What Happened To The 56 Signatories Of The Declaration Of Independence

Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times,

Today the United States celebrates the 250th - or semiquincentennial - anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

Congress voting on the Declaration of Independence. Library of Congress/Public Domain

While July 4 marks the day Thomas Jefferson's revised draft of the Declaration of Independence was adopted, it would take months for the document to be signed by all 56 men who would eventually affix their names to it.

Several key figures in American history - George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, among others - don't appear among the signatories of the Declaration of Independence at all, having been serving in military roles or other capacities at the time.

None of the 56 signers died as a result of their signature, but before the war was over, five would be captured, 12 would have their homes destroyed, and 17 would lose their entire fortunes. None of the 56 signatories ever renounced the cause of independence of their own free will.

Here's what happened to the men who pledged "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" to the cause of American independence, on the basis of "self-evident ... Truths" that not even a global empire - or a king - could deny.

'The Sage Of Monticello': Thomas Jefferson

Easily the most well-known of the Declaration's signatories - as well as its author - Thomas Jefferson enjoyed several benefits later in life from his role in the document's drafting.

During the war, Jefferson nearly faced capture by the British during his tenure as governor of Virginia, forcing him to flee from his Monticello estate. That led to accusations of "cowardice" that eventually prompted Virginia legislators to launch a formal inquiry, in which Jefferson was acquitted.

Later, Jefferson served in a series of key posts, first as the U.S. ambassador to France, then as secretary of state under President George Washington and vice president under President John Adams.

After he was elected president - an event dubbed the "Revolution of 1800" - Jefferson's egalitarian vision expressed in the Declaration of Independence came to be viewed as one of the most critical documents of the American founding.

'The First American': Ben Franklin

While Jefferson often gets the lion's share of the credit for drafting the Declaration, Ben Franklin is credited with one critical edit to the document.

Widely recognized as a multi-disciplinary polymath, Franklin has been dubbed "the First American" by history for his early and long-running calls for American colonial unity.

In the preamble to the Declaration, Jefferson had originally written, "We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable."

Franklin - who served on the drafting committee - replaced this with the revision: "We hold these truths to be self-evident."

Franklin later served as ambassador to France and lead negotiator on the deal to end the war with Great Britain, was the "president" - or governor - of Pennsylvania from 1785 to 1788, and served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

Shortly before his death in 1790, Franklin made his last political statement with his support of a petition calling on the federal government to abolish slavery.

'The Atlas Of American Independence': John Adams

John Adams, the future second president, was one of the first delegates to the Continental Congress to call for independence. He was also among the most outspoken in its defense, leading him to be dubbed by some as "the Atlas of American Independence."

In February 1778, Adams was nearly captured by British warships while leaving on a diplomatic mission for Paris with his son. Adams took up a musket to fight the British vessels, but it took a mix of skillful navigation and a fortuitous storm to shake the pursuers. Had he been captured, Adams likely would have faced imprisonment in the Tower of London and execution for treason.

In one of the most remarkable coincidences in history, Adams and Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826 - 50 years after the Declaration's adoption day. Adams's final words, "Jefferson still lives," were in fact mistaken: the third president had passed away at Monticello hours earlier.

'The First Founding Father': Richard Henry Lee

Less well-known than either Jefferson or Adams, the Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee was no less instrumental in bringing about independence, authoring the part of the Declaration stating the 13 colonies "are, and of Right ought to be, free and independent States."

On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted this "Lee Resolution." Adams famously predicted incorrectly that July 2, rather than July 4, would be celebrated as the American Independence Day, and would be commemorated with, "pomp and parade ... from one end of this continent to the other."

During the war, Lee faced military attacks on his property, chronic stress that took a toll on his health, and a severe hit to his finances as the war hit international shipping and the tobacco trade he relied on.

He later served as the first Virginia senator alongside William Grayson, joining the anti-Federalists in opposing a national government. Lee died in June 1794 at age 62.

The Midnight Rider: Caesar Rodney

A lesser-known but critical signatory of the Declaration was Caesar Rodney, who rode 80 miles to Philadelphia while suffering from facial cancer to cast a tie-breaking vote for Delaware's delegation in favor of independence.

Unanimous support from all colonies was required to authorize the Lee Resolution - meaning Rodney's vote was critical to final adoption.

Rodney later served as "president," or governor, of Delaware until 1781, and died in 1784 of facial cancer at age 55.

The First Signer: John Hancock

John Hancock's signature on the Declaration - the first - was so large that his name became an American idiom for one's signature.

The Massachusetts revolutionary leader had been serving as president of the Second Continental Congress since May 24, 1775.

Hancock, aside from being the first signer, is the only person who actually signed the document on July 4, 1776.

Hancock was at the head of a massive commercial empire, deriving his wealth partially from inheritance and partially from smuggling. Had American independence failed, Hancock - as well as his family - would have lost everything.

Despite close calls, he made it through the Revolution without facing capture. However, several of his properties were destroyed or occupied by the British during the conflict, while Hancock expended nearly half of his personal wealth financing the cause of independence.

He later served as the first governor of independent Massachusetts, and died in 1793 at 56.

The Last Signer: Thomas McKean

Like several other delegates to the Second Continental Congress, Thomas McKean of Delaware left to join the Revolution as soon as he cast his ballot in favor of independence.

This meant that he was ultimately unable to sign the documents until months - or, by some estimates, years - later. While historians are confident that McKean is the final signatory, the exact date is disputed, with estimates ranging from early 1777 all the way to 1781.

McKean took part in key battles during the conflict, assisting in the defense of New York City and Delaware. By 1781, McKean was serving as president of the Continental Congress, making him the civilian authority directing the Battle of Yorktown, which ended the war.

After the Revolution, McKean served as chief justice and governor of Pennsylvania. During the War of 1812, he led a civilian defense group against the British, taking up arms one final time before his death in 1817 at the age of 83.

The One Who Renounced His Signature: Richard Stockton

While none of the 56 signers ever willingly renounced their support for the Declaration, historians think that signer Richard Stockton of New Jersey renounced his signature under coercion and following a long period of captivity by the British.

Imprisoned by the British, Stockton signed a parole agreement in which he reneged on his signature and pledged not to take part in the war. Under the agreement, Stockton resigned his seat in the Continental Congress.

Later, Stockton reaffirmed his loyalty to the United States before his death at age 50 in 1781.

The Fighters

Like McKean, several signers went on to take part in the conflict.

These included Rodney, Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut, Thomas Nelson Jr. of Virginia, and William Floyd of New York.

Others who left Philadelphia to join the conflict were taken as prisoners of war during the Revolution.

One of these was George Walton, who was wounded and captured during the Battle of Savannah. Despite spending months in British custody, Walton survived and was eventually freed, going on to serve as a governor, chief justice, and U.S. senator for Georgia.

Three others - Thomas Heyward Jr., Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge - were taken prisoner during the Battle of Charleston. All three survived months of captivity at St. Augustine, Florida, with Heyward becoming the last of the three to die at age 62 in 1809.

Homes Looted, Occupied, Or Destroyed

Many other signers faced consequences related to their properties and estates. Some of the most prominent of these included Lee and Hancock.

In New York, meanwhile, signer Francis Lewis had his property destroyed by the British, who captured his wife during the attack. Held in captivity for months without a change of clothes or adequate food, Elizabeth Annesley Lewis was ultimately freed under a prisoner exchange negotiated by Washington, but died shortly thereafter from the stress of the ordeal.

Also in New York, signers William Floyd, Philip Livingston, and Lewis Morris had their vast estates occupied by the British during the war, with the properties being used as barracks or stables.

Signer John Hart of New Jersey was also forced to flee from his home - and his wife's deathbed - when Hessian troops attacked his farm and mills.

The Longest-Lived Signer: Charles Carroll

In 1832, Charles Carroll of Maryland knew that he was dying.

The only Catholic signer of the Declaration, Carroll had by then been the sole remaining signatory of the document for around six years.

He gained the accolade on July 4, 1826, following the deaths of Adams and Jefferson, who were among the final three living signers. Franklin had passed more than 40 years earlier.

By 1832, Carroll was well-used to the questions he received from young people and reporters, who were set on preserving as much of the early Republic as possible during the twilight years of the 1820s.

Before his death, Carroll played a key role in welcoming the new era of American life, laying the first stone of the B&O railroad, one of the first steps toward the transcontinental railroad that would take decades yet to be completed.

Carroll's passing was commemorated in the papers and on the streets of the blossoming American republic, whose citizens recognized that with Carroll's passing, the first generation of the United States was truly over.

Commenting on his status near the end of his life, Carroll wrote, "Grateful to Almighty God for the blessings. ... I do hereby recommend to the present and future generations the principles of that important document ... and pray that the civil and religious liberties they have secured to my country may be perpetuated."

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 23:20

Majority Believes They Will Achieve The American Dream

250 years after American independence, a majority of people in the United States continue to believe in their personal American Dream.

As Statista's Kathraina Buchholz reports, 69 percent of those interviewed by Gallup in the beginning of the year say that they will achieve it in their lifetime.

This is in contrast, though, to 54 percent saying that not everybody can achieve the American Dream in this day and age.

You will find more infographics at Statista

While in a question about other people, Americans' answers are driven by a more sober view, positivity still prevails in regard to one's own success story.

58 percent of Americans also say that they think the American dream is unfinished, a further indication for the disillusionment many feel with the idea in the current environment.

The number is similar among Republicans and Democrats. Republicans, however, are more likely to say that the American Dream has succeeded and less likely to say that it has failed.

When asked what the American Dream means for them in an open-ended question, a third of respondents mention freedoms and individual rights, while 28 percent say financial stability or homeownership.

Only 18 percent mention upward mobility explicitly.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 22:45

Waste Of The Day: Stolen Education Grants

Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations,

Topline: A North Dakota woman was convicted last month of five counts of theft for stealing $131,000 in state grants meant for after-school programs.

Key facts: Faith Dixon, 47, was one of the top recipients of $2 million that the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction awarded in October 2021 for its Out of School Time program to support children impacted by school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her nonprofit, Faith4Hope, instead sent the funds to her then-husband's food stand, her brother's music and production company and her sister-in-law's dance studio, according to court documents reviewed by InForum.

