Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

The authoritarian COVID lockdowns and stay-at-home orders sold as life-saving measures have been unmasked once again as a deadly failure of big government overreach.

A new UK Covid-19 Inquiry report has concluded that the relentless “Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” messaging likely cost thousands of lives by convincing people they could not get access to health services.

The inquiry, led by Baroness Hallett, slammed the slogan created by Cabinet Office officials without input from health leaders. It “led some people to feel they must avoid burdening the NHS” and “may have inadvertently sent the message that healthcare was closed,” contributing to a sharp decline in A&E attendances for life-threatening emergencies such as heart attacks.

Stay at home advice during Covid cost lives, inquiry concludes https://t.co/Lm4uaR8hvV

— Times Politics (@timespolitics) March 19, 2026

The report states plainly: “It is clear that, during the pandemic, worsening delays in diagnosis and treatment led to increased ill-health and suffering and, in some cases, cost lives.” Some patients waited so long their conditions became “untreatable,” with permanent loss of mobility.

Baroness Hallett stressed: “It is important that government communication campaigns do not deter those in need from accessing healthcare.” She urged future governments to consult healthcare professionals on messaging “to avoid unintended consequences.”

Office for National Statistics data backs this up, recording more than 17,000 excess deaths from non-Covid conditions at the height of the pandemic. Cancer screenings were paused, diagnoses plummeted, and non-urgent care cancellations left patients suffering. Hospital visiting bans were branded too tough, with dying people left alone and families devastated.

But at least we got to enjoy the dancing nurse videos in near-empty hospitals. pic.twitter.com/rJ6XPcctRX

— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) March 19, 2026

The NHS itself “coped, but only just,” teetering on the brink of collapse under “intolerable strain,” per Hallett, who noted politicians like then-health secretary Matt Hancock were reluctant to admit the system was overwhelmed.

The findings come on the back of mountains of research indicating isolation policies inflicted generational damage on children’s development. 

A recent University of East Anglia-led study, published in Child Development, concuded that lockdowns may have permanently damaged kids’ brain development through lost socialisation and routine.

The study tracked 139 children and found the greatest harm hit reception-year pupils aged four to five when the first lockdowns struck in March 2020 – a critical window for learning routines, friendships, and self-regulation.

Lead researcher Prof John Spencer said: “Children who were in reception when the country shut down showed much slower growth in key self-regulation and cognitive flexibility skills over the next few years than children who were still in preschool.”

He added: “Reception is a critical year for peer socialisation. It’s when children learn classroom norms and build early friendships that shape their confidence.”

Without those experiences, “children’s self-regulatory skills didn’t develop as quickly year-on-year after the lockdowns ended.” The study concluded: “Without these experiences, reception children had a challenging time developing self-regulation and cognitive flexibility in the years that followed the pandemic.”

That research adds to a cascade of older studies exposing the full horror.

A 2023 report by Speech and Language UK revealed the average child missed 84 school days due to Covid policies. Eight in ten teachers reported worsened pupil inattention post-pandemic, blaming screen-based “learning” and stunted social skills.

Teachers have also noted rises in needless chatter, shouting, and inappropriate laughing, with the “ever-swiping nature” of social media like TikTok worsening the fallout.

Previous research showed teenage girls’ brains aged prematurely by up to four years during lockdowns, with boys affected by one-and-a-half years—linked to social restrictions hitting girls harder.

Covid lockdowns rapidly aged girls’ brain by 4.2 years compared to 1.4 among boys.

Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/9kT18beXBM

— AF Post (@AFpost) September 10, 2024

University of Washington researchers compared MRI scans from 2018 to post-pandemic ones in 2021-2022, finding accelerated cortical thinning, a natural process tied to anxiety, stress, and higher disorder risks. Whether this is permanent remains unclear, but it spotlights the unseen toll of isolating youth.

This latest warning adds to a mountain of evidence exposing lockdowns as a disastrous overreach that prioritized control over common sense, devastating children’s futures.

A previous study highlighted how lockdowns drove 60,000 children in the UK to clinical depression, with the enforced isolation sparking widespread mental health crises among youth that required professional intervention.

Another investigation revealed that babies born during lockdown were less likely to speak before their first birthday, as the lack of face-to-face interactions and exposure to facial expressions hindered early language acquisition.

Babies born in lockdown were less likely to have said their first word by the time they turned one 💔 Lockdowns and mask mandates stunted babies’ development: They weren’t able to socialize or read facial expressions, study warns! 🆘
Daily Mail Online https://t.co/v2XtsXaDim

— CyberChick (@warriors_mom) October 12, 2022

A further study found many children unable to say their own name due to the impact of lockdown, pointing to profound speech and developmental delays from limited social engagement.

‘Children learn by watching people, by watching lips, by seeing faces. No only did we lock them at home, we put masks on the people around them.’

NHS GP Dr Renee Hoenderkamp discusses more children needing help with speech after lockdown isolation. pic.twitter.com/BPXStRrXZF

— GB News (@GBNEWS) November 8, 2022

Research also uncovered that children were suffering from as many as three different viruses simultaneously due to weakened immunity caused by lockdown, since prolonged indoor confinement prevented the natural building of defenses against common pathogens.

June 2022: “Children were admitted…with a startling range of 7 viruses. They had adenovirus, rhinovirus, RSV, human metapneumovirus, influenza & parainfluenza, as well as Covid—which many specialists say is to blame for the unusual surges.” https://t.co/ZdBhe3z7xu

— Laura Miers (@LauraMiers) March 12, 2023

In addition, an outbreak of hepatitis in children was directly attributed to lockdowns that weakened immunity, resulting in unexpected surges of the liver condition among previously healthy kids.

