The Spiderweb & The Lion: Subversive Infiltration And US National Security Authored by Andy Thaxton via RealClearWire, Over a decade ago, when I was working on force protection issues for Navy air logistics missions, the threat of drone attacks was just beginning to be seriously discussed. We kicked around contingencies and “what ifs,” but those discussions were largely in the background of mission planning. Over the course […]

These Are The Most Stolen Cars In Every US State Car theft is a widespread issue, driven by factors like demand for parts and organized criminal activity. In 2024, over 850,000 vehicles were stolen across the U.S., averaging one every 37 seconds. To see which cars are being targeted the most, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu visualized the most stolen car model in every state. Data & Discussion The data for this […]

How To Obtain REAL Independence… Minimizing The State’s Ability To Coerce You Authored by Nick Giambruno via InternationalMan.com, Every July 4, Americans have less independence to celebrate… Although the country’s founding ideals enshrined individual sovereignty, those principles have become little more than ancient history in practice today. As Independence Day rolls around, it’s worth asking a serious question: What […]

Indian Engineer Caught Secretly Working Up To Five Tech Jobs Simultaneously, Offered New Gig At “Cheat On Everything” Startup A Silicon Valley hiring scandal has erupted around an Indian software engineer accused of secretly working for as many as five technology companies simultaneously, exposing vulnerabilities in startup recruitment practices and reigniting debates over remote work accountability. Soham Parekh, based in India, […]

California Homeschool Families Rally Against Bill For Increased Oversight, Funding Cuts Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Homeschooling families in California are rallying against a bill they say would cut funding for critical enrichment programs and force their charter schools to close down. Protesters rally to oppose AB 84 in California on June 23, 2025. Courtesy of Stephanie Dawson Introduced by […]

Facebook Is Still The Most Important Social News Network According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025, over half of under-35-year-olds in the United States now say that social media/video networks are their main source for accessing news, followed by TV and online news sites. As Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, among the 12 countries that the Reuters Institute has been tracking on this question since […]

Israel Arms New ‘Anti-Hamas’ Militias In Gaza: Report Via The Cradle Israeli media reported Thursday on the presence of two new, Israeli-backed armed groups operating against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli news outlet Ynet, “one group is active in Gaza City, and the other in Khan Yunis” – where the Israeli military is currently present.  Ynet had previously reported, citing sources affiliated with the […]

No Love Letters By Elwin de Groot, head of macro strategy at Rabobank Financial markets got treated with a surprisingly strong June employment gain in the US yesterday, JOLTing 10y Treasury yields nearly 7bp higher and even more so at the front-end of the curve. Indeed, the market’s change of heart saw the implied probability of a 25bp cut in July fall from 25% to around 5%. That’s back to tail-risk area. European rates – […]

Hurricane Hunters Set To Probe Tropical Disturbance Near Georgia The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season began on a very quiet note, with little storm activity during June. However, as we shift into July, meteorologists on X are closely tracking a developing tropical system off Georgia’s east coast. The storm appears disorganized and lopsided at this time, but conditions are becoming more favorable for gradual strengthening. Spaghetti […]

Watch Live: Trump Signs ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Into Law During Independence Day Event  President Trump is expected to sign the GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill” into law on Friday afternoon, as part of an Independence Day celebration at the White House. This comes less than a day after the House narrowly passed the massive tax and spending cuts package in a 218-214 vote. The 887-page bill includes spending cuts, tax relief, increased […]

Activists Sue Federal Authorities Over ICE Raids In Los Angeles Authored by John Fredricks via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), At the site of the Bubble Bath Hand Car Wash in Torrance, immigration activists gathered on Wednesday morning to announce a lawsuit against the federal government, launched in the early hours of July 2, 2025. An American flag waves above immigration activists in Torrance, Calif., on July 2, 2025. John […]

“A Highly Kinetic Period” – Goldman’s Hedge Fund Honcho Reflects On H1… & What Lies Ahead The first half of 2025 was a highly kinetic period, to say the least, according to Goldman Sachs head of hedge fund coverage, Tony Pasquariello. With a touch of distance from the screens this week, he went back and read a bunch of his recent notes, which served as a reminder of the immense narrative volatility along the path. For […]

Waste Of The Day: COVID Loans For 11-Year-Olds Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations, Topline: A weekly allowance or a lemonade stand are great ways to teach young kids how to manage their money. A loan from the Small Business Administration is not.  Yet according to the Department of Government Efficiency, the SBA issued 5,593 loans in 2020 and 2021 worth $312 million to businesses whose listed owners were 11 […]

