Individual Economists

Americans Are Becoming More And More Interested In Buying Chinese EVs

Zero Hedge -

Americans Are Becoming More And More Interested In Buying Chinese EVs

As electric vehicle (EV) adoption grows in the United States, a segment of American consumers is increasingly drawn to Chinese-made models—largely due to their affordability, advanced technology, and feature-rich designs. However, steep trade barriers and political resistance continue to keep these vehicles out of the U.S. market, according to Reuters. 

With the average price of a new car in the U.S. մոտ $50,000, Chinese EVs—many of which sell for under $30,000 in international markets—are gaining attention for offering strong value. Models from automakers such as BYD, Geely, and Zeekr often include premium interiors, advanced driver-assistance systems, and unique features like in-car entertainment and mini refrigerators, typically found in higher-end vehicles.

Reuters writes that industry experts note that Chinese automakers have rapidly improved both quality and innovation. China has recently surpassed Japan to become the world’s largest vehicle exporter, with growing sales across Europe, Latin America, and parts of North America. Countries such as Canada and Mexico have already begun integrating Chinese EVs into their markets at lower tariff rates.

In contrast, the United States has imposed tariffs exceeding 100% on Chinese vehicles, effectively blocking their entry. Policymakers cite concerns over data security, regulatory compliance, and the potential impact on domestic manufacturing jobs. Major U.S. auto industry groups have also urged continued restrictions, arguing that domestic automakers could face significant competitive pressure.

Despite these barriers, consumer curiosity remains strong. Surveys indicate that nearly half of prospective U.S. car buyers view Chinese vehicles as offering high value, and a notable share support allowing them into the domestic market. At the same time, concerns persist around safety standards, data privacy, and broader economic implications.

Auto dealers remain cautious. While many acknowledge that competitively priced Chinese EVs could attract buyers, only a small percentage currently support their introduction, citing uncertainty over compliance with U.S. regulations and market disruption.

For now, Chinese EVs remain largely absent from American roads. Yet as global competition intensifies and affordability becomes a growing concern for consumers, pressure may continue to build for greater access to lower-cost electric vehicles in the U.S. market.

* * * Be Prepared

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 21:00

US Offers Up To $3 Million Bounty For Information On Finances Of Haitian Gangs

Zero Hedge -

US Offers Up To $3 Million Bounty For Information On Finances Of Haitian Gangs

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. government on March 25 announced a bounty of up to $3 million for information on the finances of Haiti’s ‌Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif gangs.

Armed police ride in the back of a truck after the streets of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, were deserted following a call for a general strike launched by several professional associations and companies to denounce insecurity in Port-au-Prince, on Oct. 18, 2021. Richard Pierrin/AFP via Getty Images

The United States designated both groups, which bring together hundreds of gangs in the capital Port-au-Prince, the agricultural Artibonite region, and central Haiti, as terrorist organizations in May 2025.

The two gangs are a “primary source of instability and violence in Haiti” and are a “direct threat to U.S. national security interests in our region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the time, adding that they are “committed to overthrowing the government of Haiti.”

Gangs have grown in power since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. They are estimated to control about 90 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to a 2025 U.N. security briefing, and have expanded their activities into the countryside, including looting, kidnapping, sexual assaults, and rape. Haiti has not had a president since the assassination.

The U.S. Embassy in Haiti said in a March 25 statement that Viv Ansanm members are “responsible for an ongoing campaign of violence, including attacks against the government of Haiti, prison systems, police stations, hospitals, and the nation’s main airport in Port-au-Prince,” while Viv Ansanm is “directly involved in the mass murder and collective rape of Haitian civilians, including violence against American citizens in Haiti.”

Haitian security ​forces, with the support of a partially deployed U.N.-backed force and a U.S. private ⁠military company, have intensified attacks on armed gangs that control most of the capital, but ​have yet to make a major gang leader’s arrest.

Even if gang members are arrested, Haiti’s judicial system is barely functional. A 2024 U.N. report found that “many courthouses remain destroyed, non-operational, or located in inaccessible areas, effectively barring judicial personnel and lawyers from accessing them.”

More than ​a million people have been displaced by the conflict with gangs, which has exacerbated food insecurity, and ‌close ⁠to 20,000 have been reported killed in Haiti since 2021. The death toll has climbed every year.

According to a Mercy Corps survey published this month, which ⁠surveyed thousands of displaced people across the capital Port-au-Prince, 99 percent had no job or income after being displaced, and 95 percent felt unsafe in ​their new lodgings.

An overview of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on June 3, 2025. Clarens Siffroy/AFP via Getty Images

Less than half had access to a functioning toilet, ​and the vast majority were eating fewer than two meals a day. Just a third of children were attending school, and a third of women said they had suffered physical or sexual violence at ⁠the displacement ​site, the report found.

The United Nations estimated that 1.45 million people ​were internally displaced across Haiti by the end of last year, with more than 400,000 displaced in the past ​year alone.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

*  *  * Nighty night

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 20:35

Moore Problems? Maryland Gov. Wes Moore Booed At Baltimore Stadium In Deep-Blue Territory

Zero Hedge -

Moore Problems? Maryland Gov. Wes Moore Booed At Baltimore Stadium In Deep-Blue Territory

Left-wing Maryland Gov. Wes Moore was greeted Thursday afternoon by a stadium full of boos at Camden Yards on Opening Day for Orioles baseball, a striking public rebuke of the struggling governor and the one-party rule of Democratic Party kings and queens running the state into the ground.

After years of fiscal mismanagement, Annapolis Democrats have driven Maryland into a fiscal crisis, compounded by the death spiral of higher taxes and backfiring green energy policies that are now colliding with surging data-center power demand across the region, sparking a power bill crisis for Marylanders.

The end result of this epic mismanagement is extraordinarily sad: a growing exodus of residents, with net migration trends turning negative for the state as people flee to places where common sense is prioritized, not state-ruining far-left experiments.

One notable observation about the boos is that they occurred at Camden Yards in Baltimore City, which is controlled by a crazed left-wing mayor in a deeply blue city. In fact, the boos should never have been heard there, but among voters in the state, left or right, the cost-of-living crisis sparked by out-of-control taxes and state-ruining progressive policies is crushing pocketbooks everywhere.

Let’s remind readers that Gov. Moore has been positioned by the Democratic Party machine as a possible nominee in 2028.

Moore smiling with far-left radical Alex Soros. 

However, Polymarket odds show his chances of securing the nomination at just 2%, and for good reason: the endless mismanagement of the state is a massive liability on the national stage. 

On Friday morning, Republican Del. Matt Morgan joined local outlet Fox 45 Morning News to discuss the boos at Camden Yards. He said the crowd at the stadium was upwards of 40,000 people and nonpartisan.

