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Will Johnny Ever Learn To Read? Pushback Against Science Of Reading Mandates

Tyler Durden — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 01:50:00 +0000

Will Johnny Ever Learn To Read? Pushback Against Science Of Reading Mandates

Authored by Vince Bielski via RealClearInvestigations,

Half a century after the book “Why Johnny Can’t Read” sounded an alarm about the rise of illiteracy in the U.S., it has only gotten worse: A quarter of all young adults, many of them high school graduates, are now functionally illiterate. Unable to read more than basic, short sentences, their prospects in today’s information economy are bleak.

This crisis gave rise to a movement that embraced the science of reading and produced a surprising success story in the Deep South, a region dogged by the highest rates of childhood illiteracy in the nation. State leaders and education reformers in Mississippi and Louisiana led a remarkable improvement in elementary reading scores that now rank among the highest in the nation.

The turnaround was a long slog, requiring a heavy hand from the state to win buy-in for a wholesale transformation of curricula, teaching methods, accountability, and more. Former state education chief Carey Wright called it the “Mississippi Marathon.” One of the biggest questions in public education now is whether the southern surge can spread nationwide, turning millions of struggling students into proficient readers with a brighter future.

But such a top-down approach is running into resistance, particularly in blue states like New York and Illinois, where strong teachers’ unions have fought to preserve local control over schools. And nowhere is the political battle over who runs the classroom more pronounced than in Massachusetts, which has long boasted the nation’s best public schools.

Massachusetts’ governor is expected to sign a literacy bill in the coming months, making it one of about a dozen states to mandate adoption of curricula based on the science of reading in elementary grades. Laws in another 30 states merely encourage its use. Although these laws suggest a big step forward for the nation, Massachusetts illustrates the challenges ahead in some states – many of the educators responsible for implementing the mandated reforms see them as an affront to local control of classrooms.

The influential Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) led the campaign against the legislation, suffering a rare defeat at the statehouse. At least 300 superintendents, principals, and teachers in about 40 Massachusetts districts also signed a letter opposing the mandate, arguing that local educators know what’s best for students.

The pushback in Massachusetts raises concerns among advocates about whether the reforms, especially the evidence-based curriculum and teacher training, will be fully implemented across the state. ExcelinEd, an advocacy group chaired by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, has identified many science of reading policies, big and small, that have helped states boost literacy rates. The group’s research found that the difference between states with the biggest reading gains and those that floundered boils down to how thoroughly they implemented most of the reforms.

“We know what works, and we have state exemplars like Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida that have actually done it,” said ExcelinEd Senior Policy Fellow Christy Hovanetz. “So unless more states are willing to do the hard work, we’re not going to see improved outcomes for our kids. And that severely impacts our economic prosperity and future. So yes, I’m concerned.”

State Versus Local Control

In the U.S., most school districts call the shots regarding the curriculum – the crucial teaching materials that determine how kids are taught. Although research shows that the quality of curricula makes a big difference in whether Johnny and Jill learn to read, this area of public education remains largely unregulated by most states, leaving 13,000 districts to pick instructional materials based on convenience, corporate marketing, or price if not quality. And nobody knows what curricula most districts use since only six states require such disclosure, according to Karen Vaites of the Curriculum Insight Project.

Science of reading advocates say local control over curricula isn’t working. Consider fourth graders, about the age when a child’s reading skills strongly predict their future academic success or failure. In 2024, 40% of fourth graders across the nation scored below the Basic level, up from 34% in 2019 and nearly matching levels in 1992, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the gold standard in testing. These students have trouble reading aloud, recognizing and decoding many grade-level words, and thus comprehending the meaning of text. They will struggle in all their classes through high school if they aren’t reading well in elementary school.

States like Massachusetts are responding with mandates that require districts to pick from a menu of approved curricula backed by research showing their effectiveness. The Massachusetts Teachers Association doesn’t dispute that there’s a literacy crisis. But the union opposed the mandate, casting it as a form of government overreach in complex curricular matters best left to trained educators.

“Our members have opposed legislated curriculum mandates for literacy education because they know losing flexibility to do their jobs and restricting their professional judgement inevitably means some students will continue to struggle with learning to read and write,” MTA President Max Page and Vice President Deb McCarthy said in a statement to RealClearInvestigations. “The law in Massachusetts will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to implement, and that money would be better spent on hiring staff and increasing professional development opportunities for educators.”

The union says it supports the voluntary adoption of evidence-based curricula by districts, which has been spurred on by grants from programs like Literacy Launch. Advocates estimate that about half of the state’s districts are experimenting with or rolling out higher-quality curricula. The other half is still using less-effective instructional materials, including Lucy Calkin’s popular Units of Study, which is based on the principles of a teaching strategy called Balanced Literacy.

Failed Reform Efforts

Balanced Literacy emerged during the “reading wars” of the 1990s in an attempt to address the nation’s literacy decline. At the time, the prominent approach to instruction, called Whole Language, required students to learn words and sentences by looking at simple picture books as they were read aloud, and if needed, guess at pronunciation and meaning by the story’s context and images. Experts hoped that this loosely structured method would inspire a love of reading.

While it worked for some students, critics said the lack of any explicit instruction in methods to decode words left many students struggling. Balanced Literacy came about as a compromise, adding a dash of phonics to help these students sound out words while keeping the fundamentals of the Whole Language strategy.

De’Shawn Washington, winner of the 2024 Teacher of the Year award in Massachusetts, saw the damage done to his elementary students from Balanced Literacy’s Units of Study. In his Boston and Lexington classrooms, students who were already proficient readers advanced at a fast clip. But most students, who were one or two grade levels behind because they didn’t have exposure to reading at home or suffered from a disability, learned at a much slower pace, if at all. A few of his third graders were unable to read books for kindergarteners or write their names. Washington did his best to supplement Units of Study with more phonics, but it wasn’t much help.

“The struggling readers tended to get left behind, and the disparity between them and the proficient readers widened,” said Washington, whose experience turned him into an advocate of Massachusetts’s mandate.

Calkins, a professor at Columbia, has publicly acknowledged her curriculum’s shortcomings. Yet Units of Study remains entrenched in more than two dozen districts in Massachusetts, which are part of the “widespread” resistance to literacy reforms, including in Boston Public Schools, says Darci Burns, executive director of HILL for Literacy, which trains Massachusetts teachers in evidence-based literacy practices.

Burns says many of the gatekeepers of instructional materials, such as assistant superintendents and directors of curriculum, were trained to use Balanced Literacy and remain wedded to it like a religion. Teachers like its unscripted approach, giving them more freedom. Burns predicts they will try to skirt the mandate rather than support it.

“These districts might adopt a reading program that’s the most aligned with Balanced Literacy,” Burns told RCI. “And then they’ll go through the motions, but they won’t really do it.”

The Science of Reading

In 2000, a National Reading Panel of top experts was set up to distill what several hundred gold-standard studies revealed about literacy instruction. Although the panel didn’t explicitly reject Balance Literacy, it found that a more structured approach to instruction in five areas was the most effective: phonemic awareness (learning word sounds), phonics (matching sounds to letters), fluency (reading aloud), vocabulary (learning word meanings), and comprehension (gleaning the meaning of text).

The science of reading movement was built on these five pillars, with Massachusetts and other states incorporating them into legislation. Although more recent research has brought new insights – leading scholar Louisa Moats says language skills need much more emphasis in the five pillars – they remain the best approach to improved literacy.

Yet two decades after the panel’s findings, most universities still haven’t read the memo. Signaling the challenges of wholesale reform, only a quarter of teacher preparation programs cover all five pillars, denying most instructors the training they need to be effective.

This leaves educators in an unusual position – unlike most professionals, they are not trained in, and sometimes reject, the best practices of their trade. It’s another knock on the relevancy of higher education that Massachusetts and other states are now addressing by requiring teacher preparation to include the five pillars.

“Most teachers don’t know the science of reading – that the point of phonemic awareness is to facilitate word recognition with an alphabetic writing system, or that the primary comprehension enabler is vocabulary,” said Moats. “I don’t want my grandkids in a classroom where the teacher has the autonomy to do whatever the hell she wants because I have seen the results of that.”

The five pillars may be on solid footing, but the curricula based on them are a work in progress. Some are comprehensive, others are too narrowly focused on the foundational skills like phonics and don’t include enough book reading and writing; some don’t focus enough on building students’ knowledge about subjects like history and science, which is key to reading comprehension; some haven’t been around long enough to have a proven track record.

States with new literacy laws are not all doing a good job of vetting curricula to ensure they give districts the strongest options, says Vaites of the Curriculum Insight Project. The varying quality of the curricula has given ammunition to critics of mandates, like Superintendent Julie Hackett, whose affluent Lexington district in Massachusetts uses Units of Study. “We’ve done some looking into results around districts that have adopted new curricula and we are not seeing the results that would necessarily justify” spending up to $1 million to buy new instructional materials, Hackett said at an MTA event.

Vaites wrote that Hackett’s concerns are overblown. Although Massachusetts’ current list isn’t perfect, it does offer comprehensive programs covering the five pillars with an emphasis on reading books and building knowledge.

“Most of the curricula on Massachusetts’s list is pretty good, and now with the mandate, most people think that state leaders are savvy enough to make it even better,” Vaites told RCI.

Arduous Training

Southern states found that a new curriculum isn’t worth much unless teachers are trained to master it. Washington, the former teacher, says adopting a new curriculum is a lot of work, and classes and coaching gives teachers more confidence about handling such a big transition, convincing them that the science of reading is not just another education fad.

“The training shifts the conversation away from resistance because teachers realize they are not going into this new situation blind and that there’s a big investment being made to improve the profession,” Washington said.

The bills in Massachusetts offer training to all teachers rather than requiring it, as 18 other states, including Louisiana, have done, according to ExcelinEd’s literacy policy tracker. If that’s a concession to opponents, so is the decision by Massachusetts lawmakers not to adopt another reform that has proven effective in Louisiana, Mississippi, and other states: retaining third graders who can’t read at or near grade level from promotion. It’s a highly controversial policy that parents almost always oppose despite the long-term literacy benefits, according to a study of Mississippi that found retention “led to substantially higher ELA scores in sixth grade.”

In all, ExcelinEd has identified 18 reforms, including dyslexia screening and parental notification of reading problems, that the most successful states have implemented. Given the heavy lift, it’s not surprising that some states have stumbled.

Of the 15 states that adopted most of the 18 policies by 2019, 10 of them outpaced the national average in fourth-grade NAEP reading scores by 2024, with Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina far out in front, according to Hovanetz, the policy fellow. These 10 states illustrate the effectiveness of the reforms.

But test scores in four of the 15 states declined more than the nation’s did, and Michigan tied, showing the difficulty of implementing the reforms. Among the backsliding states, Hovanetz says, New Mexico didn’t train and deploy all of its reading coaches, and Oklahoma and North Carolina ended their third-grade retention policy.

“States get a whole bunch of constituent calls saying, ‘It’s not fair you’re retaining my kid.’ Then they back off of the policy and lose any momentum that they had gained,” says Hovanetz, a former Florida education official.

Minnesota illustrates how things can go wrong when districts are encouraged, rather than mandated, to adopt evidence-based curricula and teacher training. “Some teachers took the training, not everyone did, and when they went back to their schools, teachers didn’t have the instructional materials to support what they learned in training, and they might not have had a leader at the school to support them," Hovanetz said. “So Minnesota probably wasted a whole lot of money.”

A number of other states haven’t bothered to pass meaningful science-of-reading laws. They include both liberal states like Washington and Illinois and conservative states like Montana and Maine.

