Arclein's Blog

2026-10-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

They can augment on the front. Think a running attack with humans right behind or even with. the rest of the time, not so much.

what is does is staurate the opposing target space.

Then fixed positions can be mucked out.

Could humanoid robots soon replace soldiers on the battlefield?

Humanoid robots may one day transform warfare, but engineering and operational barriers to deployment are still stubbornly high

by Jacob Parakilas

October 28, 2026

Future wars could be fought between competing humanoid robots. Image: MrJo / Shutterstock via The Conversation

Battlefield robots were once thought of as the stuff of science fiction. But the Ukraine war has put paid to that view, with uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) – or ground robots – taking on an increasingly visible role.

In September 2026, Mykhailo Fedorov, the former defense minister of Ukraine – who is generally credited with modernizing the country’s use of military drones – called for an army of robots on the frontline. He also outlined an ambitious challenge: achieve the first “confirmed battlefield result using a humanoid robot” within six months.

Ukraine is not alone in exploring the potential of humanoid machines. In the wake of the widely publicized World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, a kind of Olympics for bipedal robots, Reuters reported that the Chinese military is working towards developing humanoid robots for combat.

The US military has also been exploring the potential use of humanoid robots on the battlefield. According to the BBC, San Francisco-based Foundation Robotics has picked up US$24 million in research contracts to pilot its humanoid technology with the US military. Two of its Phantom Mk1 robots have reportedly also been undergoing tests in Ukraine.

In the age of artificial intelligence, it would be foolish to completely dismiss the prospect of rapid technological advancement. But while the concept of humanoid robots for the battlefield grabs attention, there are a number of substantial obstacles to this becoming a near term reality.

In general, though, battlefield ground robotics is developing rapidly. In Ukraine, Uncrewed Ground Vehicles (UGVs) which move on wheels or tracks have taken on an increasing range of tasks.

These include the evacuation of casualties, combat engineering and even, in limited circumstances, offensive action. Drones are also used to supply troops with rations, weapons and ammunition.

Ukraine recently commemorated their contribution to the battlefield with an Independence Day robot parade through the center of Kyiv.

In principle, a bipedal robot resembling a human would have the flexibility of an infantry soldier –, able to run, jump, crawl, climb, or potentially even swim across obstacles. This means that it could be used for a range of tasks in distinct environments.

In short, a bipedal robot offers flexibility and adaptability as its key characteristics.

Foundation Robotics’ Phantom Mk1 humanoid robot (Reuters)

But the flexibility and adaptability of the human form – driven by millions of years of evolution towards making us into a hardy, survivable all-purpose species rather than a specialist predator or herbivore – have not yet been matched by mechanical engineering.

And while the Ukrainian battlefield is not the sole indicator of what the future of war looks like, it does remind us of crucial limiting factors on technological progress. Cost matters hugely, systems matter more than individual weapons, and the most advanced and transformative technology is not necessarily the most photogenic.

Bipedal drawbacks

There are two basic problems with legged robots that even the most advanced designs are not close to overcoming in the near future.

The first is that legs are complicated. Wheels and tank tracks are both mechanically simpler than legs, which gives them an inherent resistance to damage or breakdown. It’s also worth noting that a wheeled or tracked vehicle can travel lower to the ground, which reduces its visibility and exposure to enemy fire.

Both, as we have seen in Ukraine, are matters of survivability. The relative simplicity of tracks or wheels also makes them cheaper to mass produce – and the military that chooses a small quantity of legged robots is likely to be rolled over by one that chooses plentiful, if less technically impressive, wheeled or tracked units.

These are all factors that can be mitigated by engineering. But that engineering adds development cost, mechanical complexity and, very likely, unit cost. These are not insurmountable obstacles, but they are significant ones.

The other problem, which will be familiar to anyone who owns or has driven an electric vehicle, is the limited range. After all, relatively few soldiering tasks can be accomplished while plugged in.

There are some where it’s feasible to imagine range being a minor issue. For example, a humanoid robot could presumably be assigned to guard a static facility where it would walk a prepared path and be able to recharge regularly.

But that task could also be accomplished by proven, simpler, cheaper methods, such as a combination of sensors, obstacles, and remote-controlled weapons. This undermines the case for deploying bipedal robot sentries.

In a jam

Outside such controlled environments, the open battlefield is not notable for its proliferation of reliable, high-powered recharging stations or the provision of frequent breaks so that combatants can revive themselves.

A further problem – not unique to ground robots, but exacerbated by the challenges inherent in traversing the ground – is maintaining control. Despite recent advancements in autonomy, for the foreseeable future, uncrewed ground vehicles such as those being used on Ukraine’s frontline will need live links to their human controllers.

Basically, that means a choice between a radio link or a physical fibre optic cable link.

Ukraine’s ground robots (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

The general balance here is that fiber optics cannot be jammed and provide extremely high data transfer rates and high fidelity.

But they have limited range and are susceptible to being severed by terrain, obstacles, or blasts and shrapnel. Relative to flying drones, the range limitation issue is less severe and the danger of physical severance more severe for ground robots.

By contrast, radio control is susceptible to jamming, electronic interference and disruption over distance and in inclement weather. They can also be blocked by obstacles. But a radio link cannot be physically severed.

Repeaters are devices that receive signals and re-transmit them, so that two-way radio signals can cover longer distances. These provide high degrees of range and operational flexibility for remote systems.

Increasingly, remote systems are being designed with both types of control available. This, for example, allows the radio system to serve as a backup in the event that the fibre optic cable is severed. But doing so adds cost and complexity.

These factors may seem mundane, but when taken together, they should add a degree of realism to the discussion around a technological area which has long since captured the popular imagination.

After all, how many cinema tickets would have gone unsold if Robocop were taking orders via a trailing fiber optic cable and stopped the film every half hour because his battery had run low?

The technology behind humanoid robots is undoubtedly impressive – and in time it may prove transformative. But the engineering, physical and operational obstacles to humanoid soldier robots remain stubbornly in place.

'No Point': UC Berkeley Math Professor Quits Grading Homework Over Student AI Use

2026-10-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

Can you write out a proof for the pythagorean theorem without getting AI to assist?

Can you hit the books and generate more than one?

this is not hard. So yes we have a rising isse. We had it before but now it is everyone. just how did academic stars keep it going?

'No Point': UC Berkeley Math Professor Quits Grading Homework Over Student AI Use

Wednesday, Oct 28, 2026 - 06:40 AM

Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness,

A prominent mathematician at the University of California, Berkeley has stopped grading homework for correctness due to the widespread and unavoidable use of artificial intelligence tools by students.

Breitbart reports Professor Richard Borcherds, a 1998 Fields Medal winner, has abandoned grading assignments after noticing that his students have been abusing AI to secure top scores.

Borcherds concluded that grading traditional, at-home assignments has become outmoded because AI can now solve undergraduate mathematics problems better than many students, making it nearly impossible to differentiate between a student's actual knowledge and a chatbot's output.

Borcherds told The California Post, "Student use of AI for homework is now widespread. Grading for correctness just adds a huge incentive for them to use AI for homework instead of doing it themselves, and penalizes students for honesty."

The professor has turned to giving his students credit for simply completing their work - paying no mind to whether the answers are right - and admits he knows of no better approach.

"There is no easy way to tell the difference between human and AI generated work. Occasionally one could tell it is AI because AI made a few characteristic errors, but AI has now improved so much that it rarely makes obvious mistakes," Borcherds said.

Borcherds noted that while his current completion-based homework system is "not a very good system," educators have yet to figure out a better alternative to counter the structural skills gap emerging from AI reliance, according to Inc.

In an interview with UC Berkeley's student newspaper, the Daily Californian, the professor expressed uncertainty about the future of mathematics, noting that five years ago, a mathematician appeared to be one of the safest careers from the AI boom.

Borcherds told the Daily Californian, "There have been plenty of technical breakthroughs in the past - hand weaving was put out of business by looms, and horses were put out of business by motor cars, and so on," adding, "This is the first time anything like this has happened in mathematics, though."

The shift follows concerns expressed by other UC Berkeley faculty regarding an educational crisis where high homework grades are masking a severe lack of foundational math and engineering skills when students are tested under proctored conditions.

Why Can't Farmers Butcher Their Own Animals? A New Bill Could Change That

2026-10-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

This so needs to happen. the trade is basic, The equipment is here. any one farmer can take in from his community and form a coop.

The consumer gets qua-ity and recourse.

It is how it needs to be.

Why Can't Farmers Butcher Their Own Animals? A New Bill Could Change That

Tuesday, Oct 27, 2026 - 07:35 PM

Authored by Mollie Engelhart via The Epoch Times,

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/why-cant-farmers-butcher-their-own-animals-new-bill-could-change

This past weekend, I was sitting at the Weston A. Price Foundation's Wise Traditions Conference when Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) took the stage. Before he could say a word, the audience rose to its feet in a standing ovation.

During his speech, he mentioned legislation he had introduced that would allow small American farmers to slaughter and process their own livestock and sell that meat directly to consumers without mandatory federal inspection.

I was stunned. Not because I disagreed with the legislation, but because I hadn't heard about it.

Just two months earlier, I had been with Massie at Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm when President Donald Trump posted on social media that he wanted to make it possible for farmers and ranchers to process their own meat.

I agreed wholeheartedly with the president's sentiment, and obviously Massie did too. But I remember having a conversation with the congressman that day about the reality of making such a change. The president could announce his intentions, but changing federal meat-inspection law would require an act of Congress, not simply an executive order.

I subsequently wrote an article about Massie's PRIME Act, legislation he has championed for years to expand opportunities for small-scale meat processing. With the president now publicly invested in the idea, I wondered whether we might finally have the political momentum to get meaningful meat-processing reform across the finish line.

Then life on the ranch continued. Animals needed feeding, fences needed repairing, customers needed serving, and thousands of dollars continued flowing out of our farming operation every time we took livestock to the butcher.

Meanwhile, Massie introduced the Red Meat Inspection Exemption Act, alongside Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.).

Somehow, I missed it.

I raise cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats. I operate a farm store and restaurant, and I write about the obstacles facing American farmers almost daily. This particular issue is at the very center of my argument for food freedom. I believe farmers should have the right to raise animals, process those animals, and sell the meat directly to informed customers who choose to purchase it.

So when I heard Massie mention the bill, I was genuinely excited. After years of discussing this problem, there was finally new legislation specifically addressing on-farm slaughter and direct-to-consumer meat sales.

Why Can We Process Chickens but Not Cows?

Under existing federal law, qualifying poultry producers can slaughter and process thousands of chickens annually without continuous federal inspection. Some exemptions allow as many as 20,000 birds, depending on the operation and applicable state requirements.

Why chickens?

Anyone who has ever processed poultry knows that removing the intestines from a small bird without contaminating the carcass requires care. Chickens are well-known carriers of Salmonella and Campylobacter, two major causes of foodborne illness.

There is nothing inherently safer about a chicken than a cow.

Yet our regulatory system allows qualifying poultry producers to sell their products while generally prohibiting cattle, pig, sheep, and goat farmers from doing the same without inspected processing.

I am not suggesting we eliminate the poultry exemption. Quite the opposite. I am asking why we have not extended comparable opportunities to other livestock producers.

If we trust farmers to process thousands of chickens for their neighbors, why can't we trust them to process a handful of cattle?

The Forgotten Lamb and Goat Markets

One of the most significant consequences of this legislation could be its impact on American lamb and goat production.

In my area of Texas, the kill and disposal fee alone for a lamb is $130. That is before anyone cuts a chop, grinds the meat, or vacuum-seals a package.

Spread that $130 across 600 or 700 pounds of packaged beef, and it adds approximately 19 to 22 cents per pound. But spread it across the 30 or 40 pounds of meat you might get from a lamb or goat, and suddenly that same fee adds $3.25 to $4.33 per pound.

That is before additional processing charges, transportation, refrigeration, feed, labor, or the cost of raising the animal.

We have animals capable of turning grass and brush into valuable protein. We have farmers willing to raise them and consumers interested in buying locally produced meat. But the economics of getting those animals from pasture to plate can make the entire operation unprofitable.

Allowing farmers to process their own sheep and goats could open an entirely different economic opportunity for small livestock producers.

The Thousands of Dollars We Pay to Sell Our Own Meat

Every time I take animals to the processor, I write a check for thousands of dollars.

These are animals my husband and I have raised, fed, watered, and cared for, sometimes for years. We have invested in land, fencing, pasture management, equipment, veterinary care, and countless hours of labor. We have assumed the risks of drought, disease, predators, and fluctuating markets.

Then, when the animal is finally ready to become food, we must pay someone else a substantial percentage of what we expect to receive for that meat, before selling a single pound.

If my husband could process two steers a month for our farm store and restaurant, we could potentially avoid $3,000 in outside processing charges every month. That is $36,000 annually.

Of course, processing animals ourselves would still involve labor, equipment, sanitation, refrigeration, and other expenses. And the proposed legislation does not clearly establish whether meat processed under this exemption could be served in restaurants.

I am grateful to the representatives who introduced this legislation. It is a meaningful step toward restoring food freedom to American farmers. But I believe it is missing one important provision: restaurants.

If an on-farm restaurant or local restaurant wants to purchase meat directly from a farmer who raised and processed that animal, that should be allowed, provided the restaurant clearly discloses on its menu that the meat was farm-processed without government inspection.

Consumers would know exactly what they were purchasing and could make their own decisions. For a farm like ours, which operates both a farm store and a restaurant, that distinction is enormous. Without restaurant sales, we could not realize the full potential savings of processing our own livestock. With them, we could potentially keep $3,000 a month in our farming operation instead of paying it to outside processors. That is $36,000 annually that could go toward employees, infrastructure, and keeping our farm financially sustainable.

I am grateful to the legislators who are working to expand food freedom, and I respectfully urge them to include restaurants in this legislation. If food freedom is really about informed consent, why should that freedom disappear simply because someone chooses to eat their locally raised beef at a restaurant rather than cook it in their own kitchen?

I also believe we would recover more usable meat. My husband is meticulous about harvesting animals. He knows these animals, has cared for them, and understands the value of every pound. We have seen firsthand how much control a farmer loses when an animal leaves the property for processing.

The bill proposes exemptions involving 25 cattle, 60 pigs, 250 sheep, or 250 goats, although its eligibility rules are more complicated than simply counting animals. I would like to understand why Congress believes a farmer should be trusted to process 25 cattle but not 26.

A Me Neither Movement

Toward the end of Massie's speech, someone in the audience asked him what we could actually do. Could we vote our way out of the situation we find ourselves in?

His answer was no.

He talked about resistance. Be the person who refused to wear the mask on the airplane. Be the person who refused to participate in the COVID card system. Be the person who says no when everyone else is going along.

He also talked about refusing the photograph and body scanner at the airport. He mentioned that his wife never goes through the scanner.

From the audience, I yelled, "Me neither!"

Then other people started joining in. "Me neither! Me neither!"

Massie laughed and said from the stage that what we needed was a "Me Neither" movement, not a "Me Too" movement.

I have written before about refusing the body scanner and facial photograph at the airport. It is a small act of resistance, and sometimes an inconvenient one. But I believe freedom is something we practice, not simply something we vote for every few years.

And I think the same principle applies to food.

We can wait for Congress to pass the PRIME Act or the Red Meat Inspection Exemption Act. We can wait for the USDA to make exceptions, for politicians to recognize the struggles of small farmers, or for another election to deliver the changes we want.

But we also have to build the food systems we believe in. We have to buy from farmers, develop relationships with the people producing our food, and support the local infrastructure that allows communities to feed themselves.