Morgan said, referring to the boos, "It was basically a state poll that told you Marylanders are fed up with the policies coming out of Annapolis and the Moore administration.”

Earlier this week, on the two-year anniversary of the catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge at the Port of Baltimore, there is still no bridge, while Democrats in recent days prioritized “appropriately sized tampons” for men’s bathrooms.

Baltimore City is broken. Maryland is broken. Democrats broke the state. Moore's aspirations for 2028 have imploded. Perhaps he can work on his golf swing at the local elite golf clubs he frequents in Baltimore. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 20:10

$100 Oil Is Solving Russia's Budget Problem

Zero Hedge -

$100 Oil Is Solving Russia's Budget Problem

Submitted by Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

Russia is getting an unexpected windfall from the war in the Middle East. The Kremlin’s oil revenues this month hit a four-year high as oil prices jumped to $100 per barrel amid the Iran war and the de facto closed Strait of Hormuz.

Moscow expects so much additional revenues from the oil price spike that authorities are unlikely to downgrade Russia’s economic prospects, hold off on planned budget cuts, and even boost military spending on the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

A month ago, Russia was considering lowering the oil price level above which it sends the proceeds to its wealth fund as oil and gas revenues were plummeting with widening discounts and key Russian buyers like India pulling out of the spot market.

But the Middle East war and the worst disruption in the history of the global oil market pushed oil prices above $100 per barrel and prompted the United States to give buyers a free pass on Russian oil purchases.

As a result, the price of Urals, Russia’s flagship crude, has now nearly doubled to about $100 per barrel as demand for Russian oil in India is soaring again.

The oil price spike has already given Russia a reason to postpone the planned budget tightening.

Moscow has now scrapped plans to make a substantial downgrade to its economic growth forecast for 2026, according to Bloomberg’s sources.

Russian oil revenues have steadily increased in March, thanks to higher shipments and soaring oil prices, according to tanker-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg. In two of the weeks this month, Russia was estimated to cash in the highest amounts of oil revenues since 2022, just after its invasion of Ukraine drove prices above $100 per barrel.

Russia is cashing in on the Iran war even as it cannot take full advantage of the oil price spike as Ukraine targets its key Baltic Sea ports in an attempt to undermine Moscow’s oil export capabilities.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 19:45

US Deploys Ukrainian-Style Drone Boat In Iran War As AI Weapons Race Accelerates

Zero Hedge -

US Deploys Ukrainian-Style Drone Boat In Iran War As AI Weapons Race Accelerates

The Department of War confirmed to Reuters that it deployed Ukrainian-style drone boats to the Middle East as part of Operation Epic Fury against Iran. This move signals that the DoW is quickly learning a major lesson from the four-year Russia-Ukraine war: inexpensive autonomous systems, from drone boats to kamikaze drones, are necessary and are becoming core assets (very cheap) on the modern battlefield.

Tim Hawkins, a DoW spokesperson for Central Command, told the outlet that the drone boats deployed in the operation were built by Baltimore-based BlackSea and are known as the Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft, or GARC. He said the drone boats are being used for reconnaissance missions.

"U.S. forces continue to employ unmanned systems in the Middle East region, including surface drone assets like the GARC. This platform, in particular, has successfully logged over 450 underway hours and more than 2,200 nautical miles during maritime patrols in support of Operation Epic Fury," Hawkins said.

BlackSea's high-speed drone boat is described as a modular, autonomous, and remotely operated USV (unmanned surface vehicle) built for missions such as ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), communications relay, mine countermeasures, survey, interdiction, and potentially strike roles.

The DoW's push for inexpensive, scalable autonomous air, ground, and maritime systems has only been reinforced by Operation Epic Fury and appears to take a page from Ukraine's playbook in its war of attrition against Russia, where FPVs and killer ground bots have dominated 'no man's land.'

In addition to drone boats, U.S. forces have deployed kamikaze drones based on the Iranian Shahed-136 attack drone - yet another acknowledgment by the DoW that autonomous systems are the future of warfare.

None of this should surprise readers, as we have outlined how four years of rapid development in war technology across Ukraine, Russia, and China have provided a glimpse of 2030s warfare.

Latest snapshot of the two wars across Eurasia: we overlaid natural gas pipelines on the map.

Next up are humanoid robots as physical AI on the battlefield.

*  *  *

Grab our favorite knife. Hand-made in the USA. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 19:20

Louisville Shells Out $800,000 For Unconstitutional Demands On Christian Photographer

Zero Hedge -

Louisville Shells Out $800,000 For Unconstitutional Demands On Christian Photographer

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

The city of Louisville, Kentucky, has agreed to pay $800,000 in attorney fees to settle a case with a Christian photographer who fought to protect her religious and free speech rights over the years of litigation.

Louisville ultimately spent a fortune to force Chelsey Nelson to photograph same sex marriages under its nondiscrimination laws.

When combined with its own litigation costs, the case likely cost the city and the courts millions to deny Nelson her constitutional rights.

In prior columns, academic articles, and my book, “The Indispensable Right, I discussed the never-ending litigation targeting Jack Phillips, the Christian baker who declined to make cakes that violated his religious beliefs.

The case went all the way to the Supreme Court in what many of us hoped would be a final resolution of this conflict.

I had long criticized the framing of the case (and other cases) under the religious clauses rather than treating it as a matter of free speech.

In the end, the Supreme Court punted in a maddening 2018 decision that technically ruled in favor of Phillips based on a finding that the Commission showed anti-religious bias against Phillips.

In 2023, the Supreme Court delivered a major victory for free speech in 303 Creative v. Elenis, when it ruled that Lorie Smith, a Christian website designer, could refuse to provide services for a same-sex marriage.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, “the framers designed the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to protect the ‘freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think.’ … They did so because they saw the freedom of speech ‘both as an end and as a means.’”

In the September ruling, the court cited 303 Creative:

“That 2023 decision confirmed this Court’s 2022 interpretation of the First Amendment to bar the City of Louisville from enforcing an ordinance prohibiting wedding photographer Chelsey Nelson from stating her traditional (now dissenting) views on traditional marriage or declining to participate in those ceremonies.”

Louisville is only the latest blue city to spend millions trying to force individuals to create products — from cakes to wedding albums — that violate their religious, speech, and associational rights.

The settlement is a victory not just for Nelson but also for the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 18:55

After Putin's Guarded Iran War Comments, Medvedev Enters The Chat

Zero Hedge -

After Putin's Guarded Iran War Comments, Medvedev Enters The Chat

Earlier this week President Putin weighed in on America's Iran operations, and as we detailed his comments were predictably a bit guarded. He had compared the war and the Hormuz Strait closure - and subsequent impact on global energy - to the massive widescale impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. But fundamentally he highlighted the "unpredictable" nature of the conflict in terms of where it's headed, as Washington appears to be searching for an offramp on its terms.

