Via The Libertarian Institute

The former top US diplomat in Ukraine said that any deal to end the Russian invasion must also deter China, arguing that engaging in peace talks with Moscow is a mistake.

Bridget Brink, who served as ambassador to Ukraine until late April, told Face The Nation, “The real question is, how are we going to help to end this war? And to do that, it can’t be peace at any price.” She continued, “It has to be a peace that does things that advance our own interests. And those are really simple. It’s how to keep Ukraine free, how to deter Russia, and how to send the right signal to China.”

Brink argued that talks with Russia should not begin until the Kremlin agrees to an unconditional ceasefire.

“So, my strong advice in terms of how to deal with Putin in Russia is not to give a single meeting or concession or legitimacy until Putin agrees to an unconditional ceasefire that’s verifiable and moves forward toward a just and lasting peace,” she explained.

If President Donald Trump adopted Brink’s position, it would effectively bring the talks to an impasse. Moscow has stated that it will not agree to a ceasefire until the two sides are closer to a deal to end the conflict.

Brink went on to assert that Trump’s engagement with President Vladimir Putin would give “legitimacy” to the Russian leader.

During her tenure as ambassador to Ukraine, the former envoy implemented the Joe Biden administration’s policy of attempting to isolate Moscow.

However, while Washington’s sweeping sanctions regime was intended to isolate and cripple the Russian economy, the Kremlin has largely been able to circumvent the penalties. Rather than bringing Moscow’s war machine to a halt, Russia’s military is now stronger than it was at the beginning of the conflict.

Hawks seem to never acknowledge the potential for nuclear conflict as they urge more muscular confrontation with Moscow…

I really think that Ukraine hawks just do not understand what nuclear weapons are.

What people in the West also don’t understand is that we have thousands of nuclear warheads pointed at us right now.

After a full nuclear exchange, fallout would kill nearly all people on earth. pic.twitter.com/axbfZ9ouML

— Primo Radical (@PrimoRadical) November 21, 2024

Brink became the US ambassador to Ukraine in 2022, the year the war began. She held that position until she resigned on April 21.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals was named the winning bidder in the court-supervised sale of 23andMe, granting it eventual access to a gigantic pool of genetic data from an estimated 15 million individuals. The deal has raised alarm bells in Washington, DC, prompting bipartisan lawmakers to introduce a bill that would strengthen protections for genetic data during bankruptcy proceedings. 

Fox News has learned that Republican Senators John Cornyn and Chuck Grassley, along with Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, are preparing to introduce the Don’t Sell My DNA Act, a bipartisan measure to protect consumers’ sensitive genetic data. The bill comes just days after renewed privacy concerns surrounding 23andMe.  

Prompted by 23andMe’s recent bankruptcy and court-supervised $256 million asset sale to Regeneron, the new bill would:

• Add genetic data to the definition of “personally identifiable information” (PII) in the bankruptcy code.

• Require explicit consumer consent before genetic data can be sold or leased during bankruptcy.

• Mandate prior written notice of any use or sale of such data.

Senate aides provided Fox News with additional details on the bill’s new safeguards: 

Under current law, the bankruptcy code provides protections for personally identifiable information in bankruptcy court proceedings to prevent the possibility of identity theft, harm or other unlawful injury.

The current definition of personally identifiable information includes an individual’s name, address, email, phone number, Social Security number, credit card numbers and other information that could be used for identification purposes.

Those aides said the definition is “outdated” and does not include a reference to genetic information, leaving the information vulnerable.

“This legislation would solve this problem by updating the definition of ‘personally identifiable information’ in the bankruptcy code to include genetic information,” a Senate aide said.

Cornyn stated, “By updating the bankruptcy code, this legislation would safeguard Americans’ sensitive genetic information to ensure it cannot be weaponized against them or made public without their knowledge and consent.” 

The takeaway for consumers is super obvious: think twice before handing over your sensitive genetic data to a company, as there’s always a risk it could be stored, sold, or even weaponized against you in the future. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was left humiliated outraged after personally witnessing the botched launch of a new, 5,000-ton destroyer on Thursday — going so far as to call it a “criminal act” and a “political issue directly related to the prestige of the state.” He’s promised accountability and, given his history of executing officials who fail to carry out their responsibilities, heads may be literally rolling in short order. 