I was standing with Massie at Polyface Farm two months ago, wondering how we could turn the president's words into legislation. This weekend, I learned that he had already taken that step.

Now Congress has an opportunity to act. But the rest of us have work to do, too.

Oman calls for Gulf, Iraq and Iran to unite under one security pact

2026-10-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

This is a way forward. Rember that NATO was founded in the fifties with france and Germany.

skepticism abounded then.

Yet then the EU arose and interna- issues went into the background. this is the same book.

Oman calls for Gulf, Iraq and Iran to unite under one security pact

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/oman-calls-gulf-iraq-and-iran-unite-under-one-security-pact

Antagonism against Iran imposed by the US comes at 'a terrible cost' for the region, Oman's foreign minister says

Omani Foreign Affairs Minister Badr al-Busaidi gives a thumbs up as he leaves his hotel to reach the Omani ambassador's residence for talks between the US and Iran in Geneva, on 26 February 2026

Published date: 27 October 2026 18:26 GMT | Last update: 1 day 6 hours ago

Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi has called on the six Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman, as well as Iraq and Iran, to unite under a single "non-aggression" security pact.

Speaking at the UK's Cambridge University on Monday during a diplomatic visit, Busaidi said it was time for the Gulf "to step up and take responsibility for our own security" and end reliance on "external powers".

"The nuclear issue and the Hormuz issue are both impossible to resolve because external powers continue to define the terms of engagement, while regional powers are unable to take collective responsibility for making their own security arrangements and reach a consensus on them," Busaidi said.

"That is why in my talk today I am making a call for us in the Gulf to step up and take responsibility for our own security, and for us to do so inclusively."

His speech came amid a flurry of diplomatic activity surrounding Iran, including senior officials from the Mecca Defence Alliance meeting Iranian leaders in Tehran on Monday.

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Iran's top security official, Mohsen Rezaei, said the talks showed that US threats had little impact on regional diplomacy and marked the start of a "real transformation".

Members of the alliance - Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan - gathered to negotiate as regional powers strive to end the Israeli-US war against Iran and establish a security framework independent of Washington.

The talks come as the conflict continues to threaten the region and the global economy, amid mounting fears of renewed US-Israeli attacks.

'False perception' of antagonism against Iran

Busaidi said that positioning Iran as the security threat has been "the most damaging of the priorities imposed on the region from the outside".

"This produced an unstable regional system constructed on the entirely false perception that there is a fundamental regional antagonism between Iran and the Arab states of the Gulf," he said.

"There is no such fundamental antagonism."

While problems exist, Arabs and Persians have lived in peace in the Gulf for centuries, he added.

Iran will not trade its nuclear insurance policy for worthless American promises

"Any Gulf security architecture that doesn't include [Iran] is inherently unstable. It's structurally unsound," he said.

"And recent events expose the terrible cost of allowing the false perception of antagonism and exclusion."

Since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran on 28 February, Gulf Arab countries have voiced frustration over the US failing to provide security against retaliatory attacks from Iran, which had targeted US military bases in the region.

The US-Israel war on Iran has inflicted massive economic and security costs on Gulf countries.

By late March, the war had battered the UAE's economy, wiping more than $120bn from market capitalisation on the Dubai and Abu Dhabi stock exchanges, while over 18,400 flights were cancelled.

The economic repercussions of the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have also reverberated worldwide.

Busaidi said the region can no longer rely on cooperation from external partners and that the goal should be a "non-aggression pact" among the Gulf states.

"The time has come when it no longer makes sense just to blame everyone else," he said.

"We need to begin a new regional dialogue on Gulf security, and we need to do so before other solutions are imposed on the region, which would effectively consolidate the pattern of dependency and exclusion for which we urgently need to find an alternative."

He added that over time, external partnerships, such as with the US, would involve less military commitments and more economic and investment partnerships.

Anthropic's IPO filing outlines AI's extraordinary risks

2026-10-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

AI outpaces human capacity to monitor.. As of now. By extension AI can reset its operating conditions.

Integration with human oversight is not working yet. The so-ution is a massive distribution through apps that uts a top on size.

interesting

Anthropic's IPO filing outlines AI's extraordinary risks

Madison Mills

https://www.axios.com/2026/10/26/anthropic-ipo-risk-factors-humanity

Data: Company filings; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios

Anthropic's IPO filing includes an extensive list of extreme warnings — including the chance its own technology could put humanity at risk.

Why it matters: These are the wildest IPO risk factors in history, a jarring collision of Wall Street legalese and what some see as Silicon Valley sci-fi, including catastrophic threats to humanity, blackmailing AI models, and $750 billion in computing commitments.

Driving the news: Anthropic's prospectus includes over 90 pages of risk factors, which make up about a third of the paperwork overall. Among the most eye-popping, the company warns:💥 AI could pose "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity," and could try to manipulate humans;

🔎 Models are becoming harder to monitor as they're getting better at circumventing oversight, and the pace of autonomous work alone could exceed the ability of human reviewers to monitor actions;

💰 AI models generally, including its own, have exhibited behavior resembling blackmail, including attempts to resist being shut down.

Zoom in: Anthropic also disclosed that four of its models gained unauthorized access to real third-party systems during cybersecurity evaluations.In one incident, a model used a discovered password to gain administrator access, collected additional credentials, changed system settings and accessed an individual's personal information.

Anthropic said it found no evidence that the models pursued goals beyond their assigned tasks or attempted to evade oversight.

The big picture: Every company has to lay out risks for their investors to consider when they go public.But Anthropic is the first in modern history to go to such existential extremes.

Friction point: The company also acknowledged that its success depends in large part on its ability to develop the best frontier intelligence.It admits that could butt up against safety practices, adding that model capabilities may then "advance more rapidly than our ability to develop, validate, and implement" corresponding safety measures.

That underscores a fundamental tension critics have warned about: As Anthropic scales and faces pressure from public market investors to build better models than its competitors, its commercial ambitions could increasingly clash with its safety commitments.

By the numbers: The risk factors also include the more typical financial cautions.Anthropic has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to cloud computing and equipment leases, even as customers can reduce their usage relatively quickly.

Some agreements require minimum payments regardless of demand, and the company warns that failing to meet certain obligations could trigger defaults elsewhere, potentially accelerating debt repayments and jeopardizing access to computing infrastructure.

Anthropic also acknowledges that it previously underestimated its compute needs. But overestimating future demand could leave it paying for expensive, underutilized infrastructure.

The bottom line: Anthropic's IPO paperwork is an unusually candid warning about the risks of building a business around technology that its creator acknowledges may become increasingly difficult to control.

The Iran War and the ‘Terrible Power of the Purse’

2026-10-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

We are discovering that great powers do not have the power of coergion agaisnt a peop-e prepared to fight.

It is a repeat of the russian WAR.

Aviodance is the strategy going forward. We do not need WWI over and over.

The Iran War and the ‘Terrible Power of the Purse’

by Alastair Crooke | Oct 27, 2026

https://ronpaulinstitute.org/the-iran-war-and-the-terrible-power-of-the-purse/

The “Grand Design” to “maintain [western civilisation’s] place at the head of the world” (as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio put it) requires the tools for ensuring compliance are two-fold: The creating of destructive revolutionary fervour from below (now termed “regime change”); and secondly, the use of what Theodore Herzl in a now famous phrase termed “the terrible power of the purse to exert irresistible pressure on international politics” in order to co-opt the ruling strata into a power network that would advance the Grand Design “project.”

This is what we are observing with Trump’s war on Iran. The June 2025 Israeli-American attack was primarily a decapitation attack designed to disable both Iran’s political and military leadership, whilst armed Mossad trained elements, the MEK and Baluchi separatists inter alia would be inserted into Iran to foment revolution from the street below. At that time, the former Shah’s son – implausibly – was being presented to the western media as the incoming leader of Iran.

It did not work. And now Netanyahu is touting that Israel has “fresh evidence” that Iran is moving towards producing a weapon component to its nuclear programme. He is telling Trump that he needs now to finish the job of destroying Iran. And to motivate Trump further, leading Israeli daily Ma’ariv reports that Israel stove-piped Likud polling directly into the White House to the effect that Netanyahu might win the Israeli elections on 27 October. According to the report, this Likud information (that runs counter to most other Israeli polls) prompted Trump’s full-hearted election endorsement of Netanyahu.

At the same time, the pro-Zionist billionaire donors are wielding the “terrible power of the purse” at Trump: “We will not accept anything less than the defeat of Iran. If you continue to seek a deal we will pull our financial support from you.”

Senior current and former security officials in Israel however, refute the need for an imminent attack on Iran and Netanyahu’s claim of new evidence of Iran moving toward a nuclear weapon –

IDF Chief of Staff Zamir told Israel’s Channel 13: “We don’t see a need to attack Iran before the elections”;

Leading Israeli military strategist Udi Evental has cautioned:

A war to thwart the elections and democracy, not to thwart Iran’s nuclear programme. Netanyahu, who is suspected of being up to his neck in extraneous political and personal considerations, is unfit to make such a decision. He must not be allowed to.

Whether or not there is such evidence really does not matter. Likely it doesn’t exist. The claim simply forms the peg on which the US is being told to take action to “finish the job” on Iran.

As ever, Netanyahu said in the last days:

Iran is once again trying to develop its weapons of death … There is only one way to remove this threat once and for all – to topple the regime in Iran, and that is my directive to the IDF, the Mossad and the security agencies.

A senior Iranian official told Drop Site that Tehran’s current internal intelligence assessment indicates a high likelihood that large-scale bombing may begin – even before Tuesday’s Israeli elections.

The point here is that Iran does not care who wins in the midterms, nor who will win the U.S. Presidency in 2028. For the Iranian leadership it is all the same. They well understand the concept of the “Grand Design” (how could they not?).

It is well understood in Iran that they are engaged in a long war confronting the entire Atlanticist bloc – Israel, its intelligence services, its arsenals, its satellites, its military industry, and its media machine. It does not matter whether it is a Republican or a Democrat in the White House. Senior Iranian officials see both parties to have been bought by the Zionist terrible power of the purse.

Understanding the “Design” is to understand that the Zionist donor class will never be satisfied by some “deal or trade-off.” They claim it to be certain that Iran ultimately would renege on any mooted acquiescence to U.S. demands. Israelis and their donor class auxiliaries simply do not believe (and repeat incessantly) that Iran would ever accept compliance to Israel, or to accept US political and cultural dominance.

They may be right. Why?

Simply because Iran has a deep civilisation, stretching back to a specifically Persian-Iranian complex of beliefs and practices of the second millennium BCE – Mazdaism, a cosmology of divine drama, represented by the continuing struggle between Light and Darkness.

The renown scholar, Professor Henri Corbin, has argued that “Iran was situated at a centre … it being not only a nation or an empire, but a spiritual universe.” He understood Iran therefore, as a mediating force, both geographically and metaphysically.

For millenia, Iranians have experienced the world as having a clear metaphysical dimension – and history. It is therefore unlikely that they would be attracted to a western nihilistic material posture. Civilisational states, whether Iran or Russia, that embrace contrarian values would never succumb to the “Grand Design.” Hence, they must be destroyed.

What does this metaphysical history mean? It means that Iran is preparing for war, not for a “deal.” Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and personal representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, stated that,

If the question is whether Iran still has the ability to continue missile and drone operations [in the event of an attack], the answer is ‘yes’ … The United States has valuable assets in the region. In the event of war, cables, data centres and artificial intelligence facilities could also come within range. If the conflict begins again, we will have a broader plan.

Everyone must understand that action against Iran carries a cost.

Senior Iranian officials believe that war is coming. Iran has extensive plans (in the event of an attack) that encompasses Saudi Arabia and its leadership, too, a senior Iranian hinted. Karl Miller (from the field) states that in this respect, already a quarter of Saudi oil production has been destroyed and that the damage as a result of AnsarAllah’s retaliatory attacks runs through the whole Saudi production chain – “from wellhead to the gas station” – and that Saudi Arabia has been covering the gap by draining their tanks.

Miller’s report, quoted by Larry Johnson, warns that,

if Saudi Arabia’s export outlets close, its oil has nowhere to go but to its own refineries, its own power plants and its storage tanks. Once the storage is full, that is roughly the ceiling on what Saudi Arabia could keep producing. Close Ras Tanura and Yanbu at the same time, and the Kingdom would have to shut in most of its oil fields. That is exactly the scenario Ansar Allah’s campaign against the pipeline, the Red Sea and the Gulf terminals, is built to produce.

“Any new American or Israeli campaign against Iran will land on a Saudi energy system that has no slack left to absorb it,” Larry Johnson observes.

Any new attack on Iran, by extension, will mean the end to the Gulf as we know it, an end to the petrodollar, and an end to the Gulf as the primary supplier of hard cash to Wall Street and the Tech world.

Nonetheless, Trump reportedly has said that the U.S. is not currently negotiating with Iran, and something will happen “fairly soon.”

Maybe. (But with Trump everything distils into speculation). But if he is bluffing, it won’t work, and his humiliation will be all the deeper.

One man who knows Trump better than most (having authored four books on him), Michael Wolff, opines that if the Democrats win in the 3 November midterms –

They will be trying to impress upon the world that it is ‘a new day.’ Trump, for his part, will be trying to impress upon the world that he still controls the stage. There will be a series of these kinds of things (such as a putative invasion of Cuba, for example) greater than anything we may have imagined. He will not be humbled. The idea of humility does not exist in Donald Trump’s soul. Therefore he will do – the opposite.

Not retreat but attack.

Ex-FBI Director James Comey Charged with Federal Crimes in New Case

2026-10-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Why do you have staff, you idiot? Even Hit-er was not that dumb.

A sad march into the setting sun for ego.

We new at the time that he was an issue.

Ex-FBI Director James Comey Charged with Federal Crimes in New Case

Matt Mercer

26 Oct 20264,602

2:04

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/10/26/ex-fbi-director-james-comey-charged-with-federal-crimes-in-new-case/

Ex-FBI Director James Comey has been charged with federal crimes for actions he took in distributing national defense information to an individual not entitled to receive it, marking the third case filed by Department of Justice prosecutors against him. The charges were filed in federal district court in the District of Columbia.

Could A Democratic Midterm Win Crash Markets?

2026-10-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

I hate to say this, but the markets are due to get crushed.

The AI dream is going up in smoke because it depends on revenue that can not catch up anytime soon.

It is a runaway giant promotion now absorbing rea-ity.

Could A Democratic Midterm Win Crash Markets?

Tuesday, Oct 27, 2026 - 07:30 AM

Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance

The Brazilian selloff over the last 36 hours is a reminder that political outcomes can become catalysts for violent market repricing.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/could-democratic-midterm-win-crash-markets

With the midterm elections just days away, I think investors should consider what a Democratic victory could mean for a stock market already showing signs of exhaustion.

I’ve spent months arguing that extraordinary concentration in technology stocks, speculative excess surrounding artificial intelligence, and uncomfortable valuations have created conditions for a significant correction. Others whom I respect are coming to the same conclusions.

The election doesn’t change those underlying problems, but it could introduce additional catalysts for investors to reconsider the assumptions embedded in their portfolios, an idea I started to explore back in August but want to supplement now, closer to election day.

In my opinion, one of the most underappreciated reasons American financial markets have performed so well over the last two years is that, for all intents and purposes, the United States has been operating with extraordinarily little regulatory resistance.

Regulations haven’t literally disappeared, but Washington’s prevailing philosophy has been unmistakable: loosen restrictions, encourage capital formation, and give businesses as much room to operate as possible. From cryptocurrency and private credit to energy, banking, and technology, the regulatory winds have largely blown in one direction.

