American Airlines Shuts Down United Merger Talk As Wells Fargo Signals Another Possible Tie-Up

Certainly this past week saw several key stories in the aviation world.

First came the story that Spirit Airlines could be liquidated at any moment, only to be followed later in the week by reports that the budget carrier had asked the Trump administration for an emergency bailout.

Then, of course, came the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz late in the week, which sent jet fuel prices in New York sharply lower and airline stocks soaring...

It now appears that American Airlines has rejected United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby's idea to merge the two carriers. Kirby recently pitched President Trump on the tie-up.

American told The New York Times in a statement that it was "not engaged with or interested" in the merger idea pitched by CEO Kirby.

"While changes in the broader airline marketplace may be necessary, a combination with United would be negative for competition and for consumers, and therefore inconsistent with our understanding of the administration's philosophy toward the industry and principles of antitrust law," American said, adding, "Our focus will remain on executing on our strategic objectives and positioning American to win for the long term."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters earlier this week that the merger was "not something the president or the White House has an opinion on or is weighing in on at this time."

Wells Fargo analyst Christian Wetherbee told clients that the American-United merger was unlikely, but on his radar was "an opportunity for United and Delta." 

"This idea furthers our belief that the fuel shock presents an opportunity for United and Delta to emerge better positioned, potentially suggesting upside to out-year estimates," Wetherbee said.

He noted a potential merger between United and American could be too large, as the combined carrier would control around 40% of domestic capacity without divestitures.

As an alternative, Wetherbee suggested JetBlue could emerge as a smaller, more realistic target if American rejected United, giving United valuable assets in New York and Florida with less regulatory fallout.

Some analysts have already described the airline industry as highly consolidated and a classic oligopoly.

On our radar next week: Spirit's meeting with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, along with the carrier's uncertain fate as creditors could pull the plug at any moment. Attention will also shift to United and whether, after being rejected by American, it makes a move toward Delta. Meanwhile, jet fuel prices in New York are plunging, a welcome development for airlines after four weeks of soaring prices that led some carriers to hike bag fees and ticket prices to offset fuel costs.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/18/2026 - 13:25

The Universe Is Expanding 'Too Fast' And Nothing We Know Can Explain It

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

New ultra-precise measurements have confirmed the cosmos is expanding faster than models based on the early universe predict, while a separate study has dramatically shortened estimates of how long the universe itself will last.

Astronomers have long observed a mismatch in the universe’s expansion rate depending on how it is measured. Local observations of nearby galaxies point to a faster rate, while data from the early universe, such as the cosmic microwave background, suggest a slower pace. This longstanding puzzle is known as the Hubble tension.

A major international collaboration, the H0 Distance Network (H0DN), has now produced one of the most accurate local measurements yet. The team combined decades of independent distance measurements—including observations of red giant stars, Type Ia supernovae, and different galaxy types—into a unified “Local Distance Network.” Their result: the Hubble constant stands at 73.50 ± 0.81 kilometers per second per megaparsec, with precision just over 1 percent.

James Webb just uncovered a serious problem with our understanding of the universe.

New data from the James Webb Space Telescope confirms a major discrepancy in the universe's expansion rate, suggesting our current understanding of physics may be fundamentally incomplete.

For… pic.twitter.com/x5sWtyHDI7

— Astronomy Vibes (@AstronomyVibes) April 10, 2026

“This isn’t just a new value of the Hubble constant,” the collaboration notes, “it’s a community-built framework that brings decades of independent distance measurements together, transparently and accessibly.”

The findings, published April 10, 2026, in Astronomy & Astrophysics, strengthen the case that the discrepancy is not due to a simple measurement error.

“This work effectively rules out explanations of the Hubble tension that rely on a single overlooked error in local distance measurements,” the authors conclude. “If the tension is real, as the growing body of evidence suggests, it may point to new physics beyond the standard cosmological model.”

Dr Kathy Romer of the Dark Energy Survey commented, “The universe is not only expanding, but it is expanding faster and faster as time goes by.” She added, “What we’d expect is that the expansion would get slower and slower as time goes by, because it has been nearly 14 billion years since the Big Bang.”

Dark Energy May Be Weakening

Separate research using the largest-ever 3D map of the universe from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has produced hints that dark energy—the force accelerating cosmic expansion—might not be constant but could be weakening over time.

The DESI team mapped nearly 15 million galaxies and quasars. When combined with cosmic microwave background data and supernova observations, the results fit better with an evolving dark energy model than the standard assumption of a fixed force.

Dr Willem Elbers, a researcher from the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University, said: “For decades, we have relied on a standard model of the universe, but our new data suggests that dark energy might be evolving over time. If this is true, it will change everything we thought we knew about the cosmos.”

Professor Will Percival, co-spokesperson for DESI and an astronomer from the University of Waterloo, added: “We’re guided by Occam’s razor, and the simplest explanation for what we see is shifting. It’s looking more and more like we may need to modify our standard model of cosmology to make these different datasets make sense together—and evolving dark energy seems promising.”

Dr Andrei Cuceu, a researcher at Berkeley Lab who worked on the study, noted: “We’re in the business of letting the universe tell us how it works, and maybe the universe is telling us it’s more complicated than we thought it was.”

Paul Steinhardt, Director of the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science, observed that if dark energy becomes weak enough, scientists say the universe could be pulled together into a Big Crunch “remarkably quickly.”

UNIVERSE MAY END IN BIG CRUNCH

New data suggests dark energy is weakening, letting gravity eventually collapse the universe.

Expansion will reverse billions of years from now, ending everything in a single point.

Source: NewsForce
Host: @MacyGunnell pic.twitter.com/PxUdo1l9Sg

— NewsForce (@Newsforce) April 9, 2026

A related theoretical model led by physicist Henry Tye from Cornell University and collaborators from China and Spain explores one possible scenario. Their calculations suggest the universe has a total lifespan of about 33.3 billion years. With 13.8 billion years already passed, roughly 19.5 billion years would remain. In this model, expansion continues for another 11 billion years before slowing, stopping, and reversing into collapse.

New research suggests our universe might not expand forever as we once thought. Instead, it could eventually collapse in on itself in a “reverse Big Bang,” a scenario scientists call the Big Crunch.

For years, astronomers believed the universe would keep growing, driven by a… pic.twitter.com/Fk8wx9Nvbw

— Astronomy Vibes (@AstronomyVibes) December 21, 2025

These independent lines of inquiry highlight ongoing gaps in our understanding of the universe’s expansion rate and the behavior of dark energy. Future observations from next-generation telescopes are expected to test whether new physics is required to reconcile the data.

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, 04/18/2026 - 12:50

NY State Loses $73 Million In Federal Highway Funding Over Failed CDL Revocations

Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness,

Over $73 million in federal highway funds are being withheld from New York state after an audit found more than half the state’s commercial drivers licenses (CDL) were issued to foreigners illegally.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced yesterday that the state failed to revoke “illegally issued nondomiciled commercial learner’s permits and commercial driver’s licenses.”

According to a December press release from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) nationwide audit of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) uncovered a shocking 53 percent failure rate in the records sampled, indicating serious problems in New York’s CDL program.

Among the failures documented were New York DMV systems defaulting to issuing eight-year licenses to foreign drivers for non-REAL ID licenses, regardless of when their legal status expired, and the state issuing commercial licenses to foreign drivers without providing any evidence that it had verified their current lawful presence in the United States.

Just the News reports that Derek Barrs, administrator of the motor carrier administration, stated, “FMCSA’s mission is safety. That means ensuring that every commercial driver on the road is properly vetted and qualified. New York’s continued refusal to fix these failures undermines that mission, and we will not allow federal dollars to support a system that falls short of the law.”

