AI Is Being Weaponized For Cybercrime In 'Unprecedented' Ways, Researchers Warn

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being weaponized to conduct increasingly sophisticated cybercrimes, according to a new report from Anthropic, which warns of an “unprecedented” evolution in malicious operations that makes defense far more difficult.

In its Aug. 27 Threat Intelligence Report, the AI safety company described how criminals are embedding advanced models like “Claude” into every stage of attacks—from reconnaissance and credential theft to ransomware and fraud. Researchers said AI tools are now acting not just as advisers but as active operators in real-time campaigns.

This “represents a fundamental shift in how cybercriminals can scale their operations,” the report said.

“Agentic AI systems are being weaponized” to perform sophisticated cyberattacks, not simply provide guidance, the researchers warned.

Cases in Point

The report highlighted several examples, including a large-scale extortion campaign, fraudulent employment scams run by North Korea, and ransomware sold on dark-web forums.

In one operation, for example, a hacker used Anthropic’s coding assistant Claude Code to infiltrate at least 17 organizations—including hospitals, emergency services, and government agencies. “Claude” was deployed to automate reconnaissance, penetrate networks, analyze stolen financial data, and generate persuasive, psychologically targeted ransom notes. Demands sometimes exceeded $500,000.

Rather than encrypting files, the attacker threatened to publicly expose exfiltrated data, ranging from health care records to government credentials. The report stated that this “vibe hacking” method shows how a single operator can now achieve the impact of an entire cybercrime team.

“It says, ‘here’s how much we think we should send the ransom note for,’ and then it actually helps write the ransom note to be as persuasive as possible,” one of the researchers said during a podcast discussing the operation. “So really, every step, end-to-end, AI is able to help with an attack like this,” including analyzing people’s financial details “to work out how much they can realistically be extorted for as well.”

Another case involved North Korean operatives who used Claude to pose as software engineers at U.S. Fortune 500 companies. The AI-generated resumes, passed coding assessments, and even performed technical tasks, allowing unskilled workers to work remotely and earn salaries that investigators say help fund the North Korean regime and its weapons programs.

In a third case, a UK-based actor leveraged Claude to build and market ransomware-as-a-service, selling malware packages for $400 to $1,200. Despite lacking advanced coding ability, the actor used AI to implement encryption, anti-detection techniques, and command-and-control infrastructure.

Growing Threat

Anthropic said these examples illustrate a broader pattern where criminals with little training can now use AI to scale attacks once reserved for sophisticated groups. “Traditional assumptions about the link between actor skill and attack complexity no longer hold when AI can provide instant expertise,” the report warned.

The company said it has banned accounts involved in the abuses, deployed new detection tools, and shared technical indicators with authorities. But it acknowledged that similar misuse is occurring with other commercial and open-source models.

“There are actually open source models out there now that are fine-tuned for this,” an Anthropic researcher warned during a podcast discussing the new phenomenon. “Cyber-criminals are developing weaponized LLMs [large language models] to conduct attacks.”

The implications of what the researchers described as an “evolution in AI-assisted cybercrime” are that defense and enforcement are becoming increasingly difficult, while crimes conducted with the aid of weaponized AI are becoming more common.

National Security

Anthropic also announced the creation of a National Security and Public Sector Advisory Council, composed of former senators and senior officials from the Pentagon and intelligence community, to guide the company on high-impact defense applications of AI.

The move comes as Washington sharpens its focus on autonomous systems. President Donald Trump said on Aug. 25 that drones represent “the biggest thing that’s happened in terms of warfare” since World War II, citing Ukraine as proof that unmanned platforms are reshaping modern combat.

Some analysts and insiders, including autonomous drone company Airrow co-founder David Kaye, say pairing drones with AI could accelerate a shift toward “bots before boots” battlefields, where AI-assisted drones operate without humans nearby and carry out around-the-clock missions “with no risk, no fatigue, and no hesitation.”

Meanwhile, Geoffrey Hinton—the Nobel Prize-winning scientist known as the “godfather of AI”—has issued stark warnings that humanity risks being displaced by machines “much smarter than us.”

In a recent interview, Hinton said the danger of AI extends far beyond job losses, cautioning that if intelligent machines are not programmed to care for humans, they will “just take over” and replace us.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 20:05

Is AI The False Savior Of A Hollowed-Out Economy?

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

What nobody seems to notice is all the incentives for deploying AI are perverse...

The real story of the US economy isn't about AI, it's about an economy that's run out of rope. AI is being hyped not just by promoters reaping billions of dollars in stock market gains, it's being hyped by the entire status quo because it's understood to be the last chance of saving an economy doomed by the consequences of decades of artifice.

The real story of the US economy is that decades of "financial innovations" finally caught up with us in 2008, when the subprime mortgage scam--a classic example of "financial innovations" being the cover story for greed and fraud running amok--pulled a block from the global financial Jenga Tower that nearly collapsed the entire rickety, rotten structure.

Our political leadership had a choice: clean house or save the scam. They chose to save the scam, and that required not just institutionalizing moral hazard (transferring the risks of fraud and leveraged speculation from the gamblers to the public / Federal Reserve) but pursuing policies--zero interest rate policy (ZIRP), quantitative easing, increasing the money supply, and so on--that had only one possible outcome:

An economy permanently dependent on inflating asset-bubbles that enriched the top 10% while the bottom 90% who depend on earned income fell behind.

The desired goal of permanent asset-bubbles is the "wealth effect," the cover story for transferring all the gains into the hands of the top 10%, who can then go on a spending spree which 'trickles down" to the bottom 90%, who are now a neofeudal class of workers serving the top 10% who account for 50% of all consumer spending and collect 90% of the unearned income and capital gains.

This arrangement is inherently unstable, as "financial innovations" suffer from diminishing returns. Eventually the debt-serfs can no longer borrow more or service the debt they already have, and every bubble being bigger than the previous bubble guarantees the next implosion will be larger and more devastating than the previous bubble-pop.

So what does a system that's run out of rope do? Seek a savior. The rope has frayed, and the rocks are far below. The impact is going to be life-changing, and not for the better.

The choice remains: clean house, end the bubble-dependent frauds and scams, or find a way to inflate yet another credit-asset bubble. Clean house and lose all our bubble-wealth? You're joking. The solution is to blow an even bigger bubble. Hey, it's worked great for 17 years.

Never mind that the precarity of the bottom 90% is accelerating as both the state and Corporate America have offloaded risks onto households and workers; they have OnlyFans, 24% interest credit cards, zero-day-expiration options and side hustles to get by. Never mind that for many Americans, basic services are on the same level as impoverished developing-world economies. What matters is maintaining the wealth of the few at the expense of the many, by any means available.

Enter the savior of our asset-bubble-dependent elites: AI. AI is going to change the world, we'll all be watched over by machines of loving grace, profits and capital gains will be in the trillions of dollars, yowza, because we'll fire half of you and give you enough Universal Basic Income (UBI) to scrape by, and some of you can join our security teams protecting us from the impoverished rabble.

There's just one teeny little problem: AI is a false savior. It doesn't work as advertised, it has multiple inherent limits that can't be overcome by scaling up processors, and the dystopian consequences of even this first wave are already uncontrollably destructive:

AI psychosis and addiction to AI chatbots is making users even lonelier and more isolated than they were before embracing AI, AI Slop is overwhelming legitimate content, AI agents are just good enough to degrade already pathetically deficient corporate services, LLM models are Swiss-cheese security risks, and 95% of all corporate AI projects founder.

