OpenAI Misses Revenue, User Targets As CFO Fears $1.5 Trillion In Commitments Can't Be Paid

Earlier today, when previewing this week's earnings by the Mag 7 which account for over $10 trillion in market cap set to report Q1 results after the close on Wednesday, Goldman's Delta-One head Rich Privorotsky said that "Equities are being driven by one thing…AI spend", and warned that "it's hard not to respect the strength of the AI bid, but the velocity has been extreme. The upside surprise vs expectations has almost entirely come from AI spend…it’s the whole game." 

Not only is the whole game, it is the one thing that has prevented the market from collapsing into the Iran war's stagflationary black hole, with "oil/product prices is sucking the oxygen out of the room...Europe underperforming, dispersion extreme." 

But none of that matters as long as capex recipients, i.e., chip and semi stocks, keep surging on hopes and expectations that the LLMs and hyperscalers will keep pumping them full of cash day after day, for the unforeseeable future, which they have so far: recall that at the end of Q4, full-year capex estimates soared to a mindblowing $740 billion among just 6 hyperscalers (a number which is expected to rise to almost $1 trillion in 2027).

And at top of this trickle-down monetary waterfall is none other than Sam Altman's OpenAi, generously peeing money into the overeager mouths of hyperscalers around the globe, having built up staggering purchase commitments to the tune of $1.5 trillion because there will never be enough compute. 

Maybe Sam's right: perhaps there truly is an insatiable need for compute (unless of course one uses Chinese LLMs and/or RAM chips, both of which have a fraction of the hardware demands of the latest and greatest US technology). 

The problem arises when one asks if OpenAI will ever be enough revenue to satisfy these astronomic commitments. 

For much of the past year, that has been the core thesis behind countless AI bear cases: now that even Michael Hartnett openly calls tech a "bubble", the question is not if but when, to which the bulls have calmly countered that as long as the drunken-sailor at the helm of OpenAi keeps spending at the rate he has been, the "when" isn't coming any time soon.

It now appears, however, that the "when" may have come much sooner than most thought. 

According to the WSJ, OpenAI has recently missed its own targets for both new users and revenue, stumbles that have raised concern among some company leaders about whether it will be able to support its massive spending on data centers.

One of them is the company's finance chief: CFO Sarah Friar told other company leaders that she is worried the company might not be able to pay for future computing contracts if revenue doesn’t grow fast enough. In other words, that $1.5 trillion OpenAI had pledged to spend on various data centers, GPUs and memory chips... you can kiss all that goodbye.

Of course, none of this will come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Sam's mercurial style of capital allocation. As a reminder, when OpenAi made its $1.5 trillion flurry of deal announcements last fall, a few things were missing, among them how it plans to fund them, details of the bulk of the financial terms, and any mention of who was providing independent, clear-eyed advice on these complex mega transactions. The reason for that, as the FT reported at the time, is OpenAI still doesn’t know exactly how it will fund them, the terms mostly don’t exist, and advisers were overwhelmingly shunned.

In fact, we learned last October, Sam Altman came up with the “bold vision” himself and leaned heavily on a small number of lieutenants to flesh out the details and push the deals through with little involvement of bankers or lawyers.

One of the brilliant side quests completed by Altman during this period of epic obfuscation (and unprecedented wealth generation by Sam for himself from a "non-profit" thanks to nothing more than promises) was unleashing the AI circle jerk, pardon, circular financing concept, where one company would "invest" in its customer, only to see that money flow back to its through the income statement but not before lifting its PE by several turns; this process would be repeated countless of times lifting all AI valuations substantially even if no actual revenue or cash flow was created. Eventually, virtually every company in the AI sector was wrapped up in such circular structures that tied together suppliers, investors and customers (see "The Stunning Math Behind The AI Vendor Financing "Circle Jerk".")

Yet promises (and lies) can only go so far, and even the loftiest of grand schemes are eventually brought to the ground when the revenue fails to materialize. As it has for OpenAi.

As a result, the company's board of directors have started to closely examine the company’s data-center deals in recent months and questioned Sam Altman’s efforts to secure even more computing power despite the business slowdown, the WSJ reported.

The spending scrutiny is constraining Altman’s once-boundless ambitions ahead of a potential IPO that could take place by the end of the year (he desperately wants to go public before his former employee and arch nemesis, Dario Amodei takes Anthropic public).

Friar and other executives are now seeking to control costs and instill more discipline in the business, at times putting them at odds with their CEO; this may very well mean that the money spigot that has pumped hundreds of billions in capex promises is about to be shut as well, leaving the entire AI ecosystem in a Wile E Coyote moment, suspended in the air off the cliff, just before gravity kicks in.

In a desperate attempt to keep reality as far away as possible, the two heads of OpenAI had no choice but to deny there was any trouble in paradAIs: “We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day,” Altman and Friar said in a joint statement. Any suggestion that the pair are divided or pulling back on securing new computing resources is “ridiculous,” they said. 

Well, of course they would: the alternative would be an immediate collapse of OpenAI's valuation as revenue growth suddenly collapses, and takes the entire AI bubble with it.

Still, with OpenAI having difficulty to generate even 2% of its spending commitments in the form of revenue (ignoring that the company will likely never be profitable), denials may be all OpenAI has left. 

For years, Altman has sought to lock up as much data-center capacity as possible, arguing that computing shortages were the biggest constraint to OpenAI’s growth. As noted above, Sam went on a "dealmaking" spree last year that put OpenAI on the hook for some $1.5 trillion in future spending commitments, and tied much of the tech sector’s success to OpenAI’s.

In other words, if OpenAI goes down, it will take the entire AI sector with it. And since AI is now 40% of the S&P500... you get the picture (if you don't, reread the comments above from Goldman's Delta One head).

Not that anyone can blame Sam for thinking he would get away with it: for a long time, he did. His “buy everything” computing strategy was buoyed by ChatGPT’s seemingly invincible success, and had the support of both Friar and the board. But the chatbot’s growth slowed toward the end of last year, especially as Claude starting stealing clients, sowing fresh doubt among company leaders about the approach.

What followed next was the first domino to fall: OpenAI missed an internal goal of reaching one billion weekly active users for ChatGPT by the end of last year, according to people familiar with the goals. The company still hasn’t announced that milestone, unnerving some investors the WSJ reports. It also missed its yearly revenue target for ChatGPT as well after Google’s Gemini saw massive growth late last year and ate into OpenAI’s market share. Worst of all, for the industry where there are still almost no switching costs, the company has also struggled with defection rates among subscribers, according to WSJ sources.

Things went from bad to worse in 2026 when OpenAI missed multiple monthly revenue targets earlier this year after losing ground to Anthropic in the coding and enterprise markets, people familiar with its finances said.

OpenAI recently raised $122 billion in what was the largest funding round in Silicon Valley history, putting it on more solid financial footing. But to get there, the company signed up for so much computing power that it expects to burn through that amount in the next three years, and that's assuming that it meets ambitious revenue targets. Some of the funding is also conditional and depends on specific agreements with partners (and may explain why Microsoft, which knows the company's business best of all, dramatically revised its agreement with OpenAI earlier today).  

To streamline costs, OpenAi recently cut non-core projects such as its video-generation app Sora. OpenAI also recently released GPT-5.5, a powerful model that topped a number of industry benchmarks. Then again, in an industry where the frontier jumps every 2-3 months, the latest model will be obsolete by July. 

Meanwhile, a blowback from within the user base is emerging: a number of AI companies including Anthropic have faced a capacity crunch for computing in recent weeks, leading to price increases for access to AI processors, outages and rationing. The challenges have rankled power users of AI products, especially coders who have grown frustrated when AI systems have been unable to finish tasks in a way they had come to expect from past use.

In a recent memo to investors, OpenAI said that it has been able to secure more computing capacity than Anthropic, giving it an advantage in reaching users. The memo, which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, also addressed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s veiled criticism of OpenAI at a recent business conference, when he said some companies had pulled “the risk dial too far” on data-center spending. 

“In hindsight, that caution looks less like discipline and more like underestimating how fast demand would arrive,” the OpenAI memo said. 