Duffy told Fox News that the Dept. of Transportation has documented licenses and permits being issued to commercial truck drivers who are unskilled, putting American families at risk.

In December, Duffy gave the state of New York 30 days to get in compliance, warning state officials that, “When more than half of the licenses reviewed were issued illegally, it isn’t just a mistake—it is a dereliction of duty by state leadership. Gov. Hochul must immediately revoke these illegally issued licenses.”

Just the News reports that with the forfeiture of nearly $74 million in funding, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration is losing 4 percent of its National Highway Performance Program and Surface Transportation Program Block Grant Funds.

Duffy, in a post on X, posed the question of whether pulling federal funding from non-compliant states worked before responding, “Just ask Gavin Newsom,” referring to how California revoked more than 17,000 licenses issued to undocumented people after the DOT pulled over $160 million in federal funding from the state.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/18/2026 - 11:40

NY State Loses $73 Million In Federal Highway Funding Over Failed CDL Revocations

Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness,

Over $73 million in federal highway funds are being withheld from New York state after an audit found more than half the state’s commercial drivers licenses (CDL) were issued to foreigners illegally.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced yesterday that the state failed to revoke “illegally issued nondomiciled commercial learner’s permits and commercial driver’s licenses.”

According to a December press release from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) nationwide audit of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) uncovered a shocking 53 percent failure rate in the records sampled, indicating serious problems in New York’s CDL program.

Among the failures documented were New York DMV systems defaulting to issuing eight-year licenses to foreign drivers for non-REAL ID licenses, regardless of when their legal status expired, and the state issuing commercial licenses to foreign drivers without providing any evidence that it had verified their current lawful presence in the United States.

Just the News reports that Derek Barrs, administrator of the motor carrier administration, stated, “FMCSA’s mission is safety. That means ensuring that every commercial driver on the road is properly vetted and qualified. New York’s continued refusal to fix these failures undermines that mission, and we will not allow federal dollars to support a system that falls short of the law.”

Duffy told Fox News that the Dept. of Transportation has documented licenses and permits being issued to commercial truck drivers who are unskilled, putting American families at risk.

In December, Duffy gave the state of New York 30 days to get in compliance, warning state officials that, “When more than half of the licenses reviewed were issued illegally, it isn’t just a mistake—it is a dereliction of duty by state leadership. Gov. Hochul must immediately revoke these illegally issued licenses.”

Just the News reports that with the forfeiture of nearly $74 million in funding, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration is losing 4 percent of its National Highway Performance Program and Surface Transportation Program Block Grant Funds.

Duffy, in a post on X, posed the question of whether pulling federal funding from non-compliant states worked before responding, “Just ask Gavin Newsom,” referring to how California revoked more than 17,000 licenses issued to undocumented people after the DOT pulled over $160 million in federal funding from the state.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/18/2026 - 11:40

Former AI SPAC Executives Indicted For Fabricating "Virtually All" Revenue And Customers

What looked like a booming AI company was, prosecutors say, an audacious house of cards built on deception.

iLearningEngines (former stock symbol AILE) executives allegedly fabricated virtually every pillar of their business—customers, revenues, and contracts—to cash in on the AI hype and dupe both everyday investors and major institutions.

The scheme involved creating entire fake client ecosystems: shell companies with polished websites, insiders or relatives posing as corporate executives, and bogus multimillion-dollar agreements designed to withstand scrutiny, according to a DOJ press release. As U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella put it, the company’s pitch of AI innovation masked something far more fraudulent: “the truly artificial part of the defendants’ story was iLearning’s customers and revenues.”

The scale of the alleged deception was staggering. The company reported soaring growth—claiming revenues that reached hundreds of millions—while prosecutors say those figures were largely invented. According to the indictment, executives inflated results through an “intricate web of sham contracts,” many supposedly worth tens of millions annually, all designed to convince investors the business was thriving.

In reality, the operation functioned less like a tech company and more like a carefully staged illusion meant to unlock funding and drive up valuation.

Behind the scenes, the mechanics of the fraud were brazen. Prosecutors say executives orchestrated “round-trip” transactions exceeding $144 million, secretly funneling investor and lender funds through fake customer accounts and then back into the company to simulate real revenue.

According to the DOJ press release, associates even opened bank accounts in the names of nonexistent clients to keep the money moving and the illusion alive. This circular flow of cash allowed the company to falsely appear profitable while relying entirely on outside funding.

When scrutiny finally intensified, the alleged response was not to come clean—but to double down. Executives allegedly lied repeatedly to auditors, investors, and lenders, and even coached others to back up the false story. “Our Office is committed to protecting investors and holding accountable corporate executives who undermine the integrity of our financial markets for personal gain,” Nocella said.

The scheme ultimately unraveled after a critical report by Hindenburg Research triggered a stock collapse, erasing massive value and pushing the company into bankruptcy—by which point insiders had already walked away with millions, leaving investors with devastating losses.

Back in 2024, Hindenburg Research alleged that the artificial intelligence company had "artificial partners and artificial revenue". The firm headed by Nathan Anderson said that iLearningEngines "was borderline insolvent when it merged with a desperate SPAC sponsor that was quickly running out of time to get a deal done."

The report focuses on an unnamed "Technology Partner" crucial to AILE's business, stating "nearly all of company’s revenue and expenses (~96% of revenue and ~100% of CoGs in 2022) seem to be run through an undisclosed related party, an unnamed 'Technology Partner'."

The company then told the SEC the technology partner was not a related party in a comment letter, Hindenburg says. It alleges that it "unmasked" the partner to be a related party...one which, at one point, shared a listed address with AILE's CEO's home residence. 

"We believe the majority of iLearningEngines’ revenue doesn’t exist, and that its relationship with the mystery 'Technology Partner' is merely a conduit for falsifying its financials. We do not expect it will remain a public company for long," the short seller wrote.

Hindenburg published the AILE report the same week it wrote on Super Micro Computer, which saw its co-founder arrested last month. It looks like even though the short seller is now defunct, its work is still having an impact.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/18/2026 - 11:05

 

 

This week, I speak with Philippe Bouchaud, co‑founder, chair & head of research/chief scientist at Capital Fund Management (CFM). The $20 billion firm specializes in managed futures. He began his career in theoretical physics, was awarded the IBM Young Scientist Prize (1990) and the C.N.R.S. Silver Medal (1996), and has published over 300 scientific papers and several books in physics and finance.

A list of his current reading is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here Tuesday.

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

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Joe McLean, Managing Partner at MAI Capital Management, where he leads firm’s Sports & Entertainment division, serving 100s of pro athletes/entertainers across NBA, NFL, MLB, PGA + NASCAR. His path to finance runs directly through the locker room as a 4-year NCAA Division 1 player at U of Arizona. Dubbed the athlete’s “Money Whisperer” by the New York Times, he is known for his non-negotiable 60% savings mandate for clients.

 

 

 

 

Current Reading/Favorite Books

 

 

 

The post MiB: Philippe Bouchaud, Founder/Chief Scientist, Capital Fund Management appeared first on The Big Picture.

The post A $600 Billion Increase for the Military is a Ton of Money appeared first on CEPR.

The Architecture Of Abundance: How Bitcoin Reveals The Truth Of Time And Technology

Authored by Sylvain Saurel via 'In Bitcoin We Trust' Substack,

How escaping the fiat illusion and holding the world's hardest money turns the relentless march of technology into unprecedented purchasing power.