On Friday Dmitry Medvedev weighed in, and as expected the former Russian president and current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council was much less guarded in his assessment. He warned at a moment thousands of US Marines and Airborne troop are en route to the Middle East that if the US enters a ground war in Iran it will be another "Vietnam".

American boots on the ground so far from US shores "threatens roughly the same consequences as what happened in Vietnam," Medvedev said as quotes in NBC and others.

"When Washington intervened in a foreign country, located a thousand miles away, and for ten years was unable to find a dignified way out of this conflict," he told the state-run RIA news agency.

He added that a potential ground operation in Iran would have "fatal consequences" for the broader region and for all involved in the war.

Size comparison: Vietnam overlaying Iran

The White House has been insistent that Trump's Iran "excursion" is not a quagmire. It has especially been Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth who has repeatedly denied that this conflict can be comparable to the start of 'forever wars' in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

But clearly the US doesn't have good track record when its forces must endure extended asymmetric warfare and insurgency conditions. Yet that's exactly where things will likely head if the White House introduces ground forces.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has actually seized on this historic theme as well, earlier writing on X: "Americans haven’t forgotten how (in 1967), even as hundreds of U.S. soldiers were dying in Vietnam, and the outcome was already clear, General William Westmoreland was flown home to reassure everyone that the war was going well - that the U.S. was ‘winning’."

"The media haven’t forgotten either; those briefings full of fantasy from the frontlines became infamous as the ‘Five O’Clock Follies’," he said. The "same script, different stage" is now unfolding, Araghchi insisted, adding: "Hegseth steps up, and the message is still detached from reality."

*  *  * CHECK IT OUT

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Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 18:30

Trump To Put His Signature On US Dollar Bills, Breaking Tradition Since 1861

Zero Hedge -

Trump To Put His Signature On US Dollar Bills, Breaking Tradition Since 1861

Authored by Brian Quarmby via CoinTelegraph.com,

US President Donald Trump is set to become the first sitting president in history to have his signature put on US paper currency.

In an announcement on Thursday, the US Department of the Treasury said the move would mark the 250th anniversary of the US.

It will put both Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s signatures on future US notes.

“There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than U.S. dollar bills bearing his name, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency be issued at the Semiquincentennial,” Bessent said.

Until now, the tradition has been to put the signatures of the treasurer and the Treasury secretary on US paper currency.

This move would mark the first time in history that a sitting president is placing his signature on US currency.

Source: Brandon Beach

According to a report from Reuters on Thursday, the first $100 bills with Trump and Bessent’s signatures will be printed in June, with other bills following in later months.

Trump’s name and likeness have also made their way to cryptocurrencies, famous landmarks and commemorative coins.

Alongside the Treasury’s plans to put Trump’s signature on US notes, there are also potentially $1 coins with the president’s face on them that could enter circulation as part of the US’s 250th anniversary.

In late 2025, the US Mint released three proposed designs bearing Trump’s face and the caption “In God We Trust.”

Proposed $1 coin designs. Source: US Mint

Trump has also helped oversee the renaming of major US landmarks such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 

The board of the Kennedy Center, reportedly filled with Trump appointees, voted in late December to change the name to the “Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

This has prompted pushback, however, with lawmakers arguing that the move is illegal when done without authorization from Congress.

In the crypto world, Trump has a memecoin named after himself and he has also released multiple NFT projects, including the Trump Digital Trading Cards. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 18:05

Asia Begins Pricing US Oil Against Brent As Dubai Volatility Spikes

Zero Hedge -

Asia Begins Pricing US Oil Against Brent As Dubai Volatility Spikes

Submitted by Michael Kern of OilPrice.com

Asian refiners have started pricing their orders for U.S. crude oil against the ICE Brent benchmark instead of the typical pricing on Dubai crude, as the Middle Eastern benchmark has seen wild fluctuations amid choked physical supply from the Persian Gulf.

Dubai crude prices soared last week to an all-time high of $169.75 per barrel, and were around  $130 a barrel early on Friday.

These highly volatile prices and the uncertainty about supply from the Middle East have prompted refiners in Asia to seek pricing against Brent, instead of the Dubai benchmark which has traditionally been the marker dictating the price of imports into the world's top crude-importing region.

Some Japanese refiners have already bought U.S. crude cargoes for delivery in July priced against ICE Brent, sources at trading and refining firms told Reuters on Friday. Taiyo Oil, for example, has purchased 2 million barrels of U.S. light crude via a tender at a premium of $19 per barrel over ICE Brent for July delivery, according to Reuters' sources. Taiyo Oil usually buys U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude priced against the Dubai benchmark.

The major shift in Asian pricing shows the market's unwillingness to price trades against Dubai crude, whose prices have been severely distorted in recent weeks due to the major physical supply disruptions with the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Asian refiners are also forced to pay massive premiums for non-Middle Eastern crude, especially for the sour variety suitable for Asian refineries geared to process the sulfur crude from the Persian Gulf. The most suitable grade from Norway, Johan Sverdrup, was being bid last week at record-high double-digit premiums over Dated Brent.

Refiners in Asia are also cutting processing rates due to a lack of crude, fuel prices are skyrocketing, and governments are implementing fuel-saving measures such as four-day work weeks, work from home, and extended national holidays. Many Asian countries are also banning exports of fuels, which ripples through the global fuel supply, especially in jet and diesel markets.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 17:15

Disturbing "Five Nights At Epstein's" Online Game Spreads Rapidly Through Classrooms

Zero Hedge -

Disturbing "Five Nights At Epstein's" Online Game Spreads Rapidly Through Classrooms

A disturbing browser game called Five Nights at Epstein’s is spreading in schools, with students playing it during class and sharing videos online, according to Bloomberg.

In the game, players take on the role of victims trapped on Jeffrey Epstein’s island, trying to survive five nights by avoiding assault. Its popularity has been fueled by social media, where clips of students playing have drawn large audiences and, in some cases, even demonstrate how to bypass school restrictions. The game’s accessibility through web browsers makes it especially easy for students to access on school-issued devices.

Parents and educators are alarmed not only by the game’s content but by how casually students engage with it.

One parent noted that classmates seemed “disconnected to the reality that there were real victims,” often joking about the scenario in ways that felt dehumanizing.

Photo: Bloomberg

Bloomberg writes that despite platform policies that prohibit harmful or exploitative material, videos and links continue to circulate, frequently disguised with misspellings to avoid detection. The game reflects a broader pattern of meme-driven parody content that turns real-world abuse scandals into entertainment, blurring the line between satire and harm.

