Legendary Candy Company Killed After 141 Years By Soaring Costs

Soaring expenses for raw materials and labor have delivered a blow to yet another longtime business, claiming Lammes Candies, a family-owned confectioner that has operated in the South for more than a century, FOX 7 Austin reports.

The Austin, Texas,-based company recently announced that it will begin an "orderly wind-down of operations" after 141 years of family ownership, according to a statement posted to its Facebook page.

"This was not an easy decision," the candy company wrote. "Lammes Candies has been more than a business – it has been a family legacy spanning generations."

"We’ve been so honored to be part of your celebrations and your sweetest moments," the company wrote in a separate post. "Now we’re asking one last thing: savor every bite."

Lana Schmidt, the company’s vice president, cited intensifying economic pressures for the closure in an interview with FOX 7 Austin.

"The economy, you know, with the raw materials going up, labor is going – it’s just everything is escalating," a disheartened Schmidt said. "There’s not a huge margin in confections."

Founded in 1885 after the Lamme family reacquired the business, the company built its reputation on pecan pralines and other handcrafted sweets.

"Throughout the years, my father bought it in its entirety, I think, in 1972. And so, he was in the fourth generation," Schmidt said. "My brother and sister and I are the fifth generation. And back in that time, we had just like one, two retail stores. And then they grew it throughout Austin."

"I think we've built a legacy for the community. I mean we had the first neon sign. I mean there are a lot of firsts with lamps in Austin. I know people are gonna miss this sweet treat, this tradition of theirs. And so we will miss the community," she added.

Speaking to FOX 7 Austin, some longtime customers are heartbroken by the news.

"I first came here when I first moved to Austin. This was one of the first places I came to. I moved here about five years ago. And I came in because I saw that it was one of the oldest places in Austin. And I was like, I want to get in on that," one customer told the local news outlet.

"I've never been here before. My mom told me when we moved over here about how, when she was a kid, she used to go here a lot," another customer said.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 14:35

Iran Publicly Discloses Supreme Leader's Status For First Time: 'Marginally Injured'

The Iranian government has for the first time officially weighed in on the health of new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured in the opening strikes of Trump's Operation Epic Fury, which killed the younger Khamenei's father and wife.

"A government official claimed Khamenei, who hasn't been seen in public since that attack, is now in good health," The Wall Street Journal writes Saturday.

via AFP

He hasn't been seen in public since the war began, and even official statements have been read aloud on state media broadcasts. There have since been conflict reports. However, according to the latest:

Yet the chief of protocol for the supreme leader’s office, Mozaher Hosseini, said on Friday that Khamenei is in “complete health,” stressing that he has only been “marginally injured” on his foot and lower back and hit by “a small piece of shrapnel had hit him behind the ear.”

“The enemy is spreading all kinds of rumors and false claims. They want to see him and find him, but people should be patient and not rush. He will speak to you when the time is right,” Hosseini told a crowd in Tehran.

Prior international reports suggested he was being treated for severe burns and that he could undergo surgery, and resorts to communicating commands to lower officials via low-tech means, including written and hand delivered messages, in order to avoid Israeli or US intelligence intercepting signals related to his whereabouts.

Regional and Gulf media have also summarized of the latest official Iranian description of the Ayatollah's health, that "there were no indications of a serious deterioration in his condition."

And, "According to Iranian media reports, the official stated that medical examinations confirmed Mojtaba Khamenei’s condition was completely stable. He added that the injury did not require complex surgery. Furthermore, he is undergoing only routine medical monitoring to ensure his well-being."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian revealed on Thursday that he for the first time recently held a meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei, at an undisclosed location, and that the encounter was a long and productive one. State media said it was two-and-a-half hours.

US intelligence assesses that Iran’s new supreme leader is playing a critical role in shaping war strategy alongside senior Iranian officials, according to multiple sources. https://t.co/Ejyo5tGipb pic.twitter.com/c4nfMMR25r

— CNN (@CNN) May 9, 2026

"What stood out more than any other topic in the meeting was the way of dealing, the type of outlook, and the humble and deeply friendly manner of conduct by the leader of the revolution," Pezeshkian described. He characterized the new Ayatollah's approach as "a model based on taking responsibility, being close to the people, and truly listening to issues and problems."

Western officials and intelligence have all the while been seeking to assess just who is ultimately in charge of running the country. There have been reports of a growing split between the IRGC military apparatus and the Islamic Republic's civilian leadership. However, none of these reports are confirmable, but it's largely only guesswork by those far outside the country.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 13:25

5 Highlights From The Pentagon's UFO Files

Authored by Jacob Burg & Jacki Thrapp via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours - the ALFstein files),

Apollo 11 astronauts reported seeing a “sizeable” object close to the moon with a “fairly bright light source” that they described as a “possible laser,” in a newly released post-mission crew debriefing from NASA.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command reported a UAP that resembled a football-shaped body near Japan in 2024. The image was released on May 8, 2026. Department of War

That document, along with videos and images of unknown objects in airspace from nearly all corners of the globe, was included in newly released files from the Pentagon related to the U.S. government’s investigations into unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). The first tranche of files was released on May 8.