Doctors also raised alarms over a mysterious outbreak of brain infections in Nevada kids, believing it was linked to COVID lockdowns that left children’s immune systems vulnerable and unprepared for routine exposures.

NEW — The CDC is Investigating an Alarming Cluster of Mysterious Brain Infections in Children in Nevada

“Before COVID they were seeing about 4 cases/year of brain abscesses in children. When they looked in 2022 it was 18.” pic.twitter.com/JdZkRTc71W

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) April 29, 2023

Disturbing lockdown drawings also illustrated the severe effect on children’s mental health, where artwork captured the trauma, fear, and emotional distress from being cut off from normal life.

The harrowing pictures drawn by children in lockdown https://t.co/P9XIoJRJmY

— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) January 7, 2023

These findings, among others like excess deaths and ignored warnings, paint a picture of policy failure. Lockdown zealots dismissed the collateral damage, but the data doesn’t lie—government mandates crushed freedom and futures alike.

These inquiries and studies should bury any remaining excuses for repeating such experiments. Surrendering liberty to bureaucrats never saves lives – it only costs them, and scars the next generation forever.

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.

The Department of Homeland Security shutdown entered its 36th day on Saturday after Senate Democrats blocked yet another funding bill for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration, and other federal agencies, triggering weeks of chaos at airports nationwide, including long TSA checkpoint lines during the peak of the spring break travel season.

Early Saturday morning, Elon Musk, closely tracking the DHS funding lapse, wrote on X that he would personally pay the salaries of TSA agents to get them back to airports and help avert further chaos.

“I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country,” Musk said.

I would like to offer to pay the salaries of TSA personnel during this funding impasse that is negatively affecting the lives of so many Americans at airports throughout the country

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2026

On Friday, a motion to advance a funding bill failed 47-37, falling short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster. John Fetterman (Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote “yes” on the DHS funding bill. Sixteen senators from both parties were absent for the vote. This marks the fifth time Democrats have blocked the Homeland Security Appropriations bill since DHS funding ended in mid-February.

Democrats have been absolutely furious over any funding bill for ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that does not include reforms to immigration enforcement operations. That is mostly because they are watching President Trump erode their political power by deporting the very illegal aliens their party allowed to invade the nation under the Biden-Harris regime. Remember, these illegals are the future voting bloc of the Democratic Party, meant to seize political control by disenfranchising citizens.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) is planning to force a vote sometime today on a proposal to fund the TSA.

“The chaos at TSA is reaching a boiling point. We need to reopen it as quickly as possible. That is what Senate Democrats are intent on doing,” Schumer said.

Related:

• “Problem Is Solvable”: Airline CEOs Urge Congress To End Shutdown, Pay TSA Workers

By the end of the week, 10% of all TSA workers did not show up for work – just below the record 10.22% absentee rate set at the start of the week. Nearly 400 agents have quit so far in the months-long shutdown, according to DHS. These workers have been without pay since mid-last month, when the Democratic Party began using these agents as political pawns.

The severity of the government shutdown this time has not yet reached the crisis level of travel disruption seen during the 43-day shutdown late last year, when air traffic controllers were used as leverage in political disputes, disrupting air travel nationwide. To prevent such issues in the future, perhaps privatization talks for these agencies should begin.

Is it possible that an unhinged, left-wing judge might try to block Musk from offering to pay TSA agents’ salaries during the funding lapse?

Summary

• CBS reporting ‘heavy preparations’ for ground troops as Trump says ‘no ceasefire’ for now; Trump calls NATO a ‘paper tiger’; says “close to meeting our objectives”, offramp?

• IRGC contradicts Bibi: says missile production is ongoing, is of “no concern” – even as IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naeini is reported killed.

• Energy war ongoing: Major sites damaged across the region – Haifa refinery hit, Qatar LNG output cut 17%, Kuwait facilities ablaze.

• Kharg Island escalation looms: Trump admin weighing seizure of Kharg Island to reopen Hormuz; Thousands of Marines in route, reports of low US jet strafing runs over strait.

• Signal of zero restraint from Ayatollah & FM: Iran sends warning if energy sites are hit again, leadership structure grows opaque; supreme leader says enemies will be denied security.

• Chokepoint concerns in Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb send Brent and WTI prices higher in late afternoon trading 

*  *  *

Trump: No Ceasefire, We’ve Won, ‘Other Nations – Not US – Must Guard Strait’

More somewhat confusing rhetoric on Iran plans from Trump: He said late in the afternoon Friday US strikes on Iran are “weeks ahead of schedule” – but caveated that he expects oil prices to surge more than they have. He repeatedly emphasized that he does not want a ceasefire – “we’re not looking to do that” – while leaving the door open to dialogue, insisting talks don’t necessarily require halting the fighting. He said all this while also proclaiming “I think we’ve won.” He also expressed he thinks Israel will wind down the war when the US does.

Trump asserted further that Iran’s military has been severely degraded, saying it has “no radar, spotters, aircraft” and that key leaders have been killed, concluding: “from a military standpoint Iran is finished” and “I think we’ve won.” He also said Israel would be ready to end the war when the US does, noting both countries “want more or less similar things.”

Late in the day Friday Trump followed his verbal comments to reporters with this:

Oil plunged immediately after the latest Trump statement went out:

“NATO could help us, but they so far haven’t had the courage to do so. And others could help us, but we don’t use it,” he said. “At a certain point, it’ll open itself.” Again, some confusing messaging to say the least…

“I don’t want to do a ceasefire. You know, you don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side,” he said. “We’re not looking to do that.”