What nobody seems to notice is all the incentives for deploying AI are perverse. Those seeking nickels from Big Tech platform engagement / views win big by flooding the web with AI slop, scammers and fraudsters now have much more powerful tools to deceive and defraud (deepfake videos and voiceovers), and rather than watch over us with loving grace, the AI systems are scraping their own inaccuracies and hallucinations and deceptively presenting this slop as accurate.

The status quo is counting on AI to be the savior of a hollowed-out economy, but it's a false savior. The frenzy has inflated another credit-asset bubble as planned, but another bubble that enriches the few isn't going to fix what's broken. Rather, unleashing AI tools in a system of perverse incentives is accelerating the decay and collapse of the entire system by replacing authentic value with illusions of value--what I call Ultra-Processed Life.

I hate to be the bearer of unwelcome news, but enriching the few at the expense of the many is the problem, not the solution. So the AI bubble mints more billionaires, well that's swell, but the process of inflating bubbles that enrich the few is what's destabilizing our economy and society.

This chart presents the consequences of 17 years of bubble-inflation "wealth effect": wealth for the few and "effects" for the many:

Asset bubbles have been good to the top .01%:

And it's been good for the top 10%, too: $107 trillion in net worth, and of course, "I earned every penny of it." The bottom 50% with $4 trillion--well, better launch your OnlyFans site, even though there are already millions of other desperate people hoping to scrape up a few bucks by selling themselves online.

Contrary to the hype, AI isn't the savior of the bubble economy--it's the hype-heavy straw that breaks it for good.

Before we bow down and worship a false savior, it's probably a good idea to learn about the limits of our AI savior and the self-serving hype, and the banquet of consequences being laid for true believers.

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

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 17:40

Indian Officials Call For Intervention After US Blocks Foreign Trucker Visas

Two weeks ago an illegal alien truck driver of Indian origin reportedly killed three people after making an illegal U-turn on a Florida turnpike.  It's not the first time such negligence has occurred on the part of migrant drivers but this particular event struck a nerve, causing a public uproar and bringing all foreign trucker visas into question.

After the incident the United States is immediately pausing the issuance of all worker visas for commercial truck drivers, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.

"The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers," Rubio said. The Trump Administration has taken a series of steps to address concerns about foreign truck drivers, specifically those who do not speak English.

Harjinder Singh, 28, faces three charges of vehicular homicide and up to 45 years in prison.  Since his arrest, 2.2 million people have signed a Change.org petition calling for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to commute Singh’s sentence if he gets convicted.  The majority of the signatures appear to come from Indian nationals.  There are approximately 3.2 million Indian migrants in the US today.

In response to the federal halt on trucker visas, political officials in India have suddenly taken great interest in the situation.  Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Saturday appealed to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to challenge the visa issue.  They took particular offense to the requirement that migrant truck drivers be required to speak English.

Indian politician Harsimrat Kaur Badal asks the country's foreign minister to intervene in U.S. politics to protect Sikh truck drivers in America after Harjinder Singh's arrest. She is particularly incensed by the requirement that truckers speak English pic.twitter.com/xizAhf1zou

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 26, 2025

Writing to the external affairs minister, Harsimrat said due to this decision, there was an apprehension that a large number of Punjabis, who were in the trucking industry, may be forced to leave the United States.

“Around 1.5 lakh Punjabi and Sikh drivers make up 20% of the US trucking industry. Any mass level action against them would have a detrimental effect on trucking families and would be discriminatory in nature, considering the fact that Punjabis have built and sustained trucking logistics and trucking networks over decades.” 

The politician appears to greatly overestimate her country's migrant contributions to the US trucking industry.  All foreign born drivers together make up around 18% of the US trucking fleet.  Only 4% of drivers are from India.  The situation changes in California, where mass immigration is subsidized and migrant truckers make up nearly half of all those employed in the state.  

The claim is that California is suffering from a labor shortage.  In reality, California has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US with over 1.07 million people looking for jobs. The reason trucking companies search for migrant workers is because they take up to 20%- 30% less pay, not because the companies can't find native born drivers. 

Why are Indian migrants willing to work for less?  Because US dollars are a purchasing powerhouse back in India.  For $600 US per month an Indian can live the high life anywhere outside of Mumbai or Delhi.  A "luxury lifestyle" costs upwards of $1000 per month.

Just as we have seen with illegal migrants coming from south of the border, a vast amount of cash is transferred by workers back to their home countries.  Remember when Mexico's socialist president, Claudia Sheinbaum, made threats over a possible increase in US taxes on remittances?  Remittances in US dollars are the largest source of foreign income pouring into Mexico. 

It's a scam that has been running for decades, with numerous foreign governments encouraging illegal immigration as a means to siphon money from the US and transfer it into third world economies.  India, for example, is the largest recipient of remittances from the US in the world.  Without feeding on remittances from America, India loses out on over $140 billion (around 30% of their annual tax revenues).  Without this cash, India's economy would implode. 

This is the real reason why foreign governments are so insistent when intruding on US immigration policy.

In the case of US work visas, all American jobs should be offered to Americans first.  Only when it is confirmed that there aren't enough unemployed native born workers to support a particular industry should those jobs be offered to foreigners.  And, speaking English should be a bare minimum requirement.

There is simply no point in taking a risk on a single migrant if these jobs can be filled by Americans.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 17:20

Sen. Mike Lee: Racist & Anti-American Messages At Smithsonian "Indefensible"

Via American Greatness,

President Donald Trump, has sent a letter to the Smithsonian Institution and other museums, requesting a “comprehensive internal review” and calling for the removal of divisive or partisan narratives ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration.

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is applauding the president’s call to remove divisive and ideologically-driven content at taxpayer-funded institutions, saying, “The reforms Trump is instituting at the Smithsonian can’t come soon enough.”

Racist & anti-American messages—whether on the Smithsonian’s website or as part of a physical exhibit at a museum—have no place in a U.S. taxpayer-funded institution

Indefensible

The reforms Trump is instituting at the Smithsonian can’t come soon enough https://t.co/2vg5c5hrWn pic.twitter.com/XKgVBC2VV7

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) August 20, 2025

Lee, in a post on X, said that there is no place for racist and anti-American messages “whether on the Smithsonian’s website or as part of a physical exhibit at a museum” at institutions funded by U.S. taxpayers.

The president, in a post Tuesday on his Truth Social platform, called the Smithsonian and other institutions “the last remaining segment of ‘WOKE'” and is directing them to replace divisive language with “unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions across placards, wall didactics, digital displays, and other public-facing materials.”

Trump specifically mentioned anti-American propaganda at the Smithsonian’s American History Museum, saying, “Everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been.”

In a statement released in June, the Smithsonian claimed that it is committed to remaining “free from political or partisan influence.”

The “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order signed by Trump in March, accused the Smithsonian of being “under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” and of promoting “narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.”

The letter sent by the White House to the Smithsonian Institution, explains, “This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”

Museums currently facing review include the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 17:00

Graham Threatens Tariffs, Travel Sanctions On Norway Over Boycott Of IDF, Caterpillar

Senator Lindsey Graham has blasted and threatened Norway twice in the last 24 hours, soon after the Scandinavian country's $2 trillion wealth fund - which springs largely from energy resources - announced it is divesting from Caterpillar over concerns the Israeli military has been using its bulldozers to violate human rights in Gaza and against Palestinians.