“As for my promise to you, the Department of War has released the first tranche of the UFO/UAP files to the Public for their review and study,” President Donald Trump wrote on social media Friday morning.

“With these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ Have Fun and Enjoy!”

While the Pentagon had been increasingly declassifying various UFO and UAP files throughout the past decade, Trump threw the topic back into public focus when he suggested in February that a document release could be coming soon.

The first batch of released files includes FBI interviews and internal communications, State Department cables, NASA crew transcripts, and videos of potential UFOs.

Here are five highlights from a partial review of the new file release.

Moon Sightings

The newly released documents reveal that NASA astronauts encountered a series of unexplained phenomena during multiple Apollo missions.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported witnessing a “fairly bright light source” which he described as a “possible laser” while in lunar orbit, according to a previously confidential crew debriefing of Apollo 11 taken on July 31, 1969.

The Apollo 12 flight crew observed two separate incidents of an “unidentified phenomenon” in November 1969.

Apollo 12 astronaut Alan L. Bean described observing particles of light “sailing off in space,” that looked as if they were “escaping the Moon.” Charles “Pete” Conrad made a separate observation of seeing floating debris outside the lunar module.

Apollo 17 astronauts reported three different unexplained events on three separate days of their 1972 mission.

Harrison “Jack” Schmitt said he observed a flash on the lunar surface north of the Grimaldi crater. He described it as a “thin streak of light.”

Schmitt experienced another unexplained event with Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, as they observed “very bright particles or fragments” drifting and “tumbling” near the spacecraft.

“There’s a whole bunce (sic) of big ones on my window down there—just bright,” Schmitt said. “It looks like the Fourth of July out of Ron’s window.”

In a separate incident on the same Apollo 17 mission, Mission Commander Eugene A. Cernan said he experienced an intense, “imposing” light flashing between his eyes like it was a train headlight.

Amid those sightings, the astronauts took a photo of what appeared to be three dots in a triangular formation in the sky above the moon. NASA noted that while the image has been released previously, “there is no consensus about the nature of the anomaly.”

A NASA file photo from the Apollo 17 Mission, taken in December 1972, shows an unidentified anomalous phenomenon in the sky above the moon. Courtesy of the Pentagon ‘Eight-Pointed Star’

The Epoch Times reviewed all the videos included in the Pentagon’s initial UFO file release. Potentially the most striking video came from U.S. Central Command in 2013, which shows an aerial object that was described as “an eight-pointed star with arms of alternating length.”

The object appears to be hovering in the one-minute forty-six-second video.

A newly released video of a potential UAP by the Pentagon shows an aerial object that was described as “an eight-pointed star with arms of alternating length.” Screenshot by The Epoch Times/Courtesy of the Pentagon

U.S. Central Command reported another potential UFO that was filmed from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2022. The report described the object as a “possible missile” quickly moving across the field of view.

In a third video, another U.S. military infrared sensor films two bright objects that seemingly track across the sky in formation. The objects appear with high contrast against the sky’s backdrop.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command submitted a video from 2024 to the Pentagon that was also filmed with an infrared sensor, tracking a potential UFO through an area containing multiple windmills.

FBI Probes Multi-Witness Sighting

The file dump included multiple heavily redacted FBI interview reports from a multi-witness sighting at an unknown U.S. testing facility in September 2023.

In one report, a woman describes a strange series of events that occurred one morning when she and several government contractors were working on a special project under restricted airspace.

While trying to enter a remote-controlled gate at the undisclosed U.S. testing facility, the gate “opened just a little and then closed on three separate tries” before finally opening on the fourth attempt.

The report said the gate had zero operational issues before or after the incident occurred.

As the woman’s vehicle drove through the gate entrance, she “looked up and saw a cigar-shaped object with an extremely bright light” anywhere between 500 and 3000 feet above the nearest treeline.

She described it as “metallic bronze in color” and the length of two to three Black Hawk helicopters “lined up nose to tail.” The woman and another unnamed contractor watched the object for five to 10 seconds before it disappeared, leaving no contrails.

The FBI included a composite sketch of the reported object.

An FBI composite sketch of a UAP reported by multiple witnesses over an undisclosed U.S. testing facility in September 2023. Screenshot by The Epoch Times/Courtesy of the Pentagon

These were not the only witnesses. The FBI interviewed a drone pilot operating near the same testing facility who also claimed to see the object, and other redacted witnesses driving towards the facility that day who saw it as well.

‘Cobalt Ray’ Telegram

One of the seemingly strangest documents seen thus far by The Epoch Times in the Pentagon’s initial UFO file release is an internal FBI memo from 1967, sent from the Bureau’s legal attaché in Mexico City to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

Marked as “classified SECRET,” the memo reproduces a telegram sent to Mexico’s Federal Security Police by a W.R. Hanawalt, who reportedly sent it from Harlingen, Texas, in December 1966.

