kushner + Witkoff) and a novelist (Hillbilly… pic.twitter.com/6h72t46aEV — MCDC25 (@25_mcdc) April 12, 2026 “But the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon,” Vance said, adding that the proposal presented was the administration’s “final and best offer.” Vice President JD Vance gives an update in Pakistan:"The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon." pic.twitter.com/il4THN5DwV— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 12, 2026 The talks marked the third round of direct, face-to-face negotiations between the two sides, taking place days after a fragile two-week ceasefire was announced in the conflict that has entered its seventh week. Iran has no plans for a new round of talks with the US, Fars news agency reports, citing a source close to the negotiating team. “The American team was looking for an excuse to leave the negotiating table,” it adds.  The only market showing any notable impact is crypto with BTC retracing some of the post-ceasefire gains... The odds of a peace deal by the end of the two-week ceasefire just plunged... Talks Continue, Hormuz Remains Key Point of Contention Iranian media are striking a cautiously optimistic tone on the progress of the talks. They say there was progress on implementation of the ceasefire in Lebanon, technical negotiations that went beyond generalities and now an exchange of texts that would put any progress in writing.  To be sure, the US side has been much quieter, and sticking points may come into focus once they’re in black and white. Teams of experts joined the main negotiators after about an hour, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. Those technical discussions in Islamabad focused on the Strait of Hormuz, a potential ceasefire extension and phased sanctions relief. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency says, citing its reporter at the venue. “The issue of the Strait of Hormuz is one of the points facing serious disagreement”, adding that the US delegation “hindered progress” during the text-exchange stage with “its usual excessive demands” Talks have reportedly mostly avoided the core issues that the Trump administration said drove it to war, according to a US official and a Pakistani official familiar with the matter. Those issues include Iran’s support for armed proxies, and the nuclear and missile programs that were at the heart of Trump’s stated reasons for attacking Iran beginning Feb. 28. “We have goodwill, but we do not have trust,” Ghalibaf told reporters after arriving in Islamabad, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency. “In the upcoming negotiations, if the American side is prepared for a genuine agreement and to grant the rights of the Iranian nation, they will see readiness for an agreement from us as well.” Tasnim said that Tehran’s 71-member delegation also included the Islamic Republic’s central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati. Also on the agenda will be the fate of Iran’s uranium stockpile and missile production, as well as US sanctions against the Islamic Republic and broader military presence in the Middle East. Many of those issues were the same ones the two sides failed to resolve in February negotiations before the war began. Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi says Tehran has entered negotiations from a position of strength, arguing that the war on Iran had failed to deliver decisive strategic gains for the US. Trump - as we detailed below - made it clear he sees Iran 'holding no cards'. US Starts Clearing Mines In Strait of Hormuz Seemingly confirming President Trump's earlier comments on "clearing out the Strait", U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that two U.S. missile destroyers started clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz on April 11 as peace talks kicked off between Washington and the Iranian regime “Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,” CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement Saturday. The American ships included the USS Frank E. Peterson (DDG 121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112). CENTCOM revealed that the mission on Saturday is part of a broader goal to make the crucial waterway, located on the southwest coast of Iran, clear of sea mines laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Saturday’s confirmation about the mine clearing came hours after a United States government vessel was spotted entering the Strait of Hormuz, according to the ship-tracking intelligence platform Marinetraffic.com. It’s not clear if this was related to CENTCOM’s mine-clearing mission. Trump Announces Start Of "Clearing Out" The Strait As A "Favor" To RoW Earlier reports appears to have been confirmed as three US officials have stated to The Wall Street Journal that two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, marking the first transit of American warships through the waterway since the war began six weeks ago. President Trump took to social media to explain what was going on. But first, he clarified a few things to the 'fake news media'... The Fake News Media has lost total credibility, not that they had any to begin with. Because of their massive Trump Derangement Syndrome (Sometimes referred to as TDS!), they love saying that Iran is “winning” when, in fact, everyone knows that they are LOSING, and LOSING BIG! Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft apparatus is nonexistent, Radar is dead, their Missile and Drone Factories have been largely obliterated along with the Missiles and Drones themselves and, most importantly, their longtime “Leaders” are no longer with us, praise be to Allah! The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may “bunk” into one of their sea mines which, by the way, all 28 of their mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea. Having got all that off his chest, he then confirmed the operation to open the Strait: We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others. Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves. Very interestingly, however, empty Oil carrying ships from many Nations are all heading to the United States of America to LOAD UP with Oil. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP But he wasn't done with that. A few minutes later he followed with a shorter pithier version of the same narrative: The Fake News Media is CRAZY, or just plain CORRUPT! The United States has completely destroyed Iran’s Military, including their entire Navy and Air Force, and everything else. Their Leadership is DEAD! The Strait of Hormuz will soon be open, and the empty ships are rushing to the United States to “load up.” But, if you listen to the Fake News, we’re losing! Iran explicitly informed the Pakistani mediator during talks that if the vessel continued its movement it would be targeted within 30 minutes and the Iran-US negotiations would be damaged. However, no issues were reported during the ships transit of the Strait, and the move was described as a freedom-of-navigation mission. The (successful) timing of this action - as talks begin in Islamabad - is certainly a show of strength amid the delicate negotiations. Several US Warships Cross Hormuz Strait: Axios Just as indirect talks kick off in Islamabad, a shocking and surprise development is being reported by Axios' Barak Ravid, though this is not confirmed: ????Several U.S. navy ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, U.S. official says ????The move was not coordinated with Iran. It's the first time this happens since the beginning of the war — Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) April 11, 2026 If accurate, are we witnessing Trump suddenly pile on more leverage before negotiations even get off the ground? It seems like the Iranians would have noticed several US Navy warships passing. Either they held off attack for the sake of pursuing peace, or this was truly done 'stealthily' and Iranian capabilities are degraded to the point they may have 'missed' it. Or is this an attempt to muddy the negotiations? Sabotage? Ravid after all has long stood accused of pushing an Israeli agenda in his reporting. Talks Begin with Indirect Format Mediated by Pakistanis By Saturday afternoon (local), the highest-level US-Iran-related talks since the 1979 Islamic Revolution have kicked off in Islamabad. Vice President JD Vance met Pakistan's Shehbaz Sharif just ahead of the negotiations, and also senior Iranian officials were greeted by Sharif and other Pakistani leaders. Iran's delegation is led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The engagement by each side has begun indirectly. Pakistan has made clear it is working to facilitate direct negotiations between the US and Iran to fully bring to an end the six-week war in the Middle East. Sharif hailed both sides' commitment to engaging constructively, and "expressed the hope that these talks would serve as a stepping stone toward durable peace in the region," his office stated in a news release. "Vance was joined for the bilateral meeting by special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner," CNN reviews. "Sharif was joined by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sen. Mohammad Ishaq Dar, along with Interior Minister Sen. Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, according to a news release from the Pakistani prime minister’s office. There was no press coverage of the meeting." CNN also has this interesting detail on just how many officials have traveled with the Iranian side: "Iran’s delegation in Islamabad is made up of 71 people, including negotiators, experts, media representatives and security, Tasnim reported." According to some of the latest: Tehran reportedly set 2 main conditions. The issue of frozen funds being already accepted by Washington. Despite no strikes on Beirut, attacks in southern Lebanon are ongoing and are now part of the negotiations. Below: Ghalibaf (Speaker of Parliament) - Araghchi (Foreign Minister) - Ahmadian (Secretary of the Defense Council) - Hemmati (Central Bank Governor) Lebanon Fighting Has Not Stopped But Rare Diplomatic Contact Made Fighting has not fully stopped in Lebanon, raising the possibility of derailing the Pakistan talks, after Tehran had earlier in the week threatened that it could pull out if Israel keeps ups its attacks. On Saturday, Lebanon's Health Ministry raised the death toll from the Israeli surprise Wednesday strikes to 357, and suggested the figure could rise amid several days of search and recovery operations. But one rare bright spot in terms of diplomatic contact, as international reports say the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the United States held a phone call in the first direct contact reported between the two countries, ahead of ceasefire talks scheduled in Washington for next week. Meanwhile, Iran confirmed it is coordinating with Lebanon to ensure ceasefire commitments are upheld across all fronts, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on state TV from Islamabad, where senior US and Iranian officials are holding talks to end the six-week war. At the same time, Lebanese officials close to Hezbollah told Reuters the group supports the Pakistan dialogue and considers it the appropriate path, rejecting a separate round of talks planned in Washington next week. Iranian delegation in Pakistan seeks to present 'unity' of government/military leadership and coordination: I told @nytimes that the size and composition of Iran’s delegation shows “that they have not come to stonewall,” but are there with full authority and seriousness to reach a deal with the United States. Such a large delegation of experts would only be deployed if negotiations… — Vali Nasr (@vali_nasr) April 11, 2026 Israeli airstrikes have continued on a sporadic basis: "Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reports that an Israeli air attack on the town of Kfar Sir in the Nabatieh district has killed four people, including a paramedic, and injured four," writes Al Jazeera Saturday. "Another Israeli attack on the town of Zefta, also in the Nabatieh district, killed three people, including a member of the Lebanese Civil Defense, and wounded two." There's been an additional third attack on Toul and Nabatieh, killing three and injuring several more. Trump: 'No Backup Plan' Needed Since Iran's Military 'Defeated' "You don’t need a backup plan," Trump told reporters Friday when asked about possible next steps of Pakistan talks fail, according to a report by The Hill as he departed Washington en route to Florida. "The military is defeated." "Their military is gone. We’ve degraded just about everything," Trump added. These words suggest he sees the Pakistan peace process as a serious offramp. However, as we and others have reported, there's an ongoing Pentagon build-up in the region. This has kicked off speculation that a bigger US attack could be around the corner, at that the Islamabad summit is cover for ongoing military preparations. NEW: US officials tell the WSJ that jets have recently arrived in the Middle East, and 1,500 to 2,000 troops from the Army's elite 82nd Airborne could arrive in the coming days, as well as thousands of sailors and Marines. The USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group and 11th… pic.twitter.com/dXxG9q28N5 — Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) April 10, 2026 And yet, the reality is that Iran remains in control of the Strait of Hormuz, with only a tiny trickle of 'vetted and approved' vessels making it through, and reportedly paying hefty toll fees to Tehran, which Trump has warned against. Iran in Pakistan is asking for sanctions to be lifted. If the US grants this, Iran will be in a better position than went the war started, which will be tantamount to gains made through the fight. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 23:00