In Massachusetts, a conference committee is reconciling the two bills, with the rollout of reforms set for 2027. The Senate bill requires districts to regularly assess K-3 students’ reading abilities and create improvement plans for those who score significantly below grade level. It’s a measure of accountability that advocates hope will produce positive results in a state that’s moving backwards in literacy on the NAEP test.

In another concession to opponents of the mandate, lawmakers gave districts a narrow escape hatch. They can apply for a waiver from the mandate if their alternative curriculum is backed by research evidence. While the waiver could open the door to the adoption of Calkin’s revised Units of Study, it will have to pass muster with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Mary Tamer, who convened the Mass Reads coalition of 40 education groups to support the legislation that she helped write, is bullish about the adoption of reforms. Despite the opposition, she says the political momentum, underscored by the unanimous votes for the literacy bills in both the House and Senate, is strong enough to compel most districts to buy in.

“Our expectation is that districts will move toward evidence-based instruction as quickly as they can because it’s proven to teach children how to read,” she said. “And that is our goal here.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 21:50

Eric Swalwell Rents Room Linked To Former Staffer To Claim California Residency

Tyler Durden — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 01:25:00 +0000

Eric Swalwell Rents Room Linked To Former Staffer To Claim California Residency

Rep. Eric Swalwell has primarily been living in Washington, D.C. for years, and now that he’s running for governor of California, he’s hit a snag over residency.

According to reports, Swalwell is renting a single room in a home in the eastern Bay Area that’s occupied by a family of three to claim residency in the state. Public records show it’s a three-bedroom, 1,350-square-foot home owned by Nicolas and Kristina Mrzywka. It is unlikely that Swalwell has ever truly lived there. And now, one of his Democratic primary rivals is calling him out on it.

“The alleged discovery of Swalwell’s Livermore rental came from the congressman’s top Democratic opponent, billionaire Tom Steyer,” reports the New York Post. “Steyer says Swalwell appears to ‘live in California on paper only’ as the governor race heats up, ‘making him unlikely to meet the basic residency requirements to run for Governor.’”

Ryan Hughes, Steyer’s attorney, is now calling on Secretary of State Shirley Weber to “enforce a dormant residency requirement in the governor’s race.” Hughes also encouraged Weber to “allow for robust legal proceedings as to whether Swalwell is eligible to serve as Governor,” which could be problematic when dealing with the Trump administration.

“If elected, questions of legitimacy would hang over Swalwell, allowing the Trump Administration to sow doubt, exploit the ambiguity, and advance its perverse agendas,” Hughes wrote. “The Trump Administration could question Swalwell’s legitimacy as Governor and, therefore, imperil California’s receipt of federal funds, the state’s ability to deploy the California National Guard, and act in emergencies.”

Why is Swalwell renting that particular room? Kristina Mrzywka is the sister of Stephanie Sbranti, the wife of Tim Sbranti, Swalwell's ex-deputy chief of staff and district director from 2015 to 2018, whom Hughes described as Swalwell’s “longtime mentor who helped introduce him to politics.”

Deed searches turn up no trace of ownership for Swalwell in Livermore. Meanwhile, a 2022 deed of trust lists him as the buyer of a house in Washington, D.C., which he claimed as his primary residence.

In an interview, Sbranti said he suggested Swalwell rent a room in the Livermore home “as a way to maintain an affordable base in an expensive district, ” the Sacramento Bee reported.

In the letter, Hughes stated that at least since 2018 the Secretary of State’s office “has taken the legal position that the five-year residency requirement is unconstitutional under the U.S. Constitution.”

In response, a declaration was filed on March 6 by Swalwell’s attorneys from his landlord Mrzywka.

In it she states that “under penalty of perjury” that “I entered a lease agreement with Eric and Brittany Swalwell in June 2017 for a property that I own in Livermore, California. Mr. and Mrs. Swalwell has leased the property from me since June 2017.”

Democrat Members of Congress from California are also sticking up for Swalwell.

“Like all members of the California congressional delegation, we work and live both in this great state and in Washington, DC, representing our constituents in Congress,” their joint statement reads. “Tom Steyer's insinuation that there is something wrong with that undermines us all. Steyer is pushing a bogus residency conspiracy that originated in MAGA circles at Donald Trump's bidding.”

The statement continued, “Eric Swalwell has spent his entire career fighting for California families - both in his district, and in our nation's Capitol. We have endorsed our colleague so he can continue this important work of protecting Californians from Trump and making the Golden State more affordable.”

The statement was signed by Reps. Jimmy Gomez, Adam Gray, Zoe Lofgren, Mike Thompson, Doris Matsui, Raul Ruiz, Ted Lieu, Lou Correa, Nanette Barragán, Jimmy Panetta, and Kevin Mullin

Steyer's campaign isn’t buying it.

"With so much at stake in this election and this administration making anti-democratic moves all across the country, we hope that the Congressman can resolve this issue to avoid Donald Trump or Republican extremists exploiting it down the line or creating confusion for voters later in the process."

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 21:25

Paging Nostradamus: You Have A Margin Call

Tyler Durden — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 01:00:00 +0000

Paging Nostradamus: You Have A Margin Call

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

If conditions change beneath the surface, the folks behind the curtain will be powerless to do anything but make it worse.

This just in: predicting is hard, especially about the future. One solution is ambiguity: couch predictions in poetic allusions that are open to interpretation.

What's hard is making an unambiguous prediction that turn out to be correct. Recency bias often trips us up, as making predictions based on projecting the recent past seems to work well until trends and dynamics change. But due to recency bias, we tend to ignore these signals and focus on whatever supports our belief that the future will be a continuation of the recent past.

If we live long enough to experience several epochal transitions, we start noticing longer-term patterns. One such pattern that attracts little attention is that recessions tend not to replicate the previous recession; they tend to follow the recession before.

So the recession we're now entering won't track the 2008-09 recession, it will likely track either The 1991 recession--shallow and brief--or the previous "real recessions" of 1980-83 or 1973-75.

The recession of 2008-09 was characterized by these dynamics:

1. The price of oil spiked, but fell rapidly back to its previous range.

2. Low inflation generated by the massive deflationary impact of China's expansion of low-cost manufacturing and credit expansion enabled the Federal Reserve to flood the financial system with trillions of dollars, pinning interest rates to zero (ZIRP--zero interest rate policy).

3. Low inflation enabled authorities to "run the economy hot" with cheap, abundant credit that inflated credit-asset bubbles in real estate, stocks and other assets, generating a "wealth effect" in the top 10% who own the majority of the assets.

4. The Fed's balance sheet and federal debt were both modest when measured by GDP, and so these could be expanded with little downside, as these acted as buffers.

The 1991 recession was trigged by a spike in oil prices and risk-off reaction to the first Gulf War (Desert Storm). Once oil prices fell, the impact on interest rates, asset valuations, unemployment, etc. were, by historical standards, mild.

The 1973-75 and 1980-83 recessions were different--stagflationary confluences of embedded inflation generated by price shocks and "running the economy hot." Over time, interest rates (bond yields) tend to track the cost of oil, as the entire economy rests on a foundation of energy.

Adjusted for inflation, oil leaped to a new level in the "oil shock" of 1973-74, triggering a reset of the economy already reeling from higher inflation, foreign competition and sagging productivity.

As the supergiant oil fields discovered in the 1960s started producing at scale in the 1980s, the inflation-adjusted price of oil fell, and remained at historically modest levels interrupted by occasional short-lived spikes (Desert Storm, invasion of Ukraine, etc.).

In the 1970s, energy plateaued at a higher cost level. This--along with other factors--contributed to embedding higher costs, i.e. inflation, that were exacerbated by "running the economy hot," i.e. assuming inflation would magically decline due to "growth."

Instead, inflation became self-reinforcing, threatening to cripple the economy. The only real solution was pushing interest rates high enough to suppress credit expansion, which in an economy dependent on ever-expanding credit, pushed the economy into a deep recession.

Assets fell, valuations stagnated, unemployment soared, credit tightened, and the "easy money" fixes of the past were no longer the solution, they were the problem.

Here we see the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds, a proxy of interest rates:

Here is the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), a proxy of the stock market, adjusted for inflation: by the time the Dow regained the magic 1,000 level in 1982, it had lost 2/3rds of its real (inflation-adjusted) value from its 1966 1,000 peak.

We have succumbed to the illusory belief that "the powers behind the curtain" can--and will--always save us from a market crash and "real recession." What history teaches us is this can only happen in a very specific set of conditions which no longer apply: if oil costs plateau at a higher level, inflation becomes self-reinforcing, credit expansion leads to extremes of risk and productivity remains stagnant, then those behind the curtain will only make the situation worse by lowering interest rates and "running it hot."

At that point, everyone predicting a continuation of the past 18 years will be reaping their reward for being wrong: a margin call in a bidless market. Predicting is hard, but it's good to keep an open mind and avoid recency bias. If conditions change beneath the surface, the folks behind the curtain will be powerless to do anything but make it worse.

* * *

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Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 21:00

Senate Republicans On Iran War Ending: Sooner The Better

Tyler Durden — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:35:00 +0000

Senate Republicans On Iran War Ending: Sooner The Better

The ongoing U.S. military operation against Iran, which began February 28th with strikes aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear program, ballistic missile capabilities, navy, and other strategic assets, has prompted a range of reactions from Republican senators. While most GOP lawmakers initially supported President Trump's actions - evidenced by the Senate's largely party-line vote on March 4th to block a bipartisan war powers resolution that would have curtailed or required congressional approval for the conflict - several prominent voices have emphasized the need for a swift conclusion rather than a prolonged engagement.

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), a key Trump ally, became one of the most vocal advocates for an early exit during his appearance on Jesse Watters Primetime on Tuesday. Hawley urged the president to "declare victory" and withdraw U.S. forces, arguing that core objectives have already been met.

Watters: Do you think the President is going to look for an off-ramp or keep going?

Hawley: I think he [Trump] has achieved his objectives the way that he’s laid them out… What is there, really, that’s left to do that we haven’t already done?

…

We have totally destroyed, forever, their nuclear program. We have destroyed their ballistic missiles. We have destroyed their navy. This has been a total success… I think we ought to say to our heroes, ‘Thank you for a job well done.’ This has been absolutely amazing. It’s been amazing. It’s been historic. And now it’s time to declare victory.

Watch:

Hawley on Iran: What is there really that's left to do that we haven't already done? It's time to declare victory. pic.twitter.com/fSM2yFvMZ0
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 11, 2026

This positioned Hawley as the first prominent Trump-aligned senator to publicly push for an end in this manner. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), known for his non-interventionist stance, has been the other GOP senator openly critical or unsupportive - opposing the operation from the outset and was the lone Republican to vote in favor of the war powers resolution to limit it.

Hawley is joined by at least two other GOP senators in expressing preferences for a short, decisive campaign rather than an extended one. In comments to ZeroHedge on Wednesday:

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) stated, "Nobody wants that. The President doesn’t. I certainly don’t," emphasizing a shared desire to wrap up quickly. He expressed trust in Trump but highlighted concerns about a prolonged conflict's potential effects on the 2026 midterm elections.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), often seen as more establishment-oriented and hawkish on issues like Ukraine aid, agreed on avoiding a "quagmire." When asked about favoring a short-term operation, she replied, "Oh yeah," adding that Trump's mentioned timeline of "four to five weeks... sounds like a good period of time."

These sentiments reflect a broader GOP preference for avoiding "forever wars," consistent with Trump's campaign rhetoric, even as broader Republican support remains strong for the strikes themselves. No widespread pushback or calls for indefinite continuation appear from other senators in available reporting, though some like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) have estimated the campaign lasting "a few weeks" with focused objectives like degrading missile capabilities.