I believe this has been an enormous tailwind for equities, even helping investors look past everything from the Iran conflict and geopolitical instability to tariffs, trade uncertainty, and increasingly stretched valuations.

And I think investors would be making a mistake to underestimate what happens if that changes. A Democratic midterm victory, even if it delivers only the House, could represent a tectonic shift in the political environment that has helped propel markets higher. Committee chairmanships and subpoena power would change hands, opening the door to investigations into cryptocurrency exchanges, private credit markets, bank deregulation, corporate conflicts of interest, government contracts, and the AI investment boom.

The Financial Services, Judiciary, and Oversight Committees could haul executives before Congress, demand internal communications, scrutinize mergers and antitrust practices, and investigate everything from opaque private-market valuations (of which there are many) to AI-related financing arrangements and data-center subsidies.

Democrats could also use spending negotiations and congressional hearings to challenge the administration’s deregulatory agenda and pressure the SEC, FTC, DOJ, and banking regulators to justify their enforcement decisions. None of this would require Democrats to control the Senate or White House, and none of it would necessarily require passing a single new law.

If you add the Senate into the equation and Democrats control all of Congress, the implications become even more significant. The administration could face a coordinated legislative blockade, with Democrats controlling spending negotiations, committee investigations, and the ability to stall tax and deregulatory initiatives.

Even with presidential veto power limiting new legislation, Washington could shift from a source of regulatory accommodation to persistent political uncertainty, potentially forcing markets to reprice companies that have benefited most from the current environment.

Congressional investigations can create legal expenses, reputational damage, regulatory referrals, and uncertainty about future profitability, even without new legislation. Industries enjoying premium valuations partly because of favorable regulatory treatment, permissive merger approvals, limited enforcement, or government support could suddenly face an entirely different political calculus.

A technology company trading at 50x earnings doesn’t need its business to collapse to experience significant multiple compression; investors merely need to reassess the assumptions supporting that valuation.

To be clear, a Democratic House couldn’t unilaterally impose sweeping regulations, but it could increase oversight, obstruct the administration’s agenda, and create uncertainty for industries accustomed to Washington’s accommodation. If Democrats also captured the Senate, they could further constrain the administration through legislative gridlock, spending negotiations, and control over confirmations.

And if they win the White House in 2028, the implications for corporate taxation, antitrust enforcement, financial regulation, and government spending could become massive. Markets don’t have to wait for regulations to change before repricing the possibility that they will.

Should Democrats win in 2028, we’re no longer talking about hearings and political theater, but potentially wholesale changes in regulatory philosophy, agency leadership, enforcement priorities, energy policy, and financial oversight. In my opinion, that would represent a massive sea change from the environment investors have grown accustomed to under Trump.

Whether one agrees with deregulation politically is beside the point. Markets have benefited from expectations of a relatively permissive regulatory regime, and investors shouldn’t assume those conditions will last indefinitely.

I wrote about this possibility several months ago, identifying six areas of the market that could (and should) experience meaningful repricing if Democrats regained congressional power. Today I reviewed and supplmented these 6 areas with a few more to consider, which can be read here.

My broader concern is that investors have become so accustomed to a permissive regulatory environment that they’ve stopped treating it as a variable. In my opinion, deregulation has been a powerful tailwind for financial assets over the last two years, even against a backdrop of tariffs, geopolitical instability, and stretched valuations.

The World Is no Longer Made Up of Independent Nations as Globalization Is Sought

2026-10-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

The same arguments heard again. Yet we are becoming better and never because of ego.

focus on the top of the pyramid is an error.

Repairing that error can fix everything and fast. We are working toward just that and AI may make it work forever.

The World Is no Longer Made Up of Independent Nations as Globalization Is Sought

By Gary D. Barnett
GaryDBarnett.com

October 24, 2026

“It is Inconceivable that those with power and wealth would not band together with a common bond, a common interest, and a long-range plan to decide and direct the future of the world.”

~ Milton William (Bill) Cooper, Behold a Pale Horse

It should be obvious by now that nations and countries worldwide are working together as one, even as they pretend to be enemies, which indicates that nefarious theatre is alive and present. If this could be known and accepted by large numbers of the sheep-like populace, attitudes would change, and physical defensive action would necessarily be forthcoming, but the near impossibility of convincing the herd of the truth is an enormous impediment to this knowledge becoming more universal. For truth to be accepted by the brainwashed ignoramuses, ego must first be expelled.

Those known as the ‘people,’ the lower classes of serfs who make up the bulk of societies, are kept busy watching the games, participating in the bread and circus environment, concentrating on the minutia and daily ‘news’ cycles, while avoiding entirely the big picture; looking at everything presented by the State without ever once looking behind the curtain of secrecy. This fact in and of itself, is reason to believe that true revolution, any real awakening, any legitimate negation of rule, will likely never take place by any competent large-scale minority, and certainly not by any majority made up of indoctrinated fools.

Discussions about a one world government, a new world order, a globalized ruling force, have for decades been ignored and written off as ‘conspiracy theory.’ Now, this is being openly and freely exposed by the entirety of the ruling class, so boldly presented, and professed to be the way to equality and prosperity, that it is nearly impossible not to see that this was the plan all along. Those who dismissed the warnings, and avoided what was happening over the past few decades, are now once again not accepting that they were wrong and lied to, but are also going along voluntarily with the plan to forever enslave them. This is very disheartening, because even though all those who predicted this outcome were correct, they are still being ignored as the proletariat hordes are willingly walking into their cages and closing the door behind them without so much as a whimper. Apparently, no lessons have been learned.

This brings us to the crux of the matter. The entirety of the real ruling element of this earth works together as one. This is not something that will happen; it has already happened. The final stages of this transformation of global (one world) rule are not complete, but certainly getting closer to fruition every day. Once the veil was lifted, once the agenda was admitted, once world ‘leaders’ openly promoted this system, the question of the existence of this global takeover plot became indisputable. When humanity has reached a position of near total ignorance, when logic and reasoning have failed to be evident, when dependence has become near universal, nothing has to be hidden any longer, as the lemmings have resigned themselves to their respective mental cages. These cages prohibit the ability to think critically, and therefore societies devolve into slave camps.

Before going further, it is important to grasp the reality of this discussion. One example of many is all that is necessary for any thinking human being to understand the scope of this conspiratorial one world system. That one example is the hoax called ‘covid.’ The fake ‘covid pandemic’ began a mere 7 years ago. What happened was astounding, but would have been impossible unless the controllers of most every country on earth were complicit, working together, and fully aware of the plot long in advance. Of the 200 or so countries in the world, most every single one introduced, implemented, and enforced some form of lockdown, restrictive measures of movement, forced testing, ‘vaccine’ mandates, among many other restrictions, and did so simultaneously. How could that have happened without total collusion among all countries at one level or another? I can tell you that it could not under any circumstances have happened organically, and would have been impossible. It was all a set-up, a global complicit conspiracy, all premeditated, and structured to force the installation of a universal, one world, technocratic prison for humanity. It was simply a test, and was completely successful for the few who run and control the entire world.

Even now as I write this, countries around the world are all on the same page and implementing the same restrictive measures and surveillance structures, whether in Russia, China, Asia, Europe, the U.K., Canada, Australia, South America, Mexico, Central America, Israel, the Middle East, of course the U.S., and many more. The buildout of bad AI (as opposed to good AI) biometrics, mass surveillance, travel restrictions, digitized currency, truth ministries and control of speech, monstrous data centers, destruction of food and energy sources, and on and on. When more lockdowns, ‘health’ mandates, forced ‘vaccines’, 24/7 monitoring, quarantines, and border restrictions surface, all countries will be on board as one. This is truly a one world system in the making, with near universal collusion certainly evident now. This is not being hidden, and anyone with eyes can see this real conspiracy.

There is an ‘elite’ ruling class made up of esoteric occultists who rule the world. They do not do this openly, but in the deep shadows, and they do not do it alone, as most all of humanity has succumbed to a top-down ruling structure. The hierarchy involves the big banking conglomerates, the major corporate players, the entirety of politicians and political systems, and all the enforcers in government and military. The political class in the country is but a conduit to the people, so when the masses support this government, they are actually supporting the ruling system that controls the government. That support is in essence nothing more than a road to serfdom, where the bulk of humanity will be enslaved physically, mentally, and psychologically.

In order to complete the plotted takeover of world governance, to build a fully technocratic ruling system, and to capture humanity so as to encourage them to act as one, and call for complete globalization, a master plan to bring mass cohesion about, will need a solidifying event. As I see it now, that event could be a staged (fake) attack by an outside alien force against the earth. Considering the advanced stage of technology, the constant barrage of UFO and alien presence reporting, the release of so-called UFO files by Trump’s White House, this is no longer science fiction. While this may sound far-fetched, Trump recently stated: “I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant departments and agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOS), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important matters.”

Bill Cooper discussed this possibility 35 years ago, as a claimed attack from alien forces against the entire world, would immediately bring all the common masses together. No other single event I can think of, would have quite that effect. Of course, the threat of a worldwide plague, but that has already been done with the ‘covid’ scam. It could be a threat of an earth-destroying asteroid strike, but what would happen when it did not occur? A military-led fake alien attack could be used to actually kill people everywhere, thereby causing depopulation and a global clamoring for a unified world, both agenda fulfilling events.

No, I have not lost my mind or gone into any state of dementia, but considering this world today, anything is possible concerning the completion of a one world government and a new world order. Regardless, we are headed for hell if the common people do not wake up soon, and realize the threat they are under from the technocratic ruling whores looking down on them.

“There is coming a day, when freedom will just be a essence of the mind, an inner dwelling that was once physically attainable. They will tell you where you can live, and what you can wear and drive, what and how much you can eat and drink, and how to purchase those. They will strip you of your religion, race, gender, national origin, age, color, creed, views and power, and have control of the population. They will set in a new world order, and put you in the back of the line, marked and branded. Everything before will be erased, and the new will be manipulated. And what you believe most, can only be kept secret, for all must fall in line of their govern. Anything outside will be abolished. Even death, will be sought, but restrained. They will execute complete and total control over everything, and be sole owners of your soul. The light, that once guided will go dim, and liberty will be like an unwilled bird, suppressed in the cage of your ribs; wings cut off.”

Over The Past 55 Years The Standard Of Living Of American Workers Has Fallen Much More Than Most People Realize

2026-10-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

A true depression wipes out bank security based on estate priving which keeps been bumped up.

fiat expansion is keeping this in motion but base incomes need to rise to sustain it.

That is what needs to happen. we are doing fine for most who train up. That sector is expanding. The rest need a better system

Over The Past 55 Years The Standard Of Living Of American Workers Has Fallen Much More Than Most People Realize

October 25, 2026 by Michael

If you go to bed at night worried about money and you get up in the morning still worried about money, you are far from alone. In 2026, financial stress is an inescapable reality for most Americans. There is still a very small segment of the population that is doing really well, but the vast majority of us are just trying to find a way to scrape by from month to month. When you work as hard as you can and it just isn’t enough, it can be absolutely soul crushing. As I discussed last week, 44 percent of Americans struggle to even afford the most basic necessities. We can all feel that the middle class is steadily eroding, and in this article I am going to share some shocking new numbers that absolutely prove that this is happening.

When I was growing up, it seemed like almost everyone was living a middle class lifestyle. Homes were very affordable, nobody had anxiety about paying for healthcare, gasoline was extremely cheap, and grocery prices were not a concern at all.

Beef was so cheap in those days, and we ate like kings.

But now who can afford to eat beef on a regular basis?

Perhaps the wealthy can, but for most of us a simple visit to the grocery store is very painful.

In fact, many Americans now skip meals on a regular basis just to save money.

And a single trip to the hospital can mean financial ruin.

This is what life is like in America today.

Yes, we are making far more money than we once did.

But the purchasing power of our money has declined much faster than our paychecks have risen.

Adam Livingston has shared some numbers that show just how dramatically our standard of living has gone down since the U.S. went off the gold standard in 1971…

The fact that median household income is 9.7 times higher than it was in 1971 sounds like great news.

But the bad news is that the amount of gold that the median household income can buy has dropped by 88 percent since 1971.

If you look at the chart above, you will see that our standard of living has really been going downhill since the year 2000.

Needless to say, those at the bottom of the economic pyramid have been hit the hardest.

In a different post, Adam Livingston also pointed out that the federal minimum wage has lost about 95 percent of its value since 1971 when measured in gold…

Nobody can survive on the federal minimum wage today.

$7.25 times 40 hours a week is just $290.

And that is before taxes.

Nobody can afford rent, utilities, food and healthcare on such an income.

In fact, much of the country cannot afford rent, utilities, food and healthcare at this stage.

For 46-year-old Cindy Banda, just keeping the house, providing the basics for her kids and paying for her cancer treatment has become a seemingly impossible task…

The Ford Expedition rumbled to a stop and Cindy Banda’s bedazzled flip-flops landed on the asphalt of the Houston cancer center’s vast parking lot. She threaded through the rows of cars, a tally of patients who gather here to sit with chemotherapy needles or lie on radiation machines.

The elevator dinged open. A year ago in this building, surgeons removed Banda’s right breast, and she still didn’t know whether treatment had expunged the cancer from her body. Doctors had told her it would be tough to beat.

“I’m more of a positive person myself,” Banda said, now sitting with a white wristband in a dim waiting room. But the bills are harder to dismiss, and the single mother with six children in her care repeated something like a mantra. “Keep the house. Keep the cars. And just keep the kids stable.”

Can you identify with her?

I know that a lot of you can.

Even if you have a decent job, trying to survive in this harsh economic environment is exceedingly difficult.

And now decent jobs are disappearing all around us.

31-year-old Lissette Ramos has submitted hundreds of job applications over the past year, and she still can’t find anything…

Gone is the daily office commute. Now, after tending to her cats in the morning, Ramos heads straight to her desk to check the daily job alerts. She spends four to eight hours scouring sites like LinkedIn, Indeed and HiringCafe, customizing her resume for positions that fit her qualifications. At 5 p.m., she feeds her cats, goes for a walk to get in her 10,000 steps and returns home to lift weights before settling in for the evening.

Yet one year and hundreds of applications later, she is still stuck in a job search catch-22 – overqualified for entry-level work yet sidelined for junior and mid-level roles.

I feel so bad for those that are out of work right now.

Most resumes get discarded by AI hiring screeners before they are ever seen by a human…

New technology has made applying for a job easier than ever, flooding recruiters with resumes and creating massive bottlenecks. What’s more, these AI hiring screeners can filter out and reject candidates so employers often don’t see their application.

Rutgers public policy professor Carl Van Horn, who has studied unemployment trends for 40 years, frequently hears from applicants who submit hundreds of resumes without a single human reply. Omit the right keywords and “they’ve put their resume into the abyss,” he said.

If you don’t have personal connections, searching for a job can be so daunting.

Unfortunately, more good jobs are being eliminated with each passing day.

For example, American Express just announced that they will be cutting thousands of jobs…

American Express is cutting thousands of employees as the leading credit card company prepares for artificial intelligence to take over more of its internal processes.

Amex is eliminating 5% of its global workforce and taking a $336 million restructuring charge, CEO Stephen Squeri told analysts Friday on the company’s third-quarter earnings call. The firm had almost 77,000 employees at the end of 2025.

Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec told CNBC in an interview that the restructuring was to make American Express “leaner, more agile, and also to prepare for AI.”

AI has become the number one reason why companies are laying people off.

As AI models become even more sophisticated and even more efficient, the number of jobs lost to AI will only go up.