Hanawalt tells of a strange technological object that he describes as a “laser ray, or cobalt ray” that is “self-enshrouding” and “similar in use to a cocoon around a silk worm.” He says the ray can enclose a person’s entire nervous system, allowing the operator to produce “visions of flying objects.”

“Breathing and heartbeat can be absolutely manipulated—your lie detector tests can be positively controlled without your knowledge,” Hanawalt writes, adding that the ray can manipulate a person’s five senses.

“They have infiltrated almost every business level,” he says, referring to those who operate the alleged technology.

“I have stated the possibility of premeditated murder from the standpoint of the operator, his vehicle and add to this the same conditions for the other vehicles involved. These are manipulated by the ‘rotten apples’ in the barrel of any Federal security arm, who are untouchable because of betrayal of Federal top secrets they have sworn to defend,” Hanawalt adds.

Other than the “SECRET” stamps on the document and barely legible handwritten notes, the only notation from the FBI is that the Bureau had no information in its files on Hanawalt.

‘Bright Light of Enormous Intensity’

The trove of files also included multiple State Department cables and documents.

In one cable, dated Jan. 31, 1994, an object was reportedly seen over Kazakhstan by Tajik air pilots, who described it as a “bright light of enormous intensity” that approached them from over the horizon.

“They watched the object for some forty minutes as it maneuvered in circles, corkscrews, and made 90-degree turns at rapid rates of speed and under very high [G-forces],” the cable said. “After some time, the object adopted a horizontal high-speed course and disappeared over the horizon.”

The captain took photos of the object with a pocket Olympus camera. Those photos were not included with the report.

In another State Department cable dated Jan. 28, 1985, a “high-altitude, high-speed aircraft” was observed over Papua New Guinea by the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby.

Local residents reportedly became frightened by unidentified aerial objects flying overhead. The reports described “fast-moving objects with lights, contrails, and noise.”

A pilot reported seeing an aircraft on radar “flying south to north at high altitude and high speed.”

The State Department told Papua New Guinea’s National Intelligence Organization that it knew of no overflights of U.S. military B-52s, or U.S. aircraft in the area on the night of the reported incidents.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 12:50

Putin Rips NATO Aggression At Scaled-Down Victory Day Parade As Ceasefire Holds

By many accounts Russia's Saturday Victory Day parade and memorial observances in Moscow's Red Square were once again muted and somewhat scaled down compared to the immense pageantry which marked the pre-Ukraine war years.

President Putin used the occasion while speaking in front of thousands of military personnel and flanked by a handful of world leaders to take swipes at NATO and the West, saying he's fighting "just" war and called Ukraine an "aggressive force" that is being "armed and supported by the whole bloc of NATO".

Pool Photo via AP 

"The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today," Putin said. "They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO bloc. And despite this, our heroes move forward." He added: "I firmly believe that our cause is just."

The three-day Ukraine ceasefire announced and backed by President Trump appears to be holding, as no drone attacks have been registered on Moscow or other parts of the country. Large-scale drone waves were coming on a daily basis throughout last week. Massive bombardment of Ukraine has also ceased. Ukraine's Zelensky had reportedly ordered his armed forces to adhere to the short ceasefire:

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree on Friday (May 8) ordering the Ukrainian military not to attack the parade. He also confirmed that his government would adhere to the ceasefire and the prisoner swap of 1,000 detainees from each side.

"Red Square is less important to us than the lives of Ukrainian prisoners who can be returned home," Zelensky said, referring to the historic site in Moscow where the annual event is held.

The Kremlin has over the past days repeatedly warned that Kiev would come under immense bombing if the parade did get attacked, and went so far as to tell foreign diplomats they should evacuate the Ukrainian capital in such a scenario.

via AP

Among the foreign leaders that attended Saturday V-Day included Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, Malaysia Supreme Leader Sultan Ibrahim, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The NY Times (and a lot of other Western media outlets) is reading all of this as a 'loss' and reputational hit for Putin, again given the scaled-down and lower key nature of everything.

Happy Great Victory Day! pic.twitter.com/trYNYEz1K2

— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) May 9, 2026

"President Vladimir V. Putin has cultivated the annual Victory Day parade commemorating the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany into a cornerstone of Russian patriotic ritual," NYT wrote. "Tanks and nuclear launchers roll across Red Square in a showcase of military prowess and righteous pride that the Kremlin has used to justify the country’s great-power posture toward the West."

But then the report underscores that "Moscow is under a heavy security presence as Ukraine rattles Russia with long-range drone and missile strikes. The Russian authorities have appeared exposed as they acknowledged that the beefed-up security was intended to protect Mr. Putin."

Face-to-face on Red Square! - Putin speaks with DPRK commander after V-Day parade pic.twitter.com/7Ica2VaaRM

— Viory Video (@vioryvideo) May 9, 2026

It further highlighted: "The parade on Saturday included none of the usual muscle-flexing missiles and armor. Personnel from Russian military academies and other servicemen made their way through Russia’s most famous square."