Look closely at the image below:

On the left, two standard Papa John’s pizzas, purchased in 2010 for the seemingly arbitrary sum of 10,000 Bitcoin. On the right, a colossal supertanker cutting through the ocean, a leviathan of modern engineering carrying millions of barrels of crude oil - the literal lifeblood of the global industrial economy. Today, a mere 26 Bitcoin commands this staggering vessel of kinetic energy.

If we run the mathematics of this evolution, the implications are paradigm-shattering. In a span of roughly a decade and a half, the purchasing power of that original 10,000 Bitcoins has metamorphosed from two boxes of delivered fast food into the equivalent of 384 supertankers of oil.

This image is not merely a meme or a historical curiosity; it is the most perfect, succinct encapsulation of what Bitcoin actually is. It is a visual representation of economic truth. Yet, when the world discusses Bitcoin, the conversation is almost universally dominated by the chaotic noise of short-term price action. Pundits obsess over hourly charts, quarterly earnings, regulatory whispers, and the cyclical volatility of a nascent asset finding its sea legs. But zooming out to observe the macroeconomic horizon across sixteen years reveals a profound narrative about time, technology, and the very nature of human energy.

To understand Bitcoin, we must stop looking at what it does in a week and start looking at what it does across an epoch. We must understand why patience is the ultimate economic virtue, why technology demands abundance, and why our current fiat money system is fundamentally designed to steal that abundance from us.

The Tyranny of the Short-Term and the Power of 2042

Human beings are biologically wired for high time preference. Our evolutionary ancestors survived by prioritizing immediate caloric intake and immediate safety over abstract, long-term planning. Today, this biological vestige manifests in our financial behaviors. We want immediate returns. We want the “get rich quick” button. Nobody wants to wait; nobody wants to endure the discomfort of delayed gratification.

When you look at the leap from two pizzas to 384 supertankers, you are looking at the unparalleled reward of a low time preference. You are witnessing the mathematics of holding the hardest money ever engineered by humanity.

Imagine, for a moment, the year 2042. If the purchasing power of this decentralized network can scale from melted cheese and pepperoni to global energy armadas in a mere 16 years, what will a single Bitcoin command in another two decades? What entire industries, infrastructures, or technological marvels will be priced in fractions of a single coin?

Most people cannot fathom this reality because their economic worldview is constrained by the immediate present. The volatility of the short-term timeframe shakes out those who lack conviction. But the fundamental point of Bitcoin is intrinsically linked to time: the longer you hold it, the more you gain from it. This is not a speculative guarantee based on finding a “greater fool” to buy your bags; it is a mathematical inevitability aligned with the deepest truths of technological advancement.

Technology’s Unyielding Mandate: The Deflation of Marginal Cost

To grasp why Bitcoin’s purchasing power aggressively expands over time, we must first understand the fundamental nature of technology.

What is technology, at its core? It is the process of doing more with less. From the invention of the wheel to the printing press, the steam engine, the microchip, and now artificial intelligence, every technological leap shares a singular, unifying characteristic: it drives the marginal cost of production toward zero.

When a farmer transitions from a horse-drawn plow to a mechanized tractor, the caloric energy and time required to harvest a field plummet, while the yield skyrockets. When telecommunications shifted from laying copper cables across oceans to bouncing signals off satellites and routing data through fiber optics, the cost of communicating with someone on the other side of the planet fell from dollars per minute to fractions of a cent. Today, software and AI are eating the world, automating cognitive labor and optimizing supply chains with ruthless efficiency.

The natural consequence of this technological march is abundance. As it becomes cheaper, faster, and easier to produce food, energy, housing, information, and manufactured goods, the prices of these goods should fall dramatically. Deflation—the decrease in the general price level of goods and services—is the natural, logical, and inevitable byproduct of a technologically advancing civilization.

As time elapses, technology advances. As technology advances, it births abundance. And that abundance should rightfully be delivered to humanity in the form of consistently lower prices, requiring us to work less to secure our basic needs, thereby freeing human time and capital for higher-order pursuits.

This is exactly what has happened when we measure the global economy in Bitcoin. The price of everything in the economy is significantly lower in BTC terms than it was a decade ago. Whether you are pricing real estate, the S&P 500, a gallon of milk, or a supertanker of oil, the chart denominating these assets in Bitcoin trends aggressively downward. Bitcoin accurately captures the deflationary dividend of technological progress.

So, if technology is making everything cheaper to produce, why does life feel more expensive than ever?

The Fiat Illusion: Manufacturing the Energy of Scarcity

The reason our grocery bills are soaring, housing has become unaffordable for a younger generation, and the cost of living feels like an ever-accelerating treadmill is not because technology has failed us. It is because our money is broken.

We operate on a fiat currency standard—money decreed by governments, backed by nothing but the threat of force and the promise of future taxation. More importantly, it is a debt-based monetary system. In a fiat system, money is created when debt is issued. In order for this colossal architecture of global debt to survive without collapsing into a deflationary depression, central banks and governments are mathematically forced to constantly expand the money supply. They must inflate.

Inflation is not a bug of the fiat system; it is its foundational feature. The fiat system requires the continuous debasement of currency to service ever-expanding sovereign debts.

This requirement for inflation is a silent, insidious thief. It systematically robs humanity of the lower prices that should rightfully be ours due to technological advancement. Imagine a world where human ingenuity reduces the cost to produce a good by 5%, but the central bank inflates the money supply by 7%. The price on the shelf goes up by 2%. The consumer falsely believes the good has become more expensive to create, completely blind to the fact that their money has simply become vastly weaker. The technological dividend—the 5% savings—was siphoned away by the creators of the currency.

Because fiat money relentlessly loses its purchasing power, it traps humanity in a perpetual rat race. We are forced to sprint at full capacity simply to maintain our current standard of living. Instead of receiving the abundance our technology produces, we are force-fed the energy of scarcity. We are alienated from the fruits of our collective innovation, living in a hyper-financialized world where citizens must become amateur hedge fund managers just to protect their life savings from melting away.

Bitcoin: The Denominator of Truth

Bitcoin stands in stark defiance of this systemic theft. It is an incorruptible ledger, a closed thermodynamic system of money with an absolutely scarce, unforgeable supply cap of 21 million coins. No central bank can print more to bail out failing institutions. No politician can expand their supply to fund a war. No committee can alter its monetary policy to service unpayable debts.

Because its supply is fixed and immune to manipulation, Bitcoin acts as a perfect measuring stick for the global economy. It is simply money that accurately prices the truth of technological advancement.

When you hold fiat currency, you are holding a leaky bucket. When you hold Bitcoin, you are holding an asset that acts as a sponge, eagerly absorbing the deflationary abundance generated by human innovation. As technological advances lower the cost of producing goods and services, and the supply of Bitcoin remains immutably fixed, the purchasing power of your Bitcoin inevitably rises.

As Bitcoin holders, we cease to be the victims of hidden inflation taxes. Instead, we become the direct beneficiaries of technological abundance. We capture that abundance in the form of exponentially greater purchasing power. The transformation of a 10,000 BTC stack from two pizzas to a fleet of supertankers is not a glitch; it is the correct mathematical repricing of the world against a true, unmanipulated denominator.

The Long-Term Horizon: Where Truth Resides

Both of these realities—the magnificent deflationary power of technology and the absolute scarcity of Bitcoin—take time to fully manifest.

In the short term, markets are emotional. They are driven by leverage, news cycles, panic, greed, regulatory saber-rattling, and the sheer noise of human behavioral psychology. Over a timeframe of weeks or months, Bitcoin’s price in fiat terms can fluctuate wildly, leading critics to dismiss it as a volatile speculative toy.