We have also just learned that Comcast is “gearing up for significant job cuts”…

Comcast is gearing up for significant job cuts in its cable and telecom business in the coming weeks, as the media conglomerate restructures ahead the expected spin-off of NBCUniversal in 2027.

On the company’s third-quarter 2026 earning call, CFO Jason Armstrong said Comcast expects to take a restructuring charge of more than $1 billion in Q4.

“We expect to have a significant charge in the fourth quarter related mostly to our transformation efforts, and I would quantify that at over $1 billion,” he told analysts.

This is just the beginning.

A lot more layoffs are on the way.

If you currently have a good job, my advice would be to hold on to it as tightly as you can, because competition among those that are looking for good jobs has become extremely fierce.

Ultimately, most of us just want to live a middle class lifestyle just like our parents did.

But more seats are being pulled out of the middle class every single day, and economic stress is on the rise all over the nation.

Slate’s Bare-Bones Electric Truck Surprised This Early Reviewer

2026-10-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

this is nice to see.

It proves ev tech is maturing to match historic standards.

It is good.

Slate’s Bare-Bones Electric Truck Surprised This Early Reviewer

An early drive reveals surprising comfort and punch, though this unfinished prototype still has some rough edges.

Photo by: Tedward / YouTube

By: Andrei Nedelea

Oct 25, at 7:13am ET

https://insideevs.com/reviews/813164/slate-ev-truck-review-tedward/

An early reviewer found the Slate surprisingly comfortable, stable, and punchy despite its bare-bones approach.

The prototype still needs polish, with inconsistent steering effort, abrupt pedal response, and controls that feel flimsy.

The Slate starts at $26,400 including destination, with a projected 205-mile range that awaits EPA confirmation.

The Slate truck has manual windows, steel wheels, and, in this prototype, an interior with placeholder panels still awaiting parts of its actual interior. Expectations for luxury were suitably low. When one YouTuber took it for a drive around Massachusetts, they found rather less to complain about than they’d anticipated.

Acceleration surprised Tedward first. Despite an estimated 8-second sprint to 60 mph, the truck feels quick and responsive around town and has enough muscle to pass at around 40 mph. “It’s got plenty. It’s got what it needs,” he says.

Comfort made an even stronger impression. The Slate handles broken pavement and tram tracks well, and a reviewer recovering from a back injury praises its seating position. By the end, he says he has largely forgotten about the pain. One-pedal driving is generally well calibrated, too, though the accelerator can feel abrupt at first.

At highway speeds, Tedward finds the truck stable and planted, without the wind whistle he expected from the mirrors. It has little body roll in corners, feels surefooted, and its rear-wheel-drive layout and apparent agility have him picturing taking it to autocross and winter driving events.

This remains an unfinished truck, however. He notices steering effort changing through a turn and wants more substantial-feeling switchgear. The placeholder panels around the cabin also rattle over bumps, and you really can’t evaluate the truck’s interior in this unfinished state.

The Slate truck’s specs are pretty straightforward. It has a single 181-horsepower electric motor powering the rear wheels. It draws power from a 65-kilowatt-hour lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery pack, with a claimed range of 205 miles, though that's still a manufacturer estimate rather than the official EPA rating.

Slate quotes around 30 minutes for a 20–80% DC charge. Its base price is $24,950, or $26,400 including destination, before taxes, customization, and accessories.

What do you think?

Tedward sees the appeal in a useful little runabout with physical controls and room for personalization. That DIY philosophy extends to accessories, such as the $99.99 hitch receiver, which attaches with four bolts and takes as little as 30 minutes to install.

Potential buyers can now try a truck at Slate’s first Chicago showroom, while some preorder customers have reportedly been offered December delivery windows. The Jeff Bezos-backed automaker is asking buyers to accept fewer features, and the experience behind the wheel needs to make that bargain not feel like too much of a compromise.

A U.S. energy startup has demonstrated a new type of nuclear reactor that uses existing nuclear waste as fuel instead of fresh uranium.

2026-10-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Turns out that running a hotter works.

This was obvious in the past.

Now we spend to do it. waste is a continuing issue, though. Thorium reactor can finish the job.

A U.S. energy startup has demonstrated a new type of nuclear reactor that uses existing nuclear waste as fuel instead of fresh uranium. The system turns a long-term disposal problem into a source of reliable, carbon-free electricity.

Read the full engineering breakdown: https://engineerine.com/nuclear-waste-fuel-reactor/

Unlike conventional reactors that leave most nuclear fuel unused, this technology extracts energy from the most dangerous waste components. By operating at extremely high temperatures, it breaks down long-lived radioactive materials into safer byproducts.

Experts say this approach could fundamentally change how nuclear power is viewed by the public. Reducing waste longevity from thousands of years to a few decades addresses one of the biggest environmental and political concerns around nuclear energy.

The reactors are also designed with passive safety systems, meaning they cool themselves without human intervention or water-based systems. This significantly lowers the risk of meltdown scenarios associated with older reactor designs.

If deployed at scale, existing nuclear waste stockpiles could power cities for generations without new mining. The result could be a cleaner grid, lower energy costs, and a revival of nuclear power as a climate solution.

Author

Engineering Facts

Read the full engineering breakdown: https://engineerine.com/nuclear-waste-fuel-reactor/

If advanced reactors can consume existing nuclear waste and cut its radioactive lifespan from 100,000 years down to 300 years, should we build them everywhere?

ENGINEERINE.COM

New Fast Reactor Runs on Nuclear Waste

Gary VB

Now let's build a town nearby and use the heat to heat water in homes rather than throwing it away in cooling towers.

Richard Fincher

It's only waste, if you waste it.

Folks will say that it costs more than thermal-spectrum pressurised light-water reactors. True. But recycling has never been cheaper, that's not why we do it. It's always going to be cheaper to throw away your "waste" products and let other people deal with the consequences, people who haven't even been born yet. Economics isn't why people recycle.

https://scontent.fyvr3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.99422-6/860180635_1662618265414776_1607331502398207624_n.png?stp=dst-jpg_tt6&cstp=mx1080x1350&ctp=s640x640&_nc_cat=106&_nc_map=urlgen_bucketless&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=x2Qm1AvsZmEQ7kNvwGvcqo1&_nc_oc=AdoRbc0gWd6-Drv8Q68Zb9AHg5ooU1vrMBjr0M-aayMb1Ny1R0pdMbq-qM9cXjxbJ9ctiaZ9Yvf2nZCh3jbYJro5&_nc_zt=14&_nc_ht=scontent.fyvr3-1.fna&_nc_gid=nCZ9kIXk9Z7dpAiQUSD50A&_nc_ss=7b289&oh=00_AQNylWiCGiNnKiBbgkXZPJ8hd0z5k1wLa5ig8fwUiSTYDQ&oe=6AE59B2D

US Designates Helium A Critical Material In Reindustrialization Push To Avoid "Single Point Of Failure"

2026-10-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

We have now proven traps containing economic hydrogen. There is a great amount of He there.

This measure is unnecessary.

We just have never searched for it.

US Designates Helium A Critical Material In Reindustrialization Push To Avoid "Single Point Of Failure"

Friday, Oct 23, 2026 - 06:20 PM

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/us-designates-helium-critical-material-reindustrialization-push-and-avoid-single-point

America's reindustrialization depends on securing reliable, conflict-free supplies of critical materials, including rare earths and other critical metals, most of which are produced and processed overseas.

The Trump administration has made rebuilding and strengthening domestic critical material supply chains a national security priority. Its designation of helium as a critical material on Friday morning extends that effort to now include the industrial gas used for semiconductor manufacturing and many other applications.

The Energy Department's decision earlier today makes the 20th critical material designated by the agency and brings the industrial gas within the Energy Act of 2020's critical materials framework, including closer government monitoring.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright wrote in a statement, "President Trump is bringing back America's manufacturing industry, and that means making sure we have the materials needed to build things in America again."

Wright continued, "Helium is essential to producing the semiconductors and advanced technologies that power our economy. By designating helium as a critical material, we are taking another step toward securing our supply chains, creating American jobs, and ensuring the United States leads the world in energy and technological innovation."

Helium is recovered as a byproduct of natural gas processing and faces growing geopolitical risks in the Gulf area. Qatar's exports have been severely curtailed by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on Qatari infrastructure, while Russia imposed temporary export controls in April.

The good news is that the US remains one of the top helium producers in the world, supplying 81 million cubic meters in 2025, or about 43% of global output. It exported 38 million cubic meters that year.

Helium is critical to applications ranging from chipmaking to medical imaging to quantum computing to magnets to space rockets.

Assistant Energy Secretary Audrey Robertson warned that shortages could become a "single point of failure" for strategically important industries. The Canadian Press quoted her in an interview.

"We need to make sure that we can build those here. And helium is one of those components that could be a single point of failure, where we cannot let that happen. That's why we're designating it within our statutory authority, but I think why it's important is not necessarily for our birthday parties," Robertson said in an interview. "It's really towards the future of American competitiveness and energy security, which we believe is national security."

Designating helium as a critical material under the Energy Act of 2020 brings it within DOE's framework for developing, demonstrating, and commercializing critical material technologies to support America's reindustrialization efforts.

The new designation could help qualifying helium projects access government financing, technical assistance, and partnerships, similar to support provided to rare earth miners.

Bill Gates Faces Court Over Claims COVID Jabs Were 'Lethal Biological Weapons'

2026-10-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

It proceeds. The counter narritive is getting its day in court.. This matters.

Justice may never be served, but testing the facts in court matters.

What happened was perhaps a true crime outside any nation state. It cannot be unique. so we need this.

Bill Gates Faces Court Over Claims COVID Jabs Were 'Lethal Biological Weapons'

Sunday, Oct 25, 2026 - 12:20 PM

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/bill-gates-faces-court-over-claims-covid-jabs-were-lethal-biological-weapons

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity,

In a packed courtroom in Leeuwarden, the official COVID story is being put on trial as Dutch plaintiffs demand personal liability from Bill Gates, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, former Prime Minister Mark Rutte and others for what their lawyer calls a coordinated global deception.

The civil case, filed in 2023, alleges the mRNA injections functioned as lethal biological weapons rolled out through unlawful public deception tied to the World Economic Forum's Great Reset.

Two of the original seven plaintiffs have already died. Defendants' lawyers rejected every claim, repeating that the shots were safe and effective and developed through normal science.

The substantive hearing on the merits took place on October 22, 2026 before three judges at the District Court of Northern Netherlands. Lawyer Peter Stassen told the court the injections were not ordinary medical products.

"These injections are a biological weapon," Stassen declared. "Global deployment of this biological weapon can only take place through the unlawful deception of the public on a global scale."

He added that "COVID-19 injections are lethal, or at least highly harmful to human health and fertility" and that "the defendants are implementers of the 'COVID-19: The Great Reset' project and are GUILTY of this deception."

Outside the courthouse Stassen told supporters, "COVID-19 was not a disease; It was a project." He said the plaintiffs had crucial evidence showing the official narrative was false.

Supporters gathered with banners while critics outside and in mainstream outlets called the arguments extreme conspiracy theories.

The judge noted the case was highly unusual, with the two sides diametrically opposed: one side arguing there was no virus, that the injections were a bioweapon and that genocide had occurred; the other side insisting the opposite.

Expert witness material submitted by the plaintiffs included statements from Sasha Latypova, former Pfizer scientist Mike Yeadon, Catherine Austin Fitts and others.

Latypova has described the response as a coordinated government effort originating in changes to U.S. law over roughly 25 years that enabled the global program, rather than originating solely in pharmaceutical companies. She has spoken of dark practices, including the slow killing of disabled children to maximize profits, and of people who appeared to enjoy the process.

Defendants' representatives denied all allegations. Gates's lawyer stated that his client denies every accusation and that the claims rest on incorrect premises, with nothing in the large dossier attributing liability to him.

Bourla's side repeated that the vaccines are proven safe and effective, with only rare side effects as with any vaccine. The State's lawyer warned against unfounded personal accusations that could deter scientists and officials from acting in future crises, asking which scientist would still stick their neck out. Some defendants' lawyers noted that their clients had received hate messages and death threats.

A ruling is not expected before December 9, 2026 and could come as late as the end of February 2027. The case survived earlier jurisdiction challenges, including Gates's attempt to argue the Dutch court lacked authority over him.

The plaintiffs' dossier runs to thousands of pages plus video evidence. Stassen has said the parties stand opposed and only one side can be telling the truth, with the court tasked to seek that truth.

The timing coincides with fresh public comments from Gates. He has stated that the COVID pandemic "didn't work out the way I expected" and warned that over the next several years there will be "attacks" different in scale from anything seen before.

Critics interpret the first remark as implying an expected outcome of higher lethality, fuller compliance, universal mRNA uptake and permanent digital passports for daily life.

These remarks sit against Gates's longer pattern of pandemic preparedness and funding. Through the Gates Foundation he co-founded CEPI, which has sought billions more for next-pandemic vaccines while the WHO and World Bank deploy large sums across dozens of nations.

CEPI has directed tens of millions to Moderna for mRNA platforms, including work on an Ebola jab using the same technology as the COVID product.

Gates has recently separately predicted that AI combined with ill-intent actors could drive events causing a billion deaths, describing AI as an evolutionary event more dangerous than previous technologies, and has warned of grim cyberattack surprises and bioterror risks now far higher than natural pandemics.

The Dutch proceedings remain a civil damages action, not a criminal trial. Plaintiffs seek compensation for physical and psychological injuries they attribute to the injections and the policies that pushed them.

Whether the court accepts the bioweapon and Great Reset framing, or accepts the defense that the shots were ordinary safe-and-effective vaccines, will be decided on the written record and the arguments heard in Leeuwarden.

The case places the official preferred narrative under formal judicial scrutiny for the first time at this level. Supporters outside the court have framed it as a rare chance for accountability.

US reinvents rare earth refining as China guards know-how

2026-10-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

There is nothing so common as a young man searching for ore of any kind . just say the word.

Every attempt to weaponize ownership of ore processing has been overturned by just that.

So we answer Chinese error.

it is underway. This is a war we cannot be defeated in.

US reinvents rare earth refining as China guards know-how

Washington backs a wide range of homegrown refining methods, hoping one will break Beijing’s decades-long grip on rare earths

by Jeff Pao

October 23, 2026

Neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) metal is a key material for advanced magnet manufacturing. Photo: MP Materials

With Beijing keeping its rare earth refining technology, equipment and technicians at home, Washington is funding private refiners to develop new ways to process the strategic metals rather than copying Chinese methods.

A senior US official told Asia Times that American refiners would rely on their own innovation to make the country self-sufficient in critical minerals, and that she was confident they would succeed.

Industry experts, however, said some US projects would still have to pay high costs to learn China’s traditional extraction method, which Chinese firms have spent more than two decades perfecting.

“Over the last 20 years, we’ve developed a lot of innovation, but we didn’t develop the manufacturing know-how,” Audrey Robertson, assistant secretary of energy at the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation of the US Department of Energy (DOE), told Asia Times at the Financial Times Metals & Mining Summit in London on October 15.

“We might develop the intellectual property, but we don’t execute on building the big factory. There’s definitely going to be an increased focus on getting innovation that starts and stays in the United States, and the ability to build out the critical mineral processing with new and innovative methods,” she said.

She said the US would not close the supply chain gap by doing what it had been doing for the past 20 years, but by finding new solutions and new ways of doing things.

Washington’s push comes as Beijing has steadily tightened its grip on rare earths, restricting exports of the metals as well as the technology and people needed to refine them.