Perhaps bowing to the reality that the satellite-observed accident couldn’t be kept secret, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) was quick to report on the debacle and Kim’s furious reaction. The incident unfolded at the northeastern port city of Chongjin. At what was set up to be a moment of national pride, the launch went terribly wrong when the stern slid down the slipway but the bow stood fast, wrenching the vessel and flipping it on its side. “The stern is seen swung out into the harbour as a result of the wheeled units placed under the frame sliding into the water while the bow remained on the side slipway,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported after reviewing satellite imagery. 

According to KCNA, the ship was left with holes torn into its hull, but the outlet didn’t report if there were any human casualties. Kim blamed the incident on “unscientific empiricism” and said it “lowered the dignity and self-respect” of the country. He ominously promised that consequences would be revealed at the ruling Worker’s Party meeting in June, and set what could be a daunting deadline for the vessel to be repaired by that same event. 

“No matter how good the state of the warship is, the fact that the accident is an unpardonable criminal act remains unchanged, and those responsible for it can never evade their responsibility for the crime,” said the Central Military Commission. The manager of the shipyard was immediately summoned by police as they set out to investigate the incident and detain potentially culpable individuals.  

KCNA blamed “inexperienced command and operational carelessness.” The outlet reported that the destroyer’s starboard hull was scratched, and water entered the stern section. KCNA estimated it will take two or three days to put the ship upright, and upwards of 10 days to repair the side. 

While the official line is that the damage was “not serious,” outside observers have major doubts. Given the entrance of water, “The propulsion systems and electronic components are likely beyond repair,” a naval construction expert told South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo. Another expert said the ship’s recovery would be technically demanding to the point Kim may have to ask Russia for help: “They would need to push the vessel fully into the sea and raise it using cranes and a barge—equipment North Korea likely doesn’t possess.”

Kim has put a high priority on upgrading North Korea’s nuclear and conventional arsenal, to include building new warships to phase out aging Soviet-era vessels. Last month, he attended the launch of the largest warship the country has ever produced — a 5,000-ton destroyer that successfully slid down a slipway in the western port city of Nampo. Thursday’s launch featured a second destroyer of the same proportion — but now it’s laying on its side in the water, according to South Korea’s military. 

The country’s navy mainly consists of smaller vessels for coastal defense. The new destroyers were designed to extend the nation’s firepower in the Yellow Sea to the west and in eastern waters leading to Japan. The vessels can launch guided missiles and boast an air defense system that include the Russian Pantsir-M. — Bloomberg

With Kim’s declaration that the failure is a “political issue” that damaged the prestige of the state, capital punishment is surely on the table — and Kim has a rich history of dealing out death to subordinates. Last year, in the wake of vast flooding and landslides that killed some 4,000 people, Kim reportedly ordered the execution of dozens of officials for failing to prevent the calamity — hitting them with charges of corruption and dereliction of duty. “It has been determined that 20 to 30 cadres in the flood-stricken area were executed at the same time late last month,” an unnamed official told South Korea’s TV Chosun. 

While these reports are always difficult to verify, here’s a sampling of other reported executions of officials who’ve disappointed Kim: 

• In 2019, Kim reportedly put five officials in front of a firing squad after a summit with President Trump in Vietnam failed to achieve North Korea’s goals.
• In 2016, there were reports that he put the country’s vice premier for education before a firing squad for slouching at a political meeting.
• In 2014, he reportedly executed his deputy public security minister with a flamethrower
• In 2013, Kim had his own uncle — who was considered the country’s second-most powerful official — dramatically yanked out of a special party meeting and then executed him for “acts of treachery.” 

United States Steel Corp. shares surged to their highest level since April 2011 after President Trump announced on Truth Social his full backing of a partnership between the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker and Japan’s Nippon Steel.

Trump confirmed that U.S. Steel will remain headquartered in Pittsburgh, calling the deal the largest investment in Pennsylvania’s history and a first critical step in revitalizing the nation’s steel industry, aligning with his ‘America First’ agenda of rebuilding critical supply chains. 