— New Iran Leadership More Extreme, Israeli Intelligence Concludes

 

at 4/11/26 8:45pm

New Iran Leadership More Extreme, Israeli Intelligence Concludes In what should not at all be a surprise to anyone who has been awake and observant over the past 20+ years of America's military interventions in the Middle East, the Israeli Army and intelligence officials have concluded that Iran's news leadership is more extreme than the previous one. The IDF delivered a closed-door intelligence briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Thursday, which involved presenting this finding, according to The Times of Israel. via Majlis Iran's new leadership consists of members of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which are now frequently described as far more ideologically rigid than the former political leadership - a development which was entirely predictable. The slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's son Mojtaba has not been seen in public since the US-Israeli attacks began, but he is also said to be hardline than his father. And of course, this current crop of leaders have either lost family or been wounded in the strikes - giving them more incentive to take a rigid stance against Washington. Still, NeoCon warmongers have been at times repeating old Iraq war, Bush era talking points of "they will greet us as liberators".  This certainly didn't happen in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and in the latter country the Taliban is now in complete control despite a more than two-decade long US coalition occupation and quagmire. America's 'nation-building' only produced a failed state followed by greater Taliban ascendancy and control. In many cases, the very same officials advocating for regime change in Iran were on board with all the foreign policy failures of the past, also including Syrian and Libya. The Trump administration itself in the opening days of the bombing campaign acted as if suddenly masses of people would rise up and overthrow the Islamic Republic and its long-standing institutions. Yet the government has not fallen, and still President Trump has lately claimed that Iran's losses of dozens of senior civilian and military leaders is tantamount to "regime change". This has not changed facts on the ground. As @RonPaul has said for more than a decade, if Americans knew there is a peaceful option to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, they would take it. Today’s YouGov poll shows 60% of Americans oppose military intervention in Iran. https://t.co/9GOvsYpvZm pic.twitter.com/obzs35Qxfk — Liam McCollum (@MLiamMcCollum) June 17, 2025 Vice President JD Vance traveled Friday to Pakistan for high-level talks with Iranian officials, and reports say that some 70 Iranians are traveling with the Tehran team to present a 'unified front'. Talks are expected into Sunday, and they entered with contrasting demands which appear very far apart. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 22:45

— Pakistani Warplanes Land In Saudi Arabia For Start Of Mutual Defense Pact

 

at 4/11/26 8:10pm

Pakistani Warplanes Land In Saudi Arabia For Start Of Mutual Defense Pact Via The Cradle A Pakistani military force arrived at Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz Air Base on Saturday, as part of a strategic defense pact between the two countries, the kingdom's defense ministry has announced. The Pakistani force includes air force fighter jets and support aircraft. It was sent to Saudi Arabia to "enhance joint military cooperation, raise operational readiness, and support security and stability in the region," the ministry's statement said. Pakistan Air Force image The military deployment arrived following five weeks of US-Israeli attacks on Iran, and as ceasefire talks take place in Islamabad. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a strategic defense agreement last year involving joint deployments, intelligence sharing, and coordinated responses to regional threats. The pact commits both states to treat any attack on one as an attack on both, allowing the Gulf kingdom to benefit from the protection afforded by Pakistan's nuclear weapons arsenal. In January, Pakistani F-16 fighter aircraft participated in a multinational air combat exercise in Saudi Arabia. The Spears of Victory-2026 exercise also involved military forces from France, Italy, Greece, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, the UK, and the US. Riyadh and Islamabad have a history of close military cooperation dating back to the 1960's. During the 1991 Gulf War, Pakistan sent troops to defend the Saudi kingdom from a possible Iraqi invasion. In return, Pakistan has benefited from Saudi financial and military support. On Saturday, Turkish media reported that Saudi Arabia and Qatar will provide Pakistan with $5 billion in financial assistance to help shore up Islamabad's dwindling foreign currency reserves, which currently stand at about $16.4 billion. The development comes as the UAE is requiring Pakistan to repay a $3.5 billion debt by the end of the month. Pakistan's reserves have come under additional pressure recently, thanks to rising costs for imported fuel resulting from the US-Israeli war on Iran. The $5 billion payment was announced following a meeting between Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Jadaan and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday night in Islamabad. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 22:10

— Does Altman Molotov Attack Portend Pitchforks Over AI?

 

at 4/11/26 7:35pm

Does Altman Molotov Attack Portend Pitchforks Over AI? Things might be going kinetic in the backlash against data centers and AI.  On Friday, a 20-year-old suspect set on burning down OpenAI headquarters was charged and arrested following a predawn Molotov cocktail attack on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s house in the Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home on Russian Hill in San Francisco, whose driveway is shown Friday, was the target of an incendiary device, police said. Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, 20, from Texas, was arrested and booked into County Jail hours after the incident. He faces multiple felony charges including attempted murder, arson, making criminal threats, and two counts each of possession or manufacture of an incendiary device and possession of a destructive device. He is being held without bail. "Thankfully it bounced off the house and no one got hurt," Altman wrote in a blog post.  According to police and OpenAI, the attack unfolded around 3:40–3:45 a.m. on April 10 when Moreno-Gama allegedly hurled a flaming bottle at the metal gate of Altman’s home at 855 Chestnut Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood. The device ignited a small fire that was quickly extinguished by on-site security, causing only minor damage and no injuries; it reportedly bounced off the house. The suspect then fled to OpenAI’s Mission Bay headquarters, where he allegedly threatened to burn down the building. Officers recognized him from surveillance footage of the residence attack and took him into custody without further incident. OpenAI issued a brief statement confirming the events and thanking SFPD for the rapid response, noting that security had been stepped up at company offices. Hours later, Altman published a strikingly personal blog post that has generated almost as much discussion as the attack itself. Read Altman’s full post here. In it, he shared a rare family photo with his husband Oliver Mulherin and their child, writing: “Here is a photo of my family. I love them more than anything. Images have power, I hope… Normally we try to be pretty private, but in this case I am sharing a photo in the hopes that it might dissuade the next person from throwing a Molotov cocktail at our house.” Altman described himself as “awake in the middle of the night and pissed,” admitted he had underestimated “the power of words and narratives,” and linked the moment to broader anxiety about AI, including a recent critical profile. The post mixes personal apologies and reflections on past conflicts (including the Elon Musk trial and OpenAI board drama), a dramatic Lord of the Rings “ring of power” metaphor for the AGI race, and a call to “de-escalate the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer homes, figuratively and literally.”  The timing and tone of Altman’s response appear to underscore a deeper reality now playing out across the country: financially strained American households are increasingly pushing back against the infrastructure demands of the AI industry. New data this week shows residential electricity prices surging in key regions, driven in large part by the explosive growth of data centers needed to train and run large language models. Communities from Virginia to Georgia to the Midwest have mounted growing resistance - through zoning fights, moratoriums, and public hearings - over electricity costs, water consumption, land use, and limited local economic benefits, marking what one analysis described as a sharp escalation in Americans starting to revolt against data centers. In response to the pressure, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI this week signed a Trump-administration-brokered “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” committing the companies to fully fund their own new power generation, transmission upgrades, and grid improvements so that ordinary ratepayers are not left footing the bill. The move follows an emergency intervention directing the nation’s largest grid operator to hold a special auction shifting billions in costs away from households. This backlash is fueled not only by soaring electricity costs but also by deep-seated fears that AI and large language models will trigger widespread job displacement. Many Americans, particularly recent graduates and white-collar workers, worry that rapid automation of cognitive and knowledge-based work will leave large segments of the labor force behind. Are we on the cusp of a new luddite revolution? Close enough https://t.co/reP3n5kJpR pic.twitter.com/PrH03ydD8A — zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 10, 2026 Wanna read something scary? Stanford software engineering grads aren't finding work... "Stanford computer science graduates are struggling to find entry-level jobs" with the most prominent tech brands, according to the university's Jan Liphardt, an associate professor in bioengineering. While the rapidly advancing coding capabilities of generative AI have made experienced engineers more productive, they have also hobbled the job prospects of early-career software engineers. Stanford students describe a suddenly skewed job market, where just a small slice of graduates — those considered “cracked engineers” who already have thick resumes building products and doing research — are getting the few good jobs, leaving everyone else to fight for scraps. “There’s definitely a very dreary mood on campus,” said a recent computer science graduate who asked not to be named so they could speak freely. “People [who are] job hunting are very stressed out, and it’s very hard for them to actually secure jobs.” The shake-up is being felt across California colleges, including UC Berkeley, USC and others. The job search has been even tougher for those with less prestigious degrees. -LA Times  While the vast majority of this pushback remains peaceful and policy-focused, the Molotov incident may be the first kinetic action in the luddite revolution. Altman himself seemed to nod to that anxiety in his post, acknowledging that “the fear and anxiety about AI is justified” and calling for societal resilience, economic transition support, and democratization so that “power cannot be too concentrated.” Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 21:35