Meanwhile, the conflict's economic ripple effects continue, with Brent crude settling above $100 per barrel for the first time since August 2022. Analysts at JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have warned that sustained closure of the Strait of Hormuz could drive prices to $150 per barrel, heightening pressure for a rapid resolution.

*BRENT CRUDE SETTLES ABOVE $100 FOR FIRST TIME SINCE AUGUST 2022
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 12, 2026

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 20:35

US Court Clears State Medicaid Ban On Transgender Surgeries For Adults

Tyler Durden — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:10:00 +0000

US Court Clears State Medicaid Ban On Transgender Surgeries For Adults

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

West Virginia’s ban on Medicaid coverage of surgical procedures for people with gender dysphoria is legal, a federal court ruled on March 10.

A sign in support of Medicaid rests in a walking device on the House steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on April 27, 2025. Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

A 2025 U.S. Supreme Court decision means the ban does not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause or the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Circuit Judge Julius Richardson, writing for a unanimous panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, said in a 35-page decision.

West Virginia’s Medicaid plan excludes a number of treatments and procedures, including “infertility services” and “sex changes.”

People who sued over the ban said they were being discriminated against, in part because of the Equal Protection Clause, which says that states must not deny people equal protection under the law.

“To prevail on the equal protection claim, Plaintiffs must first show that the challenged Exclusion discriminates because of sex or transgender status. But they fail to make this showing,” Richardson said.

That’s because the exclusion is based on medical diagnosis, he said.

“West Virginia’s plan does not single out people of a particular sex or transgender status. Rather, the State determines which diagnoses qualify based on the risks it is willing to cover,” the judge said. “Here, West Virginia chose to cover alterations of a person’s breasts or genitalia only if the person experiences physical injury, disease, or congenital absence of genitalia.”

Medicaid is a health insurance program for low-income people run by the U.S. and state governments. About half of U.S. states ban or limit Medicaid coverage for transgender procedures. A number of lawsuits have been filed over the restrictions.

The new decision cited a 2025 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld a Tennessee law barring transgender procedures and drugs for minors.

A federal judge ruled against the West Virginia ban in 2022, and the full 4th Circuit struck down the law in 2024.

In 2025, Supreme Court justices told the appeals court to reconsider the prohibition in light of its ruling on the Tennessee statute.

West Virginia officials also offered legitimate reasons for the policy, including concerns about the medical necessity of transgender surgeries, the appeals court panel ruled.

“This is a big win for West Virginia taxpayers who pay the bill for Medicaid—a much needed and utilized program,“ West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey said in a statement. ”As good stewards of taxpayer dollars, the state should not be footing the bill for unproven, non-essential medical procedures.”

Lambda Legal, which is representing plaintiffs in the case, did not return a request for comment by the time of publication.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 20:10

Ben Affleck Once Criticized AI, Now Netflix Is Buying His AI Startup For $600 Million

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 23:45:00 +0000

Ben Affleck Once Criticized AI, Now Netflix Is Buying His AI Startup For $600 Million

Ben Affleck—who has previously warned about the risks artificial intelligence poses to Hollywood—has sold his own AI filmmaking startup to Netflix in a deal that could reach $600 million, according to Bloomberg.

The cash portion of the acquisition is smaller, with additional payments tied to performance targets, but it still ranks among the largest AI-focused deals by a major studio.

The startup, InterPositive, developed software designed to help directors edit footage after filming, such as removing stray objects or changing elements in the background. The tools are intended to work with existing film rather than generate entirely new content. Director David Fincher has already used the technology on an upcoming movie starring Brad Pitt.

Netflix’s purchase highlights how studios are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to streamline production and reduce costs. Rivals such as Amazon and The Walt Disney Company are also exploring AI tools for film and television development.

Bloomberg writes that Affleck built InterPositive with backing from RedBird Capital Partners and initially kept the project quiet before seeking investors in 2025. He has argued the technology should function as a controlled filmmaking aid: the system trains only on footage from a specific film and doesn’t scrape outside movies or generate new works independently.

For Netflix, which has historically favored building technology internally over large acquisitions, the purchase represents a rare buyout aimed at strengthening its in-house AI capabilities for movie and TV production.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 19:45

White House Disputes ABC Report Claiming Iran Wants To Launch Drones At West Coast

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 23:20:00 +0000

White House Disputes ABC Report Claiming Iran Wants To Launch Drones At West Coast

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The White House and FBI on Thursday disputed claims of an internal government alert saying Iran wants to launch drones to attack the West Coast of the United States, saying that ABC News should move to retract its reporting.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on Feb. 18, 2026. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A report and social media post from ABC News on Wednesday said that the FBI warned police departments in California of the potential threat. The media outlet said it cited an FBI alert that its reporters reviewed.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in an X post on Thursday, “No such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did.”

Leavitt said the ABC News story and X post “should be immediately retracted ... for providing false information to intentionally alarm the American people.”

“They wrote this based on one email that was sent to local law enforcement in California about a single, unverified tip,” she wrote. “The email even states the tip was based on *unverified* intelligence. Yet ABC News left out this critical fact in their story! WHY?”

Responding to ABC, FBI spokesman Ben Williamson said that ABC’s report omitted the word “unverified” from the bulletin that was sent by the FBI to its local Joint Terrorism Task Forces partners. He included a screenshot of ABC’s report and a screenshot text of the FBI’s bulletin.

“We recently acquired unverified information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack” with drones targeting the United States from “an unidentified vessel,” the FBI bulletin stated, in part, according to his X post.

The bulletin added the law enforcement bureau has “no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack.”

ABC News, which is owned by Disney, has not publicly responded to Leavitt or Williamson. The Epoch Times contacted ABC News for comment on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said in a Wednesday post that the office is keeping “an elevated level of readiness and is maintaining increased vigilance as we continue to protect our residents of Los Angeles County. We are working closely with our federal and local law enforcement partners to share intelligence and monitor the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and assess any potential impacts in our communities.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office office said the bulletin was one of many security updates ⁠the state receives from federal partners daily. California, it said, had elevated its security posture since the start of the Iran conflict.

In a message posted on X, the governor’s office said Newsom was “in constant coordination with security and intelligence officials” to monitor “potential threats to California—including those tied to the conflict in the Middle East.”

Iranian-made Shahed-136 "Kamikaze" drone flies over the sky of Kermanshah, Iran on March 7, 2024. Anonymous/Middle East Images/Middle East Images via AFP via Getty images

The confidential alert, issued by the FBI, surfaced publicly on Wednesday as the war, which began on Feb. 28 with massive U.S.–Israeli bombardments of Iran, stretched into its 12th day.

The Iranian regime, whose supreme leader and other top officials were killed in the air strikes, has responded with missile and drone aircraft attacks against Israel and several Gulf states that host U.S. military installations. The regime has said it would target commercial vehicles in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, while the country’s new leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, said on Thursday that the strait should remain closed indefinitely.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday, when asked by a reporter about Iranian sleeper cells in the United States, said that the administration is tracking most of them and knows where they are.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 19:20

Large US Refueling Aircraft Downed Over Western Iraq In First Of Iran War

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0000

Large US Refueling Aircraft Downed Over Western Iraq In First Of Iran War

Summary:

State media: Iran claims responsibility for shooting down US refueling plane, says US refueling plane was downed with all crew killed in Western Iraq.
CENTCOM confirms search and rescue operation underway after large KC-135 refueling tanker goes down over Western Iraq.
Trump: Iran paying a 'big price' right now; situation 'moving along rapidly'
Netanyahu confirms hitting IRGC and Basij checkpoints, in effort to 'topple regime'
Iran's top security official to Trump: 'we will not relent until you are sorry'
Oil pares gains after report that Iran lets some ships cross strait, denies mining Hormuz
Bloomberg: Trump admin set to temporarily suspend Jones Act shipping rules to help cool rising oil prices.
Ayatollah Mojtaba in first public message says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz should be continued as a tool to pressure the enemy
Mojtaba vows to keep attacking US bases, and signals 'new fronts' could soon open
President Trump simultaneously says the US is stopping Iran "from having Nuclear weapons" and "destroying" the Middle East and "the World".
Shipping turmoil escalates as multiple vessels (at least six) struck overnight
Brent crude oil prices top $100 amid "the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market," the IEA reports.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the US Navy is not yet ready to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as military assets remain focused on degrading Iran’s offensive capabilities.
Dubai suffers significant drone attacks
Northern Israel hammered by Hezbollah, "largest wave" of missiles since war began
IDF says it struck key Iranian nuclear development site
US Intel assesses Iranian regime remains intact
Oman port operations halted
Trump proclaims "we won"

* * *

Update(1855ET): In a huge battlefield development and significant first and setback for US forces operating against Iran, a large American military aerial refueling tanker has gone down over Western Iraq, where it was operating in connection with Operation Epic Fury. CENTCOM says there's a rescue effort ongoing, amid likely casualties. In an official statement it said:

U.S. Central Command is aware of the loss of a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft. The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing. Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely.

But the statement also sought to emphasize: "This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire." But Tehran is contradicting this:

Iran claims responsibility for shooting down US refueling plane, says US refueling plane was downed with all crew killed in Western Iraq.

Typically three members operate KC-135, but there can sometimes be another navigators, or possibly up to six on board. This could be an event with serous casualties.

KC-135, via USAF

The pressure is piling up on the administration...

CENTCOM claims an accident led to the loss of a KC-135 refueling aircraft over Iraq. I wish I could take them and face value, bc they were flying in close proximity to Iranian fire.

But one way or the other, this is yet another cost to American forces. More reports are coming… https://t.co/wBSjpg7Dmg
— Daniel Davis Deep Dive (@DanielLDavis1) March 12, 2026

* * *

Update(1205ET): Some fresh development impacting closely watched oil prices:

OIL PARES GAINS AFTER REPORT IRAN LETS SOME SHIPS CROSS STRAIT

IRAN ALLOWED SOME SHIPS TO CROSS STRAIT, DEPUTY FM SAYS: AFP

IRAN DEPUTY FM SAYS NOT LAYING MINES IN HORMUZ STRAIT: AFP

IRAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER TAKHT-RAVANCHI SPEAKS TO AFP

Reuters reports say at least a dozen explosive mines have been put in shipping lanes. As for Iran's denial, this doesn't mean the war shows signs of immediately stoppage, instead per the AFP:

Iran wants to ensure that a war will not be imposed again on it in the future, deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told AFP, as the conflict raged with the United States and Israel. "We want to see that war is not going to be imposed again on Iran," said Takht-Ravanchi in an interview in Tehran.

"When the war started last June, after 12 days there was so called cessation of hostilities... but after eight or nine months, they regrouped and they did it again."

* * *

Update(0940ET): Coming near in time to each other Thursday morning, President Trump and Iran's Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued public statements. This marks the first public statement by supreme leader Mojtaba since replacing his slain father. The statement has been posted to Iranian state TV sources, and below are the most crucial remarks.

Mojtaba says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz should be continued as a tool to pressure the enemy. He additionally states that "all US bases should immediately be closed in the region and those bases should be attacked." Indeed these attacks have been ongoing this week, as the cross Gulf drone and missile strikes continue, also reportedly most recently in northern Iraq, and around Erbil. On the question of base attacks, he claimed that Iran "only" targets military bases and sites, and says this will continue. However, he did try to assure angry Gulf neighbors, who have been pummeled by Iranian missiles and drones for close to two weeks now, that Iran believes in "friendship with our neighbors". The message further praises 'martyrs' of the Islamic Republic and is one that emphasizes Iran is not backing down, despite the immense daily US-Israeli bombings. He also 'thanked' regional militias for their 'support' - at a moment Shia Iraq militant groups are said to be launching strikes on US targets inside neighboring Iraq. Ominously, the new Ayatollah is warning of opening "other fronts".

