How Social Media Verdicts Could Upend Tech Industry

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

Two major court verdicts last week finding social media giants Meta and YouTube liable for harm to users could send shock waves through the tech industry.

In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, a jury in Los Angeles on March 25 found both companies liable for making their platforms addictive and deleterious to the mental health of young users.

The 20-year-old plaintiff, referred to as “Kaley G.M.” or only her initials K.G.M. during trial, testified that she had become addicted to social media at a young age and that it negatively affected her mental health.

Jurors ultimately decided that Meta was more liable for harming K.G.M., giving the tech giant 70 percent of the responsibility, or $2.1 million of the total $3 million in punitive damages, while YouTube shouldered 30 percent, or $900,000.

An additional $3 million in compensatory damages were recommended by jurors to be paid by Meta and YouTube—the only remaining defendants in the case after TikTok and Snap settled with K.G.M. before trial—after deciding they acted with malice, oppression, or fraud in harming children with their platforms.

In a separate case, jurors in New Mexico determined on March 24 that Meta had violated state law by failing to properly disclose risks to and protect children on its social media platforms. The case, brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, resulted in a $375 million fine.

Prosecutor Linda Singer, who previously served as attorney general of the District of Columbia but now works in private litigation, had asked the jury to fine Meta $2 billion.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani called them “bellwether” cases.

“Obviously, these cases will absolutely go up on appeal,” he told The Epoch Times.

“I think they will likely end up before the Supreme Court, and how they view this issue will make or break Big Tech, because I think we’re going to see lots of copycat lawsuits, and the judgments and fines are going to rack up into the billions and billions of dollars.”

A person holds a sign referencing the 20-year-old plaintiff, identified in court as “Kaley G.M.” or by her initials K.G.M., as people wait for a verdict in the social media trial in Los Angeles on March 20, 2026. On March 25, a jury found both companies liable for making their platforms addictive and deleterious to the mental health of young users and ordered the companies to pay $3 million in damages. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

While the cases reflect two different sets of accusations—addictive design on the one hand and failure to protect children on the other—both will likely invite a torrent of claims, said John Shu, a constitutional law expert who served in both Bush administrations.

“I think this will definitely open the litigation floodgates in California, and not just for individual lawsuits,” Shu told The Epoch Times. “It also opens the floodgates to class action lawsuits; that’s where the big money is.”

Addictive Design Versus Child Safety Issues

In the Los Angeles trial, jurors heard testimony from a range of witnesses, including therapists, adolescent addiction experts, executives, engineers, and whistleblowers.

The case highlighted the platforms’ design and operation, such as their “infinite scroll” features, beauty filters, and the companies’ proprietary algorithms that determine the type of content served to users.

Plaintiff attorney Mark Lanier did not target third-party content found on the platforms, which enjoys broad protection from the First Amendment and Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.

Instead, he argued that the tech giants preyed on their vulnerable teen users in pursuit of money and power, comparing them to lions stalking wounded gazelles on the Serengeti.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Lanier (C) speaks to reporters outside the Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles on March 25, 2026. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

In the New Mexico case, Torrez argued that Meta violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act by knowing about the potential danger its platforms presented to children and hiding it from the public.

His office had its investigators set up accounts on Meta’s platforms posing as minors, after which they began to receive sexually explicit images and messages from adult users.

Jurors ultimately found 37,500 violations under one subsection of New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act and the same number under another. Since fines were limited to a maximum of $5,000 per violation, Meta was fined $375 million.

“It was pretty remarkable, because the jury came back quickly. And the conventional wisdom in these civil cases is that a quick verdict is usually a defense verdict,” Rahmani said, referring to a verdict that is given in favor of a defendant, often when the plaintiff or prosecutors are unable to prove their case.

Instead, jurors returned an “overwhelmingly plaintiff’s verdict in less than a day,” Rahmani said.

But Meta may be forced to do more after it defends itself during the follow-up hearing in May, which will determine whether the tech giant’s platforms created a public nuisance and whether it should be required to pay for public programs to address harms to users.

Accusing Meta of creating a public nuisance with its digital social media platforms is a novel use of the law, Shu said.

“The historical tradition of public nuisance is tied to land or real estate,” he said, using the example of a landowner being required to remove a fallen tree blocking a public road at the threat of fines from a state or municipal government.

Lawyer Matthew Bergman of the Social Media Victims Law Center speaks to the press as survivor parents Amy Neville, Julianna Arnold, Deb Schmill, Judy Rogg, Toney Roberts, and Brandy Roberts stand outside the Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles on Feb. 18, 2026. Jill Connelly/Getty Images

“This is a novel use of public nuisance. But if they convince a judge to do it, that’s going to open the door to massive payouts, not in actual damages, but in so-called ‘abatement costs,’” Shu said. “Because the state attorney general represents all of New Mexico’s 2.1 million citizens, they and their private sector mass-tort plaintiffs lawyers can ask for billions of dollars.”