It would be extremely ironic is Anthropic's "caution" proves correct in the end, and OpenAI is forced to cancel its contracts as it simply does not have the money (but not before Masa Son implodes).

In recent months, Friar has also expressed reservations about OpenAI’s plans to go public by the end of this year, according to people familiar with the matter.  She has emphasized to executives and board directors the need for OpenAI to improve its internal controls, cautioning that the company isn’t yet ready to meet the rigorous reporting standards required of a public company. Altman, who has favored a more aggressive timeline for an IPO.

OpenAI has to work through a slate of other issues ahead of a public listing. The company is currently experiencing a leadership vacuum after its second-in-command, Fidji Simo, unexpectedly took medical leave earlier this month.

But the knockout blow for OpenAi could, ironically, come from the person who funded the company in the first place back when it was still an "Open" non-profit. Court proceedings began today in a lawsuit by Elon Musk in which he is seeking to oust Altman and unwind OpenAI’s conversion into a for-profit company. Should Musk prevail, OpenAI may or may not survive, but Sam Altman will have no choice but to move on to his next scam. 

Scam Altman has a incredible track record for being a con artist I don't think anyone has a "former ally turned enemy" list this big with directly with people he worked with

A massive new 18-month investigation dropped, revealing the full list of people who worked directly with… pic.twitter.com/1aOkUEsgkq

— X Freeze (@XFreeze) April 27, 2026

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 22:51

"Racial-Profiling" Or Race-Baiting? Tom Steyer's Illiterate Take On English Proficiency

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

If you go to NASCAR to watch the cars crash, the Democratic gubernatorial race in California has been a thrilling pile-up.

The recent debate saw all the Democratic candidates play the race card over a curious issue. When asked if they supported the move to rescind at least 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, every single Democrat declared the policy racist. The candidates also pledged to support truckers who cannot speak or read English.

When Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican candidate, said that being able to read English (and particularly English signs) should be mandatory, Porter lectured the Hispanic sheriff on racism, saying that his support for English proficiency by truckers disqualified him from being governor of California.

Not to be outdone, Democratic candidate Tom Steyer declared that requiring truck drivers to be able to read English is “racial profiling.”

Steyer, a billionaire, has been funding his own campaign with almost $120 million and has tried to capture the far-left supporters of Swalwell. In so doing, he has increasingly looked like Howard Hughes with better-trimmed nails.

Steyer grabbed Swalwell’s platform of pledging to arrest ICE officers and take punitive measures against them. He cannot fulfill that pledge, and the Ninth Circuit recently shot down the flagrantly unconstitutional California law seeking to dictate the conduct or appearances of federal officers. The law was supported by Gov. Gavin Newsom and all of the Democratic candidates.

Steyer’s claim that English proficiency rules are “racial profiling” is more Looney Tunes than law.

Racial profiling occurs when a person’s racial appearance alone is grounds for reasonable suspicion for a stop or search. English proficiency requirements are race-neutral conditions to ensure basic safety in the operation of large trucks. We have seen several fatal cases involving undocumented persons who could not read or speak English proficiently.

Even the use of apparent race or ethnicity is allowed when part of a totality of circumstances or observations by law enforcement. Last year, the Supreme Court stayed a racial profiling case from California on that ground, in favor of law enforcement, in a 6-3 decision in Noem v. Vasquez-Perdomo.

If requiring English proficiency is racial profiling, a wide array of jobs in the United States are the products of racism, including airplane pilots, air traffic controllers, U.S. military, astronauts, mechanics, and baseball umpires. Even the European Space Agency has required English proficiency.

By Steyer’s standard, he may also be the product of a racial profiling system. In order to appear on the ballot, Steyer certified that he is a U.S. citizen. To be a U.S. citizen, you must be proficient in English. Thus, a candidate must certify that he is both a citizen and English-proficient. He can then go on a stage and call such requirements racial profiling without any basis in the law.

Ironically, Steyer made much of his money managing Farallon Capital Management, which profited from owning private prisons and, in the case of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), actually runs one of the largest ICE facilities. Now called CoreCivic, the company requires not only U.S. citizenship but also English proficiency.

As with the pledges to arrest ICE officers and dictate how they conduct their operations, the racial profiling claim is knowingly misleading and unfounded. It is designed to pander to the far left by suggesting that requiring basic English skills of large-truck operators is somehow unlawful or unconstitutional.

The only thing that Steyer proved, again, is that there are sadly few requirements to run for governor of California beyond a large fortune and little shame.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 22:35

Kim Jong Un Opens Museum Commemorating Troops Killed Fighting For Russia, Blasts US 'Hegemony'

North Korea has continued its surprising level of public acknowledgement of troop deaths in the Russia-Ukraine war, where it has maintained some 10,000 or more troops in support of Moscow. Starting last summer North Korea began issuing footage of coffins of slain DPRK troops being flown into Pyongyang, with Kim Jong Un in attendance.

Now the 'pariah' nation long hated by Washington is taking publicizing its Russia operation a big step further, having newly opened a memorial museum in Pyongyang for its soldiers killed in the conflict. 

KCNA via AFP

What is called the Memorial Museum of Combat Feats at the Overseas Military Operations has been formally opened in an inaugural ceremony on Sunday. The occasion fell on the one-year anniversary of the two countries having liberated Russia’s Kursk border region from a Ukrainian incursion.

State-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed that Kim Jong Un attended the event along with senior Russian officials, including State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin and Defense Minister Andrei Belousov.

South Korea’s intelligence agency some  2,000 North Korean troops have been killed in the operation, out of some 15,000 total; however, neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have issued any official figures.

In a speech by Kim during the ceremony, he declared that the fallen troops would remain "a symbol of the Korean people’s heroism" and would support "a victorious march by the Korean and Russian people."

He also as expected lashed out at the United States for imperialist wars, charging that Washington and its allies are pursuing a "hegemonic plot and military adventurism" on the Russia-Ukraine front.

Back in April, President Putin released a statement saying, "The Russian people will never forget the heroism of the Korean special forces. We will always honor the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia and for our shared freedom, alongside their brothers-in-arms from the Russian Federation."

KCNA via AFP

Eventually, Pyongyang will want Russia to return the favor as part of the two countries' deepened defense pact. There's always the potential for renewed conflict on the Korean peninsula - and potential presence of Russia troops in the north would certainly complicate things, also given the permanent American bases in South Korea.

Ukraine has meanwhile long bitterly complained about the foreign contingencies helping Russia, and in previously claimed that North Korea could send up to 30,000 - though there's been little evidence of such a high figure.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 22:10

SEC Issues Warning For US Investors On Phishing, Smishing, & Vishing Scams

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned investors recently that fraudsters use phishing, smishing, and vishing scams to attempt to compromise their financial, investment, or personal accounts.

“Phishing, smishing, and vishing are types of scams where a fraudster tries to trick you into providing sensitive personal or financial information by posing as an entity you know or trust, such as an investment firm, bank, or some other personal service that you use,” the SEC said in an April 23 alert.

Once a malicious actor gets the personal information of a target, such as social security numbers, bank account numbers, ATM PINs, and driver’s licenses, they can use this to access the target’s accounts

“The main difference between these ‘-ishing’ scams is the method the fraudster uses to try to steal your information or carry out other attacks.”

Phishing involves the use of email to contact a target, tricking them into providing personal or financial information. This is done by urging the target to reply to the mail, clicking on a link to a website mimicking a legitimate platform, or opening an attachment, which downloads malware into their systems.

Fraudsters can use names of real people, companies, or government agencies to make the message sound authentic. The email address they use may contain the name of a company or government agency. The emails could also contain official-looking fine print, legal references, along with graphics and logos.

Such emails typically invoke urgency to solicit information. For instance, the hackers may claim the target’s bank account or other types of accounts will be closed if it’s not updated with certain information. Some fraudsters can claim problems with account or payment information, while others entice through monetary schemes such as prize money.

Smishing and vishing are similar to phishing. Smishing involves fraud via texts or direct messages, while vishing involves the fraudsters contacting targets via phone calls.

In its 2025 Internet Crime Report, the FBI listed phishing as a major financial crime type for the year.