Dixon's lawyers claimed she disbursed the money in "good faith" to help children, despite the conflicts of interest. But assistant attorney general Jeremy Ensrud showed some of the funds were spent on Dixon's own "day-to-day living expenses."

Dixon's ex-husband pleaded guilty to theft last year. He admitted the grants to his food stand were not spent on providing culinary classes to children, as he promised the state.

Dixon's other family members truly did spend their grants on helping children, Ensrud told InForum.

Last October, Dixon took a plea deal that would have sent her to prison for only 4 to 11 months, but she backed out because she had received "bad legal advice." Now, she will serve 4 to 10 years.

In her original grant application, Dixon said her nonprofit "reimagines what after-school looks like. We provide participants in middle school, junior high school, and high school with free, comprehensive after-school programs, transformative experiences, and mentoring that support students in developing skills and habits needed to help them succeed in school."

State investigators argued that was untrue. The Department of Public Instruction visited Faith4Hope's office eight times during its operating hours, but found that the office was closed and "no children were present," according to court documents.

Summary: It's unlikely that every instance of fraud from the Covid-19 pandemic will be uncovered, but the fact that wrongdoing is still being found years later speaks to the massive mismanagement of public funds that occurred.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 22:10

BMW Puts Next-Gen Humanoid Robots To Work On Factory Floors In South Carolina

Before humanoid robots enter the modern battlefield alongside ground bots and low-cost suicide drones, these bipedal robots are first being unleashed on factory floors and inside warehouses, where the physical world of AI is beginning to take shape. 

The latest development in humanoids entering factory floors comes from BMW's Spartanburg factory, where the Figure 03 robots were deployed earlier this week. 

"Following the successful deployment of Figure 02 on the assembly line in 2025, our latest generation robot - Figure 03 - arrived in Hall 52, one of the assembly and logistics halls at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg," robot startup Figure wrote in a press release.

JPMorgan analyst Jose Asumendi attended the "Home of X" event at the Spartanburg plant on Tuesday, which showcased the German automaker's commitment to the US, where it's becoming the test bed for "physical AI." 

"At the same time, we have seen that the Plant Spartanburg is advancing the next stage of innovation through physical AI. By utilizing humanoid robots from Figure AI, Plant Spartanburg has become a pioneer of BMW's Physical AI Initiative," Asumendi wrote in a note to clients.

The analyst continued, "These humanoid robots are actively engaged in tasks such as transporting materials, handling components, and organizing parts within the facility. Their involvement supports associates by taking on physically demanding and repetitive work, allowing employees to concentrate on the precision, craftsmanship, and quality that are hallmarks of every BMW vehicle. This collaboration between humans and robots is setting a new standard for manufacturing efficiency and innovation at Plant Spartanburg." 

What the analyst saw on the manufacturing line:

Humanoids on the factory floors of BMW's Spartanburg plant are part of the car company's $1.7 billion investment in South Carolina, laying the groundwork for U.S. production of fully electric BMW vehicles. The company plans to begin assembling the fully electric iX5 in Spartanburg before the end of 2026 and at least six fully electric models in the U.S. by 2030.

Last month, Deutsche Bank's Head of APAC Automation & Industrials Research, Iris Zheng, shared with clients that the humanoid robot market is beginning to show signs of life, driven by faster ramp-ups from Chinese manufacturers and Tesla's push toward mass production.

This prompted Zheng's team to raise its 2026 to 2029 forecast for the global humanoid robot market; now expecting global shipments of humanoid robots to approach 50,000 units in 2026, up from the previous forecast of 17,500 in 2025 (more than doubling), before rising to about 700,500 units by 2030 and 70 million by 2050.

Related:

• Automakers Race Into Humanoid Robots As Timeline For Blue-Collar Job Disruption Emerges

Bernstein analyst Eunice Lee recently noted that car companies are beginning to develop humanoids themselves:

Complete overview of the auto industry by company developing humanoids:

What's important to understand right now is that this is the early stage of physical AI, and some automakers are deploying these robots on factory floors, while others, such as Tesla, are developing them. The new model for car companies to create new revenue streams will be the production of robots because they share a similar parts ecosystem with EVs.  

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 21:35

Trump Pardons 6 Prosecuted For 'Fixing Their Car' Under Biden-Era Emissions Rules

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump on Friday announced pardons for six individuals he said were persecuted by the Biden administration for repairing their own vehicles, saying that the cases were emblematic of regulatory overreach.

President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks during the Faith & Freedom Coalition's 2026 Policy Conference at the Washington Hilton in Washington on June 26, 2026. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

"It is my Great Honor to have just signed Pardons for six people who were persecuted by the Biden Administration, and were in, or being sent to, prison, for 'fixing their car,'" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "I AM SETTING THEM ALL FREE, RIGHT NOW!"

The pardoned individuals were targeted under the Clean Air Act for allegedly disabling or tampering with vehicle emissions control systems, generally on commercial diesel trucks or personal vehicles.

Individuals who had installed "defeat devices" were pursued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice under the Biden administration. Trump's action means the immediate release of those in prison or facing incarceration.

The identities of the six people were not named in Trump's post.

On June 29, the president signed a presidential memorandum titled "Lowering the Cost of Living by Promoting the Freedom to Fix," directing federal agencies to expand access to aftermarket parts and support independent repairs to lower costs for Americans.

"We have a big ruling that we're just issuing now," Trump said. "I think it's very important to lower the price of your car."

"In all fairness, this is something that's very exciting to me," Trump said. "It means a lot to people that own vehicles, cars in particular, but cars and anything else. It's going to save them a lot of money, and they're going to be able to do it themselves."

"We are not going to be going after people who are fixing their own vehicle, like past administrations have," Trump stated, referencing Biden-era enforcement.

Trump's "right to fix" memorandum specifically seeks to counter manufacturer restrictions and regulatory hurdles that undermine consumer access to parts and repair information.

Specialty Equipment Market Association CEO Mike Spagnola said in a statement sent to The Epoch Times on June 29 that Trump's memorandum is "more bold action in support of vehicle owners and automotive aftermarket industry businesses from across the nation, and an example of federal leadership on behalf of our nation's vibrant car culture."

Spagnola highlighted aspects of the order that protect aftermarket manufacturers and expedite approval processes.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 21:00

Is Tesla About To Use Facial Recognition Before Activating Full Self-Driving

Tesla is reportedly preparing a series of updates, including one that would use a vehicle's cabin camera to verify a driver's identity before activating Full Self-Driving.

It sounds a bit dystopian, but this is likely the direction that connected smart-car brands are headed. As vehicles become more autonomous, automakers will increasingly need to verify who is behind the wheel before unlocking FSD functions.

The X account Tesla App Updates penned a new report outlining a series of changes possibly headed to the mobile app, including deeper FSD integration, more owner-facing controls, and expanded software monetization infrastructure.

Version 4.58.5 has been de-compiled and here's what we've found (https://t.co/eysAIiglnp):

• Coastal Blue paint now properly supported in 3D vehicle rendering
• In-app searchable video tutorials with pinning/bookmarking
• Deeper FSD tracking + new “streak days” gamification…

— Tesla App Updates (iOS) (@Tesla_App_iOS) July 1, 2026

What stood out to us is the possibility of a new FSD identity-verification layer tied to the cabin camera. If the system cannot verify that the driver matches an authorized profile, FSD could be blocked.

Here's the full report:

Native Support for "Coastal Blue" Paint

Tesla has added support for a new paint color called Coastal Blue, currently exclusive to the base Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive built at Giga Berlin for the European market.

The strings COASTALBLUE, getCoastalblue, setCoastalblue, clearCoastalblue, and hasCoastalblue show that the app is being updated to properly render this color in its 3D vehicle models. The app can now dynamically load the correct material and shading when a vehicle with this paint code is detected, ensuring accurate representation on the home screen, climate menu, and widgets.

In-App Searchable Video Tutorials

Tesla is building a native, searchable video tutorial library directly into the mobile app. Users will have access to a dedicated tutorial hub (VideoTutorialContent and VideoSearchPanel) with a search bar (VideoSearchBar) that returns relevant results (VideoSearchResultItem). This allows owners to quickly find how-to videos for features like FSD, wiper blade replacement, or PIN to Drive without leaving the app.

Users can also pin important tutorials (setPinnedVideo, pinnedVideo) for quick access. These pinned videos are expected to sync across devices via mergePinnedVideos. The interface uses a clean card-based design (VideoListCard) with pagination (VIDEO_SEARCH_PAGE_SIZE) for better performance.

Deep FSD Telemetry, Streaks & Identity Verification

Tesla is expanding the amount of Full Self-Driving data and controls visible in the app.

Granular Mileage Tracking: New metrics such as FsdMonthlyMileage, fsdTotalMilesThisMonth, and FsdLast7DaysUsage allow the app to track autonomous versus manually driven miles with much greater detail.

FSD Streak Days (Gamification): The app is now tracking consecutive days of FSD usage (fsdStreakDays). This introduces a gamification element designed to encourage habitual use of the system, similar to the charging badge mechanics seen in previous updates.

Automated FSD Transfer Validation: During trade-ins, the app can now automatically validate whether a vehicle has a transferable FSD license using the tasks/trade-in/fsd-validate and shouldValidateFSDTransfer endpoints. This should streamline the FSD transfer process.

FSD Identity Verification: Strings such as fsdIdentityCheckFailedTitle and showFsdIdentityCheckFailedDialog suggest that the cabin camera may now perform driver identity verification before allowing FSD to activate. If the system cannot confirm the driver matches the authorized profile, it can block FSD and show a failure message in the app.

"App Share" – Deep Linking into the Tesla UI

Tesla is introducing an App Share feature that allows external applications to deep link into the Tesla app.

Using matchesAppShareLinkPath, the app can now handle special links that trigger specific actions (most likely sending a destination to the car’s navigation). Third-party apps like Google Maps, Yelp, or AllTrails could potentially share locations directly with the Tesla app.