But true economic reality cannot be judged in the span of a fiscal quarter. The truth of money, value, and human progress is only revealed over longer time horizons. Time acts as a filter, stripping away the irrational noise of the day-to-day market and leaving only the undeniable, structural signal. Over a 16-year timeframe, the volatility smooths out, and the undeniable truth emerges: fiat money trends toward zero, while structurally sound money trends toward infinity in purchasing power.

We rely on money to communicate value across space and time. When our money is manipulated, the communication is corrupted. It lies to us about what is scarce, what is valuable, and what our time is worth. Bitcoin is money that reflects reality. It provides perfect information. We cannot ask for anything more from our money than to tell us the truth.

And the truth, eventually, is unstoppable.

As the Buddha profoundly observed:

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”

The fiat system relies on obscurity, complexity, and a lack of public understanding to maintain its illusion. Bitcoin relies on open-source code, verifiable math, and total transparency. Every ten minutes, a new block is mined, and the network shouts its truth to the world.

It takes time for society to recognize this shift. It takes time for the legacy systems to crack under the weight of their own debt and for the populace to seek a lifeboat. But time is the ultimate ally of the honest ledger. As Leonardo da Vinci wisely noted:

“Time is the daughter of truth.”

The longer Bitcoin survives, the longer it processes blocks without fail, the deeper its roots grow into the global financial infrastructure. Every passing year is a testament to its resilience and its necessity.

In the end, the transition from a debt-based system of manufactured scarcity to a mathematically sound system of technological abundance is not just an economic imperative; it is a moral one. The legacy financial world may fight it, central bankers may scoff at it, and the impatience of the masses may momentarily dismiss it. But the historical trajectory is set.

To borrow the words of Winston Churchill:

“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”

There it is: 10,000 Bitcoin for two pizzas in 2010. 26 Bitcoin for a supertanker today. A world of infinite technological abundance is waiting for us in 2042. The only question that remains is whether you have the patience, the conviction, and the low time preference to step out of the illusion of scarcity and hold the truth.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/18/2026 - 10:30

Here's What Happened Inside Gas Stations When Gas Hit $4

In Goldman's first-quarter "Nicotine Nuggets" survey of retailers and wholesalers covering roughly 44,000 U.S. stores, or about 28% of all tobacco outlets nationwide, analysts observed that once the national average for regular 87-octane gasoline hit the politically sensitive $4-a-gallon level, the squeeze on consumers began to emerge. One of the clearest signs of stress was a downshift in purchases as budget-conscious consumers started pulling back on tobacco purchases or, in some cases, trading down. 

"The outlook remains cautious but retailers & wholesalers generally see the environment as stable despite ongoing concerns on the consumer and recent pressure from higher gas prices," Bonnie Herzog, managing director and senior consumer analyst at Goldman, wrote in a note on Friday morning. 

According to the survey, 58% of respondents said consumer behavior had noticeably changed once 87-octane gasoline prices at the pump crossed the $4 threshold, while another 26% said they have not seen changes yet but expect them if prices remain elevated.

The biggest changes cited were consumers downtrading in stores, buying less fuel, and purchasing less overall inside stores. Some retailers also reported fewer trips, weaker inside sales, and more "splash and go" visits at the pump, where customers buy smaller amounts of fuel and skip in-store purchases.

She said, "Downtrading was strong in Q1, as roughly 80% of respondents indicated that deep-discount cigarettes gained share."

Main points of the survey:

• Specific changes in behavior noted included consumers purchasing less in stores (indicated by 32% of respondents), downtrading in stores (47%), downtrading at the gas pump (11%), driving less (16%), and purchasing less fuel (37%).

• Multiple respondents noted seeing fewer customer trips to stores as a result of their higher retail fuel prices (with one noting higher basket sizes as a result of trip consolidation), along with overall lower levels for inside-store sales. One respondent pointed to considerable pressure on the consumer buying at budgeted dollar increments (a rapidly growing consumer segment), which naturally purchases less fuel as the price increases.

• Negatively, one retailer is witnessing more "splash and go" trips to the pump (fewer gallons and fewer people converting to inside sales). That said, the retailer also sees a shift in consumer behavior toward value, which has been a benefit to the nicotine pouch category in this regard, as higher engagement with fuel reward promos has led to category sales - with VELO Plus sales for the retailer up 20%+ in the last three weeks.

Herzog and her team "remain cautious on the U.S. tobacco/nicotine industry near-term given continued cig volume declines in Q1 and pressures on the tobacco consumer as a result of the inflationary backdrop and recently higher gas prices, although we see continued robust growth for the nicotine pouch category."

The "Nicotine Nuggets" report underscores just why politicians are so sensitive to surging gasoline prices: once fuel prices spike, cash-strapped consumers are forced into difficult trade-offs, whether that means buying less gas or diesel, cutting back elsewhere, or, in some cases, trading down in tobacco products.

Late last year, Herzog told clients, "Buy nicotine, energy drink, and candy stocks."

Professional subscribers can read the "Nicotine Nuggets" note on our new Marketdesk.ai portal. 

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/18/2026 - 08:45

Spain Erupts: Patriots Attacked By Socialist Mob Over Mass Illegal Migrant Amnesty

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Violence broke out in the Spanish city of Granada when roughly 40 left-wing Antifa extremists tried to shut down a pre-election rally held by the nationalist party Vox in Plaza de las Pasiegas. Police had to form a cordon between the rival groups as fights broke out, delaying the event by around 30 minutes.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal refused to start the rally until the disruptors were removed. He stepped down from the platform, walked toward the rival group with supporters, and crowds chanted “Out, out!” as tensions spilled over. Abascal directly accused authorities of failing to protect free speech, stating: “They are preventing us from carrying out this act freely.”

He went further, blaming the unrest on the very politicians who enabled it: “They are the ones who put Sánchez in La Moncloa.”

Footage shows red paint thrown at attendees, shouting matches, and police struggling to keep the sides apart. Smaller groups of protesters reappeared near the square after the rally began, mobilized via social media.

Violence erupts in Spanish city days after controversial plan to grant amnesty to 500,000 migrants

Clashes broke out in Granada’s Plaza de las Pasiegas between right-wing Vox supporters and left-wing activists.

Around 40 left-wing protesters tried to disrupt a Vox rally,… pic.twitter.com/1VfeHsamIB

— G R I F T Y (@GriftReport) April 17, 2026

The clashes come just days after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s socialist government approved plans to grant legal status, jobs, and benefits to around 500,000 migrants — with analysts warning the real number could hit 800,000.

As we reported earlier, this triggered immediate chaos at consulates across Spain, where thousands of migrants swarmed to submit paperwork:

Endless queues snaked through streets in cities like Almería, Bilbao, and Madrid. Migrants clambered over security gates. Immigration offices are now threatening strikes, overwhelmed by the sudden flood with only a handful of staff handling applications that were farmed out to post offices and NGOs.

Vox has hammered the policy as an “invasion” accelerated by Sánchez. The Granada rally turned into a flashpoint for that anger, with party figures accusing the government of promoting demographic replacement while the opposition People’s Party offered little resistance.

This is the direct result of Sánchez’s open-borders experiment, which prioritizes globalist virtue-signaling over Spanish citizens’ safety and cohesion. While the left screams about “fascism,” it is their own policies that are turning Spanish streets into battlegrounds between patriots demanding borders and radicals defending unlimited migration.

The amnesty is already facing a serious legal challenge that could freeze the entire process. The Spanish legal group Hazte Oír has taken the royal decree to the Supreme Court, which accepted the case and gave the government just 20 days to justify bypassing parliament:

Lawyers argue there was no “extraordinary and urgent need” for a decree instead of normal legislation, warning of irreversible damage to public services, housing, and social cohesion. A precautionary suspension is on the table — meaning the flood of new legal residents could be halted before it becomes impossible to reverse.