Click, add to cart, get it done...

As for President Trump, he's still seeking to try and calm global oil prices, posting "The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran." This once again echoes lines from the Bush era war in Iraq. He also said he's stopping Iran "from having Nuclear weapons" and "destroying" the Middle East and "the World".

WTI Crude as the rival messages went out almost simultaneously:

An earlier Thursday threat from Iranian leadership:

Trump has said "we can take apart Iran's electric capacity within one hour, but we have not done it."

Well, if they do that, the whole region will go dark in less than half an hour and darkness provides ample opportunity to hunt down US servicemen running for safety.
— Ali Larijani | علی لاریجانی (@alilarijani_ir) March 12, 2026

* * *

Brent crude futures in Asian trading jumped above $101/bbl overnight, despite news of a planned record emergency SPR release by the International Energy Agency's 32 member countries, in an effort aimed at capping triple-digit oil prices.

Today's focus is on reports that IRGC forces struck two foreign oil tankers in the Gulf area, bringing the total to six vessels hit over the past 24 hours. Iranian kamikaze drones also struck an energy export hub in Oman, while IRGC naval mine threats in the Strait of Hormuz soared by midweek.

The Wall Street Journal reported that two oil tankers were struck in Iraqi waters. The U.K. maritime security agency UKMTO also said a containership was hit off the coast of Dubai, adding to earlier reports that three cargo vessels were struck around the Strait of Hormuz area. Also worth recalling is the dramatic video from yesterday showing an IRGC drone slamming into a critical tank farm in Oman.

Video footage from the deck of a Chinese cargo ship which allegedly shows the moment an Iranian one-way attack drone, a Shahed-136, struck an oil tank earlier today at the MINA Petroleum Facility on the Port of Salalh in Oman. pic.twitter.com/45KGfrjYak
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 11, 2026

The market reaction to the overnight hostilities, as Operation Epic Fury rages on this week and IRGC forces lob missiles and bombs at Gulf states, was a surge in Brent crude futures to the $101 handle.

The insane videos of tanker attacks just keep coming...

NEW: Video shows moment Iranian boat filled with explosives hits U.S.-owned oil tanker in the Persian Gulf pic.twitter.com/nYwnA2BzRl
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) March 12, 2026

Goldman's Rich Privorotsky on the overnight energy market moves:

A series of attacks across the Gulf has sent oil up nearly another 10% (fading to up 5%), with Brent back briefly through the $100 level. The move in products looks even more acute, with distillates leading. Quite telling yesterday that, after yet another Whitehouse jawbone and the IEA’s record reserve release announcement, oil still failed to come in meaningfully. Overnight Reuters reported, “Iran has laid about a dozen mines in Strait of Hormuz, sources say” … if that is confirmed it's not quickly reversible.

Goldman expects longer disruptions on the Hormuz chokepoint:

Here's where things get even more complicated: Six commercial vessels and oil infrastructure in the Gulf area were hit in IRGC strikes, and attention is now shifting to another critical maritime chokepoint.

Overnight, Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency warned that the Houthis in Yemen and other Iran-backed groups could move to shut the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

The overnight chaos sent Brent crude back over $101/bbl, but it has since fallen to $96/bbl by 0630 ET. This comes after the IEA's 32 member countries agreed on a "record" 400 million barrel release to cap energy prices. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced that the U.S. will contribute 172 million barrels. As we explained to readers on Wednesday, this SPR dump is likely to have only a minimal impact.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump told supporters in Kentucky last night that Operation Epic Fury was effectively over almost as soon as it began. "It's just a question of when—when do we stop?" he said.

"Let me say we've won. You know, you never like to say too early you won. We won. We won, in the first hour it was over, but we won," Trump said.

He added, "We don't want to leave early, do we? We've got to finish the job."

NOW - Trump declares "we've won" the Iran War. pic.twitter.com/vx0J9Z9SJr
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 11, 2026

It is clear that U.S.-Israeli operations have dealt a major blow to the IRGC's conventional military capabilities, but the lingering threat will be asymmetric warfare, including drone attacks, naval mines, the potential sabotage of undersea cables, and a wide range of other low-cost, high-disruption weapons.

What's important from the overnight (courtesy of Bloomberg):

Energy Market

The Iran war is causing the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market, hitting 7.5% of global supply and an even bigger share of exports
Oil prices surged above $100 a barrel as Iran escalated attacks on Dubai and shipping assets
IEA members agreed to release an unprecedented 400 million barrels from emergency reserves to calm the market

IRGC Military Actions

Iran escalated attacks on parts of Dubai with missile alerts and a drone that fell on a building in Creek Harbour on Wednesday night
Iran says it maintains control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz and claims it carried out strikes on Israeli military and intelligence facilities
Iran's military announced the policy of reciprocal strikes has ended, stating, 'from now on, our policy will be strike after strike'
More than 2,100 Shahed-136 weapons have been fired so far, damaging oil infrastructure, shutting airports and destroying military hardware

US Security Warnings

The US State Department warned that Iran and affiliated groups could be planning attacks on oil infrastructure owned by the United States in Iraq
US Central Command warned that Iran is using civilian ports along the Strait of Hormuz for military operations, making them legitimate targets
California Governor Newsom said he's aware of potential drone strikes in California after FBI warnings that Iran has allegedly considered launching offensive drones against the West Coast

Economic Impact

Goldman Sachs and Citigroup told staffers in Dubai to stay away from their offices amid Iran threats
On the Beach suspended its full-year guidance due to a 'significant slowdown' in demand following the Middle East conflict, with shares dropping as much as 15%
Chinese oil refiners have begun canceling agreed refined fuel export cargoes as Beijing tightens curbs to cope with the war's impact

Diplomatic Developments

Iran has told regional intermediaries that for a ceasefire, the US must guarantee that neither it nor Israel will strike the country in the future
A former IRGC chief said Iran would agree to no ceasefire until the country reaches a 'definite outcome'
The UN Security Council approved a resolution condemning Iran's attacks on its Gulf neighbors including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan

Related energy market reads:

Is it too early for Trump to be calling a "win" when asymmetric warfare is still a very big threat and will be lingering for many weeks, if not months? As one pundit has pointed out: "Endurance regimes do not need clean victory to change the game. They only need to survive the shock while making the old equilibrium too costly for their adversaries to restore."

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 19:00

Centrus Partners With Palantir As Wright Pushes End To Russian Imports

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 22:55:00 +0000

Centrus Partners With Palantir As Wright Pushes End To Russian Imports

In a move underscoring America’s drive for nuclear fuel sovereignty, Centrus Energy and Palantir announced an AI-powered partnership aimed at slashing costs and fast-tracking the multi-billion-dollar expansion of U.S. uranium enrichment capacity.

The collaboration, showcased at Thursday's AIPCon 9 event, deploys Palantir's Foundry and Artificial Intelligence Platform across Centrus' operations. Early work since late January has already pinpointed nearly $300 million in potential cost savings and efficiencies. This would be on top of the $900 million they were recently awarded for their expansion efforts.

Further gains are expected to compress manufacturing lead times and accelerate the rollout of new capacity at Centrus' Ohio plant, which is the only U.S.-owned commercial enrichment facility currently operating. The company is already starting to prepare additional centrifuges at their manufacturing facilities.

Centrus President and CEO Amir Vexler remarked on the immediate cost savings and their ongoing EPC partnership with Fluor, while Palantir Industrials EVPs Joanna Peller and Tom McArdle noted how the partnership demonstrates how “AI-powered software can drive measurable impact in critical infrastructure projects”.

The announcement between the two companies came on the same day Energy Secretary Chris Wright was providing comments to CNN regarding enriched uranium imports from Russia.

The U.S. will rely on “our partners in Europe” to enable the U.S. to fully cut off uranium imports from Russia by the current deadline of 2028.

As Demand Grows, US Nuclear Energy Industry Faces Looming Crunch In Reactor Fuel Supply https://t.co/DfRbhoNGzD
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 15, 2026

There's an obvious desire by the U.S. to cut their dependence on Russian imports, given the Russians currently supply about 20-25% of the feedstock required by the U.S. commercial nuclear fleet.

As Secretary Wright noted on Thursday morning, the quickest likely path are the ongoing expansion efforts at the already-operating enrichment facility in New Mexico owned by Urenco.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 18:55

Crypto Whale Beached, Loses Nearly $50 Million Swapping USDT For AAVE

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 22:30:00 +0000

Crypto Whale Beached, Loses Nearly $50 Million Swapping USDT For AAVE

Authored by RT Watson via The Block,

Quick Take

Aave Labs founder and CEO Stani Kulechov said a crypto user “attempted to buy AAVE using $50 million in USDT through the Aave interface” but only received about $36,000 worth of the token in return.
CoW Swap said the “transaction executed according to the parameters of the signed order” and that “clear price impact warnings” were given.

When someone in crypto loses millions of dollars in an instant, it's usually due to a hack or an exploit. But, on Thursday, one crypto whale appears to have lost nearly $50 million simply trying to swap USDT for AAVE.

"Earlier today, a user attempted to buy AAVE using $50 million USDT through the Aave interface. Given the unusually large size of the single order, the Aave interface, like most trading interfaces, warned the user about extraordinary slippage and required confirmation via a checkbox," Aave Labs founder and CEO Stani Kulechov said in a post to X.

Earlier today, a user attempted to buy AAVE using $50M USDT through the Aave interface.

Given the unusually large size of the single order, the Aave interface, like most trading interfaces, warned the user about extraordinary slippage and required confirmation via a checkbox.…
— Stani.eth (@StaniKulechov) March 12, 2026

Thursday's mishap could be the largest of its kind in history. Last year, a crypto trader lost considerably less when they swapped about $733,000 of USDC for roughly $19,000 in USDT as a result of a large sandwich attack.

"The user confirmed the warning on their mobile device and proceeded with the swap, accepting the high slippage, which ultimately resulted in receiving only 324 AAVE in return," Kulechov added.

Slippage is the difference between the price a trader would expect to get in a trade and the price they receive once the transaction executes. This can happen in large orders or when liquidity is weak.

Yes.
— Stani.eth (@StaniKulechov) March 12, 2026

CoW Swap, which has an established integration with Aave, also took to social media. "Based on what we’ve seen so far, there’s no indication of a protocol exploit or otherwise malicious behavior. The transaction executed according to the parameters of the signed order," the organization posted to X. "Our interface shows clear price impact warnings for swaps of this magnitude. We’re continuing to review the details and will share updates as we learn more."

Kulechov said Aave sympathizes with the user and is trying to contact them and return "$600,000 in fees collected from the transaction."

[ZH] And where did it go?

This Mev Bot managed to extract almost $10M worth of ETHhttps://t.co/HFOx32Y4dw pic.twitter.com/TZJpHemecY
— Emmett Gallic (@emmettgallic) March 12, 2026

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Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 18:30

Western Leaders Pivot To Blaming "Putin's Hidden Hand" As Iran War Not Going To Plan

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 22:05:00 +0000

Western Leaders Pivot To Blaming "Putin's Hidden Hand" As Iran War Not Going To Plan

Western intelligence officials believe Russia's role in supporting Iran amid the US-Israeli military campaign is deepening, alongside potential expanding involvement by China.

Bloomberg, citing officials, writes in a fresh Thursday report: "Moscow is currently providing Iran with various forms of intelligence, including satellite imagery and drone targeting tactics, in an effort to help Iran hit back at US forces in the region, according to people familiar with US and Western intelligence."

Iran Ministry of Defense/WANA

Within the first week of Trump's Operation Epic Fury it was widely alleged that Russia was giving Iran targeting information concerning US bases and assets in the region.

