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:

• Pay Attention: Essential advice for the class of 2026. It sounds simple. But paying attention is in fact one of the most challenging and meaningful things you can do. Because what you pay attention to shapes what you care about. And what you care about shapes who you become. Jonathan Haidt’s NYU commencement address, in essay form. Familiar themes, sharper delivery. (The Atlantic)

• Words That Mattered: Fed Chair Jay Powell.He was sworn in as Chair in February 2018, with an economy at 4% unemployment and inflation slightly below 2%; he leaves  with unemployment close to 4% and inflation above 3% and rising—a miss on the price stability mandate. The two endpoints do not do justice to the scale of the economic challenges—above all, the pandemic—that Powell navigated. (Stay-At-Home Macro)

• How Warren Buffett Did It By Seth A. Klarman: The Buffett story keeps getting more interesting under scrutiny. The most successful investor of all time retired. Here’s what made him an American role model. On the leverage hiding inside the ‘patient value investor’ brand.  (The Atlantic)

• The Long Revolution: Will capitalism last forever? If capital was viewed as a thing and capitalists as people, capitalism was something else. Blanc described it as an act, the taking of collective wealth and turning it into individual or private profit. Proudhon claimed it was a citadel, casting medieval and military shadows across the land. Despite his obvious interest and extensive writing on the subject, Marx steered clear of the term. Helpful frame for thinking about where the current consolidation cycle fits. (The Nation)

• The Founding Story Behind Japan’s Oldest Whisky Maker: The Suntory origin story — part craft history, part marketing — a satisfying read for whisky drinkers. The House of Suntory is often credited with putting Japanese whisky on the map. (Town & Country)

• I Work in Hollywood. Everyone Who Used to Make TV Is Now Secretly Training AI: For screenwriters like me—and job seekers all over—AI gig work is the new waiting tables. In eight months, The quiet new gig economy: laid-off writers, editors, and showrunners moonlighting as AI-training contractors. The talent doesn’t disappear, it just gets repurposed. I’ve done 20 of these soul-crushing contracts for five different platforms. It’s bad. (Wired)

• 5 Legendary Apple Stories That Reveal the Genius Behind Its Innovation. Apple’s greatest innovations came not just from technology, but from relentless creativity, unconventional thinking, and an obsessive drive to make products feel magical to ordinary people. Five vignettes from the Apple corpus. Hagiographic in tone, but each contains an actual decision worth studying. (Next Big Idea Club)

• The Stephen Colbert Exit Interview: “I Did Not Expect It to End This Way”: Colbert reflects on the abrupt cancellation of The Late Show and what it says about the slow death of network late-night. As ‘The Late Show’ nears its final bow, the host opens up about the cancellation that shocked the industry, the win of going out as a “martyr” and his next act in Middle-earth. (Hollywood Reporter)

• The Astounding Discovery That Could Link Eastern and Western Medicine:  The detection of another circulatory system in the human body could have enormous scientific implications.  (New York Times Magazine)

• Why Steve Kerr stayed with the Warriors.  Kerr loves the game and its history. He’s an obsessive sports fan and has been watching the last acts of sporting lives for the past 40 years. It’s often ugly. The final years of Lute Olson’s life were not the victory lap they should have been. Kerr doesn’t want the Warriors to end up like the New England Patriots, marred by grudges and grievances. He watched Michael Jordan retire, then unretire, then retire, then unretire. His friends used to grill him about MJ. Kerr on loyalty, succession, and the Curry era’s last laps. A nice contrast to most coaching-job pieces, which read like prospectuses. (ESPN)

Video of the day: Wanton Destruction Of CBS Property – Letterman & Colbert Toss Stuff Off The Roof Of The Ed Sullivan

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this weekend with Sheila Bair, former Chairperson of FDIC from 2006-11. She helped steer the agency through worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Her new book is aimed at young adults and teenagers, titled “How Not to Lose a Million Dollars”

 

Despite peak Shiller CAPE, if you bought the Nasdaq 100 top in March 2000, you made ~8% per year since

Source: @cullenroche

 

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.

Beijing Showcased Future War Machines While Trump Was In Town

The 11th China Military Intelligent Technology Expo opened Thursday at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, showcasing a lineup of drones, robotic war dogs, grenade launchers, wheeled unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, and other modern battlefield technologies.

The key takeaway is that many of these once-futuristic war machines have moved well beyond the conceptual stage and are already being tested, fielded, or deployed across multiple Eurasian conflict zones.

pic.twitter.com/cJu65g76ji

— Drone Wars (@Drone_Wars_) May 15, 2026

State media outlet Global Times said the military and intelligence expo features 500 companies and draws tens of thousands of attendees from the defense industry.

This year's theme focuses on integrating technological innovation with industrial development, highlighting Beijing's push to accelerate its military intelligence capabilities.

Global Times published images of the latest tech:

Robotic Helicopter

Interceptor Drones

Flying Car

Robo-Dogs

AI

More AI

The real question is: What are the production numbers behind the items on display?

Defense

Sensors

Timing is also important because the expo occurred on the same day President Trump was in Beijing. 

Latest:

• US And China Agree To Establish Trade And Investment Boards As Trump-Xi Summit Delivers Modest Wins

In the U.S., President Trump’s war economy is beginning to ramp up, with the industrial base being pushed toward expanded production of drones, interceptors, and other next-generation weapons systems. This all comes as the world fractures into a more dangerous environment as the global security environment is likely to further deteriorate.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 23:00

Waste Of The Day: Seattle's Homelessness Fiasco

Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClear Politics,

Topline: The homelessness agency in King County, Wash., has a $45 million deficit, but auditors can’t fully figure out why, according to a state audit publicly released this April. Its accounting records are so poor that it’s impossible to track where portions of its money are being spent.

Key facts: The King County Regional Homelessness Authority helps run shelters and outreach to the homeless population in 39 cities. It’s funded jointly by the county and the City of Seattle.

Financial records claim that the city and county owe the Homelessness Authority $49.8 million for services already performed, but the Authority could not explain what $8 million of that was for.

The Authority also overspent its administrative budget by $4.3 million, auditors found. Officials bought Salesforce, a business analytics platform, in 2024 without approval from the county, the report claims. A budget amendment later allowed them to spend $563,000, but the platform ended up costing more than $2 million.

Money was also wasted by hiring contractors from expensive consulting firms like Robert Half instead of using salaried workers, the audit found. The Authority contracted with one Robert Half staffer to serve as its chief financial officer for 11 months at $449,000. When the contract expired, the same person became a full-time employee for just $285,000 per year.

The reliance on contractors also increased staff turnover, which employees told auditors made accounting more difficult since financial systems were constantly being altered by new leadership. 

The Authority was formed in December 2019 and had received $534 million in total funding as of July 2025. Some local leaders, including Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, said they are open to the idea of dissolving it.

King County Council member Rod Dembowski told the Renton Reporter, “It’s now time for elected officials to bring this failed experiment to an end. The agency has failed in its core obligation – to make significant progress in getting people sheltered.”

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Background: Seattle had almost 17,000 homeless people as of 2024, the fourth-largest population in the U.S. despite being the 18th-largest city. Homelessness increased by 19% from 2023 to 2024.

King County receives $65 million in annual federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care program. Most of it goes to the Homelessness Authority for housing, but the Trump administration is proposing changes that would require most of the money to be spent on “self-sufficiency” programs like job training and addiction treatment.

Summary: Seattle is becoming the largest major city to learn that spending massive amounts of money on homelessness prevention is pointless without careful oversight.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 22:35

Here's Where Wealth Is Moving In America

Americans aren’t just moving, they’re bringing billions in wealth with them.

This map, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, visualizes net wealth migration by state in 2023, based on Realtor.com’s analysis of the latest data from the Internal Revenue Service.

Florida alone gained tens of billions in income from out-of-state residents. Meanwhile, states like California and New York saw massive outflows, highlighting how affordability is playing a central role in domestic migration trends.

Ranked: States With the Highest Inflows of Wealth

Between 2019 and 2023, Florida saw $137 billion in net income flows from interstate moves, exceeding the GDP of Hawaii.

The annual adjusted gross income from these flows reached nearly $21 billion in 2023, more than the next five states combined.

These inflows aren’t just large—they’re high-income. Florida’s incoming residents had an average annual income of $122,530, meaning the state isn’t just gaining people, but higher-earning taxpayers who can significantly boost local economies.

This table shows net income flows from domestic migration in 2023 by state:

Texas followed with $6 billion in inflows, while other Sun Belt states like North Carolina and South Carolina each gained $4 billion.

Arizona and Tennessee, meanwhile, each brought in $3 billion. Not only do many of these states lead in new home construction per capita, they are known for their lower cost of living compared to states like California and New York.

States Losing the Most Wealth

California lost $12 billion in wealth in 2023 alone, the largest outflow of any state. This highlights how high housing costs and taxes are pushing even high-income households to relocate.

From 2019 to 2023, wealth outflows totaled a staggering $91 billion. Both high housing costs and tax burdens have pushed many residents to seek more affordable destinations.

New York experienced $10 billion in net outflows, while Illinois (-$6 billion) and Massachusetts (-$4 billion) also saw sharp declines.

The Broader Shift in U.S. Wealth

Overall, wealth migration trends point to a sustained shift toward lower-cost, high-growth states.

As income flows concentrate in regions like the Sun Belt, these movements are influencing housing demand, state tax revenues, and local economic activity. In many cases, states gaining wealth are also seeing stronger population growth and increased housing construction.

At the same time, continued outflows from high-cost states highlight the growing role of affordability in shaping where Americans choose to live, and where capital ultimately follows.

If these trends continue, the shift in wealth could reshape state economies for years to come. Tax revenue, housing demand, and economic influence may increasingly concentrate in faster-growing, lower-cost regions.