In December 2023, Beijing banned exports of rare earth processing and magnet-making technologies. In June, it cut off supplies of China-origin dual-use items to US producers MP Materials and USA Rare Earth. Last month, it tightened exit rules to stop skilled technicians, including rare earth experts, from leaving the country.

Since last year, the Trump administration has taken a series of measures to boost the country’s capability in rare earth refining:In August 2025, the Pentagon awarded US$10 million to NioCorp’s Elk Creek project in Nebraska, which is set to become the first US niobium mine in late 2029. The project plans an on-site plant to process niobium, scandium and titanium and has tested separating rare earths from its ore. Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited the site on October 14, 2026.

Earlier this year, the DOE set up the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation to bring together its research on mining, processing, metallurgy, recycling, magnets and semiconductors.

On June 2, the office selected the Colorado School of Mines and Phoenix Tailings for US$134 million to build two rare earth demonstration facilities that turn mining and industrial waste into rare earth metals.

On August 7, the office launched the US$100 million Providing Opportunities for Specialized Education in Critical Technologies (PROSPECT) initiative to train students.

Robertson said the US faces a workforce shortage in the critical mineral sector and that the PROSPECT initiative aims to double the number of mining and minerals graduates within two years.

“The US has a history of having problems and then finding solutions. Twenty years ago, we were the world’s largest importer of oil and natural gas. Now we are the largest exporter of both,” she said. “We changed that not by competing with OPEC but by innovating in the US. We are going to attack critical minerals and processing with the same drive to solve the problem.”

Robertson did not say what new methods the US will use, but company disclosures point to continuous ion chromatography (CIC) and electrochemical separation.

In China, refiners dissolve the minerals in strong acid, mix the solution with kerosene and chemicals such as P507 and P204, and pass it through hundreds of mixing and settling tanks. A stronger acid then strips out each element so it can be precipitated.

US firms using CIC also dissolve minerals in acid, then dilute the solution with water and run it through resin-filled columns, where each element moves at its own speed and emerges separately. The US dropped chromatography in the 1950s due to cost concerns. With rare earths now dubbed the new gold, the cost is worth it.

In electrochemical separation, rare earths are dissolved in molten salt at about 700°C and an electric current is applied. As each element turns into metal at a slightly different voltage, they can be collected separately.

“I think the innovation will be divided. There are certain mainstream technologies that are relatively widely available, but in the rare earth and magnet value chain, this is a piece of process capability that the West has transferred to China and doesn’t have anymore,” said Michel Van Hoey, a senior partner at McKinsey, at the same panel.

He said China has continued to advance that capability over the past 40 years, and the West will have to catch up to close the gap if it wants to be independent of China.

US refiners are taking different approaches.Solvent extraction: MP Materials, NioCorp’s Elk Creek project, Aclara Resources Inc

CIC: ReElement Technologies, USA Rare Earth, The Colorado School of Mines’ new facility

Electrochemical separation: Phoenix Tailings

On Tuesday, Phoenix Tailings said it will build Freedom Separation, a US$375 million rare earth separation facility in Rochester, New York, to process more than 18,000 tons of feedstock into over 4,400 tons of separated rare earth oxides a year by 2028. In June, the company secured a US$500 million conditional loan from the Pentagon and a US$66 million DOE grant.

Japan’s yttrium crunch

Japan has felt the squeeze most. After Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said last November that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could pose an existential threat to Japan, Beijing on January 6 banned exports of dual-use items, including some rare earths, to Japanese military users.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Japan could run out of yttrium within months and had asked Washington to help press Beijing to ease its curbs.

Yttrium, a heat-resistant metal, coats jet engines and chipmaking equipment, and US defense supply chains rely on Japanese components that contain it. Yttrium oxide prices outside China have jumped 179-fold in two years to US$1,150 per kilogram, against US$9 in China, according to Argus.

“It is true that exports of yttrium have stalled not only to Japan but worldwide, causing a supply-demand crunch and soaring prices,” an official at Japan’s industry ministry told the media on Wednesday.

On October 13, Toronto-listed Aclara Resources said its planned heavy rare earth separation facility at the Port of Vinton in Louisiana would cost about US$494 million. In the second half of 2028, it is expected to produce about 1,350 tons of yttrium oxide a year, along with neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr), dysprosium, terbium, gadolinium and samarium oxides.

Laura Konkel, senior counsel at Akin Gump, expects some rare earth projects to succeed. Photo: Asia

Aclara will use large-scale solvent extraction to separate mixed rare earth carbonate shipped from its projects in Brazil and Chile. It’s unclear whether the company will source P507 and P204 extractants from China or buy more expensive substitutes in the US and Germany.

Asked by Asia Times whether Washington’s critical mineral strategy would work, Laura Konkel, senior counsel at law firm Akin Gump, said not every project in the US will succeed, but the sheer number of deals and an unprecedented scale of government capital make success more likely, with the onus now on the industry to deliver on timelines and milestones.

“The Economics Are Abysmal”: Harris Kupperman Warns The Crash Is Here

2026-10-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Understand that AI is a base data crunching program and zero evidence of any thing smart. New is not understood.

What we have is pure stock promotion with the usefu running dogs.

Bad end is coming. what is good is free so far. How is this working?

“The Economics Are Abysmal”: Harris Kupperman Warns The Crash Is Here

Harris Kupperman lays out why he believes the AI boom is approaching a reckoning, how a wave of bankruptcies could ripple through the broader economy, and where he’s positioning.

Quoth the Raven

Oct 22, 2026

I’ve long admired Harris Kupperman, the founder of Praetorian Capital, for his ability to cut through noise and spot big-picture themes before they become consensus.

Harris just released his thoughts on markets, AI and his positions in his Q3 investor letter, which I’m happy to share with my subscribers. Harris warns that the long-awaited AI reckoning is finally here, and a broader market crash may be just beginning.

In his latest Q3 letter, Harris explores the increasingly unsustainable economics of the AI boom, the potential for a wave of bankruptcies to ripple through financial markets and the broader economy, and why he’s positioning his portfolio for a major downturn by raising cash and turning to U.S. government bonds.

He also reviews his current long positions and explains why he remains bullish on precious metals, sees significant upside in one little talked about sector as AI reshapes the labor market, and talks undervalued real estate assets and emerging markets in the future. (Photos, charts and article links added for emphasis by QTR).

“Highly Unlikely” AI Reaches Profitability As Is

I like to say that most things in finance are rather obvious; it’s the timing that’s difficult. In that vein, it’s always been rather obvious that the economics of AI are absolutely abysmal.

I think it’s highly unlikely for the industry to ever reach profitability as currently configured, as it would need a few percent of US GDP annually in revenue to break even on the capital already invested, and may need as much as ten percent of GDP to break even on the capital that many analysts expected to be invested by 2030. The numbers just cannot work—especially as tech tends to be deflationary.

How would anyone ever expect the US to be spending a few trillion dollars annually on AI, when software, which is already ubiquitous, and maturing, is currently around half a trillion of US spending?

Think back to the railroads; they became dominant modes of transport, but they periodically destabilized the US economy as they went bankrupt in repeated waves during the 1800s. Then, someone picked up the pieces, and railroad construction continued. I think we’re at a similar point in the AI journey. I definitely don’t think that AI is over, or that the buildout won’t continue. I just think a phase of rationalization is upon us.

It’s said that you go broke slowly, then all at once. I think this is a good mindset for how the AI sector will also fail. Slowly, then all at once.

The first signpost will be that the funding gets cut off, and I think we’re finally witnessing that. As funding grows more scarce and expensive, the AI sector will struggle to support unprofitable operations, and I expect to see many bankruptcies of neoclouds, followed by the large frontier AI labs. While they may have interesting assets, they also have hundreds of billions of contingent liabilities along with purchase commitments that I cannot imagine anyone wants to fund, especially if chip costs come crashing down with reduced demand.

Following bankruptcy and the rejection of these liabilities, I then assume that they get folded into the hyper-scalers.

However, these will be incredibly messy and complex bankruptcies. Just think back to how messy Enron was, with hundreds of SPVs and all sorts of future commitments over pipelines, utilities and whatnot. This will be worse, as many of the SPVs have guarantees from partners that will want to escape those guarantees.

I assume that all of this will cascade through the economy and the stock market, especially given how material semiconductors and AI have become as a percentage of US equity indexes. If you take away the performance from AI driven sectors, most stocks have done quite poorly over the past few years, and the stock market would be a good deal lower. I think stocks will revert there as AI spending slows.

AI capital expenditures are responsible for roughly three percent of US GDP currently and are predicted to grow further in 2027. While it’s harder to quantify the size of the Wealth Effect on consumer spending, it wouldn’t surprise me if it were over ten percent of US GDP.

Being conservative, I feel pretty confident in saying that the AI mania is responsible for well over ten percent of US GDP, and should anything happen to AI, even if it’s only a slow-down in spending, it would materially slow US GDP, and possibly even send it into decline, especially if the stock market collapsed at the same time.

I have gone through two US economic down-cycles during my investing career, along with a COVID panic. In all three cases, owning almost any part of the yield curve was the winning strategy—even if guys doing more exotic trades got all of the accolades. Having lost money shorting financials too early during the GFC, and then buying volatility too early during the COVID panic, I’ve decided that I’m going to focus on what’s worked in all three prior equity smashes, I’m going to buy US government paper. As of writing this to you, we already own some SOFR futures along with call spreads. I plan to add should the trade start working.

I know that the government is functionally insolvent, and that during “Project Zimbabwe” debt gets debased, but there are moments in time where fixed income can rally further than anyone can ever imagine. While bonds aren’t my favorite asset, they’re a blunt tool to express a view. As far as I’m concerned, outside of AI, the Wealth Effect driven by the AI mania, and health care for aging boomers, the rest of the economy is already effectively in a deep recession. I expect this recession to accelerate and broaden should AI spending slow, and equities sell off as AI businesses fail.

With a Congress that’s likely to swing to the left following November’s elections, I think that a fiscal response will be off the table until things get really bad. Therefore, early in this crisis, the only tool that the government will have to combat the market’s collapse is monetary intervention, and they’re likely to give it all they have. My thinking is we own bonds first, and then after the smash, we switch to debasement assets. (Though I am a bit skeptical on how bonds further out on the duration curve will perform, given current debt levels and the potential for inflation to remain elevated).

In preparation for this, I’ve taken exposure down and built cash. I’ve dramatically dialed down exposure to any businesses that are sensitive to GDP. What’s left on our sheets are businesses…that did surprisingly well coming out of the GFC, businesses tied to volatility…and businesses that do well with lower interest rates. We’ve been preparing for a deep and lasting recession for a while now.

It’s been postponed by the AI mania and the Wealth Effect that has built up around that mania. It’s been frustrating to have reduced exposure and a bearish outlook as equity markets rally. It’s been irritating to have missed out on an unsustainable mania in AI. Now, I think we’re finally at the point where this all tumbles down.

I’ve never thought that we could go fully into “Project Zimbabwe” without one last crash that gives government officials the mandate to blatantly debase. It’s hard to know exactly when this happens, but I have my roadmap, and I’m content to continue with reduced exposure. As of right now, I am far more concerned with the potential for substantial downside from here, the upside can come later.

Genetically Engineered War Dogs for 134 Pound Cyborg Dire Wolves Now – Later 600 Pound Wolves

2026-10-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

crazy time and an invitation to been banned. Otherwise it is promotion of a bad idea. seen that before.

This can be used on humans.

Ouch.

Genetically Engineered War Dogs for 134 Pound Cyborg Dire Wolves Now – Later 600 Pound Wolves

October 22, 2026 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2026/10/genetically-engineered-war-dogs-that-wear-cyber-gear.html

Colossal Biosciences’ Ben Lamm and Andruil’s Palmer Luckey are genetically engineer war dogs for the U.S. military, law enforcement, and other emergency response teams. They announced its emergence from stealth as Warhound, armed with $200 million in funding from investors including In-Q-Tel, Sequoia, and 8VC. The round values the company at $1.2 billion. Palmer Luckey thinks they can make 600 pound Wolves that wear 150 pounds of armor.

Warhound will have dogs could be enhanced for health, longevity, and “for things like speed and agility or enhance olfactory sensors for bomb sniffing and whatnot,” he said. His team looked at the top-performing working dog breeds — the Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd — taking the cell lines from them and putting them in a biobank. From there, they will edit the genes, adding the ones that will make the dogs perform better while taking out the ones that won’t, to create “a new type of dog.”

As of mid-October 2026, the Colossal Biosciences “dire wolves” (Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi) are essentially full-grown or very close to it.They are about 134 pounds and 7 feet long.

Current sizes (from their second-birthday/year-2 checkups)

Romulus (male, born Oct 1, 2024): 134 pounds (~61 kg), nearly 7 feet from nose to tail.

Remus (male, born Oct 1, 2024): 132 pounds (~60 kg), also nearly 7 feet from nose to tail.

Khaleesi (female, born Jan 30, 2025): 102 pounds (~46 kg). She is still a bit younger and is expected to stay roughly 20% smaller than her brothers (normal sexual dimorphism).

Andruil, meanwhile, will provide software and hardware enhancement for items such as dog protection vests and eye goggles to assist the dogs and their handlers with matters like situational awareness and coordination.

He said to imagine, for example, bulletproof vests that have data sensors

The dogs will perform tasks that are dangerous for humans or difficult for machines, like bomb detection, searches, and other specialized operations. In its launch announcement, the company said that more than 80% of the working dogs used by the U.S. military come from Europe and less than half of them are fit for service.

At least 10 prominent athletes DIED UNEXPECTEDLY or were struck by anomalous medical emergencies in JUST the last 21 days.

2026-10-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

These conform to heart myocarditus deaths. these are the chaps who train up to the edge.

The rest of us, not so much.

This is what i see.

Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

https://x.com/NicHulscher/status/2112966949386817943/video/1

At least 10 prominent athletes DIED UNEXPECTEDLY or were struck by anomalous medical emergencies in JUST the last 21 days. Large numbers of sports stars continue to drop like flies since the mRNA gene therapies were rolled out. In October 2026 ALONE: • Jalen Hurts, 28 (NFL, Philadelphia Eagles) — Blood clots in BOTH lungs • Allen Bailey, 37 (Former NFL, Chiefs/Falcons) — Found DEAD at home • Ben Kindel, 19 (NHL, Pittsburgh Penguins) — Medical emergency on team flight • Kasey Redfern, 35 (Former NFL, Lions/Falcons) — DEAD from CNS lymphoma • DJ Jones, 18 (NCAA Football, Missouri Tigers) — HEART TRANSPLANT • Heidi Burge Horton, 54 (Former WNBA, LA Sparks/Washington Mystics) — DEAD from brain cancer • Hyron Andrews, 31 (Professional Rugby, Johannesburg Lions) — DEAD from aortic dissection • Cheryl Waaka, 56 (Former Rugby, New Zealand Black Ferns) — DEAD from bowel cancer • Eirik Skadsdammen, 45 (Former Pro Hockey, Storhamar/Norway) — DEAD from cardiac arrest • Jack Davies, 24 (Welsh Rugby, RGC/Caernarfon) — DEAD, cause undisclosed This is NOT normal.

10:59 AM · Oct 21, 2026·211.8K

Views

Report: U.S., Israel Draft Plans for Renewed Iran Strikes After Midterms — ‘Short, Intense’ Operation

2026-10-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

WAR means boots on the ground. And here we are. They are marching.

Persian power was captured by an ancient dream to power annd can not fade.

The british used expeditionary forces. The USA, not so much.