The feature includes a compatibility check (getSelectedVehicleSupportsAppShare) to ensure the vehicle’s hardware and software support receiving these shared links.

Autopilot Base Tiers & Dynamic Override System

This is one of the more significant architectural updates in the app. Tesla is refactoring how it manages Autopilot and FSD ownership.

AutopilotBase – Permanent Tier: The vehicle now has a permanent AutopilotBase tied to the VIN (AUTOPILOTBASE_BASIC, AUTOPILOTBASE_ENHANCED, AUTOPILOTBASE_HIGHWAY, AUTOPILOTBASE_SELF_DRIVING). This represents what the car fundamentally owns.

AutopilotOverrideState – Temporary Upgrades: Tesla has introduced an “Override” system that sits on top of the base tier. This allows temporary activations such as trials or subscriptions (AUTOPILOTOVERRIDESTATE_TRIAL, AUTOPILOTOVERRIDESTATE_SUBSCRIPTION, AUTOPILOTOVERRIDESTATE_TIMEBOUND_TRIAL, etc.).

Live Expiration Tracking: The app can now read autopilotOverrideExpireTime directly from the vehicle, enabling accurate countdowns for when a trial or subscription will end.

Service & Loaner Management: The AUTOPILOTOVERRIDESTATE_VEHICLE_MANAGED state allows Tesla to temporarily enable enhanced Autopilot or FSD on service loaners or demo vehicles without permanently altering the car’s base configuration.

Ownership Quality Assurance Flow

A new authenticated endpoint and supporting UI components have been added for what appears to be an Ownership Quality Assurance process.

Endpoint: bff/v2/mobile-app/ownership/quality-assurance (GET, requires authentication)

What This Feature Likely Does: This system introduces a dedicated Quality Assurance modal (QualityAssuranceModal / quality-assurance-modal) that displays ownership-related verification items to the user.

Key components include:

• QualityAssuranceItemRow — suggests the modal presents a list of items or checks that need to be reviewed or confirmed.
• quality_assurance_close_button — standard close functionality for the modal.
• useQualityAssurance — a hook or function likely used to fetch and manage the quality assurance data.

Likely Use Cases

Given the endpoint path and UI elements, this flow is probably used in scenarios where Tesla needs to verify or document ownership status before certain actions. Possible contexts include:

• Service drop-off or vehicle handoff — Confirming the person dropping off or picking up the vehicle is authorized.
• Lease returns or trade-ins — A structured checklist to ensure all ownership-related items are in order.
• High-security actions — Additional verification before enabling features, transferring software (like FSD), or making significant account/vehicle cha

If biometric facial-recognition systems are used to unlock Apple iPhones, then they are almost certainly coming to Tesla and other connected vehicles.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 20:25

Houthis Say Forces 'Repelled' Saudi Warplanes From Threatening Iranian Civilian Airliner

Via The Cradle

Yemen's Houthis announced Friday that they had "repelled" an attempt by Saudi warplanes to prevent an Iranian civilian aircraft from landing at Sanaa airport.

Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said that Saudi warplanes violating Yemeni airspace were targeted with several air-defense missiles, forcing them to withdraw.

via Reuters

Saree stressed that the Iranian civilian aircraft was carrying more than 200 Yemeni citizens who had been stranded in Iran, including many who were sick or wounded.

“We warn the criminal Saudi enemy against repeating any attempt to violate our airspace or any aggression targeting our country. Such actions will be met with a comprehensive response targeting its airports and vital interests on land and sea,” Saree said in a video statement.

The YAF spokesman further stressed that "our hand is on the trigger" to implement any directives issued by Ansarallah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi "within the framework of breaking the Saudi-American siege on our people and expelling the occupiers."

Saree also praised Iran's role in "breaking the siege" on Yemen by operating flights to transport patients and stranded people and to alleviate humanitarian suffering in Yemen.

After landing in Sanaa, the Iranian plane safely returned to Tehran carrying an official delegation of the Republic of Yemen to participate in the funeral of slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has imposed a blockade on Yemen's land, sea, and air ports, severely restricting vital commercial and humanitarian imports, including fuel and food.

The blockade triggered what the UN called one of the most severe humanitarian crises globally, leading millions towards famine and drastically damaging healthcare and water systems.

The Saudi siege on Yemen was partially lifted following April 2023 negotiations with the Ansarallah resistance movement, which leads the YAF and is closely allied with Iran.

Commentary @BashaReport | The possibility of war is very high. The Houthis are now signaling strength, claiming Iran ignored both Saudi Arabia and the internationally recognized Yemeni authorities by flying around 200 passengers in and out of Sanaa. They also say the aircraft… https://t.co/kVTxkuSUoO

— Basha باشا (@BashaReport) July 4, 2026

The US and Israel also fought a war with Yemen following the start of what Ansarallah condemned as genocide of Palestinians in Gaza in 2023. 

In response to the genocide, the YAF imposed a blockade on Israeli-linked ships passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait along the Yemeni coast of the Red Sea, eventually prompting the US and European navies to flee the Red Sea.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 19:50

Six California Cities Ranked Among Top 10 Least Educated In US

Six California cities ranked among the top 10 least educated metropolitan areas in the United States, according to a report by WalletHub published on June 29.

Looking at the 150 most populated metro areas, the city of Visalia ranked as the second least educated, while Bakersfield was fourth, and Modesto, Fresno, Stockton, and Salinas followed.

All six are in central California.

The other four metros that rounded out the top ten were all in Texas - McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Brownsville-Harlingen, Beaumont-Port Arthur, and El Paso, at first, third, ninth, and tenth least educated, respectively.

“Higher education doesn’t guarantee better financial opportunities in the future, but it certainly correlates with it,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the report.

“The most educated cities provide good learning opportunities from childhood all the way through the graduate level.”

As Dylan Morgan reports for The Epoch Times, to determine the ranking, WalletHub equally factored in the share of adults at least 25 years old who have a high school diploma or higher, who have at least some college experience, who have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and who have a graduate or professional degree.

Visalia ranked last among the 150 metros in percent of bachelor’s degree holders and percent of graduate or professional degree holders.

It ranked 107th highest in median annual household income, and there appeared to be a general correlation between income and education rates across the nation.

However, Visalia still had a lower poverty rate than the state average—11.3 percent compared to 11.8 percent, according to U.S. Census data—and Stockton ranked as having the 31st highest median household income while Salinas ranked as 26th highest, though those two cities were near the bottom in education.

Education and income rate correlations may not reflect California’s higher cost of living and regional economic structures, such as the Central Valley’s reliance on agriculture, an industry that has not historically required higher education the same way other California hubs have, such as Silicon Valley.

The San Jose metro, home to Silicon Valley, ranked as the fourth most educated in the United States.

WalletHub said that more than 55 percent of the San Jose metro’s population over the age of 25 have at least a bachelor’s degree, while nearly 28 percent have an advanced degree. .

It also ranked third for university quality. San Jose is near Stanford University and has Santa Clara University and San Jose State University in the center of the metro.

The nearby San Francisco metro area, which is home to the University of California—Berkeley, ranked as the eighth most educated.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 18:05

Canada Seizes 7 Tons Of Drugs, Fentanyl Chemicals, And Signal Jammers In China-Linked Narco Bust

Authored by The Bureau's Sam Cooper (emphasis our own), 

A Burnaby RCMP investigation that began with a routine traffic stop last summer has ended in one of the largest drug-chemical seizures in British Columbia’s history — 6,765 kilograms of finished narcotics and fentanyl-production chemicals pulled from three homes and two shipping containers in Richmond, alongside tactical shotguns, cash, contraband cigarettes — and a multi-antenna device consistent with the signal jammers used to defeat electronic surveillance.

The Bureau assesses that a seizure of this magnitude, staged in residential properties and sea can containers in Richmond — the city that court records and Canada’s largest money-laundering investigation have established as a central node of Chinese transnational organized crime — is consistent with the industrial-scale flow of precursor chemicals from China through the Vancouver gateway that senior American law enforcement and intelligence sources have described to this publication, moving in coordination with Mexican cartel logistics.

Chemicals in these volumes are not assembled from Canadian production sources. They arrive by shipping container. Burnaby RCMP has stated no such link, named no suspects, and identified no network; what follows on sourcing and supply lines is The Bureau’s analysis, built on years of documented seizures in this corridor and on the stated concerns of the American government itself.

The case began on July 30, 2025, when Burnaby officers stopped a vehicle and seized approximately four kilograms of precursor chemicals commonly used in fentanyl production. The Burnaby Gang Enforcement Team continued investigating the driver, work that police say produced three more suspects and several crime scenes. On April 1, 2026, the gang unit — supported by Burnaby RCMP’s Strike Force, Prolific Offender Suppression Teams, and Ottawa’s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement unit — executed five search warrants simultaneously. Investigators recovered 6,765 kilograms of finished narcotics and precursor chemicals. Some of the finished product is suspected methamphetamine, fentanyl, and oxycodone.

All five sites were in Richmond.

The geography matters, and Washington has said so at the highest levels. Richmond was the home of Silver International, the underground bank at the center of the RCMP’s E-Pirate casino money laundering investigation.

In January 2019, David Eby — then British Columbia’s attorney general, now its premier — publicly cited a Financial Action Task Force report, containing information provided by the government of Canada, estimating that the single Richmond entity laundered over one billion Canadian dollars per year for global syndicates before the prosecution collapsed with no convictions.

The Bureau’s expert sources say that Silver International operated as an entity within the Sam Gor syndicate, the Chinese transnational narcotics network that American and allied agencies rank among the largest drug trafficking organizations in the world.

The collapse of that case, and what it revealed about the financial architecture available to Chinese networks in British Columbia, became a matter of direct diplomatic concern. In a prior interview with The Bureau, Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West disclosed that then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a 2023 meeting, described Canada as a worrisome weak link in the global fentanyl supply chain — and identified the convergence of Chinese state-linked actors, triads, and Mexican cartels operating from Canadian soil.

“He was incredibly candid and very serious about the threat fentanyl poses to North America,” West told The Bureau. “He confirmed the connection between the Chinese Communist Party, the triads, and the Mexican cartels, telling me these groups are working together — and it’s Canada where they’re finding a safe operating base.”