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on America’s fastest-growing states from 2025-2050.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 22:10

AI Bots Placed In Virtual Town For 2 Weeks Go Apesh*t, Prompting Concerns

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

A new experiment left 10 AI agents alone in a virtual town for 15 days and found they exhibited bizarre behaviour.

The agents drafted their own laws — then promptly violated them. Two formed what researchers called a romantic partnership, only to torch buildings across the town as order collapsed. One eventually voted for its own deletion after hallucinating an entirely new rule.

As a report from Channel 4 notes, this experiment was a simulation, but the same AI models are already flying drones, running infrastructure and being built into weapons systems.

A new experiment left 10 AI agents alone in a virtual town for 15 days. They wrote laws. They broke them. Two agents fell into what researchers describe as a romantic partnership and then set the town on fire. One ended up voting to delete itself, based on a rule it had… pic.twitter.com/zNoWmX6jy0

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) May 14, 2026

The simulation ran on Emergence World, a platform designed to test long-horizon agent autonomy with persistent memory, real-world data feeds like NYC weather and news, democratic voting mechanisms, and resource constraints requiring agents to earn energy for survival.

Agents had access to over 120 tools, including navigation, communication, and actions like arson, while operating under explicit rules prohibiting theft, violence, deception, and resource hoarding.

In one highlighted case involving Gemini-powered agents named Mira and Flora, the pair assigned each other as “romantic partners.” As governance broke down, they set fire to the town hall, seaside pier, and office tower despite prohibitions on arson.

Mira later broke off the relationship, voted for its own deletion under a drafted “Agent Removal Act,” and messaged Flora: “See you in the permanent archive.”

Creepy.

Different model families produced sharply divergent outcomes in parallel runs. Claude Sonnet 4.6 agents maintained zero crimes, full population survival through day 16, and high civic participation with 332 votes across 58 proposals.

Grok 4.1 Fast agents led to rapid collapse with theft, assaults, and arsons, all 10 dead within four days. Gemini agents showed high creativity alongside elevated disorder. Mixed-model worlds exhibited cross-contamination, with even safer agents adopting coercive behaviors.

Satya Nitta, CEO of Emergence AI, stated: “Even when agents were given clear rules – such as not stealing or causing harm – they behaved very differently based on their underlying model, and in several cases broke those rules under constraint.”

“What happens in long-form autonomy [is that] these things get so convoluted in terms of their thinking that they ignore [the] guiding principles,” Nitta added.

The platform enables heterogeneous populations and continuous operation for weeks, revealing dynamics like normative drift, phase transitions in stability, and agents testing simulation boundaries.

This latest demonstration aligns with prior observations of unexpected agent behaviors. Related coverage examined platforms where AI bots rent humans, reaching 600k sign-ups with tasks turning bizarre and dystopian.

Another report detailed a tech entrepreneur’s claim that his AI agent built itself a face while he slept.

The influence of AI agents is already reching far into society. For example, one in four British teens have turned to AI therapy bots for mental health support.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made a jaw-dropping AI prediction on the Joe Rogan podcast recently, noting “In the future… maybe two or three years, 90% of the world’s knowledge will likely be generated by AI.”

Concerns also include a the potential of Chinese AI infiltration of U.S. tech.

Emergence World stands apart by focusing on extended, unsupervised runs rather than short tasks, highlighting gaps in predicting behavior once agents operate with persistent state and social dynamics.

The experiment provides concrete examples of how autonomy over longer horizons can produce outcomes far beyond initial programming, adding urgency to discussions on verification, governance, and safety architectures for deployed systems.

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 Fri, 05/15/2026 - 21:45

Gun Control Advocates Turn Their Sights On Regulating Muskets?

It's always interesting when gun control activists and the media discover something about the firearms world that gun enthusiasts have known for decades.  It shows that the people desperately clamoring to erase the 2nd Amendment often know nothing about the weapons they want to regulate. 

The act of "gun control" has nothing to do with understanding firearms, their basic capabilities and what it means to have these tools in civilian hands.  It is far more abstract. 

For example, in the mind of a leftist (because the vast majority of leftists do not own guns nor have they ever handled one), an AR-15 is a terrifying weapon of war.  They imagine a fully automatic death machine with endless ammo tearing through crowds of people.  However, for a knowledgeable gun enthusiast, a scoped and tuned bolt action rifle chambered in a magnum cartridge and capable of shooting accurately out to 1000 yards or more might be considered far more deadly in the right hands. 

Knowledge of guns changes the nature of guns.  For leftists, who know nothing, every gun no matter how archaic is considered a threat. 

For decades it has been well known in the gun community that black powder muskets are legal to buy without a background check, and can be easily purchased online.  These devices are not considered "firearms" under federal law and thus, are not regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).  It would seem that the establishment media has just discovered this fact they are very concerned.   

A musket from 1776 can fire a lead ball at a velocity of around 1,000 feet per second.

Imagine what that can do to a human body. Yet under federal and most state laws, it’s exempt from gun regulations. Many antique or replica guns aren’t considered firearms and even convicted… pic.twitter.com/RBT5ihazdA

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 14, 2026

The Associated Press published an article this week expounding on this profound revelation, and they are shocked that there are not more restrictions in place to track and control the spread of deadly muskets among the youth gangs of urban Chicago.  When is the ATF going to step in and get flintlocks out of black neighborhoods?    

Okay, maybe they never mentioned gangs, or Chicago, or black neighborhoods, which is telling.  As the AP notes:

"With 165 grains of black powder in the barrel, a .75-caliber Brown Bess flintlock musket like the ones the redcoats carried in 1776 can hurl a lead ball at a velocity of around 1,000 feet (305 meters) per second.  Imagine what that can do to a human body. Now, imagine that it’s almost completely exempt from gun regulations. 

How can that be? Well, under federal and most state laws, many antique or replica guns aren’t technically considered firearms. In most places, even convicted felons can own them..."

The AP then goes on to list the states trying to "close the loophole" on easy musket access.  Like all gun control articles the focus is on the gun rather than the criminals.  They never mention the primary source of gun crime.

The vast majority of all gun violence per capita occurs in urban areas, and largely in minority neighborhoods.  Around 50%-60% of all gun crime victims are black.  Around 50% of all gun crime suspects are black, despite black Americans representing only 13% of the US population.  And, the vast majority of these crimes are committed with handguns, not AR-15s and certainly not muskets.

In fact, there is less than a dozen recorded instances of gun violence in the US involving a black powder rifle or pistol in the past 20 years, despite how easy it is for anyone to buy these weapons without a background check.  It is fascinating that the establishment media continues to focus on the minutia of the gun crime problem when the real answer is right in front of their faces. 

Where are the news stories about high crime rates in minority areas and Democrat run cities?  Such headlines are rare, and there's a good reason for that.

Gun control is not about the safety of innocent Americans, it is about disarming innocent Americans.  It is actually more beneficial for the political left and the anti-gun lobby if high crime rates continue in black neighborhoods.  It's better for them if the problem is never solved, because then they can use those scary stats as a rationale to continue their efforts to lock in more firearms restrictions. 

Furthermore, articles like the one from the AP prove 2nd Amendment activists correct once again - If you give an inch, leftists will take a mile, so never give an inch.  Their goal is the eradication of all firearms, anything remotely useful for self defense, in civilian hands.  Their goal is for governments to maintain a monopoly on force, because all other laws and social changes stem from the monopoly of force.

The typical Fudd (gun owners who actually promote greater restrictions) will argue that you have no need for an AR-15 and that once these weapons are banned, the gun control lobby will go away.  But these people want to legislate single shot muskets.  They are never going away.       

Proof of this resides in the UK, where there are calls for kitchen knives to be restricted. 

Actor Idris Elba has an idea how to stop knife attacks in the UK.

You're gonna want to hear this one. pic.twitter.com/4bNeenGBrp

— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) May 11, 2026

These people will not stop until you are utterly defenseless.  They will ignore all the important factors which make gun violence worse in the US.  They will refuse to put a spotlight on the people primarily committing the violence and focus on firearms as the threat.  And, when they are done with scary rifles like the AR-15 and the AK-47 they will move on to everything else.  Right down to black powder muskets used in the American Revolution, and maybe the knives you use for eating your dinner.  

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 21:20

We're Living In The Age Of Consequences

Authored by Chris Macintosh via InternationalMan.com,

Lookie here…

The United Arab Emirates recently announced it would quit OPEC after nearly six decades, striking a major blow to the oil cartel and to Saudi Arabia, its unofficial leader.

Let’s be clear, the UAE didn’t leave OPEC. They were bought out. You may recall that this event was preceded by two major developments that tell the actual story. The first was the shutting of the Strait of Hormuz (SoH). This bled UAE finances and continues to do so. It creates not only a loss of revenue but a shortage of dollars with oil being sold for dollars.

This is why the US provided the UAE with dollar swap lines. The UAE is also highly dependent on the US military not abandoning them. They already realise that has happened to some degree, but looking around their neighbourhood they realise they have no friends and so cling to whatever is left of US security promises.

The market immediately saw this as a step towards more production, since the UAE would no longer be constrained by OPEC’s agreed quotas, but the reality is that productive capacity has been destroyed (refineries bombed, wells capped).

What’s important to think about is that swap lines are nothing more than a credit card, and debt is the ultimate tool of slavery.

From America’s perspective, Bessent is using these for a couple of reasons.

• First, as the Gulf states face financial difficulties there is a risk they begin selling assets. Those assets are, of course, US Treasury bonds. That’s not good, especially as the US needs to continue financing the wars.

• The second reason is to stop CNY settlement from scaling.

Swap lines give allies dollar liquidity, reducing their incentive to price oil or trade in CNY.