That’s because in a public nuisance hearing, the awarded damages would not be based on individual violations of the law, but instead applied to the number of citizens in the state.

Critically, both verdicts only require the companies to pay out monetary damages—neither requires either company to change or alter the design or operations of their platforms. That may change for Meta after its May hearing in the New Mexico case.

Meta, Google Deny Allegations

Both Meta and Google, which owns YouTube, have denied that their platforms are designed to be addictive.

“We disagree with the verdict and plan to appeal,” Jose Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “This case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.”

Meta said it respectfully disagrees with the two verdicts and plans to appeal.

“Reducing something as complex as teen mental health to a single cause risks leaving the many, broader issues teens face today unaddressed and overlooks the fact that many teens rely on digital communities to connect and find belonging,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

“We remain committed to building safe, supportive environments for young people and will defend our record vigorously.”

Meta also highlighted the fact that the jury in the California case awarded $3 million in punitive damages after the plaintiff’s counsel had sought more than a billion.

Attorney Luis Li, representing YouTube and Google, arrives at Los Angeles Superior Court during the social media trial in Los Angeles on March 25, 2026. Both Meta and Google, which owns YouTube, have denied that their platforms are designed to be addictive and plan to appeal. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Future Litigation Potential

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said he noticed similarities between the two social media cases and those he’d previously litigated against the tobacco industry.

“Both [Big Tobacco and Big Tech] have made products with lethal design defects—leading to destructive addiction. Tobacco exploited nicotine’s grip, Big Tech used infinite scrolling, & a myriad of other devices,” he wrote on social media.

“Both have targeted children—relentlessly & reprehensibly—putting profits over public health, promoting generational addiction & harm.”

Shu said social media litigators may follow a similar playbook used against Big Tobacco by first suing based on alleged harms to children before widening the scope to all users of the companies’ products.

“Once they’ve established liability for kids, instead of saying, ‘Well, adults use cigarettes too,‘ now they’re going to say, ’Well, adults use Instagram and Snapchat too,’” he said. “So that’s where all this is headed next.”

Google is particularly vulnerable, Shu said, because it is responsible not only for YouTube, but also for Android, Gemini, and DeepMind, and it is the dominant search engine.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) participates in a forum at the U.S. Capitol on March 17, 2026. Blumenthal said he noticed similarities between the two social media cases and those he’d previously litigated against the tobacco industry. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Braden Perry, a government investigations and corporate litigation attorney, said the verdicts provide regulatory agencies with a road map for pursuing future cases without requiring new legislation.

State attorneys general can also pursue consumer protection actions against tech companies, Perry told The Epoch Times.

Long-Term Impacts on Tech Industry

“If engagement-maximization features become liability risks, platforms will face pressure to redo their algorithms and interfaces to prioritize welfare over engagement metrics,” Perry said, adding that “good actors” in the industry may face more disadvantages than companies “who skirt or ignore the risks” or that are more “aggressive than others.”

He said the verdicts not only threaten Meta and Google, but also the “foundational assumption that technology companies bear no responsibility for their design choices.”

These are not the only ramifications for the tech industry.

The New Mexico case specifically goes “beyond addiction alone and raises broader questions about whether these platforms are reasonably safe for children and adolescents,” attorney Michael Ponce told The Epoch Times.

He said the growing body of scientific research describing how prolonged social media use may negatively impact mental health was critical in both cases.

Images of deceased children are displayed at the “Lost Screen Memorial,” an art installation of large-scale smartphones featuring 50 children who lost their lives due to social media harm online, in Los Angeles on Feb. 13, 2026. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Additionally, the central allegation in the California case and many related lawsuits is that companies were aware of the risks but “nevertheless continued to design their platforms in a manner that prioritized user engagement,” Ponce said.

The two verdicts, and any future cases that draw inspiration from them, could “cripple” the tech industry and send a “warning” to social media companies, Shu said.

He said if prosecutors in other states—particularly one with a large population like California’s—decide to follow the same path as New Mexico, the abatement costs for the citizenry if a public nuisance ruling is granted are likely to be massive.

“This is one heck of a warning, it’s kind of like somebody opening up a fire hose on you to wake you up in the morning,” Shu said.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 16:55

US Arrests & Boots Soleimani's Fashion Designer Niece From The Country

The Trump administration is rounding up family members of notable Iranian government figures, accusing them of spreading 'pro-Tehran propaganda'. And apparently this is even if the Iranian officials in question are deceased.

The State Department confirmed an unexpected development on Saturday, announcing that the niece of the late Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani is being booted from the country.

Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were arrested Friday night, and their permanent residence status has been revoked - now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Maj. Gen. Soleimani was the former leader of the elite Quds force wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was assassinated via drone strike as his convoy drove outside of Baghdad International Airport in 2020.

This was during the first Trump administration, and in many ways this brazen killing of someone many countries viewed as essentially a 'diplomat' (certainly Iraq and Russia did) set Tehran and Washington on a collision course. Washington long considered him a terrorist. His popularity inside Iran was immense.

According to more details of the arrest of Soleiman's niece and her daughter:

The State Department did not say where they were arrested. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X that Soleimani Afshar and her daughter lived "lavishly" in the U.S. and are now in ICE custody “pending removal” from the U.S.

The State Department described Soleimani Afshar as “an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran.” Her husband is also now not permitted to enter the U.S., the State Department said. Her uncle Maj. Gen. Soleimani, the former leader of the foreign wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2020.

Apparently her social media accounts have already been scrubbed and/or deleted, and there are reports saying that she did modeling and/or fashion design in the United States.

Niece of Qasem Soleimani, former commander of the IRGC Quds Force who has now been arrested in the United States is identified as Hamideh Soleimani Afshar. Her daughter has also been arrested by the FBI. Hamideh Soleimani Afshar was a Model in the United States. https://t.co/uiwTiiWTwX pic.twitter.com/5jrfrKn3Qa

— Niloofar Mansoori نیلوفر منصوری (@NiloofarMM) April 4, 2026

It's not entirely clear what exactly she posted that caught the attention of US authorities. She may have merely critiqued the US-Israeli bombing of her homeland - but some X accounts have accused her of positively praising Iranian leadership while opposing the anti-government and economic protests from last January. Laura Loomer is claiming credit for alerting the Trump administration, or playing some kind of role in Hamidea's apprehension and pending expulsion. 

According to more from the WSJ, "Rubio also ended legal status protections for Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of the late Ali Larijani, Iran’s former top national-security official, and her husband, the State Department said. The department said they are no longer in the U.S. and not permitted to enter in the future."

This means that likely other permanent residence holders who have family ties to the Islamic Republic leadership are being scrutinized by US federal authorities.

There could be a lot of Instagram, X, and Facebook scrubbing happening among the Iranian diaspora at this point.

* * *

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 16:20

Dems' Ballroom Hate Is the Saddest Proof Yet of Their State of TDS Mental Unwellness

Authored by Stephen Kruiser via PJMedia.com,

There was a time not so long ago when the Democrats were formidable and — I'm not kidding here — occasionally enjoyable political foes. During the Tea Party years, we would often encounter Dem activists and hang out with them for a while. Sometimes we would even socialize. The Democrats of recent yesteryear bore no resemblance to the feral, frothing rage mob that the No Kings/Resist Dems are today. 

It's both stunning and depressing that America's oldest, continuously-running political party could undergo a wholesale personality change in just a decade because its entire focus was the hatred of one man, but here we are. There's an oft-repeated line here on the right that says if President Trump cured cancer, the Democrats would suddenly be pro-cancer. It's the kind of absurdist illustration that I've enjoyed using throughout my career but find almost impossible to apply to the Democrats anymore. They're just that far gone. 

Which is why they are up in arms about the building of a ballroom. This is from Sarah:

President Donald Trump has been having a great time building the new White House Ballroom in recent months, but anytime the president is having a good time doing something, a judge comes in and stops him. Apparently, that expands to this $400 million, 90,000 square-foot construction project that is said to be fully funded by private donors.  

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon determined on Tuesday that no statute comes close to allowing Trump to carry out this project  of his own accord, and that construction must be halted until Congress approves the completion.

So, I guess we're just stuck with a half-finished project?  

Well, we're stuck with a half-finished project until this cockamamie ruling gets overturned, which is how this dance usually goes. I would like to note that every one of these Trump Derangement Syndrome judges looks like either a Harry Potter villain or a skin suit tailor from The Silence of the Lambs. 

I'm no legal expert, but much of Leon's ruling reads like a tantrum in a feelings journal. Everything is just so overwhelmingly emo with these people. It's both tedious and exhausting. In fact, if there were an animal representation of "tedious and exhausting," it would be a perfect new mascot for the Democratic Party.

Let's just look at the surface of this. The lefties are furious that a place for formal dancing is being built in the most important residence in the United States of America. A residence that frequently hosts world leaders for formal events. That's like showing up to a kid's birthday party and being deeply offended by the presence of a jumping castle. 

One has to be severely broken inside to be angered by the thought of a place designed specifically for people to have some wholesome fun. Wholesome fun that reflects well on the Republic, to boot. At this point, Congressional Democrats should be showing up to work in straitjackets. For a while, I kept writing that the Dems' TDS behavior was an ongoing cry for help. That's inaccurate though — they are addicted to their misery and don't want to be helped. 