— China's BYD Introduces 3.9-Second 0-60 Electric SUV With Massive Range

 

at 4/11/26 7:00pm

China's BYD Introduces 3.9-Second 0-60 Electric SUV With Massive Range Authored by Bojan Stojkovski via Interesting Engineering, The BYD Great Tang full-size SUV is now reaching dealerships across China ahead of its planned April presale debut at the Beijing Auto Show. Early dealer data shows at least four configurations are being prepared for the market, spanning rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive setups with varying performance and range ratings.  BYD Great Tang SUV set to challenge established plug-in hybrid rivals. In its most capable form, the SUV is expected to deliver up to around 590 miles of driving range, positioning it as a long-distance option in the segment. As the production version of the Dynasty-D concept, the Great Tang sits at the top of BYD’s SUV lineup, both in size and technology. [ZH: The range claim comes from the Chinese CLTC test cycle, which tends to be a bit optimistic] It measures more than 17.4 feet in length and rides on a 123-inch wheelbase, making it the brand’s largest crossover to date. The model is designed with a three-row, seven-seat configuration, targeting family-oriented buyers seeking space, efficiency, and extended electric range. 3.9-second acceleration and extended-range capability The all-electric BYD Great Tang uses the company’s second-generation Blade Battery architecture and is designed to support high-power fast charging for reduced downtime on long trips. In its rear-wheel-drive configuration, the SUV delivers up to approximately 590 miles of CLTC range from a 130.15 kWh battery pack, placing it among the longest-range electric SUVs currently announced in China, CarNewsChina reports. Performance is significantly higher in the dual-motor all-wheel-drive variant, which produces up to 585 kW and can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in about 3.9 seconds. This added performance comes with a trade-off in efficiency, with range reduced to around 528 miles CLTC, though it still remains competitive within the long-range EV SUV segment. In addition to the fully electric lineup, BYD will also introduce plug-in hybrid versions of the Great Tang built on its DM-i and DM-p powertrain systems. The DM-i variant pairs a 1.5-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with a 200 kW electric motor, delivering up to approximately 213 miles of CLTC electric-only range, positioning it for efficiency-focused driving and daily commuting. The DM-p configuration steps up output significantly, using a dual-motor setup that produces a combined 400 kW. This version is tuned for stronger acceleration and more dynamic driving characteristics, while still retaining the flexibility of a hybrid system that blends combustion and electric power for extended range capability. Aiming for upper mid-market SUV space amid strong competition The Great Tang is being strategically positioned within BYD’s broader SUV portfolio to avoid internal overlap with its premium Denza lineup while still targeting the upper tier of the mainstream market. This placement suggests a focus on balancing scale, technology, and accessibility within the rapidly expanding full-size SUV segment. In the competitive landscape, the model is expected to go head-to-head with rivals such as the Geely Galaxy M9, a large plug-in hybrid SUV that has already demonstrated strong early market traction with more than 11,000 deliveries in just the first two months of the year.  The segment is becoming increasingly crowded, with demand driven by families and long-distance users seeking a mix of electric efficiency and extended range flexibility. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 21:00

— Bitcoin Could Be Quantum-Safe Without Protocol Changes, New Proposal Claims

 

at 4/11/26 5:50pm

Bitcoin Could Be Quantum-Safe Without Protocol Changes, New Proposal Claims Authored by Micah Zimmerman via Bitcoin Magazine.coim A new research proposal claims it can make Bitcoin transactions resistant to quantum attacks without changing the network’s core rules, a goal that has drawn attention as concerns grow over future cryptographic risks. In a paper published on April 9, Avihu Levy of StarkWare outlined “Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Transactions Without Softforks,” introducing a scheme called Quantum Safe Bitcoin, or QSB. The design aims to protect transactions from threats posed by quantum computers while remaining compatible with the existing Bitcoin protocol. The proposal targets a known vulnerability in Bitcoin’s current design. Standard transactions rely on ECDSA signatures over the secp256k1 curve. In theory, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer running Shor’s algorithm could potentially break this system by solving discrete logarithms, which would allow attackers to forge signatures and spend funds. QSB replaces reliance on elliptic curve security with hash-based assumptions. Instead of trusting ECDSA, the scheme uses it as a verification mechanism while shifting security to hash pre-image resistance. This approach draws from earlier work known as Binohash, which embeds one-time signature schemes into Bitcoin Script. JUST IN: Bitcoin developer Avihu Levy introduces "Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Transactions Without Softforks" ? pic.twitter.com/enghEoOq10 — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 9, 2026 At the core of QSB is a “hash-to-signature” puzzle. The system hashes a transaction-derived public key using RIPEMD-160 and treats the output as a candidate ECDSA signature. Only a small fraction of random hashes meet the strict formatting rules required for valid signatures, creating a proof-of-work condition. The paper estimates the probability of success at about one in ~70.4 trillion attempts. Bitcoin resistant to quantum attacks Because the puzzle depends on hash properties rather than elliptic curve hardness, it remains resistant to Shor’s algorithm. A quantum attacker would gain only a quadratic speedup from Grover’s algorithm, leaving meaningful security margins. The paper estimates about 118-bit second pre-image resistance under a Shor threat model. The construction works within Bitcoin’s existing scripting limits, including a cap of 201 opcodes and a maximum script size of 10,000 bytes. It uses legacy script structures and avoids any need for consensus changes or soft forks, a feature that may appeal to developers wary of protocol fragmentation. The transaction process unfolds in three stages, the proposal claims. First, a “pinning” phase searches for transaction parameters that produce a valid hash-to-signature output, binding the transaction to a fixed structure. Next, two digest rounds select subsets of embedded signatures to generate additional proofs tied to the transaction hash. Finally, the transaction is assembled with all required preimages and verification data. The design introduces tradeoffs. QSB transactions exceed standard relay policy limits, which means they would not propagate across the network under default settings. Instead, they would require direct submission to miners through services such as Slipstream. The scripts also consume significant space and computational resources. Despite these constraints, the cost of generating a valid transaction appears within reach. The paper estimates total compute expenses between $75 and $150 using cloud GPUs, with the workload scaling across parallel hardware. Early testing reports successful puzzle solutions after several hours using multiple GPUs. The project remains incomplete. While the paper and script generation tools are finished, parts of the pipeline, including full transaction assembly and broadcast, have not been demonstrated on-chain. Still, the proposal adds to a growing body of research exploring how Bitcoin could adapt to a future with quantum computing. By avoiding protocol changes, QSB presents one path that relies on existing rules rather than consensus upgrades, a direction that may shape further debate on long-term network security. [ZH: Brain fogged over? QSB makes the hard math puzzle at the heart of Bitcoin... harder...] Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 19:50

— Car-Shopping Websites Report Uptick In EV Interest Following Gasoline Price Shock

 

at 4/11/26 5:15pm

Car-Shopping Websites Report Uptick In EV Interest Following Gasoline Price Shock March brought the biggest fuel price shock Americans have experienced on record, or at least according to AAA data going back to the early 2000s. A fuel price shock changes consumer behavior, especially for low-income households, by forcing folks to drive less, combine trips, cancel discretionary travel, or shift to carpooling and public transit. For those who have the financial flexibility to do so, a fuel price shock may push some consumers toward smaller cars, hybrids, and EVs and away from large SUVs and trucks, because fuel economy suddenly matters much more. The Wall Street Journal reports that a $4-per-gallon national average for gasoline, a politically sensitive level, is the threshold at which some consumers are beginning to think about EVs again. Online car-shopping platforms such as Cars.com and Edmunds have reported a modest uptick in EV interest among users on their platforms in recent weeks.  Edmunds pointed out that interest in EVs on its website has returned to where it was before federal tax incentives expired late last year. "In the short term, a lot of Americans, and this has nothing to do with regulations, are coming back to EVs because of the cost of ownership," Hyundai Motor Chief Executive José Muñoz told the WSJ. "Basically, the fuel costs are making them change their decision." Muñoz said that EVs are finding a place in the driveways of households in states like California because it makes economic sense to commute to work during the week in EVs rather than gasoline-powered cars.  He said the thinking in some households is: "I have one car from Monday to Friday, another car for the weekend." We must point out that far-left states like California suffer from state-killing climate policies and terrible energy policies that are crushing households on the pocketbook level.  Data from Cox Automotive shows that EV sales jumped 12% in the first quarter as a flood of off-lease EVs swamped the market, pushing prices lower and making them more affordable. Edmunds data show that EVs accounted for roughly 6.2% of new-car sales in March, up from 6% in February, but this is noticeably down from September, when EVs accounted for 11.5% of sales. Higher EV sales last year were mostly driven by consumers seeing that federal tax credits were expiring at the end of the year, think of it as demand pulled forward. Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, said the surge in gasoline and diesel prices at the pump during the six-week U.S.-Iran conflict led to "an uptick in consideration" of EVs. She said driving habits are hard to change, considering Americans enjoy the luxury of large SUVs and trucks. Meanwhile, Chinese EV exports soared 140% in March, driven by surging demand outside the US amid Gulf-related energy shocks.  Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 19:15

— Climate Organization Behind Anti-ICE Protests Is Leading May 1 School Walkout Plan, Parent Group Reports