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 12:15

The post Trump Accounts Are a Sick Joke, not a Threat to Social Security appeared first on CEPR.

De-Extinct Dire Wolves Ready To Breed; Bioscience Company Pushes Forward Multiple Projects

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Colossal Biosciences has announced that its de-extinct dire wolves—Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi—are now breeding-aged and the firm plans to expand the pack later this year. The development marks a significant step for the Texas-based company in its mission to restore extinct species through genetic engineering.

The dire wolf pups, born in late 2024 and early 2025, represent the world’s first de-extinct animals. They have thrived in a secure 2,000-acre preserve, reaching milestones like learning to process whole deer carcasses and now showing readiness for natural breeding behaviors.

“The dire wolf pack is actually breeding-aged at this point,” Matt James, Colossal’s chief animal officer, said, adding “But we will initially grow the pack through assisted reproduction while we create new, genetically diverse individuals.”

The company intends to engineer two to four additional pups to boost genetic diversity before allowing full natural breeding. “The plan is to create an inter-breedable population of dire wolves in which they would eventually breed naturally to create a sustainable population of the world’s first de-extinct species,” James continued.

He further added, “We will grow the population through assisted reproduction initially and then eventually only rely on natural breeding.”

“The dire wolves are doing great,” Ben Lamm, Colossal’s CEO and co-founder, stated., adding “The three dire wolves live on a 2,000-acre secure, expansive ecological preserve that allows us to monitor and manage them while providing them a semi-wild habitat to thrive in. We hope to have more dire wolf pups by the end of the year.”

Colossal reconstructed the dire wolf genome from ancient DNA fragments in bone samples, including a 72,000-year-old skull. Scientists then edited gray wolf embryos to incorporate key traits: a white coat, larger teeth, more muscular build, and distinctive howl. Embryos were implanted in surrogate dogs, with births by caesarean section.

Watch the full story of their creation:

See the pups’ early development and first howls in over 10,000 years:

Colossal is running several parallel de-extinction projects:

• Woolly Mammoth: Aiming for a live calf by late 2028 through Asian elephant genome editing to restore cold-adapted traits and Arctic ecosystem functions.
   
• Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger): Editing fat-tailed dunnart cells to revive this extinct marsupial predator.
   
• Dodo: Using Nicobar pigeon cells and stem cell technology to revive the iconic bird extinct for over 350 years.
   
• Moa: Colossal is working on the giant flightless bird of New Zealand, extinct for about 600 years. Director Peter Jackson has invested, calling it a dream project. Related coverage: Peter Jackson Invests In Genetic Project To Bring Giant Bird Back From Extinction.

In April, Colossal announced the bluebuck antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) as its sixth de-extinction target—the first large African mammal driven to extinction in modern history around 1800.

The striking silvery-blue antelope once roamed South Africa’s grasslands as a grazer and seed disperser. Habitat loss, farming, and overhunting by European settlers led to its disappearance.

“We don’t love that ending. So we’re rewriting it,” the company states. Using high-quality reference genomes and editing roan antelope cells (its closest relative) as surrogates. The project advances reproductive technologies like ovum pick-up, IVF, and embryo transfer for antelopes, with broader benefits for conservation.

Critics note these animals are genetically edited proxies rather than identical clones, and question ecological reintroduction risks in changed environments. Colossal emphasizes ethical animal welfare, semi-wild habitats, and using de-extinction tech to aid living endangered species.

The projects continue to draw global attention, blending advanced biotechnology with conservation goals.

For those clamouring for Jurassic Park style de-extinction of dinosaurs, however, it’s bad news. Colossal addresses common misconceptions in the video below, noting dinosaurs cannot be revived due to DNA degradation, but more recent species are feasible.

Colossal’s official dire wolf page: colossal.com/direwolf.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 11:40



 

 

This week, I speak with Howard Lindzon, co-founder and CEO of StockTwits, and founder and managing partner at Social Leverage. His podcast is podcast is Panic with Friends. We discuss his outlook for venture capital investing, including what he sees as potentially profitable from human behavior.

Our original recording in April was postponed because Howard accidentally severed a finger completely — he had to have it surgically reattached.

A list of his favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here next week.

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

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

 

 

 

Current Reading/Favorite Books

 

 

 

The post MiB: Howard Lindzon, Social Leverage appeared first on The Big Picture.

Frontier Jet Hits Person On Takeoff, Engine Erupts In Flames At Denver

A shocking runway security incident unfolded late Friday at Denver International Airport after Frontier Flight 4345, an Airbus A321 bound for Los Angeles, struck an individual during its takeoff roll, forcing the crew to abort.

Full transcript of the ATC audio:

Frontier 4345 (pilot): Tower, Frontier 4345, we're stopping on the runway. We just hit somebody and have an engine fire.

DEN Tower: Frontier 4345, I see that.