The agency’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received more than 1 million complaints in total from people who were defrauded out of their money.

Last year, phishing/spoofing was the top crime type reported to IC3, which received 191,561 complaints. Phishing and spoofing resulted in more than $215 million in losses to the complainants.

In the recent alert, the SEC said that its efforts to warn investors about phishing, smishing, and vishing were in accordance with a March 6 executive order signed by President Donald Trump, “Combating Cybercrime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against American Citizens.”

The order defined cybercrime and predatory schemes as activities involving phishing scams, ransomware and malware attacks, sextortion, financial fraud, and impersonation. It called on officials to determine how regulatory, operational, technical, and diplomatic tools can be improved to counter transnational criminal organizations behind cybercrimes.

In a March 6 Fact Sheet, the White House said, “In 2024, American consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to cyber-enabled fraud, with seniors on average losing the most.”

“[Seventy-three] percent of U.S. adults have experienced some kind of online scam or attack, and 87 percent of seniors view online scams and attacks as a major problem.”

Protecting Accounts

In another April 23 alert, the SEC advised people to protect their online investment accounts from fraud by using strong passwords, changing passwords regularly, using two-step verification, turning on account alerts, adding biometric safeguards, and avoiding using public computers to access accounts.

SEC asked investors to use caution when using public Wi-Fi connections.

“If you access your account on a public wireless connection, such as at a coffee shop or airport, you should use extra caution. It is very easy to ‘eavesdrop’ on internet traffic, including passwords and other sensitive data, on a public wireless network.”

The agency advised investors in a separate alert on April 23 to contact their investment company immediately if they think their account has been compromised.

Plus, investors should regularly monitor investment accounts for any suspicious activity. “Look out for any changes to your account information that you do not recognize (e.g., a change to your address, phone number, e-mail address, account number, or external banking information),” the SEC said.

“You should also confirm that you authorized all of the transactions that appear in your account statements and trade confirmations.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 21:45

The Moral Malaise: The New York Times Makes The Case For "Microlooting" To Murder

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

“It is so hard to live ethically in an unethical society.” That lament heard this week from New York Times opinion culture editor Nadja Spiegelman could well be the Democratic Party’s epitaph.

Spiegelman was interviewing two left-wing influencers about how everything from shoplifting to murder may be excusable today in light of the unfairness they see in society.

The podcast, a product of the nation’s newspaper of record, reveled in the moral relativism that has taken over the American left. It featured the ravings of the antisemitic Marxist streamer Hasan Piker, who calmly explained how the murder of United Healthcare executive Brian Thompson was perfectly understandable. His rationalization came from Marxist revolutionary Friedrich Engels, who had called capitalism “social murder.” If capitalists are “social murderers,” then why not kill them? The logic is liberating and lethal for some on the left looking for a license for violence.

Mind you, this same newspaper had once condemned and effectively banned a U.S. senator for writing an op-ed advocating the use of the military to quell violent protests during the summer of George Floyd’s death. The Times even forced out its own opinion editor for having the temerity to publish such an opinion.

But glorifying murder? The suggestion of open hunting season on corporate executives did not appear to shock or repel Spiegelman. After all, we are living in “an unethical society.” She explained that many felt that the murder of Thompson, the father of two, meant that “finally, someone can actually do something about health care.”

Even liberal comedians are practicing a literal version of slapstick. Margaret Cho this week declared that “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat.”

To be fair, Spiegelman did concede that it might seem a bit “scary” for some to start murdering our way to social justice.

She also explained that shoplifting can be justifiable because people are “stealing from Whole Foods — not just for the thrill of it, but out of a feeling of anger and moral justification.”

New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino also contributed to the podcast, titled “The Rich Don’t Play by the Rules. So Why Should I?” She immediately threw in her own experience with “microlooting” and explained why it is arguably moral: “I have, under very specific circumstances. I will say, I think that stealing from a big-box store [isn’t] significant as a moral wrong, nor is it significant in any way as protest.”

She detailed her own past thefts and added, “I didn’t feel bad about it at all, in part because the store was a corporation. And it certainly felt, in a utilitarian sense, I was like, this is not a big deal. Right, guys?”

Not in the confines of the New York Times, where apparently you are entitled to all goods that are fit to pilfer.

The bizarre exchange highlighted the moral chasm that is opening its maw on today’s political left. In my book “Rage and the Republic,” I write about how rage helps people excuse any offense or attack. It dismisses the humanity of others and provides a license to hate completely and without reservation.

It is not really murder or theft if there are no real humans on the other side, is it?

Other columnists have defended such property crimes. Washington Post writer Maura Judkis ran a column mocking shoplifting stories as the “moral panic” of a nation built on “stolen land.” It is reminiscent of those who excused rioting in past summers “as an expression of power” and demanded that the media refer to looters as “protesters.”

Former New York Times writer (and now Howard University Journalism Professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones went so far as to call on journalists not to cover shoplifting crimes.

At its core, it is a denial of transcendent values and rights. It is a decoupling of our society from a grounding in moral or universal truths. It is a trend that extends not only to attacks on individuals but also to attacks on our constitutional system. There is a growing denial of our founding based on Enlightenment principles of natural rights, which come not from government but from God.

Some people seem to have forgotten this. In 2024, a celebrated political journalist memorably asserted that belief in God-given rights is a form of “Christian nationalism” — an odd claim about a concept the nation’s founders literally wrote into our Declaration of Independence.

Last year, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) — a man who represents Thomas Jefferson’s own state — attacked a witness in committee for espousing Jefferson’s immortal assertion that human beings’ natural rights are endowed by their Creator. Kaine disparaged this idea as something worthy of Iran’s mullahs.

The result is the type of moral free-fall and rejection of personal responsibility expressed on the New York Times podcast. Simply because they condemn our entire age as unethical, they feel justified in asserting a moral right to commit any offense, from microlooting to murder. This underpins the increasingly frequent justifications made for attacks against conservatives or law enforcement as a form of “defending democracy.”

Yet the feeling of “anger and moral justification” does not make an act moral. It is the morality of mayhem; a spreading decay within our society. History has shown us how democracies can become mobocracies.

During the French Revolution, journalist Jacques Mallet du Pan observed that “like Saturn, the Revolution devours its children.” The sad fact is, it is not just the danger of fellow revolutionaries deciding that you are the next reactionary to be guillotined. It is the self-consumption of radicals who untether themselves from any higher order or purpose. It is the knowledge that all mortals carry the Saturn gene; all mortals share the capacity to become monsters.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 20:55

Upcoming Weather Shift "Far From Drought-Breaker" For America's Parched Breadbasket

Some of the worst drought conditions in a generation are plaguing America’s breadbasket just as spring planting season gets underway. Institutional desks, including UBS, have ramped up warnings about drought, fertilizer shortages, and what these current-day issues could morph into for the food supply chain later this year.

The good news: parts of the central U.S. may finally see some weather relief, with several days of rain in the forecast. Whether that will be enough to materially improve soil moisture conditions remains the key question for agricultural desks this week.

"The upcoming weather pattern in the United States, fueled by a strong subtropical jet stream, will bring some beneficial rain to the drought-stricken South," meteorologist Ben Noll wrote on X, adding, "But it will be far from a drought-breaker."

The upcoming weather pattern in the United States — fueled by a strong subtropical jet stream — will bring some beneficial rain to the drought-stricken South.

But it will be far from a drought-breaker. pic.twitter.com/3Zfhm1KpfT

— Ben Noll (@BenNollWeather) April 27, 2026

Noll is correct: it will take many more rounds of storms to fully erase the drought, especially given what UBS analyst Jonathan Pingle told clients last week.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Palmer Drought Severity Index hit its highest level for March since records started in 1895, and March was the third-driest month recorded, regardless of time of year, behind only the famed 1930s Dust Bowl: July and August 1934. Water levels on the Mississippi look fine, and seasonal lows are typically in the fall, but river levels in Memphis sit 24 feet below this time last year.

Here's The Weather Channel's forecast for rain this week across the Midwest and Southeast:

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Better than nothing. 