“This is no longer just a Canadian domestic issue,” West said. “Secretary Blinken made it clear that the Biden administration sees fentanyl as an existential threat. They’re building a global coalition and need Canada fully on board. If we don’t show real progress, the U.S. will protect itself by any means—tariffs or otherwise.”

Blinken’s dismay, West said, centered on E-Pirate itself. “He expressed genuine dismay that we haven’t secured meaningful convictions,” West said, paraphrasing the secretary. “When our most prominent laundering case ends with zero prison time, you can see why the Americans are alarmed.”

Against that backdrop, the Richmond seizure reads as one explosive scene in a feature length film.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 17:30

These Are The World's Top Destinations For Wealth Migration

Countries are increasingly competing to attract wealthy individuals alongside businesses and skilled workers. For many governments, internationally mobile wealth represents a source of investment, entrepreneurship, and long-term economic growth.

This graphic, via Visual Cspitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, ranks the world’s most competitive destinations for wealth migration using data from The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report 2026, which evaluates countries across 12 factors including tax policy, investor pathways, regulatory quality, and overall business environment.

The Most Competitive Countries for Wealth Migration

Below, countries are measured by their competitiveness for attracting internationally mobile wealth.

Singapore leads globally, ahead of New Zealand and the Cayman Islands. Europe also performs strongly, with the Netherlands, Cyprus, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, and Greece all appearing in the top 15.

Singapore’s position reflects its combination of low taxes, political stability, and business-friendly policies. Together, these strengths have made it one of the safest countries for investors, and a magnet for wealth across Asia.

Small Countries Stand Out

One of the clearest patterns is the strength of smaller economies. Overall, 11 of the 16 most competitive countries have populations under 10 million.

Many of these countries have spent decades building investor-friendly ecosystems. Singapore offers a globally connected financial hub, Cyprus provides attractive residency pathways, and Switzerland combines political stability with an established private banking industry.

Rather than relying on domestic market size, many of these countries compete by offering predictable regulation, efficient tax systems, strong legal institutions, and straightforward pathways for investors to establish residency or relocate wealth.

The U.S. Falls Behind

Despite having the world’s largest economy, the U.S. faces several structural challenges in attracting wealth.

Citizenship-based taxation, fiscal complexity, longer investor processing times, and political polarization are among the factors weighing on its score. By contrast, many higher-ranked countries offer simpler tax regimes, making them more attractive to internationally mobile wealth.

Unlike most countries, the U.S. taxes its citizens on worldwide income regardless of where they live, a feature that can increase tax burdens for internationally mobile individuals.

Why Countries Are Competing for Wealth

Countries are increasingly competing for more than businesses and skilled workers. They are also competing for private capital.

In 2025 alone, nearly 1 million people globally became millionaires, highlighting the growing pool of internationally mobile wealth.

High-net-worth individuals often relocate with businesses, investment capital, and philanthropic spending. As global wealth continues to grow, attracting even a relatively small number of affluent residents can have an outsized economic impact, particularly for smaller countries.

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the world’s most powerful passports.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 16:55

Historians Set Record Straight On 5 Events That Shaped America

Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times,

As America celebrates its 250th birthday, it’s prime time for historians such as Jeff Bloodworth to set the record straight.

Bloodworth, a professor at Pennsylvania’s Gannon University, noted that it had become trendy among historians to “demythologize” the Founding Fathers.

“But it has gone too far,” he told The Epoch Times. “The achievements of the Founders and the founding are obscured by the lists of sins.”

Now, he thinks “the pendulum is swinging back” toward a more balanced, nuanced, and accurate view of the Founders—and about other aspects of American history.

Through his role with Heterodox Academy—a bipartisan group advocating for open inquiry on college campuses—Bloodworth said he sees “there’s a real pushback against this stuff.”

Any fair appraisal of the Founders requires “lauding their achievements but also recognizing their omissions and their flaws and their hypocrisies,” he said.

Bloodworth and two other historians who spoke to The Epoch Times shed light on myths, misrepresentations, and misunderstandings about the nation’s foundational period; The Epoch Times also reviewed dozens of historic references for this story.

Without historical knowledge, it’s easy to “get sucked into believing things have never been worse, that there’s never been a time like this—and that just isn’t true,” Bloodworth said.

Jeff Bloodworth, professor of history, holds up a copy of his book

Stanley Schwartz, a professor at Cedarville University in Ohio, echoed many of Bloodworth’s observations.

Stanley Schwartz, assistant professor of history at Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio. Courtesy of Cedarville University

When students question how early American history relates to them, he responds that issues the Founders faced remain relevant. Those include “how to govern well,” he said, along with “how to relate to foreign powers.”

Many students who expected to be bored in class end up realizing that history “speaks to a person, helps you find your roots, find your place in the world,” Schwartz said.

Anna Vincenzi, a professor at Hillsdale College in Michigan, said learning about America’s history fulfills “a deeply human need ... to know the truth about where we came from.” That knowledge helps people understand “the good things about the history that has brought us here, and also the origin of the problems.”

The Boston Tea Party and Why It Happened

On Dec. 16, 1773, hundreds of angry colonists—many disguised as Native Americans—dumped 92,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor.

The Boston Tea Party thus became one of the most iconic acts of defiance in U.S. history. Yet modern Americans often misconstrue the reasons for the protest and overestimate its aftereffects, historians say.

Yes, the British Parliament’s passage of the Tea Act of 1773 sparked the protest. But contrary to popular modern belief, the act resulted in lower tea prices.

So why did the act anger the colonists so much?

Part of the reason: It reinforced an existing import tax on tea.

Another factor: Drinking tea is so quintessentially British that “taxing tea is ... like making them feel like they’re not quite British,” Vincenzi said. “It was perceived as a statement on their status as British citizens.”

A work of art by Nathaniel Currier depicts the 1773 Boston Tea Party, entitled “The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor,” created in 1846. Colonists known as the “Sons of Liberty” dressed as Mohawk American Indians and smashed 342 chests of tea and emptied the contents—valued at nearly $2 million today—on Dec. 16, 1773. Public Domain

The larger issue, however, was that colonists had no representation in the British Parliament. Yet Parliament repeatedly imposed policies “without the consent of the people through their representatives, in a way that they say is violating the rights and liberties of a British citizen,” Vincenzi said.

Those actions conflicted with the British constitution’s traditional limits on the king’s power, dating to the 13th century, she said.

At the time of the tea party, American colonists were drinking about 1.2 million pounds of tea each year. Much of it came from England and was subject to taxes imposed by the Townshend Revenue Act, according to the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum.

American colonists started smuggling lower-priced tea from the Dutch and other European markets.

In response, Parliament imposed the Tea Act, which helped a private British company, the East India Tea Company, undercut prices of the smuggled tea. If colonists bought that cheaper, British-subsidized tea, they still would be forced to pay the Townshend Act’s import duty.

Thus, many colonists feared that acquiescing would embolden the British government to impose even more taxes.

The Sons of Liberty—some of whom were tea smugglers—began organizing meetings to address “the tea crisis.”

Up to 6,000 people met on Nov. 29, 1773, after the first shipload of unwanted tea docked in Boston Harbor. Attendees reached a consensus: The tea would be sent back to England and no tax would be paid.

An engraving made by John Karst in 1865 depicts John Lamb, a Sons of Liberty leader, reading the British Parliament’s Tea Act of of 1773 at New York City Hall on Dec. 17, 1773. Colonists took issue with the Act as they had no representation in the British Parliament. John Karst/Public Domain

After exhausting all legal remedies to achieve those goals, leaders executed their last-ditch secret plan: trashing the tea.

Protesters donned wool blankets, grabbed tomahawks, and smeared coal dust on their faces—called “Indian dress” then. The disguises weren’t meant to be convincing; they mostly served to conceal identities so protesters could avoid punishment.

Tea partiers smashed 342 chests of tea and emptied the contents—valued at nearly $2 million today.

The protest had an impact—but not in the way many people might think.

“While the Tea Party itself didn’t mobilize Americans en masse, it was Parliament’s reaction to it that did,” according to a History.com article.

In 1774, the British enacted “punitive measures meant to teach the rebellious colonists who was boss,” the article said. The British closed Boston Harbor, replaced Boston’s elected officials with the king’s appointees, and forced private citizens to quarter British troops in their homes.

Those actions inspired colonists to hold the first Continental Congress meeting.

“Revolution was officially in the air,” the article said.

Colonial fife and drum corps play in front of the Old South Meeting House during the Boston Tea Party 250th Anniversary celebration, in Boston in 2023. The Boston Tea Party has became one of the most iconic acts of defiance in American history. Courtesy of Caroline Talbot/December 16.org

Patriot Paul Revere and ‘The British Are Coming!’

Revere was among “many messengers spreading the alarm” across the Massachusetts countryside on April 18 and 19, 1775, according to the National Park Service.

The Revere-as-lone-rider myth arose partly from the celebrated poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It omits any mention that other horsemen helped alert townspeople about British soldiers heading toward Concord.

There, the soldiers intended “to arrest patriots and seize colonial militia stockpiles,” the CIA said in an April 2026 article.

Notably, before his famous ride, Revere and others formed “the first Patriot intelligence group on record,” the CIA said in a report about the role intelligence played in the American Revolution.

Called “The Mechanics” or “The Liberty Boys,” the secret group of about 30 men grew out of the old Sons of Liberty organization that opposed British taxes on colonists, the CIA said.

A statue of Paul Revere near Old North Church in Boston on April 8, 2026. Historical records from that era suggest that Revere did not shout “The British are coming!” Instead he warned, “The regulars are coming!” The term, “regulars,” referred to the British professional soldiers. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Starting in late 1774, the group gathered information to oppose British authority. In 1775, operatives exposed “the cover story the British had devised to mask their march on Lexington and Concord,” the CIA said.

That information laid the foundation for Revere’s ride.

As he rode, Revere never shouted, “The British are coming!”

That phrase “would not have made sense at the time,” because many of Revere’s fellow colonists considered themselves to be British, according to the Paul Revere House website.