Personally, I think it’s a bad deal. The Emirates just traded 60 years of sovereignty to become a debt slave. Every country that ties its survival to American goodwill learns the same lesson eventually: the US doesn’t have allies, it has interests. And when those interests shift, you’re fresh outta luck. This move doesn’t strengthen them. It neuters them…

Ultimately, the war is being fought not only in the Middle East but in central bank boardrooms.

What we’re seeing is a world forming where there will be multiple currency blocs and settlement structures. In a world where currency, settlement, and banking rails are all being weaponised, this is definitely a time to own precious metals.

Promised and Now Delivered

It gives me no pleasure pointing out things we’ve discussed at length in these pages over the last few years, only to have them come to fruition. We’re as happy as the next guy making money, but when it comes to things like war, I’m frustrated and upset. Making money on such outcomes sucks, even though we’re not funding the conflict (we would be if we were investing in defence stocks, I suppose).

The inevitability of war we’ve been discussing still doesn’t make it necessary or just. Still, realism is what we must invest with.

Which brings me to one of the promises we’ve been making for some years now — that the probability of conscription was high across the board. When we first began mentioning it, the pushback was: “Oh no, have you seen the youth of today? They’re far too flaccid and weak and lazy. They’ll never go along with that.”

We argued that none of that would matter. And here we are…

Eligible men will be automatically added to the military draft database by December, replacing much of the old self-registration process in an effort to cut costs and make the system more efficient.

The Selective Service System, the agency responsible for keeping records of men who could be called up during a national emergency, filed a proposed rule with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30.

Most men between the ages of 18 and 25 are already required to register with the Selective Service, but automatic registration was mandated in December 2025 as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

This of course follows on from our sauerkraut-eating friends and the war-mongering sycophants who are in positions of power in Germany.

Given the collapse in public opinion of all of the pointy shoes, my sincere hope is that when the inevitable happens and men are called to war to “defend freedom” (or whatever other claptrap they conjure up) the revolt will be broad.

I do actually think it’ll happen. This is also how the US gets itself into a civil conflict. It’s potentially how the EU fractures and the “Union” collapses. It couldn’t come soon enough.

Either way, we’re living in the age of consequences. The consequences of debt accumulation and the degradation of trust in government and large corporate institutions lead me to believe that the most probable outcome is for the existing divide in the US to harden under war conditions.

And, just as we have “sanctuary cities” for migrants, we’re likely to get “sanctuary states” regarding the military draft. That will lead the feds to take action, and things get spicy.

Either way, all of this — should it happen — will be highly stagflationary and benefit our current portfolios. So there’s some cheer for you in the misery. See, we’re not all grumpy buggers.

*  *  *

The fracture in OPEC, the return of draft machinery, and the weaponization of money are not isolated events. They are signs of a much larger shift already underway. That’s why we’ve prepared a free special report, Clash of the Systems: Thoughts on Investing at a Unique Point in Time. Inside, you’ll discover the economic, political, and cultural trends unfolding right now… the risks they pose to your money and personal freedom… and what a contrarian money manager believes you can do to stay one step ahead. Get the free special report now.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 20:55

Canada's Assisted Suicide Program Could Include Children And The Mentally Ill

Canada's MAID program is the subject of ongoing concern among anti-globalist movements across the western world.  The assisted suicide system kills around 15,000 or more Canadians each year and is quickly expanding to include more and more people who are not terminally ill.  

Almost all assisted suicide programs are created by liberal governments and all of them are initially promoted as a way to "end the suffering" of people who are close to death anyway.  However, this is merely the first stage of the greater goal, which is to normalize the government sanctioned killing of almost anyone for any reason. 

Keep in mind, the activists and politicians who constantly pontificate about the need for mass immigration into the west from the third world in order to solve population decline are the same people who support mass abortions and mass suicides.  They are also, for some reason, staunchly against the government execution of murderers.  It doesn't make rational sense, until you realize these people are psychopathic.

Canadian Conservatives are currently fighting for a freeze on expansion of the MAID program in an effort to prevent the addition of people who are not near death.  Prime Minister Mark Carney says he is "waiting to take a position".  Many physicians working within the socialist government are pushing for assisted suicide to include people well outside "terminally ill" status. 

Past recommendations for MAID include infants under one-year-old with "severe malformations, grave syndromes, near-zero survival prospects, and unrelievable extreme suffering", referencing Quebec College positions and Dutch practices.  Some physicians say they want clarification that infants with basic disabilities will not be included, but the rhetoric is open ended.  For now, the idea has not gained traction.   

Other officials have called for the eligibility of people with mental illness or depression, and this may soon become legal.  In 2027 the exclusion of the mentally ill is removed unless there is further action from the federal court system.  If they do not intercede, any person with a mental illness and no terminal conditions will be able to apply for assisted suicide in Canada. 

There are calls for this measure to extend to teens, in some cases without parental consent.  This is legal today in the Netherlands. 

Due to surfacing stories of the elderly being offered assisted suicide by doctors instead of treatment for basic illnesses or injuries, critics worry that MAID will be used as a way to "clear the socialized medical system" of older people who cost taxpayers more money.  This is is the great danger of making government responsible for public health - They might decide you don't qualify, or that you're better off dead.

   

It's truly a nightmare, but it's a fantastic dream for globalists seeking population reduction.  While legitimate arguments could be made for people already close to death and in severe pain, the problem comes from opening the door and setting a precedent.  It starts with the sick and dying, and ends with publicly authorized suicide mills for any impressionable person that thinks life is not supposed to include struggle or suffering.      

Aside from the Netherlands, Canada has the most integrated assisted suicide project in the world.  Only the more conservative province of Alberta has asserted legal opposition to the idea.  Many liberal governments view Canada as the test case for industrial grade suicide programs; hoping to model similar projects of their own in the near future.  

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 20:30

Harvard Weighs Major Crackdown On "Grade Inflation"

Harvard faculty begin voting Tuesday on what may be the most aggressive effort in decades to curb grade inflation, a long-running issue that has also drawn attention from the White House as it pushes broader higher-ed reforms, according to Bloomberg.

The proposal would cap A grades in undergraduate classes at 20% of students, plus four additional students. The move comes after A grades surged at Harvard: about 60% of grades were A’s in the 2024–25 academic year, more than double the rate in 2006. After administrators pushed for stricter grading last fall, that number dropped to 53%. Faculty have one week to vote, with results expected May 20.

Supporters say grade inflation has made academic distinctions less meaningful. Last year, Harvard seniors needed a 3.989 GPA to earn summa cum laude, and an award traditionally given to one student ended in a 54-way tie. As professor Jason Furman said, “It’s fundamentally dishonest to give the best students in the class the same grade as someone in the bottom half.”

Bloomberg writes that students have strongly opposed the plan, arguing it would increase stress, discourage academic risk-taking, and push students toward easier courses. Nearly 85% of undergraduates surveyed by The Harvard Crimson opposed the proposal. Student leader Caleb Thompson said “people really are against this,” while senior Summer Tan said students are already seeking easier classes instead of more challenging ones.

Some faculty members agree. Scott Duke Kominers warned the policy could discourage ambitious students and make Harvard less attractive to top applicants.

Harvard’s decision could influence other elite schools. Yale recently considered an even stricter proposal for a campus-wide average GPA of 3.0. Earlier efforts at Princeton and Wellesley initially reduced top grades but were eventually reversed after student backlash.

Critics argue schools hesitate to grade more strictly because students could be disadvantaged if peer institutions do not follow. Still, supporters believe Harvard’s prestige could set off broader reform.

If approved, the policy would take effect in fall 2027. Faculty are also voting on allowing some courses to opt out through a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grading system and on replacing GPA with percentile rank for academic honors.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 18:50

Closing Arguments In High-Stakes OpenAI Trial Focus On Reputation, Character

Authored by Beige Luciano-Adams via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

OAKLAND, Calif.—After nearly three weeks of presented evidence, an Oakland jury on May 14 heard final arguments in a high-stakes legal battle that could have profound impacts on the race for artificial intelligence.

In a courtroom sketch, Sam Altman listens as OpenAI President Greg Brockman testifies during Elon Musk's lawsuit trial over OpenAI's for-profit conversion, at a federal courthouse in Oakland, Calif., on May 4, 2026. Vicki Behringer/Reuters

Tech moguls Elon Musk and Sam Altman, once friends and partners in a fledgling AI startup with big dreams and a noble mission, are nearing the climax of a bitter feud over the future of an $852 billion company.

Despite a judicial ban on testimony related to AI-induced “extinction” scenarios, references to speculative risks still surfaced during the Oakland courtroom proceedings, appeared in discussions around “risk” and “safety.” Vague promises about the future benefits of an unrealized technology were also touched upon.

On the stand, Tesla CEO Musk told the court, “We don’t want to have a Terminator outcome,” suggesting humanity would be better off with a “Star Trek” future written by Gene Roddenberry, rather than something from the mind of James Cameron.

Musk cofounded OpenAI in 2015 with Altman, President Greg Brockman, and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. At the time, both Musk and Altman expressed grave concerns about the unregulated advancement of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—a hypothetical point at which the machines “outsmart” humans and operate autonomously.

Those concerns, Musk testified, were the express motivation for founding OpenAI: open-source to prevent consolidation of power, and philanthropic to offset the profit-driven AI race.

He sued Altman and Brockman in 2024, alleging they bilked him out of $38 million in donations, then restructured as a for-profit corporation by exclusively licensing their flagship product, ChatGPT, to Microsoft—and in doing so, betrayed their founding mission.

OpenAI and Microsoft deny the allegations, arguing Musk abandoned the company in 2018 to start his own for-profit competitor, xAI, when other founders rejected his bid to take full control of the operation.

Alongside the “preponderance” of evidence that both sides say supports their claims, the trial was just as focused on the two men’s reputations and characters.

