Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

President Trump has a higher favourability rating in Britain than Kier Starmer, the country’s leftist Prime Minister, a new poll has revealed.

The City AM survey found that 26 per cent of the British public view Trump favourably. It is still firmly considered trendy among normies to publicly and loudly declare to each other that Trump is literally Hitler.

However, that figure does represent a nine-point increase over the past month for Trump.

🚨 NEW | Labour PM Keir Starmer is now less popular in Britain than US President Donald Trump.

🇺🇸 Trump -31 net rating
🇬🇧 Starmer -37 net rating

Via Freshwater Strategies, 1-3 August pic.twitter.com/JZCSLKBqKM

— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️ (@LeftieStats) August 5, 2025

And more importantly, it’s three points higher than  Starmer’s popularity rating, which stands at a paltry 23 percent, just one year after he was voted into power with a massive majority.

The Labour Prime Minister has a 60 percent unfavourable rating.

The poll also revealed that so-called Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch also only has a 24 percent approval rating.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage scored a 37 per cent favourability rating, which is massive in comparison.

In a desperate attempt to stave off complete annihilation, Starmer’s government recently announced it is going to lower the voting age to 16, effectively allowing children to vote.

Reform has made massive gains, and looks set to give Labour a run for its money at the next election, prompting Starmer to start making overtures, albeit transparently empty ones, toward those who would vote for Farage’s party.

The current government has seen its popularity even among its own base fall off a cliff after breaking campaign promises, increasing taxes, mindlessly following green energy policies, and overseeing record levels of illegal migration.

It’s also obsessed with further eroding free speech and going after those who spread undesirable “narratives.”

Farage has also focused on the increasing lawlessness in Britain, which he urges is a precursor to societal collapse.

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.

First we learn that doctors are using ChatGPT to treat patients. Now, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is taking a heaping ration of Lutfisk for admitting he’s been using ChatGPT to help run the government.

Speaking with a Nordic news site, Kristersson said that he sometimes asks ChatGPT for a “second opinion” when it comes to governance strategies.

“I use it myself quite often,” he said, “If for nothing else than for a second opinion. What have others done? And should we think the complete opposite? Those types of questions.”

Kristersson’s comments predictably came under fire.

“The more he relies on AI for simple things, the bigger the risk of overconfidence in the system,” Virginia Dignum, a professor of responsible artificial intelligence at Umeå University, told DiGITAL. “It is a slippery slope. We must demand that reliability can be guaranteed. We didn’t vote for ChatGPT.”

“Too bad for Sweden that AI mostly guesses,” wrote Aftonbladet’s Signe Krantz. “Chatbots would rather write what they think you want than what you need to hear.”

“You have to be very careful,” Simone Fischer-Hübner, a computer science researcher at Karlstad University, told Aftonbladet, noting that people shouldn’t submit sensitive information to GPT.

As Gizmodo opines;

Krantz makes a good point, which is that chatbots can be incredibly sycophantic and delusional. If you have a leader asking a chatbot leading questions, you can imagine a scenario in which the software program’s algorithms only serve to reinforce that leader’s existing prerogatives (or to push them further over the edge into uncharted territory). Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like a whole lot of politicians feel the need to use ChatGPT as a consigliere yet.

Kristersson spokesman Tom Samuelsson ‘clarified’ that the PM doesn’t take risks in his use of AI. 

“Naturally it is not security sensitive information that ends up there. It is used more as a ballpark,” he said. 

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

In my forthcoming book, Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution, I discuss the threat posed by transnational governance, particularly with regard to the European Union. Now, Italy appears to be rediscovering its national identity in a growing fight with the Strasbourg-based European Court of Justice (ECJ). The court just blocked Italy from enforcing its own immigration laws to combat the flood of undocumented persons in the country.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called the ruling an attack on national sovereignty.

The case was brought by two Bangladeshi illegal migrants who were being removed from the country and sent to an asylum processing centre in Albania.

The EU member states can only determine safe countries for the return of migrants if they provide evidence and allow for judicial review. It found that the relocations by Italy “do not offer sufficient protection to their entire population.”

Former International Criminal Court magistrate Cuno Tarfusser observed that, under the decision, undocumented persons would merely have to declare themselves as being LGBT or a persecuted religious minority, and their removal would easily be blocked.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said:

“This is a development that should concern everyone – including the political forces that today celebrate the ruling – because it further reduces the already limited margins of autonomy for Governments and Parliaments in shaping the normative and administrative direction of the migration phenomenon. The Court’s decision weakens policies aimed at countering mass illegal immigration and defending national borders.”