Trump hinted at possible escalation options around Kharg Island—“I may have a plan or I may not”—while accusing Iran of “clogging up” Hormuz. He also continued to berate Tehran leadership as “thugs and animals” – and praised Secretary of State Marco Rubio for doing a “fantastic job.” Meanwhile Iran too is saying it is not ready for ceasefire or dialogue (at least in its public statements), and has expressed intent on exacting revenge. All of this means: no offramp yet in sight amid fresh reports that ‘heavy preparations’ for ground forces are being planned: “Pentagon officials have made detailed preparations for deploying U.S. ground forces into Iran, multiple sources briefed on the discussions told CBS News.” More from CBS: “Senior military commanders have submitted specific requests aimed at preparing for such an option as President Trump weighs moves in the U.S.-Israel-led conflict with Iran, the sources said.”

REPORTER: “What’s your plan for Kharg Island?”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “I may have a plan or I may not, but how would I ever say that to a reporter?”

“If I said that to a reporter, Marco would say, ‘please, sir let’s bring you over to the helicopter immediately.’ Right? I can’t tell… pic.twitter.com/iLcgj7lWOo

— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 20, 2026

Fearless, Greek-owned Panamax bulk carrier transits Hormuz Chockepoint 

The Liberia-flagged, 81,713-dwt bulk carrier Giacometti (IMO: 9615377) has become the first Greek-owned vessel to successfully transit the Strait of Hormuz with its Automatic Identification System active since March 2, according to maritime shipping news and intelligence outlet Lloyd’s List.

The Panamax bulk carrier transited westbound into the Middle East Gulf and was the first vessel to do so since the Panama-flagged MLS Onyx (IMO: 9373618) on March 5. 

Still tanker flows remain mute at the end of the week. 

Iran Refuses Hormuz Talks As Houthis Threaten Bab el-Mandeb Chokepoint

Brent crude futures are above $110/bbl, and WTI futures are inching closer to triple-digit territory as traders fret over a weekend of chaos across the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf area following this week’s targeting of upstream energy assets.

The latest headline to hit is that Iran is unwilling to reopen the Hormuz chokepoint while under attack, according to Bloomberg News.

• IRAN SAID TO STICK TO HARDLINE POSITION ON STRAIT OF HORMUZ

With one maritime chokepoint in focus, we shift our attention to another: the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

A report from Russian media outlet RIA Novosti states that Yemen’s Houthi rebels are considering blocking commercial shipping traffic in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

RIA Novosti continued:

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthis’ political bureau, said that if the group were forced to close the strait, it would only attack vessels belonging to states that carry out aggression against Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq.

He noted that the movement is considering all possible scenarios to support Iran in its confrontation with the United States and Israel.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, serves as a vital corridor for global trade, particularly oil and gas shipments between Europe and Asia.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, situated between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, accounts for about 10% to 12% of global trade and serves as a key route for energy shipments to Europe.

With Hormuz partially paralyzed, Saudi Arabia has shifted crude flows from the Hormuz area to the East-West pipeline and onward to Red Sea ports for loading onto tankers.

Yet another maritime chokepoint becoming clogged would expand the conflict area and could further send energy markets into a tailspin.

Trump Blasts ‘Paper Tiger’ NATO; Three More Warships Dispatched to Mideast

The President has again expressed his frustration at lack of direct NATO participation in a plan to open up the Strait of Hormuz. He declared the US has “militarily WON” – and lambasted lack of allied interest in a “simple military maneuver” to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, oil is rising on news of a second massive Marine deployment toward Gulf in a week, WSJ is reporting:

The Pentagon is sending three warships and thousands of additional Marines to the Middle East, even as President Trump insists he won’t put American boots on the ground in Iran, according to U.S. officials.

Roughly 2,200 to 2,500 Marines from the California-based USS Boxer amphibious ready group and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are heading to the U.S. Central Command, responsible for all American forces in the Middle East, the officials said.

Crude Futures as WSJ headline hit…

IRGC Says Missile Production Intact, Contradicting Netanyahu 

On day 21, the Iran war shows no signs of abating. Iran’s IRGC spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naeini was reportedly killed in an Israeli overnight strike, another high-level hit as the decapitation campaign grinds on.

However, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday that the Islamic republic has continued to produce missiles despite the war with Israel and the United States. This directly contradicts Israeli PM Netanyahu’s assertions from the day prior, where he said both missile production capacity and uranium enrichment capability have been destroyed. Netanyahu had claimed, “Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium and manufacture ballistic missiles.”

“Our missile industry deserves a perfect score…and there is no concern in this regard, because even under wartime conditions we continue missile production,” IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said according to Fars.

⚡️Massive airstrikes in Iran this morning pic.twitter.com/5FBlymJ5V4

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) March 20, 2026

Energy Complexes From Gulf to Israel Burning; Casualties Mount

The energy war continues to be front and center. Israel confirmed major Thursday Iranian strikes hit its Haifa refining complex, damaging critical infrastructure, and leaving many in the area without power. Also, the attack on Qatar’s Ras Laffan facility is expected to slash LNG export capacity by roughly 17%. Kuwait hasn’t been spared either, with its massive Mina al-Ahmadi refinery hit for a second straight day, with fires ripping through processing units.

Elsewhere, Bahrain says it has faced over 140 missiles and 240 drones since the war began, underscoring the scale of Iran’s regional barrage. 

Across the region, escalation is bleeding into civilian life even in countries not directly part of the conflict. The biggest Muslim holiday of the year, Eid, is being celebrated, and in Iran the Persian New Year “Nowruz” is unfolding under air raid sirens, also with fresh Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Syria. Currently Palestinians are being barred from Al-Aqsa during Eid. Casualties continue to mount with over 1,400 reported dead in Iran, including 204 children per the Red Crescent – and more than 1,000 killed in Lebanon.