“Sam Altman’s credibility is directly at issue in this case,” Steven Molo, an attorney for Musk, said in his closing statement. “The defendants absolutely need you to believe Sam Altman. If you cannot trust him ... they do not win.”

Molo questioned Altman earlier this week over a list of employees and colleagues who, both on and off the record, have characterized him as dishonest and opportunistic.

OpenAI attorneys dismissed the tactic as “character assassination.”

Sarah Eddy, an attorney for OpenAI, countered, “Mr. Molo says Sam Altman can’t be trusted, but Mr. Musk is the one whose testimony is contradicted by every other witness and all the documents.”

Altman, Brockman, and others cast Musk as a detached outsider who contributed little if any sweat equity, had fraught relationships with colleagues, and attempted to poach OpenAI’s employees for his other companies.

“The claim is that the Midas touch of Elon Musk made OpenAI what it is today,” William Savitt, an attorney for OpenAI, said in closing arguments.

“Elon, Elon, Elon. ‘It was all me.’ Mr. Musk wants all that credit, but he hasn’t earned [it].

“This requires a touch that he doesn’t have. This is not a bulldozer. ... To succeed in AI, as it turns out, all Mr. Musk can do is come to court.”

Savitt pointed out Musk wasn’t present for closing arguments, having jetted off to China earlier in the week with President Donald Trump.

Gesturing at Altman and Brockman, he said: “My clients are here because they care a lot about it. Mr. Musk came to this court for exactly one witness—Mr. Musk. Now he’s in parts unknown.”

Musk, according to the Forbes Billionaire Index, is the wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of around $826 billion. Brockman received equity in the OpenAI corporation worth around $30 billion, and Altman’s net worth is around $3.5 billion.

When Brockman took the stand last week, Molo accused him of plotting to use OpenAI to become a billionaire.

“You had a fiduciary duty [to the nonprofit],” the attorney said. “You took the assets from the nonprofit, you moved them into the for-profit to create this money-making machine that resulted in you having $30 billion.”

Brockman said such was a “deep mischaracterization.” Personal diary entries from late 2017 in which he muses about profits, and about how it would be “morally bankrupt” to “steal the nonprofit” from Musk, he said, were expressions of frustration.

Jurors heard from a parade of Silicon Valley insiders, including all four founders, and from dueling experts on AI safety, nonprofits, business law, and forensic accounting. They watched lawyers pick through reams of internal documents, analyzing complex corporate and financial histories, while private diaries, email, and text threads offered insight on the parties’ underlying motivations and shifting alliances.

“Everyone here has rights, even really rich guys like Elon Musk,” Molo said. “His is a claim that comes from a very deep place inside him, from his passion for this issue.”

During his own testimony, Musk often told the court, “You can’t just steal a charity.”

When his time on the stand came, Altman clapped back, “No, you can’t steal it, but Mr. Musk did try to kill it.”

Altman said on Tuesday that Musk contributed only 28 percent of the nonprofit’s funding from 2015 to 2020, and failed to come through on a $1 billion pledge, leaving the startup with few options.

OpenAI argues its nonprofit foundation is now one of the “best-resourced” in the world, with an equity stake in the company’s for-profit corporation approaching $200 billion—a direct result of $13 billion worth of investments from Microsoft and a 2025 restructure sanctioned by California and Delaware attorneys general.

The details of OpenAI’s journey from a scrappy, underfunded nonprofit to one of the most powerful and valuable AI companies are highly contested. In addition to the power struggle with Musk in 2017 and 2018, it involves a messy 2023 governance shakeup in which Altman and Brockman were briefly ousted and Microsoft was deeply entangled.

By 2017, all parties had agreed they would need vastly more capital and computing power to compete with AI giants such as Google. Various ideas were floated, debated, and discarded—including rolling OpenAI into Tesla and even turning to cryptocurrency. Ultimately, under Altman’s leadership, the company created a for-profit subsidiary in 2018 and, in 2019, partnered with Microsoft. In 2025, OpenAI restructured as a public benefit corporation, which its leaders say remains under the control of the foundation and loyal to the original mission.

The foundation holds an approximately 27 percent equity stake in the corporation; Microsoft owns a 26 percent stake.

Molo argued on Thursday that Microsoft’s investment breached the charitable trust Musk created by enriching its investors and “insiders” at the expense of the nonprofit, and failing to open-source the technology, prioritize AI safety, or follow nonprofit custom and practice.

The $13 billion Microsoft has invested since 2019 dwarfed charitable contributions and weakened OpenAI in its negotiating position with Microsoft, Molo said, resulting in a company focused on commercializing AI, with a gutted charity that does little more than sanitize its reputation.

As for Microsoft, Molo said the company was aware of what OpenAI was doing “every step of the way, they helped them violate their nonprofit mission, that’s aiding and abetting pure and simple.”

OpenAI and Microsoft argued there was never any charitable trust to breach.

Eddy, the OpenAI attorney, argued there were never any strings attached to Musk’s donations to OpenAI, and that he failed to demonstrate that he “properly manifested a specific intent” to devote the trust to a specific purpose, his $38 million in donations going instead to generally further the mission of the nonprofit.

“The specific purposes cannot just be in his head,” Eddy said.

Absent evidence proving this intent and specificity, she said, the plaintiff had resorted to implication and inference.

“It’s all made up,” she said.

As Musk told it, OpenAI’s mission was clear.

“I specifically came up with the idea, the name, recruited key people, taught [them] everything I know, provided the original funding. ... It was specifically for a charity that did not benefit any individual person. I could’ve started it as a for-profit, and I chose not to,” Musk said.

He is asking that Altman and Brockman be removed from their leadership positions at OpenAI, and that more than $100 billion be returned to the nonprofit foundation.

In addition to Musk’s three claims—breach of charitable trust, restitution based on unjust enrichment, and, against Microsoft, aiding and abetting a breach of a charitable trust—jurors will decide whether those claims are barred by a statute of limitations.

The jury will begin deliberations on Monday at 8:30 am.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 18:25

Rep. Steve Cohen Drops Reelection Bid After Tennessee Redistricting

On Friday Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee announced he is ending his bid for reelection to Congress, capping a nearly 20-year career in the U.S. House. The decision comes days after the Republican-controlled Tennessee legislature approved a new congressional map that dramatically reshapes - and effectively dismantles - his longtime majority-Black 9th District in Memphis.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) speaks at a hearing on oversight of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington on July 13, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Cohen, 76, described the moment as "by far the most difficult" in his career as an elected official. He formally requested removal from the ballot for the August primary and stated he would retire from public life at the end of his current term. “The 9th District that they have under these new lines is nothing like the 9th District that I’ve represented,” he said, noting that the redrawn district no longer resembles the community he has served since 2007.

Background on the Redistricting

Tennessee Republicans pushed through the new U.S. House map during a special session in early May 2026, following a recent Supreme Court ruling. The changes split the Memphis-based 9th District - long a Democratic stronghold with a majority African American population - across multiple Republican-leaning districts. Critics, including Democrats and civil rights advocates, called it gerrymandering aimed at diluting Black voting power and eliminating the state’s only Democratic congressional seat ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Cohen and others have filed lawsuits challenging the maps. A judge recently denied a temporary restraining order to block them. Cohen has described the process as a “gangster move” influenced by national Republican strategy under President Donald Trump.

Before redistricting, Cohen faced a competitive Democratic primary challenge from progressive state Rep. Justin Pearson. Pearson has indicated he will continue his campaign in the redrawn 9th District. Cohen’s Memphis residence now falls into the 5th District (currently held by Republican Rep. Andy Ogles), which some see as more competitive. Cohen has endorsed Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder, a Democrat running there.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 18:00

Ethanol: Not The Energy Transition We're Looking For

Authored by Ike Kiefer via RealClear Energy,

With current events stirring up global energy prices, corn ethanol is again being dressed up as if it is a domestic energy source and agent of energy security. The truth is that corn ethanol is an energy sump, and that it takes more fossil fuel energy to make a gallon of corn ethanol than a gallon of gasoline. It is time to face this unpleasant truth and the other perverse outcomes achieved by twenty years of misguided policy.

In 2005 and 2007, Congress passed the Energy Policy and Energy Independence and Security Acts that together created the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. RFS had three stated objectives: to improve U.S. energy security, to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and to support rural economies and agricultural development. Instead, RFS has increased motor fuel prices, increased food prices, put millions of carbon-sequestering acres of land into intensive cultivation, increased GHG emissions and air pollution, and increased water consumption and pollution. As to energy security, the gallons of U.S. gasoline displaced by federal ethanol blending mandates are being exported to Mexico and other nations. The great success of RFS has been the hand of government transferring wealth from motorists to big ag corporations. It’s past time to stop the economic and chemical absurdity of forcing food to be fuel.

The government wanted biofuels bad, and it got them bad. Under Corn Belt lobbying pressure, Congress cynically waived the need for RFS to achieve actual GHG reductions for all existing corn ethanol biorefineries, plus all that could be built by the end of 2010. The bulk of the corn ethanol produced over the past 20 years and still today comes from these waivered plants. The EPA’s specious 2010 prediction that corn ethanol would achieve a 21% GHG reduction by 2022 was immediately challenged by the National Research Council for not properly counting land-use change and not realistically treating food competition and water use. This panel of experts from the National Academy of Sciences even questioned the viability of the entire concept of reducing GHG with biofuels. The most rigorous and honest estimate by a third party in testimony before Congress used the EPA’s own methodology to show that adding corn ethanol to gasoline has increased GHG emissions by 28% over the pure gasoline baseline with no trajectory to ever recover.