Norway's wealth fund held a 1.17% stake in the Texas-headquartered company, which was valued at $2.1 billion as of June 30. Graham has put Norway on notice: "To those who run Norway’s sovereign wealth fund: if you cannot do business with Caterpillar because Israel uses their products, maybe it’s time you’re made aware that doing business or visiting America is a privilege, not a right," the US rep stated Thursday on X.

Via Flash90

Graham continued with his warning: "Maybe it’s time to put tariffs on countries who refuse to do business with great American companies."

"Or maybe we shouldn’t give visas to individuals who run organizations that attempt to punish American companies for geopolitical differences," he said, threatening to back new travel restrictions on Norwegians. "I would urge you to reconsider your shortsighted decision."

President Trump is likely to be open to putting such pressure on Norway, given the Caterpillar boycott action could also gain steam among other countries, given Oslo's example.

While Caterpillar's products are classified as "construction" equipment, the IDF regularly uses massive, armored Caterpillar D-9 bulldozers to destroy homes and other civilian infrastructure - not only in Gaza, but the occupied West Bank as well. For example, Palestinian roads have been routinely destroyed by such equipment.

Prior to his Thursday tweet lashing out, Graham had initially reacted by calling it a "BS decision" by Norway which "will not go unanswered"...

To Norway’s sovereign wealth fund –which is the largest in the world: Your decision to punish Caterpillar, an American company, because Israel uses their product is beyond offensive.

Your BS decision will not go unanswered. https://t.co/XQRSYtfMIQ

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) August 27, 2025

In Norway, divestment decisions are largely driven by the recommendations of an independent ethics council established by the Finance Ministry. After evaluating Caterpillar, the Council on Ethics reported earlier this week: 

"There is an unacceptable risk that Caterpillar is contributing to serious violation of the rights of individuals in situations of war or conflict... Bulldozers manufactured by Caterpillar are being used by Israeli authorities in the widespread unlawful destruction of Palestinian property...There is no doubt that Caterpillar’s products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law. The company has also not implemented any measures to prevent such use.”

Caterpillar has long been one of the principal targets of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which - echoing the 1980s divestment campaign against South African apartheid - attempts to use economic pressure on Israel to advance the Palestinian cause. In an infamous 2003 incident, an IDF soldier used a Caterpillar D-9 to fatally crush 23-year-old American activist Rachel Corrie as she tried to prevent the IDF from destroying homes in Rafah, Gaza.  

Again, Graham's leading the charge against Norway to pressure its wealth fund to reverse its decisions is likely to get noticed by Trump, and will likely be framed as an assault on 'America First'. It will be interesting to see if there's any attempt to take real action in Congress, or by the White House.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 16:40

Another Narrative Busted: Bolton Investigation Began Under Biden

Authored by Sundance via The Last Refuge,

For several days the media has been saying the Trump administration FBI targeted John Bolton, hence the FBI raid on his home and office.  However, the New York Times now outlines how the investigation into John Bolton began during the Biden administration and picked up speed after they received access to his email information from an “adversarial country’s spy service.”

Apparently, John Bolton used an unclassified email system to send information to his friends and allies.  The emails were intercepted.  Bolton was discussing information that appears to have been the outcome of his access to classified information as National Security Advisor.

CTH has previously outlined how John Bolton’s business model was essentially selling information and influence.  This common DC business model seems to have formed the baseline for him to share sensitive, possibly classified information, of greater value.  This does not come as a surprise.

Selling information is the currency of affluence in Washington DC.  That’s why the removal of security clearances is looked upon as devastating within the beltway.  New York Times story below:

NEW YORK TIMES – The investigation into President Trump’s former national security adviser, John R. Bolton, began to pick up momentum during the Biden administration, when U.S. intelligence officials collected information that appeared to show that he had mishandled classified information, according to people familiar with the inquiry.

The United States gathered data from an adversarial country’s spy service, including emails with sensitive information that Mr. Bolton, while still working in the first Trump administration, appeared to have sent to people close to him on an unclassified system, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive case that remains open.

The emails in question, according to the people, were sent by Mr. Bolton and included information that appeared to derive from classified documents he had seen while he was national security adviser. Mr. Bolton apparently sent the messages to people close to him who were helping him gather material that he would ultimately use in his 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened.”

In a sign of the stakes for Mr. Bolton, he is in talks to retain the high-profile criminal defense lawyer Abbe Lowell. Mr. Lowell, who has represented Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Mr. Biden’s son Hunter, is defending two other prominent perceived enemies of Mr. Trump who are now under scrutiny: the New York state attorney general, Letitia James, and Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve Board. (read more)

At the time of the raid, we noted the activity of Bolton mirrors that of former Senator John McCain (now dead). “An FBI investigation under the auspices of potential violations of the Espionage Act, where Bolton would have leveraged current or prior classified intelligence information as part of his influence business.

Almost identically to former Senator John McCain, John Bolton was well known to intersect with the nation of Qatar as part of his operation.  Qatar has deep pockets and a long-identified influence operation throughout the Middle East, sometimes playing both sides. Qatar is also the playground for the CIA.

While it is yet unknown which nation and which activity Bolton was likely engaged in, the highest probability centers around the deepest pockets, which would also put Bolton on the CIA radar.

Since initially writing that outline, someone noticed this video from John McCain’s funeral.  WATCH CLOSELY:

looks like he made one of those deals right here on camera at John McCain's funeral. isn't that Mouaz Moustafa, Syrian ETF handing Bolton gold bar or something wrapped in a handkerchief? pic.twitter.com/qXwtre73eL

— The Rubber Duck ™ (@TheRubberDuck79) August 25, 2025

Something is being given to John Bolton in that video.  Something from Mouaz Moustafa, Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) and Senator John McCain’s intermediary to the Muslim Brotherhood. {Go Deep}

If I had to guess, from the position of Moustafa and those behind him (Muslim Brotherhood/Qatar), John Bolton became the replacement for John McCain after the senator’s death.  We wait to find out the details of the predicate for the FBI raid.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 16:20

As Good As It Gets? DNC Moves To Sell Crazy To An Over-Stocked Nation

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) appears to be doubling down on crazy in Minneapolis this week with calls to pack the Supreme Court and other extremist priorities.

For voters who have repeatedly shown that they want to move to a more moderate center, you are left like Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets when his character, Melvin Udall, who declared, “Sell crazy someplace else. We’re all stocked up here.”

As many know, I was raised in a politically active, liberal, Democratic family in Chicago and worked much of my life for Democratic candidates and campaigns. This week again reminded many of us how far the party has moved from its more centrist history. That includes another call to pack the Supreme Court with liberals to force or ratify sweeping political and social changes.

The meeting started in a signature fashion.

Lindy Sowmick, treasurer of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) spoke to the delegates after DNC Chairman Ken Martin asked her to recite the land acknowledgment. Sowmick asked the delegates to think about her works:

“As Democrats, I ask of every one of you to not allow land acknowledgments like these to simply be the checking of a box – be curious, ask questions, ensure our native neighbors are heard and work in partnership with your Indigenous communities.”

Sowmick then declared:

“The DNC acknowledges and honors the Dakota Oyate – the Dakota people – who are the original stewards of the lands and waters of Minneapolis. The Dakota cared for the lands, lakes and the Wakpa Tanka – the ‘Great River,’ the Mississippi River – for thousands of years before colonization. This land was not claimed, or traded – it’s a part of a history of broken treaties and promises. And, in many ways, we still live in a system built to suppress Indigenous peoples’ cultural and spiritual history.”

From there, it was a free-for-all, including a fierce fight over a resolution to condemn Israel.