Also, as we have discussed on many occasions, hating Trump is their strategy.

Bill Maher recently chastised the execrable Adam Schiff for prioritizing pushing back on President Trump.

Maher said, "That's all you Democrats have, is 'F*** Trump'." Schiff just sat there looking like the one-note moron that he is.

It would be nice to think that we live in a time where we could find common ground with our political adversaries. We don't, though, and that is 100% the Democrats' fault.

The problem isn't just that they hate us, it's obvious that they hate themselves as well. People who like themselves don't pathologically seek misery the way that the Democrats do here in the Year of our Lord 2026. We can't help them be happy. 

We can, however, win a few more elections and keep giving them things to complain about. That's probably a kindness at this point. 

* * *

credittrader Sat, 04/04/2026 - 15:45

Iran Scrambling To Restore Bombed Missile Bunkers Within Hours After Being Struck

Iran's resilience after more than a month of very heavy US-Israeli bombing has become obvious. The country's somewhat ancient air force and navy have been largely obliterated, and yet all the while the Iranian military has kept up intense ballistic missile and drone strikes on Israel and Gulf states. Tehran's missile arsenal is what is understood to have always been formidable.

And now US intelligence has freshly assessed that Iranian personnel are busy excavating bombed underground missile bunkers and silos and restoring them to operation within a mere hours of US and Israeli strikes.

The New York Times on Friday featured American intelligence analysis saying that Tehran has retained a substantial number of missiles and mobile launchers, raising serious doubts on how close Washington actually is to eliminating the Islamic Republic’s missile capability.

via BBC

The report states that Washington cannot determine how many launchers have been destroyed because Iran has deployed decoys. Underground bunkers and silos may appear damaged, but launchers are rapidly recovered from rubble and returned to use through the quick work of excavators and heavy equipment.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman, has painted a rosy picture from the Pentagon's point of view: "Here are the facts: Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks are down 90 percent, their navy is wiped out, two-thirds of their production facilities are damaged or destroyed, and the United States and Israel have overwhelming air dominance over Iran," she said.

A senior Western official in the NY Times stated that Iran is firing approximately 15-30 ballistic missiles and 50-100 suicide drones per day across the region.

US officials additionally told the Times that Iran aims to preserve as much of its missile-launch capability as possible to sustain its threat posture throughout the conflict and after it ends.

Some of the remaining launchers are currently inaccessible, buried under rubble from repeated airstrikes, but there's the expectation that Iran will race to dig them out. NYT further cites the following:

Haaretz, the Israeli publication, reported earlier that Iran had used bulldozers to dig out missile launchers that had been buried, or “corked,” in underground bunkers.

President Trump and US planners around him probably didn't expect the Islamic Republic to put up as much of a fight as it's still able to do this many weeks into Operation Epic Fury.

Tehran was heavily bombed last night. Ishfahan was the main target. Visible secondary explosions suggests that underground weapon storages and missile silos were penetrated by the bunker busters.
Huge loss for Iran.#IranWar‌ #middleastconflict #MiddleEastConflict pic.twitter.com/T7HEzhPJyh

— Global Conflict Monitor (@watchdog_global) March 31, 2026

Iranian missiles have continued to wreak havoc across Israel especially, with citizens spending many hours each day huddled in shelters, especially in central Israel and Tel Aviv.

* * *

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 15:10

DHS Rescinds Policy Requiring Secretary Review Of Contracts Above $100,000

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

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rescinded a policy on March 31 that required the department secretary to personally approve every contract and grant exceeding $100,000.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Feb. 17, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin issued the reversal across all DHS components, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The change ends an earlier directive from former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that required the secretary’s office to handle routine purchasing decisions previously handled at lower levels.

However, contracts and grants above $25 million will still require secretary review.

DHS stated that the move will “streamline the contract process and empower components to carry out their mission to protect the homeland and make America safe again.” The department told The Epoch Times in a statement that Mullin “re-evaluated the contract processes to make sure DHS is serving the American taxpayer efficiently.”

Mullin signaled the shift at the department during his confirmation hearing this month.

“I’m not a micromanager,” he said, referring to Noem’s policy. “We put people in, we empower them to make decisions. What is required to come up to my level, we'll make decisions.”

Noem’s policy, signed shortly after she took office in 2025, sought to tighten oversight of taxpayer dollars at a time when DHS managed billions in contracts for border security, immigration detention, and disaster response.

In September 2025, a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee review found 1,034 Federal Emergency Management Agency contracts, grants, or disaster-assistance awards that were pending or delayed. The average approval took three weeks, affecting housing inspections, temporary sheltering, and aid distribution after the July 2025 Texas floods and Hurricane Helene.