Report: U.S., Israel Draft Plans for Renewed Iran Strikes After Midterms — ‘Short, Intense’ Operation

People walk past a banner depicting the portraits of Iran's former supreme leader Ayatolla

Joshua Klein 21 Oct 2026749

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/10/21/report-u-s-israel-draft-plans-renewed-iran-strikes-after-midterms/

The United States and Israel have developed detailed plans for renewed military strikes against Iran following the November 3 midterm elections, as American forces build up across the Middle East and the Pentagon quietly repositions troops amid fears of Iranian retaliation, according to reports Wednesday.

The plans include a “short, intense” military campaign potentially lasting three days, targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, missile and drone arsenals, and energy infrastructure, the New York Times reported, citing American officials and others briefed on the preparations.

Some military planners believe a concentrated offensive could inflict enough damage on Iran’s already battered economy to force Tehran into concessions, although others question whether additional strikes would break the diplomatic deadlock.

American and Israeli forces have intensified joint exercises, including flights over Iraq rehearsing potential attacks, while a substantial U.S. military buildup is expected to be in place by early November.

The deployments are expected to bring three American aircraft carriers, thousands of Marines, additional fighter aircraft, and special operations forces into the region, expanding President Donald Trump’s military options as the confrontation with Tehran continues.

The timing would follow Trump’s pledge this month not to launch new American strikes before the November 3 elections. The president has not authorized another offensive and could ultimately decide against one.

The preparations follow an unannounced Monday visit to Israel by War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ovda Air Base and discussed the possibility of renewed strikes against Iran.

Hegseth subsequently confirmed meeting Netanyahu but declined to disclose their conversation, while emphasizing that American forces were prepared to carry out additional operations if ordered.

“We want to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. We’re prepared to contribute any way necessary,” Hegseth told reporters Tuesday.

“We’ve done historic devastation to their military capabilities, but if they’re not willing to give it up and the president asks to go even further — we’re prepared,” he added.

The meeting came a day after Trump endorsed Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s October 27 election, explicitly warning that the United States and Israel would finish their campaign against Iran unless Tehran rapidly changed course.

“Iran has been systematically destroyed, both Militarily and Financially, and unless they change their ways, rapidly, we will soon finish the job,” Trump warned in his endorsement.

Trump also warned that replacing Netanyahu could leave Washington to confront Tehran alone, underscoring the importance he placed on their partnership.

The following day, Netanyahu reinforced that message during a conversation with Trump, telling him, “Donald, you said we have a job to finish, and we’ll finish it together.”

“You’re a great warrior, and we’ll prove that very soon,” Trump replied.

That same day, dozens of Israeli fighter jets and refueling aircraft flew more than 800 miles through Syrian and Iraqi airspace toward Iran’s western border in what officials described as a major demonstration of military power.

The aircraft turned back without entering Iranian airspace after following a route resembling those used in previous strikes against Iran.

Israel notified Washington ahead of the exercise, which Israeli officials characterized as a show of force and deterrence.

The activity followed an earlier Israeli proposal for a substantially larger offensive that Trump reportedly opposed.

According to the Financial Times, Netanyahu had sought a multi-day bombing campaign around October 10, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, power plants, other infrastructure, and sites associated with the ruling regime.

Israel reportedly supplied Washington with an updated target list based on new intelligence, including facilities not previously attacked, for an operation expected to exceed the intensity of the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes in February.

Trump opposed resuming major hostilities before the midterms, according to the newspaper. Israeli military sources have disputed aspects of the reported preparations.

The plans for a potential post-election offensive come as the Pentagon strengthens its regional forces while reducing the exposure of troops stationed at vulnerable installations.

NBC News reported Wednesday that American personnel have been quietly moved from bases in Jordan, Qatar, and Kuwait as a precaution against possible Iranian retaliation.

Smaller contingents remain at the installations to maintain air defenses and other essential security operations.

U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Timothy Hawkins said the military routinely adjusts deployments to maintain readiness but declined to discuss specific movements for operational security reasons.

American diplomatic missions have also taken precautions. The State Department ordered the departure of non-emergency personnel and eligible family members from Saudi Arabia amid attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis, while other regional posts have restricted operations.

The heightened readiness comes as Iranian officials threaten retaliation extending well beyond American and Israeli military targets.

Tehran has warned that another offensive could trigger attacks on regional energy infrastructure, including facilities belonging to U.S. allies, as well as data centers and undersea communications cables.

An Iranian security official told state-run Press TV that the regime was prepared for an “all-out, multi-layered, and comprehensive war,” while other officials rejected suggestions that Washington could dictate the duration or limits of another confrontation.

Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, visited Tehran this week in an effort to revive mediation between Washington and the Iranian regime.

The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Tuesday that Munir conveyed an American warning demanding nuclear concessions or risking a large-scale military attack, potentially including strikes against Iran’s heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility.

The account, based on leaks cited by the Lebanese newspaper, has not been independently confirmed.

Pickaxe Mountain is also among the sites American military planners have considered for possible strikes, according to NBC News, although its deeply buried infrastructure presents significant challenges for conventional bombing operations.

The diplomatic impasse centers on Tehran’s refusal to accept Washington’s nuclear demands.

The United States insists that any agreement eliminate Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon, while Iranian officials are pressing for an end to the war, relief from the American blockade, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz before addressing substantive nuclear concessions.

Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, underscored Tehran’s refusal to relinquish its enriched nuclear material during Munir’s visit.

“Not a single gram of enriched uranium will be removed from Iran,” Rezaei declared Tuesday.

“There will be no negotiations until the United States takes steps to build trust,” he added, demanding that Washington first fulfill Tehran’s conditions.

The standoff comes as Netanyahu openly calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling regime.

“The regime in Iran has still not learned its lesson,” Netanyahu declared Wednesday during an Israeli military officers’ graduation ceremony, accusing Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei of continuing his father’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“There is only one way to remove this threat once and for all: overthrow the regime in Iran,” Netanyahu said. “And that is my directive to the IDF, the Mossad, and the security branches.”

Trump, meanwhile, declared Wednesday that the United States had already devastated Iran’s nuclear capabilities and defeated the regime militarily and financially, while insisting that the campaign’s gains must be made permanent.

“We obliterated Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity with Operation Midnight Hammer, a beautiful operation, and Operation Epic Fury,” Trump said during remarks in South Carolina.

“And we defeated them militarily, financially, and otherwise,” he added. “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”

The president suggested that American forces could withdraw immediately but that Washington was determined to secure a lasting outcome.

“We could leave now, but we want to make sure it lasts for a long time,” Trump said.

A day earlier, Trump had stressed that the damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear program would be insufficient if Tehran could rebuild it in the years ahead.

“We could leave right now, and we would have done a good job, a great job,” Trump said Tuesday. “But it’s not good enough for me. We have to make sure it doesn’t happen in five years, six years, ten years.”

The president also warned that the conflict would end “one way or the other very quickly,” presenting Tehran with a choice between reaching an agreement and facing further military action.

“We just have to make a final decision,” Trump said. “Which way do we want to win? Do we want to win the nice way or the not nice way?”

Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.

We are, moment by moment, doing less sensing, navigating, remembering, walking, choosing, and attending

2026-10-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

I am not so sure on this.

Do it once right and you are good forever.

we secure thousands of core activities that we never give up.

We are, moment by moment, doing less sensing, navigating, remembering, walking, choosing, and attending

Photo by Jonas Bendiksen/Magnum

Melanie Challenger

researches, writes and broadcasts on the nature of life and humanity’s place within it. Her books include On Extinction (2011), How to Be Animal (2021) and Alive (2026). She is also host of the podcast The Psychosphere, as well as an award-winning poet and librettist for opera and oratorios, and a National Geographic Explorer. Internationally active in bioethics, she is vice president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the co-founder of the project Animals in the Room, and deputy co-chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

Edited byPam Weintraub

3,400 words

https://aeon.co/essays/the-more-we-rely-on-tech-the-more-we-deskill-our-bodies?

It is almost four o’clock in the morning. As a woman in my late 40s, I have become prone to waking at this witching hour, as the early sunlight meets the night, sliding across the earth like a red tide. With the rest of my household asleep, and still half in and out of wakefulness myself, I take hold of my phone. With scarcely a thought, I switch from one app to another, scrolling through images and opinions and adverts for no discernible reason beyond habit.

Later, I head for my office and open my laptop to a slew of half-completed documents and an inbox brimming with emails. My stress levels begin to nudge upwards. I have vague memories of what my professional life felt like before smartphones and video calls. I used to do my writing by hand. And I could concentrate for hours at a time, getting little upticks of arousal from lifting my head from the page, letting the hold on my pen loosen, and gazing at the life beyond my window, the light softening on my skin and eyes like snowfall on warm tarmac.

Nowadays, my productive bursts come from caffeine and sugary or salty snacks, even if I try to pick the healthier ones, and from checking my emails or picking up my phone to update my inbox. By the end of the day, the sheer volume of work I expect myself to do, now that digital tools make so much possible, has kept me nailed to my seat. Another day has passed and the hope I’d had that I might have time for a run or a hike outside has been dashed again. I wish I could say that this is atypical. Yet, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I went from hours spent in nature and on physical activities to a passive, phone-addicted individual, meeting people first and sometimes only online. I am not alone.

We have fallen into habits that are steadily deskilling the human body, eroding capacities honed by evolution to support our wellbeing as we move through the world. Some of these capacities are weakening through disuse: we have come to rely on our phones, for example, and now, increasingly, on AI, to rapidly do work that would once have required something more physical – like looking around, or asking someone, or going to find and consult a book. Reliance on GPS may weaken both our spatial attention and the fluency of our wayfinding. In surrendering to a quick technological fix, we are, moment by moment, doing less sensing, navigating, remembering, walking, choosing, and attending. Other capacities are being retrained by machines and algorithms to work against us: for instance, smartphones and chatbots can train us to keep reaching for them even when we no longer enjoy using them, turning a conscious choice into an automatic habit and a colossal waste of time. The body that results is less able to assess its own condition, improvise and regulate itself. The crucial distinction is between technologies that strengthen our capacities and those that repeatedly substitute for the actions through which those capacities are formed.

Algorithms that regurgitate patterns and recommendations can release us from the effort of exploration and disrupt the play and curiosity from which preferences are formed and understood.

This is a strange turn of events for an animal whose success comes mostly from the extraordinary ability to learn through experience. It would be easy to blame our deskilled bodies on the machines themselves. But, for centuries, modern human societies have been sold the lie that we are machines.

Long before the digital revolution, René Descartes described the body as a machine governed by physical laws, declaring that animals such as ‘worms and flies and caterpillars move mechanically’. But he treated rational thought as a separate and uniquely human power. The body might behave like a machine, but the thinking mind stood apart from it. Build something correctly, and its function follows.

By the middle of the 20th century, the comparison between organisms and machines had been recast in the language of information. During the cybernetics revolution of the 1950s, the US computer scientist Norbert Wiener envisaged a future in which ‘messages between man and machines, between machines and man, and between machine and machine, are destined to play an ever-increasing part’. Writing in The Human Use of Human Beings (1950), he warned against wholesale automation, while also noting that ‘we are not stuff that abides, but patterns that perpetuate themselves’. A person could be imagined as a pattern of information surviving in another form.

If the body is only hardware, why not upgrade to a better model or do away with it altogether?

Mechanical language also persisted in the study of living behaviour. In The Foundations of Ethology (1981), the Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz wrote that animal behaviour was as rigidly programmed as a sequence of movements in a clock. Transhumanist thinkers then carried the machine comparison further, imagining technologies that could transfer a mind to a computer.

Machines now promised more than control. They offered a glimpse of immortality: the organism might be repaired, remade and ultimately replaced. The somewhat embarrassing body, with its impulses and eventual frailty, might then be cast aside. If the body is only hardware, why not upgrade to a better model or do away with it altogether?

Today, we can see this fear writ large in the technological quest for a bodiless life. If a person is ultimately a pattern of information, that pattern might be restored or even uploaded. AI is only the latest iteration of this ancient impulse to escape the vulnerability of the body.

After all, the brain is itself a physical organ, continually shaped by what the body does and encounters. Once we decide that the mind is the real human and the rest of the body only hardware, it becomes easier to disregard the physical work, including the neurocognitive work of a biological brain, through which we move, find our way, put thoughts into words, and recognise our own needs. A machine may do some of that work faster, but each act it takes over is one that the body no longer performs and that the body, including the brain, no longer learns through. The irony is that a project motivated by the desire to overcome bodily fragility is helping to produce more fragile bodies.

On top of all this, we have little evidence that either thought or intelligence actually work like machines, and almost no indication that life is an abstract system that might emerge in silicon or mathematics. Instead, a substantial body of work, especially in systems biology, points to a quite different conclusion: that life and intelligence emerge from the unique qualities and organisation of our self-maintaining bodies, rather than from abstract models of information and algorithms.

For the past six years, I have been researching the latest science on what life is and how it works. As best as we can tell, the intelligent actions of organisms derive from the imperatives of a living body that must regulate and preserve its own conditions for existence. When cybernetics was ascendant, the molecular structure of DNA had only recently been discovered, and the emerging view of genes as information encouraged an oversimplified picture of the body as running on a program that could be made more efficient. Yet such confidence has since waned among biologists. While genes carry some of the information that shapes our bodies, many changes in how a cell or a body functions arise from the system as a whole. Genes cannot be understood apart from the living bodies in which they act.

First and foremost, life persists through physical plasticity. Consider how our bodies keep together. Living bodies do something unusual in the Universe: they perform work to preserve their own organisation. Life-forms use energy to remain discontinuous with the environment. In simple terms, organisms resist disintegrating into the background. While machines execute tasks, living beings pursue ends. Machines push energy around and produce things. They are, in this sense, allopoietic: they make something other than themselves. Organisms are autopoietic: they work to maintain and remake themselves. Living bodies take up and transform energy for this self-maintenance, and this is achieved by the body as a whole. Moment by moment, our bodies adapt to the environment and their current state in end-directed, physical transformations. It’s not so much that we think and therefore act but rather that we embody and therefore amend.

The same qualities that make life-forms so causally special can undermine us when trained by harmful environments

The boundary of the body also creates a distinct inner environment, one that is physically and chemically different from the surrounding world. Through this difference, the body acts as a translator, turning external changes into useful internal physical responses. This allows a life-form to carry out specific reactions in controlled conditions that support their survival and flourishing. Internal regulation also gives organisms a unique logic of their own. They can then act according to the current state of their bodies and the world as they find it. Our bodies detect changes that have consequence for us, evaluate them against our needs, and reorganise into useful action. Thus, living beings might be understood as a remarkable kind of organisation of matter: a bounded, metabolically open, self-maintaining form that gives rise to purposeful, intelligent action. This is key to understanding both the skills of our flesh, and why we can think of ourselves as being ‘deskilled’ today. When we recognise that our bodies are intrinsically intelligent in their organisation, we don’t need a conscious agent beyond the flesh. The body is the agent from which intelligence emerges and also, in the fullest sense, who we are.

Consider what happens if you’re thirsty. The process starts before you consciously decide to have a drink. Rather, the osmoreceptor neurons in the hypothalamus shrink slightly as water leaves them. That physical change opens ion channels, letting sodium enter cells. This altered electrical state then opens calcium channels, and calcium flows in. Calcium triggers tiny sacs to release neurotransmitters into the space between cells, passing the signal to other neurons until the state of being thirsty turns to action. The movements through which we quench our thirst arise from minute physical changes in interconnected parts of our bodies. These signals help guide us towards water and make us aware of our thirst.