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 20:30

Nearly 10,000 Pounds Of Methamphetamine And Marijuana Seized By US Authorities

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Around 10,000 pounds of marijuana and methamphetamine were seized by U.S. authorities in two separate incidents in recent weeks.

A joint operation on April 20 intercepted a Go-Fast vessel with 3.2 tons of marijuana, the largest load of marijuana ever stopped in Colombian waters. Courtesy of the Joint Interagency Task Force/X

“A joint operation on April 20th led by @ArmadaColombia intercepted a Go-Fast vessel with 3.2 tons of marijuana, the largest load of marijuana ever stopped in Colombian waters, preventing drug-trafficking organizations from reaping the profits,” the Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) South said in an April 23 post on X. Armada Colombia is part of the country’s naval defense arm.

The 3.2 tons of marijuana, which comes to 6,400 pounds, has an estimated spot value of roughly $7 million.

JIATF leverages its member nations’ capabilities to identify and monitor drug trafficking in the air and maritime domains. The task force seeks to interdict and take the drugs into custody to disrupt the shipment of illicit narcotics and degrade or dismantle transnational criminal organizations.

In another significant seizure, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility, California, took custody of more than 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine, with an estimated value of $4.92 million, according to an April 23 statement from the agency.

The narcotics were “concealed within a cargo trailer,” which the CBP had referred for a secondary inspection on April 14, the agency said.

“The shipment manifest had listed the commodity as corrugated cardboard boxes,” it said.

An initial nonintrusive inspection identified anomalies in the front wall of the trailer. A physical inspection found 300 packages of meth.

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the overdose death rate involving psychostimulants with abuse potential, primarily methamphetamine, was 10.4 people per 100,000 individuals in 2023.

“Our CBP officers at ports of entry are unwavering guardians,” Otay Mesa Port Director Rosa E. Hernandez said.

“Their diligence prevented illegal narcotics from entering our country, so our communities are kept safe from dangerous drugs.”

Tackling the inflow of drugs is a key focus area of the Trump administration. In an April 2025 Statement of Drug Policy Priorities, the White House said the administration has identified an “urgent need for decisive action” to tackle the illicit drug crisis plaguing the United States.

According to the statement, the Trump administration aims to reduce the number of overdose fatalities, decrease the global movement of illicit drugs, stop the flow of drugs from across the border into U.S. communities, reduce the initiation of drug use, and offer treatments that lead to long-term recovery from addiction and substance use disorders.

“To achieve our vision of a safer, healthier future for Americans, we will disrupt the supply chain from tooth to tail. We will partner with or otherwise hold accountable countries that are sources of precursor chemicals and finished drugs that enter the United States,” the statement said.

Crackdown on Drug Operations

In a March 17 statement to a House committee, Joseph M. Humire, performing the duties of the assistant secretary of war for homeland defense and Americas security affairs, said the Department of War (DOW) has been focusing on the maritime flow of illicit narcotics into the United States from South America.

Since September 2025, the DOW has been conducting kinetic strikes on suspected drug trafficking vessels that have had a positive impact in curtailing drug flow, according to the official.

“Since the first September strike, there has been a 20 percent reduction of movements of drug vessels in the Caribbean and an additional 25 percent reduction in the Eastern Pacific. These two maritime corridors are the origin source for follow-on flow into the U.S. Homeland,” Humire said.

“We have successfully deterred cartels from exploiting key maritime routes, leading to a more than 20 percent reduction in cocaine flow.”

Last week, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy hosted the Interdiction Committee Principals Meeting, with officials from the State Department, Homeland Security, Justice Department, DOW, the Treasury, and the Intelligence Community meeting to advance President Donald Trump’s drug policy priorities, the White House said in an April 20 statement.

Participants discussed matters related to current operations aimed at reducing the supply of illicit drugs, and reviewed methods to integrate information from drug interdictions to investigations in order to better target criminal networks.

“The Interdiction Committee is where policy and operations collide. We know that every interdiction, every arrest, and every successful prosecution is an opportunity for law enforcement and the intelligence community to combat cartel operations, their supply chains, and the illicit financing that fuels it all,” U.S. Interdiction Coordinator and Committee Chairperson Daniel Boatright said.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 20:05

Democrat-Owned Brewery Complains About Failed Trump Assassination Attempt With Twisted Promise To Customers

Minocqua Brewing Company, a craft-beer maker in Minocqua, Wisconsin, run by a Democrat activist, is facing fierce blowback after its social-media account appeared to mock a recent assassination attempt on President Donald Trump and reiterated an earlier pledge to offer free beer on the day of his death.

Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad (screenshot via Instagram)

The company, owned by Kirk Bangstad - who ran as the Democrat nominee for Wisconsin’s 34th Assembly District in 2020 and founded an anti-Republican super PAC - posted on social media shortly after news of the latest attempt on the president. “Well, we almost got #freebeerday,” the post read, according to screenshots circulated online. “Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle. We’ll never know.”

“Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens,” the post added.

The brewery had previously promised free beer “all day long, the day he dies,” in reference to Trump. The company also sells merchandise tied to the pledge, including T-shirts that read “I wish it was free beer day,” and markets itself as blending craft beer with radical progressive activism.

A spokesman for the Wisconsin Democrat Party condemned the post. “This rhetoric is completely unacceptable and should be retracted immediately,” Phil Shulman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We’re not afraid to call out this sort of inappropriate behavior no matter where it comes from—our GOP colleagues should learn to do the same.”

Republican officials and Trump allies denounced the comments as inflammatory, urging broader Democratic condemnation.

"Wisconsin Democrats are so sick in the head that an attempted murder is funny to them," Republican National Committee spokesperson Delanie Bomar told Fox News in a statement. "All Wisconsin Democrats, including Rebecca Cooke, must immediately condemn this disgusting behavior.”

This brewery in Wisconsin is gushing over the assassination attempt.

These people want us dead. pic.twitter.com/Hf4x99Dq1i

— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) April 26, 2026

.@RebeccaforWI worked for this reprehensible scum, and that is exactly what he is.

This is shocking and she needs to answer for this now.

Unfit for office, both of them. https://t.co/o6Zw6BFadZ pic.twitter.com/6iIMv1Z48J

— Derrick Van Orden (@derrickvanorden) April 26, 2026

This is deranged and beneath our state.

Wisconsin, let’s unite in rejecting this garbage.

— Tom Tiffany (@TomTiffanyWI) April 26, 2026

The brewery’s post was later deleted, according to Beer Street Journal.

The latest assassination attempt against Trump unfolded Saturday evening at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner held at the Washington Hilton. U.S. law enforcement has identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old tutor, game developer, and Caltech graduate from Torrance, California. Allen allegedly attempted to breach a security checkpoint near the event’s screening area, opening fire and prompting return shots from the Secret Service. In a manifesto sent to family members minutes before the attack, Allen described himself as a “friendly federal assassin,” listed Trump administration officials as prioritized targets, and expressed deep hostility toward the president and his policies, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 19:40

Report Claims Iranian Jet Bombed American Base In Kuwait At War's Start

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

Iranian attacks on US bases across the Middle East have caused far more damage than the Trump administration has publicly acknowledged, and an Iranian fighter jet was able to bomb at least one US base, NBC News reported on Saturday, citing unnamed US officials.

The administration has attempted to cover up the damage to US bases in the war, and has gone as far as requesting that Planet Labs and other satellite imagery companies black out war images, making it difficult to ascertain the damage.

The NBC report said that the Pentagon has also kept the information on the damage from Congress. “No one knows anything. And it’s not for lack of asking,” a Republican congressional aide told the outlet. “We have been asking for weeks and not getting specifics, even as the Pentagon is asking for a record high budget.”

Iranian missile and drone attacks have targeted US bases in seven Middle Eastern countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Jordan, and Qatar. US officials said that an Iranian F-5 fighter jet was able to bomb the US base at Camp Buehring in Kuwait despite it having air defenses, marking the first time in many years that an enemy fixed-wing aircraft struck a US military installation.

The US armed Iran with Northrop Grumman-made F-5 fighter jets before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and Iran has developed its own version of the aircraft, known as the HESA Kowsar.