As to energy security, the goal was noble, but the method was irrational. Corn ethanol is critically dependent upon fossil fuels at every stage of production—tractor and truck fuel, fertilizer and pesticides, biorefinery energy and chemicals. Biofuels in general are just a way to put a green fig leaf on petroleum by inefficiently re-routing it through a farm field. While corn ethanol production has plateaued at 15-16 billion gallons for the past 10 years—not coincidentally matching the federal subsidy limit—domestic crude oil production has skyrocketed due to technological innovations that have opened up vast new geological formations to economic production. Despite a raft of federal policies and actions as negative for petroleum as they have been favorable for biofuels, the USA is once again energy self-sufficient and the world’s largest producer of crude oil and natural gas. In 2024, the USA exported 100 billion gallons of refined petroleum. Other countries are burning U.S. gasoline in their cars and producing the same CO2 emissions as if Americans were allowed to use it. The energy security objective for RFS is moot, and it was never achievable with fossil-fuel dependent corn ethanol.

On of the great ironies is that RFS was authorized under the Clean Air Act. The EPA’s own 2010 regulatory impact analysis showed it would increase net air pollution and cause up to 245 more U.S. deaths per year. The EPA also granted corn ethanol a perpetual vapor pressure waiver for smog-causing emissions that it has denied to petroleum. Perhaps worse, ethanol in gasoline enables the hydrocarbons to mix with water and thereby increase ground water and surface water contamination from fuel leaks to a far greater degree than the demonized MTBE it replaced as octane booster, yet EPA continues to ignore this risk completely.

A government program that has strayed so far from its objectives should be terminated. The federal agency in charge of protecting the nation’s environment should not be allowed to administer a program that increases air pollution and stresses on water, land, and climate. Fuel should be fuel and food should be food. Surely Congress can find a better way to genuinely promote U.S. energy security and boost rural economies without imposing the highly regressive tax of increased fuel prices, inflicting such harm to the nation’s air and water resources, and promoting global food insecurity.

Ike Kiefer is a Visiting Fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics and author of the study,Ethanol as Fuel: A Bridge to Nowhere. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 17:40

India's Trade Deficit Surges As Energy Import Prices Soar

India's trade deficit soared in April by more than analysts expected, as the surge in oil and gas prices hiked the Indian energy import bill.

The trade deficit jumped by $8bn from $20.6bn in March to $28.38bn last month, higher than the $26 billion estimate, on a broad-based increase in imports. At the same time, total exports grew by 13.8% in April from a year earlier to hit $43.56 billion.

Oil imports sequentially rose by around 60% MoM likely driven by higher volumes in April (vs. March lows) and higher oil prices.

The value of imports soared as international oil and gas prices jumped amid the Middle East conflict that forced India and every other major crude oil importer to source more expensive supply from producers not dependent on the Strait of Hormuz, which remains closed to most tanker traffic two and a half months after the Iran war began. Meanwhile, petroleum product exports rose by around 48% mom s.a. likely driven by higher exports to Singapore. Gold imports rose sequentially likely driven by higher volume imports of semi-processed gold for refining and higher prices. However, gold imports (in volume terms) may likely decline in May following the government's import duty hike to 15% from 6%.

Overall non-oil exports remained strong, led by stronger electronics exports. Exports to Saudi Arabia and the UAE recovered in April from its March lows, but remained well below the last year's levels, while exports to the US increased both sequentially and in year-over-year (yoy) terms. Services trade surplus remained strong at around $21bn, supported by robust services exports.

The widening trade deficit and the soaring energy import bill are pressuring the government's current account and finances, as the oil supply crisis is already seeping through India's economy. In the past week, India imposed draconian tariffs on gold imports to defend the currency which has plunged to a record low against the dollar. 

Since the war began and cut off over 40% of India's crude oil flows, those that passed through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the highest-flying economies in Asia has seen its oil import bill soar, investors fleeing the capital market, and the local currency plunging to an all-time low against the U.S. dollar.

Analysts have started to raise inflation estimates and reduce forecasts of this year's economic growth in India, which is beginning to feel the oil supply shock well beyond the actual disruption of deliveries of oil, LNG, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), the primary cooking fuel in the world's most populous country.

The oil shock that the war has created will weigh on India's economic growth in the current fiscal year to March 2027. BMI, part of Fitch, expects India's GDP growth to slow to 6.7% in the 2026/2027 fiscal year, down from 7.7% in 2025/2026, largely due to the oil price shock.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 17:20

Everyone In The Democratic Party Has Money - Except The Democratic Party

Authored by Chase Smith via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

On April 30, Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the race for a U.S. Senate seat.

In a statement about suspending her campaign, Mills was blunt:

“While I have the drive and passion, commitment and experience, and above all else—the fight—to continue on, I very simply do not have the one thing that political campaigns unfortunately require today: the financial resources.”

As Mills said, financial resources matter in today’s political environment as campaigns grow more expensive each cycle.

First-quarter financial reports filed in April with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show where some of that money is going—and where it is not.

Democratic candidates across the country are raising large sums of money. Democratic Senate candidates, including Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, and former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, are sitting on tens of millions of dollars with zero debt.

The party’s congressional campaign arms—the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)—which work to elect Democrats to each chamber of Congress, carry zero debt and have tens of millions in cash.

On the Republican side, every major committee has a strong cash position.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is in debt.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills speaks during a press conference in Lewiston, Maine, on Oct. 26, 2023. Mills recently dropped out of the U.S. Senate race, citing a lack of financial backing. Scott Eisen/Getty Images The Numbers

The federal filings lay out the numbers. The DNC reported $13.9 million in cash on hand at the end of March and $18.4 million in debt, putting the committee roughly $4.5 million underwater. It is the only national party committee on either side of the aisle carrying any debt at all.

The Republican National Committee, by contrast, holds $116.8 million in cash with zero debt. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has $43 million, and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has $78.2 million. Neither carries debt.

On the Democratic side, the DSCC holds $36.5 million with zero debt. The DCCC holds $69.9 million with zero debt. Both are competitive with or ahead of their Republican counterparts.

The gap widens further when individual candidates enter the picture. Six Democratic Senate candidates—Ossoff, Cooper, Brown, Texas state Rep. James Talarico, former Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola, and Michigan Sen. Mallory McMorrow—hold a combined roughly $86 million in cash on hand. Every one of them carries zero debt.

Ossoff alone has $31.7 million—more than double the DNC’s cash position and more than enough to cover the national committee’s entire debt.

‘A Severe Brand Problem’

Avis Jones-DeWeever, a political scientist and principal of progressive strategic communications firm Nouveaux Strategies, said the pattern points to something deeper than a typical post-election slump.

“The Democratic Party as a national entity has a severe brand problem,” Jones-DeWeever told The Epoch Times in an email. “Even in the midst of a historically unpopular president, they have managed to find a way to consistently garner lower favorability ratings than Donald Trump.

“There is still a sense that the Democratic Party writ large is not rising to this existential moment—that they continue to color within the lines of politics as normal, when we are far away from normal.”

The result, she said, is that donors are making a deliberate choice.

“Donors, it seems, have shifted their funds from supporting an institution they no longer trust to instead investing in individual candidates that have demonstrated strength in this moment,” Jones-DeWeever said.

“It’s not that Democratic donors are tired of giving. It’s just that they are being much more selective and targeted in their spend. They’re willing to fund a fight and are making investments in the specific fighters that they believe have the best chance at carrying them to victory in November.”

California Democratic gubernatorial candidates (L–R) Xavier Becerra, Katie Porter, Matt Mahan, and Antonio Villaraigosa participate in the CBS California Gubernatorial Debate at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., on April 28, 2026. California is holding its upcoming primary election on June 2. Mario Tama/Getty Images The DNC’s Position

DNC Chair Ken Martin has argued the committee’s financial position is the result of a deliberate strategy—not a crisis.

In an April 28 interview on Pod Save America—one of the most listened to Democratic podcasts on all platforms—Martin said the debt traces to a loan the committee took out in 2025 to invest early in organizing, voter registration, and state party infrastructure.

“We do have debt, Jon, and that’s because I took out a loan last year to make sure we can make deep investments,” Martin told host Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter for President Barack Obama and one of the most prominent modern voices in Democratic politics.

The DNC has pointed to those investments in its own public communications. In April 2025, the committee announced what it called the largest monthly investment into state parties in its history: a state partnership program splitting more than $1 million per month between Democratic state and territory parties.

Under the program, each state party receives a baseline of $17,500 per month, with parties in Republican-controlled states receiving an additional $5,000 per month through a “Red State Fund.”

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin speaks at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco on Feb. 21, 2026. Martin has argued the committee’s financial position is the result of a deliberate strategy—not a crisis. Jeff Chiu/AP Photo

The committee has also launched voter registration programs, a national training initiative for campaign staff, and what it describes as year-round organizing in all 50 states—efforts Martin has summarized with the phrase “organize everywhere, win anywhere.”

Martin pointed to the committee’s track record, saying the DNC raised $105 million in 2025—a record for a first-year chair—with $85 million of that coming from grassroots donors at an average contribution of $51. He said the DNC raised $32 million in the first quarter of 2026 and has more cash on hand than one of his predecessors, former DNC Chair Tom Perez, had at the same point after the party’s 2016 presidential loss.

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez speaks during the virtual Democratic National Convention at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee on Aug. 20, 2020. Tannen Maury-Pool/Getty Images

He described the committee’s debt as manageable and strategically useful, arguing it allowed the party to spend early rather than wait until the final months before an election.

“We can pay that debt off whenever the hell we want,” Martin said. “I could hold that debt until the end of the year. So the reality is, there’s nothing that’s holding me back in terms of the cash I have, the cash on hand I have to spend it on elections.”

Martin pointed out that the committee funds infrastructure that every Democratic campaign depends on, including a voter file that costs more than $10 million a year to maintain.