While there's nothing in the way of smoking gun proof, all are in agreement that American bases have been hit hard, with US installations as far away as Jordan having suffered severe missile impact damage.

Western political leaders are now seizing on these allegations, to do more 'Putin is a global menace' hype. As a case in point:

“No one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics and potentially some of their capabilities as well,” UK Defence Secretary John Healey said at a military briefing in London on Thursday.

“Patterns of Iranian attack have the hallmarks of the way Russia is attacking Ukraine,” he said, adding that was to be expected “knowing how closely that alliance of aggression has been growing over the last few years.”

And they are also quickly saying the same of the 'China menace' - according to more from Bloomberg:

Following an intelligence briefing on Iran earlier this week, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said Russia seems to be aiding Tehran “actively and intensively, with intelligence and perhaps with other means” and added that “China may also be assisting Iran.”

Trump's Iran gambit is certainly not going to plan, and may drag Washington into another (predictable) Middle East quagmire.

These flurry of recent reports accusing Russia and China of rushing to to aid the Islamic Republic's military machine seem motivated at least in part by a Washington political class who is completely unwilling to admit their own mistakes and stupidity.

So now, each misstep and disastrous US action in the Persian Gulf region can be chalked up to "but Putin did this" or "Xi did that..."

Remember what the ex-CIA #2 said about killing Russians in Syria? The Kremlin surely does:

For example, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who it can be argued bears some responsibility for the developing Iran war fiasco, has already stated: "The Russians said that they have not been sharing — that’s what they said, so we can take them at their word,. He said: "It’s a better question for the intel people. But let’s hope that they’re not sharing."

If the Russians are sharing, what is Washington going to do about it? What can the US or Pentagon do at this point?

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 18:05

'Moderate' Gov. Abigail Spanberger Expected To Sign Sweeping Gun Ban Into Law

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:40:00 +0000

'Moderate' Gov. Abigail Spanberger Expected To Sign Sweeping Gun Ban Into Law

Authored by Tim O'Brien via PJMedia.com,

Now that the Virginia General Assembly has passed what it calls “assault weapon ban” legislation, all that’s needed is for Gov. Abigail Spanberger to sign it into law, which is all but a given. Once signed, Senate Bill 749 will likely take effect as soon as July 1, 2026.

The law will ban the sale, import, manufacture, purchase, and transfer of what it describes as “assault firearms,” and it will treat high-capacity magazines that can hold 15 rounds or more in the same way. It will make any violations of the law a “Class 1 misdemeanor,” which could mean up to a year in jail and a $2,500 for a first offense.

While SB 749 does not explicitly ban AR-15 rifles, since the popular long rifle falls under the bill’s definition of assault weapons, it will be effectively banned.

A Bangladeshi immigrant who has served in the Virginia Senate since 2024 is the sponsor of the massively aggressive gun control legislation. Saddam Azlan Salim came to America when he was 10 years old, settling with his family in Fairfax County.

🚨 BREAKING: Virginia Democrats just passed a gun control bill proposed by Bangladesh Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim — that would ban so-called "assault weapons," sending it to Gov. Spanberger's desk

Virginia REALLY screwed up.

Elections. Have. Consequences. pic.twitter.com/IltWEiFGJI
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 9, 2026

His bill, which will make guns with pistol grips, retractable stocks, and large magazines illegal for sale in Virginia, passed the state’s Senate on Feb. 9 by a close vote of 21-19.

On March 4, the House voted 59-35 for a substitute version of the bill, and on March 9, the Senate approved the substitute bill. This means the legislation is one signature away from law and the inevitable court fight that Second Amendment advocates hope will go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gun Owners of America (GOA) pointed out that what’s being banned is not “rare or unusual,” emphasizing that “these are not unusual items.”

In a statement in the wake of the legislation’s passage, GOA said in part:

SB 749 is a blatant, unconstitutional attack on the people of Virginia and a direct violation of our God given right to keep and bear arms. It is the latest attempt by an anti gun Democrat legislature to strip citizens of their rights while pretending they are making anyone safer.

Instead of targeting criminals, it targets you. It punishes peaceful Virginians for exercising a constitutional right.

And make no mistake, this bill will trigger lawsuits resulting in years of expensive litigation for Virginia taxpayers, who will be forced to fund the Commonwealth’s legal defense of obviously infringing legislation.

Spanberger was framed during the campaign as “the Anti-Mamdani."

Won and immediately went hardcore left.

They all want the same stuff. They’ll just say whatever needs to be said during the campaign to get there. https://t.co/jhy6etUAtc pic.twitter.com/TDj96RdcVp
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) January 20, 2026

If you carry a handgun, this could affect you if your magazine holds in excess of 10 rounds. If this is what a moderate Democrat looks like, I’d hate to see an extremist.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 17:40

Adobe Plunges To 7 Year Low On CEO Resignation, Muted Forecast

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:02:45 +0000

Adobe Plunges To 7 Year Low On CEO Resignation, Muted Forecast

Troubled SaaS icon Adobe tumbled after hours, sending its stock to 7 year lows after the company announced that CEO Shantanu Narayen will resign from the creative software giant amid deep skepticism about the company’s ability to survive and thrive in the AI era. Narayen had served as CEO of the company for 18 years, and will remain in the position until a successor has been appointed, Adobe said Thursday in a statement. He will stay on as board chairman.

The CEO change “adds questions around strategic continuity, capital allocation priorities, and pace of innovation,” Grace Harmon, an analyst at Emarketer, said in an email. “Investors will likely focus on whether incoming leadership maintains a balance between disciplined execution and aggressive AI investment, especially as competition in creative and enterprise AI intensifies.”

The company also gave a sales forecast for the current quarter that just topped estimates, but failed to ease investor fears that the software maker is being left behind by new competitors.

In the fiscal first quarter, revenue increased 12% to $6.4 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $6.28 billion. Adjusted earnings were $6.06 a share in the period, which ended Feb. 27. The average projection was $5.88 a share.

Annual recurring revenue for the company’s AI-first products such as Firefly more than tripled compared to the same period last year, Narayen said in a script prepared for a conference call scheduled after the results. In September, Adobe said sales from these products exceeded $250 million.

“We are focused on selecting the right leader for this next exciting chapter of the company’s growth and are grateful for Shantanu’s continued leadership as CEO to ensure a smooth transition,” said Frank Calderoni, the board’s lead independent director, who will oversee the search for Narayen’s successor.

For the quarter ending in May, the company expects revenue to be $6.43BN - $6.48BN, vs a conservative estimate of $6.43BN. Profit, excluding some items, will be $5.80 to $5.85 a share, compared with an average projection of $5.70.

The maker of creative software such as Photoshop is among a group of application software makers, including Salesforce and Atlassian that are seen as struggling to win new customers in the face of much cheaper AI upstarts. Adobe has worked to weave artificial intelligence tools through its creative and marketing software, and offers its own range of AI models meant to generate imagery that doesn’t carry copyright risks in an effort to keep its massive market share.

“Sentiment is constrained by long-term AI fears, current competitive pressures, revenue deceleration, and margin headwinds from AI investments,” wrote Brent Thill, an analyst at Jefferies, in a note ahead of earnings.

The shares fell about 6% in extended trading after closing at $269.78 in New York. The stock has declined about 23% this year, and is about to drop the lowest level since 2019.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 17:02

Charts Show Middle East Shockwave Rippling Through Energy, Air Travel, And Freight Networks

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 20:50:00 +0000

Charts Show Middle East Shockwave Rippling Through Energy, Air Travel, And Freight Networks

The Middle East conflict has triggered what the International Energy Agency earlier described as the largest oil supply disruption in global oil market history, as Iran continues to strike energy infrastructure across the Gulf. Against that deteriorating backdrop, Goldman analysts laid out how the shock is rippling through the global economy, disrupting oil flows, air travel, and freight markets.

Analysts led by Patrick Creuset said oil and transport markets have taken the hardest hit from the near-freeze in crude tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The disruption has also spilled into air travel, with a sharp decline in flights across the Gulf, though the fallout has so far remained largely contained to the region. Air cargo between Asia and Europe, however, has been hit the hardest, given the large role Middle Eastern airlines play in global freight.

Impact summary:

Oil

Crude tanker transits across the Strait of Hormuz have largely stopped over the past week (9 March, Exhibit 1). Saudi Aramco commented with their earnings release (10 March) they would be ramping their East-West pipeline to Yanbu (Red Sea export terminal) to full capacity; our oil team assume 3mb/d of extra pipeline flows/capacity vs. 20-21mbd of pre conflict exports via Hormuz. Direct (cost) and indirect (potential demand destruction) effects of disruption to energy flows remain the main impacts to watch across our transport coverage. The price of very low sulfur marine fuel (VLSFO) for instance has roughly doubled vs. the Jan/Feb average Exhibit 5, while NWE jet fuel cracks hit record highs also roughly doubling jetfuel prices Exhibit 3. Europe holds commercial jetfuel stocks equivalent to a couple of weeks worth of consumption, on our estimates, with the majority of imports coming from refineries in the Gulf and India Exhibit 4.

Air travel

The main impact on air travel thus far has been a significant reduction in flights to and from the Gulf, with about half of the initial decline in volumes recovered in recent days Exhibit 6. This has translated into a low single digit impact at major European hubs in the days following the start of the conflict, which seems to have been at least partially recovered as of yesterday Exhibit 10. Overall we see a slight reduction in overall air travel volumes in Europe Exhibit 8 and US Exhibit 7, but no sign of a broader impact on travel sentiment so far. North Atlantic activity levels for example continue to look normal Exhibit 9. On fares, our trackers point to increases recently, with high single digit % sequential increases on the main routes across our covered airlines for Easter and May travel Exhibit 12; all else equal and assuming no hedging in place we estimate unit revenues would need to increase by mid to high teens % vs. 2025 levels to cover current jetfuel prices, with higher % increases required for the LCCs vs. flags.

Freight

Given the Middle East airlines account for a mid-teens % of global cargo volumes, air cargo capacity between Asia and Europe has been significantly reduced since the start of the conflict, in line with our first take last week. The initial impact on volumes flown is negative, given the roughly ~50% reduction in Middle East flights over the last week Exhibit 6; however with the end of the Chinese NY holidays last week underlying demand is likely to increase from a seasonal perspective, driving rates higher Exhibit 14. Manufactured and perishable goods trade is clearly most disrupted in the Gulf, with some albeit limited capacity to re-route container flows via terminals in the Gulf of Oman/ east of Hormuz, as well as multimodal solutions (overland, air). In container shipping, while there is some regional disruption/port congestion plus c.1% of the global fleet trapped in the Gulf, the impact on the capacity side from a global level is much more limited than e.g. covid or the Red Sea crisis. From a demand point of view, the Middle East accounts for about 4% of global container imports, and many services have been suspended. For affected cargo in transit carriers have added emergency surcharges, and the industry is also implementing fuel surcharges more broadly across the network in order to pass on the significant increase bunker costs (liners don't hedge but tend to have 4-6 weeks in the tank); while this is driving freight rates higher (futures, not actual rates as of yesterday Exhibit 17), the net impact of this conflict on container lines looks mixed overall and will depend on how global demand is affected, and how the conflict is resolved (given the impact this could have on also potentially reopening the Suez).

Creuset's note includes 80 charts around the world showing disruptions. Here, we'll focus on just a few, but Professional subscribers can view the full chartbook on our Marketdesk.ai portal.