Educators warn that repeated exposure to this kind of content risks desensitizing young people to serious issues like sexual violence.

As one librarian put it, “That’s not kids being kids; that’s kids hiding from being sexually assaulted,” emphasizing concerns about how such media may shape attitudes and empathy.

Schools are attempting to respond through stricter device monitoring and usage policies, but many believe these measures alone are insufficient. Addressing the issue, they argue, requires a coordinated effort between tech platforms, parents, and educators to help students better understand the real-world consequences behind what they see on screens.

* * * Be Prepared

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 16:50

"Too Many Things Are Out Of Whack..."

Zero Hedge -

"Too Many Things Are Out Of Whack..."

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

"The people we care about most, the undocumented migrants..."

- Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Cult Classics

Tensions rise as the green fuse drives the flowers of springtime (and thank you, Dylan Thomas, for the loan.)

Too many things are out of whack. Some are actually breaking.

A physics of events is at work that will bring our affairs back to true, but expect it to be painful.

Okay, you’ve been warned.

Asia, especially, suffers bigly with the Persian Gulf shut-down.

For decades these countries took the oil flows for granted without having to do anything. No thoughts of maritime security. No cares for the chaos Iran sowed across the region (and beyond). Leave the tanker insurance to London.

Now, they are rationing the diesel, gasoline, natgas, and aviation fuel.

For the moment they are just stunned. Soon, they’ll be hollering, stomping, jumping up and down crying woo-woo-woo.

Europe, for years, has garishly, and in plain sight, planned its own journey to a de-industrialized neo-medieval Palookaville.

The poster-child, Germany, destroyed its energy prospects with lunatic glee, in thrall to retarded climate change politics, while the European Union turned into a devouring mother, stole her children’s sovereign agency, and herded them into a Klaus Schwab death camp.

No more atomic energy for you! No more cheap gas from Russia. No more heat in wintertime. Jihad for entertainment. The lights are going out and it might be too late to make other arrangements.

Don’t think for a moment that Iran was not a threat to the world, and especially to The Great Satan, as they styled us.

The Persians have been hostage to a cult for half a century, and all cults are crazy. This one, the reign of the Shia ayatollahs, was apocalyptic in the pure sense of the word. They prayed and labored avidly for the destruction of others and relished their own martyrdom. The craziest part was thinking that the USA under Donald Trump might possibly roll over for them.

Quit swallowing those black pills, everybody.

Iran is not some super-monster out of the Marvel Comics movies. Iran doesn’t have the mojo to shut down the Strait of Hormuz indefinitely. It will run out of missiles, drones, torpedoes, mines, launch sites, and a command structure for deploying any of that.

It has converted the other neutral Gulf states into raging enemies eager to help the US — and by extension, most ironically, Israel, too.

This rearrangement of interests in the Middle East would have been unthinkable a mere month ago.

We have way more to worry about here in America with our own apocalyptic coteries and claques.

And our broken institutions. Is it not obvious that the Democratic Party exists now solely to punish half of the country that would prefer to not wreck our republic?

The Democratic Party has no other program. It’s just another death cult.

That’s why you were made to wait four and half hours in some far-off precinct of the airport for a flight that you were guaranteed to miss.

Well, at least that’s over for now, since the Senate passed a spending bill at two o’clock in the morning today and DHS will be up-and-running again — while Congress takes two weeks off for Easter.

Now consider those figures and factions in the Republican Party who won’t lift a finger to allow election reform.

Thune, McConnell (what little is left of him), Murkowski, Tillis, maybe Collins.

What possible calculus judders their brains?

They are about to be drowned in a tsunami of revelation about organized ballot fraud in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

How will they explain that?

Maybe “election denial” wasn’t a thing all along. Thune’s game is plain stupid. He’s engineering his own downfall as majority leader as he attempts to usher the SAVE Act into a ditch. Our election procedures are patently insane, and only the insane fail to notice. So, failing to notice is an option, at least.

Tomorrow, Saturday, brings another Neville Roy Singham production of “No Kings” demos across the nation, a field-day for the senile.

They want to abolish ICE. They want illegal aliens to stay here and they want them in the voting booth.

Go out and ask them why that’s a good idea.

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

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 16:25

CPAC Shocker: Dallas Crowd Cheers For Trump Impeachment Hearings

Zero Hedge -

CPAC Shocker: Dallas Crowd Cheers For Trump Impeachment Hearings

In a moment that captured the growing unease within conservative circles, Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, found himself in an awkward spot at this year’s CPAC in the Dallas area on Friday. While attempting to rally the crowd, Schlapp asked, “How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?” The audience erupted in cheers. Visibly caught off guard, he quickly backpedaled: “No… that was the wrong answer.” He tried again - “Let’s try that again, how many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?” - only for the crowd to cheer again. Flustered, Schlapp joked about needing coffee for the attendees before pivoting to a safer topic: keeping the House majority.

The incident unfolded against the backdrop of heated discussions at the conference about the U.S.-Israeli military actions in Iran. It was not the unified show of support Trump allies had hoped for - and it signaled deeper fractures in the MAGA base over foreign policy.

Those cracks are widening on Capitol Hill. Republican lawmakers, once solidly behind Trump, are now openly breaking ranks over the escalating conflict in Iran, warning that any deployment of U.S. troops could trigger a political backlash severe enough to cost the party in the midterms. Leading the charge is South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, who has repeatedly drawn a hard line against “boots on the ground.”

“If there are boots on the ground, public sentiment on this war changes overnight in a flash… people are not going to go for it,” Mace told ZeroHedge after a closed-door briefing. She has vowed to vote against any funding that would send American troops into Iran, stating plainly: “If a single boot of a single American soldier sets foot on Iranian soil, I will vote against this. I will not vote to fund sending South Carolina’s sons and daughters to die in a ground war in Iran.” Mace even stormed out of a House Armed Services Committee briefing, later telling colleagues “we were misled” about the scope of operations.

Her concerns are shared by other GOP voices who are far from the usual anti-interventionist suspects. Texas Rep. Chip Roy expressed “a lot of concern” among constituents, demanding clarity on objectives, timeline, and what “victory” would look like if troops are committed. Fellow Texas Rep. Brandon Gill stressed that voters reject “a long prolonged Middle East” engagement or nation-building. Even Sen. Rand Paul warned of an “uprising” at the gas pump if prices spike to $5 a gallon, noting that working families already squeezed by rent, food, and fuel costs will turn against the war the longer it drags on.