DEN Tower (to Frontier 4345): Frontier 4345, I'm going to be rolling the trucks now. Do you know if there are souls on board and fuel remaining?

Frontier 4345 (pilot): Alright, 4345 we have 231 souls on board. We have 21,320 pounds of fuel onboard. There was an individual walking across the runway.

pic.twitter.com/4cA5JniCW1

— PaulyBee (@PaulyB303) May 9, 2026

In our view, a commercial jet at a major international airport does not simply "hit someone" on an active runway during takeoff, particularly near the point of rotation. This suggests a potentially serious breakdown in perimeter, airfield, or runway security controls.

The incident appears to represent a major security breach at DEN. One working theory is that the individual intentionally entered the aircraft's path, potentially committing suicide by entering the right turbine intake.

Hence the fire...

This is the right-wing view of Frontier Flight 4345 on its takeoff roll at Denver Airport Runway 17L when the Airbus A321-271NX (N646FR) hit a pedestrian. pic.twitter.com/xWCpUkcYrC

— Turbine Traveller (@Turbinetraveler) May 9, 2026

After ... 

The extent of damage to Frontier Flight 4345's right engine. https://t.co/6SX5Mx9D1w pic.twitter.com/heZC5RaS0v

— Turbine Traveller (@Turbinetraveler) May 9, 2026

That said, investigators will need to determine how the person accessed the active runway, whether DEN's perimeter controls failed, and whether the individual was struck by the aircraft and drawn into the engine or simply jumped into the turbine intake.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 09:55

Austrian Hotel Defends Burkini Pool Ban As Hygiene Dispute With Muslim Guests Heads To Court

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

A hotel in the Austrian city of Salzburg is defending its refusal to allow two women to use its pool while wearing burkinis, arguing that the decision was based on hygiene concerns rather than discrimination.

The case is now before the Salzburg Administrative Court after the operators of the hotel in Pongau appealed fines imposed by the district authority, according to Salzburger Nachrichten.

Boshra and Jasmina Amasha, two sisters from Upper Austria, had booked a short wellness break at the hotel on Oct. 25 last year.

They arrived early with the intention of using the swimming pool before going hiking.

The dispute started at reception when one of the women mentioned that she was going to retrieve her burkini from the car.

Staff told her that burkinis were not allowed in the hotel pool, a decision that was upheld after a phone call with the hotel manager.

The hotel manager later confirmed in court that women wearing burkinis were not welcome in the pool. She said the policy was linked to hygiene, arguing that longer fabric could carry bacteria into the water.

She acknowledged that she did not have scientific evidence to support that concern, but said the hotel also operated as a spa and had to place particular emphasis on cleanliness, especially because many older guests used the facilities.

The hotel’s co-manager also told the court that there was no formal written swimwear policy, but said long swimwear could have a negative effect on water hygiene. He added that the hotel had also previously asked guests wearing long swimming shorts to change.

The sisters reject the hygiene explanation. Jasmina Amasha said the phone conversation was not presented to them as a technical discussion about pool standards, but instead included remarks such as, “Here in Austria, we have to adapt,” and, “We could go swimming in Saudi Arabia wearing a burkini.”

She also claimed they were told other guests did not like seeing women in burkinis.

Their lawyer argued that burkinis are made from similar material to standard swimwear and are not less hygienic than bikinis.

She also cited a parliamentary inquiry to the Ministry of Health and said the garment could reduce the amount of hair and skin flakes entering the water.

After the confrontation, the sisters left and booked another hotel. The court heard that the original hotel covered the additional costs, but Jasmina Amasha said the experience had been “extremely humiliating and discriminatory.”

The hotel operators are appealing the penalty imposed against them, and the court is expected to issue a written ruling in the coming weeks.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 09:20

Europe Sees 'Hyper-Concentration' Of Crypto 'Wrench Attacks' As Losses Hit $101 Million

Authored by Stephen Katte via CoinTelegraph.com,

Estimated losses from global crypto wrench attacks reached $101 million in the first four months of 2026, with most attacks occurring in Europe, according to Web3 security company CertiK.

With just 34 documented crypto wrench attacks, the losses have nearly doubled those of 2025, which came in at $52.2 million. Europe accounted for 82% of incidents, according to CertiK.

“Our 2025 report documented a gradual tilt from Asia and North America toward Europe, and these first four months of 2026 mark a European hyper-concentration.”

The frequency of wrench attacks has increased since 2025. They involve physical force to gain access to a victim’s crypto holdings and have taken the form of home invasions, kidnappings and other extortion attempts. CertiK said there have been 34 attacks since the start of the year.

If the trend continues, CertiK predicts that by year-end the number of incidents could hit 130, and losses could reach “several hundred million dollars.”

There have been 34 verified wrench attacks worldwide since the start of the year. Source: CertiK 

France is an epicenter of wrench attacks

Of the attacks, 24 crypto wrench attacks occurred in France this year, said CertiK. France’s National Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime has reported a higher figure of 47 incidents in 2026.