VLCC rates on offer above covid highs

NWE jet fuel cracks hit record highs

Gulf air travel implodes

Air cargo volumes slide

Tanker traffic on Hormuz chokepoint

Certainly, the Middle East conflict has unleashed an energy shock that is now rippling across some transportation networks, while raising new concerns about stagflation. The key question is how insulated the U.S. economy will remain. As we noted on Wednesday, one growing risk is that fertilizer disruptions could evolve into a broader global food price shock.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 16:50

Nearly One-Third Of People Living In North America Believe That World Will End During Their Lifetimes

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 20:25:00 +0000

Nearly One-Third Of People Living In North America Believe That World Will End During Their Lifetimes

Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

We live at a time when millions upon millions of us feel deeply unsettled. The news is filled with constant headlines about war, political chaos, economic problems and major natural disasters. A lot of people feel like humanity’s story is building up to some sort of a crescendo, and they are not optimistic about what that will mean.

In fact, a new study conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia has discovered that nearly one-third of the people living in the United States and Canada actually believe that the world will end within their lifetimes…

Almost a third of people living in the USA and Canada believe that the world will end within their lifetime. According to new research, this could affect how they view the challenges facing society, though this very much depends on what kind of apocalypse the individual is envisioning.

I was quite surprised to learn that so many people believe that the end of the world is rapidly approaching, and so were the researchers…

“Belief in the end of the world is surprisingly common across North America, and it’s significantly influencing how people interpret and respond to the most pressing threats facing humanity,” said Dr. Matthew I. Billet, the study’s lead author who conducted the research as a PhD candidate in UBC’s psychology department. He is now a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Irvine.

The research draws on surveys of more than 3,400 people in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S. national sample of 1,409 respondents, nearly one‑third said they believe the world will end within their lifetime.

Of course the world is not going to end any time soon.

But as global events spiral out of control, it will certainly feel like “the world is ending” to much of the population.

At this moment, the chaotic war that has erupted in the Middle East is causing emotions to run very high.

It is difficult for me to imagine how freaked out everyone will be if this war escalates even more.

Already, Iran has chosen to escalate matters quite dramatically by regularly using cluster munitions…

Hezbollah and Iran launched a coordinated strike strategy Tuesday, a national security expert claimed, as reports emerged that deadly cluster munitions were hitting Israel in synchronized attacks.

The developments unfolded on day 11 of Operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion, the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign targeting Iran, marking a potential escalation in the widening regional conflict.

“Hezbollah has fully joined the war, and it looks like they are now very well coordinated with Iran,” Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital while speaking from his bomb shelter near Tel Aviv.

Over and over again, we have seen cluster munitions rain down in Israeli territory.

The reason why cluster munitions have been banned by more than 120 countries is because they are specifically designed to cause large scale civilian casualties over a large area…

Fox News correspondent Nate Foy also said despite Israel’s strong air defense, half of the missiles are hard to defend against because half of the missiles are cluster munitions.

“The Iranian use of cluster missiles and the idea that they deliberately target civilians and civil facilities must be considered as a use of non-conventional weapons, and the American-Israeli response must be appropriate,” Michael urged.

Banned by more than 120 nations under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, the weapons are widely condemned for their broad-area, indiscriminate effects that often result in catastrophic civilian harm.

The Iranians have also chosen to escalate matters by deploying naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz…

Iran has deployed about a dozen naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported Wednesday citing two sources familiar with the matter.

One source said the locations of most of the mines were known but declined to say how the United States planned to address them. CNN first reported the mining of the strait on Tuesday.

Even if a way can be found to remove those mines, the Iranians will just continue hitting ships with drones.

In fact, earlier today I discussed the fact that the Iranians just hit three more cargo vessels in a 24 hour period.

Of course the U.S. and Israel have been escalating things too.

Just hours ago, U.S. Central Command issued a warning urging Iranian civilians to stay away from ports along the Strait of Hormuz because the U.S. military is about to start bombing them…

On March 11, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is issuing a warning to civilians that the Iranian regime is using civilian ports along the Strait of Hormuz to conduct military operations that threaten international shipping.

This dangerous action risks the lives of innocent people. Civilian ports used for military purposes lose protected status and become legitimate military targets under international law.

CENTCOM urges civilians in Iran to immediately avoid all port facilities where Iranian naval forces are operating. Iranian dockworkers, administrative personnel, and commercial vessel crews should avoid Iranian naval vessels and military equipment.

The regime in Iran is going to be really upset when they begin losing their most important ports.

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In addition, there are unconfirmed reports that are claiming that the U.S. has just used the “Mother of All Bombs” against an underground missile storage facility…

As the widening war in West Asia continues to intensify, unconfirmed reports from local Iranian journalists suggest that the United States may have launched one of its most powerful conventional weapons against an underground military facility in central Iran.

The US Air Force aircraft, as reports suggest, hit underground installations near the city of Qods using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, also called the “Mother of All Bombs” (MOAB). The purported strike allegedly targeted an underground missile storage complex, which is believed to be associated with Iran’s military infrastructure.

The Iranians have been claiming that they have been holding back their most powerful weapons for later use.

Instead of waiting for Iran to use them, it appears that the U.S. just tried to blow them up…

It is important to understand why the MOAB (Mother of All Bombs) may have seen its second operational use in history:

Iran was planning to manufacture around 200 missiles per month, with ambitions to ramp up production to 500. Within three years, such a facility could have produced over 10,000 missiles.

Imagine the devastating potential to terrorize Gulf states, Israel, and parts of Europe—especially as Iran developed longer-range missiles capable of reaching the mainland United States. Now, that key facility has been destroyed (“caput”).

I don’t think that this war is going to end any time soon.

The regime in Iran is still in power, they are still able to hit targets all over the Middle East with missiles and drones, and they are still able to paralyze traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

And the Iranians have absolutely no intention of giving up, because they intend to impose a very high level of pain on the United States and Israel before this is all over…

Iran believes there can be no end to the conflict until it believes Trump has been shown the economic, political and military cost is so high that it is not worth repeating.

As for Israel, it appears that regime change is still the ultimate goal.

In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just told the people of Iran that once conditions are right, they will have a “once in a lifetime opportunity to remove the Ayatollah regime and gain your freedom”…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote a message on his office’s official X account on Tuesday night local time, where he addressed the people of Iran, urging them to seize what he calls a “once in a lifetime opportunity to remove the Ayatollah regime and gain your freedom”.

“The Ayatollah [Ali Khamenei] is no more, and I know you don’t want him replaced with another tyrant,” Netanyahu posted.

“So you must act. We are creating the conditions for you to do so. When the time is right, and that time is fast approaching, we will pass the torch to you. Be ready to seize the moment!”

The signal has not been given yet.

But it is coming.

Personally, I am skeptical that unarmed protesters will be able to topple the regime.

I guess that we will see.

And I think that the Iranians still have quite a few surprises up their sleeves, and that could even potentially include attacks on U.S. soil.

According to ABC News, the FBI has warned that Iran “could retaliate for American attacks by launching drones at the West Coast”…

The FBI warned police departments in California in recent days that Iran could retaliate for American attacks by launching drones at the West Coast, according to an alert reviewed by ABC News.

“We recently acquired information that as of early February 2026, Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran,” according to the alert distributed at the end of February. “We have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators of this alleged attack.”

The warning came just as the Trump administration launched its ongoing assault against the Islamic Republic. Iran has been retaliating with drone strikes against targets throughout the Mideast.

Can you imagine the panic that we would witness if Iranian drones started slamming into tall buildings in California?

It would be madness.

In the end, I do not believe that Iran will win this war.

But I do believe that the Iranians are fully capable of creating a tremendous amount of chaos.

We really are living in apocalyptic times, and much more mayhem is in our future.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 16:25

UN Security Council Passes Iran War Resolution, Yet With No Mention Of US Or Israel

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 19:40:00 +0000

UN Security Council Passes Iran War Resolution, Yet With No Mention Of US Or Israel

Many independent pundits have long complained of the emptiness of the United Nations as some kind of 'moral authority' - given it often claims to be just this. The vacuous nature of UN statements connected to war is on display once again as the Security Council (UNSC) issued a formal condemnation of the Iran war on Wednesday, but without mentioning either the United States or Israel at all.

For this reason, Iran quickly slammed the vote, also as Russia and China abstained. The passed resolution demands an end to Iranian attacks across the Gulf, and notably made zero reference to US or Israeli strikes on Iran.

It was tabled Bahrain and backed by 135 countries, and calls for "the immediate cessation of all attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan."

It further condemns actions or threats by Iran "aimed at closing, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz."

The measure passed 13-0, and a second draft resolution was proposed by Moscow, which called on all sides to cease hostilities, however it failed to pass.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Walz stated: "Iran's strategy of sowing chaos, of trying to hold their neighbours hostage, trying to shake the resolve of the region, has clearly backfired, as shown by this vote today."

China's UN envoy Fu Cong said the text "does not fully reflect the root cause and overall picture of the conflict in a balanced manner."

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, without warning, and while Iran was engaged in several rounds of nuclear talks with Trump envoys.

Like the June war, the assault appears to have caught Tehran completely by surprise, and Iranians have condemned the unprovoked nature of the assault.

Iran tells the UNSC that it does not recognise the stupid resolution they just adopted. pic.twitter.com/wNv7CSbEP8
— Sentletse 🇿🇦🇷🇺🇵🇸🇱🇧 (@Sentletse) March 11, 2026

So too have Beijing and Moscow, which have trade and security ties with Iran, with China especially being a large importer of Iranian oil.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 15:40

Judge Halts Construction Of ICE Detention Center In Maryland

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 19:20:00 +0000

Judge Halts Construction Of ICE Detention Center In Maryland

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Federal authorities must stop construction of an immigration detention center in Maryland, a judge said on March 11.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, left, speaks as Gov. Wes Moore listens during a news conference in Baltimore, MD., on Sept. 24, 2024. Stephanie Scarbrough/AP Photo

U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson imposed a temporary restraining order halting construction of the center near Williamsport in Washington County.

Maryland officials recently sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the facility, alleging authorities did not perform required steps under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), such as an environmental review.

“The State has shown that Defendants likely failed to comply with their obligations under NEPA,” Hurson said. “Defendants do not appear to have taken a ‘hard look’ at the potential environmental consequences of their plans for the Williamsport Warehouse.”

Hurson said that there is no evidence that authorities completed an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment, as is generally required under federal law. He said that the “slight inconvenience of a delay in construction” was outweighed by “ongoing and possible future irreparable harms” that the state faced absent a restraining order.

DHS did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

The temporary restraining order is in place for two weeks.

Such orders can be rescinded by judges, allowed to expire, or upgraded to preliminary injunctions or blocks that remain in place as litigation proceeds.

DHS purchased a 54-acre warehouse in Williamsport for $102 million in January and was set to begin converting it into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on March 6 as the government ramps up efforts on immigration enforcement, including deportations.

Planned work included installing perimeter fencing, installing exterior lighting, and modifying the sanitation system, according to a government notice.

The conversion was described in a complaint from Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown as likely to harm Maryland’s natural resources and environment, including local waterways and endangered species.

He also said that authorities did not conduct an environmental review before carrying out construction and had provided little information about their plans to the state.

DHS has not yet filed any documents in the case.

“Today a federal court handed Maryland a critical victory, stopping construction that threatened our waterways, endangered species, and communities before irreversible harm could be done,” Brown said in a March 11 statement.

“Though temporary, this ruling stops the construction of this massive immigration detention center while our lawsuit continues to play out in court. We will not let DHS and ICE rush through the proper legal process in their haste to ramp up deportations. We will keep fighting to make sure the law is followed and Marylanders are protected.”

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Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 15:20

Musk Whips Out 'Macrohard' In Disruptive Tesla-xAI Bid To Shaft Software Companies

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 19:00:00 +0000

Musk Whips Out 'Macrohard' In Disruptive Tesla-xAI Bid To Shaft Software Companies

Elon Musk on Wednesday announced a joint project between Tesla and his AI startup xAI, which he dubbed "Macrohard" or "Digital Optimus" that can 'basically automate entire companies' by observing and intelligently simulating their functions.