The change comes as Mullin seeks to reduce bureaucratic gridlock.

The policy shift does not alter core missions funded through contracts, such as ICE detention operations or CBP’s use of surveillance technology and logistics support. Officials say the streamlined approach will help DHS respond faster to both routine needs and emerging threats.

During Noem’s first seven months, DHS saved taxpayers $13.2 billion by reducing grant contracts and cutting 8 percent of non-law enforcement personnel.

The policy also resulted in terminating 118 bad contracts and accelerating state-led recovery funding to get money to victims faster and prevented up to $1.3 billion in external fraud.

Noem left DHS earlier this year after President Donald Trump tapped her for a new hemispheric envoy role focused on regional security.

During his Senate confirmation hearing on March 28, Mullin told senators he would maintain “a very clear line of communication with every one of our agencies’ heads on their authority that [Congress] gave to them within their parameters.”

“But we’re also going to be very responsible for the taxpayer dollars,” he said.

Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 14:35

Artemis II Now Closer To Moon Than Earth

Authored by T.J.Muscaro via The Epoch Times,

Artemis II’s four moon-bound astronauts are officially closer to the Moon than the Earth.

Mission Control confirmed the milestone to the crew at 10:59 p.m. CT on April 3, three days into their historic flight around the moon.

As of 11 p.m., NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen and their Orion spacecraft Integrity were more than 136,000 miles away from the Earth.

This point was also far beyond the halfway point of the more than 252,000 miles they will ultimately reach from home.

Koch noted that the whole crew looked around at each other, acknowledging the milestone.

“We can see the moon out of the docking hatch right now,” she said. “It is a beautiful sight. We’re seeing more and more of the farside, and it’s just a thrill to be here.”

Though now closer to the moon, they still won’t enter its gravitational influence for more than a day.

According to mission leaders, everything is running smoothly, and a planned course-correction burn was canceled because the spacecraft remained on a precise heading.

After two days of critical checkouts, manual test flights, and a series of engine firings from the first crewed launch of the most powerful human-rated rocket NASA’s ever assembled to the first trans-lunar injection burn in more than 50 years, the crew and Mission Control have been able to settle into a much calmer pace.

The first pictures of Earth taken from Integrity were received and shared with the world on the morning of April 3. The crew spoke with members of the media and reflected on how the Earth looked from their vantage point. And upon waking on Day 3, they were able to talk to their families for the first time since the launch.

They then proceeded with the day’s objectives, which focused heavily on testing medical and emergency systems, including performing a CPR demonstration, evaluating the medical kit, and testing the Deep Space Network’s emergency communication.

They were also scheduled to take some pictures of the moon, rehearse cabin configurations in preparation for their upcoming lunar flyby, and find time to exercise during the day.

Each crew member is required to use the flywheel exercise machine—which is like a cross between a resistance cable and a rowing machine—for at least 30 minutes each day.

A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from the Orion spacecraft's window after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026. NASA

Artemis II’s 10-day flight around the moon and back kicked off with a two-day gauntlet of checkouts, tests, and multiple engine burns. After launching from Kennedy Space Center aboard NASA’s Space Launch System, the crew was placed into an elongated elliptical orbit that carried them tens of thousands of miles above Earth.

The crew then began configuring the interior of their Orion crew capsule for flight before taking manual control of the spacecraft to test out its maneuverability.

Glover, who took the controls, noted that the Orion capsule performed wonderfully and flew better than the simulator.

After that, the crew settled into their first rest period, but had to wake up halfway through to perform an engine burn that kept them in a stable orbit and the correct course ahead of the trans-lunar injection burn that would come several hours later.

But, things have not gone completely perfect. There was an unexpected communications dropout, the toilet was not working properly, and they experienced several censor issues, which have persisted throughout the mission. A helium issue was also detected on the service module.

However, mission leaders reported that all problems had been overcome or mitigated through redundancies, as was the case with the helium. NASA leadership credited the enduring problem-solving to the way teams on the ground continue to work with the moon-bound crew in real time.

“It makes me very happy to see that, although we have some minor issues to deal with, the team operates very well, both on the ground—between our mission evaluation room, our flight control team—and with the crew,” Howard Hu, NASA’s Orion program manager, told The Epoch Times.

On Day 4, the crew of Artemis II will once again fly Integrity manually as they get closer to the moon. They will also attempt to take a “selfie” by utilizing a camera on the end of one of Integrity’s solar panels to take a picture of the spacecraft with the Earth in the background.

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

Major US Shale Producer To Boost Output, And It Suggests One Thing

Last month, roughly three weeks into the U.S.-Iran conflict, UBS chief economist Arend Kapteyn told clients that one reason this Middle East energy shock is "not like the 2011-2014 shale boom" is the lack of a comparable response from the U.S. shale patch. In other words, the oil shock was viewed as temporary by major shale players and not worth adding new drilling rigs to the mix.