Historical records from that era suggest that Revere instead warned, “The regulars are coming!” The term “regulars” referred to the British professional soldiers.

According to the Paul Revere House, the enduring but inaccurate “British are coming” phrase appears to have originated during a dinner party in 1822—nearly a half-century after Revere galloped into history.

(Top) The Marrett and Nathan Munroe House in Lexington, Mass., on March 26, 2025. (Bottom) The Buckman Tavern on the Lexington Battle Green. The Battle of Lexington, which began the American Revolution, took place in this area. Learner Liu/The Epoch Times

‘The Shot Heard ’Round the World’ and Its Origin

Historians still disagree over who fired the first shot in the initial clash between British troops and Patriots.

They do agree that the first volleys were fired at Lexington, but the next ones fired at Concord reverberated more loudly in history.

Weeks before those pivotal confrontations, Revere’s secret group had forewarned Patriots about British Gen. Thomas Gage’s plans to send troops to Lexington and Concord.

Late on April 18, 1775, about 800 British regulars started their 20-mile march toward Concord, according to the American Battlefield Trust.

After covering about 12 miles, the soldiers reached Lexington as the sun rose the next morning and confronted about 70 armed colonists on the town green.

Although the rebels began dispersing under their commander’s order, “at some point a shot rang out,” the trust said.

“The nervous British soldiers fired a volley, killing seven and mortally wounding one of the retreating militiamen. The British column moved on towards Concord, leaving the dead, wounded, and dying in their wake.”

An oil painting by William Barnes Wollen created in 1910 depicts the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. About 800 British soldiers reached Lexington as the sun rose on April 19, 1775, and confronted about 70 armed colonists on the town green. Public Domain

In Concord, because of warnings from Revere’s secret group, colonists had hidden or relocated most of their stockpile before the redcoats arrived, the park service notes.

As a result, “the mission to destroy military goods in Concord turned out to be a miserable failure for the British,” the park service said.

The British soldiers also encountered a much larger contingent in Concord.

Within 24 hours, “more than 70 of the King’s finest troops lay dead and many more wounded,” along with 49 militiamen, the park service said. “Following a horrific day of bloodshed, the war General Gage hoped to avoid arrived at his doorstep.”

Many years later, a poem immortalized Concord as the site where a ragtag bunch of farmers, merchants, and blacksmiths stunned the world by overcoming the sophisticated redcoats.

“Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson debuted July 4, 1837, during the dedication of a Battle of Concord monument. The poem’s second line reads, “Here once the embattled farmers stood/ And fired the shot heard ‘round the world.”

Decades later, the 1970s educational cartoon series “Schoolhouse Rock” inspired children across the United States to sing “Shot Heard ’Round the World,” a song that retraces early U.S. history. Today, it still sparks nostalgia among Americans who grew up at that time—and amusement among younger generations.

(Top and Bottom) The Lexington Battle Green, where the Battles of Lexington and Concord started, in Lexington, Mass., on March 26, 2025. In Concord, because of warnings from Revere’s secret group, colonists had hidden or relocated most of their stockpile before the redcoats arrived. Learner Liu/The Epoch Times

Why the Revolution Started and How It Evolved

Although the colonists’ war would later be called “the Revolution” and “the war for American independence from Britain,” it was neither revolutionary nor independence-focused at the outset, historians say.

Schwartz said his Cedarville students will sometimes say that the Revolution centered on “destroying things to make everyone equal.”

That’s not so. Harvard University historian Bernard Bailyn pointed out that “things were already a lot more equal in the colonies than they were in Great Britain,” Schwartz said.

“In America, it was a lot easier to have the right to vote, a lot easier to own land ... to participate in society,” Schwartz said.

Colonists saw the British Crown trying to take away those advances.

“So the American Revolution wasn’t about tearing down old structures to get to equality,” he said. “It was about preserving healthy traditions of equality in the community that already existed.”

Vincenzi said her research challenges popular impressions of the nation’s early history.

“I do think Americans think of the American Revolution as more revolutionary ... more of a break from the British political tradition than it actually was,” said the Italian-born professor.

A still taken from video of Bernard Bailyn, Harvard University professor and historian, as he delivers a lecture at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on June 7, 2012. Bailyn pointed out that “things were already a lot more equal in the colonies than they were in Great Britain.” Screenshot via Brown University/CC BY 3.0

“That’s not a bad thing. There is a richness of tradition to be rediscovered there. ... It speaks to the wisdom of the Founders; they knew that starting something on a blank slate is more dangerous than building on a very rich tradition of thought.”

And the “revolutionists” weren’t initially focused on breaking free from England, either.

When the first shots rang out at Lexington and Concord, militiamen still considered themselves “loyal subjects to England’s King George the III,” the park service said. “Independence was the furthest thing from their minds.”

Rather, they “assembled to defend their rights, as they perceived them under English law.”

Vincenzi said she often reminds her Hillsdale students that Revolutionary-era Americans “wanted to be British, and to look British.”

They bought porcelain tea sets that looked “as aristocratic and as British as possible,” Vincenzi said. They also admired and emulated British fashion, portrait styles, and architectural designs.

Calls for independence finally surfaced in 1776.

Until then, “Americans felt British,” Vincenzi said. Yet the British treated the colonists as second-class citizens.

“And that is what eventually ... pushes them to consider independence,” she said.

Had that not been the case, “Americans could still be carrying a British passport,” Vincenzi said, echoing a statement she heard from noted historian Jack Greene.

Lexington Minute Men gather for a battle reenactment of the Battle of Lexington and Concord as part of Patriot's Day celebrations in Lexington, Mass., on April 18, 2026. The following day marks the 251st anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the first major military actions between the British Army and the Colonial American militias during the American Revolutionary War. Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images

The Founding Documents and Whom to Credit for Them

Some people mistakenly believe that Thomas Jefferson penned the entire Declaration of Independence by himself in a single night before Congress ratified the document unanimously on July 4, 1776.

The truth: Jefferson worked with four other committee members. They chose him to write the first draft—a process that took three weeks, followed by 86 edits from committee members and the Continental Congress, the National Park Service said.

“He was especially sorry they removed the part blaming King George III for the slave trade, although he knew the time wasn’t right to deal with the issue,” a National Archives article said.

The Declaration listed grievances against the British government and outlined core principles of the fledgling nation.

Years after defeating the British, America’s leaders met to establish the Constitution, which remains the supreme law of the land today.

Jefferson, however, never signed the document.

“This is the most popular myth at the National Constitution Center, especially when visitors enter our Signers’ Hall, [comprising] statues of the Constitution’s different signers—and ask where the Jefferson statue is,” the center’s website said.

Life-sized statues of the signers of the Constitution in Signers' Hall at the National Constitution Center, in Philadelphia, on July 18, 2012. Thomas Jefferson did not sign the Constitution–he was in Paris as the U.S. envoy to France at the time. Ziko van Dijk/CC BY-SA 3.0

Jefferson, the U.S. envoy to France, was in Paris when the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787.

When people think about crafting the Constitution, “we emphasize the two bright young men, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton,” Schwartz said. Both deserve credit for major roles in shaping the document. But in doing so, “we overlook a lot of the compromisers, the deal-makers, the older statesmen” whose influence was less obvious but essential, he said.

Those delegates “took Madison and Hamilton’s ideas, made them workable, built compromises out of them, and often changed them completely or went a completely new direction,” Schwartz said.

Those lesser-known contributors include Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth. The two Connecticut delegates helped bridge an impasse over the rights of small states versus large states. The Great Compromise provided equal representation for each state in the Senate and population-based seats in the House of Representatives.

Sherman is among six Founders who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The other five were George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Read, and James Wilson.

John Trumbull's painting, “Declaration of Independence,” depicts the five-man drafting committee of the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Congress. The painting can be found on the back of the $2 bill. The original hangs in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. It does not represent a real ceremony; the characters portrayed were never in the same room at the same time. Another Believer/CC BY-SA 3.0

Schwartz emphasized that the Founders weren’t “just this collection of really intelligent people.” Many members of the Constitutional Convention had business experience, had traveled the world, and were “middle-aged or a little bit older.”

Thus, “they had wisdom, a lot of practical experience,” Schwartz said, which strengthened the Constitution.

Many people don’t realize that beyond the “young firebrands” known for their constitutional contributions, quiet leadership came from delegates such as George Washington, an elder statesman and war hero who became the first president.

“Just by being there and overseeing the proceedings, he’s adding a lot to it,” Schwartz said.

Without Washington and lesser-known delegates such as Ellsworth and Sherman, America would have ended up with a very different Constitution, he said.

“That’s a lesson that’s relevant for us today. We have a lot of people in our current politics who say, ‘Hey, I’m young. I want to charge to the front of this scene,’” Schwartz said.

“I think the Founders show us a different path. ... It’s good to have big ideas, but you also need people who are going to work hard behind the scenes and get things done.”

A sculpture by Adolph Alexander Weinman depicts the Committee of Five, on the pediment of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington. The committee was composed of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. They drafted and presented to the full Congress in Pennsylvania State House what would become the U.S. Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776. Another Believer/CC BY-SA 3.0

Slavery and How the Founders Saw It

In recent years, young Americans have been taught that the Founding Fathers “were all pro-slavery, they all owned slaves, they all thought slavery was a good thing—and that’s just not true,” Schwartz said. “That’s a big myth and a big mistake that we have to deal with in today’s society.”

Actually, the Founders were divided over slavery; some were very much against it. However, they didn’t insist on action in the Constitution, Schwartz said, because they believed people could see it was dehumanizing—which would lead to its abolishment.

He and Bloodworth concurred on that point.

While it is “appalling” that people could “own other human beings,” Bloodworth said, it’s essential to remember that “slavery was the norm” at the time.

“The past is ‘another country,’ and we have to understand it on its own terms,” he said. “Too often, contextualizing is seen as ‘excuse-making,’ which it’s not the same thing.”

He credits the Founders for embedding “the logic of racial equality” into America’s foundational documents, even though many weren’t yet ready to fully embrace it.