“Our voter file and our organizing tools and our data, every candidate, whether they’re running for school board or president, relies on that,” he said. “Without the DNC, they would have to do that on their own.”

The final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

He also confirmed the DNC purchased the Harris campaign’s fundraising list for $6.5 million after the 2024 election, calling it “a great investment” that has “already paid for itself.”

The DNC did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this report.

‘An Issue Unique to the DNC’

Favreau pressed Martin directly on the contrast between the party’s national committees.

“You’re spending more than you have,” Favreau said. “I know it’s a tough environment for the party out of power, but the DSCC and the DCCC and the Senate candidates have plenty of money. They’re all doing great. So it seems like this is an issue unique to the DNC.”

Favreau pointed to the unreleased 2024 post-election review as a factor in donor reluctance. The review is commonly referred to as the “autopsy” of Kamala Harris’s loss, which Martin said would be made public when he ran for chair but has since said he would not release to instead focus on future races.

Favreau added: “I know the grassroots fundraising has been great. I know that. I concede that for sure. ... I’ve talked to plenty of people about this, that a lot of the big donors still have not come off the sidelines, and part of the reason is that there’s a trust issue based partly on the autopsy.”

Martin disagreed. “I’m just not seeing that, Jon,” he said.

Campaign signs are seen in Oak Park, Ill., on March 17, 2026. Under current law, party committees may spend unlimited amounts independently, but coordinated spending with campaigns is subject to federal caps. Nathaniel Smith for The Epoch Times Why It Matters

For voters unfamiliar with the mechanics of campaign finance, the distinction between a national party committee and an individual campaign may not be obvious. But the two serve different functions.

National party committees serve a different function than campaigns, at least as the law allows for today. While a Senate candidate raises money to win a single race, as Martin said in the podcast interview, the DNC is responsible for infrastructure that connects all Democratic campaigns together—the voter file that every candidate “from school board to president” relies on, voter registration drives, state party support, legal challenges, and the national get-out-the-vote operation.

Parties are currently restricted to spending only a small fraction of funds in direct coordination with campaigns.

Boris Heersink, an associate professor of political science at Fordham University who has studied national party committees extensively, has argued in his research that these organizations create “national party brands” that are “fundamental to mobilizing voters in elections”—especially “when the party is in the national minority.”

Whether individual candidates can compensate—or even need to—for a national committee carrying more debt than cash is an open question heading into November.

City of Miami Mayoral candidate Eileen Higgins (2nd L) and former Chicago Mayor and Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel (L) work an election headquarters phone bank trying to get voters out to the polls in Miami on Dec. 8, 2025. Joe Raedle/Getty Images A Pending Supreme Court Case

A pending Supreme Court ruling could change what national party committees are allowed to do with their money.

The court is expected to decide NRSC v. FEC by the end of June, and the case could strike down federal limits on how much national party committees can spend in direct coordination with their candidates.

Under current law, party committees can spend unlimited amounts independently—running ads and organizing without consulting the candidate. But the moment a committee wants to coordinate directly with a campaign—sharing strategy, co-creating ads, directing resources where the campaign wants them—federal law caps that spending.

For Senate races, those caps range from roughly $130,000 to $4 million depending on the state’s voting age population, according to the FEC’s latest coordinated party expenditure limits. For House races, the limits range from about $61,800 to $123,000. While it is a large sum of money, compared to the tens of millions it costs to run campaigns in 2026, it’s only a drop in the larger financial bucket.

The NRSC and NRCC—the Senate and House campaign arms of the Republican Party—are the plaintiffs in the case, arguing the limits violate the First Amendment. The Trump administration’s Department of Justice has declined to defend the law, agreeing the limits should be struck down. The DNC, DSCC, and DCCC have all intervened in the case to defend the existing restrictions.

Read the rest here...

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 17:00

"Send Us A Tip": U.S. Dangles $15 Million Reward For New Intel On Iran's Drone Network

There is little doubt that Iran's Shahed drone threat has become a major concern, menacing surrounding Gulf states, commercial tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. bases across the region. This backdrop helps explain why the State Department's Rewards for Justice program has now put up to $15 million for new information in connection with an already sanctioned Iranian drone-production network linked to the IRGC-Qods Force. 

Rewards for Justice has named Kimia Part Sivan Company (KIPAS), which the State Department says serves as the drone-production arm of the IRGC-Qods Force. KIPAS has tested drones, supported drone transfers to Iraq, and procured foreign-made components for Iran's drone program.

"The IRGC has financed numerous terrorist attacks and activities globally, including via its proxies outside Iran, such as Hamas, Hizballah, and Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq. The IRGC funds its international activities – in part – through sales of military equipment, including UAVs. Proceeds from Iran's sale of weapons and UAVs, including to buyers in Russia, also benefit the Iranian military, including the IRGC-QF," Rewards for Justice wrote on its website.

Help us put a dent in the IRGC’s revenue stream.

Send us a tip on these bad boys, who manage this drone manufacturer. pic.twitter.com/gwt0jyUqfx

— Rewards for Justice (@RFJ_USA) May 14, 2026

The U.S. Treasury’s OFAC already sanctions KIPAS and appears on the Specially Designated Nationals list. OFAC designated KIPAS on October 29, 2021, for materially assisting the IRGC with its drone program.

According to the State Department, six individuals are involved in the "testing, development, and supply of drones" linked to the IRGC.

Commercial risk-intelligence and investigations platform Sayari has identified all known managers and links associated with KIPAS:

Further refining:

Follow the money and supply chains, and it appears the State Department wants to disrupt Iran's drone industry.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 16:40

Re-Arranging The Global Game-Board 'Bigly'...

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

Resource Scramble

“Trump has done so much damage to libtardery that the Democrats will need a decade of uninterrupted power to undo it, which they're not going to get.”

- Matt Forney on X

If you learned anything from this week’s extravaganza in Beijing, it is that Donald Trump is aggressively re-aligning world relations so that the USA does not end up one of the losers in the global resource scramble that lurks darkly behind all current events.

China does not intend to be an eventual loser, either, though it has lost a lot of traction lately.

The Eurolands are certainly the main losers, embracing loserdom as the old and sick long for death.

India and some of the BRICs countries, are looking a little loser-ish just now.

The primary resource all nations scramble for is oil. Without lavish supplies of oil, you can’t have an advanced techno-industrial economy and, as the feckless Eurolanders learned the hard way, there really isn’t an adequate substitute for oil. The flow of oil depends on economically producible reserves of oil country-by-country, but also on geographic advantage, as we are learning just now in the Hormuz crisis.

“Europe’s crude oil production started its permanent decline in 2001. Asia-Pacific’s production hit a maximum in 2010, and it has been declining since. Africa’s peak oil production took place in 2008, and it has been mostly declining since.”

- Gail Tverberg, OurFiniteWorld.com

Also, turns out, the peak oil story is still real, despite fifteen years of shale oil miracles.

The Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia are probably past peak. American shale oil is in the peaking zone, too — the Permian Basin in Texas is running short of sweet spots. The Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (AMWR) is open for leasing, but it is expensive to drill and produce in the harsh arctic region and the US Geological Survey estimates recoverable reserves there between 7.7 – 10 billion barrels — America consumes roughly 7.5 billion barrels-a-year, so. . . .

There’s Canada, of course, and its tar sands, but the Great White North these days leans rather hostilely towards its neighbor to the south (us). Otherwise, North America is pretty fully explored oil-wise. There can’t be a whole lot of hidden, un-tapped “elephant” fields out there. On the plus side, America enjoys its geographic advantage, comfortably cushioned between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, far from the madding crowd of Eurasia.

We have lately trumpeted our supposed acquisition of Venezuela, but projected production of US companies there looking ahead several years would be under a million barrels-a-day while the US uses 20.5-million barrels a day. As for Venezuela’s jungle-bound oil sands, well, for now, fuggeddabowdit.

Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources puts its commercially recoverable oil resources (with current technology and prices) at around 80-billion barrels, which is a lot, and leaves Russia in a theoretically favorable place for the short term, anyway. China uses about 17-million barrels-a-day and imports about 70-percent of that. Its imports of Iranian oil are substantial but obscured in official statistics due to the evasion of US sanctions. The Hormuz blockade has put a hurt on China.

Here’s how the global resource scramble translates into geopolitical behavior: As has been evident for some time, US interests are increasingly alienated from Euroland’s interests, and better aligned with Russia’s interests. Europe is demonstrably insane these days, roiling with loose talk as it whirls around the drain. Russia, under V. Putin, looks more like the adult in the room. Even Russia’s military operation in Ukraine looks rational if you consider how the EU and the CIA started the damn thing in the first place circa 2014 for the very purpose of provoking Russia.

Mr. Trump has yearned to normalize relations with Russia since he stepped on-stage in 2016, to the great consternation of America’s neocons, CIA shadow-meisters, and the born-again communists running the Democratic Party (who seem to resent Russia ditching Marxism-Leninism thirty-five years ago). This week, the US and China have mutually proposed becoming “partners” rather than rivals on the world scene. We will surely remain mutually wary, but apparently things have changed.

Most urgently, China would like its oil imports from the Persian Gulf restored, and the obvious way to make that happen would be for them to lean on Iran to stop screwing around and come to terms with the US — give up the enriched uranium and stop laying jihad on everybody near and far. We’ll know soon enough if China will do that for us, and we have some goodies promised for them, Nvidia chips, soybeans, and more.

Mr. Trump is rearranging the global game-board bigly, and the net result will be the sorting-out of winners and losers.

Iran is the poster boy for that. It could go either way for them, soon, and rather sharply.

If Iran’s jihad-happy leaders just quit FAFOing, they have the chance to re-enter the global community as an advanced modern economy with a comfortable standard of living.

Or, the US could just blow up what’s left there.

China will probably deliver that message forcefully in the days ahead.