 

at 4/11/26 4:40pm

Climate Organization Behind Anti-ICE Protests Is Leading May 1 School Walkout Plan, Parent Group Reports Authored by Aaron Gifford via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), One of the main organizations behind the recent protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations is encouraging children to walk out of class en masse next month to help promote its agenda, which includes achieving what it said are “Eco-socialism, [a] multi-racial democracy, and Green New Deal legislation,” according to a April 8 report by representatives of parent group Defending Education. Organized by the Sunrise Movement, hundreds of young climate activists march to the White House to demand that U.S. President Joe Biden work to make the Green New Deal into law in Washington, DC, on June 28, 2021. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The Sunrise Movement, during its March 17 online membership meeting, called on schools to “train up” employees and students to disrupt the federal government ahead of planned May 1 “May Day” protests as part of an ongoing “political revolution” to “structurally change the foundations of this country,” according to slides Defending Education, a nonprofit opposing indoctrination in classrooms, obtained from a tipster who attended the meeting. The Sunrise Movement, according to the slides and its website, describes itself as an anti-President Donald Trump “climate revolution” group that advocates socialism, supports a rainbow coalition of the multi-racial working class, and calls for an end to the “billionaire” two-party political system. In addition to mass school walkouts, the organization is also calling for more disruptions to Hilton hotels, which have housed ICE officers, according to the slides. Past actions included calling for boycotts of the hotel chain and engaging in “wide awake” events where protestors gathered outside of Hilton-branded hotels and made as much noise as possible to prevent ICE officers—and everyone else staying there—from sleeping. Another slide illustrates a domino effect that starts with the ideological conversion of students and young people and spreads to teachers, customer service workers, city service workers, factory service workers, shipping and transportation workers, and ultimately “military and police defections.” “They have zero reservations about using children to advance their political ideology,” Rhyen Staley, Defending Education research director, told The Epoch Times. “These kids are being used for their propaganda.” The Sunrise Movement was frequently listed in an earlier report produced by Staley that identified 357 protests and walkouts at middle schools and high schools so far this year. He said the organization, backed by wealthy donors, recruits students via social media and provides signs used at the protests. The slide presentation is not currently on the Sunrise Movement’s website, but the information noted in it is contained in different pages throughout the site, including a “student rise-up” guide. “May Day 2026 is our chance to practice mass non-cooperation, prove our power so we can pick bigger fights, and set the movement’s agenda with clear demands,” the guide says. “On May Day 2026, students at hundreds of schools are walking out, rising up, and disrupting business as usual.” Staley anticipates participation from K-12 students across the country, especially in Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and California. Most of them, he said, don’t necessarily agree with or understand the ideology they’ll be walking out for; it’s just a chance to get out of class. He previously told The Epoch Times that teacher unions are connected to public school protests nationwide. Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association (NEA) teachers’ union, appeared in a Sunrise Movement video two days before the Jan. 30 “National Day of Action” coordinated by the coalition NationalShutdown.org. “On behalf of the education professionals who belong to the NEA ... thank you, Sunrise, for standing on the front lines in Minneapolis and in so many cities across our nation, demanding justice in all forms,” Pringle said in the video. Staley said these events exacerbate what he said is an ongoing discipline crisis in public schools. Districts might not have updated policies to address walkouts or delegate responsibility to teachers, who might only deduct class participation points with no further discipline for skipping class without an excused absence. School officials often don’t understand how freedom of speech protections apply in school settings and fear they’ll be sued for First Amendment violations if they don’t allow students to participate in walkouts. “They don’t want nastygrams [from attorneys] and the bad attention,” he said. “They’d rather deal with the fallout from just a few parents afterward.” Safety is another concern, given the heightened fear of terrorism. A massive May 1 mobilization of children is a dangerous idea right now, Staley said. Defending Education urges parents to talk with their children about the consequences of skipping classes to promote politics they don’t necessarily support. Teachers can also use this current event as a teaching moment and challenge students to state their views in writing as if they were submitting a letter to Congress or their local newspaper. “[Students’] responsibility is to be as educated as possible,” he said, “so [they belong] in a classroom.” The Epoch Times reached out to the Sunrise Movement for comment but did not hear back by publication time. Janice Hisle, Savannah Hulsey Pointer, and Darlene McCormick Sanchez contributed to this report.  Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 18:40

— It's A MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ World And We're Just Living In It

 

at 4/11/26 3:30pm

It's A MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ World And We're Just Living In It Authored by Rick Moran via PJMedia.com, What is MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+? It might be a new, super-strong password. Maybe it's a Gen-Whatever code-like thing that's sweeping the internet, like "6-7" or something. If only it could be that mundane. In fact, MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ is an all-inclusive, all-encompassing, balls-to-the-wall, slam bang, wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am acronym for the totality of the gender bending, sexually "unique" population of Canada.  For the record, as Jim Treacher helpfully points out, it stands for "Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and "additional identities ("+"). The excitement was started by a Canadian New Democratic Party member of parliament, Leah Gazan, who complained that not enough money was being spent to "deal with the ongoing genocide of MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+." NDP MP Leah Gazan condemns Budget 2026 for cutting $7B from Indigenous Services Canada and Crown Indigenous relations. "They provided $0 to deal with the ongoing genocide of MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+," she said. "Rates of violence are increasing, and the PM is turning a blind eye." pic.twitter.com/G0QfVjNpNB — Juno News (@junonewscom) April 8, 2026 Budgeting for each and every identity, preference, and fantasy spirit in the MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ community would blow up the Canadian budget.  I fondly recall when sexual preference identities were simple: LGB and maybe T, XYZ, believe you me. It was easy. It was a simpler time then. We didn't have to worry about offending someone by using the wrong pronoun. We didn't have to worry about making some poor, disturbed "T" or "Q" explode in tears from being misgendered.   It would be so much easier (and we'd be less likely to offend) if the MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ "community" would just walk around with name tags identifying which gender they are, what their sexual identity is, and most importantly, what pronouns they prefer to be referred to. Yes, that's a joke. No Nazi "Star of David" references, please. Not that I'd use them. But since misgendering is going to be an Olympic sport in 2030, it would be helpful to know who we should insult.  Treacher tried and failed to keep a straight face in reporting on this phenomenon. Okay, for real, this is a serious topic. You don’t want to see women kidnapped and murdered. Not most women, anyway. I mean, there are names that come to mind… But no. Nobody should go through that. Mostly. And of course, since that’s such a long acronym and that woman just rattled it off like it’s a normal thing to say, people are having some fun with it today. “Got my new password!” That sort of thing. There’s a British comedian named Damian Slash who has perfected a sort of straight-faced satire of… liberal excesses, let’s put it that way. Here he is explaining why MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ is no joke. MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ is not a joke pic.twitter.com/VMLFVvMPCn — Damien Slash (@damienslash) April 9, 2026 The internet being the internet, there was a slanderous fake news take on this story that claimed Canada was updating its LGBTQ+ acronym to MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+. Pink News, whose goal is to "empower generations to embrace and shape the future - making the world a gayer place," says that simply isn't true. "She [Gazan] used MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ as a catch-all term," says Pink News.  "Catch-all?" Really? That's a pretty wide net to use as a "catch-all."  "Various social media sites began reporting that Canada has now officially updated the LGBTQ+ acronym to MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+, which isn’t the case," we're informed by Pink News.  It's impossible to parody leftists who are blissfully unaware of their own stupidity. Okay, so why is this so annoying? Why does this bug me so much? Why is liberalism so irritating? Because that’s what’s going on here. It’s not about making fun of people who are in trouble. It’s not about making fun of these women. It’s about not just being able to say that. That these women are in trouble. They need help. Just say that they’re missing women. They’re possibly murdered. Just say that. But that’s not inclusive. Precisely. If this really were about saving lives, they wouldn't use code that's impossible to say with a straight face or highfalutin "all-inclusive" descriptions of what these people's preferences are when it comes to who they love or prefer to sleep with. It's pretentious bull. And they do their cause no good by employing acronyms solely to be "inclusive" while failing to see it as the problem. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 17:30

— Netanyahu Says Israel Will Continue To Fight Iran & Proxies, Unlike Appeaser Erdogan

 

at 4/11/26 2:55pm

Netanyahu Says Israel Will Continue To Fight Iran & Proxies, Unlike Appeaser Erdogan As expected, Israel says it is preparing to keep waging war against Iran - even as the US and Tehran are engaged in high level talks in Pakistan. Clearly Tel Aviv has a dim view of the potential outcome in the Islamabad summit. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a fresh statement Saturday vowed he will continue fighting Iran and its allies, in a post that also took a swipe at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Israel under my leadership will continue to fight Iran’s terror regime and its proxies, unlike Erdogan who accommodates them and massacred his own Kurdish citizens. — Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 11, 2026 "Israel under my leadership will continue to fight Iran’s terror regime and its proxies," Netanyahu wrote on X. He then turned to blasting Erdogan for "accommodating" Iran and being responsible for "massacres" of Kurdish citizens. Ever since the Gaza war began well over two years ago, Turkey and Israel have been locked in a bitter war of words which at times included sanctions and a regional trade war. Erdogan has frequently accused Israeli leaders of genocide and of seeking to take over the whole Middle East. In Syria, Turkish and Israeli warplanes have even come close to engaging in conflict. The two remain the most influential and powerful countries in the Near East region. In many ways they are direct rivals in the region. It remains unclear whether Netanyahu is saying that he will keep attacking Iran no matter the outcome of ceasefire talks. Elsewhere the Israelis have said they are indeed willing to uphold a potential Trump deal, and certainly Washington would pressure them to do so in the event a final truce is agreed to. But at the same time, Netanyahu has long sworn that he'll never tolerate a nuclear armed Iran. For this reason, Israel's stance remains a big wild card pending the outcome of talks.  Watch Netanyahu's full statement below: ????? Netanyahu: "The campaign against Iran is not over. We still have more to do."pic.twitter.com/z2H5HrRMf9 https://t.co/XicpeMHLMj — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 11, 2026 Israel could potentially sabotage any ceasefire deal out of Pakistan. For example it could keep attacking Iran, or also Lebanon. This week's major attacks in Lebanon have threatened to derail the Islamabad process before it even began. Hezbollah has said it will respect any US-Iran deal, but has also been lobbing rockets into northern Israel. Israel's position is that any Lebanon deal be separated out from Islamabad. * * * Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 16:55