Signs of US Plans to Take Kharg Island

But the real escalation risk surrounds what Washington’s next move may be, as the Trump administration is actively weighing seizing Kharg Island, Iran’s key export hub, in a desperate effort to force Hormuz back open. One source put it bluntly to Axios: “We need about a month to weaken the Iranians more with strikes, take the island, and then get them by the balls and use it for negotiations.” For all the bravado and rhetoric, some analysts see the situation as a classic escalation trap.

But the report says no final decision has been made, but the direction of travel is clear. “He wants Hormuz open… If he has to take Kharg Island… that’s going to happen,” one senior official said, while acknowledging a coastal invasion remains on the table.

The Wall Street Journal in fresh reporting sees signs that an operation is already underway: “The U.S. and its allies have intensified the battle to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, sending low-flying attack jets over the sea lanes to blast Iranian naval vessels and Apache helicopters to shoot down Iran’s deadly drones, American military officials said.” it writes.

Iran Vows ‘Zero Restraint’ If Its Energy Sites Attacked Again

Here’s what Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted to X on Thursday: “Our response to Israel’s attack on our infrastructure employed FRACTION of our power. The ONLY reason for restraint was respect for requested de-escalation. ZERO restraint if our infrastructures are struck again. Any end to this war must address damage to our civilian sites.”

And CNN reports Friday: “Mojtaba Khamenei, who has made no public appearance since being chosen to succeed his father, said in a written statement security must be denied to all Iran’s enemies.”

Things are meanwhile getting more opaque in terms of leadership structure inside Iran: “Iran has not named replacements for the vast majority of senior officials killed by Israeli strikes since the conflict began on February 28,” CNN reports.

Iran’s strategy appears to be to survive while imposing severe high costs:

Every single day that this war goes on, the more the economic damage just compounds. This is the key line right here from @tracyalloway https://t.co/T6hrWxL1Op pic.twitter.com/t8Qos0vB1A

— Joe Weisenthal (@TheStalwart) March 19, 2026

Intense Attacks on Israel Continue

There has remained heavy censorship in Israel amid the war, but various overnight reports suggested another past 12 hours of heavy Iranian missile bombardment of Israel. Times of Israel confirmed, though without much in the way of details that sirens have been constant around central and northern Israel.

There were at least half a dozen missile salvos on Israel since late last night. “A home in the central city of Rehovot is burning following an apparent cluster munition impact, rescue services say,” TOI writes. “There are no immediate reports of injuries after Iran launched a ballistic missile carrying a cluster bomb warhead at central Israel.”

One war observer who has regional contacts wrote on X the following account: “Israel has been pummeled all night. Based on my counts of alerts and reports of landings from open sources the number increased tonight, though there are no reports of casualties.”

The journalist continues, “My Whatsapp groups are filled with people having breakdowns after not sleeping for two weeks. In Jerusalem 4 alerts were heard in a 90 minute span. Iran has been able to increase the number of launches daily. Everyone seems angry at the IDF and Netanyahu for lying about the destruction of Iranian capabilities.”

*  *  * Click link, buy knife, save dog… 

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Radical leftists want a new Department of Migration to push open borders propaganda in schools and fast-track voting rights, free housing and citizenship for illegals.

A leaked Green Party dossier has blown the lid off plans to brainwash British schoolchildren into believing they have a ‘moral duty’ to embrace endless immigration.

The document, hidden behind a password-locked policy archive normally only accessible to party members, calls for a new Department of Migration to work hand in glove with education chiefs. Its stated goal is to “disseminate knowledge” about immigrants directly into classrooms.

🚨 A LEAKED Green Party dossier reveals radical plans to teach children they have a ‘MORAL OBLIGATION’ to accept immigrants pic.twitter.com/Vzjt0qG89R

— WeGotitBack 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@NotFarLeftAtAll) March 19, 2026

Children would be taught they have a “moral obligation” to accept immigrants under these radical plans.

The exact wording from the leaked dossier states the new department would educate pupils on “the situations from which those seeking asylum and resettling refugees are fleeing, and the need for and moral obligation of asylum and humanitarian protection.”

It goes further, declaring the party “seeks not only to provide asylum to those forced from their homes but to work towards a world in which no one has to flee their home.”

Additional proposals include free legal advice and support to illegal immigrants to “regularise their status without penalty for being undocumented,” granting settled status to those who have been in the UK for at least five years — complete with welfare benefits, voting rights and a pathway to citizenship — and opening borders wider for those from countries with “seriously disturbing public order” or claiming persecution under equality laws.

In short, the Greens want to hand illegals free housing, votes and passports while telling British kids it’s their moral duty to cheer it on.

They also want to be SOFTER on terrorist suspects.

🚨NEW: The Green Party wants to weaken the police’s ability to tackle terrorism by cutting the maximum detention period for terror suspects from 14 days to 4.

We now live in a country where appealing to jihadis is a sizable vote winner.https://t.co/soJD5lrqUZ

— The Mercian (@TheMercianNews) March 19, 2026

This all comes at a time when the UK is already buckling under the weight of mass migration, with migrants set to swallow 40% of new homes by 2030.

This fits a disturbing pattern. The same political class has already turned schools into surveillance hubs, urging them to snitch on “anti-Muslim hostility.”

Counter-terror police run ads warning teens that sharing funny content could be terrorism, and a government video game literally teaches kids they’re terrorists for questioning mass migration.

A recent caller perfectly encapsulated how most British people feel about the invasion overwhelming their country.

Yet instead of listening, the elites double down on indoctrination.

Meanwhile, a surging new force offers the exact opposite vision. Restore Britain has vowed to deport millions of migrants and outlaw incompatible cultural and religious practices.