CertiK said France has likely emerged as a hot spot for these kinds of criminals because of the presence of crypto executives from major crypto companies such as Ledger, Paymium and Binance.

Crypto holders in France are being targeted more than anywhere else in the world. Source: CertiK 

It also pointed to numerous data leaks, such as the January breach at crypto accounting firm Waltio and tax official Ghalia C, who is accused of selling crypto asset holder data to criminal networks, and “a culture of flexing and voluntary doxxing that remains deeply embedded in the community.”

“Early 2026 marks the shift to a data-driven targeting model in which prior physical surveillance becomes unnecessary once attackers have the victim's full name, home address, financial profile, and so on.”

“The structural takeaway is clear: as the security of protocols and wallets tends to improve, the threat migrates toward the human link. As long as crypto-asset holdings remain associated with identifiable financial data, physical coercion will remain the economically most rational attack path,” CertiK added.

Blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs reported in May last year that wrench attacks have been on the rise because of the perceived pseudonymity of crypto transactions, the public visibility of wealth, and the ease with which bad actors can gather personal data online.

The criminal teams are often “complete amateurs”

Across recorded wrench attacks, CertiK said the orchestrators are often located outside the target country. The criminal teams on the ground usually consist of three to five people, and they frequently pose as delivery drivers or police officers, or lure victims into an ambush with a ruse such as a fictitious business meeting.

“Most of the time, they are recruited via messaging apps such as Telegram or Snapchat for a few thousand dollars. They don't know each other and are complete amateurs,” CertiK added.

Meanwhile, Casa chief security officer Jameson Lopp has recorded 31 crypto wrench attacks so far this year and reported in March that four cases he was tracking for his list turned out to be mistaken identity, with the thieves attacking the wrong targets. 

Source: Jameson Lopp

In April, at least 88 people, including 10 minors, were indicted in connection with alleged wrench attacks on crypto owners in France.

“The growing proportion of minors signals an increasing externalization of criminal liability toward profiles less exposed to mandatory minimum sentences,” CertiK added.

Tyler Durden Sat, 05/09/2026 - 08:10

Peter Schiff: Printing Money Is Not the Cure for Cononavirus



In his most recent podcast, Peter Schiff talked about coronavirus and the impact that it is having on the markets. Earlier this month, Peter said he thought the virus was just an excuse for stock market woes. At the time he believed the market was poised to fall anyway. But as it turns out, coronavirus has actually helped the US stock market because it has led central banks to pump even more liquidity into the world financial system. All this means more liquidity — central banks easing. In fact, that is exactly what has already happened, except the new easing is taking place, for now, outside the United States, particularly in China.” Although the new money is primarily being created in China, it is flowing into dollars — the dollar index is up — and into US stocks. Last week, US stock markets once again made all-time record highs. In fact, I think but for the coronavirus, the US stock market would still be selling off. But because of the central bank stimulus that has been the result of fears over the coronavirus, that actually benefitted not only the US dollar, but the US stock market.” In the midst of all this, Peter raises a really good question. The primary economic concern is that coronavirus will slow down output and ultimately stunt economic growth. Practically speaking, the world would produce less stuff. If the virus continues to spread, there would be fewer goods and services produced in a market that is hunkered down. Why would the Federal Reserve respond, or why would any central bank respond to that by printing money? How does printing more money solve that problem? It doesn’t. In fact, it actually exacerbates it. But you know, everybody looks at central bankers as if they’ve got the solution to every problem. They don’t. They don’t have the magic wand. They just have a printing press. And all that creates is inflation.” Sometimes the illusion inflation creates can look like a magic wand. Printing money can paper over problems. But none of this is going to fundamentally fix the economy. In fact, if central bankers were really going to do the right thing, the appropriate response would be to drain liquidity from the markets, not supply even more.” Peter explained how the Fed was originally intended to create an “elastic” money supply that would expand or contract along with economic output. Today, the money supply only goes in one direction — that’s up. The economy is strong, print money. The economy is weak, print even more money.” Of course, the asset that’s doing the best right now is gold. The yellow metal pushed above $1,600 yesterday. Gold is up 5.5% on the year in dollar terms and has set record highs in other currencies. Because gold is rising even in an environment where the dollar is strengthening against other fiat currencies, that shows you that there is an underlying weakness in the dollar that is right now not being reflected in the Forex markets, but is being reflected in the gold markets. Because after all, why are people buying gold more aggressively than they’re buying dollars or more aggressively than they’re buying US Treasuries? Because they know that things are not as good for the dollar or the US economy as everybody likes to believe. So, more people are seeking out refuge in a better safe-haven and that is gold.” Peter also talked about the debate between Trump and Obama over who gets credit for the booming economy – which of course, is not booming.