Martin strangely forced a divisive debate, where he and others pushed through a resolution that only called for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid, which was denounced by others. After passing the resolution, he then moved to rescind it as an act of unity. It left many wondering what the purpose of the exercise was in forcing a debate and then withdrawing the passed resolution.

Delegates continued to show how out of touch the party has become, including one assuring delegates that the public really does not care about carjackings and migrant crimes despite the polls. Another insisted that today the nation is worse to live in than during the pandemic.

Laurence S. Zakson is a DNC member from California and a partner at Reich Adell & Cvitan in Beverly Hills.

He and others called for Congress to act on changing the size of the Supreme Court due to the alleged partisan agenda of the majority and the failure to reach correct decisions.

It is the same playbook that Democrats have used in the last two elections to pack the Court with liberals.

Some on the left have even called for the Supreme Court to be “dissolved.” That rhetoric has been matched by Democratic leaders. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer previously declared in front of the Supreme Court, “I want to tell you, [Neil] Gorsuch, I want to tell you, [Brett] Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) stated that she wants to impeach all six of the conservative justices. She was immediately joined by other Democratic members. Previously, she admitted that she does not understand why we even have a Supreme Court. She asked, “How much does the current structure benefit us? And I don’t think it does.”

Other members, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have called for packing the Court with additional members to immediately secure a liberal majority to rule as she desires. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., RI) has assured voters that Vice President Kamala Harris will support the packing of the Court with a liberal majority.

Polls show the public understands that such moves are madness. Some of us have discussed the expansion of the Supreme Court for years, but there is a difference between expanding and packing. This is court packing in its rawest and most dangerous form.

It is one last pitch for crazy in an already over-stocked nation.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 15:45

The Chart Baltimore Democrats Hope You Never See

Leftist Maryland Governor Wes Moore's refusal to accept National Guard assistance from the federal government has left many Baltimore residents baffled, given the city's multi-decade violent crime crisis under failed Democratic Party leadership. 

While Moore recently took a victory lap touting a supposedly "record low" homicide rate, everyone who lives in the metro area knows the truth: large swaths of the city remain 'no-go zones', controlled by vicious drug gangs. Years of "defund the police" policies pushed by social justice warriors in City Hall have hollowed out the police to the core. 

Remember the riots? 

Now, residents are taking note of the president's efforts to clean up the violent crime mess in Washington, D.C. In just over two weeks, violent crime has subsided. Many are left wondering why Democratic leadership in Baltimore never had the same seriousness to clean up their city; instead, Democrats chose to defund the police and allow the metro area to descend into what Trump calls a "hellhole."

Shocking reversal in DC crime data... 

"In the 17 days since the Guard was deployed in Washington, D.C., Baltimore has recorded more than 2,500 crimes—including six homicides, nine rapes, over 400 assaults, 252 auto thefts, 155 burglaries, and nearly 440 acts of vandalism," local media Fox Baltimore wrote earlier this week, adding, "This crime rate is nine times higher than D.C.'s during the same period." 

There was a time when folks in the Baltimore area would go to restaurants and bars across Inner Harbor, Harbor East, Fells Point, Canton, and even Federal Hill. But many have since fled the crime-ridden metro area for surrounding counties, as conditions became so terrible that raising a family there was no longer a suitable option. Now, folks mostly avoid the city because Democratic leadership has failed residents with a population crash to 100-year lows. 

Here's more from the local news outlet:

Residents and business owners have expressed concern over the escalating violence. "Just brutally attacking somebody is off the case crazy," one victim said. Betsy Smith of the National Police Association commented, "I'd think residents would welcome help for their very short-staffed police department."

The discrepancy between the governor's statements and the reality on the ground has left many questioning whether crime in Baltimore is truly under control. "We need to stop acting tough and start getting tough in Baltimore City," a local resident said.

Smith added, "If the people in Baltimore City want to truly be free they need to embrace not only their local law enforcement but state and federal partners as well." As the city grapples with its crime wave, the call for additional support continues to grow.

The most damning chart Democrats don't want folks to see is the latest exodus from Baltimore City, starting around 2015, mainly driven by failed progressives that unleashed a manufactured crime tsunami of their own doing, making any gang scene from HBO's The Wire look like child's play.

Trump is giving parts of the country a taste of law and order, something that might prove contagious, given how the Democratic Party has subjected millions nationwide (btw, nobody voted for violent crime) to more than a decade of backfiring social-justice policies that transformed quiet communities into violent crime zones.

Oh, btw, the way, after Trump called out Moore.

Sigh...

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 15:25

Judge Says Kilmar Abrego Garcia Cannot Be Deported Until October

Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times,

El Salvador native Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the target of numerous deportation efforts by the Trump administration, cannot be deported until at least early October, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, at a hearing on Wednesday, extended an Aug. 25 order that blocked his deportation while courts consider his renewed asylum claims.

Later that day, she issued a brief order, clarifying that Abrego Garcia must remain within 200 miles of the courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Abrego Garcia had filed suit, alleging that the government was planning to deport him to Uganda.

Xinis has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 6, and said she will try to issue a ruling within the subsequent 30 days.

Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant, previously applied for asylum in 2019 but was denied.

However, the judge in that case ruled that he could not be deported to El Salvador, since there was concern that he faced a “clear probability of future persecution” in his native country.

He has lived in the country since age 16, is married to an American citizen, and was a construction worker.

The government stated that Abrego Garcia is a member of the transnational criminal gang MS-13, which he denied.

He was set to be deported earlier this year, but was sent to El Salvador’s maximum security prison Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), along with a plane full of other deportees.

A district judge in Maryland ordered his return in April while the Trump administration said the Salvadoran was no longer under U.S. jurisdiction.

Abrego Garcia’s case drew public attention, and he gained support from some members of Congress who pressured the administration for his return.

Following a Supreme Court order on April 10, he was eventually returned to the United States and held in custody in Tennessee on charges of smuggling illegal immigrants into the country.

Authorities freed Abrego Garcia last week to await trial at home. His attorneys said that before he was released, the government offered to deport him to Costa Rica, where he would be a free man if he pleaded guilty to the human smuggling charges. After he refused, according to his lawyers, the government said he could be deported to Uganda.

Abrego Garcia was again detained after checking in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Aug. 25, and is asking the judge to reconsider his asylum case, according to his lawyers.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the administration will eventually deport him.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 15:05

UK, France, Germany Initiate UN Snapback Sanctions On Iran Over Nuclear Program

France, Germany, and the UK have submitted a letter to members of the UN Security Council announcing they are triggering the "snapback" mechanism to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran, Axios and others are reporting Thursday.

These are past sanctions which had been suspended under the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal, which the US unilaterally pulled out of in April 2018 under the first Trump administration.

Axios writes that "In the letter, the three European powers emphasized that during the next 30 days - before the sanctions take effect - they are open to negotiations with Iran on a nuclear agreement that could halt the process."

Via AFP

Tuesday saw tense discussions between Iran and the E3 nations - France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. They warned at the meeting the E3 is preparing trigger the mechanism for reimposing international sanctions on Iran if it fails to either reach a new nuclear agreement by the end of August or agrees to extend UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which covers the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Axios' Barak Ravid had earlier acknowledged that "It will take a diplomatic miracle to prevent this from happening."

The Europeans are also pressing Iran to rejoin nuclear talks with Washington; however, the Iranians have made clear that the US can no longer be trusted - as it bombed the Islamic Republic in June at the very moment the sides were engaged in talks.