I have long been a critic of the EU’s expanding efforts to project its power not just across but outside Europe.

That includes threatening American companies that they must comply with EU censorship laws or face confiscatory fines.

 Articles 34 and 35 of the infamous Digital Services Act require all sites to identify, assess, and mitigate “systemic risks” posed by content, including any threats to “civic discourse”, “electoral processes,” and “public health.” It is up to the EU to define and judge such categories in terms of compliance.

The act bars speech that is viewed as “disinformation” or “incitement.” European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager celebrated its passage by declaring that it is “not a slogan anymore, that what is illegal offline should also be seen and dealt with as illegal online. Now it is a real thing. Democracy’s back.”

Some in this country have turned to the EU to force the censorship of their fellow citizens. After Elon Musk bought Twitter and dismantled most of the company’s censorship program, many on the left went bonkers. That fury only increased when Musk released the “Twitter files,” confirming the long-denied coordination and support by the government in targeting and suppressing speech.

In response, Hillary Clinton and other Democratic figures turned to Europe and called upon them to use their Digital Services Act to force censorship against Americans. (Clinton spoke at the World Forum and lashed out at the failure to control disinformation.)

The EU immediately responded by threatening Musk with confiscatory penalties against not just his company but himself. He would have to resume massive censorship or else face ruin.

At the recent Berlin conference, the World Forum heralded the slogan “A New World Order With European Values.”

It was an expression of the globalized model of governance, a move that directly challenges core principles of democracy and national sovereignty. Countries like Italy are now facing the reality of such transnational governance as European courts and legislation negate national priorities and regulations.

In a report that has blindsided all bullion market participants, The FT reports that the US has slapped tariffs on imports of one-kilo gold bars, in a move that threatens to upend the global bullion market and deal a fresh blow to Switzerland, the world’s largest refining hub.

Coming just days after the Swiss government left The White House without agreeing on a trade deal, this is quite a shock since expectations were that all gold bars met the definition of ‘bullion’ and would therefore be exempt from tariffs. However, according to The FT, they will no longer be exempt…

The Customs Border Protection agency said one-kilo and 100-ounce gold bars should be classified under a customs code subject to levies, according to a so-called ruling letter dated July 31, which was seen by the Financial Times.

Ruling letters are used by the US to clarify its trade policy.

As Switzerland refines 90% of gold sourced from industrial mines, gold is set to become significantly more expensive in the US than in the international market.

Note that the US is a significant gold producer as well and therefore, as UBS points out, any countervailing tariffs from other countries on gold may severely impact supply chains.

Knock-on effects will be felt in funding markets as there will be a massive closeout of short Exchange-For-Physical (EFP) positions which triggers the need for funding in London.

It may similarly apply to other metals too. However, the ruling in the article was specific to two codes used for gold bullion.

This is what markets had feared back in January, but at that time had no idea whether gold/precious metals would be exempt. 

As a reminder, the global trade flow for bullion is normally triangular: large gold bars travel between London and New York, via Switzerland, where they are recast into different sizes.

If the FT article proves to be correct, the market cannot do the same as before by pre-emptively moving metal into the US to avoid tariffs. 

Positions are likely get closed out or supply chains adjust to source from countries with zero tariffs, but this will be difficult given the bulk of refining capacity sits in Switzerland. 

The below charts suggest that EFPs have risen sharply…

with 1m COMEX futures at a record spread to Spot prices…

… but lease rates have not exploded yet…

…which suggests that there is ample metal around in London at the moment.

But…

now youse can’t stockpile no more https://t.co/pVUjWmgKD7 pic.twitter.com/RT2KOcUKjc

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 8, 2025

Diving a little deeper on what UBS warned about, the funding markets truly face a crisis.

“If shorts can’t source those bars easily, they’re forced to close out or roll positions, which cascades into a funding squeeze in London’s bullion banking system.”

As @OneChanceFreedm pointed out:

“The dehypothecation angle is key.

Basel III’s Net Stable Funding Ratio was already nudging bullion banks toward holding more physical and less leveraged paper.

This move accelerates that pressure by physically constraining deliverable supply in the very instruments that underpin settlement.

In other words, it doesn’t just tighten the market, it undermines the ability to endlessly rehypothecate the same bars through the LBMA clearing system.”