— Texas To Face $700 Million In Federal Penalties For SNAP Errors Through 2027

 

at 4/11/26 2:20pm

Texas To Face $700 Million In Federal Penalties For SNAP Errors Through 2027 Authored by Sylvia Xu via The Epoch Times, Texas is expected to pay $708 million more by 2027 to the federal government in penalties for erroneous distributions from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The state officials released the cost in a presentation to the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services on April 8. The state payment error rate was estimated to be nearly 9 percent in fiscal year 2025, totaling $627 million in erroneous payments. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Texas will need to share an additional food stamps program cost of $708 million, 10 percent of the state’s total program benefits, based on its error rate, beginning October 2027. Currently, the federal government fully funds the food stamps program, while states only need to pay half of the administrative expenses. In fiscal year 2024, Texas received nearly $7 billion in federal funding and paid roughly $470 million for administrative costs. Starting in October 2026, the states will need to share the administration costs at a rate of 75 percent. By 2027, Texas is expected to pay about $826 million more after adding in administrative fees of $117 million. To avoid that result, Texas needs to bring its error rate down to 6 percent before the fiscal year ends this September. In Texas, more than 3.2 million residents benefit from the food stamps program as of December 2025, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. A family of four can receive a maximum of $994 per month on a Lone Star Card, which can be used like a debit card at any store that accepts SNAP. Starting on April 1, SNAP recipients cannot buy candy or sweetened drinks in Texas with their Lone Star Cards. Improper Payments The federal government allocated nearly $100 billion to the food stamps program in fiscal year 2024; however, roughly $11 billion of that total was attributed to improper disbursement. The food stamp error rate doesn’t come from fraud by people receiving the benefits, but from states making mistakes in determining who gets benefits and how much they receive. Mistakes arise when beneficiaries forget to report changes in income or circumstances, or when government offices commit errors during case processing, according to the Texas Health and Human Services. Food stamp errors accounted for 7 percent of the approximately $162 billion in improper payments recorded across 68 federal programs in fiscal year 2024, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Since fiscal year 2003, cumulative federal improper payments have amounted to an estimated $2.8 trillion. The actual amount of improper payments may be significantly higher, according to the report. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 16:20

— Three Supertankers Carrying Iraqi And Saudi Crude Sail Through The Strait Of Hormuz

 

at 4/11/26 1:45pm

Three Supertankers Carrying Iraqi And Saudi Crude Sail Through The Strait Of Hormuz The wait is over: after the Persian Gulf side of the Hormuz Strait had turned into a bit of a parking lot late last week as tankers piled up hoping to use the ceasefire and make the crossing, two Chinese supertankers loaded with crude sailed through the Strait of Hormuz hours after a Greek vessel moved through the waterway, marking a significant uptick in oil shipping traffic. It represents the biggest day of oil exits through Hormuz since the war caused traffic through the waterway to all but halt six weeks ago. More importantly, none of the ships are carrying Iranian oil or have obvious, direct links to the country. The two Chinese supertankers are the Cospearl Lake and the He Rong Hai.  The Greek one is the Serifos. The Serifos and the He Rong Hai loaded their cargoes in Saudi Arabia, while the Cospearl Lake did so in Iraq, the tracking data show.  All three tankers sailed eastward via south of Iran’s Larak Island, a new route outlined by Iran’s navy last week. The duo were in the Gulf of Oman by Saturday morning, ship-tracking data shows. The two Chinese supertankers are the first from the Asian nation observed taking barrels out of Persian Gulf, a benefit for Beijing but also underscoring that the country has also been squeezed by the conflict. There’s also a third Chinese tanker, the Yuan Hua Hu, which hasn’t been signaling on Saturday, that had been waiting close by the first two before they moved to depart the Persian Gulf.  The ships’ journeys were widely watched by marine and oil industry analysts as a sign of potential uptick for the traffic through the strait. Only two bulk carriers were allowed to pass on Friday, the fewest so far in April, according S&P Global Market Intelligence. While the exits are significant, in oil flow terms, they are still way below peace-time levels: The three crossing tankers between them have a transport capacity of about 6 million barrels of crude. In addition, Iran, the only country really sending barrels through, exported at a rate of about 1.7 million barrels a day last month. That would imply roughly half the normal rate of shipments through the waterway — and only on a single day.  Iran has said that vessels are allowed to sail through the waterway, but that they must get permission to do so. All three tankers followed a northerly route through the strait that has been demanded by Tehran. That path passes through Iranian waters and along the coasts of Qeshm and Larak Islands and is well away from the traditional Hormuz shipping lanes that hug the southern coast of the waterway. The Greek tanker was signaling for Malacca in Malaysia, whose media reported on Friday a permission for the country’s freighters to depart. Malacca is also a waypoint for ships going elsewhere in Asia.  Almost all traffic through the waterway, which normally handles about a fifth of the world’s oil and a similar portion of liquefied natural gas, ground to a halt within a day of the war starting on Feb. 28. The reopening of Hormuz is critical to global oil trade because its closure has resulted in the loss of millions of barrels of supply to mostly Asian markets. A resumption would alleviate pressure on increasingly tight physical markets everywhere, and send prices plunging. The US and Iran are set to hold peace talks in Islamabad in the coming days. * * * Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 15:45

— Sotomayor Blames Colleagues For Flood Of Emergency Appeals

 

at 4/11/26 1:10pm

Sotomayor Blames Colleagues For Flood Of Emergency Appeals Authored by Jackson Richman via The Epoch Times, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said a surge in emergency appeals to the Supreme Court is largely the court’s own doing. “We’ve done it to ourselves,” she said during an April 9 event at the University of Alabama School of Law. She said that the volume of emergency filings has reached levels never seen before in the court’s history.   Over the past 15 months, the Trump administration submitted about 30 emergency requests to the court, succeeding in more than 80 percent of them.   Many of those rulings divided the justices along ideological lines, with 6–3 outcomes. Sotomayor, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009, suggested those wins reflect a shift among some of her colleagues, who now tend to assume that blocking federal policies automatically causes irreparable harm—grounds for the court to intervene. She also said that “there’s a disagreement among us right now.” Some justices, she said, believe that when Congress enacts a law, preventing it from taking effect inherently harms both lawmakers and the public. “It has changed the paradigm on the court.” Her comments were the latest from justices expressing concerns about the court’s use of the emergency docket, which is used to temporarily halt lower-court orders as litigation proceeds. Sotomayor commented on the issue in a dissent last year after the court allowed a policy expanding deportations of immigrants to countries where they have no prior connections. “Other litigants must follow the rules, but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial,” she wrote. Supreme Court justices have been disagreeing over the emergency docket. At an annual lecture on March 9, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson disagreed about the court’s increasing use of emergency orders, many of which have enabled President Donald Trump to move forward with key policies. These cases are typically handled on a fast track, with limited written arguments and usually no oral hearings. The resulting decisions are often unsigned and may include little explanation, though individual justices sometimes write concurring or dissenting opinions. A key question in these emergency appeals is whether a challenged policy should take effect immediately while the legal process—often lasting years—continues. Lower courts have blocked parts of Trump’s policy agenda, prompting his administration to seek emergency intervention from the Supreme Court. In many instances, the justices have granted relief by lifting those lower court orders. Jackson, who has frequently dissented in such cases, criticized the trend during the event. She argued that the court’s conservative majority, including Kavanaugh, has too often sided with Trump in emergency rulings, undermining both the institution and the country. She said administrations are implementing new policies and pushing for them to take effect right away, even before courts have fully reviewed their legality. According to Jackson, the court’s growing willingness to step in at this early stage is “unfortunate” and distorts the legal process by effectively predicting outcomes before full arguments are presented. Kavanaugh defended the court’s role, saying it is simply responding to the emergency requests brought before it. He noted that turning to the Supreme Court for urgent relief did not begin with the Trump administration. As passing legislation through Congress has become more difficult, Kavanaugh said, administrations increasingly rely on regulatory actions, some of which are legally valid and others not. He also argued that some critics have been inconsistent, pointing out that similar objections were not raised when the court allowed policies from the Biden administration to take effect while legal challenges were still pending. * * * Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 15:10

— Rep. Tim Burchett Says "Names, Dates, People And Locations" Set To Be Revealed In UFO Briefings

 

at 4/11/26 12:00pm

Rep. Tim Burchett Says "Names, Dates, People And Locations" Set To Be Revealed In UFO Briefings Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) says he is looking forward to what he has seen in classified UFO briefings be made public next week. In a clip that’s ripping across X, Stephen A. Smith asked point-blank: “You’ve said you’ve seen UFO briefings that would, quote, set the earth on fire, end quote. And you also said publicly, you’re not su*cidal. That’s a serious statement. What exactly are you being told that the American people aren’t allowed to hear, sir, about UFOs?” Burchett responded: “I’ve been briefed and seen pictures and talked enough… If they would just release what I was briefed on just a couple weeks ago. Again, we had somebody come in there, a colleague, a friend if you will, that was basically there to disrupt. And they tried to ruffle this guy’s feathers and ask him stuff.” Stephen A. Smith: “You’ve said you’ve seen UFO briefings that would, quote, set the earth on fire, end quote. And you also said publicly, you’re not su*cidal. That’s a serious statement. What exactly are you being told that the American people aren’t allowed to hear, sir, about… pic.twitter.com/h5xBbHCZYG — RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) April 10, 2026 Burchett continued, “he named names, dates, people in the meetings, where these items, if you will, are located. It’s too much. It’s too much, sir. Too much is going on.” He doubled down on the only man who can break the logjam: “Trump’s the guy to do it. If anybody will do it, if anybody’s a disruptor, it’s Donald J. Trump, and he will disrupt with this.” “And I had a conversation with folks at the White House today, just about that. Hopefully some things will be coming out soon,” Burchett added. This bombshell comes as the pattern of mysterious deaths and disappearances among top scientists with access to NASA secrets and classified programs continues to explode – exactly the kind of experts who might know “too much” about the very topics Burchett is demanding be released. There are now 9 missing scientists tied to advanced technology and U.S. nuclear and space research. Their work overlaps closely, with connections to NASA, Los Alamos, and the defense and space research network. At the same time, reports are emerging about a potential… pic.twitter.com/loVr6uDCoK — Ben Swann (@BenSwann_) April 10, 2026 As we reported days ago, the latest victim in the string was NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist Michael David Hicks, who died under suspicious circumstances with no public cause or autopsy released. That brought the toll to nine experts tied to advanced propulsion, asteroid defense, space surveillance, and programs that blur the line between civilian NASA work and military applications. ? 9 top scientists have died or gone missing in less than a year. Their work closely overlaps, tied to NASA and Los Alamos, all connected through the same defense–space research web. The pattern is unsettling. The silence around it is even more so. pic.twitter.com/ZQF3Po443l — Kekius Maximus (@Kekius_Sage) April 8, 2026 FOX 32 Chicago interviewed Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb about the mystery. Loeb cautioned against assuming a grand coordinated plot, telling FOX: “Each of them has a different expertise, but I think it looks like these cases are unrelated… I would caution of assigning too much significance to those.” He added, “Of course, each of these cases is a mystery that has to be resolved.” Yet even Loeb acknowledged the risks: adversarial nations could be targeting individuals involved in classified Air Force technologies or nuclear fusion programs with major national security implications. These losses are hitting as President Trump pushes aggressively for UAP transparency – including a direct directive to declassify information on potential nonhuman technology. Burchett’s fresh comments to the White House signal that momentum is building fast under the current administration. For years, the deep state bureaucracy has buried this information behind layers of classification, gatekeepers, and outright disruption – exactly what Burchett described in the briefing room. Scientists and officials with firsthand knowledge of advanced propulsion, surveillance systems, and anomalous phenomena keep turning up dead or missing while the American people are kept in the dark. 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. * * * Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 14:00