Kuwait was also the site of a March 1 Iranian drone attack that killed six US Army Reserve soldiers and injured more than 20. The drone targeted a makeshift operations center in Port Shuaiba, and according to survivors of the attack who spoke to CBS News, the facility was unprotected despite claims from US War Secretary Pete Hegseth that the drone was able to “squirt” through air defenses.

The Pentagon has confirmed the deaths of at least 13 US soldiers and the injuries of more than 400 in the war. The bases across the region were mostly evacuated since they were so vulnerable to attack, something The New York Times previously reported.

“Many of the 13 military bases in the region used by American troops are all but uninhabitable, with the ones in Kuwait, which is next door to Iran, suffering perhaps the most damage,” the Times reported on March 25.

The NBC report said that the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain “sustained serious damage” and that other US bases in the country also suffered serious damage that is likely repairable.

An Iranian F-5 flew through air defences and bombed the US base in Kuwait. No enemy fighter jet has bombed a US target since Korea https://t.co/62L0rbuwq4

— Nate Bear (@NateB_Panic) April 25, 2026

The report also cited the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington-based think tank, which said it assessed Iran hit more than 100 targets across 11 bases, and that the repairs would cost at least $5 billion, though the number doesn’t account for some of the radars, weapons systems, and other equipment that was destroyed.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 19:15

"Let's Get Ruthless": Bulwark's Bill Kristol Suggests Illiberal Means Are Needed To Save Liberal Democracy

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

“Let’s get ruthless.”

Those words are, unfortunately, nothing new in this age of rage.

In just the last few weeks, various liberal pundits and politicians have been calling for radical and even violent action.

Even comedian Margaret Cho publicly declared this week that “we need a feral, bloodthirsty, violent Democrat.”

However, these words were reposted by Bill Kristol, the founder of the Weekly Standard and the current editor-in-chief of The Bulwark. Kristol was a leading conservative figure in the Republican Party.

Kristol left the Republican Party and is now a vehemently anti-Trump writer. There are certainly good-faith reasons why some conservatives have broken with Trump on a variety of issues.

However, the original column was endorsing the Democratic plan to pack the Supreme Court with an instant liberal majority to force through a slew of political changes in the country.

Various Democrats have been pledging to not only impeach Trump (and a long list of other figures), but to pack the Supreme Court as soon as they regain power.

James Carville declared, “If the Democrats win the presidency and both houses of Congress, I think on day one, they should expand the Supreme Court to 13. F— it. Eat our dust. Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it. Just do it.”

This Nike School of Constitutional Law is catching on with a wide array of pundits and professors. Just do it.

Years ago, Harvard professor Michael Klarman laid out a radical agenda to change the system to guarantee Republicans “will never win another election.” However, he warned that “the Supreme Court could strike down everything I just described.” Therefore, the court must be packed in advance to allow these changes to occur.

Former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder has put packing the Supreme Court front and center, explaining, “[We’re] talking about the acquisition and the use of power if there is a Democratic trifecta in 2028.”

Years ago, I wrote an academic piece on the possible expansion of the Supreme Court, but there is a world of difference between that and a court-packing plan. Under my proposal, the court’s expansion would take almost two decades to ensure that no president could pack the court.

It was not just the company that Kristol is keeping on the issue, or his endorsement of the long-anathema concept of court packing, but also his rationale for the move. Kristol cited the successful Democratic gerrymandering efforts in California and Virginia as triumphs that should now propel the left to pack the Court.

Kristol reposted the call for court packing from his colleague Jonathan Last: “Expanding the Supreme Court is no different from redistricting in California and Virginia,” he said. “It is a proportionate response to Republican attempts to degrade liberal democracy and move America toward a post-liberal order.”

Praising governors Gavin Newsom and Abigail Spanberger for their “ruthless” leadership in response to Republican gerrymandering, Kristol insisted that Democrats must meet “force with force” and must now pack the Supreme Court. Being ruthless, he argues, is the “only road to preserving liberal democracy.”

There is, of course, a considerable difference between altering political districts and packing the courts. Political gerrymandering has been around since the earliest days of the Republic.

The courts are not the same political fungible units. Indeed, the favorite term on the left is “illiberal democracy” to refer to democratic systems used to curtail rights and weaken checks and balances. Yet this illiberal means is being cited by Kristol as essential to save liberal democracy.

Liberal justices have spoken out against these calls for court packing.

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said it would destroy the continuity and cohesion of the court.

She added, “If anything would make the court look partisan, it would be that — one side saying, ‘When we’re in power, we’re going to enlarge the number of judges, so we would have more people who would vote the way we want them to.’”

The political districts are precisely that: political. They are part of the two political branches in a tripartite system. It is the courts that keep these political branches within their proper constitutional orbits.

There was, of course, no movement to pack the court when a series of liberal majorities rewrote major areas of constitutional law in the 1960s and 1970s. These demands from figures like Sen. Elizabeth Warren were only heard when the court began to rule against their chosen outcomes.

Warren explained that the court had to be packed to bring its rulings in line with “widely held public opinion.”

Of course, Article III was designed precisely to blunt such pressures to rule according to “widely held public opinion.” The Supreme Court is a counter-majoritarian body that was created to protect rights against the passions or demands of the majority.

As I discuss in my book, “Rage and the Republic,” the founders sought to avoid “democratic despotism” and “mobocracy” by creating barriers to direct democratic powers. The Supreme Court is essential as a bulwark against such impulse politics. Those pushing for an instant liberal majority would convert the court into the type of partisan judicial bodies seen in states like Wisconsin where jurists are selected to robotically vote for party priorities.

There is a reason why “ruthless” was not an attribute cited by anyone in the constitutional convention to be fostered in our Republic. On the contrary, the system is designed to temper ruthless passions for reasoned debate.

The court itself may be the ultimate test of the lingering capacity for reason among our citizens. Of course, we can be ruthless and tear down our institutions on the 250th anniversary of our Republic.

No democratic system is ever immune from self-inflicted wounds. That is why Benjamin Franklin reminded us that this remains our Republic if we can keep it. This year, we can celebrate that Republic, or we can ruthlessly destroy it in a fit of blind rage.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 18:25

"Resurgence Of Electrification": Goldman Says EV Demand Gaining Momentum Amid Fuel Price Shock

There were early signs during the third week of the U.S.-Iran conflict that EV demand was gaining traction in Asia, where the energy shock has been felt the hardest. That was followed by a separate note earlier this month confirming that EV demand was beginning to reaccelerate.

Now, Goldman analysts led by Kota Yuzawa see global EV demand gaining momentum after several years of muted demand, as the fuel-price shock at the pump pushes consumers back toward EVs.

Yuzawa noted that the share of the top 30 countries where the EV sales mix rose month over month climbed from 30% in January to 60% in February and 80% in March. This acceleration suggests the energy shock is helping pull the EV industry out of a multi-year rut. 

The reacceleration of global EV demand has likely gained further traction in April amid elevated prices. Goldman's commodity team, led by Daan Struyven, wrote in a separate note that his WTI fourth-quarter forecast was revised from the previous $75 to $83.

This suggests the energy crisis is becoming more prolonged, and elevated fuel prices at the pump mean that EV demand will likely continue to rise - at least until Brent and WTI crater, depending on a Hormuz chokepoint reopening and a US-Iran peace deal being signed.

Yuzawa highlighted the global EV market in March:

• We are monitoring the rise in natural gas prices in the Indian market, as we are concerned about the impact on Maruti Suzuki, which has a high share of CNG vehicles.

• In the Thai market, both BEVs and HEVs are outperforming. The growing demand for HEVs, which offer excellent fuel efficiency, is a positive for Toyota and Denso.

• In the Chinese market, we have confirmed a narrowing of discounts on NEVs. Exports are also expanding, which underpins our bullish view on BYD.

• The expansion in demand for ESS is driven by the adoption of renewable energy against the backdrop of energy security. This expands the applications for automotive batteries, providing a tailwind for Tesla, BYD, and GS Yuasa.

EVs Outperform Amid Price Stabilization

Electrification Advances By Country

Really, all the EV industry needed wasn't lower auto loan rates but a Hormuz chokepoint closure and a global fuel-price shock to jolt demand back to life. Who would've thought...