But now, on day 35 of Operation Epic Fury, that assumption about a less responsive U.S. shale patch in the face of soaring energy prices looks increasingly stale. President Trump's remarks earlier this week were viewed by some analysts as less of a de-escalation. Trump said, "We are going to hit them extremely hard. Over the next two to three weeks, we're going to bring them back to the Stone Age."

Since Kapteyn's mid-March note, Wall Street has also started to reprice the duration of the energy shock. Goldman last week raised its 2026 Brent forecast to $80 a barrel, while Reuters polling shows much of the Street expects crude to be over $82 this year, up from the low $60s earlier this year, reflecting that the Hormuz chokepoint won't fade quickly. 

Context here matters because the energy mess in the Gulf is no longer being treated as a "temporary" shock, and shale can no longer afford to ignore it. The longer Hormuz remains disrupted and the more Trump signals a prolonged military campaign, the greater the odds of a response from America's shale complex. 

The first sign that U.S. shale players are beginning to respond to higher prices, and the admission that elevated WTI prices are here to stay, comes from billionaire oil wildcatter Harold Hamm's Continental Resources, which plans to increase production shortly.

"Continental is increasing our capital budget, which will increase production," CEO Doug Lawler told Bloomberg in a statement.

Lawler did not explain how much production will increase or how many new rigs will be brought online. Continental operates in North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Texas, and has recently expanded into Argentina's Vaca Muerta.

As of 4Q25, Continental produced 475,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with 43% from the Bakken and 23% from the Permian.

Before the conflict, Continental planned to spend about $2.5 billion in 2026, down 20% from 2025, as fears of a global glut emerged and WTI in the low $60s heavily weighed on shale economics.

"If you think that's because they want to help lower energy prices, think again. Any oil company that commits to boosting future investment thinks oil prices will stay high and wants to cash in," former Yahoo Finance reporter Rick Newman wrote on X, responding to the Bloomberg story.

If you think that's because they want to help lower energy prices, think again

Any oil company that commits boost future investment thinks oil prices will stay high and wants to cash in

— Rick Newman (@rickjnewman) April 2, 2026

The question now is whether Continental's move will spur other shale players to bring on rigs and increase production...

... and, if so, that may add industrial tailwinds for the U.S. economy while also weighing on consumers through elevated fuel prices at the pump (at first) before production increases and weighs down prices. 

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

FBI Arrests Eight Suspects In $60 Million LA County Over Hospice Fraud

Authored by Madeline Shannon via The Center Square,

The FBI made multiple arrests Thursday in Los Angeles County in connection with allegations over a total of $60 million in hospice-related Medicaid fraud.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli announced the arrests for Operation Never Say Die during a news conference.

“Federal agents from multiple agencies descended on fraudsters throughout Southern California, executing multiple arrests and search warrants,” Essayli told reporters.

Early this morning, the FBI and partners arrested 8 of 15 defendants charged in connection with 9 separate health care fraud investigations focusing on hospice fraud and other schemes. The arrests were made in and around Los Angeles County, as well as in Court d'Alene, Idaho.… pic.twitter.com/FAPVRNdtLy

— FBI Los Angeles (@FBILosAngeles) April 2, 2026

Eight people were arrested, Essayli said, and charges will be brought against 15 individuals who are accused of defrauding $60 million in health care fraud in greater Los Angeles County, including allegedly operating fraudulent hospice care businesses.

Lolita Minerd, 65, from Anaheim, ran Artesia-based Topanga Hospice Care, which ran a $9.1 million price tag over five years, Essayli said.

According to Essayli, one couple said they were approached by Minerd at a grocery store to sign up as patients for her hospice care business. Essayli said they each received $300 a month from Minerd for allowing her to use their names as patients for her business.

Medicare paid $8.5 million on fraudulent claims filed on this couple’s behalf, Essayli said.

Another couple, Gladwin and Amelou Gill, who were both previously convicted of tax evasion charges, were barred by law from opening a hospice, so they used their daughter’s name to open the hospice care, Essayli said. He added their hospice received more than $4 million in Medicare reimbursement payments, and he noted they discharged 70% of their patients.

Another person named in the press conference, Nita Palma, 76, who was previously convicted of health care fraud and is in a federal prison in Seattle, operated another hospice fraud company in Glendale with her husband Adolfo Catbagan, 68, of Glendale, for more than a year and a half, Essayli said. He added the couple submitted more than $4.8 million in fraudulent hospice care claims and got back more than $3.2 million from Medicare.

“This is not just a fraud problem. This is a California problem,” Essayli said during the press conference.