“I am proud to announce that, after much consideration and negotiation, US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

He continued, “For many years, the name, “United States Steel” was synonymous with Greatness, and now, it will be again. This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs, and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy.” 

The president said much of the investment will unfold over the next 14 months and will be “the largest Investment in the History of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Trump concluded the post by stating: “My tariff policies will ensure that steel will once again be, forever, MADE IN AMERICA. From Pennsylvania to Arkansas, and from Minnesota to Indiana, AMERICAN MADE is BACK. I will see you all at U.S. Steel in Pittsburgh on Friday, May 30, for a BIG rally.”

Earlier, a Wall Street Journal report said that Nippon sweetened the deal by “roughly doubling its spending plan and even pledging to build a brand-new mill to win Washington’s blessing for its takeover of U.S. Steel.” 

While Trump initially criticized the deal, he has since warmed to it because it aligns with America First’s policy goals of bolstering domestic supply chains and revitalizing manufacturing. 

The merger agreement between U.S. Steel and Nippon, which values U.S. Steel at $55 per share, expires June 18 unless extended.

Shares of U.S. Steel jumped to the highest level since April 2011 following the president’s Truth Social post. 

Meanwhile, the United Steelworkers union remains strongly opposed, citing Nippon’s history of undercutting U.S. steel markets.

Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

The father of the suspected gunman in the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday, was the honored guest of a far-left lawmaker at President Trump’s joint address to Congress back in March, the New York Post reported.

Eric Rodriguez is an anti-Trump SEIU member who also spoke at a Democrat press conference ahead of Trump’s address.

His son, accused killer Elias Rodriguez, 30, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after allegedly gunning down Yaron Lischinsky, 28, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, who were about to become engaged.

“Eric Rodriguez was our guest during the President’s Joint Speech to Congress, but we don’t know his family,” a spokesperson for Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) told the Post Thursday night.

García in March had described Rodriguez as “an outspoken advocate against attacks on veterans’ services and the rights of unionized federal employees.”

His mention of “attacks on veteran services” appeared to be a reference to the Department of Government Efficiency’s work eliminating of waste fraud and abuse from the system.

“Eric represents the very best of our community — someone who has served his country, continues to serve his fellow veterans and fights every day to protect the dignity of working people,” the congressman said in a statement on March 3. “His presence at the Joint Address is a powerful statement: we will not sit back while veterans and workers are treated as political pawns.”

According to the Post, Rodriguez also appeared in a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) video that same day, speaking as an Iraq War vet and an employee with the Veterans Affairs Department.

The SEIU, one of the largest labor unions in North America, donates millions of dollars to left-wing Democrat politicians who promote government expansion and higher taxes.

“I’ve been with the VA for three years, and the reason why I’m in Washington, DC, is because I’m concerned about what Donald Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE are doing to the VA system,” he said in the SEIU video. 

Rodriguez was also a featured speaker at an emotional Democrat press conference on March 4.

Flanked by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other Democrat lawmakers, Rodriguez appeared on the verge of tears as he decried the DOGE cuts.

“Right now the Trump administration is trying to cut the VA, frontline workers, and let billionaires steal our healthcare. Veterans, we’re under attack. Last week, 1,400 workers got fired illegally,” he said.

“They’re slashing staff, crushing unions, and selling out the VA—for what? So billionaires can make more money while Veterans sit on a waitlist. Or worse, get no treatment,” Rodriguez added.

That video was shared on social media by the left-wing veterans group “VoteVets.”

His son Elias on Wednesday unleashed nearly two dozen rounds on the young Jewish couple, and shouted  “Free, free Palestine” when he was taken into custody.

[ZH: And while we’re down the rabbit hole – CIA contractor and big data expert Tony Seruga says GPS puts the elder Rodriguez at Barack Obama’s Washington DC residence for 32 minutes back in March]

GPS—put the Israeli capital Jewish Museum shooter’s father at Barack Hussein Obama II’s Washington, D.C. residence (which is a quick 4 minute walk from The Islamic Center of Washington D.C..) back in March for 32 minutes.