Professional subscribers can read the full "Resurgence of Electrification" note at our new Marketdesk.ai portal.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 18:00

HUD Rejects Transgender Ideology For Women's Shelters

Authored by Catherine Salgado via PJMedia.com,

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is removing radical transgender ideology from dozens of regulations, which will, among other things, reserve women’s shelters only for women, not for mentally ill men.

HUD issued a press release on April 23 confirming that it is erasing "radical definitions of gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender" from some 50 regulations. Instead, HUD will apply the biological definition of sex and end the woke prohibition on "gender identity" discrimination.

The latter meant that shelters specifically for men or women were required to accept an individual's identification as male or female regardless of biological reality. Obviously, this was a rule ripe for abuse. Therefore, HUD is taking steps to end the potential and actual abuse.

Fortunately, HUD and Secretary Scott Turner are restoring sanity to the agency's regulations. The press release explained:

HUD’s Equal Access Rule would be adjusted to protect women’s shelters and replace the prohibition on discrimination against “gender identity” in all Community Planning and Development programs. Common terms such as father, mother, man, woman, boy, and girl would be defined consistent with biological reality across HUD’s regulations.

Turner proudly and emphatically confirmed that the biblical and biological reality is his priority.

“God created two sexes: male and female,” the secretary said.

“The Left’s war on biological reality through radical gender ideology will no longer take precedence over the safety and security of America’s most vulnerable women. This proposed rule will bring biological truth and sanity back to HUD’s policies.”

This follows up on a February 2025 order from Secretary Turner: “Equal Access in Accordance With an Individual’s Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs.” This order started the process of offering services at shelters and other HUD-funded housing programs only in accordance with the biological definition of sex.

At the time, Turner stated, "We, at this agency, are carrying out the mission laid out by President Trump on January 20th when he signed an executive order to restore biological truth to the federal government. This means recognizing there are only two sexes: male and female. It means getting government out of the way of what the Lord established from the beginning when he created man in His own image."

He continued, "As I have said before, we are going to take inventory of HUD’s programs and ensure every dollar that goes out the door is advancing HUD’s mission, which is to provide quality, affordable homes for communities across the country – urban, rural and tribal –and promote economic investment to build stronger communities and a brighter future for all Americans."

The new announcement is part of this comprehensive effort at HUD. The Biden administration flouted and rejected biblical values at every opportunity. They defied both biological reality and Scriptural morals. What a difference the new administration makes.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 17:40

Bye-Bye Bibi? Israeli Opposition Leaders Join Forces In 'Together' Alliance To Topple Netanyahu

Former Israeli prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid unveiled Monday that they are merging their parties into a joint ticket dubbed "Together - Led by Bennett" - as a major challenge to current leader Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections.

During a press conference Bennett said the alliance with Lapid is the "most Zionist and patriotic act we have ever done, for the sake of our country" - adding that the "era of division is over." Netanyahu out soon?

//--> //--> //--> Will Benjamin Netanyahu be the next Prime Minister of Israel?
Yes 43% · No 57%
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Bennett will lead the ticket as its prime ministerial candidate, and has invited Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party and a former army chief of staff, to join, saying that “our door is open for you too.”

Bennett describes himself as a "right-wing, liberal Zionist" and has emphasized he will only rely on "Zionist parties" - and so no Arab representative support will be involved in his coalition. "We're not in the left bloc or the right bloc, we're in the bloc of the entire Israeli nation," he proclaimed.

And Lapid has announced, "We are uniting today to win the elections and to establish a Zionist government, strong and stable. A partnership between the center and right, between religious and secular, between north and south - without draft dodging and without extremism."

"Israelis deserve a government that will provide security, focus on education, lower prices, fight corruption, and draft the Haredim into the army," he added.

Lapid said he and his Yesh Atid party are "setting ego aside and doing what is right for the State of Israel," adding that "to win the elections, the entire Israeli center must stand behind Naftali Bennett."

Fresh polling featured in The Jerusalem Post predicts the 'Together' party would win 27 seats if elections were held today:

In the previous survey, Likud and “Bennett 2026” were tied at 24 seats each, and Bennett and Lapid’s parties together reached 31.

Additionally, former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot appears to benefit from the merger, with his party rising from 12 to 15 seats. The result positions him as a central player in the opposition camp.

If Eisenkot were to join Bennett and Lapid, the unified list would rise to 41 seats, making it far larger than Likud. Still, the bloc map would remain unchanged, with the opposition unable to reach a 61-seat majority without the Arab parties.

But Bibi's coalition would still be ahead. Bennet has further declared, "After 30 years, it is time to part with Netanyahu and open a new chapter for Israel."

via CNN

Indeed, Netanyahu is the longest serving prime minister in Israel's history, but the clock is ticking as his government is now in the final months of its four-year term, with new elections required to be held by the end of October. Lapid and Bennet first united and tried to defeat Netanyahu once before, but failed.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 17:20

"The Democrats Have To Cheat To Win": Voter Fraud Is Legion In America

Via  Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com,

The next big battle in elections is the 2026 Midterms in November.  Dr. Jerome Corsi has a Harvard PhD in political science.  He has written more than 30 books with many of them becoming best-sellers. 

Dr. Corsi says the Democrats have been stealing elections nationwide for years.  This November, the Dems will try again, but team Trump is trying to stop the biggest ever voter and election fraud that robs the voice and will of “We the People.” 

Dr. Corsi contends:

“I think this is probably one of the biggest stories in America.  The vote cheating by Democrats is legion.  I mean it’s rampant.  You’ve got 29 states that refuse to turn over to the Department of Justice (DOJ) their state voter registration data bases because they know they are packed with people that don’t exist, illegal immigrants and dead people.  These voter rolls are a disgrace.”

Assistant DOJ AG Harmeet Dhillon recently found 350,000 dead people and 25,000 foreign citizens on the voter rolls in the states that complied with the DOJ request.  These were red states.  So, what are the odds the amount of dead, non-existent and illegals go way up in the blue state voter rolls?

How is the cheating done with inaccurate and fraudulent voter rolls?  Dr. Corsi explains, “The voter rolls have algorithms in them that we have shown allow the creation of all these records that are false records..."

"  The records can be hidden in the data base and pulled out and used in mail-in ballot schemes.  That’s what’s been happening, and it just happened in Virginia.  The ballot was being taken on the redistricting, and when you watch it very carefully, the vote against redistricting was leading.  Then, there were two bumps.  Those bumps were the registration of mail-in ballots, and the vote favoring redistricting are ahead, and they stay ahead.  Well, that’s not accidental.  That is the voting of false records, and this is a pattern in order to cheat on the election, on the side of the Democrats’ favor.”

Dr. Corsi goes on to say, “They can go into the computer, and they vote the non-citizen and the non-existing voters..."

"  They suddenly ask for mail-in ballots, which are not mailed anywhere.  They are printed and tabulated, and since the number of the non-existing voters matches the number of the ballots, it’s counted.  The trick is to create voters that don’t exist, voters that shouldn’t be on the rolls and give them legitimate state ID’s and vote them through the machine and get away with it as cheating.  This is done in virtually every state in the country. . .. Study after study has been done that show these techniques are used and done.”

It does not look like the “Save America” voting legislation is going to get past the Democrats and RINOs in Congress.  This means it will all come down to the President’s executive powers to stop voter and election fraud.  This will be a huge violent fight because Dr. Corsi says:

“The Democrats have to cheat to win.  If they can’t cheat, the Democrats will lose massively.  Half of all Democrats elected into Congress will lose.  The American people are not with them.  So, the President is going to have to put the National Guard in states that won’t cooperate.  You can’t just challenge the 29 state voter rolls that are fraudulent.  You are going to have to send in the National Guard, confiscate those voter rolls and control the election.”

Will this turn violent?  Dr. Corsi says:

“Sure, the only reason the crime rate dropped in Washington D.C and Memphis is the National Guard was there, and they were not going to put up with it.  You are dealing with violent behavior, which means you are going to have to have massive force to restrain it.”