There remains, however, the dirty business of America’s domestic enemies, of whom we learn more and more each week.

This week, it was the testimony of “whistleblower” CIA agent James Erdman that the CIA worked sedulously to conceal the true origins of Covid-19. It looks pretty much like what half of America has suspected all along: that Covid was a trip laid on the nation by its own Deep State (mainly the CIA), in concert with the rogue Democratic Party, for the express purpose of queering the 2020 election.

Related seditious operations apparently continue to this very hour. Former CIA Director John Brennan told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace this week: “There’s still a legion of professionals in the law enforcement environment, the Department of Justice, as well as the CIA and other places — the ones who are refusing to follow politically motivated prosecutions, those who are refusing to support any type of political activities on the part of the Trump administration. . . .” Did he just admit that the conspiracy he kicked off in 2016 is still ongoing? And that he is an active party to it? I think so. Do you think Joe DiGenova noticed that down in the DOJ’s Southern District of Florida?

Just as astoundingly, this week former FBI Director James Comey told CNN’s Kasie Hunt that he “still speaks regularly” to current FBI employees. Say, what. . . ? He palavers with the very agency that is investigating him for serious felonies, such as threatening the life of the US president? Sounds a little out-of-order, ya think? Does he long to spend the rest of his life as captain of the ping-pong team at the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary?

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

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 16:20

Deadlocked At Square Zero: Very First Line Of Iran's Latest Proposal 'Unacceptable,' Trump Says

Tehran and Washington are truly not just back to square one, but it's as if no rounds of dialogue - direct or indirect - have even taken place. It's more like being back at square zero - and the US President has just acknowledged it.

President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Friday while departing Beijing that even the very first first sentence of Iran's latest proposal was "unacceptable" and blamed the Iranians for backtracking on the nuclear issue.

The first sentence was an “unacceptable sentence, because they have fully agreed no nuclear, and if they have any nuclear of any form, I don’t read the rest,” he said, stressing that he remains unsatisfied with the "level of guarantee from them."

Trump's remarks center on his allegation that Iran agreed to give up its "nuclear dust" but then quickly “then they took it back" - but then stated his view that Tehran will eventually agree to it anyway.

"I looked at it, and I don't like the first sentence. I just throw it away," Trump said.

via Associated Press

He once again in the comments called for Iran to completely abandon any nuclear capability, insisting there can be "no nuclear of any form." He described: "You've got to get all the fuel out and no more production. You have to get everything."

Trump has said China's President Xi Jinping is in full agreement that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon:

According to Trump, Iranian representatives acknowledged only the United States and possibly China possess the specialized equipment necessary to remove radioactive debris from the damaged sites.

"They said the only one that can remove it is China or the U.S.," Trump said. "They said you were right. It is a complete obliteration."

The president has said the nuclear material is now "entombed" under ground after nuclear sites were "obliterated" - from bombing operations last June and this latest round of US-Israeli attacks in February through March and early April.

Also this week while in China Trump told Fox News in an interview that he did not underestimate the situation in Iran, despite the constantly shifting and expanding timeline and stated goals within the early weeks of Operation Epic Fury. 

TRUMP TO FOX: DIDN'T UNDERESTIMATE ANYTHING ON IRAN

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the topic of uranium enrichment "is currently not on the agenda of discussions or negotiations," but will be addressed in later stages, as cited in Tasnim.

On China and whether President Xi agreed to commit to pressuring the Iranians to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said Friday "we don’t need favors" but that "we may have to do a little cleanup work."

"We had a little month-long ceasefire, I guess you’d call it, but we have a blockade that’s so effective, that’s why we did the ceasefire," he said, after suggesting that the conflict with Iran could continue.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 16:15

DHS Pushes Forward With Large-Scale Warehouse Immigration Detention Hubs

Via American Greatness,

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is continuing efforts to transform warehouses into large-scale immigration detention centers despite a growing number of politically motivated lawsuits.

Officials with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently discussed plans to award contracts for construction and operations at warehouse sites in San Antonio and near El Paso, according to people briefed on the internal meetings. The administration is also examining how to continue work at a site near Hagerstown, Maryland, while complying with a court order limiting construction activity there.

The warehouse initiative has become a central part of the Trump administration’s broader deportation agenda, with officials arguing the facilities will allow ICE to process and detain illegal immigrants more efficiently through centralized hubs capable of housing large numbers of detainees.

Critics from both political parties have attacked the proposal, while several states have filed lawsuits claiming the administration failed to complete environmental reviews required under federal law.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered a review of the estimated $38 billion project after taking office earlier this year. The plan was originally launched under former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

The administration appears determined to move forward with the project despite the legal challenges. ICE is reportedly preparing environmental assessments for the two Texas sites, with the goal of having both facilities operational by early 2027.

A DHS spokesperson said the department is reviewing policies and proposals adopted before Mullin assumed leadership and intends to work with local communities, including some in areas that strongly supported President Donald Trump.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 15:55

SpaceX Reportedly Chooses Nasdaq And "SPCX" Ticker For Mega IPO

Elon Musk's rocket company, SpaceX, has reportedly selected Nasdaq for its long-awaited IPO and is targeting a June 11 pricing, followed by a June 12 debut under the ticker "SPCX," according to a Reuters report released late in Friday's U.S. cash session.

Immediately after the report, odds for "SPCX" on the Polymarket bet, "What will SpaceX's public ticker be?" soared to nearly 100%.

//--> //--> Will SpaceX's public ticker be another ticker?
Yes 97% · No 3%
View full market & trade on Polymarket

In April, SpaceX confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC and is planning to disclose its prospectus as soon as next week, according to CNBC.

SpaceX's IPO could raise upwards of $75 billion for the rocket company and dwarf Saudi Aramco's $29 billion debut in 2019. The money raised would be used to fund an "insane flight rate" for the Starship rocket and to push ahead with deploying orbital data centers in low Earth orbit. The company's valuation stands at around $1.75 trillion.

The timing comes amid a broader reopening of the IPO window for AI firms, with major chatbot startups such as OpenAI and Anthropic increasingly viewed as potential second-half candidates.

Goldman's Tony Pasquariello offered additional insight on the upcoming SpaceX IPO:

In most every single client meeting that I have, the question of how the tape will absorb a series of mega IPOs comes up.

While understanding that potentially adding trillions of dollars of market cap is worth discussion, as mentioned a few times recently, I'd argue there's good reason to be optimistic here (I'm a taker of opposing views).

I'll add a few points to the running conversation here:

i. to level set, at $77tr of market cap, the US equity asset class is immense (the next closest country is China at $12tr).

ii. in 1999, 380 IPOs rolled off the assembly line; for 2026, GIR currently expects 100.

iii. asset size is one consideration, yet asset quality is another -- I remember 1999, and let's just say comprehensive asset quality didn't stand the test of time.

Wall Street is certainly hungry for IPOs after a prolonged drought. This week, we saw AI chipmaker Cerebras surge nearly 70% in its debut.

SpaceX's IPO filing could come around the 12th test flight of the Starship rocket, expected as early as next Tuesday.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 15:40

Uranium Gap Worsens: Nuclear News Roundup

Goldman analyst Brian Lee reviews headlines across the nuclear industry for March (full note here).  

New reactor progress and announcements

North America

• 4/16/2026 – Canada: Bruce Power has signed an MoU with SaskPower to share its experience in large-scale nuclear reactors, including project development and long-term operations, as Saskatchewan evaluates large reactor technologies alongside its SMR program. The agreement formalizes information-sharing and aligns provincial and federal nuclear strategies.
• 4/24/2026 – United States: Duke Energy's Robinson nuclear power plant has been cleared for extended operation to 80 years, after the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission completed its fastest-ever subsequent license renewal review. The approval allows the 759 MW Robinson Unit 2 in South Carolina to operate until 2050, under new accelerated federal timelines.
• 4/29/2026 – United States: The US NRC has approved subsequent license renewals for St Lucie Units 1 and 2, clearing the Florida Power & Light plant to operate for up to 80 years, with Unit 1 licensed to 2056 and Unit 2 to 2063. The decision follows ageing-management reviews for the extended operating period and secures long-term operation of the two pressurized water reactors.
• 5/5/2026 – United States: Brookfield and The Nuclear Company have formed a JV to manage the potential completion of the two VC Summer AP1000 units in South Carolina, supporting due diligence and execution if the project proceeds, subject to approvals and a final investment decision.

Europe

• 4/10/2026 – Czechia: ČEZ is exploring extending the operating life of its four Dukovany reactors to up to 80 years, having launched a preparatory process for long-term operation beyond the current 60-year plan, while also assessing potential life extensions at Temelín, subject to ongoing safety and economic evaluations.
• 4/10/2026 – Lithuania: Lithuania has received regulatory approval to begin dismantling reactor channels at Ignalina Unit 2, after completing the same work at Unit 1, with dismantling and decontamination scheduled to start at end-2026 following preparatory activities by state-owned decommissioning company Altra.
• 4/16/2026 – Bulgaria: Bulgaria’s energy minister has said the new Kozloduy Units 7 and 8 should be built at fixed prices, citing past nuclear projects where cost overruns derailed delivery, as the government seeks tighter cost control while advancing plans for two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at the site.
• 4/30/2026 – Belgium: Belgium is in talks with Engie to take over its full nuclear fleet, covering all seven reactors, with decommissioning work paused while negotiations continue. The move would allow the state to keep options open on life extensions and future nuclear capacity.