And now we find out Democrats invited accused terrorist… pic.twitter.com/H1DKcOQkCC

— Tony Seruga (@TonySeruga) May 23, 2025

* * *

Rep. García condemned the murders in a statement posted on social media Thursday.

“I strongly condemn this horrible, senseless act of antisemitism. My heart is with the victims and everyone impacted by the attack,” García posted on X. “We mourn the lives lost and reject the idea that justice can be won through violence.”

And now we find out Democrats invited accused terrorist (Elias) killer’s DAD (Eric Rodriguez) to Trump address just weeks before heinous crime pic.twitter.com/dgGQ6ZX5Af

— Joni Job (@jj_talking) May 23, 2025

As the U.S. heads into Memorial Day weekend, with pools opening, millions set to travel, and backyard barbecues just ahead, a late-session report from the Financial Times revealed that one of President Trump’s first Project Stargate AI infrastructure projects is underway in Texas. 

According to FT’s sources, the under-construction AI data center in Abilene, Texas, is the first U.S. Stargate project, and Oracle is purchasing a staggering 400,000 Nvidia GB200 “Superchips” that will be housed in eight buildings. When the facility comes online next year, the AI chips will require a massive 1.2 gigawatts of electricity. 

Site owners Crusoe and Blue Owl Capital have raised $15 billion in debt and equity to finance the Abilene project. JPMorgan provided a sizeable chunk of the debt financing, totaling $9.6 billion across two loans, with $7.1 billion announced this week, according to people familiar with the matter.

Crusoe and Blue Owl have separately invested about $5 billion in cash. Oracle has signed a 15-year lease for the mega project that will be fully operational by mid-2026. 

Your hard hat tour of OpenAI’s Stargate megafactory in Abilene, TX with @sama @ChaseLochmiller and lots of red dirt

pic.twitter.com/mMkeKpLVOU

— Emily Chang (@emilychangtv) May 20, 2025

The Abilene facility is part of the broader Stargate project, a $500 billion effort to scale U.S. AI computing backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX. The new Abilene data center will rival Elon Musk’s plans to expand his “Colossus” data center in Memphis, Tennessee. 

“The Abilene data center is a crucial step in OpenAI’s move to reduce its dependence on Microsoft,” FT noted, adding, “OpenAI and Microsoft agreed to terminate their exclusivity agreement earlier this year after the startup became frustrated that its demand for power far exceeded the US tech giant’s supply.”

Sources said Oracle will be leasing the computer power of the 400,000 Nvidia GB200 chips to chatbot startup OpenAI.

Meanwhile, massive U.S. data centers continue to come online—even as China’s DeepSeek AI has demonstrated high efficiency, delivering more useful computation with less power. This raises a critical question: Have U.S. AI projects achieved similar levels of efficiency, or are they falling behind in the AI race? Remember what Goldman said about the data center peak capacity in April? Well…

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

America’s housing market has been in a “deep freeze” for more than a year.  

The combination of very high interest rates and very high home prices has frozen millions of potential buyers out of the market.  As a result, home sales have fallen to extremely depressed levels.  When I first warned that we were heading into a housing market depression, a lot of people thought that I was exaggerating.  But now the numbers show that is exactly what has happened.  

The following are 6 signs that the housing market depression in the United States is getting even worse.

#1 Sales of previously-owned homes in the U.S. just fell again.  In fact, we just witnessed the slowest April that we have seen since 2009…

The spring housing market continues to struggle amid high interest rates and low consumer confidence.

Sales of previously owned homes in April declined 0.5% from March to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 4 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. That is the slowest April pace since 2009.

In 2009, there were 306 million people living in the United States.

Today, there are 340 million people living in the United States.

So the fact that we have fallen to a level that we haven’t seen since the Great Recession should deeply trouble all of us.

#2 Sales of previously-owned homes are falling even though active listings and new listings are both rising…

Active listings—the total number of homes for sale—last month hit the highest level since March 2020. They climbed 1.2% from a month earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis and rose 16.7% year over year.

New listings rose to the highest level since July 2022, increasing 1.3% month over month on a seasonally adjusted basis and 8.6% year over year—the largest annual gain since May 2024.