The GOP unease intensified after a Pentagon supplemental funding request reported at $200 billion - far beyond the White House’s initial framing of the operation as lasting mere “days” or “weeks.” Lawmakers were briefed on expanded objectives that reportedly include seizing Iran’s oil export hub at Kharg Island, targeting nuclear material, and even hints of regime change - options that could require thousands of ground troops. As of this week, roughly 7,000 U.S. forces from units like the 82nd Airborne are already heading to the region.

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley highlighted the broader economic pain: voters want lower gas prices, cheaper healthcare, and rising wages - not endless foreign spending. Rep. Lauren Boebert echoed the “America First” frustration, saying she is “tired of the Industrial War Complex” while families back home struggle to afford basic living costs.

The CPAC episode and the congressional revolt come at a precarious moment for the Trump administration. What began as targeted strikes is now raising fears of another Middle East quagmire in a country twice the size of Iraq. With midterm elections looming, GOP members worry that prolonged conflict - especially one accompanied by higher energy prices and no clear exit strategy - could alienate the very MAGA voters who delivered Trump’s victory.

Trump may have even less time to wrap this up than previously thought... 

*  *  *

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 16:05

US Signals Allies 'No Immediate Plans' For Ground Invasion, As Iran Warns 'Heavy Price' To Pay For Nuclear & Steel Plant Attacks

Zero Hedge -

US Signals Allies 'No Immediate Plans' For Ground Invasion, As Iran Warns 'Heavy Price' To Pay For Nuclear & Steel Plant Attacks Summary

  • US signals to allies no ground invasion coming, with thousands of troops still en route: Iran denies requesting Donald Trump’s 10-day halt; Israel attacks steel & industrial sites. Also, Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor, part of the Arak Nuclear Complex, targeted. Yellow Cake factory in Yazd province hit.

  • Escalation on all fronts: IRGC HQ targeted by US-Israsel; Iran signals expansion by naming UAE targets, hitting Kuwait ports and sending drones on Riyadh. Iran newly warning it will hit Gulf industry.

  • Rubio tells G7 foreign ministers war will continue for another 2-4 weeks.

  • Israel doubles down amid reports of manpower strain: IDF chief warns of manpower pressure even as Defense Minister Katz vows to "intensify and expand" strikes.

  • Risk rises that Iran is holding back more advanced missiles for a prolonged war: WSJ writes "The US and Israel are pounding Iran’s missile-launching sites... But Tehran’s missiles keep flying."

*  *  *

US Signals Allies: 'No Immediate Plans for Iran Invasion' As Tehran Says Bigger Retaliation Coming

Yesterday in Politico: I have no idea what they are trying to do’: Allies say Trump sends mixed signals on Iran. And today in Bloomberg, the latest: US Signals to Allies No Immediate Plans for Iran Invasion.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Fridayopenly questioned whether Washington and Tel Aviv even have a workable plan, warning that President Trump is instead driving toward "massive escalation."

"I have great doubt about whether there is a strategy, and whether the strategy can be executed," Merz said, underscoring growing unease among allies. The German leader revealed a tense half-hour call with Trump earlier this week, saying he told the US president bluntly that if he expects allied backing, "then ask us please beforehand" instead of going straight to the media. The conversation, Merz admitted, was "not without controversy."

Merz said Trump repeatedly brushed off alliance coordination altogether, telling him, "I don’t need NATO." Meanwhile a new warning from Iran's Foreign Minister:

And via Newsquawk: Senior Iranian Official says US attacks on Iran while simultaneously calling for talks is intolerable.

More Iran Nuclear Sites Targeted; UAE Presses for Hormuz Security Force

The United Arab Emirates, which has been among the hardest-impacted Gulf states in Iran's ongoing retaliation, is pressing for a multinational maritime ​taskforce to reopen vital oil transit waterway, the Financial Times reports ‌Friday.

The UAE, with a navy that's not really going to strike fear into any enemy (much less the Iranians), says it is willing to participate in a "Hormuz Security Force" to defend the strait and escort shipping. Dozens of countries are being asked to join, sources cited in FT say. So far there have been no takers. Meanwhile, more alarming escalation with fresh US-Israeli attacks on nuclear sites, as Tehran threatens to launch revenge attacks in kind (on Gulf and Israel):

  • IRAN SIGNALS POSSIBLE ATTACKS ON STEEL FACTORIES IN GULF AND ISRAEL, ACCORDING TO TASNIM.
  • Aardakan yellow cake factory (nuclear) in Yazd province attacked by US and Israeli Friday evening (local)
  • No radiation leak detected, local authorities say

Tasnim says that Iran's response will "not be limited to the region's steel industries" and that a "broader more severe response" is on the agenda. And... 

The IDF announces the following [machine translation]:

After identifying rehabilitation attempts: The Air Force struck the heavy water plant in Arak - a key infrastructure for producing plutonium for nuclear weapons With precise guidance from Military Intelligence, the Air Force struck a short while ago the heavy water plant in Arak, located in central Iran. Heavy water is a unique material used to operate nuclear reactors such as the currently inactive reactor in Arak, which was originally designed to have the capability to produce weapons-grade plutonium. These materials are also used as a source for extracting neutrons for nuclear weapons.

Vital Iranian Steel Plants, Industry Attacked

Israeli media citing military officials on Friday: "The IDF attacked Iran's two largest steel plants, in Isfahan and Ahvaz. Both plants are vital to Iran's military industry and are partially owned by the Revolutionary Guards. The strikes on the plants are expected to cause billions in damage to the Iranian economy."

This could mark a new, expanded phase of the war as Israel goes after key defense industrial targets, which also serve central civilian infrastructure development. The US has still held off on pursuing more attacks on energy sites, but it seems Israel is maintaining a more gloves off approach - opting for total societal destruction, and going after industry. This seems to also be part of efforts to ensure ballistic missile production is degraded. 

Reuters: US is certain about having destroyed third of Iran's missiles, say sources. Another third is believed to be damaged, destroyed or buried.

Also, Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor, part of the Arak Nuclear Complex, targeted.

"One of the sources said the intelligence was similar for Iran's drone capability, saying there was some degree of certainty about a third having been destroyed," Reuters writes, noting that all of this contradicts White House claims of Iran having "very few rockets left".

Iran Didn't Request Trump's 10-Day Pause: WSJ

Iran has not requested a 10-day pause on strikes on its energy plants, peace talk mediators have been cited in WSJ as saying, and has still not issued formal response to the 15-point US plan delivered via Pakistan. This as the Pentagon is moving thousands of Marines and Army Airborne soldiers into the region.

The Wall Street Journal points out that "The U.S. and Israel are pounding Iran’s missile-launching sites, hitting some over and over across almost a month of war. But Tehran’s missiles keep flying."