The Associated Press has explained how 'snapback' works in the following:

Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action reached between world powers and Iran in 2015, Iran agreed to limit uranium enrichment to levels necessary for civilian nuclear power in exchange for lifted economic sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency was tasked with monitoring Iran’s nuclear program.

The snapback mechanism’s purpose is to swiftly reimpose all pre-deal sanctions without being vetoed by U.N. Security Council members, including permanent members Russia and China.

The process began Thursday, when the E3 formally notified the U.N. secretary-general and Security Council president about Iran’s “significant nonperformance of commitments.”

Iran's alleged uranium stockpiles are believed to be significantly beyond the limits set by the original deal, in both purity and quantity.

"In May, the IAEA said Iran had amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity. If it is enriched to 90%, it would be enough to make nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick, though a weapon would require other expertise, such as a detonation device," the AP noted.

The joint Israel and US surprise assault of the 12-day June war might have actually done much to hasten Iran's nuclear development and Tehran leaders now believe - not without good reason - that past and future negotiations with Washington are based on deception by the US side.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 14:45

DHS Proposes Revamp Of Student And Exchange Visas, Citing Fraud And Abuse

Authored by Melanie Sun via The Epoch Times,

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Aug. 27 posted a draft version of proposed changes to temporary visas for overseas students and exchange visitors.

The proposed changes—posted in a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register officially dated Aug. 28—look to establish a fixed visa period for nonimmigrant students, exchange visitors, and foreign media personnel to stay in the United States.

Current rules allow F (student) and J (educational and cultural exchange visitor) nonimmigrant visa holders to remain in the United States under a “duration of status (D/S)” or “duration of employment” model that the department said referred to an unspecified period of time, with no oversight or vetting, for authorized presence in the United States.

The current rules do not allow immigration officers “enough predetermined opportunities to directly verify that aliens granted such nonimmigrant statuses are engaging only in those activities their respective classifications authorize while they are in the United States,” the DHS notice said.

“In turn, this has undermined DHS’s ability to effectively enforce compliance with the statutory inadmissibility grounds related to unlawful presence and has created incentives for fraud and abuse.”

The DHS said that the fixed period being proposed for these visa groups, and their spouses or dependents, would be “until completion of their program or four years, whichever is shorter.” The F and J visa holders’ spouses are not allowed to work, but their children can attend U.S. public schools.

Representatives of foreign media on I non-immigrant visas were also included for proposed changes. The draft recommended a fixed 240 days for these visa holders, with the option to extend for another 240 days through an extension-of-stay application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The changes will bring these visa classes in line with the rules for other types of nonimmigrant visas, which have specific departure dates, the DHS said.

The proposal suggests giving F visa holders an additional 60 days from the law’s effective date to leave the United States, while J visa holders will be given 30 additional days from their program end date to depart the country. The department will also consider reducing the 60-day grace period for students to 30 days, aligning it with other visitor groups.

Those needing additional time to complete their studies or exchange programs can continue to file an extension-of-stay request.

If their extension-of-stay application is denied, visa-holders and their dependents must immediately depart the United States.

Nonimmigrants can apply for new study or exchange programs and can apply for a new visa allowing for another maximum stay of four years for their new program.

Vulnerabilities for National Security

The draft document outlined instances of concern as examples of why the DHS is pursuing the changes, particularly in the F and J visa classes. The case studies highlighted vulnerabilities to U.S. national security created by the open-ended nature of the “duration of status” visas.

One instance was from September 2019, when the FBI charged and convicted a Chinese official, Zhongsan Liu, with conspiracy to fraudulently procure J visas for Chinese officials tasked with recruiting U.S. scientists for state-sponsored efforts to steal U.S. technology.

Another example was from December 2019, when 29-year-old graduate student Zaosong Zheng, on an exchange visit with Harvard University, was indicted for allegedly smuggling stolen intellectual property out of the United States and lying about it.

In January 2020, J visa recipient Ye Yanqing was charged with visa fraud, acting as a foreign agent, and conspiracy after she lied about her ongoing military service at a top military academy directed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and allegedly completed numerous assignments while at Boston University’s Department of Physics, Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering as a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) lieutenant.

In 2025, a Chinese national and member of the CCP—and J visa recipient—doing an exchange at the University of Michigan was charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy, smuggling a noxious fungus into the United States capable of billions of dollars in agricultural losses, and visa fraud, while allegedly receiving Chinese government funding for her work.

A December 2018 National Institutes of Health (NIH) report on foreign influence in federally funded scientific research was also cited by the DHS.

“Small numbers of scientists have committed serious violations of NIH policies and systems by not disclosing foreign support (i.e., grants), laboratories, or funded faculty positions in other countries,” the report said.

The DHS notice said the proposals will address clear dangers to national security posed by foreign agents being granted F and J visas.

“A handful of those have been arrested for spying for China,” the DHS added.

The changes would also address the risk posed by foreign nationals being granted visas to study one degree, only to then transfer to a sensitive program, such as nuclear science, once they’re on U.S. soil.

Aside from the security risks, such transfers have also burdened school administrators with the costs of processing the transfer requests of students who misrepresented their intentions to study at their institutions, the department said.

The changes would still allow students to change courses, but through an extension of stay application with the USCIS. They would also be required to pay a processing fee. The department said that it would require changes to the DHS’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).

Fraud and Abuse

The changes also crack down on misuse of F-1 student visas, as some students have abused the system by continuously enrolling in different programs at the same degree level, pursuing multiple master’s or undergraduate degrees, or even degrees of a lower educational level.

“In 2024, DHS identified nearly 77,000 F-1 students who have spent more than 10 years in student status,” the department said.

Fraud has also been committed by school owners.

“Since 2008, multiple school owners and others have been criminally prosecuted for ‘pay-to-stay’ fraud, in which school officials, in return for cash payments, falsely report that F-1 students who do not attend school are maintaining their student status,” the DHS notice said.

Some school owners even ran multiple educational businesses, between which they could transfer students as part of their fraud, it said.

In 2018, a federal judge in the Central District of California sentenced a man to 15 months in prison and a $450,000 fine over his visa fraud scheme involving three schools he owned.

Visas for students to attend language training education also came under scrutiny after the DHS “found students enrolling in lengthy periods of language training, in some cases for more than two decades.”

The draft proposed a change to offer a fixed period of entry of 24 months for language training education students to ensure they are meeting the statutory requirements of their visas.

The shorter two-year limit for language students “would provide a reasonable period of time for students to attain proficiency while mitigating the Department’s concerns about the integrity of the program,” the notice said, which aligns with the estimated guided learning hours for beginners to attain near-native English proficiency in the Cambridge English Exam.

Fee to Amend, Extend Visas

The new rules also proposed changes to the process of applying for a visa extension, proposing that any changes be processed through the USCIS for a fee.

The DHS noted that this change came as a result of its analysis of the economic impact of visa extensions as required by President Donald Trump’s executive orders 12866, 13563, and 14192 that require federal agencies to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of existing regulations and streamline their processes to be more effective.

This change would pass on $86.3 million to $88.1 million in annual costs to F, J, and I visa holders and their schools and sponsors.

Those applying for an extension will also be required to submit their biometrics, aimed at “enhancing the government’s oversight and monitoring of these aliens,” the DHS said.

“DHS welcomes F academic students, J exchange visitors, and I representatives of foreign information media, but it also acknowledges that the sheer size of the population complicates oversight and vetting functions,” the notice said.