Abascal has been blunt about what comes next if the courts fail to act: “These are the lines to manage mass regularization in each municipality of Spain. Tomorrow this chaos will move to the health centers, to the social services, to the real estate agencies… It’s called thirdworldization. It’s already happening. Our priority is to reverse it, radically.”

Sánchez, meanwhile, calls the giveaway “an act of justice” and “a necessity,” claiming it simply recognizes migrants who “already form part of our everyday lives.” Critics point out Spain has run multiple amnesties since 1986 with over 1.75 million permits issued — yet illegal entries and integration failures continue unabated.

The left’s response to pushback is always the same: label patriots as extremists while their policies import the very tensions now exploding. Spain stands at a crossroads. Either the courts step in and the people demand sanity, or the socialist experiment will turn one of Europe’s great nations into a cautionary tale of what happens when globalism overrides national survival.

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.

* * * Top Sellers at ZeroHedge Store (week of 4/13)

IQ Ultimate Omega 3 - 5:1 DHA to EPA Ratio For Brain & Eye Health

GMO-Free Heirloom Seed Vault - 39 Varieties - 4,500 Seeds

IQ Brain Rescue - Daily basic for ongoing brain support

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/18/2026 - 08:10

Ukraine Urges Israel To Act Against Russian Ship Carrying 'Stolen' Grain To Haifa Port

Ukraine is pushing Israel to seize a grain shipment it says was looted from Russian-occupied territory as the war persists in the east.

At the moment it does not appear that Israel complied with any interdict of the vessel, also as reports say the cargo is already offloaded and gone.

via MarineTraffic

Ukraine's government flagged the Russian vessel ABINSK, docking at Haifa, as part of Moscow’s so-called shadow fleet, alleging that it is tied to operations used to "illegally export, transport, and sell stolen Ukrainian grain" and bankroll Moscow's war effort.

The saga has been featured in Ukrainian media, which says that despite a formal government-to-government request, Israeli authorities didn't stop the shipment.

Some 43,765 tonnes of wheat - loaded at Russia’s Kavkaz port and believed to originate from Ukrainian regions controlled by the Russian military - was allowed to be unloaded.

Ukraine is still expressing hope for "fruitful and constructive interaction" between both sides, with its embassy in contact with Israeli officials, but Tel Aviv does not appear to be as eager to intervene.

According to some further details in Le Monde:

On April 12, it was permitted to dock in Haifa, where it may have unloaded its cargo, valued at about €8.5 million at current wheat prices. The Abinsk then left Haifa the same day, heading for the Dardanelles Strait with the Turkish port of Çanakkale listed as its next stop, according to Marinetraffic.com, a vessel-tracking website.

The Russian bulk carrier reportedly loaded its cargo at the port of Kavkaz on the Kerch Strait, which separates the Sea of Azov from the Black Sea and links the Russian Federation to Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, according to Ukrainian investigative journalist Kateryna Yaresko, who works for the SeaKrime project at Myrotvorets, an online collaborative platform listing "enemies of Ukraine."

At a moment the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively blocked, and global shipping is feeling the disruption, the Israelis are unlikely to get too trigger happy when it comes to further disrupting trade - even if it comes from Russia or is in a 'gray area'. 

As for Ukraine and Israel, the two countries' relations has lately improved given the two can find common cause in opposing Iran. President Zelensky has meanwhile been touting drone sales to US allies in the Gulf of late too.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/18/2026 - 07:50

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

• What 1,000-year-old companies know about resilience: Long-lived companies show that resilience comes not from individual toughness, but from the strength of the systems around us. (Big Think)

• The $10 Billion Startup Training AI to Replace the White-Collar Workforce: Mercor is promising to replicate most professional work. It was also co-founded by twentysomethings who previously never held a real job. (Bloomberg free) see also • Mutually Automated Destruction: The Escalating Global A.I. Arms Race: The new arms race is algorithmic, not nuclear — and the guardrails are nowhere in sight. Autonomous weapons are the defining military story of the decade. (New York Times)

• Weight-loss drugs and Mars bars: Novo Nordisk’s comeback bid: The maker of Wegovy and Ozempic wants to learn lessons from consumer groups to crack the US market. After losing share to Lilly, Novo is reinventing itself — partly by partnering with the food companies whose products GLP-1s were supposed to replace. The irony is delicious. (Financial Times)

• A Pillar of the Economics Establishment Admits That It Was Wrong: The World Bank is quietly reversing decades of free-trade orthodoxy and endorsing industrial policy. A big intellectual concession with real consequences for global investing. (The Atlantic)

• The Death of the Basic American Car: The sub-$20k new car is effectively extinct. Automakers chased margins into luxury SUVs and left working Americans with no affordable option — the economic consequences are just starting to ripple out. (New York Times)

• How the Internet Broke Everyone’s Bullshit Detectors: Our cognitive defenses evolved for face-to-face lies, not algorithmic deception at scale. Wired on why even smart people are falling for dumb things in 2026. (Wired)

• How to walk through walls: On hacker mindset. Henrik Karlsson on the hacker mindset and why the most productive people treat obstacles as puzzles rather than barriers. Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi is the 0pposterchild for yhis mindset. (Henrik Karlsson)

• When Flock Cameras Appear: Everything You Need to Know About This Surveillance Tech: Flock Safety is setting up cameras and drones across the country. I spoke to cities and privacy advocates fighting back against the AI surveillance, including Flock and others like it. A growing number of cities are quietly ripping out the license-plate-scanning cameras that blanketed their streets. Proof that surveillance overreach eventually meets local pushback. (CNET)

• The Shocking Secrets of Madison Square Garden’s Surveillance Machine: Famously vengeful Knicks owner Jim Dolan has long spied on people at his iconic arenas. He has turned MSG into one of the most aggressive private facial-recognition operations in the country, using it to ban critics and lawyers at the door. Private-sector dystopia that most fans never see coming. (Wired)

• The Guitar Sounds New Again: Every so often a player comes along who makes the guitar sound like something it’s never been. A look at the technology and artistry behind the instrument’s latest reinvention. The grungy, extraterrestrial “Mk.gee tone” is everywhere and depends on a decades-old device. (The Atlantic) see also Mk.gee, an Unlikely Guitar God, Chases the Promise of Pop: At 27, Mk.gee is rethinking how music is made with a confidence that belies his age. He’s not just playing guitar — he’s reimagining what it can be in a pop context. (New York Times)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this week with Philippe Bouchaud, co‑founder, chair & head of research/chief scientist at Capital Fund Management (CFM) The $20 billion dollar fiorm specializes in managed futures). He beghan his career in theoretical physics, was awarded the IBM young scientist prize (1990) + C.N.R.S. Silver Medal (1996), and has published over 300 scientific papers and several books in physics & finance.