“A lot of people are selling their homes and downsizing because they’re worried about the economy,” said Meme Loggins, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Portland, OR. “During the pandemic, everybody wanted more space for a home office or for their kids to run around, but now people are more focused on saving money. A lot of folks are getting rid of their investment properties, and I’m working with a couple of federal employees who are afraid of losing their jobs, so they’re selling their homes and thinking of moving into condos.”

#3 Most potential young homebuyers have been completely forced out of the market.  Shockingly, the average age of a homebuyer in the U.S. has surged to an all-time record high of 56…

The average age of homebuyers in the U.S. has risen by six years since July 2023 — another sign that younger Americans are being priced out of the market due to escalating ownership costs.

The average age of homebuyers is now 56, up from 49 in 2023, according to the National Association of Realtors’ annual state-of-the-market report released Monday. That’s a historic high, up from an average age in the low-to-mid 40s in the early 2010s.

#4 The median age of first-time homebuyers is spiking as well…

The median age of first-time buyers also rose from 35 to 38, while the share of first-timers dropped from 32% to 24% of all buyers for the year ending July 2024. That marks the lowest percentage since NAR started tracking the metric in 1981.

“In my two decades in the mortgage business, I’ve never seen a more difficult time for millennials to purchase a home,” says Bob Driscoll, senior vice president and director of residential lending at Massachusetts-based bank Rockland Trust.

This is a really bad thing for our society.

If most young couples cannot purchase a home until they are in their late thirties, something has gone horribly, horribly wrong.

#5 Zillow is reporting that home values have fallen in 27 U.S. states so far this year.  Is this the beginning of a price crash?…

Home values fell in half the country as the housing market faces a nationwide downturn.

According to Zillow, monthly home values dropped in 27 out of the 50 states this year. While Florida, Colorado, Washington, D.C., California and Washington state experienced the greatest value declines from March to April, the data could foreshadow a larger housing market shift.

#6 Meanwhile, employers continue to conduct mass layoffs all over the nation, and this is only going to increase pressure on the housing market.  For example, Walmart just announced that it will be laying off about 1,500 very well paid corporate employees…

Walmart is laying off around 1,500 corporate employees across various departments within its home office in Bentonville, Arkansas, multiple reports say.

In a memo shared with associates on May 21, Walmart executives said the company is “reshaping” some of its teams in an effort to modernize its business and enhance “associate, customer and member experiences.”

Most of the U.S. population simply cannot afford to shell out several thousand dollars for a mortgage payment every month.

Either interest rates will have to come down or housing prices will.

And if housing prices start falling like we saw in 2008 and 2009, that will cause all sorts of problems for our major financial institutions.

So hopefully the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates before it is too late.

One recent survey discovered that financial stress is at an all-time high for 70 percent of the U.S. population.

Absurdly high housing costs are one of the biggest reasons why so many people are financially stressed right now.

Home prices are way too high and so are rental prices.

If you were able to purchase a home and lock in a mortgage more than five years ago, you were extremely fortunate.

Those that wish to relocate now are facing ridiculously high prices and painfully high interest rates.

It has been said that he who hesitates is lost.

In this case, that is so true.

A lot of people out there that waited to pull the trigger have completely missed their chance.

Now the housing market is entering a very difficult chapter, and a tremendous amount of pain is ahead.

*  *  *

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

Two weeks after Travis Stice, CEO of shale giant Diamondback Energy, warned that the US energy industry “is at a tipping point” and – more ominously – that US shale output has finally peaked (resulting in Diamondback slashing its capex budget as Saudi Arabia launched the latest OPEC+ price war), we now have confirmation that the CEO was right.

As Goldman commodity strategist Yulia Grigsby writes in her latest Oil Tracker note, amid continued declines in oil prices, there was a silver lining: namely that US total rig and frac spread count continued to decline quickly, especially in the Permian, -14% and -22% from year ago, respectively, as shown in the chart below.

Grigsby speculates that while the Permian activity slowdown may partly reflect the preservation of the best inventory rather than wells shutdowns, oil fields with higher breakevens, e.g. North Dakota shale, are also planning to reduce drilling activity. 