As the party’s campaigns director Charlie Downes put it, “We are going to deport all illegal and burdensome migrants. If that means millions go, so be it.” He added, “We are going to outlaw incompatible cultural and religious practices. If that means those who refuse to integrate no longer feel welcome, so be it.” And on the most serious crimes: “We are going to execute pedophiles, rapists, and murderers if that is what the British people want.”

The contrast could not be starker. One side wants to flood Britain with more arrivals and guilt-trip the next generation into accepting it. The other side wants to put British people first, restore order and end the madness.

The leaked Green plans are nothing short of open-border radicalisation aimed at the young, pushed from behind closed doors. They reveal a party completely detached from the housing crisis, the grooming scandals, the cultural erosion and the public’s breaking point.

They’re also the party with a leader who believes women can have penises.

Britain doesn’t need more propaganda in classrooms. It needs leaders willing to secure the borders, protect the native population and put the country first.

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.

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us

For 15 years the FBI was engaged in a landmark investigation into the largest Islamic-based charity in the United States, called The Holy Land Foundation. The organization was operating as a front for Muslim terror groups, funneling cash from western countries to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, until they were finally put on trial in 2008.

Convicted leaders were known as the “Holy Land Five,” and included Shukri Abu Baker, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader, Abdulrahman Odeh, and Mohammad El-Mezain. Among the documents seized from these individuals during the investigation was a strategic paper drafted by senior Muslim Brotherhood operative Mohamed Akram in 1991.

The paper was titled: “Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America”. It outlined an agenda called the “Civilization-Jihadist Process”, also known as “Stealth Jihad”.

The memorandum gave detailed methods for establishing Islam as a “civilization alternative” in the West and a “grand Jihad” for eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within. It called for the ‘sabotaging’ of the west and its “miserable house” by domestic hands AND the hands of the believers so that the west is eliminated and “God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”

The plan explicitly referred to using western society’s own people, institutions, laws, and unwitting allies (progressive groups and NGOs, media, politicians, academics, or civil-rights organizations) to advance the Islamic agenda.

Tactics included infiltration of education, media, government, finance, and alliances with non-Islamic actors “when tactically beneficial” while maintaining ideological separation. This is also called “long-term settlement” (tamkeen); a form of demographic or cultural subversion rather than direct conquest. It is often mentioned in the paper as “the settlement mission”.

A related 1982 Muslim Brotherhood document (called “The Project”) outlines a 100-year global plan with similar elements: building parallel societies, exploiting Western freedoms, and forming pragmatic coalitions.

One problem the Muslims wrestled with was the need for foreign alliances and western “advocates” to make immigration and the integration of Islam into target countries more “official”. Twenty-five years ago, this was considered all but impossible in the US and in Europe.  However, since around 2014, the Sharia fundamentalists found a willing and ready ally in the new “woke” left.

Today, the notion of even discussing the agenda of “Stealth Jihad” in a public venue in 2026 is labeled “racist” by progressive activists and left wing politicians (even though Islam is not a race). If you were to go back in time around 15 years ago and explain to people what is happening today in terms of third-world immigration, they would probably laugh in your face and call you a conspiracy theorist.

In 2026 in Europe the plan is nearly complete and in the US the plan is well underway. The change in how our society views Islam as an untouchable subject is largely due to a dark and convenient political alliance between the woke left and the Stealth Jihad.

Only recently has the problem of Muslim immigration risen to the forefront of media coverage, but only because of the work of citizen journalists like Nick Shirley who are exposing widespread fraud among migrants. The majority of this fraud, whether it is in Minnesota or California, is connected to Somali Muslim immigrants and is perpetrated with the help of leftist NGOs and politicians.

Coming from a country with an average IQ of 67, these people are not capable of instituting such a plan on their own. They had help and it is clear that Democrats are deeply involved in these operations, perhaps in exchange for financial kick-backs, but certainly in exchange for votes (Somali migrants in Minnesota voted 80% in favor of Democrats in 2024).

It’s not surprising, but there are a lot of similarities between progressives in the west and third world Islamic migrants from the east.

The political left has long held an agenda similar to Stealth Jihad. In Marxism it is referred to as “cultural hegemony” or “the long march through the institutions”. It is associated with the work of Antonio Gramsci, the founder of the Italian Communist Party. Interestingly, his ideas of cultural hegemony are often studied as a means of better understanding the agenda of Stealth Jihad.

Gramsci’s approach (developed in his Prison Notebooks in the 1920s–1930s) argued that in advanced capitalist societies the “ruling class” maintains power through cultural hegemony. To overthrow this, he asserted that revolutionaries must wage a “war of position” rather than a frontal assault.

This meant infiltrating and capturing key institutions (schools, universities, media, churches, judiciary, government bureaucracies) to erode cultural norms, reshape public consciousness, and create counter-hegemony until socialism/communism becomes the new ideological norm. We have witnessed this nightmare in vivid color with the woke movement of the past decade.  For the longest time the agenda was dismissed as “conspiracy.”

I would also point out that the general attitudes of third world migrants and leftists are essentially the same when it comes to production and survival: Both groups view producers as targets for piracy. Why would they integrate into western society, work hard and build for the future when they can feed off the production of others? Why create their own wealth when it is so much easier to pillage the wealth of people who innovate, construct and save?

But this partnership goes far beyond easy cash and socialized living into the realm of ideological and religious warfare. As noted, Stealth Jihad is about the exploitation of western freedoms and open systems as a means to invade and drive out the native religions (Christianity).

The Christian belief system is essential to western civilization. Whether or not a person living in the west believes in it doesn’t matter; they still benefit from the inherent Christian drive to build, structure and maintain a moral and ordered society based on rules for EVERYONE.