 

Historical data show it usually takes about 3 weeks (15 trading days) for markets to bottom after a geopolitical shock, followed by another 3-4 weeks to recover those losses

Source: Jim Reid, Deutsche Bank

 

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

~~~

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

 

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

Kuwait Holds American Journalist After Reporting On 'Friendly Fire' Shootdown Incident

Authored by Chris Hedges via Consortium News

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, a fearless Palestinian-American journalist (he's an American-born Kuwaiti of Palestinian descent) whose writing and reports are defined by unparalleled integrity, depth and eloquence, was arrested on March 3rd in Kuwait.

He is charged with spreading false information and harming national security.

His arrest took place following his reporting of the shooting down of three U.S. fighter planes by the Kuwaiti military in an act of friendly fire during the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Ahmed, along with other news outlets such as the BBC, published footage of a U.S. F-15 E Strike Eagle crashing in al-Jahra west of Kuwait City.

I fear Ahmed, a graduate of Columbia Journalism School who has worked for The New York Times, PBS Frontline, Al Jazeera English, Vice on HBO, The Huffington Post and appeared on numerous news outlets including the BBC and CNN, will be charged under new, draconian security laws instituted in Kuwait, which have already led to dozens of arbitrary arrests.

Kuwait has desperately tried to maintain the fiction that it did not serve as a staging area for US attacks on Iran. 

The NY Times had also confirmed this week:

The arrest of the journalist, Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, which Kuwaiti authorities had yet to publicly confirm, would be one of many detentions across the Persian Gulf as governments there try to repress information about local effects of the war in Iran.

“It is understood that authorities have charged him with spreading false information, harming national security and misusing his mobile phone — vague and overly broad accusations that are routinely used to silence independent journalists,” the committee said in a statement.

He had not posted online or been seen in public since early March, it said. His Twitter and Instagram accounts appeared to have been deleted.

Iran repeatedly attacked Kuwait, including strikes on Kuwait International Airport, the Ali Al Salem Air Base, the U.S. garrison at Camp Buehring and an operations center that saw six U.S. soldiers killed and dozens wounded. Iran also attacked the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery and a Kuwaiti oil tanker.

WATCH: Clear footage of a U.S. F-15E jet that was shot down over Kuwait on March 1-2 in a friendly fire incident by Kuwaiti F-18 jet. pic.twitter.com/rk1uAANWNh

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 16, 2026

France 24 broadcast a video of HIMARS missiles allegedly being fired from Kuwait into Iran. Ahmed’s reporting also undercut the lie of Kuwaiti neutrality.

The Kuwaiti authorities will, I expect, for this reason, seek to turn Ahmed into an example for the rest of the press.

* * * Top Sellers at ZeroHedge Store (week of 4/13)

IQ Ultimate Omega 3 - 5:1 DHA to EPA Ratio For Brain & Eye Health

GMO-Free Heirloom Seed Vault - 39 Varieties - 4,500 Seeds

IQ Brain Rescue - Daily basic for ongoing brain support

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 23:25

Spillover Conflict Still Raging In Iraq: Three Iranian Kurds Killed

The Iran war seems to be cooling, as a two week ceasefire holds, but people are still dying from spillover effects and sporadic conflict in neighboring Iraq.

"Drone and rocket strikes in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region on Friday killed three Iranian Kurds, including two women fighters, an exiled opposition group said, blaming the attack on Iran," AFP reports. It's unclear if the projectiles were sent across the border, or whether pro-Iran groups inside Iraq carried out the killings.

Illustrative: Alhurra

This comes several weeks after US officials first floated the possibility of arming Iranian Kurdish dissident groups. Kurdish organizations in Iraq and along the border insisted at the time that there was no plan to receive arms and training from the US.

The fear was that the US statements and avalanche of international press reports claiming a potential impending plan to use Kurds as a proxy ground force served to put a bright red target on the Kurdish community of Iran (and by extension Iraq).

Indeed throughout the conflict there had been sporadic Iranian attacks on Kurdish areas, particularly in northern Iraqi Kurdistan. That appears to still be happening, with the Friday report:

“The Islamic Republic of Iran launched a new wave of missile and drone strikes today targeting... civilian camps of the PDKI,” killing one person and wounding his father, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) said on X.

In a separate attack, two women fighters were killed and other fighters wounded, the party added.

A PDKI official told AFP the fighters were killed in an attack on their positions in the Soran area, nestled in the Zagros mountains near the Iranian border.

In other Iraq-related news connected to the Iran war, the US Treasury on Friday has slapped new sanctions on a series of Shia pro-Iran militia leaders.

The United States Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has targeted seven pro-Iran Iraqi militia commanders, accused of organizing and carrying out attacks against US soldiers and facilities.

They are "some of Iraq's most violent Iran-aligned militia organizations," such as Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haqq, Kata'ib Hezbollah, Kata'ib Sayyid Al-Shuhada, and Harakat Al-Nujaba - according to the Trump administration.

"We will not allow Iraq's terrorist militias, backed by Iran, to threaten American lives or interests ... Those who enable these militias' violence will be held accountable," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 23:00

Massive Cosmic Test Shows Newton And Einstein Still Explain Gravity Accurately

Authored by Neetika Walter via Interesting Engineering,

Scientists have tested gravity across some of the largest structures in the universe and found that it behaves exactly as predicted by long-standing physical laws.

Galaxies and clusters trace gravity’s pull across the universe.iStock Photos

Researchers led by University of Pennsylvania used data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope to examine how galaxy clusters move across vast cosmic distances.

Their results show that gravity weakens with distance in line with the inverse-square law first described by Isaac Newton and later embedded in Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

The findings challenge alternative theories that suggest gravity changes at large scales and instead reinforce the idea that an unseen component, dark matter, is shaping cosmic motion.

Gravity holds at scale

“Astrophysics has been plagued by a massive discrepancy in the cosmic ledger,” said Patricio A. Gallardo.

“When we look at how stars orbit within galaxies or how galaxies move within galaxy clusters, some appear to be traveling way too fast for the amount of visible matter they contain.”

To test whether gravity itself might be responsible, the researchers analyzed subtle distortions in the cosmic microwave background as it passes through massive galaxy clusters.

These distortions, caused by the motion of hot gas around clusters, allowed the team to measure how quickly clusters are moving toward each other across distances spanning hundreds of millions of light-years.

The results closely matched predictions from classical and relativistic physics, showing no evidence that gravity weakens differently than expected at these scales.

“It is remarkable that the law of the inverse of the squares—proposed by Newton in the 17th century and then incorporated by Einstein’s theory of general relativity—is still holding its ground in the 21st century,” said Gallardo.

Dark matter case strengthens

The study addresses a long-standing puzzle in cosmology. Observations have consistently shown that stars at the edges of galaxies and galaxies within clusters move faster than visible matter alone can explain.

“That is the central puzzle,” Gallardo explained.

“Either gravity behaves differently on very large scales, or the universe contains additional matter that we cannot directly see.”

Because the new measurements confirm that gravity behaves as expected, the results strengthen the case for dark matter as the missing component.

“This study strengthens the evidence that the universe contains a component of dark matter,” said Gallardo. “But we still do not know what that component is made of.”

The work also places constraints on theories such as Modified Newtonian Dynamics, which attempt to explain cosmic motion by altering the laws of gravity.

By extending tests of gravity to distances far beyond the scale of individual galaxies, the research provides one of the most comprehensive validations of standard cosmological models to date.

Future observations using more detailed maps of the cosmic microwave background and larger galaxy surveys could further refine these measurements and test gravity with even greater precision.

“With so many unanswered questions, gravity remains one of the most fascinating areas of research. It’s a naturally attractive field,” Gallardo said.

The study was published in Physical Review Letters.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 22:35

Beijing Boosts BeiDou Satellite System To Try And Compete With GPS

China is upgrading its BeiDou satellite navigation system, a domestic alternative to GPS, to expand its global reach and industry use, according to South China Morning Post.