The way it works, per a Wednesday post on X:

"Grok is the master conductor/navigator with deep understanding of the world to direct digital Optimus, which is processing and actioning the past 5 secs of real-time computer screen video and keyboard/mouse actions. Grok is like a much more advanced and sophisticated version of turn-by-turn navigation software."

So Digital Optimus is the 'instinct' while Grok is the 'thinking part of the mind' according to Musk.

The setup will run "very competitively on the super low cost Tesla AI4 ($650) paired with relatively frugal use of the much more expensive xAI Nvidia hardware," and "will be the only real-time smart AI system."

"In principle, it is capable of emulating the function of entire companies. That is why the program is called MACROHARD, a funny reference to Microsoft." -Elon Musk

Macrohard >> Microsoft
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2021

It gets even more wild; Musk says it works "in all AI4-equipped cars, so your car can do office work for you when not driving," and he will deploy millions of dedicated Digital Optimus units at Supercharger stations.

Oh and it works in all AI4-equipped cars, so your car can do office work for you when not driving.

We’re also deploying millions of dedicated Digital Optimus units in the field at Superchargers where we have ~7 gigawatts of available power.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 12, 2026

Grok itself suggested 10 use cases;

1. Auto data entry from invoices/docs.
2. Real-time code fix from error messages.
3. Deal hunting while shopping online.
4. Contextual email response generation.
5. Seamless enterprise software ops.
6. Auto video edits from timeline.
7. Live stock trade execution.
8. Tutorial step automation.
9. Instant security threat spotting.
10. Entire company workflow emulation.

According to Musk, Digital Optimus will be ready to rock in 6 months.

xAI was acquired by SpaceX last month in an all-stock deal that valued the rocket maker at $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion, which comes ahead of a potential SpaceX IPO later this year.

h/t Capital.news

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 15:00

US Knows Location Of Most Iranian Sleeper Cells Inside America, Trump Says

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 18:40:00 +0000

US Knows Location Of Most Iranian Sleeper Cells Inside America, Trump Says

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Donald Trump said on March 11 that his administration knows the location of most Iranian sleeper cells in the United States.

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on March 11, 2026. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Joint U.S.–Israeli strikes killed many top leaders in Iran, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and denigrated the country’s military, prompting concerns that Iranian undercover terrorist cells, or sleeper cells, may act inside the United States.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz have both publicly warned of a heightened risk of terrorism in recent days.

When asked about reports of an internal government bulletin warning of an Iranian cell in California and a question regarding how many sleeper cells are in the United States at the moment, Trump said, “We know where most of them are; we’ve got our eye on all of them,” adding that “a lot of people came in” through the border policies of the previous administration.

Earlier this month, Abbott warned of potential sleeper cells in Texas after a Senegalese man fatally shot three people and injured more than a dozen people at a bar in Austin, Texas. A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the man, Ndiaga Diagne, was wearing clothing featuring an Iranian flag and the words, “Property of Allah.”

Earlier this week, Cruz told a reporter that the “risk of terrorism right now is quite high” as he made note of the Austin shooting and another alleged terrorist attack in New York City over the past weekend.

In the New York incident, two people were arrested following the attack in which improvised explosive devices were thrown.

On March 12, Iran’s new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued his first statement on the conflict in the Middle East, saying that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz should be used as leverage, and that attacks on Iran’s Gulf Arab neighbors will continue. Mojtaba Khamenei, who is the son of Ali Khamenei, has not yet made a public appearance.

The statement from Mojtaba Khamenei, according to Iran’s state-run PressTV, said that the “will of the people is to continue effective defense, and their presence on the scene must be maintained.” He added that the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil and natural gas transport, “must remain closed.”

A banner depicting the Iranian regime's new leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, on March 11, 2026. Khoshiran/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Khamenei said he will “will not abandon the pursuit of justice for the blood of our martyrs,” according to PressTV. “The revenge we seek is not limited to the martyrdom of the great leader of the revolution but extends to every member of the nation who is killed by the enemy,” he added.

Earlier on March 11, Trump said the war with Iran is “not finished yet.” He said that Tehran’s air force and navy have been destroyed, adding there will be “more of the same” coming to the country.

“Right now, they’ve lost their navy. They’ve lost their air force. They have no anti-aircraft apparatus at all,” he said. “They have no radar. Their leaders are gone, and we could do a lot worse.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 14:40

Apparent Vehicle-Ramming Attack And Active Shooter Situation Unfolds At Michigan Synagogue

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Apparent Vehicle-Ramming Attack And Active Shooter Situation Unfolds At Michigan Synagogue

FBI Director Kash Patel says agents are at the scene of what appears to be a vehicle-ramming attack and an active shooter situation at Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan.

FBI personnel are on the scene with partners in Michigan and responding to the apparent vehicle ramming and active shooter situation out of Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. @FBIDetroit
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) March 12, 2026

Local media outlet WXYZ reports that the incident at Temple Israel Synagogue occurred around 12:30 p.m. local time. The synagogue is located off Walnut Lake Road near Drake Road in West Bloomfield.

BREAKING: Car crashes into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, in what police are calling an "active situation."

According to local reports, a vehicle crashed into the Jewish synagogue before shots were fired.

Oakland County deputies say an individual purposely drove… pic.twitter.com/ys3RvVRnkP
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 12, 2026

The Jewish Federation of Detroit said it is aware of a "security incident" at Temple Israel.

Here's the statement:

"We are aware of a security incident at Temple Israel. We are advising all Jewish organizations to go into lockout protocol - nobody in or out of your building. More information to follow."

Statement from Michigan State Police:

"We are asking community members to stay away from the area to allow for a police response. Troopers are also increasing patrols at other places of worship in the district."

The attack comes as U.S. terrorism fears run high amid 12 days of U.S.-Israeli bombing in Iran.

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Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 14:00

Social Security Payment Adjustment Predicted To Be 2.8 Percent In 2027, Group Says

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:40:00 +0000

Social Security Payment Adjustment Predicted To Be 2.8 Percent In 2027, Group Says

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A seniors group said it is forecasting the cost-of-living adjustment for next year’s Social Security payments to remain steady at 2.8 percent as U.S. officials released the latest consumer inflation data on Wednesday.

Blank Social Security checks are run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury printing facility in Philadelphia, Pa., on Feb. 11, 2005. William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

The Senior Citizens League on Wednesday released its forecast adjustment for 2027’s Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments.

“That would be the exact same as last year’s COLA of 2.8 percent, a far cry from the 8.7 percent COLA issued in 2023 to help benefits keep pace with pandemic-related inflation, which seniors continue to see as a top issue,” the group said, according to a news release.

Government inflation data for the months of July, August, and September compiled by the Social Security Administration (SSA) is used by the agency to produce the COLA for the next year’s payments. The SSA usually announces the COLA in October following the release of September’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.

Last month, the group also predicted a 2.8 percent COLA for next year’s payments, which would be the same as the COLA that went into effect for 2026.

The seniors league said that with “lagging COLAs and Social Security’s funding creeping into dangerous territory,” it has found that many seniors have “lost faith in Congress” to act on the program. It also said it found that three in four seniors don’t believe Congress will be able to act on reports saying that Social Security will go insolvent by the early 2030s.

“Even before potential benefit cuts, most seniors think their benefits are falling behind inflation,” the league said Wednesday, citing its own research. Some 58 percent of seniors think inflation will increase their spending and deplete their retirement savings early.

Previously, the group has called for the SSA to stop relying on the Consumer Price Index for Americans who are aged 62 and older, known as the CPI-E. The SSA uses the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, to calculate the payment adjustment.

“Years of lackluster COLAs and a looming Social Security insolvency crisis, with its 24 percent automatic benefits cuts, puts a double squeeze on seniors,“ said Senior Citizens League Executive Director Shannon Benton in a statement Wednesday. ”Older Americans already feel like their benefits don’t keep up with inflation, so this risks putting them further and further behind, pushing many into poverty.”

Earlier in the day, the CPI report from the Labor Department rose 0.3 percent last month after gaining 0.2 percent in January. In the 12 months through February, the index advanced 2.4 percent, matching January’s increase, and reflecting last year’s high readings dropping out of the calculation. The increase in the CPI was in line with economists’ expectations.

The inflation data released Wednesday covered a period before the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran, prompting the country to fire missiles and drones at its oil-producing neighbors and threatening to cut off the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The attacks, which were launched on Feb. 28, have boosted oil and gas prices.

Data from AAA show that the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline increased to $3.58 on Wednesday, or an increase of around 4 cents from Tuesday. The price is up around 35 cents from a week ago and more than 60 cents from a month ago.

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Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 13:40

Solid 30Y Auction Stops Through Despite Drop In Foreign Demand

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:21:58 +0000

Solid 30Y Auction Stops Through Despite Drop In Foreign Demand

After two mixed coupon auctions this week, including a subpar 3Y and a strong 10Y, moments ago the Treasury concluded the week's coupon issuance when it sold $22BN in 30Y bonds in another solid auction.

The paper priced at a high yield of 4.871%, above the 4.750% in February and the highest since last July's 4.889%. It also stopped through the When Issued 4.878% by 0.7bps, the 4th consecutive stop through in a row.

The bid to cover was 2.452, down from 2.662 but above the recent average of 2.452.

The internals were a tad weaker, with Indirects buying 63.4% of the auction, down from 69.9% in February and below the six-auction average of 66.6%. Directs took down 27.2%, higher than the average 23.0%, and Dealers were left with 9.36%, up from last month's record low 5.88% but below the recent average 10.4%.

Overall, this was a solid if not stellar 30Y auction, which considering the mauling the long-end has been subjected to - note the 10Y is now trading at 4.24%, up sharply from 3.97% two weeks ago - it was a very respectable result.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 13:21

Bitcoin Has A Golden Opportunity With AI Agents, It's Time To Build

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Bitcoin Has A Golden Opportunity With AI Agents, It's Time To Build

Authored by Matt Carallo via BitcoinMagazine.com,

For all of bitcoin’s life, it has been fighting an uphill battle against fiat currencies that mostly do the job of being money. Obviously, fiat has plenty of issues, but when it comes to impacts immediately visible to everyday people in much of the world, bitcoin isn’t 10x better. Some may even conclude that they would prefer a system based on neutral money to government-rigged ones, but entrenched fiat systems work well enough that few want to deal with the hassle of constant conversion. With the rapid growth in agents’ capabilities, a huge gap has opened that bitcoin has a shot at filling. Instead of competing with entrenched interests as you would with fiat, in the agentic payments field, everyone is starting from zero.

In a recent post on Spiral’s Substack, I pointed out that all of the payment standards being developed for AI agents haven’t yet gotten off the ground. Credit cards won’t work in a world where automated tooling is making purchases. The web is filled with captchas and heavy investments in blocking bots, rather than enabling their use for commerce. Even if they offered payment methods that agents could use, few merchants today have websites that agents can reasonably navigate. No matter what payment method agents ultimately use, it will require every merchant to adapt to a new world.

With no one company owning both the agent and merchant sides of the marketplace, this leaves a wide-open opportunity where it’s still anyone’s game. Better yet, with the popularity of open-source agents today, no company owns much of the purchasing side at all! If the bitcoin community plays its cards right, there’s a good shot at a large part of the future of commerce flowing over open rails not controlled by any single company.

There’s still a lot to build, however, and nearly every payments industry player is trying to position itself to take the crown. Visa is working on an “Intelligent Commerce” product, OpenAI and Stripe announced the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), Google announced AP2 and Coinbase announced an extension of it for crypto – x402. The bitcoin community’s lack of central planning makes responding with their own options more chaotic and harder to follow, but that’s also its strength: lots of people trying lots of different approaches to achieve the same goal are more likely to succeed than a single, focused approach that might be wrong.