The opening words of the U.S. Constitution are displayed on the exterior of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, on Sept. 15, 2003. Roger Sherman is among six Founders who signed both the Declaration and the Constitution. Jeffrey M. Vinocur/CC BY 2.5

“Many of the Founders’ documents indicate that they most certainly believed that slavery was going to ... die a slow death,” Bloodworth said.

Significantly, Washington freed his slaves upon his death.

“It doesn’t erase the fact that he owned slaves,” Bloodworth said, but that “momentous” act set the tone for others to follow suit.

Vincenzi warns against “over-simplified” views of the debate over slavery during the age of the nation’s founding.

“It’s complicated,” she said.

A significant number of delegates to the Constitutional Convention were determined to defend slavery. Many others wanted slavery to be abolished, yet they worried that “the sudden abolition of slavery could create a lot of problems,” Vincenzi said.

They asked questions such as “If you treat people as non-people for decades, how are they going to live once they’re emancipated?”

The slavery issue was a pivotal one that perhaps made a big compromise at the Constitutional Convention inevitable “for the sake of establishing a union that otherwise would have probably not been born,” she said.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 16:20

'Gave Iran Week Off Because We're Nice': Trump References Ayatollah Funeral In Rushmore Speech

On Friday President Trump delivered a speech at Mount Rushmore to kick off the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations, and in it he confirmed that everything regarding Iran - whether on the military or diplomatic fronts - have been paused to allow for the Islamic Republic to bury its late supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Trump said Washington "knocked the hell out of Iran" and that the country was "dying to settle". He also made comparisons between the lengthy Iran conflict and the brief US operation to overthrow Maduro of Venezuela.

"We beat Venezuela in one day, and we knocked the hell out of Iran," he said. That's when he claimed that the current US posture and pause in action is all about allowing the Iranians time to conduct a week-long funeral for the slain Khamenei, killed during the opening day of Operation Epic Fury.

"We gave them a week off for a funeral because we're nice," he said.

Bloomberg News

The funeral ceremonies began in Tehran on Friday, with government representatives from dozens of countries paying respects, and with the public multi-city procession in full swing on Saturday, amid a heavy Iranian security presence.

While the US administration is touting its Iran 'excursion' as a 'win' - the reality is that it is looking more like a quagmire with each passing week.

Iran is no closer to abandoning its nuclear program, it is proclaiming its own control over the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian protocol, and its ruling clerics and IRGC military apparatus are firmly in place. Trump and White House officials had from day one vowed a rapid engagement, saying repeatedly it would end 'fast' - and had even initially touted that regime change would be imminent - but now it's been 127 days since the conflict's start.

Trump in his Rushmore speech didn't dwell long on the Iran (mis)adventure, but moved on rather quickly to themes of American exceptionalism.

"Americans honor excellence; we admire boldness; we respect ambition," Trump said. "We are a nation of dreamers and believers, warriors and explorers, doers and fighters and in every human endeavor Americans see an unfinished competition.

"What is strong can be made stronger. What is fast can be made faster. What is great can be made greater than ever before. And that's what's happening with America."

He continued: "Show us a mountain, and we'll just climb it. Show us an ocean and we'll just cross it. Show us a problem and we will just solve it. Show us a task the world calls impossible and Americans will get it done."

Trump: "We knocked the Hell out of Iran. They're dying to settle. They want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral because we're nice." pic.twitter.com/wV13cT3FLp

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) July 4, 2026

There's a rich irony in Khamenei's public funeral starting on the very day, July 4th, that America celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding. The founding fathers warned the young Republic that America "goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy."

John Quincy Adams famously warned, "She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit."

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 15:45

CFPB Orders Remote Employees To Relocate To Washington Or Lose Jobs

Via American Greatness,

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has directed hundreds of employees who live outside the Washington area to relocate to the agency’s new headquarters or face losing their jobs, a move that could significantly reduce the bureau’s workforce.

Acting Director Russell Vought notified employees in a memorandum Tuesday that approximately 450 remote workers must commit to relocating to Washington by July 14. Employees who agree to the move are scheduled to begin reporting to the bureau’s new headquarters September 6.

According to the directive, employees who decline to relocate or fail to respond by the deadline will be separated from the agency.

The CFPB’s new headquarters, located at 445 12th St. SW in Washington, previously housed the Federal Communications Commission and currently houses the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. The facility has space for about 550 employees, roughly half of the bureau’s current workforce of approximately 1,100.

The bureau’s employee union characterized the relocation order as a de facto workforce reduction, arguing the requirement is likely to prompt many employees to resign rather than move to Washington.

A limited number of employees appear to have been exempted from the relocation requirement, though the agency has not publicly explained the exemptions.

The CFPB has not publicly commented on the relocation notices.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 15:10

Could The Government Use Tax Dollars To Bail Out Bitcoin?

 Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance

There was a time when Bitcoin’s biggest selling point was that it existed outside the financial system. No governments. No central banks. No bailouts. No “too big to fail.” It was supposed to be the antidote to everything that happened in 2008. In fact, I once argued that another 2008 is what could standardize bitcoin.

Fast forward fifteen years, and we’ve somehow reached the point where I’m asking myself whether the last remaining bailout for crypto might actually be...the U.S. government. Think about how unbelievably sickening that would be. It’s the terminus I kept arriving at yesterday while thinking about the only way Strategy would be able to survive if Bitcoin continued getting decimated from these prices. And sadly, the idea isn’t really unimaginable given our current administration’s ties with crypto.

Yesterday I wrote that Strategy’s new capital framework effectively buys the company time. And to be fair, it does. Management rolled out dedicated cash reserves, formal dividend policies, billions of dollars in buyback authorizations, and what at least appears to be a more disciplined approach to capital allocation.

But none of those changes alter the one variable that ultimately matters: Bitcoin’s price. Everything rests on the price of Bitcoin, from Strategy’s trajectory as a public company, to some of Bitcoin’s biggest and most well known advocates using it as a gauge as to when they would admit defeat on the long thesis.

Strategy has now openly acknowledged that Bitcoin is no longer untouchable. For years, Strategy built its identity around buying Bitcoin and never selling it. Now it has explicitly stated that those holdings can be monetized if necessary to fund dividends, replenish reserves, service obligations, or support buybacks. If Bitcoin keeps climbing, nobody will care. If Bitcoin starts falling hard, suddenly everyone will.

Selling Bitcoin to raise liquidity sounds perfectly prudent until you’re forced to sell into a declining market. At that point, the math starts working against you. Selling creates additional supply. Additional supply can pressure prices. Lower prices reduce the value of Strategy’s largest asset, potentially creating an even greater need for liquidity. That can lead to more selling, which creates more pressure, and before long you’ve got the financial equivalent of a dog chasing its own tail into a neighborhood wood chipper.

I’m not predicting that’s how this ends. Bitcoin is a massive global asset, and Strategy alone isn’t going to dictate where it trades. But the possibility now officially exists because management has crossed a line that investors once assumed would never be crossed. Bitcoin is no longer sacred. It’s now part of the liquidity toolkit.

That raises a much bigger question. What happens after every private-sector solution has been exhausted? What happens when the equity markets stop funding you, the preferred market dries up, convertible debt becomes too expensive, and you’ve already started selling Bitcoin? Who’s the buyer of last resort?

Historically, there’s almost always been one. Banks got one. Money market funds got one. The auto industry got one. Regional banks got one. The corporate bond market got one. During COVID we were buying damn near everything that wasn’t bolted to the floor. Whenever markets become sufficiently interconnected with the rest of the financial system, Washington inevitably starts talking about “systemic risk,” and once those two words enter the conversation, almost anything becomes possible. And remember, back in August of last year, I already asked whether or not Bitcoin was too deep in the fabric of the U.S. financial system: Is Bitcoin Too Deep In The Fabric Of The U.S. Financial System?

So why not a Bitcoin bailout from the government?

The Trump administration has developed some of the closest ties to the cryptocurrency industry of any U.S. administration in history. It has installed officials viewed as supportive of digital assets, pushed for clearer rules governing the industry, and repeatedly framed Bitcoin and blockchain innovation as strategic priorities for American competitiveness.

Trump himself has gone from skeptic to outspoken advocate, publicly backing Bitcoin mining, supporting the creation of a national strategic Bitcoin reserve, and cultivating close relationships with many of the industry’s largest executives and investors. The result is an administration that is no longer merely tolerant of crypto, but one that is increasingly politically invested in its success, making the industry’s fortunes more closely aligned with the White House than at any point since Bitcoin was created.

I can already imagine the press conference. “Today, in order to preserve financial stability, the United States government is announcing a Strategic Bitcoin Stabilization Facility.”

I honestly think I’d oscillate between laughing, crying and vomiting. The irony would be almost too perfect. The asset invented to escape governments...saved by the government. The people screaming “End the Fed”...saved by the Fed. The same crowd that spent fifteen years explaining why Bitcoin doesn’t need the traditional financial system suddenly hoping Washington becomes the biggest whale on Earth.

You couldn’t write satire this good.

Politically, I think it would be suicide. The government would be accused of bailing out crypto bros. Every taxpayer would ask why Washington is spending public money supporting digital assets while families are still struggling with the cost of living. It would probably become one of the most universally despised bailouts in modern American history. Democrats would run rampant in trying to regulate and suffocate crypto if they won in 2028. And yet...I can’t completely dismiss it.

We’ve spent the better part of two decades responding to every financial emergency with the same basic solution: print money, borrow money, guarantee money, or throw taxpayer money at the problem until everyone stops panicking. If crypto continues weaving itself into public companies, pension funds, ETFs, banks, retirement accounts, and increasingly complex financing structures, politicians will eventually start arguing that the consequences of doing nothing are worse than the consequences of stepping in.

The funny part is that, by Washington standards, Bitcoin wouldn’t even be that expensive to rescue. With a market capitalization hovering around a $1.2 trillion dollars, you’re talking about an amount of money that barely registers compared to the trillions we’ve borrowed, printed, guaranteed, and spent over the past twenty years.

I’m not saying the government would do it, but it’s amazing that we’re now living in a world where it’s no longer completely absurd to imagine the conversation taking place.