We are living in crazy times. I have a hard time believing that most of the general public is not awake, but in reality, they are. We've never seen anything like this; I mean not even under Obama during the worst part of the Great Recession." Now the Fed is desperately trying to keep interest rates from rising. The problem is that it's a much bigger debt bubble this time around , and the Fed is going to have to blow a lot more air into it to keep it inflated. The difference is this time it's not going to work." It looks like the Fed did another $104.15 billion of Not Q.E. in a single day. The Fed claims it's only temporary. But that is precisely what Bernanke claimed when the Fed started QE1. Milton Freedman once said, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program." The same applies to Q.E., or whatever the Fed wants to pretend it's doing. Except this is not QE4, according to Powell. Right. Pumping so much money out, and they are accusing China of currency manipulation ? Wow! Seriously! Amazing! Dump the U.S. dollar while you still have a chance. Welcome to The Atlantis Report. And it is even worse than that, In addition to the $104.15 billion of "Not Q.E." this past Thursday; the FED added another $56.65 billion in liquidity to financial markets the next day on Friday. That's $160.8 billion in two days!!!! in just 48 hours. That is more than 2 TIMES the highest amount the FED has ever injected on a monthly basis under a Q.E. program (which was $80 billion per month) Since this isn't QE....it will be really scary on what they are going to call Q.E. Will it twice, three times, four times, five times what this injection per month ! It is going to be explosive since it takes about 60 to 90 days for prices to react to this, January should see significant inflation as prices soak up the excess liquidity. The question is, where will the inflation occur first . The spike in the repo rate might have a technical explanation: a misjudgment was made in the Fed's money market operations. Even so, two conclusions can be drawn: managing the money markets is becoming harder, and from now on, banks will be studying each other's creditworthiness to a greater degree than before. Those people, who struggle with the minutiae of money markets, and that includes most professionals, should focus on the causes and not the symptoms. Financial markets have recovered from each downturn since 1980 because interest rates have been cut to new lows. Post-2008, they were cut to near zero or below zero in all major economies. In response to a new financial crisis, they cannot go any lower. Central banks will look for new ways to replicate or broaden Q.E. (At some point, governments will simply see repression as an easier option). Then there is the problem of 'risk-free' assets becoming risky assets. Financial markets assume that the probability of major governments such as the U.S. or U.K. defaulting is zero. These governments are entering the next downturn with debt roughly twice the levels proportionate to GDP that was seen in 2008. The belief that the policy worked was completely predicated on the fact that it was temporary and that it was reversible, that the Fed was going to be able to normalize interest rates and shrink its balance sheet back down to pre-crisis levels. Well, when the balance sheet is five-trillion, six-trillion, seven-trillion when we're back at zero, when we're back in a recession, nobody is going to believe it is temporary. Nobody is going to believe that the Fed has this under control, that they can reverse this policy. And the dollar is going to crash. And when the dollar crashes, it's going to take the bond market with it, and we're going to have stagflation. We're going to have a deep recession with rising interest rates, and this whole thing is going to come imploding down. everything is temporary with the fed including remaining off the gold standard temporary in the Fed's eyes could mean at least 50 years This liquidity problem is a signal that trading desks are loaded up on inventory and can't get rid of it. Repo is done out of a need for cash. If you own all of your securities (i.e., a long-only, no leverage mutual fund) you have no need to "repo" your securities - you're earning interest every night so why would you want to 'repo' your securities where you are paying interest for that overnight loan (securities lending is another animal). So, it is those that 'lever-up' and need the cash for settlement purposes on securities they've bought with borrowed money that needs to utilize the repo desk. With this in mind, as we continue to see this need to obtain cash (again, needed to settle other securities purchases), it shows these firms don't have the capital to add more inventory to, what appears to be, a bloated inventory. Now comes the fun part: the Treasury is about to auction 3's, 10's, and 30-year bonds. If I am correct (again, I could be wrong), the Fed realizes securities firms don't have the shelf space to take down a good portion of these auctions. If there isn't enough retail/institutional demand, it will lead to not only a crappy sale but major concerns to the street that there is now no backstop, at all, to any sell-off. At which point, everyone will want to be the first one through the door and sell immediately, but to whom? If there isn't enough liquidity in the repo market to finance their positions, the firms would be unable to increase their inventory. We all saw repo shut down on the 2008 crisis. Wall St runs on money. . OVERNIGHT money. They lever up to inventory securities for trading. If they can't get overnight money, they can't purchase securities. And if they can't unload what they have, it means the buy-side isn't taking on more either. Accounts settle overnight. This includes things like payrolls and bill pay settlements. If a bank doesn't have enough cash to payout what its customers need to pay out, it borrows. At least one and probably more than one banks are insolvent. That's what's going on. First, it can't be one or two banks that are short. They'd simply call around until they found someone to lend. But they did that, and even at markedly elevated rates, still, NO ONE would lend them the money. That tells me that it's not a problem of a couple of borrowers, it's a problem of no lenders. And that means that there's no bank in the world left with any real liquidity. They are ALL maxed out. But as bad as that is, and that alone could be catastrophic, what it really signals is even worse. The lending rates are just the flip side of the coin of the value of the assets lent against. If the rates go up, the value goes down. And with rates