There is much more in the 59-minute interview.

Join Greg Hunter of USAWatchdog as he goes one-on-one with Dr. Jerome Corsi of GodsFiveStones.com.  Find out why Dr. Corsi predicts President Trump will be forced to stop massive voter and election fraud this November by Executive Order backed up by armed National Guard troops.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 17:00

22-Year-Old Indian Man Dupes "Horny" Guys Online With Fake Blonde Female MAGA Influencer

A 22-year-old medical student from northern India found an unlikely way to fund his education: building a fake online influencer using artificial intelligence, according to The Daily Beast and Wired. 

After struggling to earn money through more traditional side hustles like YouTube and selling study notes, he turned to generative AI tools to create “Emily Hart,” a fictional persona presented as a young, conservative American woman.

Using platforms like Google Gemini, he crafted everything from her appearance to her captions, positioning her as a pro-Christian, pro-gun, and anti-immigration personality designed to resonate with a specific audience.

The strategy worked quickly. By tailoring posts to a niche group—particularly conservative American men—the account began pulling in millions of views and rapidly growing followers.

“Every day I’d write something pro-Christian, pro-Second Amendment, pro-life, anti-woke, and anti-immigration,” he said.

Within weeks, the persona was generating income through subscriptions, merchandise, and paid content on platforms like Fanvue, with the student reportedly earning thousands of dollars a month while spending less than an hour a day managing it.

The report says that he later admitted the shift to targeted political content was key, after generic “influencer” posts failed to gain traction.

Despite its success, the operation raised serious concerns about deception and the growing sophistication of AI-generated content. The accounts were eventually removed for violating platform rules, but not before demonstrating how easily realistic digital personas can attract attention—and money—online.

The student, who used a pseudonym to avoid jeopardizing his medical career, said the project was purely financial and has since stepped away to focus on his studies.

“If you want a reason to unfollow: Christ is king, abortion is murder, and all illegals must be deported,” he wrote in one post. Maybe he should now add, "Oh, yeah. And because I'm completely made up."

 

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 16:40

A Feral And Savage Party

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

- Ian Fleming

Don’t you love the way the news media pretends it can’t figure out the motive of Cole Tomas Allen, who tried to shoot-up Saturday’s White House correspondents’ gala. He was a creation of the very White House correspondents who ducked under their tables at the sound of his shots.

Cole Tomas Allen had digested and internalized the “narrative” spewage of the Democratic Party’s propaganda department. MSNOW occupied his brain like a glistening parasite.

CBS tried to amplify the shooter’s own motive on Sunday night’s 60 Minutes show when Norah O’Donnell read out-loud from his manifesto, “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” and asked President Trump “What is your reaction to that?” Mr. Trump did not fall for the ruse — which was just an opportunity to reinforce a well-worn scurrility.

“You’re a disgrace,” the president replied, and Ms. O’Donnell just continued with the interview as if his answer never registered.

There it is.

In fact, Cole Tomas Allen traveled all the way from Los Angeles to Washington for the rare chance to find Mr. Trump and most of his cabinet all together in one room where he might be able to kill as many of them as possible. He styled himself: “Cole ‘coldForce’ ‘Friendly Federal Assassin’ Allen. “I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done,” he concluded in his short manifesto, reportedly composed and sent out minutes before he left his room at the Washington Hilton to perform his rash deed.

That rage, you understand, was planted in his head by the likes of Norah O’Donnell of CBS news and the scores of reporters, editors, and news producers who had to abandon the festive menu starters of spring pea and burrata salad and crab terrine with a nice Veuve Clicquot when the shots rang out. The gala is a night when the Blob’s media errand boys and call girls like to treat themselves like royalty. (Meanwhile their hated enemies back in the truck stops of MAGAland get by on lowly chili-lime jerky and Little Debbie Zebra Cakes, washed down with Red Bull — good for five-hundred miles of hauling, at least.)

The former president can’t guess Cole Tomas Allen’s motives. He is a liar, a cad, and a fraud. As for political violence in general, you have not heard Mr. Obama complain about Antifa mayhem, BLM riots, tranny school murders, harassment of ICE officers, or any other violence approved by the Lefty-left. Mr. Obama is himself a bona fide seditionist. When he repeats the shibboleth “our democracy” he means simply the Lefty-left’s malevolent will to power — which is predicated on nothing more than feeding the Democratic Party’s never-ending rackets, doling out money to its captive clients for votes, solely to remain in power: Ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail. His mealy-mouthed sanctimony serves only his personal need to evade prosecution for his own crimes.

The only way Barack Obama can evade prosecution for RussiaGate and then for covertly running the “Joe Biden” White House from his HQ across town is if he is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the RICO cases to come. That will be enough for historians to understand what happened here in the early 21st century. And what about the other traitors, the long list of Blob apparatchiks who schemed to overthrow the executive from 2016 to 2021, and then labored to throw thousands in prison, ran a fake pandemic op, queered two elections, hijacked the courts, shut down opposing opinion, and poisoned the minds of several assassins?

Justice is coming for them. They know it, and their “resistance” seeks to turn feral and savage in the months leading to the midterm elections. It will start in a few days with “Mayday Strong” rallies and street marches. Their slogan, “It’s workers over billionaires,” is just another lie. The part they leave out is that these actions are funded by billionaires: George Soros, Neville Roy Singham, Hansjörg Wyss, et al. Don’t expect the action to remain “mostly peaceful,” either. The idea, of course, is to get violent so as to goad President Trump into invoking emergency powers to put down an insurrection.

I doubt that President Trump will shrink from invoking the Insurrection Act, an amalgamation of laws passed by Congress starting in 1792–1795 with the Militia Acts, then the key 1807 law signed by President Thomas Jefferson, and major amendments during and after the Civil War, including the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. It is codified in Title 10 of the United States Code, Chapter 13, specifically §§ 251–255. It is a statutory exception to the Posse Comitatus Act (1878), which generally prohibits using federal troops for domestic law enforcement.

The Insurrection Act (with its predecessor statutes) has been invoked approximately 30 times in U.S. history by 16 presidents — Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Arthur, Cleveland, Wilson, Harding, FD Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Reagan, and Bush — in episodes including the Whiskey Rebellion, the Southern Secession, many violent labor strikes, several race riots, and looting in natural disasters.

President Trump might have to use the Insurrection Act to stop what has been an ongoing coup against his elected administration by an opposition party that has turned criminal and traitorous. He may have to convene extraordinary military tribunals to adjudicate crimes that include those committed by the federal judiciary itself. If he does all this, it must include an executive order mandating common sense election procedure for the midterm: citizenship and photo ID required, paper ballots only, no vote-counting machines, voting only on one day deemed Election Day, and mail-in ballots limited only to military, people required to be out of the country, and the disabled.

All this is looking increasingly unavoidable.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 16:20

US Allows Venezuela To Fund Maduro's Defense After Court Challenge

Authored by Tom Gantert via The Epoch Times,

The United States will ease sanctions on Venezuela to allow its regime to pay legal fees for former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. drug trafficking case, according to a court filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The April 24 filing states that the U.S. Treasury Department authorized an exception to existing sanctions, permitting funds to be used for Maduro’s legal defense.

Maduro is awaiting trial on federal charges, including those related to narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.

Attorney Barry Pollack, on behalf of Maduro, said in court documents filed in February that Venezuela, under its laws, had an obligation to pay Maduro’s legal expenses. Pollack said Maduro lacked his own funds to pay for legal counsel and “is being deprived of his constitutional right to counsel of his choice.”

“Mr. Maduro, as Venezuela’s head of state, has both a right and an expectation to have legal fees associated with these charges funded by the government of Venezuela,” the February court filing stated.

If declined, the cost of Maduro’s defense would be shifted from Venezuela to U.S. taxpayers even though Venezuela was willing and obligated to pay for it, Pollack stated in his brief.

“After invading another country and forcibly bringing its sovereign head of state to the United States, the government of the United States is now actively preventing him from retaining counsel of his choice and receiving a fair defense in this Court, in violation of his Sixth Amendment and Due Process rights,” the February filing stated.

Pollack had moved to get the indictment dismissed.