The plan involves replacing older satellites with newer third-generation models and adjusting their orbits to improve worldwide coverage. The system will be streamlined from 50 to 37 active satellites, most operating in medium Earth orbit like GPS and Europe’s Galileo.

A few satellites will remain in specialized orbits to improve signal reliability in certain regions, including areas linked to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The upgraded network will mainly use newer BDS-3 satellites, which are more accurate and advanced, while older BDS-2 units will be retired.

The SCMP writes that China also aims to boost international adoption of BeiDou, especially in Belt and Road countries where it’s already used in shipping, agriculture, and transport.

The upgrade supports a broader strategy to integrate space, air, and ground systems and expand satellite technology across industries. Officials expect BeiDou’s value to reach about $145 billion within five years.

In addition, the overhaul is designed to make the system more efficient by reducing the total number of satellites while improving overall performance. By focusing on newer technology and better orbital positioning, China hopes to deliver more reliable global coverage with fewer resources. The remaining unused slots in the network also leave room for future expansion and technological upgrades.

The move reflects China’s long-term goal of reducing reliance on Western navigation systems and strengthening its technological independence. By improving accuracy, coverage, and international partnerships, Beijing is positioning BeiDou as a competitive global alternative, particularly in developing regions where infrastructure projects are already closely tied to Chinese investment.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 22:10

Ditch The Sanitizer And Exercise Your Immune System

Authored by Joel Salatin via The Epoch Times,

Bugs, viruses, and sickness—these maladies creep into countless conversations as people wrestle with the question: How do I strengthen my immune system?

The overriding answer from the conventional pharmaceutical and vaccine industry is that functional wellness comes from a pill, a needle, or some kind of medical treatment. As a farmer with thousands of animals and no vet bills, I can attest that the overriding conventional notion in the livestock industry is that a sick animal is apparently pharmaceutically disadvantaged.

I have a completely opposite paradigm: A sick animal testifies to my own mistakes. Maybe I chose weak seedstock. Over many decades of livestock farming, I’ve had half a dozen economically significant sickness outbreaks across various species. Every single time, the problem was my fault. Hygiene, diet, stress, discomfort, and toxins. An animal can get sick for many reasons, none of which is because it was medically deprived.

That brings me to people.

In his iconic New York Times bestseller “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” Jared Diamond explains the ascendancy of cultures that lived proximate to domestic livestock.

People groups who cultivated close relationships with domestic farm animals developed better immune systems.

Many years ago, British epidemiologist David Strachan observed that children with more older siblings had fewer allergies, suggesting that early exposure to infections offered lasting protection.

Many in this field of study rallied around this “hygiene hypothesis,” positing that the immune system is like a muscle and needs periodic exercise to be strong.

Consistent with Diamond’s overall findings, this theory is best supported by research in Finland.

Beginning a couple of decades ago, researchers in Finland began examining this “immune system as muscle” concept, comparing overall health between closely related children (cousins or siblings) who lived in different environments. The findings added substantial weight to the notion that the immune system has attributes similar to a muscle.

Children who grew up on farms and went to the barn as toddlers—and you know what a toddler does to everything on the fingers—were far more robust than their urban counterparts. A little bit of manure, dirt, and moldy hay or grain stimulated the immune system and reduced vulnerability to colds, flu, and other common childhood maladies.

Now for personal disclosure: Friends who know me know I routinely drink out of cow troughs with the cows. I do it not because I’m thirsty, but because I want a bigger variety of bugs in my microbiome. And I want some exposure to whatever unseen antagonist might be out there. The point is to exercise my immune system so that when something really serious comes along, it’s strong enough to fight it off.

Yes, I could die tomorrow. But for decades, I have gone many years without the common issues that plague most folks. That is not pride; it is humble acknowledgment that we have a fearfully and wonderfully made body that is ready to house health if we give it half a chance.

When I get on an airplane and the flight attendant stands there with a basket of antimicrobial sanitation cloths, I smile, lean over, and graciously say: “No, thank you; I really want your bugs.” That always gets a quizzical look and no doubt attendant conversations in the galley: “Do you see that weirdo over there? He wants my bugs.”

On a recent flight, a couple took seats A and B; I was in C, on the aisle. Wearing masks, they sat down and immediately brought out sanitation wipes. Meal trays, the back of the seat, and armrests—everything received a thorough wipe-down. Then she offered her rags to me, and I said: “No, thank you, ma'am, I really want to breathe in your bugs.” The mask hid what must have been a horrified countenance.

As soon as we were airborne, out came the snacks. Pringles, Twizzlers, Reese’s Pieces, soft drinks—I think they had an entire supermarket snack aisle in their bulky carry-on bag. I watched them chow down on all this junk for an hour. At hour two (it was a three-hour flight), they rang the call button. I wondered what that was all about.

“We’re having sugar issues; can you please bring us some apple juice?”

Are you kidding me?

Sterilizing everything and then consuming sugar and artificials, my overriding thought was: “And these people vote.”

Eating junk and bug paranoia are a recipe for immunological malfunction, but we see this kind of dystopian activity far too often.

Fortunately, the word seems to be getting around that muscle-equivalent immunology is real. New moms taking their toddlers to petting zoos and dirt piles appear to be the new mania in the infant wellness field. This is a healthy change and a trend that could yield many benefits.

If any savvy entrepreneurs have stayed with me in this column this long, here is my suggestion for a million-dollar business: Sell compost-and-dirt-infused permeable mats to urbanites yearning for robust immune function. It could be a subscription service where someone would come every four months and dump out the old compost and dirt and fill the mat with new material. It could be a welcome mat or perhaps even a mat you'd step on when exiting the shower to get all these goodies on your bare feet.

I’m sure someone is smart enough to figure out how to get the country to the city. To be sure, I’m not suggesting we go back to open sewers and no refrigeration. I am suggesting that humanity can become too sterile. Our multi-billion-member microbiome is not sterile, and the No. 1 measure of vibrancy is microbial diversity in the gut. You don’t need to pay me a commission for the idea; just brand it and run with it.

When we eat real food, unprocessed, we receive that microbial variety, and our immune system enjoys some exercise. As a techno-sophisticated society, we have become too sterile, and our immune systems suffer as a result. Let’s get back outside, in our gardens, in the dirt, share some bugs, and enjoy exercising our immune systems. At least go visit a farm. That’s a better approach than holding back our immune system while relying on needles and pills as a crutch to hold up the body’s atrophy, don’t you think?

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 21:45

Xi Jinping Refocuses On Taiwan With Renewed Political Outreach

China hosted a high-profile meeting between Xi Jinping and a senior Taiwanese opposition figure from the Kuomintang (KMT), marking a notable resumption of party-to-party engagement after years of limited direct contact, according to Nikkei Asia.

The meeting was tightly choreographed, featuring an extended handshake, formal seating arrangements, and controlled media coverage. These elements were designed to convey parity and legitimacy, signaling that Beijing views engagement with Taiwan’s opposition as politically substantive.

The KMT has historically supported closer economic and political ties with mainland China under the framework of the “1992 Consensus,” which Beijing interprets as acknowledgment of “one China.” This has allowed the party to maintain communication channels with Chinese officials even when official cross-strait dialogue has broken down.

By contrast, Beijing has suspended most formal contact with Taiwan’s current government under Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Chinese authorities characterize the DPP as promoting policies that move Taiwan further from eventual unification.

China continues to assert sovereignty over Taiwan and has increased pressure through military activity, including air and naval operations near the island, alongside diplomatic isolation efforts aimed at limiting Taiwan’s international space.

Within this context, the meeting reflects a broader recalibration in Xi’s Taiwan strategy. In addition to sustained military signaling, Beijing appears to be reinvesting in political engagement as a complementary tool.