Finally, as we noted back in February, there is a potential ulterior motive here, which was also hinted at by The FT, suggesting that a gold revaluation by the US Treasury may be looming…

“currently, [US gold stocks] are valued at just $42 an ounce in national accounts. But knowledgeable observers reckon that if these were marked at current values — $2,800 an ounce — this could inject $800bn into the Treasury General Account, via a repurchase agreement. That might reduce the need to issue quite so many Treasury bonds this year”

Things have accelerated a little since then: if we assume the 39% tariff that applies to Swiss goods, then Gold is currently worth $4726 (1.39 x $3400)… which implies a $1.235 Trillion bump for the US Treasury.

Higher gold prices, the better (for Trump), as @OneChanceFreedm concludes: 

“If intentional, it’s a geopolitical two for one where it weakens Switzerland’s refining dominance and force London’s bullion desks into a defensive funding position, all while boosting the relative leverage of U.S.-based refiners and COMEX as the global center of price discovery.

That’s a strategic strike on the gold market’s offshore liquidity loop.“

…assuming all that gold is there?

Authored by Jacob Hornberger via The Future of Freedom Foundation,

Donald Trump and his supporters were certain that by restoring him to the presidency, they could make America great again. They are going to be as sorely disappointed at the end of Trump’s term in office as they were after his first term in office. Trump will not make America great again.

The problem, however, is not Donald Trump. The fact is that no one can make America great again — at least not if America maintains the same political and economic systems that have characterized our nation for almost 100 years. It is those systems that constitute an insurmountable obstacle to making America great again, no matter who is elected president.

Unfortunately, however, conservative Americans are not ready to accept that. They are convinced that by electing Trump and then vesting him with unchecked, omnipotent power, he will be the “man on the white horse” who will make America great again.

It won’t happen. At the end of this road to national “greatness” lies an increasingly weakened, dysfunctional society — one in which liberty and privacy have been destroyed — one in which the American people will be existing as subservient, dependent, and fearful serfs whose purpose in life is simply to serve the state and the greater good of society.

There is one — and only one — way for America to be great again. That way is to restore the sound, founding principles of liberty of our nation and then build on them.

Obviously, this entails deep soul-searching of how we started as a nation and how we ended up where we are today. It also requires Americans to think at a higher level — one that involves principles and ideals. Let’s examine what needs to be done to restore greatness to our land.

The national-security state

America’s founding political system was a limited-government republic, one that was characterized by three separate and independent branches, with a very small military force falling under the control of the executive branch. The Constitution, which called the federal government into existence, prohibited the government from killing people without “due process of law,” a term that encompasses notice of charges and a hearing or trial where the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused has committed some crime. The Bill of Rights guaranteed that the accused had the right to trial by a jury composed at random from regular citizens in the community. The Bill of Rights also prohibited the imposition of cruel and unusual punishments.

All that changed in the late 1940s, when the federal government was converted into what is called a national-security state. It effectively involved a fourth branch of government consisting of the Pentagon, a vast and powerful military establishment, an empire of domestic and foreign military bases, the CIA, the NSA, and, to a certain extent, the FBI.

Although this conversion took place without a constitutional amendment, it constituted the most radical change in America’s political system in the history of the country. Over time, the national-security branch became the most powerful branch — the branch to which the other three branches defer, especially in foreign affairs.

Moreover, the constitutional limitations on the power of the federal government disintegrated with the conversion to a national-security state. The Pentagon and the CIA now wielded the power to engage in state-sponsored assassinations, thereby nullifying the constitutional prohibition against killing people without due process of law. They also wielded the power to inflict cruel and unusual punishments on people, including torture. They also now had the power to keep people incarcerated for as long as they wanted, ignoring the constitutional prohibition against indefinite incarceration without trial. They also wielded the power to engage in mass secret surveillance, especially through the NSA. Moreover, once U.S. officials launched their “war on terrorism” after the 9/11 attacks, the Pentagon and the CIA wielded the power to nullify the right of trial by jury and employ trial by military tribunal instead.

It is worth mentioning that all of these omnipotent, dark-side powers apply not just to foreigners but also to American citizens. The fact is that Americans now live under a national-security state system in which their very own government wields the power to assassinate, torture, surveil, and indefinitely detain them. What makes the whole thing so perverse is that Americans have been indoctrinated into believing that all this tyranny is “freedom.”

It’s also worth mentioning that the conversion to a national-security state was accompanied by a foreign policy of foreign wars and interventions, as well as an empire of foreign military bases, which have been used to inflict massive death and destruction on people in foreign lands.

There is one solution to all this: Dismantle the national-security state and restore America’s founding system of a limited-government republic, with just a relatively small, basic military force — one that lacks the capability to engage in foreign wars, interventions, coups, and wars of aggression.