The number of F visas granted has increased by more than six times since 1980, while the number of J visas has increased by more than four times, and the number of I visas has doubled.

Public Comments Sought

The public comments period on the DHS’s proposed rule, identified by Docket No. ICEB-2025-0001, is open until Sept. 27 through the Federal eRulemaking Portal, or by mail or fax. All departments facing any changes to their reporting or record-keeping requirements inherent to the proposed rule changes have 60 days to comment, as per the 1995 Paperwork Reduction Act. Their deadline is Oct. 27.

“DHS will review all properly submitted comments and materials and may revise the rule based on public feedback,” the department said.

“DHS encourages all interested parties to participate in this rulemaking by submitting data, views, comments, and arguments on all aspects of this notice of proposed rulemaking. Comments providing the most assistance to DHS will reference a specific portion of this rule, explain the reason for any recommended change, and include the data, information, or authority that supports the recommended change.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 14:20

Bolton Probe Focuses On Emails Obtained By Hostile Foreign Spy Service

At least one dimension of the federal investigation of former Trump national security advisor John Bolton focuses on personal emails of his that were obtained by a foreign government spy agency -- with those personal emails said to have contained classified information, the New York Times has reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the probe. The investigation gained steam during the Biden administration, and quietly brewed before culminating in last week's FBI raid on Bolton's Bethesda, Maryland home. He has not yet been charged with any crime. 

During Biden's term, the US government found that an adversarial government's spy agency had come into possession of emails that Bolton appeared to have sent to close associates, using an unclassified delivery method. The emails seemed to include information that Bolton had learned from classified documents, and he was sending the emails to various people who were helping him gather information for use in his 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened.”

FBI agents carry empty boxes into John Bolton's home in Bethesda after serving a warrant on Friday morning (Jose Luis Magana / AP via New York Sun)

As Bolton's book was about to be released, the Trump administration sued to delay its publishing. Around that same time, the Justice Department started a criminal probe to determine if Bolton had mishandled classified material via revelations included in the book. The Times sources say the search of Bolton's home was aimed at determining if he had any material in his possession that confirmed the authenticity of the emails that were in the hands of the foreign spy agency.

The information that ended up in foreign-government hands apparently did not end up being included in his book, the Times sources say. However, after the first Trump administration sought to thwart the book's release, Judge Royce Lamberth concluded that "Defendant Bolton likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his nondisclosure agreement obligations.” Nonetheless, he didn't attempt to block the book's distribution, saying "the horse is already out of the barn," referring to the fact that excerpts had been published and 200,000 copies had already shipped.  

John Bolton has done a lot of damage to the life, liberty and treasure of so many Americans. If he also is found to have broken the law regarding national security, it will be some small form of justice for the evil he has perpetrated over the years.

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 22, 2025

After the warrant was served at Bolton's home on Friday morning, President Trump disclaimed any knowledge of the investigation. He did, however, share his disdain for Bolton, whom he'd hired despite prescient warnings from people like Sen. Rand Paul: 

"I don't know about it. I saw it on television this morning. I’m not a fan of John Bolton. He's a real sort of lowlife... I know nothing about it...I tell [Attorney General] Pam [Bondi], and I tell the group, I don't want to know about it. You have to do what you have to do." 

In another development, the Times reported that Bolton is negotiating with criminal defense attorney Abbe Lowell, whose current high-profile clients include New York state attorney general Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. James is facing federal grand jury scrutiny of her civil fraud case against Trump, which resulted in a $500 million fine that was thrown out earlier this month. Trump fired Cook on Monday, after Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte asked the DOJ to investigate her for suspected mortgage fraud.  

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 14:00

US Natural Gas Consumption To Hit New Record In 2025

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

Natural gas consumption in the United States is forecast to increase 1 percent and set a record of 91.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) on average in 2025, according to an Aug. 25 statement from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The EIA expects “natural gas consumption to increase across all sectors except for electric power, which had been the source of most natural gas consumption growth in the previous decade” in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook report.

At the start of 2025, natural gas consumption hit a record of 126.8 Bcf/d, which is 5 percent more than in January 2024.

Consumption typically peaks in the colder months of January and February when demand for residential and commercial heating is highest.

“Natural gas remains the most prevalent source of electricity generation in the United States, but so far in 2025 natural gas has lost market share in the electric power sector to coal, solar, and wind,” said the EIA.

According to EIA numbers, gas accounted for a 40 percent share of U.S. electricity generation, with coal making up 17 percent, renewables 24 percent, and nuclear 18 percent in 2025. Two years back, natural gas made up 42 percent, and renewables 22 percent.

Electricity demand growth is expected to rise about 3 percent in 2025 and 4.5 percent in 2026, owing to the expansion of new data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the country.

AI industry leaders such as Google are turning to nuclear reactors as part of their efforts to ensure energy sufficiency.

Energy consumption increases coincide with higher prices for end users, along with grid stability concerns.

American Energy Usage

The EIA forecasted in a May 14 statement that residential electricity prices this year are expected to rise by 13 percent from 2022 prices.

“Parts of the country with relatively high electricity prices may experience greater price increases than those with relatively low electricity prices,” the EIA stated.

In a June 12 report, the North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC) warned that large data centers pose a “significant near-term reliability challenge” for the U.S. power grid stability.

The Trump administration has promoted the discovery and usage of natural gas in the country as part of ensuring the generation of reliable and affordable electricity.

In a Jan. 20 executive order, President Donald Trump directed all agencies to remove unnecessary regulatory burdens on energy sources such as natural gas and expand their exploration.

Stemming from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Department of the Interior (DOI) unveiled a long-term schedule for at least 30 offshore oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of America, which will account for roughly 14–15 percent of U.S. crude oil production and offshore energy output, according to an Aug. 19 press release.

“The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a landmark step toward unleashing America’s energy potential,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re putting in place a bold, long-term program that strengthens American Energy Dominance, creates good-paying jobs and ensures we continue to responsibly develop our offshore resources.”

The department is also removing some of the regulatory hurdles in energy generation to lower costs.

“Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ... must approve commingling requests unless safety or resource recovery would be harmed,” said an Aug. 22 report from the DOI.

“Downhole commingling is the production of oil or natural gas from multiple reservoirs through a single well. The process allows for more efficient and cost-effective production.”

Environmental group Sierra Club criticized the administration for reversing the prior administration’s focus on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar and shifting toward conventional sources like gas and oil. Holly Bender, chief program officer at the organization, said energy prices are going up because of the Trump administration’s “pro-fossil fuel policies.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 13:40

Ugly 7Y Auction Tails, Sees Lowest Bid To Cover In Over A Year

A stellar 2Y, a solid 5Y and a dismal 7Y auction: that about sums up this week's coupon issuance. 

Moments ago, the US treasury completed the week's final auction when it sold $44 billion in 7Y paper in what was an ugly auction. 

Starting at the top, the high yield was 3.925%, the first sub-4% coupon auction since last September. It also tailed the When Issued 3.922% by 0.3bps, the first tail since April and quite a reversal to last month's record-matching stop through. 

The bid to cover was ugly: at 2.489, it was a big drop from last month's 2.787 and the lowest since May 2024. 

The internals were a bit odd: while foreign buyers took down 77.45%, or one of the highest on record, Directs were nowhere to be found, and after last month's 33.7% award, they ended up with just about a third of the total, or 12.8%. That left Dealers holding 9.8%, or more than double the record low 4.1% from last month.