The (Falling) Price Of A July 4th Cookout This Independence Day, shoppers can expect to pay an average of $70.92 for a cookout for 10 people, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) annual Fourth of July market basket survey. This marks a 30 cent decline from last year, although it remains the second most expensive year since the survey began back in 2013. Statista’s Anna Fleck shows in the following chart just […]

Trump Sends Tariff Letters Threatening Up To 70% Levies, Sparking Fears Of Delayed Trade Deals President Trump announced that the U.S. will begin unilaterally notifying trading partners of a new round of tariffs ahead of the looming July 9 deadline to finalize trade agreements. UBS told clients Friday morning that the move “signals trade deal delays,” and the resulting negative sentiment sent U.S. equity futures lower. European […]

Don’t Call It The Fourth! Authored by Kevin Finn via AmericanThinker.com, Every year around this time I go on a bit of a crusade with my friends and family. They start talking about the Fourth of July — planning celebrations and expressing their hopes for good weather that day. It bothers me that this is the only national holiday that’s referred to by its calendar date rather than its name. We don’t wish people a “Merry December […]

Russia Sends Independence Day Greetings To Trump White House The Kremlin has sent the American government and people July 4th well wishes, which comes as somewhat of a surprise. But Moscow and Washington have been working on trying to improve bilateral relations under the Trump administration, while also seeking to forge an opening for permanent truce in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday issued a formal […]

Baywatch Pay Watch: Half-Million-Dollar Checks, Six-Figure Overtime For LA lifeguards Via Open the Books, If it wasn’t clear that the city and county of Los Angeles are in dire need of spending resets, taxpayers can look no further than the county lifeguards paid to watch over its pools, lakes and ocean. OpenTheBooks.com reported on outrageous overtime spending on the LA police, fire and particularly overpaid employees in the […]

US-Iran Nuclear Talks To Restart In Oslo Next Week – Trump Willing To Talk Directly The United States and Iran are poised to resume negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program in Oslo next week, Axios has reported, citing “sources familiar with the discussions.” It would be the first face-to-face meeting after last month’s Israeli-US war on Iran — which was launched as nuclear discussions were still very much underway. Talking to […]

July The Fourth In 12 Charts: Food, Fireworks, Travel, & More… Via The Epoch Times, Consumer fireworks imports surged 68.5 percent during the pandemic, reaching a peak of 427.8 million pounds in 2022. After returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, fireworks imports increased by 22.6 percent in 2024. Meanwhile, display fireworks imports declined to an all-time low in 2021, a 62 percent decrease from 2019, but rebounded to […]

Trump Expects Hamas Answer In 24 Hours On ‘Final’ Peace Proposal President Donald Trump announced Friday that it would likely become clear within 24 hours whether Hamas would accept what he described as a “final proposal” for a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza. He also mentioned in the fresh statement that he had discussions with Saudi Arabia about broadening the Abraham Accords, in reference to the normalization agreements between […]

The New MAGA Turf War Over National Intelligence Authored by Philip Wegmann via RealClearPolitics, The war over what America First means will soon move to a new theater: a battle over the fate of the Office of Director of National Intelligence. Overseeing all 18 of the U.S. intelligence agencies, the office was created in the wake of 9/11 to serve as a sort of orchestra conductor for the intelligence community, integrating […]

Futures Slide On Latest Trump Tariff Salvo US equity futures slumped on Friday after the latest threat on tariffs from the Trump administration sparked selling across global markets on a day the US cash market is closed for the July 4th holiday. S&P 500 futures fell 0.6% after the index melted up all week, and closed at a fresh all-time high, with payrolls data affirming the economy’s resilience. Trump dialed up trade […]

Russian Drones & Missiles “Rained Down” On Kiev In One Of The War’s Most Devastating Attacks Yet Russia launched one of the largest aerial assaults of the war on Ukraine overnight, unleashing more than 500 drones, with Kyiv as the primary target. The timing of the attack—just hours after a phone call between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin—yielded no success toward ending the war in Eastern Europe.  […]

What We Celebrate On The Fourth Authored by Armstrong Williams via The Epoch Times, There are many who will gather this July Fourth under the guise of celebration—barbecues, fireworks, flag-waving. But how many understand, truly understand, what they are celebrating? In an era where grievance has replaced gratitude, the Fourth of July has become a hollow ritual for some. The danger is not just in forgetting our history, but […]