The welfare state

Americans adopted the welfare-state way of life in the 1930s. It is based on the principle of using the force of government — for example, the Internal Revenue Service — to take money by force from people to whom it belongs and give it to those to whom it does not belong. The crown jewels of this system are Social Security and Medicare, but the system also encompasses many other welfare programs, like food stamps, public housing, education grants, subsidies, corporate bailouts, and others.

The welfare state has converted the nation into one of warring factions in which certain groups do their best to plunder and loot other people while, at the same time, protect their own income and wealth from being seized. The war is perversely justified under the name of “goodness, care, and compassion,” but the reality is that it is devoid of such virtues. After all, there is nothing good, caring, and compassionate about the IRS. Refuse to pay your taxes, and they will incarcerate you. If you resist them with deadly force, they will kill you.

At the same time, the welfare state has converted an enormously large sector of society into people who are dependent on the dole. Constantly fearful of losing their dole, they have convinced themselves that without the dole, people would be dying in the streets. The dole has proven to be political heroin. It has severely damaged people’s faith in themselves, family, others, free will, voluntary charity, church groups, charitable organizations, and God. Dole-dependents now place their faith in the IRS, mandatory “charity,” coercion, and Caesar.

America once had the finest health-care system in history. Prices were low and stable. Going to the doctor was like going to the grocery store. Thus, no one needed major medical insurance. Doctors loved what they did in life. Along with hospitals, they willingly provided free medical care to the poor.

Then along came Medicare and Medicaid. Not surprisingly, healthcare costs began soaring. Then came the ongoing, never-ending, perpetual health-care crisis. Today, Americans are now considering adopting a full-fledged socialist health-care system, just like Cuba and North Korea.

There is but one solution to America’s welfare state: Repeal it, immediately, along with the income tax that funds it. Leave people free to accumulate unlimited amounts of wealth and decide for themselves what to do with it.

The drug war

The drug war has been going on for many decades. It has provided the federal government with the power to destroy the liberty and privacy, including financial privacy, of the American people. Since it is perpetual, the government’s omnipotent control over the American people has become perpetual as well.

When government wields the power to punish people for ingesting substances that the government hasn’t approved, there is no way that people in that society can legitimately be considered free. A free society necessarily is one in which people are free to possess, ingest, or distribute any substance they want.

What the government did was seize on a social problem in society, such as alcoholism or drug addiction, and then used that social problem as a way to take control of the citizenry. The important thing to note about the drug war is that it will never be “won,” especially because it is drug illegality that has given rise to drug cartels and drug violence, which the government then uses as an excuse for keeping its drug war going. That means that the destruction of liberty and privacy that comes with the drug war has become a permanent, ongoing feature of American life, even though Americans continue to sing about how free they are.

There is but one solution to America’s never-ending drug war: Legalize drugs — all drugs.

Paper money and the Federal Reserve

The Constitution called into existence a monetary system in which gold coins and silver coins were the nation’s official money. That’s because they wanted nothing to do with paper money. They knew that governments throughout history had used paper money to plunder and loot people through inflationary debasement of the currency.

But in the 1930s, and without even the semblance of a constitutional amendment, U.S. officials decreed an end to the constitutional monetary system that had been in place for more than 100 years. Americans were ordered to turn in their gold coins to the federal government, on pain of fine and imprisonment for failing to do so. In return, they were given irredeemable paper notes.

Before that, in 1913, Americans had created a central bank, the Federal Reserve System. The combination of the Fed with the paper-money system produced decade after decade of monetary debauchery, by which the government was able to steal from people by simply printing ever-increasing vast quantities of paper money. At the same time, this new system of monetary central planning produced a never-ending series of booms and recessions, beginning with the boom in the 1920s and the economic depression of the 1930s.

There is but one solution to America’s monetary mayhem: the separation of money and the state — that is, a totally free-market monetary system — one in which the state is prohibited from interfering, controlling, providing, or regulating money.

Immigration controls

For all of our lives, America’s system of immigration controls has produced nothing but death, suffering, abuse, and humiliation for people seeking to save or improve their lives or simply to pursue happiness, which America’s Declaration of Independence observes is a natural, God-given right that no government, not even the U.S. government, can legitimately infringe on.

There is a simple reason for the perpetual crisis along the border. This is a system based on the socialist principle of central planning. The government centrally plans the movements of millions of people in one of the most complex labor markets in history. It cannot be done, at least not without what Ludwig von Mises called “planned chaos.” What better term to describe America’s perpetual immigration crisis?