You would think that a partnership between Islam and the woke cult would be completely antithetical. After all, Muslim societies are defined by the rule of dominance, tribalism and brutal theocracy. There is zero tolerance in Islamic society for feminism, homosexuality, transgender theory or atheism. The Marxist world is rooted in atheism and moral relativism – The deconstruction of societal norms and the idea that unchecked hedonism is the ultimate form of freedom.

However, each group is beneficial to the other; they serve each other’s purposes. They also have the same primary enemy (Christianity). This intersection of benefits and shared hatred is where we find “Multiculturalism” – The agenda to wipe out the west using third-world immigration as a bulldozer.

Multiculturalism is simply an updated version of Gramsci’s Marxist cultural hegemony strategy, combined with third world notions of ethnic supremacy or religious supremacy. If you want to understand what is happening in places like the EU or the UK; if you want to know why these governments are completely ignoring the will of the public and blatantly aiding an Islamic invasion, this is why.

These are leftist governments with a clear objective to eliminate competing western and Christian ideals in order to establish a new cultural hegemony, and they are doing it subversively by using liberal values as a cudgel. Modern Europeans, fearful of ever being accused of “bigotry”, refuse to admit that they are committing high-minded suicide. Blind acceptance of immigration and the inability to discriminate logically is setting Europe on the path of total collapse.

This is what the Marxists want, and this is what the Muslims want. It’s much easier to pirate and enslave a population in the midst of social and economic crisis.

In the US we see a similar plan, though, leftists are working much harder to present Muslim migrants as ideologically aligned with liberalism. When conservatives see groups like “Queers for Palestine”, or we see New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani hiring transgenders for his administration while holding Muslim dinners on the floor of his office, what we are witnessing is the theatrical facade of “inclusivity.”

At bottom, these people do not share viewpoints that can truly “intersect”, but their short term goals are the same. Leftists hate conservatives and Christians because we represent a rules based order that stands in the way of their vision of pure hedonism. Muslims see conservatives and Christians as an obstacle to global Islam.

If the conservative west was theoretically defeated and we disappeared, the left and the Muslims would certainly turn on each other. Each group probably thinks they can control the other group when the time comes.

As the war in Iran moves forward, I have little doubt that we will see an exploding insurgency from leftists and Muslims in the US which will force us to question our foundational concepts of a “free and open society”. We will be forced to acknowledge that these exalted ideas cannot be applied to everyone. Specifically, they cannot be applied to people who want to destroy us. At bottom, the “rights” of people waging war upon us do not matter.

The question is, can we survive such a war and come out the other side with a constitutional republic intact? I think we can, but such a system would have to parse out and separate from ideological groups that see the west as a target (the Founding Fathers would NEVER have tolerated an anti-west invasion). We must accept, finally, that we cannot coexist in freedom with such people.

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

Researchers at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen have unveiled a wearable robotic system that adds a pair of independent mechanical legs and a torso framework to a human wearer, forming a four-legged hybrid to assist with carrying heavy loads across difficult terrain such as stairs, ramps, and uneven ground, according to the South China Morning Post.

Led by Chenglong Fu, the team of scientists designed the device to combine human cognitive advantages in path planning and decision-making with robotic capabilities for load-bearing and endurance in environments too hazardous or complex for fully autonomous systems. An elastic coupling mechanism synchronizes the robotic legs with the user’s movements, allowing the hybrid to share more than half the payload weight while preserving natural gait and balance.

In tests, the system cut the wearer’s net metabolic cost of walking while carrying a 44-pound load by 35% compared with a conventional backpack and reduced peak plantar pressure by 52%, fueling media speculation in China that the technology could serve as the foundation for a large-scale “army of centaurs” to augment the Asian superpower’s military personnel.

Cyber-centaurs are here: Chinese engineers unveil a clip-on “robot butt”

Chinese engineers have presented an exoskeleton that attaches to the waist and hips to help carry heavy backpacks. The device can take on 30–50% of the load, assisting with up to 15–30 kg of weight.

The… pic.twitter.com/RlC3ryf6xx

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 10, 2026

The Chinese military’s ongoing investment in exoskeleton technologies to boost troop stamina suggests potential military applications for these human-augmented systems, though the device’s bizarre appearance has prompted criticism and mockery, reports the SCMP.

The breakthrough comes amid the escalating rivalry in robotics between the United States and China. Recently, executives from Boston Dynamics and Scale AI testified before a House Homeland Security subcommittee, warning that China’s progress in humanoid robots presents national-security concerns. Witnesses advocated for coordinated federal measures, such as broader export controls on AI chips and restrictions on government procurement of Chinese robotic technologies, to safeguard U.S. leadership.

As we previously reported, broader anxiety over China’s manufacturing dominance extends beyond robotics.

Following a trip to China last fall, Greg Jackson, CEO of the British energy company Octopus, recounted touring a near-autonomous “dark factory” producing mobile phones with minimal human oversight.

“We visited a dark factory producing some astronomical number of mobile phones,” Jackson told The Telegraph at the time.

“The process was so heavily automated that there were no workers on the manufacturing side, just a small number who were there to ensure the plant was working. You get this sense of a change, where China’s competitiveness has gone from being about government subsidies and low wages to a tremendous number of highly skilled, educated engineers who are innovating like mad.”

Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest abandoned plans to develop electric-vehicle powertrains in-house after witnessing China’s fully robotic assembly lines where machines emerge from the floor to build trucks with zero human intervention over long conveyors.

Morgan Stanley analysts project the humanoid robotics sector could swell to a $5 trillion market by 2050, encompassing sales, supply chains, maintenance, and support networks, with potentially over 1 billion units deployed globally by mid-century.