Overall, this was a poor auction yet the odd surge in Indirects somewhat offsets the deterioration from last month, even if it is largely due to Directs pulling back sharply. And just like yesterday, the market did not care for the results, with yields across the curve trading to session lows after the break on the back of the latest slump in the USD.

 

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 13:21

Russia Sinks Ukrainian Navy Vessel In First Successful Sea Drone Operation

Russia is not just making steady gains on land of late, but at sea as well. On Thursday Russian and Ukrainian media described that Russia attacked and destroyed Ukrainian Navy vessel, killing one crew member and injuring several others,

"Efforts to address the aftermath of the attack are ongoing. The majority of the crew are safe, and the search for several missing sailors continues," Ukraine Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told the Kyiv Independent.

Wiki Commons

Russia's defense ministry had earlier in the day announced that a Russian naval drone hit the Ukrainian medium reconnaissance ship Simferopol near the mouth of the Danube River, after which the vessel sunk.

Ukrainian sources say that the vessel is "designed for radio, electronic, radar, and optical reconnaissance, and was armed with a 30 mm AK-306 artillery system."

Russian state media is meanwhile hailing "the first successful use of a sea drone to take out a Ukrainian Navy vessel" - according to TASS.

According to WarGonzo, a Telegram channel, the vessel was the largest ship that Kiev had launched since the Western-backed coup in 2014.

The Simferopol “can be considered the personification of the ‘mighty’ naval forces of Ukraine,” the independent channel wrote on Thursday.

Previously in the war it was actually the Ukrainian side which showed itself most adept at deploying sea drones. Several devastating attacks on Crimean naval ships have forced Russia to transfer non-deployed navy ships to the Caspian Sea.

Purported Russian MoD video of the attack:

Footage of he destruction of the Ukrainian Navy's medium reconnaissance ship “Simferopol” by a Russian high-speed unmanned boat at the mouth of the Danube River.

As a result of the attack, the Ukrainian Navy ship sank. – Russian MoD https://t.co/CXEI5dyG3e pic.twitter.com/ze46XwWyhs

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) August 28, 2025

But Moscow is trying to ramp up its development and manufacturing of sea drones, which act as suicide drones seeking to directly impact the hulls of enemy vessels.

Ukraine has not had the naval successes it once had earlier on in the conflict, when it was probably more directly aided by US intelligence and NATO military advisers. 

In a possible effort, to 'counter' Russia's celebrating the ship sinking, Ukraine is now claiming a successful attack in the Sea of Azov:

The warriors from the @DI_Ukraine struck a russian Project 21631 “Buyan-M” small missile ship in the Azov Sea. This ship is a carrier of “Kalibr” cruise missiles. pic.twitter.com/Vj3iJK4fbp

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 28, 2025

There may have been a pulling back of US intelligence under the Trump administration of late, as he pushes for the sides to enter direct peace talks, but nothing is certain.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 13:20

The Firing Spree Continues

By Philip Marey, senior US strategist at Rabobank,

The 10 year US treasury yield has fallen back to 4.22%, after peaking at 4.31% on Tuesday, so the impact of President Trump’s attempt to fire Lisa Cook has remained modest. Meanwhile, Trump is continuing his firing spree.

On Wednesday, he first fired Robert Primus, a member of the Surface Transportation Board, the regulator of the railroad industry, that is weighing the proposed megamerger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. In 2023, Primus, a Democrat, was the only member on the board to oppose a merger between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern. Yesterday afternoon, he received an email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office that his position was terminated, effective immediately, without explanation. He was removed from the Board’s website. However, he planned to challenge his termination. So this is one for the courts again. On Wednesday evening, the White House said it had fired Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She has been in office for less than a month, but clashed with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the CDC’s guidance on vaccines. Monarez was notified by a White House staffer that she was fired. Her lawyers said that only the President himself can fire her, so they reject the notification as legally deficient.

While President Trump’s attempt to fire Lisa Cook is heading for the courts, he is wasting no time in preparing her replacement on the Board. In fact, he wants to announce a nominee soon. On Tuesday he said “we have some very good people for that position.” Keep in mind that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is overseeing the selection process for the new Fed Chair. This is providing the White House with a shortlist to fill any vacancy at the Fed, such as those for Governors and regional Fed presidents (although the legal path for the latter remains unclear). What’s more, Trump’s nominee for Adriana Kugler’s seat on the Board, Stephen Miran, could also be directed toward the possible Cook vacancy. As Trump put it on Tuesday: “We might switch him to the other – it’s a longer term.” In the meantime, Senate hearings for Miran’s nomination to replace Kugler are expected next week.

Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent repeated his call for Fed Chair Jerome Powell to conduct an internal review that should include things like Lisa Cook’s mortgage fraud allegations. Talking to Fox Business, Bessent said “I’ve encouraged Chair Powell to do this on an internal basis before there is an external review.”

This week’s events underline our view that the FOMC may continue to resist delivering the amount of rate cuts that President Trump desires this year, but next year it will be increasingly difficult to keep White House influences from policy rate decisions. In the near term, we expect a rate cut in September, and then it depends on the data whether we are going to see a second one before the end of the year. Evidence of higher inflation could delay the Fed this year, while signs of labor market deterioration are likely to strengthen the case for rate cuts. However, next year the data are likely to matter less in monetary policy decisions and we expect the pace of the cutting cycle to pick up. What’s more, as we discussed in our Jackson Hole comment, we are likely see a major overhaul of the Fed. Stephen Miran is not going to the Fed just to vote for rate cuts, more importantly he is sent there by Trump as a quartermaster for the MAGA makeover.

Meanwhile, New York Fed President John Williams, in an interview with CNBC, said that the September meeting is a “live” one. He said that from his perspective every meeting is live, as the FOMC are getting the risks more in balance. Williams, who is a permanent voter in the FOMC, did not indicate whether he would support a rate cut next month. On Monday, he said that the era of low r-star appears far from over, referring to global demographic and productivity trends that have not reversed. This would imply that he still sees ample room for cutting rates.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 12:20

Bartov Vs. Morris: Is It Genocide?

LIVE NOW:

https://t.co/y1Pgwk4pQ0

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 28, 2025

*************

Is Israel defending itself - or executing a calculated genocide?

That’s the question on deck tonight at 7 pm ET, live on ZeroHedge’s homepage and X.

Two heavyweight historians—Omer Bartov, Dean’s Professor of Holocaust & Genocide Studies at Brown University, and famed Israeli historian Benny Morris—will go head-to-head.

The moderator: Mario Nawfal, the journalist with 2M+ followers on X.

Bartov: “A deliberate strategy of slow‑moving genocide”

Bartov pulls zero punches. In his New York Times op-ed titled “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It,” he declares:

“My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people…” 

He warns the stakes are existential—not just for Gaza, but for the very foundations of international law. Bartov charges that—by now—it’s beyond debate:

The destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, hospitals, museums, universities and “anything that would make it possible for a population after a war to try to reconstitute itself” can't be ignored as anything less than genocidal intent.

Bartov draws a connection between IDF rhetoric and the dehumanizing language of history’s darkest episodes:

Israeli leaders have likened Gazans to “human animals”, invoking “genocidal echos” reminiscent of Wehrmacht-era ideology.

Morris: “Genocide Is a False and Grotesque Accusation”

Morris has been equally blunt in rebuttal.

“Accusing Israel of genocide is historically false, morally grotesque, and strategically destructive.” 

For him, the word “genocide” is being cynically deployed:

“The charge is not an analysis—it is a weapon. A weapon to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist.”

Morris acknowledges Gaza has been devastated, but insists intent matters.