Moreover, America’s immigration-control system has come with an ever-increasing police state.   Governmental trespasses and warrantless searches of ranches and farms. The criminalization of hiring, transporting, caring for, or harboring illegal immigrants. Violent raids on American businesses. Mass deportations. A Berlin Wall and the eminent domain stealing of people’s land on which to build it. Concertina wire hidden in the Rio Grande designed to cut people up. Separation of children from parents to punish them and to serve as a message of deterrence to others. Boarding of Greyhound buses to check people’s papers. Highway checkpoints where travelers are forced to stop and submit to questioning and warrantless searches. Roving Border Patrol checkpoints where agents stop whatever vehicle they want at random and subject it to a warrantless search.

Many Americans in the rest of the country thought that the immigration police state would always be limited to the borderlands. As I have long contended, that was always a pipe dream. Faced with the failure of their police-state measures, it was inevitable that their police state would ultimately be expanded nationwide, which is what we are seeing today.

Did you ever think you would see the day when the U.S. government would wield the power to rendition people, both foreigners and Americans, to a brutal Central American regime for incarceration and torture, especially without being convicted of some crime and sentenced in a court of law? Did you ever think you’d see the day that America’s fundamental rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom of association, would come under direct attack using the federal government’s war on immigrants? Welcome to America’s nationwide immigration police state. Keep in mind something important: Even if the federal immigration police state proves to be effective in reducing the entry of foreigners into America, not one immigration police-state measure will ever be repealed. After all, if it were repealed, then the immigration “problem” could resume. Therefore, the destruction of liberty and privacy that has come with America’s immigration policy state has become permanent, even as Americans express gratitude for living in a free country.

As I have long maintained, there is but one solution to all this death, mayhem, and police-state tyranny — open borders — genuine open borders — the same system of open borders we have domestically between the states. I repeat, for emphasis: Open borders is the only solution.

The public-school system

It would be difficult to find a better example of a socialist system than public (i.e., government) schooling. Education is centrally planned at a national, state, or local level. Funding is by the force of taxation. Its customers are acquired by force through compulsory school attendance laws.

This is where children receive their indoctrination. This is the system in which children are taught to accept all the other statist systems in the name of “freedom.” This is the system in which people are inculcated with mindsets of conformity, obedience, and deference to authority. This is where individuals are converted into serfs.

There is only one solution to educational socialism: the separation of school and state, just as our ancestors separated church and state— that is, the end of all state involvement in education — a totally free-market educational system.

The road to greatness

Statists argue that these solutions are “utopian.” But that term means that they are impossible to achieve. But they have been achieved. In America from 1880-1910, there was no national-security state, welfare state, drug war, paper money, Federal Reserve, income taxation, and IRS, and almost no immigration controls and public schooling. If they could do it, so can we. And we can build on what they showed could be done, with the aim of leading the world to the highest reaches of freedom, peace, prosperity, and harmony in the history of mankind.

What’s important to recognize is that neither Donald Trump nor anyone else can make America’s dysfunctional statist system work. The only thing that will work is the dismantling of America’s statist system. That’s what will make America great again.

*  *  *

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ZeroHedge.

Iran on Wednesday has executed a man accused of spying for Israel, state media has confirmed, after he was allegedly caught passing information to foreign intelligence related to Iran’s nuclear program.

The executed man, Rouzbeh Vadi, had previously worked in one of the Islamic Republic’s most “important and sensitive organizations” – where he gained secretive information to hand to Israel, the Iranian government claims.

State media says he “committed a wide range of crimes against the country’s internal and external security, which have caused severe disruption to public order.”

“Vadi was allegedly recruited online and met Mossad – the Israeli intelligence service – officers five times in Vienna, Austria,” reports say.

In particular, Iran’s judiciary’s news outlet Mizan has reported that the information Vadi provided was used by Israel to kill a top nuclear scientist during the June 12-day war.

Several military commanders and nuclear scientists were killed, also through Mossad sabotage operations which took place inside the country – likely through a ground asset like the dissident organization MEK.

The last several weeks have seen court-ordered executions ramp up in Iran, as authorities say they’ve been busting up Mossad-connected spy rings.

There was a second execution on Wednesday, involving Sunni Islamic terrorism:

Separately, Iran hanged a member of the ISIL (ISIS) group on Wednesday after he was accused of plotting sabotage, Mizan also reported.

Officials accused Mehdi Asgharzadeh of being a member of the group who participated in military training in Syria and Iraq before illegally entering Iran with a four-member team, who were killed in a fight with Iranian security, the news site reported.