One pundit questions, are we 'winning' yet?... writing the following brief assessment of where things stand: IRGC Joint Staff headquarters under US-Israeli strikes. Iran naming UAE targets as Abu Dhabi enters the war. IDF Chief of Staff warning publicly the Israeli military could "collapse" from manpower shortages. Iran claiming over one million fighters mobilised with IRGC lowering the age for support roles to 12. Pentagon considering 10,000 additional ground troops within striking distance of Kharg. Trump pausing energy-plant destruction for 10 days until April 6. Iran denying it requested the pause. Houthis warning they will enter the war. Lavrov saying the quiet part: “Iran did not violate any of its international obligations.” Russia’s oil revenue doubling to $24 billion this month.

Oil prices continued to spike this morning, with international Brent crude oil once again surpassing $110 per barrel. For the day so far that’s up another 3%. 

Aftermath of strikes earlier this week on central Israel

"After several glimmers of hope, fueled by comments from President Trump, which were quickly dashed, the market is becoming more demanding in terms of rhetoric," said Amélie Derambure, senior multi-asset portfolio manager at Amundi. "The TACO trade is more difficult to do because a return to square one is not possible from here."

Gulf Flashpoint Widens: Iran Signals No Let Up

Multiple GCC countries issued incoming-attack alerts as drones and missiles light up the region Friday, with Kuwait taking at least two new hits: Shuwaikh Port was struck by "hostile drones" - per the Kuwait Ports Authority, with a second target, Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port, reportedly hit by drones and cruise missiles. Infrastructure damage has been reported in both cases, but no reported casualties.

Saudi Arabia maintains its air defense footing, with the Ministry of Defense saying drones were intercepted and destroyed over Riyadh and the Eastern Province, following a warning for Al-Kharj - home to Prince Sultan Air Base. Six ballistic missiles were detected: two intercepted, with four splashing into the Persian Gulf and empty areas.

Absolute chaos in Tel Aviv...

New explosions have been reported in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on Friday. It's as if Iran and the IRGC are sending a clear "f-you" message to Trump in the wake of the series of ultimatums and deadlines Tehran never asked for. Trump earlier went from 48 hours to 5 days to now a 10-day window amid the threats to attack power and energy infrastructure.

Israel Escalates Too: Will 'Intensify & Expand' Strikes on Iran

The White House has been busy talking about its backchannel diplomacy and getting the beginnings of a peace deal off the ground via Pakistan, and at one point within the past week there was talk of Vice President J.D. Vance actually traveling to Islamabad - but the situation on the ground suggests the opposite, given also Israel has on Friday announced escalation of its posture. Israel has continued coming under consistent missile strikes.

Now, Defense Minister Israel Katz is vowing Israel's attacks will "intensify and expand" - citing that Islamic Republic had not heeded warnings "to stop firing missiles at Israel’s civilian population." Katz said: "The fire has continued - and therefore, IDF strikes in Iran will intensify and expand to additional targets and domains that assist the regime in developing and deploying weapons against Israeli civilians."

There remains a huge risk for Israel amid the expectation that Iran has been saving its biggest and most advanced, longer range missiles - rationing its arsenal as it settles in for a long war.

Strait of Hormuz Status & Overnight News

Tehran could still be playing a double game of public rejection coupled with private behind-the-scenes signaling. According to Axios' latest, Iranian officials are quietly showing interest in talks even as they reject Washington's proposal, with mediators leaning hard to force  or 'will into existence' a meeting in the coming days. "Things are progressing very slowly" in terms of negotiations between the US and Iran, and as of now, no meeting between senior officials is even on the calendar, per Isreal's i24NEWS.

The IRGC Navy is still declaring the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut: traffic "to and from" ports tied to enemy allies is banned outright, with warnings any movement will be "severely dealt with." In a rare twist, The Wall Street Journal and others report Iran has even blocked two Chinese vessels from transiting Hormuz - signaling enforcement isn't just for Western targets. Washington seems to be trying to adapt in real time, as Reuters reports the US has deployed uncrewed drone boats into the theater, opening yet another front in an already widening conflict.

*  *  * Nighty night

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 16:05

Tiger Woods Involved In "Rollover Crash" On Jupiter Island

Zero Hedge -

Tiger Woods Involved In "Rollover Crash" On Jupiter Island

Golf pro Tiger Woods has reportedly been involved in a "rollover crash" on Jupiter Island, just north of Palm Beach County in Martin County, according to local media outlet WPTV.

The Martin County Sheriff's Office said the accident occurred near 281 Beach Road on Jupiter Island in Hobe Sound. Property records from Zillow show the closest house to the accident is valued at $14.8 million.

The sheriff's office has yet to say what happened or whether Tiger was injured.

If the report is correct, this would mark Tiger's third car crash. Here are his prior two:

  • November 2009 in Florida, when he hit a fire hydrant and a tree outside his home.

  • February 2021 in Southern California, a serious single-car rollover that caused major leg injuries.

Sheriff John Budensiek will hold a press conference at around 1700 local time.

*Developing... 

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 15:46

Soaring Prices Set To Crash China's LNG Imports To 8-Year Low

Zero Hedge -

Soaring Prices Set To Crash China's LNG Imports To 8-Year Low

Submitted by Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

Surging LNG prices amid the war in the Middle East are set to lead to the lowest monthly LNG imports into China in eight years as Qatari and UAE supply is off the market and Chinese buyers look to raise supply from domestic gas production and pipeline deliveries.

China is on track to import about 3.7 million tons of LNG in March, per tanker-tracking data by Kpler cited by Bloomberg. That would be the lowest monthly import level in the world’s top LNG importer since the spring of 2018, as well as a 25% slump compared to March 2025, according to Bloomberg data and analysis.

The de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz has stranded all Qatari and UAE supply of LNG. Additionally, Qatar’s LNG capacity has been severely damaged by Iranian missile attacks, which forced state firm QatarEnergy to declare force majeure on contracts and start quantifying the losses.

The Iranian missile attacks on Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC) dashed hopes of quick resumption of Qatari LNG flows even if the Strait of Hormuz were to open to unimpeded and safe traffic today. QatarEnergy last week said the damage from Iranian missile strikes on the Ras Laffan LNG complex, the world’s single largest LNG-producing facility, would cost it about $20 billion per year in lost revenue and to take up to five years to repair.

As a result, Asian LNG prices have nearly doubled this month and Asian buyers are outbidding Europe for spot supply.

China had some buffer to allow itself not to spend too much on costly LNG imports this month. The country’s LNG storage was estimated by Kpler at about 51% by end-March, and this buffer allows Northeast Asian buyers to draw on existing inventories.