Nikkei writes that outreach to the KMT provides Beijing with an avenue to influence Taiwan’s internal political discourse. It enables China to highlight divisions between major parties and to frame engagement with the mainland as both feasible and beneficial.

This approach may also be intended to shape public opinion in Taiwan, particularly by emphasizing economic cooperation and stability in contrast to the tensions associated with strained cross-strait relations under the current administration.

The timing of the meeting suggests a coordinated effort to increase Beijing’s visibility in Taiwan-related developments, with Xi taking a more direct role in signaling priorities and setting the tone for engagement.

Overall, the development indicates that Xi is refocusing attention on Taiwan, combining political outreach with ongoing military and diplomatic pressure to influence the island’s political trajectory and cross-strait relations.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 20:30

More Young Men Than Young Women Now Say Religion Is 'Very Important' To Them, Gallup Finds

Authored by Mark A. Kellner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Young men in the United States are more religious than young women for the first time in 25 years, according to a Gallup poll released on Thursday.

A man reads scripture while viewing the casket of Reverend Billy Graham in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on Feb. 28, 2018. Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images

The data show that 42 percent of men aged 18 to 29 say religion is “very important” in their lives. That figure stood at 28 percent just two years ago. Young women’s attachment to religion held steady at about 30 percent during the same period.

The 14-point jump among young men represents a sharp departure from typical demographic trends. It has caught the attention, tempered with caution, of researchers who study religion in America.

“The magnitude of the jump they’re talking about [is] humongous—religious importance is up from 28 percent to 42 percent in two years. That’s not how demographics typically work,” Ryan Burge, a political scientist and statistician who studies religious trends, told The Epoch Times. “You don’t see a metric rise by 50 percent in two years.”

The Gallup findings, authored by Frank Newport and Lydia Saad, are based on biennial aggregates of religion data from 2000-2001 through 2024-2025. The 2024-2025 results draw from 4,015 U.S. adults, including 295 men and 145 women aged 18 to 29.

The reversal is confined to the youngest age group. Among adults 30 and older, women remain more religious than men.

At the start of the millennium, young women led young men by 9 percentage points on the importance of religion. That gap widened to 16 points in the early to mid-2000s before narrowing over the next decade.

By the mid-2010s, the difference had shrunk to about 5 points. The latest data mark a clear break.

The shift extends beyond attitudes about the importance of religion. The share of young men reporting monthly—or more frequent—attendance at religious services rose 7 points to 40 percent. That is the highest level since 2012-2013. Young women’s attendance rose three points to 39 percent.

Young men and young women are now statistically tied on attendance. On religious affiliation, 63 percent of young men report identifying with a faith, compared with 60 percent of young women.

Yet Burge, author of “The Vanishing Church: How the Hollowing Out of Moderate Congregations Is Hurting Democracy, Faith, and Us,” urged caution in interpreting the results. He noted that while the importance measure surged, other religious indicators did not show the same dramatic increase.

“To make the claim that now young men are coming back to religion en masse based on this one data point would be statistically inappropriate,” Burge said. “But I think it does move us closer to a preponderance of evidence that the gender gap has now clearly closed between young men and young women, and maybe possibly reversed.”

Burge described the importance-of-religion question as a “vibes metric” but perhaps not proof of religiosity.

“It’s not asking, ‘Are you religious, or do you go to church?’ But, ‘Do you think religion is important?’” Burge said. “So, are there people who never go to church who say religion is very important? They’re called conservatives.”

Gallup’s analysis points to partisan politics as a key driver. Religious attendance rose 7 points among young Republican men and 8 points among young Republican women since 2022-2023. Among young Democratic men, attendance rose 3 points. Young Democratic women showed little change.

The political dimension matters because 48 percent of young men identified as or leaned Republican in 2024-2025. Only 27 percent of young women did the same. Among young women, 60 percent identified as or leaned Democratic.

Burge said the political sorting concerns him.

“My worry is that these young men are being drawn towards church because of the politics of the church, you know, and that will only make evangelicalism and Catholicism even more conservative than it already is,” Burge said.

He argued that churches need political diversity to serve a healthy function in society.

“We need to seek out religious spaces that are diverse. I mean, but I mean moderate. I just don’t mean everyone’s a moderate. I mean for every conservative [there’s] a liberal,” Burge said. “You know, where it balances out to the middle.”

Burge said young women’s departure from religion has its own logic. He pointed to the #MeToo movement and concerns about patriarchal institutions.

“Young women are being pushed away from religion, and it has a lot to do with politics,” he said. “They’re seeing the church as being, you know, very paternalistic, very masculine, very patriarchal.”

Meanwhile, young men find institutions that still value their leadership, Burge said. Catholicism restricts the priesthood to men. Many evangelical denominations limit the roles of women.

“It kind of makes sense that young men would go one direction; young women go the other direction.”

Gallup did not immediately respond to questions about its findings.

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 20:05

Trump Turns The Screws On Israel In Biggest Pressure Move To Reign In Bibi Yet

The Lebanon ceasefire appears to be legitimate and holding, and the biggest evidence of this is that Lebanese citizens themselves are pouring back into the war-ravaged south of the country, seeking to recover to their homes which are in some cases 'unlivable'.

"Thousands of families displaced by weeks of fighting filled the main highway to southern Lebanon on Friday in hopes of returning to their homes, as a 10-day cease-fire in Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah went into effect," writes NY Times on Friday.

via Reuters

This comes after the Rubio-mediated meeting between the Israel and Lebanon governments in Washington D.C. this week, which was a first in decades. However, Hezbollah was not represented and has rejected direct talks with Israel.

The situation and uneasy truce, which has for now seen Israel halt its bombing campaign over Lebanon (though dozens of airstrikes were reported in the south just on Thursday) - has been subject of some confusion and contradictory messaging.

First, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had declared that the fight with Hezbollah is not over, while at the same time confirming Israel's agreement with the 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon.

"One hand holds a weapon; the other is extended for peace," Netanyahu said in a fresh speech. "I will say honestly, we have not yet finished the job," he continued. "There are things we plan to do regarding the remaining rocket threat and the drone threat, which I will not detail."

Israel seeks to "dismantle" Hezbollah, Netanyahu continued, "but this will not be achieved tomorrow. It requires sustained effort, patience, and careful navigation in the diplomatic arena."

President Trump meanwhile in a Friday morning Truth Social message said Israel has been "PROHIBITED" from attacking Israel by the US.

But Trump at the same time contradicted Tehran's stance: "This deal is in no way subject to Lebanon, either, but the USA will, separately, work with Lebanon, and deal with the Hezbollah situation in an appropriate manner. Israel will not be bombing Lebanon any longer," he wrote.

BREAKING: President Trump says Israel 'prohibited' by US from bombing Lebanon pic.twitter.com/wpuhtPxNV4

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) April 17, 2026

Crucially, he added of the Israeli military: "They are PROHIBITED from doing so by the USA. Enough is enough." The NY Times says this has put Netanyahu in a tough spot:

Now, the prime minister’s critics, and even some of his allies on the right, have seized on what appears plain as day: his inability to resist Mr. Trump’s pressure, not just in pushing to bring the long-distance war with Iran to a close but even in demanding a truce with an enemy directly across Israel’s northern border.

“A cease-fire must come from a position of strength and be an Israeli decision, reflecting leverage that serves negotiations,” said Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff whose new centrist opposition party, Yashar, is gaining in the polls. “A pattern is emerging in which cease-fires are being imposed on us — in Gaza, in Iran and now in Lebanon.”

This actually constitutes some of the toughest talk and restrictions ever imposed on Israel from this administration. This suggests the White House is indeed serious about cobbling together a final offramp.

* * * Top Sellers at ZeroHedge Store (week of 4/13)

IQ Ultimate Omega 3 - 5:1 DHA to EPA Ratio For Brain & Eye Health

GMO-Free Heirloom Seed Vault - 39 Varieties - 4,500 Seeds

IQ Brain Rescue - Daily basic for ongoing brain support

Tyler Durden Fri, 04/17/2026 - 19:40