The United States captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a Jan. 3 raid. U.S. President Donald Trump posted a photo to social media showing Maduro in custody while blindfolded and handcuffed aboard the U.S. Navy ship USS Iwo Jima.

According to the February filing, Maduro was being held in isolation at the Metropolitan Detention Center in the Brooklyn borough of New York City pending trial on charges that “relate to alleged conduct that occurred while he was the head of state of a sovereign nation.”

The U.S. Department of State said Maduro led the Cartel of the Suns, a drug-trafficking organization that was made up of high-ranking Venezuelan officials.

In November 2025, the State Department declared Venezuela’s Cartel of the Suns as a terror organization.

Maduro took over leadership of Venezuela in 2013 and became increasingly politically hostile toward the United States as the years progressed, according to the U.S. War Department.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 14:45

"Unprecedented": Travel Prices Expected To Soar To And From World Cup Matches This Summer

Traveling to matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup may prove to be one of the biggest hurdles for fans, with transportation costs and logistics shaping up to be a major concern across U.S. host cities, according to Bloomberg.

Prices for getting to stadiums are expected to spike due to high demand, limited parking, and reliance on rideshare services, where surge pricing could make even short trips expensive. 

Costs for simply getting to and from matches could vary widely depending on the city and mode of travel. Rideshare prices are expected to surge during peak game times, potentially reaching hundreds of dollars for relatively short distances, while limited stadium parking could also carry premium rates or require advance reservations.

In some regions, special event transit fares may climb significantly higher than normal daily prices, with round-trip tickets potentially reaching well over $100 for high-demand routes. For those seeking convenience, private shuttles and chartered services will likely come at a steep markup, and luxury options like helicopter transfers—already being advertised for tens of thousands of dollars—highlight just how expensive last-mile transportation could become during the tournament.

Chopper rides could wind up "costing as much as $30,000 for a group of eight passengers." the report notes.

Bloomberg writes that public transit agencies are preparing for a massive influx of riders, but upgrades and expanded service come with significant costs. In some areas, fares are expected to rise sharply, and not all stadiums will be easily accessible by train or bus. Officials are working to expand capacity, but many systems are still recovering from pandemic-era budget shortfalls, making it difficult to scale up quickly.

At the same time, tensions are growing over who should pay for these improvements. State and local leaders argue that hosting the tournament should not burden everyday commuters with higher costs.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill emphasized this stance, saying, “We are committed to ensuring costs are shared fairly,” and adding, “We will not be subsidizing World Cup ticket holders on the backs of New Jerseyans who rely on NJ Transit every day.” With only limited federal funding available, cities are under pressure to find solutions before millions of visitors arrive.

FIFA says that host cities are expected to expand transit services, manage crowds, and cover security-related logistics, all of which come with significant expenses. Some state leaders, including New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, have argued that FIFA should help cover those costs rather than shifting the burden onto taxpayers or everyday commuters. FIFA, however, maintains that its agreements with host cities already allow agencies to charge riders enough to cover expenses, marking a shift from earlier arrangements that required free public transportation for ticket holders.

FIFA officials pushed back strongly on the idea of contributing additional funds, signaling tension as planning ramps up. The organization said it was “quite surprised” by calls to share transportation costs and defended its existing agreements with host cities.

“To arbitrarily set elevated prices and demand FIFA absorb these costs is unprecedented,” said Heimo Schirgi. “No other global event, concert or major sporting promoter has faced such a demand.” 

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 14:25

Micro-Cap Oil Stock Soars On Helium Offtake Deal As Gulf Shock Spurs Hunt For Reliable Supplies

The Hormuz chokepoint, with the U.S.-Iran conflict about to enter its third month, remains closed, and global energy flows are being rewired. One industrial gas we've identified as facing supply disruption risks is helium, which threatens to upend end markets ranging from semiconductor production to medical imaging.

Earlier this month, we published a note titled "Wyoming's Helium Empire Ascends As Qatar Gas Goes Flat." The note focused on how ExxonMobil stands out as a major beneficiary of the helium disruption in the Gulf region.

We previously cited UBS analyst Manav Gupta, who noted:

XOM's LaBarge facility in Wyoming, provides 20% of the world's supply, which has not been impacted by recent events in the Middle East. With an estimated eight decades worth of helium left to produce there, LaBarge is poised to play a significant role through the end of this century.

That leaves the market searching for alternative helium suppliers that could become net beneficiaries of the Gulf-related supply shock. 

One potential beneficiary is U.S. Energy Corp., which announced Monday that it has signed a five-year helium offtake agreement with an unnamed investment-grade global industrial gas company, giving the company its first contracted revenue stream tied to its Big Sky Carbon Hub in Montana.

The deal covers 100% of Phase 1 helium production, up to 1.2 million cubic feet per month, or 14.4 million cubic feet annually, under a take-or-pay structure. Phase 1 commercial operations remain targeted for early next year.

"The execution of this agreement with an investment-grade industrial gas company with global distribution infrastructure represents a defining milestone for U.S. Energy and validates years of development work at Big Sky," USEG CEO Ryan Smith wrote in a press release.

Smith noted, "This contract establishes long-term, contracted helium revenues and meaningfully de-risks Phase 1 commercial operations at Big Sky. It also reflects the strength we're seeing in the helium market today, where constrained global supply and increasing demand for reliable volumes are supporting a step up in long-term pricing."

He said under the agreement, helium pricing is fixed at $285 per MCF on a plant-gate basis, with no deductions, meaning the buyer assumes transportation, processing, and downstream costs.

Smith added that this agreement reduces risk for Big Sky's Phase 1 development by locking in long-term cash flow with a creditworthy counterparty.

USEG shares surged 35% by late morning in the US cash session.

USEG appears to be positioning itself as a major domestic helium supplier - not quite as big as XOM's LaBarge - but large enough to be noticed by the market, at a time when Gulf-related disruptions are exposing fragile energy supply chains worldwide.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 13:45

Kalshi, Polymarket Among 27 Prediction Platforms Banned In Brazil

Authored by Amin Haqshanas via CoinTelegraph.com,

Brazilian authorities have moved to shut down 27 prediction market platforms, including Kalshi and Polymarket.

The decision, announced Friday, follows a directive from the Ministry of Finance and enforcement by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), according to state-owned news outlet Agência Brasil. Authorities claimed that such services fall outside Brazil’s current legal framework and therefore operate illegally.

“We have been monitoring the evolution of this sector in Brazil, which suffered a period of anarchy because there were no rules, no oversight, from 2018 to 2022,” Finance Ministry executive secretary Dario Durigan reportedly said during a press conference at the Palácio do Planalto.

The crackdown follows Resolution 5.298 issued by Brazil’s National Monetary Council (CMN) on Friday, which takes effect in early May and sharply limits what prediction market platforms can offer. Under the new rules, contracts tied to sports, politics, entertainment, or social events are banned, as authorities consider them closer to gambling than financial investments.

Only contracts linked to economic indicators, such as inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, or commodity prices, will remain allowed and fall under financial market oversight.

Brazil flags prediction platforms as debt risk

Durigan claimed that prediction markets could deepen household debt and expose users to financial harm. “At a time when we are working to reduce debt levels among families, small businesses, and students, we must also prevent new forms of harmful indebtedness,” he said.

The blocked platforms include a mix of international and Brazil-focused services, with major names including Kalshi, Polymarket, PredictIt, Robinhood (via its forecasting feature) and Fanatics Markets.

Banned prediction markets in Brazil. Source: Agência Brasil

Other affected platforms include ProphetX, Hedgehog Markets, Novig, Polyswipe, PRED Exchange and Stride, alongside several Brazil-focused services such as Palpita, Cravei, Previsao, and MercadoPred.

More countries ban prediction markets

A growing number of jurisdictions have moved to ban prediction markets, often folding them into gambling or financial regulations. Several European nations, including France, Belgium and the Netherlands, have blocked or penalized platforms operating without authorization.

In the United States, the situation is more fragmented, with an ongoing tug-of-war between federal regulators and individual states over prediction markets.

Tyler Durden Mon, 04/27/2026 - 13:25