“The problem you see in California is that there is no vetting and no checking. They do not care because it’s not their money.”

The press conference followed an early morning arrest of Gladwin and Amelou Gill in Los Angeles.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, said during the news conference that he was present in Los Angeles during the couple’s arrest.

“These law enforcement leaders and these brave men and women that I was able to witness this morning go after these criminals are doing God’s work,” Oz said.

“And they’re going to be able to do it more effectively because there’s been a demand made by the president and vice president of an all-of-government effort.”

One of the hospice care facilities billed Medicare more than $9.1 million over five years for the care of patients who were supposedly terminally ill, Essayli said. He added the facility discharged 85% of their patients – five times the national average for a facility that is supposed to care for dying patients.

Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo, R-Tulare, reacted on Thursday to the arrests.

“Dr. Oz was excited to share with me that arrests were happening, and that this was just the beginning of what they would be doing out in California to combat hospice fraud,” Macedo told The Center Square on Thursday.

“But they have a lot of questions as to how this was allowed to happen under [Gov.] Gavin Newsom’s watch for as long as it did.”

Macedo conducted a hospice fraud investigation herself in recent weeks, finding multiple hospice care businesses registered to addresses that are the locations of empty lots or run-down, empty buildings, according to previous reporting by The Center Square.

Her investigation showed that 300 separate businesses were tied to a small number of addresses, which she drove out to herself. She also found that many of the phone numbers associated with those businesses were disconnected. Macedo sent the results of her investigation to Congress.

“What my investigation showed me is who the ‘straw men’ were as the registered agents,” Macedo told The Center Square.

“But there is very clearly somebody teaching them how to do this, or, in my opinion, a puppet master, so finding out who these people are attached to will come out with time.”

According to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Medicare, which reimburses hospice care providers, was defrauded an estimated $3.5 billion from fraudulent Medicare reimbursement payments just in Los Angeles County.

“The recent hospice fraud arrests in California are a stark reminder that government healthcare programs are vulnerable to abuse without strong oversight,” state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Huntington Beach, told The Center Square on Thursday, answering questions by email.

“Millions in taxpayer dollars were siphoned off while vulnerable patients were put at risk. It’s time for real accountability, aggressive enforcement, and consequences for those who failed to act.”

Some Democratic and Republican lawmakers who have authored Medicare-related legislation in California or who represent districts that include Los Angeles did not respond to The Center Square on Thursday.

Other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle communicated through a spokesperson that they were not available to comment. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and the FBI did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for comment.

While representatives with Newsom’s office were not immediately available to discuss the arrests, they directed The Center Square to a comment that Newsom’s press office posted on X on Thursday morning.

“Great to see the federal government root out fraud in Trump’s federal health care system in California!” the press office said. “We’re fully supportive.”

The post goes on to note “@CAGovernor Gavin Newsom banned new hospice licenses in 2021 because of rampant fraud.”

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

Netanyahu Boasts 70% Of Iran's Steel Production Capacity Destroyed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in Friday remarks that Israeli airstrikes have wiped out roughly 70% of Iran's steel production capacity, dealing a major blow to its ability to manufacture weapons - from missiles and drones to ships.

"Together with our American friends, we continue to crush the terror regime in Iran. We are eliminating commanders, bombing bridges, bombing infrastructures," Netanyahu began in a video statement.

Illustrative image, via Steel Radar

"In recent days, the Air Force has destroyed 70% of Iran's steel production capacity," he added. "This is a tremendous achievement that deprives the Revolutionary Guards of both financial resources and the ability to produce many weapons."

But we should also add that this appears part of the Israeli strategy to bring about government and societal collapse, something Netanyahu has at times been more out in the open about. 

Israel was the first to begin attacking Iranian energy infrastructure, having hit Pars gas field last month - an action which the White House distanced itself from.

What has become clear is that Iran's two largest producers - Khuzestan Steel Company and Mobarakeh Steel Company - have both been knocked offline after repeated US-Israeli strikes, with officials warning it could take months to restore operations, and that's assuming this can be done even as the bombs still rain down.

President Trump has meanwhile warned that Washington has yet to begin "destroying what's left" of the Islamic Republic's infrastructure.

Major bridges have already been taken out, and even medical and pharmaceutical complexes, along with instances of deadly attacks on schools.

But for each escalation on Iran's infrastructure, the IRGC has been hitting back at Israeli and Gulf sites in kind. This has even included reportedly attacking American tech companies based in the Gulf.

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

Poland: Pedophilia, Bestiality Scandal Hits Tusk's Party

Via Remix News,

The Kłodzko scandal could bring down the Civic Coalition (KO).

This is the view of PiS candidate for prime minister, Przemysław Czarnek, despite the localized nature of the crime.

“This is a group of people who really have a lot on their minds,” the politician says.