The trials of alleged spies on behalf of Israel appear to be taking place in rapid format, in military and judicial tribunals, sometimes convened in small rooms – and some were even hastily held while Israeli warplanes were still circling Iran’s skies in June.

Surge in hangings in Tehran…

It has become clear that Israel was engaged in a massive spying and espionage campaign to pave the way for its ‘Operation Rising Lion’ – which is intent on destroying Iran’s nuclear energy program, and possibly even accomplishing regime change. But so far both sides have held to the Trump-backed ceasefire which ended the exchange of attacks.

Critical minerals startup General Matter announced ambitious plans this week to construct a $1.5 billion uranium enrichment facility at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in McCracken County, Kentucky, as the Trump administration seeks to reduce reliance on rare earths from China.

The groundbreaking project would be the first U.S.-owned, privately developed uranium enrichment facility and marks the largest economic development initiative in Western Kentucky’s history. General Matter will develop the 100-acre uranium enrichment facility on the same site originally selected 75 years ago by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission for uranium enrichment activities. The facility will produce both low enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU), materials essential for powering advanced nuclear reactors, while the company has already secured DOE contracts for both LEU and HALEU production.

The project is expected to create substantial economic opportunities, generating 140 high-paying permanent jobs along with various construction positions during the development phase. Local officials, including Gov. Andy Beshar (D) and Rep. James Comer (R), praised the initiative for its potential to position Kentucky as a leader in the nuclear energy sector and attended the plant’s ceremony to break ground.

Joined @SenMcConnell @RandPaul & @AndyBeshearKY in Paducah to break ground on the new General Matter plant at the @ENERGY site. West KY will be the leader in nuclear ☢️ energy in America 🇺🇸. #AmericaFirst #KY1 pic.twitter.com/CeDK6RKlrN

— James Comer (@JamesComer) August 5, 2025

The company plans to begin uranium enrichment operations by 2030.

General Matter is headed up by Scott Nolan, a partner at venture capital firm Founders Fund, which led the startup’s $50 million Series A round. In a rare move, Founders Fund CEO Peter Thiel has joined the company’s board.

General Matter is bringing uranium enrichment back to the United States, starting at the site where the U.S. enrichment industry was born.

We’ve signed a lease with the Department of Energy to establish the nation’s first U.S.-owned, privately developed uranium enrichment… pic.twitter.com/G30a9oTxrv

— General Matter (@generalmatter) August 5, 2025

President Donald Trump has taken steps to bolster domestic critical mineral development, primarily through executive actions aimed at reducing U.S. reliance on foreign imports and enhancing national security. In March, the president signed an executive order — the “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production” — which invokes the Defense Production Act to provide financing, loans, and investment support for domestic mining and processing projects, including a dedicated critical minerals fund managed by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation in collaboration with the Department of Defense.

In April, Trump signed an additional executive order focused on offshore critical minerals, aiming to develop domestic capabilities for seabed mineral exploration and processing to counter China’s influence.

China’s grip on the global rare earth supply chain spans from mine to magnet, positioning Beijing as the dominant force in materials critical to everything from wind turbines to military hardware.

The world’s second-largest economy produces 58% of light rare earths and commands 90% of heavy rare earth output, according to the Hudson Institute. Myanmar, an ally of Beijing, supplies the remaining 10% of heavy rare earths.

China’s stranglehold extends well beyond raw materials. The country processes 90% of rare earth ores worldwide and controls more than 80% of the market for rare earth magnets — the refined products that power electric vehicles, defense systems and renewable energy infrastructure.

H/T CAPITAL News

Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Two Chinese nationals have been arrested in southern California for allegedly exporting tens of millions of dollars worth of “sensitive microchips” to China in violation of export controls, federal prosecutors said.

The U.S. Justice Department on Aug. 5 announced charges against Geng Chuan, 28, of Pasadena, California, and Yang Shiwei, 28, of El Monte, California, under the Export Control Reform Act, a felony offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Geng voluntarily surrendered to authorities on Aug. 2, while Yang was arrested earlier on the same day.

The lawyers of Geng and Yang could not be reached for comment.

According to the Justice Department, between October 2022 and July 2025, Geng and Yang used their El Monte-based company, ALX Solutions, to export advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) to Singapore and Malaysia. Both countries are commonly used as transshipment points to conceal China as the ultimate destination.

ALX Solutions did not receive payment for the chips from the purported recipients in Southeast Asia, prosecutors said. Instead, it was paid by companies in Hong Kong and China. Payments included a $1 million transaction from a China-based company in January 2024.