And, having previously taken stock of Q1 earnings reports, we remind readers that several high profile public producers already reduced their drilling and completion activity on the back of lower prices and most producers reduced their 2025 capex guidance. As a result, Goldman expects the crude production in the US Lower 48 to decline by 0.4mb/d by 2026Q4 from 2024Q4.

Incidentally the latest Baker Hughes data showed that rotary rigs in the US tumbled by another 8 in the latest week…

…and are now down to a 4 year low of 465 as the industry enters crisis “cash conservation” mode.

But one doesn’t have to believe in “peak oil” to expect further US production declines: regulation and sharply higher extraction prices may suffice to send the price of oil surging.

According to Bloomberg, Texas regulators are warning that wastewater from fracking in the biggest US oil basin is causing a “widespread” increase in underground pressure — a development that risks hindering crude output and harming the environment.

Shale oil wells in the Permian Basin generate millions of gallons of chemical-laced water, which drillers then pump back into the earth. Landowners and activists have said for years that this process causes toxic leaks. Now the state’s powerful oil and gas regulator, the Railroad Commission of Texas, is acknowledging the scale of the problem and imposing restrictions that could increase crude production costs.

Chevron Corp., BP Plc, and Coterra Energy Inc. as well as water management specialists Waterbridge Operating LLC and NGL Energy Partners, are among the companies that have received notices about the pressure issue from the Railroad Commission of Texas, according to a Bloomberg News review of public records. The RRC sent the messages to companies applying for new wastewater disposal wells.

Producers began injecting more water into shallow rock formations roughly five years ago after pumping it deep below the surface was found to trigger earthquakes. But the volumes are now so large that the dirty water is breaching wells and causing the ground to swell and rupture, threatening to contaminate drinking supplies for people and livestock.

Potential restrictions on both deep and shallow injection zones could mean producers will have to pump their wastewater farther afield, increase recycling or pay to clean it up. All of these options would add to costs in the Permian, which accounts for about half of America’s total crude production. It would be the latest blow to US producers already grappling with low oil prices and a shrinking inventory of top-tier drilling sites, despite President Donald Trump’s pledge to unleash US “energy dominance” by backing fossil fuels. 

According to Bloomberg, the RRC has updated its standard language in the letters to producers in a nod to the severity of the problem. It now says that disposing wastewater into the Delaware Mountain Group rock formation in the prolific western part of the Permian “has resulted in widespread increases in reservoir pressure that may not be in the public interest and may harm mineral and freshwater resources in Texas.”

“Drilling hazards, hydrocarbon production losses, uncontrolled flows, ground surface deformation, and seismic activity have been observed,” the commission says. 

Guaranteeing that US oil output will slide, starting next month, the RRC will place limits on water-pressure levels due to “the physical limitations of the disposal reservoirs.” It will also require operators to assess old or unplugged oil wells within half a mile of the disposal site, twice the previous distance.

The RRC’s staff has been studying issues related to wastewater disposal for several years, spokesperson Bryce Dubee said in an email. 

“Let there be no doubt that our work and analysis to protect residents and the environment in West Texas has been happening for years and will continue,” Dubee said. The commission conducted a two-hour webinar on Thursday to explain its new guidelines for permitting saltwater disposal wells in the Permian.

Permian Basin oil production has soared over the past decade to about 6.7 million barrels of oil each day, more than the output from Iraq and Kuwait combined, and in some views has become a global swing producer. But for each barrel of crude, it produces three to five barrels of water that contain so much salt and toxic materials that pumping it back underground is the only cost-effective disposal method. 

The shallow disposal zones, located between oil-rich layers of shale and the surface, consist of porous rock that can absorb water. But the 100-year history of crude production in the Permian means they are perforated with thousands of well bores, some up to a mile deep. Because of higher water pressure, fluids are now breaking through to oil drilling areas and old wells that were either abandoned or poorly cemented shut decades ago. 

The regulator’s tighter restrictions come just weeks after Coterra was forced to halt some oil production in Culberson County, Texas, after waste fluids leaked into its wells. Executives said the problem was localized and could be fixed by strengthening the protective casing around its wells. 