“Genocide means a will to annihilate an entire people. That is not Israel’s objective. Israel is fighting Hamas—an organization openly committed to Israel’s destruction—not the Palestinian people as a whole.”

He warns that blurring those distinctions undermines both truth and law:

“When everything becomes genocide, nothing is.”

We’ll see you tonight at 7pm ET.
 

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 12:00

D.C Grand Jury Refuses To Indict Sandwich-Throwing Former Justice Employee

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

In 1985, Sol Wachtler, the chief justice of New York’s Supreme Court, famously said, “Any good prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.”

Perhaps, but it appears that indicting someone for throwing a ham sandwich may be tougher than it would appear. A grand jury has reportedly refused to indict Sean Charles Dunn, 37, shown on video shouting obscenities at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents standing near 14th and U streets on Aug. 10. and then striking an officer with a wrapped sandwich.

Daina Henry, a transit police detective, gave the details of the incident in a criminal complaint. Dunn at first walks away before returning and continuing a profane diatribe against the officers, who remain calm. It shows Dunn raving, “F**k you! You f**king fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” Dunn then throws his sandwich at officers and runs away with officers in close pursuit.

Dunn appeared to shrug off the incident, saying “I did it. I threw a sandwich.”

It is a little more than that.

I assume that the charge is brought under 18 U.S. Code § 111 – Assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees:

(a)In General.—Whoever—

(1) forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person designated in section 1114 of this title while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties; or

(2) forcibly assaults or intimidates any person who formerly served as a person designated in section 1114 on account of the performance of official duties during such person’s term of service,

shall, where the acts in violation of this section constitute only simple assault, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, and where such acts involve physical contact with the victim of that assault or the intent to commit another felony, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.

(b)Enhanced Penalty.—

Whoever, in the commission of any acts described in subsection (a), uses a deadly or dangerous weapon (including a weapon intended to cause death or danger but that fails to do so by reason of a defective component) or inflicts bodily injury, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

The District of Columbia is known as one of the most Democratic and liberal jury pools in the country. However, this may be a case of overcharging in the eyes of the jury. As I previously noted, a sandwich is not a “deadly or dangerous weapon”  (It is more of a deli weapon). Moreover, there was no infliction of bodily injury in the case to justify an enhanced penalty.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro promised a maximum effort and punishment for Dunn. She posted “He thought it was funny. Well he doesn’t think it’s funny today because we charged him with a felony: Assault on a police officer. ‘So there, stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else!’”

The jury may view this as, at most, a simple assault.

There remains the question of who revealed the vote of the grand jury. There is reportedly an inquiry into the possible violation of the grand jury secrecy rule.

There is a basis for a criminal charge for assault. A refusal to indict even on a lower offense would, in my view, be a form of jury nullification. The question is whether Pirro will now seek the lower charge. She should do so. Law enforcement officers are not some dunk-tank targets for any citizen with rage issues. There needs to be consequences, even if only a misdemeanor charge.

As I previously noted,

“Dunn created this incident and wanted the notoriety. He succeeded. I expect that there will be a GoFundMe effort to cover his legal costs and he will enjoy a certain celebrity status. However, while this is not a significant assault, it is an assault on an officer. While he may have been a protester, neither he nor his sandwich qualifies as a hero.”

Dunn has already been fired from his position at the Justice Department. He should also have a criminal charge to go with his infamous assault on officers.

Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of the best-selling “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 11:40

Ukraine To Allow More Young Men To Leave, Despite Manpower Crisis

Ukraine is poised to lose yet more manpower, as every young man of ability or means will likely seek to flee instead of being forcibly recruited into the military when they become eligible.

Ukrainian media is confirming a major change in the country's wartime martial law policies: "Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers has revised travel rules and allowed men aged 18 to 22 to cross the border, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Telegram on Aug. 26."

Source: Unicef

Up until now, men who were aged 18 to 60 have been prohibited from leaving the war-ravaged nation since the start of the full invasion of February 2022, though with some rare exceptions.

While men aged 25 to 60 can be conscripted into the military and sent to the front lines, men 24 and under still cannot. This has been hugely controversial as even US members of Congress have complained that Washington is sinking billions into the war effort against Russia, and Kiev won't even tap into its most eligible fighting-age demographic.

But if men aged 18 to 22 are now permitted to cross the border - they likely will and in droves, especially as they get closer to the age of conscription, and given the grinding war doesn't look to abate anytime soon.

The New York Times has explained some of the reasoning for the change as follows:

Over the last three years, many families sent their teenage sons out of the country before they turned 18, to avoid having them eventually conscripted into what has become a grinding war of attrition with high casualty rates.

Announcing the change on Tuesday, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the change would allow young men to travel and study abroad without feeling that they had to leave to avoid the draft. “We want Ukrainians to maintain as many ties with Ukraine as possible,” she said.

Looming heavy in the backdrop is that over in Donetsk and now Dnipropetrovsk region Russian forces have been making steady gains, forcing a slow Ukrainian retreat. Also, recruitment and conscription methods have continued to be harsh.

Recent Western media reports have begun picking up on the increasingly ineffective, wasteful tactics of Ukrainian military commanders.

For example, soldiers interviewed by the The Wall Street Journal earlier this month described large-scale meatgrinder type tactics of blindly being sent on suicidal frontal assaults while officers are being denied permission to withdraw from dangerous positions.

The consistent commentary on the war has long been that while Russia might have the manpower to do these old 'war of attrition' tactics, Ukraine certainly does not.

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 02:45

Orbán Claims Vindication After Merz Warns German Welfare State Is Unsustainable

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said he felt vindicated in his economic strategy after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted in a landmark speech that Germany’s welfare state can no longer be financed at current levels.

“The German Chancellor’s speech confirms everything that we Hungarians have done in the economy over the past 15 years,” Orbán wrote in response to Merz’s address in Osnabrück on Saturday.

“The Western welfare state is bankrupt, so it was right for us to switch to a labor-based economy in 2010.”

Orbán argued that while Germany is only now waking up to the crisis, Hungary anticipated it and acted accordingly.

“It was right to stand on more legs and start the Eastern opening. It was right to embrace the most advanced Chinese technology, it was right to lead Europe in electromobility, it was right to maintain economic cooperation with Russia, it was right to stick to cheap Russian energy sources, and it was right to support Donald Trump against migration and for peace,” he said.

He contrasted Hungary’s “nation-building” approach with Germany’s belated “crisis management.”

“Our perspective is nation-building: tax revolution, own home, 10-year development plan. What a difference! We fight for the truth! We fight against lies!” Orbán declared.

In Osnabrück, Merz acknowledged the depth of Germany’s problems.

“The welfare state as we have it today is no longer financially viable with what we are achieving economically,” he said.

The warning follows growing concerns over bankruptcies, rising unemployment, and inflation risks.

Migration has become a central factor. Figures from the Federal Employment Agency last year showed that of the 4 million employable people on social benefits, more than 2.5 million have a migration background, nearly 64 percent.

Bild also reported that almost half of Germany’s €17.68 billion housing support budget for 2024 has gone to foreigners.

Yet despite the mounting strain, Remix News reported earlier this month that Germany’s Federal Employment Agency was continuing to promote the “citizen’s benefit” (Bürgergeld) welfare system to migrants.

A section of its website, written in English for “people from abroad,” featured smiling models — including a woman in a hijab — and promised financial support for migrants unable to cover living expenses.

Read more here...

Tyler Durden Thu, 08/28/2025 - 02:00