— Why Is China's Embassy In D.C. Hardening Security Perimeter With Barbed Wire

 

at 4/11/26 11:25am

Why Is China's Embassy In D.C. Hardening Security Perimeter With Barbed Wire Washington, D.C.-focused local outlet Popville, short for Prince of Petworth, posted several images showing barbed wire being installed around the security perimeter of the Chinese Embassy. The photos appear to show at least four workers installing the barbed wire atop an already hardened perimeter wall of block and iron fencing.  Embassies in Washington face security risks, but the sudden decision to further harden the Chinese compound raises obvious questions: whether Beijing is responding to a specific threat, anticipating protests or unrest nearby, or preparing for the arrival of a senior official or foreign delegation. We should also note that activist networks aligned with pro-China and Marxist groups have called for May 1 general strike actions aimed at disrupting the U.S. economy. It remains unclear whether the embassy's sudden security hardening is connected to those planned demonstrations or to some other threat stream. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 13:25

— 'Next Step Mars': Trump Congratulates Artemis II Astronauts On Historic Lunar Mission

 

at 4/11/26 10:50am

'Next Step Mars': Trump Congratulates Artemis II Astronauts On Historic Lunar Mission Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times, President Donald Trump congratulated the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission after their spacecraft splashed into the Pacific Ocean on April 10, capping their 10-day lunar voyage. Artemis II, NASA’s 10-day test flight around the moon, concluded just after 5 p.m. PT, 8 p.m. ET, on April 10 when the Orion spacecraft gently parachuted into the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, California. Artemis II splashdown. pic.twitter.com/UUvbvVfGey — Joyce (@Trefejoy4) April 11, 2026 In a Truth Social post, Trump said he “could not be more proud” of the lunar mission and invited the Artemis II crew to the White House. He anticipated the next phase of U.S. exploration of Mars. “Congratulations to the Great and Very Talented Crew of Artemis II. The entire trip was spectacular, the landing was perfect and, as President of the United States, I could not be more proud,” the president wrote. “I look forward to seeing you all at the White House soon. We’ll be doing it again and then, next step, Mars.” The Artemis II mission - carrying a crew of four: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency - marked the first time that humans traveled to the moon and back since Apollo 17 in 1972. ?HISTÓRICO? Estes são os astronautas que retornaram à Terra após sua missão ao redor da Lua. A tripulação da missão Artemis A missão da NASA retorna ao nosso planeta depois de orbitar a Lua na nave da nave Orion. Siga-nos @Blognetosilveir pic.twitter.com/YSmPhPo5Xq — BlogdoNetoSilveira (@BlogNetoSilvei) April 11, 2026 The Orion spacecraft traveled 694,481 miles, surpassing the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970, according to NASA. NASA said the astronauts tested the spacecraft’s life support systems, emergency equipment and procedures, survival system spacesuits, and other critical spacecraft systems to guide future lunar missions. They captured more than 7,000 images of the lunar surface and its terminator, the boundary line separating lunar day and night, the space agency said. Their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, made the plunge on automatic pilot. The lunar cruiser hit the atmosphere traveling Mach 32—or 32 times the speed of sound—a blistering blur not seen since the 1960s and 1970s Apollo. Extreme close up footage of the Artemis II Orion capsule right after splashdown and Navy divers starting recoverypic.twitter.com/fqwQ3dARQU — All day Astronomy (@forallcurious) April 11, 2026 A joint NASA and U.S. military team retrieved the crew after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, transporting them via helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha for initial medical assessments. All four crew members were reported to be in great health by medical staff. The space agency said the crew is set to return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on April 11. In a statement after the splashdown on April 10, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called the mission a “historic achievement” and thanked the president and Congress for their support. “With Artemis II complete, focus now turns confidently toward assembling Artemis III and preparing to return to the lunar surface, build the base, and never give up the Moon again,” Isaacman said. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 12:50

— Orban Warns "We Could Now Lose Everything": Sunday's Hungarian Elections Have Profound Implications For Europe

 