With Lightning surpassing a billion dollars in monthly transactions and Square enabling Lightning for its in-person merchants, it seems the technology is finally here that will let bitcoin cross the chasm and become everyday money. Some ideological merchants have been accepting bitcoin for years, and as we continue to integrate bitcoin wallets into agents, we’ll create yet more reasons for every merchant that wants to sell things to join in. But for that to work, bitcoiners have to step up and use the tools at their disposal. If people aren’t trying to buy things with bitcoin, merchants won’t care.

Luckily, these days, you don’t need code to build tools that find merchants accepting bitcoin payments. You don’t even have to sell your stack to buy things with bitcoin. Install an agent, give it a wallet, give it some bitcoin, and tell it to go buy your monthly beef tallow subscription. Tell it to email merchants it wants to buy from and ask them to support bitcoin. Point it to the Bitcoin Merchant Community and have it explain to any merchant it comes across that it wants to pay them without Visa taking a cut but wasn’t able to.

Thanks to extensive existing work, bitcoin is already one of the best ways to enable automated online commerce. Instead of merchants having to fill their sites with captchas to prevent bots from using stolen credit cards and dealing with chargebacks, many bitcoin payment processors can provide merchants with local currency within a day. Instead of being exposed to the risk that an operator’s single private key could seize their stablecoins, merchants can choose from many payment processors, whether foreign or domestic. This competition drives down fees and means we’re not building new payment rails on a platform that will inevitably seek higher rents once its dominance is cemented.

These issues aren’t top of mind for most, but we must get the new rails right. Stablecoins look great at first glance, but moving to a world where one company (Coinbase) owns both the platform (Base) and earns all the interest on the currency’s float (USDC) where payments are made is not a recipe for long-term success. Once everyone is locked into using one payment method, switching away as the operator increases fees won’t be practical. It doesn’t matter whether the protocol agents use to communicate with merchants is based on some “open standard.” If the vast majority of agents have funds on only one platform and the vast majority of merchants accept funds on only one platform, switching will be impossible.

While bitcoin has come a long way on its journey to becoming a reserve asset, it is only beginning its path towards everyday money. Bitcoin reaching escape velocity on the first does not imply that the second is guaranteed; in fact, far from it. With so much competition from every payments industry player, not to mention stablecoins, there’s a lot of outreach and work to be done to build payment momentum. Still, we can’t let this opportunity pass us by. If you believe commerce should happen on neutral money rather than corporate gatekeepers, it’s time to get to work.

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 13:00

Why Constant Talk Of TACO Is Likely Wrong, With Both Sides Escalating

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:45:00 +0000

Why Constant Talk Of TACO Is Likely Wrong, With Both Sides Escalating

By Michael Every of Rabobank

The only way out of this crisis is through

We warned 2026 would tell 2025, which revolved around tariffs, ‘Hold my beer’: yesterday, the US launched two new Section 301 trade investigations, and it hardly registered in the headlines even if it could lead to higher, court-immune US tariffs this summer vs China, the EU, India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Switzerland, and Norway.

The focus is instead on Iran and Hormuz, as Brent oil tests towards $100 a barrel this morning. As also warned, things are going to escalate before any de-escalation on those fronts. Ignore that “There's "practically nothing left" to target in Iran”; balance news that US intelligence says Iran’s government is not at risk of collapse with reports suggesting potential cracks forming in it; and above all heed our underlying geopolitical logic, echoed in the Wall Street Journal, that ‘Ending Iran War Quickly Carries Big Risks for the US and Allies’ because “Leaving the regime undefeated could motivate Tehran to develop nuclear weapons and leave it in control of much of the world’s energy flows.” That’s why constant talk of TACO is likely wrong, and both sides are escalating.

The Iranians hit three ships in Hormuz yesterday, as Tehran warned the world to get ready for $200 oil while boasting of new underwater anti-ship weapons. It also struck two oil tankers at port in Iraq, which has seen those key facilities taken out of action. That means another immediate drop in global oil supply while expanding the field of danger for oil flows far wider than Hormuz: could the Saudi Red Sea pipeline to Yanbu be targeted too, making everything exponentially worse? Meanwhile, Iran is able to get its oil out of Hormuz. Tehran also expanded the war into the cybersphere in hacking a US company, and the FBI warned Iranian drones could even hit California’s coast(!)

The US bombed harder and warned Iranian ports are targets if the military uses them. Impotently, the UN Security Council demanded Iran halt attacks on Gulf states; somewhat less so, perhaps, G7 leaders agreed to examine the option of escorting ships to navigate freely through Hormuz - yet that would drag all of them into a shooting war with Iran. (It also comes just after von der Leyen was forced to walk back suggestions that the EU should sometimes look to its own self-interest, rather than just following the letter of international law, if it wants to be a geopolitical actor.) Elsewhere, after Hezbollah and Iran attacked Israel jointly, the IDF pounded Beirut, warned parts of it will ‘look like Gaza’ if such strikes don’t stop, and ordered reinforcements north for a potential broader invasion of Lebanon.

Against this, the IEA oversaw a record release of oil reserves. However, that flow vs the lack of physical supply in Asia already looked like a plaster on a shotgun wound, to quote our energy analyst Joe DeLaura before Iraqi oil ports were taken offline, which is another cartridge fired into the same injury. Indeed, Bloomberg reports some refineries are turning down available oil because they are forced to pay a huge premium over ‘market’ rates; Australia’s top fuel sellers are halting spot sales on tight supply and are only dealing with regular customers; freight rates are sky-rocketing, e.g., a South Indian firm has seen quoted air-freight costs double, while containers via ship have jumped 630% and for refrigeration by 900%, with real fears of no bunker fuel ahead. South Korea is warning that without helium supplies, it won’t be able to keep making semiconductors – the same is true for all global producers outside the US.

Moreover, Chris Cook, a former regulator and director of the International Petroleum Exchange, is deeply sceptical about the huge plunge in oil prices on Monday that reversed the earlier record spike. He posts: “This episode is a macro-market ‘goose’/manipulation --an inverse April 2020-- facilitated by the smartest guys in the room and financed (Fed liquidity) & funded (China Treasury collateral) by the same state actors. Ends middlemen era & begins #EnergyDominance paradigm.”

As Joe (on oil) and Florence Schmit (on LNG) note in their latest note on the Iran crisis: “We suspect that the $120 mark will be retested again if the SPR barrel releases are debated over for some time and not implemented immediately while the conflict drags on with no outlet for energy supplies. Our current base case going forward is as follows: we expect that the Strait will remain fully closed through the end of March. We believe that April, May, and June will see the slow return of tankers to the world market via the US insurance guarantees plus US naval escorts of some kind.” And perhaps with G7 help – though that remains to be seen.

In short, the only way out of this crisis is through. Through Hormuz. Through Iranian resistance. Through violence. Anything that happens in the financial, not the physical, space is ultimately irrelevant vs. that dynamic.

Meanwhile, the Japanese press underlines that China’s Xi is torn between his long ties with the Khameneis and US relations. Indeed, we are approaching a critical tipping point. Will China, looking to the upcoming Xi-Trump meeting, help the US to resolve this crisis via pressure on Iran, even if it means that it loses Tehran as a regional ally – and for what geopolitical quid pro quo? Or will it back the regime, along with Moscow, and escalate across different dimensions and geographies?

On that note, amongst a multiplicity of factors, consider that while China has stocks of key goods and Iranian oil can still flow to China for now, helium, sulphur, and fertiliser can’t, and China can’t keep exporting to the rest of the world (excluding the US) if it’s all sucked into an economic crisis. Beijing also prizes stability. Yet to say there’s a lot riding on the US-China angle, which most commentators have belatedly explained this Iran war is all about, is an understatement.

Yet there are other things worth noting today – really:

Ukraine has reached a milestone: making ‘China-free’ drones. It’s now supplying anti-drone tech and know-how to the Gulf. That shows how supply chains can shift if one wants, and how an understanding of how to use, and resist, applied violence is key to success in the current world order. Indeed, Zelenskyy just told Trump, via Politico, to put more pressure on Putin, ‘not on me’.

In France, the far-right presidential candidate Bardella’s main rival, former PM Édouard Philippe, risks crashing out of 2027 race if he loses an upcoming local election to a Communist challenger, which, following local election results in Germany, says a lot about political polarisation and rules-based orders even before we get any fat tail inflation risks from the current Iran crisis.

And traditionally free-market Hong Kong now has its first 5-year plan… to develop its role as a global financial hub.

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Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 12:45

Foreign Hacker Cracked Into FBI's Epstein Files In 2023, Was 'Disgusted' At Child Sexual Abuse

Tyler Durden — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:40:00 +0000

Foreign Hacker Cracked Into FBI's Epstein Files In 2023, Was 'Disgusted' At Child Sexual Abuse

A foreign hacker broke into a server at the FBI's New York Field Office and 'compromised files relating to the FBI's investigation of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein' in 2023, Reuters reports.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announces charges against Jeffery Epstein in 2019. Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

According to the FBI, the intrusion was an "isolated" cyber incident - though not to be confused with a different cybersecurity oncident involving a sensitive internal network used to manage wiretaps and FISA warrants.

"The FBI restricted access to the malicious actor and rectified the network. The investigation remains ongoing, so we do not have further comments to provide at this time," the agency said in a statement.

Reuters' source claimed that the intrusion 'appeared' to be carried out by an individual cybercriminal as opposed to a foreign government (source: trust us bro, we're here to help).

The New Hack

The official story: The hack occurred after a server at the Child Exploitation Forensic Lab in the FBI's NY Field Office was inadvertently left vulnerable by Special Agent Aaron Spivack - who was attempting to figure out how to handle digital evidence within the bureau's system.

A timeline written by Spivack and included in the large cache of Epstein documents released earlier this year said the break-in happened on February 12, 2023. It was discovered the following day when Spivack turned on his computer and discovered a text file warning him that his network had been compromised, according to that document.

Further investigation turned up traces ‌of unusual activity ⁠on the server, the document said, adding that the activity "included combing through certain files pertaining to the Epstein investigation.” -Reuters

The report does not say which specific files were accessed, whether the hacker actually downloaded anything, or who the hacker was, nor could Reuters determine what overlap, if any, the affected files had with the recent DOJ Epstein file drops.

The hacker expressed 'disgust at the presence of child abuse images on the device and left a message threatening to turn its owner over to the FBI,' not realizing that they had accessed the actual FBI. They eventually convinced the hacker, who joined a video chat where they flashed their law enforcement credentials in front of a web camera.

Spivak says he's being made "a scapegoat for the intrusion," and that conflicting FBI policies and poor guidance around informational technology were to blame.

Interestingly, Spivak was mentioned in an Epstein files email from after the financier's death, which was sent to multiple recipients. In, someone says:

Hi team,

Aaron Spivak from the FBI (cc'd) has a new file for the Maxwell case that he needs to send to us. Would one of you please coordinate with him to get it via USAfx, then let me know when we have it?

Thanks so much,

EFTA00154980

The FBI breach was first reported by CNN and Reuters on February 17, however the Epstein connection was made by the French magazine Marianne.

Epstein, who was recording his many 'guests' according to photos and testimony, pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting sex from an underage girl, and was later found dead in his jail cell in 2019 after his prison guard googled him shortly before he was found, after depositing so much cash in her bank account that the bank filed suspicious activity reports. Then there was that mysterious 4chan post 38 minutes before Epstein's death had been officially announced - not only announcing the death, but suggesting that Epstein was 'switched out.'

Tyler Durden Thu, 03/12/2026 - 12:40