The effect would shift peak restocking season in China, Japan, and South Korea to June–July rather than April–May, according to Kpler.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 15:30

In Surprise Move, Iran Blocks Two Chinese Ships From Transiting Hormuz

Zero Hedge -

In Surprise Move, Iran Blocks Two Chinese Ships From Transiting Hormuz

In a surprise twist, Iran appears to have turned its back on its best (and only) client, Beijing, when it blocked two China-owned container vessels from the Strait of Hormuz in what the WSJ said was an unusual move by Tehran, which has focused its shipping blockade on countries it deems supporters of Israel and the U.S.

The two ships - CSCL Indian Ocean and CSCL Arctic Ocean - made U-turns near Larak Island, about 20 miles from the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, the WSJ reported.

In recent days, some ships have transited the strait via the narrow channel between Iran’s Qeshm and Larak islands, including those signaling Chinese owners and crew members.

Also on Friday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said that it had turned back three container ships of various nationalities trying to cross the strait, adding that all ship traffic to and from ports of supporters of the U.S. and Israel was prohibited, according to Nour News, which is affiliated with the country's Supreme National Security Council.

Container ship owners told the WSJ the only vessels that can now cross the strait are those with cargoes of Iran-destined household goods, cars, clothing and pharmaceuticals.

In the past week, Iran has allowed four ships loaded with grains to cross the Strait of Hormuz in the other direction, after waiting nearly three weeks in the Gulf of Oman, according to brokers who arranged the cargoes. The bulkers unloaded at Iran’s Bandar Imam Khomeini port, where three-quarters of the cargo handled is grain imports mainly from Russia and South America.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 15:00

Cartels Are Going 'Broke' As US Fentanyl Supply Drops By Almost 60%: Homan

Zero Hedge -

Cartels Are Going 'Broke' As US Fentanyl Supply Drops By Almost 60%: Homan

Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times,

The Trump administration’s border crackdown is slowing the flow of deadly drugs into the country to the point that cartel profits have plummeted.

​Border czar Tom Homan said during an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s operation to go after the Mexican cartels has been successful, and that they are now focusing their drug operations on Europe and Asia.

​“Cartels are going broke,” Homan said. “They know it’s hard here.”​

Sara Carter, director of the National Drug Control Policy and a CPAC speaker, said that securing the U.S. border has meant fewer illegal immigrants and drugs, especially fentanyl.

​“We’ve seen a decrease in fentanyl coming into our country of around 56 percent to 57 percent, which is phenomenal,” she said.

“You’re holding China accountable and telling them we are watching the supply chain, and you will be responsible if we see more deaths in our country.”

​The cartels securing fentanyl precursor chemicals from China and India know what they are doing, she said, adding that cartels and America’s adversaries want “to break us and to create this massive casualty event.”

Discussing the impact of policy changes, Carter said that under the Biden administration, the cartels made hundreds of billions of dollars from human trafficking and the sale of narcotics.

She said adversarial countries pushing drugs onto American streets, such as China, amount to a “proxy war” against the United States.

​Homan and Carter applauded Operation Southern Spear, in which narcoterrorists carrying drugs on boats in the Caribbean were destroyed with U.S. military air strikes.

​Carter said stopping drug runners in the Western Hemisphere was part of the president’s America First strategy. Carter’s comments are supported by a recent study that also points to a sharp decrease in fentanyl deaths.

​The January study suggested that the decrease in deaths, which started in mid-2023, was due to a disruption in the supply chain of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China, creating a shortage of fentanyl on the streets.

​With less fentanyl, dealers and cartels stretched their supply, according to the study. Fentanyl and other street drugs are often cut with substances such as baby powder or sugar.

Opioid deaths that started to drop under the previous administration are continuing their downward trend. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) under the Trump administration intensified enforcement operations, putting pressure on the global fentanyl supply chain, forcing narco-terrorists such as the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG Cartel to alter their business model.

DEA lab testing showed 29 percent of fentanyl pills analyzed during fiscal year 2025 had a potentially lethal dose, a significant drop from just two years earlier, when 76 percent of pills had enough fentanyl to kill.

The purity of fentanyl powder has decreased to 10.3 percent in fiscal year 2025 from 19.5 percent in 2024, the DEA said. 

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 13:20

Will QatarEnergy's LNG Fiasco Derail Goldman's Prewar View Of A Mega LNG Wave

Zero Hedge -

Will QatarEnergy's LNG Fiasco Derail Goldman's Prewar View Of A Mega LNG Wave

Global energy flows are being rewired across Eurasia as the Russia-Ukraine war and the latest U.S.-Iran conflict disrupt Gulf energy flows in what may be the worst energy shock on record.

One major new development is that roughly 20% of global LNG flows remain shut in the Gulf region because of the Hormuz chokepoint, with QatarEnergy warning last week that 17% of its LNG export capacity could be offline for three to five years.

That brings us to Goldman commodities expert Samantha Dart's warning to clients about five months ago, in which she said the "largest-ever LNG supply wave" was set to hit, pushing prices lower.

The question now is whether Dart's warning still holds, given that the Iranian attack on Qatar's Ras Laffan gas facility wiped out about 17% of the country's LNG export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue and threatening supplies to Europe and Asia. Repairs are expected to take three to five years.

Dart's pre-US-Iran war view was that natural gas prices would remain relatively stable through 2027 before peak glut materializes by the end of the decade, triggering U.S. LNG export cancellations. However, the Ras Laffan disruption may have derailed that oversupplied outlook, as LNG markets could remain tight for years.

Another key development, with Qatari LNG flows hampered, is a recent note from Criterion Research President James Bevan, who wrote: "What had been framed as a two-horse race for global LNG market share now looks considerably more one-sided. The beneficiary is clear: U.S. Gulf Coast LNG."

And just like that, with Qatari LNG flows hampered for years, the question now is whether Dart's bearish forecast of the "largest-ever LNG supply wave" will likely have to be revisited. We'll see what she says in the next update.

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 12:50

Schiff: "Real Rates Are Going To Collapse"; Dollar Confidence Crisis

Zero Hedge -

Schiff: "Real Rates Are Going To Collapse"; Dollar Confidence Crisis

Gold or Bitcoin: which can anchor the next reserve system? 

Last night, in a ZH debate hosted by Real Vision's Ash Bennington, Peter Schiff argued for gold’s role as the future global reserve currency, while Mark Moss made the case for Bitcoin, arguing that it is gaining traction on sovereign balance sheets as of 2025.

They covered America's dwindling reserve status, fundamental monetary properties, and the nature of governments. Here were some highlights for those short on time:

Gold: Tried and True

Schiff argued that Bitcoin does not meet the definition of money and therefore cannot compete with gold, which he described as the foundational reserve asset backing currencies.