Coterra is remediating the affected wells but did not give an expected completion date. The company said it doesn’t expect the issue to affect its long-term reserves. 

“We thought we were well calibrated,” Blake Sirgo, Coterra’s senior vice president for operations, said on a call with analysts May 6. “Sometimes the oil field still surprises us.”

One person who’s not surprised is Sarah Stogner, the district attorney for three West Texas counties in the Permian Basin. She’s been warning of rising subsurface pressure since 2021, when a landowner noticed oil and gas oozing from old wells on her property that had sat idle for decades. Stogner, then a lawyer for the landowner, publicized the case on social media, calling them “zombie wells.” Over the next few years, several more wells blew out in the area, with some ejecting toxic fluids more than 100 feet in the air for several days. 

“These were old fields that suffered from a lack of pressure for decades,” she said. “Suddenly we were seeing pressure where it shouldn’t be. It was clear even back then there was a field-wide problem.” 

The RRC mostly ignored her appeals for a thorough investigation, she said. Its elected commissioners, whose campaigns are largely funded by the oil and gas industry, framed the issue as primarily a plugging problem, claiming that old and abandoned wells had been improperly cemented shut, or not at all. 

But it’s now becoming clearer that the underlying problem is too much wastewater injection. 

One blowout near Imperial, Texas, gushed toxic water high in the air for two weeks and had to be cemented shut in 2022. Researchers at Southern Methodist University later found the ground around the eruption site had been steadily bulging for three years, eventually rising 40 centimeters (16 inches) before it burst open. Wastewater injection volumes several kilometers away “strongly correlate” with the ground movement, they said in a paper published in July 2024. 

SkyGeo, an analytics company that uses radar to track ground movements, reached a similar conclusion.

“The injection of saltwater causes this unnaturally high pressure, and then it’s going to find weak spots to come out,” said CEO Pieter Bas Leezenberg.

The RRC said its new permitting requirements will “ensure injected fluids remain confined to the disposal formations to safeguard ground and surface fresh water.” To Stogner, the measures are an admission that toxic water leaks are a serious problem for the regulator, and for the Permian Basin. “They just completely ignored us,” she said. “But now they cannot deny that it’s happening.”

And with that, oil producers will no longer be able to sweep the toxic problem under the rug – or ground as it may be – and since the mandated changes will require millions if not billions in additional spending to comply with regulations, which means all-in production costs are set to soar, and since oil prices will only continue to slide, we are about to see a wholesale shutdown of the Permian, and – as because the commodity cycle never fail – all the excess production in the US will turn into a deficit, sending oil prices soaring as the commodity bullwhip effect comes home.
 

Last week’s Istanbul peace talks between Russia and Ukraine did not lead to much in terms of achieving ceasefire or peace as there were no breakthroughs whatsoever. However, it did give the two sides a chance to increase their swaps of POWs, and this is where Istanbul bore fruit.

The delegations agreed to a swap of 1,000 captives from each side, totaling 2,000 – which makes it by far the biggest single exchange of the war. Friday saw the two sides complete an initial round of fulfilling this agreement, with almost 800 people released.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that “270 Russian servicemen and 120 civilians” were returned to Russia on Friday, wile Ukraine said 390 people arrived back to Ukraine, including 270 military personnel and 120 civilians. Three women were among the Ukrainians released.

“We are bringing our people home,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky declared on social media. The swap happened at the Belarus-Ukraine border, and was facilitated by several buses.  

Zelensky confirmed: “The first part of the agreement to exchange 1000 for 1000 has been implemented.”

“On the Ukrainian side, dozens of people waited for hours to greet the returnees at a meeting place in Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine, many hoping to see their family members among those being brought back,” observed one report.

“Many brought Ukrainian flags and photographs of their loved ones – in case any of the returnees would recognize them and give them information about their whereabouts,” the report added.

The NY Times alleges that Ukrainian prisoners in Russian hands are treated much worse:

Unlike Moscow, Kyiv is also sensitive to demands by the Western nations backing its military that Ukraine comply with international law on the treatment of prisoners.