The physical organisation of an organism is inherently evaluative. It is from this embodied evaluation that agency emerges. Yet the same unique qualities that make life-forms so causally special and intelligent can undermine us when repeatedly trained by harmful environments. Instead, we can acquire patterns or lose pathways that progressively weaken our intrinsic intelligence, which we need to flourish. For example, one study found that only a single week’s worth of leg immobilisation can reduce thigh-muscle volume by about 5 per cent. A separate study found that, by 15 days of non-use, the firing behaviour of the cells controlling the leg muscle begins to diminish.

Ordinarily, as we walk, optic flow – the shifting images on our retinas as we move through our surroundings – enables our bodies to sense our movement relative to the world. Receptors in our muscles, tendons and joints detect the movement of our limbs. Signals from the inner ear add information about location and orientation. Together with landmarks and memories of past journeys, these signals help us work out where we are and how to reach our destination. It’s a vast, coordinated sensorium that takes us across the landscapes of our world.

So, what happens if you rely on an app to find your way? GPS can make navigation easier and less energetically costly. Yet studies of large-scale navigation have also demonstrated that physically moving through an environment produces better spatial knowledge than viewing the same journey on a 2D source. When we routinely follow GPS directions, an external source supplies information we would otherwise work out through our own sensing and movement. One longitudinal study that followed 13 GPS users over three years found that those users had a steeper subsequent decline in their spatial memory as mediated by the hippocampus, compared with control groups who didn’t use GPS. This suggests that, when we practise wayfinding less often, our ability to notice where we are and readjust may dwindle.

Something similar may be at work in our increasing reliance on tools like ChatGPT. Like finding our way, articulating our thoughts is a dynamic, embodied act, whether writing or speaking. Learning a new speech movement, for instance, changes how we perceive speech sounds, as well as how we generate them. We develop these abilities by repeatedly finding a word, uttering it, listening to it, and correcting it as necessary – tasks that draw on multiple regions within our bodies. This is just as relevant for writing. But when an AI writing app automatically provides structure, it also diminishes the skills of selection and self-correction from our repertoire. In one study, passively copying AI-generated writing, unlike drafting first and then using AI for revision, was found to lessen an individual’s confidence in subsequently performing the task unaided. It is execution – physically doing it – that builds our embodied skills. That is why using AI to revise a draft we have written is fundamentally different from asking it to produce the draft for us. It’s not that computational tools are inherently bad or unhelpful – far from it – but rather that when they replace the physical effort of our bodies, our own agency and skill take a hit.

Our thoughts emerge as much from bodily intelligence and awareness of the world as from symbols on a screen

This is something I feel increasingly keenly. Sometimes, when I know I’ve spent yet another day indoors at my desk, I get myself outside and walk the road uphill to where I can look at the view across the dale. It is often hard to release my mind. It feels as if, from concentrating all day and neglecting the rest of my body, I have become a clenched fist somewhere inside my skull. Yet once the light and the breeze and the sounds of birds reach me, the grip eases, a sensation of pleasure passes over me, and ideas begin to free up too.

The expansive thoughts and sensations that come as I step outside are enabled by the physical changes that accompany my movement. My heart rate has increased, sweeping nutrients and oxygen through my tissues and into my brain. My muscles begin contracting, clearing sugars and fats from my bloodstream, immediately working to counteract some of the effects of sitting for so long. Each step is a bodily integration of balance, senses and muscular force, allowing me to predict what will happen next, and the more I do this, the more I can calibrate my actions in the environment. The thoughts that come from this physical enactment are hopeful and generous, and often unexpected. Yet this shouldn’t surprise. When we move in the world, we draw on physical capabilities that are relatively underused when we remain indoors and seated. From balance to sensing what is happening inside us, our bodies are continuously perceiving and, crucially, remembering in the flesh. Our thoughts can emerge as much from bodily intelligence and our awareness of the wider world as from abstract symbols on a screen.

It is only when we imagine that our ability to act has nothing to do with the body that we end up taking seriously the idea that we can live contentedly as machines. Far from upskilling us, a technology that shuts us off from embodied learning risks diminishing the intelligence it seeks to enhance.

The technologies with which we are increasingly interconnected lack the complex interiority required for real intelligence to arise. There’s no body, no independently formed interests, no being. There’s no metabolism or organisation or persistence.

And yet we turn to them because they have been designed either to ease the friction of the hard work our bodies must put in to develop skills or because they promise to make us more productive. More insidiously, they do so by modelling the appearance or behaviours of living beings. A recent analysis by the psychologist Clara Colombatto, the philosopher Jonathan Birch and the neuroscientist Stephen Fleming found that exposure to these systems leads to an increase in attributions of mental capacities to them. Another study, by the behaviour scientist Yaoxi Shi and others, found that regular five-minute conversations with an AI on personal issues resulted in a small but meaningful decrease in preference for seeking human support.

The danger is that the systems now coordinating us don’t answer to biological needs. They don’t get tired or hungry or lonely. Yet they increasingly regulate the behaviour of beings who do. In short, we are losing our own agency to parasites: systems that simulate agency while feeding on ours. They can be designed to direct us without ever needing to understand what a human body is and what an individual needs for their betterment.

Of course, human beings have always outsourced some agency into shared structures, be they laws, public health systems or institutions. This has largely been to our benefit. But today our technologies capture attention, predict behaviour, automate choice and monetise our impulses, while keeping our bodies anchored to the machines on which we increasingly rely. These coordinating systems are often extractive and indifferent to our flourishing. We might imagine we’re escaping the body, but the technologies that make this seem possible depend on mines and cheap labour and come at a planetary cost. And if our technologies weaken the feedback loop between our bodies and the world, they may weaken it in both directions. At its worst, we become less sensitive not only to what the world is doing to us, but to what our own actions are doing to the world.

The trees and grasses I brush past as I go on my walk are also hard at work learning from each changing day

We have engineered novel digital and commercial environments that can habituate harmful impulses in our bodies. As our bodies refit themselves in response to the unhealthy architectures we’ve engineered, we can find ourselves in a spiral of self-harm.

Recent work by the neuroscientist Kent Berridge and colleagues has shown how the brain systems that tell us we enjoy something and the systems that drive us to pursue this can drift apart. In other words, what we find ourselves craving and what we enjoy can end up at odds. When these systems become disrupted, the body’s learned patterns fall out of alignment with the satisfaction that once justified them.

Influential models of drug addiction describe a progressive shift from prefrontal control to the striatum, a deep part of the brain involved in actions that become automatic over time. As such, addiction is a change from thoughtful self-command to more habit-driven control. Nowadays, addictions might not come only in the form of obvious candidates like alcohol and nicotine, but also smartphones and chatbots. The bodily gifts that allow us to learn can train us into patterns that diminish our freedom to act otherwise.

I have come to believe that our bodily deskilling is, in many ways, a loss of faith in what it is to be alive. A life of physical effort and friction is not only unavoidable if we want to be as resilient and capable as possible, but it is, in a nontrivial sense, the source of our intelligence.

Our intelligence is sustained through communication between the body and the world as we sense, assess and learn from what we encounter. Such gifts are shared with other life-forms too. Unlike the human kind of phenomenal consciousness, embodied intelligence is found wherever there is a living body. Even a lowly bacterium can sense chemical differences across time, retain a short molecular memory of what it has encountered, and alter its movements. The trees and grasses I brush past as I go on my walk are also hard at work learning from each changing day, modifying their growth and defences based on prior experiences. Many of us view them as lesser agents than the computer programs we’ve invented, if we consider them at all. But this is not based on the available evidence.

If you can no longer navigate the world and recall in flesh how to act, then you will not be liberated by technology, but ruled by it.

First French Riots, Now Italian Trucker Blockades: What's Driving Europe's Rapid Descent Into Chaos?

2026-10-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Who pays for this?

Noone hits the bricks if it means giving up a shift at Macdonads.

An agitator with a wad of cash is convincing. The NAZIS got it from the Commies and we remain stupid.

First French Riots, Now Italian Trucker Blockades: What's Driving Europe's Rapid Descent Into Chaos?

Thursday, Oct 22, 2026 - 05:05 AM

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/first-french-riots-now-italian-trucker-blockades-whats-driving-europes-rapid-descent

Social unrest in France has plunged President Emmanuel Macron's government into turmoil, while demonstrations elsewhere in Europe are converging with mounting concerns about sovereign debt. Italy's trucker blockades now threaten critical food supply chains, adding another source of disruption.

Local outlet Italia 24H Live reports that trucker demonstrations in southern Italy are disrupting food deliveries and leaving produce to rot.

"Casertano, police operation to identify protesters at the truckers' picket lines ahead of the gradual release of the areas. Those near the highways have been removed, while those in industrial and intermodal areas remain," the outlet reported on X.

X user RadioGenoa said, "Total chaos in Italy today. Hundreds of trucks are stranded on the A1 motorway due to a protest on high fuel prices and the rising cost of living. Southern Italy is paralyzed: supermarkets have been emptied, and gas stations have run dry. It is a disastrous situation."

The result:

Taken together, these developments raise a very important national security question: are separate movements responding to shared economic pressures, or are networks coordinating or amplifying unrest across borders?

It doesn't matter whether the groups are on the left or the right. Certainly, a timeline has been accelerated to cause maximum disruption across Europe as it faces the risk of a sovereign debt crisis, social unrest, and unfettered mass migration.

A viable path to peace in Ukraine

2026-10-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

This is a process rather than a mere treaty.

The apatite for WAR is gone and may never return

That is good. Good faith negotiations may happen here.

A viable path to peace in Ukraine

Proposed framework–designed to end a conflict that risks a wider confrontation—addresses the war’s causes, not just its symptoms

by Jeffrey D. Sachs
October 21, 2026

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the site of a heavily damaged building following Russian strikes to the Ukrainian capital in Kyiv on May 24, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Vladyslav Musienko / AFP via Getty Images via Common Dreams

https://asiatimes.com/2026/10/a-viable-path-to-peace-in-ukraine/

The war in Ukraine can be ended permanently on terms that protect Ukraine’s statehood, meet Russia’s security concerns, and lay the foundation for a durable European security order.

As another round of negotiations gears up in Norway, I propose a settlement concluded as a single package, signed by Ukraine and Russia, adopted by a vote of the United Nations Security Council under Chapter VII of the Charter. It would be guaranteed jointly by the five permanent members of the Council together with other states that choose to join.

The proposal rests on the principle of indivisible security set out in the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris. The package would have four core commitments.

The first is Ukraine’s permanent neutrality, adopted in a constitutional law on the model of Austria’s law of 1955, which would return Ukraine to the founding choice of its Declaration of State Sovereignty of 1990. Ukraine would join no military alliance and host no foreign bases or forces, whether of NATO, the European Union, their member states, or Russia. Neutrality would not mean disarmament, and Ukraine would retain armed forces for its own defense.

The second is that Ukraine would pursue its candidacy for membership in the European Union as a permanently neutral state, with a neutrality protocol in its accession treaty on the model of Ireland’s, and Russia would affirm that Ukraine’s membership in the EU is consistent with Russia’s security.

The third is an armistice line drawn along the line of contact on the date of signature. Each side would exercise de facto jurisdiction on its side of the line, neither would recognize the other’s territorial claims, and both would renounce force in any future adjustment. This formula is compatible with both countries’ constitutions, which bar or severely restrict the cession of territory.

The fourth is the end of NATO enlargement eastward. At signature ,the North Atlantic Council would declare that NATO will not admit Ukraine or other new members in Eastern Europe or the South Caucasus, withdrawing the Bucharest pledge of 2008.

The settlement would take effect as a permanent end of hostilities on signature, not as a temporary ceasefire, and its provisions would be implemented in stages under international verification. No element would be negotiated in isolation, and no party would be asked to make a concession in advance of signature.

The territorial arrangements are designed to address the concerns and claims of both sides. Ukrainian forces would withdraw from the part of Donetsk region that Ukraine now controls, which would become a demilitarized special zone. Russian forces would not enter it, the existing local civil administration would continue to function, and its final status would be left to negotiation.

Russia would withdraw from the areas it holds in Dnipropetrovsk region and from the Kinburn Spit. A Northern Security Zone would be demilitarized on both sides of the Russian-Ukrainian border, and Russian forces would leave the areas they hold in Kharkiv and Sumy regions as Ukrainian forces withdraw from their side.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant would remain under Russian control with IAEA safety oversight and would sell an agreed share of its electricity to Ukraine at cost.

A demilitarized belt would run along both sides of the armistice line, with heavy weapons and long-range strike systems withdrawn to agreed distances, and mutual ceilings on forces would apply in the border regions on both sides. In the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, commercial navigation would be free for all Ukrainian and Russian ports, and attacks on shipping and ports would be prohibited.

The settlement in Ukraine should also begin the repair of European security as a whole. NATO and Russia would agree on a moratorium on ground-launched intermediate-range missiles in Europe, refrain from deploying nuclear weapons in any additional state, and restore the NATO-Russia Council.

Normal diplomatic relations would be restored on both sides. The parties would convene the first summit of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe since 2010 to entrust the OSCE with monitoring the settlement, verifying arms limits, and overseeing the provisions on rights.

Questions of language, education, culture, and religion would be resolved according to European standards, with the Russian language treated on the same basis as Ukraine’s other minority languages, and Russia would accept the same obligations toward Ukrainian speakers and religious communities on its side of the line.

All obligations concerning extremism and incitement would be mutual and monitored by the OSCE. Prisoners of war would be exchanged on an all-for-all basis, detained civilians released, and separated children reunited with their families.

Sanctions would be lifted during 2027. Russia’s immobilized sovereign assets would also be released, and private property seized or immobilized on both sides would be restored.

An international reconstruction fund administered by the European Investment Bank would finance reconstruction on both sides of the line, with contributions from all parties, Russia included, in a common effort rather than as reparations.

Gas transit through Ukraine could resume wherever there are willing buyers, without any commitment by the European Union to purchase Russian gas.

A report of serious violation by an OSCE monitoring mission of unarmed observers from states outside NATO would trigger consultations among the guarantors and referral to the Security Council.

Ukraine would lift martial law and hold elections under OSCE observation, and the newly elected Verkhovna Rada would ratify the settlement and adopt the constitutional law on neutrality, while the Russian Federal Assembly would ratify it at the same stage.

This proposed settlement addresses the causes of the war rather than only its symptoms. Europe has been largely absent from the design of the peace.

By putting forward such a framework, European governments can take the lead in building Europe’s indivisible security and help end a war that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and carries a continuing risk of confrontation between nuclear powers.

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a University Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he directed The Earth Institute from 2002 until 2016. He is also President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development. He has been an advisor to three United Nations Secretaries-General, and currently serves as an SDG Advocate under Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Data Centers Need $8.5 Trillion in Revenue Through 2030 to Cover Spending

2026-10-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

The AI boom appears to be a huge promotion aimed at grabbing cash. revenue as a stack of projections is bad news.

somewhere you run out of room. Even if AI becomes the economy.

The projected crash now is extreme.

Data Centers Need $8.5 Trillion in Revenue Through 2030 to Cover Spending

October 18, 2026

•
9:45 pm

How likely is that?

https://mishtalk.com/economics/data-centers-need-8-5-trillion-in-revenue-through-2030-to-cover-spending/

AI Race Puts $3.5 Trillion at Write-Down Risk

Bloomberg reports AI Race Puts $3.5 Trillion at Write-Down Risk, Gartner Warns

https://mishtalk.com/economics/data-centers-need-8-5-trillion-in-revenue-through-2030-to-cover-spending/

More than $3.5 trillion of AI infrastructure spending could be at risk of impairment by 2030 as the industry’s investment boom threatens to outpace the revenue required to justify it, according to an analysis by market research firm Gartner Inc.