He also pointed to current market trends, arguing that “foreign central banks are already moving more of their US dollar reserves into gold because they are losing confidence,” particularly in the U.S. government’s ability to repay debt without massive debasement. While acknowledging recent volatility, he maintained that gold’s decline is temporary and that “real rates are going to collapse, and that’s bullish for gold.”

At a more fundamental level, money must have independent utility, according to Schiff. 

“It has to be a commodity… [with] its own use,” pointing to gold’s role in “industry… jewelry… aerospace… medicine… electronics” as what makes it “better money than other commodities,” and distinct from Bitcoin, which may be transferable but is solely a digital ledger. 

The Issue of Trust

Moss emphasized the importance of custody, arguing that gold ultimately depends on intermediaries (unless stored in one’s basement) even when ownership is legally binding. Governments are not trustworthy and if they or the institution holding possession of the physical gold decide to renege, well ultimately, “they have control over the asset.”

Shipping gold abroad is another matter, filled with counterparty risk and logistical burden. Money needs to be transferable and this is hindered “if [governments] won’t allow you to ship it… or receive it.”

At a more basic level, he argued the issue is unavoidable with physical assets: “you have to trust somebody… [and] trust that they’ll allow you to access it,” concluding that “as long as I don’t have possession of it, I have no control over it.”

Will Central Banks accumulate Bitcoin?

Moss opened by framing Bitcoin within a broader shift in the global monetary system, arguing that reserve assets are moving away from a single dominant anchor toward a mix of holdings. As he put it, “the world is breaking apart… instead of having one… reserve asset, I believe we’ll start to have different assets held in reserve,” with countries diversifying across currencies, commodities, and other stores of value. Within that transition, he argued Bitcoin is already entering the conversation at the sovereign level, projecting that “Bitcoin will have a meaningful allocation in central bank reserves… in the next 20 years.”

Moss argued that if politicians are responding to Bitcoin holders, it suggests scale: “the adoption of Bitcoin is so massive… politicians are forced to bow down to the most powerful voting bloc.”

But is this classic pandering by the political class?

Schiff said “the Bitcoin community has done a very good job of bribing politicians,” framing recent proposals as the result of lobbying and campaign influence rather than monetary necessity. In his view, politicians are responding to a narrow but motivated group of voters, where “when a politician promises to buy Bitcoin… you’re like, yeah, I’m voting for that guy,” effectively bribing voters by promising to use tax dollars to bid up the price of Bitcoin.

The trend, however, may not last. “if the price of Bitcoin collapses, all the political firepower is going to go away.”

Watch the full debate below or listen on Spotify.

*  *  * 25-Year Shelf Life

Tyler Durden Fri, 03/27/2026 - 12:35

Newspaper Apologizes For Accurately Describing Suspected Killer As 'Illegal Immigrant'

Zero Hedge -

Newspaper Apologizes For Accurately Describing Suspected Killer As 'Illegal Immigrant'

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

The student journalists at Loyola University Chicago’s Phoenix newspaper have issued a groveling apology for initially reporting the facts about the man charged with murdering 18-year-old Sheridan Gorman.

In an editor’s note, the paper stated: “Additionally, in the body of the original post, we described the man who was charged as an ‘illegal immigrant,’ using language provided by the Department of Homeland Security. That language does not align with Associated Press style, nor does it align with the values of this newspaper.”

It continued: “No human’s existence is illegal, and we quickly changed our wording to reflect that. We acknowledge the harm such language can cause and the power and importance of the words we choose to use. We deeply regret these errors, and we’re committed to continuing the high standards we hold for ourselves as journalists and members of the Loyola, Rogers Park and Chicago communities.”

The suspect, 25-year-old Jose Medina-Medina, a Venezuelan national living in the United States illegally, faces charges in the fatal shooting of Gorman on a pier at Chicago’s Tobey Prinz Beach. Gorman, a Loyola freshman, was walking with friends when she was chased and shot in the head.

The case fits the pattern of endless preventable violence perpetrated by criminal illegals.

Worse still, Governor JB Pritzker attempted to shift responsibility by blaming President Trump for the murder:

Medina-Medina was apprehended by Border Patrol in May 2023 and released into the U.S. interior. Weeks later, Chicago police arrested him for shoplifting, but he was released again under sanctuary policies that shield illegal immigrants from federal immigration authorities.

Chicago Alderwoman Maria Hadden (D–Rogers Park) downplayed the incident, claiming “it sounds like, this might have been a wrong place, wrong time, running into a person who had a gun, they might have startled this person at the end of the pier.”

Gorman’s distraught family pushed back hard against attempts to minimize what happened. Their statement read: “What happened to Sheridan cannot be reduced to a ‘senseless tragedy,’ nor can it be explained in general terms about public safety.”

They added: “Sheridan was our daughter. She was 18 years old. She was doing something entirely normal — walking near her campus with friends. She should be here.”

The family continued: “Calling this ‘senseless’ is not enough. There must be a clear and honest accounting of what went wrong. We will not allow Sheridan’s life to be reduced to a talking point or a generalization. We expect leadership that is willing to confront hard truths and ensure that what happened to her does not happen again.”

Further: “Sheridan was a daughter, a sister, and a young woman whose life was taken in a way that should never have been possible. We are not interested in political arguments or in watching responsibility shift from one place to another. If there were failures—as the Governor himself has acknowledged—then every one of them must be identified, examined, and addressed directly. The location of those failures matters less than the willingness to confront them honestly.”

They concluded: “Our daughter is not a policy debate. She is a life that was taken, and that demands accountability.”

Governor JB Pritzker responded by acknowledging failures while pointing elsewhere: “This has been a terrible tragedy … there have been real failures. Those failures, of course, extend beyond the borders of Illinois. That’s their national failures, a failure to have comprehensive immigration reform, a failure of the president to follow his own edict to go after the worst of the worst.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson avoided taking ownership of the city’s long-standing sanctuary policies: “Let’s just be very clear, between the Safe-T Act and the welcoming city ordinance, the welcoming city ordinance was passed 40 years ago by the first Black mayor in the history of Chicago, and the Safety Act was passed under the governor at that time, who was a Republican.”

The family’s direct call for accountability stands in sharp contrast to the deflection and word games from officials and the student press. While the Loyola Phoenix regrets using accurate language from the Department of Homeland Security, the real harm remains the policies that allowed a twice-released illegal immigrant to cross paths with an innocent student.

Sheridan Gorman’s death was not inevitable. It resulted from repeated decisions that prioritized open-border practices and sanctuary protections over basic public safety. As long as leaders refuse to secure the border and enforce immigration law, more American lives will be lost to the same failures.

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, 03/27/2026 - 12:05

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