at 4/11/26 10:15am

Orban Warns "We Could Now Lose Everything": Sunday's Hungarian Elections Have Profound Implications For Europe As Hungarians head to the polls on Sunday, April 12, 2026, the country stands at a historic inflection point. For the first time since Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party swept back into power in 2010, a credible challenger - Péter Magyar and his Tisza party - has a genuine shot at ending 16 years of what Orbán proudly calls his "illiberal laboratory." In a final campaign rally, Orbán warned supporters they are choosing "not just a government, but the fate of the country" and could "now lose everything we have built together." Bluntly put the election is a referendum on the durability of nationalist populism in Europe, the future of EU integration, energy security amid the Ukraine war, transatlantic conservative alliances under Trump 2.0, and even the fate of billions in Chinese investment that have reshaped Hungarian industry. Right now, it looks like Magyar has it in the bag, so read on for the implications: //-- //-- //-- Will the next Prime Minister of Hungary be Péter Magyar? Yes 72% · No 28%View full market & trade on Polymarket As Goldman notes, independent polls, seat projections, and prediction markets all point to a likely Tisza victory - potentially with the two-thirds supermajority needed to rewrite the constitution. Markets have been pricing it in for over a year, yet the stakes could hardly be higher, and the outcome remains fluid until the ballots are counted. A Fidesz upset or narrow hold would reverberate from Brussels to Beijing, from Kyiv to Washington. This is the "Battle for Hungary" - and its ripples could redefine the continent’s political fault lines, as noted by Andrew Korybko.  The Two-Man Race: Orbán’s Empire vs. Magyar’s Surge Orbán, 62, has dominated Hungarian politics since 2010, crafting a model of "illiberal democracy" that mixes nationalist rhetoric, state-orchestrated economic control, and defiance of EU norms. He positioned Hungary as a bulwark against mass migration, gender ideology, and Brussels overreach - exporting the playbook to allies like Donald Trump. Under his watch, Fidesz built an electoral machine that delivered supermajorities in 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022, despite never exceeding roughly 54% of the vote, thanks to gerrymandering, diaspora voting, and first-past-the-post districts. Enter Péter Magyar, 43, a former Fidesz insider turned insurgent. A lawyer and ex-husband of a former justice minister, Magyar burst onto the scene in 2024 after a dramatic break with the party, railing against corruption, cronyism, and economic mismanagement. His Tisza party has consolidated the fragmented opposition into a genuine two-party contest. Magyar campaigns on restoring rule of law, unlocking frozen EU funds, and delivering economic relief without sacrificing sovereignty. He is explicitly targeting the two-thirds supermajority (133 of 199 seats) to repeal Fidesz’s "Cardinal Acts" and constitutional changes. The numbers tell the story. Long-term polling charts show Fidesz’s support eroding from peaks near 48% in 2024 to the low 30s–low 40s today, while Tisza has rocketed from the mid-20s to 50–58% among decided voters. Taking a 'Naive' Average of All Polls Suggests Tisza Will Receive Most Votes, But Fall Short of 50% Independent pollsters like Medián consistently show Tisza at 55–58% and Fidesz at 35–38%, with "Other" parties collapsing into single digits.  On Polymarket, Péter Magyar is trading at 72% to become the next Prime Minister (versus 28% for Viktor Orbán), with over $62 million in trading volume. The "Hungary Parliamentary Election Winner" market gives Tisza a 75% probability of winning the most seats and forming the next government (Fidesz at 26%), with roughly $60 million traded. //-- //-- //-- Will TISZA – Respect and Freedom Party (TISZA) win the most seats in the next Hungarian parliamentary election? Yes 75% · No 26%View full market & trade on Polymarket Even accounting for the system’s built-in advantages for incumbents - 106 single-member FPTP districts, strong rural and Romanian-diaspora support for Fidesz - the market consensus strongly favors a decisive shift in power. The Domestic Reckoning: Economy, Corruption, and Voter Fatigue Hungary’s voters are not marching to the polls in a vacuum. Beneath the ideological battle lies raw economic pain. As Goldman notes further, cumulative price rises of 40% since 2021 have hammered households despite inflation cooling to +1.4%. Growth has stagnated. Corruption perceptions rank Hungary as the EU’s most graft-prone member, per Transparency International. Many Hungarians see Orbán’s system - subsidies, tax breaks, and special deals - as having enriched insiders while ordinary people footed the bill for the cost-of-living crisis. Orbán has countered by highlighting 16 years of achievements - job creation, pension increases, and border barriers to halt illegal immigration - and warned that losing power would mean Hungarians "lose everything we have built together." A Tisza victory would likely deliver immediate relief: the unlocking of roughly €20 billion in frozen EU funds, contingent on judicial and anti-corruption reforms. Magyar has pledged a credible path to euro adoption by 2030, which would stabilize the forint and lower borrowing costs long-term. A supermajority would let Tisza dismantle the "Cardinal Acts" that entrenched Fidesz power over media, elections, pensions, and taxation. As Korybko notes, the emotional undercurrent runs deeper. Orbán’s defenders credit him with shielding Hungary from the worst of the Ukraine war fallout - keeping Russian energy flowing, avoiding direct involvement, and preserving sovereignty. Many Chinese business owners in Hungary quietly echo that view: they grumble about bribes and cronyism but prefer the "devil they know" because "at least things get done," according to SCMP.  How Hungarian Elections Work Voters cast two ballots: one for a local candidate (106 seats via first-past-the-post) and one for a national party list (93 seats via proportional representation). A simple majority elects the prime minister and passes ordinary laws; two-thirds is required for constitutional amendments and Cardinal Acts.  Ballots open at 06:00 CEST and close at 19:00 CEST on Sunday. Counting begins immediately; a clear winner typically emerges election night, with official certification roughly one week later. Recounts are possible if margins are razor-thin. Turnout will be decisive: high participation historically favors challengers riding waves of discontent. Geopolitical Earthquake: From Brussels to Beijing Europe and the EU Orbán has been the bloc’s most stubborn spoiler - vetoing Ukraine aid packages, blocking rule-of-law sanctions, and slowing federalization. A Tisza win would remove that veto leverage overnight. Brussels-friendly governance could accelerate EU integration, restore Hungary’s access to cohesion funds, and align Budapest with mainstream European policy. Ukraine Kyiv has clashed repeatedly with Orbán over energy imports from Russia and reluctance to arm Ukraine. Ukrainian pressure tactics - including weaponizing the Druzhba pipeline - have failed to move him. A Ukraine hates Hungary too, but only because Orban refuses to arm it, continues purchasing energy from Russia, and has occasionally obstructed EU funding for this former Soviet Republic. In response, Ukraine has weaponized the Druzhba oil pipeline from Russia upon which Hungary relies to a large degree to pressure him into reversing his policies, but to no avail. Ukraine also colludes with the Hungarian opposition, which is now Ukraine’s and the EU’s joint proxy, in their Russiagate conspiracy theories. -Korybko Magyar government would likely soften Hungary’s stance, easing EU-Ukraine funding bottlenecks and reducing pipeline friction. United States and Trump 2.0 The international right has rallied behind Orbán. Former President Donald Trump endorsed him on social media, calling him "a truly strong and determined leader" with "a proven record of outstanding results" and a "true friend, a fighter, and a winner."  U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited Budapest and sharply criticized Brussels for "unprecedented interference" in the election process. A Fidesz hold would bolster that transatlantic populist axis; a Tisza victory would be a setback, signaling that even the strongest illiberal outpost can fall to domestic economic grievances. European Populist Allies Orbán has also received strong backing from key figures on the European right. France’s Marine Le Pen praised his stance on the Ukraine war as "very brave," Italy’s Matteo Salvini framed the vote as a contest over Europe’s future and national sovereignty versus centralized EU control, and Germany’s AfD co-leader Alice Weidel voiced her support. Russia Moscow’s stake is modest but real: Orbán’s pragmatic energy deals and occasional obstruction of anti-Russia measures have been valuable. Putin sees Hungary as a potential future bridge for EU-Russia détente once the Ukraine war ends. Russia has avoided overt meddling, but a Tisza shift would narrow that window. Out of the four foreign parties with stakes in the “Battle for Hungary”, Russia’s are the least. It supports Orban’s pragmatic approach to the Ukrainian Conflict and views Hungary as a valuable partner in Europe. More than that, however, Putin believes that Orban can help repair Russian-EU relations sometime after their proxy war in Ukraine ends. While certainly game-changing if it occurs, this scenario is admittedly unlikely, ergo why Russia isn’t meddling in his support despite conspiracy theories to the contrary. -Korybko China Billions in Chinese FDI - most visibly CATL’s massive battery plant in Debrecen - have become politically radioactive. Banners reading "No battery, no deal," "Debrecen belongs to Hungarians," and "Chinese, go home" dot the city. Chinese firms face local backlash over imported labor, environmental risks, and meager local economic spillovers. Tisza has been measured - calling for "pragmatic, mutually beneficial" ties while demanding stricter EU-compliant rules on labor, environment, and taxes. Projects already under construction are unlikely to be seized, but a new government would pivot from "seduction" (subsidies and visas) to enforcement.  Market Verdict: The Forint Has Already Spoken Investors have been positioned for a Tisza outcome since early 2025. The forint has strengthened in anticipation. Goldman's EM desk outlines clear scenarios: Tisza win (base case): EUR/HUF –2%, swaps –20 to –30 bps, credit spreads –15 to –25 tighter. Tisza + supermajority: EUR/HUF –4%, swaps –30 to –40 bps, spreads –25 to –40 tighter (+ €20bn EU funds unlock).  Fidesz hold / upset: EUR/HUF +4%, swaps +40 to +50 bps, spreads +25 to +40 wider. FX volatility desks price roughly 3% gap risk around the event, with positioning long HUF but some profit-taking near 375.  Aftermath Scenarios: Victory, Narrow Hold, or Chaos A decisive Tisza victory would mark the end of the Orbán era and a constitutional reset. A narrow Fidesz government or blocking minority could trigger exactly the Color Revolution fears some analysts warn of - EU- and Ukraine-backed protests framed around "Russian meddling," exactly the kind of destabilization Orbán has accused opponents of preparing. Hungarians themselves hold the greatest stake. They will live with the consequences - economic relief or continued stagnation, EU integration or defiant sovereignty, pragmatic Chinese investment or stricter oversight.  Why Europe - and the World - Should Watch Closely This is more than a Hungarian election. It is a stress test for the durability of the populist wave that Orbán helped pioneer. A Tisza supermajority would deliver the clearest repudiation yet of illiberal governance in Europe, emboldening Brussels and weakening nationalist holdouts elsewhere. It would signal that economic pain and corruption fatigue can trump sovereignty rhetoric even in the EU’s most defiant member. Conversely, an Orbán hold - against the polling tide - would validate the model’s resilience and give fresh oxygen to conservative-nationalist forces from Warsaw to Washington. Sunday’s result will not just decide Hungary’s next prime minister. It could redraw the map of European populism, recalibrate great-power alignments, and determine whether the "illiberal laboratory" survives or becomes a historical footnote. Polls close at 19:00 CEST. By nightfall, we may know whether the Battle for Hungary ends in revolution - or resilience. The continent is watching. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 12:15

— Three Contrarian Signals That Aren't Easy To Ignore As Earnings Season Begins

 