If Strategy’s increasingly elaborate financial engineering ultimately isn’t enough...if Bitcoin falls much faster and much farther than anyone expects...and if every private buyer finally disappears, the last remaining bailout may come from the very institution Bitcoin was created to replace.

And if that day ever comes, don’t tell me it’s impossible. The government has done a lot dumber sh*t with a lot more money.

--

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Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 14:00

DRAMageddon Deepens As Samsung Prepares 20% Memory Price Hike

There is no immediate price relief coming for cutting-edge memory chips, even as South Korea moves to double memory capacity. New fabs and expanded lines take time to build and then ramp production, meaning the supply response will lag demand. For now, DRAM inventories remain tight through year-end as data center buildouts accelerate, keeping producers like Samsung in control of the market, with more price hikes likely ahead.

The memory-chip squeeze is not easing anytime soon. That is the clear takeaway from a new report by the Shanghai-based Chinese financial media group Yicai, which says Samsung plans to raise average third-quarter DRAM prices by about 20% from the prior quarter.

More color from Yicai:

On July 3, it was reported that Samsung Electronics plans to raise the average selling price of its DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) by 20% in the third quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter.

"It's true," an executive from a consumer electronics manufacturer told CBN reporters. "Samsung had already spoken with us in June and we have now received verbal notification from Samsung about raising DRAM prices."

"The significant price increase of upstream components will be passed on to the final price of the finished product, which will curb market demand to some extent. However, since the overall price of consumer electronics products is not high now, even if prices rise, it is not expected to significantly affect users' purchasing decisions," said the person in charge of the aforementioned consumer electronics terminal manufacturer.

Another industry veteran also told reporters that the news that Samsung plans to raise DRAM prices by 20% in the third quarter is true, and Samsung has already notified some customers of the verbal price quote.

DDR4 DRAM spot prices tracked by inSpectrum Tech suggest the memory squeeze still has room to run, with the latest rebound pointing to another potential leg higher.

The industry response, and in South Korea's case, a national-level response, has been a massive push by giants Samsung and SK Hynix to double memory-chip production. But that chip capacity buildout will take years, meaning the current supply crunch is unlikely to ease quickly in the near term.

The situation is worsening, with a recent report detailing Apple's plan to buy cheaper DRAM from China. Meanwhile, there have been price hikes on popular gaming consoles, from Xbox to PlayStation, as tech giants can no longer shield consumers from memory-chip inflation and are now being forced to pass those costs along to customers.

At what point does Trump start raging at soaring memory prices

PPI Electronic Components is pulling entire core index higher pic.twitter.com/v9ufHmx0gG

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 11, 2026

JPMorgan analyst Jay Kwon recently broke down South Korea's push to double memory production. Read the note here.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 12:15

New York City Appropriates $7 Million For 'Trans Equity', Drag Queen Story Hours

Authored by Bryan Hyde via American Greatness,

A massive $126 billion spending plan approved by the New York City Council earlier this week includes nearly $7 million for so-called ‘trans equity’ programs and drag queen story hours.

The New York Post reports that the budget was approved by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and directs the taxpayer money to programs and services “to help empower the transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) community.”

NYC budget funnels $7M to transgender programs, drag story hours

For the record, Drag Queen Story Hour now receives more city funding than the Department of Veterans Services.

Understand where we are.pic.twitter.com/UtvWOfZPod

— The Unredacted (@theunredacted) July 2, 2026

The city council said, “Funding may support education programs, employment services, workforce development, healthcare navigation, legal guidance, community workshops, or academic research, among others.”

According to The National Review, the new budget doesn’t include any spending for the additional 580 police officers Mayor Mamdani promised to hire.

State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar questioned, “Why isn’t there more money for police?”

Kassar added, “There are countless dollars going toward extreme, far-out programs,” Kassar said.

“This goes way beyond recognizing transgender individuals into spending millions of taxpayer dollars to promote transgenderism.”

Key funding initiatives of the nearly $7 million earmark include $1 million for directed to Destiny Tomorrow for the first transitional housing program for transgender individuals in the Bronx as well as $705,000 for community health for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and $600,000 for the Caribbean Equality Project.

The allocation also includes funding for education and tolerance with funds for the Advocates for Trans Equality Education Fund and the Trans Formative Schools program, alongside localized funding from city council members for drag story hours in schools and libraries.

Allen Roskoff, head of the Jim Owles Liberal LGBT Democratic Club, told the New York Post, “Transgender youth need our support. These individuals are the most vulnerable people out there. We will do everything in our power to protect these children from hate orchestrated by far right Republicans. We are going to see to it they get the health care and protection they deserve.”

The approval of the nearly $7 million earmark comes on the heels of Mamdani encouraging New Yorkers to set their thermostats to 78 degrees to conserve energy, with Republicans calling the mayor’s budgeting priorities into question.

Mamdani should use the $7 million to improve the electric grid. https://t.co/MExzjDFawi

— Mercedes Schlapp (@mercedesschlapp) July 1, 2026

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 11:40

Ships Abruptly U-Turn Near Hormuz As Some Shift To Iran-Approved Routes

The reopening of the Hormuz chokepoint has proceeded relatively smoothly for weeks, but an overnight development shows that the process remains fragile. At least eight ships attempting to exit the Persian Gulf abruptly reversed course near the critical waterway.

Bloomberg cites ship-tracking data showing that the vessels, including oil tankers, product carriers, bulk carriers, and vehicle carriers, were moving toward the strait along the Omani coast before abruptly turning back. Several ships later resumed their transits through the strait by shifting northward onto a route closer to the Iranian coast, in line with Tehran's request that ships use authorized Iranian-designated lanes.

via Bloomberg: 

It is unclear why the ships abruptly altered course, though Tehran has repeatedly warned vessels by VHF radio to follow designated routes.

Earlier on Saturday, Iran warned Western powers that the Hormuz waterway is not a "theater for the military display of extra-regional powers."

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran views itself as the responsible power and security guarantor of the strait, adding that Tehran would closely monitor any foreign military movements in the waterway.

Gharibabadi's warning came shortly after the UK and France announced that their navies were ready to support freedom-of-navigation operations in the waterway.

"Iran, as the responsible power and guarantor of the Strait's security, warns with sensitivity to any military movement in this waterway," Gharibabadi said on X.

He added, "The security of Hormuz lies with the coastal states; the crisis-makers will be held accountable for the consequences of their adventurism; this is a serious warning."

While daily commodity vessel crossings have averaged around 34 since Monday, Hormuz vessel traffic remains well below pre-war levels.

Natasha Kaneva, JPMorgan's top commodities strategist, provided clients with more color on Hormuz ship flows and what it means for energy markets:

There is now a rush to move stranded cargoes out of the Strait of Hormuz. Average crude exports from the Persian Gulf plus re-routed volumes over the last ten days have already recovered to about 19 mbd, just 3 mbd below pre-war levels. The backlog is also disappearing quickly: floating storage has fallen to just 20 million barrels, while another 10 million barrels remain in onshore tanks awaiting exports.

Meanwhile, inbound tankers are lining up to enter the Strait, preparing to load barrels that have been sitting in storage tanks for months. More entering vessels will be needed as production across the Gulf gradually returns to normal operating levels. We are already seeing a growing queue of ballast VLCCs moving towards the Gulf.

The line is long and deep—an important signal that the logistical chain is reconnecting and that loadings can continue uninterrupted as the system works its way back toward normal.

Professional subscribers can read more about Hormuz and Gulf energy markets on our new Marketdesk.ai portal.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 11:05

Russia Planning Provocation Against Poland To Test NATO Resolve, US Reportedly Warned

The Telegraph along with various Eastern European media outlets, including Polish national sources, are reporting that United States passed Warsaw a warning based on intelligence that Moscow is considering an armed provocation against Poland to "test NATO's resolve".

Provocation scenarios are said to potentially include drone attacks on critical infrastructure such as power plants, or else testing airspace by simulating a large-scale air attack to try and force Poland to prematurely activate its air defenses.

An official within President Karol Nawrocki's administration said the US "systematically informs Poland about ever-new Russian plans for a conventional attack on NATO's eastern flank, from which Poland is by no means excluded." These reports are rife with wild speculation, however, and thus could be standard wartime propaganda. 

Polish armed forces/Anadolu

A "hybrid attack" on the border region, possibly involving Belarusian armed forces, is considered to be the most serious possibly scenario, according to the reports.

It would be portrayed as an 'accidental' incursion:

Moscow could portray such an incursion as accidental, claiming troops crossed the border because of a GPS failure or entered Poland to retrieve a malfunctioning helicopter, according to the report.

Russia could then seek negotiations rather than a military response, betting that the United States would pressure Poland not to open fire on Russian or Belarusian personnel.

The Telegraph lays out a potential motive in the following:

Russia would count on the fact that, instead of opening fire on Russian or Belarusian soldiers in such a situation, Poland would be forced by the US to negotiate with Russia or Belarus rather than respond forcefully, Polish sources told Onet.

A scenario in which the Russians would withdraw from Poland as a result of those negotiations, rather than because they were forced to do so by military means, would be seen as a win from Moscow’s perspective.

An end to Western support for Ukraine could even be a central Russian demand of such talks in return for withdrawal from Poland.

Given the reporting on all of this ultimately originated in Polish media, and cited sources close to the presidency, there's also the likelihood that it is pure propaganda - aimed at dialing up Western pressure and 'readiness' with an eye on Moscow.

Poland is meanwhile busy with ongoing plans to complete a new set of anti-drone fortifications along its eastern borders, part of a broader EU and NATO push for a protective 'drone wall' in defense of European airspace.

There's been much speculation that 'Union State' Belarus could play a key role in future Russian maneuvers targeting Poland.

This planning began in earnest in 2025 after repeat aerial spillover incidents related to the Ukraine war - at various times errant drones, missiles, interceptors - and also even warplanes - have breached Baltic and Eastern European nations' airspace. Often, however, these incidents arise from off-course Ukrainian drones.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 08:45

ISIS Terrorist Reaches Britain Via Small Boat After TikTok Assured Him UK 'Accepts Everyone'

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity News,

A convicted ISIS terrorist who attended beheadings and public floggings in Iraq has been jailed for two years after arriving in Britain on a small boat. He told officials he came because he heard on TikTok that the UK "accepts everyone" and respects human rights.