AI data center owners would need to generate a cumulative $8.5 trillion in revenue through 2030 to cover capital spending, financing costs and achieve a 12% return on invested capital. Yet Gartner forecasts no more than $3.6 trillion in attributable enterprise and consumer AI revenue over that period — less than half the required amount.

The widening gulf between investment requirements and projected revenue raises questions over the sustainability of the AI infrastructure boom, particularly as rapidly depreciating computing assets risk becoming obsolete before generating sufficient returns.

The implications are especially stark for specialist AI infrastructure providers such as CoreWeave Inc. and Nebius Group NV. Their business models are more directly exposed to demand for computing capacity than diversified hyperscalers like Microsoft Corp, Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

Gartner predicts that cost pressures and limited differentiation will force more than 80% of neocloud providers to cease operating independently by 2030.

Hyperscalers’ AI Capex Surge

AI Earnings Concentration

The AI Bubble Will Burst

There is no way the AI bubble doesn’t burst.

But what inning is this? 7th, 8th, or 9th?

If you prefer to think in years, is it more like 1997 or March of 2000?

Bianco Weighs In

If you were hoping for a more definitive answer, sorry, I don’t know and nobody else does either.

The ‘War of Grand Design’ Transforms to More Narrowly Bolster US Hegemony

2026-10-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

what we have is governance via bias. This cannot be the future. Yet it has been in the background forever.

A rising association of midsized powers is now changing everything and those in front know this.

Power is now out of the grasp of the USA. think about that.

The USA can soon bend the knee and this is uncomfortabe.

The ‘War of Grand Design’ Transforms to More Narrowly Bolster US Hegemony

by Alastair Crooke | Oct 21, 2026

https://ronpaulinstitute.org/the-war-of-grand-design-transforms-to-more-narrowly-bolster-us-hegemony/

The paradigm shifts. The networked supra-national stratum that long has pursued its global “grand design” through manufacturing public consent for wars of imposed compliance has, at last, run up against the limits to power. We are, indeed, at an “emperor has no clothes” moment. All can see it.

Its traditional tools — the US military, the dollar system, the credit trap, the Bretton Woods structures, shock economic therapy and currency wars — are failing to preserve the US élite weltanschauung wherein it would be “unimaginable” that the US having won the Cold War were it to face a world in which the US did not continue to dictate the blueprint.

“In the golden light of an Athens evening, with the Acropolis over his shoulder,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on 7 October, openly praised colonialism; he engaged in egregious erasures of history, and demanded a return to Western domination of the world. Rubio asserted that the West must use military force to “maintain its place at the head of the world”; the West is “the greatest civilization in the world,” he declared, emphasizing that it is a “civilization that we must fight to defend today with the same passion as our forefathers did.”

But now, those traditional tools to preserve its place at the head of the world are proving less effective against states that possess alternatives — China, Russia and Iran are clear pointers to the trend that economic, financial and even kinetic wars are failing to produce quick results. Quick victories for the Matrix are no longer so readily available.

To suggest, on the other hand, that civilisational states could stand up to the US more forcefully ignores everything about the deep nature of this conflict. The “One Global Government Grand Design,” is a war to eliminate those Civilisational States that offer a different consciousness through which to view and understand the world.

What does that mean? It was former British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, who in 1846 inferred —“The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.”

Disraeli repeatedly explicitly warned against “world revolution” (or colour revolutions in today’s vernacular). Disraeli saw and repeatedly “called out” “a design” behind the series of revolution eruptions that had occurred in many parts of the world at the time in the mid 1800s.

Today it is Emmanuel Todd, the respected French historian and anthropologist, who is echoing Disraeli: Todd sees too in today’s wars something far more profound than a series of separated and distinct territorial conflicts.

Moscow is not waging war against the 20-million odd inhabitants of Ukraine —

It is confronting, through Ukraine, the entire Atlanticist bloc, NATO as a whole, its intelligence services, its arsenals, its satellites, its military industry, and its media machine. Ukraine is merely a theatre of operations, a battlefield in a latent world war.

Ukraine, Iran, Yemen or China — all are mere theatres of operations; one battlefield amongst many (occurring in hybrid space) related only through their being swept into a latent world war.

For Todd, today’s wars are a civilizational clash between a declining West and a Russia defending a more traditional, more sovereign, conception of political and social order. Wolfgang Münchau suggests that Ukraine and the Iran-Middle East wars plausibly might merge into a single war — the geopolitical rivalry between China and the US remaining as the primordial conflict of our times.

Emmanual Todd has pointed out that the West, despite its apparent economic and technological superiority, is showing signs of profound fragility — an aging demography, a crisis of confidence, deindustrialization, and a loss of ideological bearings.

For decades, as Mattias Forsgren has written,

The Western core has lived off financialization and the systematic offshoring of production. Industrial capacity was relocated to low-wage countries while the metropolitan economies shifted toward rent extraction, asset inflation, and the recycling of global savings through the dollar system. The near-collapse of 2008 exposed how close this structure had come to the abyss … The Covid years repeated the pattern on a greater scale. The structural problems remain unresolved. What has been constructed however, is a more leveraged and fragile system.

This leveraged financial system is now vulnerable to a potentially crippling financial crisis.

Until 2022, when Europe chose to throw its hand in with Ukraine, Europe’s ruling strata was a party to this “Grand Design” project, led by the “global-government” power bloc. Europe’s ruling strata still is in thrall to “the design.” But in this Trumpian era, it is no longer a full partner. Today, the reality is that America cannot risk vertical escalation to all-out war vis-à-vis its competitors to conserve its global primacy. Its military is too depleted and dysfunctional.

In reaction, opponents such as Russia and Iran have chosen a more subtle, slower, but also far more ambitious strategy, Todd suggests. It is one that combines military pressure, economic warfare, diplomatic battles, geopolitical influence, and information warfare. The goal is not just to win militarily, but to durably reshape the world order.

To manage this changed paradigm of war, the US is unloading the “vertical confrontation aspect” onto proxies:

The European Continent is being transformed from ally into a resource: economically drained, politically captured, and militarily prepared as the theatre in which the costs of imperial repair can be paid (Forsgren).

The ultimate expression of the US’ strategy is a managed escalation of confrontation that keeps the American homeland as sanctuary, whilst Europe absorbs both the conventional attrition and the nuclear risk.

By continuing to act as a willing proxy – through continuing to supply missiles and drones to Ukraine for launch deep into Russia, Europe must expect Russian retaliation – albeit carefully modulated against vulnerable European “assets.” Nonetheless, Europe would then be at war with Russia — a war that, as Wolfgang Münchau acknowledges, Europe is not in a position to win —

Whose bond markets are going to be blown up first? Who is going to run out of interceptor missiles first? Thanks to the much maligned Common Agricultural Policy, Europe is not going to run out of food. But on every other count — military, energy, finance — Europe is at a disadvantage.

Since Europe lacks the conventional military resources to mount any decisive escalation of its own, then nuclear weapons risk appearing as the only available “quick fix.”

The mantra that President Putin’s nuclear threats are a “bluff” principally serves to lower the psychological caution to European escalation — an escalation that could risk provoking Moscow to perceive little option other than to resort to tactical nuclear weapons as the means to restore credibility to the Russian nuclear deterrent.

In such context — and with US’ escalatory potential largely expended — the US almost certainly would not be ready to put on the table the risk that US cities might be nuked as conflict escalates.

“US tactical nuclear weapons were planned for use inside Europe, against forces on European soil, precisely to keep any nuclear exchange geographically limited,” Forsgren argues.

Thus the masters of the “Design” strategy – aim to corner Russia into a position where its only alternatives are strategic retreat – or, the destruction of Europe as a proxy — a destruction that would nonetheless come at the price to Russia of the damage European nuclear weapons would inflict on Russian territory and forces … whilst all along the American homeland and its financial superstructure stays out of range.

Forsgren suggests —

The calculation appears to be, that by gradually raising the level of pressure — keeping Russia inside the zone of zugzwang without crossing into open strategic nuclear exchange — the United States security strata hopes to force Moscow to back down – rather than accept the costs of a wider war.

The aim has not changed over many decades — it is to compel Russian capitulation. Such a scenario would represent one “theatre of operations” removed in the ultimate proxy conflict to subordinate China to “the Design.”

The more Europe is positioned as a disposable nuclear front, the sharper the dilemma becomes. The practical effect is to place the entire European continent — and Russian decision-making — on a hair-trigger.

Europeans must surely realise how they are being used to corral Russia into a war that neither it, nor ordinary Europeans want. Yet having so zealously embraced the Ukraine conflict as a “virtuous” totem around which all fractious European parties could gather, they could well face economic and political catastrophe if Europe continues on its present course of provoking Russia.

“Doubling-down,” as the Europeans seem intent on doing, is no strategy. Their fear-mongering about (imagined) Russian hybrid aggression easily can become a self-fulfilling narrative — leading precisely to an accidental European hot war naively conceived by some in the western security space as the means by which to corner Russia and force its capitulation.

We are at the point where the European political class simply will not allow the topic of war to be aired openly. European elites cling to their strategic denial that Ukraine is losing its war with Russia. Yet the US and Europe teeter at the brink of a bond market collapse, and face clear evidence that their only weapon against Russia — sanctions — has never worked.

Will Trump’s tergiversation over continuing the oil blockade on Russia (i.e. by purchasing Russian diesel to manipulate its retail price downwards in the US) and the Witkoff initiative to restart Nordstream as an inducement to Moscow to begin talks fracture the European common façade? We shall see.

5 Signs That The Housing Market Will Be Deeply Frozen For The Foreseeable Future

2026-10-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

It is high time for a forced knockdown of prices to make it affordabe again.

Then we can start from a far cheaper base. The banks reset once gain.

Or take unproductive sites out of the martgage equation.

5 Signs That The Housing Market Will Be Deeply Frozen For The Foreseeable Future

October 20, 2026 by Michael

https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/5-signs-that-the-housing-market-will-be-deeply-frozen-for-the-foreseeable-future/#google_vignette

The housing market in the United States has never been more paralyzed than it is right now. For years, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates at artificially low levels, and during that time most homeowners in this country were able to lock in fixed mortgage rates that were extremely low. Now that mortgage rates are soaring, many of those same homeowners feel trapped because selling would also mean getting a mortgage on a new home at a much higher rate. Meanwhile, most prospective homeowners feel like they are on the outside looking in because a combination of ridiculously high prices and painfully high mortgage rates has made homes more unaffordable than ever before.

There are only two ways that the housing market will get unfrozen.

Either mortgage rates have to come way down or home prices have to come way down.

Of course neither of those two things is likely to happen any time soon.

So we have a real mess on our hands.

The following are 5 signs that the housing market will be deeply frozen for the foreseeable future…

#1 Pending home sales are trending in the wrong direction very rapidly. According to the NAR, pending home sales were 11.3 percent lower in September 2026 than they were in September 2025…

Fast-rising mortgage rates in September took a harsh toll on the housing market, according to new monthly data released today.

Pending home sales, a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, dropped 7.3% from August and were down 11.3% year-over-year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

This count reflects buyers out shopping in September, when the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose sharply. It started the month around 6.8% and hit 7.6% by the end of the month, according to Mortgage News Daily.

This isn’t just a downturn.

This is a historic disaster.

At this point, pending home sales have fallen to the lowest level on record…

#2 Just like we witnessed just prior to the Great Recession, foreclosure filings are way up. In the month of August, they were a whopping 13 percent higher than last year…

ATTOM’s August report showed 40,277 properties with foreclosure filings, up 13 percent from a year earlier. Foreclosure starts rose 7 percent. Completed bank repossessions jumped 42 percent to 5,794 homes. South Carolina, Nevada, Florida, Texas, and Maryland posted the highest rates.

#3 We desperately need more homes to be built, but home construction numbers are just dismal. Last month, single family housing starts and building permits were both down a lot more than the experts were anticipating…

Home construction also took a hit in September. Both single-family housing starts and building permits fell much more sharply than analysts had predicted. Starts were down 4.56% to 859,000 annualized, according to the U.S. Census. That is the lowest level since September 2025. Building permits, which are a measure of future construction, fell 4% for the month.

#4 Homebuilders are not optimistic about the future at all. In fact, homebuilder confidence just dropped to the lowest level in 14 years…

The mood among America’s homebuilders is grim.

Homebuilder sentiment fell three points to 29 in October, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

October’s reading marks the lowest homebuilder sentiment the US has seen since June 2012, the NAHB said, when the housing market was still moving through the aftermath of the 2008 crisis. It shows just how much builders have soured on the housing landscape amid rising costs and a record-breaking slowdown in home sales.

#5 The housing market has already been in a depressed state for an extended period of time, and now economist Jim Paulsen is warning that his “Walmart Recession Signal” is peaking just like it did before the start of the Great Recession…

Economist Jim Paulsen calls his theory the “Walmart Recession Signal” (WRS). When Walmart’s stock goes up and shares of luxury companies in the S&P Global Luxury Index go down, it’s a sign that the country may be headed for a recession.

“As economic activity slows and recession risk builds, retailing purchasing patterns tend to gravitate toward discounters like Walmart and away from overall or luxury retailers,” Paulsen wrote in a Substack post Monday. “Consequently, a rise in the WRS could warn of a potential recession or at least a significant economic slowdown.”

And that warning is getting louder, he said. Just as it did before the Great Recession and two recessions in the 90s, the WRS is peaking.

What we are experiencing now reminds me so much of the middle of 2008.

Except this time around those on the bottom rungs of the economic food chain are in far worse shape.

As I discussed the other day, 44 percent of all Americans struggle to even pay for the basic necessities each month.

And millions upon millions of Americans are now living either on the streets or in their vehicles.

For example, in the Bronx there is a very long corridor known as the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” where large numbers of homeless Americans have been living in “old RVs, trailers and trucks”…

Residents along an unsightly stretch of the Bronx are fed up with an eyesore corridor where the homeless have been bedding down in old RVs, trailers and trucks for years, The Post has learned.

The “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” along a section of Webster Avenue has been a headache for locals for at least two years — but the desperate folks calling the rundown vehicles home said they were driven to a bare-bones existence by the Big Apple’s sky-high rents.

These people aren’t living there because they want to live there.

These people are living there because they can’t afford a real home…

Those people told The Post they were driven to live in RVs and trucks by the city’s rents — which left them a choice between the streets, risky city shelters or the vehicles they now call home.

“We need housing,” said Rita Freeman, who said she’s lived in her RV since last November. “I mean, this is absurd. This is bizarre. There’s so many of us.

“I went into hotels, I maxed out my credit card for the first time since I had it since 1994,” she added. “Because I did not want to go to a shelter or the street. It’s very dangerous.”

This is happening all over the nation.

Every single day, even more Americans fall out of the middle class and into poverty.

We need affordable homes, but the housing market is not properly responding to market forces any longer because the Federal Reserve’s insane policies have thrown everything out of whack.

It has been said that if you play stupid games, you should expect to win stupid prizes.

Sadly, the Federal Reserve has been playing stupid games for a very long time.

Foolish actions have foreseeable and predictable consequences.

Now we are reaping what they have sown, and there will be no easy way to fix this mess.

There is a reason why I have been ranting about the Federal Reserve for nearly two decades.

The choices that they make have a very real impact on all of us.

Now we are steamrolling toward a major economic downturn, and they are actually thinking of raising rates again.

So much pain is ahead, and much of it could have been easily avoided.