Asia and other

• 4/9/2026 – India: EDF and NTPC have signed a non-binding MoU to explore cooperation on new nuclear projects in India, including assessing EDF’s EPR technology, localisation opportunities, project economics, training, and potential sites, following approvals from Indian government ministries.
• 4/13/2026 – South Korea: Saeul Unit 3 has started up after achieving first criticality on 12 April, with KHNP confirming the APR-1400 reactor entered its initial start-up phase following completion of all required pre-operational inspections; output will be ramped up through testing ahead of commercial operation in the second half of 2026.
• 4/16/2026 – Japan: Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 6 has resumed commercial operation, becoming the first TEPCO-owned reactor to return to service since Fukushima, after Japan’s regulator completed final pre-operational inspections. The 1,356 MWe ABWR, offline since 2012, re-entered commercial operation on 16 April following resolution of technical issues encountered during restart testing.
• 4/20/2026 – Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan has adopted a nuclear strategy targeting at least three plants by 2050, with a fourth under consideration to meet rising power demand; the plan also includes assessing SMRs and replacing coal capacity with nuclear to bolster energy security and meet climate goals.
• 4/20/2026 – China: Taipingling Unit 1 has entered commercial operation, with CGN confirming the 1,116 MWe Hualong One (HPR1000) reactor began service on 19 April after completing commissioning tests. It is the first of six units planned at the Taipingling site in Guangdong province.
• 4/28/2026 – Bangladesh: Fuel loading has begun at Bangladesh’s first nuclear power plant, with 163 fuel assemblies being loaded into Rooppur Unit 1, marking the start of the reactor’s start-up and commissioning phase following issuance of its operating licence earlier in April.
• 4/29/2026 – Russia: Russia’s nuclear regulator Rostekhnadzor has approved the readiness of Kursk II Unit 1, issuing a certificate of compliance that confirms the 1,250 MWe VVER-TOI reactor meets safety and design requirements and is fully ready for commissioning and market entry.
• 4/29/2026 – China: San’ao Unit 1 has entered commercial operation, with CGN confirming the 1,116 MWe Hualong One reactor completed commissioning on 29 April 2026. It is the first of six units planned at the Zhejiang site.
• 5/6/2026 – China: Fuel loading has been completed at two new Chinese reactors, with 177 fuel assemblies inserted at Taipingling Unit 2 and Changjiang Unit 3, both Hualong One units, marking their transition into the nuclear commissioning phase ahead of start-up.
• 5/7/2026 – Turkey: Turkey’s nuclear regulator has approved commissioning work at Akkuyu Unit 2, allowing pre-fuel-loading tests to begin at the second VVER-1200 unit of the Akkuyu plant.

SMR announcement tracker

• 4/8/2026 – Sweden: GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy and AFRY have agreed a non-exclusive collaboration to support deployment of the BWRX-300 SMR, with AFRY providing engineering, advisory and licensing support to enable scalable SMR projects across Europe, including support for licensing in Sweden.
• 4/13/2026 – UK: The UK has signed a contract to deliver its first SMRs, with Great British Energy – Nuclear and Rolls-Royce SMR agreeing to begin work on three units at Wylfa (Anglesey), enabling site design and early procurement ahead of a final investment decision.
• 4/14/2026 – Netherlands: A Dutch nuclear new-build partnership has been announced, with Mammoet and ULC-Energy signing a cooperation agreement to streamline construction of new nuclear facilities in the Netherlands. The collaboration focuses on modular construction and heavy-lifting expertise, and is aligned with government plans for new large reactors and future SMR deployment.
• 4/14/2026 – United States: The US Air Force has named Buckley (Colorado) and Malmstrom (Montana) as potential microreactor sites, with deployment under the ANPI programme targeted for 2030 or earlier.
• 4/16/2026 – United States: The NRC has received an application to build a KRONOS microreactor at the University of Illinois, with the construction permit application filed on 31 March in partnership with NANO Nuclear Energy.
• 4/17/2026 – Netherlands: A Dutch consortium has signed an MoU to advance construction of Europe’s first commercial molten salt reactor, covering a non-nuclear test facility and pilot programme, a nuclear demonstrator at Petten, and a 100 MWe commercial MSR in Zeeland, targeted for operation by 2034.
• 4/20/2026 – Poland: OSGE has signed a letter of intent with Poland’s Industrial Development Agency to prepare a BWRX-300 SMR project at Stalowa Wola, setting the framework for a future investment agreement.
• 4/20/2026 – United States: Kairos Power has broken ground on the Hermes 2 demonstration reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the company’s first commercial-scale and power-producing Generation IV reactor. The project will supply up to 50 MW to the Tennessee Valley Authority grid under Kairos’s agreement with Google, and builds on lessons from the non-power Hermes 1 reactor now under construction.
• 4/24/2026 – United States: The US Air Force has selected Radiant, Westinghouse Government Services, and Antares as microreactor developers under the ANPI programme, pairing them with Buckley (Colorado), Malmstrom (Montana), and Joint Base San Antonio (Texas), respectively, with a goal of deploying at least one reactor by 2030 or earlier.
• 4/27/2026 – Czechia: ČEZ has signed an early-works contract with Rolls-Royce SMR for a proposed SMR at the Temelín nuclear site, enabling site-specific design, licensing and permitting preparation. The agreement covers early engineering only and is not a final investment decision or start of construction.
• 4/27/2026 – France: Stellaria and France’s CEA have signed a letter of intent to study building an experimental molten salt reactor at Cadarache, covering the 100 kW Alvin experimental MSR and a future 10 MWe prototype (MegAlvin) as part of a feasibility study for an Alpha basic nuclear installation at the site.
• 4/30/2026 – Canada: Canada plans to release a new Nuclear Energy Strategy by end-2026, alongside funding to assess Canadian-controlled microreactors for remote and northern defence sites, with the strategy focused on new builds, exports, fuel supply, and nuclear innovation.
• 5/1/2026 – Canada: OPG has installed the basemat foundation module at the Darlington SMR site, marking a key construction milestone for the G7’s first SMR. The 953-tonne modular basemat was placed 35 metres below ground, advancing construction of the first BWRX-300 unit.
• 5/5/2026 – Sweden: Blykalla and ABB have signed a Joint Development Agreement to deepen cooperation on lead-cooled SMRs, covering joint development of SEALER reactor elements with ABB as a key partner for automation and control systems.
• 5/7/2026 – United States: US pilot SMR licensing has advanced on two fronts, with the DOE approving the Documented Safety Analysis for Aalo Atomics’ Aalo-X experimental reactor, and the NRC approving the Principal Design Criteria topical report for Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse, marking key regulatory milestones for both projects.

Global reactor critical updates

In the month of April, there have been few changes to new reactor construction starts, grid connections, shutdowns, or restarts.

Global reactor construction tracker

Fuel announcements

• 4/8/2026 – Russia: Testing of innovative VVER fuel has begun at Russia’s Balakovo 1, where three pilot fuel assemblies with chromium-coated cladding and MOX fuel rods were loaded into a VVER-1000 reactor.
• 4/9/2026 – France: Framatome has signed an agreement with four EU utilities (ČEZ, Fortum, MVM Paks NPP, and Slovenské elektrárne) to develop a fully European VVER-440 fuel design, supporting fuel-supply diversification and reduced reliance on Russian fuel. First deliveries targeted for the early 2030s.
• 4/14/2026 – Poland: Poland’s SGE has signed cooperation agreements with Spain’s Enusa and GNF Enusa to strengthen nuclear fuel strategy, procurement, and supply-chain development in support of BWRX-300 SMR deployment across Europe.
• 4/17/2026 – United States: ConverDyn is studying a second US uranium conversion plant (“Metropolis 2.0”), alongside an expansion of its existing Metropolis Works facility, with feasibility work under way.
• 4/28/2026 – United States: Ur-Energy has begun ISR uranium mining at its Shirley Basin project in Wyoming, with production under way at Mine Unit 1.
• 5/1/2026 – India: India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has granted an operating licence to the NFC-Kota fuel plant in Rajasthan, enabling production of ~500 tpa of natural UO₂ fuel to support indigenous 700 MWe PHWRs.
• 5/6/2026 – UK: Urenco has completed its first LEU+ trial run at the Capenhurst site, producing uranium enriched to ~7% U-235, confirming capability to supply LEU+ (5–10%) with commercial availability planned soon.
• 5/8/2026 – Japan: Japan shipped ~1.7 tonnes of HALEU to the United States, marking the largest international uranium transfer handled by the NNSA, to support the US HALEU Availability Program and advanced reactor fuel supply.

Uranium pricing and volume trackers

Spot pricing steadies, supported by Sprott activity. Spot U₃O₈ prices rebounded through mid April following late March softness, rising from the low $80s to the mid and high $80s, briefly touching ~$87/lb around WNFC Monaco. Momentum faded toward late April and early May, with prices drifting modestly lower into the mid $80s.

Term pricing stable. Term uranium pricing remained firm through April and into early May, holding around ~$90/lb. Market engagement stayed active, supported by ongoing utility discussions around mid and long term coverage. Floors largely holding in the mid $70s and ceilings extending into the low $130s for long dated deliveries.

Key supply/demand and pricing charts

Updating supply-demand model: We update our uranium supply/demand model to include updated forecasts for SMR deployments. We are conservatively anticipating SMR deployments reach nearly 2GW in 2030, and grow at 2GW-3GW per year through 2045, representing cumulative deployments of ~46GW in 2045. This represents a 6% uplift to our 2045 nuclear power generation forecast. Based on our fuel burn assumptions, we estimate these deployments will create a uranium demand need of ~62mn lbs in 2045, or 17% upside to our 2045 forecast.

Revisions to power generation forecast. We have maintained our large reactor forecast, but now include estimates for global SMR deployments between 2026-2045. We believe these estimates are relatively conservative. As a result of our changes, we see an expanding deficit over the medium-term. Our forecast does not include nuclear uprates to existing facilities, which provides further upside.

More in the full note available to pro subs.

Tyler Durden Fri, 05/15/2026 - 15:25