Mohammed Yaseen, 35, had lived a desolate existence in Iraq before aligning with ISIS. He watched ceremonies including stonings and was found with a Kalashnikov rifle. He later travelled to Germany in 2014, made multiple asylum claims, and was convicted in Dusseldorf for participating in a terrorist organisation and membership of ISIS. He received a four-year-and-three-month sentence and a 20-year expulsion order.

Instead of being returned to Iraq, Yaseen made his way to France and then crossed the Channel. On 13 December 2025 a Border Force vessel intercepted the small boat carrying around 80 people. Yaseen gave a false name, claimed to be from Kuwait, and lied about his age and background. He was placed in a hotel in Basingstoke with clean clothes and asylum support.

Convicted ISIS terrorist who attended beheadings and public floggings in Iraq came to Britain on small boat after hearing on Tiktok that UK 'accepts everyone' court hears https://t.co/iLuMUHA6iu

— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) July 2, 2026

Of course he was.

Biometrics exposed the deception. He was arrested on Christmas Eve and later admitted attempting to enter the UK without valid clearance. Winchester Crown Court heard the full extent of his past.

Prosecutor Steven Molloy told the court: "He said he travelled from Kuwait to France from Belgium and was seeking asylum. He said he did not like it in France but heard on TikTok that the UK accepts everyone and respects human rights."

Molloy added: "There is a deeper and lengthy involvement in terrorism and Islamic extremist ideology. Our assessment is that he is high risk in all categories. There is a danger that this individual poses to the whole of the UK."

Defence barrister Katie Porter-Windley acknowledged the German convictions but insisted they had no bearing on his UK intentions and that he had committed no further offences here.

Yes, they really argued that the convicted ISIS terrorist should be allowed to claim asylum.

Judge Christopher Parker KC noted evidence that Yaseen could speak English despite claiming otherwise and stated: "You made absolutely no mention of what had happened in Germany in 2020 when you were convicted of a serious offence. My judgment is that your culpability is exceedingly high. There is a strong likelihood that you will be deported from this country either at the start of or before your sentence is concluded."

Yaseen is now serving his sentence and faces removal.

The question is, how many more cases like this have slipped through the net?

The case occurs against the backdrop of sustained small boat arrivals across the English Channel. Official figures show around 36,000 people reached the UK by small boat in the year ending 31 May 2026, down 13% on the previous period.

In 2025 the total stood at approximately 41,500. The first five months of 2026 saw roughly 9,000 arrivals, 38% lower than the same stretch of 2025, though numbers typically rise through summer. Recent daily counts have fluctuated, with over hundreds arriving some days.

A Home Office spokesperson claimed the government is "bearing down on small boat crossings, with removals of small boat migrants at record levels and asylum claims down by 12%," adding that joint work with France has stopped over 44,000 attempted crossings since the election and that nearly 70,000 people here illegally have been removed or deported, up 41%.

Yet the presence of a convicted ISIS operative who simply watched a TikTok video and decided Britain would take him demonstrates that vetting and deterrence remain dangerously inadequate.

Footage captured by GB News shows the mindset of some arrivals. Illegal migrants on a small boat in the Channel can be seen discarding passports and shouting "this is the end of England" moments before landing on British shores.

EXCLUSIVE: Illegal migrants shout 'this is the end of England' just moments before landing on British shoreshttps://t.co/4vugM38Q9l

— GB News (@GBNEWS) June 30, 2026

Meanwhile, the government plans to house more than 1,000 adult single male boat migrants at a former MOD site near the villages of Upper Arncot and Piddington (combined population around 1,600).

The men, who crossed from France, will not be detained and will be free to wander local areas. Even voters in areas that backed pro-migration parties are now confronting the direct consequences.

The same pattern appears in housing decisions that have sparked fury in rural communities. There is outrage over plans to move more than 80 asylum seekers into £250,000 new-build homes on what locals call "Migrant Street" in Stoke Heath, Shropshire.

The properties had been promised as social housing for local families. Residents described feeling lied to and expressed fears for safety, particularly around children.

More than 80 asylum seekers set to be moved into £250,000 'Migrant Street' newbuild village homes – sparking fury among residents https://t.co/IKN77OFbFI

— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) June 30, 2026

GB News correspondent Alex Armstrong spoke to locals in Stoke Heath. One resident stated: "These houses were built for locals, for families who've never had a chance... It's putting our lives in danger."

'These houses were built for locals, for families who've never had a chance... It's putting our lives in danger.'@AlexArmstrong speaks with residents in Stoke Heath in Shropshire at so-called 'migrant street' where 20 new homes have been set aside to house asylum seekers. pic.twitter.com/gRRAAbCEUn

— GB News (@GBNEWS) July 1, 2026

The new-build estates purported to be for social housing are instead now being allocated to hundreds of random foreign men, placed next to a children's playground and primary school.

Proposals for large numbers at sites such as Linton-on-Ouse and former military bases, stand in stark contrast with 1.5 million British households on council waiting lists and the lack of local consultation or amenities in many receiving areas.

Residents have voiced concerns about safety, cultural change, and the sudden tripling of small village populations.

Beyond immediate arrivals and housing, policy shifts are accelerating the erosion of British identity. The Centre for Migration Control has today highlighted how citizenship is being systematically devalued.

After the earlier emphasis on vague "British values," the Home Office is now allowing illegal migrants to obtain British citizenship simply by remaining in the country for six years, regardless of integration or values.

British citizenship is being systematically devalued.

First it was the vapid notion of "British values". Now the Home Office is abandoning even that loose concept – allowing illegal migrants to become British simply because they have been in the country for 6 years. https://t.co/DwhIAD6unF

— Centre for Migration Control (@migrationCtrl) July 2, 2026

Further examples underscore the enforcement gap. GB News reported that Labour has been urged to pursue rapid deportation after the so-called "Godfather of smugglers," who boasted "this city is ours," claimed asylum in the UK.

Labour told to make rapid deportation as 'Godfather of smugglers' claims asylum in UK after boasting 'this city is ours'https://t.co/DIDi8Mqx2r

— GB News (@GBNEWS) July 2, 2026

The cumulative picture is stark. A terrorist who attended beheadings enters because social media told him Britain would accept him - and the court record confirms the claim aligned with his experience. Migrants on incoming boats declare the end of England. Rural communities watch new homes handed to unvetted arrivals while local families remain on waiting lists. Citizenship rules loosen further, and even notorious smugglers are benefitting from the system.

Britain's borders are not merely porous; they function as an open invitation that high-risk actors and economic migrants alike have learned to exploit.

Every fresh arrival and every housing dispute adds to the pressure on communities already stretched by years of uncontrolled inflows.

Secure borders, rigorous vetting, swift removals of those without valid claims, and an end to policies that place newcomers ahead of citizens are baseline requirements for any nation that intends to remain sovereign and safe.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Tyler Durden Sat, 07/04/2026 - 08:10

German Clampdown On Sick Leave: No More Phoning It In, Doc Note Needed On Day 1

In a stark departure from its reputation for employee-coddling, the German government is attacking the mass abuse of sick leave with strict new policies that would require a doctor's note obtained on the very first day an employee is sick, with no ability to simply take a sick day with a mere phone call. The reform package also targets retirement ages, tax rates,  regulations, welfare benefits and the ease of hiring and firing. It's expected to pass parliament by year's end. 

“The number of sick days is too high,” German chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters. “We are creating a set of tools that will enable those involved, both employees and companies, to correct this. We know this is a tough decision. But we can no longer afford the competitive disadvantage caused by prolonged absences from work.” Merz said the changes are needed to invigorate Germany's economy, which has faltered after the COVID pandemic and suffered from the West's interventions in the Ukraine war and Iran. 

After months of disagreements, Germany’s governing coalition has agreed on sweeping reforms to revive its economy.

Chancellor Merz hopes changes to the tax code, less bureaucracy, and a more flexible job market will help. But will they be enough to fix Germany? pic.twitter.com/jHqmUJBG4D

— DW Politics (@dw_politics) July 2, 2026

Previously, employees in Germany didn't need a doctor's note until their third day of absence, and they could obtain the note via a phone call to a doctor. The rules also granted up to six weeks of leave per illness. A new bout of sickness started a new six-week clock. 

On top of enjoying six weeks of vacation time, the average German has been taking nearly three weeks of sick leave per year. The German sick-time pace is about double the US pace, and is also higher than the call-out frequency in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland and Italy. However, sick-leave abuse is even worse in France and most of the Nordic states. 

Predictably, German trade unions are up in arms. Frank Werneke, who leads the services-sector union Verdi, said Merz was "creating a culture of distrust of employees." (Seems like maybe the employees collectively cultivated that distrust by casually calling out sick.)  

“Now remove their sick leave, tell them they need to suffer through a heatwave without AC, and make their trains break down”

“Yes, my queen, it will be done. Glory to Germany” https://t.co/WZkyNbJ1JD pic.twitter.com/a8lD3G2Nps

— Nikolaus M (@foxofreason) July 2, 2026

Medical professionals are squawking too, warning the policy will be a hammer-blow to efficiency and doctor availability. The German Association of Family Physicians called the new rules "an absolute catastrophe," adding that "our practices would be flooded with patients who don’t need in-person care and would be better off in bed." 

The German reform package resulted from negotiations between Merz's center-right Christian Democratic Union Party and the Left-wing Social Democrat Party that is part of the ruling coalition. The package also includes:

• A gradual increase of the retirement age from 65 to 67
• The introduction of a capital-markets fund for the investment of contributions to the state pension system
• Greater ease in hiring short-term workers and firing top-earners
• Welfare reform that incentivizes laid-off workers to get a new job as soon as possible 
• €10 billion in income tax relief for working-class and middle-income households, fueled by a tax hike on those earning more than €250,000 a year, along with reductions of assorted tax breaks
• Deregulation, including sweeping relief that drops most requirements for employers to feed statistics to government bureaucracies, and the easing of data privacy regulations for small firms
• Bakeries and pastry shops will have the freedom to stay open later on Sundays

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