A pedophilia and zoophilia scandal in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship has shocked Poland. Przemysław L., 45, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexual offenses committed against underage girls, bestiality, and recording these acts on film and in photographs.

According to Do Rzeczy, his ex-wife, Kamila L., a former Civic Platform activist, was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison for failing to provide assistance to her minor daughter from a previous relationship, who was a victim of rape, and for complicity in animal abuse.

Przemysław Czarnek, the PiS candidate for prime minister, commented on the shocking case and its possible political consequences on Telewizja Republika on Wednesday.

“This is a very serious scandal that will, in my opinion, sink the Civic Platform. I spoke about the Civic Platform and their absolutely scandalous behavior three years ago, when there was a debate on the vote of no confidence in me. And I shouted from the parliamentary podium that these people should be feared, because these people from the Civic Platform, the mayors of cities from the Civic Platform, finance associations and organizations with enormous public funds—over a billion złoty a year—that simply deal with dramatic issues,” said the former Minister of Education and Science.

“I mentioned programs that were simply perverted by their very name,” he added.

As Czarnek pointed out, “this is a community of people who really have a lot going for them, financing these kinds of communities that commit these kinds of shameless, dramatic, criminal, anti-human actions against children, and against animals as well, because we are dealing with zoophilia there as well.”

Politicians from the Civic Coalition also commented on the situation.

“It’s difficult to hold someone accountable; it’s a situation that can happen to anyone. Anyone can have a neighbor like that whom they know nothing about until the police and prosecutors get involved,” one Civic Coalition MP told Wirtualna Polska.

The interviewees emphasize that the case involves a former Civic Coalition (KO) activist and a very low-level figure. The police and prosecutors acted, and the perpetrators were brought to justice, so it’s difficult to speak of the scandal’s political context. “It’s a local issue, perhaps also highlighted by local disputes between the mayor and the Civic Coalition,” notes the Civic Coalition politician.

Word has surfaced that Prime Minister Tusk is offering clarification.

“It’s more likely at the local level, not the central level, not from Deputy Marshal Monika Wielichowska; it’s hard to blame her,” says a senior Civic Coalition (KO) politician.

Wielichowska supported Kamila L. when she was campaigning for the regional position.

“This is certainly an inconvenient matter for Monika. She’s not handling it well,” the source adds.

Read more here...

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

Navy's Top Officer Admits Ford Carrier Fire Halted Its Combat Sorties For Two Days

More details continue to belatedly come out in piecemeal fashion related to the Navy's largest and most expensive supercarrier, the USS Gerald R Ford. It has withdrawn from the Iran theatre of operations and Mideast regional waters, now anchored in Croatia (Split) for largescale emergency repairs, after a March 12 fire which the Pentagon has said was non-combat related left some sailors with minor injuries.

New information has been disclosed by no less than the US Navy's top officer. He has described in fresh remarks that the USS Ford was unable to fly sorties for two days due to (the alleged) laundry fire, which took over a full day to extinguish.

US Navy/AFP/Getty Images

CNN has underscored that this marks the "first indication that the blaze hindered combat operations against Iran." So the incident has been confirmed to have resulted in a complete halt to two days of combat operations against Iran - which is hugely significant given that only two carriers were launching operations at that time (the other was the USS Lincoln). And now the USS George HW Bush is en route across the Atlantic in a scheduled deployment.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, addressed the Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Tuesday. While praising the crew's response to the fire, he stated the following:

"They fought that, put it out, and started flying sorties two days after that, so I’m very proud of that crew," he said.

Caudle described that they ended up battling the blaze -  and cleaned up the water damage and fire-fighting substances, for a total of 30 hours.

He also confirmed prior reports of some 600 sailors being displaced from their sleeping quarters due to the damage. 

As for the precise cause of the blaze, the last official word was a March 28 statement from 6th Fleet saying, "military and federal civilian law enforcement continued investigations into a fire aboard the ship originating in the ship’s laundry facilities."

This comes amid an avalanche of speculation that the Ford might have been hit by an Iranian missile or drone - but this remains just theorizing and speculation.

It's problems run deeper, Bloomberg writes...

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrived at a port in Crete on Monday after it had to leave the Middle East — and the war against Iran — when a fire broke out in its laundry area. But the massive ship’s problems run a lot deeper. https://t.co/B9odzYd9UY

— Bloomberg (@business) March 24, 2026

Adm. Caudle did make another important admission in his Tuesday remarks. He said: "The challenge … is how do you buy down risk in other parts of the world while you're focusing a lot of resources in one area." Already major US military assets have been diverted from southeast Asia, where China's pressure campaign on Taiwan continues, toward the Middle East in relation to Operation Epic Fury.

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Tyler Durden Sat, 04/04/2026 - 07:35