The Ukrainians allow visits to prisoner of war camps by both the United Nations and Red Cross; those organizations have largely been denied access in Russia and the Ukrainian territory it occupies.

Russia and Ukraine have begun a large exchange of prisoners of war on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said, with around 1,000 soldiers from each side expected to be swapped at the Ukraine-Belarus border when completed. https://t.co/ud6wQNWAbN pic.twitter.com/NovYMwGJkp

— ABC News (@ABC) May 23, 2025

This largest prisoner exchange of the war is expected to continue over the coming days. There remain significant logistical challenges to be able to make it happen.

As drones and large-scale aerial attacks continue being exchanged, prisoner swaps have been rare bright spot in the war. Other than this, the warring sides haven’t agreed on anything else.

By Hanna Bechtel of The College Fix

Capitalism is an “oppressive system” that is “incredibly difficult to survive,” a financial coach said during a recent lecture at Iowa State University.

The “Anti-Capitalism Personal Finance Lecture” featured Leo Aquino, a “non-binary Filipinx writer, journalist, and financial coach” known for “their commitment to uplifting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ stories,” according to the event description.

During the lecture, Aquino advocated for an “anti-capitalist” budgeting approach that encourages people to reframe their relationship with money to prioritize well-being over profit, mainly benefiting queer and trans-identifying individuals.

The speaker defined anti-capitalism as “the belief that financial systems do not need to adhere to capitalist values for us to survive.”

An anti-capitalist personal finance perspective supports workers’ abilities to control their labor and decide how profits are invested. It requires people to redefine their “definition of wealth,” Aquino said.

The speaker encouraged students to stop blaming themselves for their financial situations and start questioning the underlying system.

Aquino defined capitalism as “an economic system where workers are required to sell [their] labor for a wage in order to survive.”

The financial coach said this system prioritizes profits over people while causing burnout, depression, and anxiety. “[Capitalism] is an oppressive system profiting from our lack of financial literacy and interpersonal conflicts around money.”

Further, capitalism “necessitates racism, ableism, homophobia, colonialism, and other forms of oppression to perpetuate conflict.” It “has forced people from marginalized communities to do unrealistic things to survive in an oppressive system,” Aquino said.

The speaker contrasted traditional budgeting, defined as a monthly estimate of income and expenses, with anti-capitalist budgeting, described as a “neutral space for us to practice compassionate data analysis.”

Aquino said the goal is not “to make the rich richer” but to “help others save, budget and spend money in line with their values.”

The financial coach also described several means of budgeting, with each depending on one’s own personal financial aptitude. One budgeting strategy included using a “needs vs. wants” model. Aquino said “some things are needs and wants [at the same time] … things like makeup and dining out are needs for our mental health.”

People should be able to spend quality time eating out with friends without “thinking so much about the financial consequences of that behavior.” An oppressive capitalist economic system is the cause of this internal conflict, the speaker said.

Further, Aquino characterized money as a tool used to navigate capitalism “with more ease,” adding people don’t necessarily want more money, “they want more freedom to do the things they love and enjoy.”

Queer and trans communities in particular benefit the most from anti-capitalist finance movements. “One-third of LGBTQ elders live in poverty and cannot afford to retire due to discrimination against their community in the past,” Aquino said.

Meanwhile, young trans communities are “going into debt for gender-affirming healthcare due to current legislation.”

When an ISU student asked about how this form of financial planning resists capitalism, Aquino said, “you can only do so much.” Everyone has to be willing to make compromises while still living in a capitalist system.

The coach said people must still advocate “for the changes [they] want to see in the economic world.”

“It is less about resistance and more about coping,” Aquino said.

Aquino is the founder of Queer and Trans Wealth, a financial coaching and education business “dedicated to increasing the financial literacy and economic empowerment of queer and trans communities,” according to its website.

The College Fix reached out to Aquino and the university in the last week via email for further comment on the lecture and its contents, but received no response.

Aquino’s website lists several personal writings, which include titles such as “How to crowdfund your gender-affirming surgery,” “How to share your pronouns,” and “How to make your own porn.”