spiking to 10%, how far does the value fall? Enormously! And if banks had to actually mark down the value of the assets to reflect 10% interest rates, then my god, every bank in the world is insolvent overnight. Everyone's capital ratios are in the toilet, and they'd have to liquidate. We're talking about the simultaneous insolvency of every bank on the planet. Bank runs. No money in ATMs, Branches closed. Safe deposit boxes confiscated. The whole nine yards, It's actually here. The scenario has tended to guide toward for years and years is actually happening RIGHT NOW! And people are still trying to say it's under control. Every bank in the world is currently insolvent. The only thing keeping it going is printing billions of dollars every day. Financial Armageddon isn't some far off future risk. It's here. Prepare accordingly. This fiat system has reached the end of the line, and it's not correct that fiat currencies fail by design. The problem is corruption and manipulation. It is corruption and cheating that erodes trust and faith until the entire system becomes a gigantic fraud. Banks and governments everywhere ARE the problem and simply have to be removed. They have lost all trust and respect, and all they have left is war and mayhem. As long as we continue to have a majority of braindead asleep imbeciles following orders from these psychopaths, nothing will change. Fiat currency is not just thievery. Fiat currency is SLAVERY. Ultimately the most harmful effect of using debt of undefined value as money (i.e., fiat currencies) is the de facto legalization of a caste system based on voluntary slavery. The bankers have a charter, or the legal *right*, to create money out of nothing. You, you don't. Therefore you and the bankers do not have the same standing before the law. The law of the land says that you will go to jail if you do the same thing (creating money out of thin air) that the banker does in full legality. You and the banker are not equal before the law. ALL the countries of the world; Islamic or secular, Jewish or Arab, democracy or dictatorship; all of them place the bankers ABOVE you. And all of you accept that only whining about fiat money going down in exchange value over time (price inflation which is not the same as monetary inflation). Actually, price inflation itself is mainly due to the greed and stupidity of the bankers who could keep fiat money's exchange value reasonably stable, only if they wanted to. Witness the crash of silver and gold prices which the bankers of the world; Russian, American, Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Arab, all of them collaborated to engineer through the suppression and stagnation of precious metals' prices to levels around the metals' production costs, or what it costs to dig gold and silver out of the ground. The bankers of the world could also collaborate to keep nominal prices steady (as they do in the case of the suppression of precious metals prices). After all, the ability to create fiat money and force its usage is a far more excellent source of power and wealth than that which is afforded simply by stealing it through inflation. The bankers' greed and stupidity blind them to this fact. They want it all, and they want it now. In conclusion, The bankers can create money out of nothing and buy your goods and services with this worthless fiat money, effectively for free. You, you can't. You, you have to lead miserable existences for the most of you and WORK in order to obtain that effectively nonexistent, worthless credit money (whose purchasing/exchange value is not even DEFINED thus rendering all contracts based on the null and void!) that the banker effortlessly creates out of thin air with a few strokes of the computer keyboard, and which he doesn't even bother to print on paper anymore, electing to keep it in its pure quantum uncertain form instead, as electrons whizzing about inside computer chips which will become mute and turn silent refusing to tell you how many fiat dollars or euros there are in which account, in the absence of electricity. No electricity, no fiat, nor crypto money. It would appear that trust is deteriorating as it did when Lehman blew up . Something really big happened that set off this chain reaction in the repo markets. Whatever that something is, we aren't be informed. They're trying to cover it up, paper it over with conjured cash injections, play it cool in front of the cameras while sweating profusely under the 5 thousands dollar suits. I'm guessing that the final high-speed plunge into global economic collapse has begun. All we see here is the ripples and whitewater churning the surface, but beneath the surface, there is an enormous beast thrashing desperately in its death throws. Now is probably the time to start tying up loose ends with the long-running prep projects, just saying. In other words, prepare accordingly, and Get your money out of the banks. I don't care if you don't believe me about Bitcoin. Get your money out of the banks. Don't keep any more money in a bank than you need to pay your bills and can afford to lose.











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The Financial Armageddon Economic Collapse Blog tracks trends and forecasts , futurists , visionaries , free investigative journalists , researchers , Whistelblowers , truthers and many more

The FBI released a summary of its file from the Hillary Clinton email investigation on Friday, showing details of Clinton's explanation of her use of a private email server to handle classified communications. The release comes nearly two months after FBI Director James Comey announced that although Clinton's handling of classified information was "extremely careless," it did not rise to the level of a prosecutable offense. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced the next day that she would not pursue charges in the matter. "We are making these materials available to the public in the interest of transparency and in response to numerous Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests," the FBI noted in a statement sent to reporters with links to the documents. The documents include notes from Clinton's July 2 interview with agents, as well as a "factual summary of the FBI's investigation into this matter," according to the FBI release. Throughout her interview with agents, Clinton repeatedly said she relied on the career professionals she worked with to handle classified information correctly. The agents asked about a series of specific emails, and in each case Clinton said she wasn't worried about the particular material being discussed on a nonclassified channel.