at 4/11/26 9:40am

Three Contrarian Signals That Aren't Easy To Ignore As Earnings Season Begins Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, ? Q1 Earnings Season Begins As a fragile ceasefire with Iran hangs in the balance and oil trades near multi-year highs, the Q1 earnings season is arriving in one of the most negatively positioned markets in years. That backdrop may be exactly the reason it’s worth reconsidering the “fade the rally” stance we posited last week. For individuals who have not been in the financial markets for very long, there is an important lesson to learn. “The markets are designed to inflict the maximum amount of pain on the maximum number of participants at any given moment.” Right now, given the numerous “Purveyors of Persistent Doom” on social media, the most crowded trade on Wall Street isn’t a long position…it’s fear. Furthermore, as we discussed last week, after 5 weeks of consecutive declines, the market rally this past week was not unexpected. “Since 1965, the S&P 500 has recorded 26 separate instances of five or more consecutive weekly declines. That’s roughly once every 2.3 years, and these streaks feel catastrophic in real time. This is when investors make the most mistakes over time. The emotional stress of the decline, combined with “doomsayers,” drives investors to sell at the bottom. It is important to understand that, while these streaks feel alarming in real time, historical evidence suggests they function more as contrarian buy signals than as warnings of further collapse.” In fact, that rally was one of the strongest in nearly a year, despite the constant stream of negative headlines. The S&P 500 surged on relief that U.S.-Iran tensions had temporarily de-escalated, gaining ground and recapturing the 200-day moving average on a closing basis for the first time since the initial shock of the conflict sent it plunging through that critical floor in mid-March. That single technical event, a clean close back above the 200-DMA, changes the conversation about what comes next, especially with the Q1 earnings season now underway. The question everyone is wrestling with is simple: do you fade this rally, or do you use it to add exposure? I’ve been skeptical since March, and I still have reservations. But the data is shifting, and intellectual honesty requires acknowledging that. Three Contrarian Signals That Aren’t Easy To Ignore Let’s start with sentiment. The AAII Sentiment Survey saw bearish readings spike to 52.9% at the March low, one of the highest in eight years and well above the long-term average of 31.0%. That has since pulled back to 35.5%, still above average, while bullish sentiment is at just 33.1%, below the historical norm of 37.5%. Historically, whenever the bull-bear spread reaches these levels of negative divergence, forward returns over the subsequent 12 months have been strongly positive. The market tends to move against the crowd, and right now, the crowd is still more scared than optimistic. That negative sentiment has also manifested itself in the cash and options markets. “We are now seeing early signs of retail capitulation across both cash and options. Last week, retail flows were net sellers across both platforms – an infrequent occurrence that has only been observed 18 times since January 2020 (most recently the week of April 7-11, 2025). Historically, forward returns following these signals have been positive on average, with performance improving over longer horizons. S&P 500 returns have been positive ~82% of the time by T+60, with average returns of +4.1%, and average positive returns of +6.9%.” – Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs trader Shawn Tuteja recently noted that the options market’s implied correlation skew has been pricing very low correlation on the call side, effectively suggesting that the right-tail risk in the S&P 500 was underpriced heading into last week. That asymmetry, excessive put protection, underpriced upside, is exactly the type of positioning squeeze that produces face-ripping rallies. We saw one last week. There may be more ahead. The third signal is our own Money Flow Breadth Ratio, or MFBR. When the MFBR drops below 30%, our 25-year backtest identifies a genuine capitulation washout. In those circumstances, the subsequent return profile flips dramatically: a positive outcome at one month 100% of the time, positive at six months, and a 100% win rate at twelve months. We’re in that zone right now. That doesn’t mean pain can’t persist for another few weeks, but it does mean the odds strongly favor higher prices a year from today. The Q1 Earnings Season Could Be The Catalyst The Q1 earnings season will begin in earnest this coming week, with the major financials reporting starting with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. What’s important to understand is that analysts have already trimmed estimates heading into the announcements. The bottom-up Q1 EPS estimate fell 0.3% during the quarter itself, versus a historical average decline of 1.6% to 4.2% over the past five to twenty years. In other words, the bar has been reset lower than it appears on the surface, which sets up a classic beat-and-raise scenario if corporate America can simply maintain its recent pace. FactSet estimates Q1 year-over-year earnings growth at 13.2%, up from the 12.8% expectation at the start of the year, with nine of eleven sectors projected to show positive growth. Barclays recently bumped its full-year 2026 S&P 500 EPS forecast to $321, projecting 15% to 16% annual growth. The Q1 earnings season matters even more than usual right now because it provides a factual anchor in a market driven almost entirely by headline risk. Investors need something concrete to price. Strong numbers from JPMorgan, Bank of America, Netflix, and TSMC, the first major reporters, would confirm that corporate America is absorbing the oil shock and geopolitical uncertainty better than feared. That confirmation is the trigger that shifts money from the sidelines back into equities. Think of what happened in Q1 2003. When U.S. forces entered Iraq, the S&P 500 had already sold off aggressively on the uncertainty. Once the conflict began in earnest and earnings season confirmed business resilience, the index gained more than 25% in the following six months. The Q1 earnings season was the evidence the market needed that the macro fear had been overpriced. Will that be the case this time? I don’t know for certain, but when everyone is negative about everything, the market tends to find something to latch onto. There’s a valuation argument here that also deserves attention. The forward P/E on the S&P 500 stood at 22.0x on December 31. As of today, with prices down roughly 5% from the start of the year and earnings estimates rising modestly, that multiple has compressed to 19.8x, below the five-year average of 19.9x. That’s not cheap by any historical standard, but it represents a genuine reset from the stretched valuations that made us cautious in January. With the Q1 earnings season potentially delivering another round of upward revisions, valuations could look even more reasonable by the time reporting wraps up. The Risks That Could Still Derail Everything I want to be honest about what could go wrong, because this market isn’t out of the woods. The Iran ceasefire remains fragile. We’ve watched this pattern before: a burst of optimism on de-escalation language, followed by a return to hostilities that sends oil back toward recent highs near $111 a barrel. Every leg higher in crude acts like a slow tax on both corporate margins and consumer purchasing power. That’s a direct headwind to the earnings beat cycle we need to see from the Q1 earnings season to validate higher prices. “Ceasefires are fragile by definition… and we’ve already seen strikes overnight across the Gulf. You can hand-wave some of that as lag effects, but the disagreement around proxies (e.g. Lebanon with Israel) leaves plenty of scope for this to break. Ultimately though, the market will judge one thing… actual flows through the Strait over time.  I struggle to see new highs for Equities, but positioning still argues for forced buying to run its course first. Europe in particular feels extended… a “fair” move might have been +2–3%, not +5%. From here, it’s all about triangulation… rates, credit, and oil. Rates matter most and are function of not just where oil goes, but where it settles. Credit will likely see aggressive covering as tail hedges decay… so less signal there in the near term. Vol compression ties it all together in determining fair spot.” – Goldman Sachs The Federal Reserve is also paralyzed in a way that markets haven’t fully priced. With the CME FedWatch tool showing a 99.5% probability of no rate change at the April meeting, and zero-rate-cut expectations now extending through most of 2026, the policy backstop that investors have leaned on since 2020 isn’t available. The 10-year Treasury closed near 4.36%, and CTAs have pushed their Treasury shorts to maximum levels, which in turn creates an overshoot risk that could send yields spiking further on any oil-related inflation surprise. When bonds and equities both sell off together, as we saw in March, there is nowhere to hide in a traditional portfolio. So Is It Time To Add Exposure? This isn’t the environment to aggressively add exposure to risk. However, we can selectively add to our holdings heading into the Q1 earnings season. However, we are still maintaining a short leash in case things reverse quickly. The combination of a recaptured 200-day moving average, extreme bearish investor sentiment that has historically resolved higher, deeply depressed put-call ratios acting as coiled fuel for any upside surprise, a Q1 earnings season entering with a low bar and improving guidance, and valuations that have genuinely reset from their January extremes, that’s a setup that demands action. Not reckless action. Measured action. My recommendation is to add exposure selectively to sectors with the strongest earnings momentum: technology, financials, and healthcare, in that order. Use any geopolitical flare-up that tests the 200-DMA as a re-entry point rather than a reason to exit. If oil de-escalation holds and the Q1 earnings season delivers even close to the 13.2% growth FactSet is projecting, the path of least resistance for the second quarter is higher. The traders who will get destroyed in this environment are the ones who fade every rally out of fear and chase every selloff into panic. The data says the extreme pessimism of March was a buying signal. The Q1 earnings season is the catalyst that will prove or disprove it. We will continue to watch the data closely and trade accordingly. ? Key Catalysts Next Week Q1 earnings season arrives in force alongside a stacked economic calendar; this is the most dense week of crosscurrents since the March FOMC. Six of the nation’s largest banks report in a three-day blitz, Netflix sets the tone for mega-cap tech, and Thursday delivers a triple-header of Retail Sales, Philly Fed, and Industrial Production that will reshape the macro narrative heading into the April 27 FOMC meeting. Goldman Sachs and BlackRock open the season Monday morning. Goldman is the M&A bellwether. Q1 set a record for deal activity, and GS derives a higher share of revenue from investment banking than any of its major peers. BlackRock’s report will be watched for AUM flows, private credit exposure (a growing risk theme), and how institutional allocators positioned through the March oil shock. Tuesday escalates with JPMorgan, the market’s definitive “economy report card.” Jamie Dimon’s macro commentary carries as much weight as the numbers. The trajectory of net interest income, loan loss provisions, and consumer credit quality will tell us whether the March shock left scars on Main Street. Wells Fargo is alongside for the consumer banking read. Johnson & Johnson adds the healthcare sector barometer. Wednesday brings Bank of America, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley to round out the bank earnings wave. The collective message from six megabank reports will answer whether the“soft landing” thesis survived Q1 or whether credit stress, CRE maturities, and consumer deterioration are showing up in provisions. On the economic side, Tuesday’s March PPI is the upstream inflation signal; February ran hot at +0.7%, and feeds directly into the PCE calculation that the Fed watches. Wednesday’s Beige Book provides the qualitative color from all 12 Fed districts ahead of the April 27 FOMC. But Thursday is the marquee data day: March Retail Sales will reveal whether the consumer held up amid oil at $100+ and tariff price hikes; Philly Fed is the second April factory survey, alongside Empire State from Wednesday; and Industrial Production will tell us if factory output contracted alongside the negative payrolls trend. Netflix, after the close on Thursday, will be the first mega-cap tech to report and set the sentiment template for the Big Tech earnings wave that follows. Bottom line: Banks tell us if the financial system is absorbing the shocks. Retail Sales tell us if the consumer is. Netflix tells us if growth is. All in one week. Define your risk levels before Monday’s open. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 11:40

— Watch: Axe-Wielding Man Attacks U.S. C-130 Cargo Plane At Irish Airport

 

at 4/11/26 9:05am

Watch: Axe-Wielding Man Attacks U.S. C-130 Cargo Plane At Irish Airport Footage posted on X appears to show a deranged man hammering away on top of a U.S. Air Force C-130H Hercules parked at Shannon Airport on Ireland's west coast on Friday. "A man breached security at Shannon Airport in Ireland, climbed onto a parked C-130 Hercules, and damaged it with a tool," the Clash Report wrote on X. WATCH: A man breached security at Shannon Airport in Ireland, climbed onto a parked C-130 Hercules, and damaged it with a tool. He was arrested. pic.twitter.com/uls2tfgGND — Clash Report (@clashreport) April 11, 2026 Local media outlet Clare FM described the incident as a "security breach," with airport operations briefly suspended while police arrested "the person, understood to be a male," who was "seen in the vicinity of a United States Air Force C-130 Hercules transport aircraft that had been parked on a remote taxiway at the airport." US Air Force C-130H Hercules 91-1653 landed at Shannon yesterday from Rosecrans Air National Guard air base St Josephs Kansas, via St. John's Canada. It spent the night at Shannon, and hasn't yet gone in to its next military base.#USMilitaryOutOfShannon pic.twitter.com/BkllQx68HX — Shannonwatch (@shannonwatch) April 11, 2026 "A man breached security at Shannon Airport in Ireland. It's understood that the person climbed onto the wing of the aircraft and caused damage to the fuselage with an implement, possibly an axe, while it was parked," the outlet said. In recent months, at least one far-left group has attacked a critical supply chain node supporting the F-35 stealth fighter jet program in the UK. There are no indications yet from authorities as to whether the C-130 attacker was part of a left-wing threat network Tyler Durden Sat, 04/11/2026 - 11:05

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