The Justice Department did not specify the brand or model of chips involved but described them as “the most powerful GPU chips on the market,” explicitly designed for use in self-driving cars, medical diagnosis systems, and other applications powered by artificial intelligence. Such chips require a special export license from the U.S. Commerce Department before they can be legally shipped to China, a permission that ALX Solutions never applied for or obtained, according to prosecutors.

Authorities said they found evidence suggesting that Geng and Yang allegedly attempted to evade export controls.

“Last week, law enforcement searched ALX Solutions’ office and seized the phones belonging to Geng and Yang that revealed incriminating communications between the defendants, including communications about shipping export-controlled chips to China through Malaysia to evade U.S. export laws,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

Geng, a U.S. lawful permanent resident, has been released on a $250,000 bond. Yang, who allegedly overstayed her visa, remains in custody, with a detention hearing scheduled for Aug. 12.

Both defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 11.

In October 2022, the Biden administration imposed a set of export restrictions on advanced semiconductors and manufacturing equipment in an effort to slow the Chinese military’s artificial intelligence development and maintain U.S. leadership in this critical sector. In response, the Chinese Communist Party launched a massive campaign to both accelerate domestic chip innovation and circumvent export controls.

In 2023, Chinese telecom giant Huawei unveiled its Mate 60 Pro smartphone, powered by a homegrown seven-nanometer chip—a milestone hailed by Beijing as a symbol of defiance. The phone’s release prompted the Biden administration to reflect on whether its sanctions were compromised.

The Trump administration, while still maintaining strict controls on the most advanced semiconductor exports to China, has supported a strategy of allowing sales of lower-end U.S. chips, hoping to foster an ecosystem in which Chinese companies continue to rely on U.S. hardware and do not seek domestically produced alternatives.

Homeownership may feel like a distant dream for many Americans, with the national median list price reaching $439,450 in July. But in rural Kansas, houses are selling for a fraction of that—some for less than half the $99,990 cost of a Tesla Cybertruck, according to a new article from Realtor.com. 

Driving through central-east Kansas, you’ll find quiet towns—Coldwater, Protection, Ashland, and Englewood—where populations have dropped by half since the 1930s. Many were once thriving farming or industrial hubs, but as industry shifted and agriculture became less profitable, residents left in search of more stable communities.

Some towns are so small they barely qualify as towns anymore. Englewood, for example, has just 58 residents. Others, like Coldwater, still have over 1,000 people, but, as local real estate agent Jeff Simpson says, “It still gets sleepy pretty quick.”

Simpson explains much of the decline is due to aging populations and youth migration: “You see a lot of people aging out of the farming communities, and their children have kind of left—either moved into suburban areas or out of state. So yeah, there’s certainly a little bit of a struggle going on there. We’re seeing homes sell for $50,000 to $85,000—especially old farmsteads that have been broken off larger parcels.”

These emptying towns leave behind homes—time capsules of another era. Elizabeth Finkelstein, founder of Cheap Old Homes, notes, “A lot of these towns didn’t have the money to tear down and build new—so these homes survived. They’re like time capsules, filled with pink tile bathrooms and solid oak cabinets. They weren’t designed to impress—they were designed to last. The houses deserve to be preserved.”

Listings include a $75,000 five-bedroom in Coldwater, a $40,000 five-bedroom in Ashland, and a $20,000 three-bedroom in Attica. Finkelstein highlights a historic Coldwater bungalow listed under $65,000, praising its durability: “Most of the wood is oak—one of the heaviest woods. These bungalows are so sturdy and built to last. Just to get the cabinetry today, that alone is half the cost of the house.”

For buyers shut out of expensive urban markets, she calls these homes a rare opportunity: “No one in this country can afford houses right now—it’s completely ludicrous. Someone who’s done everything right still can’t afford to buy. This is a ticket into a real estate market that seems like a pipe dream. You can get in at a low closing cost and chip away at it slowly over time.”

The Realtor.com piece notes that local agents also see potential beyond residential use. Simpson says Kansas’s landscapes are drawing out-of-state recreation seekers: “There’s a lot of out-of-state recreational users—pheasant and quail, the deer, the turkey. There’s a lot of hunting that happens in our area. If you can buy a farm for recreational use and there’s no place to stay, a decent little home nearby will get chewed up pretty quick.”

Still, Finkelstein emphasizes that preservation matters: “The houses that get landmarked are usually where something extraordinary happened. But the homes in these towns were where everyday people lived and worked—and that’s actually our real history.”