Via Middle East Eye

Since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Iranian authorities have sharply restricted access to the internet. According to NetBlocks, a group that monitors internet access worldwide, Iran has experienced a near-total blackout for 20 consecutive days. Connectivity has dropped to less than one percent.

For those trying to access the internet, options are limited. Some rely on Starlink, which is not widely used. The equipment is expensive and difficult to import. Iranians also believe is easier for the authorities to detect. Others turn to VPNs (virtual private networks) and custom configurations that can be installed on their phones to mask traffic and bypass censorship.

Elaheh, who like all Iranians spoke to Middle East Eye using a pseudonym for security reasons, has managed to get online with difficulty. She says she bought access through the black market.

“There are people on Telegram who sell VPNs and configurations,” she says. “You have to be lucky. Usually, someone you know has to introduce you.”

She explains how it works in simple terms: “They don’t really sell a normal VPN. They give you a configuration. You put it into your phone settings, and then use apps like OpenVPN to connect.”

Telegram remains one of the most widely used apps in Iran. People use it for news, communication and everyday life. Now, it has also become a place where VPN sellers advertise their services. But not all of them can be trusted.

High prices and scams

Maryam says she was one of the unlucky ones. She found a seller through a friend. He offered her a one-week unlimited VPN for 70m rials – roughly $45-$50.

“I paid the money,” she says. “But after that, he told me all the connection routes had been blocked by the government, and that it wasn’t possible to connect.”

Days later, she is still waiting. The seller keeps making excuses. He has not provided access and has not returned her money. Stories like hers are becoming more common, but there are plenty of trustworthy sellers on the black market too.

Alireza, 32, studied computer engineering and now sells VPN access. He agreed to explain how the system works, though he is clearly worried about the risks.

“When the internet is restricted in Iran, usually one of two things happens,” he says. “Either certain websites are blocked, or the connection to the global internet becomes slow or limited.”

He says the system is not completely shut down. “It’s controlled and filtered,” he says. “That’s why we can still find ways to provide access.”

⚠️ Update: #Iran is entering Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in digital darkness, as the internet blackout continues into day 21 after 480 hours.

With international connectivity cut and domestic service limited, many families are unable to contact loved ones when it’s most needed. pic.twitter.com/IP1Io8G3IB

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) March 20, 2026

According to Alireza, users buy a technical setup, not just a simple app. “We give them a configuration,” he says. “It includes the server address, port, protocol, and encryption key.”

Users then connect through tools like OpenVPN or V2Ray, which route their traffic through servers outside Iran. “In simple terms, it looks like they are connecting from another country,” he says.

Warnings and risks

Using these tools is not without risk. Arman, a VPN user, says the connection is unstable and often cuts out. But what worries him more are the warnings. “I’ve received several text messages,” he says. “They said security agencies know I’ve been connecting to the global internet.”

The messages warned that if he continued, he could face consequences. Since the start of the war, Iranian security and law enforcement officials have repeatedly announced that they have arrested people accused of selling VPNs and other tools that help users bypass internet restrictions.

Alireza says the situation has become more serious than before. “This is no longer just about selling VPNs,” he says. “It has become a security issue.” Sellers are now much more careful. “We prefer to deal only with people we already know,” he says. “Even a phone call or a message could be from security forces.”

Prices keep rising

As the blackout continues, prices are rising fast. Pegah, 29, says she has had internet access since the early days of the war – but it has become more expensive each week.

“At first, I bought a one-week package for 10m rials,” she says. “I didn’t trust the seller enough to buy more.”

A week later, the price jumped. “It went up to 30 million,” she says. “And when I wanted to buy for a friend, the seller said it had increased again – to 50 million per week.”

She says she was lucky. Her connection works. Others have not been so fortunate. “One of my friends paid 100m rials,” she says. “And most of the time, the connection didn’t even work.”

Access to the internet has become expensive, unreliable and uncertain. But it’s a familiar pattern. In recent years, cutting internet access has become a common response by authorities during times of crisis – whether protests or external conflict. Elaheh says the impact is immediate.

“They always take it out on ordinary people first,” she says. “This kind of shutdown just creates more anger.” She pauses, then adds: “I really don’t know what goes through the minds of those making these decisions. It feels like all they know is how to make people more frustrated.”

The world is seemingly at war. With multi-front conflicts raging in Eastern Europe and intensifying in the Middle East, this period of elevated World War III risk has coincided with the emergence of some of America’s most advanced stealth aircraft.

The latest sighting comes from the Greek news website OnLarissa, which reports that a planespotter captured a “mysterious” stealth-bomber-like aircraft operating near Larissa, Greece, near the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) base.

The local outlet stated, “The ferocious warplane was reportedly parked due to a malfunction at the 110th Fighter Wing military airfield,” adding that the plane was likely an “American superweapon, the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit.”

However, well-seasoned US-based journalists who specialize in aviation and military coverage at The Aviationist disagree with OnLarissa’s assessment that the plane is the B-2 Spirit. In fact, they suggest this could be the first-ever glimpse of the highly classified, next-generation stealth surveillance drone, the RQ-180, developed by Northrop Grumman.

“The closest match we can find, corroborated by anonymous sources with some familiarity with the clandestine jet, is with the famous (yet still classified) intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance UAV operated by the U.S. Air Force that we have come to know as the RQ-180,” The Aviationist reporter Kai Greet wrote in a note.

Greet pointed out, “Larissa is no stranger to a U.S. military presence, and has hosted MQ-9 Reaper detachments on an ongoing basis. It does remain unclear, though, if these images genuinely depict an RQ-180.” 

Across the Atlantic and over the Mojave Desert, a planespotter captured what he believed was the USAF testing the B-21 Raider stealth bomber earlier this week (view here).

Authored by Marc Cadin via RealClearMarkets,

Affordability is the defining economic challenge for millions of Americans. A recent poll found that 70% of Americans report that the cost of living is no longer affordable where they live, a concern that was highlighted in the most recent elections. From rising housing costs to the grocery aisle to the electricity bill, families are struggling to stay afloat.  

This year, however, many households will finally get relief thanks to a new federal policy. 

Signed into law this summer, the Working Families Tax Cut will deliver one of the largest tax refunds on record.  According to early estimates, the average tax filer will receive more than $3,700, a roughly $1000 increase from previous years. Military families are expected to receive an additional $1,776. 

At a time when families’ budgets are stretched thin, this policy is putting real cash into their wallets.  

There will be plenty of headlines this spring about the large refunds Americans will receive. But the success of this policy shouldn’t be measured by the dollars distributed this year. The larger question is whether American families will be more financially secure in the decades to come.  

For many households, this will be a financial inflection point. These refund checks can make a pivotal difference in creating an emergency fund, preparing for retirement, and saving for college tuition. 

When the large refund hits a checking account, however, the easiest decision is often the fastest one. Immediate needs and flashy purchases compete for our attention, while building savings requires an attention to detail that can be difficult in the moment.

Americans want to build a strong economic future, but personal finance continues to challenge us.  More than 60% of Americans don’t have a written financial plan, and nearly two-thirds couldn’t pass a financial literacy test.  

These financial illiteracy gaps come at a real cost.  On average, Americans lose $1,000 per year due to a lack of financial knowledge. Without the right tools and guidance, historic tax refunds may fail to improve long-term financial security. 

This policy won’t guarantee financial health alone. The real test is whether these refunds translate into long-term financial well-being. 

• Some families may take advantage of existing savings incentives. From 529 college plans to the Trump Savings Accounts, there are plenty of already established government programs that allow Americans to stretch today’s dollars into tomorrow’s security.  

• Others will invest in low-risk, high-yield options. These accounts may lack the flash of crypto, but compound interest gives families the ability to build stability.  A high-yield savings account typically returns around 4% annually, and the S&P 500 returns around 10%. These accounts require minimal maintenance and will create the savings necessary for long-term savings. If you continuously put your money away there, decades down the road, you will see your money expand. 

• Many families will consult experts. In every community, financial professionals can advise on how to create a portfolio that makes sense for a family and their future. Financial planning is like going to the dentist. If you stay on top of your annual check-ups, your financial health will improve. 

The Working Families Tax Cut provides millions of Americans with a rare chance to reset their finances. Whether it becomes a fleeting windfall or the foundation of a lasting fiscal health will depend on what families do next.

Marc Cadin is the CEO of Finseca, an organization of more than 6000 financial security professionals dedicated to helping people protect and enhance their financial well-being. Finseca stands for Financial Security for All.

There’s quite obviously been Israeli intelligence inroads into Iran, which at times US and Israeli officials themselves have boasted about, with Tehran recently announcing efforts to round up and arrest “traitors” – and there’s even in some cases been executions of the accused.

Inside Israel, there are also fears of locals spying for Israel – but the phenomenon remains much less common (as far as anyone knows). That’s why the latest headlines are likely a shock to the Israeli establishment. On Friday an Israeli reservist tied to the country’s missile defense network has been charged with serious security offenses after allegedly working with Iranian intelligence.

Police have identified Raz Cohen, a 26-year-old from Jerusalem, who served in the Iron Dome unit, as the alleged culprit. It’s been revealed he was arrested March 1, merely one day after the joint US-Israel war on Iran kicked off. “These included passing sensitive security information to the Iranian agent during December 2025, including details about how Iron Dome works, locations of Israeli Air Force bases, and the locations of Iron Dome batteries,” writes Times of Israel.

As for the period of time in which the alleged spying took place, authorities indicate it took place several months before the outbreak of the current war, and that Cohen knew exactly who he was communicating with, but is believed to have merely received $1000 in cryptocurrency.

Israeli law designates that assisting the enemy during wartime carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment; but in some exceptional cases the death penalty can be handed down.

Prosecutors say he was in contact for months with Iranian handlers, who tasked him with carrying out “a variety of security missions” – including passing along sensitive defense information he accessed during his service.

According to some observations in The Telegraph:

A police statement announcing the charges warned citizens against having contact with agents from enemy countries, and pointed out the particular risk of agents making contact via social media.

Israel itself is thought to make widespread use of social media to approach and recruit agents in Iran.

According to intelligence sources speaking before the current campaign, many Iranians who end up passing information to Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, never realize they are working for Israel.

These fresh reports of the Raz Cohen are huge, given Israel’s air defenses have been immensely strained by the sustained Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks which have been ongoing, and ebbing and flowing, since Iran was attacked by the US and Israel three weeks ago.

We are starting to see why Hezbollah has had such success in bypassing Iron Dome. Raz Cohen, a reserve soldier in the Iron Dome unit, has been arrested for providing Iran with classified information. This had been going on for months, in return for financial renumeration when he…

— Shaiel Ben-Ephraim (@academic_la) March 20, 2026

There are also reports that portions of the Israeli citizenry are angry and frustrated, many now living their lives in underground bomb shelters, as casualties mount. The Netanyahu government has come under accusations of underestimating the Iranian missile threat, and giving false assurances to the public. Did Iran have an advantage by utilizing spies in Israel who had access to key elements of defensive systems, exposing weaknesses? It appears so, the Cohen case suggests, at least to some degree.