While the future of these “dying” towns is uncertain, revitalization is possible. Realtor.com Senior Economic Research Analyst Hannah Jones says, “‘Dying’ towns face prolonged population decline, disinvestment and economic contraction… While the future may seem grim for these towns, there are some strategies that could help manage their decline. Revitalization can happen, but it requires bringing job opportunities and people back to town, which can lead to investment and growth.”

Authored by Brooke Miller via The Brownstone Institute,

As stewards of the land and providers of our nation’s food supply, farmers and ranchers carry a profound moral obligation – to produce the safest, healthiest, and most nutritious food on the planet. It is not just our livelihood; it is our responsibility to future generations.

That is why I am writing today with deep concern regarding the Pesticide Liability Protection Act currently under consideration in Congress.

If enacted, this legislation could cause irreparable harm—not just to the health of farmers and ranchers who work directly with these chemicals, but to the broader public who unknowingly consume their residues.

The Dangerous Path of Corporate Immunity

This bill threatens to open the floodgates for a new wave of pesticides and herbicides engineered by agrochemical giants—products that may be even more toxic than those currently on the market. By shielding these corporations from legal accountability, it removes their last remaining incentive to ensure their chemicals are safe.

We have seen this story before. In 1986, Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, granting pharmaceutical companies immunity from liability for vaccine-related injuries. The consequences were swift and staggering: a surge in new products, rushed to market without proper safeguards, and a dramatic rise in chronic health conditions in children and adults alike. It was a public health turning point, and not for the better.

The parallels to our current situation are striking. Consider the case of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. Bayer (which acquired Monsanto in 2018) has faced more than 177,000 lawsuits involving the weedkiller and set aside $16 billion to settle cases. Over $11 billion has been paid out in Roundup lawsuit settlements, with individual jury awards reaching as high as $2.1 billion in recent cases.

These staggering financial settlements reflect the real human cost of inadequate chemical safety oversight. Even more alarming is the widespread exposure we’re seeing in our most vulnerable population: children. About 87 percent of 650 children tested had detectable levels of glyphosate in their urine, according to CDC analysis. Research shows that children exhibit higher levels of glyphosate in biofluids than adults, and recent studies indicate that higher levels of glyphosate residue in urine in childhood and adolescence were associated with higher risk of liver inflammation and metabolic disorders in young adulthood.

To repeat that same mistake with our nation’s food supply would be unconscionable.

Why the Pesticide Liability Protection Act Is Unconstitutional

The Pesticide Liability Protection Act fundamentally violates several core Constitutional principles that form the bedrock of American jurisprudence:

• Due Process Violations (5th and 14th Amendments): The Act deprives citizens of their fundamental right to seek redress in courts for injuries caused by defective or dangerous products. This violates substantive due process by eliminating a basic property right—the right to compensation for harm—without adequate justification or alternative remedies.

• Equal Protection Concerns: The legislation creates an arbitrary distinction between victims of chemical company negligence and all other tort victims. There is no rational basis for why those harmed by pesticides should have fewer legal rights than those harmed by other dangerous products.

• Separation of Powers: By preemptively shielding an entire industry from judicial review, Congress unconstitutionally interferes with the judiciary’s role in adjudicating disputes and determining liability. This represents legislative overreach into the judicial branch’s constitutional domain.

• Takings Clause Violations: The Act effectively takes private property—the right to legal recourse—without just compensation, violating the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause.

The Supreme Court has consistently held that access to courts is a fundamental right, and any legislation that bars entire categories of claims must meet strict constitutional scrutiny. The Pesticide Liability Protection Act fails this test.

A Call for Leadership

Therefore, I strongly urge all agricultural organizations—from cattlemen’s associations to farm bureaus, from organic growers to commodity groups—to go on record opposing the Pesticide Liability Protection Act. We must issue public statements and press releases declaring our stance against corporate immunity for chemical manufacturers. This is not just a matter of agricultural policy—it is a matter of public health, environmental integrity, and moral leadership.

In addition, I ask that agricultural organizations support Senator Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) proposed legislation, which seeks to hold chemical producers accountable and prioritize the safety of both producers and consumers. This is a rare opportunity to lead on an issue that will define the future of American agriculture.

The Choice Before Us

The agricultural community stands at a crossroads. We can choose to prioritize short-term convenience and corporate profits, or we can choose to protect the long-term health of our land, our communities, and our food supply.

The history of corporate liability shields teaches us a clear lesson: when companies are freed from accountability, public safety inevitably suffers. We cannot allow the same corporate immunity that transformed the pharmaceutical industry to be replicated in agriculture.

Let us be remembered not as the generation that turned a blind eye, but as the one that stood firm to protect our land, our people, and our food.

Republished from the author’s Substack